The Goblinoid Races

Traits

Common features

After an unpleasant history of slavery, which involved the regular use of drugs to placate them, goblins now find themselves free in a world that still views them with high prejudice. Their reputation for violence against others is not unfounded, but does make it difficult for them to step up from their low education, low income social class.
Goblins are mostly recognizable by their yellow to ruddy skintone and their large ears that are triangular and folded. They large dark pupils, so the white of the eye is barely visible. Their faces are round and their noses flat, while their mouths are relatively wide. With small but sharp teeth, a full goblin grin is usually found quite menacing by other sentients. While they do have five fingers per hand, their feet only have three toes each, with dark long nails. Most goblins are small, between 70 and 80 centimeters in height and on average 18 kilograms, while specifically hobgoblins are taller and heavier.

Subraces

Only one subrace, the luugoblin, is recognized to have existed before the widespread subjugation and eradication of traditional goblin tribes. The other two subraces, buggoblins and hobgoblins, came into existence afterwards, under the regime of the orcs of Greza.
Luugoblin
These descendants of the original goblins are believed to still look much the same as their ancestors did, compared to paintings and descriptions of centuries ago. The biggest change is that some families have green skintones. Their eyes have red irises, and they have shorter claws than other goblin subraces. Their hair, which could be red to dark brown, is thin and scraggly, and goblin men can grow short scruffy beards. However, most goblins still prefer to be completely bald and clean shaven, including the women.
Luugoblins in servitude were mostly used for cleaning households and menial labor that required finesse.
Buggoblin
Once called bugbears, although this term is now viewed as an insult, buggoblins have been selected to have more bearlike qualities. They are covered in thick rough fur, orange or brown in colour. Their noses are less flat and darker toned than their ochre skin, making it look more like a bear snout. Their fingers are stubbier, though their nails are longer. These can be sharp if used with enough force, but are more often used to handle tools with extreme precision. Their large eyes have green or blue irises. They are stereotypically not very smart.
Buggoblins were selectively bred by orcs to be kept as playmates for orc children. They were soft and cuddly, but also sturdy enough to wrestle with, and held loyalty towards anyone they considered part of their family.
Hobgoblin
This subrace is a hybrid between orcs and goblins. They can be anywhere between 1.00 and 1.50 meters tall, and have a surprising deep red skin colour. When they have inherited piebaldism from their orcish parents, it presents as bleached yellowish spots on their skin. From the goblins they have inherited the triangular folded ears, while from their orcish heritage they have the angular face and small tusks. They are also more heavy and muscular than other goblins, between 45 and 60 kilograms. Hobgoblin hair is darker and often kept in a dreadlock style, though sometimes hobgoblins prefer to smoothe it out and keep one long braid down their backs.
While most hobgoblins were born by accident at first, they are numerous enough today that it is believed orc slavers bred them deliberately. They were put to work in mines and on farms, doing heavier manual labor.

IAMI-periods

To equalize the life stages of all the races including very diverging lifespans, and ensure that they can be categorized correctly when it comes to rights, taxes, and healthcare, all ID cards also share their racial Infancy-Adolescence-Maturity-Index, or IAMI. For goblins, the life stage periods are:
Infancy: 0-2 years
Adolescence: 2-8 years
Maturity: 8+ years
Average lifespan: 40 years, though it is believed they have the potential to reach 80 years of age.

Culture

Tribe mentality

The last laws on goblin servitude were abolished only a century ago, and the path leading to this change was long and violent. Goblins nowadays are still very wary of strangers and hold a reputation for being aggressive to anyone they perceive as a stranger or a threat. However, this short temper does not extend to those they considere family. Anyone who manages to gain a goblin's trust, will get intense loyalty and compassion from them. Likewise, anyone who betrays this trust, will not only anger the specific goblin, but any related goblins as well. They can be very vengeful and do not let go of grudges easily.

Rediscovery of tradition

With their hard-won freedom, goblins gained the desire to set themselves apart from other sentients and make their own customs and rituals. There are two different ways this has manifested. Some goblins strive to restore the culture that was taken from them, trying to revive traditional music and dances, and writing down the folklore that was passed down through generations. Other goblins have started to create new traditions, merging aspects of the lifestyles of other sentients to fit their own ideas. Every goblin family has their own way of doing things. Their greatest common ground is the fervor with which these old or new traditions are upheld and passed on to future generations.

Aversion to medicine

Over the centuries, synthlax and other placating drugs were used to suppress goblin personalities and temperaments, to keep them docile and compliant. The grudge held against this practice still has not left goblin communities. It is very rare to find goblins involved in drug trafficking. But it is nearly equally rare to find a goblin agreeing to taking medicine to treat disease. They have medicinal herbs for dealing with basic pain or inflammation, but anything more synthetic than that will be met with suspicion. Goblins rather trust in healing provided by gods, or their own natural immune system. Additionally, goblins have an omnivorous, highly opportunistic diet. They do not shy away from junkfood or anything slightly rotten, sometimes even preferring the funky flavors. All these factors combined make that most goblins live short lives, perishing at the hand of disease rather than old age.

Naming conventions

Traditional goblin names are uncommon, as most goblins were given simple, one-syllable names fitting the conventions of whom they served. However, since the goblin liberation and the restoration of their culture, some goblins have been using names as listed below. All names are unisex:

Given names
Analu, Aolani, Apona, Feleti, Halia, Ipo, Iwalani, Kai, Kanoa, Kealii, Keoki, Kina, Lanai, Leiko, Luana, Lula, Maiele, Makelina, Malo, Moke, Nalani, Noe, Pali, Samoana, Talei.

Family names