Goblin

Goblins were a species of Mystical Creature that lived during the Mage Wars and presumably at earlier times. Though modern scholars find them enigmatic, most contemporary accounts refer to them as either terrifying or extremely annoying.

Physical Characteristics

Goblins come in many varieties of ugly. Much like Dragons, even goblins within a small familial unit can exhibit extreme differences in both size, physical proportions, and basic characteristics. Most goblins have large teeth and long noses, and all were said to have impressive senses of smell. Their sizes range from small dwarfish humanoids of less than three feet, to lumbering giants as high as twenty feet, all of whom co-exist within tribal structures (as well as any goblins can be said to co-exist; they are a highly quarrelsome species).

Personality and Mental Acuity

By all accounts, goblins are said to have been intelligent. Not overly so, but smart enough to possess language. By some accounts, they even had writing, mathmatics, even art and literature. The philosopher Viatark even wrote of a shining, beautiful goblin city that flourished in the Barrier Range. The city he referred to was most likely Kuu-Allaa, though modern scholars agree that Viatark never actually went there.

The most widely-agreed upon trait, however, is a complete and utter lack of self-preservation. Goblins were often described as "fearless in battle" by those who fought them, with many accounts of how a small goblin force would make a frontal assault against a much larger and obviously superior army, and that the goblins seemed entirely unfazed by military losses. They seemed to have no concept of death, though surviving accounts indicate that they did. They simply didn't care.

History

Goblin history is typical to typify as they had no single over-arching culture or heritage. Goblins lived in clans and tribes that seemed to change in number every day with the shifting uncertainty of a desert sandstorm. They were highly adaptable and could "live" in nearly environment, but their highly unpredictable nature makes any kind of historical survey very challenging.

What is known is that they were wide-spread throughout the Greater Continent, with evidence of them having been found nearly everywhere. The longest-lived tribes were found in The Dragonlands, where they were kept as slaves and apparently did quite well. The oral history of the Phoenix Tavern Flight living on the Djr Archipelago indicates that the goblins were well-liked, eager to serve their masters, and tasted excellent with the proper sauce. Ferrimeso, a dragon from Phoenix Tavern Flight, who spoke with historian Herbet Patric Galactis, explained some of her flight's history and answered "the goblin question" thusly, explaining that goblins required "massive" populations in order to remain remotely stable. Ferrimeso postulated that, had the Mage Wars never begun, it is still likely goblin civilization would have ended as "They seem vehemently convinced that matchstikes soaked in gasoline are the finest building materials, and you cannot convince them otherwise. This sort of thinking applies to their entire mindset."

Kuu-Allaa

Of particular note is Kuu-Allaa(lit. "Shiny City"), a place which all historians agree did exist, but baffles all logic and understanding.

Festivals

Goblins celebrated many festivals, and Kuu-Allaa was the center of their social and spiritual world.

Tek'O Mahh

(Lit. "Ooo, shiny! HOT!") is the goblin's tri-anual fire festival. The celebration involves dancing, singing, group chants, and lighting literally anything flammable. The goblins consume copious amounts of "fire wine"(a beverage which, oddly, is non-alcoholic, but contains highly flammable acidic compounds), and at the center of the festival is Mahh-Mahh-Ray(Lit. "Hot! Hot! OWE!"), a goblin who is set on fire and sent running through the streets. Officially, only one Mahh-Mahh-Ray is required, but every group of revelers traditionally elects it's own, so that more goblins can share in the marryment. It is theorized that in antiquity the festival only called for a single Mahh-Mahh-Ray, but as the goblin city grew in size and prosperity, the goblins could not agree on a single participant, and so allowed the many dispirit groups to ignite their own.

Kuu-O-NaN!

(Lit. Shiny, Ooo, pretty!) another festival celebrated a few times a year, this one centered around gold and other precious gems, which were ritually thrown into the air and consumed. This ceremony also involved a good deal of fire. Kuu-O-NaN is said to commemorate the founding of the city, and involved a game called "The Running of the Torches" in which teams of goblins carrying torches in each hand would run as quickly as possible through the Carenocarbide mines. The team with the most members won. Since space was limited and only goblin numbers counted, many of the more competitive teams would use as many children as possible.

Stories of Kuu-O-NaN are thought to be what prompted the attach by Weagal, who believed the city held great riches.

Decline and Fall

Ferrimeso referred to goblins as "a dead-end", speculating that given no outside intervention, they would still be doomed. It did not help, then, that various civilizations from the Dynastic Period tried to eliminate them. For empires such as the Marcon Alliance, this did not go well. Somehow, despite a massive military and magical advantage, and even owing to goblinkinds utter lack of self-preservation, Marconian losses were staggering. The same scenario played out nearly everywhere; a goblin won't fight to keep himself alive or to protect his children, but if anyone comes by looking to throw down, they'd better be ready for some bite wounds.

Ironically, the goblins in the more war-torn regions did better than those at peace, as Ferrimeso explains: "We were kind to the Goblins, we helped their lands be productive, and asked little of them besides tribute and to not raid human settlements. They still managed to die off with staggering frequency. Had The Dragonlands not fallen, I doubt our native goblins would have lived many more centuries.

By the end of the Dynastic Period, goblin tribes were rare. They frequently fought with Viverren and Sauro-Taru, occupying many of the same niches. While there was no concerted effort to destroy them, the goblin's war-like nature made them frequent targets, and, by the beginning of the Golden Age, goblins were all but extinct.

Though Uther's men fought them, Uther himself never saw one, and believed them to be a myth. An exact date for final extinction is unknown, but by the end of Uther's life goblins were definitely extinct on the Agras and Lowland Hills regions. By the early Golden Age, Goblins were thought to be extinct everywhere.