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Sarnak
Join Date: May 2011
Location: ny
Posts: 441
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GIANTS -
Giants are enormous humanoids standing anywhere from 15 to
30 feet tall (depending on the species). Created by Rallos Zek as
part of his monstrous army, giants were imbued with powerful
frames and the capacity for great magical power. When the other
gods struck down Rallos Zek's forces, the giants were reduced
mentally and driven to primitive tribal lives; moreover, some gods
considered the giants too dangerous in any form and strove to
destroy them outright. Though their numbers were devastated, a
few giants did survive.
Since the ill-fated crusade and their resulting punishment,
most giants tended to gather rarely, each spending most of its life
alone or with a single mate or companion. Over the past century,
however, more giants have begun gathering in larger tribal units,
sometimes naturally such as among forest giant tribes on Kunark,
and sometimes gathering around a powerful leader such as with
those fire giants who serve the dragon Nagafen. Many giants,
however, fear to become too numerous, as the gods might then
finish the task of annihilating them. This potential threat does
not stop giants from taking any actions, though, and many form
loose alliances with others of their kind and occasionally with
other races.
Most giants speak at least a smattering of the Common tongue
as well as Ogre.
Fire Giant'
bescript:ion
Fire giants, once called Krombral in their own tongue, are
powerful humanoids who average 24 feet in height and 13,000
pounds. They have dark red skin, but their most notable feature
is their hair, which is actually composed offire. They tend to wear
very little clothing, depending on their natural abilities to serve
as armor and weapons. They are among the most powerful giants,
with great resistance to magic in addition to their size, strength,
and natural immunities.
As with most giants, fire giants are short-tempered, suspicious,
and secretive. Fire giants may be willing to do business or negotiate
with members of other races that contact them in a polite and
unintrusive manner, but any who make their way into a fire giant's
domain without permission is seen as a thief, assassin, or worse.
Fire giants are often miners and smiths, and have been known
to invade the mines of other races to steal ore or set up a giant's
forge. For this reason, fire giants are often at odds with dwarves
and gnomes (who have some ofthe finest mines on Norrath). Fire
giants rarely keep guardians or pets around their forges or homes,
not trusting anyone with their safety or property.
Fire Giant'Wizarbs
bescript:ion
Some gifted fire giants develop their magical abilities to a much
greater degree than their warrior cousins. These fire giant wizards
are often in positions of great power within the loose fire giant
organizations.
Forest' Giant'
bescription
Forest giants, or Kromdul, are among the smaller and weaker
races of giants, though they still stand 16 to 18 feet tall, weigh
roughly 4,000 to 6,000 pounds, and are far more powerful than
most humanoid races. Forest giants are quite lean in appearance,
with long arms and narrow heads and bodies. This appearance
combined with their coloration and clothing allows them to
blend into forested surroundings with surprising skill. Despite
their slim bodies, the Kromdul are extremely powerful physically,
easily able to fell trees in a single axe swing and carry logs longer
than their bodies. They tend to be tan or brown in coloration and
wear simple clothing made of furs and leathers.
Forest giants have little of the magic power common in many
other giant types, though they retain some resistance to spells.
Normally living simple lives as woodsmen and trappers, some
Kromdul also act as loggers, selling felled trees to any who can
afford their price. They are extremely territorial and see themselves
as owners of whatever woods they live in. Travelers are
generally not welcome, and other loggers or hunters are especially unwelcome. Forest giants are not particularly kind to the woods
they claim, however, and ravage one woodlands before setting off
in search of another. As a result, druid circles and ranger guilds
find themselves at odds with these giants.
Frost Giant
bescription
Frost giants, or Kromrif, are among the most organized
and plentiful of the giant races, with large
numbers living on the continent ofYelious. A frost
giant stands 20 to 24 feet high and is generally pale
in coloration, with white or blue hair (often worn
long) and alabaster skin tones. They have
powerful frames with wide shoulders and
thick, corded muscles; an average frost
giant weighs well over 10,000 pounds.
Unlike may other giant races, frost
giants wear heavy armors and carry
numerous weapons, including a gigantic
greatsword and an enormous
ice pick.
Frost giants have a large society
that they defend against any perceived
threat. It is centered in the
city ofKael Drakkal and includes
someother races of giants as well.
The strongest frost giants rule as
commanders, while their lesser
brethren serve as animal trainers,
guards, and craftsmen. Kael
Orakkal is under constant
threat from (and makes constant
threats against) the
dragons of Skyshrine and the
Coldain dwarves ofThurgadin,
and as a result the Kromrif
are willing to treat well
-1.
those who fight against
the dragons or dwarves.
Why frost giants were
largely spared from the
punishment of the gods following
Rallos Zek's failed
crusade is not known for
certain. Scholars speculate
that either the Kromrif did
not participate in the offensive
(a theory hard to credit
given the frost giants' zealous
devotion to Zek), or perhaps
the gods found comfort in Kael
Orakkal serving as an expendable
buffer state between the
rest ofNorrath and Yeeshan's
children in Skyshrine.
Frost Giant Rangers
bescription
Some few exceptional Kromrif develop an innate connection
to the rugged arctic terrain of their homeland. These giants
develop magical powers similar to those of other races' rangers or
shamans.
Hill Giant
bescription
Hill giants, or Krombak, are the most common breed of giant.
They stand 18 to 20 feet tall and are very broad and heavyset,
commonly weighing from 6,000 to 7,500 pounds. They have pale
skin and coarse, ragged hair that is red, brown, or black. They
cover their bodies with crude armor made of animal hides lashed
on with rope and carry simple wood-and-hide shields and crushing
weapons such as clubs or warhammers.
Hill giants are also the most despised of giants - disliked by
themselves, all civilized races, and even other giants. Hill giants
are greedy, crude, vicious, unfeeling, and brutal, making them
unable to get along with any other creatures for more than a short
period of time. Most are also lazy, doing as little as possible to
survive. Of course, their lack of useful skills coupled wii:h their
enormous appetites often drives hill giants to considerable efforts,
generally as brigands or perry warlords over small areas.
Mountain Giant
. bescription
Mountain giants, or Kromdek, are closely related
to forest giants, whom they resemble. Mountain
giants are generally a few feet taller than their ~
forest-dwelling cousins, however, averaging 19
feet in height and roughly 6,500 pounds; their
coloration tends to run more to grey, brown, and
slate. They are loners by nature and quick to
anger. They generally receive tribute from
nearby communities that wish to avoid being
crushed by the mountain giants, and sometimes
they set up to control a mountain pass, taxing
everyone and everything that comes through
it.
Mountain giants gather in small groups,
creating stone strongholds for their protection
(the largest of which is the fortress in
the Frontier Mountains, on the continent
of Kunark). They see themselves as being
like the mountains, perhaps part of a mountain
range, but still individual (and in fact
often refer to themselves as crags or hillocks).
Unlike the frost giants, mountain
giants do not work well with other races
and are not seeking allies. With the exception
of the occasional forest giant scout, mountain giants rely purely on their own kind for safety.
NightFall Giant
bescription
Nightfall giants, or Kromveld, are a rare race of giants closely
related to hill giants. Like their more common cousins, nightfall
giants are brutal, uncaring, and avaricious. They are somewhat
taller than hill giants, reaching from 20 to 22 feet tall, and have
duskier coloration. The primary difference between nightfall giants and others is that
they are well adapted to operating in the dark and are almost
entirely nocturnal.
Nightfall giants are also more likely to work with other races,
though almost never other giants. It is not unusual, however, to
find a nightfall giant commanding a tribe of orcs or working with
a band of ogre brigands. As a result, nightfall giants tend to have
slightly better weapons and more plentiful equipment than hill
giants. They are also often more dangerous to oppose, as they may
have numerous minions supporting them.
Sanb Giants
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.
bescript:ion
Sand giants, or Kromtorr, are rare members
of giantkind found only in large deserts. They
are similar physically in many ways to hill
giants, including height and general build,
though their skin tends to be darker in color.
Sand giants are far more cunning and craftier
than hill giants, however, and thus manage to
find much higher quality clothing and weaponry
for themselves. Though they are no less
brutal and savage than hill giants, sand giants
know the value of fear and often allow victims
that bribe them to go free to spread word of their
fearsome power.
Sand giants prefer to establish small empires for
themselves in the deep deserts by laying claim to
an oasis.Any who wish to travel through the deep
deserts must be careful to carry plenty of water, or
they will be forced pay great sums of money to a sand
giant in return for using a small, dirty pool under his
control. Of course, when trade is low, sand giants turn
to banditry, raiding caravans and attacking small groups.
Sand giants also capture prisoners and refuse to return
them unless given a giant-sized ransom, such as a huge
sword or fine clothing made to their measurements.
Combat:
A sand giant generally knows the area around
his chosen oasis very well and uses the terrain to
his advantage. Though it is difficult to imagine
something as large as a giant hiding, it
is not unusual for a sand giant to lie behind
a sand dune near a caravan route, waiting for
unwary travelers to pass by. When surprise is
not an option, a sand giant depends on his
natural resistance to magic, a sharp blade, and
his great strength and reach to overcome his foes.
Cazel
bescript:ion
Cazel is one of the oldest and largest sand giants known to the
civilized world. His appearance in ancient records suggests that
Cazel may in fact be a survivor of the armies ofRallos Zek, though
it is equally likely that other particularly fierce sand giants have
taken the name "Cazel" over the years to inspire fear. By most
accounts, he stands over 25 feet tall and has the heavy frame
typical of his race (at 25 feet, he would weigh roughly 15,000
pounds). Cazel is generally described as fighting without a weapon,
though not always, and some claim he has vast magical powers.
Cazel is normally encountered in the Desert of Ro near the
Oasis ofMarr. Cazel patrols the best watering holes on the western
side of the Oasis and charges exorbitant prices for any creature
wishing to drink or fill a flask. Cazel will attack large caravans too
well protected for a common sand giant and, as a result, is often
carrying random items of treasure taken in such raids.
On more than one occasion, a questing party
sent to recover some item Cazel had stolen has
claimed to have killed the giant. Yet his
ravages usually begin again within
a few days of such claims. It is not
generally known that Cazel can regenerate
even when apparently dead, and
most scholars assume that each Cazel is
a different giant claiming the name.
Storm Giant
bescription
The Kromzek, more commonly called storm giants, are a race
of powerful giants found on the continent of Velious. They are
similar to frost giants in appearance, but stand 19 to 22 feet in
height, weigh 7,000 to 11,000 pounds, and have pale hair and
skin. Kromzek are generally well-clothed and are equipped with weapons and armor made by skilled Kromzek artisans. They are
also more open to negotiations and trade than most giants and
often treat their close allies very well. Once a Kromzek has
identified a person as an enemy, however, the giant's wrath and
mistrust cannot be avoided with sweet words and offerings.
The Kromzek are far more organized than most giants and are
part of the giant society based out of the city ofKael Drakkal that
is ruled by King T ormax. The Kromrif serve mainly as guards and
wardens around Kael Drakkal, while the Kromzek form a social
class than their frost giant cousins, ruling the city and using their
own martial skills to protect the last truly organized giant culture.
Apart from the Kromrif, the Kromzek also work well with several
other races and can even accept members of "lesser" races as
friends and allies.
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