Following the longstanding tradition of goblinoid tribal identity, Slothjemians, regardless of racial background, proudly declare themselves as members of the Clan of the Midnight Skull. It isn’t exactly a classic Disney sort of name, but remember that it originated as a swamp orc designation. Jors tend to embrace dark and morbid themes. Had they been gnomes, they would have been the Clan of the Yellow Daisies. If they were dwarves, the Clan of the Festive Pile of Colorful Rocks. And of they were elves, it would have come down through the ages as the Clan of the “This seems like a lot of work, how about I just play my banjo and take a nap.”

The legend has it that the first king to rule Slothjemia, Manfriedreich I, in the years before he took such a title, was awakened from a deep sleep by a dream (or hallucination, the swamp orc in question was infamously crazy) of a horned skull with fangs hovering below a crescent moon at midnight. The skull commanded (or at the very least, strongly suggested) that Manfriedreich declare the swamps under his rule as a safe haven for all seeking refuge from the oppressive human-governed realms that surrounded Slothjemia. It became the first decree of the king when he was eventually able to secure his own title as regent, and is the cornerstone of everything Slothjemia stands for.

None of this lofty idealism detracts from the imagery of that skull, of course. Nor does the selection of colors on the Slothjemian flag, a red, white, and black tricolor. The red represents blood, of course. That is what the color red always represents on flags, isn’t it? The white, however, does not represent virtue or purity, and suggestions to that end are met with raucous laughter. On the Slothjemian flag, and in most heraldic devices of the realm, white represents the light of day in which all men are free to live, and serves as a convenient bland background upon which to put symbols and totems, such as the midnight skull. But the color black does have a meaning. It represents the background of all goblinoids and persecuted peoples that had to live in the eternal night of underground lairs, and skulk about under the cover of darkness on the surface world. Flanked by the blood of war, and the darkness of their past, the midnight skull is emblazoned on a promise that Slothjemians have every intention of living as all other men do.

This, of course, is a good thing only to Slothjemians. Everyone else tends to view their flag as horrific and barbaric, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything hinges on perspective.