Giants

Giants in all their forms descend from the ancient titans. Contrary to the name, titans were of reasonably normal stature. But they possessed the power of True Words in the form of runes, often inscribed on their bodies. These runes gave them control over matter, allowing them to transform into hulking figures many tens of feet (some even a hundred) feet tall and with strength to move mountains.

After the Titan-Wyrm wars and the treachery of Isskap with the Orb of All Might, the titans’ runic power was broken, leaving them incapable of voluntarily transforming; the result were the ancestors of today’s jazuu and dwarves (the latter being those whose power was stripped to create the Orb in the first place). Instead, the last remnants of their power went into the creation of the Titanwalls, runic constructs that could rewrite a jazuu, transforming them permanently into a true giant if they survived and were able to control the process. Those who failed to control the transformation or who bailed out early became the giant-kin. In a cruel twist of fate, true giants are sterile, but giant-kin breed true. Thus, true giants are rare, but giant-kin have spread throughout all the continents of Quartus.

True Giants

The transformation at a Titanwall can be likened to a reprogramming. One translation goes as follows.

**START PHYSICAL BLOCK**
GROW IN STRENGTH, SIZE
LIVE FOR LONG DURATION
HUNGER BE SATISFIED
BECOME
**END PHYSICAL BLOCK**
**START IMPERATIVES BLOCK**
VALUE WORK
BECOME
CREATE BEAUTY
BECOME
DEFEND KIN
BECOME
**END IMPERATIVES BLOCK**
**START RULING BLOCK**
COMMAND UNLIVING ELEMENTS
BECOME
COMMAND KIN
BECOME
COMMAND EVERYTHING
BECOME
**END RULING BLOCK**

Giant-kin

Giant-kin are those who failed the titanification ritual or, more commonly, their descendants. Because unlike true giants (who are sterile), giant-kin are fertile with others of their kind and with jazuu (although that latter crossing rarely happens). Giant-kin have some of the rune-caused changes, but the incomplete ritual leaves them often misshapen or mentally damaged. All have hungers that make them often considered monstrous to more civilized folks and usually end up living in small settlements or bands at the fringes of the settled lands, making a living by raiding, banditry, or basic herding.

Ogres failed during the first step, becoming large and strong but without the extended life or compensating changes to allow their brains to continue working well. Large, clumsy, and often quite dull, they are the most common giant-kin. They’re not necessarily malicious, but their large bodies require constant fuel and their clumsy size and awkwardness make them ill-suited for commerce. The more settled ones (especially on the Nocthian Caldera) tend to throw themselves into brute labor, something they’re very constitutionally and physically suited for.

Fey Ogre

The fey ogre (often mistakenly called a “ogre mages” or “oni”) is an ogre who has become fey-touched, altered by being born in a highly fey-soaked environment or having wandered into Shadow early on. Smarter than their regular brethren, the fey ogres are capable of innately casting spells and transforming themselves into the shape of normal-sized folks. There are no known communities of fey ogres—they are individualistic to an extreme, although they do tend to try to manipulate others. Those encountered as threats to society have often gathered groups of disaffected giant-kin and bandits, often without their subordinates knowing that they are giant-kin themselves.

Trolls

Trolls failed after the second step was complete, gaining large size and strength as well as long life, but without the changes necessary to fully draw on elemental forces to satisfy their hunger. This produces creatures that are (relative to ogres) smart in a feral way, although most of their focus is on feeding their endless hunger. They continuously regenerate damage dealt to them, but this leaves them with gnawing hunger that cannot be satisfied no matter how much they eat. Trolls are among the most dangerous of the giant-kin in the eyes of most folk, as they tend to rampage and devour everything they can until stopped by force. Some are more amenable to reason, and legends tell of sophisticated trolls who have turned to magic of many sorts to fill the void.

Ettin

Two heads aren’t always better than one, at least if you’re an ettin. The ettin are mutants, having grown two heads and two personalities during the ritual or sometimes are born when ogre twins fuse during gestation. Unlike most other giant-kin, they don’t reproduce stably—an ettin’s children are only slightly more often ettin than other ogres. In essence, they’re like two ogres smashed into one body. It is unknown whether they actually have two souls. Often their heads have clashing personalities.