Kobold of Burden

The Gloridax Empire has used kobold slaves for centuries. They serve as laborers, servants, and when the Dragonsguard marches to war, as beasts of burden.

The kobolds carry everything. Medical supplies, spare armor and weapons, rations, water, tents, and tools. Each wears heavy armor because they're investments, and the empire protects its investments.

When the order comes to mobilize the Dragonsguard, the kobolds are rounded up from the labor barracks, fitted with harnesses, loaded with supplies, and formed into trains. No one asks if they're ready or willing.

The march south is brutal. They're slower and less durable than drakoshan and naga, but they're expected to keep pace. They eat on the move and speak little. When they falter, whips crack.

They know the Wild Northeast will be worse. The vanguard's wounded spoke of floods and storms, of mud that swallows wagons whole, of cold that seeps into scales and never leaves. The kobolds will carry their loads through all of it because they have no choice.

Among the Dragonsguard column, they are the most numerous and the least regarded. But when Jicarilla's magic breaks against the Dragonsguard's advance, it will be because the soldiers had the supplies they needed.

And the kobolds will have carried every ounce.