Orania

A Pathfinder Campaign Setting Supplement Authors • Jesse Benner, Ryan Costello, Brian R. James, Jason Nelson, Russ Taylor, and Ray Vallese Cover Artist • Steve Prescott Interior Artists • Dave Allsop, Francesco Graziani, Scott Purdy, Kieran Yanner, and Ilker Serdar Yildiz Creative Director • James Jacobs Senior Art Director • Sarah E. Robinson Managing Editor • F. Wesley Schneider Development Lead • Patrick Renie Editing • Judy Bauer, Christopher Carey, James L. Sutter, and Vic Wertz Editorial Assistance • Jason Bulmahn, Rob McCreary, Mark Moreland, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Sean K Reynolds Editorial Interns • Alexandra Schecterson and Jerome Virnich Graphic Designer • Andrew Vallas Production Specialist • Crystal Frasier Publisher • Erik Mona Paizo CEO • Lisa Stevens Vice President of Operations • Jeffrey Alvarez Director of Sales • Pierce Watters Finance Manager • Christopher Self Staff Accountant • Kunji Sedo Technical Director • Vic Wertz Campaign Coordinator • Mike Brock Special Thanks • The Paizo Customer Service, Warehouse, and Website Teams Credits Table of Contents This product makes use of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat, and Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic. These rules can be found online for free as part of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd. This product is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or the 3.5 edition of the world’s oldest fantasy roleplaying game. Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork, and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.) Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo Publishing game product are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission. Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Giants Revisited © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Paizo Publishing, LLC, the Paizo golem logo, Pathfinder, and GameMastery are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC; Pathfinder Adventure Path, Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Pathfinder Module, Pathfinder Player Companion, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Society, and Pathfinder Tales are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC. Printed in China. Paizo Publishing, LLC 7120 185th Ave NE, Ste 120 Redmond, WA 98052-0577 paizo.com This book works best with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook. Although suitable for play in any fantasy world, it is optimized for use in the Pathfinder campaign setting. Introduction Cloud Giant Cyclops Fire Giant Frost Giant Hill Giant Marsh Giant Rune Giant Stone Giant Storm Giant Taiga Giant Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Giants Revisited P erhaps no other beings in the history of humanity have permeated legend and lore so ubiquitously as the towering race known as giants. In Hinduism, the giants known as Daityas wore jewelry the size of boulders and fought against the gods, jealous of the deities’ powers. The giants of Ancient Greece were said to be the children of the goddess Gaia, who hoped that her offspring would free the recently captured Titans from their prison in Tartarus. The Old Testament features the story of how young David— future king of Israel—faced off against the champion of the Philistines, an immense warrior known as Goliath. Classic folktales such as those of Paul Bunyan and Jack and the Beanstalk give reimagined life to these characters, ingraining such legends in modern folklore and fiction. Today, we celebrate the myths of giants in myriad outlets, whether it be through literature and fiction (The BFG, Gulliver’s Travels, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Silver Chair), popular movies and television (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Thor, Land of the Giants, The Troll Hunter), or video games (God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Skyrim). Whether we realize it or not, our culture is steeped in references to these legendary heavyweights, and for whatever reason, people have an undeniable fascination with larger-than- life beings. Giants occupy diverse places both on Golarion and throughout the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Having appeared in each volume of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, giants continue to expand their role with the presentation of more terrains for giant residents as well as stranger hulks tied to ancient mysteries and the secrets of the multiverse. Even as far back as the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, giants have taken up an important role in the Pathfinder campaign setting, their massive size and incredible power making them not just intimidating adversaries, but also opponents with a pedigree as epic foes reaching back to some of the best-loved RPG adventures of all time. With that heritage in mind, Pathfinder Adventure Path #4: Fortress of the Stone Giants was purposefully designed as an homage to the classic Against the Giants adventures of the 1970s, adding stone giants to the ranks of hill, frost, and fire giants with equally colossal adventures. Since stone giants got the boulder rolling it hasn’t stopped, and before long taiga giants and rune giants appeared, not just as new monsters, but also as races with an undeniable role in Golarion’s history. Giants also make appropriately sizable impacts elsewhere on Golarion, with ogres and trolls receiving in-depth overviews in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Classic Monsters Revisited. The bestiaries of the Jade Regent Adventure Path and Bestiary 3 also highlight the Eastern- inspired giant outsiders known as yai. But as one can imagine, it’s hard to scratch that giant itch without a full book on these mammoth monsters—and hence this gargantuan gallery of giants was born. In This Book In addition to sections that detail specific facets of giants’ abilities and cultures, each of the following chapters includes an example stat block for a leader of the giants in question, as well as a “Bags” sidebar, which provides a random treasure table of items commonly found about the giant’s dwelling, alongside his equipment, or in a gigantic bag he carries along with him. GMs can roll on this table to provide inspiration for flavorful and useful loot that PCs might find after encountering a giant, either in addition to or in place of the treasure normally allotted for defeating a giant of that type. GMs should remember that much of this treasure was created by giants for use by giants—not for puny lesser races—and so items might be too large and unwieldy for PCs of typical races to make use of. That said, many giants—especially those of more sinister persuasions—are murderers and thieves, and so might possess the equipment and treasure of all manner of smaller creatures. The following pages in this volume feature 10 of the most iconic giants to dwell on Golarion, each titanic being having its own distinct role and legends within the Inner Sea region. Cloud Giant: Russ Taylor delves into the implications of the unique ethological division that separates cloud giants into both good and evil factions, and explores the myths of their legendary cloud cities. Cyclops: Though cyclopes were once the rulers of a sprawling empire, Brian R. James explains how the one- eyed brutes can now feel only rage as they attempt to make sense of their sporadic flashes of insight and battle to regain memories lost to their cultural amnesia. Fire Giant: The destructive fire giants spread their influence through slave-taking raids and burning war campaigns. Jason Nelson describes these giants’ industrious kingdoms and insatiable desire for complete dominion over punier races. Frost Giant: Hailing from the icy lands of the distant north, frost giants are as violent and treacherous as the regions they inhabit. Brian R. James shows us how these barbarians treat foolhardy adventurers who dare to intrude upon their frostbitten realms. On the Shoulders of Giants Introduction Hill Giant: Ryan Costello explores the crude, animalistic behaviors of the alarmingly stupid and surprisingly dangerous brutes known as hill giants, whose free-for-all “societies” and nefarious use of their own infants as bait make them truly despicable foes. Marsh Giant: These swamp-dwelling behemoths resemble a mix between humanoids, frogs, and fish. Ray Vallese gives us a look at marsh giants’ brutal and nightmarish rituals, as well as their cults to the demon lord Dagon. Rune Giant: Jesse Benner presents the mysterious powers and ancient origins of the evil rune giants, colossal monsters created by evil spellcasters millennia ago for the sole purpose of enslaving all other members of giantkind. Stone Giant: Russ Taylor details the rock-shaping stone giants—once enslaved to work for wizards of a vile and ancient civilization—and describes their tragic past and uncertain future. Storm Giant: Though storm giants are largely regarded as benevolent, sea-faring beings of justice, Jason Nelson shows us how their capricious tempers can be as unpredictable and stormy as the winds they command. Taiga Giant: Jason Nelson rounds out this volume’s collection of giants with the noble and elusive taiga giants, whose spiritual connections to their ancestors grant them magic beyond reason as they battle to protect the wild lands they hold sacred. More giants The Pathfinder campaign setting boasts a formidable array giants, comprising so many colossal races as to prevent them from all being included in one volume. Below you will find a table of giants not covered in this book, but that have full stat blocks and additional details presented in other Pathfinder RPG products. CR Giant Source Thawn Pathfinder #31 84 Freshwater merrow Bestiary 2 189 Moss troll Bestiary 3 273 Ogre Bestiary 220 and Classic Monsters Revisited Ice troll Bestiary 2 271 Troll Bestiary 268 and Classic Monsters Revisited Cave giant Bestiary 3 127 Ettin Bestiary 130 Rock troll Bestiary 2 272 Wood giant Bestiary 2 132 Saltwater merrow Bestiary 2 189 Ogre mage (oni) Bestiary 221 Desert giant Bestiary 3 128 Gholdako Isles of the Shackles 49 Jungle giant Bestiary 3 129 Ash giant Bestiary 3 126 Atamahuta (oni) Pathfinder #51 86 Athach Bestiary 2 33 Great cyclops Bestiary 3 61 Earth yai (oni) Pathfinder #53 88 Ice yai (oni) Bestiary 3 207 Mountain troll Lands of the Linnorm Kings 62 Fire yai (oni) Bestiary 3 206 Hell gigas Pathfinder #30 84 Jotund troll Bestiary 3 272 Abyss gigas The Witchwar Legacy 27 Wind yai (oni) Pathfinder #54 88 Water yai (oni) Bestiary 3 212 Void yai (oni) Bestiary 3 210 Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Giants Revisited Cloud Giant “MALINDAE GAPED IN WONDER AT THE GILDED CAGES, DOZENS OF THEM, AND THE BIRDS WITHIN, EACH MORE BRILLIANTLY COLORED AND EXOTIC THAN THE LAST. PAST THE FEASTING TABLES SHE SAW THE GRANDEST TREASURE YET—AN IVORY HARP AS LARGE AS SHE, ITS PILLAR CARVED IN THE SHAPE OF A LOVELY NYMPH. BEFORE HER EYES, THE CARVING AWOKE, SMILED AT HER, AND PLUCKED OUT AN ETHEREAL MELODY UPON HER OWN STRINGS. ENTRANCED, MALINDAE WAS HALFWAY TO THE HARP WHEN THE BIRDS AWOKE AND FILLED THE AIR WITH RAUCOUS CRIES. LOOKING ABOUT IN ALARM, SHE SEARCHED FOR A PLACE TO HIDE.” —MALINDAE ACROSS THE CLOUD KINGDOMS, A POPULAR VARISIAN CHILDREN’S TALE Cloud Giant P erhaps nothing defines the whimsical and powerful cloud giants so well as the philosophical rift dividing their kind. Split almost evenly between good and evil, they behave in many ways like two separate races. Evil cloud giants lead reclusive lives, only coming down from their mountain peaks for vicious raids and brutal reprisals, while their good-aligned cousins seek out friendly contact and act as mentors for other species. The victims of attacks view cloud giants as brutal monsters, while the beneficiaries of their aid speak in awed tones of the benevolent colossi. Wise mountain communities hail the approach of one or two cloud giants as cause for welcome and perhaps even celebration, while the thundering approach of more than a couple is often regarded as the harbinger of despair. Other than their great size, cloud giants closely resemble slender humans. They tend toward muted coloration, with skin of milky white, pale gray, or powder blue. Their hair ranges from ash white to bluish gray, or even pale blond with a hint of red, and most individuals’ eyes are gray, violet, or piercing blue. Regardless of the exact combination of features, all cloud giants possess an ethereal beauty and unearthly grace that seems contrary to their massive size and brute strength. Cloud giants reject the notion of a common ancestor for giants. They acknowledge faint kinship with what they view as lesser giant species (generally, any giant shorter than themselves), but for themselves claim descent purely from the blood of titans and the gods themselves. Though their powers may have been diluted over the generations from the admixture of lesser species, cloud giants believe their strength still derives from a divine lineage. As evidence, they point to their stature, their superior mental development, and their inherent magical powers, all lacking in more common breeds of giants. Other giants, for their part, view the cloud giants’ overbearing egos as perhaps their most titanic attribute. Legends speak of cloud giant cities that float high above the world on the very clouds themselves, and of cloud giants who tread the surfaces of these clouds as though they were solid ground. If such cities exist, few have seen them, and even most cloud giants dismiss them as idle fantasies. Yet some among their kind see a glimmer of truth buried within these myths, and comb the world for signs of the legendary floating cities and their cloud-dwelling kin. ECOLOGY A typical adult male cloud giant stands fully 18 feet in height and weighs 5,000 pounds. Females are a bit shorter and lighter, though particularly monumental warrior giants of both sexes exist. These individuals are usually respected among their peers as ideal specimens of their kind, and quickly rise to positions of power in their tribes. Such warrior giants can reach heights of up to 21 feet, and with their lavish garb and jewelry weigh up to 8,000 pounds—they are sometimes so bedecked in ornaments that they must rely on their levitation power to get around more easily. Cloud giants were never a fecund race, and the breeding of new generations of cloud giants weighs heavily on the minds of their ruling oligarchs. Referencing moldering genealogies that suggest ideal partnerships, these leaders strive to arrange advantageous couplings between far-flung communities, at times even between tribes of opposite moral standing. Youth being what it is, many cloud giants ignore the guidance of their leaders and instead follow their hearts. While monogamy is a strict and strongly enforced tradition in most cloud giant societies, this doesn’t necessarily extend to times when the population is at risk of irreparably dwindling. Thus, some individuals must sacrifice their partnership’s sanctity for the needs of their tribe, and consent to bear or father the child of a different mate. Young cloud giants learn to speak and walk as young as 2 years of age, but otherwise mature slowly, taking more than 6 decades to reach adulthood. Their magical powers develop relatively early, at about 8 years of age, though such abilities manifest clumsily at best until individuals reach maturity. Nonetheless, the sight of an ogre-sized toddler hovering in mid-air can be startling to humanoids living near a cloud giant settlement; most onlookers either perceive such an anomaly as a boon to be praised or a curse to be heeded. Cloud giants spend the majority of their youths adventuring or warring with their morally opposed brethren, then trail into old age and gradually declining health as they reach their third century, at which point most individuals retire to more scholastic endeavors or become wise elders among their tribespeople. Cloud giants fancy themselves true epicures. To the palettes of cloud giants, rarer and more complicated dishes simply taste better, and they favor meals with small portions and numerous courses. Fruits, vegetables, grains, and cheeses dominate their tables, with meat (typically mountain-dwelling fowl) playing only a minor part in feasts. Spices and sauces from all manner of culinary techniques find their way into cloud giant kitchens. They wash meals down with chilled nectars, fine wine, and expensive liquors. Good-aligned cloud giants frequently employ at least one humanoid chef, while their evil kin are more likely to kidnap and enslave numerous servants to cook for them. HABITAT & SOCIETY Like many other giants, cloud giants favor mountains, often dwelling at altitudes inhospitable to lesser creatures. Good-aligned cloud giants favor grand mansions or castles of gigantic scale. Their evil kin eschew such ostentatious Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Giants Revisited structures as wasted effort, their abodes often little more than crude shelters of rough-hewn stone. Cloud giants thrive on spirited debate regarding all manner of issues material or philosophical, with such discussions often turning temporarily acrimonious even between fast friends. Occasionally, particularly heated arguments turn to violence, though such disputes usually end before blood is drawn as rivals agree to disagree after an invigorating brawl. However, such rivalries were not always so peaceful, as the greatly opposed moral outlooks of cloud giants suggests. For countless centuries, a great philosophical divide has sundered the cloud giants into two camps. Though scholars remain unsure as to exactly what debate or feud split them so diametrically, most agree that the argument was over a question of altruism versus pragmatism. The altruistic cloud giants maintained that as an enlightened people, it fell to them to guide and uplift other, less gifted races for the betterment of all. The pragmatic cloud giants, however, believed such treatment to be no gift at all, but rather theft of opportunity to attain one’s full potential. Enlightenment cannot be given, they maintained, only earned. Matters turned darker when a splinter group of pragmatists brought forth the idea that it was the right of the cloud giants, blessed as they were, to take whatever they wished, for those who could not hold their own belongings didn’t deserve to keep them. Bitter argument raged throughout cloud giant society, escalating first into bloodshed, then the murder of the most eminent scholars of both camps. Each blamed the other for resorting to violence first, and the rift between them remains unhealed to this day. Regardless of their alignment, almost all cloud giants bend to the rule of the wealthiest and most powerful of their kind, leaders known as oligarchs. Cloud giants go through a lengthy diplomatic process to determine the tribe’s oligarch. Every 50 years, each family selects a speaker to represent them. All the speakers of the tribe take part in a voting process in which each speaker can cast a number of votes proportional to the value of her family holdings. In the end, the speaker who receives the most votes becomes oligarch of the tribe for that half-century, and has the greatest influence in matters that regard the tribe. When a particularly dire situation affects a whole region, the oligarchs of neighboring like-minded communities gather together to make joint decisions. Oftentimes, these matters relate to declaring war against morally opposed cloud giants, though particularly drastic circumstances may bring such feuding tribes together to combat a greater foe. Cloud giants have a great love of all creatures of the sky, small or large. Birds in particular are sacred to their people, and individuals who are particularly gifted with such avian creatures, such as druids or rangers, are often referred to as “bird mavens,” a position of honor among cloud giants of either alignment. Cloud giants train and breed birds of all sizes, even rocs, along with other aerial beasts such as griffins and hippogriffs. Good-aligned cloud giants likewise keep pegasi and occasionally even dragon horses, while evil-aligned tribes harbor fiercer creatures like harpies and mihstu. Despite the fact that cloud giants often live in close proximity to dragons, most shy away from imposing upon such beasts, finding them too dangerous and independent. Religion isn’t central to cloud giant life, but most individuals—whether good or evil—venerate Gozreh in his male air aspect to some degree. Many tribes worship him as Ioz’om, the Sky Father, a cloud giant of great beauty and stature. They credit Ioz’om with bringing their titan ancestors to the world from the Great Beyond, and with teaching the nascent cloud giant race the ways of civilization. Some evil tribes instead honor Rovagug, patron of destruction, while those individuals with a particular interest in magic sometimes take to worshiping Nethys. CAMPAIGN ROLE Cloud giants differ from most giants in that their polar alignments allow them to be used as either benevolent allies or devastating foes. The effects of conflicts between warring Cloud Giant tribes of cloud giants can constitute entire adventure arcs, and PCs acting as intermediaries between these two forces can have much to do with the final outcome of the feud. Like other giants, cloud giants can take a lot of punishment, deliver terrible blows in melee combat, and are at a minor disadvantage in ranged encounters. They function equally well alone and in small groups. In larger groups, their size makes finding space for a battle somewhat challenging. Cloud giant oligarchs tend to be spellcasters (especially clerics, oracles, and sorcerers). Their high Constitution and racial Hit Dice make them more durable and able to take damage, traits that make them more challenging to face than more conventional spellcasters despite the loss of caster levels. With their already high CR, cloud giants with class levels (spellcaster or otherwise) make deadly foes for high-level PCs, especially ones who favor close-quarters combat. Lacking much in the way of defensive abilities, cloud giants offer a break from the damage reduction, spell resistance, and immunities so often encountered in high level play, but aren’t pushovers in a fight either. Direct conflict with a cloud giant is best avoided entirely at lower levels, but they can still play an auxiliary role in lower level campaigns. Good-aligned cloud giants often have amicable relations with nearby settlements and can provide adventure hooks or act as valuable mentors when the PCs are stuck. Cloud giants of more evil intent may masquerade as their benevolent kin, using the PCs as cat’s- paws. Such a campaign could drift into more direct conflict as the PCs gain levels, with the PCs either acting against evil cloud giants on behalf of their good-aligned kin, or uncovering the manipulations of a false-faced evil giant. A search for the floating castles of the cloud giants fits well in the middle and upper levels of a high fantasy campaign. Tracking down clues to their whereabouts might be the work of months or years of in-game time. To further complicate the matter, one might throw in one or more rivals seeking the same castles, perhaps the cloud giants themselves. A particular cloud citadel may hold potential allies or deadly adversaries, and should be filled with fantastic creatures and treasures drawn from myth and legend. While such a mythical city could be the eventual goal of an adventure arc, it could just as easily be the beginning of another campaign altogether, with numerous possible plots stemming from the inhabitants of the cloud city itself. TREASURE Cloud giants of any alignment love luxury and overt displays of wealth. Those of high station wear fine clothing and exquisite jewelry appropriate to their status, while less influential giants don the best they can afford. Many cultivate an appreciation for fine art and adorn their halls with paintings, sculptures, and tapestries, works usually crafted by lesser species. While often of great value, the weight of such artful objects presents a challenge for would- be robbers. Cloud giants likewise appreciate fine music, and typically collect fine specimens of both human- and giant- sized instruments, especially harps. They particularly covet enchanted instruments that enhance performance or evoke magical effects, with self-playing instruments being the most desirable treasures of all. Magic items of rare or especially singular function evoke the envy of other cloud giants. Each cloud giant seeks to outdo the others in acquiring the most fantastic specimens. Among non-instrumental treasures, nothing pleases a cloud giant more than an intelligent magic item that can speak, particularly one that weaves grand tales. In the wealth-tabulating elections of cloud giants, rarity is just as important as monetary value when determining one’s holdings. Good-aligned cloud giants often employ buyers in neighboring cities to accumulate great wealth, scouring the market for valuable items to resell at profitable prices, whereas evil cloud giants simply launch raids and claim desirable treasures by force. Gourmets that they are, cloud giants value spices and exotic ingredients for more than just their material value. Flavored oils, extracts, strands of saffron, and spices from all over the world might be part of a cloud giant’s larder, and the value of such goods often rivals that of gems and jewelry. Items that aid in preparing food or even conjuring it out of thin air, such as a rod of splendor, are likewise prized, though not those that create unpalatable meals like a sustaining spoon. Cloud giants favor light armor that gives them full range of motion, especially mithral armor when they can obtain it. Those proficient in heavier armor still rarely don anything more restrictive than a breastplate. Cloud giants claim no special skill in melee beyond that granted by their size and might, and thus favor simple weapons such as morningstars, mostly for their ease of use and downright effectiveness. Those giants with either martial training or a position of leadership seek out magical arms, and generally spurn morningstars in favor of more impressive or effective weapons. CLOUD GIANTS ON GOLARION At the height of Thassilon, cloud giants ranged throughout much of Varisia as the favored shock troops of the runelords and their rune giant slavers. Though they were numerous pre-Earthfall, cloud giant numbers never recovered after the collapse of Thassilon and the onset of the Age of Darkness. Most survivors withdrew to castles in the jagged peaks of the Kodar Mountains. Some, however, journeyed far away from their ancestral homeland, choosing to dwell in other mountain ranges, traveling to the Mindspin Mountains, Menador Mountains, and beyond, and yet others chose to inhabit lost Thassilonian outposts and cities such as Xin- Shalast. As the world began to rebuild during the Age of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Giants Revisited Anguish, cloud giants slowly renewed contact with humanity. One faction, the altruists, sought to nurture and shape the goodness they glimpsed in humans, that the vileness of the runelords should never be repeated. Those cloud giants who claimed to be pragmatists, however, saw in this new, weaker race of humanity an opportunity to claim in full measure what the runelords had stolen from them. Almost 9,000 years later, the cloud giants remain divided, half regarding humans and the other races of Golarion as allies full of potential, the other half seeing them as little more than prey and chattel. The Sky Mage Zoarth (NE male cloud giant evoker 6) specializes in the lore of the cloud castles and has even reproduced some of their magic. He dwells alone with his countless cats in a floating keep above Mount Kallaris in the Kodar Mountains, hiding a tragic past—he caused the apparent death of his lover, the bird maven Verakas. Despite his evil disposition, Zoarth values knowledge and welcomes learned guests. (More information about Zoarth can be found in the Pathfinder Module: Curse of the Riven Sky.) Every 3 years, the cloud giant known as Seferin (NG male cloud giant bard 4) descends from his Fennwall home and offers the sleepy mining town of Baslwief a challenge: a gem the size of a hen’s egg for the finest dish, and platinum coins for any that please him. Word of Seferin’s contest has spread throughout the region, bringing fine chefs from all corners of Varisia to meet his challenge. Rumor holds that one newcomer in particular has nefarious plans to follow the giant back to his lair and claim Seferin’s riches for her own. SAMPLE CLOUD GIANT OLIGARCH This blue-skinned giant is outfitted in elegant jewelry and white robes, and wields a lightning-infused spear.

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Female cloud giant oracle 12

Source: Giants Revisited, p. 9