Goblinfolk
The Goblinfolk of Nedia are the races of creatures most plagued by Mountain Sick. Until the discovery of the Vogg of Maletsok in the 970s T.E., there were only thought to be the Abercast Hobgoblins and the Roisterkar Bugbears who tended to live together, but could easily be found in separate communities. Unifying all Goblinfolk is a love of warfare and mountainous terrain.
Origins
The Dying Birth
According to Imperial wisdom, the Goblin folk had very similar origins to the Elf peoples, tracing their ancestry to the Keivilu Feywild. When the great goddess Vorstemor was laying herself to rest in the Mykigron, another god of the Deep Wood of Maelhuat, Mennenkaisa, was climbing the mountains to its east. When he had reached the summit and surveyed the land, he found the offshoots of Vorsemor's Fungi. Thinking them nothing more than mere alpine mushrooms, he began to feast.
The act of god-eating drove him mad, and he began to dig deep into the mountain, searching for more of the fungus root to devour. His madness caused him to die down below the surface of the Feywild, and his perverted godly corpse decayed into a rich soil from which sprouted a beautiful bouquet of white and pink flowers. The pedals of these flowers, when shed, became the first Goblinfolk, the Abercast, who inherited the desire for conquest and reign of their father-god the cannibal Mennenkaisa.
When the Eladrin, the first elves, had found them in their hole, they knew what their father had done to the holy Vorstemor. The Eladrin then banished the Goblinfolk from the Feywild, and burned the bouquet of their god. Although lost to their own memory, the Abercast vowed vengeance and began crafting a great industrious society to conquer the Elves, making many inventions and creatures of their own, including the Roisterkar.
Vogg in the Dying Birth
It is important to note, here, that the Dying Birth, written nearly two centuries ago, does not account for the Vogg of Maletsok. Most scholars believe the Vogg were once Abercast who travelled from their brethren shortly after their banishment from the Feywild and settled on the Islands. However, this theory is inconclusive, as the Vogg do not share many traits with the Abercast, notably their intelligence and strength. Other scholars maintain that, like the Roisterkar, they were created by the Abercast as troops for their war who simply managed to escape their malicious overlords.
Sacred History of Maletsok
Even in their homeland, the Vogg play a minute and nearly inconsequential role in lore. According to the Sacred History of Maletsok, the Vogg were first formed in the Chapter of Birth by Kirien the Red, Goddess of War. Taking up the bones of prey who had fallen in the world, she built them up into a fine race of hunters and pillagers to serve her and act as expert predators in the world to glorify her.
After being granted Life by Manrien the Purveyor and the Word from Fornien of the Seven Eyes, the Vogg Goblinfolk quickly became adept in more sophisticated forms of war and predation, creating brutal machines and weapons of destruction and malice. In this way, they were instrumental in the Chapter of War and became very powerful by their Deity.
Subspecies and Cultures
Abercast - Hobgoblins
Ancient enemies of the Ethelan and members of the Melarond Kingdom, the Abercast are the race of Goblins that live in the Vahingol Mountains, just east of the neighbouring Rutomakia Hills. Although no shorter than the shortest Elves, they rarely grow to their elegant stature. Instead, they are a strong and stout ilk, as if made for war and conquest. Abercast are vicious and prideful, only amplified by their condition from their time in the mountains, and their societies are quick to champion war, even against their own kind.
The Abercast are greatly despised in the Empire for their role in the Sistren War, which caused the deaths of millions and lead to the sundering of the Elven Peoples. Although some Abercast, when raised away from the Mountains, are docile and kind, they still suffer prejudice in the Empire. Most Abercast within and subject to the Empire live in the territories, far from their homeland but equally far from oppression.
Roisterkar - Bugbears
The Roisterkar are great brutish creatures, taller and stronger than their Abercast kin, but lacking in intelligence. Despite their size, however, they are gifted in stealth and can hide away in spaces considerably smaller than their stature. Although their history is uncertain, it is widely believed that the Roisterkar were creations of the Abercast, made as slave labour for their cruel and industrious societies. That being said, it is not uncommon to find them forming their own cultures and nations with their own leaders.
Vogg - Goblins
The Vogg are the Goblinfolk of Maletsok. Unlike their brethren, the Vogg are small creatures like the other folk of their land. Worshippers of Kirien the Red and Atin, Keeper of Masks of Luthaenoism, they cherish cunning, warfare, and theft and structure their small tribal societies around these virtues. In combat, these little foes work in small bands, leveraging numbers to achieve their goals, and do so fiercely and bravely. However, when alone, they are hesitant and easily frightened, keenly aware of their weaknesses.
For much of their history, the Vogg existed in a relatively unstructured collection of disperate clans, largely inhabiting the mountains and generally being a nuissance to the Dumadhur (see Dwarf). They were relatively powerless, as their Goddess has changed course away from malice toward more noble aims of war, leaving them without strong leadership or divine support. Instead of the great army they once were in the Sacred History, they were no more than raiding and rambling villains and bandits.
The colonization of Maletsok marked a turning point in the lives of the Vogg. Early on, much like their Dwarven neighbours, they remained safe from the Empire in the mountains where the Ethelan dared not tread. After a time, however, immigrants from the Empire began to arrive. Among these immigrants were Abercast Hobgoblins. Natural leaders among Goblinfolk, a great many of these Abercast fled the borders of the Ethelan land into Vogg territory and quickly began to take on roles of power.
After nearly two centuries, they had come to form a true, unified nation above ground in the mountains, chiefly in the Zindush Watershed. It is believed by some that the Vogg were able to make contact with the long-lost Maletsokish Confederacy and estbalish some kind of trade agreement, as many Vogg boast newer and higher-quality weapons. These claims, however, cannot be fully proven, as the existence of the Confederacy itself remains uncertain.
Comments