Firbolg
Appearance
Firbolgs are fey-oriented half-giants. Their tribes cloister in remote forest strongholds, preferring to spend their days in quiet harmony with the woods. When provoked, firbolgs demonstrate formidable skills with weapons and druidic magic.Firbolgs resembled humans for the most part, except for the large pointed ears that tended to flop over and the large reddish nose. Most males would sport great, thick beards. Their thick, tough skin was had a deep green cast, and their hair, though it came in many colors, was usually either red or blond and worn long. A firbolg's voice was deep and smooth, and they tended to roll their consonants when speaking.
Average Characteristics
- Age: A firbolg reaches adulthood around 30, and the oldest of them can live for 500 years.
- Size: Firbolg are between 7 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 240 and 300 pounds.
- Language: Sylvan, Giant
Locations
Although rare to see in the larger world, there are several small communities in the southern Pelagris Forest.History
In the early days of the world, firbolgs were one of the races charged with protecting younger and weaker fey. Much of western Ellebore was filled with such fey races, but when the humans began pushing west during and after the War of the Undead this led to conflict between the races.Preferring peace to conflict, the firbolgs shepherded the centaurs, fairies, sprites back into the ancient forest along the western coast. This was where the portals to the Feywild were, and it was far from the humans, elves, and dwarves. For a time, there was relative peace.
When Kelveren began rising in power, he recognized the fey magic as a threat to his power. As such there were two options, destroy them or find some way to subvert and use them. However, also recognizing the power of the fey the mad mage focused his early efforts on securing central Ellebore's more open land.
Eventually however, the hubris of the mad mage overcame any sense of self preservation and he started expanding into the Forest. At first, he had the element of surprise and managed to make major inroads. Many of the fey simply retreated back into the Feywild, closing portals and abandoning Ellebore to Kelvern’s iron fist.
Some remained to fight, but they were slowly being driven back until all that remained were a small group of defenders, firbolgs among them, who protected Palorieal's Downfall. This gate between world was more powerful than any other in the Black Wood, not even the archfey felt that they could safely close it.
Weary, exhausted, and demoralized, these forces were therfore not prepared went the Cataclysm rocked the very essence of Vestra itself. As throughout the rest of Ellebore, it started with a wall of force that ripped through the forest, leaving giant storms and crackling energies in its way. While the magical disruptions caused some difficulty for these firbolgs and other fey, their own innate connection allowed them to maintain some of their skills.
This proved to be quite useful as another problem quickly revealed itself. The portal, wracked by the mage storms, became unstable and the connection began jumping to other planes and places. Some of these proved to look quite friendly or peaceful, but many more of these flashes lead to the Hells or the Abyss. For some time, these remaining fey turned their attention to keeping any creatures who came through from escaping into the larger world.
In between waves of attack, they struggled to find a way to close the portal or at least block it up until the storms passed. The hope was that the gate would settle down again, but once again it seemed the storms (and fate) had other plans. As the mage storms disintegrated the weave, the gate began feeding on its own energies. Every time the connection jumped, the portal would shrink.
By the time it vanished into the ether, only a few firbolgs and ents remained of the defending force. With the threat seemingly gone, along with their last connection to the Feywild, the survivors turned their attention to picking up their shattered lives.
