Physical Description
Kobolds are small humanoids with a combination of dog and lizard features. They stand between two and three feet tall and generally have slight but muscled builds. Kobold scale coloration can be any color of the rainbow as well as brown, gray, black, or white. Particular tribes have a tendency to share a color or palette of colors. Kobolds have pointed ears like a snow dog, but a kobold’s ears are made of thicker cartilage and covered in scales instead of fur. Similarly, kobold feet have the same shape as a canine’s but are scaly instead of furry. Kobolds have mouths and skulls shaped like a canine’s. This shape allows for strong bites, mostly clear vocalization of other languages, and the distinct barking noise that kobolds use to communicate over long distances.
Culture
To a kobold, the pack comes before all others. Kobolds that are not directly born from sown dragon teeth come from eggs which are laid in communal clutches. This makes it difficult for kobolds to distinguish individual parents. Instead of being raised by their mother and father, kobolds are raised by the whole pack. This gives them strong bonds within their pack and little respect for those that exist outside of this extended family. The pack is first, last, and everything to a kobold.
Kobold packs are organized along multiple hierarchies. Their official leaders are often the strongest, but kobolds also pay respect to the oldest and most knowledgeable among them. Kobolds are able to accept outsiders into their communities, as long as the outsiders respect these hierarchies. Commonly, outsiders are only able to exist within kobold communities by occupying the top spot, a position typically occupied by the dragon progenitor of a tribe.
Kobold dismissal of everything outside of the pack lead to many of their troubles in Cimmeria. As life outside of the pack is worth nothing, kobolds have a tendency to openly steal from other races. If their theft is met with resistance, kobolds will use force or, more often, subterfuge. Retaliatory violence drives kobolds away from other civilizations. In the wild, kobold population expands rapidly due to their high birth rate and rapid maturation. These factors, along with their disregard for nature as “outside of the pack,” lead to kobolds overharvesting their environment. As resources dwindle, the large pack splits and smaller units return close to civilization and the cycle repeats.
Kobolds that interact peacefully with other cultures are often confused by what they see. They are curious about the practices of other cultures. However, discovery of foreign practices often leads to offensive dismissal. Kobolds have an attitude of “that’s interesting but the wrong way to do it” for nearly every social habit that doesn’t match their expectation. This alien reaction, along with most kobolds disregard for property of others, leads to social ostracism within communities that kobolds live in. Additionally, the tendency of wild kobolds towards cannibalism marks them as evil.
History
Kobold origin lies in the legend of sowing dragon’s teeth. Cadmus and Jason, both heroes of the Heroic Age, planted dragon’s teeth in the earth to create powerful warriors. The myth of creating warriors holds true in Cimmeria, but the teeth no longer grow into strong Spartoi, but rather small anthropomorphic dog/lizard hybrids, kobolds. Some kobolds cling to this powerful past, but most have moved past it and accept their current weak status. The only way for kobolds to fight back against the cruel world is through communal action and/or slavish devotion to a dragon.
The rise of the Dragon Hegemony brought kobolds a new place in Cimmerian society. Kobolds carried out the first act of draconic dominance when Kenderax’s brood conquered Fangaroot. As the Dragon Hegemony continued, kobolds were the unquestionable servants of the dragons. They were entrusted with many duties and responsibilities. No business was conducted without the assistance of kobolds. For their part in this oppression, retaliation against kobolds from the Conclave races was swift once the Dragon War concluded. Kobolds were exiled and killed throughout Cimmerian civilization.
In modern Cimmeria, kobolds have passed from historical relevance. They exist on the fringes between the cities and the truly wild places of Cimmeria. Kobold raids against towns and villages are common, but they are easily beaten back, only to recur a few years or decades later. A persistent problem like roaches that are too numerous to truly eliminate.
Subraces
Kobolds bear some physical resemblance to the dragon lineage they are descended from. These differences are only cosmetic. Kobold variations in biology and culture are negligible. Thus, they do not have subraces as many of the other races of Cimmeria do.
Location
Kobolds can be found throughout Cimmeria harassing the fringes of civilization. They are particularly focused around Balin’s Holt and in the Aractrashan Jungle. The kobold occupation of Fangaroot led to many kobolds continuing to reside in the area, even centuries after their eviction from the city. In Aractrash kobolds are able to maintain a more consistent presence as they fill a natural niche within the jungle. While human residents tend to resist and dominate the jungle, kobolds have built settlements that fit perfectly within Aractrash’s ecosystem. High mortality from the dangers of the jungle threatens the Aractrashan kobolds. Fortunately, the death rate is balanced by instinctive kobold fecundity.
Relations with Other Races
Kobolds have a poor reputation with the other races of Cimmeria. Kobold moral systems largely place things outside of the pack as food, threat, or way to acquire food. This leads to consistent abuse of other creatures as kobolds will steal or abuse anyone and everything with little regard for long-term consequences. Halflings and kobolds share a special enmity. Halflings see their love of family perverted in the actions of kobolds while kobolds see halflings as occupying their niche of “the short ones” within civilized society. Kobolds’ habitual thievery and casual approach to cannibalism marks them as outcasts at best from civilized societies. They are far more likely to be attacked on sight than anything else.
This hostile reception would drive kobolds away, except they seem inevitably drawn to other civilizations to steal from and skulk around. Kobolds seem to have no interest in building their own societies, only wishing to mooch off of others. Violence directed at kobolds would have wiped out the species if it weren’t for their abnormally high breeding rate. The average female lays six eggs every year. With swift replacement, kobolds are able to weather any storm and come out the other side with a toothy grin.
Common Deities
Kobold societies are typically built around serving their dragon progenitors. Their devotion to their creators often ascends to a level of worship. Kobolds bring offerings of food and valuables to their dragons. They build statues of their dragons and dance around them for rituals. Long after their dragons have departed they continue to make offerings at the statues and call to their dragon ancestors for aid in times of need.
Kobold religious focus on dragons means the Olympians have little love for them. Fortunately for the scaled folk, there are darker divine beings that can offer benefits if the correct, forbidden rituals are performed. Echidna and Typhon, the father and mother of monsters in the Olympian Pantheon, are happy to accept offerings from kobolds. The first dragons were the children of Echidna and Typhon. Thus the two dark deities are a step above dragons in power as well as cruelty. Well-read kobolds stumble upon writings about the monster gods. Accessing their terrible power comes at a cost in blood, the kobold’s or whatever victims they can find. This desire for power has driven many kobold tribes into hostile patterns that eventually lead to their extinction.
Place in Adventuring
If adventurers are predators, then kobolds are undoubtedly easy prey. Within the adventuring world, kobolds are at the bottom rung, often serving as weak henchmen for a greater threat that adventurers must defeat. Kobolds occasionally threaten the safety of villages and small towns. These incursions into civilization are swiftly dealt with by any group of armed resistance by the Conclave races. Even a ragtag band of teenagers is often enough to send kobolds back into the hills.
Kobolds that take to the adventuring life are often rogues, sorcerers, or shamans. Their small size and crafty nature make kobolds excellent rogues as they can get in many places that others can’t. Kobolds’ draconic origin blesses many of them with natural talent for sorcery. With a little effort and guidance, they can match any other battlemage. As shamans, kobolds practice unusual rites compared to the rest of Cimmeria. Their power comes from their dragon progenitors or the monstrous, chthonic deities, Echidna and Typhon. With unusual rites come unusual magic powers that copy the abilities of any monster descended from the first two evils.
Additionally, a kobold’s single-minded devotion to its pack can be a valuable asset to an adventuring party. If the kobold considers the party to be its pack, it will do anything for them. Kobold adventurers can be some of bravest heroes when called upon to sacrifice for a friend.
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