Goliath

At the highest mountain peaks-far above the slopes where trees grow and where the air is thin and the frigid winds howl-dwell the reclusive goliaths. Few folk can claim to have seen a goliath, and fewer still can claim friendship with them. Goliaths wander a bleak realm of rock, wind, and cold. Their bodies look as if they are carved from mountain stone and give them great physical power. Their spirits take after the wandering wind, making them nomads who wander from peak to peak. Their hearts are infused with the cold regard of their frigid realm, leaving each goliath with the responsibility to earn a place in the tribe or die trying.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Goliaths are tall, generally 7-8 feet tall, though some few reach 8'6. They have thick limbs and are completely hairless, their skin is like smooth stone and is barely warm to the touch.

Genetics and Reproduction

Goliaths follow the basic human reproduction cycle, generally though they suffer little pain in childberth and can do it basically anywhere when the time comes.

Growth Rate & Stages

Goliaths mature just slightly fast than humans, reaching full size and adulthood between 16-19. But Goliath children develop grip strength very early, allowing them to hang on to their mother while she is running or climbing. Goliaths can continue to live to nearly a century but very rarely do, most would rather die in battle or attempting some feat then growing old and being left behind by clan when they couldn't keep up. Lone Goliaths in the mountians rarely last long, especially if they are old and weakening. Most die around 40 but some keep up into their 60's but often become depressed because they can no longer surpass themselves.

Ecology and Habitats

Goliaths originate from the mountains in the northern part of Wildren. They form wandering clans roaming from one mountain peak to another often raiding or hunting big game on the way. They are accustomed to the cold and high altitudes.

Behaviour

Every day brings a new challenge to a goliath. Food, water, and shelter are rare in the uppermost mountain reaches. A single mistake can bring doom to an entire tribe, while an individual's heroic effort can ensure the entire group's survival. Goliaths thus place a premium on self-sufficiency and individual skill. They have a compulsion to keep score, counting their deeds and tallying their accomplishments to compare to others. Goliaths love to win, but they see defeat as a prod to improve their skills.
This dedication to competition has a dark side. Goliaths are ferocious competitors, but above all else they are driven to outdo their past efforts. If a goliath slays a dragon, he or she might seek out a larger, more powerful wyrm to battle. Few goliath adventurers reach old age, as most die attempting to surpass their past accomplishments.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

Goliaths lack hair of any kind, including facial hair. When a Goliath proves themselves and becomes recognized as an adult they are given eyebrow tattoos, allowing their face to make expresssions.

Average Intelligence

The trouble with Goliath society is that they so rarely benifit from the knowledge that comes from years of experience. So many of them die before they achieve the wisdom of old age. That said their average intelligence tends to be lower than humans but there are exceptions. They also tend to have very little written knowledge or book learning.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Goliath names are a tapestry of cultural pride, ancestral spirits, and personal valor. Each goliath bears three names: a birth name given by their parents, a nickname earned through deeds, and a clan name tied to their ancestral spirit-patron. Birth names are short and sturdy, blending Norse grit with Inuit resilience, often inspired by the harsh mountain environments they call home. These names—like Jorn (Norse for "bear") or Siku (Inuit for "ice")—reflect the raw elements of their world.
The nickname, bestowed by the clan chief during a rite of passage, marks a goliath’s first great feat or defining trait. It is a badge of honor, but not immutable; if a goliath’s destiny shifts dramatically (surviving death, slaying a legendary beast, or suffering a crippling injury), the chief may grant a new epithet to reflect their transformed legacy. Clan names, meanwhile, are rooted in the spirits that guide their people. Most clans revere nature spirits (Thunderhoof, Ice-That-Sings) or legendary warriors (Skullsplitter), though a rare few invoke darker patrons (Demon-That-Walks), often to their peril. To omit or mock a clan name is to invite war.
Example male birth names: Torg, Kano, Hakon, Tulok, Ragnar.
Female Birth Names: Kelda, Aput, Ragna, Nukka, Sunniva.
Nicknames: Strongjaw, Flaretouch, Skywatcher, Ironbone, Widowmaker.
Clan Names: Wind-That-Falls, River-That-Bites, Stone-That-Bleeds, Skullsplitter, Bone-Eater.

Beauty Ideals

To Goliaths only power is beautiful, they prefer men and women to be large and muscular. But a Goliath may also find themselves attracted to other types of prowess, like a powerful wizard. This can be confusing to a Goliath who has only ever found physical strength attractive.

Gender Ideals

All Goliaths are expected to keep up at all times regardless of gender. The posistion of Chief is gender neutral.

Courtship Ideals

Goliaths generally don't do relationships they have friends with benifits. When two Goliaths of opposite sex find eachother attractive they often have sex, and if it produces offspring the mother takes care of it until it can keep up with the clan. Keeping a Goliath in a committed relationship is very difficult and often requires that you be the most powerful person in a several mile radius.

Common Etiquette Rules

For goliaths, competition exists only when it is supported by a level playing field. Competition measures talent, dedication, and effort. Those factors determine survival in their home territory, not reliance on magic items, money, or other elements that can tip the balance one way or the other. Goliaths happily rely on such benefits, but they are careful to remember that such an advantage can always be lost. A goliath who relies too much on them can grow complacent, a recipe for disaster in the mountains. This trait manifests most strongly when goliaths interact with other folk. The relationship between peasants and nobles puzzles goliaths. If a king lacks the intelligence or leadership to lead, then clearly the most talented person in the kingdom should take his place. Goliaths rarely keep such opinions to themselves, and mock folk who rely on society's structures or rules to maintain power.

Common Dress Code

Goliaths usually cover only their lower privates, both male and female. They often wear a form of shorts made of furs and a belt of some sort to strap their weapon on. Most also carry genormous backpacks often 3-4 feet tall. Goliath women who make a habbit of interacting with other cultures eventually learn to wear some sort of chest covering but most males walk shirtless wherever they, unless their wearing armor.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Goliaths beleive in survival of the fittest. Among goliaths, any adult who can't contribute to the tribe is expelled. A lone goliath has little chance of survival, especially an older or weaker one. Goliaths have little pity for adults who can't take care of themselves, though a sick or injured individual is treated, as a result of the goliath concept of fair play. A permanently injured goliath is still expected to pull his or her weight in the tribe. Typically, such a goliath dies attempting to keep up, or the goliath slips away in the night to seek the cold will of fate.
In some ways, the goliath drive to outdo themselves feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A goliath would much rather die in battle, at the peak of strength and skill, than endure the slow decay of old age. Few folk have ever meet an elderly goliath, and even those goliaths who have left their people grapple with the urge to give up their lives as their physical skills decay.
Because of their risk-taking, goliath tribes suffer from a chronic lack of the experience offered by longterm leaders. They hope for innate wisdom in their leadership, for they can rarely count on a wisdom grown with age.

Common Myths and Legends

The Goliath Clans often worship nature spirits, others worship the spirits of legendary warriors, a few worship darker beings like demons. There is no single Goliath unified religion and they little point in worshiping something that doesn't increase your power. To them clerics and warlocks make sense but he average worshipper doesn't.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

A few Goliaths live in Kotland among the orcs but most are isolated against most species besides the Goblinoids and the Giants with whom the share the mountains. Most Goliaths avoid the giants though, they are looked down upon in Giant society, seen as just slightly above an ogre. A few have gone and joined the Khanrathi clans, finding the lifestyle similar enough to their own. Nearly all Goliaths have a hatred of elves, their large bodies and brute strength makes them very valuable slaves, both as laborers and gladiators. Elven teams try to seek them out to capture and sell them to the highest bidder.

Lifespan

40

Average Height

7-8ft

Average Weight

280-340lbs

Average Physique

Your average Goliath has at least a +3 strength. He is 7'8 and absolutely ripped.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

The skin of a Goliath always resembles some form of stone. But the variations are wide from there even within the same clan, even between parent and child. In 3001 A.R. the Order of Mizzet discovered that goliath babies take on the coloring of the stone around them while their mother was pregnant. If you get a Goliath pregnant are surround her with only jade and the child will come out looking like unpolished jade.

Goliath are also covered in tattoos. Some remembering great deeds, others invoking spirits or protections. Nearly all Goliaths have the story of their Nickname tattooed on their body. Additionally Goliath children are forbidden from having tattoos, when they achieve adulthood their eyebrows are tattooed on them, allowing them to make facial expressions. Until then the clan did not recognize any of their opinions and thus they had no need for facial expressions.

Geographic Distribution

• Wildren