Kŗivaj

Kŗivaj is an ancient Rup Shéxul.   When the Rup Shéxul were created during the First Age by the wizard Bējil, Kŗivaj was the first and most powerful. He also proved to be the wisest.   It was Kŗivaj that recognized that Bējil cared nothing for the giants, the Rup Shéxul included, and wished only to have slaves to do his bidding. He organized and led the frost giants and marked giants in the revolt against their enslaver, creator, object of worship. It was his gentle leadership that convinced the other marked giants to not abuse their ability to control the other giants and help the frost giants recover from the loss of the being they worshipped as a god.   Kŗivaj and the other giants kept themselves hidden from the rest of the world until the start of the God War, avoiding conflict with the Wizard Kings. When they realized the God War had begun, Kŗivaj convinced his fellow giants to join in on the side of the gods, who offered to teach them how to use their abilities and skills against the wizard kings.  

Becoming Trapped

During the giants' last battle of the God War, which resulted in the deaths of all the other giants, the Rup Shéxul included, Kŗivaj was trapped within a mountain. The battle was against Nöx and his minions. The giants were assisting Shönäl in trying to eliminate Nöx and his hordes of undead. But Nöx had a secret weapon during that battle. He had recruited an exceedingly powerful earth elemental that liked nothing more than killing. It had been killing and Nöx utilizing the dead.   Once the battle started, Shönäl and Kŗivaj decided the best plan was to have the frost giants and some of the Rup Shéxul to keep the undead at bay. Kŗivaj and the remaining Rup Shéxul would take on the elemental. Shönäl would fight Nöx, with the occasional assistance of one of the Rup Shéxul. Things did not go well for the giants.   The frost giants did well at first against the undead. Each of them was able to take out many at a time, with each of the Rup Shéxul able to eliminate as many as a dozen at a time. But for each undead the giants took out there were hundreds more. Eventually they were simply overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. All of the frost giants were killed by undead and all of the Rup Shéxul fighting the undead were killed by them. And the undead kept coming forth.   Kŗivaj and the remaining Rup Shéxul were more successful with the elemental. However, it was very powerful and fully utilized the mountainous terrain they were fighting on, drawing out spikes from the stone to impale it's foes, sending huge boulders throught the air to crush them. One by one it eliminated the other Rup Shéxul, leaving just the strongest, Kŗivaj, to try to finish it off. Kŗivaj was weakened, to the point that he feared death and failure were at hand. But the elemental was weakened as well. The two traded attacks until Kŗivaj was able to make a final, killing blow against the elemental. But the elemental did not give up, even as it died. It enveloped Kŗivaj within itself and pulled the giant into the mountain with it, taking him deep into the heart of the mountain. Through some combination of his own resilience and the magic pulsing through the vein of fonujajo he ended up near, Kŗivaj survived in a sort of stasis, to be found millenia later by Galith Redbeard.   Fortunately for Shönäl, the efforts of the giants allowed him to dedicate his attention to Nöx. He was finally able to destroy Nöx, but not in time to save any of the giants. Once Nöx was dead, the magic animating the undead forces disapated, with the undead dropping to the ground where they stood. Shönäl mourned the loss of his allies, but the war was not over and he moved on to the next enemy.  

Rescue

The last thing Kŗivaj remembered is being enveloped by the earth elemental. But then he awoke in a dark cave, illuminated by only the faintly glowing spheres suspended in the air. A number of small humanoids observed him. The largest of them, nearly twice the height but with similar proportions, spoke.   "I am Galith Redbeard, the great dwarf king. I do not know what befell you to be embedded in the belly of the earth itself, but I have freed you!"
  This is how Kŗivaj was rescued by Galith Redbeard, fifteen years after the dwarf's exile from the Dwarfish Empire and millenia after Kŗivaj's entrapment in the mountain. Kŗivaj was grateful for the dwarf's rescue and pledged fealty to him. However, it didn't take long for Kŗivaj to realize that Galith was not so different from Bējil. Not as powerful, but with the same tendencies of self aggrandizement and sense of superiority over all others.   But Kŗivaj was weak. While he still had most of his abilities and skills, they were not what they were when he fought the elemental. He didn't know if it was because of how the elemental weakened him or if it was his new environment, which was noticibly different. None of he new companions knew of the God War, although Galith knew a simplified legend of a great battle between the gods and powerful wizards. Galith finished his story by saying, "Wizards aren't that powerful anymore. But I will be, one day."   Kŗivaj knew he couldn't stop the dwarf in his weakened state. And he didn't have allies among the Galith's followers. So he chose to bide his time, waiting until either he regained his strength enough to defeat Galith himself or until he could muster enough allies to overthrow the dwarf.   But Galith's power grew faster the Kŗivaj's. He gained artifact after artifact and used them all to increase his physical strength and magical power. He was a smart and charismatic leader, despite is megalomania. And while the dwarf made Kŗivaj his top general, none of the followers showed any indication that they could be trusted with Kŗivaj's plans.   So, 60 years after being rescued by Galith, he has seen the dwarf grow in power such that those that don't follow him willingly do so because of the magical sway he holds over them. Kŗivaj has begun to lose hope for defeating Galith.  

The Future

  While Kŗivaj now has no hope of defeating Galith himself, and little of defeating the villain with support from within, he still has some hope. He has decided to start looking into gaining allies outside the ranks of Sérilurpéu Pēxäk.   While he cannot safely move among the smaller peoples of the world, Kŗivaj plans to manipulate and control Nujox to do so. This is risky, as Nujox is incredibly loyal to Galith. However, Kŗivaj believes his ability to control other giants and Nujox's inherently weak mind will work to help him here. He intends to tell Nujox that his mission is to spy on the little ones and find their weaknesses. However, he will use his control selectively to directly interact with leaders, or at least spokespeople, who appear to be willing and capable of helping or locating help.   There is another possiblity. Kŗivaj has heard of Vuwqua, the Scion of Koďö. If he can contact her, she may be able to help in his plans. But this is also a risk. It might be in the god's best interests to allow Galith to continue to gain power. Perhaps he can find Dewnt, Scion of Shönäl. Shönäl would surely be grateful to find his last ally against Nöx to still be alive.   And, perhaps, his hopes of finding someone on the outside to help will help strengthen Kŗivaj's will to defeat Galith himself.
Species
Children
Gender
male
Eyes
firey orange
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
dark, charcoal colored skin covered with red runes
Height
10.9 m
Weight
9450 kg
Aligned Organization


Cover image: Scotland Cliffs by Frank Winkler

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