Giant
The saga of giantkind began in the dawn of the world. Elves had yet to set dainty foot out of the fey realm when the thunder of the giants’ steps shook the world to its bones. The record of that early age had already vanished into the mists of legend by the time humankind came onto the scene. Now, not even the giants know the full truth of their beginnings.
All that the giants and their kin know for certain is that they are sibling races. Humanoids such as elves, humans, and dwarves are more similar in size and shape than the disparate giant types are to one another, but those races have no shared heritage. In contrast, every true giant, regardless of type, can trace its ancestry directly to the giant gods.
Giants and giant kin rank among the world’s most fearsome creatures, literally towering over the other, younger beings that crowd the world. Yet nowadays most giants live in isolation or in obscure locations, exhibiting none of the collective grandeur and power of their forebears.
Encountering a giant can be an awe-inspiring and disorienting experience. First comes a rhythmic booming, felt more than heard, that resolves slowly into the sound of footsteps: a giant is near! Loose stones vibrate and tumble down the hillside. Trees sway, then bend aside as the colossus emerges. How can anything be that big? Is it a trick of perspective?
The giants knowing that they lacked strength, they relied on a varied arsenal, using many siege engines, and ranged weapons against flying threats, all of which were equipped with mace, swords and other tools for killing in close combat. The death of each dragon was a significant event, the draconic population was very limited, and as the war dragged on, each side was coming to an end. The giants, despite their best efforts, could not win, and were pushed to the far north, forced to isolate themselves on an island, now called Giant Island. The dragons, almost being, enjoyed a well-deserved rest, meditating on the atrocities committed during this war. This finally gave the humanoid tribe the opportunity to flourish, and to recolonize this world, giving way to the modern age.
Culture
How to Lay a Giant Low
A force allied with giants — or worse, a force made up of giants — is one of the most fearsome opponents on the battlefield. The giants can rain boulders onto an enemy from a distance where only skilled archers, heavy siege weapons, or spellcasters can strike back at them. At first blush, it might seem that a potent wizard would make the best giant-killer, but few spellcasters can stand up to a giant in direct confrontation. One might do harm to a giant, but odds are it will survive the one or two spells that can be thrown at it before a well-placed boulder or the swing of an enormous club quashes the threat. Among those with experience fighting giants, humans have developed the most effective tactics. To defeat a giant, humans rely on prolonged, accurate, massed archery (favoring heavy crossbows for such work), fast-moving cavalry that can force the giant into a disadvantageous position, or fanatical troops armed with pole arms, ropes, and grappling hooks. If a giant can be tripped or pulled down — preferably onto its belly so it’s less able to defend itself — then it can be entangled in nets and cables and disabled by concentrated attacks on its head and neck. On the other side of the field, giants understand that smaller foes will try to target their legs and lower bodies. Thus, when they head into a fight against human-sized opponents, they don thick boots, greaves, armored codpieces, and wide, heavy hide or metal belts to protect their bellies. Even savage hill giants peel thick bark from trees and strap it around their legs and dangle logs or stones from their belts to make the going more perilous for an enemy that tries to get underfoot.Living the Giant Life
Giants are exceptionally long-lived compared to humans, but none are immortal. A peaceful death from old age is a common occurrence among giants. Giants live at a slower pace than humans do. In the space of four heartbeats for a man, a stone giant’s great heart beats just once. Giant mothers stay with their child for longer than human mothers do, and giant children grow to adulthood more slowly. Giants’ families are small, because a couple seldom has more than a few children, and many have none at all. The life spans of the various types of giants are generally in keeping with their place in the ordning; the lowliest giants have the shortest life spans, and the noblest giants are the longest-lived. Stone giants are the exception. Because of their long life spans, despite their low position in the ordning, other giants consider stone giants to be the wisest of all giant types, just as Skoraeus Stonebones is often seen as the wisest of all the giant gods."Save in battle, giants tend to be slow. “Soon” to a giant may be three or four years to a human."
Characteristics
Physical features
When giants first appear before a band of adventurers, they demonstrate the qualities that make them spectacular to behold: Giants Are Huge. Most giants can easily peer in a second-floor window. The larger ones would have to stoop to get down to that level! A giant’s metal hammer could serve as an anvil for a human smith, and a giant’s shield is bigger and heavier than a feasting table. Giants Are Heavy. If a giant sits on a wagon, its wheels and axles are liable to snap like twigs. A giant can crush a house or capsize a ship simply by carelessly shifting its weight. An ox that strays too close to a sleeping giant could wind up pinned or crushed if the giant rolls over suddenly. Giants Are Loud. The footsteps of giants in the distance are often initially mistaken for thunder, even on a clear day. The sounds of a giant beating a weapon against its shield and bellowing a challenge to foes are strident enough to knock dishes from shelves and rattle doors in their frames. Giants Are Strong. A charging warhorse at full gallop, capable of bowling over a line of human warriors, merely crumples against the bulk of a giant. A giant could kick a cart with enough force to send it smashing through a house, and a giant’s club — the size of, if not actually, an entire tree — could level the same house with a single blow.Aging
| Giant Type | Life Span |
|---|---|
| Hill | 200 years |
| Frost | 250 years |
| Fire | 350 years |
| Cloud | 400 years |
| Storm | 600 years |
| Stone | 800 years |
History
Beginning of the End
After the Great Extinction, as the lands of this world returned to a more primal state, only the strongest of species survived unarmed. Among those, the dragons and giants were the most prominent, and became natural leaders, thus begining the era of the dragons. Although other monsters of immeasurable power existed, the dragons and giants were the most numerous, at least in comparison, and they were also the ones with the most penchant for dominating the land. It is precisely these conditions that pushed them to conquer the lands after the disappearance of the humanoids. For hundreds of years, this situation remained as it was, a few personal conflicts appeared between certain dragons and giants, but nothing too important, nevertheless, the tension was growing. Each year that passed, the dragons were more avaricious of wealth, that it is economic, spiritual or cultural (gold, work of art, knowledge), of this fact, they exerted strong pressure on the giants, in the hope to obtain more of these treasures which they sought. On their side, the giants, happy to freely walk the vast lands, always wanted more territories, pushing them to enter the domains under the influence of dragons.Firestarter
This phenomenon became worse and worse, adding to the already existing tensions, until a war broke out. A squadron of storm giants marched into the mountains, tracking down a monster with a very particular taste, a future meal of choice for these soldiers. Their tracks led them to the cave of a white Dragon, which, not appreciating the intrusion, killed them all, in its rage, it descended the mountain, hovering until the village of the giants, its menacing shadows falling on the village. He started a real massacre, wiping the village off the map. The giants heard about the massacre, and sent more troops on a punitive expedition, killing the snow-colored dragon in his sleep. The dragons in turn heard of the events, and each began the systematic slaughter of the giant villages near their territories, and of course the giants responded, and it quickly became an all-out war. Additionally, the capture and curse of Merithra and Caelestrasz by the giant is said to have hugely impacted the way those tension evolved.The war
The giants were organized, with the village leaders quickly organizing themselves into commanders, and a hierarchy was established within the giants according to their roles in each tribe (this hierarchy is separate from, and in addition to, the hierarchy between the different giant races). The representatives of each sub-race of giant met to make decisions, trying to find the best strategies to fight these terrible enemies.The giants knowing that they lacked strength, they relied on a varied arsenal, using many siege engines, and ranged weapons against flying threats, all of which were equipped with mace, swords and other tools for killing in close combat. The death of each dragon was a significant event, the draconic population was very limited, and as the war dragged on, each side was coming to an end. The giants, despite their best efforts, could not win, and were pushed to the far north, forced to isolate themselves on an island, now called Giant Island. The dragons, almost being, enjoyed a well-deserved rest, meditating on the atrocities committed during this war. This finally gave the humanoid tribe the opportunity to flourish, and to recolonize this world, giving way to the modern age.
General Information
Scientific name
/
Geographic Distribution
Giant Island
Languages
Giant
Physiologie
Average Lifespan
200 ~ 800 yo
Size
Huge
Others
Genetic Descendants
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