There are many great and mighty mountains within the borders of the Dar-al-Shams. From Masis, to Agri, to Toubkal, to Elborz, we have no shortage of mighty peaks. But none of our mountains can even begin to compare to those found in the Himavan, the world's tallest and larges mountain range; nor can any of our mountain cultures match the particular and secluded lifestyle of the mysterious Goliath, the people of the Land Above the Clouds.
Goliath Traits
Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age: Goliaths have lifespans comparable to humans. They enter adulthood in their late teens and usually live less than a century.
Size: Goliaths are between 7 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 280 and 340 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Natural Athlete: You have proficiency in the Athletics skill.
Stone’s Endurance: You can focus yourself to occasionally shrug off injury. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d12. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Mountain Born: You have resistance to cold damage. You’re also acclimated to high altitude, including elevations above 20,000 feet, and suffer no penalties from elevation or thin air.
Languages: You can speak Low Solar and Himavan. You may be able to read and write any of these languages, depending on your Background.
History
Stretching from East to West like a great wall dividing the Empire of Nejd from the Dragon Realms, the impossible heights of the Himavan contain a world unto themselves. The seemingly endless series of valleys, plateaus, and passes contain many kingdoms and have cradled societies found nowhere else but here at the roof of the world. Of these, none is more prominent and widespread than the Goliath.
The Goliath are unified in all things except politics. Due to the extreme nature of their homeland, their culture and society have become fairly uniform, and all Goliath speak dialects of Giant. However, the extremely rugged terrain means that widespread political unity is very difficult to maintain. Throughout most of recorded history, each valley was a kingdom to itself, resulting in a vast profusion of Goliath nobility.
A few times in their history most or all of the valley states were unified under a single monarch, with a Himavan Empire being declared at three different points in their history. However, none of these Empires lasted longer than a century before breaking apart again, usually after losing a war against Nejd or one of the Dragon Empires. Although the Goliath are individually ferocious, they are very few in number, and thus tend to fair poorly in any war other than defending their mountainous homelands. Goliath mercenaries are feared the world over, known both for their ferocity as well as for their legendary discipline. The Goliath of the Kingdom of Raksha are particularly famous for their fearlessness.
Goliath are also divided by religion, though all are Pagans, merely disagreeing over the true identities of the gods. Many Goliath have taken to worshiping the Dragon Gods, though some still cling to their own traditional idols. There are even some who have taken up the teachings of the sage Sugata, who preached that the gods were not important, and rather than worship them that people should focus on escaping from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth to which even the gods were bound. All fantastic pagan nonsense, but fascinating nonetheless.
As could be easily deduced from their physiology, the Goliath excel in all marital pursuits. The ferocity and strength of the unsettled Barbarians in the central plateau is infamous the world over, and Goliath Rangers are easily the finest mountain troops yet known. Fighters from the Himavan are highly sought after as mercenaries for their fearlessness and discipline, in particular those from the Kingdom of Raksha in the south. The widespread acceptance of Sujatism, particularly among the aristocracy of the settled south, has led to a proliferation of monastaries, and thus, Monks. Indeed, if one encounters a Goliath outside of the Himavan, one is most likely to encounter a Monk, sent on mission to spread the word of Sugata to the unenlightened. Goliath Bards are renowned for their unique system of scales and distinct set of traditional instruments. There are also some Wizards among the Goliath, and it is said that they hold certain arcane secrets long shared only among the giant-kin, though that cannot be confirmed by The Bayt as of the publishing of this edition. Due to the particular religious demographics of the Himavan, Clerics and Paladins are very rare among the Goliath, generally averse as they are to religious organization of any kind beyond the local level. And, for obvious reasons, the Goliath are very easy to spot, and thus make very poor Rogues.
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