The Kobold are a relatively rare species, yet they are somehow found across most of Eyom. They hail from the Jîfk-ve Woodlands, where they were created by the Mountain Gods of Div in the year 587 to help the Mountain Gods combat the Dwarves. Unfortunately for the Mountain Gods, the Kobolds got bored and wandered off to do other things rather than become the Dwarves' bitter rivals. The Mountain Gods hold no ill will for the Kobolds for their shunning of this divine purpose. To quote Chadicus (Head of the Mountain Gods of Div), "It's chill. It was our first time. It's on us, really."
Kobolds were known of but not deemed important to history other than as a footnote relating to the mountain Gods until 1749 when their home, Jîfk Valley came under attack by a coalition of soldiers from the Twelve Sylvin Kingdoms during the 5th Gnoll War. Jîfk Valley became a strategic location due to it being a route by which Sylvin forces could bypass Hobben defensive lines and bypass the city Ekyeh Esh as well as its defensive forts on their way to cross the Endless Peaks. Given the incident's importance, a brief explanation of the event has been included in this article.
Suffice to say, the Kobold repelled the Sylvin troops, securing their home not only from the Sylvin forces but also a contingent of Gnollish warriors.
Kobold have become a symbol of rare peoples within Eyom, serving as the first species people think of when the topic comes up, and serving as a reminder that numbers in political influence are not always the most important aspects of a people to consider when determining their importance on the world stage. Kobolds provide many of the world's greatest spells, weapons, and rare minerals, as they can often out mine the dwarves on a per-capita basis. They also happen to be highly emotive, curious, and easy to get along with for most anyone.
Despite their population, it's almost impossible to find someone in Eyom who has never been friends with a Kobold, even if only for a summer while the Kobold was passing through their kneck of the woods. Kobold, as a people, take great pride in knowing the world knows their people's name, and their deeds. Kobold Bards often travel to perform traditional songs for passersby, and their merchant's ancient paths were used to help plan the Trans-Eyomic Railway.
In the current age, Kobolds have turned their people's minds, hearts, and imaginations to exploration. They are presently developing submersibles and extreme-altitude aircraft in an attempt to solidify their people's name in history by becoming the first to chart both the depts of the sea, and that which lies beyond the clouds.
A large coalition of Sylvin soldiers, largely comprised of Tribe Ovis, but containing many elements from other tribes were due to launch a full-frontal offensive to claim a foothold in the Riverpack Coast from the Gnolls at the beginning of Eweing; the attack included 14 battalions of infantry, one battalion of sappers, 24–30 heavy siege guns, and 30 batteries of artillery equipped with poison gases. It was led by the famed Field Marshal Karli Arthur.
The collision elected to bypass Hobgoblin defensive lines preventing their access to the highway and allowing them to transit the Endless Peaks. This route took them through Jîfk Valley, an area the Hobgoblins occupied on paper but did not seem to be present. Given its remote location and dance woodland nature, it was believed to be considered a natural fortification and thus undefended.
While ordinarily true, a Gnollish Field Army had taken a position on the northern side of the valley as part of a plan to make it appear as if no forces were moving through Hobgoblin territory while readying an assault of their own. The Gnollish Field Army consisted of 16 battalions of infantry, one battalion of Armored Bezerkers, 12-14 heavy siege guns, 10-12 fieldguns, and 22 batteries of artillery equipped with arcane warheads of various types. It was led by the living legend General Holgerh vyim Yuvnonreys.
The force's vanguards came into conflict approximentaly in the center of the valley, discovering the Kobold city of Bedstone along with its outlying villages. A brief engagement ended with the Sylvin vanguard discharging its gas artillery into one of the outlying villages to prevent the Gnolls from reporting the engagement. The Sylvin forces reported back to their main force, wrongly believing the Gnolls had holed up in a Hobgoblin city which did not appear on their maps of the region (a common problem of the time). A full-scale assault was authorized for the following morning once the coalition forces had gathered and the Field Marshal could form a battle plan.
The Gnollish vanguard did not survive the gas attack and were discovered by the Gnollish scout force's rear guard. The rear guard mistook the Kobolds for reptilian Sylvin and reported to their command staff that enemy forces were occupying an unknown Hobbgoblin community. General Yuvnonreys elected to liberate the "allied" city at dawn, and gathered his staff for a war meeting.
At dawn, at 4:00 a.m. on Newlight 6, 1749, with a tailwind on the entire front of the attack, Field Marshal Karli Arthur ordered a full-scale bombardment of Bedstone. Coincidently, General Yuvnonreys' attack began at the same time, preventing the General or his forces from being able to understand the city was being shelled by anyone other than themselves. This misconception extended to the coalition forces as well, resulting in both militaries shelling the Kobold city from 4:00 a.m. to 6:35 a.m.
The bombardment saw the release of chlorine gas from 30 gas-balloon batteries. It is estimated that the gas eventually penetrated to a total depth of 20 km, maintaining the striking effect to a depth of 12 km and up to 12 meters in height. Arcane weapons dropped on Bedstone unleashed a similarly devastating amount of energy, with a notable portion of the Gnollish Bombardment making use of Barrow Haze shells to allow Gnollish Warwitches to thoroughly hex the city during the bombardment.
The bombardment reduced over 87% of Bedstone to ruins. It caught the city by surprise, as they believed the last afternoon's combat to have been an unfortunate accident that did not involve them but had nonetheless occurred within their territory. In the absence of any effective means of protection for the Kobold, including awareness of the danger, the gas attack was devastating. Nearly the entire population lay dead, dying, or seriously injured. The Kobold's emergency services were cut to 9% of their usual operating capacity by a combination of their losses and destroyed infrastructure.
The remnants of Bedstone's government were attempting to assess the reality of their grim situation when both the Coalition and Gnollish forces ordered their infantry to charge and take the city. Over twelve battalions of the Coalition forces, making up more than 7000 men, advanced from the south after the bombardment expecting little resistance. Ten thousand of their Gnollish counterparts advanced from the north, expecting little resistance.
The two sides were met at the first defense line by a counter-charge made up of the surviving Bedstone Police Department, a number of the city's Militia, and scattered elements of the Municipal Slayer's Office (A force consisting of approximately 400 individuals). Both sides became panicked by the appearance of the Kobold, who were coughing up blood and bits of their own lungs, as the hydrochloric acid formed by the mix of the chlorine gas and the moisture in their lungs had begun to dissolve their flesh. Fearing their bombardment had created an instance of Trench Mist, the Sylvin soldiers retreated, running so fast they were caught up in their own concertina wire traps.
The Gnollish Forces, being far more familiar with Trench Mist, understood the abomination had not been unleashed, but meerly the Chlorine Bombardment Mist was exceptionaly thick, and continued into the city. They took up defensive fortifications around Bedstone, and began to look for any Hobgoblin survivors. Upon discovering they had shelled a non-combatant city, General Yuvnonreys ordered his troops to impatiently render all possible aid to the Kobolds.
The rag-tag Kobold defense force elements pursued the retreating Sylvin forces, catching up with them at the bank of the Flurith River and engaging them in close-quarters combat during the crossing attempt. Believing themselves to be walking dead, the Kobold paid no heed to their losses and fought to the last, taking a quarter of the Sylvin forces with them.
The last Kobold standing was Kyoji Stone, a necromancer who had been freed from prison by the bombardment and chose to put her people's welfare above her safety. Surrounded by the enemy, dying, and now surrounded by plenty of fresh corpses, Kyoji attempted to perform the final step of a ritual to ascend to Litchdom. She failed, but imparted part of the undead essence onto each Kobold felled or wounded that day. Said Kobolds, dissolved and reconstituted in a withed "half undead" form in the beds they had slept in the night before.
Unaware of how they had been resurrected but still distraught and enraged, the Kobolds regrouped and marched south, catching up with the Sylvin Colishion at their main camp and launched another vicious attack. The Sylvin were forced to retreat, as their camp was only a half hour from Bedstone. With Gnollish help, the continuously restricting Kobolds had fire support, fresh munitions, and a small but technically infinite infantry, making the Sylvin's situation untenable.
The Sylvin Colishion retreated as it approached 50% losses, ending the conflict.
In the months after the incident, all major world powers agreed that knowledge of minor races' settlements was key strategic information. Several treaties were signed to share maps and knowledge on such peoples to prevent future tragedies. Kobolds became recognized across Eyom as being incredibly brave in the face of adversity. While knowledge of the Kobold's new ability to self resurrect was suppressed at first, it inevitably came into the public eye in time.
Personality
Kobolds are a simple folk. They are easily excitable, funloving, and intensely interested in a handful of things they hold as lifelong passions. They are extremely social as a rule and welcome company at all times regardless of circumstances. This is such a strong aspect of their personality that strangers can walk into their funerals, weddings, and birth celebrations and will be encouraged to participate in the festivities. A kobold can be woken up in the middle of the night by a crying stranger and feel nothing but a need to determine why this person is sad and help cheer them up.
They are, in a word, defectively kind and loving. The Mountain Gods of Div admit as much but state they would change nothing were they to make the Kobold anew.
Kobold are also very curious and love to learn. They care little for what they learn, only that they have experienced something new. Many Kobold become trapped by their own heart and mind within libraries, remaining within until they have finished reading every book in the stacks, archives, and disposal piles.
Like all reptiles, Kobolds adore warm things and will lay down to rest on any remotely warm surface. This includes streets, benches, statues, rocks, and people's laps (provided they are warm-blooded).
Due to events in their specie's history, Kobold do not fear death. This makes them act exceptionally brave, even when they shouldn't.
Aside from the above, Kobold have few common mental traits. They are greatly varied in behavior, preferences, and dislikes.
It is worth noting that if pushed to anger, Kobolds seem to be incapable of calming down for hours or days. At the same time, they do not appear to act as if anything is wrong. This makes them very dangerous as they will plan each step of their revenge with cold and detached logic, then execute their vengeance. Fortunately, this is typically only a slightly mean prank.
Physical Description
Kobold are short bipedal beastfolk that stand roughly half the height of a human. They are reptilian, with a hint of draconic beauty to their features, which tend to be round or sleek and graceful. They have a thick tail which is as unconsciously expressive as that of any canine, a pair of horns which are usually swept back from their heads (and can resemble elven ears), and a tapering draconic snout they will insist you call a snoot.
Kobold stand on draconic talons, which they can use as extra hands while seated. Their foot claws are quite sharp, and can be used to catch and kill prey. Not that Kobolds do this very often, as they find it to be unfair and mean to their typical prey (Rabbits, foxes, chickens, and other small game). Kobolds are omnivores, requiring plants, animals, and minerals to survive. Fortunately for them, simple table salt suits all of their mineral needs, but should a Kobold child wish to grow big (for their species) and strong (for any species) they should include silver, gold, and gemstones in their diet.
Kobolds come in every color under the sun, and can have elaborate scale patterns of many colors. Their eyes are less variant in hue, but are always bright and saturated with color. Their bodies have wide hips, and the muscles which control their tails give them a general pear-shaped and feminine appearance to most peoples. Being reptiles, Kobolds lack mammery glands, but their pectoral muscles are naturally robust, giving even a weak kobold the appearance of very slight breasts and an exceptionally strong kobold the appearance of having noticeable breasts. (Scholar's Note: One does not easily survive a melee strike from a strong kobold, as they can pull their arms with their chest muscles with equal strength to their back muscles due to this trait.)
Kobolds have males and females but are not sexually dimorphic. Not even a little bit. Not even to each other. This makes telling the difference between a male and kobold female impossible without examining their genital slit. Fortunately for Kobolds, they don't seem to care about sex or gender in any respect other than reproduction (Mates will ask around for someone capable of impregnating their female mate or carrying their child, then raise that child once it hatches.). This is not to say that Kobolds do not have romantic lives or take mates. They do. It's simply that they do not care about what their partner has or is.
A Kobold's sense of attraction is based on mutually shared interests. This manifests as them expressing no sexual desires toward someone until they learn the two share at least one hobby. At this point, the Kobold will see the individual (regardless of species and sex) as an attractive prospective mate. Or at least somone they wish to engage in carnal pleasures with.
Kobolds can often be seen in a withered, diseased, and ill-looking state, then be seemingly entirely fine mere hours later. This is normal for their species and nothing to be concerned about unless the Kobold asks for food. In which case, food should be provided, as while their withered state is temporary, it is painful.
Relations
Kobold are known everywhere in Eyom. They are respected for many achievements and seen as the greatest of the uncommon peoples of Eyom. That said, they have little political weight. Save for in the Warrenese Shogunate.
The Kitsune adore Kobolds and see them as kindred spirits. Hence, Kobolds often hold positions of power within the Shogunate as Kitsune will happily support them in bids for power. Consequently, the Shogunate offers significant aid to Kobold communities across Eyom.
Settlements
Kobolds like trees. You cannot believe just how mind-boggelingly much Kobolds like trees. You might think that Tol herself is a big fan of trees, but that's just penuts compared to Kobolds.
Kobolds live deep in forests, building their homes from wood, and using living trees as supports. They have developed wood working techniques which double as arborist techniques, and can join timber harvested from dead trees to live trees without harming the trees. So they do. COnsistantly. For every structure.
Kobold towns and cities do not have empty space. They have lanes for vehicals to pass through, they have streets and lanes, but not yards, nor parks. They have trees. Everywhere.
In addition to trees, they like warm things. Every Kobold home has several sunrooms, balconies, and roof access to the Kobold can go lay on the roof if they want. If there is a hotspring in a forested region, and Kobolds know about it, there will be a Kobold City there, and they will have made a spa sized for "big folk" so you can join them in the spa if you like.
Alignment
Kobold are universally well meaning, kind, helpfull, pressious beans. Unfortuantly, they may be helping somone who is your enamy. They will not be talked down in such cases. Because they truly believe byond a shadow of a doubt that you are the bad guy.
Many of Eyom's Law Enforcment offices will let Kobolds go if they learn the Kobold was asked to commit a crime and that ask was framed as somone neeing help.
Adventurers
Our attempt to detrimine if there were Kobold Adventurers turned into attempting to lcoate any Kobolds who were not adventurers. We found none. We only found Kobolds who were "resting" or "on vacation".