OOTS #1262 - The Discussion Thread

[brian 333]

[citation needed]

Why? Mathematics should tell you all you need to know.

The Dark One managed, on the poor resources available, to raise an army large enough to simultaneously threaten multiple human kingdoms. Armies consume resources, they do not produce them.

Imagine if those resources had instead been spent on trade and food production? Given the goblins' capacity to fill boots with limited resources, how difficult would it be for them to multiply if they had invested in securing more and better resources?

Oh, but the goblins would be wiped out by humans! Except that long before they had an army suitable for threatening multiple kingdoms, they had an army capable of defending their own population. There was enough surplus to create an army five times as large as necessary. Regardless of the quality of their lands, there was surplus.

That this surplus was not used to improve the quality of life of goblins, and instead used to create an army capable of extorting neighboring civilizations says a lot. It may be that goblin leadership never conceived of the notion, or it may be that their focus was on revenge, or many other reasons may be applied.

The one thing that does not add up is that the goblins lack either the resources or ability to thrive using the resources they have. The hobgoblins did very well before attacking Azure City. It takes a lot of resources to maintain a legion. Redcloak's village was doing fine as well. Too bad they didn't know they were harboring a weapon of mass destruction.

Given their ability to produce masses of troops and equip them, it takes no leap of logic to realize they could create masses of farmers, miners, and industrial workers. Once they have those things, they can grow faster and rapidly create armies as needed. In fact, with an industrial base none of the other races could even keep up.