Goblins

No nation in the formal sense — unconquered peoples of Mexico. See Peoples_Unconquered document.

Territory: Mexico — the farside landmass off the dinosaur continent's coast, formerly Catfolk homeland. Mostly jungle. Goblins were a much smaller presence before the Catfolk Diaspora; once the Catfolk were scattered by the Giants' draining of the surrounding sea, goblins spread to fill the vacuum, eventually pushing even the Dwarves out of their mountain foothold on the landmass's far side. The Giants more or less expected this, if they didn't outright intend it. See Geography, Catfolk, and Giant Kingdoms documents.

Volcanoes and worship: Mexico has several active volcanoes, and they're the wellspring of goblin religious life. Goblins worship demons — chaotic evil in the classic sense, not the lawful cruelty of devils. The two volcanoes at Mexico's southern connection to Africa (see Geography document) are the most sacred of all, and the crossing between the two landmasses runs directly past them.

Bugbears: Half-demon goblins — bigger, nastier, and fire-resistant, the result of goblin demon-worship gone furthest. Where ordinary goblins merely worship the volcanoes' patrons, Bugbears carry something of them physically.

Hobgoblins — the civilized branch: Lawful, orderly goblins, and the ones most likely to actually leave Mexico. The overwhelming majority who do end up in Ssyrathis (Spain), where their aptitude for hierarchy and organization made them the Medusa aristocracy's administrative and military caste — see Ssyrathis document. Hobgoblins hold the Yoke Sigil: cruel law, caste without justice, the machinery of order with none of its fairness. They follow a sister archdevil to Shemazar, the fallen being the Giants trace their ancestry to — lawful evil devils rather than the chaotic evil demons their Mexico-dwelling kin worship. See Religion and Giant Kingdoms documents.

The Cinder Sigil: Ordinary goblins (the ones who stay in Mexico) hold the Cinder Sigil — fire and lava, drawn from the volcanoes they worship at. It comes at a cost: using it burns the bearer. Sits outside the thirteen Great House Sigils, alongside the Giants' Bone Sigil and the Hobgoblins' Yoke Sigil. See The Sigil Houses document.

Medusae: A goblin subspecies, not a separate Greek/Roman import — the snake curse runs in goblin blood. Most who bear it left for Ssyrathis generations ago and used that same curse's raw power to take the top of the hierarchy the Hobgoblins had already built there — see Ssyrathis document. Not all of them left. A number of wild Medusae still live in Mexico, uncounted and unaffiliated with the Monster Kingdom's court.

The Feathered Serpent: Mexico's dragon rules over the goblins from a Demesne of his own — gold, charisma, and no small amount of direct power. Goblins serve him, but their actual devotion runs to their volcano-patrons, not to him, which makes keeping them functional a constant, active effort on his part rather than a settled fact. See Dragons document.

Ruins they live among, not built: The jungle-covered landscape goblins now hold is dotted with Catfolk ruins across all of Mexico, and old Dwarven ruins in the mountains on the far side. Goblins didn't build any of what's under their feet — they inherited a landscape two other peoples lost.

Note on "unconquered": Goblins are unconquered in the sense that matters for this document — no nation (Giants included) has taken Mexico. The Feathered Serpent ruling from within is a different kind of power entirely, old and personal rather than national, and doesn't change that status.

Open: goblin social/political structure beyond "unconquered and demon-worshipping"; specific demon patrons; how the Giants' expectation/intent around the goblin takeover actually played out or is remembered; full Cinder and Yoke Sigil mechanics (first drafts live in The Sigil Houses document).