Giants

Subject: Giants Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:23 am

Giants

History
The giants were once said to be a clan of Viking tribesman who rose up against a great evil in their lands on the border of the expanseless wastes.. This evil was a sorcerer who ruled over the Viking lands with a brutal agenda for profiting off of what he saw as lesser beings. This clan lead a rebellion against the sorcerer, and drove his forces all the way back to his castle. A siege was layed upon the castle, and eventually it was breached. He was slain after he killed many of the Viking warriors, in his dying breath he cursed the clan who rose against him to be outcast and isolated.

It is said that then the clan transformed into the thing of Norse legend, the ice giant, which all Vikings were taught to fear and destroy. Now that they were no longer myth, the clan was ostracized. Trade was cut off first, then any sort of communication between the Viking kingdoms and clans. Try as they might, this clan could not convince what were once their brethren that they were no different from before, it was a curse that the sorcerer sent on their house. But no one would listen. They had been taught from birth that ice giants were not to be trusted. It seemed they only tolerated their existence as they were once human. But that would not last long.

The giants were drove from their home by their own kind, almost all the other Viking kingdoms joining forces to rid themselves of what they perceived only to be evil ice giants. The giants proved their worth with their heightened strength, but they could not overcome the high numbers of Norse warriors. They were driven far into the wastes, where only the hardiest of creatures could survive.

There, they retained their Nordic culture and continued living on as outcasts. For hundreds of years they lived in the far north, where no human dared to venture. They survived by becoming adept hunters and survivalists. The Norse forgot of them within a few generations, and their story was thought to be a myth by most. However, around 695 MoP, there were reports of humanoid beings with great stature roaming the northern borders of a Viking kingdom's territory. This lead to the Norse panicking of a return of the ice giant.

However, the Giants peacefully re-introduced themselves, with some difficulty however. They were met with resistance at first, but many vengeful and warring kings of the many Viking nations saw a potential for the giant. They could easily see them in their armies, as champions of war. As quickly as the thought came to them, envoys were sent to spread word of a high paying mercenary positions in Viking armies. Many giants saw this as an opportunity to gain a foothold in society again, become wealthy or famous, all the glory of being a champion, etcetera. But this only sparked wars as the kings' egos inflated at the sight of their many "champions".

War broke out among the greedy and territory hungry kings. Giants were seen as invincible and morale boosting. But it was quite the opposite. Although they were well equipped to handle many human fighters at the same time, they were quite easy to pick out from a crowd, making them easier to coordinate attacks on. Not only that but they were quite easy to hit with ranged weapons. Even the most novice crossbowman could get an arrow or two off on them from range. But the deaths of these giants was kept secret outside of the armies. The wars ended after a few years, and giants had lost their reputation as master champions, atleast in the Viking world. Instead the Kingdoms, both those who had participated in the war and those who had stood aside, saw a great economical potential for them instead. They could be used to extract raw materials much faster, and construct buildings quicker as well. It was then that most of the giant population moved from the harsh far north back into Viking society. Their clan had disbanded with little thought, and they assimilated themselves into Norse kingdoms.

Thus began the great giant migration. Countries that were late to hear of the giant also began to scheme ways of exploiting them. Giants spread all over the world with offers of a grandiose life. The giants who stayed in the expanse of the Wastes were never heard from again, it is assumed they either died from lack of numbers or joined the rest of their kind in Norse life. Today, giants are still a rare being, and as far as most are concerned, are dying out. The pure giant race has dwindled in number, as when they moved to distant lands, it became harder and harder to find another of their kind. So they mated with the general populace, creating half giants, which are just beefed up versions of what ever race they mated with.

Culture.
Giants come from a Norse background, but as a whole, are not any sort of nation or identifying group. Their culture is not well preserved, unless they are fresh immigrants from Norse lands. There isn't really much to say about their culture, but many are devout to preserve their dying race, and will refuse to have children with a non-giant because they feel it is their duty to find another of their own to continue their existence. There is also one carried over trait of Norse culture, women have equal standards as men, and are not unfamiliar to being warriors.

The most concentration of giants are --
Viking lands, 50%.
The Occitanian empire, 25%, where there is a long tradition of proud military-bred giants. (The Occitanians REALLY take to them considering they can't do magic even if they wanted to.)
Talibar and other nations, 25%, prized in businesses where there is commonly heaving lifting involved. The strength of 3 men with the paycheck of 1.

Anatomy.
Adult male -- 10-11 feet tall. 600-700 pounds. Contrary to belief, not inherently aggressive by nature.

Adult female -- 9-10 feet tall. 500-600 pounds.

Giants are really just upscaled humans, having little differing traits as human other than more developed muscle structure by genetics and in general a body resistant to physical damage. Some of them however are pure ice giants, a rare breed of giant with blue-ish skin and are cool to the touch, if not icy.

They are unable to summon really any kind of powerful magic, because of the powerful curse that runs in their blood that negates any sort of magical influence. This does not mean that they are immune to magic attacks themselves, just that they cannot do anything really beyond some kind of simple spell. And even that is hard for them. They can still wield magically crafted and imbued weapons and items, and it will have the same effect on them.

Half-breed giants mixed with anything, as stated earlier, just makes a beefy humanoid half breed, maybe a foot taller than average. They also inherit a lessened version of the negating magic curse.

Subject: Re: Giants Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:00 pm

Done. bleep blorp.

Posts : 166 Join date : 2011-10-06 Age : 29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49SfWeQPa78&t=1m20s
Perfect example of how fast giants are and why you shouldn't think you are fast enough to dodge all their attacks.
Well, not that big, but people always seem to think giants are really slow. :/

Subject: Re: Giants Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:25 pm

They've got the longest legs of anyone, of course they're fast.

Subject: Re: Giants Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:58 pm

The only problem I have with this is references to Vikings and the Norse. I don't think either actually exist in Olden's universe. With a few name changes and a little more detail as to when and especially where these Vikings lived, this would be perfect.

Subject: Re: Giants Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:22 pm

bah. okay. I'll take a peek at the map and.. I dunno. I don't know what to substitute for "norse"

E: FUUUUUUUUUU there's nothing more northward of the Occitanians.

Moderator Posts : 851 Join date : 2010-01-18 Age : 31

There's the Wastes.

Subject: Re: Giants Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:33 pm

Rutabega wrote:: There's the Wastes.

Yeah, the Wastes are a near-limitless expanse of ice. There's a lot of potential there.

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 5:10 am

Okay. Then what do I say instead of Vikings/Norse?

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 5:34 am

Wastings or Worse?

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:22 am

You're kidding rite

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:42 am

I dunno, just make shit up.

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:36 pm

I'll call them the mans who are in the ices.

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:41 pm

Okay well I added some stuff and made them originate from the wastes.

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:57 pm

There's still a "Viking Lands" part there.

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:46 pm

itt; blitz is lazy

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 4:36 pm

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Moderator Posts : 851 Join date : 2010-01-18 Age : 31

Whaaat do you waaant?

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 7:12 pm

accept my bad lore blindly please

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:51 pm

I'll accept it if you promise to get the Viking crap out of there. Olden doesn't have Vikings. The closest to Vikings/Norse would be the Vanir, a waste-dwelling people who worshipped a dragon, or something like that. Ask Gambit about them.

Subject: Re: Giants Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:35 pm

Hokay.

Subject: Re: Giants Sat Jan 14, 2012 12:34 am

I got really excited that Munroe mentioned me Very Happy

But yeah whenever you want to message me I can tell you about the Vanirian tribesmen.

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