Kobolds

Prior to the divine war the ancient dragons served as the kings and queens of the draconic people. The dragonborn filled the ranks of the general populace and then there are the kobolds. They proudly claim direct kinship to the dragon kings and queens of old, but beneath all the bluster, the comparison to their glorious cousins, the dragonborn, leaves kobolds with a profound sense of inadequacy. Though they are hardworking, clever, and blessed with a natural talent for mechanical devices and mining, they spend their days nursing misconceived jealousies and plotting revenge for non existent slights instead of celebrating their own gifts. During the 3rd age when the dragonborn kingdom was on the rise, the kobolds were tasked with being the overseers for the slaves that the dragonborn had claimed as their own a tasked to which they excelled. When the sundering occurred they were placed on the front lines against the uprising. Defeated and scattered new relations with their former captives are still tenuous at best. They dwell in places across Theros hidden from the sun, particularly subterranean caverns or densely wooded areas. Most commonly encountered in and around the nation of Sintharia, the inherent paranoia of the kobolds has lent the schemers a bit of cleverness and ingenuity, especially when it comes to devising deadly traps. While most visitors to the mines of dwarves are welcomed with ale and song, some are lucky to even leave the Kobold mines with all limbs attached.
Regions: Kobolds can most often be found in the sparse forest of Sintharia or mining in the lower sections of Malfegrim.
SUBTERRANEAN SURVIVORS
More than anything, kobolds are survivors. Their scaly skin and keen night vision, as well as their dextrous claws and sensitive snouts, make them quick to sense danger, and their clawed feet move them out of danger with cowardly speed. They are small but fierce when fighting on their own terms, and their weight of numbers helps them survive in places where larger but less numerous races can’t sustain a settlement.
They are great miners, good smiths, and modest alchemists, and they have a curiosity about the world that frequently gets them into trouble. They are merchants to both the surface world and the world beneath it. They are always at odds with most gnomes, and the dwarves, and any other mining races that seek dominance of dark, rich territories.

FINDING ONE’S PLACE
Kobold society is gregarious and built around the clan, matriarchal lines of descent, male mayors, and the crucial importance of clutch-mates (those who hatched about the same time, the closest things kobolds have to brothers and sisters). Few kobolds become adventurers and most of those who do have either offended a kobold mayor (and been exiled from the mines as punishment) or have lost many or all of their clutch-mates (so they leave home to grieve and to find new friends). In many cases, a kobold “adopts” an adventuring party as new clutch- mates.
Kobolds are deeply enamored of their tools. Some kobolds spend a great deal of effort in improving them. Mining picks, a mason’s hammer, jeweler’s loupe, and even simple items like a kobold’s spear or dagger are all named and cherished. At the same time, kobolds tend to gnaw on tool handles, forget to oil blades, or even pry out inlays or decorative gems (to polish or reshape them) without first considering how they’ll repair the damage. As a result, most kobold items are distinctive and unlikely to be mistaken for anyone else’s items. Some believe this decorative urge is an instinctual defense against theft.
One category of tool deserves special note: traps. Kobolds create simple, deadly traps and wildly impractical ones as a hobby. Few kobolds leave home without string, springs, simple latches, and other bits and pieces that can be quickly fashioned into triggers for traps. Kobolds are closely allied with and related to Dragonborn, drakes, and dragons. The kobold mayors admire dragons as the greatest sources of wisdom, power, and proper behavior although they have no idea where the first dragons came from.

KOBOLD NAMES
Among themselves, kobold names tend to be a combination of yips, howls, snarls, coughing sounds, and sounds made by clacking their teeth. These words are difficult, if not impossible, for other races to duplicate, so kobolds who go out into the world usually adopt another, simpler name.
These can be anything the kobold likes the sound of, and often come from another culture; some kobolds are partial to dwarven names, for example, mainly for ironic reasons. Alternatively, they can take descriptive labels, usually with an incongruous gravitas or a ridiculous implication of power, such as Worldshaker, Thor Giantslayer, or Spinecrusher. There’s no real consistency or pattern to the names they use among outsiders.