Hlodvi Ísseðnar
The ancient Giant King that gave his life to save all things from Oblivion
Old King Hlodvi Ísseðnar (a.k.a. Hlodvi the Everheart)
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
He was said to stand incredibly tall for a giant, easily as tall as a Storm Giant if not taller, and though he began his life as an unassuming Giant he in time grew into a masterful warrior and king, with a body chiseled as if from stone. He was always said to have the gift of incredible strength even by the standards of Giantkin, and though he was not ever quite so agile, he was renowned for his legendary durability, such that many joked that his pure heart would not allow him to ever experience something so negative as death.
In the end, his legendary durability and mighty strength was proved truth as he made his final stand against Hyldrin, The Unraveler and her Four Horsemen in the final battle for the fate of the Material Plane, where he was said to last a legendary five minutes in his fated final duel against the Goddess of Oblivion...so durable was he, that even to this day, long after his death, many ascribe him with being responsible for the continued existence of The Shattered Corridor, that he gave up his right to an afterlife to hold up the strip of land so the future races could thrive.
Body Features
His skin was said to be a pale grey, unnatural for his kind, a thing many mocked him for.
Facial Features
No images of his face remain in the modern day, only speculation remains. The only surviving record that mentions it is a bit of mockery found etched on a slab of stone, which likened his face to a slab of granite, but even more ugly and boring.
Identifying Characteristics
His grey skin and ultimately noble way of life were his most identifying features. To find him, it was said all one had to do was go hunting a Giant...and Hlodvi would never be far away, ready to protect his kin.
Special abilities
The only record of any special abilities he might have had is the legendary tale of Hlodvi's Concordat...a treaty he was said to make with the planet itself to grant him passage into the smallest of places due to his immense size. Mournful of his large size and his inability to visit his smaller allies, he desperately asked anyone he could to grant him this right...and in recognition of his pure heart and unwavering desire to protect others, the spirit of the planet itself blessed The Everheart with the trademark ability that passed down to all Giantkin upon his tragic demise.
Apparel & Accessories
Little record remains of what he preferred to wear. It has been lost to time and the chaos of The Advent of The Unraveler.
Specialized Equipment
Little record remains of what equipment he used. It has been lost to time and the chaos of The Advent of The Unraveler.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Born in the frozen wastes of his homeland in the latter parts of the Age of High Humanity, Old King Hlodvi was born an unassuming member of his kind, one not particularly brawny or intelligent or beautiful, and for a time he lived in peace...however, in the chaos of the Fall of High Humanity, he saw the madness that others had wrought upon his people, and burned with a desire to give his kind a home where they would not have to fear the whims of others, and would not have to question whether they would live to see tomorrow each night.
In time, he grew, and founded a kingdom of his own in the now-sunken parts of Ea...but even after he founded his kingdom, the madness of war and death followed him. The Dwarves, beneath their king Thangoradrix, last of the High Dwarves, began to hunt Giants as a national pastime and once more threatened to ruin everything he had worked to build. And so, the gentle king Hlodvi steeled his heart and marched his people in a long and bloody rebellion against their Dwarven overlords, and it was only when he and his giants, brutalized and hardened by a century of war unending stood at the gates of Krakenshelm, the Dwarven Capital, like an army of furious mountains did Thangoradrix and his Dwarves relent, and grant the Giants peace.
In time, Hlodvi and his hated enemy Thangoradrix became as close as brothers, and the two shared many a laugh and many a drink together over their centuries of friendship...two unique beings amongst their people. The two became so close that, when the forces of Hyldrin, The Unraveler came to the Material Plane and managed to summon their goddess onto the Material Plane, Hlodvi was the first and only Giant King to weep for a Dwarven Lord as Hyldrin and her infinite Daemon hordes apparated into the Material and turned their attention to Krakenshelm...and sent the entire underground metropolis sinking into the depths of the ocean. With the Dwarves broken upon the anvil of their invincible offensive, the Daemons seemed unstoppable until Hlodvi, weeping for the only true friend he ever had, led his people in a suicidal campaign against the Goddess of Oblivion and her Daemons.
Yet, it was not in vain. Seeing the brave and selfless act of heroism perpetrated by the Giant King, the nations of the world sprang into action and united against the forces that threatened to destroy them entirely...even Vecna, The Arch-Lich joined the ranks of the Material's defenders...a world united, standing against oblivion, with Old King Hlodvi, the Everheart, standing at its helm.
But even that was not enough. The Goddess had come, oblivion rained, and all looked grim...until Hlodvi, in an act of Martyrdom not seen since, went alone to duel The Unraveler and her Horsemen to buy time for his allies to launch a surprise offensive that would win them the war. He was said to hold out for nearly five entire minutes, his body refusing to fall to the strikes of a Goddess and her Horsemen, even against blows that shattered continents and snapped mountains.
And as he fell, his body finally spent, it was this selfless act of martyrdom that allowed the tide of battle to tip in favor of Hlodvi and his allies...for, using his sacrifice as the final fuel needed to incarnate on the Material Plane, The Didact, The Invincible Commandant appeared from The Great Beyond to assist the forces of good in their final push. With the help of another God, the allies won, pushing back the Daemons and the forces of Abbadon...though Hlodvi remained dead, his body supposedly refused to decay or die, and even as the continent crumbled from the force of the battle, he launched his shattered corpse into the ocean to support the crumbling land above him, and in doing so preserved The Shattered Corridor from collapse.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Lead the Giants back to prominence in an Era which almost saw them extinct.
Lead the armies of the Material Plane in The Advent of The Unraveler against Hyldrin and the forces of Abbadon.
Died tragically in a duel with The Unraveler herself, but bought enough time for his allies to banish Hyldrin and the forces of Abbadon back to their damnable homeland.
Failures & Embarrassments
Unknown.
Morality & Philosophy
Unusually for a giant, he was said to have an incredibly pure and innocent heart...one that just wanted peace for his people and safety for all who needed it. He despised war and violence, and was not cut out to be a leader due to his naive outlook and unwillingness to make sacrifices, but his unwillingness to lead and his hatred of war ironically made him a perfect King for the Giants. He was an innocent giant, one who valued peace and goodness above all things, and he was famous for only ever wanting to live to see a day where the races of the world could live in peace, without fear of slaughter or death every waking day.
In that, many modern scholars postulate, he would be delighted to have seen the future he died to create.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
He was motivated by a powerful desire to slay those enemies of his kind who sought to hunt Giantkin as animals, and to give all Giants a home where they could belong and be free.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
He was said to be a truly gentle soul, one originally bad at combat who was forced to become sadly deft with a blade and excellent in combat and who was inept in charismatic conversation and persuasion...one driven to extremes due to the rampant madness of his time.
Likes & Dislikes
He was a lover of peace and of times where people could choose to undertake whatever activities they wished, and of times and places where Giants could live without fear of hunting or racism.
Virtues & Personality perks
He was said to be gentle, wise beyond his years, incredibly passionate about his beliefs, a thinker and philosopher, and an excellent leader due to his unwillingness to hold the crown and the pacifist zeal with which he beat back his people's troubles and enemies.
Vices & Personality flaws
He hated violence, and the madness of the times that forced him to take up arms. He was inexperienced with a blade and war until his later years, and never learned how to make sacrifices or necessary losses to win. He could be too peaceful at times, and always saw the best in those he encountered...even if they quite obviously meant to kill him.
Hygiene
He was a giant true at heart, but he learned the value of hygiene during his later years once he became Old King Hlodvi, as he led his people into war with the Dwarves, where he learned that presentation was quite important to appear as more than a brutish giant.
Social
Contacts & Relations
He was said to know and be on good terms with a great many people, was beloved by many, and was supposedly sworn brothers with the High Dwarf Thangoradrix, the last of the High Dwarves to perish who was once the ruler of The Dwarven Peaks during the Age of Barbarity and for untold millennia beforehand.
Family Ties
He was said to be the father to a great many giants, and is assumed to have had many wives and even more children. All were said to have alongside him during the sinking of the northern part of the continent.
Religious Views
He was believed to have been a faithful man who put much stock in the Gods and Divinity, but what specific god or gods he may have worshipped have been lost to time.
Social Aptitude
From what legends are yet told of him, Hlodvi was said to be a brutish giant who was by no means skilled in Etiquette, was not especially Charismatic, and was not even very polite or well-spoken...but, what he did have was heart. His intentions and his actions were always of pure intent, and of righteous desire...and it is this desire that inspired others to follow him. He was a genuine man, a gentle giant, who fought to defend his people and hardened his heart out of necessity to resist the advances of the Dwarves of his era, who had taken to hunting his people for sport as animals.
Wealth & Financial state
Although he is spoken of in legend and folklore as possessing a great deal of wealth due to his large and wide-spanning kingdom that once governed a large portion of the frozen northlands of Ea, whatever wealth he once had and the knowledge of what he might have preferred to do with it died alongside him, as the northern section of the continent sunk into the ocean along with his kingdom.
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Hlodvi the Everheart, Hlodvi the Brave, The Worldmartyr, Shield of the Shattered Corridor, Bane of the Unraveler, Stonebrother
Circumstances of Birth
Born sometime during the Age of High Humanity, under unknown circumstances.
Circumstances of Death
Died during the ending dies of the Age of Barbarity fighting against Hyldrin and her horsemen during The Advent of The Unraveler.
Birthplace
Unknown. Assumed to be on a part of the continent that has since sunken into the ocean.
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Icy Blue
Hair
Medium-length, matted, white
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Grey
Height
7.92m
Weight
5.8 tons
Appears in...
Comments