Goblins

> "There's Odgers and Podgers, Snippers, Glips and Trobs. Worlers and Furls, Fliptoes and Snods. There's Spinebacks and Snout-nosed (beware, they're quite stout though). High up are the Ogs, up high there are Nocs, whilst trudging and thundering the Lumbers come lumbering. Beware in the night time, it's their time to frighten; prowling and creeping whilst most folks are sleeping. They hear every snap, every crinkle and crack, their big goblin ears all hearing and weird. And don't forget smell (which they do so well), sniffing and snorting, some even chortling. But they aren't quite as mean as all that is said, so long they don't catch you out of your bed"
> -- A common children's poem about goblins
>
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Inhabiting the vast Black Forest of Gamb and its Hinterlands, goblins were once thought by most inhabitants of Tol to be little more than a tall tale used to scare children.

More so than any other, there exists a massive variety of goblin, coming into a swathe of different shapes and sizes; as the sole sentient inhabitants of the Black Forest for many thousands of years, they evolved to fill many of the Forest's niches. For this reason, they are better referred to as 'Goblinoids', though they are almost always simply 'Goblins' to the commonfolk.

All goblins are nocturnal, having developed various means of navigating the dark, usually by sound and smell. They are excellent at tracking, following wounded prey for many kilometres if needs be.

### Appearance

Despite their differences, there are some traits common to most goblinoids. The majority have elongated, pointed, ears. Many goblinoids are some shade of green, though there are numberous exceptions to this. Other than Lumbers, they are also generally small.

### History

For tens of thousands of years, goblins enjoyed a privileged status as the only sentinet inhabitants of the mighty Black Forest. During their tenure, goblins began adapting and fulfilling various niches that arose, such that they formed collectively a goblinoid ecosystem. Though sometimes hosts of goblins might raid either side of the Forest's borders, this was usually driven by some form of natural disaster, and a move of desperation rather than design.

It was not until Ogres, who rarely strayed away from Gamb's steppe, began making raids into the Black Forest around three centuries ago, that the goblinoid ecosystem began to falter. As ogre pods (a pod being several ogres togther) made more and more raids deeper and deeper into the Forest, goblins of all kinds found themselves displaced and in retreat, fleeing these insatiable beasts against whome they had little defense. A single ogre would gladly gorge themselves on an entire village of poor goblins, taking only a few pods to pick a vast area clean. It is thought that some goblinoids went extinct entirely, unwilling or unable to escape the onslaught.

### Society

Most Goblins live inside of villages dotted amongst clearings in the forest. There is rarely any kind of hierarchy or set leadership, with most goblins simply going about their business and doing what needs to be done. That's not to say they were perfectly run, or conflict free, as many goblinoids are prone to bouts of frustration and animosity, but their village societies function without the need for single leaders so prominent amongst other races.

Technologically, goblins utilise 'stone age' tools, made from the likes of flint, obsidian, bone, and enamel. There are of course instances of goblins using metal tools, weapon, and armour, though this is almost always scavenged (or, increasingly in the Hinterlands, pillaged).

#### Black Forest

Despite the continuing ogre threat, not all have needed to flee. Nocs, for example, are too small and too high up to attract the attention of ogres, whilst even the smallest Lumbers are twice the size of an ogre and enough of a threat that they are rarely challenged.

Many goblins of the Black Forest live in small villages made up of simple huts, whilst others live as opportunistic nomads, in mobile villages of yurts. Goblin subraces live seperately from one another.

#### Goblin Kingdoms / Throngs of the Hinterlands

"Goblin Kingdoms" is an epithet given to the Throngs by humans, though this is not a term used by the goblins themselves, as there are no goblin monarchs.

Different goblin races had always lived separately from one another, however this changed as more and more Goblins flooded into the Hinterlands - the cold, barren stretch of land in Tol bordering the Black Forest. The Hinterlands host a number of large glaciers, forming a natural barrier between the Forest and Tol that deferred human expansion, though as little as a hundred years ago a number of remote human villages dotted this sub-arctic landscape.

Over time, as more and more goblinoids poured into the hinterlands, the separation of the subraces faded as they banded together in multiracial Throngs. Unlike their Black Forest kin, however, these Throngs usually have set leaderships of Kurls - those goblins who have aspired to leadership and have the tacit support of enough other goblins.

### Subraces

There are far too many goblinoids to count, but among the most populous are:

#### Noc-Goblins

Known as Nocs, or Bugeyes.

Amongst the smallest of the goblins, Nocs are barely the lenght of a human forearm. They spend most of their lives in the tree tops, safely away from predators and their goblin king (the majoirty of whome would gladly eat them). Whilst many Goblins have small eyes and large ears, Nocs are the inverse; enormous bulb like eyes help them to see their insect prey in near absolute darkness. They have long dexterous fingers, for gripping branches and snatching up the bugs and beetles out from cracks and crevices. Their skin is nude, bordering on white, colour, with a layer of fine hair across most of their body that can detect sublte changes in their environment, alerting them to the presence of predators (of which there are many).

Among goblinoids they are especially reclusive, not prone to building large communities, and remaining in small familial units. They survive primarily on a diet of bugs, but have also been known to eat berries and other fleshy fruit.

They have little presence in the Hinterlands.

#### Og-Goblins

Known as Ogs, or snub-nose goblins (especially by humans).

By far the biggest of the common goblinoids (other than Lumbers). Despite this, they would still only reach shoulder height for most humans.

Their pale green skin has become an archetype of goblins in recent years, with more and more of their kind migrating out of the Black Forest to join the Throngs of the Hinterlands.They possess large bat-like ears, angled forward, relatively small eyes, with a short stumped snub nose. Despite a rowdy temperament, they are among the most organised of the goblinoids, using this to great effect when hunting and raiding. In Gamb, they were generally content to hunt smaller game (the kind ogres could not catch), such as rabbits, rats, weasels etc. but with a preference for larger prey, including lone Atroxi. On the edge of human occupied Tol they have found a great taste for livestock.

Traditionally found living on the Gamb-side edge of the Black Forest, they were one of the first goblinoids displaced en masse, gradually making their way to the Hinterlands in Tol, where they form the backbone of most Throngs.

#### Lug-Goblins

Known as Lugs.

Though almost all goblinoids have large ears (in proportion to their heads) owing to their nocturnal nature, the ears of Lugs are especially so. Nearly as wide as they are long, their ears dwarf their heads, but enable them to hear even the smallest sounds over incredible distances, predator and prey alike. With beady black eyes and razor sharp teeth, they hunt the likes of birds, large spiders and beetles, or other small-medium prey they can find.

They make extensive use of bows, as their smaller frame and sensitive ears are vulnerable to counter-attacks from their preferred food sources.

Lugs have migrated in significant numbers out of the Black Forest and into the Hinterlands, where they have found extensive employ as archers in raiding parties.

#### Spiney-Goblins

Known as Spinebacks.

They have needle sharp quills, or spines, across their backs and outsides of their arms that most of the time lay flat, but when threatened will puff up. Spinebacks are true omnivores, hunting all kinds of animal prey whilst also foraging nuts and fruits.

Their natural defensive quills proved little match to the stomps of ogre feet and their smashing weapons, which like many goblinoids dispersed them, with many fleeing to the Hinterlands.

#### Imp-Goblins

Known as Imps, or Brownies by halflings.

Imps are small goblinoids, smaller than halflings. Until recently, imps were the only variety of goblin that had spread beyond the Black Forest and its hinterlands. They have a pale beige/brown complexion, which is where they get their 'Brownies' moniker.

They are largely solitary, coming out in the dead of night to steal from village and town food stes. Despite a reputation (predominantly amongst humans, but also halflings) as babysnatchers, Imps are skittish scavengers, who survive by pilfering food and resources from other races - rarely would they attack anything living.

They survive as scavengers, pilfering food and resources from other races. Other goblins consider them a pest.

#### Bog-Goblins

Known as Boggers, or occasionally Podgers.

They are usually found in marshy terrain around bodies of water, where they crawl around on all fours dragging themselves through mud to sneak up on prey. Their webb hands and feet ensure they are able to quick dart through water to catch fish and other waterbourne creatures too. Their bodies are quite bulbous, and though their skin is a dark green it is usually coated in a thick layer of brown mud.

#### Lumber-Goblins

Known as Lumbers, Trow (among halflings), or as Trolls (among humans).

Lumbers are huge goblinoids, more than twice the size of an Ogre, and in some sense the apex predator of the goblinoid ecosystem. Unlike the majority of the communal-oriented goblinoids, Lumbers are very much solitary beings, and spend more time asleep than they do awake. Their heads are disproportionately smaller than their bodies, and like most Goblins have large ears and small eyes. They move about the forest almost on all fours, using their enlarged, powerful arms and shoulders they are able to propel themselves at great speed over short distances to suddenly attack prey. The side effect of this is that when standing they are incredibly hunched over.

Though reclusive and reticent to leave their forest home, trolls have occasionally become lost (or starving) and wandered out into human and halfling occupied territory, where much effort is required to drive them away.

Ogre pods have been known to attack Lumbers, on occasion, but it usually doesn't end well for the ogres.

#### Sod-Goblins

Known as Sods, or builder goblins.

They have a maroon-like complexion, perhaps a consequence of their fungivore diet. Their ears are somewhat broad, thicker at the top and curving downwards, whilst their noses sit flat on their faces. In stark contrast to most of their kin, who are by and large hunter-gatherers, Sod goblins are farmers. They tend to a crop of fungus; nuturing the growth of a number of different fungi and lichen on the trunks of trees around their village. They take their name from the earth sods they use to build their houses, which are much more permanent structures than is usually found in goblinoid villages.

Within the Throngs of the Hinterlands, Sod-Goblins are highly prized for their building acumen, which is otherwise notebly absent. Such is their value, that Hinterland goblins have been known to conduct raids deep into the Black Forest in order to abduct Sods.