Prenote: I combined features from the Tharks from John Carter and the Aiel for WoT into my own design.

Hobgoblin

Hobgoblin society unique among the civilized races. Hasty people would slap the label of evil, but the truth is somewhat more complex. They practice slavery and eugenics, have open arenas for personal combat, and are led by the strongest among them. This practice links them to their cousin races like Goblins and Orcs, but the similarity ends there.

A complex set of laws governs almost all the clans, but even more binding is their honor. Every Hobgoblin from their Chief General to the youngest Grub has a place and purpose. Order is a key part in their world. To betray the clan is among the worst of offences, and exile is a fate worse than death. This mentality in life makes them fearsome opponents, attacking and defending as one. Dissent is not tolerated.

Deep grievances can be settled in the arena, allowing time for opponents to reconcile or prepare. The arena is a focal point and a main staple of their society. This is both a place of settling scores and of gaining rank. No one gains rank above Commander. This is because there is only one Chief General per clan, two High Generals, 7 Generals, and 14 Colonels per clan. The 10 Generals form an elder’s council that decides all matters for the clan. If two clans join, a single leader is made Grand General. This rank is temporary in authority, but the honor carries for the remainder of the bearer’s life.

Law

Overall, the laws Hobgoblins follow are simple and mostly universal. Murder, Stealing, Rape, Lying, and Desertion bring great shame to the perpetrator and the punishments can be quite harsh. The arena is a legal recourse for killing, and murder points to cowardness to openly challenge a foe. The only sexual related crimes are breeding without permission or producing Unborn.

Slavery

Hobgoblins do not buy, sell, or trade in slaves. Nor can they be born to it. For them, each crime that does not carry instant death or exile has a price. This price can be paid through spoils or by service. Victims of a crime receive this price or service, and the clan receives if the crime had no victim or the clan itself suffered. The offender is made a slave until the debt is paid off. After the service is render, the crime is atoned for and it is dishonorable to mention it again unless the offender commits the same offence again. Repeat offenses increase the shame and so the price.

Sex

Physically, Hobgoblins defer very little in size and shape. Since they do not breastfeed, they had no breasts, and females can be just as muscular as males. At around 20, they reach sexual maturity, and can produce children throughout their lives. Females go into heat about twice a year, and duty rotations ensure heats are not missed.

While not open or flaunting of their sexuality, Hobgoblins do mate for pleasure. In some ways, theirs is the most progressive of societies. Males and females are equal, so sex is both a release of stress and a hope of producing superior offspring. Mated pairs are not married in the human sense but paired by the breeding experts based in their extensive records.

Despite the arranged nature of the couplings, they display great loyalty to their mate. The only exception is at the hatching of an Unborn. This act shames both parents and they are marked and reassigned. Should a marked parent fail again, they are no longer allowed to breed.

As an interesting note, they are one of the only species that can breed outside their species. Females have a wider range of acceptable species, but males can reproduce with most mammalian races. Outsider are bred with the hope of bringing more desirable traits into the clan and species as a whole.

Eggs

Successful breeding results in the female laying a small, fertilized egg about the size of a fist after about a week. Over then next 24 months the egg grows, and fully formed Grub emerges. They are mostly laid as single, but as with other races multiple eggs can be laid simultaneously. In rare cases, egg twins can be born. Since these identical twins are hatched from the same egg, they possess an unusual bond.

Unborn

About 20% of all eggs are Unborn. This means that they are either unhatched, or more rarely (about 3%), hatch into deformed creatures. They are disposed of as a mercy.

Grubs

Once hatched, Grubs are functionally identical to human toddlers in most respect. They are cared for by their birth parents or surrogate parents for orphans until their 4th year.

Maggots

On their 4th year, they are tested and trained in weapons and duties depending on their aptitudes. For the 6 years of this phase, they learn their vocation by day, and taught about their clan and race after work. At 10, they are put into training units until they are 14, and then they are deployed to a regular unit.

Origins

Legends of the 1st Age tell of the followers of Myknos who were consumed by vengeance as their god was. Once they had destroyed the last of the invading foes, they found themselves different from others not only by ideology, but not by appearance as well. Had it not been for Myknos, they may well have fled in shame, but instead, they came to view the other peoples as weak for not being willing or able to fight as they did. They numbered much more then, and it is said that the war in the forests of Einth took most of their number and reduced the land to desert.

Religion

While Myknos is the patron deity of the Hobgoblins, almost all of the gods find worship within the clans. Only three are unworshipped. Hungo is a god of jungles and isolation and so has no place in their society. Coaxus is chaos incarnate, and a thing to be feared. Kyn Toran is the last of the invaders and the immortal enemy of Myknos.