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| Forgotten Realms Goblin |
This is a guest article from Sean Holland. I started a conversation with Sean in the comments of the article The Dark City, Hork: Political Power Structure about the possibility of goblins providing food to the orc city. Here is his article about two tribes living near the city.
Goblins in and around Hork
While the orcs rule the City of Hork with an iron fist, the goblins have found space on the fringes to advance their own ends. There are two tribes, the Darkened River and the Shadowed Forest, which hate each other and if you are friends with one, you are an enemy to the others.
The Darkened River Tribe
The Darkened River goblins wear grey and blue clothing and tattoos of water symbols on their cheek and arms. Their weapons are fishing spears, wicked daggers and nets, their elite guard wear scale armor made of alchemically hardened shell. They often refer to Mother River when talking of the water.
They fish, gather crawfish and shellfish and harvest some river plants (cat’s tails among others) for the insatiable desire of the City of Hork for food. They also make items out of fish bone, shell and drift wood which they sell, their shell charms for fertility and easy childbirth are among the most popular. To a very select clientele, the Darken River will sell poisons refined from natural toxins but they are very careful who they sell to.
Those who need items smuggled in or out of the city by water will find that the Darkened River goblins are proficient at such but their services do not come cheaply and they expect professionalism from those that hire their services.
The Shadowed Forest Tribe
The Shadowed Forest goblins wear green and brown clothing with tattoos of plants and growing symbols on their arms and neck. Their weapons of choice are the bow, hunting spear and dagger, they favor light leather armor made from the hides of various forest creatures. They make oaths by the Mother Tree and her seven daughters,
They gather mushroom, plants, and hunt small animals all to provide Hork with food and clothing, providing furs and rough-spun cloth, and worked wood for a variety of purposes. The Shadowed Forest also produce a variety of medicinal, stimulant and hallucinogenic herbs and concoctions, to be smoked or consumed, which they sell to those in need of such.
To those in need of somewhere to lie low near, but not too near, to the city, the Shadowed Forest will act as a place of refuge for a reasonable price as long as the heat is not too high.
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| By aaronflorento on deviant art |
Goblin Politics
The two tribes of goblins are always at odds with each other and tales of vicious raids and ambushes by one group against the other occasionally swirls through the taverns. In the City of Hork, they keep their rivalry to shouted insults and the occasional brawl. They actively discourage outsiders from getting involved in this conflict as it is a matter or tribal honor and not for others to interfere with.
In fact, the two tribes are firm allies, sharing information and using their apparent conflict to manipulate prices and demand in the city. They have no wish to get involved in the politics of Hork more than is required to keep their ability to trade in the city, as the goblins are obviously so weak and divided, there is not much of a constituency to ban them from the city. The goblins do pay the occasional bribe and support any attempt to make life difficult for traders from distant lands.
Goals in Hork
The goblins seek to build a strong economic position and a secure base of operations. That being said, their core wealth is all portable and there are constantly updated plans and preparation to flee should the orcs ever decide that the goblins are good targets or the forces of light (broadly defined) should ever decide to march on Hork. The goblins are not interested in a stand up fight but in delaying any attacker, by use of traps, ambushes and other distractions, so that the main body of the tribe can escape.
The goblins, of both tribes, are frequent buyers in the slave markets acquiring goblins to add to their numbers and halflings and other smaller races for use as servants. They also purchase weapons and items useful for alchemical and magical work, which the orcs may have overlooked as useless, from the city market.
Adventure Seeds
- The caravan/ship the characters are travelling with/on is attacked by goblins “raiding” into their rival’s territory. If the attack goes badly, the local goblins will arrive to “rescue” the caravan/ship (and dragging away wounded raiders “to be tortured and killed”) subsequently implying that they deserve a small fee for aiding the caravan/ship.
- One of the orcish groups has come into possession of a goblin artifact, but have not realized the fact. Not wishing to tip the orcs to the value of the item, they hire the character to gain it by fair means or foul.
- The Darkened River goblins have been hired to smuggle an item into the human lands, which is outside their ability to deliver, so they need agents to take it the rest of the way. They will pay well but require magical oaths of their agents.
About the Author
My name is Sean Holland and I have been a gamer for a very long time. Starting with war games and soon moving to roleplaying games, where I have stayed ever since. Gaming is my primary hobby, but not my only one, I am also an avid reader (fantasy, science fiction, and history), watcher of politics and general geek.
I hold a degree in History (BA, minor Philosophy) along with an unfinished MA in the same field. These days I work at Tyche’s Games, a small games store in Athens, GA, and do some freelance writing for the gaming industry along with my work on the Sea of Stars and the occasional piece of fiction.
If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.
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