The Goblin Woods

The Goblin Woods are a thick forest with a very large Goblinoids population. It borders The Dragonpeaks to the south and is surrounded on all other sides by the lowlands of the Aurean Empire. Though the empire has tried on occasion to take control of the forest, it has never been a high priority as land has relatively little in the way of natural resources and the goblinoids rarely cause trouble, often fighting among themselves. The forest now likely has the thickest goblinoid population in Obseron, and is largely lacking in members of other races.
The forest is mostly deciduous with a mix of trees, some of which can grow to large sizes but others of which are much smaller. What is most notable, however, is the heavy underbrush, which makes travel through much of it far more difficult. The ground underneath is hard and rocky to a suprising degree, and some areas of tall grass and even bare rock exist in pockets throughout the woods.
Small bands of goblins take advantage of their size to live throughout this environment, avoiding threats from large animals, outside humanoids, and domineering hobgoblins. hobgoblins often rule small settlements scattered throughout, ruling over and often enslaving the smaller goblins, who usually outnumber them. Most of them are agressive toward outsiders, though some Aurean traders have been able to trade metal ore to some hobgoblins, as it is largely absent in most of the forest. Arming the goblinoids has been banned by the Aurean Empire, which has taken steps to curb the trade but has been mostly unsuccessful.

History

The woods were once much larger, stretching mostly uninterupted to the coast in the oldest written accounts and likely connecting to The Fangwood to the west and other forests to the east in prehistory. The more fertile areas have been largely deforested, most recently in much of the modern day province of Sebria. However, it has been millenia since any major deforestation, since the remaining woods have low fertility and are inhabited by aggressive goblinoids.
The Aurean Empire has tried off and on to spread their control into the forest, in a series of conflicts of varying sizes, starting during the conquest of Sebria in the early Age of the Dragon Emperors. These are known as the Goblin Wars, and vary from fairly large scale conflicts to minor and even symbolic expeditions with little to no bloodshed. The empires success in this has been mixed, but the status quo has been largely unchanged since the deforestation following the conquest of Sebria.

Type

Forest, Temperate (Seasonal)