Goblinkin

The civilized people of the world consider goblins to be nothing more than monsters—and in many ways, they’re right. Goblins and their cousins, the hobgoblins and bugbears, were first created by Bane, the Strife Emperor, as foot soldiers for his unholy army. Eons ago, when the flames of the Calamity burned across Exandria, the Betrayer Gods gathered in the realm that would eventually become Xhorhas. There, they found a people known as the dranassar. An ancestor race to the goblinoids, the dranassar were tall and beautiful, strong of body and mind, and fleet of foot. Their hair was thick and black, and their skin gleamed like gold. Most of the dranassar willingly served the divine beings that descended upon their land, but a few fought back against the Betrayer Gods’ rule.
Bane, a cruel tyrant even among the Betrayer Gods, smote the rebellious dranassar and twisted them into the goblinkin. When the armies of the Betrayer Gods wanted for skirmishers, Bane twisted the dranassar into goblins. When he was in need of loyal soldiers, he made them into hobgoblins. And when brute force was required, he sculpted them into bugbears. As the war of gods and mortals raged on, Bane corrupted even those dranassar who remained loyal to him.
The Betrayer Gods are long since defeated, but the goblinkin survived—leaderless, lost, and fallen into chaos. It is said that the voice of Bane still whispers into the minds of the goblinkin, goading them to commit senseless acts of cruelty against all they see.
Few goblins can steel their will against Bane's foul whispers, but those who do live peaceful lives free of the god’s influence. Likewise, people who are transfigured into goblins or reborn as goblins do not hear the voice of Bane, and are free from his curse of strife.

Goblinkin in the Dwendalian Empire

Goblins living in Western Wynandir form small tribal groups and do their best to evade the vigilant eye of the imperial army. The fearsome soldiers of the Righteous Brand, known to the goblins as drohurror or “terrorfolk,” are the greatest threat to the tribes. But with goblins treated as little better than vermin throughout the empire, any imperial citizen strong enough to wield a pitchfork can be a threat in their own right. With most goblins in the Empire tormented by Bane's l homicidal whispers, the people of the empire are just as fearful of goblinkin as the goblins are of them. Farmers and folk in rural regions such as the southern Marrow Valley take special precautions against goblin raids, and kill goblins on sight as if they were marauding animals. Even goblins who manage to free themselves of Bane's influence are hard-pressed to overcome the fears of the empire’s rural folk. By contrast, city dwellers are rarely exposed to goblin raiders, and though they might react with suspicion and fear when seeing a goblin on the street, most are more accepting of the notion that not all goblins are evil.

Goblinkin on the Menagerie Coast

Goblins are a rare sight on the Menagerie Coast, so most folk who live there know of them only through folklore and stories told by travelers. With visitors from the Dwendalian Empire, the realms of Tal’Dorei, and Marquet common on the coast, most of those stories are tales of the vicious goblins of the Ravager horde of Tal’Dorei or the fearsome Duneburrow goblins of the far-off Marquesian deserts, painting a deeply unwholesome picture of goblinkin. People living along the northern Menagerie Coast, in cities such as Gwardan, have firsthand accounts of the goblins and bugbears who have recently settled in the Lushgut Forest. Those who worship the Wild Mother in Gwardan have long seen the forest as one of her most sacred places, and initially reacted with fear to the forest’s “monstrous invaders.” But with the bugbears and goblins having freed themselves of Bane's corrupting influence through druidic meditation, they are slowly fostering friendship with the people of Gwardan.

Goblinkin in Xhorhas

Goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears are a common sight in Xhorhas, especially around Rosohna—for it was here that Bane first created the goblinkin from the noble dranassar. The people of the Kryn Dynasty have made efforts to forge close ties with the goblinkin who have made their home in the region, and have even managed to subvert the curse of strife by the power of The Luxon . Any creature reborn into a goblinkin body is born without the curse, and any natural-born goblin born within one hundred miles of a Luxon beacon is likewise shielded from Bane's seed of corruption.

Civilization and Culture

Common Myths and Legends

The term “goblinkin” refers to three types of related peoples: goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears. All three are affected by Bane's curse of strife, allowing his foul voice to prey upon their minds from beyond the Divine Gate. Goblinkin who manage to overcome Bane's curse are freed from the compulsion that leads them to evil. Unless the goblinkin was freed near birth, however, they have likely internalized their bias toward law, chaos, or neutrality, and might retain that aspect of their alignment even after the curse is broken.
It is nearly impossible for a goblinkin to break Bane's curse on their own. Only those who undergo particularly traumatic events or are shown exceptional compassion typically find the inner strength to do so. Whenever a goblinkin returns to consciousness after being reduced to 0 hit points, they can make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw, with advantage if they were brought back to life. On a success, the goblinkin breaks free from the curse of strife. A goblinkin targeted by remove curse can also make this saving throw, with advantage on the save if the caster is a trusted companion.
Many bugbears are cleansed of the curse from birth by a druidic order of bugbears who managed to break free from Bane's influence decades ago. These bugbears never develop a chaotic, isolationist nature, and readily band together with druids and other defenders of the wilderness.
Goblins who suffer from the curse of strife are typically neutral evil, goaded by Bane to commit acts of wanton destruction and malice among the folk of the mortal races that opposed him in the Calamity. Hobgoblins afflicted by the curse of strife are almost exclusively lawful evil, and are urged toward acts of conquest. Their societies are regimented like military dictatorships, and hobgoblin despots are the scourges of whole nations. Bugbears who suffer under Bane's influence are typically chaotic evil, and are commanded to isolate themselves from all bonds and ties of camaraderie so as to maximize the suffering of those they brutalize.