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In addition to the males, there will be adult females equal to 60% of their number and children equal to the total number of adults in the lair. Neither will fight in battles.

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

Heh. And now ANOTHER e-mail from Ed, this one a reply to this, from scribe Jakuta Khan: "Today i would like to know if with the hobgoblins in Faerūn, the females are also allowed in the actual "fighting" ranks of a tribe?"

Ed responds:

There is no "allow," because the elders of any hobgoblin tribe that hasn't been reduced to a handful of individuals by war, disease, or other mishap are at least half female, and usually more (60 percent or so). They discuss and advise any hobgoblin chieftan - - and although that chief (almost always male) has the final word, a chief who scorns, ignores, or disagrees with his elders repeatedly doesn't last long.
Or to put it another way, hobgoblin females decide for themselves if they'll be in the forefront of any fighting, unless the head of their family, or the ranking battle leader, orders otherwise.
Usually, the females keep back, because protecting the children (and hobgoblin children can be quite willful, easily stirred to rage, battle-fury, and pride, and want to join in fighting themselves) and by extension the race is their prime concern, so females more often defend a camp, stronghold, saethren (hospital for the wounded), dwelling, or moving group of the aged and children.
Most groups of hobgoblin elders see such service as more sensible and valuable than front-rank fighting. Whereas the males are seen as more expendable/replaceable, so their proper place is in the front ranks of battle.
So among most hobgoblins, the thinking is not "females are inferior" but rather "females are more valuable to the tribe/clan/family/group in these other roles" (protecting the children, tending the wounded, and defending the food supply and defensible refuges).
Some humans view hobgoblins as brutish beasts, with rutting males being reckless, unthinking nodes of "runaway destruction" - - but then, many hobgoblins view humans as deceitful and far too numerous and pervasive vandals who pry into every corner, and think themselves the rightful owners of everything not nailed down, not to mention every last stretch of ground not claimed by a more formidable human - - or in other words, insane vermin upon the land. :}
Heh. Hope that helps.


So saith Ed, ladling out another dollop of helpful Realmslore.
love,
THO

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@thauranil, where is this Hobgoblin tribe located, and what is the tribe-name? Wouldbe very interesting to know.

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