The Kobolds of Athmesda

Kobolds are small creatures, their average height usually being around 5 foot tall, and appear to be ‘dog-lizards’.  The usual traits of kobolds are their fur, big ears and their small, lizard-like tails. Males have a set of horns on top of their head that start to grow very early in their life, around age 4.
Despite the habitat they live in, all kobolds grow short, soft fur, fur color usually varies, ranging in all types of brown, very few are born with darker gray or black fur. The fur usually grows lighter to a light gray or silver color as they age, this usually happens when the kobold is around 40. Kobold fur can be plain or have different markings, spots, splotches or stripes, usually on their backs, arms, legs and tail, some around their cheeks and faces.
The males’ horns usually grow small and straight, older kobolds horns can start to go in different directions and thickness, like those of a goat or deer.

The kobold language is considered strange by most, since it sounds mostly like a series of yips, barks and howls. This is the called the ‘Ancestral Language’ and is still used today, though many kobolds have now adopted Common.

Kobold lifestyle is usually seen as ‘primitive’, since it follows a more native and tribal lifestyle. Kobold villages are usually built in rocky areas, the buildings built within the surrounding rock and into the ground, making secure and sturdy homes.
One of the most unique attribute of kobold society is their strong belief in family and community, because of their religion and history, the kobolds have a strong sense of family and community, most of their ceremonies and rituals are large, involving everyone in the village.
It is because of this community belief that most kobolds are usually of the Good or Neutral alignments, it is very rare for a kobold to be truly Evil.

Kobold myth and religion is usually described as pagan, or polytheistic, mean that they believe in multiple gods and deities:


According to kobold myth, the world was created by a larger deity, The Mother Goddess Frif’Aya, while everything on the world was created by lesser deities; the goddess Ir’I’Ra’Sa created the kobold race. However, the kobolds originally did not have much intelligence and therefore were used by the other, more intelligent races as slaves, both as workers and expendable soldiers for their own ends. This both angered and saddened Ir’I’Ra’Sa, and she asked the Mother Goddess to let her help her children, which the Mother Goddess allowed. The first of Ir’I’Ra’Sa’s gifts was she gave her children increased intelligence, equal to that of the other beings on the world.
However, this sudden change wouldn’t go unnoticed, so the kobold goddess helped her children through the use of a kobold hero, S’Teth’Ka’Ran, who led them into the drier lands of the west, Athmesda.

The mother goddess was allowed one more thing, and she bestowed gifts to many of the kobolds, these gifts would allow them to survive in the desert and form a community away from the other races that had used them before.

Below the kobold goddess, there are the minor deities who would form the first of the Ancestors. These kobolds would be the founders of the kobold society.

The Warrior – The Warrior is also the kobold Hero who led the kobolds into Athmesda. S’Teth’Ka’Ran is the embodiment of the warrior spirit that is said to be in all kobolds, it is his essence that give the kobolds their strength to match the stronger races. It is also said that few kobolds will receive part of his rage, which causes the kobold to go into a large, blinding rage, much like that of the berserker and barbarian classes.

The Shaman – The Shaman is the first kobold to take on the role as the guidance to the tribes, Ri’Ti’Mar’Kren was S’Teth’a’Ran’s closest friend and advisor. The Shaman is said to have lost his eye sight during the escape and exodus to Athmesda. With his lost eye sight however, the Shaman had gained an inner sight, seeing into the world of the spirits. With the help from his brother, The Sage, they discovered and developed the kobold magics and rituals.

The Healer – The Healer is the first kobold to combine the use of herbology and herbalism with kobold magic as well as discover the healing nature of plants in the area. H’Rath’U’Ti soon became the mate to The Warrior, and helped him stay fit to protect his people from later invaders into Athmesda. She also helped her sister, The Mother, discover edible plants and help bring water into Athmesda.

The Mother – The Mother, K’the’Ra’Min’Thu, helped develop the domestic lifestyle for the kobolds. With help from her sister The Healer, The Mother discovered the edible plants in the region and led the kobolds into their form of agriculture, helping them grow their own food, and forming that food into other goods, this in turn helped The Smith into developing a way to bring water into the land. The Mother is also known for her involvement with the domestication of the animals and with the basic guides for child raising.

The Smith – Second only to The Warrior in strength, The Smith, Brek’Lan’Torn developed the smithing and building needs, including stonework, carpentry, blacksmithing and masonry. The Smith helped develop the home building using the natural rock as well as develop the light weapons and armor for the warriors to use. With help from The Shaman, he had also developed the rune magic and imbuing weapons, armor and other items with magical abilities. He also helped The Healer and The Mother with farming, creating a complex irrigation system to bring water into Athmesda in the form of underground rivers, aqueducts and wells. He also formed the tools for these jobs.

The Weaver – Much like how The Smith created the heavy crafts, Laur’Ran’Tha developed the finer crafts of pottery, cloth weaving, painting and the arts. She is seen as the calmer side to her mate, The Smith. She had also had help from The Shaman to develop the ability to imbue these crafts and skills with magical abilities and powers.

The Sage – The Sage is seen to be the divine speaker in the community, Ri’La’Trat’Khan helped his brother The Shaman develop the kobold magics and rituals used to this day. The Sage is seen as an oracle of sorts, he has helped develop the techniques used to watch the sky for calendars and times for key events as well as ways to predict certain outcomes.

The seven Ancestors lived for a hundred years and helped the kobold society grow and expand into many different tribes. However, they were still mortal. As a final gift from Ir’I’Ra’Sa, the spirits of the Ancestors, and later on family of the kobolds, would come up into Ir’I’Ra’Sa’s home, as well as be able to watch over and protect their future members and tribes.
It is this that developed the kobolds strong belief in family and the ancestral spirits of family members.

Both the Sun and the Moon hold significant meaning in kobold society, it both plays a part in seasonal rituals as well as holding significance in their history.

The Sun – The Sun is the personification of the Mother Goddess, the barer of all life and who helped create the world.

The Moon – The Moon is the personification of the kobold goddess. It is said that the goddess created the moon to help the kobolds travel in the night during their Exodus.

Both the Moon and Sun hold important significance to the seasonal changes of the Solstice and Equinox.
According to the Legend, Ir’I’Ra’Sa created the Equinox so the fleeing kobolds could have equal amounts of time to rest and to travel, the Solstice came much earlier to tell them when the drastic change in weather would occur before the move into Athmesda.



Animal deities:

Elahra – The rabbit spirit is also known as the trickster. According to the story, the rabbit Elahra stumbled upon the first kobold village. Since he never saw kobolds before, he went into the village to investigate. He found the village prospering and filled with food, however, since the kobolds never saw a rabbit before, they chased him away. Elahra then said that he would steal from the kobolds and they would be unable to stop him. The following weeks, Elahra used his cunning and sneakiness to steal from the village, most times he would be disguised as someone and take the food from their very stores.
However, sometime later, the first of the invaders from the east came to hunt down and retrieve the kobolds, who were once their slaves. The vast number of the forces would easily overwhelm the village, even with the combined forces with The Warrior and The Smith. Elahra took pity on the village and used his trickery to mislead the forces into the desert, where it is said they died off, lost in the desert.
Although the kobolds were grateful, they never forgot how Elahra tricked them, in conclusion, Elahra continues to cause mischief in the kobold villages, even tempting some young kobolds to cause some mischief, but should ever an enemy come to threaten the kobolds, Elahra will be there to help them.

Elahra is usually depicted as a black rabbit with white eyes and a white tail, symbols and markings on his body. These are believed to help give him the ability to alter his form.

Although rabbits are seen as weak and always scared, the kobolds believe that they are always plotting and have many forms of magic and tricks to escape or achieve a goal, although not completely untrustworthy.

Myror-Crys’Tl (Mirror-Crystal) – wolves are one of the most sacred animals to kobolds, being those of the moon walkers. According to the story, while the kobolds were on their exodus with the moon as their guide, they came across a wolf pack that appeared from the moon mist, Myror-Crys’Tl was the leader, or alpha, of the pack. Though the kobolds were scared, since they appeared from the moon, they thought they were guides from Ir’I’Ra’Sa. Myror agreed to help lead the fleeing kobolds from the area and away from the slavers.

Myror-Crys’Tl is seen as a large and powerful looking female wolf with thick, flowing silver fur, the color of the moon and dark blue, reflecting eyes.

Wolves are perhaps the most sacred of spirits to the kobolds. Although they do not appear in the deserts of Athmesda, the kobolds believe that the lupine guides’ spirits are still with them to help them explore and brave the unknown.

Gro’Raz’El – the lizard spirit representing energy and speed. According to this story, The Warrior, the Smith and their mates were out in the desert when they attacked by one of the desert monsters; erraci, or sand worm. Fearing for their mates, the four ran into a cave to hide from the monster, this cave was the home of Gro’Raz’El. The lizard spirit agreed to help The Warrior and The Smith, since they couldn’t fight the erraci without endangering their mates, so he gave them a magic totem that would give them amazing speed and stamina to escape.
Once the four returned to the village, as a sign of their thanks, they took the totems and sacrificed them in a fire, returning the gift to the earth. Impressed, Gro’Raz’El, sent the magic to the kobolds, allowing them to tap into this fountain if the need should arise.

Gro’Raz’El is seen as a blue and green lizard, usually like an iguana or smaller frilled-lizard with red markings on his body, either spots or other smaller circle markings.

Lizards are seen as great holders of speed and energy since many are capable of moving at such speed in the desert heat. Lizard skins are used as totems or crafted into talismans for either speed or stamina.

Blai-Mek – The spider spirit of rain and a symbol of the rain ritual. According to the story, several kobolds killed a spider in a cave they were planning to make a shelter, however, soon as the night came, a large desert rainstorm fell, lasting all night and into the next morning. Since they didn’t know what this meant, the kobolds told this to The Warrior and the Shaman. The Shaman said that there might be a natural connection between the spider and sky. Soon after, the village was visited by Blai-Mek, in search for the ones who killed the spider. The Warrior feared that the spirit would attack the village, but The Shaman advised to try apologizing to her and talking. Blai-Mek was impressed with The Warrior’s bravery and truthfulness, and as a way to make amends, she taught the secret to bringing about the rainfall, however, only on the promise that the kobolds would not kill any other of her kind without cause, and most importantly, not to abuse the rain ability.

Blai-Mek is seen as a large black spider with long, skinny legs, the legs are usually longer than the whole body. Her body sparkles with light blue light, representing a rain mist that has collected on her body over the years.

Spiders are respected by the kobolds, and though they do not want them in their homes or stores, they move the spiders out into the open or a more suitable area. Poisonous spiders don’t seem to attack kobolds nor do they come near the villages. Should one kill a spider, the kobold perform a small prayer of forgiveness to Blai-Mek, though she will weep for the loss.

Agir-Lemlok – An otter spirit of water. According to the story, when the first well and irrigation systems were created, Agir-Lemlok popped out of the well. The otter spirit was impressed with the work the kobolds did with their village and their ability to draw water into the dry area as well as to draw an ocean creature into the area, Agir blessed the water wells and canals with infinity, having so the irrigation canals and the major water lines and wells will never go dry.
Agir then jumped back into the well and swam back to his home.

Agir-Lemlok is seen as a small and skinny, brown-furred otter with black paws and seen wearing a loincloth of sorts and bracelets or bracers on his wrists and ankles. His forehead, arms and back are decorated with blue swirl markings.

Otters are seen as good luck symbols, finding otters around meant good fortune was ahead.

Ser’Lec Gr’Dian – coyotes are seen as the natural inhabitants of the desert since the kobolds feel that they have a supernatural ability to survive in the environment. Many kobolds believe that coyotes are actually the desert equivalent or family members to the wolves that helped them before, the leader of the largest pack being Ser’Lec Gr’Dian.
According to this story, the coyotes helped The Warrior when his first born child was captured by elven (later to be described as drow) slavers, who came to recapture the kobolds. Ser’Lec and his pack helped The Warrior sneak into the slaver camp and rescue his son, Ser’Lec and his brethren then attack the slavers camp, scattering the force and their camp to the winds.

Ser’Lec Gr’Dian is usually seen as a large, lithe coyote with bright red fur with a white underbelly. His body is covered is scares, either from battles or from their own ceremonies, and is usually painted with blue colored markings.

Coyotes are as sacred as the wolves and are seen as the guardians of Athmesda, totems of bravery and stealth. The howl of the coyote is also seen to be a good omen, a sign that the land is secure from the outside threats.

Brek’Ner Gly’F – armadillos are viewed as the spirits of natural protection and of the magical glyphs. According to story, The Smith befriended Brek’Ner Gly’F and the armadillo spirit taught The Smith and his mate, The Weaver, the secret to glyph writing, they would later combine this with their works to create the imbuing ability and technique for their weapons and materials.

Brek’Ner Gly’F is depicted as a large, dark gray armadillo who’s body is covered in many different forms of rune markings and glyphs, his eyes shine with a bright, red-orange light.

Armadillos are good luck totems and symbols, especially to those of the magical crafting skills, armadillo plates are seen as powerful items and are used to creating magical totems and talismans.

Ro’Mo’Hymm – the hummingbird spirit of energy and of festiveness; humming birds are one of the oldest spirits, the kobolds feel that the humming bird, due to it’s own speed and bright colors, is a spirit that gives off extra energy and give an overall feeling of happiness and joy, especially during festivals and ceremonies. Ro’Mo’Hymm is said to be the spirit that influenced The Mother and The Weaver once they established their home in Athmesda, having once been visited by the spirit.

Ro’Mo’Hymm is usually seen as a small, green and white humming bird with a bright red mark on his chest and the same ruby-red color on the tips of his wings, which give off a red sparkle as he flies.

Desert hummingbirds are few, but they do exist, and hummingbird feathers are highly prized and valued.

Sleipnir – the most feared of the horses, Sleipnir, also known as the ‘four-eight-legged’. The steed of a feared orc slaver, Sleipnir, appeared like other horses, but his speed and power were unmatched, as if he had double the legs normal horses had, thus giving him his nickname. Sleipnir died with the orc slaver and his army when they were tricked by Elahra into the desert and got lost. Sleipnir’s rage was so great that he threatened to return to Athmesda to destroy their village and the kobolds.

Sleipnir is depicted as a large, black horse with a midnight-black mane, his eyes a dark, blood red. He is usually shown with four normal legs and four ‘hidden’ or ‘spectral’ legs, his mouth and snout stained red from the blood of victims to his wrath.

Kobolds are deathly afraid of horses, seeing them as the steeds of the old slavers and as bringers of death, due to their size and bulk, which can easily crush a kobold. This makes them the symbol of fear.

Et’Trin’Drem – a mysterious spirit of dreams, the details of this story are few and vague. According to this story, Et’Trin’Drem was first seen by The Sage in a dream when he went to sleep, later to be seen by The Shaman during his meditation. The spirit’s appearance is as mysterious as the story, a large stag with silver fur and a white/blue aura around him, his large antlers are adorn with silver strings and charms, surrounded in a colorful and ever-changing aura. Many kobolds believe that this spirit is the ‘guide’ into the dream world, helping the kobold wander in this realm and then return in the morning. Some even believe that this spirit can even help one foresee events in the future.

Deer are also mysterious to kobolds, no one recalls ever seeing one and no written record ever mentions them, some versions of the Exodus story do mention these creatures, but not in great detail.


Ceremonies and rites:

The Trial of Adulthood – one of the most important rituals of kobold society. This rite of passage symbolizes the kobold Exodus from the eastern lands into the land of Athmesda; representing the journey from the old life into the kobold community.
Every trial is different for every young kobold, given to them from the Ancestors. Some are given journeys to travel or tasks to complete; very few have large or complex tasks to complete.