Goblins

Goblins are the most common of Goblinoids, and the single most populous sapient species in the world of Vantowyn. Some theories suggest that the goblins were the earliest sapient creatures to walk the surface of Vantowyn, or rather to crawl beneath its depths. The vast majority of goblin communities make their homes underground, but near the surface. Goblins are known to dwell deeper beneath the ground as well, but the deeper communities tend to have higher proportions of Darklings.

Description
Goblins are a small bipedal species, with the average adult goblin standing roughly one meter tall. They appear to be a mammalian species, though there are some indications that their biology is more complex. They tend to have lean builds, with large nocturnal eyes. Goblin ears tend to be long, wide, and pointed, with some longer examples drooping or 'flopping' to varying degrees. They tend to have short faces, and typically bear pointed, upturned noses. Goblin hands have a distinctive four-fingered structure, with one of the four being slightly shorter and angled in opposition to the other three, similar to a Human thumb.

Goblin skin is most commonly a shade of pale green or yellow, but can be found in shades of blue and reddish brown as well. Goblins are commonly hairless, but roughly half can grow hair on their heads and faces. Typically, goblin hair is thick and coarse when compared to the Human equivalents, and the most common hair color is black. Some goblins do naturally have hair of brown or reddish color, but it's uncommon for goblin hair to lose its color with age, so white and gray varieties are exceptionally rare.

Children of the Dark
Goblin settlements are typically found just beneath the ground, or burrowed into mountainsides. Commonly, their settlements will be made on the shadowed side of a region's terrain, avoiding direct sunlight where possible, likely due to the sensitivity of their large eyes. Throughout the recorded histories of virtually every people, the goblin species has been present in the shadowed places of Vantowyn since the beginning. In many places, goblins had been vilified as monsters creeping about in the dark, and their history is full of conflict with other species, even sometimes with other Goblinoids, namely Hobgoblins.

It is perhaps as a result of these frequent conflicts that large populations of surface-dwelling goblins can only be found in a few places in the world, many of them remote. Across the rest of the world, a great many goblins can be found living in the vast network of caverns beneath the surface of Vantowyn.

Clans and Matriarchs
Goblin society is generally organized into extended family units, called clans. A clan is organized around its Matriarch, and her daughters. A strange quirk of Goblin biology results in more male Goblins being born than females. Roughly one in five Goblin children born are females, with the rest being males. Perhaps due to this scarcity, Goblin women hold an esteemed and protected place in their society. A Goblin woman has a tremendous amount of authority in making decisions for the safety of the clan, while at the same time facing a great deal of societal pressure to produce as many children as she can. In most places however, her choice of who to produce those children with, is ultimately her own.

Goblin men in most clans are raised from birth to protect and guard their clan's women from any potential dangers. Some leave their clans of birth to be the consorts of a woman of another clan, essentially joining her clan to serve as her foremost protector and her mate.