The legend of the kobolds' spiritual debt
The Renescorin kobolds, also known as the "Tiamalan kobolds" are very staunch reincarnationists. They believe if they please the Nine in life, they will reincarnate in a person with slightly better circumstances, and if they repeat the process enough they will be reborn as dragons.
When possible, Renescorin kobolds prefer to cremate their dead. If they don't have time or fuel for a cremation, they will tear apart their dead and put the entrails in an area with lots of scavengers. This is not viewed as disrespectful. They believe the quicker a person's earthly remains are destroyed, the quicker they move on to the next life.
Cremation is preferable because it's less messy and fire invokes the spiritual essence of dragons. When kobolds perform rituals to honor their ancestors or worship the Nine, they prefer to do around a fire. The smoke rising to the sky is a tether between the material plane and the realm of the Nine where dead souls wait patiently for their next reincarnation.
by me with Midjourney
Summary
"Long ago, when Scarterra had fewer scars, before the Void spawned it's terrors, before the elementals ravaged the land and sea, The world was ruled by mighty dragons. A nation of dragons, led by a prideful queen named Tiamat sought to become like the Nine and thus offended the Nine. Tiamat and her many followers were made to become smaller and weaker but messengers of the Nine offered them mercy. If they can live recurring lives of piety, they can become dragons again.
Historical Basis
Spread
The Renescorin kobolds believe in this story wholeheartedly and base their whole tribal societal rules and norms around this.
Gilgren kobolds claim the myth is a total lie and dishonors Greymoria, the true patron of the kobold race. Laershin kobolds are more agnostic towards it. They are usually too polite to question the myth in earshot of a Renescorin kobold but if pressed they will say something along the lines "Even if we do reincarnated, since no one remembers their past lives in any measurable way, does it truly matter?"
Very few non-kobolds put much stock in kobold culture or myths but it has been noticed that reincarnationists of many difference races usually have a similar idea that expediating the destruction of a corpse speeds the reincarnation process along and cremation is the most respectful and holy way to do this. Whether this means they adopted the practice from kobolds or if it represents some form of covergent cultural evolution is a matter of debate.
Variations & Mutation
How exactly the followers of Tiamat "sought to become like the Nine" is unclear.
Some believed Tiamat tried to become a goddess herself. Some believe Tiamat formed a cult to resurrect the Traitor. Some believe Tiamat and her followers simply ceased their prayers and rituals to honor the Nine, trusting in their own power.
Some believe Queen Tiamat was actually the dragon who started the First Unmaking and all dragons of the First Age bear her karmic debt.
by me with Midjourney
Related Ethnicities
Related Species
The Math Problem
Akeem of Magicland, professor Emeritus of history. "The Renescorin kobolds believe that all kobolds share the same metaphysical origins and all of them carry the karmic debt of Tiamat whether they know it or not. Most kobolds live in isolated tribes. They are vaguely aware of other tribes and sometimes they even exchange members with other tribes to avoid inbreeding, but most don't know or care how many tribes. One dragon takes up a lot of space. Assuming the dragons of the First Age possessed means of producing food far exceeding what we have now, there probably were less than a couple million dragons at the peak of their population. Given the sparse historical records of her, Queen Tiamat probably never ruled more than 5% of the population at most. There are an estimated million kobolds in Scarterra today. That means that there are more kobolds alive than their ancient dragon souls in need of redemption. Kobolds I spoken to say my math is wrong. Most will just snarl. Two kobolds have given the matter some thought and provided reasonable theories though with no evidence to back them up. A kobold named Nelba said that a dragon soul is so mighty it can be split into pieces that can still sustain life. The process of beneficial reincarnation means two or pieces of a soul merge back together. A kobold named Dedri told me that almost all First Age dragons sinned against the Nine, not just the followers of Tiamat. The kobolds numbers are capped at the number of dragons at the peak of the First Age which is why kobolds haven't been able to overtake humans and elves."by Eron12 with Hero Forge
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