Grubby, desperate, hopeful.

"What is good for one goblin is good for all goblins" is an often repeated mantra among the small, wretched things that crawl in tunnels far below.

When the Elves were known as the Unshaped, they created many various species to excel at things they themselves found dull or undesirable.  The Obake were meant as scouts and messengers. The Unterkin are history's finest and most skilled artisans. The Bruun are strong and tireless.

Goblins were made to be ugly and small, to be on the wrong side of things, to always fail, to oppose the true people in their many, many play wars. They spring forth from one another, fully grown, with their heads full of terrible ideas.(The Unshaped felt it was better that way. It just wouldn't do for their to be Goblin children, for they are not fun to kill.)

When the Unshaped were forced into physical form and the elves came to be, their servitor species became a hassle to manage and control. The Obake were sent into the wilds to thrive, the Unterkin were led away by the Wonder Smith and the Bruun were taken by Regulus, the traitor.

All that remained were the Goblins, who had nothing but hate for the now vulnerable elves. And worse still, they had been united - by an anomaly, a goblin named Garland whose head was full of good ideas. He taught them to unite and act as one and to end their squabbling, for what was good for one goblin would ultimately be good for all of them.

Now truth be told, the Elves were still fairly certain they could eradicate their old amusements, even if they stood as one. But they could die now, and none were willing to lose their lives to so wretched a thing. So they lied instead. Feigning desire for peace, they offered the goblins an underground kingdom as an offering of good will. And they were eager to believe it as they had been made to hate the light and thrive in darkness. Even Garland was fooled, as his ambitions were costly and the elves whispered tales of glittering gold and precious stones in his ear.

So the goblins left the surface, swarming the tunnels and caves of the Buried Kingdoms in search of what had been promised them. And find them they did, after a fashion. They stumbled upon the dwarvish lands and started a war that has raged ever since.

Garland's ideas have long since rotted, becoming terrible like all goblin thoughts eventually do. Maybe another clever one will rise from their ranks again, but until then they really only have the right idea about one thing.

They really hate the elves.