Kobold

Kobolds are a race of beastmen who live within the O’Ghomoro Volcano, in the northernmost reach of Vylbrand. Indeed, they live in and not on the volcano, driving deep shafts and tunnels into the mountain cone. Their veneration of the Primal Titan has driven them into conflict with Limsa Lominsa over mineral resources in recent years.

One might notice that the name "kobold" bears a phonetic resemblance to "cobalt", the metal. That is no coincidence, for the name is derived from the term "kobold metal", when the secrets of its smelting were shared with the smiths of Naldiq and Vymelli's.

Appearance
Kobolds are well-suited to their subterranean lifestyle; short and limber, they move as readily on all fours as upright, not unlike an opo-opo. Their eyes are particularly weak and easily dazzled by bright light, but not only their hearing but their sense of touch compensate for this. Kobolds are bestowed with thick fur, bottlebrush tails, and catlike whiskers and tactile hairs that sense not only air movement, but changes in air pressure with tremendous subtlety. Their sharp claws give them tremendous traction on most surfaces.

Kobolds universally wear metal helmets that conceal all but their red glinting eyes, and some wear more plate strapped to their bodies.

Unlike other beastmen, kobolds are insectivores, consuming earthworms and larvae and other burrowing bugs. These they eat raw, though they will sometimes prepare their catch in a strange sort of meatball. White earthworms, however, are strictly reserved for higher-ranked kobolds.

Kobolds are born in large litters.

History
Kobolds believe that their history began when their deity, Titan, crafted their race from soil and clay to create keepers for the earth. When they proved too frail for life on the surface, Titan ignited O’Ghomoro, and the lava created tubes and tunnels, and left behind rich deposits of ore. The kobolds hold that, satisfied with this new home for them, Titan then submerged himself into the caldera to sleep. How much of this is true, one cannot say; however, what is true is that the kobolds wasted no time learning to exploit those deposits of ore, mastering the art of metalworking.

Such is their history, until the arrival of the Galadion in year 875 of the Sixth Astral Era. The ship had run aground on the southern coast of Vylbrand, and its crew and their families prepared to make a new life on the island. The kobolds vigorously defended their territory, forcing these settlers to retreat to the wreckage of their ship. The crew then dismantled the Galadion and built the first of what would become Limsa Lominsa from her remains.

With the massacre of a Lominsan settlement in Western La Noscea in 879 was born the eternal enmity between the Lominsans and the kobolds. As the city grew, both with native births and with the arrival of other ships’ crews seeking liberty and a home, the needs of the people grew as well. Soon, the two ever-expanding nations would find themselves fighting over the resources Vylbrand had to offer.

In desperation, the kobolds carried out the forbidden rituals that were meant to awaken Titan from his fiery slumber; but instead, they created the Primal Titan. The ravening hunger of the Primal drives them to expand their digs ceaselessly in quest of the crystals that would feed it, and the war machine grinds ever on, placing unforgiving quotas upon the lower-ranking digs that they cannot fulfill.

Culture
The central fact of kobold life is the stone and ore that they believe were given to them by their god. Their entire society is structured around its procurement, refining, and shaping into pleasing and useful items, and their craftsmanship has often been imitated and integrated into other races’ work. The unit of kobold society, therefore, is the Dig. Digs are rigidly tiered classes of kobolds, to which they are assigned throughout their lives based upon their individual capacity for thinking while working. The lower the number of the Dig, the higher its rank, and the more intellectually demanding its work will be. Thus, the priests and bureaucrats occupy the lowest numbered Digs; middle-range Digs perform supervisory tasks and alchemy and metalworking; Digs with the highest numbers are brute-force laborers. To date, there are 789 Digs, the lowest of which has allied itself with Limsa Lominsa thanks to the efforts of the Warrior of Light. The 1st Dig is utterly full of priests, who perform the role of the government.

Kobold society, unlike many beastman tribes, allows for a surprising amount of upward mobility. All kobolds begin life in fosterage with a Dig separate from their parents’; when they come of age, they are assessed for their abilities and assigned to the Dig that seems most appropriate. Throughout their lives, they are continually observed and their performance evaluated; they may move up or down through the Digs, depending on how well or poorly they do.

Kobold nomenclature is simple, usually composed of two one-syllable names: a clan name for a forename, and then a given name. With so little in the way of possible variation, and so many children born to each mother, there are many kobolds by the same name. To avoid confusion, they will often refer to themselves and one another by their Dig number and role therein along with their names.

Kobolds, being miners and tunnelers, have found that more conventional methods do not serve well when they must do their digging on a large scale. To that end, they frequently employ explosives, even including voidsent Bomb creatures, in their work. They are also adept at earth magics.

Known Dig Numbers

 * 1st Dig, composed entirely of priests.
 * 387th Dig, led by Order Pickman Ge Bu, recently routed at Poor Maid's Mill in Upper La Noscea.
 * 426th Dig, recently routed in Cedarwood along with their champion, Pickman Bu Ga. Their intrusion into Cedarwood was in violation of the treaty.
 * 789th Dig.