is a kobold-a recurring character I've been using in any game that needs a kobold. He's suffering from teleportitis, and being shuffled through dimensions, which explains how he managed to get here in the first place-his literal appearance from "thin air" gave him the clout he needed to actually untie the clans in the first place.
His memory and magic skills are spotty; since he loses some of his powers every time he shifts-he retains his memory, though, and his skill. He actually was a Shaman originally.
As said before, what you own is what you can defend. Green Blood Shaman are a devious, power hungry bunch-something like a Skaven Seer, if you've read some Warhammer lore. They regularly try to kill, or even better, discredit a superior in the eyes of Gnollish ruling class to take their place.
A Kobold Shaman, who attains enough prestige, essentially marches in and declares he's taking over by force-the mob of Gnolls decides then, depending on how they have been influenced, who should rule. Gnolls are easy to impress, so a shiny treasure, a war trophy, even a show of powerful "magic" is a good way to do this, even if it's only elaborate trickery or a powerful speech. Gnolls also have short memory, so Kobold Shaman tend to lose and gain power constantly, depending on how crafty they are. Kobold Shamans rarely actually fight each other in these little coups, since they know power can shift right back to them just as fast.
One taking a higher position is typically offered the throat of his or her's superior to cut (or one their offspring), if he or she wishes to (both Kobolds and Gnolls are gender neutral, you know!), but it's all for show-Gnolls are predictably excited by the concept of bloodshed, but it rarely happens. If it does happen, well, they will consume the body of a slain Shaman to make sure his soul returns to serve the Gnoll people.
Shaman Ranks are four.
Lord High Shaman-A new rank, for the ruler of the Green Blood Union.
Clan Prime Shaman- Typically, the regional ruler of a Gnoll subspecies-there are about 12 of these right now, all vying for Lord High Shaman, ready to jump upon any weakness
Greater Shaman- A shaman who rules over a specific clan within his Gnollish rule. There are more than 500 of these, and competition is fierce to earn any type of power from a clan prime.
Lower Shaman- The lowest rank, it includes the hordes of acolytes that serve in minor roles across the Gnollish Empire. They number in the thousands, serving as mayors and governors, or political functionaries.
In return for all this power, Shamans are usually sent to confront things that the supernaturally averse Gnolls would rather avoid-most Gnolls would break and flee if they saw an undead, even if they outnumbered it, unless they had a Shaman to back them up, and even out of season thunderstorms can render an entire Gnollish force totally useless if they do not feel "spiritually" protected. Luckily, there is no shortage of power hungry Kobolds willing to take the mantle of Shaman, even if they have no real magical ability-and Gnolls are fiercely protective of their spiritual defenders as well.
Shamans also handle diplomacy matters-a Gnoll understands only what's trying to hurt him or trying to help him, not what it means in the long term. In the past, races that negotiated "peace" with Gnolls found themselves being attacked the next day...Kobolds have solved this problem.
In truth, the Kobolds provide the spiritual and diplomatic backing the Gnolls need to survive, for their own selfish benefit, using Gnollish military power to enrich and protect themselves from outsiders. The majority of the Kobold race remains "slaves", but only so far as the Gnolls would risk pushing their Shaman Lords. They have quite a symbiotic relationship!
Gnolls are deathly afraid of anything they cannot comprehend-a lot of this comes from their mindset, which is simplistic and essentially childish. They genuinely lack the ability to rationalize out the supernatural as merely nothing or looking at it from a logical perspective.
Historically, this was created by their experience in the ancient wars-when their ruling mage was killed, they did not surrender-and, being denied magical protection, was slaughtered in the millions by powerful enemy mages. This was nearly a genocidal act, one that scarred the Gnoll psyche even to this day. It is a mixture of hard experience and irrational fear that has significantly slowed their development-until they began to rely on Kobolds.
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Topic: Fiefdoms @ War: Fluff Thread (Read 73930 times)