Humanoid Warriors and Shamans

Here I present tribal warriors and shamans of goblins, orcs, kobolds and hobgoblins as NPC classes. This is really an expansion of the goblin warrior and goblin shaman classes I put together way back near the beginning of this blog. Here the shamans of different races all share the same titles and spell progression and the warriors gain the same special abilities - in a way this is moving away from the classic D&D trope of Class as Race and making the class more independent from the race. But not entirely. Each race will have its own THAC0 and Hit dice progression for the two classes. Note that 1st level warriors for each race should be effectively the same as the stat blocks given in the monster description in the basic rules. I have stuck to this with their typical weapons and armour for each race below. However, variations in equipment is certainly possible, especially for tougher more experienced individuals who may have looted better gear. 

Apologies if this all seems rather dry, crunchy and flavourless but I felt it important to lay down the game rules first then world-building flavour and fluff can be added later. 

I am also aware that I am not including gnolls, bugbears and trolls, or other humanoid creatures such as lizardfolk, centaurs and troglodytes. Instead I have stuck to creatures that are roughly comparable to PC races (humans, halflings & dwarves) in terms of size, strength and body shape. For these other races I will probably give them additional monster stat blocks as I have done with ogres, minotaurs, nagpas and araneas.  I personally feel that although orcs, goblins, kobolds and hobgoblins can be treated as NPCs, other races are best treated as monsters.  

Warriors

Level	Title	Spec Abilities
1	Warrior	As basic monster stats
2	Veteran Warrior	Set Spear vs charge
3	Subchief	Junior Commander
4	Chief	Inspire Courage
5	Chieftain	2-weapon Fighting
6	Senior Commander	Middle Commander
7	Senior Commander	Monstrous Mount
8	Tribal Commander	Inspire Zeal
9	Tribal Commander	Senior Commander
10	Warlord	Two-weapon mastery

All humanoid warriors can use whatever weapons and armour are available to them within racial limitations. 

Warriors make saving throws as fighters of the same level. 

As they progress and become more powerful they gain certain abilities. These include: 

• Set Spear versus Charge is the same as for human fighters. 
• Junior Commander - a warrior of level 3 or higher can reliably command up to 5 1st level warriors or ordinary humanoids (of the same race) per level of the commander.
• Inspire Courage - Allies within 30' get +2 to morale checks and saves vs fear.
• 2-weapon Fighting - The warrior can use 2 one-handed weapons, at -2 to hit penalty for both. 
• Middle Commander -  The warrior can reliably command 1 junior commander per level. 
• Monstrous Mount - The warrior can tame and ride a monster larger than himself, which must have HD equal to or lower than the warrrior and be suitable for riding. 
• Inspire Zeal - Allies within 30' get +2 to hit and damage and +4 to morale and saves vs fear, usable 1 encounter per day. 
• Senior Commander - reliably command 1 middle commander per two levels. 
• Two-Weapon Mastery - As per two-weapon fighting, but the warrior suffers no penalty to hit. 

Shamans 

		Spells prepared
Level	Title	1st level	2nd level	3rd level	4th level	5th level
1	Initiate
2	Acolyte	1
3	Acolyte	2
4	Minor Shaman	2	1
5	Minor Shaman	2	2
6	Shaman	2	2	1
7	Shaman	3	2	2
8	Senior Shaman	3	2	2	1
9	Senior Shaman	3	3	2	2
10	Great Shaman	3	3	3	2	1

Shamans at 2nd level or above can cast spells from the Cleric spell list and, if available to the DM, druid spells. They can cast reversed and chaotic versions of spells without problem. At 1st level they are still proving their worthiness to be granted such power.

Shamans may not use banded armour, plate mail or other heavy armour. They can still use shields and leather, chain mail and scale mail armour. 

Shamans make saving throws as clerics of the same level. 

Shamans cannot use two-handed weapons except for staffs. 

Goblins

	Goblin Shaman		Goblin Warrior
Level	Hit Dice	THAC0	Hit Dice	THAC0
1	1d6	20	1d8-1	19
2	2d6	19	2d8-1	18
3	3d6	19	3d8-2	17
4	4d6	18	4d8-2	16
5	5d6	17	5d8-3	15
6	6d6	17	6d8-3	14
7	7d6	16	7d8-4	13
8	8d6	15	8d8-4	12
9	9d6	15	9d8-5	11
10	10d6	14	10d8-5	10

• Goblins suffer -1 to hit in sunlight
• Goblins have 60ft infravision
• Goblins have a base movement of 60ft/round
• Goblins are restricted to the same weapons as dwarves, and are too short to wield two-handed swords, polearms and longbows. They can wear dwarf-sized armour.
• 1st level goblin warriors usually have leather armour, shields and either spears or hand-axes (AC 6, 1d6 damage) as per their stat block in the monster section of the rules.
• A goblin at 2nd level or above (warrior or shaman) may use a dire wolf as a mount. If the AD&D stats for worgs are available then the goblin may ride a worg instead. 
• Goblins, like dwarves, are skilled miners and can detect unusual stonework as a dwarf. 

Hobgoblins

	Hobgoblin Shaman		Hobgoblin Warrior
Level	Hit Dice	THAC0	Hit Dice	THAC0
1	1d6+1	19	1d8+1	18
2	2d6+2	18	2d8+2	17
3	3d6+3	18	3d8+3	16
4	4d6+4	17	4d8+4	15
5	5d6+5	16	5d8+5	14
6	6d6+6	16	6d8+6	13
7	7d6+7	15	7d8+7	12
8	8d6+8	14	8d8+8	11
9	9d6+9	14	9d8+9	10
10	10d6+10	13	10d8+10	9

• Hobgoblins have 60ft infravision
• Hobgoblins can wield any weapon that a human can and can wear human-sized armour.
• 1st level hobgoblin warriors usually have leather armour, shields and normal swords (AC 6, 1d8 damage) as per their stat block in the monster section of the rules.
• Hobgoblins have a base movement of 90ft/round

Orcs

	Orc Shaman		Orc Warrior
Level	Hit Dice	THAC0	Hit Dice	THAC0
1	1d6	20	1d8	19
2	2d6	19	2d8	18
3	3d6	19	3d8	17
4	4d6	18	4d8	16
5	5d6	17	5d8	15
6	6d6	17	6d8	14
7	7d6	16	7d8	13
8	8d6	15	8d8	12
9	9d6	15	9d8	11
10	10d6	14	10d8	10

• Orcs suffer -1 to hit when in sunlight
• Orcs have 60ft infravision
• Orcs have a base movement of 90ft/round
• Orcs can use any weapons that humans can use and can wear human-sized armour
• 1st level orc warriors usually have leather armour, shields and either spears or hand-axes (AC 6, 1d6 damage) as per their stat block in the monster section of the rules.
• An orc warrior of 2nd level or higher gains +1 to damage rolls
• An orc shaman of level 2 or higher can speak the language of either ogres or trolls

Kobolds

	Kobold Shaman		Kobold Warrior
Level	Hit Dice	THAC0	Hit Dice	THAC0
1	1d4	20	1d4	20
2	2d4	19	2d4+1	19
3	3d4	19	3d4+3	18
4	4d4	18	4d4+4	17
5	5d4	17	5d4+5	16
6	6d4	17	6d4+6	15
7	7d4	16	7d4+7	14
8	8d4	15	8d4+8	13
9	9d4	15	9d4+9	12
10	10d4	14	10d4+10	11

• Kobolds are small and are restricted to the same weapons as halflings, and cannot wield two-handed swords, polearms, longbows or other large weapons. They can wear halfling-sized armour.
• 1st level kobold warriors usually have leather armour and either very small spears or daggers (AC 7, 1d4 damage) as per their stat block in the monster section of the rules.
• Kobolds have 90ft infravision
• Kobolds have a base movement of 60ft/round
• Kobolds are skilled miners and can sense unusual stonework as dwarves can. 
• Kobold sorcerers - a small proportion of kobold shamans (perhaps 1 in 10) learn magic-user spells instead of clerical spells. These kobold sorcerers do not wear any armour at all. 

Jolgruul the Corruptor and other Chaos Cults

Jolgruul the Corruptor 

One of the more subtle and insidious Chaos Princes , Jolgruul prefers temptation over confrontation. Although he and his followers are quite capable of violence, he prefers to inveigle the foolish and unwary into his machinations. He will often use the seven deadly sins, particularly Avarice, Pride and Lust, to lure mortals into his grasp. Although most chaotic creatures do not consider contracts to be worth the paper they are written on, Jolgruul is much more likely to use contracts with mortals, with the end results never being in the mortals' favour. Such contracts are both cunningly written as if by a master lawyer and also magically enforced, and breaking the contract will bring terrible curses or other consequences on the reneger. Unusually for a paragon of Chaos, Jolgruul himself will also stick to his side of the contract, even if it is not in his favour. Whether he is concerned about practical consequences or he has some strange sense of obligation around these deals is not known.

Jolgruul's cultists may well have entered into contracts with him, or else been ensnared and corrupted and then found that their only option was to go along with him. They are typically sneaky, deceptive and occasionally quite charismatic, making everything they do and encourage others to do seem quite acceptable and reasonable. Jolgruul's followers are most often found in and around Thyatis, particularly the large cities, though there are rumours cult cells have made it to Specularum in Karameikos and also the pirate port of Vlaad in the Kingdom of Ierendi. Although not active in Darokin, Jolgruul is impressed with some chaos cults in Darokin City, particularly the Black Rabbits and the Lords in Scarlet and has encouraged his clerics to consider some sort of alliance with them. 

Although most of Jolgruul's followers are humans, there are a few monstrous creatures that are interested in his approach, including some that can shift into human form. Devil swine, mujina and doppelgangers have all been known to be part of Jolgruul's cult. But Jolgruul generally ignores those who cannot be subtle and deceptive. Centipede Demons are also found assisting these cultists - whether the cultists are powerful enough to summon and bind these fiends themselves or whether Jolgruul sent them as a boon to his followers is not clear.  

The Snake Cult of Jaboor

Art by Conceptopolis, source

Underneath the Ylari port of Jaboor there are a network of tunnels that lead down to the caverns that contain the sunken river bed of what was the river Nithia. This is now home to a colony of serpent people and some of their monstrous allies. However, in the last five years they have human allies in the town above as well. The human townsfolk are all expected to follow the official religion of Ylaruam, The Eternal Truth, and the vast majority comply, with many being true believers. But there are a few who resent such dogma and orthodoxy, and seek a different sort of immortal patronage. The serpent people have made contact with these, initially using magical disguises, and introduced these renegade humans to the worship of Apep the Snake God, the bane of ancient Nithia.  Although the cult now has human followers, the serpent people are definitely the ones in charge, though they very rarely emerge onto the surface. Most of the time it is the human followers who go down into the caverns, using an old cave entrance among a cluster of boulders to the west of town. 

Out of the town population of 4500 people, only about 20 are true followers of Apep while another 50 or so are hired by the cult as guards, mages and the like. As with many of these cults they are very selective and careful about who they try to recruit and convert. Some of these cultists want some sort of power and prestige that they cannot gain legitimately, including forbidden magic of ancient Nithia, while others join as angry, blasphemous defiance against what they see as the overbearing and smothering monotheism of the Eternal Truth that holds sway over Ylaruam. For the previous 5 years they were just establishing the cult, gathering trustworthy members, money and information, but now they are getting bolder.  Recently the cult has kidnapped several citizens of Jaboor. Two have already been sacrificed to Apep but another two are being held for the next ceremony, including a visiting cleric of the Eternal Truth. 

The Ravenous Maw

source

This cult is quite unlike the previous two and makes no attempt at subtlety. It is established in various humanoid tribes along the Black Peaks, Altan Tepes and into southern Rockhome, particularly among ogres, gnolls, trolls and hill giants. It is focused on hunting and eating, and since all of its worshippers are naturally carnivorous, this fits in with their primary concerns - finding and killing prey and eating their carcasses.  This cult has relatively few human members, but these are often the worst sort of degenerate cannibals. Even among the humanoid cult members, eating each other is not unknown, though for the sake of cult cohesion and combat strength the shamans only sanction eating other cult members when they have died from other causes such as battle against enemies of the cult. Of course, some of the more hungry members will ignore this rule - they are chaotic after all. 

The Ravenous Maw does not seem to have a coherent personality that the members worship but merely the concept of predation and carnivory. Having said that, shamans will often conflate the Ravenous Maw with chaos princes and minor immortals linked to their race - Yeenoghu for gnolls, Vaprak for ogres and trolls, and Baphomet for minotaurs, all of whom encourage their followers to hunt, kill and eat humans. It is believed from captured members that Maglubiyet the Immortal patron of goblins and hobgoblins holds the Ravenous Maw in contempt, considering it animalistic, disorganised and short-sighted, thus few of those races are found in this cult. 

The Ravenous Maw is quite open minded about who or what can join their ranks - as long as the new member is suitably vicious and hungry but controllable, it will be considered. Ettins, athaches, frost giants and thouls have all been found among them. Predatory beasts are sometimes used as mounts or war beasts, including cave bears, sabertooth cats and giant hyenas. 

The Ravenous Maw is not yet powerful enough to threaten major towns or castles but it has certainly attacked human villages in northern Karameikos, northern Thyatis and southern Darokin around Selenica, devouring villagers, livestock and pets. The dwarves of Rockhome have been threatened but so far have fended off attacks on their strongholds. The folks of Ylaruam have not yet been attacked but they could still be next on the menu. 

The Scuttling Scourge

Developing from a much smaller cult of scorpion-worshippers of Ylaruam who followed a Chaos Prince that had been a manscorpion (referred to as The Scorpion King), the Scuttling Scourge holds vertebrates in contempt and eight-legged arthropods in great respect. Spiders, scorpions, whip-scorpions and rhagodessas are all considered a higher form of life. This cult has spread from its homeland of Ylaruam and now has members dotted across the Known World including Davania, Yavdlom and Sind. Araneas are considered allies, although they are not religious and will not join in the ceremonies. 

Unlike the Snake Cult of Jaboor where human worshippers respect snakes and serpent people but do not expect to become one, the human worshippers of the Scuttling Scourge aspire to transform from a feeble four-limbed mammal into a much better form - an eight-legged predator protected by chitinous armour and armed with deadly venom. It is not known how this happens or even if it does happen (are the human cultists being fooled and just used as edible pawns?) but it is what the most fervent cultists desire. There are some manscorpions associated with the cult in its homeland of Ylaruam and on the eastern edges of the Great Waste bordering Sind who encourage this belief and it is possible that they have a way of transforming humans into manscorpions but this has not been confirmed.

Those familiar with a wide range of chaos cultists know that the Scuttling Scourge is not the only cult with an affinity for spiders - certain Arvorians of Norwold follow a spider-like entity called Mohosskith, though it is unlikely to be involved in this cult. 

Aalthir and Cittinova: When Cities Meet

Cittinova is a Thyatian colony on the northern coast of Davania, and is effectively the main town of Thyatis on Davania (though Raven Scarp would argue that point). It has a population of 2,000 people (mostly humans, a few jungle elves and a handful of other races).  Compared to smaller colonies and outposts such as Herakanthia it is a bastion of civilization, and is relatively secure from the monsters prowling the jungle. And yet as far as other cities in the Known World are concerned it is rather small and insignificant, and would really only count as a provincial town. Cittinova has a town guard of 200 soldiers, mostly armed with chain mail and either longswords and light crossbows or else longswords and polearms such as pikes and halberds. These town guards keep the peace within town and also fend off roaming monsters - although they need to fight in formation to defeat the larger dinosaurs.  

The Floating City of Aalthir is in a completely different league. Created and lifted by incredibly powerful magic, Aalthir has a population of 23,000, of whom 2,000 are magic users. That means for every man, woman, child, elf or whatever in Cittinova, there is magic user capable of casting Magic Missile or Charm Person in Aalthir. And there is a council of 12 archmages who both act as the rulers and  navigate the city through the skies of Mystara.  Any one of those archmages could wipe out a town like Cittinova, guards and all, from a safe distance. 

And now Aalthir has come to rest over the sea just north of Cittinova, in plain sight of the Thyatian town. This has caused considerable consternation and speculation among the population, and many citizens are fearing annihilation or conquest. After all, Aalthir originally comes from Alphatia, and although now it is effectively an independent city-state, it still has many cultural and political ties to that great empire. And as everyone knows, Thyatis and Alphatia do not usually get on well together. 

Instead, the archmages have sent a delegation down to Cittinova on a skyship, claiming only wishing to trade and establish friendly relations. Of course, the Thyatian governor of Cittinova doesn’t trust these Alphatian wizards at all but firstly he knows they have the upper hand in nearly all respects, and secondly many of his citizens are fascinated by this magical marvel. Even the merchants of Cittinova are eager to do business with their fellow traders a mile above the ocean.  

 Art by VargasNi, Source

The Aalthir authorities are quite careful about who they allow onto Aalthir itself - only a few select Cittinova officials actually set foot in Aalthir. One enterprising skyship captain has been offering sight-seeing trips to the curious people of Cittinova, taking them on her skyship (an exciting adventure in itself!) and then circling around the floating city several times but not landing as the captain and her crew point out landmarks and features that the tourists would find interesting. At one point a squadron of six hippogriff riders flew from Aalthir over Cittinova for a fly-by. But this scared both humans and livestock  who were not sure if this was some attack. The rulers of Aalthir have forbidden any future visits by hippogriff.  As a friendly gesture it did not go as well as planned but as a display of military might it was certainly demonstrative. 

For the moment there is a bustling trade in the main marketplace of Cittinova, with goods and passangers being ferried to and from the floating city via skyships. The merchants of Aalthir are buying local specialities including jungle fruits, rare woods from the enormous nearby trees, and animals, both butchered body parts and also the occasional live specimen. One Aalthir wizard has bought a captured phanaton as a pet, despite the phanaton's protestations. In return the merchants of Cittinova are buying silks from Ochalea, tea and spices from Bellissaria and many magical potions and curiosities made in Aalthir itself. A visiting trader from Minrothad has joined in with the buying and selling, partly to make money but also to see how Alphatian merchants operate and what they have to offer - making connections between Minrothrad and Aalthir could be profitable. A mysterious archmage called Ellaria has travelled by magic carpet from Aalthir to briefly visit Cittinova, though she always wore a silver mask that completely covered her face and long clothes that covered her skin.  

One skyship took a band of Aalthir mages deep into the jungle of Davania, and they have returned with various trophies including a sedated giant chameleon, a grateful but rather confused rakasta whom the Aalthirians rescued from a hungry Tyrannosaurus and the severed head of said dinosaur - the rest of its body had been blasted by lightning bolts, and a charmed Deinonychus. The new owner of the Deinonychus insists that it will stay friendly; Other people on board are not so sure. But a jolly good time was had by all, except for the crew hand who got attacked by a carnivorous plant. He survived but is still badly shaken. 

 Art by ValerySazanov, Source

But what is going on behind the scenes? Firstly a Thyatian wizard visiting from his home back in Port Lucinius has teleported back home and ridden to Thyatis City to report on this visit. The Thyatian government is now aware and considering its response. Secondly one of the tourists onboard the sight-seeing tours is an Imperial Thyatian agent and has used his elven cloak and boots to hide on the ship, then snuck off when it docked, so now there is a Thyatian spy on Aalthir, though his ability to report back to his superiors is limited. Similarly an Alphatian wizard has wandered away from the trade delegation into Cittinova and is now looking to see what is going on in this Thyatian backwater, although he does not have the same government connections, and might be doing this for his own curiosity. 

Will this calm down the tensions between the two empires or will it exacerbate them? How will central Thyatis react to what could be interpreted as an intrusion? Did Alphatia approve of this event or did Aalthir conduct this entirely on its own? The ramifications of this encounter between two settlements of rival empires are yet to play out. 

The Tunnels under Corunglain

“Despite all the precautions which the city guards take against attacks and raids by the inbabitants of the Broken Lands, they seem unable to prevent small bands of them from sneaking into the city. It is believed, though proof is hard to come by, that the earth beneath Corunglain is honeycombed with a twisting maze of passages. If, as is believed, this labyrinth links up with the orc tunnels beneath the Broken Lands then the actions of the raiders are easily accounted for. By moving though the passages which are narrow and prone to periodic collapses, small bands of orcs, goblins and their kin can appear in the city, wreak a little havoc and then melt back into the earth without leaving a trace. 

The government of Corunglain has uncovered many openings which, they believe, lead into this underworld. In each case a demolition team has collapsed the passages and the discoverer given a substantial reward. It is certain that, given time and effort, a dedicated band of adventurers would be able to find additional entrances to the orc tunnels and earn the thanks of the local populace.”

Gaz11 The Republic of Darokin, DM’s book p36

And thus a mini-campaign for novice adventurers is established. Personally I really like this idea, as it means the adventurers are less like bandits themselves, raiding and slaying the humanoids, but actually defending the city from infiltrators. This has similarities with B2 The Keep on the Borderlands (going against various bands of chaotic humanoids) but set in a major city of 31,000 folks instead of a keep with a hundred or so inhabitants. 

This map shows the layout of the tunnels under Corunglain and shows what is underneath the map in this post about the surface of Corunglain. 

As can be seen there are numerous tunnels reaching all the quarters of the city. Note that this map could be just the uppermost level of tunnels - there could be even more deeper underground, and could even be part of a megadungeon. There are a dozen small lairs of three to six chambers each attached to the tunnels - this is where the humanoids rest, prepare for raids, count loot and store weapons and food. Each of these lairs is run by a gang of humanoids, usually a single race. 

There are also tunnels leading away from the city - these are the highways along which the humanoids will travel great distances. It is believed from interrogating captured goblins that there are waystations every 10 miles or so where humanoids can rest and eat. Supply wagons with food, weapons and fresh recruits can be encountered here as well as the occasional messenger. 

The tunnel complex shown here is above the water level of the river and wells, with some of the tunnel entrances opening out outside the city walls onto the river bank or a ledge on the cliffs overlooking the rivers. Only when the tunnel goes under the river does it slope down much further. At least one lair (the bottom right one) connects straight to a well shaft, about 20ft above the water level. The kobolds lodged there have learnt how to climb up the wellshaft into the surface city. 

The tunnels are all left dark, since goblins, kobolds, orcs and hobgoblins all have infravision so can see just fine. Of course these races all prefer the darkness anyway - sunlight is irritating and makes them nauseous.  In fact any light source will indicate human intruders to sentries. The tunnels are generally under 6ft tall so gnolls, bugbears and ogres rarely visit as they would have to stoop down all the time. The human soldiers who have to fight these humanoids are actually very grateful for this restriction.  

The humanoid raiding parties are usually single race, e.g. all kobolds or all goblins, and will typically be 6-10 individuals, led by a tougher, smarter warrior who acts as squad leader. There have been a few occasions of mixed-race raiding parties but these run the risk of rivalries and friction between the races.  The hobgoblins see themselves as the bosses of this tunnel complex and often stop any inter-humanoid fights getting out of hand - the hobgoblins remind everyone that the real enemies are the humans above. 

The big exception to segregation is the large chamber in the north, underneath Cheesemarket Square (#16). This is known as the Gathering Hall and is used as a neutral meeting ground and muster point, as well as a common point for those travelling along the main tunnel to the Broken Lands. Interestingly enough some goblins and hobgoblins have started to imitate the humans of Darokin and have set up market stalls in the Gathering Hall, selling things that goblins, orcs and kobolds might want to buy - roasted rats on a stick, stolen weapons, strong beer, makeshift armour and the occasional kidnapped human. Although the stall owners are unlikely to trade with humans or demihumans, adventurers magically disguised as humanoids could buy things here. One gnome trickster claims to have visited the Gathering Hall several times and even considered setting up shop disguised as a paunchy kobold, but decided it was too risky and too smelly. 

What do the raiding parties get up to? Theft, Murder, Kidnapping, Vandalism, Sabotage, Espionage and scaring the humans. Sometimes these are with a bigger goal in mind, to destabilise the government, terrorise the population and demoralise the army, but usually it is much more small-minded, doing it for food, money and fun - that’s what humanoids are like. Some humanoids join these raids for social standing within their tribes - a warrior who brings back food, loot and slaves to their lair will be seen as more valuable and a potential leader by other members of the gang. 

It is rumoured that some goblinoid leaders are considering a major assault through these tunnels, with bands emerging simultaneously from different tunnel entrance. Espionage was mentioned above because some senior tribal leaders back in the Broken Lands are interested in what the city garrison’s response times are, and who else would oppose the humanoids. The humanoids already have a pretty good map of the city and already know the best routes to and from the tunnel entrances. But given the number of human soldiers stationed in Corunglain the humanoids would probably need twice as many on their side to succeed in overrunning the city. A more realistic prospect is combining an overland assault from the Broken Lands with raiders emerging within the city to distract the garrison and maybe open up the gates or lower ropes down the outside of the city walls

The city’s responses to these raids are with either the army or adventurers:

The XIII legion based in the Bastion includes the Corunglain Combat Engineers Company, also known as the Underminers. They can call upon some friendly mages for support and while the combat engineers provide protection, the mages will cast Wall of Stone or Rock to Mud to seal off tunnels and entrances.  The combat engineers do know of mundane ways of sealing tunnels if mages are not available, but these methods are slow and humanoids may counterattack while the engineers are working. 

Sometimes the army or city council will ask the Adventurers’ Guild to hire some suitable heroes to deal with the problem, especially if fighting underground is expected - the army is better suited to combat in large formations on open fields or city walls. This is particularly likely if the humanoids are believed to have seized captives who need rescuing or valuable items that the leaders of Corunglain want to retrieve - simply collapsing the tunnel is not appropriate. 

Unintelligent monsters, particularly giant rats, giant bats and giant crab spiders are a perpetual nuisance, and the hobgoblins may bully the smaller races into dealing with these vermin before they get out of hand. Nonethelss at least one lair has been taken over by vermin, displacing or killing the previous goblin residents. Corunglain does not have a proper sewage system so at least there are no otyughs to contend with. One arrogant hobgoblin chief brought along his pet carrion crawler - it paralyzed and ate him, then escaped into the tunnels. There are rumours among the tribes and gangs that it is still alive, lurking in the dark corners of the tunnels.

The lich Meltherrion is a potential disaster for anyone who encounters him, though diplomatic and respectful humans should escape with their lives.  This could be a valuable lesson for low-level adventurers - not every monster is there to be defeated in combat.  The known part of his lair is marked in pale pink on the map, though given the magical tools he has access to this is probably not the whole of his domain.  He does not like being disturbed but he really hates humanoids - as such he could be a powerful but unpredictable ally.