Unknowable Archive

It is well known that goblins, by various names, are a widespread problem. They are viscious, destructive, cruel, tenacious, and perpetually hunger for human flesh. But where do they come from, and what is their true nature?

A typical goblin is a sickly looking animalistic humanoid about 120 centimeters in height. Their apparent animal stock varies considerably, but they always resemble a wild terrestrial mammal, usually one local to the area. They arm themselves with stolen or crudely crafted weapons. Their fur is often patchy, matted with blood and filth, and interspersed with scabs and open wounds. Regardless of their animal stock, they always have a mouth packed with jagged, razor-sharp teeth and dripping with foul-smelling saliva.

Goblins are instinctual creatures. While they have no apparent need to eat, they are constantly driven to seek out and consume food, especially human flesh. While they craft crude weapons and wield those stolen or looted from civilized folk, they do not improve on their techniques. While they mimic human speech, and chatter to themselves constantly, they have no understanding of language.

Legend has it that shortly after the Gods created humanity, Nilbog the Ur-Troll grew jealous and spiteful, and so he took some beasts of the forest into his cave. For three nights he worked, and shaped the beasts into twisted mockeries of the human form, and imbued them with a fraction of his own cunning and hatred.

The leading theory among scholars is that goblin hives create more goblins by capturing wild animals and infecting them with goblinism through a multi-day process involving human blood, goblin mucus, and a lot of broken bones. The details of this process are only vaguely known, as no one is known to have seen it in its entirely and lived.

The Furriers League makes it their mission to eradicate goblins wherever they are found, and can offer substantial rewards to adventurers willing to hunt them down. This policy is not out of any sense of altruism, but rather, it is just good business. Not only will a goblin den compete with civilized folk for game to sate their bottomless hunger, but when they turn an animal into a goblin, the pelt is invarioubly ruined.