Giants
"Those that carry the burdens of the gods."
Known as those who carry the planes on their shoulders, giants are believed to be some of the first forms of life within the Faewild having existed before even the High Fae themselves. They were once severely loyal to Titania, though their devotion has shifted into an intense fear and respect of any Eidolon. Their kind enshrouded in a lot of ancient mythos and mystery, but throughout the centuries, some truths have been solidified.
Giants are noted as creatures of immense stature and strength. On an average they tower over most other creatures with similar body structure, the exception being those who have amassed their own might and size. Giants are often mistaken to be golem of stone or ents of wood due to the incredibly rough texture of their skin, but they are far more intelligent than common monsters. They are classified as Fae creatures, though Giants are one of the few species that steadily traverses the planes. It’s believed that they are allowed to do this due to their unique purpose within the cosmos and the fact that they are very rarely hostile without provocation.
It is believed that there are essentially two groups of giants, the Rootwalkers, now known as the Lost, and the Boughwalkers.
Rootwalkers and the Lost[edit]
Most giants that have ever existed fall into this category, as only the chosen that ascend fall into the second group. These giants tended to Yggdrasil and its surrounding forests with diligent focus. They cared for the wildlife and ensured that no damage came to the roots even as they extended toward the rippling edges of the plane itself. They worked out the twists and knots in the curling wood, and they ensured the mana flow was never disrupted. It was the giants that directed the return of life across the planescape, and on a rare occasion were they tasked with doing as their title implied and followed the roots through the barriers that divide realities. They safeguarded these points of intersection from any that threatened them regardless of their nature or planar alignment.
Unfortunately the Rootwalkers as they once existed no longer do after Relkath massacred a large portion of their population in his attack against Yggdrasil. The ensuing transportation and the Lifegiving Tree into Rhyst only exacerbated the discord among the tribe that had only know this purpose for millennia, and those that survived found themselves cast about the Faewild, Rhyst, and even the Astral Sea where they were both lost in mind and body. The violence perpetrated against the most often time neutral and gentle giants is one of the greatest tragedies the Faewild has ever seen, yet there are very few who lament it.
In the modern age giants have been spotted wandering the planes now known as the Lost. Many of them walk without a purpose or true knowledge of who or what they are. Memories of a time before they were faced with such calamity sometimes surface, but they do not ordinarily remain near collected groups of other species for a long time, so there has been little opportunity for deeper analysis.
Boughwalkers[edit]
It was said that one in ten thousand giants might become a Boughwalker, and the only stories of this classification comes from the Rootwalkers themselves and the legends they once told one another prior to the disaster that scattered them. As such, Boughwalkers are even more strange and mysterious as these ancient tales depict them as titans of incredible responsibility and fortitude. While the Rootwalkers were tasked with ensuring the flow of life through the roots of Yggdrasil, Boughwalkers are believed to have done as their title suggests as well in traversing the reaching branches of the Great Tree. They have been depicting carrying fire away from where the branches breach the unknown Limbo and are thought to be the ones who deliver the reborn into Yggdrasil itself.
Trivia[edit]
- Giants have an affinity to direct elemental magic of any kind
- They are largely docile creatures even now, though they are more than capable of anger and defensive behaviors when threatened
- Giants fear the Eidolons more than anything else and believe they will be struck dead should they stray from their course
- Boughwalkers are believed to be even larger than the existing giants, and if the legends are to be believed, should they stand at sea level within Rhyst, their shoulders would be above the clouds.