Goblins

Goblins, or jebli, are insidious nighttime raiders averaging 4 feet in height. They have flat faces, broad noses, pointed ears, wide mouths, and small, sharp fangs. Though they walk upright, their arms hang down to their knees. Their dull, glazed eyes range in color from bright red to gleaming yellow. Their speech is harsh and of a higher pitch than humans.

These humanoids are generally evil in nature, and often they are great cowards as well. More powerful creatures usually dominate them, though all goblins swear fealty to the name of the local goblin king. They avoid direct confrontations whenever possible, preferring the safety of ambushes. They use simple, even crude, strategies and tactics. They do not believe in fair fights, for many-on-one works much better than one-on-one to the goblin mindset.

Goblins live in dank caves and dismal underground dwellings. They only come above ground at night or on dark, cloudy days. Goblins and their lairs carry a foul stench, due to their lack of sanitation. Their tribes share with large common areas set aside for eating and sleeping. Treasure and property belongs to the entire tribe, though the chief and his subchiefs watch over it. Only their leaders have separate living areas.

The names of their best-known tribes include Night Terror, Death Feast, Black Agony, Poison Wound, Bitter Ruin, and Dire Oath. Goblins are scattered across the Flanaess in hundreds of places.

Each tribe has an exact pecking order, and every goblin knows his exact place in it. The way to move up the social ladder is through battle, and goblins constantly fight among themselves to improve their station in life.

Tribes regularly take slaves for food and labor. They keep their slaves constantly shackled and under guard.

Goblins take great pleasure in killing. They do not eat much, but they eat almost anything. Rats, snakes, humans, and other humanoids make up the bulk of their diets. When food is scarce, they will even eat carrion. They hate most other humanoid races, especially gnomes and dwarves.

Among the Civilized

Like most evil creatures, few goblins ever integrate into society. Those that do are unusually rare, for the idea of an individualistic life is completely foreign to goblin society. Those few members of the race who display such tendencies are often killed by their brethren, for they are believed to be insane.

If removed from the prejudices and fears of their own people, it is found that goblins generally reject their own societies. They leave their lairs and strike out to find fame (of a sort) and fortune (whatever they can get their hands on). They often fight against such goblin practices as slave keeping and marauding, working to retain the freedom they've gained from the atrocities of their people.

Still, you can't take all of the monster out of goblins. They do their best to control their fear and overcome their natural cowardice, but few goblins will earn awards for bravery. Even the cleanest goblins have trouble eliminating the stench they have grown up with. It hangs about them like a shroud. Because of their communal backgrounds, goblins have no concept of privacy. This can lead to amusing - and not so amusing - situations for goblins and those around them.