Firbolg

Of Fey and Giants

Firbolg as they are now in the Material Plane are a somewhat new race, not intially born of The Gods directly, but a schism of political force. Somewhere near the end of the 1st Age of Avanshae, there were two great kingdoms in The Feywild; The Unseelie Court and The Seelie Court. Among those two houses lived the scattered remainders of the once powerful Colossal Throne, the empire of Giants. Having been driven from the Material Plane during the Plague of Scales, the Giants took refuge in The Feywild, where the Dragons wouldn't both hunting for them. Both houses of the Fey welcomed their new allies into their courts, seeing opportunity for great partnerships and expansion of power.
Over centuries and millenia, the Giants worked themselves into Fey societies and courts, becoming not only valued warriors and soldiers, but councilors, merchants, and artisans. As the Giants grew more integrated with their Fey hosts, new breeds of half-giant and half-fey children came to exist; The Firbolg. Significantly smaller than their Giant parentage, but often taller than most other Fey, Firbolgs came to be viewed as a symbol of unity, blessed by the clouds, soil, and seas from their Giant parents, and blessed by the plants and ancient magics from their Fey parents.

The Cursed Brethren

The Seelie court guards the truth closely in modern times, but scholars know that in the final decades of the 1st age, there was an extraordinarily violent clash between the two Fey courts. Dark and terrible magics were woven by the Unseelie in their bid to take full control of the Feywild, and in their fervor and arrogance, they conscripted the Firbolg children of the Giants, seeing them only as half-breeds and therefore expendable. Most Giants rebelled, but their numbers were not recovered enough from the Plague of Scales to mount a proper fight and were brought to heel as their children were mutated into horrific half-fey monsters as the Unseelie King cursed the entire Giant lineage within his territory. On that day the division of the uncursed and cursed children of Giants and Fey was created; the Firbolgs and the Fomorians.
True Giant Fomorians were enslaved in The Feywild by The Unseelie King, to be used as weapons of war, and since have been put down as a mercy to end their tortured existence by The Seelie Court when they destroyed the Unseelie Court in the 3rd Age. The remaining Fomorians are the remnants of Firbolgs that were transformed by the Unseelie Fey Curse.

Modern Magic

Fearing the possibility of anything similar happening to their own children, the Giants of the Seelie Court took drastic measures to protect their lineage. Knowing they could never fully hide them in The Feywild, they used their own powerful magics to innately stunt both the Fey and Giant bloodlines of their children, and had them sent to the Material Plane for safety. In their haste, they overdid the formula for the spell and made it not only permanent, but imprinted on all Giantkind in the Seelie Court, meaning any further Firbolgs born would be weakened drastically and severred from the powerful magics in their ancestry.
It was in the beginning of the 2nd Age of Avanshae that these new Firbolgs were introduced to the Material Plane, without a home and with only each other. They took to secrecy, using what little remained of their innate magics to blend in, hide, and protect each other. These became the first Firbolg tribes; sometimes known by the most dedicated Storykeepers as The Feystolen. These first tribes passed down stories of their parents' sacrifice and the evils of The Unseelie Court that led them to that sacrifice. The betrayal of The Unseelie against the Giants is sometimes spoken of, through gritted teeth and condemnation, as The First Broken Promise.

Tribal Guardians

By the modern era in the 3rd Age of Avanshae, Firbolg have spread across the world, but remain largely reclusive and insular, though some do find a certain wanderlust and curiosity drawing them towards larger cities and towns to experience the unknown. Most however form tightly knit tribal groups that treat all members as family, regardless of blood. These tribes all have a guiding Shaman who leads them to a homeland by interpreting dreams, energies of the world, and speaking with beasts and animals for guidance.
Most often, a given tribe of Firbolg will find themselves drawn to a specific type of natural phenomenon that all of them collectively understand: a deep fissure, a hot springs, a verdant forest, a powerful waterfall, or even an active volcano. The tribe's shaman will guide them in living on and within the land and maintaing the health and purity of it, while the Storykeeper ensures their history is maintained through stories, and all Firbolgs find a role within the tribe to work together.
Within these tribes, Firbolg are so tightly knit together that they forgo the need for individual names and have other methods of referring to one another, often by scent, presence, job, or other distinguishing trait, viewing individual names as something that separates one from their group. While this approach works for interactions in the tribe, interacting with non-Firbolgs without a referential name proved difficult and confusing enough that Shamans of a given tribe will bestow a "name" on Firbolgs that need to interact with outside peoples, something that connects them back to the tribe but is easy enough to understand for the outside world to be used as a name.

Shale's Tribe

Anyone that is not Sara/Shale, please do not read this spoiler until Shale has revealed her tribe in-game

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Voninyla, Titangrowl
In the far southwest of Loccann, hidden underground and unknown to most, is a secluded Firbolg tribe known as Voninyla in the old language of Giants. The Druids who interact with them from time to time use the common translation instead, Titangrowl. Though Firbolgs do not generally use personal names within the tribe, they do respect the name of the tribe given by their first shaman when they settled underground originally. That name is shortened in the rare instances where shared, but all in the tribe recognize the full name to be Keeper's of the Titan's Growl.
The "titan" referenced in the name is not a titan in the true sense as most would understand, but the broken and dormant wreckage of a War Colossus, a massive construct of battle from the 1st age. Though Loccann is uniquely dense in these remnants throughout its territory, this one is unique even then. It is unknown which lost civilization was responsible for its construction, but it was fueled by stabilized elemental energies from The Primal Planes. When it came to rest, those energies began to leak out and over time a natural phenomenon was born from the unnatural structure.
The first Shaman of what would become the Titangrowl tribe felt the call of the earth and stone, leading their people to the site in the early 300s of the 3rd Age. Since then they have tended to the volcano, creating new tunnels and floes to channel it, creating and removing blockades to adjust the building pressure, and ensuring the health and safety of the natural life that sprung up in the caverns around the powerful energies of the titans: herds of Dodogamas, Bullete, swarms of Clacker Beetles, Flame Eater Bats, elusive Mole Lizards, and more.

Traits

Stats

• Creature Type: Humanoid
• Size: Medium
• Speed: 30 Feet
• Age: Firbolg mature at a slightly slower pace than Humans, but can live to be over 300, with some ancient elders making it to 500.

Species Features

Firbolg Magic

Firbolgs are able to innately draw on their ancestry to cast a limited number of spells without spell slots. Once per day, you may cast Disguise Self and Detect Magic. Once you cast a specific spell from this trait, you cannot cast it again until you finish a Long Rest unless you have a spell slot to do so with. You may choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma for your Spellcasting Ability for these spells.
When you cast Disguise Self with this trait, you may seem up to 3 feet shorter or taller in addition to its normal effects.

Hidden Step

Firbolgs can innately invoke deep and ancient fey magics to render themselves Invisible for short bursts. As a Bonus Action, you can turn Invisible until the start of your next turn, or until you make an attack, make a damage roll, or force someone to make a saving throw. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Powerful Build

Firbolgs all still carry a hint of their ancient giant heritage with them. When determining your carrying capactiy as well as your push, drag, and lift limits, you count as one size larger than you are.

Speech of Beast and Leaf

Though they do not inherently speak the language of nature, Firbolgs are children of nature and nature remembers. Though this trait, you are able to communicate in a limited manner with Beasts, Plants, and other vegetation. The target creature or plant can understand the meaning and intent of your words, though you lack any method of inherently understanding or hearing them in return. You automatically have Advantage on all Charisma Checks to influence them as well.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Humanoid, but with varying degrees of animalistic traits, predominantly bovine. The Fey heritage draws out more animalistic appearances, but even then there is quite a lot of variation. Some Firbolg are covered in thick shaggy fur, some have deep tanned skin with virtually no fur.

Genetics and Reproduction

Though Firbolg would very rarely ever breed with non-Firbolg, the magics worked by their ancient Giant ancestors to protect them ensure that any child birthed by a Firbolg will always be a pure Firbolg with none of the non-Firbolg parentage.

Behaviour

The Firbolg have never forgotten the betrayal of the Unseelie Court on their ancestral Giants; to many Firbolgs, knowingly lying is a truly monstrous sin and an immediate mark against a person's character until rectified.

Origin/Ancestry

Fey and Giant