Kobold
Basic Information
Anatomy
Kobolds were a race of reptilian humanoids with scaled skin between reddish brown and black in color and burnt orange to red eyes. Their legs were sinewy and digitigrade. They had long, clawed fingers and a jaw like a crocodile. Small white or tan horns protruded from their head, and they had rat-like tails. Like other reptiles, kobolds also shed their skin periodically. A growing kobold might do this as frequently as weekly, but a developed one usually shed once per season.
Some rare kobold children were "dragonwrought". These kobolds possessed wings like those of a dragon, and some were of enough use to allow flight. Ritual demanded that the egg be taken to a sacred hatching place, and dragonwrought kobolds would be raised above ground if they were able to fly, so that they could learn to use their wings.
Growth Rate & Stages
Kobolds had the highest birth rate among humanoids. A Kobold egg needed incubation for about two months, but the newly hatched kobold could walk in just hours. The eggs were particularly sturdy, and the young inside could survive even if the egg broke as much as fifteen days early. Kobold young matured quickly, having reached young adulthood in six years. They often laid eggs in a common nest, with specialized foster parents watching over the eggs and wyrmlings. It was also possible to tell dragonwrought Kobolds by their eggs because the shell would be speckled with flecks of the dragon's color, which became more numerous throughout the incubation period.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Kobolds were omnivorous, eating plants and animals, but would not refuse to eat intelligent creatures if the opportunity presented itself. They were able to eat just about anything when the situation became desperate, even tree bark or bone. Due to their cold-blooded nature, kobolds that had spent time in a warm place would not need to eat for days.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Tribal
Average Intelligence
Comparable to other sentient humanoids, Kobolds had civilizations all their own on every continent of Eurra.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Kobolds possessed darkvision and were particularly sensitive to bright light. They were capable of using magic and had natural tendencies towards sorcery.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
Kobolds would take a lot of care maintaining their claws and teeth, using smooth stones to polish claws and chewing roots to clean teeth. Unlike snakes, they did not shed their entire skin at once; they instead shed portions of it over a period of time, much like lizards do. The process was usually accelerated by rubbing. Bitterleaf was often applied after shedding to help the new scales acquire strength and shine. They enjoyed swimming and would gather to bathe together, especially after shedding.
Courtship Ideals
Kobolds did not maintain monogamous relationships, and due to the importance they placed on propagation, they chose mates by practical measures rather than love or other emotions. Mating was an impersonal act for kobolds.
Average Technological Level
Kobolds make up for their physical ineptitude with a cleverness for trap making and tunneling. Their lairs consist of low tunnels through which they move easily but which hinder larger humanoids. Kobolds also riddle their lairs with traps. The most insidious kobold traps make use of natural hazards and other creatures. A trip wire might connect to a spring-loaded trap that hurls clay pots of flesh-eating green slime or flings crates of venomous giant centipedes at intruders.
Despite this seemingly low level of engineering prowess, Kobolds are capable of much greater works. As the Bad Luck Blitzkrieg adventuring party can attest, Kobolds can be uniquely inventive when given enough to draw inspiration from and the resources to realize their goals. Within a short period of time a Kobolds named Niks was able to design an airship based on observing Dwarven models used in Jord. Further, those designs were used to create a practical ship that his companions used for several days until circumstances caused it to be scuttled.
Common Etiquette Rules
Their lairs were often overcrowded, although when one tribe became too numerous, it split into numerous smaller ones. The overcrowding also eliminated the concept of privacy, so kobolds slept in communal areas where nudity was not regarded as shameful or offensive, even to the opposite sex. Kobolds wore clothing for function or ritual, but not to prevent nudity.
Common Dress Code
Kobolds liked to wear red or orange garments, which were usually ragged. Most kobolds were miners and so dressed in sleeveless tunics and breeches; but kobolds enjoyed dressing in more elegant clothing for festivities. These included clothes made from silk or leather, but tailored clothes were only common among leaders. Garments were often made to compliment the wearer's eyes, which involved the use of orange or red dyes. Other garments might be dyed to demonstrate the wearer's affinity to a particular kind of dragon. Kobolds required the dexterity in their feet too often to wear footwear, and the soles of their feet were hard enough to cope with most surfaces. Due to the amount of time kobolds spend mining, gemstones were readily available, and they used these to adorn their clothing, and to make jewelry.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Two kobolds would fight to settle their differences, although these fights were not usually lethal. In more severe cases Kobolds preferred exile to execution. Crimes against the tribe were the worst offenses to bring up such a punishment.
Common Myths and Legends
Many Kobold tribes deify dragons and take up residence in or near their lairs so as to better serve them. A kobold tribe would present a dragon with tributes and sacrifices and whatever they thought it may like; they might have even seen it as a great honor to be devoured by the creature. If a kobold tribe was not accepted by a dragon they might start working for it in secret. Once a tribe settled to serve a dragon, their entire existence was to serve their god in every way.
In addition to the dragons they revere, kobolds worship a lesser god named Kurtulmak. Legends speak of how Kurtulmak served as Tiamat’s vassal in the Nine Hells until Garl Glittergold, the god of gnomes, stole a trinket from the Dragon Queen’s hoard. Tiamat sent Kurtulmak to retrieve the trinket, but Garl Glittergold played a trick on him, collapsing the earth and trapping the kobold god in an underground maze for eternity. For this reason, kobolds hate gnomes and pranks of any kind. Kurtulmak’s most devoted worshipers dedicate themselves to finding and releasing their lost god from his prison-maze.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Kobolds held a hatred for nearly all other humanoid races and enjoyed killing and torturing them, in particular brownies, gnomes, pixies and sprites. They were resentful of their short stature and hated members of other races who poked fun at them for this. They would naturally tend to hate larger creatures, and although they would show respect and obedience if required. However, this is a generalization. On a more individual basis Kobolds might form bonds with members of other races if there was mutual benefit or something to the relationship that benefitted them in some way.
The larger humanoid races that controlled the bulk of the world seemed to be in a consistent love/hate relationship with Kobolds. On the one hand, most would see Kobolds as pests causing an incursion into their territory and attempt to remove them by any means. On the other, large and growing cities around the world were known to offer Kobold tribes the recesses below their streets in exchange for expanding and maintaining sewer systems.
Lifespan
Up to 120 years
Average Height
2' – 2'5", rarely 3'
Average Weight
35–45 lb
Average Physique
Diminutive and lithe with wiry strength
Geographic Distribution
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