[Information] Information and Lore

[JustinBedard]

-GOBLINS-
-intro-
Goblins are one of the three main races that compose the fallen. Considered the least intelligent and the most savage, they are one of the few races to be considered borderline non-sentient due to the vast difference in intelligence between a common goblin and a queen.

Goblins are an egg-laying mammal with a large amount of magic flowing through their veins. A common theory among the populace is that goblins are actually a far-off branch of orcs, which couldn't be farther from the truth, having a larger physiological and magical resemblance to Elves. Their natural ability to adapt to environments by channelling magic throughout their bodies is quite similar to an Elf's ability to control their latent magic.

there are Three categories of goblins, with drones having three ranks (Common, Veteran and Elite), while Breeders can become Queens, and the third type is hobgoblins. Each one has an appointed task in their culture, and tend to stick to their hereditary place in the social ladder.

-drones-

Common Goblin resemble small, malformed children... which is what they are. The first stage of a goblin's life is to serve the group. Roughly 2 to 3 feet tall in this stage, they're known for their oily puke-green skin and ugly features. The first stage of a goblin's life is a hard one, with a high mortality rate due to cannibalism, natural predators and exterminators.

The second stage of a drone is a Veteran Goblin. At around their first year of life, common goblins shed their outer layer over the course of several weeks, growing quite larger. From 2 to 3 feet, they grow to roughly 4 and a half feet to 5 feet. During this stage of life, veteran goblins constantly shed their skin, slowly hardening it over time. Their monstrous appearance from their earlier stage is also enhanced with hair growing from their bodies at any location, and malformations growing in size due to the strengthening of their skin.

Elite Goblins are the last stage of a drone's life. Should a goblin reach puberty (3 years or so, give or take 6 months), they molt their built-up hide, and grow tremendously over the course of 4 to 8 weeks, ending with a doubling of their size and twice as many disfigurements. At this stage in life, goblins become very difficult to kill, with thick, blubbery skin blocking their organs, and their environmental acclimatization may increase how difficult it is to kill an elite.

On top of the ranks of drones, Goblins slowly adapt to their enviroment as well. Plains and hilly environments will produce more sub-terrain goblins, while a dessert enviroment will force them to adapt natural abilities to stave of extreme heat and cold. Tundras and forest goblins will slowly grow natural camoulage, from their skin paling or growing moss instead of hair. Goblins that live near bodies of water may develop gills and webbed limbs.

-breeders-

The next category of goblin is breeders. In a group, only one breeder will be the queen, and as such, are appointeed as the leader. Breeders are much more intelligent than drones, on par with humans at the least. Cunning and devious, they're known or being able to plan tactics and war plans quite well.

Breeders in general look like bloated elites, but with much less deformities. In fact, if it wasn't for their large bellies and, they could be mistaken for slightly ugly and sickly elves with large under bites. As their name describes them, Breeders are mostly immobile spawning machines. fed by their drones, they pop out an egg every few hours. They're about 7 feet tall, and take about two months from being laid to start producing offspring.

Queens are by far the most intelligent and by far the most attractive of the goblins, surpassing even an elf in appearance and intelligence. Queens stand around 6 feet tall, and produce MUCH less eggs than breeders, barely one a week. Unlike breeders though, Queens can produce a natural milk (or jelly, depending on the environment), which is primarily used to convert a drone into a breeder, but it can be used as an exceptionally strong mana restorative. In civil lands, it's not too uncommon to find enslaved queens producing jelly and eggs for their slavers. Queens live to about 50 or so before leaving their prime, and they follow the same growth pattern of a drone, with the difference being in their puberty turning them into a thing of beauty instead of a monstrosity.

-Hobgoblins-

A little known fact of queen goblins is that they are not only ovipositors, but they have a secondary reproductive organ capable of infusing other racial genetic material into their eggs. The results are Hobgoblins, potentially the most dangerous of the goblin race. Hobgoblins are fully equipped with their parents reproductive ways, enabling female hobgoblins to reproduce with other races, and male hobgoblins to inseminate other races. Either way, Hobgoblins take on traits of their fathers with more goblin features, such as larger and sharper teeth, pointed ears, clawed hands and feet, and a slightly green skin tone. Hobgoblins can be on either side of the appearance scale, but males tend to be slightly uglier, and the opposite for females. They stand anywhere between 5'6" and 7'.

Hobgoblins usually act as a second in command to their queens, and are regarded more as royalty to the goblins in the eyes of the tribe.


-Eggs-

Goblin eggs take about a week to fully grow. A goblin will always be a drone EXCEPT for when a queen lays the egg and she bathes it in royal jelly or milk. They're about the size of a football, and weigh anywhere between 4 and 10 pounds. In reality, Goblin eggs actually are somewhat valuable, since the large natural reserve of mana in goblin unborn can act as a makeshift manastone or focusing point. In alchemy, goblin fetuses are quite good at providing a hair restorative or poor quality mana potions.

-The Queen's cycle-

A tribe of goblins begins when a queen gives birth and raises an offspring. Once said offspring begins producing, it leaves it's tribe to begin a new one. Instead of jumping straight into producing breeders, queens will birth a few drones before their first breeder. By about the third month, a queen will have a small group up and running if they're even somewhat successful. At half a year mark, a single queen can go to a full-fledged goblin tribe (40-90 or so goblin drones, usually less than 5 breeders including the queen), After three to five years, the cycle starts again with the new tribe.

-using technology-

From a technical viewpoint, Goblin Drones are versatile with the items they scrounge up. Anything from bows to firearms, they can easily figure out... the problems lays in their inability to recreate disposable or uncommon items, leading the need plunder quite high. Any piece of armour a goblin can get their hands on will sooner or later find their way onto one of their tribe. The same can be said with melee weapons and equipment.

Queens and Hobgoblins are the only ones that can truly use technology in a tribe, since they direct the group most of the time. They have a penchant for alchemy, making anything from poisons to potions. Due to their natural scavenging skills, goblin potions tend to be quite disgusting but potent.

[JustinBedard]

-SPIRITS AND UNDEAD-

-Zombie-
Your common undead, they are brittle and easy to kill by decapitation, fire or exorcism. There are three known methods to raising the dead, either by necromancy, by using a specific type of potion on the deceased, or a natural virus. They are usually extra defences for a necromancer or evil alchemist.

-Skeleton-
Like a zombie, a skeleton is an undead that can only be raised by a necromancer. The skeleton in question will have a seal written on them, usually on the skull, which will bring the body together to form a corporeal body from the bones. slightly harder to kill than a zombie, but they are easier to create for necromancers.

-Ghost-
A typical ghost or spirit, they're incorporeal remnants of mana that live on after the death of their body. Unlike Zombies, these undead come naturally and are capable of forming in multiples ways, either by a strong feeling before death (vengeance, will or hope) or summoning the latent magic in the remains of the body. Ghosts usually are not bound down to someone, and usually resist a necromancer's will on them. Ghosts risen from their own will pursue their last desire, either by haunting the subject or aiding them. Ghosts can be exorcised by "clerical" magic, mainly by throwing salt or water at spirits, or exorcising the body.

-Draugr-
A type of zombie commonly found in Galirium burial grounds, they differ from the common zombie due to their ability to resist freezing temperatures that would normally freeze a zombie, and the fact that Draugrs only haunt the halls of the dead to protect them. Draugr are distinguished by their undead cousins by having a blue tint from their frozen skin, and glowing eyes. Unlike zombies, Draugr retain a small amount of their former intelligence, enough to create makeshift traps around their burial sites.

-Dreag-
The next step in a decaying Draugr, the Dreag is a completly decomposed draugr, living on it's will to stay corporeal. Much like a ghost, a Dreag is incorporeal, but they retain their buried items, be it weapons or armour. These spirits are slightly less common than draugrs but just as deadly.

-Renevant-
A malicious ghost, they're characterized by their tendency to terrorizing cities, usually near churches and cemeteries. They are created from recently deceased due to a deep hatred or evil in their hearts, using their appearance to lure mourners of the dead into traps. They usually "predict" who their victims will be, shouting it at them during the night, and killing them three days later. Unlike regular ghosts which can be exorcised at any time, they can only be removed by finding the corpse of the renevant, and cutting of the head.

-Ghoul-
Actually not an undead to begin with, these are living beings that have fed on flesh of the dead, specifically the organ that produces magic in a human (the heart). a person who has fed abundantly on the flesh slowly loses their minds, and their bodily functions start to shut down. Once the main organs die, the excess mana keeps the body alive, craving mana. Ghouls can suck mana out of their surroundings, but they cannot procure enough from just that, making them hunt down anything with mana or latent magic powers. Ghouls are much harder to kill than zombies, since the mana in them keeps them going until their bodies are completly destroyed.

-Lich-
Like a ghoul, a lich is a person who has harvested magical organs from creatures and has either eaten them or imbued themselves with their magic. Unlike a ghoul, a lich uses their natural magic to keep in check their absorbed magic, at the cost of destroying themselves in the physical sense. Their new-found magic usually replaces their lost body parts, acting in a parasitic nature to keep the rest of the body alive. Once the remaining parts of the Lich is used up, the mana keeps the lich alive as a sentient skeleton with tremendous magical prowess.

-Loot-
Any corporeal undead may carry items on them, such as armor, weapons, gear or money. In some cases, their carried equipement may be of high quality, since they undead may be dressed for funeral purposes.

In Alchemy Zombiefied flesh can be boiled and purified to create a minor poison, skeleton bones may be crushed for bone meal, Ghosts and spirits leave residiual energy (ectoplasm) which is rich in mana, A draugr's eyes can be pulped and spread across a surface to make it glow, while a Dreag leaves residual energy as well. Renevants are known to leave behind a crystalized version of the gel, which can be infused during forging to temper the blade with mana and sometimes a rare enchantment. A ghoul's mana-inducing organ will have a much higher quality to it than any other, it can be boiled and purified to remove the negative effects on it, then liquified as a mana restorative. A lich's bones can be crushed into bone meal and will carry mana in it, allowing enchanters to use the bone meal in dye as a natural mana enchancer.

-Intelligence of the Undead-
The intelligence of any undead can be questionable at best. Zombies, in most cases, are barely sentient, knowing enough to just walk around and attack, or follow simple orders. Skeletons are identical to Zombies. Ghosts have varied intelligence, retaining as much as they can wilfully remember, which could be anything from their entire life to the last few minutes of their life. Draugr are somewhere in between a zombie and a ghost, retaining a pseudo-intelligence due to their souls being bound to defend their burial grounds. Dreag are in the same boat as the Draugr. Renevants are fully knowledgeable and in full cognition... mostly. The amount of hatred brought on for vengeance or similar willing manners tend to corrupt their personalities and make Renevants obsessed about their victims. Ghouls are non-sentient, mostly feral depending on their current stage of degeneration. Liches are corrupted slightly by the high amounts of mana and the pain they go through, but they retain their full intelligence.


Recap:
Zombies are your everday undead. used mainly by necromancers.
Skeletons are bony zombies.
Ghosts are... Ghosts.
Draugr are strong zombies who protect their burial site from plunderers.
Dreag are ghost-draugr who manifest themselves into their original forms, doing the same as Draugrs.
Renevants are evil ghosts who kill their prey with "predictions".
Ghouls eat organs, which degrade their minds, but make their bodies stronger.
Liches eat mana organs, which degrades their bodies into bones only, increasing their magic powers and making them immortal to some degree.