Kobolds, also known as Darchonids by the dwarves, are humanoid creatures with draconic and canine-like features. Known for their sharp sense of smell and loyalty to their communities, they thrive as industrious survivors and guardians.
Appearance
Kobolds are covered in jagged scales, ranging in hues of many colors based on their hertiage. Their faces resemble small, draconic creatures with elongated canine-like snouts, sharp teeth, and expressive, slit-pupil eyes that glimmer with minor intelligence. Their stature is diminutive, rarely exceeding 4 feet in height, with wiry, agile builds. Many possess vestigial horns or tail spurs, with some variations linked to their specific heritage.
Abilities
Kobolds possess extraordinary physical traits, including a keen sense of smell that allows them to remember and instantly recognize the scents of allies and enemies. Their vocal cords, distinct from most intelligent races, make it challenging for them to speak the common tongue fluently. Despite this, they are excellent communicators within their communities. They also have a natural resistance to poisons and the ability to consume spoiled food without harm, showcasing their adaptability and resilience.
Their unique abilities shine in specific heritages. For example, Venomtail Kobolds are born with venom-secreting tail spurs, granting them a natural weapon. Elemental Kobolds exhibit immunity to specific types of magic, depending on their environmental imprinting, while Spellhorn Kobolds wield innate magical powers, making them exceptional sorcerers and magicians.
Societies & Cultures
Kobolds typically live in tight-knit, agrarian or subterranean communities that emphasize sustainability and environmental harmony. They value loyalty, wealth, and cooperation, traits that have helped them survive despite their small size and limited resources. Their clans focus on cultivating crops like mushrooms, beans, and their renowned Billow Moss, Fern wheat, and potatos, which have rumored mystical properties. However, poor harvests can leave them vulnerable.
While most Kobolds are cowards and value generosity, others, influenced by their draconic heritage, pursue treasure, lore, or power with fervent ambition. Kobold militias play a significant role in their societies, with weapons and tools passed down through generations, often obtained through trade with other communities.
Language
Kobolds speak Tsmok and Zmei, languages of draconic origin shared by some beastfolk. Written in the Drakon script, their languages distinguish between "hard" and "soft" consonants, marked not by consonant changes but by modifications to the following vowel.
Stress placement, often unpredictable, adds to the language's unique rhythm. To outsiders, their speech is guttural yet melodic, with a fluid and rhythmic cadence that reflects their cultural ties to the draconic creatures such as the Ancient Dragons.
Professions
Kobolds excel in professions tied to their natural talents and cultural values. Within their societies, they are renowned for their agricultural expertise and trade skills. Their acute sense of smell makes them adept trackers, scouts, or alchemists. In integrated societies, Kobolds often serve as magical practitioners, tinkerers, or environmental stewards. Their resilience and adaptability make them valuable in any field requiring ingenuity and resourcefulness.
Burial Customs
Kobolds practice sky burials, leaving their dead on mountaintops to be consumed by draconic creatures. This tradition reflects their belief in giving back to their ancestry and the cycle of nature. Some Kobold subcultures modify this practice, either cremating the remains or crafting intricate burial cairns, depending on the availability of mountains or the presence of draconic allies.
Ethnicities
Venomoid
Possess venom-secreting tail spurs, often employed as natural weapons. They are stealthy and dangerous in close combat, favoring tactics that capitalize on their venomous abilities. These Kobolds have adapted to life in vast wetlands and marshes, forging a unique culture focused on watercraft and navigation. Their villages are built on stilts or floating platforms, allowing them to traverse their watery environment easily. They are expert fishers, foragers, and gatherers of rare aquatic plants, which they trade with other communities.
Spellhorn
Infused with innate magical power, they are gifted spellcasters, thriving as sorcerers, wizards, and magicians. These Kobolds exhibit glowing horns or markings tied to their arcane heritage.
This ethnicity of Kobolds has adapted to life in sprawling cities, often living in the shadowy underbelly of society. They operate as teachers, spies, or merchants, forming tight-knit guilds or underground networks to survive and thrive in a world dominated by larger races.
Elemnatary
Imprinted with the essence of specific magical sources, they are immune to certain magic types (e.g., arcane, primal, occult, or divine). They often act as emissaries or guardians of sanctified locations.
Living in many places day by day, these Kobolds have embraced the life of wandering traders and scavengers, traveling in large caravans across all types landscapes. They are known for their ingenuity in finding water, crafting durable goods from bone and scrap, and training pack animals such as Drakes or Axe-Beaks.
History
In ancient times, Kobolds were deeply intertwined with draconic beings, often serving as guardians or servants to wyrmlings and lesser dragons. Over the centuries, as dragons waned in influence, many Kobold communities sought independence, adapting to new environments and developing agrarian societies.
More recently, Kobolds have faced challenges from expanding militaristic powers and industrialization, forcing many to adapt or integrate with larger societies. Some have clung to their draconic ties, finding protection under powerful dragons, while others have ventured into cities, blending their traditions with modern life.
Religion
Many Kobolds revere Ryū-jin, the dragon god of stars, nature, and cosmic balance. Ryū-jin is a multifaceted deity associated with forests, debts, and the plains, worshipped widely in small villages and forested regions. Ritual greetings and forest shrines characterize his worship. Myths speak of Ryū-jin aiding mortals connected to nature and battling threats to the forests and fey.
Some Kobolds reject traditional gods, choosing instead to serve ancient dragons as divine proxies. These Kobolds dedicate their lives to their dragon masters, acting as loyal emissaries and soldiers. Ryū-jin’s omnipotence, occasionally tempered by whimsical "restarts" of the universe, influences both myth and scholarly interpretations among his followers.
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