Darguun

Darguun's organizational model is a precarious balance maintained by Lhesh Haruuc. He is not an absolute monarch in the traditional sense, but rather a powerful warlord who secured his position by force and continues to hold it through a combination of strength, strategic alliances, and the sheer necessity of unified defense against external threats. His authority is paramount, but it is constantly negotiated and asserted among the major power blocs that comprise Darguun's martial and social fabric.

These primary power groups, each with its own agenda and internal subdivisions, form the true pillars of Darguun:

Ghaal'dar: At the core of Darguun's establishment lies the Ghaal'dar. Meaning "mighty people," they are not a single tribe but a sweeping alliance of clans that call the lowlands of the nation home. As descendants or spiritual inheritors of the scattered remnants of the fallen Dhakaani Empire, the Ghaal'dar carry echoes of ancient goblinoid glory. They represent the foundational power bloc, the critical mass of warriors and settlements that allowed for the initial conquest and subsequent defense of Darguun. Their sheer numbers and unified (albeit often fractious) front form the bedrock of the nation's military and political structure, making them the primary architects of goblinoid domination.

• Kurmaac: One of the Ghaal'dar clans, the Kurmaac are known for their potent and unsettling practices. Their ways blend elements of nature-attuned druidic traditions with brutal ancestral rites involving blood sacrifices and unapologetic violence. This combination makes them terrifying opponents and formidable allies.
• Rhukaan Taash ("Razor Crown"): While perhaps not as numerous as the entire Ghaal'dar alliance, the Rhukaan Taash hold immense significance because it is from this clan that Darguun's Lhesh emerged. The current ruler, Haruuc Shaarat'kor, is of the Rhukaan Taash. His leadership was the catalyst that united disparate goblinoid groups, including many Ghaal'dar clans and tribes like the Kurmaac, under a single banner to claim a new homeland.

Marguul: The Marguul tribes of southern Darguun are dominated by bugbears. The Marguul keep members of other races (including goblins and hobgoblins) as slaves, and only bugbears can be full members of a Marguul tribe. Despite their xenophobia, most of the Marguul tribes pay homage to the Lhesh Haruuc and the Ghaal’dar. However, the few exceptions can prove dangerous to travelers.

• Kalkor ("Story Bleeders"): The Kalkor are a Marguul tribe whose members worship the Mockery, and who delight in flaying their enemies alive. A veteran warrior named Morgaath rules the Kalkor, frequently leading hunting expeditions against outsiders who dare to venture into the Seawall Mountains.

• Kech Ghaalrac ("Clan of Mighty Soldiers"): More broadly translating to "Champions", the Llesh of this clan believes he has recovered the legendary Ur'Taash crown of the first Emperor of Dhakaan. They have captured a House Deneith fortress and rumour has it they intend to use the crown to drive humanity out of Khorvaire. Whether this is true or not, the warriors of Kech Ghaalrac are some of the post potent soldiers ever seen, forged in battle deep in Khyber.
• Kech Nasaar: A clan which maintains, or rediscovered, the ancient Dhakaani arts of stealth. They ca allegedly move as silently as a ghost, even clad in full plate armor.
• Kech Shaarat ("Blade Bearers"): A clan of Hobgoblins who practice an ancient Dhakaani form of swordsmanship. The clan's name is taken from their possession of the Skai Shaarat, said to be the Sword of the True King. Their chieftain refuses to wield the blade until all Dhakaani clans have been absorbed into his by way of conquest.
• Kech Volaar ("Word Bearers"): While no self-respecting Dar would lower themselves to practicing wizardry, the Kech Volaar have the greatest duur’kala bards among the Dhakaani. They also cultivate other forms on non-divine magic, making distinctions between artifice, alchemy and wizardry. Some may even have experimented with occultism in an effort to match the arcane might of the Five Nations.
• Shaarat'khesh ("Silent Blades"): A clan of elite spies and assassins, entirely composed goblins who are trained in the old Golin'dar stealth, a style similar to mythological ninjas of our world. The Shaarat'khesh have long practiced a martial art designed to transform an unarmed goblin into a living weapon.
• Taarka'khesh ("Silent Wolves"): This clan of goblins is trained to provide intelligence in the field during military operations.

The Dynamics of Unity

Lhesh Haruuc's role is to constantly manage the ambitions and occasional rivalries between these powerful factions. The Ghaal'dar provide the bulk of the military force, the Marguul offer strategic intelligence and manipulation, and the Heirs of Dhakaan bring not only skilled specialists but also a potent ideological through-line, appealing to the ancestral pride of many goblinoids.

Darguun's culture is defined by martial prowess and disciplined pragmatism. Every aspect of life serves the collective strength of the nation and the ambitions of its warlords (lhevk ). This is not a land of artistic flourishes or philosophical musings; it is a land where efficiency, utility, and combat effectiveness are the highest virtues.

Hierarchy and the Lhevk : Society is a strict pyramid. Hobgoblins form the ruling and strategic class, their intelligence, discipline, and martial skill earning them command. Bugbears serve as powerful shock troops, enforcers, and elite guards, their raw strength valued. Goblins, while the most numerous, occupy the lowest rungs, performing manual labor, serving as scouts, or acting as expendable, but cunning, infantry. Loyalty is not to a single individual, but to one's direct lhevkrhu (commander), and through them, to the greater strategic objectives of the nation. Advancement is possible, but only through demonstrated competence, cunning, and unwavering service in battle or strategic execution.

Honor and Discipline: The Darguul concept of honor is not one of chivalry, but of duty, obedience, and the successful execution of one's role within the war machine. A Darguul earns respect by following orders, displaying courage and cunning in combat, and contributing to victory. Cowardice, insubordination, or inefficiency are met with swift and brutal punishment. Discipline is ingrained from birth, leading to a highly organized and coordinated fighting force.

Economy and Sustenance: Darguun largely foregoes traditional trade in favor of resource acquisition through conquest, tribute, and internal production geared towards military needs. Farms exist to feed the armies, mines to equip them, and craftsmen focus on weapons, armor, and fortifications. Waste is anathema; every resource and every life is expected to serve a purpose in the nation's ongoing struggle for dominance.

Art and Expression: Artistic expression, as understood by other cultures, is rare and often utilitarian. Storytelling often recounts the triumphs of great warlords or the cunning of military stratagems. Crafts focus on durability and function – a weapon is prized for its deadliness, not its ornamentation; a structure for its impregnability, not its beauty.

In ages past, hobgoblins and other goblinoids controlled Khorvaire. Over the course of thousands of years a host of goblinoid nations rose and fell. The greatest civilization of this age, the hobgoblin Empire of Dhakaan, bred goblins and bugbears as slaves and warriors. The ancient empire has returned, in a weaker, less influential form, in the new nation of Darguun.

Darguun, carved from what was once the southwestern-most borderlands of Cyre, contains a variety of environs. Nestled to the east of the Seawall Mountains, Darguun has fertile plains to the north, a dense tropical forest to the east, and a vast moor to the south. The mighty Ghaal River empties into the Kraken Bay and literally divides the nation in half, separating the battlefields of the Last War from the unexplored reaches of the southern shore.

For thousands of years the goblinoids lurked in the shadows, hiding deep within the Seawall Mountains and venturing out only to engage in an occasional raid on Brelish or Cyran settlements. It was human greed that finally brought them back into the light. Lord Cail d'Deneith led an expedition into the Seawall Mountains one hundred twenty years ago (878 YK) to seek goblinoid recruits for his mercenary armies. He discovered more than a dozen tribes and clans scattered throughout the mountains. With clever words and a lot of gold, Cail won the trust of a few of the chieftains. A host of hobgoblin warriors and their goblin slaves returned to Breland with Cail. These savage hobgoblins were seen as a novelty; it became prestigious for wealthy aristocrats to employ hobgoblin guards.

Then the Last War began.

Both Breland and Cyre soon turned to House Deneith to supplement their armies, and Deneith in turn brought ever-increasing numbers of goblinoids out of the mountains. Deneith’s profits soared, but ultimately this reliance on goblinoid soldiers had disastrous results. After seventy years of war, tens of thousands of well-armed goblins and hobgoblins were spread across the Cyre-Breland border. With the rise to prominence of the ambitious young hobgoblin Haruuc, all the conditions for the creation of the nation of Darguun were in place.

A cunning tactician and charismatic leader, Haruuc realized that the human and near-human forces in the region were no match for the combined power of the goblinoids. He arranged secret meetings with other chieftains, and through promises, threats, and appeals to racial loyalty he won most of the tribes to his cause. In 969 YK, the hobgoblins turned on the people they were supposed to be defending. Hundreds of humans were slain, while others fled into neighboring lands or were captured as slaves. Haruuc laid claim to the area, naming it Darguun and claiming the title of the Lhesh Haruuc Shaarat’kor—the High Warlord Haruuc of the Scarlet Blade—for himself.

Breland and Cyre were completely unprepared for this treachery, and neither nation could spare enough forces to reclaim the land. The King of Breland quickly made a deal with Haruuc, offering recognition in exchange for continued protection along the eastern front, but warfare between the goblinoids and Cyre continued right up until the Day of Mourning.

Eager to put an end to the war, Karrnath, Aundair, and Breland formally acknowledged the sovereignty of Darguun with the Treaty of Thronehold. With clearly delineated borders defining the new nation, Lhesh Haruuc swore to restrain his followers from future violence against the three nations. Thrane, however, has demonstrated disfavor with the Darguun accords, and the knights templar of the Silver Flame may yet seek to avenge those killed in the original uprising.

In general, most nations see the presence of Darguun as a necessary evil. Far more goblinoids were hidden away than most people thought possible, and since the rise of the nation many tribes have migrated from other parts of Khorvaire to claim a place in the new hobgoblin domain. Weakened by the Last War, the Five Nations have neither the energy nor inclination to battle the goblins. For their part, the goblinoids have abided by the terms of the treaty.

House Deneith has reestablished relations with Haruuc and with a few of the tribes now residing within the nation and swearing fealty to Haruuc. Three questions remain: Will Haruuc be content developing the territory afforded him by the agreements of Thronehold? Can he actually keep the many goblinoid tribes that have flocked to his banner under control? Will he seek to reclaim the glory of ancient Dhakaan?

Traditionally, the goblinoids in Darguun have paid homage to two potent entities: the Shadow and the Mockery. These figures represent a history of dark deeds, cunning, and the brutal realities of their existence, resonating with the more ancient, wilder aspects of goblinoid culture.

However, over the last century, a profound change has taken root. The broader pantheon of the Sovereign Host, common across Khorvaire, has been introduced to the Darguun tribes. This introduction has been greatly accelerated and championed by none other than Lhesh Haruuc himself.

Haruuc is a devout follower of Dol Dorn, the Sovereign of Battle and Strength, and he has made it a central tenet of his leadership to spread the worship of the Sovereign Host throughout Darguun. His efforts have been particularly successful among the lowland tribes, seeing the Host as a unifying force for his fledgling nation. This push towards the Sovereign Host represents a move towards a more organized, and arguably more 'civilized,' spiritual practice, aligning with Haruuc's vision for a powerful Darguun.

Evidence of this growing influence can be seen in the very heart of the nation. Within the capital city of Rhukaan Draal, temples dedicated to the Sovereign Host now stand. Prominently featured among these are shrines to Dol Dorn (reflecting Haruuc's personal faith), Dol Arrah (the Sovereign of Sacrifice and Honor), and Balinor (the Sovereign of Beasts and the Hunt).