Small, Smaller, Snotling

Author: MHP

Here follows a short description of the snotlings and their lives.

Snotlings are the smallest and the weakest of the goblinoid species, standing only just over two feet tall, the females being slightly smaller. They have slender build with spindly arms that almost reach the ground and rather short legs. Both their fingers and toes are equipped with sharp nails but those are too small to be used significantly in fights. Proportional to their bodies, snotlings have large heads and facial features; mouth set with a row of sharp teeth, eyes with large round pupils, noses with flapping nostrils and large and pointy ears. Their skin colour varies greatly; usually light brown, grey or green but it differs little as snotlings are usually covered in filth, completely hiding their true colours. Snotlings are completely devoid of any body hair. In short; they look very similar to goblins in miniature size. A typical snotling lives for about 15 years before dying of old age and takes only three years to reach adulthood. But a snotlings age is very difficult to determine, even that of the youngsters.

As well as being the smallest and weakest of the goblinoid species, snotlings are also the dumbest. They possess little more than animal intelligence but they also have natural animal cunning. This makes them naive and simplistic but also shrewd and subtle. The memory of an adult snotling is very bizarre; it doesn't remember anything further than a day or so at a time but retains the long term memories from its first years. Therefore it is virtually impossible to teach an adult snotling anything new and they don't learn from any new experiences, except in rare cases caused by great trauma. This causes a snotling that is captured by any other species to be impossible to deal with as it only has one thing on its mind, and that is to escape.

Even though they resemble the other goblinoid races greatly, snotlings are too simple to identify the similarities and see the others just as they would any other species. Therefore they suffer from no inter-goblinoid animosity as most of the others do. Too dumb to be classified as an evil race, the snotling are neutral. But they do have a very primitive sense of humour and dastardly tendencies which make them perhaps look more evil than they really are. Snotlings speak a very simplified form of the common goblinoid tongue, called Snotgob, which reflects their intellectual level perfectly.

The habitats of the snotlings are found deep inside dense and dark forests and are very basic. Usually they burrow underground and excavate many reasonably large rooms connected with a network of narrow tunnels. These frequently are excavated along tree roots and under rock and trees. There is no special order to their habitats and all the rooms serve the same purpose. The rooms, as well as the tunnels are covered in accumulated items, various growth and filth let alone hordes of snotlings. The burrows are usually completely dark but the occasional snotling colony grows luminescent mushrooms that give off a very faint light. Individual snotlings have no personal belongings and therefore simply drop any items when they stop using them anywhere within the habitat. The only items that can be said are personal belongings of each and every individual are the clothes; these consist of crude loincloths and other rags. Everywhere there are patches of mould and fungi growth, grown as weapons as well as sustenance, and piles of filth, snotling excrement mixed with other types. That, as well as the inhabitants, is all parts of the one big mess that the snotling habitat is. Occasionally the filth starts to clog the tunnels or even the rooms and that's when the snotlings push some of their accumulated filth outside of their burrows. Even though the entrances to a snotling burrow are hidden, they are usually easily identified by the foul smelling piles of filth that litter the area around them. In short; on the inside as well as on the outside it all looks really bad, but smells a lot worse.

Literally rolling around in it all their lives results in snotlings to be constantly smeared in filth from top to toe. This hides many of their true physical appearances such as skin colour, and smelling absolutely horrendous. But it also provides them a powerful immunity system as well as making them completely immune to the various types of mould spores. A snotling knows no personal hygiene, in fact, the worse they smell the more prestige they accumulate amongst the tribe and they take good care to develop their own. Snotlings have good senses, but none surpasses that of smell. Even though most snotling burrows are darkened, the inhabitants use their sensitive eyes, which provide them with a night vision of 10 yards, to navigate as well as their good hearing but most notably they go by their sense of smell which allows them to identify other individuals and even locate them.

There is no real social structure within snotling society; it is on a very basic level. There is the prestige gained from the way they smell but that really gives them no authority or power except being more popular with the opposite sex. Snotling societies have a primal form of collective mind; there are no leaders, no set roles and no special purpose beyond survival. The only exception is that the males go out on gatherings to collect food and items and thus take a break from the work to be done inside and around the burrow. The females only leave the burrow when some work can or needs to be done in the nearest surrounding area. Snotlings are extremely sociable and are really only comfortable in the company of a large group of other snotlings. In fact, they hate being alone and are terrified of it, to no end. Even a small group of snotlings are generally afraid. Therefore, snotlings that don't outnumber their opponents by at least ten to one are subject to fear. A lone snotling is subject to terror, but under such circumstances its basic animal instinct kicks in and it also becomes subject to frenzy. Snotlings have no personal ambitions or goals but they do possess a basic survival instinct. Therefore there are no firm rules in their society, and there really is no need for those.

Snotlings are just about intelligent enough to use tools and weapons but they can't, or at least don't, manufacture them themselves and this includes their ragged clothing. So every item they use are found, captured or stolen from other creatures. The snotlings, however, can convert items they acquire to fit their own needs. The tools they use are mostly used to either clean out or excavate their burrow when needed, to gather foodstuffs or as weapons. Most frequent weapons are spears, axes and clubs as well as other weapons with wooden handles that don't have too large and heavy heads and can be shortened and cut down to size and daggers and knives, which actually are used as swords by the small snotlings. They never use bows. Snotlings also favour nets to ensnare and immobilize their enemies or prey. But the most dangerous of weapons the snotlings employ are mould spores. Being immune to the effects of spores themselves, snotlings can use them without any concern of affecting their own. These spore weapons are most frequently simple bags or small containers that are thrown at their enemies up to a distance of 15 yards, spilling their contents of spores on impact and instantly creating a cloud with about five yard radius. But sometimes these bags are tied at strategic points to their nets to cover anyone caught in them or even tied to axes or spears that are thrown at the enemy, but those cases are rare. The most frequent types of spores used are those from red and yellow mould but there are numerous other types used as well. Snotlings never use fire; they aren't afraid of is as such but they are uncomfortable around it and they don't know how to make it anyway.

Snotlings never attack other creatures unless when hunting for food or equipment or if forced to defend themselves. They will always try to flee if they do not outnumber their opponents by at least ten to one, but if force to fight under such circumstances, they will use guerrilla hit and run tactics. They only fight openly if their numbers are at least ten times more than their opponents' numbers and they will quickly withdraw if it drops below that. When out hunting, snotlings make strange low yelping sounds, something that can quite terrify their prey. They do this to drive the prey in certain directions where they have set up an ambush. Therefore it is rare that snotlings attack without their targets knowing of their presence but they are experts in hiding and moving silently in the forest so it is very likely that they haven't been spotted. Snotlings also tend to play various tricks on any intelligent creatures that come too close to their habitat, but never anything dangerous to the recipients unless those are hostile. Occasionally they raid villages in the forests. This they only do at night and only to steal items, never to physically harm anyone although that happens on occasion when somebody accidentally is in the way. This has also strengthened the belief in the dastardly tendencies of the snotlings as they always leave less welcome products behind, such as their excrement, in the weirdest places. Even though they do hunt other creatures and raid villages for food, snotling diet consists almost entirely of fungi and mosses as well as various roots. Snotlings are very curious by nature. Their non-violent, take only what you need way of thinking along with the curiosity causes them to often approach members of the other races warily when not out hunting, if outnumbering them by at least twenty to one and never if the subjects are more numerous than three. If the subjects don't make any moves that might be seen as hostile or threatening by the snotlings, the snotlings come up close just to have a good look at and examine them, only to disappear back into the forest again.

Snotlings have no real concept of deities and their religion is therefore a very basic one. Generally they worship the fanciest piece of equipment they have collected as a higher power but there are no rituals, offerings or anything similar. Still, the area around the "god" is usually the one in the burrow that is covered in most filth. Snotlings possess no controlled magic although they are very magic sensitive and in tune with magical energies. This sensitivity provides them with a +20 bonus to any Magic tests they have to make and as well is the cause for the occasional magical manipulative snotling being born. These snotlings are born with some very basic magical abilities that able them to gather and release magical energies. At first this happens spontaneously, usually when the subject is under emotional stress, but in time it can learn to control and manipulate the energies to a limited extent. Such snotlings are treated as having 2d3 MPs, occasionally a few more and they can cast spells similar to some petty magic and druidic magic of levels 1-2. But these spells are always adjusted to the snotling frame of thought. These rare individuals are seen as blessed by the "god" and usually elevated above the status of a normal snotling.

Snotlings have long been a nuisance to remote human settlements but never anything that warranted an all out hunt for the little creatures. This has changed rapidly, mainly for the sake of two things, and snotlings are now highly sought after. The first is the coming of and especially the increasing popularity of Snotball. The second and much weightier is the recent discovery of the capabilities of the snotling nose. A well trained snotling is now worth its weight in gold as people use them to seek out delicacies such as truffles and the rare and expensive Purple Toe mushroom. They are also used to find more shady ingredients, such as the Madman's Cap, which is the main ingredient for the illegal hallucinogenic drug called Madman. But catching a live snotling that is still young enough to receive the proper training is a difficult task and the snotling hunters don't really know how old the snotlings they catch are or how young they must be. One really can only determine that by trial and error. This has led to a great amount of snotlings, mostly non-trainable adults, to having been taken to human civilisation. Being quite expensive, the snotlings will often suffer very harsh treatment before their new masters finally give up on training them and sell them rather cheap to a snotball team or as a snack for bigger creatures kept as pets or in pits. The once scarce snotball 'balls' are now flooding the market leading to a more brutal treatment of them in the matches. This all has led to decreasing number of snotlings throughout the Empire, once they were scarce, now they have become rare and even extinct in certain parts.