Artwork by John Fell (featuring my beau TokuStoat's kobold magus Irus)
Model image by HeroForge
So, yeah, even I have a kobold character. 😁
I created Atesh'lemek using the Pathfinder 2nd edition rules set. Firstly he's a dragonscaled kobold with red dragon ancestry somewhere long down the line, so his scales are colored much like a red dragon's. This ancestry also allows him to breathe a short cone of fire every so often.
He is also, oddly enough for a kobold, a barbarian. While he may loathe to admit it, he relishes the power and strength it grants him. Blame it on that red dragon ancestry that influences him and helps him to channel his anger into bouts of fiery fury during battle. He can even imbue his wielded weapon or his own claws and fists with a fiery touch while he's in his battle frenzy if he wishes, thanks to his dragon instinct kicking in.
He's also a dragon disciple not because he chose it but because the power of his draconic heritage pulled him in. Not only did this grant him the ability to breathe fire much more akin to a red dragon's breath, but also he could even transform into one every so often.
Atesh'lemek didn't start off this way. He was content just to help his kobold brethren in mining tunnels to expand their territory. He wasn't as nimble as other kobolds, nor was his personality as, shall we say, forceful. It was obvious he wasn't among the stealthy of his clan, and he had no aptitude for sorcery. He was, however, stronger and almost unnaturally more durable, which made him fit for a life of mining. Still, some kobolds ridiculed him. Not to his face, of course, unless they were in a group. There was just something too different about him in their eyes.
While he was no means an expert on the subject, he was more knowledgeable than others in kobold lore. He enjoyed the times when he could sit and listen to his leaders and elders narrate tales of their heroes and relate the hows and whys of kobold society. He tried to be diplomatic. He wasn't the most successful by far, but at least he wanted to try to resolve conflicts among his brethren. He always deferred to his superiors in such matters, but he felt that resolving conflicts was important to the well-being of his clan and wanted to take an active part.
Life changed after the goblin attack upon his home, and that's when his red dragon heritage and his barbarian abilities burned forth. As he saw his brethren dying around him in the battle, his rage erupted. Equipped with his trusty pickax, he rushed forth and smote several goblins. Out of some instinct he unleashed a flame from his maw upon some more. So focused was he on felling his foes that he hadn't heard his commanders trying to direct the battle. He simply did as he wished, and he delighted in impaling goblin after goblin upon his pickax, smelling the burnt flesh of those he had slain, snarling and yapping and scaring the frightened goblin survivors who fled from his presence.
After the kobolds had routed the goblins and turned their attention to recovery, he received some praise for the number of foes he had slain, but his superiors more expressed their displeasure over how he hadn't listened to them or obeyed them. For the first time in his life, he didn't know how to feel. He knew he should feel ashamed, but he didn't and that confused him. The allure of that strength, that fiery power, which coursed through him was strong, strong enough for him not to be able to resist. He in fact did not want to resist. He wanted to explore it more. He wanted to experience it again.
While didn't want to surrender his place within kobold society, he worried that he could be a threat to his own. What if he entered a rage that resulted in the death of another? He felt that for the safety of his tribe he should strike out on his own.
And he did. The contentment of the orderly and regimented kobold society conflicted with the wild ecstasy of power, and he needed to resolve that conflict before he could allow himself to return. Until then, he set forth with pickax at hand. A kobold who seemed like a dormant volcano until he violently erupted upon the unsuspecting.