Thank you!!!
D&D 5E Fey Hobgoblins, where did they come from? What are they for?
- Thread starter darjr
- Start date
Thank you!!!
Quickleaf
Legend
The furthest back I can think of is Caer Sidi – it was one of the alternate worlds PCs could access through Lolth's Demonweb in Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980). In Caer Sidi, the rulers were baroque, scheming, haughty, and coldly pragmatic elves who were burned by the touch of steel or iron (I believe this was a riff on the faeries in Poul Anderson's novel Three Hearts and Three Lions). They had a number of enslaved creatures, including goblins, and were allied with a group of hobgoblins that lived in that alternate world. Can't recall / find much more, as I don't own Q1 anymore.
EDIT: Ah, Caer Sidi is also mentioned in Fiendish Codex: Hordes of the Abyss on page 124. Quick quote: "A community of just under 100 elves calling themselves “the Pharisees” command this castle, bolstered by an impressive army of hobgoblins, gnomes, and trolls. The neutral evil elves, led by the ambitious Duke Alfric (NE male elf fighter 7/wizard 11), make slaves of their world’s dwarves, orcs, and kobolds, but greet visitors warmly with promises of a feast in their honor."
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Lyxen
Great Old One
The doorway looks out from the edge of a thickly overgrown garden of drooping weeds and gnarled, rotting, mildewed trees. Through the trees, the beginnings of a neatly manicured lawn can be seen approximately 200 feet away. The grass extends as far as the eye can see and is dotted with orderly copses and bright flower beds. About a quarter of a mile away atop a small hill stands a small castle, its tall turrets showing fluttering pennons in the light breeze. Its walls are ivory in shadow and glisten slightly with rainbow colors where the light strikes. Many windows pierce the upperstories, making the structure seem lacy thin. An artificial twilight seems to hang over the land and the sun is apparently always behind a bank of clouds.
This is the Kingdom of Caer Sidi. The land is ruled by a group of elves, neutral (with evil tendencies) in alignment. Calling themselves the Pharisees, they form the ruling class. Other creatures in the land include their occasional allies (hobgoblins,gnomes, and trolls), their servants and slaves (dwarves, orcs, gnomes, and kobolds), and all manner of wild, mythological beasts (unicorns, griffons, dragons, manticores, and so forth).
The Pharisees are highly self-oriented and sophisticated. This will often cause them to do what might be seen as evil acts for the "good of all" (themselves in particular). They will, when needed, ally with the evil races to protect their Kingdom and position. Privately, they practice and relish emotion but never develop a deep attachment for any individual thing or creature. They are often seen as haughty and cold.
Due to some unknown power of the land, the Pharisees cannot stand the touch of iron or steel. Any of these elves struck by a cutting weapon of iron or steel will suffer 1-6 points of damage in addition to the normal weapon damage. The elves also do not like to handle silver, although this will not bum them as does iron or steel. Because of this, all armor, weapons, and necessary metal goods are made rom copper, brass, bronze, orotheralloys with a strength equal to steel. The majority of this work is clone by dwarven or goblin slaves, and is all performed with great craftsmanship.
The gate is at the edge of an evil forest where Lolth is attempting to invadet his world. Any creatures not under Lolth's command who
come through the gate will automatically be attacked before they leave the forest. Use the Lolth's Forest encounter table to determine the attackers.
Lolth's gate is relatively new to this world, and Alfric is watching it carefully. Both he and Lolth hope to use the other for their own ends. Aifric is uncertain as to how well he can trust Lolth or his own chaotic evil allies; therefore, he acts with care. Any adventurers who arrive in the Kingdom are brought before Alfric eventually, so that he may decide their worth. If both sides are friendly, Alfric will propose an alliance for the purpose of destroying or harming Lolth.
Should the party try to attack Alfric or his domain, he will capture them (if possible) and offer them to Lolth for her amusement.
This is the Kingdom of Caer Sidi. The land is ruled by a group of elves, neutral (with evil tendencies) in alignment. Calling themselves the Pharisees, they form the ruling class. Other creatures in the land include their occasional allies (hobgoblins,gnomes, and trolls), their servants and slaves (dwarves, orcs, gnomes, and kobolds), and all manner of wild, mythological beasts (unicorns, griffons, dragons, manticores, and so forth).
The Pharisees are highly self-oriented and sophisticated. This will often cause them to do what might be seen as evil acts for the "good of all" (themselves in particular). They will, when needed, ally with the evil races to protect their Kingdom and position. Privately, they practice and relish emotion but never develop a deep attachment for any individual thing or creature. They are often seen as haughty and cold.
Due to some unknown power of the land, the Pharisees cannot stand the touch of iron or steel. Any of these elves struck by a cutting weapon of iron or steel will suffer 1-6 points of damage in addition to the normal weapon damage. The elves also do not like to handle silver, although this will not bum them as does iron or steel. Because of this, all armor, weapons, and necessary metal goods are made rom copper, brass, bronze, orotheralloys with a strength equal to steel. The majority of this work is clone by dwarven or goblin slaves, and is all performed with great craftsmanship.
The gate is at the edge of an evil forest where Lolth is attempting to invadet his world. Any creatures not under Lolth's command who
come through the gate will automatically be attacked before they leave the forest. Use the Lolth's Forest encounter table to determine the attackers.
Lolth's gate is relatively new to this world, and Alfric is watching it carefully. Both he and Lolth hope to use the other for their own ends. Aifric is uncertain as to how well he can trust Lolth or his own chaotic evil allies; therefore, he acts with care. Any adventurers who arrive in the Kingdom are brought before Alfric eventually, so that he may decide their worth. If both sides are friendly, Alfric will propose an alliance for the purpose of destroying or harming Lolth.
Should the party try to attack Alfric or his domain, he will capture them (if possible) and offer them to Lolth for her amusement.
KahlessNestor
Adventurer
The 4E Feywild supplement had a hobgoblin nation in the Feywild that was pretty important to the setting.
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
As a note, caer is a standard place name element in Welsh for "stronghold, fortress or citadel", and Caer Sidi is one of the names of an otherworld fortress King Arthur visits during a quest to take a magical cauldron from Annwn, the Welsh Otherworld, in a poem which may date back as far as the 10th century. It's believed that "sidi" here is cognate with the Irish "sidhe", for fairy folk.
Book of Taliesin - Wikipedia
caer sidi – British Fairies
Posts about caer sidi written by britishfairies
britishfairies.wordpress.com
I'm curious about that "Pharisees" business. I wonder if it's a reference to another piece of folklore or fiction. A lot of medieval and later folklore makes connections between local mythology/cosmology and Biblical history (for example , there being no preserved creation story in any of the old Irish texts; all the remaining ones append the Biblical creation story at the beginning and proceed with the history of Ireland after that).
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Hexmage-EN
Legend
KahlessNestor
Adventurer
I didn't remember a connection to Toril, but I remember reading about the kingdom (don't recall the name) in Heroes of the Feywild supplement. Given that 4e default was Nentir Veil/POL, it didn't mention Toril, but maybe the same kingdom.
I like @AcererakTriple6's take on goblins but I would think that Maglubyet's hold on the goblins is weakening since the Goblin King has returned to his Escher like labyrinthian palace in the feywild. Which is we are now finding out about the fey origins of the goblin kind now.
