Giff

All across Shoujin, one people are perhaps talked about more than any other, a household topic in just about every home: the Giff. Intelligent but surly, the Giff are the masters of the air and the keepers of coin.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Giff resemble anthropomorphic real-world hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius). They tend to be large, either due to muscle or due to fat.

Genetics and Reproduction

The Giff typically engage in arranged marriages, with the goal of increasing a family's power and wealth.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The Giff are largely herbivorous, but will partake in meat on occasion. They typically have very large appetites.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

While they have a truly worldwide distribution, the Giff are native to the Land of Milk and Honey.

Average Intelligence

While the Giff are not particularly more or less intelligent than other races, Giff culture puts such an emphasis on academic pursuits that even a dim-witted Giff will typically know more about the world than people of other races with a similar amount of intelligence.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Giff tend to have names similar to those of the real-world English and Germans.

Major Organizations

Transglobal Trade Corporation

Beauty Ideals

The Giff of both sexes are attracted to Giff with loud and boisterous personalities and opulent riches. Both are seen as signs of power.

Average Technological Level

The Giff are one of the most technologically advanced peoples on Shoujin. In particular, the Giff people are known for their airships and naval vessels. Many advances in transportation technology and economics were penned by Giff scholars.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

The Giff speak Common, which they argue to be their native language that was later adopted by other peoples for trading purposes.

Common Etiquette Rules

Giff etiquette is widely viewed negatively by other peoples. While the Giff are masters of making sales, they can be a surly and crass people who are unafraid to speak their mind, especially about those they consider to be less intelligent or less wealthy.

Common Dress Code

Giff fashion is very similar to what one might expect from a steampunk or dieselpunk aesthetic. Many are fond of real-world early 20th century aviator fashion, or pretty much anything that one might associate with the real-world American president Theodore Roosevelt. To the Giff, wealth is everything, so they always do their best to dress well and look wealthy. Women tend to use copious amounts of make-up, as one might expect from any large extravagant woman in a Studio Ghibli film.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

The Giff are capitalist to the very core, and value money over all else. Wealth and the power it brings governs all of their pursuits, which has led many other people to be cynical of Giff motives. However, a Giff philosopher would argue that the Giff's obsession with money has driven more advancements in technology and knowledge in Giff society than in any other race. Indeed, aside from their money, the Giff are known worldwide for their contributions to science, history, engineering, and cultural studies. In Giff culture, to be able to best sell a product to an individual, the salesman must know as much as possible about that individual. This leads many Giff into a life in academics, and even a simple Giff salesman may be very knowledgeable about the geography and history of the place they work in. Many smaller villages in Wagakeya such as Pommeberg employ Giff as schoolteachers for this very reason.

History

The Giff were the first people beyond Aarakocras to conquer the skies, and that was after already having conquered the seas.
Historically, the Giff occupied many small nations in the Land of Milk and Honey. However, those nations have since slowly been taken over and absorbed into a massive plutocratic nation governed by the Transglobal Trade Corporation (TTC).

Historical Figures

Victoria Grimm is the current president and majority shareholder of the Transglobal Trade Corporation.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

While only the Orcs would dare find themselves in hostile relations with the Giff, many peoples in private are concerned about the ever greater influence the Giff have on global affairs. The concerns that many people have about the Giff mirror those that real-world Americans living in small towns might have about large corporations--mistreatment of employees, the extinction of local culture, an increasing reliance on outsiders for one's livelihood, exploitation of vulnerable populations, etc. As such, the arrival of the Giff to a town may be a major event. Some may cheer for all the new opportunities a Giff market will provide to a destitute town, whereas others will protest that the establishment of Giff commerce in a community will be the true start of that community's downfall.
The Giff themselves tend to view other races through a utilitarian lens. If positive interactions will bring the Giff profit, then even the most self-absorbed Giff will begrudgingly lend a helping hand. However, when a transaction would prove to be a loss, the Giff are much more hesitant about offering any kind of cooperation. This type of approach to the world, combined with their control of all major trade routes, gives them a stranglehold on international relations, and everybody knows it.
Having lived alongside them for millennia, the Giff have particularly strong feelings about the Firbolg, often viewing them as dim-witted country bumpkins. The Giff also have a very positive relationship with the Gnomes, who they see as technological equals.

Lifespan

Similar to that of humans

Conservation Status

Giff are common--perhaps too common.

Average Height

Similar to that of humans

Average Weight

Tend to be overweight or obese

Average Physique

The Giff have very strong constitutions, which may be how their ancestors began eating so much of everything. They also tend to be stronger than the average person.