Kobold

Typical Attributes

Bod 4, Chi 4, Mnd 5, Ref 5

Schticks

• Armor (4)
• Howl (#)
• Squeeze (1)
• Tail (1)

Description

Kobolds are small, only 90 cm tall when standing on their hind legs. But they have long tails, being 180 cm from snout to tail. They are reptilian, with tails, small horns, scaled skin and dog-like snouts. All kobolds have chubby arms and the bent legs of an animal. They lean on their tails when standing. Their most usual color is dull metallic blue or blue-black, though shinier variants and even some greenish kobolds have been reported. They are not sexually compatible with most other humanoids, egg laying, and to far from the norm to be either ugly or attractive.

Hatching kobolds are about 5 cm long larvae, and then grow into neuters in about a year. A neuter is an adult, but not sexually active. As they mature over the next thirty years, almost all become males; those few females that mature function solely as procreators of the species. Kobolds live only forty to fifty years or so, but are socially active adults all but the first year.

In a well-ordered kobold society, females live in special temples where they lay and tend to the eggs and larva, while neuters work and males go to the temples, donating money and sperm to the sacred priestesses within. A lot of food goes to the larva, and the quality of that food is believed to influence the developing kobolds. The best are honey, cream and fruit, but gruel is more common. A kobold tribe with females quickly grows to a few hundred members. If no females mature in a colony, the male kobolds will slowly scatter, going in search of new settlements.

Kobolds are conscientious and diligent workers, doing any task with zest if not talent. They can be good administrators, scribes and workers, but do poorly in jobs requiring personal initiative or independent action. If fact, few kobolds feel comfortable in groups of less than ten kobolds. As they mature into males, they grow more independent and individualistic, while females grow complacent and lustful. Males are the undisputed leaders of the race, with experience and self-assurance they easily dominate young neuters. Females are the titular leaders, but rarely influence decisions.

Kobolds come from the ancient lands of Nog, and once controlled an empire set in these lands. When he empire fell, many refugees left the homelands, and some matured into females, creating colonies of kobolds in faraway lands.