Goblins draw attention with their vivid coloring, which nonetheless grants them perfect camouflage among bluish lichens or the shrubs of wild dulzoria. Their long plumage flares like a tongue of pink flame, while their bodies are painted in green and turquoise, shimmering with a metallic sheen.

Once, goblins densely populated Latori, mainly in the northern and central regions of the country. Most references to them date back to the 3.00s of Novinata: in letters to one another, the parba complained that these “nasty beasts” would drag off anything they could get their claws on and, for sport, steal small animals (which, however, often returned home alive).

The rise in goblin numbers was linked to the long-ago extermination of the fierce white wolves that had threatened not only parba livestock but the rural settlers themselves. Emboldened, goblins began creeping out of thickets and swamps, brazenly approaching houses at night, and at times watching travelers or mushroom gatherers from the forest edge.

Scattered remains of goblins—claws, bones, feathers—are still found in the wild. They are especially prized within Latori’s mystical circles and sell for considerable sums.

In truth, goblins posed no real danger, yet their habits greatly irritated the settlers and disrupted their orderly lives. Catching and killing them was no easy task — the moment one so much as took a step toward the lanky, bony bird, it would vanish without a trace.

Their complete eradication was aided by the hunter Urosh Reznik, who somehow learned to understand and predict goblin behavior. By the year 3.40, not a single specimen remained in Latori — at least, none were ever seen again.