Setting the Setting - OD&D (3LBB) & AD&D2e - Part 7 - Cultures: Vindhyaksha Kingdoms (Goblins)

So far, in the Cultures subseries of my Setting the Setting Posts, I've detailed the dominant culture of the area, Eldorian Humans, and our three major cultures - the mercantile Thunderan Dwarves, the Egyptian-like Sunari Elves, and most recently the militaristic, Roman Empire inspired Tauren Minotaurs. Now, it's time to start on our five minor cultures, and we'll begin with the Goblins.

For the Cultural Archetype, I rolled. I was expecting maybe to get something like Savage, or Barbarian, or even Ancient or Viking. What I got though, was Indian:

Indian: The campaign is modeled after medieval India. India's social structure was feudal in nature, with an amazing number of independent rajahs, moguls, and princes each governing over one of hundreds of small kingdoms.

Now that description did kind of make sense to me, with the typical tribal band structure of Goblins straight out of the core books of most editions, translating that into multiple petty kingdoms instead doesn't seem like a stretch.

For Technology level, I rolled again, and came up with Dark Ages:

Dark Ages: In many respects, the Dark Ages are a step backwards from the Roman age. The organization of a central government is replaced by a renewed tribal loyalty or fealty to warlords. Intensive agriculture is found only in a few suitable areas, and animal husbandry becomes a much more important part of daily sustenance. The study of tactics and maneuver in warfare fade as crude warbands and fyrds or levies become the standard military units. This technology level can describe backwards or barbaric areas in a standard Middle Ages-type campaign.

So, this is sounding less and less odd. Scattered and splintered goblin kingdoms, culturally similar to each other, but warring consistently with each other their other neighbors, keeping their numbers and progress to a lower level.

Now continuing with Social Alignment - over the previous posts, I've established that, in having 9 cultures, I decided to have each represent one of the 9 Social Alignments in the 2E World Builder's Guidebook, although when we get to actual gameplay we'll be using the 3LBB 3 Alignment system. So far, we've used True Neutral, Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral and Neutral Evil. I rolled on the remaining 5 (actually 4, as I've been holding one in reserve for a culture we haven't gotten to yet), and came up with Lawful Evil.

Lawful Evil: The government is draconian, with severe laws and harsh punishments for transgressions regardless of guilt or innocence. Laws generally maintain the status quo instead of serving justice. Social class or caste may stifle personal advancement; bribery and graft spring up in response. Dictatorial, autocratic, or oligarchic governments may fall into this category.

More and more interesting. The goblins are splintered into warring fiefdoms, and less advanced than most of their larger, stronger neighbors, but strict control by each petty king or warlord keeps them from falling apart or being wiped out completely.

For form of government, it calls Feudalism out right in the Cultural Archetype description and I went with that.  This is the culture's internal government, while the area in general operates under a sort of Religious Satrapy.

Feudalism: The typical government of Europe in the Middle Ages, a feudalistic society consists of layers of lords and vassals. The vassals provide soldiers or scutage to the lords, who in turn promise protection to their vassals.

Hierarchy: A feudal or bureaucratic system which proceeds through different levels of a religious institution.

Satrapy: Conquerors and representatives of another government wield power over the region, ruling it as part of a larger empire. The satraps themselves might be bureaucrats and military officers, or they may be unusual characters or monsters of some kind, such as dragons, beholders, or vampires.

So, I'm thinking each little Goblin Kingdom may have a few outlying outposts run by sub-chiefs, or divisions of the main settlements with ward bosses.

The Local Campaign Area Chapter goes on to Subsistence Systems, culture/race relations, and Population Level, but I feel like these are best addressed when we get to detailing and mapping the land itself and plotting the settlements. 

Now, I put Feudal Indian Goblins into the Culture Name Generator at Vondy.com to see what it would come up with.  I picked Vindhyaksha Kingdoms, and then extrapolated Vindhyasi as the demonym and name of the language. 

I also thought of migratory patterns, and through some rolls and choices, decided on settlement waves for our 9 cultures. The Vindhyasi Goblins arrived in this area in the first of three waves of migrations, the same wave as the Minotaurs, roughly a thousand years ago, but coming from the East while the Taurens came from the West. The Elves and other natives might have been overwhelmed had the Goblins and Minotaurs not fought each other as much as the original inhabitants. 

I think the Vindhyasi that came here were refugees, exiles and defeated kingdoms leaving their original islands in waves in search of greener pastures. Despite the resistance of the natives and the militarism of the Taurens, the Goblins' rapid reproduction and strict rule allowed them to survive.