Goblin Kin

Races of Ulghalbah: Epicanum De Via:

The Drall:

Drall, long extinct on the mainland, are believed still alive on the Isle of Ulghal. The original root stock of all goblin kind, most murderous, psychotic, and cruel of all. Every race of the many races of orc are descended from this common ancestry. No sane race of being can say with certainty that they live, for none have ever landed on the island, nor even mapped the whole of the Goblin Marshes.

In the, Dark Era, they invaded the southern swamps to hunt the fleeing ogres who they banished from the island. Staying then after, to form a nation in the swamplands, and expanding them northwards along the, River Pirumos, by damming up the tributaries and blocking the flow of fresh waters. They effectively turned the land into a place much like their isle.

But the, Eelian, did not stay long in those lands after the rise of the bogs. So they left the sniveling, scrawny, weaker members of their tribes to continue the fight with the ogres and took the greatest brutes far into the north to fulfill the mandates of their black religion. Chiefly; to hunt, trap, flay, rape, torment, and eventually murder the Fairiling race to the last one.

They diverged east and north west sacking every forest they came to, and burning the land to lifeless ashes. This was done to break the hearts and will of their fairy prey. It was their chaotic and destructive ways that gave rise to the, Vast Desert, in the central regions of the Olde World. And only the farthest eastern woodlands escaped the rampages of the Drall.

Xethos, enslaved them under threat of undead servitude, and so rather than meet that fate the fool orcs sided with him in life, and were chief of his agents against the noble races of the world.

Most of the mightiest died at the, "Battle of Mt. Primus", when, Ilithin, and the last of the Nwyrrin stood with the dwarves to defeat, Xethos. Only a gaggle of ogres and Drall escaped death in the Malverdin's. Few made the trek home alive, and what remained grew into the true orc, and black orc families.

The Drall in the Norwilt hung on, but were finally destroyed by the first Westmen to inhabit the land over 121,000 years later, under the half elf king; "Allian Silver Mane".

Physical attributes include and are not limited to; huge lower jaw tusks that dominate the face, reminiscent of elephant tusks, typically about 7-12 inches long. Heights can be on the order of 18 feet tall, but generally the race stands between 9-15 feet tall. Skin tones are murky greens, and dark gray.

Black Orcs:

Black's are the closest direct ancestor to the, Drall, who survived the extinction of the pure race. They fled west from the defeat at Mt. Primus and set up in the, Stone Land's, below the Karzanz Mountains.

They are a bit more barbaric than already typically barbarian orc races. Often they have a cavalry force of worg riders, or tusk boar heavy cavalry, and their lives are often transient and not tied to one general area of their domain.

One cavern fortress houses a particularly nasty kind of black orc. Worg's Keep black's, are sedentary, and hold their keep with iron resolve if threatened to be invaded.

They aren't actually black, they are dark midnight green, and time spent in direct sunlight after, The Darkness, is thought to be the reason, as most orcs do not become active until nightfall. Black's can be encountered all hours of the day, and are fit to fight in light much better than the dark dwelling kin they often align with.

Fighting with desert tribes like the Freedmen and Rujik for centuries has helped them become tolerant of the heat and the light no longer seems to be a boon when facing them. The trend believed to have originated in the sentry duties; when for eons they had to watch for fairy warriors hunting them in the sunlit hours.

What it means when they join a hoard is a much more potent army. As they can harry defenders at any hour, and make flanking moves that usual orc forces do not. Commanders knowing only one way of orc war can be fooled and ruined because of it.

Black's physical strength, agility, and ability to suffer many wounds before death mean they are disposed to life as warriors with mauls, axes, spears, and swords in hand. They make poor rouges, for they tend to lack patient thought or subtlety. Black Orc's would generally beat their head on a drawbridge for hours behind a fled enemy, and then notice the siege ram lying nearby.

They can march for days on little to no rations of water or food, and this is closely linked to the barren homeland they grew up in.

They stand from 10' to 12' on average, and are of robust build. Very few runty or weakling members live in the tribes, as they are culled at birth for softness.

Boarland Red's:

Red's, are an oddity hard to explain. But they are closely akin to the Black Orc. Not only sharing many of the same living areas, but also behaving similarly in culture.

The, Boarland Bog's, are the largest swamplands north or the Goblin Marshes. Fed by seasonal showers from the Stone Land's that typically pass over the parched place to pour out in deluges over the Bogs. Nearby seas, and wind sheer over the swiftly dropping cliffs north of the Boarland mean the storms broil and thunder every autumn and spring to rain a bounty of waters on the brackish moors.

The region takes its name from the mighty "Tusk Boar" a native beast that the orc yolked long ago for a beast of burden and war. The native lands they inhabit were the last refuge of a breed of Kerg, who fled wars with Ilyon, and who were further displaced and driven southwards, by the defeated masses returning to the west of those who would become the Black Orc race.

In that age petty blames and divisions set the two breeds of orc at the others throat. But eventually, as they came to be hunted by elves, and the need drove them, the two became closely tied in mutual defense.The wild pigs were then domesticated widely in the Boarland, and the herds sold to Black Orc merchant chief's to fill their need for stronger battle mounts. Given in exchange for worg pups and well crafted dwarven weaponry the Black's capture in war, the trade agreement continues even today. They also craft well made armor of the local iron seams that can be dredged from the bogs.

Red armors are bulky thick plate works, with ominously designed helms that have a beastly appearance to an enemy, made to unnerve as well as protect, they are functional but ugly, and often skull faced representations of howling horrors.

Speculations rage about the origin of the skin coloration. They wear ocher as decoration and warpaint, but this alone can not explain the vast pigmentation divergence. Pail hues result from covering the skin over centuries, not a total natural reordering of genetic material.

There is something in the diet of the Red's that has driven the change, but hereto, such a thing has not been discovered. Though it may have to do with their intellectual prowess as well. For they are called; "the thinking orc" by many enemies. They make and use siege craft such as catapults and other devious engines of war. They also organize the Black Orc brutes into disciplined armies when they do side with them in a raid.

Something has made them wiser than average for goblin kin, and has changed them physically. They are shorter than most at about 6' to 9' on average, and often called weaker than normal orc's. But that is a misnomer to any who have ever fought a typical orc. Even the meager of the race are brutal and potent warriors, and the Red is no exception to the rule.

What they lack in brute strength they makeup for with tactical genius and skill at arms. They are, orc, and the fact of this can not be understated.

Hobgoblins:

Shorter mostly, smarter, less apt to attack if victory is not sure, and most cultivated culturally of all goblin folk, the enigmatic Hob's make their homes in whatever fortifications they can seize. "The Oriental" orc, as they are known, the highest concentrations in hobgoblin populations occur or seem to occur in Jamepha. Adding 'or', because no civilized peoples are sure to the extent or regional makings of the southerly continents' peoples. But it is known for certain that they frequent the afore mentioned lands.

Also, they are mentioned after the Red's, and Black's, because regionally they share a land between these much larger and fiercer races in the north. They are the best woodland dwellers of the goblin kin, and in the forests they live, the management of the local wildlife and ecology is typically much better than in any other Orcish land.

Druidic abilities are a stretch for the imagination, but they have a defined and rational ranger craft in the forests of the world. In lands they hunt and trap, the local variety of foods is preserved by the sword. Or in most cases the bowstring, as they are more frequently stalking rouges than ham-fisted soldiers.

When, Derinath, "Golden Wood", fell to the Drall long ago, the mighty black oak tree villages were taken by the orc's who became hobgoblin. They stayed, and listened, and hunted, and tried to make sense of elf ways.

Because of this love of growing things, and the reverence for keeping healthy ways, the orc does not consider the hob a true orc. They are seen as misguided but still honored kin, who can make good scouts and assassins when needed.

Most orc chieftains have a guard of hobgoblin elite, who use bows with uncanny skills and are swift in dagger and buckler work. The greatest leader of orc kind was half hobgoblin, and in war councils fighting humans or dwarves or elves, the hob never lets the cousin races forget it.

They often become leaders in orc settlements they 'serve' in.

While they do have a real affinity for the wilderness, and will kill even orc's from time to time to keep spoilage low in their lands. They are not goodly folk. They remain in the evil religion of their forbearer race, and godly people go nowhere near their lands lest they mean to murder one and all therein.

Hob's can be 4' to 6'9" tall. They are an orange hue, and have a snout most like an ape. They have larger cranial mass to their skull, and are verging on true goblinhood.

Orcs:

Common green orcs are a middle ground between all other races. They are the result of breeding litters between many tribes of authentic blood hoarding races like Orog, Black, and Red orcs. Green is not the only shade or hue, sickly yellows, and gray tones are not uncommon.

The orcs range in every cavern not occupied across the wide span of the mainland. They are typically fearful of human armies who have learned to hunt them with ease and prejudice. They only raid easy targets of opportunity, as they are often swept from the field by mounted warriors from the civilized realms.

They have a history of banditry, running, and staying hid, but let a warlord unite them under a sizable pure bred army, and they become a good stock of battle line fodder for the hordes that ravage the lands.

Most are small at 6'-7'4" on average, but some have better stock to claim than others, and can get truly huge.

Theirs is the story of those outcast and ostracized individuals who gang up in the badlands to found new tribes before journeying to a new land to sack. Often they merely perish along the way, but just occasionally, they become the dread of nightmares to unsuspecting hamlets.

Kobalds:

No clear origin to these tiny goblin-like creatures. They have tiny nub horns on the forehead, and are a pale white coloration. Most living deep in the "Delves" under Epica. In "Deeping Delve" there are over twenty million in one cavernous city complex.

Surface races of kobald are very sly in hunting and raiding. They ride many animals one might never have opportunity to; if not born to a gnomes stature.

The size allows the small goblinoid race to ride timber wolves, jackals, wild pigs and dogs, and even a few large bat and bird varieties. Deep Delve, today, is the half quarter of the cave in that Deeping Delve was leveled on one side of the expanse.

Dwarves with gunpowder, magic, and enchanted arms crushed some many under the rubble. But the dwarf, with his ingenious detecting crafts under the earth; were swift to pick up on the first sounds of mass chipping picks.

The industrious mole folk are hard as boiled leather armor, and very hard to kill despite an average size of 2'2" tall.

Goblins:

Kerg are now known as orc. The Kerg breed has long since vanished, and the remaining stock we name goblin. The runt littering mutt breeds. These live in the wreak of the dank orc holds, or in slightly better conditions naturally.

It has been said, the Goblin Marshes, are not a goblins kingdom at all, but a "Slave Farm" for the many orcs living on the plains and in the highlands or deeps. The goblin mind is more human than any other. They are very spiritual people, but they hate the orc goddess they prey to, for they know she can only pity or shame them in her hell. This amounts to little more thought of her except with fear or to lament her twisted ways, as a form of religious piety.

The belief that the forest and swamper tribes follow beside this true faith is the worship of their own hunters who have fallen bravely for that tribe.

They bleed pigs on the sacred rocks that mark glorious slaughters.

Goblins can reason well it is known. Goblins can tell the weather of a battle. If an orc chief is about the fall with his bravest, it's a sure fact the goblins left the field an hour or so before. Unless brutally whipped and speared by tending orc "captains" few ever even see a battlefield. They are keen hunters, trappers, and thieves. They would rather fight like fairy armies, and use the bow if possible.

The typical goblin is leafy green, with a large cranium to body ratio, and an extra broad nose. Tusks are small and hardly breach the lower lips of most males, and are nonexistent on the females. The males are roughly 4' to 5' and the females are a bit smaller and rarely over 3 feet tall.

The Yellow Goblin's of Gunther:

Gunther's, are reformed ninja influenced, goblinkin form four centuries of personal dedication to Gwart and his followers in the Wolven lands of Jamepha.

Armed and trained by Bushido disciplines, the goblins have gotten stronger, taller, and are verging on true culture to rival any primitive human cultures. Necessity and starvation forced uneasy truce into lasting bond, as the Gunther became a race all their own.

The Wolven assassins were deadly, they hunted the Kerg of the land with such glee and sport that they became calloused killers of goblins, but eventually the hunt got too easy, the sport was nothing, the bands captured in droves and their culture like that of apes.

They took to hunting in the lands of men and sold their blades as warriors defending Hon.

So, they rounded up a huge camp, and gathered the goblins for teaching, all the older useless ones were sent to toil in rice fields till death for past crimes. The many young given routine, order, and training of body and mind, as the elf had taught them they taught. As the men had shown them they trained their bodies.

There was one great fight that had stayed with the Gunther Myth's. In that tale the hero is the good sword brother and the bad sword brother is the villain. The bad brother always killed every enemy he trained with. The good brother aways spared the looser. They fought in the forest for seven hours constant steel to steel. Then in end the good brother won, and let him go. But the bad brother tried to stab his back, forcing the good brother to turn to defend himself.

The story's morale code is the need to defy their own kin, and is the major driving theme of their society today.

Orogs:

The story of how they came to be is a constant cause of both pride and shame in orc cultures the world over. Depending on the tribe you ask (supposing they'd even speak to any non-orc) you'll get a variety of answers. Some orcs take great pride in a link to ogres and Teece. The rest loath, Gorehack, and spit on the day he was born.

Orogs today are rarer than yellow diamonds anywhere but the lands of Bronzend. Hold up and under the surface of Bronze Tower, the orogs are said to still have massive numbers and are a race all their own.

Smarter than ogres, far stronger than orcs, and infinitely more advanced than either race, they keep a select race of goblin servants as mages and clerics. Any young born to these lesser beings who have no magical aptitude are slain when they reach 8 winters. 8 being a full decade in terms of goblin growth rate.

They are the master race of the once enthralled Pit Wolven tribes of Blankoo. The legend of their liberation is well known in many lands, but is a mark of shame for the orogs and their storied home.

Supposedly, they unleashed their own demise and aided the dogmen in leaving their cells by tapping into forbidden magic they only barely understood.

That part is denied by those few captives ever questioned by Korjish lords.

But Pit Wolven speech is highly orc-like even today, and the barbaric nature of their society mirrors goblinoid ways. Thus the legend is taken for truth by most human nations while the dwarves never doubted it in the least.

The few who exist outside of the orog homeland tend to rule whatever tribes they belong to, and their followings are typically far better organized and dangerous to enemies.

No one knows why they have never emerged to threaten an invasion of the human lands surrounding their fabled keep. The dingy green structure is an ominous fixture on the horizon for many kings. If they ever did, its likely they'd destroy those lands in a few dusks time, but so far they are content to plague only the minds of rulers trying to rest easy in the long nights of Epica.

Stray too near the tower and one of 6-9 mighty dwarf cannons plundered from the halls of the Karzanz may likely take you to the grave. This is yet another reason none dare range near their fortress. No one knows the exact number of cannons they own, and only a fool would try to count them.

Rumors say they have moved into the, Delves, and are making their war there against the majestic, Darkeen. Yet, the truth of this has yet to be resolved. Until then, the saying may be counted as mere conjecture.

However, their love of magic and its potent aid in war might substantiate a war with an adept magical race such as they.