Firbolg (Feer-bolg)
Firbolgs are giant kin, and are generally agreed to be both the most powerful of the giant kin, and the most peaceful and reclusive.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Firbolgs resemble humans, and the males usually sport great, thick beards. Their thick, tough skin is fleshy pink, and their hair, though it comes in many colors, is usually either red or blond and worn long. A firbolg's voice is deep and smooth, and they tend to roll their consonants when speaking.
Firbolgs are typically over 8 feet tall, averaging a height of about 8.5 feet. While firbolgs from other worlds weigh more than 800 pounds, those of Ghemjana are lighter, with males being about 650 pounds and females about 500 pounds.
Growth Rate & Stages
Firbolg pregnancies were typically about two years long.[26] This was much longer than other giant-kin, who had pregnancies roughly equivalent to humans.[27] Firbolgs reached adulthood at about 30 years, and could live as many as 500 years.[1] Some scholars postulated that this long life was because firbolgs had fey blood,[1] but most giant races had long lifespans.[28]
Firbolgs consumed about twice as much as a human to survive.[29]
Ecology and Habitats
Firbolgs tend to favor temperate forests and gentle climates. They love the woods and meadows of nature, though they aren't opposed to the rolling hills and plains.
They prefer to avoid cities and large congregations, however.
Behaviour
Firbolgs enjoy quiet time in the woods, in harmony with nature. The forests are sacred to them and symbolize the heart of the earth and the adaptability of life. They see themselves as the forests' caretakers.
While firbolgs of other worlds may have had tendencies toward a variety of alignments, those of Ghemjana are usually lawful good in alignment, although they are seen as maug ("unholy" or "dishonorable") creatures by other giants, because of the sin of the goddess Othea.
Firbolgs consider greed to be one of the worst vices. They believe that one should only ever take what one needs and no more. They see no value in material wealth such as gems and gold, but sometimes will find prankish ways of taking valuables from strangers, out of a sense of fun.
Firbolgs believe that charity was a virtue but also believee that it is harmful for the recipient to know the identity of the provider; because of this they appear to be reclusive amongst the other races, although they are very sociable with established friends. They are extremely honest and cannot lie without feeling physical discomfort, even if the lie is by omission.
Firbolgs tend to be over-confident and fearless, except for a pervasive phobia of humanoid mobs. They see the wearing of armor as cowardly, and thus do not usually wear armor. Nor do they carry shields.
Firbolgs are cautious and shrewd in their dealings with outsiders. They distrust most humans and demihumans. Among non-giants, they are neutral with druids, elves, and fey. They are on good terms with storm giants, whom they look up to and try to emulate, but they avoid other giant races, and actively fight against the other giant-kin.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Firbolgs have a family-centered, clan-based society. They live in settlements in remote hilly or forested areas. Their settlements are strongholds, including wooden structures, built from the trees around them, with defensive towers with catwalks between them. Rarely, they inhabit cavern complexes dug into the hillsides. They use their magic to ensure that their homes remain a secret to outsiders. These clan settlements are small, with between about four and sixteen members, often with a shaman or druid, and live separate from each other. A few firbolg clans are nomadic.
A typical firbolg home is a huge one-story log building with strong walls. A large fireplace with multiple openings warms a central common room.
As caretakers of the woods, they carefully and resourcefully live off the land, making sure to maintain balance. During summer, they store excess nuts, fruits, and berries, so that they can provide food to the forest animals during winter. Although they do farm, it is only to supplement their diets; they prefer a more hunter-gatherer lifestyle, rather than the brigand/raider lifestyle of many other giants. Their hunting grounds are usually spread out in a 20‑mile radius from their clan homes. They eat small portions of meat with most meals, and reserve large roasts of meat for special celebrations.
Most firbolg tribes prefer isolation from other races, avoiding their politics and struggles. If intruders enter their territory, they will usually try an indirect approach at causing the "invaders" to leave—driving game away to discourage hunters or redirecting streams or forest trails to confuse parties. If these methods fail, the firbolgs will at last confront the outsiders. If the outsiders seem peaceful, the firbolgs will peacefully ask them to leave; if the outsiders seem evil or seem to have no concern for the forest lands, the firbolgs might mount a devastating attack. On occasion, they will trade with peaceful folk living nearby in exchange for providing services utilizing their great strength.
Firbolg adventurers are rare and most often are individuals separated from their tribes—orphans, exiles, lone survivors, or the like. A few adventure to gain knowledge.
Firbolgs seem to have a natural tendency toward druidic magics, and many of their chieftains are thus druids. Others become rangers or fighters. Other adventuring vocations are rare; firbolg monks are completely unknown. About five percent of firbolgs encountered are shamans.
Firbolg communities are known to rally around individuals who contract lycanthropy, rather than shun them, using all resources at their disposal to help the afflicted find a cure.
Facial characteristics
Firbolgs tend to have very hairy features, with long ears that droop low, sometimes referred to, in a derogatory manner, as "cow ears".
Their faces are thick and fleshy, with large, round noses and thick brows that sprout enormous eyebrows and long lashes.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The average firbolg is stronger than a forest bear. Beyond sheer physical strength, they have innate magical abilities. Firbolgs are said to be resistant to magic. They can sense the presence of magical auras innately. They also have the power to change their physical appearance, including making themselves larger or smaller. They sometimes use this magical power to blend in or interact with smaller races.
They have excellent vision at night and can perhaps see in the dark. Some sages claim that firbolgs had regenerative abilities. Other sages reported that firbolgs could make themselves turn invisible. They are also said to be able to communicate to a limited effect with both plants and animals of their forest homes.
Civilization and Culture
Culture and Cultural Heritage
The firbolgs reject the ordning, the customary social order amongst giants and giant-kin, and prefer to exercise free will by using a system called "the code". This was conceived in ancient times, although its exact origins had been lost, and a written copy is usually required to be carried by all firbolgs, but the exact implementation varies from one community to the next. It promotes the idea that the society is the most important aspect and supersedes the individual. Actions are more important than relatives or heritage. If "the code" is breached, a firbolg might be enslaved within their own tribe or banished completely, although transgressions are uncommon. The implications of "the code" means that the firbolgs will treat all intelligent creatures as equals, and thus they do not exhibit the same superior attitude that other giants and giant-kin display. For every decision made, they consider the effects on the forest and the rest of the natural world. During a famine, they will rather go hungry themselves than strain the land.
The Firbolg Code
(a translation into Common)
Bravery, Effort, and Honor over birth.
The tribe's honor over yours.
The blood of the runt is the blood of a king.
Give a thousand for nothing.
Truth is the honor of the tribe.
Firbolgs have a rough form of democracy known as "the cast". This involves summoning all the firbolgs in a tribe who then will cast their vote on an issue by using a rune-engraved stone. The actual "casting" of votes varies from clan to clan. In some cases, it involves literally tossing the stones. At one firbolg settlement in the Cold Mountains, they have built an enormous scale, and set their votes in the appropriate weighing pan.
Exile is often used as a form of punishment for an unforgivable act, such as killing a rare or beautiful animal or starting a forest fire. An outcast firbolg is never permitted to return home.
Nearby clans will gather once a year at the fall solstice at an enclave to settle any disputes among the clans. Shamans will preside over such events, which often simply are a time of celebration.
Religion
In general, firbolgs admire the goddess Iallanis. However, the firbolgs of Ghemjana are an exception to this. They worship the Malik Stoneson, as none of their gods followed them into the new world. While in truth, the firbolgs are descendants of Othea and Ulutiu, the firbolgs of Ghemjana acknowledge that Malik is giant kin too, and only he answered their call in their time of need.
History
The firbolg race was created when Othea, wife of the giant deity Annam All-Father, had an affair with Ulutiu. While, as noted above, the firbolgs of the Moonshae Isles believed themselves created from the rock of the islands, the other races of those islands held to legends that the firbolgs crawled out of the sea, called forth by the Beast.
Like all the giant-kin races, the firbolgs were never granted a portion land by Annam from which to found their own "dynasty" inside the kingdom of Ostoria. They were initially welcomed by their fellow giants and learned their ways, but once their true parentage had been discovered by Annam he cast them out. They became excluded from the societies of true giants, despite Othea's best efforts to protect them.
In -5000 DR, in a great conflict with the land's dwarves, Grond Peaksmasher was imprisoned on Oman's Isle beneath the great Ice Peak. Without his guidance, the firbolgs of the Moonshae Isles over time degenerated into a barbaric culture little better than that of hill giants, engaging in violent raids against the humans of the islands.
In -2000 DR, a race of giants known as the fomorians were brought to the Moonshae Isles by the Beast's master, and they overpowered the native firbolg tribes, taking them as slaves. After a couple generations of forced breeding, the firbolgs of the Moonshae Isles began to assume some of the same disfigurements commonly associated with fomorians.
In 1365 DR, the firbolgs managed to awaken their patron god Grond Peaksmasher with the aid of Deirdre Kendrick. Grond then sought to elevate the firbolgs back to their full potential and culture. At this time, many of the firbolgs of the Isles began migrating to Oman's Isle to live in isolation from the other races.
When the firbolgs found their way into Ghemjana, at the opening of a new crystal sphere, they found their gods did not follow them. Deeply saddened by this, they reached out and prayed to any giant god that would hear them. They were heard by the god Malik, an newer god of Ghemjana, and a type of giant kin himself. He took the peaceful race under his arm, becoming their patron deity in the new world.
The firbolg were pleased by this, though also amused at their new god's temperament, which was quite unlike their own.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Firbolgs are reclusive by nature, though they have fairly good relations with the other races in Ghemjana. They will aid those in need, regardless of what they are, and will treat an elf with as much respect and kindness as they will a Goblin.
Origin/Ancestry
Humanoid
Lifespan
500 years
Average Height
8.5 feet
Average Weight
300 lbs
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Firbolgs are a very pinky hue and do not tan at all, getting only more pink or red in the sun. As an effect of this, many firbolgs wear large brimmed hats to shade themselves from the blistering sun.
Geographic Distribution
Comments