More than anything, kobolds are survivors. Their scaly skin and keen night vision as well as their dextrous claws and sensitive snouts make them quick to sense danger, and their clawed feet move them out of danger with cowardly speed. They are small but fierce when fighting on their own terms, and their weight of numbers helps them survive in places where larger but less numerous races can’t sustain a settlement. Kobolds are great miners, good gearsmiths, and modest alchemists, and they have a curiosity about the world that frequently gets them into trouble. _**Underworld Merchants.**_ Kobolds are merchants to both the surface world and the world beneath it, with their greatest cities hidden deep below the earth. Their enemies are the diabolical gnomes, the dwarves, and any other mining races that seek dominance of dark, rich territories. Kobolds are closely allied with and related to dragonborn, drakes, and dragons. The kobold kings (and there are oh‑so‑many kobold kings, since no kobold ruler is satisfied with being merely a chieftain) admire dragons as the greatest sources of wisdom, power, and proper behavior. _This slight, reptilian humanoid is bedecked with ceramic flasks and glass vials. An acrid reek follows in the creature’s wake._ Kobold alchemists are usually smelled before they are seen, thanks to the apothecary’s store of chemicals and poisons they carry. Alchemists often sport mottled and discolored scales and skin, caused by the caustic nature of their obsessions. They raid alchemy shops and magical laboratories to gather more material to fuel their reckless experiments. _**Dangerous Assets.**_ Alchemists can be a great boon to their clan, but at a cost. Not only do the alchemists require rare, expensive, and often dangerous substances to ply their trade, they tend to be a little unhinged. Their experiments yield powerful weapons and defensive concoctions that can save many kobold lives, but the destruction caused by an experiment gone awry can be terrible.