Giants

Giants are a race of soul-bearing beings in Tirónar, native to the vast plains of Borrike.

Giant changelings are called Tree-Giants, though some refer to them as Triants for short.

As a general rule, all statements referring to “Giants” also apply to their changeling counterparts unless specifically stated otherwise. After all, they are the same type of being; just in two different forms, and their cultures generally overlap.

## Physical Traits

### Size

Giants are the largest living beings in Tirónar. While giants were generally about the size of a slightly above-average dragon, an older dragon could easily dwarf a giant... but the dragons are gone. Giants are half the size of the largest trees, so around 50 ft or so.

In order to conserve energy, Giants are incredibly slow-moving creatures. They can move faster if threatened, but with exhausting repercussions after the fact.

Giants are large, bipedal beings with thick skin, wire-like hair that grows all over their bodies, and hunched stature. They are often seen carrying huge walking sticks made from entire tree-trunks as they slowly pass.

## Social Traits

Giants are slow-moving and territorial, generally keeping themselves to the plains and forests of Borrike. They rarely stomp their way over the mountains unless something has REALLY motivated them to drag themselves out there.

Occasionally, you might find a Giant changeling (aka Tree-Giant) hanging out in a forest far from Borrike, but if so, they probably aren’t going to be leaving for a very, very long time. Like their fleshy counterparts, Tree-Giants are slow-moving and don’t leave their homes unless threatened. If you find a Giant crossing the mountains or a Tree-Giant leaving the forest it came into existence in, you know something is about to go DOWN.

While Giants seem solitary at first glance, most scholars agree that we don’t know enough about how Giants socialize with other Giants to conclusively make that claim. They are nomadic by nature, perhaps due to the amount of resources they require to sustain their large bodies, and generally wander the plains of Borrike alone or in small groups. They also seem to respect a sort of “squatters rights”, where other Giants are expected to avoid the area in which a different Giant has decided to settle for a time, until that Giant decides to move on. Again, this is likely due to a lack of resources, and Giants have been known to fight off others that infringe too close to their space. However, they do not seem to mind the presence of smaller beings and make a visible effort to avoid disrupting their settlements. In fact, many Giants will actively seek out human settlements in the plains of Borrike, offering to the services of their strength in exchange for food, rather than simply gathering it from the land like they would an unsettled area. However, these occurrences are rare, largely due to how slowly Giants move.

Giants can learn human languages, and assuming you can find one and are very, very patient, you might be able to befriend one. However, Giants and their ilk tend to perceive small speedy things that appear unexpectedly as a threat (much like how small, fast-moving bugs unnerve many people), so you have to prove yourself to be a small, slow-moving friend. The best way to gain the trust of a Giant is to make sure they can see you as you move around. The best way to socialize with a Giant is to simply sit with them in their current area of residence, perhaps talking or working on a craft as you do so. Those patient enough to gain the full trust of a Giant may be allowed to help with tasks that the Giant’s size prevents them from doing, even so far as being allowed to climb upon their backs.

## Changelings

Tree-Giants, otherwise known as Triants, are aesthetically similar to their non-changeling counterparts in all but one aspect. Since the Fae constructing a body for a changeling soul is never going to find enough matter to create a body the size of a Giant from normal flesh, so they use wood instead, creating creatures identical to the Giants in almost every way, only they look like trees. These beings are also usually lighter in weight than their non-changeling counterparts, and thus are often seen standing up straighter.

## Magic

Like all beings with souls, Giants have the ability to use magic. However, unlike many other soul-bearing beings, Giants don’t use their magic very often, and when they do, it’s a very slow-moving, long-term sort of magic, rather than the focused, concentrated spells that smaller beings tend to cast. In fact, studies show that most magic used by Giants would be considered subconscious magic by human magical scholars. Giants have never described any process for intentionally unlocking or focusing their magic, yet magic is clearly a part of their lives, accumulating in their wake like the paths of tamped-down earth left by their footsteps. It’s theorized that Giants have a harder time focusing their magic because their souls are contained within a far larger physical vessel, causing it to naturally exist in a less concentrated state.