Goblin

Goblins are a fecund species of humanoids and if not preyed upon by other lifeforms for even a handful of generations then they could easily number in the tens or hundreds of thousands. Unfortunately for goblins many things love to prey upon them. And doubly unfortunately is the fact that without an external influence goblins on their own tend to be... less than savvy. -The system's commentary regarding goblins

Goblins are a relatively widespread species found in trillions of worlds throughout the multiverse. They were one of the first species Althos has encountered in his life. 
Authors note:
This article, like every other article on this wiki, is a living article. Ideally, it will be updated with new information and contain spoilers. Eventually, it'll contain reference notes to which chapters in which the information was first established, in-universe, but for now, just remember that navigating this wiki comes with spoilers.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Goblins are four-limbed humanoids. They have the same basic anatomical structure as humans, but with a much more diminutive stature and fewer muscles.

Genetics and Reproduction

Goblins possess a spectacularly rapid childhood. They are considered full adults by the time they are two years old and are capable of successful reproduction by the time they are two years old. This is one factor that keeps them from being wiped out and makes them useful to other creatures including humans, orcs, and even elves, who use them a labor force. This is something that has enabled them to survive in worlds like Torus where slavery is still practiced as they are a useful slave race, especially to more brutal races like dark elves or reptilefolk.  
Goblins endure three-month pregnancies, but their childbirths are not especially painful or dangerous to goblin mothers. Goblins can give birth to as many as five goblin infants during one pregnancy, at least unaltered. If chemically or magically altered they can give birth to as many as twelve goblins at the culmination of a pregnancy, but this can result in complications if done unexpertly and unsafely.

Growth Rate & Stages

Goblins are considered infants for the first two weeks of their lives, toddlers for the first month, and they endure a childhood and adolescence that lasts roughly 23 months. They are considered adults by the time they are two years old, but goblins like humans have bodies that respond well to divine aging and they can easily handle artificial aging. This leads to societies with the power to do so very commonly doing so, favoring species like goblins who can easily handle the rigors of such powerful technology or magic, but such societies are also very rare.

Ecology and Habitats

Goblins, like humans, are an exceptionally adaptable and versatile species. They can be found in any habitat that has the resources to sustain a species of their size and they are surprisingly good at living in conjunction with nature rather than molding their environments artificially and thus disregarding other animals. 
Goblins are a friendlier sort of humanoid, particularly with regards to other animals. The tiny creatures are omnivores and can befriend both spirits and animals with a much higher success rate than humans or dark elves, but they are not as adept at this as gnomes or as wild elves. That said they are considerably more open-minded towards what they befriend than their more successful peers and thus goblin tribes defended by unusual animals, particularly insects is a common enough phenomenon that adventurers in worlds inhabited by goblins are often told to be wary of the possibility of a creature like a massive centipede, or even gigantic ants, defending goblin settlements with intense ferocity. A trained goblin encampment can survive on vegetation and goblins make surprisingly good farmers as their senses are considerably sharper than a human's. The most peaceful sort of goblins are those whose foods are crops and such goblins often engage successfully and positively with neighboring communities so long as such communities are made up of peaceful humanoids.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Goblins are omnivores but they prefer to eat meat. Goblin tribes are often split evenly between farmers, foragers, and hunters. Farmers are actually the most social of the goblins, and they frequently trade with other humanoids or even spirits such as fey, and both hunters and foragers are stealthier and more dangerous goblins who are often skilled in hand to hand combat or very rarely magic. 
Though goblins prefer meat, mostly for its taste, tribes of goblins invariably farm though their actual odds of success tend to be quite low unless they have some sort of external assistance. Farming provides goblins with either a legitimate, stable food source or the illusion of a legitimate, stable food source, and either way that's enough for the diminutive creatures. The promise of a harvest is tempting enough to practically ensure that every tribe of goblins that live near arable soil will at least attempt farming, and other humanoids who know about goblins will often be tempted to either exterminate them or actually try to help them survive and provide both direct and indirect aid to the creatures.

Biological Cycle

Goblins live in such varied environments that their biological cycles differ widely from tribe to tribe. Goblins, like humans, have divinely morphic bodies, as in bodies that respond well to mutations and other godly powers. Even in the world of Torus goblins are a chaotic species in that goblins that live on a coast differ significantly from goblins that live underground. 
As an example of this: goblins enslaved in the underground city of Aronms would, over the course of a few generations of selective breeding and exposure to the unholy and unnatural magic of the slave-taking Aronms Dark-Elves, become stronger, dimmer goblins who are naturally subservient to dark elven soldiers. They would become weaker to magic, and to the sinister powers of dark elves, while becoming better suited for the repetitive labor demanded of slaves. Whereas goblins who live on a coastline would eventually become well-adapted to water gaining larger lungs and greater lung-capacity, as well as the hairless bodies that aid in successful, speedy swimming. 
Goblins who worshipped deities of nature, especially deities of specific animal types, often gained specific mutations that reflect the domains and subdomains of their gods. In the ancient past goblins who worshiped gods of bears would have been blessed with natural armor and ferocious natural attacks like crippling bites or devastating and diseased claws with which to rake opponents. Goblins who worshiped gods of snakes, an especially common sort of deity for goblins to worship, would gain the potent venom common to numerous successful snake species, as well as pit organs.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Goblins live in tribes that are ruled over by chieftains. Goblins are socially and morally flexible enough to pretty easily accept that some goblin tribes will be led by chieftains who are not goblins. Goblins can also be persuaded to welcome non-goblins into goblin tribes if such individuals possess abilities that are useful for the tribe's survivability. These abilities can be very diverse, so a goblin tribe with either a non-goblin chieftain or a non-goblin member should be taken seriously and treated with caution. 
Goblin tribes can differ every bit as much as a human nation or settlement could in terms of their composition or morality and those who seek to interact with goblins would be wise to treat each tribe as distinctly and individually as one would treat a human settlement.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

In the world of Torus and other worlds where slavery is practiced that feature goblins, goblins are one of the most frequent slave races. Their origin as a species was not as a slave race, but slave-taking civilizations are invariably better equipped, better trained, and fiercer than goblin tribes are, unless the tribe itself has either survivors of slavery or received training and support from another civilization. 
Goblins have also been used cleverly as genuinely willing sources of labor by empires and kingdoms in exchange for land, aid, and training. Some less fecund races like elves greatly benefit from mutually beneficial relationships with goblins wherein goblins are given training and equipment from elves and in exchange perform the labor the more delicate elves would struggle to perform such as manual labor. Ideally, these partnerships would confer citizenship and equal rights to the goblins in elven lands, and oftentimes they do, transforming goblins into a populous and surprisingly respected lower class.

Facial characteristics

Goblins have narrow faces, with very little facial hair unless they are adapted to colder environments wherein having facial hair would help them warm up and endure frigid temperatures. They have bright eyes and not much hair on their heads. They have weak jaws but numerous rows of sharp, fanged teeth.

Average Intelligence

Goblins are a bit dimmer than humans, but they are far more social than humans are both among their own kind and among other species.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Unblessed, unaltered, unmagically inclined, goblins have access to the full suite of natural senses accessible to humanoids. They can hear, see, smell, taste, and touch things. Magically altered, amplified, blessed, or goblins with class-levels may indeed possess supernatural senses and capabilities.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Deity

Scientific Name

minima viridi hominem

Origin/Ancestry

Known Tribes can be found underground, on Puerto Rico, and throughout the worlds of Torus and Mercy

Lifespan

45 years old

Average Height

Around 1 meter

Average Weight

25 k.g.

Average Physique

Goblins are lean but fit, unless they live in environments where they would be better off being muscular. Normally they have more endurance than strength and use weapons like spears to surprisingly devastating effect if fighting opponents who don't take them seriously. Goblins, but especially goblins in forests or plains, are excellent runners and in mixed-species societies can often make a handsome living as messengers or as deliverypeople. Goblins are also fairly dexterous and if assigned a repetitive task that requires deft-skills with one's hands they can perform it excellently if taught properly.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Goblin pigmentation is fairly diverse and differs wildly even from parent to child. Known skin tones include bright yellow, dark red, grass-green, and other very visually striking shades.