Kobold

Short humanoids with rusty brown hides and patchy fur. Their eyes glow with a red spark in the dark. They have a snout, two small horns ranging from tan to white, and a non-prehensile rat-like tail. Often smell of damp dogs and stagnant water. The kobold language sounds like small dogs yapping.
Kobolds live on the outskirts of civilization. They do whatever they have to do to survive in a world of much larger and more dangerous creatures. They are master trapsmiths, and usually survive by a combination of cunning, remaining unnoticed, and serving more powerful entities (often dragons) loyally and ruthlessly. While they are often evil, it is the evil of necessity, reinforced by the cold truth that the world doesn't care about them (and is often overtly hostile to them).