Netillim (Nè-til-lim)

Physical Traits

Among the orphaned species of Sherdasa, the Netillim are perhaps the most misunderstood. These giants stand almost twice the height of an Adinite, and tower over the other, smaller races of Sherdasa. Their brute strength and imposing stature caused terror in the Adinites when they first encountered them during the war, and they are still treated cautiously in peacetime. Apart from their size, they are physically similar to the Adinites, ranging in appearance with a variety of skin, eye, and hair colors.

Origins

Their name is misleading, translated from the Gods' tongue as "strength of a thousand screams." The Netillim are actually a gentle people, named as the Adinites were on Adin for their original world, Netila. Netila was a world rich in minerals buried beneath thick jungles, broken up by high mesas with steep cliff faces. The name derived from the cacophony of birds, amphibians, insects, and primates that populated these dense jungles, but its people were no less peaceful and civilized than the Adinites. The world posed unique challenges to the Gods, but the abundance of life and therefore food meant that this larger species could thrive there.
They were larger than any other species the Gods had created, and samples were kept in stasis for further study for their novelty. Like the other orphaned species, they were removed from the Temple of Heaven and given a small colony on Sherdasa. Of the three hundred individuals that were brought down to Adin, the Gods then took sixty of these with them on their secretive mission to the stars.

The City of Giants

This original colony was located in the mountainous region of central Sherdasa, adjacent to Adin's equatorial jungles. They were given a quick primer on survival and civilization, and left on their own. Believing themselves to be the only sentient species on the world, as all of them did, the Netillim made little effort to stay quiet. They cleared wide roads through the jungle, building their homes with thick palisade walls shaped from the vast amounts of wood they harvested. Their mines required tunnels much larger than the other species, and the stone extracted was turned into more buildings and used to pave their roads. The farms required to support them with crops and livestock were immense, some covering entire mountain valleys.

The Arrival of the Udug

The Netillim were the first unfortunates to be discovered by the Udug as they expanded out of their original territory. The Udug scouts were characteristically suspicious and cunning, and learned much about the giants before any contact was made. They spent weeks observing the Netillim, determining strengths and weaknesses, learning the number of giants and where they lived. They eventually took a hostage, a lone Netillim tending to his fields, and returned to Lugal Sherdasu riding the chained giant as he crawled slowly back to the Udug city, wounded and broken.
The Udug mobilized almost immediately, thirsty for a good hunt, and with their Lugal leading the charge. They knew direct combat would likely not go in their favor, and began by attacking the Netillim's food supply at night. Fences were ripped apart, and livestock stolen away to Udug territory, or slaughtered immediately to feed the Udug army. Crops were stolen or razed, and lone Netillim were swiftly killed or subdued before they could escape to warn others.
The situation quickly grew bleak for the Netillim. The Udug always managed to avoid detection, and the peaceful giants were scared to leave their city. The first disappearances were met with superstition, and the Netillim began praying frantically to the Gods. Then the Udug left the very defiled corpse of a young giant just outside the city, driving the Netillim further into isolation.
Food was running out, and their people kept going missing or turning up dead. They turned to eating Ambrita as their main source of food, but the amounts needed to sustain their large bodies made this inefficient for long-term survival. Some of them retreated into their Underworld and tried to expand their crops of fungus to renew their food supply. Now that they knew their people were under attack by a tangible enemy, Lugal Ashusikildigir refused to abandon the city above and rallied the giants to quickly build thick city walls, and prepare stones for throwing or firing from their giant-sized slingshots.

The First Siege

As the giants cowered behind their walls from their unseen assailants, the Udug became bolder. They kept the city under siege, making their presence known through wild yelling and the constant beating of drums behind the cover of the jungle. A month passed, and the Netillim were starving and afraid. Lugal Sherdasu and a small group of attendants strode calmly out of the forest and approached the city gate, demanding an unconditional surrender and fealty to the Udug. Lugal Ashusikildigir countered with a demand for a trial by combat, one on one against the Udug's lugal. The Udug heartily agreed to this, and Lugal Ashusikildigir emerged from the city holding an axe taller than any Udug. 
While the giants watched from the walls, the Udug concealed in the trees opened fire with crude copies of a weapon they had stolen from one of the Gods, primitive sonic rifles that fired metal spheres. Lugal Ashusikildigir died instantly, but the Udug continued firing at the corpse, the wall, and the giants peering over the city walls. When the hail of bullets stopped, the walls were crumbling and dozens of the Netillim lay dead or dying. Lugal Sherdasu and his companions had not moved an inch. He again demanded surrender. The remaining giants had no other choice, and were forced to abandon their homes and return to Udug lands as slaves.

Life Under the Udug

Netillim were used as labor, shock troops, and entertainment for the Udug. As they encountered the other species on Sherdasa, the Netillim presence in their ranks aided them greatly in the subjugation of the others. They were also used in the assaults on the Adinite nations, driven by Udug cruelty and threats of harm to their loved ones back in Sherdasa. 

Current Day

After the war ended, the Adinites declared all the other orphan species free of Udug rule, but the hundreds of years enslaved to the Udug had broken the Netillim. Less than a hundred giants have survived to current day, and they seem to have no interest in establishing a new nation for themselves.
Some integrated with the more civil Adinites but most live in solitude, either as lone hermits or in family groups rarely exceeding five members. When pressed about their situation, or their plans for the Netillim in the future, they give only one answer: We remember.