Kobolds

Kobolds, also named celbit, are small, vicious, draconic scavengers picked on by every larger race. Growing to a height of three feet, they have scaly hides of dark brown to rusty black, and smell awful to anything but another dragon. The eyes of a kobold glow bright red, and they have two small horns atop their draconic heads.

Kobolds are masters of trickery, but they prefer tactics where they can apply overwhelming odds. They have a racial hatred of gnomes and are willing to attack these demi-humans on sight. The only way they will go against humans and other demi-humans is if they have superior numbers - at least two to one, more if they can manage it. They have learned to use swarming attacks, throwing themselves at opponents in large waves.

Most kobolds are a sadistic, cowardly lot. Their lairs and ambush sites are studded with concealed pit traps. They line the bottom of these pits with additional hazards, such as spikes or water traps, hoping to catch and incapacitate larger creatures with them.

Kobolds set up lairs anywhere that dragons may be found, typically in dark, damp underground locations and deep in overgrown forests. They are good miners, often settling in areas that show mining promise. These humanoids set out from their territories to forage for plants, hunt for meat, and to waylay humans and demi-humans. They capture victims to use as food or to sell into slavery (if there is a market for such wares in the vicinity). Strangers are not trusted, and they have a particular hatred of brownies, pixies, sprites, and gnomes. Gnomes, especially, are shown no quarter, and kobolds will never eat them.

The conquest of land in the name of a draconic lord is the ultimate goal of all kobold tribes. They rejoice in stripping a land of its resources, and they love to accumulate power in the name of true dragons. As they have a deep hatred of all other life, they find great delight in killing.

Their most numerous tribes include the Torturers, the Impalers, the Gougers, the Cripplers, and the Mutilators. Like goblins, they are found in many places.

Among the Civilized

Kobolds strive to be taken seriously by the larger races. They hate jokes directed at their diminutive size and strength, and seek to make up for their shortcomings through ferocity and tenacity. To other races, their language sounds like the yapping of small dogs, and few can take them seriously unless they are in large numbers.

Some kobolds break the model of typical specimens of the race. Typically occurring after discovering the faith of a kinder dragon, there are those who reject the racial hatreds and savage practices of their fellows and seek to learn and spread such faith to others. 

Whatever the case, kobolds have a harder edge than their goblin rivals. They nearly all retain their dislike of short jokes, and are often belligerent, wise-cracking, and pushy, as they must make up for their small size in whatever way they can. Even the most pleasant of the race are a little mean-spirited.

Kobolds, especially kobold rogues, like to keep in practice with their skills of trickery, ambushing, and setting traps. Some few take to inventing, applying their cleverness and ingenuity to non-fatal mechanisms.