Five-Fire Pavilions
Smoke and the stench of smoldering metal surround the Five-Fire Pavilions, a ramshackle collection of metal-roofed shacks, rusting and soot-smeared artworks, and fire pits that serves as the Foreign Quarter’s closest equivalent to a goblin embassy. The Pavilions’ founder, the goblin trader and explorer Skirma Toadlicker, originally hoped that her settlement would both serve as a safe refuge for the rapidly increasing goblin-kind in Absalom, and that it would demonstrate to the rest of Golarion that goblins were ready to be considered among the world’s civilized peoples.
Skirma’s hopes have been partially met. The Five-Fire Pavilions are, indeed, popular among goblins, hobgoblins, and others who might not be welcomed at human-run establishments. The Pavilions often host goblin artworks, delicacies, and their less violent and combustible celebrations, which draw a number of curious gawkers. Not all her efforts at broadening cross-cultural understandings have been successful, however. In particular, visiting goblins often fail to understand that Absalom’s pet owners are generally just walking their dogs through the area, and are not, in fact, offering raw meat for sale.
Confusion and disagreements often flare up even between the goblins themselves, for although most goblins may look the same to human eyes, vast differences exist between them. More friendly goblins may be horrified at the casual cruelty and screeching chaos of their less reformed kin, while wilder goblins may be baffled by why a fully assimilated Molthuni hobgoblin would choose to “act like a horse-hugger.” Tribal enmities add further complications, as do rivalries and misunderstandings between the various types of goblin-kind.
Nevertheless, Skirma’s vision, however imperfectly realized, continues to stand in all its smoking, clattering, dog-killing glory as a beacon of semi-frightening hope for the future.
Skirma’s hopes have been partially met. The Five-Fire Pavilions are, indeed, popular among goblins, hobgoblins, and others who might not be welcomed at human-run establishments. The Pavilions often host goblin artworks, delicacies, and their less violent and combustible celebrations, which draw a number of curious gawkers. Not all her efforts at broadening cross-cultural understandings have been successful, however. In particular, visiting goblins often fail to understand that Absalom’s pet owners are generally just walking their dogs through the area, and are not, in fact, offering raw meat for sale.
Confusion and disagreements often flare up even between the goblins themselves, for although most goblins may look the same to human eyes, vast differences exist between them. More friendly goblins may be horrified at the casual cruelty and screeching chaos of their less reformed kin, while wilder goblins may be baffled by why a fully assimilated Molthuni hobgoblin would choose to “act like a horse-hugger.” Tribal enmities add further complications, as do rivalries and misunderstandings between the various types of goblin-kind.
Nevertheless, Skirma’s vision, however imperfectly realized, continues to stand in all its smoking, clattering, dog-killing glory as a beacon of semi-frightening hope for the future.
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