Skratte - Goblins

The Skratte are a race of Goblinoids found across most of Enga. While they are similar in size and looks to the Dyr (Feral Goblins) found in the deep mountains throughout Enga, the Skratte have integrated into wider Engan society. They are still looked down on by some, especially by the Aldr, but still they have become a valued resource to many. The Skratte are especially at home in raids, where they often serve as scouts and infiltrators and as an able labor force for farms and villages.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Humanoid/Goblinoid

Genetics and Reproduction

• Skratte reproduce like the other humanoid species on Enga. Female Skratte can have 1 or 2 children a year from the time they reach adulthood at the age of 8 until they reach the age of 45 on average. While this could mean that a particularly prolific female could have 75 children over the course of her life, the average is closer to 40.
• However, Infant and childhood mortality among the Skratte is very high, coming close to almost 30% of all infants or children dying before the age of 2.

Growth Rate & Stages

• Since the Skratte mature so quickly and reach sexual maturity by age 8, they reproduce exceptionally fast. Now that they have integrated with the greater society of Enga, their life expectancy has risen and given rise to a slight, but ever increasing, population issue.

Ecology and Habitats

• The Skratte take most of their attitude toward the environment and use of land from the Firar and Ulda they live closest with. To that end, they model their settlements physically the same, as well as politically. As of yet, there is no record of a Skratte that has risen above Minstr Jarl.
• In the greater cities, however, they tend to form larger community blocks that live together closely. This can, if the city falls on leaner times, create teaming ghettoes where the Skratte fall back on natural order structures, sometimes leaning closer to Dyr Skaratte in temperament.. There has been more than one instance of a Rikr expelling a majority of Skratte from their city because of this. Unsurprisingly, if this occurs, the Skratte tend to go feral and end up as a longer term menace to the city, leading to what is typically called a “Culling” where the cities inhabitants will organize a mass hunt to remove them. During these times, other Skaratte remaining in the city go out of their way to hunt down the exiled Skratte to prove themselves.

Dietary Needs and Habits

• The diet of the average Skratte is mainly meat based. They have no problem consuming the flesh of most animals and even monsters found on Enga. They typically avoid catabolism or consuming the flesh of other sentient races, but they have been known to do so when times are hard.
• Supplemental diet includes typical Firar comparable food. Grains, root vegetables, etc.
• They are fond of Ales and Mjod. Excessively so at times.

Additional Information

Social Structure

• Within Skratte villages, each family's status in the village is based on its ability to help the village survive. This can lead to a somewhat rigid caste system that places those with the most resource providing capability at the top, and those with the least at the bottom. The Skratte can be somewhat harsh with each other, often with the higher castes brow-beating or bullying the lower castes to keep them in place.
• Outside their villages, the Skratte act as lower than all the other races. This is a survival response mostly, to prevent seeming like they are a threat. However, if they find themselves in a position of strength, they easily fall back into the roles they have in their own villages.

Facial characteristics

• Their teeth are pointed, giving them a somewhat devilish look when they smile, but their larger eyes portray a softer disposition. They have pointed, slightly too large noses. Typical hair colors are black to near-black brown, going grey as they age. Their ears are long and pointed, often pierced or notched.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

• Eastern Enga:
• Found in greatest umbers in the north, largest population density is in the Jarldom of Balkas. In that Jarldom, they have used their relationship with wolves to aid in hunting to provide for villages in the Jarldom as the frost slowly creeps south. In many villages in this area, they are respected and welcomed as heroes.
  
• Central Enga:
• In the Jarldom of Holl there are two Skratte villages. There, they help provide food by farming the fields, hunting game, providing raiders and add to the swelling numbers of that Jarldom.
  
• Western Enga:
• The majority of Skratte in West Enga are in the Rikr Jarldom of Hals. The Skratte in this area refuse to enter the lands of Andaskfit over the mountains north of the Jarldom. They also refuse to explain why.

Average Intelligence

• Most Skratte are slightly above the average Firar intelligence level, quick witted and very capable. They are often described as “devious” by those that dislike them.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

• Skratte have exceedingly good vision in the dark of night. Additionally, they can see, track and hunt on sight or smell at a great distance.
• Few Skratte are able to use magic, but those that can are well tuned to the magic of the world. It is likelier that you will find them as Druids, rather than outright mages, but it still occurs.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

• Wolves and the Skratte have a special relationship. Over thousands of years, they have formed a symbiotic relationship, helping each other hunt to their mutual benefit. They continued this relationship as they integrated with wider Engan society. It is not uncommon to see Skratte mounted on wolves during battle. Near Skratte villages, the number of wolves in the area is almost 5 times the areas outside it.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

• Since the Skratte became part of larger society, they have adopted Firar naming traditions like most races on Enga. The major deviation is that they always use their home village or city as their surname. An example: Bjorn Holl is a Skratte named Bjorn from the Village of Holl.
• This can lead to some confusion if a Skratte has the same first name as another in the same village, but Skratte mothers do their best to avoid this.

Major Organizations

• The Goblin villages on Enga fall in line with the same Jarl structure. At present there is not a single Rikr or Hersir Jarldom with a Goblin as Jarl. Available histories show this has never occurred. In purely Goblin villages, they model their society off of wider Firar norms for title naming, and there will be a Minstr Jarl.

Beauty Ideals

• Scars earned in battles are considered a high mark of beauty and honor.

Gender Ideals

Asked about gender by a Viatori traveler, a Skratte in Lofot replied:

“There’s those of us with bits, and those without. What more can I say”.

Courtship Ideals

• Mate selection is typically via arranged marriage or match. The higher caste males may have more than one mate.

Relationship Ideals

• Male Skratte typically are slightly smaller in frame than their female counterparts. The males are stronger however, and from an outsiders perspective, their relationships can appear abusive. This not so within their societies, and is the accepted way of things and has been for thousands of years.

Common Dress Code

• Similar to the dress code of other inhabitants in Enga. Furs, dark clothing, leather and mail armor, just smaller. Common work wear for farmers adapted to their size, mostly dark colors, often in disrepair.

Common Taboos

It is considered taboo for:
• Skratte to become involved in romantic or physical relationships with other species. This isn’t common by any means, but on occasion does occur. Typically with Uldas (though one can not say why). Breaking this Taboo can cause the Skratte in question to be cast out of his family, village or peer group.
• Arts and artist professions are so heavily frowned upon that it might as well be universally banned. A Skratte choosing to become an artist for a living would do so knowing that he would never again be welcomed in his family, village or any other Skratte in Enga. A Skratte bard is a very rare sight (bordering on myth), though a welcome one in most Firar villages.
• Any aggressive behavior that is not in self defense against Ulda can be met with execution. This is a byproduct of the Skratte being helped by the Ulda in the past. This feeling goes so deep sometimes that Skratte will go out of their way to help the Ulda, sometimes to the point of servitude.

History

• There are no viable records available at any of the great cities, The Godhome at Skali, or the libraries of Toft that speak to the origins of the Skratte. Given the distant relation to the Dyr, it can be assumed that the Skratte started very similar to them.
• The first record that has been found was a single mention in a journal from a Gnomish trader in 1575 BB:

  “The village took in a few of the Skratte from the hills recently. They were starved nearly to death and came down out of the hills in desperation. The village was split on whether we should take them in or not, but mercy eventually prevailed.”

• Within 500 years of this entry, the Skratte begin to appear regularly in records of raids, trade negotiation, and the founding of villages. As time goes on, they became more and more integrated until the present day where there is no village in Enga that you can’t find them.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

• Ulda (Gnomes): Skratte relationships with the Ulda are probably the most cordial and accepting. Given that both races are natural tinkerers, it's not suprising that they would end up working together to create and invent. This is the one area that “artistry” is tolerated in greater Skratte society.
• Firar (Humans): The Firar look upon the Skratte as a tool. Their numbers, but small size, mean that raiding parties can be larger without a need to increase ship sizes, making them likelier to succeed. Where they farm, the Skratte are tenacious, often bringing in double the yield that a Firar will on the same field. The relationship is easy, as the Firar look down on the Skratte a bit, but the Skratte expect that.
• Aldr (Elves): The Aldr do not interact with the Skratte unless they are forced to. No Skratte live in the greater Aldr cities, nor on their lands. They are seen as a corrupt and tainted race by the Aldr. Any interaction is typically tainted with insinuation and slights, though Aldr high-mindedness would never allow them to outright say anything derogatory. The Skratte know this, and often do things to Aldr (pranks and such) to try to drive them to speak openly with contempt. Among the Skratte, if you manage to get the Aldr to break there normal stoic and snobish attitude toward the Skratte, it is the height of social prowess and those that manage this feat are looked on by their peers with awe.
• Dvergr (Dwarves): Almost nothing is known about how these two races interact. Dvergr are rarely seen outside their mines and underground cities, so little is known. It is assumed that they would treat them like the rest of the races on Enga: contempt, looked down on, barely tolerated (unless you bring ale).
• Dyr (Feral Goblins): The Skaratte hate the Dyr. For them it is like looking into the past and seeing an uglier version of themselves. For that reason, when encountered, the Skratte will hunt the Dyr with a single mindedness bordering on obsession. To allow them to live is a mercy they are not capable of.

Genetic Descendants

• Dyr (Feral Goblins)

Scientific Name

Temja Skratte

Lifespan

60 +1d20

Average Height

3’5” + 2d4”

Average Weight

30 lb x 1 (Height Adjustment)

Average Physique

• The Skratte are slight of build, lean and not overly muscular.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

• Skin colors range from green to yellow, through to any shade of orange to deep red.

Related Myths

• Skoll and Hati

A player choosing to play a Skratte as a PC gets the following:

• Ability Scores: +2 Dex, +1 CON
• Age: 10 + 1d12
• Height: As per Article
• Weight: As per Article
• Speed: 30 ft
• Darkvision: 60ft, Can see in dim light as though it was bright and darkness as though dim light. Cannot see colors in darkness, only shades of grey.
• Nimble Escape: Can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of a turn.
• Languages: Common, Ulda, Skratte
• Hatred: Upon encountering Dyr, roll 1d20. On a score of 15 or less, attack immediately. All attack rolls for the first round are made at advantage.
• Friendship: A Skratte PC may not attack any Ulda unless they pass a DC 15 check.
• Skratte Vargr: At level 4, a Skratte PC, regardless of class, may take a Vargr as a companion and mount. However, there is no telepathic link, but they can communicate verbally.