Magick of the Hobgoblin Wardressers

(Once again this is an entry based on one of Evlyn M's brilliant pieces. Support her on Patreon!)


Many would probably call hobgoblins a ‘warrior race’. This is quite reductive of course, no species of intelligent creatures are just one thing. It is however true that the hobgoblins spent untold years as the Grey Emperor’s slave-warriors and expendable workers. They staged a great uprising which the hobgoblins call the Us War, since it was the event which made them their own masters. Of course the Grey Emperor is gone from the world now, but these ancient evil have a way of returning.
The other species do not see beyond the surface, and still think of hobgoblins as ‘foot soldiers of evil’ or some such nonsense. The hobgoblins for their part keenly remember how the species turned them away harshly or ignored them when they sought aid against their oppressor.

Hobgoblins must have perfect hair when they go war. In the days of enslavement it was a creative outlet and an act of defiance. It was a way of working magick that their lord did not recognise. The war hairdressers (or wardressers) are revered as artists and warrior mystics. These are some of their greatest hairstyles.

Used with permission.

1: The Scorpion
The front half of the wearer’s hair is shaved off while the back hair is assembled in a long braid decorated with a pointed metal pendant. It is accompanied by poison runes as well as runes symbolizing various insect spirits. Some scholars will opine that scorpions are not insects at all, but hobgoblins do not care. Neither do the spirits it seems.
The magick laid into the hair and the runes allows the hairstyle’s wearer to invoke the scorpion’s deadly poison. It is administered by the slightly clumsy method by thrashing one’s head, striking one’s opponent with the pendant. A touch can be lethal if no antidote is administered.

2: Bright Ocean of Beads
The hair is plaited and decorated with ceramic beads in all the hues of fire. As the warrior runs toward the enemy it looks as though her hair is aflame.
Some wardressers imbue the beads with magick which lets the wearer produce small flames by shaking her head vigorously. It is not an impressive amount by any means, but the effect was put to good use by saboteurs during the Us War. Many powder magazines went up without warning before the Grey Emperor’s more loyal creatures made the connection.

3: Seven Braids of Higher Hopes
This elaborate style cosists of seven braids styled with gold thread and oils until they stand up like alert cobras. The style is reserved for those warriors who consider the coming battle to be their last. The serpent crown symbolizes the hope of having great power in the next life.
In some rare cases the hairstyle, along with the wearer’s fervent prayers, summons seven ancestral vengeance spirits. They cover the wearer’s body with bronze scales, turn her bodily fluids into acid, and her nails into blades. It ensures that she won’t go to the next life alone. Even if she survives the battle, there is none who has survived the transformation back.

4: 3 Pins Braid
A heavy braid held together with three long pins made of horn or bone. The pins are often covered in runes for strength, destiny and harmony.  It is often worn by chieftains or warband leaders. The style amplifies the wearer’s voice threefold, and warsongs seem to come easy to her mind and those under her command. Much has been written on the topic of hobgoblin singing, but not by hobgoblins.

5: Chupryna
The ‘front curl’ is held in place by hemolymph and pungent oils. It is the mark of the neophyte warrior heading to her first battle. As such ‘chupryna’ is a term for someone who is still wet behind the ears.

A variation is the ‘horns’or double front curl. It marks a warrior who has been given a second chance by the tribe. It signals that the wearer is to be treated with caution. Some wardressers claim to imbue the double curls with a life of their own. If the wearer betrays the tribe again,the curls will unfurl and strangle her. That is probably nonsense.

6: The Morning Star
A simple, yet effective style where the hair is teased into a number of spikes, and often dyed red or blue. The style makes the wearer’s head look like the head of its namesake weapon.
The magick laid into this style by a master dresser is as simple as it is effective:it makes it impossible to break the wearer’s skin or skull. 

7: Jhery
This flurry of oiled curls takes its name from its legendary inventor who (according to the stories) managed to take a lock of hair from the Grey Emperor’s head. It signifies resourcefulness and courage in the face of destruction.
It seems to be almost impossible to find small objects hidden in the mass of elaborate curls. Many hobgoblin prisoners have extracted tiny blades, lockpicks, currency and even vials of poison from their hair. Some of these instances lends credence to the idea that master wardressers build some form of apportation magick into their creations.

8: Nine Dead Crest
One must have earned this style. The hair is gathered and braided in such an intricate way that it resembles a dragon’s head crest. It is unknown how great the verisimilitude is, since so few have seen a dragon.
The wearer must have slain one of each of the hobgoblins’ nine hereditary enemies: (the Grey Emperor’s creatures, the skinflint mountain men, those who hide in the dark, the restless dead, the humans from the mighty ships, those who steal bodies, the fey who looked on, the lizard people, and the dream-warriors from below). That marks anyone with this hairstyle as a mighty warrior indeed, and  the crest itself seems to make their bravery contagious. Whether this is magick or simply a morale boost is uncertain.

9: Merachel Curls
Merachel was the first hobgoblin wardresser to use hot irons to curl straight hair. The agreed-upon story is that she created her first styles deep in the Grey Emperor’s hell-foundries, and that some of this potent and poisonous magic lingers in the hairstyles inspired by her seminal work.
Those brave enough to wear the ‘iron styles’ are often loners, scouts and assassins. The hairstyles make them all but invisible to scrying and other forms of remote viewing. The Emperor’s taint lingers in these styles though, and the wearer is often shunned by animals, both wild and domesticated.

10: Halfway Up Is Halfway Down
Half of the wearer’s hair is pulled together in a spiral-bun while the rest hangs loose.  A light scarification of hope runes adorn’s wearer’s forehead.
The hairstyle is reserved for the leader who won a decidedly Pyrrhic victory. A goal was met with terrible loss of life.
Its magick properties are quite uncertain. It has a social symbolism, and it is generally considered a Karmic millstone. “Don’t fail us again” it says. “Too many have died already”.