This is what anyone asked about this subject should say, but the real truth follows:

The Goblin Legion is a relatively new entry to the political arena. Their island is Goblicus.

Up until five years ago, Goblicus was little more than a battleground for various warring tribes of primitive goblins (as opposed to the more technologically advanced variety that live underground). They were quick to attack any invaders, but content to stay on their own land, fighting each other.

This changed when a young human girl, not more than eleven or twelve years old, washed up on their shore, unconscious. She was nearly dead of hypothermia. One of the tribes, quick to seize an opportunity, grabbed her and hauled her back to their cave, intending to make a slave of her.

Upon learning this, their shaman decided to have a look at her and immediately sensed latent magical talent. The old shaman took the girl under her wing after a few months of watching, having decided to train the girl to take her place.

First off, a female shaman in a goblin tribe is an oddity, as tribal goblins normally treat their women like second-class citizens. The situation became even more strange as the shaman trained the girl.

The child had no memory prior to having arrived on the island, so the shaman named her Charda. She learned rapidly, picking up magic as though it were second nature to her. After only a few years of training, she surpassed the Shaman.

Two weeks later, she turned to the old goblin crone and asked, “You've trained me to take your place after your death, yes?”

The shaman gave her a puzzled look and nodded.

“You are such a fool.” the girl responded and made a quick gesture, pinning the shaman to the wall with magic, “I've learned all I can from you. It's time I took your place.”

With another flick of the wrist, she crushed the shaman. Shortly after, she challenged the chief of the tribe and won, claiming the positions of both chief and shaman. Within minutes, the old chief was on his feet again, serving her as a zombie.

Months passed. After a dozen or so raids of the burial grounds of other tribes, she managed to raise a powerful army of nigh-indestructible zombies. These she used to force the opposing tribes into serving her.

Shortly after, the goblins began covertly raiding neighbouring islands using small canoes, looking for magical texts of any kind. When winter came and the ocean iced over, the zombie army marched forth, commencing a land war to obtain farming equipment and other supplies, while an elite goblin unit led by Charda herself attacked an old wizard's tower.

After a pitched battle, she won and had her minions cart off the contents of the tower. She was very careful to kill anyone that witnessed the movements of her army, as she did not want attention from outside the island, just yet.

All was quiet for the better part of a year as she studied, learning all she could from the captured library. When spring arrived, the goblins began planting crops, in preparation for future growth and trade.

Charda still wasn't satisfied. Her favourite kind of magic was necromancy and of that, the darkest, blackest kind. The old wizard's library had only the barest bits of necromantic magic, but it did make reference to a forbidden school for necromancers, the Black Academy.

Leaving her most trusted lackey in charge, a goblin she calls Bootstrap, with the threat that he would die the instant he crossed her, she made her way to the academy via one of the many pirate ships that regularly pass though the region. There she learned the forbidden secrets she desired over the course of two years, picking it up far more rapidly than anyone would have thought possible.

She has just recently returned to her people to discover them adapting to a farming way of life. The first year was plagued with failures, but their usual methods of survival served them well while they learned. The second year produced many successful crops and many of them had become fat. They were healthier in most respects and the death rate was nearly zero for the first time in their history.

However, not all of the goblins were happy to see Charda return. Within a week, a new tribe formed from those who wished to see her dead. They desire to return to the way things were before her ascent to power. They feel that the way she's been running their lives is entirely unnatural.

Thus began a civil war. The resistance usually uses hit-and-run tactics, as their numbers are too low to make a direct assault. Currently, Charda is too distracted with internal affairs to look outward, for which the other kingdoms should be grateful.

After the events of Beginner's Luck, the League of Adventurers will have defeating Charda as an open job. It will be offered to and rejected by nearly all of the current groups capable of completing the work, as it will involve working with and/or helping goblins. The Magnificent Five will be the most receptive to the idea, but even they're hesitant to help goblins.

In the mean time, the League will investigate what it would take to put a price on her head through less savory means. Several other parties will quietly express interest in this proposal and offer to help pay for it. They will not reveal it openly, but Iron Hall, Crescentia, the Druids and Haven will each front $20,000 for this, as they're all close to Goblicus and don't want to deal with the consequences of Charda turning her attention outward. The League will add at least another $50,000 to the pot. The Shadowed Eyes are the most probable means they would arrange this through.

Charda's army is composed of two parts: zombies and the living.

Her zombies are a unique form that she designed herself. They have Supernatural Durability and Injury Tolerance (Independent Body Parts). This makes them nearly impossible to kill, but they do have one weakness: any kind of corrosive attack (including disintegration effects) is capable of breaking them apart so much that they cannot function.

The living serve in a special-ops capacity, since zombies can't think creatively.

She'll also take her Elite Guard with her out to the battle field, so she might support her army with spells.

Bootstrap is Charda's extremely-unwilling right-hand man, so to speak. He hates her more than anyone else in the world, because she is cruel to him all day long.

Bootstrap's duties include the following:
A) He serves as Charda's mouth-piece to the rest of the tribe.
B) He is a test subject for her experiments.
C) He entertains her using various skills.
D) He is her diplomat, sent to other tribes when she is in the rare mood required to negotiate. He is recognised as a diplomat by every tribe on Goblicus, so they will not harm him. He is often used as a messenger for this very reason.
E) She takes out her frustrations on him, by beating him within an inch of his life.

He hates working for her, but things get worse if he refuses to do as she says. She once killed him and then brought him back to life to show him the price of disobedience.

Bootstrap has survived as long as he has for several good reasons:
A) Common Sense = Not doing stupid things to anger Charda.
B) Danger Sense = Knowing when to duck.
C) Enhanced Dodge = Knowing how to duck.
D) Intuition = Knowing which of multiple paths to take helps him to not get in trouble when Charda hasn't spelled things out completely, which happens all the time.
E) Pitiable + Charisma = Looking pathetic in just the right way to avoid being killed by Charda when he does screw up. Also, being able to suck up to the boss is handy.
F) Diplomacy + Fast-Talk = Knowing how to deliver bad news to Charda in such a way that she doesn't kill him.
G) Intimidation = Knowing how to get the others to do what he asks, so they don't all die at Charda's hands.

Bootstrap has developed a variety of skills to entertain Charda, because she tormented him with magic until he got better at them: Singing, Dancing, Hobby Skill (Juggling), Performance and Stage Combat.

One day she decided she wanted to see him eat fire. He learned Fire Eating to avoid hurting himself the next time.

On another occasion, she threw a bag of puppets at him and demanded a puppet show. She seems quite fond of this, so he spent a great deal of his spare time learning how to throw his voice and mimic the sound of others, to improve his show. He's got a routine that looks vaguely like a Punch and Judy show; this is one of Charda's favourites.

He actually saved Charda's Elite Guard from being killed one day by insisting he needed them to put on a puppet show. They followed his lead and now respect him, at least as much as any goblin can respect another.

He picked up Sleight of Hand on his own, because he thought putting on a “magic” show might make her laugh and not kill him. One of the tribe's women serves as his assistant if he's doing a show for Charda.

Goras is the former chief of the tribe that eventually became the Loyalists. Charda challenged him for leadership of the tribe, killed him with a single spell and then raised him as a zombie. This gave the rest of the tribe a very clear message: serve Charda while you still breathe, or serve her as a zombie.

Goras is currently serving as Charda's extremely effective body guard. In life he was a goblin with Gigantism. He's the size of a human and extremely skilled with a pair of magic swords. He's a Weapon Master and is often used to teach the warriors of the tribe to fight better.

In life he was actually an adventurer that left the island to seek his fortune, having become an outcast in his own tribe for various reasons. After a year or two of being an outcast among humans, he was eventually accepted as a member of a non-League adventuring party and taken under the wing of an Orc fighter, who trained him in the fighting arts.

He was a loyal member of the party for several years, until his party asked him to leave. This was due to the trouble his presence was causing them. Goras was quite angry about this, but he did as they asked.

Having become much more experienced along the way, he returned to his tribe and challenged the chief. After a short, brutal fight, he killed the old chief and took his place.

Eventually, as he and his warriors left their cave in a war party, they found Charda lying on the beach, having washed ashore. It was Goras' decision to make Charda a slave, due to his anger over having been asked to leave his adventuring party.

In death, he regrets that decision every single day, but he has no choice but to obey Charda.

Just a few notes, for now:

• Charda is inordinately fond of puppet shows.
  • This grew out of a childhood fondness that she has held onto for dear life, because it's one of the few things she actually remembers.
  • She loves Punch and Judy style shows most of all.
• She is actually Dia Tempest's cousin, but does not know this.
  • She was lost at sea when the courier ship her family was on was attacked by pirates.
  • If Dia and Charda ever meet face-to-face, Charda will remember everything and then pledge to serve Dia faithfully.
    • The tribe will be converted to Dia's religion.
    • Charda's army will assist Dia where ever they can.
  • She looks similar to Dia.
  • Her real name is Catherine Tempest.
    • If she ever hears her first name, she'll completely freak out and scream her head off.
    • This will lead to a crazed, near-berserk rage.
    • She'll start screaming, “Who am I?” over and over.
    • This fit will last for over an hour, but ultimately, she won't be able to remember.
    • Bootstrap will likely take quite a bit of abuse from her during this time.
• She knew some magic before she ended up on the island.
  • She learned her first necromantic spells from the tribe's shaman, however.
  • She's a mage in the same tradition as Gwen Bystrom of the Terrible Trio, but she had only just begun her training.
    • So, she's not a living mana well, but she emanates magical energy quite heavily.
    • Sebastion of the Hazard Harbingers would recognize her on sight.

• Rebel Goblin Warrior
• Rebel Goblin Chief

• Loyalist Goblin Warrior
• Loyalist Goblin Woman

• Tribal Goblin Warrior Super Zombie
• Tribal Goblin Chief Super Zombie

• Bootstrap
• Goras
• Charda's Elite Guard

• Rebel Goblin Warrior.gcs
• Rebel Goblin Chief.gcs

• Loyalist Goblin Warrior.gcs
• Loyalist Goblin Woman.gcs

• Tribal Goblin Warrior Super Zombie.gcs
• Tribal Goblin Chief Super Zombie.gcs

• Bootstrap.gcs
• Goras.gcs
• Charda's Elite Guard.gcs