GoCorral

Location

Giants live in the mountains, hills, and caves of Cimmeria. Their tendency towards violence makes them incompatible with the settled development of civilization. A giant is likely to accidentally destroy a building in anger, so the little folk have banded together to push giants away from buildings. There are slight variances between the different subraces in their home of choice. Fire giants enjoy volcanic calderas while storm and frost giants enjoy mountain peaks. Ettins and ogres like caves. Trolls are an outlier, with many trolls preferring to live in the Underdark. Ogres and trolls can also be found regularly in the wilds of the Aractrashan Jungle.

Relations with Other Races

Giants are dangerous and powerful. One giant is enough to kill dozens and ruin a neighborhood even in a well-defended town. This threatening power makes giants unwelcome in the civilized communities of Cimmeria. While most interactions with giantkin are violent, the Conclave races do have peaceful relationships with some elemental giants. Particularly fire giants due to their forging skill. The Mountain Dwarves have established trade between their cities and giant villages. These trade deals are delicate matters handled by dwarves that are trained in the particulars of giant etiquette.

Giants get along well with a few other races. They commonly ally with orcs and goblins for raids and military campaigns. These alliances are fragile and short-lived, often depending on the giant’s hunger being satisfied by means other than eating their allies. Giants also ally themselves with dragons with some frequency. Fully grown dragons often adopt a giantkin tribe as their personal servants. A giantkin tribe’s focus on tradition can lead to a stable relationship where the giants remain faithful to their dragon lord for generations.

Common Deities

Due to their ancestral connections, giants are some of the few beings of Cimmeria that openly worship the Titans. They were created to seek vengeance for the Titans and many still carry this torch long after the Gigantomachy has ended. Along with the Titans, giantkin worship other primordial deities such as Typhon, Echidna, Nyx, Uranos, Gaia, and Ourea. Darker minded giants still engage in mortal sacrifice to the ancient gods.

There are many giants that have abandoned the old gods in favor of the Olympians. These giants largely worship Zeus as their patron as thanks for his help in freeing Brontes, Steropes, and Arges.

Place in Adventuring

Giants are a powerful threat for adventurers to take on. Only the most experienced adventurers are able to taken on giantkin with a reliable chance at survival. The varied subraces of giantkin come into conflict with Cimmerian society at different frequencies, but all are fearsome challenges for adventurers. While rare peaceful encounters between adventurers and giants exist, the race largely exists as grist in the mill for stronger adventurers.

Giants heavily reinforced tradition makes their chances of becoming adventurers themselves a near impossibility. The sand giants once had a tradition of fighters and swordmages, but their elimination by the Bane ended that practice. The other giantkin learned their lesson from the sand giant example. Now, any giantkin adventurer could be a singular example for their entire subrace, if not the giant race as a whole.