Gingivitis

Placeholder Giblin by Katy Smith

Dentistry isn’t all too common amongst the goblins. Sharpening teeth to finer and more pronounced points for the purposes of relieving flesh from its imprisonment on living beings tends to be the only work carried out. The result of this lack of care and hygiene is that of the commonplace ailment of Gingivitis.
Usually this would not cause an issue other than an odd taste and bad breath. However, some goblinfolk have a beast laying in wait just beneath their frail bodies. A gargantuan mass waiting to show itself and it can only be triggered by consuming blood.
The lifespan of a goblin is usually what keeps the transformation at bay. Gingivitis usually takes quite a few years to build up to the point of blood being expelled from the gums at the smallest of provocations. Combine this with the rarity of those that have the potential to transform and you have an issue that has only presented itself in modern times.
Ever since the dwarves closed their gates and the everlasting war between the two races slowed, goblin lifespans have been steadily increasing. With that increase also came the increase in abominations being birthed violently into the centre of camps and wreaking havoc. Getting these brutes under control is nearly impossible but when in doubt, throwing more goblin bodies at the problem is always the solution. Once controlled, the abominations are a true force of diabolical nature.
In order to counter this occurrence amongst the population, teams of trackers have been created and allocated to the task of finding potential hotspots for transformations and keeping the beasts under control. Amusingly this tends to be where the highest concentration of elderly goblins are housed together.
A security detail around an old goblinfolk’s home. The goblins are a strange breed indeed.

This is a submission for my first ever Summer Camp in 2024 - I hope you enjoy my writings and I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback!