Hobgoblins

To the northeast of Thorast is the island of Mortarch; home of the goblinoid races of Bugbears, Hobgoblins and Goblins. Mortarch (pronounced 'MORT-ark' is actually a resource rich land but the strong caste'based Goblinoid society means that the native people cannot make much use of this.

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 priviledge 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 competant 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 11 of them are killing your friends.

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.

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).

The language of Hobgoblins is reffered to as "Goblinese" by most humans but is more accurately a dialect of Goblinese known as "Mortari". Like Orchish 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 Orchish is their official second language.

Perceptions of Hobgoblins

Hobgoblins are a rare sight in the Empire, usually being restricted to Thorast or Dominus. 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 no interest in wanton violence outside of what is required to achieve their objective.

Hobgoblins then are not welcome in the Empire but the Imperial Army does not go out of their way eradicate them. Instead it falls to groups of adventurers and local militia to encourage Hobgoblins to "move along".