Goblins
As a race, the goblins’ strengths include their parasitic, survivalist nature. Goblins are extremely hard to kill on an individual level much less eradicate as a group, because their position among the faewild magic has uniquely suited them for fast adaption to their environment. They reproduce quickly and have several litters of kits at a time, allowing a single female to have potentially hundreds of children over the course of her lifespan. They can eat virtually any organic matter excepting the caustic flesh of shadowkin drones, which allows them a wide array of menu options. In addition, the closely guarded female leaders allow for a protected head of operations that can continue to function even after the destruction of many males. Azzt-Bahor is virtually impregnable by any other races, and wave after wave of goblins can pour forth to protect it like workers from a hive.
However, the goblins have some basic disadvantages as well. While not stupid, the bulk of the population has a standard of under-achievement. Since males are not expected to understand or take an interest in the same topics that females must study, most don’t. This leads to a largely uneducated race that relies on animalistic cunning and instinct to survive. Furthermore, the cyclical patterns of “war” and “peace” with the sylphs prevents the goblins from making advances towards a more complex civilization.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Goblins are generally larger than their sylphen enemies, with thicker muscles and taller frames. Males usually stand somewhere between 5’9” and 6’5” in height. Those smaller, considered weak, are usually killed, and any larger than that are typically at a disadvantage for moving through cramped spaces within their caves. Mated females average between 5’8” and 6’; the younger females, still unmated and therefore lacking in the hormones necessary for their “second puberty”, rarely reach past 5’4”, and most are closer to 5’. Because of their more animalistic evolution, goblins also have proportionally longer limbs and digits than most of their fellow fae. This gives them a larger, more powerful reach in fighting and hunting, and allows them to run faster quadrupedally. Goblins move in a combination of bipedal and quadrupedal motions, frequently climbing or traveling on all fours while they hunt. This is partially because of the smaller, subterranean spaces they must move through; while most default to quadrupedal walking patterns, they will stand on two feet when on the surface or in a large enough cave to do so without brushing the ceiling. A goblin’s hands and feet are tipped with thick, naturally sharp claws that they use freely in battle. They are also excellent climbers, capable of scaling even vertical walls provided they can dig their claws into the surface they are attempting to climb. Goblins have also evolved to accommodate this skill, and get dizzy or disoriented by heights and upside-down positions much less often than other races.
Extremely pale due to the light-less environment below the surface of Namkural, goblins appear to lack almost any pigment at all. Their skin is porcelain or bone white, with only the faintest tinges of pink on their extremities. Some may choose to decorate themselves with warpaint before battle, but tattoos are almost unheard of because of their association with sylphs. Goblins may have hair in shades of silver, gray or white, and platinum blond ranging towards pale gold. This hair is often full and thick, but like most faeries they have little elsewhere on their bodies. Goblins have sharp, feral features that make them rather fearsome to other races, complete with mouths full of pointed teeth. Because of their larger teeth, they also have more flexible jaws and wider mouths.
Their eyes are commonly colored in bright, vibrant jewel tones. Goblin superstitions indicate that those with eyes that are fiery in color (ruby, orange, or gold) are wilder and more suited to martial roles, while those with cooler colors (sapphire, emerald, or amethyst) lend themselves towards magic, administration, and diplomacy. Whether or not there exists any real biological connection between eye color and societal role remains unclear. It may serve as a self-perpetuating prophecy, as goblin culture pressures individuals into certain roles based on this factor as well as talent and personality.
Genetics and Reproduction
Unlike most other faerie races on Namkural, the goblins have a drastically skewed ratio between males and females in their population. There are about fifty males per female, which creates vastly different habits of reproduction than those found in more evenly populated peoples.
Goblin family structure is organized in a pack system. This is in part to ensure that the greatest amount of strong genes pass on to the next generation. Females become mated to a pack of males and have many litters of children throughout their lifetime. These children are called “kits”; litters are usually comprised of three to five kits. Goblin children grow quickly for such a long-lived race, and are physically mature around the ages of 11 or 12. When their hormones change and the young males begin to show an interest in their mother, their father pack will kick them out of the nest. Those who do not leave are killed—though in some cases, females may choose to incorporate particularly strong sons into their pack.
Alternatively, female kits are ejected from their family when they are old enough that their fathers begin to show a sexual interest in them. At this point, the young females are escorted by their parents to Haven, where they will spend their lives up until the time they are caught and claimed as mates. During this time, they are smaller than their male counterparts, so they are safe in Haven since the only access tunnels are too narrow for males to enter the cavern. While the young females continue to mature, the older members of their gender school them in all of the topics and skills necessary for future leaders.
Once they have been kicked out of their parents’ nest, males will begin to form groups, typically with two to six members. Most packs settle around three or four individuals, as anything above that runs the risk of becoming too large and thus breaking apart due to internal conflict. The stronger packs will claim a living alcove in the Hive—the area of Azzt-Bahor cavern wall riddled with small caves like a complex honeycomb. Those who are too weak remain in the Pit, an area below Azzt-Bahor’s floor, accessible through a chasm along one wall. The nature of the opening prevents larger, stronger males from gaining access. Only unmated and unwanted males remain in the Pit; those who can hold their own and strive for a female live exclusively in the Hive.
Once a goblin male has joined a pack, he and the other members become an adopted family. Some are often blood brothers, but the bond of a pack supersedes that of heritage. Ideally, once a pack has formed, they will claim a nest in one of the alcoves in the Hive. These nests are outfitted with whatever soft things the males can find—blankets, furs, and even plant matter. They also decorate the inner chamber with pretty, often shiny objects in the hopes of impressing the mate that they aim to take.
In order for a pack to claim a mate, they must catch an unmated female while she is outside of Haven. Once she has been caught, all the male members of the pack mate with her and bring her back to their nest in the Hive. The first mating process sets in motion a cascade of hormones that begin a change within the young female. Initially, it creates an emotional bond between her and the males that cements the ties between them—essentially, the female impresses upon each of her mates and vice versa. Then, the hormones cause a “second adolescence” that creates a growth spurt in the female: she grows to be larger than most males over the course of her pregnancy in order to better manage the litter of kits. This also gives her a greater combat capability in order to help defend herself, her pack, and her children. This wave of hormones and resulting pregnancy also trigger the goblin females’ lifelong cycle of estrus periods. When in heat, an event which occurs every two weeks provided a female is not already pregnant, the female releases pheromones which cause her packmates to breed with her insatiably until the period ends. Due to their high fertility, it is rare for goblin women not to conceive during this time. Once they have been caught by a pack, a goblin female spends virtually all of her time either pregnant or in heat. After she has given birth, it takes about a month for the heat cycle to begin again. A goblin female’s pregnancy lasts twelve months.
Goblins are concerned very little by incest, and it holds none of the social stigma that it does in other cultures. All that goblins care for is the strength of their children; good genes will win out over any problematic family ties. Because of the rate at which the extremely fertile goblins reproduce, the larger pool of the population contains no degenerative defects of incest. Similarly, goblins do not have any compunctions against mating with other races. As such, if a pack of males encounter a female of another race on the surface, they will mate with her and bring her back to Azzt-Bahor. The only race that they will refuse to do so with are the sylphs. Any crossbreeds are regarded simply as goblins by their pureblood brethren, with no biases resulting from parentage.
Because the vast majority of male goblins never gain a female, there are quite a few instances of homosexual interaction between the unmated individuals. Typically, the larger and more aggressive males will pin down and sate themselves on their smaller counterparts. Like incest, homosexual relations bear no taboo in goblin society.
Growth Rate & Stages
Goblins can live to be, on average, about six hundred years old. However, because of the nature of their society, it is rare for a goblin to die of old age. In most cases, they will meet a violent end either due to a rivalry or once they are too old and slow to defend themselves.
There is no set age at which they are always considered mature in their society, since kits are considered adults as soon as their parents kick them out of the nest. Typically, this occurs around the time when their bodies start to become physically mature. For male children, this typically occurs at around ten to twelve years of age, or whenever they become old enough that they start to show a sexual interest in their mother. At that point, their father pack will kick them out of the nest to avoid conflict. In some rare cases, a male kit may be incorporated into his mother’s pack if she wishes to retain her strongest children. Female children are typically kicked out around twelve years of age when they first begin to show signs of girlhood and thus earn the attention of other male goblins, including their fathers. Female goblins usually end up with a pack of mates by the time they are sixteen, while males may claim a mate at any age so long as they are strong and fast enough to do so.
Ecology and Habitats
Fundamentally, goblins do not recognize national borders. The only political boundaries they bother to worry over are the ones that are reinforced with violence—such as the drone barrier between the faewild jungle and Isophelair, and the constant sylphen patrols along the southern border of Sadrom. While the more civilized races have arbitrarily assigned a chunk of land on maps of Quoiss to the goblins, no member of the race truly considers so-called Knirros to be a nation at all. The goblins only have one major settlement—inside the huge mountain cavern of Azzt-Bahor. There are some satellite encampments on the surface and in surrounding caverns, particularly populated by those of the diplomat caste, but most live within the main chambers. Whatever territory on the surface they may roam at a given time, the goblins consider to be theirs. As such, they have frequent territorial altercations with the jotnar.
Much of the rock surfaces in Azzt-Bahor are covered by a naturally occurring moss-like fungus that goes through a bioluminescent cycle. Its periods of highest light production correspond with Namkural’s night and day cycle, but in reverse. Thus, when it is nighttime on the surface, the light in Azzt-Bahor is at its brightest—this helps keep the goblins nocturnal despite years of dwelling underground. However, the light never reaches much above a faintly twilight glow, and surface races can see very little in the limited illumination.
Due to the size of Azzt-Bahor’s cavern, the inside of the mountain is home to several different districts as recognized by the goblin inhabitants.
-|| The Abyss – The Abyss consists of the tunnels deep below Azzt-Bahor; the first layer is mazelike in nature, intended to confuse and mislead those who would wish to approach the gods themselves. A stone statue of Kitomwell stands at the lowest chartable point of the tunnels, where the mouth of a seemingly bottomless pit exists. At the bottom lie the slumbering goblin deities. Even the goblins fear to venture this far underground, as the pitch black darkness cannot be pushed back with light. The females regularly schedule a culling of the weak, when the most disadvantaged males are thrown down into the bottomless pit.
-|| Den – Den is a secondary, much smaller chamber off of Azzt-Bahor’s main cavern, located behind and adjacent to the Throne Room. Outfitted with a variety of luxuries, Den serves as the meeting place for the Auphe and their packs. It is here that they discuss maneuvers, plans, and meet with the Kaiser and the Mother.
-|| Haven – Haven is another cavern offshoot from the main Azzt-Bahor chamber, connected by a small, hidden, easily defensible access tunnel far too tight for males to navigate. After they have been kicked out of their parents’ nest, young goblin females live in Haven until the day when they are claimed by a male pack. During their time in Haven, they are trained and taught by the Auphe to fulfill the role in society they must take when they are more mature.
-|| Hive – Hive includes much of Azzt-Bahor’s main walls, as they are riddled in a honeycomb-like structure of natural alcoves and manufactured nests where the strongest packs live. Some unmated male groups may claim nests in Hive, but they usually do not stay unmated for long. Goblin nests typically feature two small chambers; the outer one serves as the entrance and main living space, while the more recessed one serves as a better-protected area for sleeping, mating, and rearing kits.
-|| The Lake – Located between Hive and the Pit, the Lake is simply a subterranean pool fed by an underground river. Connected by a tributary, the Lake is not an enclosed entity: thus, creatures from the nearby rivers and lakes occasionally find their way into the Lake, which the goblins then “fish” for and eat. The Lake never remains dangerous for long, as it and its local hot springs are the goblins’ main water source.
-|| Outer Tunnels – Fanning outward from the top of Azzt-Bahor is a network of well-traveled tunnels constantly defended by roving packs of males. These serve as the main entrances to the goblin cavern, and emerge in several well-hidden places along the surface.
-|| The Pillars – Located in a rough semicircle spanning between Hive and the Lake, the Pillars and the cavern floor beneath them are the main area for socializing, bartering, and fighting in Azzt-Bahor. Most of life takes place on the Pillars, huge rock formations that stretch from the floor to the ceiling of the cavern. Some sections of them have been carved into shelves and alcoves, but the majority are simply the nearly sheer-surfaced results of thousand-year old stalagmites and stalactites that have since fused together. The Auphe also take up places on the Pillars during the goblin “daytime”, where they can be approached by the general public in order to teach, hear requests, and converse with their fellow goblins.
-|| The Pit – Located on the far side of the Lake from Hive, the Pit is a hollow area comprised of several rocky shelves, separating the cave floor of Azzt-Bahor from the Abyss. It is accessible only by a small chasm on the furthest wall. It is too small for the biggest, most aggressive males to gain access, though they do often prowl along the opening to catch and terrorize the smaller ones. Only unmated males live in the Pit; it is from this group that the culled sacrifices always come.
-|| Throne Room – A much smaller cavern that separates the main portion of Azzt-Bahor from Den, the Throne Room is where the Kaiser and Mother spend much of their time. It is there that they have audiences with the general goblin public, and from which they give out orders. The Kasier’s nest lies in a series of alcoves connected to the Throne Room.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Goblins are primarily carnivorous, though they do have some omnivorous tendencies in order to accommodate a balanced diet. They will eat anything they can hunt, catch, or snare in traps, including other sapient races. They particularly favor sylphs, though this bias has arisen mostly because of availability and racial tension rather than taste. That being said, goblins can digest and will eat just about anything except shadowkin drones. In order to prevent overtaxing on the resources of the region, hunting parties are often organized by the larger and more intelligent packs, under the direction of their females. Goblins also hunt and fish in the network of caves and tunnels around them, as they are home to a number of likewise-subterranean creatures.
The goblin population supplements its diet with some fruits and vegetables from the surface, but most of the plant matter in their meals comes from subterranean fungi. These foods are cultivated in farms run under the guidance of the intelligent females, and strictly managed to keep the large population of Azzt-Bahor fed year round.
Goblinkind has become known for producing three distinct types of alcohol. The first two, verletzung and kopfsmerzen, are very strong alcohols produced from underground tubers that grow native to the region. They are favored by the male population, and production is maintained by word-of-mouth knowledge on how to distill the liquor. Because of this imperfect process, versions made by different packs or family groups may have a different taste or proofs than others. Most females, however, do not enjoy these rough, harsh drinks and instead direct their males to create the golden tamharse wine. It is consumed solely by the females and smartest males, as it is fairly rare and complicated to produce properly. However, tarmharse is extremely prized by the other races that have had the chance to taste it, and is considered to be the highest quality wine on Namkural. Most do not credit the goblins with its creation, instead believing that tamharse is produced by the reclusive jotnar and then commandeered in goblin raids.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Unbeknownst to the sylphs and other races of Namkural, the goblins function in a matriarchal society. The males are strictly trained from birth never to discuss this fact with outsiders, and will resist even sylphen tortures to preserve the secret of their hierarchy. This is maintained in order to prevent their enemies from learning of the potential weakness presented by the drastically low ratio of females to males.
To the rest of the world, the visible goblin ruler is the male Kaiser. He possesses no title in the goblin language—thus, as the shadowkin were the first sentient race the goblins encountered, the Shadowkai word for an equivalent ruler became adopted into Goblin. The Kaiser is always the current strongest mated male; in order to gain the position, he must defeat his predecessor, who is then sacrificed along with the rest of his pack to sate the gods. The Kaiser’s male packmates gain no particular titles, though they do maintain their status as friends, brothers, and compatriots.
However, the Kaiser is simply a political figurehead used to mislead the sylphs. Behind him, the real leader is the Kaiser’s mate. She is referred to among the goblin simply as Mother, but like Pahniss she is never mentioned outside Azzt-Bahor. She holds the true power, making all the decisions which are then carried out by the Kaiser and the rest of their pack. The Mother stands above the rest of the female population in terms of hierarchy.
Just under the Mother and the Kaiser are the Auphe and their packs. The title of Auphe is granted to the top ten most powerful females; they comprise a council beneath the rulers and act as a check against the Mother’s power. If a string of offenses mount upon her, the rest of the Auphe will conspire to overthrow the Kaiser’s pack and depose the current Mother. In addition to acting as both advisors and foils to the Mother, the Auphe take primary roles of leadership within the community, acting as teachers, loremasters, and guiding hands to the rest of the population.
Because of the females’ superior political power, mated packs outrank the unmated ones. Typically, this structure reinforces itself because only the smartest and strongest males ever succeed in catching a mate. As a result, hunting parties, patrols, and military groupings are organized and led by the mated females via their packs.
Pack members do not have set roles, as each group adjusts to suit its own members. Typically, the strongest male adopts a position of leadership, functioning as the alpha of the pack. In most cases the rest of the males shuffle out into a semblance of a hierarchy with the weakest at the bottom. Nevertheless, he does not become a target of ridicule or abuse. Instead, the stronger members of the family work to protect him as they would their female mate. In these instances, the omega male becomes the caretaker of the kits and maintains the nest.
In contrast to the martial and caster males, the diplomatic caste of goblins is uniquely placed in Azzt-Bahor’s society. Smaller and less imposing than the other phenotypes, those chosen to be diplomats typically have a more advanced intellect closer to that of the females. They are trained by the females in a similar educational system to their own, and groomed to be able to function in more “civilized” societies like that of the shadowkin. These males represent the goblin interests in negotiations with the sylphs. Because of their smaller physical stature, diplomats are frequently the omegas of the packs that adopt them. While they may seem to be at a disadvantage in a culture as ferocious as that of the goblins, the diplomats are frequently taken in by packs intending to secure mates. This makes them more attractive to the female goblins, who favor well-balanced packs with a variety of skills.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Goblins typically favor short, choppy, abrupt names characterized by harsh sounds. Their only names are usually first names, given at birth by their parents. Only the Kaiser, his pack, and diplomats who travel outside Azzt-Bahor take last names—these are usually a noun or adjective they identify with in some way, thus taking them as a title of sorts. They do this largely to better differentiate themselves to non-goblins in case there are duplicate names.
Common phonemes include A, C, D, E, G, K, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, Z, -or, -an, -sy, -is, -ik, -sk, -zi, -ek, gor-, -dig, -og, -ol, -sz, -el, -ok, -ka, -en, -mer, -mos, and -eri.
Sample Male Names: Ekendig, Synet, Gorgan, Rezzo, Arlock, Noskell, Skolog, Skelis, Delton, Utisk
Sample Female Names:Vekayzi, Zecha, Irusti, Echinae, Teska, Thekla, Tasia, Gyssa, Nakalta, Hyveri
Average Technological Level
Goblins practice little magic though they are perfectly capable of doing so. Unlike most other faerie races, goblins do not train in an academic fashion. Instead, their naturally occurring sorcerers almost exclusively practice warshaping. Rather than learning from a strict and standardized school, they simply manifest the changes they desire through force of will. Since they do not grow into their power with preconceived notions about how magic functions, the goblin warshapers are entirely free to determine their personal rules for casting. Because of this, some believe that the goblins have a natural shapeshifting ability.
Despite this innate favoring of warshaping and combat magic, goblins are capable of being trained as more civilized and rule-bound casters. However, this rarely occurs save in the instance of crossbreeds.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Like the majority of other languages on Namkural, Goblin developed as a dialect of Old Fae. However, its relative isolation from the influence of other developing Faerie languages has left it vastly different from others in the region. Harsh and abrupt in its sounds, Goblin suits the animalistic, almost guttural vocalizations of the species that created it. While it has been fully developed as an articulate language, finding it in a written form is rare, and it employs the Old Fae alphabet rather than one of its own. Distinctly from other languages, however, Goblin also contains vocalizations such as yips, growls, snarls, and purrs that are utilized as something of a sublanguage and often accompany discourse in order to transmit tones and depth of meaning. Because of this, those who are nonnative speakers typically talk in a “hollow” or diminished way if they neglect to include such sounds as indicators of intent. Goblins they interact with will still be able to understand them, but they may be regarded as speaking with an unusual dialect.
Most male goblins, at least the unmated ones, never learn to read or write Goblin, much less any other language. Females, on the other hand, are always literate. In fact, they are taught not only to read and write Goblin, but also Sylphen and Shadowkai since those two races are the ones they are most likely to interact with. In some very rare cases they may also study Jotun.
When they apply themselves, goblins easily pick up other languages. Though they may not be able to read and write them, even unmated males tend to grasp at least the basics of the various tongues they encounter. Most goblins know and speak Old Fae as well as their native language, and even some snatches of Sylphen so that they may understand at least a surface-level comprehension of their enemies. Typically, mated males are urged by their females to study other tongues. However, without this outside push to apply themselves, most goblins not among the diplomat caste do not bother to seek out the continuation of knowledge and learning.
Common Dress Code
Culture and Cultural Heritage
The major goblin philosophy can be summarized as, “Hunt. Eat. Multiply.” As one of the races that developed under the influence of the faewild magic rather than outside of it, the goblins embody a more feral, animalistic culture than others like the sylphs or sidhe. They concern themselves with little beyond their almost psychotic devotion to survival. Because of this, they have been able to flourish in one of the most inhospitable environments on Namkural.
Because of their heavily male-gendered population, female goblins are considered treasures, meant to be guarded and protected at all costs. Female goblins are never present on the surface, and no other races have ever even seen one. All males obey the orders given by a female—the only case in which they do not is when they are given conflicting orders by a female other than their own mate. In this instance, their loyalty to their mate wins out over the other woman. Goblin males are also trained never to reveal any details about their female counterparts to other races. Because of this and the secretive nature of goblin women, no other race is aware of their true significance. This subterfuge has remained intact because the goblin male brain is specifically wired to obey orders given by a female.
Goblins are often far too concerned with animalistic instincts and survival in order to hate other races, but they do reserve a particular dislike for sylphs. They will go out of their way to attack and kill sylphs even when they are not hunting for food.
As a result of their uniquely self-sufficient culture, goblins largely operate under the rule that if they want something, they learn how to make it. Thus, the males often collect a wide, strange array of skills from blacksmithing, tanning, cooking, distilling, to carpentry, and a variety of other talents that they or their mates require. In addition, they tend to be rather utilitarian, not keeping things that they don’t deem necessary in some way—including other goblins. Those who are too injured to fend for themselves or otherwise become a burden on their pack typically do not survive for very long. Their pack may not kill them, but another likely will.
Due to their natural living places, goblins rarely if ever suffer from claustrophobia.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Long before the first conflict between the goblins and sylphs, the goblins existed without deities. Their original leaders were a pack of three males—a warrior, a mage, and a diplomat—and their mate, Pahniss, who ushered the goblins through the difficult periods of transition shortly after the cataclysm. The effect of chaotic faewild magic accelerated their evolution to quickly suit them for their new home in the subterranean places of Quoiss. As their power and renown grew, the strongest male of Pahniss’ pack consumed his two packmates. Incorporating their power for himself, the reborn goblin adopted the name Kitomwell—a mixture of his and the other two original males’ names. The process of absorbing these other powerful goblins, who willingly gave themselves up in order to better protect Pahniss, pushed Kitomwell into Ascension. Pahniss quickly followed.
Both had already become deities by the time the goblins began to push north, leading their people in search of more reliable food sources. Shortly after the fall of Kiertald, the old sylphen capital, the war between the two races began. During the conflict, Kitomwell injured Grand Admiral Kassald, shattering his wings and rendering him incapable of flight. In retaliation, Grand Archon Dursaedhe pursued Kitomwell into the tunnels around Azzt-Bahor with the intention of killing him. As this occurred prior to the Ascension of the sylphen deities, Dursaedhe stood little chance against the god. Nevertheless, she caught up with Kitomwell and Pahniss deep under the surface of the plane. Desperate to keep his mate safe, Kitomwell quickly defeated her and fled without finishing the job: thus, while Dursaedhe bears numerous scars from her encounter, she survived the mauling and loss of an eye. While she was unconscious after the battle, Kitomwell tunneled straight down into the rock in order to create an escape route for himself and Pahniss. The sylphen and goblin deities have not battled since—indeed, the sylphs are not even aware of Pahniss’ existence as none have ever seen her. Even Dursaedhe does not remember her from the brief glimpse she may have gained before Kitomwell laid her low. As far as she and the other sylphen deities are aware, she won the fight, injuring the goblin male badly enough that he fled rather than stopping to kill her.
In truth, Kitomwell and Pahniss are still alive and well living beneath Azzt-Bahor. Unlike the shadowkin deity Ersazn and his wife Ashei, the two goblin mates have not created a pocket realm; rather, they live on the material plane in an utterly black, seemingly bottomless hole referred to as the Abyss. Its entrance exists in the bottommost portion of Azzt-Bahor’s cavern, descending straight down with smoothed walls that are unable to be scaled even by the mortal goblins. As Kitomwell no longer emerges to hunt, the Auphe frequently organize a culling of the weak, in which the most unfit males from the Pit are thrown down to feed the dormant gods. The goblins may not actively participate in classical methods of worship, but they do live in abject fear of their deities.
Relatively unique among the faerie races, the goblins have no afterlife. Those souls too weak to pass judgment, including non-goblin who are thrown to Kitomwell in the Abyss, are simply devoured for energy by the mated gods. Those strong enough, which comprise most of the goblin population, are simply recycled and reused in new goblins. While these souls are reincarnated indefinitely until they are destroyed, goblins do not retain memories of their past lives. Thus, they live entirely in the moment with no compunctions about how their actions may be judged: beyond trying to strive for the greatest strength they can.
The relationship between the deities and mortal goblin rulers is of particular note, though the bulk of the goblin population is not aware of the symbiosis. After their Ascension, Kitomwell and Pahniss determined that the best odds of survival for their race included a contingency plan in the event that the sylphen gods succeeded in destroying them. Thus, the Kaiser, his pack, and their mate, the Mother, rule simultaneously as figureheads and sacrifices. In the event that Kitomwell is killed, the current Kaiser consumes the rest of his pack and becomes Pahniss’ new mate; Pahniss herself consumes the Kaiser’s previous mate. Alternatively, if Pahniss were ever to fall, Kitomwell would eat the Kaiser’s pack and take the Mother as his new mate. If a Kaiser falls to a stronger goblin, who thus inherits his position, he and his mates are sacrificed to the Abyss as an offering to the gods.
History
Like the other races that call Namkural home, the goblins evolved from the ancient erlka. Originally driven underground by territory altercations with other races in the region, they changed with the magic of the faewild rather than in spite of it. As a result of accelerated evolution from this influence, they adapted relatively quickly to subterranean conditions.
Prior to the advent of the Sylphen-Goblin Wars, the goblin population reached a point where they had exhausted the resources in the forested mid-northern region of the Quoiss continent. Driven by the imperative to survive, the goblins attempted to push south into what had become the new shadowkin nation of Isophelair. They were rebuffed by the efforts of the shadowkin gods and the protective drones, whose acidic blood content and poisonous flesh rendered the drones unfit for goblin consumption. Having no choice but to move further north, the collective goblin population began to tunnel toward the mountains above them under the guidance of their leader-turned-god, Kitomwell, and his mate, their goddess Pahniss. A group of goblin scouts and diggers preceded the main bulk of the population in order to seek out not only other food sources but also a new location for their subterranean homes.
Their roll northward put them in contact with both the towering jotnar and, ultimately, the sylphs. The jotnar were few enough in number that they could not sustain the encroaching goblin population; still seeking a new source of food, the subterranean invaders eventually began to hollow out the caverns inside the mountain Kiertald. The leading fringe of male goblins who were overseeing the construction of the tunnels did not realize that they had come so close to a source of food—Kiertald was the seat of the current sylphen capital. As the internal structure of the mountain became weakened under the goblins’ digging, the land above it collapsed. When Kitomwell and the ruling packs of goblins learned of the discovery, they destroyed the tunnels leading to the sylphen capital and settled in the caverns of the dead volcano Azzt-Bahor, to the south of Sadrom’s borders.
The goblins remain there to this day, in constant conflict with the sylphs who they still hunt and kill for food. While to the goblins this struggle is merely an aspect of survival, the more civilized races consider them to be at war with the sylphs. Even their deities have entered the battle, as the sylphen gods Ascended directly as a result of their campaign against the goblins. Nowadays the goblins roam the land between Sadrom and Isophelair, though they do not recognize any traditional borders nor possess what would typically be considered a nation. Their only settlement is Azzt-Bahor and its few satellite caverns; however, the plentiful food in the region has caused their population to grow exponentially. Azzt-Bahor has become a hive of very hungry, very violent goblins who pillage the surface for resources. Only the sylphs prevent their advancement further northward; similarly, the shadowkin drones hem them in from the south. Because the goblins have not warded their homes like the more civilized peoples, they are still subject to the influence of the faewild, and thus adjust rather quickly to any changes in their environment.
Historical Figures
The current goblin Kaiser is named Synet Morskeri. He is the warrior portion of a two-male pack; the other male in his family is a warshaper named Kimash Skelir. Their mate, the current Mother, is Vekyazi Acket.
Synet is infamous among the goblins and sylphs alike because he succeeded in defeating the former Grand Archon, Ralshidur Kelarrad, in battle and severing his wings. This led to Ralshidur’s later suicide. The wings still hang above Synet’s throne.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Resulting from their cannibalistic nature, the goblins have generally poor relations with all of their neighbors on Quoiss. However, their most venomous hatred is held only for the sylphs, with which they have been at odds since shortly after the cataclysm that shattered Namkural. The sylphs consider this conflict to be a war, but to the goblins it is simply a matter of survival and food. They do not have a true military, and their “fighting force” is comprised of goblin hunting parties loosely organized by larger packs and the most aggressive males. From the sylphen perspective, the two races go through varying periods of peace followed by conflict—in truth, this occurs because of the natural fluctuations in the goblin population. During times of “war”, the goblin numbers decline as a result of their fighting with the sylphs. Then, during the lack of killing, the population rises once again until the amount of goblins pushes them to once more hunt and eat the sylphs to the north.
The goblins have a standing peace with the shadowkin to the south. This is largely due to the protective perimeter of shadowkin drones that they cannot penetrate. As such, goblins cannot incorporate shadowkin into their diet because of the divine guardians that rebuff them. Because of this relationship, Isophelair is where all diplomatic negotiations between the goblins and sylphs take place. Only diplomat-caste goblins and their packs are allowed inside Isophelair’s borders; thus, both races have a strict policy of arrested conflict within the shadowkin nation, even when they are at war. This allows the shadowkin to remain the neutral party, as they refuse to aid either race in the fighting.
However, the goblins and jotnar are anything but at peace. Their conflict is not as heated as that between the goblins and sylphs, but jotnar do not hesitate to kill any goblins that infringe on their lands. In particular, the lack of respect for jotun sacred places has earned the goblins a poor reputation with their larger neighbors. Jotnar can frequently be seen wearing necklaces of goblin teeth. In turn, goblins are perfectly willing to eat a jotnar provided that they can bring them down. It usually takes a full pack of goblin to take down a jotnar warrior.
The only race that bears a hatred for goblins that rivals the sylphs are the subterranean throan. Specifically trained to dispatch packs of goblins, the throan have managed to maintain relative secrecy. Most of their victim race doesn’t even know that they exist, because they leave no survivors and take no prisoners.
In common with the other faerie races, goblins will seek out and utterly destroy even a single redcap that they encounter in their tunnels or on the surface. The threat of a rival warren is too great for them to ignore; a warring band of goblins will even momentarily ally with a patrol of sylphs in times of war if they come across redcaps during their battle.
The other peoples of Namkural regard goblins as little better than animals. Most who live elsewhere other than Quoiss will never see one, as they only rarely leave the continent.
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