Goblins were the last of the initial races of [[Innworld]] created, after the Gods brought over or created the others. No Gods laid claim to them or represented them, as their purpose was to serve as enemies for the other races, who would kill the Goblins to help them level. This was one of the "first sins of the divine," and implied to be one of the instigating factors of the final war against the gods.<ref>{{VERef|10.25 MG}}</ref>The first Goblins emerged from the sea, and met the [[Elves]] as the first race to discover them. The Elves befriended the new species and helped to teach them, in those peaceful first centuries spent swimming and fishing in the ocean.<ref name=":8" /> There were also originally no Hobgoblins at this point.<ref name=":11" />
According to [[Zineryr]], Goblins were victims in the [[God War]]<ref name=":3">[https://wanderinginn.com/2022/04/17/8-80/ Chapter 8.80]</ref>, during which they lost their family, their people, and their King.<ref name="5.51 G" /> Yet even the Elves that sided with the Gods never harmed them, and hid them from danger. After the war, the other races remembered the original purpose of Goblins and began hunting them. This gave rise to the first Goblin King, who destroyed the kingdoms still worshipping the Dead Gods. However, every subsequent Goblin King that emerged became genocidal, overcome by the first King's rage, ensuring the Goblins remained hunted throughout history.<ref name=":11" />
In one era, slave nations enslaved Goblins in the millions until the emergence of the Goblin King Parithcae the Liberator, who laid waste to the slavers and is the likely cause for the [[The Traders of Roshal|Trader of Roshal]]'s ban on Goblin slaves in the present day.<ref name=":12">{{VERef|10.36 - Pt. 1}}</ref>During the time of [[Zeladona Ischen|Zeladona]], Goblins were believed extinct by the other races, and had faded into legend.<ref>[https://wanderinginn.com/2022/12/21/9-30/ Chapter 9.30]</ref> Several centuries later, during the Long Night, there were so few tribes left that the Goblin King, Hithzerene the Scaled, had to safeguard them.<ref name=":12" />
After the fall of the Minotaur's Age of Conquest, a Goblin named [[Sóve]] the Island Queen established a settlement of Goblins on a [[Goblin Isle|floating island]], which became enemies of the [[House of Minos]]. Every year, when the two islands draw close, they enter combat, ostensibly for the House of Minos to keep them from growing too strong and sending out groups to aid other Goblins. [[Niers Astoragon]] muses who is occupying who.<ref name="IBA">[https://wanderinginn.com/2020/03/08/interlude-burning-alcohol/ Interlude: Burning Alcohol]</ref>
A few thousand years ago, the [[Blighted Kingdom]] tried using Goblins as fodder for their war with the Demons.<ref name=":13">{{VERef|10.36 - Pt. 2}}</ref>The Goblin King [[Curulac]] of the Hundred Days rampaged in [[Terandria]] for a hundred days, from which his moniker came from. He wiped out two bloodlines of the [[Hundred Families of Terandria|Hundred Families]].<ref>{{VERef|8.69 T}}</ref> His actual goal was to destroy the [[Lucifen]] and [[Agelum]], and he devastated both species to such an extent that they had to merge into one group to survive. His final gift to Goblinkind was his daughter, and later his grandson [[Greydath]].During his conquest of Chandrar, [[Flos Reimarch|Flos]] killed the last Goblin Lord of Chandrar. It's unknown if it refers to one of the old Lords, or a newly risen one at the time.<ref name=":13" />
On Baleros, the Goblin Lord [[Velan|Velan the Kind]] established his tribe as a mercenary company, powerful enough to be counted as a Great Company. While most nations didn't formally recognize Goblin's Lament as a power, his dedication to peace and trade earned the grudging respect of other species and improved the perception of Goblins. Even the [[Forgotten Wing Company]] enlisted Goblins, and [[Niers Astoragon]] wrote a book on working with Goblin mercenaries. There was hope that with his example, relations between Goblins and other species would improve.
When Velan became the Goblin King, he and his tribe carved a path of devastation towards the coast, erasing settlements and breaking every established treaty they had. Once there, they built a fleet and sailed towards Izril. A Minotaur fleet and the Archmage [[Balkizat]] engaged the army at sea to sink them, but both failed and the Archmage was killed by [[Tallis]] the Stormbreaker. Velan briefly went to the Goblin Isle to recruit them, but they refused to join him.
Velan and his nine Goblin Lords disembarked on Izril. The Goblins fought without any armor, weapons or artifacts, yet still proved a terrible force to be reckoned with.<ref name=":11" /> The first army sent against them by the humans was easily destroyed. The following force sent three days later of about a hundred thousand [Knights] and [Lancers] led by [[Fulviolo El]], [[Petria Terland]], and [[Ulva Terland]] was routed within ten minutes, with Velan personally beheading Fulviolo and Petria. Less than a hundred human survivors escaped, and the personal armies of two of the [[Five Families]] were broken.
The Goblins pushed towards [[First Landing]]. Velan and eight of the Goblin Lords besieged the city. The nobility risked their lives to directly lead their soldiers and repel the Goblins with their combined auras at great cost in the [[Sacrifice of Roses]]. The Goblin Lord [[Murmar]] was slain during the siege.
The Goblins withdrew and began a campaign of fire in the surrounding area, destroying smaller targets while First Landing remained under siege. The siege of First Landing was broken when [[Magnolia Reinhart]] attacked using the [[Crown of Flowers]], driving the Goblins back. During that time, Velan travelled to the [[High Passes]] for eight days, where he hid his treasure and was delayed by [[Teriarch]]. When he returned he had opened a pass between the north and south for the Goblins.
The Goblin forces clashed with [[Az’kerash|Az'kerash]]'s undead once, which officially ended in a stalemate,<ref>[https://wanderinginn.com/2018/06/23/s02-the-antinium-wars-pt-3/ S02 - The Antinium Wars (Pt. 3)]</ref> though in actuality, the Necromancer bought his life form the Goblin King with a payment of weapons for his treasure.<ref>{{VERef|10.35 - Pt. 2}}</ref>The campaign in southern Izril was given to Tallis the Strombreaker. He sacked port cities along the western coast and easily routed Drake armies. The [[Antinium]] attacked when the Goblins came too close to one of the Hives, resulting in Tallis destroying the first Antinium army with one spell and subsequently destroying the second and third armies sent as well, giving them their first major defeat of the war. The Antinium changed tactics and harassed the Goblins to wear them down.
In the north of Izril, multiple armies of Goblins rampaged across the continent and sailed across to [[Terandria]]. There were at least a hundred thousand Goblins in each army. Some of the Goblin Tribes of Izril refused to join Velan in his rampage, such as Mountain City, Molten Stone, and Ghostly Hand.
Niers Astoragon travelled from Baleros and entered the war, taking command of human armies to push back Greydath's forces in the east and stalemate other Goblin Lords. Though he refused to directly engage the Goblin King, as any battle against him would be disastrous.
Terandrian forces then reinforced the north with an army two hundred thousand strong, and Velan attacked them with five thousand Goblin elites. These elites were said to be comprised of Hobgoblins as strong as Gold-rank adventurers, and that some were as tall as [[half-Giants]]. More forces from Baleros and the [[Blighted Kingdom]] followed to fight the Goblins, who attacked them as soon as they landed.
Velan moved south, encircled an Antinium Hive and personally killed a Queen, causing the Antinium to pull back their forces and defend the other Queens. Tallis' forces were free to reinforce the Goblins in the north if needed.<ref>[https://wanderinginn.com/2018/06/26/s02-the-antinium-wars-pt-4/ S02 - The Antinium Wars (Pt. 4)]</ref>
After the Peace at Liscor, with the Necromancer out of the war and the Drakes and Antinium having ceased hostilities, the entire continent and foreign allies focused on the Goblins. Velan remained unassailable in his main army. [[Tyrion Veltras]] pursued an aggressive campaign against the Goblins while Magnolia linked with Niers' forces to maintain a defensive perimeter and halt the Goblin armies, seperating their forces to not be crushed by the Goblin King.
Velan and his Lords seemed determined to keep fighting to the bitter end. So the armies targeted the Goblin Lords to encircle and isolate Velan. [[Wrymvr]] killed a Goblin Lord in personal combat, and Tallis was felled by tree Archmages and [[Xrn]]. Velan amassed his remaining forces into a single army, a million strong, and marched against the combined armies sent against him.
The final battle at the [[Blood Fields|Bloodfields]]<ref>[https://wanderinginn.com/2016/10/23/1-23/ Chapter 1.23]</ref> lasted four days. Niers and the Antinium separated him from the remaining Goblin Lords so the allied armies could kill the exposed Velan. Velan killed two of the six [Generals], a Terandrian [Lord], and a Named adventurers, and pursued the retreating army. A mage bombardment then cut him off from his army, and a detachment made up of high-level [Mages] and [Archers], led by three Archmages, attempted to bombard him to death. He survived but his vanguard was wiped out, so he charged alone. That was when he was slain by [[Elia Arcsinger]].
Every Goblin on the battlefield and perhaps the world felt Velan die. The Goblin combatants were cut down while they were too grief-stricken to fight back, and fled with their morale broken. The remaining Goblin Lords save for Greydath hurled themselves into battle and were slain as the Goblin armies were destroyed. Greydath's forces held out for longer than the others. Magnolia retrieved one of the keys to Velan's treasure from his body.<ref>[https://wanderinginn.com/2018/06/26/s02-the-antinium-wars-pt-5/ S02 - The Antinium Wars (Pt. 5)]</ref>
After the war, all of Velan's efforts to make Goblins accepted were overturned. On Baleros, Goblins were hunted down until there were no visible tribes left,<ref name=":6">{{VERef|10.08 (Pt. 2)}}</ref> banned from Balerosian Monster regiments,<ref>[https://wanderinginn.com/2019/08/24/6-40-e/ Chapter 6.40 E]</ref> and Niers' books were burned en masse. The remaining tribes of Baleros are hidden.