Kobolds

Kobolds are small, reptilian humanoids that blend the features of large dogs and tiny, wingless dragons. While many live in the lairs of the dragons they revere, others dwell in trap-ridden warrens far underground.

Draconic Servitors. Kobolds feel both an awe of and kinship with dragons. Many dragons extend protection to their distant kobold cousins, accepting in return the flattery, adulation, and service they believe all creatures owe them. Kobold servitors resent a dragon’s other minions, fearful of the day the dragon no longer values their devotion.

Kobolds share many characteristics with dragons. They hatch from eggs with an instinct to hoard treasures and trinkets. Like dragons, kobolds enjoy long lifespans. With all the dangers that assail them, though, few kobolds see the natural end of their 100- to 150-year lifespans.

Proud and Territorial. Smaller and weaker than most sentient species, individual kobolds make easy prey for predators. A kobold community without a dragon patron must rely on stealth, traps, and sheer numbers to survive.

Most kobolds live in underground warrens far from the sunlight. Often, these warrens are extensions of existing structures such as dungeons, sewers, and natural caverns. As skilled miners with a dragon-like fondness for shiny things, kobolds often move into abandoned mines (or chase the miners out of working ones). Kobolds modify their lairs to their advantage, using low ceilings, cunning traps, and narrow passages to hinder the movement of invaders. Kobolds prefer to fight from a distance and with overwhelming numbers.

Bigger and stronger creatures often find kobolds contemptible at best, and raid and slaughter them at worst. When the tables are turned, kobolds rarely forgive those who have bullied them, though sometimes flattering words or glittering offerings appease them. Any slight to their dignity enrages them. Kobolds believe that even the smallest relative of a dragon has royal blood coursing through its veins.