Lesser Giants

Basic Information

Anatomy

Though having a regular humanoid shape, Giant bones are incredibly dense and durable in order to support the massive weight of the body. Giants are quite stocky in appearance and have feet that are less like a humans (long and thin) and more like an elephant's (short and round.) Giants are Faculative Bipeds and have the ability to walk around on two legs but most often prefer moving on all fours.

Giants have little to no sexual dimorphism between male and female.

Growth Rate & Stages

Lesser Giants are born fully formed, about the size of a full grown man. They go through an incredibly rapid growing stage and become full grown adults within about a year.

Ecology and Habitats

Giants typically live on mountains, large plains, or thick forests where large prey is plentiful.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Giants are omnivorous but prefer to eat meat. Each giant has a different preference, but most prefer to hunt their prey and eat it bloody and warm. That being said, Giants are not idiots and will often prep for winter by stockpiling food in a cave or hole. Giants need a lot of food to sustain their bulk and therefore spend most of their time hunting.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Giants are solitary creatures. They leave their mother shortly after birth and find an unclaimed chunk of land to live on. Very rarely Giants will gather to discuss a grave threat, such as a Dragon who has claimed a territory spanning multiple Giants claimed territories, or on even rarer occasions a Giant moot where Giants will travel from all over to gather and discuss what is happening where they are, participate in physical 'games' and generally try to prove that they are the strongest. Other than these rare events, Giants almost only ever come together to mate or fight.

All Giants follow the motto of Bigger is Better. Though two Giants that meet may fight to try and prove which one is dominant, when it comes down to it a smaller giant will always give way to a bigger Giant.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Giant bones are incredibly dense and strong. A craftsman with the proper skills can create weapons, armor, even building fortifications out of Giant bone. Because of this, Giants are sometimes hunted down by skilled warriors, and the discovery of a Giant's skeleton can mean prosperity for a small village. Aside from the uses of a Giant post mortem, a living Giant will sometimes provide protection to a village or bolster the ranks of an army in exchange for food.

Facial characteristics

Giants usually have square faces with exaggerated 'tusks' and large noses.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Giants can be found nearly everywhere. Though each Giant had a wide territory, these territories overlap and change all the time as Giants die, fight, or relocate.

Average Intelligence

Most Giants are just as smart as any human.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Lesser Giants can see in the dark (as many races can), have a heightened sense of smell that allows them to track prey, and also have the ability to detect nearby magical auras.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Giant names are not like other cultures and the names are usually descriptors like "Lives in a hollow tree" or "Threw a boulder over a lake."

Beauty Ideals

Since there is very little sexual dimorphism between male and female, Giants decorate themselves with trophies of their greatest kills, jewelry made from any material imaginable, and tattoos.

Courtship Ideals

A Giant who wishes to mate with another Giant will leave gifts of food in the territory of its perspective mate. After some time passes and the gifts are well received, the gift giver will leave a final gift but wait next to it for the recipient to arrive. They then participate in a mock battle which, from the perspective of other creatures, is just as violent as a real fight. In the end one Giant will show their dominance over the other and the two will then mate. It is not required of either sex to make the first move.

History

The oral traditions of Lesser Giants claim that they are descendants of True Giants, which are now considered to be extinct, and were the first sentient creatures to exist on the material plane. The lived in solitary harmony across the world until the Dragons came. Giants were hunted by Dragons and systematically wiped out over time. Since then, Giants and Dragons have remained bitter enemies. With the arrival of Dragons came an understanding of magic no other creature on the material plane had yet grasped. Because of its connection to the Dragons, Giants hate magic almost as much as they hate Dragons.

Lesser Giants are of the belief that one day True Giants will return, and when that day comes they will stand up against the Dragons and all other races of the world, proving once and for all that Giants are the greatest of all creatures.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Giants consider most humanoid species beneath them, due to their size, and because of this make very little distinction between them and animals as prey. However some Giants who are having a hard time feeding themselves (or simply do not want to hunt on their own) will join forces with an army or take up the role of guarding a small village in exchange for food.

Lifespan

300 years

Average Height

20 - 30 feet

Average Weight

4500 - 8000 lbs

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Giants come in a variety of skin colors. Some mirror human skin tones, others look similar to marble, coal, or even brick.