Ink and watercolour plate of a goblin: a thin, wiry gremlin with large pointed ears, round yellow eyes and mottled green-grey skin, in a ragged loincloth and cloth wraps.

Creature

Goblins

Cunning, greedy and violent, the goblins and their kin, properly called the brute folk, invaded Meliora to seize its enchanted weapons. They cannot use magic at all.

  • The Goblin Invasion

Description

Goblins, in Aurelius's telling, are cunning, greedy and ornery on the best of days. Meliorans often use the name for all of their kin, though the scientifically correct term for the whole family is the brute folk. Its three most numerous breeds are the small, agile gremlins, the bulky ogres and the gigantic orcs.

The brute folk cannot use magic at all. One theory holds that they share a common ancestor with elves and humans, yet they have never built anything more complex than small tribes forever fighting over territory. They are aggressive towards outsiders and each other alike, have no culture to speak of, and love violence above all else.

Historical context

The goblins have craved Melioran weapons for ages and, unwilling to pay a fair price, always end up taking them by force. In the goblin invasion they came for the enchanted blades of Pinewood, and their swift runners were a constant worry for the town's defenders. Aurelius admitted to feeling sorry for them now and then, but reminded himself that no one had invited them to bash Melioran skulls.

The darklings met in the Primeweald a generation later are a different creature altogether.