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Structure: Humanoid
Avg. Height: 3 feet
Avg. Weight: 50 pounds
Genders: Just the two, Male and Female
Physical Features: Hooked noses, fangs, large ears, vestigal wings
Skin Colors: All shades of purple
Hair Colors: Black
Eye Colors: Yellow, red, green
Magic: Low
Powers: Rudimentary witchcraft
Intelligence: Low-to-average
Strength: Low, but proportionate to their size
Homeland: Maligo

Origins: The Ghoblings are a disorganized race, and each band has a slightly different creation myth, some in direct contradiction to each other. The most common feature of Ghobling myths is a creator god who lives within the volcano Maligo itself. He (as all Ghoblings refer to their creator as male) supposedly forged the first Ghoblings from bronze in the fires of the volcano. The identity of this creator, and his purpose in creating the Ghoblings, varies from story to story.

Culture: Ghoblings live in small, semi-nomadic bands on the slopes of Maligo. They are primarily hunters, but can also eat plants, and nearly all their tools are carved from bone. Leadership is assumed by the strongest member of a band, who can be ursurped by anyone who can kill him. Customs and language vary slightly from one band to another.

The average Ghobling is unintelligent, mischevious, and animalistic. Ghobling brains are capable of adopting 'civilized' culture, but Patrian culture, Somnium's standard for civilized behavior, is absent on Maligo. Ghoblings have no formal education system or strict set of rules. They seem to take a bloodthirsty pleasure in the hunting and torturing of outsiders unfortunate enough to come to their island.

A small subculture of Ghoblings has emigrated to the forests of Patria. Originally converted to the Patrian religion and culture by missionaries, they dress and talk like humans and feel scorn for their more savage relatives. They call themselves the Hobghoblings. Hobghobling converts cast off the culture of their ancestors and adopt Patrian names. It could be argued that the Hobghoblings try too hard to become Patrian humans and lose their former identities. Hobghoblings in Patria suffer under the prejudice of the humans who see no difference between the Hobghoblings and their savage cousins.

Allies and Enemies:

Humans- The Ghoblings of Maligo treat all outsiders indiscriminately, hunting them all down with unprejuduced savage glee. The Humans consider Maligo to be a cursed place and avoid it whenever possible. Only a small sect of the Patrian religion has made any attempt at contacting the Ghoblings, and with mixed results. Most missionaries that settled on Maligo were killed off within months. Those who survived were miraculously able to convert some of the Ghoblings to not only Patrian religion but also Human culture. These converts, the Hobghoblings, try to emulate the Humans in every possible way. Many of them now live in the forests of Patria, but are not fully accepted by the Humans, who see them as no different from their wild cousins.

Elfs- The Ghoblings are the only race towards which the Elfs hold any genuine ill will. They believe that the Ghoblings are an evil, even demonic race. Hobghoblings are perhaps even worse, having all the faults of regular Ghoblings, with all the faults of the Humans tacked on. Elfs rarely set foot on the island of Maliga. In those rare encounters between Ghoblings and Elfs, the Ghoblings seem to react with even more malice and savagery than they do towards the rest of the races. It is currently unknown why the two races are constantly at odds.

Faerys- The few Faerys that live on Maliga are elusive and mysterious, even moreso than their mainland counterparts. The Ghoblings rarely see them, but apparently consider them to be allies. Maliga Faerys are as inhospitable as the Ghoblings themselves. Faerys from the rest of Somnium are deathly afraid of Ghoblings, who would gladly rip them to shreds. The Faerys and the Elfs agree that the Ghoblings are nasty creatures that cannot be trusted. Faerys distrust Hobghoblings on principle, and Hobghoblings treat Faerys with the same superstitions as the Humans.

Nagas- Ghoblings would attack the Nagas with the same ferocity that they attack anything else that moves. Fortunately, Nagas are strong and formidable opponents, and do not hold the same fear against Ghoblings that the other races do. They consider Ghoblings to be simple pests. Because of this, Human missionaries often employ Naga bodyguards to protect them when working on Maligo. Outside of the realm of Human influence, the two races rarely encounter each other.

Po-Kai- No Po-Kai has ever been to the island of Maligo, as it is far, far away from their mountain homeland. Thus, the Ghoblings and the Po-Kai have never encountered each other. It can be assumed that the Ghoblings would treat the Po-Kai as they treat the other races. A few Hobghoblings have been to the Hau-Pei-Tse, where they were not given any special treatment. The Po-Kai consider the Hobghoblings to be just one of many strange outsider races that they are not concerned with.

Unica- Sometimes Hobghoblings travel with Patrian missionaries to Solitudo, attempting to convert the Unica to the Patrian religion. The Unica therefore assume that all Ghoblings are simply mini-humans. The Ghoblings of Maligo have never encountered the Unica, and if they did, would probably treat them no different than they treat the Humans.