The Groundhawk Clan was a Forest Goblin clan settled in Escann. Originally from the Deepwoods, the clan was convinced to join Corin and aid her against the Greentide. While they did not join in the Battle of Castanoth, the Groundhawk clan eventually joined the Corintari under Corin’s companion Lothane Bluetusk.
History[]
Origins[]
Like all other Forest Goblins, the goblins of Groundhawk can trace their lineage back to the “Old Kingdom” (more commonly known as the Forest Goblin Kingdom). The exact emergence of the clan itself is impossible to discern, it is unlikely it emerged from the Old Kingdom’s fall. Indeed the earliest records of the clan date back about two centuries before the fall of the Verdant Veil where the Wood Elf clan of Salla Fealgarn makes mention of skirmishing with goblins heralding a bright green emblem of a hawk. During the ensuing two centuries, the Groundhawk goblins continued to skirmish with the elves, leaving them in control of a small portion of the Hunter’s Grove.
The Greentide[]
Like all the other clans, be they elf or goblin, the Greentide’s Invasion of the Deepwoods would cause great change for the Groundhawk goblins. Initially, they were forced to contend with the temporally displaced orcs of the Bloodytusk leading to a three way contest for the Hunter’s Grove.
Later, when the main host arrived, they were pushed to the furthest outskirts of the grove. With decades of experience facing against orcs, the Groundhawk clan managed to eke out an existence and even free limited numbers of Common Goblin slaves from clan Blightseed. This continued for some time until the clan encountered Corin, the avatar of Agrados.
According to multiple testimonies, Corin, upon seeing the Groundhawk clan facing off against an orcish raiding party, immediately rushed in to aid them. Her sudden charge was followed by her companions and a tow of uncertain Wood Elf volunteers. The act of selflessness enabled Corin to meet with the clan’s leaders and convince them to aid her against the Greentide. In exchange, she promised a land where the goblins could live in peace.
Upon exiting, the clan would act as a screening force enabling Corin and her circle to rejoin the gathered Marcher Lords for their march on Castanoth. The goblins, however, would not join and instead occupy themselves fending off the orcs of the Deadfang clan and securing their new home.
Settling Escann[]
Amongst the many consequences of Corin’s death at Castanoth was the lack of any influential advocate for the goblins of Groundhawk. While the newly formed Corintari would honor Corin’s promise to the Forest Goblins, the various adventurer companies that left Castanoth to reclaim Escann would not.
As with much of Escann, the initial decades the lands controlled by the Groundhawk clan and its neighbors embroiled in a low intensity struggle. To the north, the chief conflict was with the adventurers of the Order of Ashen Rose as well as the levies of Count’s League to the north. For much of this period, the struggle largely consisted of various villages and outposts periodically changing hands and minor skirmishes involving adventurer parties and small groups of goblins.
Punctuating this would be the First Escerfork War, where a number of adventuring parties would attempt to dislodge the goblins from their main village in Medirleigh. Though the force of some several hundred was never directly defeated in battle, the three month war ultimately ended in status quo ante bellum as the goblins made the logistics to support the drive impossible.
During this same time, raids and counter raids would be a constant in the south against the orcs of Deadfang and Heartgrinder. A century plus of warfare with orcish clans combined with animosity from freed Common Goblin slaves combined with the general dismissive attitude of the orcs ensured that no normalization of relations were ever attempted. Only with the resurgence of Marhold and thus a common threat did these raids largely cease.
Joining the Corintar[]
By the 1470s, the disparity in organization, manpower, and equipment had grown too great for the Groundhawk clan. The breakout of the Second Escerfork War Medirleigh taken by the Order of Ashen Rose within a month. Resistance, while fierce, proved ineffectual. Victory was all but assured for those of the Ashen Rose until the unexpected intervention of the Grandmaster of Corintar, Lothane Bluetusk.
As spoken by contemporaries and in his own memoirs, Corin’s promise to the Groundhawk clan was amongst the many her legacies that Lothane seemed to have taken personally to uphold. For much of that time, however, Lothane was forced to contend with the threats to the north and keeping the Corintar itself together. With the destruction of the Groundhawk clan imminent, the Grandmaster moved quickly to act. Leveraging the influence and respect he had slowly and humbly built amongst the neighboring adventurers and Escanni remnant states, Lothane would broker a peace allowing the Forest Goblins to settle Corintari lands for the clan’s former lands.
The peace, while a bitter one, was accepted by the remnants of the Groundhawk leadership if only thanks to the long standing efforts of Lothane and the Corintar over the previous decades.
Dissolution and the Escanni Wars of Consolidation[]
By the time the mural of Castellos was discovered in 1511, the Groundhawk clan had ceased to exist as a separate entity. Instead, now known as Groundhawk Goblins, those who descended from the old clan would become one of the many races that made up the emerging Corintari culture.
They, like the rest of the Corintar, would be swept by the zeal of Corinism and play a heavy part in ensuing Corinite Crusades. During this time in the 16th century, goblin adventurers even became commonplace within Corintari adventuring parties with one group even discovering the ancient remnants of the Old Forest Goblin Kingdom. However, this home and growing acceptance in Escann was shattered by the War of Treachery in 1617.
With Esthili forces occupying much of the former Corintar, the magecratic leadership quickly took to purging the Groundhawk Goblin population. Those who managed to escape would flee to the Blademarches as refugees. Those who could not eventually served as slaves, either living or undead.