During the War of Four Centuries both sides attempted a variety of projects to break the brutal stalemate. Among these that the First Dark Emperor employed was a plan to manipulate life to make better warriors headed by a secretive mage known as "The Life Weaver" or simply "The Weaver". She led a team of several of the most skilled mages the Drow states could provide, giving each of them highly compartmentalized tasks while she orchestrated the grand scope of the efforts. She'd based her work on a variety of sources. The Weaver's first products was a variety of monstrous war beasts: battle hounds with chitinous shells and horns and elephant sized carnivorous amalgams of bull, lion, lizard, shark, scorpion and weasel. But while the psychological effect of these terrors was notable, they were costly to raise and feed. Her work on Spiders was considered more of a success as were improvements to horse and the creation of Nightsteeds. Even she had two projects with more ambitious aims in mind: the creation of a race of pliable Dragons (Nightdrakes) and the a race of quick breeding disposable cannon fodder.





The Dark Emperor was patient with the former, less so with the latter. As such, The Weaver managed to come up with something which filled the basic needs and presented it as completed. The result of her first efforts were Goblins. Short creatures about 80-110cm tall weighing about 20-30 kg with clawed hands, waxy green skin with tufts of fur and sharp teeth that could eat things that a human would find inedible and were fully grown in three to four years. In general they did fulfill the basics of the cannon fodder need of a cannon fodder arm and were smart enough to understand basic commands, were too dumb to question orders and performed the rudiments of combat. While a lone goblin outfitted with a basic spear or axe, shield and helm was no match for a human soldier Goblins could be bred cheaply.





In practice, Goblins did not do so well. While Goblins could make a decent burst of speed over short distances they had little stamina and a Goblin Army on the march was a slow force as they could only go so far before needing a rest. Goblin forces were generally not capable of forming disciplined ranks. Feeding vast Goblin armies was also difficult as while a Goblin required less than half as much food as a human did it usually required at least five goblins to match a human army, with even higher exchange rates against Dwarves and Elves, cavalry and chariots and humans armed with greatswords. Watering was often a bigger issue since Goblins needed more to drink. They were also vulnerable to cold (which is part of the reason why they've never established themselves in the Coldlands). But beyond that Goblins were often sickly creatures prone to developing a number of debilitating and disabling conditions which would lead them vulnerable to infection. Worst of which was Goblin's Bane (when their bodies would get into one destructive negative feedback loop or another (and sometimes multiple ones) which would result in their deaths in at most a week) and Goblin's Dread (in which their immune system decides that the Goblin itself is an infection and begins fighting it, death usually results in a couple of days). These can strike at any time though age, injury and bad health increase the risk. Any wound which could not simply be treated with bandaging or cauterization was seen as a death sentence. Goblin mobs were of limited use as camp workers and generally needed a lot of supervision to do most tasks. As most goblins can only make use of a few hundred words their use as scouts was rather poor.





As such, Goblins only saw a few years of widespread use, followed by limited use primarily in forest and siege warfare and as a scorched earth method for a short while afterwards. The big thing that did them in was the fact that Goblins were used as the basis for Orcs. After that they were relegated among the Drow to use as live fire training beasts and bloodsport. Even so, outside of Drow Control a few Goblins got wild and established themselves. A few are kept by Orcish clans as (depending on how you look at it) slaves or working pets. Today most Goblins live in small troops of up to a hundred individuals in forested areas in Illvanicum and the Naga Rajs. They mostly live off the land, hunting small animals (and being hunted by a variety of wildlife) and foraging for their food and stealing whatever odds and ends they can find for tools which they carry about in animal hides and stolen cloths. Goblins have been known to attack lone travellers from time to time. Sometimes goblins troops will raid farms and occasionally several troops will band together into a mob of up to a thousand adult goblins to attack human settlements in search of food. Occasionally Goblin Hordes in the tens of thousands have been documented. Even so, this is usually an act of desperation. Occasionally low key mutually beneficial relationships have been worked out with some Goblin troops and local farmers, but these are the exceptions rather than the rule. Goblin Hunting is a popular sport for many noblemen and many areas have periodic Goblin Culls. Despite this, Goblins are good at hiding and a pair of surviving goblins can become a full if rather inbred troop in a decade. The Goblin population has been subject to numerous spikes and crashes.





This fellow is fairly well off for a Goblin as he has a stolen sickle and a makeshift spear using an old kitchen knife and a a sickle for weapons along with two makeshift bits of footwear and a grain sack for clothing with some makeshift armor that was once a scraped frying pan. Raiding garbage dumps carries less risk than stealing. In goblin society status is generally based on seniority. While Goblins do care for their young, as soon as they can do simple tasks they're doing simple tasks for the benefit of the troops. Young Goblins that have just reached maturity are subordinate to their older counterparts gradually gaining status as they prove themselves, develop skills and accumulate better items. Any Goblin which reaches nine years old is usually well established in the tribe and commands considerable authority over the younger generations, a goblin that reaches fifteen years is almost invariably the troops leader (possibly sharing power with another elder). This speaks to the fact that the average Goblin's lifespan is quite low. While the Order of Keepers believes that modern goblins are more stable than they were four millennia ago, they still have a lot of biological problems many of which healing potions only make worse. Even if well cared for in captivity, few goblins live to see their twentieth birthday.