Hobgoblyn
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Description
Hobgoblyns are known to take many shapes and can resemble many races that are of the Horde. To generalize they are taller than goblins and shorter than Bugbears. Their skin is usually any earthen tone but they may paint themselves or apply tattoos to better integrate into their chosen monsterly broods. Most forms of Hobs exhibit beastly adornment on their body that reflect an instance within their early lifecycle. These can be can be any number of apparatus but can include: horns or antlers on the head, tusks as teeth, claws on the hands or armour plating on the body. They are known to have more bristles of hair patches on their body such as along the forearms.
A telling characteristic of Hobs is their legs which have serrated tibias and extended metatarsals in their feet and can walk on their balls of their feet quite comfortably. Their shins are covered to prevent accidental maiming of another and to keep nicknames like "Saw shanks" and "Fur shins" minimized. They are usually described as quite menacing as their garments and gear is made in a particular way and is enhanced by deep magicks. They are described by the fair and monster races alike to be the boogeymen/fen to scare their younglings with.
Character
History
Hobgoblyns are created from the spirits of fallen heroes. Typically they are spirits of the strongest of monsters who have earned the favor and respect of the Gods in their lifetime; but in the end died valiantly in battle and failed in a solemn oath. Because of this they are not able to join their fallen brothers in the afterlife but are given a second chance through powerful magicks.
These spirits are reborn from one of the most sacred and powerful of all Goblyn rituals. The Goblyn High Priestess combines her mystical energy with that of the land's dominant Shaman to call the heroes' fallen spirits to the womb where they combine and are reborn into the world as a much more powerful creature, having the best traits of the spirits' original forms.
Because of this Hobgoblyns come in all shapes and sizes. A Hobgoblyn is usually brought together by mixing with a goblyn but can be awakened from any combination of the monster races: Bugbear, Lizardmen, Kobold, Goblin, Skaven, Trolls, Gnolls, Orcs, etc. Because they cannot know for sure who they were in their past lives, they grow up with respect for all of the monster races and educate themselves on the histories, cultures, and Gods of them all.
When a Hobgoblyn is awakened, the first couple years of their earthen form they are taught by the Priestess and/or the Shaman after entering the village. Growing up around the wielders of magick makes them more likely to recognize other magick users and they become much more resistant to the their effects. It is said that no Hobgoblyn has ever fallen to the effects of magick in battle. This is a short stage in their life, aside from learning about magick and culture from their guardians they also learn how to read, write, track, navigate, gather, and hunt. When they are able kill their first game, they are able to start their next phase of life as children of war.
The Hobgoblyn then enters the army of the land. They often become adept at many weapons, reflecting their past lives abilities. It is not uncommon for a Hobgoblyn to suffer from nightmares, flashes of images from lives past.
Goals
The versatility of Hobgoblynz makes them an invaluable asset to the Horde Armies. They can be deployed as shock troops, skirmishers, as part of a shield wall, as archers, they exude magick arts and curse enemies at will. Their goals are their own as they have specific paths to follow. Saying this, the paths they take are almost always aspiring to help the Horde succeed and are particularly protective of their goblyn compatriots. As grunts, they fight with fierce dedication to their leaders. As leaders, they command with undying loyalty to their men.
The Hobben Path
The Hobgoblyn creation map
A hobgoblin is a very unique race of the horde. Its lore is very thick and will take some time to absorb. To assist newcombers to Hobben character creation I have provided an easy to follow and comprehensive guide to help one get started and to become at long last awakened!
The map is a checklist of sorts to help our Terka'd understand the order of the awakening and the constituent parts that make a Hob connected to the material plane and a completely individualised persona.
1. The Name as a Scream.
You must first select a name. This is a simple task but also profound in its halmark as an identifier and is the sound made as a sleeping monster wakes from a nightmare and brings your essence finally out of the mist. Note: If your name has a "S" sound in its pronunciation it will have implications later as you travel among those that utter it.
2. The First Stitch and The Work
All monsters dress in garb and have their own form of fasioning it but for Hobs it is bears more meaning and significance. Since we are from the under world there must be intense magics that bind us to this plane. These magics are started with The First Stitch and are continued with The Work of the Tsarak-yyll.
The First Stitch is a symbolic act that represents the moment that our form becomes bound to the land we will fight in and explore. This act will require a needle that has been threaded. First tie a knot in the thread. Then make a stitch in the knot. And then repeat this stitch seven times. "For each stitch is seven" and it is done! This is your first stitch of many many more. This magical stitching in Hob-speak is called "Cunnanannt"
The Work as it is called is really just another way of saying creating great garb. Hobgoblins are bound to this plane with patches of garb (and the remains of false believers) that is sewn together with Cunnanannt stitching. A hobs garb is therefore very important to it and is called its Tsarak-yyll. Creating your garb will be an ongoing process as you add layers and continue to add character and depth to your Hobben identity. Hobben garb is meant to exude complexity, intimidation and menace.
Garb identifiers for Hobgoblins are:
The Mantle. The mantle is a covering on the shoulders and/or on the back that are covered with bristles, fur or feathers.
The Shtulk-Khep.This is Chainmail or metal wire to cover the groin.
Hobben Greaves. Most Hobs will wear protection around their shins. Not to protect themselves, but to protect others from their shins. This is because the tibia bones of a Hob are serrated and very sharp. It is said that this is from the ascension walk from the other side. The greaves might be made of leather, hide or other rigid material.
Hobgoblins can fill every role on the field of battle and so will be equipped to reflect this. Everything else relating to your Tsarak-yyll will be up to your preferrance and affinity.
3. Select your Kussts
This is the selection of your Kussts type. These will act as the foundation of your primal fighting drive. The Kussts are any Plague insect like the Locust Mormon Cricket or the Cicada. They inhabit their Hobben host and are the reason that all Hobs wear chain mail or wire mesh over the groin. It keeps the Kussts from tearing away and vicimising those you band and fight with.
4. Select Your Speaking Beetle.
This is the selection of your Ghoor-Shu. This animal is also the Guardian of the Kussts and acts as a messenger for you. This animal will be a beetle that can fly great distances. This animal should be truly special and its selection be treated reverently.
5. Select Your Primary Animal
This is the selection of the beast of your first hunt or Kabhal. This animal will be special as it will "mark" you with some of its characteristics and abilities. It will also imbue your Hobben form with its animal apparatus. An example might be the selection of a Deer. This would over time as you evolve give grace to your movements as a deer has. It might also in the case of a deer give you antlers that start to grow. Additionally, you will have the eyes of the animal you select. This is the act that allows you to see in this plane and follow the paths of it. This description is revealed in the 4th sub cycle of "Unbinding Fear" and the 5th sub cycle of "The First Kabhal"
6. Select Your Attratus
This is a selection of your bird of carrion. This bird will follow your arc and even become a part of you as it dies above the hollow and is sewn into your shoulders. This act is where we get the sub cycle name of "Mantling" as the bird will cover you first with bristles and then plume and become like a mantle on your shoulders as you become the mature form in the sixth cycle. This bird may be buzzard or vulture, condor, carrion crow or similar.
7. Select Your Earthly Make
This is the selection of your primal particles. You must select 7 elements (periodic) and 7 minerals. These will reflect the parts of the mantle that have bonded to make your form. And they will be the particles represented in the iconography and personalized sigil of your Hobben Heptagon of the Ground.
A very good "in-game" overview of what a Hobs focus and systemic Hobben factors that will help you understand the life of this race, go to "Mantling" the 6th cycle of "The Hobben Lifecycle".
== The Hobben God ==
Kort'tsepharrah'phobettus
"Phobettus"
Mothered by Nyym (Goddess of Night) Fathered by Koretheix (God of vicious nature)
Koretheix wanted Nyym but she was forbidden. He used the angry wilds to snare Nyym. And they had a son.
Phobettus was orphaned by them and placed in the hollow of a tree. He grew in wilderness. and sought to find identity himself. And learned to hunt and make fire and to commune with nature. He wondered where he came from and asked the question but received no answer. So he returned to the hollow and it was inhabited by creatures. He captured the life inside it to fill his own void and instructed them to be his sight and his voice. Then sent them out to find answers.
He found his mother And she was forbidden to allow him to know her. But she allowed him to understand the night and the sleep and the states inside dreams.
He found his father and this enraged Koretheix and so he in snared Phobettus in the angry wilds and left him to perrish. This caused pain in Phobettus.
Phobettus could not escape so he calmed himself and slept. And found his father sleeping and in a dream. And he tormented Koretheix. and brought him to the angry wilds and bent his will. He forced Koretheix to teach him to escape the wilds and to be vicious and to curse
The Guide to Hobben Locution
Abhorrent Wisdoms: The combined and incorporated knowledges of both the Hobben Dalamus and the Hobben Engram.
Alchemy in the Hollow: The process that occurs in the hollow by which the hob enters elemental maturity. There are Seven stages.
1: Minerals from the earth mix with Zynicynth and the layers inside the cavity and the Sacred Heptagons of the Ground are formed.
2: The Kussts of the hob stir and fight to fasten and so secrete sacred Dragryyum that permeates the hollow. This is also the cause of an audible thrumming.
3: The sacred Dragryyum penetrates and is filtered by the Engram where it is then drained into the Dalamus. During this part of the process the Engrams unseen light is turned excandescent and absorbed into the Hob.
4: The Dalamus is filled and then extends into the ground where an amalgam is formed to make the hobs first tool (see "Korpser").
5: The Speaking Beetle calls out and beacons the Attratus for its final act.
6: Kussts cease the thrumming as they become aware that the Hobs mind becomes infused with Tak'levash and know that the Fastening is soon to come.
7: The summoned Attratus dances for the last time above the transformative earthen folds. It then picks through the layers into the cavity and make an opening for the hob. Then dies upon the opening and by doing so finishes the processes of the Transmutation.
Angles of the Dalamus: The footwork, patterns, positions of combat outlined and as part of the Abhorrent wisdoms.
Artifacts of the Fastening (The Three):
Attratus: A bird of carrion that plays a significant part through many cycles of a Hobs life. They can be any variety of large to medium carnivorous bird such as the buzzard, vulture, roc, condor, crow or swoop. The type of bird involved will determine effects and attributes that it will impart upon the hob such as the style of death dance the hob will use and color of shoulder bristles after mantling occurs.
Bhannt: An enslaved soul of a Hob. This title is usually made as a pact with the hob for protection or for supplication. This is a form of a much older rite of soul-husbandry whereby a soul was trapped by the Hob by tricking an ensouled creature to utter the "S" sound in their name and so sealed a curse to bind their soul to the Hob until favour was given. The soul may then be set free or (more likely) used as fuel and burned in the Hobben Crucible called The Koracle.
Blakkhan:
The Bone Needle:
Circles of the Dalamus:
The Cloud: The three hundred and forty three insects that make up a swarm that are hosted within a hollow within the Hob. The Cloud is what they are called as the fly through the air in a group.
Corpser (Khorpser): What a hob calls their weapon.
Cunannant: Magickal stitching found on every seam of the hobben Tsarak-yyll (clothing). The act of sewing is ritual and never ceases during the Hobs active lifecycles.
Curseblessing: The state of attaining both the beastly attributes and adornments associated with the animal of the first hunt and the eternal huntlusting that is with them thereafter.
Dalamus: A hobben artifact that resembles a cup or a vessel that is decorated with many intersecting circles and angles. It contains Hobben fighting knowledge and is bound to the hob during the process of Alchemy in the hollow. In addition to binding to the hob, the Dalamus will also be manifested to become the Hobs first instrument and weapon after Molting.
Dig in deep: The art of ambulant meditation. Usually referring to the act therein where a Hob will penetrate the ground with a toe or a weapon to bind the hob with the Hobben Heptagon of the Ground and to echo the movements of the needle great pendulum.
Dire: To be inflicted with self malice and cursed. A warped and unnaturally strengthened animal that has been changed by an event or curse.
'Dragryym' the prime element (ill-mercury): The one element that all Hobs share. It is secreted by the Kussts in their adult form and is the in the crucible of the Hollow
Elemental Maturity:
Engram: A hobben artifact that is used as a lid to cover the Dalamus and occults the unseen light. It has within it tactical knowledge and instructions from the deity that had a hand in the Hobs creation.
Fastening: The act of copulation for both the Hob and its Kussts. The Hob may either actively seek out to fasten or be driven unconsciously to do so.
Kusst fastening behaviors start before molting and is the cause of Tak'levash within the hob. This process is also where two of three artifacts of the fastening are made. This happens during the sixth cycle
The First Stitch:
The First Hunt:
Foxfire: also sometimes called "fairy fire", is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood.
Ghoor-Shu (The Speaking Beetle) (The Guardian Beetle): The voice of the Hob. This being knows the thoughts and intentions of its host and can be sent at will to communicate for and in the Hobs stead. It inhabits the Hobs form in the hollow of its throat from the first cycles. The beetle also acts as guardian and keeper of the Kussts and help guide and protect them while they are cohabitants.
Heptagons of the Ground: Sigils representing the 7 parts of the mantle and essences of this plane that make up the Hobs body. They are the sigils used during the art of "Digging In" and are the first of seven channeling points on a Hobs form. They have seven ponts and lines that intersect in patterns of magicks. The sigils can be seen as the Hobs shadow. There are two Heptagons; the Elemental and the Mineral.
The Hobben Engram: The Engram as an artifact that is held and assimilated during the Alchemy in the Hollow. It binds with the Hobben Dalamus and becomes the Abhorrent Wisdoms that bind to the instinct of the Hob.
The Hobben Dalamus: The Dalamus as an artifact is changed to be The Hobben Dalamus during the Alchemy in the Hollow where the hob incorporates martial knowledge within its body, and into its instincts and reflexes. This gives the hob several lifetimes of fighting knowledge which is unlocked during the sixth lifecycle.
The Hobben Lifecycle: A vex of tantric prose outlining the seven cycles and the changes therein of the life of a Hob. Each cycle has a specific modus and each has a specific length of time. For instance- The First Cycle lasts for 7 hours. The second cycle; 2 cycles of the moon. The third cycle; 14 cycles of the moon. The fourth cycle starts at 100 cycles of the moon. The fifth cycle starts after two planetary cycles (years). The sixth cycle starts at 13.4 planetary cycles. And the final cycle of the Hob will end after 94 planetary cycles.
The Hollow: The cavity made by the hob as instructed by the whisper on the mountain. It is where the sacred Alchemy takes place at the end of the Fifth Lifecycle. This chamber echoes the hollows in the Hob during its formation after the first stitch and the spaces inhabited by the Ghoor-Shu and the Kussts within the Hobben form.
Kabhal: The hunt of a Hob. The incant is screamed to show the Hobs intention to engage in a hunt.
Kort'ybhannt: A being (usually hobben) that has been called to be a neophyte to the Eridution of the Hollow. There can be seven total neophytes per worthy Hob "Kort'" that has moved into and is within the 7th cycle. These students are sent down the paths of the ordeal to secure a title appropriate to their the judgement of their Kort'tsepharrah. These initiants are usually instructed also to act as surrogate for their Kort' to do material biddings during this relationship.
Kort'tsepharrah: A worthy Hob that becomes "as the whisper" during the 7th cycle of life. They represent the Prime particle or Nucleus required for the bonding of energy and information from the extra planes.
Kussts:
Kyanite: A powerful Hobben mineral.
The Lucid Path:
The Lurid Path:
Magick: It is said that " A Hob does not magick. A Hob is magick.
Mantling: A process experienced after Molting and starts by the Attratus bound into their shoulders. With this the hob starts to gain the "deadly mass". The manifestation of this process will start to encumber the hob as it progresses through the sixth cycle.
Occulting Light: The pattern given out by the unseen light on the mountain along the Hobs path. It is a pattern light in which the total duration of dark light in each period is clearly longer than the total duration of darkness and in which the intervals of darkness are all of equal duration.
Omicron of Weight: The state of being granted through the sigils of the ground that magickally allow an ease of movement for the hob as it gathers its mass during the sixth cycle. This state is imbued upon the Hob during the Alchemy of the Hollow.
Pantheon: The gods, deities, underworld rulers, and other special entities that relate to the Horde or serve it in some way.
The Path:
Picking Scabs:
Shiveen: The various types of nymph, fairy, sprite, wisp or otherwise diminutive and 'twinkly' creatures that are sought and actively collected by Hobs. After our amusements with them, these are ultimately imprisoned in glass spheres and used to accent garb, staves or illuminate quafts of elixirs like swamp-gas or rotroot beer. A Hob is proud of this collection and keeps them guarded.
Shtulk: The groin of a Hob. The anatomy of this area goes through many changes throughout the Hobs lifecycle. It is the nest and hive of Kussts that inhabit the hollow and line the areas inside the pelvis. Although in later life stages the flesh becomes as a living monster there is the risk of Tak'levash overriding the insects nesting instincts and break out of the cavity. A metal net or chain mail is always worn by a Hob because of this.
Shtulk-cosh: A type of unintentional spirit copulation during the Fastening that can incur mercury poisoning.
Soothsayer (False Prophet):
Tak'levash ("To fasten is to fight."): Hobben killing instincts as given by the Abhorrent Wisdoms and driven by The Kusst storm libidos inside the hob during the sixth cycle.
Tarbeantea:
Terka'd: An expression of kinship from a Hob to another being. Usually another Hob.
That Within (The Mist):
Thread (the Needle and):
Tsarak-yyll: The magickal patchwork of planar material that bind That Within to the Hob. It is created from the ritual of Tsat'tu. It is also comprised of special hunting remains and trophies from battle. Elaborate stitching or Cunannant is evident along every seam of this patchwork.
Tsat'tu (To cull the irreverent): The identification and ensuing act of bringing a false prophet or soothsayer to become reverent before being destroyed and possibly made as part of the Tsarak-yyll. This is one of the devine callings of a Hob.
Tstartists-Ka: Otherworldly totems and beings of the horde.
Tymbals: sound-producing organs and musculature of the Hob.
Unearthly brambles:
The Vexikon: A collection of parables attributable to Hobben lore. It includes works that range from straight forward prose to obscure chant-song all with dark lessons in them. A short list of these are;
•The Parable of Dang (The Fallacy of Courage)
•The Parable of Shadow (The Fallacy of Pain)
•The Vermillion mark
•The Fallacy of the Absolute
•The Fallacy of Hiding
•The Fallacy of Hope
•The Hobben Lifecycle
Chant- Goblyn live by stick and stone.
The Vex of Curses: A series of involuntary movements, sounds, gestures, breath and thought that are as spell-craft that a hob creates. These can resound and effect individuals around the Hob with weak magick resistances or suggestible minds.
The Well of Souls:
The Whisper on the Mountain:
Zynicynth the prime Mineral (nuummite): The one mineral that all Hobs share and is central to the mineral assembly of the Mineral aspect of the Heptagon of the Ground.
The Hobben Dalamus
Being transcribed
The Hobben Lifecycle
The First Hob Lifecycle:
The Ephemeral Night Mare
A monster with favour of the gods falls asleep and has a vision (This is usually a goblyn). They are being dragged down the river of souls. After their desecration at the mouths of Baulk they are not cast back. Instead they find the sickled finger of Sifu herself on the roof of their mouth and are picked out of the river. And then dropped into what feels like a corrupted and unending grave. This is The Well of Souls. The mist therein torments the dreaming monster and from the wound left by Sifu in the roof of their mouth, it enters their body. The pain from this causes the dreamer to scream.
The scream is a name. And it is what makes form from the mist. The form is a Hob whom has now been named and awakened. As does the dreamer.
The Second Hob Lifecycle: Undone
The dreaming monster awakens to find the head of a vulture deep inside their mouth. This "Attratus", rips out a needle made of the dreamers jawbone. And that is threaded with its entrails. Out of this wound, the Hobs mist is purged. The vulture always dances through this. And the dreamer never survives.
The mist is as the whisper on the mountain. It has a will and seeks out suitable ground. An open field. In the hollow of twisted trees. In a crease of craggy rocks. Over a current of troubled waters. It is not moved by wind or penetrated by the light. When it finds its womb, it soon communes with its matter.
The First Stitch
The vulture is summoned and when above the mist drops needle and thread. These swing in arcs that harmonize with the vultures eviscerant dance. On the seventh arc it pulls tight. This is known as The undone undone.
This is the first stitch.
The first of thousands.
Gossamer strands become an encapsulating shell and the elements that surround fill it. Almost completely. The Hob cannot speak but is now standing. Its sharp shins drip. Its throat and groin are empty hollows but the hob can finally seethe in the air. The unknown causes hunger. So it devours its own eyes to see the planes beyond. The drumming starts within. Arms that are only moments from solidity claw, clutch and are stretched out. It feeds its toe deep into earth.
And in the moment that the new moon slivers into crescent. An intrepid beetle becomes aware. Tymbals of the Cicadas strike the air.
And mist and earth and stitch and flesh, are all thus enmeshed.
The Third Hob Lifecycle:
The now enmeshed Hob is corrupted matter. Mixed parts of both will and mineral. Now alive but without voice. By earth and by sky.
Picking Scabs
Alone, heavy and now begining to be covered with its first outer layer.
The first of thousands.
The Hob is now stitched to this plane, and its quickly hardening and cracking new skin hold it there. But that within must seethe out. And so this layer is painfully peeled away by the Hob. This process is repeated and goes on for some time. Each shed layer shifts the Hob closer to this world and better prepared for it. Change itself cannot be slain. This is why it is said that a Hob looks to die, every single day. The process finally brings the Hob to seem as flesh, blood and bone. But that within still writhes and desires binding. And seeks it out.
The Gathering Cloud
Meanwhile, in the chosen tree an intrepid and newly awakened beetle removes its binds. It has gone through a similar process as the Hob and flies toward the underground cloud.
Three hundred and forty three Kussts are this cloud. They are leavened and guarded by the beetle and so they let it coax them out of the ground. Then they molt in their own cycle. These "Kussts" are blessed like their guardian but are unaware and are hive-minded. Each one produces glandular mercury that covers all they touch. Their collective voice can shake the very ground. But it is not they that will have its use.
By the beetle the cloud is led to the Hob and is absorbed through the holes left during its manifesting. They become both the sound and the spawn. The Kussts inhabit the pelvic floor and along the pelvic rim. Expressed mercury passes through the hollow until the next cycle, when the flesh there becomes tangible and organ-like.
Growing Tymbals
After delivering the Kussts into the groin of its host, the beetle climbs through a passage and arrives tentatively at the opening at the hollow of the throat. There it quivers and extends a segmented carapace that binds to become the last internal piece of a real and almost complete body. It is the "Ghoor-Shu" The Speaking Beetle.
This cycle ends when first the Hob speaks. This sound carries. Across distance. Through the planet-crusts. And into the planes where grim minds listen. And when;
A deer is startled and becomes imprisoned in unearthly brambles.
A false soothsayer puts on robes and follows a beckoning.
And the great mountain connecting that within, finally breathes.
Hobs may likely live in solitude for awhile to commune. To dig in deep. But that within will eventually struggle out to find and shelter by their monster-kind. By stick and by stone.
The Fourth Hob Lifecycle
Imbuing Spirit
In the places where nature is tamed A soothsayer is called for the first time. They have lied about being called before this. But this call is real. It fills them. And it leads them away from their false altars. Away from the believers that they taint. Wearing robes that portray that they are worthy to weaker minds. But hold nothing in them. They pursue the beckoning. They find way to where the voice called out for them. And it is found at the end of thread and a swinging bone needle. They are made to regret all their misguidances while under the Hobs stitching dance. They will know that they are not aware. And they are slowly consumed as they are taught reverence. The materials once made with deceit are changed by the swinging needle. Each stitch is seven. What is made are simple dressings, but powerful. The garment once mundane is now replete with what the unwise could not imbue. And that within finds peace in every knot. And seeps back inside the new folds.
This is the first work.
The first of thousands.
And beginning this work will keep that within bound to the Hob and so the hob to the cycle and so the cycle to the path and so the path to the pendulum.
Unbinding Fear
In the places where nature is wild-
The drum beat is fast and it's sound guides the hunter to the edge of unearthly brambles. They were planted long ago and grew up dispite themselves. A beast is inside them. It struggles and brays and is cinched deep into the patterns of grasping claws. For brambles are wicked to panic, a caltrop of the amygdala and the snare of the unprepared. The Hob is silent and sees what is easy to kill. But, there is no prize without struggle. So progress is made with intended steps to the beast that twists away and so is bound yet tighter. Touched by halcyon and steadfast hobben hands, the drumming inside the beast slows and it feels the thorns around it recede. And the beast is lead out as if the brambles had been cut away. The Hob and the beast look upon and know each other. And consider slaying the other. But they know that this is not the time. For there is no sport without fear. And so both mark the other. And both are deeply changed by it.
This cycle completes as the marks on beast and hunter begin to transform them.
When the seven hundred moons are passed.
And when the huntlusting begins.
And when the mountain exhales and lets out the unseen light.
Fifth Hob Life Cycle: Pathfinding
The First Kabhal
The Hob stalks down the lurid path. The one that is known. Led by keen senses that draw it in. The Hobs given mark is a blessing and curse . It harmonizes with the better parts of nature and has grown inside as an unending desire. Lusting to seek out the beast. To become what hunts. The mark has grown outside as an extension of its body. As a beastly apparatus. As that which is used to ruck or to claw or gore. And with a hobben thought, the speaking beetle crawls from within the hollow. It knows the Hobs intent, Has use of the Hobs voice and with a Hobben gesture, is sent to where the cursed lusting and lurid path will lead them.
The beast drags its flanks through deep wooded furrows. And casts off a rancor of spirit. On ground and grass. In the creeping air. And in the planes that only hobben eyes can see. It is no longer with the better part of nature. It is now natures retched and rabid. It is now Dire. Released from the brambles but still imprisoned inside its instinct. And stares out as if it were shackled to the moon itself. The beetle lands by its beastly ear. And whispers that "it is time". And that "change cannot be slain". The Hobs tymbaled voice strikes the air and the Kabhal is declared. The Dire knows that the hunter comes.
And they meet again. Each at the end of the others eye. And there is where they fight. The Hob dances in a harmonized sequence of arcs. And the Dire's instincts negate its prowess as fear fills the furrows.
This is the first hunt.
The first of thousands.
And at the corpses of those killed will be birds of carrion that will watch the Hobs dance and learn its arcs, and will be changed by it. And though the huntlusting wanes as the beast is slain. There is still an unknown path. The unknown causes hunger. And so the eyes of the beast are taken in. And the earth is seen for the first time. The new-known path is extended out before the Hob as it has always been. And so is dug into with reaching hobben toes and so is seen with new hobben eyes.
The Hollow
The Hob ascends the lucid path. It stretches out as if lined with foxfire. It runs through the wood and through walls that did not exist before the path was lain. And it stretches up a mountain to an indescript patch of ground that emits the unseen light. And the mountain whispers that "it is time". That "change cannot be slain".
And so the Hob digs in and creates a hollow and enters into the cut. And finds inside the three artifacts of The Fastening. The lucid path has led to the vessel of the Dalamus with its intersecting circles and angles. And it is held. And the unseen light has led to the Engram and its occulting waves. And it is held. And it covers the Dalamus as a lid. The sound of the mountain has led the Hob to coil in and to become hollow and as a vessel. The whisper is heard. And it is held. And it covers the Hob as a dream.
The hob quivers and extends itself out. And that within unfurls. And both become the last internal piece of a great arc. And under an indescript patch of ground change is not slain. And there is thrumming on the mountain.
This cycle ends when the thrumming has ceased.
And when the Kussts begin to stir and fight to fasten and to feed.
And when the empty vessels within the hollow are full.
And when a bird of carrion rips through the earthen membrane. And dances. Then drapes its mass and make and mantle over the opening and dies there above it .
Sixth Hob Lifecycle
Molting
The Kant of Hobben Molting-
Under the carcass of the dancing bird; Layers of earth are forced through. And are lifted up. On shoulders of a form that has taken in:
The Heptagon of the Ground
and the vessel and the future and the past and the sound
and the omicron of the weight under pantheonic crown.
And as sides give way to unsheathe the form that cuts away the cold
A menace of the seething thing
Comes from within the mold
It's flat of brow and flight of feet
With Tak'levash it's filled
And in the middle where they meet
Is held the tool to kill.
It's better known and better said
To have a waking dream
Than have it turn to gore-ish mass
To make the unheard scream.
For now the nightmare comes to fight
And since the grave is dug
The unawakened are the home
For tool and tooth and bug.
Mantling (Practical Descriptive)
"The words of warriors do not matter- The sword of the wise does not cut" Early hobben utterance
This is the cycle that most will encounter the Hob. They will during this part of the sixth cycle follow their path and each hob will have a distinctly different one.
They will become more enhanced as the Mantle of the bird that is sewn onto their shoulders first bristle and then plume. Their beastly apparatus gained through the process of Unbinding Fear becomes fully mature and is made available to use.
They will enter into the mess of other monsters. They will learn their cultures. And fight with them.
They will seek their own culture as they hear the whispers of a Kort'tsepharrah or teacher. The path they are on will become divergent as they find erudition in Hobben arts and practices.
They will add layers to their form. And these layers will have layers. The layers are real and figurative. The Hob will weave into its form patches for their Tsarak-yyll and they will weave themselves into the fabric of monster societies.
This is the prime of the Hobs physical abilities. As the Cloud within them fester for release and by so doing provide surges of primal energy into their Hobben host.
Mantling marks the peak of earthly awareness and can blind the Hob to some of the otherworldly links that it has cause to know.
Mantling continues throughout the processes of Fighting and Fastening. And will afford the hob all that it imbues until the end of the 6th cycle. When the Hob fulfills the arc. And walks the path that extends beyond it.
Reproduction
Hobgoblyns do not cover their knees or elbows like Goblyns do unless they have a strong compulsion to do so. They can have children with other races, the child is born as the race of the Hobgoblyns mate. A Hobgoblyn is incapable of having a child with another Hobgoblyn, It is not unheard of to have a Hobgoblyn couple raise another child as their own.
Known Hobgoblyns
See Also: Horde
