Eagle Hobgoblin

**Eagle Hobgoblins** are a culture of hobgoblin that took shelter in Nomsyulhan following the chaos of the Day of Ashen Skies and the subsequent Godloss. Eagle Hobgoblins have a strong individualist society, where freedom and personal enlightenment are valued, and where magic (and those who can control it) are seen as the ultimate expression of these values. Magic can protect and harm in equal measure, make life bloom or wither at command, and in the mountain peaks of Nomsyulhan, these are important things to be able to control. Magic to the Eagle Hobgoblins is the physical expression and manifestation of an enlightened soul, and the most powerful of mages are both looked upon as leaders, and divinely appointed guides. Those with the most magic possess the most rights, with the most powerful ruling either through appointment by the tribe to guide them, or through seizing power from their predecessor.

## Culture & Religion

The Eagle Hobgoblins ostensibly worship the same pantheon as they did while they lived among the ruins of the Eastern Dwarovar, their pantheon is deeply tied to magic, with each god having domain over certain parts of reality and thus the magic that controls it; thus, in order to achieve true enlightenment and reach the gods, a hobgoblin must master all magic there is to master within their lifetime. Precursors are seen as “False Enlightened” - a people who had reached magical heights but upon the cusp of enlightenment as a people turned to baser desires. Disconnected from the later Mage/Anti-Mage conflicts of the other Hobgoblins due to the rise of the Harimraj, many clans were less centralized, and not centered around a unifying authority. Larger clans instead were led by councils of mage-shamans, headed by leaders of exceptional magical talent.

## History

When the Day of Ashen Skies struck the Shamakhad hills, the Eagle hobgoblins, like the rest of their kin, struggled in the chaos it left in its wake. The north and east slowly but surely descended into the Godloss, where many adopted extreme beliefs regarding whether or not the gods had abandoned the hobgoblin people or punished them. Meanwhile, the Shaman-Chiefs of the western Shamakand - centered around the province of Maruvad - believed that this was simply a trial from the gods. This trial, like all things, they believed would pass in time.

However, with the rise of the Harimraj, circumstances changed. With Harimar’s rapid conquest of southern Shamakand, and his intent to push the Hobgoblins out of the foothills and back into the caves, suddenly this trial morphed into a matter of survival. Cut off by a thrust from one of Harimar’s armies, the hobgoblins of Maruvad were severed from the safety of the caves and forced to retreat up into the heights near where the Kharunyana tumbled from impossible heights - a place called the Godswall. To the Raheni, it was a holy place, sporting depictions of the High Gods and their servants. To modern archaeologists, it is an ancient Precursor ward, stylized to keep inquisitive humans away. Carved with thousands of images of the Raheni High Gods, one Shaman-Chief - using magic - discovered a secret passage up the cliff and led his clan to safety, before returning to lead the other clans up, and concealing the entrance on both ends to prevent them being followed through means either magical or mundane.

Afterwards, the hobgoblins collapsed back into a small clan-based structure, and displaced the Soulseeker ogre population already living there. The hobgoblins called their new home Nomsyulhan - “Where Sky Touches Earth”. Over time, the hobgoblins encountered the spirits of Nomsyulhan, who were far more plentiful than those in the hills of Shamakand - due to the lack of High Temples. Indeed, Nomsyulhan was one of the recipients of the energy the temples harvested, being used to power the numerous spells, wards, and magics that have, over the years, decayed. The Day of Ashen Skies only further damaged the regional infrastructure, breaking many containment facilities and corrupting a great deal of spirits.

After their arrival, the Hobgoblins adopted the totem of the Eagle, seeing its untethered flight from the confines of the mundane earth as analogous to their own situation - ascending to the heights of the world, finding freedom in the skies.

1. ↑ Note, these domains of magic are significantly different from the Magisterium's schools of classification.