The Dorgeshuun, often referred to as cave goblins or the "lost tribe", are a race and tribe of subterranean goblins that inhabit the tunnel network beneath southern Misthalin. Dorgesh-Kaan is their capital city, founded 2900 years ago.[1] Their name, in the ancient goblin language, translates to "Goblins of the Strong Spears."[2]
Since the Third Age, the evolution of the Dorgeshuun and goblins on the surface had diverged significantly from each other as the Dorgeshuun needed to adapt to living underground in isolation. One of their defining attributes is their eye size: as the Dorgeshuun steadily evolved to be better suited to low-light conditions, their eyes grew larger to sense and perceive more light from what little they could get.[3]
The Dorgeshuun feature heavily in the Dorgeshuun quest series: a set of four quests that revolve around the tribe and its city. The series delve into the Dorgeshuun's history, society, and religion, as well as their interaction with the surface world and Humans Against Monsters.
While the vast majority of goblins on the surface are resoundingly slow-witted, disruptive to nearby inhabitants, and generally of a belligerent attitude, the Dorgeshuun demonstrate ingenuity, are civil, and are disinclined to engaging in warfare if it can be helped. The Dorgeshuun live in a complex society commensurate to that of other major races like the elves, gnomes, dwarves, humans, and vampyres: they have a working, healthy economy; a strong cultural identity and history with continued scholarship; a functioning and stable government of councils; highly-specialized and innovative technology; and a generally satisfied and active populace.
The Dorgeshuun came to be specialized in mining and digging tunnels and gained expertise in complex construction and civil engineering, as demonstrated by their grandiose city, Dorgesh-Kaan. They utilise an assortment of unique materials, one of which are bones for construction, for propping up their tunnels[4], and for other structures like their market stalls. Their city is adorned with their metal wire and light orb system that acts as their lampposts, illuminating the underground complex. Their ability to use these light orbs and the special mining helmets they wear for the tunnels also shows their proficiency in firemaking.
The Dorgeshuun are a pacifist race, and as such, their armaments (while unique) leave something to be desired.[5] Their weaponry consists entirely of bone weapons[6]; and, even then, they are reserved for their guards and hunters as they're generally frowned-upon as items of war.[7] On the other hand, their combat skill and techniques may not be entirely lackluster. Given that their marketplace is filled to the brim with all manner of dangerous underground creatures served as dishes (i.e. big and giant frogs, the poisonous cave crawlers and cave slimes, and the very aggressive and dangerous wall beasts), they are at least adequate hunters. They even have a technique for ambushing unsuspecting targets, (likely for hunting purposes only, but can also translate in warfare).[8]
As far as magic is concerned, however, the goblins lack even the basics to cast Wind Strike.[9] It's only after their opening to the surface world that the free-flowing trade and exchange of goods between Dorgeshuun and Lumbridge tourists exposed them to runes and their magical properties. Most notably, Oldak spends his time dabbling with runes and has developed "Moving-Over Distance Spheres": teleportation orbs that utilise crushed law runes in a glass sphere that teleport the user to a set location when shattered.[10]
There is an implied scholarship and academic body for the Dorgeshuun.[11] At the very least, the Dorgeshuun often display value of knowledge, discovery, and philosophy, exemplified in Zanik's undying curiosity and appreciation of nuanced thinking[12][13], the Goblin scribe's passion for archiving and record-keeping (albeit a little undisciplined, as they take the player's word for their queries), as well as the goblins pushing back the construction of the dwarf-Dorgeshuun train tunnel in Another Slice of H.A.M. in order to excavate archaeological artefacts of their ancestors.[14] Due to their mistreatment by Bandos millennia ago, the Dorgeshuun continue to hold a pessimistic view of the gods.[15] It can be purported that the Dorgeshuun have returned to their inherent pre-Bandos nature as goblins before his warmongering indoctrination, if what High Priest Bighead claims is true.[16] They also do not believe in nor profess to know of an afterlife[17], unlike goblins on the surface.[18]
The Dorgeshuun tribe has a lineage that can be traced as far back as the God Wars in the Third Age, where they were militarized along with other goblins to fight under Bandos.[19][20] However, when the Dorgeshuun were sent off to fight an unwinnable battle against elves and dwarves[21][22], they absconded from their mission, whether for want of self-preservation, pacifist ideals, and/or self-respect above being pawns for war.[16][23] So, the Dorgeshuun, led by General Bloodfist, fled underground to evade punishment from their god for their failure and their weakness. There, they were sealed when an earthquake caused a cave-in that blocked off entry to their place of refuge until the breakout in The Lost Tribe.[19][24]
Around 2900 years ago, Dorgesh-Kaan was founded by Lieutenant Strongaxe, Bloodfist's second-in-command.[1] For a time, rule by martial might and other surface goblin customs and traditions persisted.[25] In continuation of what they knew and were familiar with, the leadership consisted of generals who were superseded by a successive general through defeat in combat[26] and a council of elders who advised those generals. However, the populace began inching further toward pacifism and civility, and they voted in favour of forming a republic headed by the council.[27][5] One of the generals, General Bonehelm, resisted relinquishing power to the republic and thus began a civil war among the goblins.[28] He was forced out of Dorgesh-Kaan, where he constructed his own base in the caves nearby, then soon-after launched sieges against the city using archers mounted on giant frogs.[29] The violent conflict between the more sizeable army of the Republic and the more well-trained army of General Bonehelm saw the latter being repelled by the Dorgesh-Kaan defenders, forcing General Bonehelm and his army back to their base. Unfortunately for them, their mining of the tunnels to construct their base had compromised the integrity of the caves surrounding it, causing a great cave-in and collapse on the base due to the vibrations from the mass footsteps of the army. It was thereafter that the Dorgeshuun became a predominantly pacifist culture and saw their grand city flourish under unity.[30]
In The Lost Tribe, the player helps in discovering the Dorgeshuun goblins when they accidentally breach the Lumbridge cellar. The player makes contact with the Dorgeshuun cave goblin miner, Mistag, who reassures that their kind mean no threat. Furthermore, the player discovers that the advisor to Duke Horacio of Lumbridge, Sigmund, was attempting to incite an unjust war and the annihilation of the goblins by stealing Lumbridge property and pinning the blame on them. When this is discovered, the Duke banishes Sigmund from his services. In subsequent quests, the player continues to play a key role in thwarting the hostile schemes of the Humans Against Monsters group, which seeks to eradicate all manner of creatures they find intolerable to humanity and of which Sigmund is an authority figure in. Currently, it seems that goblins are at the forefront of the creatures they most desire wiped out.
Outside matters of H.A.M., the player also helps the Dorgeshuun to establish relations with the greater world outside of their cave system, such as with Lumbridge and Keldagrim, along with helping to reveal more about their history and about Zanik's possible role in the Chosen Commander prophecy. In doing so, much is learned about the general history of goblins, their home realm of Yu'biusk, and their religious worship of Bandos.
^ 1.01.1Goblin scribe. Dorgesh-Kaan. Old School Runescape. "In the twenty-ninth century since the founding of the city, one of the miners broke through a wall into a cellar of a surface dweller."
^Zanik, Tegdak. Another Slice of H.A.M.. Old School Runescape. Zanik: A helmet? So those are eye-holes? They look so small. Tegdak: This was from the early days of Dorgesh-Kaan. It must have been before our ancestors' eyes reached their current size.
^Barlak in Dorgesh-Kaan. Old School RuneScape. "No, seriously, I need bones to use as a Construction material. We always need big bones to prop up the mine shafts and to make other temporary structures."
^ 5.05.1Tegdak. Another Slice of H.A.M.. Old School Runescape. "It seems that even by the time of the Civil War, our ancestors were beginning to lose their skills at making weapons.
^Nardok in Dorgesh-Kaan mine. Old School RuneScape. "Well, first up there's the normal bone club and bone spear. Good, solid frog-bone, and the spear has an iron tip. Can withstand a lot of punishment, if you know what I mean!"
^Nardok in Dorgesh-Kaan mine. Old School RuneScape. "Well, they're used to hurt people, aren't they? That's not considered very, y'know, respectable. Even though the guards use them, and the hunters, they're still considered a bit, y'know, dirty."
^Nardok in Dorgesh-Kaan mine. Old School RuneScape. "Special aiming technique. If you hit an enemy with it their defence will get weaker so you can hit them again! Plus, if you use this technique on an enemy who isn't expecting it, you'll always hit them! Pretty good, eh? 'Course, there's only a few people who know it, so unless you can get someone to show you you won't be able to do it."
^Zanik, Magic combat tutor. Death to the Dorgeshuun. Old School Runescape. Magic combat tutor: "Well, if you have some air runes and mind runes you can cast Wind Strike..." Zanik: "How?" Magic combat tutor: "You can't even cast Wind Strike?" Zanik: "We Dorgeshuun don't have any magical knowledge at all."
^Oldak in Dorgesh-Kaan. Old School RuneScape. "Well, I was experimenting with these blue runes, the ones you call 'law' runes. They have a strange property of being able to move instantly from one place to another. (...) I found that whenever I prepared powdered law runes in a certain way and then threw them on the ground, I would appear somewhere else in the city. So, I made this sphere. It's a glass ball coated with powdered law runes, prepared in a special way."
^Oldak in Land of the Goblins. Old School RuneScape. "Dorgeshuun scientists and philosophers generally believe that dreams are a way for the mind to sort through memories. There is no known mechanism by which they can predict the future."
^Zanik. Death to the Dorgeshuun. Old School Runescape. Player: "Aren't you scared of the surface?" Zanik: "Well... a bit. All our legends say it's a terrible place. But that's a bad reason to not visit it. Maybe the legends are wrong. Or even if they're right, we should know for sure. And I've always wondered... what's beyond the next cave? What's at the end of every tunnel? The surface is a whole new world to explore, I can't wait!"
^Zanik. Death to the Dorgeshuun. Old School Runescape. Player: "Not all gods are bad!" Father Aereck: "Quite right! The Dorgeshuun have just had bad experiences of them." Zanik: "Maybe that's true. I should try to approach things with an open mind!"
^Ur-tag in Another Slice of H.A.M.. Old School RuneScape. "I understand your concerns, Ambassador, but you must realise that the discoveries must change the whole schedule. To remove them too hurriedly would be a crime against knowledge."
^Zanik, Father Aereck. Death to the Dorgeshuun. Old School Runescape. Father Aereck: "Which god do you cave goblins worship?" Zanik: "We DON'T worship any god! Thousands of years ago the gods made our ancestors fight in horrible wars. it was only after we escaped from them that we were able to build a civilisation. (...) Our history doesn't make a distinction. There was your own god who would kill you if you refused to fight, and someone else's god who would only kill you if you lost."
^ 16.016.1High Priest Bighead. Land of the Goblins. Old School Runescape. "Naturally? Let me tell you what goblins are naturally! We tiny, we weak, we cowardly, we love peace and not war! All that is good, that is strong, that is powerful, we get from Big High War God!"
^Zanik in Death to the Dorgeshuun. Old School RuneScape. "We Dorgeshuun don't believe in an afterlife. At least, if there is one we don't claim to know about it. And if anything happened to me while I was dead then I don't remember it."
^Ghost (Hopespear) in Hopespear's Will. Old School RuneScape. "Me think, when me die, Big High War God take me to reward in Yu'biusk. Every day great battle, every night great victory with feasting. (...) High priests in this tomb, when they die they believe they go to Yu'biusk'."
^ 19.019.1Mistag. The Lost Tribe. Old School Runescape. "Our ancient legends say that goblins were created by an evil god in order to fight in a huge war. This god sent the Dorgeshuun tribe to fight a battle where all would die."
^"Goblin symbol book". Old School RuneScape. "Goblin tradition holds that their race was created by a war-god in order to fight a war against other gods. (...) Although goblins are still warlike, it is probable that in earlier ages they were more organised than they are now, especially if they were under the direct command of one or more gods. This is corroborated by finds unearthed at various archaeological sites, including the large excavation east of Varrock. Armour and weapons have been found, obviously made to fit goblins but far more well-made than their current equipment."
^General Bentnoze, General Wartface. The Lost Tribe. Old School Runescape. General Bentnoze: "Dorgeshuun? That old goblin legend. Lost tribe." General Wartface: "In time of much-war there many tribes. Big High War God send Dorgesh tribe to fight beardy-short-people in mountains." General Bentnoze: "No no, he send them to fight tall people with biting blades, that what I hear. (...)" General Wartface: "Well, they say, 'We not want to fight,' so god punish them.[...]" General Bentnoze: "No no, they losing so they run away, and Big High War-God punish them for running away."
^Ghost (Hopespear). Hopespear's Will. Old School Runescape. "Long ago we fight other people: beardy-short-people, pointy-hat-short-people, tall people with keen blades."
^"The living statues". Old School RuneScape. "The war between the gods has taken its toll on all of us, but especially on my kind, the Dorgeshuun. We were not made to fight, we are a peaceful race. We were forced into fighting for the god Bandos, or as I like to call him, the Big High Idiot."
^Mistag in The Lost Tribe. Old School RuneScape. "But our ancestors escaped by hiding in a deep hole in the ground where our god could not find us. Eventually an earthquake sealed the hole and they were forever safe."
^Tegdak in Another Slice of H.A.M.. Old School RuneScape. "That confirms that our ancestors retained a lot of customs from the surface even after they came down here. Our guards didn't start wearing lighter chainmail until after the Civil War."
^Goblin scribe in Dorgesh-Kaan. Old School RuneScape. "At first, Dorgesh-Kaan was ruled over by generals, just as the tribe had been when it was on the surface. Each general succeeded the last by defeating him in combat."
^Goblin scribe in Dorgesh-Kaan. Old School RuneScape. "The generals were advised by a council of elders, but the Dorgeshuun were no longer an army, and many of the people felt that the council should have authority."
^Goblin scribe in Dorgesh-Kaan. Old School RuneScape. "The people voted to become a republic, but General Bonehelm refused to give up power, and so the Dorgeshuun Civil War began. The republican faction was the larger, but the military faction contained most of the trained warriors and controlled the magical equipment that the tribe had brought from the surface."
^Goblin scribe in Dorgesh-Kaan. Old School RuneScape. "General Bonehelm was driven from the city, but dug his own base out the caves nearby. General Bonehelm's army attacked the city using archers mounted on giant frogs."
^Goblin scribe in Dorgesh-Kaan. Old School RuneScape. "There was a bloody battle, and General Bonehelm was driven back again into his base. But General Bonehelm's mining had weakened the stone around his base, and the retreating army's footsteps caused the roof to collapse, crushing his army. That was the last time one Dorgeshuun has raised arms against another."
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