Rup Shéxul
Rup Shéxul, also known as Marked Giants, were created in First Age during the events leading to the God War by Bējil.
Giants were a remnant of the gods' first attempt at creating intelligent life in the world. Considered a failure for being too aggressive and combative, unable to use magic, and not intelligent enough to truly form a civilization, they were banished to the frozen Northern Mountains. There they became what might be called frost giants.
When Bējil disappeared from civilization, he was captured by the frost giants. While he was powerful, he was never able to escape. In an attempt to do so, he cloned and modified the sturdiest of the giants, creating new giants nearly three times the size of the frost giants. They have charcoal black skin, black eyes, and were hairless. Bējil infused them with arcane power by etching powerful runes into their skin. They glow with red energy when the giant uses its magical powers.
Some of the powers of the Rup Shéxul include:
The ability to control other giants. Amazingly, this would prove to be effective even with the giants later created during the Third Age.
Mastery over ice and fire. They can form ice javelins from the air or emit columns of flame from their hands, among other things.
Immunity to ice and fire.
There were only ever a 32 Marked Giants. Under the leadership of Kŗivaj they became a force to contend with. Unfortunately for Bējil, they saw their creator as a threat and conspired to kill him. He mistreated and abused both th Rup Shéxul and the frost giants that the came from. The frost giants worshiped the wizard, but Kŗivaj and the other Rup Shéxul recognized the hatred that burned within Bējil—hatred towards the giants themselves. It was Kŗivaj himself that delivered the killing blow, removing Bējil from the world.
It took some time before the frost giants recovered from the loss of their god. But Kŗivaj and his fellows guided them through the loss, choosing not to control them but to work with them. The two races became mutually supportive, with the Rup Shéxul seeing the frost giants as smaller siblings, which they truly were.
The Rup Shéxul and the frost giants later joined in the God War on the side of the gods, who they saw a truly benevolent while they saw the Wizard Kings as oppressors and enslavers. They trained with the god of war, Koďö, himself to learn martial fighting techniques, and the god of magic Dáblo taught the Rup Shéxul how to fully harness the magic they had been embued with.
Though all the giants fought valiantly in the war, all of them died during the conflict. The one exception was Kŗivaj, who was trapped inside a mountain by an Earth Elemental during the giants' final battle. The battle ended with the remaining giants dead and Kŗivaj trapped.
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