Stone Giant
Stone giants are large humanoids with dark gray, leathery skin, who grow to about 12 feet in height. They tend to be both impassive and aloof, preferring to live in solitude in hills, caves, and mountains. Because of their skin color they tend to blend in among their stony surroundings—all the easier from them to crush unwary travelers with giant thrown boulders. Stone giants worship the god Minderhal, and revere their tribal elders.
Unknown to all but the most intrepid scholar, stone giant elders can speak with stones and bind the earth to their bidding. They believe themselves to be the purest species of giant, from whom all other giants descend.
History
Even during the time of the great giant empire did the stone giants seclude themselves from the other of their kind. However, whilst they prefer to stay out of historical events, they thoroughly enjoy recording it and eternalize it in stone. When their tribes are visited by travelers these are asked to share their stories with the tribe to help them eternalize the stories of the world.Society
Stone giants typically live within the shelter of hollowed out mountains, excavated using the stone giants masterful knowledge of engineering and stone. Stone giant communities consist of living quarters, stables, sheds, workhouses, and barracks. Within the outer walls of the mountain are built large watchtowers, from which stone giant guards can observe the surrounding areas. In the center of the community is the tribe's Great Cavern. This is the hub of the tribe's social network, hosting everything from marriages, funerals, victory dinners, retelling of tribal history, and religious ceremonies.Government
Stone giant clans are organized as as a zygarchy, ruled by the eldest couple in the tribe. This couple doesn't have a particular title, and their immediate and extended family gains no special benefit from their relationship. The ruling position is seldom sought after or seen as desirable, as the many responsibilities of the role are seen to greatly outweigh its benefits. The eldest couple is chosen for the role as as their age is thought to bestow upon them the patience and wisdom needed to deal with family squabbles, ownership claims, and inter-clan relations.Art and Architecture
The Great Cave also houses the tribe's art and culture. These tend to fall into two main themes: storytelling, and stone crafting. Storytelling is great tradition for the stone giants. Every night they gather in the Great Cave, and the cavern resounds with the low thrum of the stone giants telling the history and legends of their people. The bards and elders who perform these stories are known as "weavers". It is during these gatherings that newcomers and travelers are encouraged to tell their own stories.Death
Stone giants are long lived, many reaching ages of up to 800 years old, and some elders living as long as 1,000 years. The proper age of an elder is at least 600 years old. Juveniles become adults at age 90 (for women) and 120 (for men). After death, stone giants are rarely buried in the ground. Instead, prominent stone giants are mummified and perched on top of high mountains, their remains guarded over by stone giant shamans. The mummy is richly adorned with furs, jewels, armor, and other such trappings of life. Less prominent stone giants are put to the pyre and buried under stone cairns, where the size of the cairn is indicative of the respect shown to the giant. "He'll leave a mountain!" is something said of a giant much loved by his tribesmen.Religion
Stone giants have a great variety of gods and goddesses that they worship, including Erastil, Fandarra, and Minderhal. In addition to the more typical gods, stone giants also believe strongly in ancestral ghosts, represented by The Ancestors, Father, Mother, and the Spirits of the Earth. Stone giants use divine magic to commune with these spirits. Stone giant communities keep shrines to these spirits in their halls, painted and lit with candles, and piled up with offers of bone marrow, amber, and burnt fur.Magic
Elder magic is the most common among the stone giants. This magic is centered around divination and transmutation of stone and earth, and is passed down from elder to elder. It rarely happens that a sorcerer manifests among the stone giants, but always obviously so: these young giants are easily spotted by their oddly colored skin, the crystalline formations growing on their skin, or short stature. Sorcerers are simultaneously revered and shunned, held on the same level as a druid or shaman. Wizards simply do not appear in stone giant society. No stone giant would trust someone who actively seeks power through the arcane.Animal Husbandry
Stone giants favor the following animals:- Dire bears: Bears play the same role to stone giants that dogs play in human society. The are frequently used to assist in the giants in hunting game, where their keen nose, natural intelligence, and size provide a distinct advantage. An oral legend of the stone giants attributes both races as children of the goddess Fandarra, the result of a union with Estig the Hunter. Some stone giant tribes have one or many "Bear Fathers", or hunters with extraordinary skills at handling bears.
- Dire wolves: Much rarer than dire bears, and frequently found in the company of stone giant bards, dire wolves—called "dog-giants" by the stone giants—are held as living embodiments of natural wisdom, and their winsome howls are songs of ancient lore.
- Gorgons: Some stone giants are known to favor the meat of gorgons as, once their tough hide is removed, the meat itself is tough yet beefy and very filling, even for a giant.
- Mammoths: In ancient times the temples of Minderhal were the home to hundreds of giant mammoths, fearsome beasts trained for mounted combat. The use of these magnificent creatures has sharply declined since then, but some modern stone giants are known to seek and train them as mounts.
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