Firbolg

Firbolg, one of the various children of giants. Peaceful and serene, firbolgs are descended from a schism in the giants long ago, tending towards neutrality and peace. Their giant nature affords them special consideration in orc ruled territories, and their peaceful nature allows them to coexist peacefully with almost all races of Vatain. They are not the nature obsessed druids that elves are, but neither are they industrialists that the gnomes and halflings are, striking a balance in forest cities in the foothills of the Vachinae mountains, and the Impassable Forest.

Firbolg lean more towards serving Fiends than Celestials, but it is rare to see a hard schism in beliefs among them.

## In game mechanics

***Ability Score Increase.*** Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Strength score increases by 1.

***Age.***  As humanoids related to the fey, firbolg have long lifespans. A firbolg reaches adulthood around 30, and the oldest of them can live for 500 years.

***Alignment.***  Firbolg are typically neutral good. Evil firbolg are rare and are usually the sworn enemies of the rest of their kind.

***Size.*** Firbolg are between 7 and 8 (eet tall and weigh between 240 and 300 pounds. Your size is Medium.

***Speed.*** Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

***Firbolg Magic.*** You can cast detect magic and disguise self with this trait, using Wisdom as your spell casting ability for them. Once you cast either spell, you can't cast it again with this trait until you finish a short or long rest. When you use this version of disguise self, you can seem up to 3 feet shorter than normal, allowing you to more easily blend in with humans and elves.

***Hidden Step.***  As a bonus action, you can magically tum invisible until the start of your next turn or until you attack, make a damage roll, or force someone to make a saving throw. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

***Powerful Build.*** You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

***Speech of Beast and Leaf.*** You have the ability to communicate in a limited manner with beasts and plants. They can understand the meaning of your words, though you have no special ability to understand them in return. You have advantage on all Charisma checks you make to influence them.

***Languages.*** You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and Giant.

## Descendants of giants

Firbolg long ago were the result of a magic done by the assembled fourteen, a group of giant magicians. In an effort to create more soldiers in the Dragon Giant War, the assembly did three things. They lifted the orcs, and gave them the blessing of intelligence. They created goliaths. And finally, they created the firbolg. A mixture of essence from elves and giants, both followers of the Fiends, the firbolg were an experiment. Ultimately, a failed one in the eyes of the giants, unlike their goliath cousins.

Firbolg are simply too peaceful to serve as useful soldiers en mass. While strong, powerful, and magically gifted, they chose to not use these gifts in the war, instead serving as healers if they served at all.

Nowadays, their giant ancestry still holds true in their blood, keeping them large and powerful, but also withdrawn and serene from their elf blood. Truly, children of two worlds.

## Cities of nature

Firbolg organize in cities, every city ruled in a slightly different way, though most are democratically ruled. The term city is actually misleading, as it may lead one to think of the crowded, dirty, or smoke blowing cities of the Vatainians or gnomes. Instead these cities are spread out, and leaning so closely into nature that one could almost miss it on a cursory glance. The firbolg keep on the ground, with mossy trails acting as roads.

Located almost entirely in the Impassable forest, the firbolg cities are few and far between, spaced out and hidden from most. At least one human expedition to the north has taken shelter in a firbolg city, before they were never heard from again, according to elven tales.

## Long lived

While firbolg are not so long lived as their elven ancestors, they still live for a truly significant time. As such, they are creatures of intense habit towards the second half of their life, but in the first half, they are widely considered unruly and far too active and adventurous by those more mature. In fact, firbolg are known to branch out and travel for a hundreds of years before returning to their original home. Mostly, young firbolg looking for adventure will pursue three different options: living amongst the orcs, wandering with the elves, or experiencing human culture. While some may try to see how the dwarves live, they are mostly rebuffed, sometimes killed, by them: dwarves have long memories and remember the giants actions against them in the Dragon Giant War.

Firbolg, when among other cultures, most often attempt to imitate those they live among, living disguised as a member of the civilization they are in. While elves are rarely fooled by their charade, humans and orcs are none the wiser. Rarely, a firbolg will expose their true natures to garner experiences as an outlander rather than a denizen of a civilization, but, depending on the circumstances, this is a dangerous move that can end in violence easily.

## Relations to other races

* Orcs treat firbolg as an outsider to them, though their giant blood and powerful builds grant immense respect among them. Firbolg can expect to be treated well by orcs, though they are not privy to orc culture. Firbolg generally find orc culture distasteful anyway, their violence being a harsh divider.
* Aarakocra have no relationship to speak of with the firbolg people.
* Aasimar firbolg are rare, and they are treated no differently than a normal firbolg. Any aasimar from another race is treated the same as the other race.
* Changelings are generally thought of as mythical by the firbolg people. The firbolg who have seen a changeling generally are unaware of this, and the few who have seen changelings think of them as a strange, fractured people. Changelings generally count firbolg as peaceful and amiable.
* Dragonborn are generally treated with distrust and vilification by the firbolg. While they are a peaceful people who refused to commit violence, by and large, in the Dragon Giant War, the firbolg do remember how the dragons treated them for their giant blood.
* Dwarves are generally hostile to firbolg, despite their well intended nature. Very few firbolg have succesfully infiltrated the dwarven people, only the smallest and cleverest of them being able to pull off their disguise.
* Elves could be counted as the firbolgs closest friends, their natures aligning closely. Firbolg almost never hide among them, instead travelling in plain sight, save for meeting other creatures.
* The smallfolk rarely see the firbolg, and there is no official relation between the two.
* Goliaths find firbolg distasteful, literally. Goliaths will kill any firbolg they see, seeing them as weak and unworthy of the giant blood that flows through their veins.
* Most humans have heard of firbolg in stories, and while many believe they are real, very few have seen one. A firbolg walking in a human city would be the talk of the town. Firbolg do maintain a relationship with the government of Vatain, often returning progress reports on any expedition sent by the humans, and sometimes sending their bodies or possessions that firbolg find in the wilds back to the Vatainian government via elven tribes wandering that way.
* Loxodon tribes are slightly standoffish, as they are to most races.
* Tabaxi and tortles are located in a separate location and as such, have no interaction with the firbolg.
* Triton do not often have occasion to speak to firbolg, but they are not hostile towards each other.
* Firbolg hate dragons.
* Giants often dismiss firbolg, but are almost never hostile.