Kobold

Kobolds are considered by many to be the noblest of the beastfolk, associated as dogs are with loyalty and persistence. The truth is they are widely divergent culturally, but their destiny is tied to the Good dragons that created them with their dragonsblood, much as the Evil dragons created the salamander. Since the Third World, kobolds had spread to most corners of Uskara, but especially Seotan and Zafara. A fleet of Seotanese kobolds arrived in Talingarde a few centuries ago, remnant clans of a calamitous war with the oni kingdoms. They became the marcher lords of Lucidor after defeating the resurgent orcish host. These honorable warriors have colored most Talirean's stereotypes of kobolds in addition to their dog-like traits.

Kobolds are remarkably similar in build and stature to dwarves, though not quite as burly. They resemble upright dogs in many ways, with extended snouts (with highly sensitive noses) and digitigrade legs. Sexual dimorphism is mostly present in the length of the whiskers and "mane" kobolds exhibit. While they are canine in features, they also exhibit some more draconic characteristics. They have sinuous tails of varying lengths that are more dragon than dog like. Like other beastfolk, kobolds struggle with demihuman languages. It is not impossible for them to learn, but it is difficult for them to vocalize and their broken speech can sometimes cause others to assume they are stupid. Also like other beastfolk, kobolds have a long history of being exploited by others, preying upon their natural tendency for sudden and intense bonding. Kobolds live shorter lives than demihumans, even the quicklings, being comparable in many ways to goblins. Kobolds are born in litters and mature within six years, and live usually only fifty years or so. While not driven to the same ambition as quicklings necessarily, they do prize each day as if it was their last, and this acceptance of the transience of life is a common theme no matter their culture. For this reason, kobolds and goblins possess a lot of commonalities that leads to both peoples tending to get along, especially as both are strangers in a strange land.

In the marches of Lucidor, the kobolds are a settled occupying force with the sanction of the Holy Lawful Empire, though it is not like the militaristic society of the hobgoblins so much as being one revolving around a warrior’s code and complicated oaths of loyalty (the highest virtue in kobold culture). While they control the fortresses that protect the marches, the demihuman nobility still maintain their position and prestige, often attending to the various marcher lords and the Grandee with their counsel. They have mostly adopted Lucidorean customs and language, having lost much of their culture in their flight from Seotan, a source of great shame and grief. A sizable population of kobolds has settled in Myrcia and Skarria as well, beloved in both of those realms, and kobold “wave-dogs” (essentially ronin) are prized retainers for the nobility of the Keshkevar and Helveylyn. They are less present in Gebroan, in part due to the danger of gnolls in the desert making beastfolk seen as dangerous there resulting in some discrimination (gnolls and kobolds have a natural enmity comparable to that between goblins and gnomes). Foreign kobolds who would come to Talingarde would most likely be mercenaries from Rusan (with sleek and elongated features like that of a greyhound or pinscher) or came with Vendalic swordswomen as their shieldbearers (these having shaggy, wooly coats with great jowls adapted for colder climes), though they are respected members of the Kadinka tribes of Zafara as well. In previous eras, kobolds had a long history of being slaves, in Ornassus and Nod especially. Kobold clans are not tied to family relations, but rather one’s oaths of fealty.