Giants

Enormous, towering beings, giants are common subjects of tale but an uncommon sight in civilization, and one that is often accompanied by fear and panic.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Most giants are humanoid in shape with differences in their appearance according to their type, but all giants have one trait they share (you know, the obvious one): enormous size. Most full grown giants stand between 25 and 50 feet tall. Aside from their size, a giant's appearance is dependent on their bloodline.

Giant Bloodlines

A Giant's bloodline refers to the type of giant it is, and with that what realm of Jotunheim (Axiom) it or it's ancestors hail from.

Frost

Frost Giants are descendants of the giants of the frozen peaks of the Realm of Ice within Jotunar. They tend to be pale or blue of skin with eyes like that of a frozen lake and hair like snow that is often covered in bits of ice. Male Frost Giants often have beards covered in ice from their breath. Some form horns of ice though whether these are natural or created by the giant is difficult to say. They stand on average thirty-five to forty feet tall and are intrepid hunters and trackers dwelling in the far northern tundras, snow-capped mountains, and glaciers on the Prime Material.

Biological Traits

Lifespan tends to run around 400 to 800 years, but is believed to have shortened greatly from the time when the first giants set foot on the Prime. In addition to their height, due to their size their bones are often dense, slowing them down. Some giants have been born with several extra limbs or heads and some are rumored to have been born without humanoid form (although this is mostly considered a rumor).

Supernatural Traits

Giants of all kinds are rumored to have several supernatural abilities often associated with their type such as resistance or immunity to the primal element they are connected to. Some are said to be able to change form or even size, though the later often stems from the giants' cultural etiquette upon meeting a giant of greater deed.

Genetics and Reproduction

Depending on the type, a giant's pregnancy term is between 8 and 12 months (1-1.5 years), and though rare (and sometimes impossible) for interbreeding to occur between certain types of giants, they tend to take after one parent in type, though there are assumed to be many forms of giant and therefore could be crossbreeds with mixed types.

Growth Rate & Stages

A giant will normally reach maturity by age 120 but may continue to grow into adulthood.

Ecology and Habitats

Dependant on type, a giant or group of giants will set up their homes in places that serve their abilities, though groups of giants tend to number in the few dozens at most due to their size and need for food. If a group becomes too large they will send a group, often a family or two, away from the main group to find a new home.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Social structure differs often between giants, though there are some things that most giants can agree on. For one, giants contentiously agree on a ranking between the most common typing from highest to lowest as follows: titans, storm, cloud, fog, frost and fire, stone, mountain, trolls, ettins, giantkin, ogres. Due to their social structure, in the rare occurrence when differing types of giants meet the behavior of one typing toward the other is implied, however this is not always followed to the letter. Within clans or typings of giants ways and reasoning of ordering one another differ but most giants respect of deeds and triumphs molds their leadership and ranking within their society.

Within a similar typing, when groups of jotun meet, they first recount their deeds to one another in greeting to understand the ranking between them. In some cases, this is also done between groups of jotun who are of differing types, but usually ones who are one rank in difference.

Average Intelligence

Contrary to popular belief a giant's intelligence is often equal or greater than an average humanoid, and there are several legends about giants who had exceptional knowledge of the universe as a whole.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Giants tend to have better senses that those of mortal races. Many have greater sense of smell or sight - and not just because of their higher perspective. Some types of giants gain senses that are more helpful in the terrain that favors them. For instance, cloud giants have the ability to peer through fog and clouds as though they weren't there.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Their given name is meant mainly as an identifier to add titles to as they accomplish noteworthy goals that they may recite upon meeting one another.

Major Organizations

Northern Winds - A group of frost giants in the northern tundra and mountains of Binordheim who are said to serve a primal of frost and wind.
Heralds of Cinder - A group of fire giants said to inhabit the area around Lågtoppen in Skygge Hul, the land of Clan Rev.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Various Dialects of Primordial
Giant
Trollspeak

Common Etiquette Rules

All giants know their place in their society and if they do not they learn it soon. Keeping ones head below another of higher rank is customary upon greeting.

Common Taboos

Speaking down, questioning deeds, or otherwise insulting another giant of higher rank is seen as an affront to that giant's very being.
Questioning the deeds of another is greatly frowned upon without proof and is never done, even in jest.

History

The giants, or Jotunn as the Nords of Binordheim call them, are the descendants of the Primal gods from the various realms of Axiom (aka. Jotunheim), the plane of elements. They were created upon the Prime and used by the Primals to colonize much of the world in its early years until the divine gods cast out, killed, or sealed their progenitors away in Axiom. Since then they have been at war with mortal races as well as the first dragons. Over time their influence has dwindled and for the most part they now inhabit distant corners of the world away from mortal civilization.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Giants see themselves as superior to humanoid races, however they can and have at times had reasonable if not beneficial relations with humanoids, though their size makes them difficult to live among mortals. It is not unheard of that a giants may make trips to a mortal settlement or vice versa for trade or otherwise, though this depends greatly on the civilization that interacts with them and often stories have led to more antagonistic actions by mortals toward giants simply upon seeing their imposing statures. It is also not uncommon for some giants to attack trespassers who do not make their intentions known upon entering their lands.

Specifically in Binordheim, the Nords have differing relations with the giants that live there. Most trolls are hunted, and giants are often kept at a distance, but have been known to sometimes have civilized interactions with some clans. For the most part, they keep out of each other's way.

Goliaths in particular sometimes have a better time attempting to communicate peaceably with giants (depending on the type) due only to their giant ancestry. Some have even decided to live among the giants, though often outside of their direct settlement. The Northern Winds are said to have several giantkin and unclanned Nords among them in the far, far north, but for this reason they sometimes struggle to get along with the more traditional individuals and clans as many unclanned are assumed to be criminals, deserters, or the offspring of such.

Genetic Descendants

• Trolls

Lifespan

400 - 800 years

Average Height

25-50 feet

Average Weight

A lot

Related Organizations

• The Nornir

Other Names:
Jotun
Titan
Colossus