Hobgoblins

To the southeast of Dominus is the island of Mortarch; home of the goblinoid races of Bugbears, Hobgoblins and Goblins.

File:Hobgoblin.png

Hobgoblin. Image (c) WotC

Appearance

Hobgoblins are the same height as Merebian humans but thin and wiry. Unlike their green-skinned cousins, hobgoblins tend to have red-brown to orange-brown hued skin, brown eyes and dark hair.

Culture

Hobgoblins sit in the middle of the Goblinoid caste system, and so have access to levels of equipment and training that are forbidden to mere Goblins but also denied the wealth and privilege of the Bugbears. As such this means that Hobgoblins are just as likely to travel to Imperial lands to seek their fortune but unlike Goblins they usually do so as a team of reasonably competent mercenaries. A Hobgoblin mercenary unit almost always consists of a dozen warriors (usually 8 infantry and 4 ranged). Amongst those who who faced hobgoblin forces there is a joke that if you've killed 13 hobgoblins it is only because the remaining 11 of them are too busy killing your friends.

Hobgoblins are not a naturally sexist race; they respect authority and strength over gender considerations. Although female Hobgoblins do tend to be slightly less strong than their male counterpart, exceptional females can rise to the top of Hobgoblin society without question. About a quarter of the Hobgoblin warriors encountered in battle are likely to be female.

Unlike Goblins, Hobgoblins rarely allow themselves to become slaves but those that do are sought after for their military prowess and usually find a fate either as bodyguards or arena fodder.

Hobgoblins are a militaristic race, and use tactics and organisation to counter their physical weaknesses. In the war against the Empire, Hobgoblins were employed as rank-and-file infantry soldiers that could be relied upon to maintain formation and follow orders (as opposed to the skirmishing Goblins and the line-breaking Orcs and Bugbears).

Language

The language of Hobgoblins is reffered to as "Goblinese" by most humans but is more accurately a dialect of Malbuget (Goblinese) known as "Mortari". Like Orcish this is a relatively simple language but allows for more nuanced sentence structure than pure Goblinese. Most Hobgoblins understand a bit of High Merebian but Orcish is their official second language.

Perceptions of Hobgoblins

Hobgoblins are a rare sight in the Empire, usually being restricted to the southern part of Thorast or the east coast of Dominus. Hobgoblins seem somewhat fearful of Tieflings and rarely travel to Bal-Morath even though it is the closest Imperial land to Mortarch. Hence if you asked most humans to describe a hobgoblin to then they'd more than likely describe either a Goblin or Bugbear. Most people also confuse Hobgoblin tactics with that of Goblins or Orcs, whereas their military discipline actually makes them closer to the Imperial Army. Imperial humans are often surprised that Hobgoblin attacks are very focused and that they have little interest in wanton violence outside of what is required to achieve their objective.

Hobgoblins are not welcome in the Empire but, at their current numbers, the Imperial Army does not consider them a serious enough threat to go out of their way eradicate them. Instead it falls to groups of adventurers and local militia to encourage Hobgoblins to "move along".