THE GOBLINS / IMIKHOVU / TIKOLOSHE / MANTINDANE / ZWIKAMBU / ZWIDUTHWANE / ABAFANA ABAFUSHANE / IMIKHOBA / SHORT BOYS

The term “goblin” can apply to many types of magical creatures around the world. However, the one unifying feature is a sense of evil, or at least mischievousness, embodied in a monstrous or off-putting form with a general link to nighttime or merely dark places. Goblins have been around for a very long time to the point of having a specific term for them in Medieval Latin.

The English word “goblin” actually comes from the Greek “kobalos” which means rascal. Many sub-races of goblins roam the globe from place to place, one continent to another to make sure humans know of their presence. Supernatural abilities can vary from nation to nation or continent to continent though. The world of fantasy fiction has twisted these creatures into their own types of existence even though the varieties of goblins did not begin that way.

Goblins can have first and last names, most of their names relate to technology and commerce.

Height and weight of a goblin; goblins are small compared to most humanoids, reaching only about 3 feet in height and weighing only 30 to 50 pounds. They got black, blue, green, turquoise, brown, red, blond or white hair. Their eyes are red, yellow, violet, brown, green, blue or pink, the skin is got various shades of green, brown-greens, yellow greens to forest greens. There are a lot of different species of them some are said to have peach skin color, but what defines them better is that all their looks relate to that of humans.

Goblin social hierarchy is based on wealth; much of which is concentrated with the Trade Princes with money, come political power and the attendant ability to generate more money. One might think that goblin hierarchy would have a tendency to lose their fortunes in risky business ventures, only to pick themselves up and try again. Goblins are spread throughout the world in the interest of making profit.

Long back people used to keep goblins in grain storage but now they do their breeding most in disused mines in the great underneath beneath it. Some people describe them as protective, giving and greedy little bastards who just want money because they will be living with you and want luxury. To keep them happy they say you must give them toys, little ones, put on cartoons and comedy shows because they love them. In actually fact they love playing and funny things. You don’t have to do it all of the time, but sometimes would be nice. Call them by their names and make them part of the family. They normally go in pairs as partners. Do you think it is wise to use a goblin to create a personal wealth? They can bring riches and disaster.

Goblins tend to live in groups underground caves, abandoned mines and ancient ruins the entrances of which are guarded and decorated with at least one stake of human skulls on it driven into the ground. They are most sophisticated creatures in the game, with many goblins having a rank and job in the group. About half of the goblins belong to eight tribes, each tribe has its own base cave, shaman, war chief, and tribal totem staff. All members of a tribe have a tribal symbol visible on their upper right arm. Members of any tribe hate members of all other tribes. However, they will tolerate goblins that do not belong to any tribes.

The Shaman functions as spiritual leader who guards the tribe’s sacred totem staff. The totem is a magic staff that belongs to the tribe. (Although the totems all look identical, each tribe recognizes its own totem). The Shaman rarely leaves the cave and does not ripsaw. If one is killed the tribe is without a spiritual leader and will no longer go to war over their totem. Each tribe also has a war-chief as their military leader. Stealing a goblin tribe totem and hiding and placing it somewhere will not start a war though due to distance restrictions. Totems are kept in a specially designated place in the deepest part of the cave. Captured totems are also kept in a designated place about two thirds of the way in the cave.

When goblin caves are examined closely, insights into the level of intelligence and the power of the eight goblin tribes can be found. Often, prison cells can be found within the liars holding captives that the goblins may have been using as some sort of hostage, though they are most often dead upon arrival. Goblins display a basic recognition of currency and its use (evidence of this would be the level of care goblins go to make sure their gold is safe and secure). The caves of goblins also appear to have rooms with individual functions and purposes, such as dining halls, religious centers, storage areas, points of social gathering, and sometimes rooms as definite as throne rooms, armories and kitchens. It seems that the culture of goblins is advanced enough to be deemed somewhat “civilized.”

Despite their intelligence, goblins are extremely hostile and general respond with violence to any contact with the humanoid races. For the most part, though goblins rarely venture far from their lairs except to embark on raids, be it on another goblin or unfortunate travelers, farmers and some other business people. Raids seem to be the goblin’s primary source of food, wealth and equipment as they have yet to be seen practicing agriculture or manufacturing on any apparent scale. The sole exception to this is their near-universal “domestication” of rats as a form of livestock, although the choice of rats may be one of necessity rather than preference.

In rural Africa, goblins are serious business; they go by many names, depending on the region and the language spoken. Most commonly, these creatures are called Tikoloshe, Shona people call it Zwikwambo, and Zwidoma, Ndebeles of Mzilikazi call them Mkhoba a name derived from the Zulu word Mkhovu referring to some type of goblins similar but different form Tikoloshe, they are also nicknamed Mantindane in Matebeleland south of Zimbabwe by the same Mzilikazi Ndebeles, also each and every language has got a name for it. The tread on these creatures used to be very hush-hush, occurring only behind closed doors. But in recent years the sale of goblins has become much more public. Many can now be found for sale in market stalls throughout Africa, and the demand for goblins is rising steadily.

A goblin is created when a shaman harnesses a spirit and places it inside the body of an everyday item or more often a living creature

. Thus a “goblin” could literally be anything. It could be a doll made out of wood, a large beetle, a hedgehog, a mouse etc – the shaman can choose any vessel to house the spirit. Most of them are sold encapsulated inside glass vials which are sealed to prevent the goblin from making magic or (mischief) before it is sold.

These are powerful spirits and their use is regarded by most Africans with dread.

As with any powerful spirit, you traffic in them at your own risk. The goblin can bring wealth or success, but it will almost invariably extract its revenge by bringing down calamity upon its owner, but just as desperate Africans are willing to risk their houses exploding or some other catastrophe in exchange for the slimmest hope at being able to make ends meet.

Alignment and religion.

Goblins have got a little use for religion and worship gods of wealth and taking advantage of others when they do participate in religion. While goblins are not evil, they definitely trend towards neutrality and evil. They are willing to engage in shady and underhanded business practices to get ahead. They will use anything to make profit.

Relations.

Goblins cultivate good relations with all other races whom they view as potential customers and marks. In other hand all other races are suspicious of goblins. They have no respect of anything especially when it gets in the way of their profit. A goblin’s place in society is determined by how much wealth they have accumulated. This leads goblins to be engaged in many schemes to increase their own personal wealth or simple to earn themselves a name, thus their social standing in society.

Goblins are very powerful little creatures,

sometime companies and contractors would hire/buy them in bulk to move merchandise very quickly through them. They display a lot of magic and strength, their main goal is wealth creation, they are good at looting they are as fast as a spring, you can’t see them that easy. They have got power and magic to open closed/locked doors, enter and re-lock them the way it was without any keys.

There are some goblins that rebel from their owners/keepers to create their own wealth, and those are stubborn and dangerous. They keep their wealth in very deep caves and old disused mines which poses danger to humans who might risk their lives for that wealth. Their wealth is mainly kept in the form of money or minerals such as gold; they will fight to their last breath for it. There are people/humans who become mentally retarded when they come across a human goblin fight; sometime they lose their hearing and voices. These goblin creatures are wise enough that they don’t want anybody who saw them with naked human eyes describe them to the humans, so they will switch off your voices and eardrums and also confuse/disturb the function system of your brain through magic powers.

Mainly these guys goes in twos, a male and a female

they can be many, it only depends on how many one needs to keep, for how much amount of job to be done by them. Sometime they fight for loots with goblins from opposite sides, some die on the scene. If a husband or wife has died on the scene the remaining goblin may trouble the owner in need of a sexual partner. Thus the reason some goblin keepers have published stories with their husbands and wives being raped by goblins. These things are breed in pairs, you can’t replace a sexual partner for it, the only thing you need to do when the partner has died is to destroy the remaining one before it is a family mess and it is hardily destroyed.

Goblins in their types.

Here is the top ten of the tricky, sometimes malicious, legendary creatures from the real world!

1. Bogey

Bogeys tend to be the smallest form of goblin. To make up for their size, they are also very short-lived, making them the hardest goblin to actually kill. They tend to be completely black in color and live in the dark places of common houses such as attics, cupboards, and closets. These particular dwellings of Bogeys help them in their most common exploits against human beings. They love to pop out from their hiding places to scare children and adults within the house, which where the terms “bogeyman” and “boogieman” come from.

2. Phooka

The Phooka is a type of Irish Kobold. While it’s considered to be mostly harmless, it can still be very tricky. It has a variety of shapes to change into but usually prefers to be a pitch-black dog or horse with fiery eyes. When approaching careless travelers as a seemingly shabby or tamed pony, the Phooka will give this human a hair-raising ride through thorn bushes or marshes before he or she is tossed into a huge mud pool or even a ditch. The sound of the chuckling Phooka galloping away in the darkness of the night is a warning for the traveler to beware of strange horses the next time he or she becomes road-weary.

3. Kallikantzaros

This goblin comes primarily from the Greek folklore which emerged after the fall of the traditional Greek mythology had been pushed out of the minds of the common people. Kallikantzaros live primarily very deep underground, working to saw through the World Tree in hopes that one day it will collapse to bring Earth down with it. However, by the time they reach the final part of the tree to saw completely through it, they are stopped by the coming of Christmas. From the dawn of December 25th until January 6th Kallikantzaros are able to reach the surface of Earth, which causes them to completely forget their task with the World Tree so that they can rise to the human realm and inflict havoc on the mortal inhabitants by extinguishing fires, souring milk, riding on people’s backs, and braiding the hair of a horses’ tails. By the time they return to their task of sawing the World Tree, it has healed itself, and they must start all over again.

4. Kobold

The Kobold is a very famous race of goblin with origins in Germanic mythology that continues in German folklore. One of the aspects that make them such a wide-spread version of goblins is their versatility as Kobolds can live on ships, in mines, and even human homes. Their appearance changes to fit their environment of choice. However, most Kobolds choose to be of two minds household spirits where they can help with everyday jobs or can freely perform malicious tricks if insulted or neglected. The ones who prefer to haunt underground mines are more notorious. The elemental metal cobalt comes from their name since miners used to blame the troublesome and even poisonous nature of the normal arsenic-filled ore in which cobalt resides.

5. Tengu

The name Tengu means “heavenly dog” in Japanese since they like to take the form of a dog-like Chinese demon called Tiangou even though they prefer to have a bird-of-prey-like appearance. They are probably the best known of the Yōkai which is the classification of all supernatural monster-spirits in Japanese folklore. The Buddhists of the area long believed them to be harbingers of death and war and disruptive demons. However, over time even Buddhism softened toward these Asian goblins to think of them as guardian spirits of the mountains—who should be feared for their sometimes dangerous nature but still respected.

6. Trow

The Trows of Orkney are probably one of the most easily recognizable sub-races of goblins. In fact, when most people think of goblins, a Trow is the form their mind produces. Even though they can sometimes use their powers to look like a human, they are normally old and slightly deformed in addition to being stunted and short with an overall ugly appearance. Trows are considered to be nocturnal as well to the point where they are never seen in the sunlight. However, their outside appearances at night are rare since they are invisible to most humans. Their earthen-mound dwellings are said to be spectacular sights to behold as they are covered in gold and silver and only the finest of food and wine is served there. Trows prefer to visit human homes at night, shuffling near the evening fire and playing mischievous tricks on the home owners.

7. Hogboon

The Hogboon, or Hogboy, is a very friendly earth goblin. They are so kindly to humans that many people try to claim that they are not goblins at all. They live in mounds nearby farms, mostly in the lands of Orkney. This close location to the farm estate’s of humans lets them easily carry through with their outbursts of generosity by bringing luck to the nearby family and watching over the land. However, many tales show that they have a negative side whereby they can be very unpredictable if the humans refused to share the outputs of the farm with them—whether it is milk, butter, bread, or maize. They would bring ill luck to the farm, sometimes even making the land barren, or causing the death of a particularly disrespectful human who tries to get into his mound for treasure.

8. Knocker

Knockers are an interesting off-set of goblins. In personality they are very close to the Hobgoblin as they tend to be in near contact with humans. Yet, they are more specialized in that they tend to live in mines and therefore are neighbors to miners. Knockers, particularly in Cornwall, are thought to still live in the abandoned mines of the area. They do have a kind side as long as the humans in their mine remain in their favor. Their name actually derives from the knocking sound before a cave-in. If a Knocker favors the miners, he will make a light knocking that will warn the humans in the mine. However, if they feel disrespected, they will knock hard in order to cause the cave-in.

9. Kol’ksu

Many people like to think of the Kol’ksu as mermaids with attitude problems since their lovely delicate features can make them seem kindly. However, while their white irises set in dragon-like eyes and white hair do make them beautiful in a strange sense, the people who confuse these water goblins with other mythical sprites of the seas could not be more mistaken though. Kol’ksu are very carnivorous and are notorious for their hatred of any kind but themselves—particularly humans and even other goblins. Any human who looks upon a Kol’ksu or even accidentally swims into Kol’ksu ruled waters will not only be killed but will also vanish without a trace from the world at large since this species of goblins leave no evidence of humans who crossed them.

10. Hobgoblins

Hobgoblins, with their dark colored shaggy hair, are thought to be one of the most benevolent forms of goblin, closely related to brownies. They are small tricksters that love to mess with human lives through direct influence or theft when they are really in a mood to pull practical jokes. The main thing that separates them from other goblins though is their close labor relations to humans. They will do toiling work around a human house for a bowl of fresh milk or a spark of fire since they enjoy the warmth but cannot create their own just like other goblins. Still, they tend to be solitary individuals.

Some cross-bred with Men

Some people believe that other goblins were cross-bred with humans; others believe it is people metamorphosis into things or humanoids.

“There is no doubt that shamans and witches rediscovered this, or learned of it in lore, and in their lust for mastery committed this and their wicked deeds: the interbreeding of goblins and humans, producing many types of goblins large and cunning, and Orc-men treacherous and vile.

‘But these creatures, these half-orcs and goblin-men that they foul crafted, they will not shy away at the sun. But there are some others that are horrible: man-high, but with goblin-faces, pale, frowny, and squint-eyed. It is difficult with these evil folk to know when they are in league, and when they are cheating one another.

Orcs are taller than Humans (instead of always being shorter) like all known goblins which seems to suggest that they look mostly human but share some of the features of the common goblins. Some goblins are born full grown to allow the fast process of breeding. This is used as a device to allow building the army practically overnight, as opposed to taking the time to breed “improved” goblins through more conventional means. Goblins can be used alongside common army while they get their own playable faction.

They hate people laughing at their squint-eyed and sallow-faces. Goblins are much disturbed to see people especially those who don’t own them, even to people they are largely ill-favored. Goblins sometimes ride wags into battle. Although not entirely dim-witted and occasionally crafty, they are portrayed as miserable beings, hating everyone including themselves and their masters, whom they serve out of fear. They make no beautiful things, but rather design cunning devices made to hurt and destroy.

Chronological Synopsis of the Whereabouts of;

Gnomes

Elves

Fauns

Faeries

Goblins

Ogres

Trolls

Bogies

Nymphs

sprites and Dryads

A long, long time ago, the Earth belonged to the creatures of the wood. By creatures of the wood I mean gnomes, elves, faeries, etc. They tended it and took care of it, played in it, danced and sang in it, cared for wounded animals, worked out disputes between species, sat on mushrooms discussing matters of importance and drinking bush tea of leaves and barks, rode down streams, parachuted from trees on dandelion seeds. This was the world into which mankind was born.

These early days, when man was but a newly arrived dinner guest who hadn’t yet taken over the house, are fairly well documented in the literature and folklore of the world, so there’s no need to go into it here. What I am interested in, and what I am asking you to be interested in, is the question, “Where did all the gnomes, elves, faeries, etc. go?”

The friction between man and the wood creatures began with the discovery of agriculture. With this discovery civilization arose and spread. The forests were cleared to provide wood for shelters and fields for pastures and crops. Mankind had set up camp. No longer just a visitor in someone else’s world, he pushed the wild back from his newly built doorstep. At first, this wasn’t a problem. There weren’t that many people and everyone else felt that it was only fair to give them their own half-acre to do with as they wished. Some of them even decided to help out. Gnomes moved into the barn houses and helped with the gardening chores. The devic spirits of the vegetables helped humans better organize their crops and plan rotation; taught them the correspondence between environmental and lunar cycles and the agricultural year. They taught them to plant when the moon is in Cancer, harvest when the moon is in Taurus. Many sprites felt that the heaping piles of manure were a change for the better, and decided to stick around too.

The rest of the wood creatures just backed off into the wood, occasionally playing tricks on the new settlers, like turning the milk sour, rearranging furniture, tipping cows, tickling people’s faces in their sleep and once in a while stealing babies and leaving bundle of wood in their place.

But man’s dominion spread (and spread and spread and spread) and the forests got smaller and smaller and smaller. Things got real crowded in the woods, and things were getting worse in civilization. Most farmers weren’t listening to the devic spirits anymore. People found they could increase their output by disregarding the needs of the earth. They were raising productivity and killing the soil. Petro-chemicals were just a step away. Most of the devic spirits and gnomes fled. The trolls stayed. Today, they live mostly under bridges and in the shallow mucky ditches beneath the metal grating on farm roads that cows are afraid to cross.

Be sure to honk your horn before driving over one of these. A sprite may be hanging from the grate, swinging over its living room, as they are appropriate to do after rolling in muck and manure. If you don’t give a warning honk, you may run over its fingers, and it’s not a great idea to get either your name or your license plate number on a troll’s sheet-list.

Now, there is little wild land left at all, and even that is shrinking at an unprecedented rate. There is simply not enough wild space for all the gnomes and elves, fauns and faeries, goblins, ogres, trolls and bogies, nymphs, sprites, and dryads.

So where are they?

Are they dead?

No.

The answer is a bit surprising. They didn’t go anywhere. We did. Early humans had an intuitive knowledge of their role in nature, just as bears and raccoons and mice and every other creature does. They understood, from the ways of the wild around them, that nothing ever comes from nowhere and nothing ever just disappears. Things only change form. Death is necessary for life to continue. They offered up their kills as sacrifices to the gods of nature. They offered praise, prayer, sacrifice and song to the spirits of the wild, to buffalos’, antelopes’, deer’s, trees’, and mountains.

Now we know that everything that ever existed continues to exist, in one form or another, and as far as we can tell, they were more aware of that back then than we are now. So, the sacrifice, song and prayer did not ensure the immortality of the slaughtered, either in body or spirit. That was already taken care of. What it did ensure was the continuance of the connection between the spirit of the slaughterer and the spirit of the slaughtered. Killing is risky business.

The membrane separating the internal from the external is not necessarily as thick or as clearly defined as we have come to believe. Every time we kill, we risk killing the reality of that thing inside ourselves as well as outside. We risk breaking the connections that lead in and out of the membrane. Taking a life to feed life requires a keen understanding of the natural law of give and take. When we lost that understanding, gave up the songs, the sacrifice, the prayers, we lost the connection. Saying grace is not enough.

When we lose those connections, everything becomes dead – fish, rivers, frogs, mice, even each other. There is no way they can reach inside us anymore. The five senses we are left with are not enough. We have given up those connections in exchange for the freedom to clear-cut forests with skidders, turn cows into milk machines and chickens into egg factories. We can experiment with animals, club seals, wear fur, and wipe out entire species. Not even an ache of guilt. The lines have been cut off.

And we are all under the impression that it is the forests, the creatures, the spirits and the wild lands that are disappearing from the universe and not us. This is not so. Thinking like that is like thinking that if you stand on the end of a limb and saw that limb from the tree, that the tree will fall and you will remain standing. The Gods/gods might be able to get away with that, but we can’t.

It is we who have fallen away from the real world into a world where we may carry out our twisted sterile dreams without threatening the earth and its inhabitants.

Ever wonder why the trees, stones, rivers and streams, birds, bears, frogs and snakes no longer talk to us as they did in the early tales of native world, the Hindu, the Africans, the bible? It’s because we’re not around to talk to anymore. Every clear-cut, every vivification, every mechanized slaughter of cow, pig or chicken moves our dream world further and further from its origin, making a reunification which is still possible, more and more difficult.

Somewhere not so far from here, in the real world, the ancient forests are still standing, the buffalo roams the grassland, the sky is full of condors, the deer and the antelope play, and flamingos still wander the sandy beaches, bumping into things.

Where there are still wild lands in our dream world, strong connections still exist. Bridges, tunnels, portals. Occasionally a traveler will get lost in the wilderness and find himself in the real world, returning the next day to find that a hundred years have passed, or never returning at all.

There are more short-lived connections as well – brooks and waterfalls where you can still hear voices from the other side, if you listen carefully enough… When they sit by these waters, they hear loud clanks and screams. When they eat magic mushrooms, everything stops glowing and condors rise where forests stand. Our children can see their world in their dreams. Their children see our world in the nightmares.

And there is another connection. Sometimes agents from the other side infiltrate our world in an attempt to accelerate reunification. Believe it or not, they miss us over there. Sometimes – more often than you might think – they send souls over to our world to be born as human babies.

There are quite a lot of them actually – gnomes, elves, faeries, sprites, etc. running around in human bodies, doing crazy things like writing on walls, working in co-ops, running inns in the mountains, talking to themselves in the streets, making pottery, practicing witchcraft.

They are planting biodynamic gardens, sitting in the back yard naked, arguing on a lot of issues. They are in refuge pumped full of energy, they run recycling centers, they are starting revolutions, corrupting the young, inventing fearful method of hypothesis, making up religions. They’re directing movies, gobbling acid, drinking heavily and writing poetry.

The transition from their world to ours is not an easy one. It’s not easy on the soul and much is lost. They may have no idea who or what they are at first. They may or may not find out. They will know they are not like other people. They will know that this world is not theirs. They will faintly remember something better, where things made sense and worked like they ought to, where love and magic had the power to heal.

They will know what makes other people happy does not make them happy, and that what makes them happy makes them happier than anyone else alive.

They will see things others cannot see, hear things others cannot hear, feel things others cannot feel, and know things others do not know.

They will laugh a great deal or cry a great deal or both.

They will love humans individually, but have a hard time with humanity as a whole, and that will occasionally approach hatred.

They will have a handful of very close friends, and often be very lonely.

They will be unhappiest when forced to act like a human and do things that humans do, want what humans want, or when they are convinced that they actually are one.

Things will not be easy for them. Because of their memories of the other side, the world will seem to them a wondrous calliope with just a few teeth missing on one of the cogs. Because of this tiny deficiency, the music is off key, the horses are crashing into each other and the children are frightened, bruised and crying.

The solutions will seem obvious, but no one will listen.

They will repeatedly be punished for shouting FIRE! in a crowded theatre, when the buildings really are in flames but no one else can see….They will get slapped on the wrist for pointing to the EXIT signs when everyone else is running around screaming and trampling one another. They will be zealous, fanatical and didactic/educational in their beliefs. They will feel absolutely confused.

They will have ecstatic visions and babble incoherently. They will be extremely articulate.

They are prone to long periods of silence. They have no idea how to say what they really mean. They spend a lot of time with children and animals.

They will dress in bright colors, sweaters or all black.

They will smoke too much and drink too much. They will eat only macrobiotic foods. They will develop addictions to natural staffs.

They will often be accused of living in their own fantasy world.

They will make great lovers. Yeah, even the trolls.

They will spend too much time either making love or thinking about it.

They will speak to non-living objects. They will have much brighter eyes than everyone else. They will expect their magic to work in this world and their love to heal, and will be crushed by this world, and often won’t expect it.

It will come close to killing them.

They will visit the places where the connections still exist: the waterfalls, the mountains, the oceans, and the forests. They will draw on all the power they have, and sometimes the magic will work. And everything will be wondrously easy. The teeth will grow back on the cog on the calliope, the tune will right itself, the horses will bob gracefully up and down, around and around, and the children will giggle and sing. They will spend their days trying to reconnect a branch that millions are busy sawing away at. Often it will be more than they can bear. While the rest of humanity is busy working on new and more efficient ways to lay waste to the Earth with the push of a button, they are saving it. A handful at a time.

They will share a common conviction that they are the only sane individuals in a world gone mad. Orks goblins are a race of creatures that are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villain.

Goblins are small humanoids, crafty and shrewd, bearing an overwhelming interest in commerce and a strong curiosity about mechanical things.

Goblin society is fragmented, defined chiefly by commerce and trade. The ultimate schemers and con artists, goblins are always in search of a better deal. Despite their seemingly chaotic natures, they exist in a fairly strict and straightforward hierarchy. Other races universally view goblins as inventors, merchants and, without exception, maniacs. Goblins value technology as a useful aspect of commerce. Some say that their advantage — and their curse — is to be the primary users of technology in a world governed by magic. While dwarves and gnomes share a similar gift, goblin technology is more far-reaching and sinister, makes a larger impact on the natural world, and explodes more often.

Goblins are envious of the dwarves’ invention both from a commercial and a technological standpoint. Goblins recognize that firearms represent a new source of power, and he who controls the source controls the gold — which is, to goblins, the ultimate power. In the rest of the world, goblin experimentation suffers from the race’s normal negligence.

Each controls his own private trade fleet. Each trade prince has his own specialty, monopolizing trade in a certain area, such as mining, deforestation, slavery or poaching. The trade princes are the most cunning of their race and stop at nothing to collect their fortunes and power. Goblins are tenacious fighters.

They attack from range with crossbows or sling (making individual modifications to dwarf-made weapons) and use maces, short swords or bizarre, home-brewed steam weaponry in encounter. When attacked in their warrens, they fight with tools as well. Goblins have a good grasp of tactics and strategy, and are masters of siege warfare. Their love of large machines makes them ideal mercenaries for attacking fortifications.

Goblins are smart in business, and clients who believe they walked away with the upper hand are almost always sorely mistaken. “To cheat a goblin” is “to do what is practically impossible.” Goblins are also consummate tricksters and con artists. Their mission in the world is to create incredible new inventions, accrue the resulting wealth, and cause as much subtle mischief as possible along the way.

History: first appearances

Their earliest appearance chronologically was in the War of the Ancients, Neltharion created the Demon soul before the War of the ancients with the help of goblin artificers — hinting that the goblins may be an ancient race. The Faceless of the deep also mentions remembering when they were created, potentially hinting the involvement of the Old Gods, or at least the prolonged existence of their servants.

Early history

Goblins have been around for a long time, but the creatures were very isolated. Long ago, the goblins were a native race of the Isle of Kezan, and didn’t have a fraction of their current intelligence. There, the race lived as slaves to the local jungle sprite, mining the subterranean tunnels where the trolls didn’t like going. However, soon, the goblins unearthed a mineral known as kajamite (a strange mineral named after Mount Kajaro). The trolls valued the mineral, using it in voodoo rituals, and forced the subterranean goblins to continue mining the mineral. The goblins soon came to sense, at some basic level, that the mineral held attraction unknown to the trolls. The goblins put aside the mineral, using it to fashion crude objects of power deep within Undermine’s twisting tunnels. However, the mineral had some unexpected side effects: it caused the goblins to grow in intelligence. Soon, goblins developed technology. With their increased intelligence, goblin cunning rose, and soon, the race endorsed a plan to free themselves from the trolls and, in a mocking twist, turned the trolls into their slaves. In little time, the goblins owned the Isle of Kezan, and declared Undermine their capital. Goblins rapidly expanded their knowledge of technology.

Goblins created first steam technologies. Rumors are that goblin technology back then was far more advanced than even current dwarf’s technology. Goblins established themselves as master technicians, selling their goods on the open market. However, the power within the artifacts was limited, and soon dwindled, needing to be replaced.

Goblins chose war as the perfect opportunity to cash in some gold, and began building their trade empire during the First War. By the Second War, the goblins had established themselves as the traders of the world. Then, they became exclusive partners with the multitude.

The goblins are also legendary for the absolute variety of trade in which they are willing to indulge and for their tenacity in bargaining.

The trade princes are the most cunning of their race and will stop at nothing to amass their fortunes and power, whether through legitimate means or via black markets and treason. Goblins are not purely mercenary. They are known to form strong bonds with individuals of other races. Their small forms and odd behavior make other races — elves in particular — ill at ease, but goblins do not seem to care much for the impression they make. They judge by deeds, befriending those who treat them as friends and standing apart from those who would offer them abuse.

Breeding

Goblins “breed like rabbits”, which accounts for them quickly outnumbering and, eventually, destroying any other races in the areas they settle around.

S. The only reason that the goblins don’t outmatch the Hord and Alliance in population is because goblins often blow themselves up.

Goblins place their faith in themselves and in gold. They raise eyebrows at insubstantial concepts such as shamanism and the Holy Light, preferring gods they can see, weigh, and spend.

Languages

Goblins speak Goblin, and the language of their owners. Goblins know many languages in order to trade with as many races as possible.

Goblin forces are terrifying to behold. The Trade Fleets are outfitted with the most fanatical and destructive creatures. The average person wonders why the trade princes require such powerful armies, if they are holding to their neutrality stance. It certainly seems excessive.

The life of those living on the South Seas is harsh, due to attacks from everything from pirates to villain magical beasts. Conflict exists everywhere, and a trade prince is always in danger of death. There is only one way to become a trade prince, and that’s to take out the competition. Thus, to prevent rival from taking their thrones and to ensure that business may be conducted as normal, each trade prince enlist a hefty force of warrior. It’s absolutely necessary to keep order in the goblin world.

The goblins are an unbending bunch, refusing any sort of barter and demanding to be paid only in gold. Goblins deal only in gold.

Goblins accept recently mined nuggets, panned dust or defaced Alliance gold coins that would be refused in other areas. Goblins hired themselves to anyone with the gold, they are grumpier about accepting silver, but do so. The merchants accept gold in any form and have precise scales to aid their customers.

If one wants to purchase something, whether it is supplies, equipment, weapons, magic items or even slaves, the goblins either have it or know where to get it. All that matters in their eyes is the price.

The goblins like a balance of power

Goblins don’t like gnomes much, as they are the two races that are best at engineering. They often combat in engineering; it is hard to say who is the best at engineering, the goblins or gnomes.

It is a widely supported, yet unproven theory that the main inspirations for the goblins were the malfunction of their destructive nature and looks, for their industrialized society where one’s worth is equal to the belongings he can gather and hold.

Female goblins use the female gnome sounds in combat — although there aren’t many female goblin, all you need to do is go at war with one of the goblin factions and fight one in order to hear it.

A goblin is an evil, crabby, or mischievous creature of folklore often described as a grotesquely disfigured or gnome-like phantom that may range in height from that of a dwarf to that of a human.

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