The Apocryphal History of the Mole Tribe

[tropic]

This unremarkable book can be found in a half-rotted binding on the lowermost shelf in a forlorn corner of Curios & Epistles. Many of the pages have been torn out or defaced.

 

This journal donated to the library of Old Port anonymously, with the following dedication:

“By the strength of our backs, the virtue of our characters and the guidance of our forebears, we have carved a new city, a free city – a sanctuary for all goblinkind!” - General Firespit XLVII, of Gobwarren

  Tarsakh 23:
I've finally done it! This will be the find that makes my career and provides for my dear wife and son for life - the validation of a lifetime spent in study and travel.

 The caverns at the site are some of the grandest ever beheld by human eyes. Great statues abound, scattered between massive civic buildings, temples, roadways and libraries. This was truly a culture that celebrated the earth and their place in it.

Mirtul 16:
Excavation is proceeding as planned. We've found what appears to be a great historical library. Many of the tomes are undamaged, having sat in the dry air, protected from rain and mold. Being the prime director, I've reserved the books for myself. I shall be the one to finally reveal the history and importance of the settlement.

 The residents of this place seemed to venerate both the stone and the creatures who burrowed in it. Oddly, we've found many statues which seem to depict small figures about the size of halflings, though the good folk are not known for living in such extensive tunnel networks.

Flamerule 2:
I've received word from home. My son is hale and strong and will soon be able to travel along with me, learning at my side. I miss my family, but know that with my work here, our name shall soon be as famous as any in the realms.

I tend to administration by day, but tonight I shall begin translation. The mystery of who built the city compels my curiosity.
 
 I am visited by great scholars, traders, and nobles alike, all seeking my favor and opinion. The scholars have already begun to postulate histories and theories of the occupants. I look forward to soon becoming very rich – but I believe that there is something else of significance, here. Some essential secret that may change the way we live forever...

Flamerule 4:
Preliminary translations have begun, but I must be making some mistake. This is all wrong.

Several pages intervene, with notes and sketches scattered amidst rotting pages. The notes include translations of historical accounts and speeches, prophecies and rituals. The sketches seem to depict statues of large badgers and moles being ridden by small humanoid figures.

Flamerule 18:
No, no. It can't be wrong! I've checked and re-checked. My knowledge of the script and language is flawless. From what I have translated so far, I've constructed a framework of their history.

The original clan can be traced back to a Drow slave pit and goblin breeding facility. It seems that a goblin was born there, gifted with magic of a most powerful nature and somehow undetectable and uncontrollable by the dark elves. This goblin, who would take the epithet “The Prophet Talpidex,” was blind. He learned to communicate with the burrowing rodents of the Underdark and, strangely enough, developed great compassion for his fellow slaves.

Over the course of some two to three years, Talpidex used his magic to create an escape tunnel and, by orchestrating a slave result, was able to lead several hundred goblins and others to freedom.

Eventually, they would found a settlement under Talpidex's leadership. They would call it “Gobwarren.”

The goblins, alongside citizens of many other races who were tolerated and granted full citizenship, lived in peace for some years under Talpidex's leadership, even codifying a comprehensive legal system. Shortly after Talpidex's death; however, the settlement came under attack by a neighboring clan of Deep Gnomes, and, over the course of years, came near to ruin.

A group of Talpidex's most devout disciples, led by an enigmatic goblin known only as "Frodderick," abandoned the city. They escaped to the surface by way of tunnels hewn through the deep stone, which they would demolish behind themselves.

Having reached the surface, they established another settlement – "Frodderick's Landing." The settlement persisted for generations as a utopia, as a long and uninterrupted series of enlightened leaders were able to maintain power and guide the city to prosperity and great success in refinement and production.

Flamerule 19:
The fools are as blind as Talpidex! They refuse to admit that a goblin, cunning as they are known to be, could produce the works found at the site. They insist that it must be some crazed Dwarven cult. I will not relent. This is proof – PROOF – that goblins are not merely the pests we believe them to be. They could be so much more!

Flamerule 20:
As I return to the story of Talpidex's tribe, now calling themselves the Chosen of the Great Mole, a deity whom they had taken to worshipping, I am struck by the destructive effects of prejudice. The “Mole Tribe” had come under attack from a nearby Dwarven hold apparently harboring expansionist intentions toward the finely-wrought tunnels and colonnaded caverns of Frodderick's Landing.

Once again, as they were on the verge of being wiped out, Talpidex's disciples went into exile, this time swearing that no longer would they settle until they were led to a “promised land.” Apparently, in some of Talpidex's more obscure prophecies, he told his disciples of a mythical place known only as the “Sublime Granatorium.” The Mole Tribe, he foretold, would be led there by his reincarnation, referenced in the record as “Bru'no'crum Pel'punch.”

Several more pages intervene, detailing the fall of the proud archaeologist as his patrons and colleagues abandon him, and, labeling him insane, confiscate the rights to the dig site.

Uktar 11:
I've lost nearly everything – but I won't let failure be my legacy, not with the importance of this find. I shall show the world the truth – that goblins should be our allies, and not enemies. We have much to learn from one another. I depart my home, now, to save my reputation and to find the Mole Tribe – wandering in their proud exile.