The Cast
Gib … Gib is a male goblin from Hearth Forge. He is a member of the scout corps patrolling the caverns around the city as part of the latter's extended defense network. He is in command of a squad of scouts.
Sim … Sim is an older goblin from Hearth Forge and the city's current captain of scouts and thus responsible for part of the city's extended defenses.
Ren … He was a respectable goblin from Hearth Forge and a squad leader for the scout corps as well. He and his squad fell victim to the ambush by a tentacled terror from the deep disguised as a rock column.
Xue … Xue is a female goblin from Hearth Forge. She is a member of the scout corps and her squad's healer.
The Arcanist … The Arcanist is another sister to the Maidens. When the Devourer fell into madness the responsibility of keeping the terrors from the deep at bay fell onto her shoulders. She choose to live among the goblins in a forge born body, quite possibly the first ever, made of titanium, teaching the short people her secrets. She led them on their exodus as well.
Everything else
Goblins … Goblins are distant relatives of the dwarves. They left their ancestral homes when the Devourer started to corrupt their kin. They migrated to Bleak Peak at first but left again soon after, not before teaching the people making it their home numerous secrets though, like the secret of creating Forge Born. They know and worship the Maidens but their main goddess is the Arcanist who still lives among them. Unlike dwarves they have very little body hair, including beards. Their head hair is very similar though.
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Klik'I'Tik … An insectoid species known for running regular caravans through the Shimmering Desert from the pass in the east to the one in the west. The treck is dangerous at best but it is a considerable shortcut as well, opposed to going around the desert and the Ringwall Mountains. Some of the insectoid mounts they use can be as big as houses.
Terrors from the Deep … Terrible abominations created by the ancients to wage war on their enemies when the Maidens and their sisters led the mortal people in revolt against their creators. Supposedly there are no two that are entirely the same. They all have an abundance of tentacles, teeth and eyes in common though. Many use one kind of mimicry or another as well to ambush their prey. Skinwalkers are the most prominent but by far not the only example for the latter.
Hearth Forge … An underground city deep under the Ringwall Mountains. It is home to goblins, distant relatives of the dwarves living closer to the surface, and a special kind of Forge Born created in their image. The heavily fortified place is built into a surprisingly spacious cavern in the Deep Dark. The outer walls have been turned into terraced fields and the lake at the bottom boasts a surprising amount of life as well. The actual homes are built into the many thick columns supporting the caverns ceiling.
The Shimmering Desert … The desert within the Ringwall Mountains. It is, at times, also called the desert at the heart of the world. It is a hostile, dry and mostly lifeless place. Only few creatures can survive there. If you want to call it that, since ghouls are not technically alive at all. The near omnipresent, shimmering, opalescent dust giving the place its name has a tendency of getting everywhere. At the very heart of the desert sits an ancient ruined temple city of some sort, a remnant of a past age. The only civilized people regularly making their way through this hostile place are the insectoid Klik'I'Tik.