Goblin

Goblins are vibrantly unique and chaotic creatures that occupy a unique niche within the world of Trorune. Often misunderstood due to their propensity for mischief and reckless behavior, goblins exhibit an uncanny resilience that allows them to adapt and flourish in a variety of environments. With their wiry frames, ranging in height from three to four feet, goblins possess a frenetic energy that permeates their very being.
Goblins are known for their communal living, strict caste-tribes led by the most cunning and charismatic individuals. Though their settlements certainly lack the grandeur of larger civilizations, they are characterized by intricate networks of tunnels and hovels that snake through forests, mountains, and other secluded places. These hidden enclaves are a testament to goblin resourcefulness and adaptability.
Although they are often dismissed as crude and mischievous, goblins boast an inventive nature. They are skilled at devising traps, crafting crude weaponry, and engineering makeshift devices. This ingenuity extends to their magic, as goblins who possess spellcasting abilities conjure spells that are unpredictable and often fueled by raw emotion, reflecting their volatile nature; though these individuals rarely last long as goblins often do not understand the power that they wield.
Goblins' affinity for improvisation and their insatiable curiosity render them both unpredictable and intriguing. Beneath their roguish exteriors lies a deep-seated drive for survival, and their willingness to adapt and seize opportunities enables them to navigate the tumultuous landscapes they inhabit to live another day.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Goblin tribes are organized in a four-tiered caste system made up of lashers, hunters, gatherers, and pariahs. The status of every family in a tribe is based on its importance to the tribe’s overall survival. Families that belong to the higher-ranking castes keep their status by not sharing their knowledge and skills with other families, while those in the lower castes have little hope of escaping their plight.
Lashers are the closest thing goblins have to nobility is their caste system— these families of goblins are trained in the ways of battle possessing key skills such as strategy, trap-building, beast taming, mining, religion, smelting, and forging. Should the tribe have any spellcasters, this caste also includes them. Lashers follow the lead of the tribe’s boss, and enforce their will on other goblins, often with whips and chains.
Hunters are comprised of goblins that are skilled in the use of weapons and beast taming but are not privy to any other special knowledges; they have the second highest status in the tribe. Hunters are often the best wolf riders and will know the most about the territory farthest from the tribe’s lair. These individuals hunt game in peaceful times, and in combat they will serve as scouts, foot soldiers, and cavalry.
Gatherers are goblins in the second lowest caste and are responsible for getting food from the surrounding area, taking what’s naturally available or stealing whatever they can get their hands on. Gatherers also do the little amount of farming of which goblins are capable and are charged with checking traps for captured people or beasts. Gatherers are not usually armed or skilled with weapons more deadly than a sling or a knife, but they frequently carry nets, caltrops, lassos, and pole-nooses used to control captured creatures. These goblins cook for the tribe, and in times of war they are also responsible for making poisons.
Gatherers, and the pariahs that sit beneath even them, greatly fear for their lives in battle, believing that the lashers and the hunters were blessed with special knowledge of how to survive that they themselves are to cowardly and stupid to comprehend. It is the members of the lower castes that give goblins their infamous reputation for cowardice.
Pariahs are the lowest of the low, composed of the most dimwitted, least educated, and weakest of goblins. They get the worst and most demeaning jobs: mucking out animal pens, cleaning up after other goblins, and doing any hard labor such as digging mines. A goblin tribe that has slaves that can to do some of this work offer these pariahs an opportunity to supervise and dominate such creatures, which, in goblinoid culture, have no status at all. Pariah goblins will often use these slaves to vent out their frustrations and malevolence.

Lifespan

50-60 years

Average Height

3-4 feet

Average Weight

40-80 lbs