Hill giants are a type of lowborn giantkin.
Society[]
Hill giants were once part of the Highborn society, until they were cast out with other giantkin, forced to fight and forage when Hillqueen Ovam'mura was banished from the Council of Seven Scepters, although she refused to surrender her scepter.[7] There are no dates for the time on Exandria when this took place. However, it is known that it happened before the fall of the storm giants, presumably at some point between 512 and 612 PD;[8] moreover, it is known that around the first half of the 5th century after the Divergence there were displaced hill giants looking for new homes,[9][10] so it is possible that such displaced communities were in those situations as a consequence of becoming lowborn.
Among the settlements created by hill giants, cyclopes tend to rise as rulers among them and other lowborn giantkin such as ogres. As such, it is not uncommon for hill giant warriors, out of a want to emulate their cyclopes rulers or out of zealous worship towards the Ruiner, to ritualistically tear out an eye. Wealthier hill giants sometime create fanciful eyepatches to wear over one eye.[11]
History[]
The Pools of Wittebak[]
Hundreds of years before 812 PD, around the first half of the 5th century PD, displaced hill giants moved in to the area around the subterranean gnomish city of Wittebak, stomped around in the geothermal pools like it was a water park, which, combined with the earthquakes caused by vengeful stone giants offended by the gnomes,[12] ended up filling the entire city of Wittebak with fumes and poison. This killed most of the gnomes living there, and the rest fled to Kraghammer.[13][9][10] In the side of the mountain not far from the pools there are large mounds of mud and scrap wood that have been built into large hill giant domiciles.
In 836 PD the hill giant settlement had a new name, Gundergrunch, and was ruled by Prince Gondalorr, a tender-hearted giant who was actually in favor of repatriating the rock gnomes that had once inhabited those lands, much to the displeasure of his much crueler sister, Gondabrau, who would rather devour the smaller humanoids.[10]
Igrathad[]
As of 736 PD, hill giants were among the factions that battled over the region south of the Sorrowseep Waters. Then the Kryn Dynasty reached out to the village leaders and brokered a peace between the warring tribes, getting the factions of various races to settle together in a collection of villages collectively called Igrathad. The southernmost of these villages, Dodafir, is the crudely constructed fortress village of the hill giants.[14]
Victory Pit[]
Fan art of Caleb casting Shield to protect himself from the hill giant in the Victory Pit, by BlackSalander.[art 2]
"Harvest Close" (2x17) - "Whispers of War" (2x18)[]
As one of the one of only two groups to advance into the final round[15] of the Victory Pit tournament during the Harvest Close Festival in Zadash, the Mighty Nein faced off against a hill giant, purposefully agitated by means of small embedded spines and wielding a giant greatclub.[16] The party defeated the giant by forcing it into sleep.[17]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 220.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 See D&D: Monster Manual, 5th ed., p. 155.
- ↑ See D&D: Monster Manual, 5th ed., p. 153.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 69.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 93.
- ↑ See "Wood and Steel" (2x58) at 1:30:14.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 221.
- ↑ Tempestar fell "centuries ago", so at least 200 years ago; storm giants can live around three centuries, and there is at least one from Tempestar, Galadawna, that still lives, so presumably it happened during her lifespan.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, pp. 69–70. See also p. 66.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 105.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 124-125.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 157.
- ↑ See "The Fear of Isolation" (1x105) from 29:36 through 30:34.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 141.
- ↑ See "Harvest Close" (2x17) at 3:58:02.
- ↑ See "Harvest Close" (2x17) at 4:02:50.
- ↑ See "Whispers of War" (2x18) from 12:40 through 52:50.
'Art:
- ↑ Depiction of a hill giant, by Justin Sweet from D&D Monster Manual, 5th ed., p. 155. This page contains unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
- ↑ Fan art of Caleb casting Shield to protect himself from the hill giant in the Victory Pit, by BlackSalander (source). Used with permission.
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