Kobuk is a rugged mountain territory in the central Wurmspine range, bounded by the Hellion Hills to the north and the Hills to Nowhere to the south. It is home to the surviving Coghead goblins—refugees from two genocides who have built something remarkable in their exile.
The mountains here are steep and defensible, riddled with natural caves and old mining tunnels. The Cogheads have expanded these into a vast underground complex, combining the inherited craft they carry, an aether-fed fleshcraft handed down from a lost age, with desperate necessity. Kobuk is fortress, forge, and hidden city all at once.
The Cogheads
The Coghead goblins were once partners with the Echi gnomes of Echea, working the Iri Mountains together in a collaboration that lasted generations. Gnomes provided elemental magic; goblins provided the aether-fed graft-craft carried down their line. Together they made works neither people can raise again.
Then came the first massacre, two centuries ago. The partnership ended in blood. The Cogheads were driven from Echea, scattered across the continent. Some found refuge in Kobuk.
Fifty years ago came the second genocide. Echea decided to finish what they'd started. Every Coghead within reach was hunted down and killed. The Echi don't talk about it. The sealed chambers and abandoned workshops in the Iri Mountains tell the story they'd prefer to forget.
The survivors in Kobuk are what remains. Perhaps three thousand goblins, maybe fewer—they don't share population figures with outsiders. They've had fifty years to dig in, build up, and prepare for the day Echea decides to try again.
Geography
Kobuk occupies a stretch of the Wurmspine roughly thirty miles north to south, characterized by steep-sided valleys, narrow passes, and peaks that reach above the treeline. The surface appears inhospitable—bare rock, thin soil, little vegetation—but this is by design. The Cogheads have made the surface deliberately uninviting, concentrating their civilization underground.
The northern border with the Hellion Hills is marked by increasing volcanic activity and rising temperatures. The Cogheads maintain watch-posts there, monitoring both the natural hazards and any approach from the north.
To the east lies more Wurmspine territory, eventually leading to Tarkhon-aligned lands. To the west, the mountains give way to the Westwilds and Twaan Forest territory. The southern border descends into the Hills to Nowhere—remote highlands that provide buffer space but little else.
The Warrens
Beneath Kobuk's surface lies the Coghead civilization: a network of tunnels, chambers, and underground halls collectively called the Warrens. This is where the goblins live, work, and build.
The Warrens are divided into functional districts:
The forges are where the surviving craft is kept alive: Aether drawn from the air and fixed, grafts cut and fitted into flesh, star-metal worked, and the relics of the lost age kept in repair. They run constantly, powered by geothermal vents tapped from the Wurmspine's volcanic roots. The heat from the Hellion Hills to the north provides additional energy.
The Sanctums: Living quarters, organized by extended family groups. Space is tight but efficiently used—the Cogheads have had generations to optimize underground living.
The Vaults: Storage for food, water, materials, and the graft-work and salvaged relics the Cogheads consider too dangerous or valuable to keep in active use. Access is tightly controlled.
The Deeps: Tunnels that extend far below the main Warrens, into rock that predates the Wurmspine. The Cogheads mine here, extracting metals and minerals for their forges. They've found other things in the Deeps as well—old ruins, strange crystals, sealed chambers they've chosen not to open.
Griznak's Heart
At the center of the Warrens lies Griznak's Heart—the Cogheads' capital and their most heavily defended position. Named for the chieftain who led the first refugees to Kobuk, the Heart is a vast natural cavern expanded over generations into a functioning city.
The Reliquary
Unlike the dispersed forges throughout the Warrens, Griznak's Heart holds what the Cogheads keep closest: the largest relics carried out of the lost age, graftings too dangerous to attempt near living quarters, and the archive of the surviving craft itself, the patterns and workings rescued from the genocides. It is the whole inherited art in one place, held by a line small enough that its loss would end the craft.
The centerpiece is the Perpetual Engine, a relic out of the lost age that the Cogheads have kept running since their arrival and that none of them can fully read. Some say it drives the Warrens' ventilation. Others claim it is a weapon, primed and waiting. The Cogheads do not explain, and outsiders never get close enough to examine it.
Governance
The Heart serves as the seat of Kobuk's Keepers of the Craft, the master-grafters who make decisions for the community. Meetings are contentious, technical, and conducted in a dialect of Goblin so thick with the cant of grafting and aether-work that even fluent speakers struggle to follow.
The Keepers do not rule so much as coordinate. Coghead society runs on skill and reputation; their authority extends only as far as their collective competence justifies. Bad decisions get overturned. A master of the craft gets listened to. It is messy, but it has kept them alive.
Defenses
If Kobuk ever falls, Griznak's Heart will be the last holdout. The approaches are trapped, fortified, and designed to collapse on command. The Cogheads have spent fifty years preparing for a siege they expect will eventually come. Every tunnel can become a chokepoint. Every working can become a weapon. The Heart will not fall easily, and taking it will cost more than it's worth.
Relations
With Echea: Pure, cold hatred. The Cogheads remember both genocides in detail, preserved in their archives and taught to every child. They expect a third attempt and have spent fifty years preparing for it.
With Tarkhon: Cautious trade. The empire values Coghead star-metal work; the Cogheads value imperial gold and the buffer of Tarkhon-aligned territories between themselves and Echea. Neither side trusts the other, but both benefit.
With the Twaan: Practical cooperation. The Twaan Forests border Kobuk to the west, and both peoples share a suspicion of outsiders. They trade occasionally—fire-wood for star-metal tools—and respect each other's boundaries.
With the Hellion Hills: The Cogheads monitor the hills carefully. They hire out as guides when the price is right, but they don't claim the territory. The fire ley line makes it too unstable, and Hermelia's Lair still radiates danger. Better to watch from a distance.
What Travelers Should Know
- The surface of Kobuk is unwelcoming by design. The Cogheads want visitors to feel uncomfortable.
- Entry to the Warrens requires permission from the watch-posts. Attempting to find your own way in is treated as hostile action.
- Trade happens at designated surface markets, not in the Warrens themselves. The Cogheads bring goods up; buyers don't go down.
- Don't mention Echea. Don't ask about the genocides. Don't suggest the Cogheads should "move on" or "forgive." The wounds are fresh, and the Cogheads have long memories.
- Star-metal goods are available but expensive. The Cogheads set prices; negotiation is limited. Take it or leave it.