The Kobolds of Okarthel
By: Taimayo
My efforts have paid off. I have infiltrated the Island of Okarthel and now have discovered a wealth of information on the Kobolds of Oka. In this report I will tell the basic history of the Kobold as set down by their oral storytellers and then give a simple explanation of their government and society. I found the tale of Kobold history to be quite interesting. First off, the Kobold history is deeply tied to the religion of the Kobold people, so much so that it begins with the origin of Kobolds.
Kobold History:
In the beginning the great god Io travelled the stars seeking a world to bless with her touch. She found the glimmering orb of Oka and with a brief flap of her wings she sent her essence to the lands below. With this Dragons came to Oka.
Sadly, the dragons created by this act began to fight due to their differences. The dragons fought to the death; their blood, bone, and sinew covered the lands of Oka. Io watched as his creations tore each other apart. Impartial as ever Io realized that she should try to create a single being equal to himself. He gathered the remains of her previous creations and modeled the first kobold, Kurtelmak!!!
Kurtelmak looked at Io and saw wonder. Io commanded that Kurtelmak make a Temple Mine to honor him. Kurtelmak began to search for a land rich in ore and gems, after many years he found Okarthel. Kurtelmak began to build a mine to rival all mines, and called it Darastrixhurthi, The Dragon Fortress! Darstrixhurthi was a wonder to behold, it brought great pride to Io but not all the gods viewed Darastrixhurthi with awe.
For some gods, like the wicked gnome god Garl Glittergold, Darastrixhurthi inspired jealously and rage. So much so that Garl caused the mine to collapse and kill Kurtelmak! This angered Io who watched has his great creation’s life blood oozed on the rocks that buried him. He realized that in order to save the precious gift that he bestowed on Oka, he would have to intervene yet again.
So Io created multitudes of kobolds from the life blood of Kurtelmak. Some of these Kobolds took on the aspect of the dragon blood that was used to create Kurtelmak while others took on Kurtelmak’s basic shape. After Io finished her work he raised the spirit of Kurtelmak, and thus Kurtelmak ascended to godhood. Io then gave Kurtelmak a task to watch over the kobold race and ensure its survival, for one day he would return and grant the kobold race the power of their true forms. The dragon!
It is at this point that kobold history begins to take on a less mythological tone. The kobolds began to build a new Darastrixhuthi (Dara) on Okarthel and expanded it. They worked tirelessly to build their empire. The half-dragon kobolds took their place as the rulers of the kobold society. A total of 15 half dragon houses ruled together in harmony for many centuries. However, infighting began to corrupt the peace of the kobold kingdoms.
The houses of kobolds were divided into 3 Parliaments of 5 houses. The Metallic house, the Chromatic, and the Ferrous. There was a violent disagreement among these houses over the rites of leadership. The war that ensued was violent, horrible, and devastating.
Many of the houses died in the horrible war. In the end, each of 3 Parliaments lost 3 houses. The houses remaining are Auraj, Orn, Charir, Ulhar, Usk, and Pliso. These remaining houses and the nonaffiliated kobolds stopped their fighting and formed a new Parliament one with six houses with the nonfamily kobolds electing a representative from each family. These appointments are for a lifetime and are only relinquished by death or impeachment.
Most of Kobold history is plain after this, beyond a rebellion of a few nezumi or a new vain of ore beginning discovered. However 50 years ago the kobold parliament made a radical decision, to attack the gnome monarchy in order to obtain more wealth. The plan was purposed by the House of Charir (Red) in a push to expand kobold territory. The goal was to eventually land an invasion force on gnomish soil and create a foot hold. Unfortunately, the kobolds attempt to push into gnome territory failed horribly. The gnomish defense force was far superior than the kobold’s realized. The kobold navy was also very clumsy at first, which made them lose initial battles in the beginning of the war. However, they managed to gain ground on the naval front after realizing their losses but had to settle into a defensive position due to a lack of ships.
This resulted in any momentum that the navy had due to surprise to vanish. The first 20 years of the war thus resulted in a naval stalemate. After that, the kobolds sprung a surprise offensive move and began to invade the island of Kai. Unfortunately, this resulted in the kobolds raising a sleeping giant that was the Ogre population. Thusly a one front war became two. The kobolds suppressed the Ogres with superior technology but could only hold back gnomish forces from advancing. Finally, after the war reached the fifty year mark the kobold majority impeached the head of the House of Charir, Calaun des Charir.
This decision was made because of the kobold people beginning isolationist in nature and they had been growing weary of the resource drain of war. So the Parliament drafted an armistice agreement with the Gnome monarchy. At first, I thought that the agreement assigned territory to the respective countries but I was wrong. The Armistice was an agreement on what waters that the gnome navy and kobold navy could patrol without provoking the other. However, this agreement was done in order to lead the gnomes to believe that the kobolds wanted to patrol areas but in reality the kobolds retreated to their caverns and began to rebuild their infrastructure.
In the fifty years since the gnome conflict, the kobolds have built a network of tunnels that connect their major metropolis mine cities and have built up a hoard of treasure. On top of that, the loss of life that the kobold people experienced because of the war has been recovered. The only external activity that the kobold republic engages in is a bimonthly trade of raw materials in exchange for the Rhoxes to come to the aid of the kobolds in a time of war.
Below I will list the Six Houses, their leaders and their function.
The House of Charir: Populated by half red dragons, the House of Charir has fallen into shame. This is because of the actions with Calaun des Charir. The new elected head of the family Kerin des Charir is a quiet ruler who is managing to save face with the rest of society while Calaun has been forced into hiding. The House of Charir is known for its strong line of magic blood and holds more sorcerers than any other family. Members of Charir are often proud and very concerned about their position. This love of prestige as caused them act hostile to the other houses because of their recent fall in power.
The House of Ulhar: The house hold a family of vain and intelligent half blue dragons. Obsessed with physical perfection this family houses a host of warriors. They are known to be fierce warriors and had more generals involved in the gnome conflict than any other family. Sadly, due to the war being over The Ulhar’s military might is being wasted or rather that’s how the Ulhar feel. Presently they have become a secondary guard force ensuring peace among the kobold populace. This has resulted in some believing that the house of Ulhar is overextending its reach but no action has currently been taken by Parliament.
The House of Auraj: The most talkative houses in kobold society, The Auraj are diplomats to their core. Often spoken of as the glue of the parliament, The Auraj have brokered more peace treaties that could be counted. They also work with the general kobold populace to ensure that the laws of the mines are enforced. The Auraj are a family of half brass dragons and have an embassy in almost every city. They are widely received well by the whole of kobold society and thusly are the parliament’s official choice of lawyers for civil disputes.
The House of Orn: This house populated by half silver dragons has gained a serious clout amongst the kobold people. During the war the Orn stepped up as helpful, devote, and committed participates during the war effort. They were mostly healers during the war and have since used their talents to aid miners and other injured kobolds. Caring and friendly the house of Orn is very different compared to the rest of the houses. They are have purposed on several different occasions to send emissaries to the nations to Oka, however these advances have been swiftly put down by the rest of the council. The attitudes towards the Orn vary depending on those you ask. To the other houses they are a naïve bunch of kobolds that fail to realize that outsiders are traitorous and cruel. To the common kobold the Orn are nobol, kind, and generous.
The House of Usk: Fair and stern the half iron dragons of the Usk house are the arbiters of kobold society. As the official judges of civil disputes the Usk adhere to kobold law in all matters. It is often said that Usk house members wouldn’t break a law even if the warren was at stake. Beyond the responsibility of the judicial duties the Usk are also responsible for the accounting of kobold society. This responsibility only increases the Usk’s reputation for being cold, impartial, and even vicious when in pursuit of missing funds. Sadly, this makes the common kobold to dread dealing with these cruel accountants. This staunch attitude towards kobold law and finance comes from the Usk’s love and pride for their society. They are fervent believers that kobold society will overtake the rest of the world but only if the structures of kobold life are upheld.
The House of Pliso: The half cobalt dragons of Pliso are logical, curious, and believers of authority. Known for their endless tinkering the Pliso are true innovators. They are responsible for almost all of the technological innovations during the gnome conflict. Now that the war is over the Pliso have turned their innovations to kobold society they have begun to develop better strategies towards miner configuration when building tunnels etc.; along with new methods of smelting metals. The Pliso are also known to use a hierarchical structure in order to maintain an orderly chain of command. This allows the Pliso to develop new technologies and methods that improve kobold society. The common kobold have a somewhat conflicted attitude towards the Pliso. On one hand they have helped develop the technologies that they often use every day, but on the other hand they often use them as test subjects.
Kobold Psychology
Kobolds of all shapes and sizes have certain commonalities to them below I will explain basic facts about the kobold people.
Love and Family life
Kobolds do not value sex in a romantic way, nor do they have a nuclear family structure. Everything about kobolds is about community because of this all kobold eggs are taken to a communal hatchery. Once hatched kobold young are assessed via their aptitudes and then trained for their respective jobs. These hatchlings are then sent to live with kobold of similar occupations and thus kobold family structure is based on occupation rather than blood relations. (Side note: Kobolds can tell via scent and coloration their blood relations. This prevents incest.) Romantic love is reserved to a pair bonding ritual called Iejir Tonopar. This bond is only made when to kobolds are truly connected in both labor and emotion.
Work
Kobold society as one constant, WORK. Kobolds are devoted to their work not because they are forced to but because they want to. At a young age kobolds are told of their importance in the warren that they are responsible for it. This desire to serve the warren is also reinforced by Io’s promise to grant the gift of draconic form. In fact, the draconic heritage is a fact that all kobolds hold on to in times of trial and prosperity.
Death
Kobolds deal with death practically and calmly. They cremated their dead due a burial being a waste of resources. Kobold also believe in reincarnation so whenever an important kobold dies in the warren the next egg birthed is set aside and raised as a talented individual. Also since most common kobolds are miners, experts, and warriors their life expectance is very low. A kobold can live past 120 years but due to the harsh lifestyle of common kobolds they often die before 60. House kobolds see their autumn years often because of their position.
Home