"Everyone on the docks knew what goblins were. Knives first, questions never. So when the dockmaster's family took me in and named me Wren, half the harbour waited for me to slit their throats. Took me six years to stop seeing them flinch." — a goblin deckhand of Tidegate
Most goblins are nomadic raiders who strike vineyards, caravans and coastlines before moving on. Because of that, most of Nova treats them more like beasts than people. Nobody knows where goblins came from, not even the goblins. The few who shake off the beastly label pay for it, because a goblin who leaves the raider life can't go back to their tribe. They have to make a life among people who are slow to trust them, and many spend that life proving they're more than what others expect.
Names
Goblins are given names by the people who eventually take them in, so a goblin's name shows who welcomed them. Examples:
- Wren Hollis, taken in by a dockmaster's family of Tidegate
- Pippo Vinterra, taken in by vintners of Aetheria
- Skrit Cinderhall, a rare goblin of the Ravus Empire taken in by a foreman
Goblins by Homeland
Ravus Empire
Goblins of the Ravus Empire live in Vaelor, Dusktower and Ashend alongside humans, orcs and tieflings, but they're quick to violence and never hesitate to use it. The Empire puts that to work, sending them in as raiders and shock troops, and few in Ravus see them as anything more.
Raider Tribes
Goblin hordes roam across Nova. They're known for raiding the vineyards of the Hills of Antiquity in Aetheria and the coasts of Tidegate, where the League pays a bounty for every goblin ear.