Kobolds
Kobolds
are clearly a derivation from Halflings: there are notable similarities in the
two race's bone structure, facial features and musculature. However, Kobolds are easily distinguishable
from their Unbroken counterparts, due to their coloration (various shades of
blue), smaller size and perpetually stupid expressions. While Halflings and Kobolds can,
technically, interbreed, such pairings are exceptionally rare. Kobolds can apparently live anywhere.
Kobolds owe their debased state to Haagenti: the
Prince of Gluttony wanted a fast-breeding, intelligent food source, and he got
one. Kobal has left his mark on this
race, as well: the blue color was intentional (Haagenti likes to eat blue
things - it makes his tongue go interesting colors), but the Kobold's racial
predilection for low humor and practical jokes was not.
Characteristics,
Bonuses and Flaws
Kobold characters begin play with only 3 Forces:
they get a +2 to, and must have a minimum of 4 (after the previous racial
bonus) in Agility. There is no recorded
instance of a Kobold who naturally possessed 5 Forces in life; even 4 Force
individuals are exceedingly rare.
Kobolds simply are not Soldier material. While, theoretically, a blessed-soul Kobold would be able to
reach a mortal entity's normal potential of 15 Forces, those few that have
managed to make it to Heaven are even less likely to ever return to the
corporeal plane than those of other races. Kobals have the racial skills Move
Silently/1 and Running/1. Lifespan is
approximately 45-50 years, but essentially irrelevant: few Kobolds live much
past sexual maturity (12 years). Cost: 8 points.
Being a Kobold isn't easy, not least because no one
can take them seriously. They suffer
from a racial -3 to reactions as being crude, abysmally stupid, and eminently
kickable (their love of obnoxious practical jokes doesn't help, either). Kobolds also start with Gluttony/2, thanks
to their 'sponsor'. Cost: -12 pt.
Total Cost: -4 pt.
About what one would expect from a sentient food
animal in thrall to the forces of Darkness, alas: as a rule, Kobolds are nasty,
brutish and short. They have very
little interest in anything except physical survival, food and paying back some
small fraction of the torment that is their lot. While not, strictly speaking, cowards, they are often perceived
as being so. Kobolds see things
differently. From their perspective, the universe is full of things that they
cannot hope to overcome: many things that a Human or Orc could face with ease
are certain death for this species.
It's not cowardice to avoid certain death, right?
Aside from the above reluctance to court
destruction, the other psychological factor most commented on by other races is
the incredibly low sense of humor that is apparently ubiquitous to all
Kobolds. Practical jokes (of the most
crude types) are their favorite activity, and they engage in them whenever
possible. This does nothing to endear
them to other races, but Kobolds would continue their habits even if they
actually cared about the opinions of other races. It's the only real weapon they have against the universe.
Kobolds can live anywhere and can (and will) eat
just about everything, no matter how disgusting or dangerous. They also reproduce in frightening numbers,
to the point where if left alone they can overload a particular ecology within
half a decade. They are not often left
alone to that extent.
To be consumed.
Ogres and Orcs need to eat, as do various sorts of monsters. Sorcerers need blood and guts and screams to
power their sadistic rituals. The Dark
Legions need bodies to soak up arrows and charges. Everybody serving Hell needs someone to idly kick, maim and/or
abuse. The Kobolds can always be
counted on to make more: indeed, a continual amount of culling is necessary to
keep the numbers down.
Hell does not permit Kobolds to just wander around
unsupervised. They are kept in large
pens until needed and the majority of them make only one trip in their entire
lives. The ones that are not
immediately slated for slaughter are usually personal slaves to one entity or
another; they live longer, but usually not better, lives.
Some Kobolds do manage to escape captivity, most
commonly after a battle where the forces of Hell were routed. They slip off into whatever cover they can
find and do their best to disappear from Hell's sight completely. Most die very quickly; the survivors can
sometimes band together and eke out a precarious existence until their numbers
build up enough to let them swamp predators through sheer weight of
bodies. Wild Kobold tribes usually
suddenly cease to exist not long after either side of the War discovers them:
the Host is much more reluctant to do this than the Horde, but the fundamental
problem is that Kobolds are an ecological menace unwilling and usually unable
to learn better.
The Host is, of course, very interested in solving
the problem of the Kobolds, but the very scale of the warping of the race makes
solutions difficult. The fact that Hell
goes to great lengths to make angels objects of terror to Infernal slaves (the
details of which are unprintable, all to easy to imagine after a perusal of
various Band abilities, not to mention the connotations of most Prince-level
Words) is a further complication.
Kobolds have been known to die literally of fright when captured by the
Host.
There are Kobolds serving Heaven, but hardly
ever on anything remotely approaching a front line. Flowers and Lightning have researchers attempting to reintegrate
Kobold bloodlines back into the Halfling race (or, failing that, at least
improving and stabilizing the species into something more stable), and War has
the usual unusual recruit acting as scouts, but for the most part a Kobold lucky
enough to be protected by the Host spends the remainder of his or her lifespan
doing the same sort of work as would a 'favored' Kobold slave of Hell, only
minus the kicks and casual abuse.
It is disturbing to see how pathetically grateful
they usually are for that.