Gins Eg (/giːns eːj/)
Translates to "Stone Giant" from the original Giant to Common. Its plural form is Gins Ega, or "Stone Giants."
Gins Ega possess a distinct physical appearance, with a stern countenance and a gray to grayish-brown skin tone. Their hair varies in shade, ranging from dark grays to bluish-grays, while their eyes are deep-set and come in silver, steel, or black hues. Interestingly, fossilized Gins Eg reveal that they were once capable of reaching heights of up to 24 feet, though nowadays, they tend to stand at an average height of 18 feet. Remarkably, despite being thinner and less bulky than many other giants of their size, their flesh is thicker and heavier, resulting in a weight of approximately 9,000 pounds.
Aside from their physical attributes, Gins Ega are also known for their heightened senses. Their excellent sense of smell, in particular, allows them to detect scents with remarkable accuracy. They also possess the ability to see in the dark, which is a significant advantage in certain situations.
Additionally, Gins Ega are known for their longevity, living longer than any other giant race. Despite their low position in the Ordning, they are generally considered among their peers to be the wisest. This is likely due to their extended lifespan, which provides them with more time to accumulate knowledge and experience.
One of the most unique features of the Gins Ega is their immunity to all forms of lycanthropy. This is due to the resilience of their skin, which provides them with an advantage over others vulnerable to the affliction. It is also interesting to note that Gins Ega have a significantly slower heartbeat than humans, beating only four times slower.
Gins Ega possess a distinct physical appearance, with a stern countenance and a gray to grayish-brown skin tone. Their hair varies in shade, ranging from dark grays to bluish-grays, while their eyes are deep-set and come in silver, steel, or black hues. Interestingly, fossilized Gins Eg reveal that they were once capable of reaching heights of up to 24 feet, though nowadays, they tend to stand at an average height of 18 feet. Remarkably, despite being thinner and less bulky than many other giants of their size, their flesh is thicker and heavier, resulting in a weight of approximately 9,000 pounds.
Aside from their physical attributes, Gins Ega are also known for their heightened senses. Their excellent sense of smell, in particular, allows them to detect scents with remarkable accuracy. They also possess the ability to see in the dark, which is a significant advantage in certain situations.
Additionally, Gins Ega are known for their longevity, living longer than any other giant race. Despite their low position in the Ordning, they are generally considered among their peers to be the wisest. This is likely due to their extended lifespan, which provides them with more time to accumulate knowledge and experience.
One of the most unique features of the Gins Ega is their immunity to all forms of lycanthropy. This is due to the resilience of their skin, which provides them with an advantage over others vulnerable to the affliction. It is also interesting to note that Gins Ega have a significantly slower heartbeat than humans, beating only four times slower.
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
Gins Ega, a fictional creature, are known to inhabit temperate mountain ranges, caves or caverns. They are social creatures and tend to form larger groups the deeper they reside. In order to make their homes, Gins Ega carve out the rocks with great skill, showcasing their mastery in artisanal work. Even when it comes to something as simple as boulder tossing, they infuse their movements with artistry. A Gins Eg hurling a boulder is not only displaying their strength but also striving to demonstrate their consummate athleticism and grace. It is believed that those who cannot incorporate artistry into every aspect of their lives fall to the lowest rungs of the Ordning, which is the social hierarchy of Gins Ega society. They are often pushed literally to the perimeter of Gins Ega society, serving as guards on the tribe's most distant borders or as hunters wandering beyond those borders. Therefore, the first encounter outsiders have with Gins Ega is often limited to the least successful members of their society, who are also the poorest examples of the ideals Gins Ega aspire to.
Shared customary codes and values
Gins Ega, being reclusive and peaceful creatures, prefer to keep their lives and art hidden away from the world. They feel truly alive when they are surrounded by stone, which is a realm of permanence and solidity where their laborious carvings can last for eons. Their preference for stone is not only due to their art but also because it is their natural habitat. The Gins Ega are not very social and place less importance on family bonds. Instead, they prioritize the bonds between a master and their pupil, which are based on the pupil's artistic ability. In their society, an individual's artistic ability determines their rank, and those who show little skill in carving are viewed with pity and contempt.
Gins Ega are peaceful and reasonable beings among their own kind. However, outsiders, especially non-giants, are not welcome in their caverns, and trespassers are not treated kindly. Travelers who want to pass through their territory may negotiate with Gins Ega. For safe passage, they must offer beautiful and large furs, exotic food, or art objects as tribute. Money is a weak inducement for all but the lowest of the Gins Ega. Even if offered such enticements, one or two giants might come forward to negotiate while others remain at rock-throwing range. These giants are the least accomplished members of the clan and are good at ambushing and throwing rocks, but they are not leaders or typical examples of their kind.
Gins Ega are peaceful and reasonable beings among their own kind. However, outsiders, especially non-giants, are not welcome in their caverns, and trespassers are not treated kindly. Travelers who want to pass through their territory may negotiate with Gins Ega. For safe passage, they must offer beautiful and large furs, exotic food, or art objects as tribute. Money is a weak inducement for all but the lowest of the Gins Ega. Even if offered such enticements, one or two giants might come forward to negotiate while others remain at rock-throwing range. These giants are the least accomplished members of the clan and are good at ambushing and throwing rocks, but they are not leaders or typical examples of their kind.
Common Dress code
The Gins Ega have a unique approach to clothing. They wear garments that blend in with the nearby rocks, allowing them to easily camouflage themselves when necessary. This practical approach to dressing extends to their personal style, which tends to be simple and functional. The Gins Ega prioritize comfort and practicality over personal adornment, choosing clothing that allows them to move freely and perform their daily tasks with ease.
Art & Architecture
Gins Ega have found refuge in the depths of secluded caves. The cavern networks they occupy serve as their towns, while the rocky tunnels act as their roads and underground streams as their waterways. Their perspective of the world around them is unique, where isolated mountain ranges represent continents, and the vast and expansive land in between them is seen as oceans that they seldom cross.
Living in the dark and quiet caves, the Gins Ega silently work away at their elaborate carvings, measuring time with the echoing drips of water into cavern pools. Their settlements contain holy places that uphold silence and darkness in the deepest chambers. The stone holds a sacred quality in these cavern cathedrals, with buttresses and columns carved to create timeless beauty.
Gins Ega are celebrated for their mastery of creating giant art. They regularly carve stalactites and pillars to resonate in the wind, creating a beautiful song that is attuned to whoever stands before them. Among the Gins Ega, the greatest virtue is the mastery of an art, with stone carving held in the highest regard. Most of them spend their lifetime in pursuit of the perfect artistic creation. Young Gins Ega practice tirelessly, hoping to prove themselves worthy of the tribe's best carvers. A Gins Ega master carver might devote years to finding the best stone before beginning a great work. The best carvers are honored as the leaders and priests of the community, with their hands seen as holy.
The Gins Ega have a nuanced appreciation of the effects of shadow and light, despite spending most of their lives in darkness. They design carvings to produce shadows in specific ways when a light source is placed in the right location. A carving made with these special techniques tells one story when viewed in flat, dim light, but it reveals a much deeper tale when viewed with proper illumination.
Although they are unsurpassed masters of artistic carving, the Gins Ega also employ mundane writing in their stone tableaux. Their tales often include names, dates, and descriptions that are part of an image, such as incorporating runic letterforms into a character's arms or armor.
Living in the dark and quiet caves, the Gins Ega silently work away at their elaborate carvings, measuring time with the echoing drips of water into cavern pools. Their settlements contain holy places that uphold silence and darkness in the deepest chambers. The stone holds a sacred quality in these cavern cathedrals, with buttresses and columns carved to create timeless beauty.
Gins Ega are celebrated for their mastery of creating giant art. They regularly carve stalactites and pillars to resonate in the wind, creating a beautiful song that is attuned to whoever stands before them. Among the Gins Ega, the greatest virtue is the mastery of an art, with stone carving held in the highest regard. Most of them spend their lifetime in pursuit of the perfect artistic creation. Young Gins Ega practice tirelessly, hoping to prove themselves worthy of the tribe's best carvers. A Gins Ega master carver might devote years to finding the best stone before beginning a great work. The best carvers are honored as the leaders and priests of the community, with their hands seen as holy.
The Gins Ega have a nuanced appreciation of the effects of shadow and light, despite spending most of their lives in darkness. They design carvings to produce shadows in specific ways when a light source is placed in the right location. A carving made with these special techniques tells one story when viewed in flat, dim light, but it reveals a much deeper tale when viewed with proper illumination.
Although they are unsurpassed masters of artistic carving, the Gins Ega also employ mundane writing in their stone tableaux. Their tales often include names, dates, and descriptions that are part of an image, such as incorporating runic letterforms into a character's arms or armor.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
Gins Ega possess exceptional night vision and prefer to keep their caves and grottoes dark unless it is necessary to create or display art. They devote most of their waking hours to fulfilling their responsibilities, be it practicing a low-ranking or artistic pursuit. In order to ensure that the guards and hunters are on or off duty, a leader is appointed. Other giants follow the sleep and wake schedules of Gins Ega higher in the Ordning, whom they look up to and learn from. Masters of the arts often demand a lot from their lower-ranking students, including waking up early to ensure that the master has food upon rising, or staying awake while the master sleeps to create something the master will need or judge upon waking. At any given time, about three-quarters of a tribe's members are awake. To determine the Ordning beneath the highest levels of artistry, Gins Ega compete in games of boulder hurling and catching. Their rock-throwing skills serve them well when they need to defend their homes or attack enemies. Although Gins Ega prefer to fight using ranged weapons, such as boulders, they wield gigantic stone clubs if forced into melee. Some Gins Ega even enjoy flinging their smaller enemies through the air.
In addition, the priests of Gins Ega believe that it is their responsibility to oversee their society's affairs and ensure that the Gins Ega as a whole continue to advance towards greater achievements in art and intellectual thought. However, to achieve this goal, they believe that their race needs to isolate themselves from others, with the exception of individuals who might help expand upon their mastery of craftsmanship.
Moreover, Gins Ega make extensive use of the carved word through upright stone cylinders into which writing is carved in a descending spiral. These cylinders are sized to match the length of the message they carry, so there is no blank space on a cylinder. When the cylinder is turned in one's hands (a feat impossible for any creature of human size and strength) or when it is rotated with its base placed in a cradle designed to balance it upright, the writing can be read as the cylinder goes around. The message wraps around the pillar like the threads of a screw, but in two alternating spirals. The first is read from top to bottom as the cylinder rotates; then the cylinder must be flipped over to reveal the second line of script, also read from top to bottom. Tradition and honor demand that a cylinder that turns out to be too long or too thick, so that the message ends before the entire surface is used, be crushed into gravel and a new one begun.
In addition, the priests of Gins Ega believe that it is their responsibility to oversee their society's affairs and ensure that the Gins Ega as a whole continue to advance towards greater achievements in art and intellectual thought. However, to achieve this goal, they believe that their race needs to isolate themselves from others, with the exception of individuals who might help expand upon their mastery of craftsmanship.
Moreover, Gins Ega make extensive use of the carved word through upright stone cylinders into which writing is carved in a descending spiral. These cylinders are sized to match the length of the message they carry, so there is no blank space on a cylinder. When the cylinder is turned in one's hands (a feat impossible for any creature of human size and strength) or when it is rotated with its base placed in a cradle designed to balance it upright, the writing can be read as the cylinder goes around. The message wraps around the pillar like the threads of a screw, but in two alternating spirals. The first is read from top to bottom as the cylinder rotates; then the cylinder must be flipped over to reveal the second line of script, also read from top to bottom. Tradition and honor demand that a cylinder that turns out to be too long or too thick, so that the message ends before the entire surface is used, be crushed into gravel and a new one begun.
Funerary and Memorial customs
When a Gins Eg nears the end of its long life, it is treated with great respect by the tribe. The dying or dead Gins Eg is carried into a chamber inside each Gins Ega settlement where the ancestors reside. There, it is leaned upright against the end of one of the rows of the dead already there. This is done in order to honor the life of the Gins Eg, as it joins their ancestors in the afterlife. Over time, the body gradually calcifies, becoming one with the stone around it. This process can take many decades, but it leaves behind only the faintest impression of the Gins Eg in the rock.
Families of the Gins Ega frequently visit this tomb-chamber to pay their respects to their ancestors. These visits are an important part of the Gins Ega culture and are deeply meaningful to the tribe. Some of these visits, particularly by elderly Gins Ega who know they will soon join the others there, can last for weeks or even months. During these visits, family members share stories of their ancestors and reflect on their own lives. It is a time for both mourning and celebration, as the tribe remembers those who have passed and honors the cycle of life.
Families of the Gins Ega frequently visit this tomb-chamber to pay their respects to their ancestors. These visits are an important part of the Gins Ega culture and are deeply meaningful to the tribe. Some of these visits, particularly by elderly Gins Ega who know they will soon join the others there, can last for weeks or even months. During these visits, family members share stories of their ancestors and reflect on their own lives. It is a time for both mourning and celebration, as the tribe remembers those who have passed and honors the cycle of life.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
It is worth noting that the Ordning of the Gins Ega places little emphasis on clothing and appearance. The Gins Ega do not judge each other based on their clothing or physical appearance. Instead, they value each other for their contributions to the tribe, such as their artistic talents or their ability to hunt and gather food. This egalitarian approach to society extends to their style of dress, as the Gins Ega do not place any societal pressure on each other to dress a certain way or follow any particular fashion trends.
Encompassed species
Comments