Giants

Giants are a very different animal from Ogres or Trolls, and are much rarer than either. To begin with, it isn't known if they reproduce at all. It may well be that those who exist now are the only ones who have ever been or will ever be. Giants also don't share much in common with each other, aside from the fact that they're really big. Really big, and made of stone and earth. Some are bipedal — man shaped — others are bestial, some cannot move at all, and can be mistaken for strange rock formations or hills.
The giants are creatures from a previous age, that much is agreed upon by all. The Helians were aware of them in ancient times, and may have even worshiped them as gods at some point. Because the great creatures move so slowly, and so rarely take action, they made for pretty good gods.
But they do, from time to time, grow agitated, or hungry, or bored, or something. They don't really emote much — it's hard to tell what they're thinking, and they certainly don't explain themselves. A giant may awaken at any time — a hill that overlooks your hometown may one day stand up, shake the moss from its back, and then step on your house on its way to wherever its primal urges lead it.
Sometimes they kill, for varying reasons. It may be malice, or it may be the fear an elephant has for a rat. A few giants are intelligent enough to use weapons, which they often hide beneath them as they slumber. The single largest single object of Silversteel ever found was a crude mace fashioned of the stuff that was wielded by the giant Londokaius (named by the people he terrorized) who was slain by the mortal hero Thrasymachus, who tricked the giant into losing its feet, and then slew him with five spears, one after another, thrown to him by his kinsmen as he stood on the creature's neck and thrust them into its face. The Mace of Londokaius was melted down and made into the White Temple of Helion, a symbol of peace between the Orredin and Humans who shared the Empire, and was lost to the sea in the cataclysm.
Category:Monsters