Empire of the Black Sun

The goblins occupy a strange place in the worldview of the People of the Blood. It is believed that they were a failed and rejected creation of Getima the Fierce Queen and Seedrik the King-in-Exile during their time as a secret coupling. Unlike the Goddess of the Hunt, goblins were a deep disappointment to the Fierce Queen. Rejected in their entirety, they were exiled into the crags, mountains and tundras of the northern wastes. The goblins existed in squalor and separated from any divine spark for an age, until another exiled power took to hiding in their dreams.
After their defeat during the War in Heaven, Irré the Black Sun and his consort Leera the Crimson Moon both took up hiding places in the dreams of the goblinoid peoples. From there, the pair guided the development of the goblins and embarked upon a campaign of breeding smarter and more resilient forms of goblin. Concurrent to the rise of the Worm King, the goblinoids were split into subraces. The masters of the new “Empire of the Black Sun” would be the hobgoblins, taller and more organized than their smaller cousins. Their enforcers would be the bulky and mystically inclined bugbears, who would perform the priestly and arcane functions for the nascent realm honouring the God of Cruelty and Catastrophe.
Despite his methods, the Worm King still existed as a part of the People of the Blood and regarded himself as merely the best of them. He did not pay homage to the Black Sun nor the Crimson Moon. In fact, Nymarga did not regard the Pantheon in anything other than a neutral stance and the Divine Usurpation with disdain. With the ascension of Urza for his efforts at ending the invasion of Vadrik, Nymarga would demand, seek and win his own ascension into true immortality. As a result, he viewed the Usurpation as an active threat to his own designs, and took steps to neutralize its influence on any of his intended outcomes.
This is why he reinforced the lines of the Watchtower Kings. Knowing that they were bound by their oaths of duty and fealty at the beginning of his Black Empire, the Watchtower Kings would see to the goblinoid, orcish and giantkin threat. When the Empire fell, and the Watchtower Kings stepped aside, the power of the oaths were circumvented and Othune and Okar entered a new age. One in which the hobgoblins would exploit to the best of their ability.
The Empire of the Black Sun is the most organized realm in the Badlands to the northwest of the Shield Lands. It is ruled by a ‘tetrarchy’ of hobgoblin military nobles, the Empire split into northwestern and southeastern halves each ruled by a senior ruler and a junior ruler. This system was instituted after a great civil war of succession following the death of the last great hegemonic Emperor, Kozilek the Ninth, whose heir-apparent was assassinated quickly after the ruler died naturally.
The northwestern half is regarded as the richer and more powerful of the two, but possesses far fewer populations of goblins compared to the ruling hobgoblins and their bugbear enforcers. The southeastern portion of the empire is regarded as poorer and less powerful, but it has a dearth of goblin servants, serfs and slaves that makes labour very cheap. Of the two, the northwestern empire is much more battle-hardened. Its borders are constantly being tested by various orcish warlords leading hordes of varying size, and it has recently done most of the work in pushing back an errant landfall event.
As a result, the southeastern half of the empire senses its opportunity to become the preeminent partner and they are actively manipulating common property and resources to potentially end the tetrarchy. Internally, though, the southeastern empire is always on the brink of internecine combat between rival sects of the lesser goblinoid religions: the Spirits of Fire/Hunger, Fear/Murder, and Darkness/Death. Despite the official faith of both the NW and SE Empires being that of the Usurpation, the lesser goblinoids still cling to their ancient beliefs.
The bugbears writ large, and many female hobgoblins, have taken to the state religion and have developed it into dark reflections of both the Divine King sects. Blessings of the Black Sun and the Blood Moon had been central to the cohesion of the older unified empire, and they continue with primacy in the northwest. However, the friction with resurgent heathen beliefs amongst the lesser goblins has reflected poorly on the southeastern faith, which has resorted to mirroring the organized militant orders of the Church of the Divine King, rather than the more informal religion of the northwest which more closely mirrors the One Faith sect of the Steppelands.
The hobgoblins run their empire in a very organized manner. They purport to be “cruel but fair” in their rule, generally speaking, and rely heavily on slavery and dominance over the lesser goblins for the bulk of their labour. Hobgoblin society is extremely stratified, but even the lowest hobgoblin is still respected as a lifelong member of their legion if not a prominent family, especially in comparison to common goblins. Hobgoblins tend toward pragmatism in their politics, and their artisans are renowned for the same virtue in their architecture, their production of goods, and their art and culture. More specifically, hobgoblins tend toward adorning simple stone or wooden walls with tapestries or paintings eschewing non-portable adornments. In addition, hobgoblins have comparatively keen senses of smell and taste, and despite their reputation, are renowned for their food preparation and preservation.
The Southeastern Empire is ruled by a middle-aged legionary high commander named Ashiok the Second with a junior named Arkan Gix, a deeply religious noble whose late mother was Ashiok’s elder sister. The southeast is a simmering pot of influences and it interacts often with the Kingdoms of Okar, Othune and Eos; as well as the Confederation of Aldoon and the Dwarven Empire. The southeastern empire has sent probing raids and incursions into the kingdoms of Eos and Othune, especially when a famine was looming over the entire Badlands. This has created an impetus for Kings Malcador of Othune and Euwen of Eos to cooperate on mutual defense. Both of them sharing intelligence and reinforcing the Watchtowers and even re-establishing the Throne of Okar. Both Ashiok and Arkan Gix are well-aware of this, and they have disagreed as to what their next steps should be.
The Northwestern Empire is ruled by an aged nobleman named Tezzeret the Fourth and an ambitious legionary commander named Rabaskas the Third. They rule from the far northern citadel of Tor Anverada, a grand outpost conquered from an order of refugee high elves during the Age of Blood and Fire -- the name has since been bastardized by the goblinoid accent to be Tor-enn Veer or Torenvir. The Northwestern Legions are very well-disciplined and well-equipped to the point where their 5th Legion is famed for having routed the famed Dwarven Empire’s 1st Legion during the period of turmoil following the falling of Yhera’s Tears. The Legions of the Northwest are primarily concerned with turning aside the near-constant incursions by orcish warbands seeking glory for the favor of their own dark gods. In his time as junior emperor, Field Commander Tezzeret of House Hydra would march the 5th and 7th Legions eastward to take the fight directly to the beleaguered peoples of Aldoon and the Imperial Dwarves still weakened by the loss of their empire in the west.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Goblinoids are restricted to the northern reaches into the subarctic and arctic zones. The high plateaus, vales and valleys of the north play host to the goblinoids, though they also live subterranean lifestyles as easily as dwarves.

Lifespan

~60 years

Average Height

5' to 6'

Average Weight

150 to 250 lbs