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warning: extremely unpolished and rambly
Cerilian goblins, according to the Birthright boxed set, are made up of three races of humanoid monster that had, hitherto, been seperate in other campaign settings; the goblin, the hobgoblin, and the bugbear. These three races were lumped together and given the fairly unamazing names of common, elite, and giant goblin.
Extremely little is given about the "ecology" of the goblin race in the boxed set, and so it is left to the imagination of the players to make some sense of this obvious monster-recycling. ;)
(Divide them into 'low goblins' who are workers, common soldiers, and crafters (MM: goblins), 'high goblins' who are leaders, elite soldiers, magic-users and priests (MM: hobgoblins), and 'great goblins' who are almost exclusively involved in warfare-related tasks (MM: bugbears)?)
The goblinfolk of Cerilia are widely spread throughout the various terrains of the continent. It is thought that they were originally the inhabitants of hills and highlands - the forests being occupied by the elves and the mountains by the dwarves. They were introduced to forest living during their period of enslavement by the elves during the elvish golden age (question: what did the elves need slaves for? sacrifice?).
The goblins were able to break free from the elves domination as the elvish realm slipped further into decadence (theory: and warfare?). The goblin culture that developed after enslavement is likely to bear little resemblance to the one the preceded it. The new goblin culture would be survival oriented, and defence (to avoid future enslavement) focused. The ability to enslave other creatures would also become an important indicator of success. New goblin culture would also have, as its emphasis, collective security at the expense of family ties; task associations are more important to goblins than family - this is reinforced by the fact that goblin offspring can be any one of the three types.
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I think that Thurazor presents some interesting, and no often explored, avenues in BR. It mentions how goblins are not a race of "monsters", but are just another race of (more or less) civilised humanoids - like the dwarves and elves. It does note, however, that noone really wants them as neighbours; I'm not sure how many people really want elves as neighbours either, however!
Thurazor is said to have adapted itself to its neighbours (I believe this is a fairly common goblin tendency part survival strategy and part advantage strategy) and is aware of human concepts of honour, trade, and fealty. I'd also say that they are aware of the gods worshipped by humans and their may be some worship of them occuring within the area.
Thurazor tends to conform, in alignment terms, to Lawful Evil; although if you are optimistic about goblins (as I am...) this could be Lawful Neutral. The goblins are fairly well organised, despite their fairly brutal methods of regime change; generally assassination is more common than civil wars which would weaken the society to outside pressures. The violence of goblin succession in Thurazor is mostly deliberate, since it works as an extreme form of meritocracy. Most claimants will submit, and permit the more skilled contenders to eliminate each other until one remains.
Provincial rule is dominated by military associations that determine leaders through either election or assassination competitions. The leaders, however they are determined, then appoint subsidiary leaders and are responsible for basically all economic decisions, although many appoint stewards with a talent for such tasks to manage this aspect of governance. Generally one of these association leaders arises as the dominant in the province and is recognised as the authority of the province; the goblin term (idea: maybe polish 'starost?') used is often called 'prince' by neighbouring Anuireans. The provincial 'princes' are the principle competitors in the competitions and/or elections to the position of overall ruler of the realm ('starost thuraz'?); this leader is called 'king' by the neighbouring Anuireans. Mytho-historically Thurazor was settled by an ancient emancipating hero, Thuraz. Most of the formerly enslaved goblin societies have a mythic hero/liberator and the subsequent leaders of the realms generally take the name as a surname.
Religious officials are also extremely important in goblin societies. It was the worship of Kartathok that allowed the goblins to rise successfully against the sidhelien and so priests have exercised major political influence ever since the time of liberation. Priestly associations are organised in basically the same way as military associations, although they are supposedly subject to the military association heads of equal rank; this is not always the reality however and often 'princes' and 'kings' pay close attention to the wishes of the religious association leaders. Not all priests join religious associations, some join military associations and provide 'integral' magical support to them.
Cerilian goblins of all sizes have a proud martial tradition of wolf-riding. It is not known when the first wolves were domesticated by the goblins, but they have been an integral of their military activities for as long as men can recall.
The smallest, and most numerous, of the goblins can ride ordinary wolves because of their light build and short stature; the larger goblins must seek out the rarer and more dangerous dire wolves as mounts. Wolf-breeding and training is a respected and ancient tradition amongst most goblin societies.
In the terms of D&D3.5e the goblin war-wolves are either wolves or dire wolves with the war-beast template applied (Monster Manual II, 219-220). Some important leaders ride more impressive wolves, which are treated as advanced wolves or dire wolves.
War-wolves are 3HD Medium-sized Animals. They must be reared for one year (Handle Animal check, DC 18) and then trained for war for two months (Handle Animal check, DC 23). The market price of a trained war-wolf is 150gp. These animals are often used as mounts by low goblins for scouting and skirmishing; they can bear up to 114lb as a light load and move at a rate of 60ft.
Great war-wolves are 7HD Large-sized Animals. They must be reared for one year (Handle Animal check, DC 22) and then trained for war for two months (Handle Animal check, DC 27). The market price of a trained war-wolf is 625gp. These animals are used by high and great goblins as mounts; they can bear up to 1,200lbs as a light load and move at a rate of 60ft.