Goblinoid Culture

I know we've all fought 'em but have any of you actually met an orc? I did once and we had an interesting discussion as he spoke common the best he could. Real funny, he told me that he hated that he had been imprisoned, and that they should 'ave just killed him on the battlefield, saying we humans had non decency. I told him I was a dwarf not a human and he told me that humans were the enemies and you are an enemy. It's almost a pity they are all so sheltered, if they had the smallest piece of curiosity in them in place of all that hostility maybe we could just get along. Unfortunately at that point he started to try to bite through the cage, so I had to kill him there.

- a dwarf recounting his early days

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Goblins: A goblin name is only as good as the parents, and the parents decide how many syllables the child has to suffer through when saying their own name. Particularly cruel parents have been known to give their daughters 70 syllable names just to get a kick. The only tradition in female names is that they must never sound strong. Examples: Feegyneht, Uuuune, Kep
Hobgoblins: Hobgoblin naming in general focuses on refinement and a level of sophistication other goblinoids do not have. Female hobgoblin names in particular are meant to flow off the tongue, often ignoring the guttural sounds that the goblin language is based around. Examples: Entsuque, Gimplem, Domshet
Bugbears: Bugbear names, male or female, are simply an adjective in the goblinoid language. Often, when speaking in common, they introduce themselves in their goblinoid name and then the equivalent. Examples: Shekshothe (clawmark), Dogabelu (stomp), Temtem (wimp)
Orcs: Female orcs are named with four syllables and have "names that should sound like mud" in that they evoke the feeling of mud. Examples: Shekhehsho, Jummunana, Plowcthor

Masculine names

Goblins: A goblin name is only as good as the parents, and the parents decide how many syllables the child has to suffer through when saying their own name. Particularly cruel parents have been known to give their daughters 70 syllable names just to get a kick. The only tradition in female names is that they must always sound like an insult. Examples: Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugmeet, Ishiishishiiii, Ukeshaloh
Hobgoblins: Hobgoblin naming in general focuses on refinement and a level of sophistication other goblinoids do not have. Male hobgoblin names often convey a sense of order, attempting to be stern sounding but not scary. Examples: Abun, Gyohe, Quelemet
Bugbears: Bugbear names, male or female, are simply an adjective in the goblinoid language. Often, when speaking in common, they introduce themselves in their goblinoid name and then the equivalent. Examples: Shekshothe (clawmark), Dogabelu (stomp), Temtem (wimp)
Orcs: Male orcs have two syllable names that are supposed to evoke rage in both friend and foe. Examples: Ekshoz, Yethü, Snjeh

Family names

All goblinoids, aside from the few rogue bugbears, operate in clans and thus all goblinoids from the same clan will have the same clan name. "I am Gothuk from the Frahhk Clan" is what you might hear when asking for a family name. Clan names are two syllables and are focused on being pronounceable by all races (they try). Some include: Yeptur, Kishgog, Blyte

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Goblin is the main language, but there are dialects for orc, hobgoblin, and bugbear which are very similar with changes in pronunciation and formalities. Additionally different clans have different sets of words that have unique meanings to them, for example one clan might have a word for a grove which has a good amount of blueberries but is lacking in strawberries which is recognized by nobody else.

Average technological level

Although they have fairly decent technological understanding, acquiring all the materials needed to use fairly advanced tech is simply impossible without trading with other races, which goblinoids absolutely never do. Most tribes take metal spears and swords from battlefields, loot travellers for fine goods, and craft their own settlements, predominately with leather tents and wooden houses.

Coming of Age Rites

A goblinoid comes of age when they score their first kill, marking that they are able to hunt for themselves and no longer need parental support. A goblin can come of age anywhere between 20 and 120, and if they have not by 120 they are exiled as a weakling. The first kill is not celebrated, but when somebody gets it everybody in the clan knows soon enough and congratulates them.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Those that die and have their bodies recovered are either a hero, a weakling, or an elder to be mourned. Heroes went down fighting and killed many before they went down, and they are burned on a pyre to represent the fire they had within them when they died. Weaklings died because they ran from battle, surrendered, or betrayed the clan, and are given no burial, though their bodies are not disrespected either, merely placed in a ravine or rolled off of a cliff and not talked about again. Elders die of old age and are always mourned because they contributed much knowledge to the clan. Their teeth are plucked and kept in a small leather bag which the chief carries and their bodies are sent down the nearest river.

Common Myths and Legends

Most of their myths revolve around battle and the many victories and savage killings that their main God, Metsuo, had had. There are some about fiery conquest in tribute to Bo and others about finding Elysium via Obokire. The main takeaway is that the myths are of the great deeds, victories, and boons their Gods have had and given.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

What is beautiful is what is true and the wild is always true. Beauty is fount not in artwork or in calm nature, but in war and in savagery. A battlefield may be beautiful to an orc or goblin, but not a castle or a calm pond. Bonus points for anything containing mud, blood, trees, and anything that has been skinned. What is beautiful in other goblinoids is in how square the face is, how flat the face is, and how many scars (the more scars on a man the better, the less scars on a woman the better).

Courtship Ideals

"I see a strong woman, she sees me a strong man and she has my child. The weak do the same."