Kobolds of Khadin

Following the liberation of the Nir slave race of old by the hand of The Foundation mafia (a great power north of the world, but rumored to have a significant secretive presence in many organizations in the middle world), the Nir had delved into arcane-sciences and created four clans of Chosen, “lifted” up from the kobold savages that were kept in the deep parts of the world by magical wards. The Chosen were the perfect servants, designed and given abilities that would suit each of them to their particular tasks, and a deep intuitive drive and desire to excel at their tasks. The Nir congratulated each other on the genesis of a race of free and willing individuals who were not slaves; they were willing servants, who found peace and joy in their work. Each of the Chosen were given different kinds of soul-tasks depending on their clan.

• The Maintainers The Maintainers were separated into a number of tribes, easily recognized by the color of their scales and fur, each responsible for different major technologies & works of grand engineering; the Waterworks, the Turbine, the Foundry, the Docks, etc. All Maintainers are literate and very skilled so as to excel at their tasks. Their design was flawed and they were born with a strong curious streak and a desire to learn of things beyond that of their soul-task. This resulted in a desire to learn new things, many began to study other languages, crafts and would develop hobbies, including brewing after they discovered beer, which then led to alchemy, which they seemed to excel at. The Nir, infuriated after a series of incidents of Maintainers speaking with outsiders, tried to breed this trait out of them, but it seemed too hard coded into their nature. Instead they placed a number of restrictions upon them, banning them from libraries and forbidding them from owning any possessions, especially brewing equipment and beer after several disastrous incidents involving drunk Maintainers. Zazaz is the last of the Waterworks Maintainers & unaware of the status of the rest of his clan.
  
  The Maintainers are a few inches taller and a little stockier than their kobold cousins and their strong prehensile tails are nearly twice in length. Their feet are slightly longer and possess an extra digit. Between the tail and their modified feet, they are able to scurry about performing their tasks like little scaly moneys. Like all of the Chosen, his scales fit together to form Nirish runes, translating into various conceptual themes of willing & joyful servitude, pride in their work, love for their task, faith and trust in the Nir, as well as more specific things, such as their designation (a code sequence), and specific soul-task. The Maintainers have several patches of fur that grow in the place of the scales, on their shoulders, forearms, a patch atop their head, calves and feet. Their scales and fur vary in coloration based on their tribe; Waterworks tribe are red, Turbine are white, Foundry are black, Docks are blue, etc. The Maintainers usually wear simple pants with pockets and pocket covered vests filled with useful tools and materials for the performance of their tasks.

• The Factotum The Factotum were responsible for general cleanliness and menial tasks of Nir; maids, sculleries, doormen, sweepers and numerous other tasks. They served in the markets and grand halls, to guild halls and personal houses and dwellings or as personal servants that would follow their patrons about. Some were even given elevated positions of honor as prep-chefs or personal assistants. The Factotum were sometimes given names by their patrons. After the Nir vanished, they were in the greatest danger from the Hunger devotees given that their soul-tasks drew them out to all of the open locations, areas where they were most likely to be seen while attending to their tasks. All of the Factotum possess dragon blood and are born capable of minor sorcery in order to allow them to excel in their job. Factotum do not have familiars, but instead have bonded objects, most often a tool of some sort. Like the Maintainers, the Factotum developed personality quirks unique to their sub-race; vanity. The Factotum preen their appearance, polish their scales and take great pride in their allowed accessories. As they are the most visible of the Chosen, the Nir did not mind this trait.
  
  The Factotum are nearly a foot taller than other kobolds, and leaner. Their scales, also designed to form Nirish runes, are silver or gold and their eyes are the color of various gemstones. They are never allowed clothing, save for collars or mantles unique to their tasks or decorated with the symbols of their patrons.

• The Drudge The Drudge worked in the sewers, ventilation shafts and in all the dark, unlikable places that are never seen. They were large and unlikeable folk. They had been created using the Heart; they are born larger and smarter than their kin and always ravenously hungry. They devoured their dead, the dead of the other Chosen that the Nir cast down to them, the waste of Nir. They cleaned the bowels of the Nirish world by devouring everything in their wake. When the Nir vanished they became the prophets and generals of the Hunger and released the kobolds from the depths into Nir and subjugated them to serve their might. They taught them the ways of their terrible master, which can be heard thundering throughout Nir every moment of every day and night. They are true horrors, living spawn of a Primordial and now with their masters gone, they are unleashed. The Drudge are always the first to eat from the dead, allowing their kobold followers to finish up the remains after they have consumed the brain, heart and reproductive organs. Only one has ever eaten of the Drudge, a dwarf of Nirish descent that they call the Scion. The specific circumstances behind this individual are not fully known, but the Drudge are splintered on the subject. Some believe that they should serve the Scion, while others believe they must consume him. Like all Chosen, the Drudge inherited strange personality traits beyond what they were programmed with; a sense of law and order. The Drudge enjoy rules and verbal contracts and while they are illiterate, they have perfect memories. They had developed their own self governing rules before the Nir had vanished and have now created a very stringent set of laws that they enforce upon the kobolds that serve them and have implemented a many tiered hierarchy with them on top as the scions of the primordial hunger they worship. Another very unexpected developed trait is their severe reaction to sunlight, which causes petrification.
  
  The Drudge stand nearly 7' in height and are very broad with a shorter blunt muzzle and short stubby tails. They were originally only 4' tall, but each generation following the originals would hatch a little larger than the previous. Their dark rust colored scales, like all the Chosen form Nirish runes. In random locations upon their body, sprout jagged blue-black crystals with alien runes that are uncomfortable to look upon - the same material and symbols that make up the Heart of Nir. Their massive sharp teeth are made of the same material. Their eyes are a unwholesome yellow. The only clothing the Drudge wore were belted harnesses equipped with a variety of scaling gear and tools useful in their work and environments.

• The Stewards The Stewards served a number of functions in important locations, such as the High Hall, crystal shrines, libraries and at the Infinity Bridge, as well as the enigmatic “Daughters of Alfred” who each served within one of the transpiration cells scattered across Nir. The Stewards were designed to be intelligent and literate, with quiet and respective natures. They performed many functions in sacred spaces, from cleaning to assisting in ceremonies and rituals. The Nir granted their own psionic talents to the Stewards so that in addition to them being trained to "know" what they need to be doing, where they need to be standing and what function is necessary of them at any given time - they also possessed psionic talents allowing them to pluck the information necessary to perform these tasks directly from the minds of others. The Stewards never speak aloud, as they were designed incapable of doing so. Instead when they must communicate, they do so through telepathy. Like the other Chosen, the Stewards developed unintended quirks, such as a psionic network that linked them with the other members of their clan throughout Nir, using the many Nirish crystals as amplifiers for their abilities. If not for their servile and loyal nature built into them, the Nir might have worried further about this, but dismissed it as a nuisance. Through this mental network, the Stewards developed a unique system of meditation and martial arts that they practice. The Daughters of Alfred possessed the advanced ability to directly commune with the ai-crystals and access their data archives.
  
  The Stewards were originally the tallest of the Chosen (until the Drudges outgrew them), standing nearly 4' 6" in height, as tall as the Nir. Their very fine scales delicately form the Nirish runes common to the Chosen are a deep emerald green with an iridescent sheen. Their muzzles and ears are longer than other kobolds. Their pale blue to grey eyes are not reptilian, but are feline, like the Nir. Stewards wear richly made hooded tabbards (with ear & tail holes) that are decorated based upon their function, and decorative bracelets on their arms and legs, dangling ornaments on their tails and hoops in their ears and snouts.

The relations that would develop between the different clans of the Chosen had not been designed by the Nir. The Maintainers and Factotum have a mildly mutual dislike for each other, Maintainers seeing the Factotum as preening lap dogs, while the Factotum see Maintainers as uncouth, dirty and obnoxious. Both feel a strong sense of respect and reverence for the Stewards (bordering on awe in the case of the Maintainers). The Druge loathe all of their kin and the Factotum and Maintainers outright fear them. The Stewards range from a gentle nurturing fondness to diplomatically neutral towards all the Chosen.

The Nir uplifted them from their kind, made them special. Gave them a purpose and a task that filled them with a sense of fulfillment and joy. It seems clear that the Nir also made them incapable of any ill regard toward them. Others would be cursing their creators for having enslaved their body, soul and mind, and then to have condemned them to an everlasting nightmare of living in fear, being hunted and ultimately savaged and eaten by their own kin.

• Kobolds Beyond the deepest levels of Nir is where the natural born kobolds lived. Considered savages by the Nir and their Chosen cousins, the kobolds were treated like vermin. Wards were created to keep them from entering Nir territory and the Nir would often send their Drudge to clear out and devour kobold lairs that came too close to the Nir boundaries. These kobolds originally did not worship the primordial hunger, but were forced to worship it when they were press ganged into serving the Drudge after the Nir vanished from the world.

There are many tribes of kobolds that remain in the depths, and some in other parts of the world, who have no affiliation with the kobolds of Nir, and are more than content with avoiding what they consider a militant cult of crazies led by monsters.