Mortals:Gargants
The Quill already spent a season each on the ‘civilized’ people including: dwarves, elves, urchins (smalfolk) and orcs; along with humans. There are other mortal beings across the land. Mortals are considered to be sentient people who have a finite existence and are subject to death: they are not immortal. Follow the posts this season and the mortals tag to learn more about other sentient beings of Taluma and fantasy settings in general. Note: the classifications of the people of Taluma are different than the ‘monster types’ in core rules.
Some of the most feared mortals are the gargants. Those counted among the gargants are the largest beings including the most common and well-known: the giants. In fact, in the land of Taluma, gargants is the term for giants and their kin and offspring.
All of the gargants described here are considered the giant creature type.
Giants
The giants were the first mortals, with size and power above and beyond . They rival some of the most powerful creatures including young and even adult dragons, demons, and abominations.
Elemental Giants of Taluma
In the primordial battles between good and evil at the dawn of the world, the Caelestine created new beings, allies to protect the darkness, the night, from the abominations. They carved them from the trees—the first things with all five elements—and gave them the first souls. But, these giants were still lacking in power to the abominations.
In an event called The Rivening, some of the giants agreed to each give up some of their power—their essence—to a few to empower them. To do so they each gave up half of their elements, and each recipient could only be granted one or they would be overwhelmed. The Caelestine knew this rivening would have to be along an axis of the elements: they could give up earth and fire or air and water. Giants who were empowered with air became cloud giants, earth created stone giants, fire created fire giants and water created frost giants.
Those that sacrificed their essence not only reduced in power but in size: becoming the rifafolk, or the riven. Those that gave up air and water became the dwarves of earth and fire while those that gave their earth and fire became the elves of air and water. In return for their sacrifice, the Caelestine empowered the riven with additional talent in the elements they kept.
After the Rivening when the cloud, fire, frost and stone giants were created, the Caelestine were able to further enhance a few of them who were able to accept the fifth element of aether which is the thunder and evolve into storm giants.
Other Gargants
There are two other beings descended from the first gargants: cyclopes, and hill giant. Most of those giants that were not granted an element devolved into what we know today as hill giants. A few managed to hold onto some of their primordial power and became the cyclopes, gargants with mystical foresight.
