Goblin

Racial Overview
Small and crafty, Goblins are a race that has been established around scavenging from others, overwhelming opponents with their vast numbers, and more recently, engineering explosives with the dangerous use of gun powder. Native to the land of Skentu, Goblins have established themselves for countless generations as cavern-dwellers. From the Preages through the Third Age, the Goblins have dug tunnels and forged underground settlements where they can. More often than not, however, the Goblins have been known to dwell in strongholds once held by Dwarves.

For centuries Goblins have lived a shamanistic lifestyle. Worshiping the spirits of the world around them, and believing that the elements themselves hold true power over the course of the world (especially the element of fire), Goblin Shamans are seen as sources of wisdom and teachings amongst their respective tribes. As the ages progress, however, the Goblins have mvoed towards other aims. More and more Goblins have moved out of their cave homes and taken to living in the hills around mountainsides. Some have even built up more of a neutral standing with surrounding towns and villages, and while any dealings between Goblins and other Humanoids are tense at best, trade has happened, and will likely continue to happen as long as it benefits both parties. Some Goblins in Southern Skentu, closer to the coast, have taken up sailing, and others have learned the ways of tinkering and invention. In Eastern Skentu, on the borders of the Great Desert, Goblins have learned the ways of the Arcane, even if to a small degree, and have taken up the Shadeshift forms of magic, bending light and shadow to do do their will, often meeting more malicious ends. In later ages the Shamans became less of a staple of Goblin life and more of a forgotten path as the race shifted towards industry.

Their scavenging nature makes them much better at finding useful items than others, but also gives them a bad reputation as grave robbers. Goblins are also very weak physically, and are limited to weapons that are light and easy to wield.

The Goblins of the First Age of Natheria were widespread across Central and Northern Skentu, covering almost as much land as Humans. They took to living in holes and shallow caves all across the land, oftentimes running other animals out of dens in order to gain what shelter they could without having to dig their own. Although not all routs were successful, as there are more than a handful of stories about a group of Goblins trying to remove a bear from its den, only for the Goblins to run screaming from the cave and search for something a little easier to intimidate. Eventually, through the years of the First Age, the Goblins of the North took to living in deeper caves along the mountainsides and in the wooded foothills and rocky crags along Nod-Nozun. From these caverns and dens they would launch raids on traveling merchants and caravans, scavaging what they could from the other Humanoids of the north. While many tales surround Goblins about being weak and easy to handle, many men have been fallen to Goblins when they underestimate the smaller Humanoids' craftiness.

A Goblin tribe is generally between 40 and 100 Goblins, led by a single Chieftan who has gained his role in the tribe either from physical prowess, intimidation, or wit. He has gained the fear of his Goblins, and to a Goblin fear and respect are synonymous. The Goblin Chieftan of the tribe is always male, and he often consults his shaman brethren when making decisions, yet the shaman themselves don't hold much power in the tribe. Often called Seers, the shaman have the respect of their fellow Goblins out of their wisdom and knowledge of the spirit world of Torgusk, yet their lack of physical strength grants them a lower rank on the Goblin tribal heirarchy.

Goblins of the southern reaches of Skentu have taken to living out outside of caves and dens, instead dwelling in temporary villages that they can pick up and carry with them when the tribe is forced to move. If a Goblin village is forced to relocate, it is rarely because they follow a food source, like the Minotaur. Instead it is because some larger creature is competing for the same home, and instead of losing more Goblins to it, they simply move their village. Each Goblin is capable of carrying all of his belongings on his person, and the Goblins of the South are capable of traveling much further distances than their cousins to the North.