Kobold

Etymology

The word kobold comes from the Germanic ( Mittlehochdeutsch )

Kobe : shelter, hut and
holt : gracious, friendly; this compliment was used to attract itself the favors of these spirits and to avoid the nasty tricks.

In the Germanic folklore, in fact the kobolds caused the accidents of mines. The Germanic kobold has as an equivalent in France, the Gobelin

Kobold is the étymon name of the chemical element Cobalt (this element was discovered with the XV {{E}} century in mines of Saxony and Bohemia): one showed the kobolds to steal the ore of money and to replace it by this blue ore.

Mythology and Germanic folklore

August 1st

The kobolds are ugly spirits often related with Gobelin S which come from the German Folklore. The most common, known versions under the name of Hinzelmännchen , are described as a Elfe S of houses, useful or practical. They carry out sometimes domestic drudgeries, but can also play of the turns on the inhabitants.

Another type of kobold which can be found in the underground mines and other places seems to be more closely related to the Gnome. In fact bad creatures live between them rather than in the human houses. These kobolds is described like similar to rats or dogs being held on two legs.

Modern works

in the play Keeps & Dragons

The kobolds are creatures humanoïdes oviparous animals of small size (approximately 1 m). They have the skin covered with scales whose color varies brown-russet-red the very dark one with the rusted black. They have two small horns on the face, whose color goes from the white to the brown-yellow. They live in caves or virgin forests, see in the black and hate light of day. They live approximately 135 years.

They have a tribal organization and hate the Lutin merry S, Pixie S, spirits and the gnomes. They are more related with the dragons than with the goblins.

The goblin S, they are often regarded as easy preys for characters players of low level. Their taste for the manufacture of traps, the mockery and the preparation of ambushes make aggravating adversaries however of them.

With the third edition, the kobolds took much more importance than they did not have any before.

in the Palladium world

The kobolds are humanoïdes, cousins of the goblins and Orc S, but more beautiful according to the human criteria. They go down from people ric Fée which lost his magic capacities. They measure on average 1 m for approximately 40 kg, and live more than 160 years (some reach 250 years). They are thin and muscular, with a thick skin of color waxes and black or white hair, even silver plated; they are glabrous. They have large pointed ears, yellow or red eyes and small pointed teeth. They can see in the black until 120 m, but are obstructed by the light of day which limits their vision to ten meters.

The kobolds scorn the goblins, which they find stupid, and hate the human ones, the Elfe S, the gnome S and the Changelin S, but respect the dwarf for their warlike qualities. They appreciate the company of the Troll S, of the Ogre S, the Géant S and the man-wolf ( wolfen ).

They live in caves and mines which they exploit; they are blacksmiths and goldsmiths of exception, best of the Palladium world after the dwarves and with equality with the jotans (giant of ground). They sell mainly the man-wolf, orcs, to ogres and goblins, in particular of the weapons and armours, but their production also is very appreciated the human ones.

Their villages and their cities are networks of caves, low of ceiling (1,5 with 2,5 m in height). The villages are with a few meters under ground. The cities shelter 600 with 2 400 kobolds, but the most important cities, under the mountains of the Old kingdom, can shelter until 26 000 individuals. They are between 600 m and 6 km of depth and are typically made of a hundred kilometers of tunnels forming a labyrinth on approximately eight levels, under a surface of a few square kilometers on the ground. The dwellings are gathered in districts being able to represent a few hundreds or thousands of kobolds; the major levels are used of mine or sewer. Certain cities are connected by tunnels of several hundred kilometers located at approximately 3 km of depth.

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