Giant

Humanoid Race of Genivan

Introduction:

They tend to be a curious group, less likely to fight with other races they do not know, they are sedentary as a group, all of them. They can swim quite well for their bulk, height and weight but prefer to wade only chest deep. They average 15-20 ft tall, the Jadetooth Tribe are the tallest averaging around 17-18 ft (19-20 ft are rare for any Giants but it has been recorded before). The Blackfoot Tribe are quite short, around 15 ft with some at 16 ft. The Amber Talon Tribe Giants are 16-17 ft. Very little is known about the Blue Claw Tribe, Sordeans claim they are on average 20 ft tall and dwarf the Amber Talon Giants (which they would know considering they are attacked by the Amber Talon frequently but some believe including the Amber Talon Giants that these heights are exaggerated).

All Giants are aware of the other tribes of Giants on Genivan and know them by tribe names. Ages in the past, before the Saharians were gifted their magic Giants ruled Genivan or so it goes in their legends. They have long memories and live long ages, some Azurians have befriended giants and stored the stories and histories they learned into their two great libraries. Most of these befriended Giants are from the Amber Talon but occasionally an Eon will befriend a Jadetooth Giant and go to the Azurians capital to give the stories and histories to the libraries (while keeping copies for themselves, Eons do not trust Azurians).

Longevity - Longest Lived Race on Genivan

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Giants live to be 300-350 years old (only Elorians can live near this age), they have small families of 1-2 children, no infant mortality or their females dying in childbirth. Their fertility age is around 100 years old, some a bit older around 110 years and they have their children spaced out quite far. Rarely will a Giant be killed in battle, they are incredibly hard to kill. Their skin is thicker than any humanoid or human on Genivan.

Giant Strength, Agility and Movement

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They are obviously the strongest strength wise but slowest with speed, Giants will rarely run, their gait for walking is long and they have immense endurance. Running also hurts their joints, their gait is smooth and they walk quite lightly for their bulk but it still causes a slight vibration in the ground; Giants are not very stealthy but they can use their environment (especially with large trees taller than them) to hide, their clothing is always camouflaged for their surroundings and one of the reasons they are sedentary. They can remain so still as to appear like trees or boulders, the breathing of a Giant does not raise their shoulders and barely their chest, it is hard to tell a Giant breathes at all except to hear their breathing in battle.

Mighty Weapons

They like all others aside from Taloreans cannot smelt metal, they do not understand why they as the oldest race on Genivan were left out of this magical ability. So they construct their blunt style weapons from flint which no other race uses, because of their strength the Giants can hew flint into weapons and tools. Flint is found all over Genivan and easily obtained.

Their weapons are large to fit their stature, they use axe style weapons that are blunted to crush. Some Giants will use large hammers as their weapons and none use swords as trying to hew a thin sword from flint is nearly impossible for a Giant. Some Giants use bows with flint tipped arrows but that is only for quick game they wish to hunt.

Mighty Navigators

Besides Minotaurs they are excellent navigators and never get lost, they can feel the land and it is a connection even the Giants do not know where it comes from or how it works and has baffled Saharians whom have deigned to study Giants. If Giants could be on ships, no navigator would ever get lost or so the legend is told in their among Saharian peoples. With this innate connection to the world Giants perceive the world differently, they are territorial but prefer to avoid violence.

Interaction

Giants give the impression of fear not only from their size but also because they bellow in a loud baritone voice a warning or greeting, Saharians cannot tell the difference and treat both the same; that they mean to attack. Giants are misunderstood fundamentally and they know this but as well do they know the past; they bellow in greeting and warning because they still believe one day they will rule Genivan again. Once someone attacks a Giant, all bets are off and there is no white flag. It makes it difficult for Saharians and Giants to interact peacefully or the Saharians flee before any words can be exchanged.

Giants have a full language and vocabulary but they are slow to speak and slow to think. They are not rash in their behavior, even their youth hardly exhibit the rash behaviors of other youths. Giants are also incredibly arrogant which also hurts any relationships forming, they believe the lesser inhabitants should be subject to them and if a they choose to speak with the other races the Giant should get precedent.

If Giants do not want to interact with others, aside from other Giants, they will become angry and intolerant because they feel it should be in their time and not these lesser beings. Their anger rarely resorts to violence but a 15 ft tall Giant bellowing at you would cause even the greatest warriors to think twice.

Genivan's True Historians

They know more about the whole world of Genivan than most others except those learned in geography and they know more accurate history as well (though slightly colored in their various biases). Since they are well aware of their world, it’s history and geography Giants stick together to protect one another within their Tribes. If a Giant goes on a pilgrimage they will go alone, it is always an elder who is a few years from death but hale enough to complete the round trip and return home. The only history they are not fully versed on is where the Lycan came from, it is a most intriguing thing for Giants.
Since all Saharians are mostly afraid of Giants, rarely will any see past their fear and mostly will try to kill them first. Azurians know over the ages that some have befriend Giants and recorded little bits of their histories but most think the giants have mythical histories because the Giants do not have a system of writing and only have an oral tradition. This leads Azurians to a false assumption that the histories they know of from Giants are embellished or flat out wrong and one of the reasons why it is so rare for an Azurian or any Saharian to befriend Giants. Little do they know the Giants have excellent memories and an unparalleled oral tradition.

Honor Above All

They never go back on their word, honor is life for a giant and they hate trading with the other races as they rarely keep their word. Giants are aware why this occurs, Saharians have short lives and therefore tend to change their minds more and be sporadic but this still does not make it better when honor is broken in a Giants mind.

Philosophers

Contrary to the belief of most Saharians, giants are philosophers and thinkers of great thoughts. Saharians who have befriended Giants speak on this when recording their interactions, they are truly awed at the vast knowledge Giants have but unfortunately, as in most cases this information is hardly recorded and most Saharians think Giants are big dumb brutes. They are in fact the greatest thinkers of Genivan aside from Talorean Hazels.

Fighting & Hunting

They wear light armor made of wood, leather and shards of stone, the pieces are interwoven into flexible armor. They do not heal fast and may spend many months recovering from their wounds or longer. If one is killed they will rally most of their warriors to kill the ones who did it, since giants are very observant with excellent memories they know who killed one of their own.

Giants will not hunt or fight alone, when heading out to battle they are almost always in packs of three and hunting two.

They are not a vindictive group, Giants will not kill anyone not connected to a death of one of their own. They will play out their vengeance to the one who caused them harm and then leave the rest of the race alone.

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Sordean & Amber Talon Conflict

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The only regular attacking Giants do is the Amber Talon Tribe regularly harasses and attacks the Sordeans north of their land, the Amber Woods and Amber Plains. Even Azurians are unsure why this conflict continues, which means no other race of Saharians knows either. The Sordeans know and the Amber Talon Giants.

According to The Amber Talon Giants:

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The ancient race that visited and gifted the lesser Saharian humans magical gifts, split the Amber Talon Giants from their kin the now mythical Giants of the Blue Claw Tribe said to live far to the north in the uncharted Hinterlands. They believe this was done intentionally to split their ancient tribe into two, keep them weak and divided and this angers them. Since Giants have long memories, they remember and will enact their vegeance until they can reach their lost kin but the Sordeans are brutal warriors and the Giants have never been able to make it past Hazel Grove.

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According to The Sordeans:

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The mythical tribe of Blue Claw Giants is not at all mythical and many Sordean Seers, Oracles and Halos have argued vehemently with Azurian Primes and Sages at their two citadels about the truth of this tribe. They exist, centuries ago a miner in the Dawn Circle of Miners ranging far north stumbled upon a Giant, he claimed to be a Blue Claw Giant. What the Sordean miner learned was that all Giants were divided throughout Genivan to keep them from ever gaining power and resuming their brutal tyrannical rule they held before the ancient race came and helped the Saharians they gifted with their power conquer some of the lands and expel their enemies.
Sordeans have tried to convey this to the Amber Talon Giants to no avail, they refuse to believe this. One interesting thing the Sordean miner learned when asked why they remain isolated in the north and not return to their kin: The Giant told the Sordean that their kin is actually the Jadetooth Tribe. Why they have not rejoined their kin? Well, they await the Red Dawn.

No Sordean has ever been able to puzzle out what the Red Dawn is but they have never forgotten this as their people are diviners of the future and believe this has significance.

Quick Links to Giant Tribes:

Blackfoot Tribe
Jadetooth Tribe
Amber Talon Tribe
Blue Claw Tribe

Legend of the Hazel & Giant

No one is for sure which tribe the Giant is from but the legend is well known in all of Genivan. If the legend is true, the influence of what occured has resonated across Genivan, all six Saharian tribes, the knowledge claimed that was obtained has impacted everyone... If it is true.
Over 2,000 years ago a Giant rescued a Talorean baby after Naga had killed the family fleeing from the western border town of Boulderfist. According to Taloreans, that town was reinforced but too late to save many of the inhabitants, most fled the town in the wake of the Naga attack from the Xaj’han Brood that lives in Lake Khol.
After rescuing the baby, the Giant chose to not return the baby to his people and instead raised him on the isles in the Sea of Chillheim, this is where the legend becomes unbelievable to Saharians; no one lives there and so the story turned into a legend. Contrary to the way Giants live, none have ever been known to live isolated from their Tribes as well.
What is known is that when the Giant and Talorean, once he grew to an old man, emerged from their isolation and gave the Taloreans their knowledge they had discovered between them because it was recorded this Talorean was a Hazel with the unique and rare magical ability of Supreme Inteligence. Zarythians believe the Giant knew the baby was a Hazel, Sordeans believe that for the first time ever a Giant had an innate connection to the baby like in their own legends of their Ivory Throne. Taloreans descredit most of it except their Dusters whole heartedly believe the legend is true and the Sordeans opinion of it, Azurians only believe a Giant may have rescued a baby but that the baby was returned years later (not as an old man, but a child) and the legend grew and was exaggerated. The Eons believe all races on Genivan are connected in some way, life will always find a balance they believe and so trust the majority of the legend but are not aware of all the nuances of the legend. Gideans have not made much of a comment on it as it's not relevant to them, they find it highly unlikely the legend has any truth but it's a neat story in their opinion.