The Golden Age, they call it. The last of the great beasts slain, the demons in their dark fortresses and their temples toppled by mortal hands. The necromancers defeated, their towers broken and the dead laid to rest - their secrets erased. Here and there a handful of trolls and other night beasts hide away in secluded caverns, desperately trying to evade the hunters and soldiers that seek to make a name by bringing back their hide.
And, almost as a footnote, the last goblin tower has fallen. Six months ago the final bastion of the Knives of Cruelty, Swamprazor, fell to the catapults and torches of Men. A short war at the end of an endless series of long wars, this time with the Gilded Confederacy - the coalition of city states that could claim the eternal honour of being those who wiped out the goblin threat once and for all. Not that goblins were ever considered monsters in the sense of the dragons, titans, demons or night beasts, but a thousand years of constant war, slavery and demon-worship lumped them in the same broad category of "things we could do without".
Not all goblins are extinct, though all the world will make an effort to ensure it. Perhaps a few still scurry through the countryside, some might have fled to caves and abandoned fortresses in search of refuge, but with no great leader and no demon to inspire them their fate is all but sealed. That said, not all goblins are extinct.
You know that not all goblins are extinct because you are in fact still alive, a situation which is shortly going to be rectified. You managed to evade the hunters by sticking to the wilds, but even immortals need to eat and a strictly carnivorous diet means hunting. Someone must have noticed your tracks. You were sleeping in a ditch when they got you and although you put up a decent fight you still lost. When you woke up you found yourself in this cage, being dragged on a wagon to whatever fate awaits you.
At least this gives you a little time to reflect on who you were before the fortress fell. You pass a small pond and catch a glimpse of your reflection in the light.
Your
[red / blue / purple / black / orange] hair is
[long and matted / cropped short in a rough mess / shaven off entirely], in contrast to your
[violet / green / ashen] skin. Your features are
[typical / rough / fine] for a
[man / woman] of your station, and you would rather keep them that way.
Now, what was your station? You shake the pain out of your head and recall the answer to that most simple of questions.
1) You were born a slave, like all goblins. Like most, you never rose above that initial rank. You lived in the common pits, fought for scraps and hunted vermin and toiled away in the mines or on the fringes of the battlefield like so many others. You survived years of this through sheer mediocrity - not weak enough to be culled or die from violence or accident, but submissive enough that you never risked death by challenging your way to a higher rank. You were skilled enough not to be dumped into the front lines to die in battle, but not so skilled that you could work your way out. You can forage worms and grubs, you are good with your fists and your claws and your most valuable trait is your anonymity - if you can escape, you are hardly important enough for anyone to look for you.
2) You were a driver, one step up from the pits. You clawed your way out by winning enough fights or perhaps stealing or looting enough to bribe another driver to 'promote' you to freedom. You had a room (cell might be more accurate) of your very own next to the pits, complete with your very own heap of tanned hides for a bed. Aside from your whip and your knife, you owned few possessions other than what you could steal or loot. You are a dab hand with both weapons (though both are better used for intimidation or in a desperate duel rather than on a battlefield) and are excellent both at handling and breaking in new slaves - an essential skill for the running of any fort. In addition to keeping slaves you kept beasts for war and food - often raided cattle that would be kept and grazed until they were eaten rather than bred for new herds. You can forage passably and even do a little hunting.
3) You were a hunter, fisher and trapper. You left the fort on expeditions to catch food from the surrounding wilds and rivers, usually as part of a small caravan that would bring meat and hides back to the forts or outposts for trade. You didn't have a room at the fort, but lived free under the stars or beneath the tent canvas. You were a capable archer, trapmaker and setter and reasonable with a long knife. You are good at stealth and ambushes and tracking prey and foes through natural terrain.
4) You were a snatcher, a step above the common hunter. Rather than the big raiding and slaving expeditions the warriors and drivers would go on, you crept into settlements to steal food, wealth and above all children and fresh slaves. There is some doubt as to whether this was more effective at capturing slaves than raiding (although children raised in the goblin way made better slaves and citizens both), but snatching is a romantic and heroic profession practiced since time immemorial. Such status afforded you personal quarters within the fort, complete with a real bed and even a looted cabinet to store your mementos. You are the best there is at stealth and ambushes, are a fine pickpocket and can even pick locks and disable many kinds of trap - assuming you have tools. Your fighting skills have rusted since your pit days, though, as you are used to capturing victims much smaller and weaker than yourself. You can still handle a knife.
5) You were a craftsman, a leather or wood worker in the fort, or one who smelted ores. You proved your skill and drive at a given craft and an established crafter took you on as a personal slave to assist. When he died (quite possibly by your hand) you took up his tools and became free by default, earning your keep in service to the fort. Your value afforded you your own quarters and bed, plus the freedom and wealth to acquire personal slaves of your own (given the above risk). You still retain all your knowledge of your craft and even have a bit of general education about the world. You have some experience managing slaves and can still handle a knife, though your combat skills from the pit days are all but gone. You were on the lowest rung of goblin political society and so learned a thing or two about speech, but nothing that would make you a real player.
6) You were a scribe, a book-keeper and a quartermaster. After raising yourself to the level of a minor craftsman, you studied and spent what time you could learning to read and write and ingratiating yourself to the priests, craftsmen and other social classes. You were eventually taken on as a scribe and secretary to a minor priest, then transferred to work under the main quartermaster. You proved your worth and when a suitable position opened up through death or promotion (by your hand or otherwise) you were made a quartermaster yourself. The benefits were worthwhile; status, wealth, chambers with a separate bed and common room to entertain. You are a very capable administrator, can read and write in multiple languages and most importantly of all know a great deal about the world around you. You are also a fairly capable speaker from having to engage in the realities of goblin social politics. On the other hand, you know precious little about surviving in the wild or fighting as you are used to having a fortress to support you.
7) You were a metalworker, which also meant you were a weaponsmith and armourer. You rose like any other craftsman, but your craft is far more essential to goblin society. Since attaining your freedom you enjoyed the greatest wealth and status the 'trading' caste of goblin society can; you had not only your own slaves and quarters, but multiple rooms of excellent finish and quality. The flip side was the knowledge that the best way to achieve this position was to win it by challenge; you became good not only at making weapons but using them in the arena. As such you kept not only your craftsmanship but your combat skills and are a fair hand with a hammer and axe. You possess some social skills, but are not very good at surviving in the wild.
8 ) You were a soldier. You fought or earned your way out of the pits, or you survived a battle at the front line and became good at doing so again and again. One of the warriors saw your potential, freed you and put you in a warband with a decent weapon and some armour. You have seen your share of fighting and although you never excelled you did survive with only a few scars to show for your troubles. You lived in barracks with the other warriors, but the beds and conditions were better than those of drivers and the status was far superior - on a good raid you could take home a fine prize in loot or slaves. Eventually you even led a warband yourself. You spent most of your life raiding distant villages or in the occasional pitched battle. You still possess your fighting skills and a little hunting ability, though you have one weapon type you prefer above others. You are not a natural leader, but you can command troops in battle if need be.
9) You were a champion, one of the elite among goblin warriors. You went into battle like any other soldier and proved yourself time and time again. You attracted the attention of one of the priests, who sponsored you to receive better weapons and equipment (which you paid for with your own loot, of course). Soon enough you became a figure of note in the field and would often be called upon to lead raids or even take the fore of pitched battles and sieges. You slew hundreds, pursuing mastery of your chosen weapon with utter single-minded devotion. You reaped the benefits; status second only to the high priest, loot from your many battles and your own quarters to rival that of a metalsmith. You are still an elite fighter in your chosen weapon skill and years of leading troops have left you a capable commander as well. On the other hand, slaves bringing you your food have left you nearly incapable of foraging for yourself in the wild.
10) You were an acolyte on the path to priesthood. You attained freedom as a hunter, a craftsman or a soldier, but were canny and ambitious enough to shoot for the heady and dangerous pinnacle of goblin society. After years of soliciting a priest for sponsorship, you were permitted to study and learn the ways of the priesthood. As part of the deal you received status, your own small but well-made chambers and a little bit of wealth in exchange for brutal and occasionally humiliating servitude to your mentor. You learned to perform rites and sacrifices, to manage slaves and the day-to-day running of a fortress. You also learned through practical experience smooth-talking, backstabbing, stealth and how to be extremely good with a knife - the simplest way to become an acolyte is to kill an existing one and request their former patron to take you on instead. It certainly beats waiting for them to die or kill their mentor. You have some understanding of the mysteries of the goblins, but a reasonable education of the outside world.
11) You were a fully fledged priest, inducted into the mysteries of goblin society. After the rocky road of becoming and remaining an acolyte, your mentor finally met his demise and you stepped into his shoes with the approval of his peers and the high priest. Your quarters matched those of a champion or metalworker and you attained your own staff and slaves to handle day-to-day affairs. You retained your ability to perform rites and sacrifices, your general management and leadership skills, your education and your personal combat skills (skills which only increased, given the necessity to defend yourself against your own subordinates). In addition you began training in the highest art of all - magic. You did not progress very far, few priests do, but have at least a basic understanding of its principles. You are the best and most dangerous goblin society has to offer, and everyone who has ever heard of goblins will want you dead.
12) You were the high priest, de facto ruler of the fortress in lieu of an actual demon. You wish. The high priest had his own complex of apartments, more status than you could shake a stick at and was indisputably the wealthiest son-of-a-bitch in town. He was also a bloody nightmare in combat, a silver-tongued fox and a competent and capable mage. Even you aren't entirely sorry he's dead.
Note: The more important you are, the better your starting skills but the worse your starting situation. A slave will be far less effectively guarded than a priest and people will forget about him much sooner. All skills can be gained during play.
And finally, what is your name?
Author
Topic: Goblin (Read 13483 times)