Quick intro to goblins in my personal setting, Eol Wyrna.
They are kind of different from the usual green skin or warm, earth toned gobbos that you may be used to see. This is because they share many features with Kobolds, a depiction of whom will come at a later date. Most notably, their skin tone tends towards cold greys and blues.
Later on I'll doodle some examples of more goblin folk in Eol Wyrna. For now, this is intended as a short intro and reference to their main features. A little bit of written lore to follow below the cut!
*: Teikkiet (Character depicted here) Has some slight distinctions compared to other goblins. Namely, the cat-like nostrils and a longer, fluffier tail. This is due to her abilities and magical affinity rather than ancestry.
Goblins are one of the most common peoples across Eol Wyrna, although compared to others they are relative newcomers in the stage of history. They are closely related to Kobolds as they share the same ancestry, albeit with the marked distinction of lacking the Kobolds’ iconic Draconic affinity that reflects on their appearance: Where Kobolds display distinct Dragon-like anatomic features common to those touched by Dragon magic (Usually but not restricted to: scales, horns, tails and claws), Goblins instead present features common to mammals at large instead with no immediate association. The distribution of these anatomical features across the body, however, is still shared between both peoples: that is to say: scaled or fur-covered limbs, a tail and short claws. Horn-like protrusions remain unique to Kobolds to this day.
Goblin history begins some 2800 years ago, in an event known as the Night of Mischief, or depending on the local traditions, as the Ascent of the Fool of Fools. While the exact details of what happened that night are unknown and shrouded in an astounding amount of folk tales, the fact remains that when the sun rose on the next day a third of the Kobold population in the then mighty empire had somehow lost their Draconic affinity, becoming what would soon after be known as the first of the Goblin peoples. Soon after, rumors and stories of a mysterious and fickle being spread across the land. This figure would be later known as the Fool: a divine or near-divine being dedicated to mischief and trickery. Since these events happened almost simultaneously, the Fool is attributed for the “creation” of the Goblin peoples, and many of them see this being as a patron deity of sorts… though they are the first to admit to its fickle and unreliable nature as a patron.
Goblins and Kobolds share a conflicted history, and often enough bear some form of resentment towards one another due to sins of the past. Still, it is because of this conflicted history that Goblins at large strive to be a welcoming and open people, happy to share meal and roof to those who need it, in the understanding that times change and one day they may once again be those counted among those in need. They share a strong sense of community, and are quick to band together against threats to their own, by whom they understand as those with who they live and bond with.
Today, Goblins can be found all over across Eol Wyrna, but mostly in the Hearthlands and its many countries and kingdoms.
I didn't, and I generally disagree with absolute statements when it comes to worldbuilding or any creative endeavors. But, a map needed to happen at some point anyway, so here we are!
Still got a lot of things to work through here, but I feel like this is in a pretty decent state so I'm sharing it now to get the ball rolling.
I'll leave you with a quick intro snippet of lore below the cut. Nothing too profound yet, still gotta keep some secrets after all!
Legends from ages long gone tell of a time where mighty beings known as Dragons ruled the world. They would shape the land and sea to their whim, and claim the open skies as their kingdom. None could oppose them, for they alone wielded the great energies and magics of the world. What other beings lived in this world did so at the Dragon’s whim, and so they were revered as gods.
However, a time of great strife and calamity came. Many myths and stories are told of this time: A mighty spell gone wrong, a great and violent conflict, a threat from the great beyonds… none can be said to be true, and most contradict each other. The only truth to be learned from these stories is the only constant among them all: the Dragons ceased to be.
Their deaths sent the world into an age of catastrophe as the magics that they once held were unleashed all at once, wild and rampant. The world was reshaped, and little remains of what once was.
In the ages that followed, those peoples and beings that survived would claim the new world as their own. They would grow and populate the lands and seas and skies, and in time they would become our ancestors.
Many ages have come and gone since that time. Civilizations and empires have risen and fallen, many peoples have lived and died in peace and war, and many wonders both great and terrible have been made and lost. The world yet changes, inexorably, both by the hands of those who dwell in it and by the whims of a wild magic that does not forget its origins.
Dragons may be gone, but their power is still felt.
And now, at the turn of the age, a new time of strife and calamity is upon us. May our will to live guide us through to the light of dawn.
