Kobolds

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## Race

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**Kobolds** are a race of small reptilian humanoids in the World of Aedron.

## Ecology

Kobolds are reptilian in feature, however like their draconic cousins they are warm blooded due to their magical nature. A Kobold is covered in a layer of thick and glossy scales that vary in color to any shade in the visible spectrum, though most commonly they are gray, green, brown, and red. Colors are typically hereditary, and an entire group or clan will have very similar colors and scale patterns, but two Kobolds from different areas or clans can be very different from each other, in both coloration, scale pattern, and size.

Kobolds are typically short and spindly in build, being on average only 2'6"-3'6" in height.

They have almost rodent-like features as if they were crossed between a dragon and a rat. Indeed, their overall features are such that the term 'Kobold' started as a derogatory term in draconian (Na'ko'Boldarrag) that meant 'Dragon-Rat'. Over time the word mutated and the insult lost all meaning, and few today understand where the word originated.

Kobolds have a tail that is somewhere between rat and dragon, long and agile, but covered in draconic scales. Many have learned to operate their tail like a third hand, allowing them to use various tools and even specialized weapons on the tip of their tail.

Kobolds carry their young in broods, and lay clutches of eggs at a tremendous rate. On average a Kobold female will lay four clutches a year (usually around the solstice or equinox), and each one will have between five and twelves eggs. They gestate for three months, and hatch just in time for the next clutch to be laid.

Kobolds tend to live to be around thirty to forty years of age, and in that time can often have dozens, if not hundreds, of offspring.

Their overall lack of size, longevity, and natural powers, tend to relegate Kobolds to a second-class position in most hierarchies of power in the world. Many clans are subservient to another power of some kind, be it a stronger group like a tribe of trolls, or a single overlord like a Dragon.

The high birth rate of Kobolds make sure they are always well populated for their next encounter with an enemy, as they tend to suffer terrible losses in combat.

The Psyche of the Kobold is a paradox. They are simultaneously craven, weak, and worthless at most skills, but also they have the inborn pride that dragons have, leading them to have inflated egos and senses of self-worth. This disconnect often leads to Kobolds becoming cruel and taking great pleasure in tormenting and dominating other folk.

## Society

Typical Kobold society is centered around the clan. A linked group of families who share the same ideals and values, and live together for mutual protection. Clans are generally ran by a chief, typically the eldest or most renowned member of their warrior class, and advised by a shaman who is usually their most skilled magic user, or in absence of that, whomever has the most knowledge of herbalism.

A young Kobold has a tough (and short) childhood lasting only around two years. They spend the next seven years as adolescents, learning the ways of the clan, and honing what skills they can until they reach full adulthood at around age nine. At that point, they are fully developed and integrated into their society, at which point they begin competing with their peers for the right to mate.

In Kobold society, mating is not done for love or even for pleasure, it is more of an animal instinct that guides them to mate with the strongest, or smartest, or most cunning partner they can. It is not unusual for a Kobold chief to have a small collection of partners, as it is the same with a tribe's shaman. Those seen as the weakest, dumbest, or least cunning, are often unable to find partners and are unable to reproduce.

Kobolds tend to be highly territorial, claiming an area for themselves and then living there and guarding it for generations. They tend to prefer areas that are advantageous to beings of their size, like small warrens of tunnels and tiny natural caves.

## History

In the early days, when the gods were creating their children, Akkidna watched, and learned from the other gods. Her creations were... unique to say the least. She loved the leathery wings, the clawed fingers, the beady slitted eyes of the dragons, and was eager to use those features as a template.

Being the Daughter of Gallusia, she had access to her mother's playthings, the chromatic dragons, and took some of them for her own amusement. Her greatest joy was in the mutation, the corruption, and the transformation of flesh into something grotesque. So it was with Kobolds, after such eons passed, she had eventually whittled the dragons down into their most 'pure' form as Akkidna saw them. Ravenous toothy and cunning, she set the Kobolds loose into Aedron to create havoc and make the world just slightly more interesting.

## Territory

Kobold clans are scattered across Aedron, and no single group of Kobolds has ever been successful enough to form a proper 'town', as their innate paranoia and cunning nature tends to keep them spreading out rather than building up in any large group.

So while they have no major stronghold, they are endemic to the entire world.