Goblinoids (Heirs of Dhakaan)

War drums are sounding in the depths beneath Darguun. Bugbear champions hone their adamantine greatswords, and hobgoblin dirge singers call the legions to battle. The warriors of Dhakaan are preparing to reclaim their stolen lands, and the nations of Khorvaire have no idea what's coming.
During the struggle with the daelkyr, some Dhakaani leaders saw the madness spreading among their people and knew it would destroy their civilization. They led their forces into deep subterranean chambers and severed all contact with the outside world. In recent years these ancient clans—who call themselves the Kech Dhakaan ("bearers of [the traditions of] Dhakaan")—have finally returned to the surface.
The Dhakaani are utterly devoted to war, matched only by the Valenar elves in their devotion to the martial arts. Their weaponsmiths and armorers know techniques that even the artificers of House Cannith cannot duplicate. Throughout the Last War, no nation faced any other force that had the skill and resources of the resurgent Dhakaani.
But there is one obstacle to their rise: the Heirs of Dhakaan have no emperor. The goblinoids are divided into clans, and each clan, or kech, believes its leader has the right to control all the others. And so the champions of Dhakaan continuously compete with each other to prove their right to rule. The Kech Sharaat (Bladebearers) believe that leadership is best achieved through force of arms. The Kech Volaar (Wordbearers) believe that knowledge is the greater weapon, and they seek to recover artifacts and weapons that were lost when the empire fell. These and several less influential clans are competing for overall leadership, while the spies and assassins of the Khesh'dar (Silent Folk) remain neutral in the struggle, gathering information on the modern world and serving every clan.
At the moment, the Heirs of Dhakaan are maintaining a low profile. They fight most of their battles underground, and occasionally dispatch small squads to carry out missions on the surface. Humans usually don't know enough about goblins to tell the difference between the Dhakaani and the people of Darguun. The truth of the matter is gradually spreading within Darguun, but no one yet realizes the power of the force that lies beneath their nation.
The Heirs and the War The Last War caused the Heirs of Dhakaan to finally stir and emerge from their deep vaults. They recognize that humanity has been weakened by its self-inflicted wounds. The rise of Darguun and the proliferation of that nation's Ghaal'dar mercenaries enables the Dhakaani to move around Khorvaire without drawing undue attention. And the Mourning, ultimately, demonstrated that the races of the Five Nations could not be trusted with ruling Khorvaire. It was time for the Dhakaani to return and subjugate the other races to their firm hand once again.
The Heirs of Dhakaan are devoted to war, with an unmatched focus on sheer martial skill. Their weaponry and artillery are of the highest quality, and they place their trust in strength of arms, not on magic. The Dhakaani don't worship gods, and no clerics or paladins are among them. The Kech Volaar have picked up some of the elven traditions of wizardry, and all clans have bards known as duur'kala (dirge singers), but in general the Dhakaani don't rely on magic on the battlefield.
Dhakaani Fort All across Darguun, the Heirs of Dhakaan are reclaiming surviving remnants of their fallen empire, and they even cautiously range out into surrounding nations. You can use Map 4.3: Ruined Dhakaani Fort as the basis for a fort that has been reclaimed by the Heirs, which would be in better repair and guarded by competent troops.
Dhakaani Fort Adventures The Dhakaani Fort Adventures table describes some tasks that could bring characters to such a place.
Dhakaani Fort Adventures d10 Adventure Goal 1 Steal an ancient magic weapon from the fort's commander. 2 Bring a treaty proposal to the fort, in hopes of having it conveyed to the leader of the occupying kech. 3 Gather intelligence about the force occupying the fort in preparation for a raid. 4 Rescue prospectors who were taken prisoner and held in the fort's dungeons. 5 Steal the fort commander's notes on troop movements in the surrounding areas. 6 Lead a strike force against the fort to drive out or destroy the occupying Dhakaani. 7 Rush to support a small squad besieging the fort before Dhakaani reinforcements arrive and break the siege. 8 Assassinate or kidnap the advisor to the fort's commander. 9 Work with the occupying commander to discover the spy from another kech in their ranks. 10 Break a siege by Darguun goblinoids that has trapped the characters' Dhakaani allies within the fort. Goblinoid NPCs Characters who approach the Heirs of Dhakaan expecting a ragtag band of goblinoids are in for a rude awakening. The Heirs of Dhakaan are well equipped and fight with precision and efficiency, coordinating their efforts to eliminate spellcasters and other obvious threats.
Dhakaani squads are utterly devoted to their kech leaders and their empire. All are bound by the principles of muut and atcha (honor and duty), but they believe that humans and their kin don't deserve to be treated with honor. All the goblinoid races work together among the Dhakaani, and all are convinced of the superiority of their culture. When forced to fight other Dhakaani, they will usually spare the lives of their opponents, but against all other adversaries—including other goblinoids—they are ruthless.
Goblinoid NPCs d8 NPC 1 A hobgoblin bard of the Kech Volaar leads an elite team of dungeon delvers to recover Dhakaani artifacts from ancient ruins. 2 A remarkably intelligent goblin studying at Arcanix or Morgrave is actually a Khesh'dar spy identifying tomes of arcane knowledge worth stealing. 3 A Dhakaani strike force assaults a museum or a noble's private holdings, reclaiming goblin artifacts "pillaged" from ruins. These relics could be part of an eldritch machine, or could simply have important ceremonial value. 4 A goblin spy stirs up trouble among the city goblins in a major city, using tales of their former glory to incite them to violence. 5 A string of mysterious bombings are actually the work of Dhakaani sappers testing the strength of modern fortifications. 6 A Dhakaani strike force attacks a Deneith outpost built atop a goblin ruin. Are the goblins just angry about the desecration, or is something hidden beneath the outpost? 7 A bugbear of the Kech Sharaat, to test the mettle of the adventurers, engages them in a series of guerrilla attacks as they are traveling through the wilderness. 8 A hobgoblin warlock seeks to harness the power of the daelkyr or the fiendish overlords to win the imperial crown for her kech. Goblinoid Campaign Themes The Heirs of Dhakaan are a substantial military threat. The goblins can clash with adventurers while they are exploring ancient ruins, or they can launch strikes against outposts or vaults the adventurers are guarding. Whatever the Dhakaani do, it should be part of a mission objective. Is the goal to strengthen their kech? Gather information about the enemy? Recover Dhakaani relics?
Initially the Dhakaani should be mysterious: remarkably skilled goblins that fight to the death or disappear into the shadows. The characters might logically assume that they are Darguul mercenaries. Over time, the adventurers should learn more about them and realize that they are the advance force of a great army.
The Heirs of Dhakaan can remain an enigmatic foe, encountered only when they attack. But a group of adventurers could come to earn the respect of their Dhakaani foes and learn more about the enemy. Perhaps a group of adventurers chooses to respect the Dhakaani's claim to an artifact, surrendering it willingly. If they do so, they could find out more about the goblins and the struggle for leadership among the clans. Of all the goblins, the Kech Volaar are the most interested in understanding the people of Khorvaire; if there's any chance to negotiate a peace with Dhakaan, it would be with this clan.
As far as the goblins are concerned, humans stole their lands, pillaged their tombs, and enslaved their descendants. The Dhakaani aren't evil, but they believe humanity to be brutal and cruel, people without muut or atcha. Faced with an adventurer wielding a magic sword taken from a Dhakaani ruin, the Heirs of Dhakaan are rightfully angry and violent in their response to this tomb robber.
Heirs of Dhakaan Adventure Hooks The Heirs of Dhakaan Adventure Hooks table offers some options for kicking off stories that involve the Dhakaani.
Heirs of Dhakaan Adventure Hooks d12 Adventure Hook 1 A scout patrol has gone missing near the border of Darguun. 2 A mining tunnel has collapsed, revealing a network of caverns leading into Khyber. The Heirs of Dhakaan are waiting in the darkness and decide to strike first. 3 A squad of goblins attempts to steal back spoils of a recent adventure, cursing the characters for being grave robbers. 4 A lone hobgoblin warrior stands at the gates of a town, intent on dueling the mercenary captain who slew their brother. The warrior has already killed ten soldiers that tried to remove them. 5 Race against a Dhakaani force to recover an ancient artifact from a ruin. 6 Defend a series of temples against Dhakaani raiders targeting these "houses of false gods." 7 Explorers discover a fragment of an ancient Dhakaani song that seems to tell of the true heir of Dhakaan. The complete lyrics might settle the question of succession. 8 The Dhakaani begin kidnapping warforged so that their artificers can learn how to make their own construct soldiers. 9 In a sacked human settlement, a battle between two opposing forces of goblinoids breaks out. Which side was the cause of the destruction? 10 The Kech Sharaat send emissaries to a nearby city with a simple message: abandon the town within one week, or die. 11 Goblin scouts have been spotted far from Darguun, moving with uncharacteristic coordination and precision. 12 A representative of the Kech Volaar approaches the characters to request their help in confronting their rivals to maintain the balance of power among the Dhakaani.