Hobgoblins

Sworn warriors of Shinano, avengers of their homeland

Hobgoblins are a ferocious warrior race, and the native inhabitants of Shinano. Living for the most part in remote areas uninhabited by the human "invaders", Hobgoblins prey on smaller settlements and isolated travelers, unwilling to enter into another prolonged war against humans. Nevertheless, they nurse an eternal grudge against mankind for driving them from their lands, and seek one day to be strong enough to expel the invaders, and perhaps build an empire of their own.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Hobgoblins reproduce at a rate similar to humans, though unlike humans they have a specific mating season.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Hobgoblins eat a high protein diet of meats and plants. They do very little farming, tending to forage the majority of their food, though larger warbands may make use of enslaved humans to cultivate rice and wheat.

Behaviour

Hobgoblins seek to kill or enslave all of the Hati, or invaders, that are polluting their land. This primarily means humans, but is often used to refer to elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and any other sapient species not native to Shinano.
Every action a hobgoblin takes is taken with the view to establishing a new Shogunate and driving out the barbarian Hati that plague the land.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Hobgoblins are entirely organized in a militaristic structure reminiscent of that of the Shogunate of ages past. Deeply hierarchical warbands form the basic unit of hobgoblin society, though occasionally warbands will coalesce into a larger Horde to accomplish greater deeds. Each warband of hobgoblins answers to a single Warlord, who acts as a supreme commander. The position is not hereditary, but rather earned through recognition and acclaim of the other warriors in the warband.
Though commonly it is believed that martial valor alone earns a Warlord his throne, this is not the case. Rarely is the Warlord the greatest warrior in the warband. Rather, leadership and strategy are held in much higher esteem, though in the case where it is unclear which of several candidates would be the best Warlord they often settle matters in a duel.
Hobgoblin females are treated more or less equivalent to the male hobgoblins, as merit and prowess are all that is required to advance in hobgoblin society. Child rearing is handled by the Instructors, and very little contact exists between children and their parents until later in adolescence.

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

Male and female hobgoblins are treated almost identically. However there is one key social difference: the ideal female hobgoblin bears a daughter before going to war. This is considered an act of great benevolence to the warband as a whole, and is seen as a sacrifice for the greater good, as it delays the chance for the mother to earn personal honor on the battlefield, sometimes for years.
Male hobgoblins are likewise expected to sire a child before going to war, however due to the fact that they do not bear the child themselves this is considered to be more of an obligation than an honorable sacrifice, as the male can leave for war while his child is still in the womb.

Courtship Ideals

While hobgoblin courtship is not fully understood, it does seem customary at several points throughout the process for the two partners to engage in heavily ritualized ceremonial duels.

Relationship Ideals

Hobgoblins are strictly monogamous, and pair for life. When the partner of a hobgoblin dies they generally do not seek another, though exceptions exist, particularly for young hobgoblins.

History

If there was a time when hobgoblin culture did not revolve around war, it is a time long forgotten.
From the earliest records of the Hobgoblins dating back to the mid-Amber era, war was the very basis of society. The warrior caste which ruled the hobgoblins did so entirely through martial prowess, and heavily ritualized combat marked all occasions. They never had a concept of a "civil war", since in the mind of a hobgoblin a nation that is at eternal peace is an aberration, a decadent and uncivilized culture.
Nevertheless, this emphasis on war never carried with it an emphasis on chaos or disorder. The only acceptable forms of combat were according to the principles of honor and ritual. A code before their god, Bishamonten, known as Bushido, guided this orderly society in it's many battles, and as such while the hobgoblins were always at war, they were rarely in chaos.
At one point the masters of all of the islands of Shinano, the Hobgoblin Shogunate was feared far and wide for the valor of its warriors and the might of its armies. The Shogunate often raided the shores of the mainland for captives and treasure, seeing such expeditions as ancillary to their true battles of honor within the Shogunate.
Toward the end of the Era of Amber, a small flotilla of ships carrying human refugees fleeing the disorder on the mainland settled in Green Dragon Bay, founding the settlement of Tei-kyo. The hobgoblin shogunate quickly attempted to repel the invaders, however with the aid of the Kami the First Lord of Shinano was able to repel and defeat the Shogun's army, slaying the Shogun himself and breaking the myth of invincibility the Hobgoblins clung to.
Over time the humans would come to adopt much of the hobgoblins culture and ways as Shinano began to develop its own unique culture of daimyos and samurai. All the while, they would take more and more of Shinano out of the hands of the hobgoblins. Today all hobgoblins belong to the warrior caste, class distinctions long forgotten, eternally awaiting the rise of a new Shogun and the downfall of the barbarous invaders.

^{The battle standard of the Hobgoblins, symbolizing a war camp with the general's tent in the center and soldier tents all around it. The three bladed sigil represents a warrior, and every warrior has a badge with the symbol engraved on it.}

Scientific Name

Hob-koprin

Lifespan

60 years

Average Height

1.6 meters (male), 1.4 meters (female)

Geographic Distribution

• Shinano

Hobgoblins do not understand how they were defeated in battle by the humans, and blame the "infernal magics of the human gods". As such, they are careful not to desecrate any shrines to said gods, as they fear the Kami much more than they fear humans themselves.