Ralgonakr

The ancient goblin Empire of Ralgonakr was once a sophisticated Empire that would have rivaled any modern Human kingdom. It remains the only known goblin kingdom throughout written history and is often forgotten because of the wild nature of most goblinoids in more recent times. Remarkably, it appears that it is only the Stedarian goblinoids who carry any notion of pride over the lost Empire, hanging on to what they can of it's remains. The rest in the world are more akin to roaming bands of thugs and bandits that take over caves and harass small towns.

Goblinoids being led by the Hobgoldin Warlords, who still trace their bloodlines to the glory days of Ralgonakr, are much more organized and much more dangerous. Many of the current Hobgoblin Warlords have taken over some of the massive stone fortresses that still survive in the wilderness, although their walls may be overgrown with moss and their courtyards littered with trees, with crumbling towers and leaking roofs.

History
Ralgonakr's history is traditionally divided into three distinct eras; Imperial, Hegemony and Tribal. Of these, the Hegemony era is the longest.

Imperial Era
The Imperial era begins with the demise of the Great Wyrm Mafendrongal, one of the most renowned Dragons from the Era of Dragonfire, at the hands of Gimmuzorg the Slave. Gimmuzorg is a figure largely lost in history, but the lore of Ralgonakr maintained him as being from the Jawripper Clan. He was born to the Clan warmaster and was raised to fight from the moment he took his first steps. As a rebellious young adult he left his Clan, found himself in the realm of Mafendrogal and was quickly caught up in the fighting pits, where he proved himself a slayer of monstrosities and renowed fighters from all across the world. He was bought by the Great Wyrm himself after twn long years in the fighting pits and made a champion of the Dragonking. The exact details of the events that led to Gimmuzorg's rebellion against his Dragon master were never detailed in the lore of Ralgonakr, the only thing mentioned being that during a great slave revolt where the Great Wyrm was forced to engage directly with the rebels, Gimmuzorg broke his chains, ripped out one of Mafendrogal's claws and buried it between the Dragon's scales and into the heart of the beast. The goblinoid slaves from the rebellion vowed eternal servitude to the great Hobgoblin hero and would later become a new clan; the Clawreaver Clan.

The Imperial Era after the death of Mafendrogal consists of the Clawreaver Clan making uneasy alliances with other Clans and other Races, ushering in the downfall of the Dragonkings and the rise of a strong centralized goblin Empire that continued seizing power wherever a Dragon Kingdom fell. The Era of Dragonfire gave way to the rising Red Empire.

Hegemony Era
The Hegemony Era begins with the death of the then last known Dragonking. The sixth generation of Clawreavers were in power of the Red Empire and with a unifying threat gone, they were faced with open revolts all over the known world. Many strong allies during the war were allowed claims on lands to establishe their own Kingdoms and the Red Empire diminished in size. Non-goblinoid races were let out with little bloodshed, but goblins were brutally kicked back into line and the Clawreavers maintained their internal stability by establishing a strict hierarchy of Clans within the Empire and gathering them all into a Senate that would gather to aid the Emperor.

Slowly, the wilder sides of Hobgoblin culture shifted and the intrigues and backstabbing taking place in Senate took the place of inter-Clan violence that was so prevalent before the rise of the Empire.

Grand buildings were built, great cities rose and fell, the Empire's borders fluctuated as wars and deals happened. For several millenia, the Hobgoblins were at least as influential as the Elves and Dwarves, in some centuries being much more powerful and prestigious than any other realm or race.

In a major cataclysm in the year 3092 E.R.E. the core province of the Red Empire was reclaimed by the sea as a great magical tide washed over the land. This event, known now as the Curse of Mafendrongal, was brought on by dragonpriests trying to resurrect the spirit of the Great Wyrm unleashing the power from the spirit without the knowledge to contain it in a powerful enough a vessel. The kingdom once ruled by Mafendrongal was sundered into the sea. The Red Empire was forced to relocate much of their powerbase to the nearby province of Ralgonakr. Over time, the Red Empire gained a second name as the Empire of Ralgonakr.

Tribal Era
The Tribal era begins with the decadence of the Imperial Senate crumbling the power of the Empire with decrees to separate the Emperor's powers to selected committees. The Clawreavers lost prestige and power after several lost military campaigns and provinces being lost to autonomy, unable to turn the tide in the Senate. Ironically, it was the Jawripper Clan that pushed the hardest in the Senate for the spreading of power more evenly across the Clans.

The Elves of Taur Enfaroth combined their power by careful political marriages over the last two centuries of the Era of the Red Empire, finally reaching a pinnacle of their combined strength and prestige that they managed to ally several Dwarf and Human kingdoms nearby. Combined with the internal strife in the Empire of Ralgonakr, the sudden war against the core provine of the Empire began toppling dominos. Clans backstabbed one another to make powerplays, oblivious of the long-term effect it was having on their realms, and aided the enemy war effort by destabilizing the military hierarchy.

Eventually, the Empire fell and the elves of Taur Enfaroth issued harsh terms for the Hobgoblin clans, reducing them back into a clan-based tribal structure that was more common before the rise of the Empire.