Aristocles

Goblins of the Wilds

For anyone new, let me give you a condensed version of the setting and its rules.

- Goblins are green-skinned humanoids, about 3 to 3 and a half feet tall. They mature quickly and are considered old by 20 years.
- The main tribe of goblins in this RP live in a village in the woods.
- Clothing for goblins is usually simple, without footwear and usually without shirts. That said, private parts are covered. You can have characters with shirts and pants if you wish, just not footwear.
- The RP is PG-13. Things beyond that rating can be hinted at, not shown.
- Technology is simple, at medieval level for most, but the goblins are well behind humans and other races. Metal weapons and tools are rare and many of them use stone as a material instead.
- The goblins have a chief and a shaman. The chief is in charge and he's always male, the shaman can be male or female.
- When a previous chief dies, the new one is chosen by a contest of the strongest warriors.

Here are what two typical goblins more or less look like, thanks to Hero Forge:

Male Goblin

Female Goblin

For further details, check the OOC.

Goblins of the Wilds

"Oh, I'm fine. Just... fine" Breden replied, not really sure of what to say as he joined the smith, stepping inside as he was invited in. He didn't plan on entering, not wanting to watch as his chances to lie with Siwa slipped out of his hands once again, but he didn't want to say not to Koglan's invitation either.

Siwa marched forward into the kitchen area, confident that Koglan would accede to her wishes one way or another. The trick was making sure she didn't come off as overeager, and to be sure that he wasn't going to be too eager himself. While he was getting up there in years, Siwa was sure that the smith was still capable of siring children for another couple of years, and that he'd be capable of performing during the process, so to speak. Even so, she didn't want to do anything quite yet, and had to make that clear. This was for the future, not a statement of her wanting to do anything this instant.

"Who wouldn't want to come to watch a big, strong blacksmith do his work? You've contributed so much to our people over the years. Gods knows that our warriors wouldn't be nearly as good in battle without your iron weapons."

Breden couldn't help but to feel inadequate once again. He was only armed with stone armaments and could only dream of getting his hands on an iron dagger, let alone a spear. It wasn't that Koglan charged an arm and a leg for his work, but that he needed to be compensated for his time and materials. The village had to import iron from the rare merchants which came their way, or else scavenge iron tools and weapons from the woods. Breden had looked for such weapons before, but never had any luck. Of course, he knew that humans had other metals far beyond iron, such as steel, a very rare material for goblins. They couldn't even make steel themselves; it had to be bought from the humans. Other races in the area used materials he had never even heard of, let alone used in combat.

Siwa continued her speech, knowing that flattery could only go so far. "I know that males don't know who sires whom. It's our way, and I wouldn't want to imagine kids running around this forge anyhow. Not safe. It's best that you continue your work alone. That said, no one lives forever. Wouldn't it be nice to have an apprentice to take on your duties when you're gone? I can help with that. Maybe he'll even have your blood, too." She gave a seductive grind of her hips, but kept her clothes firmly on. "That, and I'm sure I can give you a very nice break from all this hard work, if you know what I mean."

Breden only heard Vos enter after Siwa gave her little speech.

"Oh, Vos! I didn't notice you there. Heh, Siwa has her way with males, but I don't think she's being charmed by anything. She's looking for sires - but not me - for her kids." Goblin females could have children in a litter from more than one father, depending on how many males they laid with, in part. If a female had a litter of four children, it was possible that two might be from one male and two from another. Of course, it was also possible that the ratio might differ based on luck, potency, and how often she 'saw' each male during a given time period. Even when goblin females had contact with only one male and thus had reason to know exactly who the one father was, the male played no real part in raising his kids, but if he could be reasonably sure they were his (a very rare occurrence), it wasn't uncommon for him to stop by with food and other gifts for the family.

Goblins of the Wilds

@Gigan

It's fine! Glad to have you on board!

Goblins of the Wilds

Breden walked through the village, hoping to see some of his friends. In truth, his walk was almost a limp, as he tried his best to keep pressure off of his somewhat-injured toes. The village had streets of dirt and had no concept of sanitation in the ways humans or elves understood it. As such, Breden had to watch his step in some areas of town even in the best of times.

He made it to Koglan's smithy. He knew the old blacksmith, but given his age and lack of major successes, never had the money to purchase an iron weapon from him. He wasn't sure how much longer Koglan had, given the short lifespan of the goblins. He stood, watching the smith work, seeing that his endeavors had attracted no small number of females, young and old alike. Most were either too young or too fixated on Koglan to pay an unproven male like Breden any heed, but there was one female who was different.

"Look at that swing. It's almost hypnotic. I could watch it all day." Breden snapped out of his daydream of owning an iron blade by a familiar voice.

"Oh. Siwa. How's the dancing thing going?"

"Pretty well. I still get a few copper coins for it. Wish they'd give me food instead of little metal discs. Can't eat those, and it takes a lot of these coins to get a tiny bit of food from the humans, and they're useless here." The goblins bartered for items among themselves, only using money when they had to interact with merchants from other races. "I don't know why they put faces on them." Siwa showed Breden a copper coin with what appeared to be a king's head on the obverse, with the symbol of the town it was minted in on the reverse; the symbol was that of a triskelion.

"Huh, interesting."

"And how've you been doing, Brey?"

"Eh, so-so. I was on a hunt earlier. No luck."

Siwa took a moment to look him over. "And I see you hurt your foot again."

"Again? How'd you notice?" A small smile came over Siwa's face.

"I'm not just a dancer, you know. My mother taught me the art of massage, and with that comes a certain eye for other goblin's bodies. I noticed that you're avoiding putting pressure on your right foot, that you have a tense posture, and even though I can't see a bruise, there's some discoloration on your toes."

"I... may have kicked too big of a rock after failing to kill a deer."

"Well, if you like, I can help you with that, but not quite yet. When I'm done here, I'll help you out with your foot." She looked directly at the smith, giving a smile. Breden thought about it for a moment.

"Oh, you want to-"

"- I'm thinking about it; not like I'm gonna do anything like that today; I'm just not in the mood. Still, if I'm going to have my first litter, I want a good sire, and getting some blacksmith blood in my children's background might be good for 'em. Plus, if I'm gonna get him to help me there, it'll have to be soon. Best to at least bring the subject up with him."

"You'll have me for a long time, Siwa" Breden looked down at his feet, embarrassed. With a warm smile, Siwa walked over to him and gently ran her right hand through his red hair.

"Brey, we'll have plenty of time to consider that later. You've got years of hunting and fighting ahead of you, and I'm sure you'll be a great prospect for mating one of these days, but for now, a girl's got to go with who she thinks will be good for her kids, not who might be good someday." She gave him a little hug, only serving to interest him in her further. He wasn't going anywhere with her today, tomorrow, and possibly ever. "Plus, while we can't be sure who the father is, it would be nice to think that he'd sire an apprentice or two with me."

"Yeah, yeah. I understand" Breden remarked, not happy at being snubbed yet again.

Siwa waited until it looked like the old smith was nearly done with his work. When the crowd began to die down, she stepped into his shop while Breden waited outside.

Goblins of the Wilds

@Searat

It's not a problem, real life must come first. I'll be able to post in character again after work tomorrow evening.

Goblins of the Wilds

@Shadow Dragon

Yes, as a craftsman more than a mage, but it works. Or a craftsgoblin, I suppose.

Goblins of the Wilds

@ShadowDragon

It's a lower magic setting. It's mostly nature-related for the goblins, like making plants grow, healing injuries, basic alchemy, curing minor diseases, that sort of thing.

Goblins of the Wilds

@BigPapaBelial
Agreed

Goblins of the Wilds

The first IC post is up!

Goblins of the Wilds

Breden was in over his head, and he knew it. The green-skinned goblin had tracked the doe for three miles, doing his best to follow her subtle hoofprints. At long last, he had found her in a narrow clearing in the woods, but to what end? While Breden hid in the nearby bushes, he could see that the female deer was just as alert and skittish as ever, her eyes fixed in his general direction. The young hunter did his best not to do anything which would give away his location, but the doe somehow knew where he was.

With few other options, Breden leapt out of the bushes, a stone-tipped spear held above his head. The deer bolted from the clearing down the path she had entered, easily escaping from the goblin's weapon. Not for the first time, Breden drove his spear into the soft Earth in anger, beating his fist into the ground as he cursed his luck.

"Damn it! How does anyone do this?!" It took him a few minutes to calm down. One ruined hunt was no big deal. Not by itself.

Unhappily, he picked up his spear and began the long march back to his village.

"Looks like I'm having a squirrel for dinner again..." he muttered to himself, kicking a pebble as he walked. It made a skittering sound as it bounced forward before coming to a halt. Not satisfied with kicking little shards, Breden kicked a larger rock. It moved, but it hurt. Although goblins had tough, leathery soles not entirely unlike those of a halfling, the same couldn't be said for the rest of them, including their toes.

"Ah, gods! Sonofa-!" he hopped around for a moment, clutching the first and second toes of his right foot. The pain mostly died down after a few minutes, but a lingering soreness remained. It would be hard to run like this, let alone do any more hunting. A tougher male would have been able to suck it up and go through it, but he wasn't a tough male. Not yet. As much as it pained the goblin to admit it, he was still a member of a fragile species, even if goblins were said to be strong for their size. Even hunting a squirrel was out of the question for him today. Not wanting to make things any worse, he slowly made his way out of the woods, eventually reaching the grassy space between the woods and his tribe's village.

The clearing in which his village lay was natural, although it had been expanded to make room for farmland as well as to prevent enemies from launching an ambush from the cover of the trees directly onto the village itself. The soft grass surrounding the village felt much better on Breden's feet than the pine needles and twigs of the forest, and he soon found himself growing relieved as his home grew visibly closer and closer with every step. The walls of the village were made of wood, and were easily the best-built part of the entire settlement, consisting of tall, conical pieces of wood with sharpened tops reinforced by ramparts which were little more than flat surfaces to walk on which the defenders could reach by ladder. Humans called them 'ramparts' but Breden was unsure of what to call them himself.

The huts inside the village were cylindrical structures made of twigs and straw, and it wasn't uncommon for them to catch fire. Fortunately, they were built far enough from each other that the flames were unlikely to spread in that event, and few goblins ever died in the village itself. Few adults, at least. Most goblin huts had just one or two rooms each, apart from those belonging to the chief, shaman, and a few of the more skilled artisans. Privacy was hard to come by, although it was obtainable by putting a blanket between two halves of a one-room hut and staying on the far end of each half.

Breden looked around the front entrance to the village, which was kept open in peacetime. It was little more than a pair of big wooden doors which could be closed and blocked with a thick wooden board, but it did its job well. He scanned the area, looking for anyone he recognized. The village was bustling with activity, and there were plenty of other goblins around at this hour in the late afternoon.