Dwarfs & Goblins. Ancestral enemies, yet many scholars believe that they have a common ancestry. Both species have connection to the fae, making them distant cousins to Elves, but there's no real way of knowing why they have such a connection or where along the line the divergence began. In Dwarven myth, there speaks of two Dwarven Tribes and one mountain. One tribe defeated the other and continued to live atop the mountain, while the other were forced to live underneath it, and that gave birth to Goblins. Whether this is true or not, it's unknown,. but some Goblin Shaman speak of a similar tale, where both tribes were accousted by a Dragon and the tribes saught shelter underground and split up from there, one becoming Dwarfs and other Goblin.

Dwarfs are a dominant species in the world. They come in a variety of skin tones due to being just all over the place. Some have darker complexions in warmer climates, some paler in colder climates. They also have a wide variety of hair and eye colors, with some not being natural to Humans and some having two natural hair colors-a leftover trait of their fae ancestry, some believe. They're known for their stout physique, with the taller members of their species being 5'0, with their average being roughly around 3-4'0. A lesser talked about trait are Dwarfs having ears similar to humans, but much larger when compared to a Dwarf's head. They also tend to have more rounded, softer facial features in general when compared to Goblins; rounded noses to more beak-like Goblin noses, rounded ears to Goblin's sharpened ones; though, this is only on average.

Goblins are similar in height to Dwarfs, with the taller members being referred to as 'Hobs' or 'Hobgoblins'. Their skin color is prodimently green to yellow, though there are variants. Some are born with more reddish skin that might stray into orange, though this origin is unknown, with some believing this is due to Goblins having a history of dabbling in demonic arts. Some have tanned skin; some Goblins, crafty enough to hide their sharp teeth and ears, are able to slip past, or even into, Human settlements under the guise of children. Some Goblins have skin as dark as pitch, but these rare 'Black Goblins' are sometimes believed to be creatures purely of myth. Goblins also have black eyes and hair naturally, but Goblins with a high magical affinity have colored eyes with slits in them-again, a mark of their demonic heritage. Meanwhile, Goblins dying their hair is quite common; and some color combinaitons are a sign of what tribe or family they belong to as Goblins don't have the concept of 'surnames'-at least, most don't.

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Yes, I did base this off of the iconic Spy vs Spy pic that's out there. ;)

Second, just a personal headcanon and far for anything canon for D&D or anything else; but I like to view Dwarfs & Goblins as two sides of the same coin. I don't know, but I feel in media, Dwarfs and Goblins tend to share similar traits. Aside from their short size; Goblins are often made to be gold hungry little hoarders, but...Dwarfs do that too. Dwarfs are often made to be tinkerers and inventors...and Goblins have been getting in on that as well.

I think the only REAL difference is that Goblins are often depicted as jury rigging and reverse engineering inventions, and are labeled as 'thieves' for it. But if anything, their ability to quickly learn and adapt makes them pretty inventive. It's also why I think Dwarfs and Goblins make perfect fantasy rivals-both for the traditional tales of good and evil (The Noble Good Dwarfs must defeat those EVIL, horrid Goblin hoards) and in a more friendly rivalry sense like what we get in D&D when we have a Dwarf and Goblin in the same party. I'd argue that maybe this is something to discuss, with how Dwarfs have good PR and Goblins don't, but, uh, Goblins have gotten pretty popular as of late, lol.

And finally, don't got any names for the two in the picture. Not sure if they're friends, enemies, or friendly rivals, or if I should draw them again. But WILL if you ask for it, lol.

Also, don't mind the word soup up there if your Dwarf & Goblin characters don't fit into the box I'm making for myself, lol. XD This is just a bunch of my own ideas being thrown against paper, complete with a little picture to help sell the idea.