“Continue scouting the area for tunnel goblin pieces,” the leader had told two of his patrol. Kei was relieved to see the goblin who had jabbed him with the electric spear vanish into the forest. The one with the leader now hadn’t touched him. This was good. He didn’t expect a hug, but not getting stabbed was a plus.

“We’ll bring this trespasser to the Faction. The elders will decide how he will die.”

That part didn’t sound as good.

The Spire

The Spire is a weird construction located in the Midwestern part of Bermuda. The Goblin Spire series takes place on and around said spire; even when the main characters aren't on the spire, they're usually thinking about it. Homesick and all that.

It's easily described as an hourglass shape. The goblins live on the top, then it tapers into a thinner midsection along the shaft, and finally forms the bottom of the hourglass. This portion is attached to the ground.

It goes through typical Midwestern Bermuda weather. Harsh winters and intense summers. The winters are stressful on some of the tribes of goblins that live on the spire's surface.


Goblin tribes
General Goblin Characteristics
- Goblins have claws about an inch long on their fingers and two-inch long claws on their toes. The claws are blunt and mostly used for digging. Goblins that prefer hand-to-hand combat (such as tunnel goblins) will sharpen their claws before battle.

- They are omnivores and can feed on various plants (roots, berries, sprouts) but vastly prefer meat (fish, insects, other mammals). Highland goblins and Fen goblins are not cannibalistic, but the other tribes are.

- Young goblins are called goblets.

Crag Goblins
    Body Type: Lithe but very strong, athletic bodies capable of propelling the goblins across the cliff-sides, allowing them to scale the sides of mountains quickly and efficiently. Males can reach a height of 4' tall and 75-85 lbs, females usually reach 3.9-3.11' and 65-70 lbs.
    Color: Rust-red
    Structure: They live in a shaman system. The crag goblins are headed by one shaman who takes on two apprentices. The shaman knows some degree of magic and teaches his apprentices how to use the art. In the even of the shaman's death, the two apprentices battle for leadership.
    Social: Goblets stay with their mothers until they're five years old and are coherent. At five they stand sentry in various shifts around the mountainsides, beside bonfires that they light if there is an emergency. At thirteen most goblins have reached adulthood. Goblins at thirteen go to the shaman to determine which of the social rankings he will follow. The rankings include warrior, forager, and apprentice shaman.
    Religion: As a shamanistic society, they pray to the spirits around them. Their highest "god" is the spirit of the mountain they live on. Whenever they kill prey they thank the spirit of the creature they killed. Certain omen-associated animals (black birds are associated with death, white-furred animals predict emotional distress) will literally scare a crag goblin. Sacrifices are commonly done. Every month the crag goblins burn the body of a prey item to the mountain spirit. Dead bodies of comrades are burned as well so that their spirits will go with the mountain spirit. To them, burying a body will trap its spirit in a sort of purgatory world. After each meal they burn the remains to release the spirit. Birds are sacred to crag goblins, being seen as spiritual animals as such they can fly, swim, and walk on land. Special rituals must be done for a crag goblin to kill a bird, and they can only kill birds for food. Crag goblins are frequently known for going into lyrical song, though they always invoke a nearby spirit to tell the story for them.
    Primary food source: Lizards, mice, rats, birds
    Notes: Crag goblins are not known for their intelligence. Their war strategy is easily summed up by the flavor text on a MTG card: "If you have a problem, throw goblins at it. At the very least, you'll have less goblins." They always attempt to swarm whatever they're fighting. They're also known to be dirty fighters and hang from difficult places to shoot, and toss rocks at their targets.
    Facts
    - Crag goblins practice infanticide

Highland Goblins
    Body Type: Small and weak. Even their warriors and guards are noticably smaller than a regular goblin. They supplement their small size and lack of strength with technology. Males can reach a height of 3' 5" tall and 50-70 lbs, females usually reach 3' 1" and 45-50 lbs.
    Color: Blue
    Structure: Highland goblins live in clusters on the moorland territory. Each cluster is headed by an elder, and the elders are headed by a high elder. Pages constantly run between the clusters to deliver information. Elders meet once a week to discuss political agendas.
    Social: Goblets usually stay with their mothers until they're around ten years old, then they go to their elder and make a request for a position. There are two main branches in these, technology and warfare. Smarter goblins go into technology to try and develop new weapons, whereas warfare highland goblins train as warriors. Goblins who have served their tribe eventually become elders, if they haven't been killed.
    Primary food source: Fish
    Notes: Highland goblins, as previously mentioned, supplement their weaknesses with technology. They are ingenious creators and are constantly coming up with new, albeit somewhat pointless, technologies. Their best invention to date is an electric spear, which keeps them from dying at the hands of other goblin tribes. They could become great with some guidance.
    Facts
    - Ecodus is the "figurehead" of highland goblins; he was the inventor of the electric spear.

Sylvan Goblins
    Body Type: Thin and medium-height. Sylvans live in tree-houses that are connected to each other with wooden bridges, so they have excellent dexterity and enough arm/leg strength to move about in trees. Males can reach a height of 3' 8" tall and 50-60 lbs, females usually reach 3' 6" and 40-50 lbs.
    Color: Green, variants
    Structure: Sylvans are led by the Hierarchy. This involves two high-powered goblins called the Teeth to make rules and regulations and five enforcers. When the Teeth die, the enforcers vote on replacements from their group. When enforcers move up or die, Teeth choose new enforcers.
    Social: Goblets stay with their mothers until eight years old when they begin to seriously train in the army. Goblets, however, begin learning how to use a bow by the time they can pick one up. All young goblins are trained as warriors and as foragers, learning to use their bow both as a war weapon and as a hunting weapon. Enforcers are usually chosen among goblins who have had the most success bringing back food for the tribe, or who have killed the most enemies.
    Primary food source: Rabbits, deer, squirrels
    Notes: Sylvans train all of their goblets in archery. Teeth are usually extremely good at archery and pass their skills down to new goblins. Sylvans are also well known to disappear into the brush and make themselves invisible in combat (not by magic, but by exquisite attention to camoflage). It's also notable that Sylvans are the only tribe that accepts half-breeds (most notably they accept YellowxBlack, which comes out in a nice Brown color).
    Facts
    - Sylvans can reach speeds of 20 mph.

Tunnel Goblins
    Body Type: Well-built and strong. These goblins can reach heights of 5'' and are muscular. They are slow but strong and can take quite a few hits before going down. Males can reach a height of 5' 0" tall and 90-120 lbs, females usually reach 4' 6" and 60-70 lbs.
    Color: Yellow
    Structure: Tunnel goblins are headed by a Captain and his team of generals. The generals command the warriors. Goblins too weak, sick, or injured to become warriors frequently commit suicide, are mercy-killed, or socially estranged. Warriors injured in battle are treated with the highest respect and cared for by other warriors or the socially estranged.
    Social: Goblets leave their mothers at four and are assigned by a general to one of the warriors. Warriors will sometimes take 2-3 goblets and train them against each other to strengthen them as a group. Warriors will then make recommendations to the generals as to whether a goblet best wields a sword, ax, etc. Warriors who have been injured in battle are cared for by warrior apprentices as part of their duties--however, injured warriors tend not to live very long.
    Religion: Tunnel goblins don't subscribe to a distinct religion or god, per say, but they do believe that every enemy they kill releases that enemy's strength to flood into their veins. Indeed, warriors who have killed many enemies in battle are celebrated and do appear to be much stronger than healthier than warriors with less kills; however, this is more likely association rather than causation. In place of religion tunnel goblins follow an strict honor code which includes the following statements, for example:
    - We shall never lie or cheat our enemy count, nor tolerate those who do.
    - If we see disrespectful behavior toward a Retired, we will kill the perpetrator.
    - We will never act in a dishonorable way.
    - We will forever be loyal to the Captain.
    Primary food source: Snakes, lizards, fish
    Notes: Tunnel goblins, as their name suggests, live in the mountains circling the Spire. They and the crag goblins share their space in a way that the crag goblins get outer tunnels and the surface of the mountains whereas tunnel goblins get the mountain's innards. They declare war on neighboring goblin tribes often, but when not in war, mind their own business and don't leave the tunnels.
    Facts
    - Honor and valiance mean a lot to tunnel goblins. They would rather die with honor than beat an enemy in a dishonorable way.
    - They have been known to commit honorable suicide
    - If a tunnel goblin has been dishonorable, they can regain their honor by committing the above-mentioned honorable suicide in the presence of a general or captain.
    - Tunnel goblins are super sensitive to sunlight. More than an hour of sunlight will kill them. Because of this they only come out at night or lurk in the shadows.

Fen Goblins
    Body Type: Thin and wiry, though surprisingly strong. They are also starting to evolve toward an aquatic lifestyle. They have webbed fingers and toes and they can hold their breaths twice as long as an average goblin. Males can reach a height of 3' 8" tall and 65-75 lbs, females usually reach 3' 5" and 50-55 lbs.
    Color: Dark Gray
    Structure: Fens live in a caste system with the following rankings: first drop, second drop, and third drop. Third drop fen goblins become warriors and train to protect the swamplands from other goblin tribes. They tend to use very stealthy methods of fighting, including poison darts. Second drop fen goblins are the healers of the tribe, constantly searching out new herbs and remedies, both for good and war. First drop fen goblins occupy leadership roles; there are only three: head of drops, head of herbalists, and head of warriors. The head of drops has the greatest authority.
     Social: Goblets are born into the drop of their parents. It is impossible for a goblin to switch drops without authorization from both the head of drops, and, if they are attempting to move to drop 2 or 3, the head of that drop. They begin training at six and don't finish until fourteen. Goblins at age ten are usually very adept at what they do. The three drops work together in harmony, though there is some animosity between drops as to who is superior/inferior.
    Primary food source: Fish, frogs, snakes
    Notes: Fen goblins are feared by other goblin species, as they're known for using primitive dark magic. However, these fears are relatively founded only because of their use of poison in warfare. Fen goblins are notoriously shy and only interact with other goblin species when they need to trade, which isn't all too often.
    Facts
    - Primarily nocturnal
    - Fens are capable of feeding on carrion without getting sick

Fanart

Here are some works of art done of Kei and his friends.


This image is actually from an RP between a friend and I. Kei is around 23-25 in this image (the bottom character, by the way). In The Idiot Plan, he's around 13.

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