Type: Nation
Capital: Rhukaan Draal
Govt: Dictatorship
Population: 5.5 million
Goblins and their kin have always been part of Khorvaire. Their ancient empire spread across the lands now held by other nations, and goblin foundations still stand underneath many human cities. This empire collapsed into savagery, and when humans arrived from Sarlona, they drove the goblins from their ancestral lands. Thus, goblins have long been a disenfranchised people, living in the shadows of newer nations or in wild lands shunned by humans.
The land now called Darguun was once part of Cyre. The hobgoblin clans known as the Ghaal'dar were based in the Seawall Mountains, but during the war, the demand for mercenaries drew an ever-increasing number of goblins out of the mountains to fight for Cyre and Breland. Late in the war (969 YK), a brilliant hobgoblin named Lhesh Haruuc Shaarat'kor recognized that the goblins had become the dominant military power in the region. Uniting the Ghaal'dar under his banner, Haruuc seized the territory he was supposed to protect. This was one of the most brutal chapters of the Last War; the Ghaal'dar destroyed what they couldn't control, and most of the towns, temples, and fortresses in the region were razed and abandoned. The Five Nations were unprepared, and Breland quickly negotiated an alliance with Haruuc to secure the border. Cyre fought the goblins until the Day of Mourning, but the majority of delegates involved in forging the Treaty of Thronehold chose to recognize the new nation of Darguun to ensure peace.
Darguun is a young and volatile nation, ruled by Lhesh Haruuc Shaarat'kor. Haruuc remains a brilliant strategist and tactician, but many wonder whether he can maintain the web of alliances that hold the Ghaal'dar together, and whether he and his people will be content to abide by the terms of the treaty. Other goblins still hidden in the mountains—the enigmatic Heirs of Dhakaan—could pose a threat both to the goblins and the rest of Khorvaire.
Traditionally, the Ghaal'dar worshiped a form of the Dark Six (particularly the Mockery and a version of the Shadow they call "Marhu Nasaar"). House Deneith introduced the Sovereign Host to the region, and some goblins have embraced this faith, especially the gods Dol Dorn, Dol Arrah, and Balinor.