A sample of writing practice wherein your host, Mythusmage, shows off his erudition and amuses himself with idle speculation.

This particular exercise involves the old German sprite, the kobold. The kobold as it exists in the world of Dragon Earth; a fantasy/alternate history version of the world we know. It is, you might say, the first draft of a work in progress detailing the kobolds of Dragon Earth in all their various forms. I actually get this thing finished I' m thinking of having it published in PDF format for sale through one or more PDF vendors.

But you're not here to hear about my plans for this thing, you're here to hear about kobolds. :)

Introduction

The kobold of folklore was a domestic spirit, much like the English hobbit or brownie. They lived in the hidden places in a home, engaging in small pranks and helping around. By and large they helped the diligent and studious, and hindered the lazy. With the expansion of the German hardrock mining industry in the 16th century tales of kobolds soon started being told in the mines.

As before they were assistants to those who worked hard, and foes of slackers. They also became infamous for petty theft, stealing tools, meals, water, and newly smelted metals. At their worst they could go so far as to steal the very air a man breathed.

Other than air the most important item kobolds stole was silver. The ore would reach the smelter, but what the smelter produced would not be silver, but nickel or cobalt instead. (Nickel coming from 'nickel silver' or 'Devil's Silver', while cobalt comes from the German kobold.)

Early in the history of Dungeons & Dragons® the principal author, Gary Gygax needed a monster to present to his players during their forays into Greyhawk Castle. But he needed something that would be more an annoyance than a real threat. Being a widely read man (chap has a huge library) he thought of kobolds from German lore. A bit of work adapting the creatures to his purposes and the original D&D® kobold was born.

Originally kobolds in D&D® were sort of doglike, and mamallian. But Gary included in his description the note that some kobolds have greenish fur. Evidently from algae growing in or on the hairs, as with sloths and captive polar bears living in warm climes. An artist (whom Gary doesn't name) somehow came to the conclusion that this meant kobolds were reptilian, with scales. (As you can see this sort of misapprehension is not peculiar to politics and economics. :) )

Over the course of time kobolds as advanced reptiles became the paradigm. In due course it became official. In Dungeons & Dragons® v3.5 kobolds are small reptilian humanoids said to be related most closely to dragons.

I, on the other hand, much prefer kobolds as mammals. So in this work I made them mammals. To be specific, primates. Pets, if you would, of a minor deity name of Kurt (he's a rather informal guy). But all that belongs in the body of this work, not the introduction.

Natural History

Kobolds are small animals. They are descended from a common ancestor of the modern Rhesus Macaque and look very much like an anthropomorphized monkey.

Height is around 3 feet, weight about 35 pounds. The skeleton is gracile, but the typical kobold is tougher than it looks. Males tend to be slightly larger than females.

Young are born after a 5 month gestation and are effectively helpless for about a year afterwards. Kobolds grow slowly, reaching adolesence around the age of 11, and full maturity at 25 (much like humans).

New born infants are blond with pink skin. As they mature the young grow steadily darker. How dark they get depends on where they live. in the far north kobolds can stay blonde into advanced age. At the equator they become much darker.

By the age of 5 a kobold is usually a light brown in color. Juveniles and adult females are most often a medium brown, with young adult males shading into a dark brown.

Mature males have black fur. Sub-dominant males develop a white ruff around the neck, with dominant males developing a bristling crest of white hairs on the head and down the spine.

All kobolds have a small tail.

Social Life

All kobolds live in troops numbering from 8 to 50 members. In the typical troop there are 1 or 2 dominant males, another 3 to 6 sub-dominant males, and around 5 to 10 mature males. There are about 10 to 20 mature females, with juveniles and infants rounding things out.

It is said the elves taught Man art, the dwarfs taught Man engineering, and the kobolds taught Man politics. They politic all the time. Gladhanding, interacting, a constant round of shmoozing and networking. While kobolds rarely hold formal meeting about anything most every decision involving a troop is thoroughly discussed until a consensus is reached and a decision made.

In emergencies and other times the troop leader makes the decisions instead. Most often concerning matters of grave import. Or where breeding is concerned. Where the last is concerned it is the dominant and sub-dominant males who get the first choice of females. With mature males having to use subterfuge to gain partners. Though abundant resources tends to relax the rules a bit.

Troop Leaders

While something of an autocrat by any measure, the troop leader leads with the sufference of the led. Bullies and tyrants rarely last long, and are often killed by the rest of the troop. If a leader threatens the young in any way, he can expect to be beaten to death by the females.

His word is law, under the right conditions. Most often the right conditions are set by consulting with his people, taking their advice under consideration, and practicing the fine art of persuasion. While it is possible for the troop leader to force his decisions on the troop, that practice tends to end tragically for the male.

(And that's what I have so far. Any feedback and suggestions would be nice. I'll be re-working the text and presenting it when ready. Should be tons more regarding kobolds (according to Mythusmage) coming up. I hope you enjoyed it.)

(Originally published at Mythusmage Opines)