"DEATH TO TARTUK!"
-The rallying cry of many Sootscale Kobolds.
The Sootscale Kobolds were a clan of Kobolds living in an abandoned tin mine in what would later become Sootscale Hill. Lead by their chieften, Chief Sootscale, the Sootscale Kobolds became involved in a feud with the Mites of Old Sycamore after the manipulation of Tartuk.
Description[]
Kobolds are small, reptilian humanoids who carry physical similarities to true dragons. They lurk in dark spaces, usually tunnels and mines beneath the earth, in either warrens of their own design or, in the case of the Sootscale Kobolds, complexes discovered and colonized after the original builders have moved on. Though kobolds are far more pragmatic than they are courageous, they use every inch of their cunning to even the playing field between themselves and other, stronger creatures. Kobolds are skilled at working together by necessity, and they often set up ambushes or hit-and-run assaults that allow them to do the most damage possible without being harmed in return. The Sootscale Kobolds followed a system of inherited leadership; the leader of the clan was always named Chief Sootscale, and when a leader died, a new one would be crowned and given the name.
History[]
The Sootscale Kobolds have been active in the Greenbelt for quite some time, and for the majority of this time they found themselves an insular and independent community, choosing to keep themselves to themselves rather than pick fights with travelers or monsters. However, this lifestyle was disrupted in 4710 AR by the arrival of an outsider-- the charlatan, Tartuk.
Tartuk was a Kobold who brought with him a Religious Idol named Old Sharptooth, a statuette of a dragon which he claimed was giving him instructions from beyond the beyond. Tartuk, actually a re-incarnated gnome who hated Kobolds with a burning passion, intended to destroy the clan from the inside out by sending them to their dooms on the orders of Old Sharptooth. Tartuk told Chief Sootscale that only intelligent Kobolds could hear the voice of Sharptooth and, not wanting to look weak in front of his clan, Sootscale pretended he could indeed understand. Slowly Tartuk became de-facto leader of the clan. When Tartuk had the Sootscales engage in a war with the Mites of Old Sycamore (a fight they could not, in the long run, win), there was an incident whereupon the statuette was stolen by the Mites, and a group of Kobolds were sent to retrieve it. Only one of them (a young scout named Mikimek) returned... and with them, he brought the Kingmakers. The Kingmakers, who had befriended Mikimek and defeated the Mites, intervened, and gave Chief Sootscale the push needed to oust Tartuk and reclaim his role as leader of the clan.
In 4711, the Kingmakers went to investigate the Sootscale Kobolds again when they heard rumours of Giant Kobolds in the area and to negotiate the potential annexation of Sootscale Hill in order to help expand the fledgling Barony of Kilcela. Chief Sootscale welcomed them to the feast he was throwing for some other guests, and hurriedly asked them to partake in negotiations. The other guests-- the Troll King, Hargulka, his cohort Nargundi and some other Troll Guards-- engaged the Kingmakers in a tense debate over whether the Sootscale Kobolds should join Hargulka's Monster Kingdom and be allowed to live as monsters independent of humanity's ideas of "civilization", or should they join Kilcela and live freely under them. Ultimately, Sootscale chose Kilcela, which lead to Sootscale Hill became its own Vassal Nation, gaining resources from Kilcela but governing itself.
Over the next few years, the Sootscale Kobolds continued to aid Kilcela. Many Kobolds joined the Kilcelan Army during the Siege of Armag's Tomb and the War of the River Kings. Mikimek & Nakpik opened up a store which became widely famous throughout Kilcela. The Sootscale Kobolds were largely untouched by the events of the Season of Bloom, and were able to flourish and prosper like never before thanks to their newfound scaleless allies.