User:Cedric/Storm King's Thunder

Storm King’s Thunder The Rumbles of Giants

Alignment vector: (1, 1, -1, 0), 10 Arcana cards.
Stage Direction: Overhead lighting, white lights only for snowy terrain
Music: Timpani's, horns, ...

Spoiler warning: This material is not checked for proper dilineation between players and DMs. Best to ask your DM.

The giants have been reaking havoc thoughout the land, but the fact remains to those who know, that the giants only stir when the lands are already distressed (DM: out of balance). This could mean new mountains or whole ranges are being formed, but, more often than not, humans have stirred up some hornet’s nest somewhere. ‘Cause, when the giants come a-knockin', you can be sure the commoners have been a-mockin’ (the gods, that is). So, whodunnit?

DMs playing giants have to actually defend the giants and really try to give it their best shot. Since giants are epic level beings, they may have to parcel out gameplay so they can meditate on their strategy when players do something they didn’t anticipate in order to divine what such beings would really do. Most DMs turns the giants into ogres from their inadequate PLEM score.

Giants should be as rare to come by as dragons, as both represent the encoded memory/wisdom of the universe and are as old as the hills. Nowadays, they’ve learned to keep their distance from one another, after all of the trauma of the 1000 Years War. Consider this campaign more of a arcana-building campaign more than slaying campaign, towards a larger story-arc (because can you really slay a giant 1000x the mass as you?). Though there are treasures to be discovered, and the right encounter with them and you get the answer to any question you wish.

Depending on how many giants there are, determines how big the giant is. If only one giant remains, for example, the giant is over 1000’ tall. Like dragons, they all share the same soul.

If you think about it, the giants MUST be the gods, because how else can you imagine the gods vis a vis the giants? They’d be small and inferior (or... be giants, towering over them), so no, reductio ad absurdum, they ARE the giants. You could consider them a 3-dimensional "shadow" of the gods themselves.

The major giants have names (like the dragons), but they probably won’t tell you, as names are an ancient form of power. Perhaps they are even holy, like they are in your world. To have the name of an entity allows you to talk about address them to other people. Whereas, if you only know a description, there’s always a level of doubt in the ambiguity.

Here's an interesting bit of gameplay that counts as "divined arcana" from Aegwareth and Marxos/Xavier the Blue from Cormyr(?). On the cover of the campaign are many sigils. Each sigil or rune of the giants represents SOME unanswered question or quest. Play-groups can pick a rune as a point of focus for gameplay and try to divine the quest inherent in the symbol. These quests can be assembled into the major quest of bringing in King Hekaton. Second bit of arcana: the giants are shadows of the gods designed to reestablish order in the realms (or exact justice in the case of dark sides), one of them at all times has the capacity—much like a wand of wishing—to answer ANY question you give them (but do you have the power to ask a worthy question?). In this aeon and campaign, the giant King Hekaton is the giant that can answer any question. The peculiar part of this is, that he may answer knowing that you are sitting at the gaming table. The giants are large enough to see past their own plane (the sky for PCs).

The giants will not tell a lie, but they may not be able to give a complete answer. Perhaps “Where can I find a wand of wishing?”, hmm (we know your type)?? ((DM answers: “(nonchalantly) You can find one in the Temple of Faezzress down in the Underdark—but that is no place for mortals.” or “In the domain of Tiamat”, or if the wrong giant is asked: “Hmm, I am not the one to answer such a quest such as yours.. (If on the good side) You may find an answer with Heliosh.”).

There should probably be 8 giants, fragments of what my game calls the “All-Father/All-Mother”, which governs it all from some unimaginable (and ungendered) point-of-view spanning Aeons:

• (PER)CEPTION: Sun/Fire, solar element; gem: topaz; role: advisor; arises when the people are out-of-balance (perhaps they are creative enough intellectually.);
• FORCE(whence STR):Air/Storm, aether element;, gem: amethyst; role: inquirer
• MANA(DEX): Water/Sea, liquid element; gem: none? role: healer
• POWER(HP)/(CON): Earth/Stone, matter element;. gem: ruby; role: example

Each of these has a light and dark side. Dark side giants are used to re-balance mis-use of god-powers. Consider using the appropriate chromatic dragon in place of a dark-side giant, if the problems conern other things The names in quotes are the light-side name if you wish to address them. Sun giant, for example is the light side (building up the lands), while Fire Giant is the Dark Side (tearing down the lands). A giant emerges when something is out of balance with their element, in this case the solar element. The number of syllables in their name is generally an indicator of how many giant elements are united as one. A giant like Hekaton, combines three of these giants into one: Sun, Sea, and Storm. Harshnag a combination of Forest and Cloud. There is never more than 3, as the dragons counter-act such power and unity. If their name starts with an H, it is the light side of the giants, if a Z is dominant, then it is has some dark element in it. If it starts with O, it is primarily dark. Cloud giants light

There is a negative side and a positive side to each giant element-form. When in the negative side, the NPC has no free will and acts out according to higher laws it is protecting, like a golem. You must be careful in interaction, the only thing you can probably do is calm them down by convincing them that you have removed whatever threat brought them to the lands.

• (INT)ELLIGENCE : Virtue/Cloud, thought; gem: sapphire; when the gods need to understand a dynamic in the realms
• (WIS)/SPEED: Time/Frost, memory; gem: citryne; when people are going against the directions of the gods for the lands.
• (CHR) CHARISMA: Terrain/Mountain(Hill), will; gem: emeralds; when the gods need to show their essence to persuade the people
• (ASM) ASSEMBLAGE: Forest/People+Animals, elan vital, metal: gold; when the gods need to repair the lands (generally sticks to itself without much engaging the people).

These forms are the "business end" of the gods -- they're making the realms work and function. There is a dragon axis affiliated with each of these. There is no negative/positive side here, but there is the side that one can interact with and a side that you cannot (without disturbing the rhythms of the world -- that's what temples are for).

At a`ll times the giants seem simple to the simple minded because they hardly ever speak and their actions hardly make sense. A giant might kick a impolite human across the realms.

When the giants are on a data gathering mission, they may ask the players if they’ve heard or seen anything unusal in the realm. If they’ve heard of any dragon movements or deaths? Cult developments? Pestilence? Insect swarms? These kinds of things. If the players report such to the giants, it increments various game mechanics forward. If they withhold them, the giants know this, but say nothing. This also moves things forward.*

Eating while undead: mammal (after they've killed it). (experienced:) "You take your knife and cut into the belly of the beast, and carve out a peice of flesh. Your stomach turns a little from the memories of the cooked stew you grew up with, yet,(choice) you reason that you need the energy, otherwise y. You close your eyes and put the flesh into your mouth. Reluctantly you chew this raw flesh, ripping the muscle with your teeth and swallow along with the blood. Nonetheless, you feel yourself get fortified, as perhaps an animal would. You continue, but (if human) something in you knows that a boundary has been passed and you'll never be able to go back. " This is what you've become.

….XXX?: It would seem that the dragons come out when the gods are not respected. This would give some merit for keeping a cleric in the party. You don't find many dragons in SKT, do you now? And you don't see many giants in Tyranny of the Dragons, neither. Note that, hobbit. See User:Cedric/metagame. Many of the giants (except fire, ??) can be considered of the race Aryan. Much like RoT, players should not expect to kill the giants, instead they should look to what wisdom they can get from their epic and deific-level "tyrants". Giants are old, like dragons, and have wisdom to convey. In the case of giants, it is not vieled like with dragons, yet the DM must be very astute about how to convey the life lessons and silent wisdom that moves the giants across the landscape. So this is hint #1: every giant`s choice in relation to their surroundings speaks volumes about the silent knowledge they possess from eons of history, yet no mortal can hardly pose a question to ask for the knowledge. So, like the ancient dragons, they should consider it a blessing to observe at all, in the hopes that their wisdom is learned or absorbed in some silent manner. Like for example, that no giant will make a choice that merely elevates his or her personal station -- it is always in relation to larger, but quiet ideals. As a DM, you should have the giants speak in aphorisms: simple, complete statements that encode an idea. It doesn’t really matter that you understand it. They might be speaking through you. Giants think with a mind that operates at much, much higher level than mortal. By the time you've formulated your question, they've assembled a nugget of wisdom for you to chew on. Much like Yoda talks.

The aware (or light) side of giants, rarely interacts with the people, as 49 times out of 50, it is useless. But an aware player can change the odds, if they are astute enough. Have your group in order and try.

• For Helios WIS (male in this Æon/cycle — unless you sovled Ravenloft, then roll 1d2, 1 is male): how to improve the commenweal. Might ignore you at first and then offer some advice after checking what you are up to. Said advice will be perfectly suited to your mission, as if Raowe knows everything about you (but really just knows everything about humans and has progressed so far beyond that there is nothing to socialize about, just advise).
• Uranus (INT (male in this cycle): what is affecting the land and people's progress towards the aims (why aren't cities getting more beautiful, productive, orderly, etc.) May initiate a conversation, and won't reward your good information, yet will remember in the annals of the gods for luck in the future.
• Thalassa MANA (andro/omigenous): helps people affected by a common aggreivable, doesn't use reason, but looks to your subtext or somatic/body language.
• Gaia ASM (female in the present Æon): exudes fertility, wisdom, beauty, aids animals and other pure spirits, helps when people lack direction.

Something like:

• Earth giant: ”Do you know the dragons? You would do well to observe them. They know far more than they are able to tell, …for us giantkind have learned about them through human and elvenkind. As they are our opposites, it is not good for us to interact directly (and perhaps you know about the giant-dragon wars which ended in useless losses of whole continents). The dragons were here before the land itself. The things you could learn from a dragon are so monumentous as to be shattering. From this, come those acutely loyal to dragons as to practically worship them."
• Harshnag (Chronos?): “There are a specific number of points where energy gathers inside the soul, creating it`s order. These centers allow magic to emanate, gather life force for healing, build muscle and store energy, or keep your brain. Depending on what type of being you are these organize differently. For you humans, for example, they are called Strength, Heart (limberness), Assemblage (where magic come from withn the soul), and Head (>if the giant likes you: he also says:< the center of your intelligence). For most giants, or If one is an Elf or an Aryan, these centers are the Constitution (like strength but centers on where the gods store the energy for the sun and HP), Hod (the place where light and dark serpate and create the genitalia), charisma (Mana ), and INT, Eight is a fortuitous number for reasons I shan’t explain. If I told you everything, then you wouldn’t serve much purpose now would you, rather redundant. Alchenists and Dreamers come from these other two.” XXX: “Assemblage, associated with the genitalia and Perceptivity associated with your eyes and the senses, unless you’re an elf or aryan.” “Dreamers dream the world. When their dreams coincide with the collective consciousness and will of the gods, their dreams become reality. You may call them ‘writers’ or even ’bards’. Alchemists use the power of their gravitas (gonads) over the imagination rather than reality like leaders.”
• Helios or the sun giant is almost always silent—so much so that most people believe s/he doesn’t have a voice or cannot speak. Yet this is just the immensity of its being and perhaps its wisdom. Few can understand the wisdom of a high-level being, so it goes around the countryside trying to set up challenges to make people wiser and more experienced rather than repeating the same lessons every generation. Only give this one a voice if they express gratitude or excellent purity of heart. Otherwise, be sure to ignore the players.
• Sun giant: (if gratitude is shown); “Always remember where you came from. There are many planes of existence and don’t think we giantfolk don’t know about you behind the DM screen.”
• Hekaton: "Dungeons? They’re made by men, perhaps great men or mad men — even beasts; ...but the Abyss, it’s made by the gods.“
• XXX? Helios: “You know the giants gave you two more ability stats you don’t seem to know about. PERcecptions, whereby you can ditch your percecpdtion skill check, and what you could call ASseMblage, connected iwth your gonads. Without ASM, it doesn’t matter how much INT you have, you will not have magical abilities. Of course to get access to these, you’ll have to go through trials that not even I can tell you about, for it is unique to each individual. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but then whoever said that passed on long ago.”
• Sun giant if there’s a mage in your party (or purity of heart): “A bit of advice: Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die tomorrow. Live by this.”
• If clerics or others give their piety to the sun giant, it is the same as the gods and, after receiving the giants house sigil, the stats they gain are as follows:
• From Uranus: “Know this: you can’t fly if you don’t know how to walk.” (Both an allegory and a note that in order to keep your balance while flying, you have to know how to stay upright and manage the forces of gravity.)
• Sun/Fire: “If you want to understand the origin of the dragons and they language they speak, better know the origin of your universe, firstly.”
• “If you want to dance, best keep up with your universe, for the forces of the universe set the groove for everything else. Eventually they will rip you apart — if you’re not in harmony. Such is the dance of life.”
• Sun/Earth: “The Underdark is filled with those who thought themselves better than the gods.”
• Water: “Beware of those who would tempt you with false attainments, for they will not help you in your ultimate encounter with your destiny."
• Jupiter: “There are a 100 roads to attain success, but a million to find death. Be on the lookout, lest you lose your chances."
• "Some men appear to be wise but are fools, while some fools hold wisdom concealed. Learn to know the difference and you'll accelerate your journey. Find your god(s), they'll know the difference. (Fools posing as wise men cause no end of grief to the gods.)"
• Sun: ”Like carousing wo(men) and drinking at the pub? Great, but when that plays out on your soul, you must listen for that quiet song that will move you towards your destiny."
• About demons from the Underdark: “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about those. Surely a noble adventurer such as yourself has no need to fear demons. Demons are made by the aberrant forces of Man, and employed by the gods to manage the dead. What would you be interested in such a topic?” or …”But then, what would you be doing down in the Underdark? That place is used by the gods for the dead.”
• "A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single footstep.” You must imagine this as if from the highest wisdom in the universe — to be understood as time travels on…
• “You must find the one they called the Defector.” (When a magic user talks to a giant with a desire for ___.). Where could he be found? Roll a d12: 1: Thundertree 2: Underdark with other adventurers, 3:Tiamat campaign, 4:…? “He is in a battle with the Balrog and a fight for his life. He has surfaced in the Forgotten Realms, though he is in a time plane other than his own. The Balrog represents all the karma that animals have towards Man for eating them or making them suffer in winter. You might share his karma and by helping each other, you may find a solution to save you both. d12: he shows up as you talk about him in front of you.”
• “Your gonads are the source of all magic. They originate before even the dragons and are a source of life itself, hence they can be employed for magic. You think there is only your muscles, your brain, appearances, agility, constitution and health, perhaps. But there are two more sources of power that you haven’t incorporated that are ancient and are connected to the dragons and the gods; your eyes and your gonads. You lose your eyes and the giants have to fix them, through their automatic immune system over the land. ”
• “If you need adventure, try managing the populations of some of these cities. Get yourself a magistrate and lead them into visitable villas for your friends.”
• “What’s your interest in giants? You trying to slay one for your own name? My treasure is random items of no interest to you and my meat of no use, so what is it? Fame? Not for long, the body would rot and pestilence would come to the land. Dash your hopes of vanquishing a giant. Try an orc or… a [size-adjusted to DMs estimate] goblin.”
• “The gods see through the eyes of every living thing that has them. That is the source of their knowledge and omniscience. Clever isn’t it? But then, they made them, the eyes.”
• “A thousands roads to death for every one to success, if you run too hard. Find the gods and pray for guidance.. You be able to draw on their wisdom of the Ages.”
• "The gods need noble men and women who want to add virtue to the world. Without the development of virtue, the advancement of civilization stagnates in myriad battles of power, whether of magic or technology."
• "When times get difficult, look to the gods, they need you as much as you need them. But, forget not, that the quest for immortality cannot happen without proper respect to the gods who created the world."
• “Every scale and every spine of the dragon tells something about ler ancient history. There’s nothing arbitrary about their look, mannerisms or appearance. A dedicated person can forge a most awesome relationship with a dragon — if you have the patience to learn its somatic language.”
• Sun: “Whenever you think you’ve arrived, remember that the world has scarcely changed. True change requires a mountain of effort.”
• Sea giant: “The gods keep the balance of the universe itself. The gods can't favor light over dark, but they *do* get to define what is good and what is evil. Their actions preserve the symmetry of the universe itself, so that the dynamic of life can continue, ever onwards, while their wisdom preserves the growth of knowledge and virtue.“
• Stone giant: "The wisened sage listens as much as s/he teaches. Note that."
• "Just like your ability scores, the stats you record represent basic order to the known universe."
• "Each mana represents approximately 1 calorie and 1 cell of your body. Mana can be traded for HP if you play your dice right. 100 mana to 1 HP. Wizards can use it as a boost to their magic, or warriors can use it for a critical strike that leaves them weaker, but victor."
• “A tree represents the perfect balance between all (four) of the elements (of alchemy). Examine trees closely (bark, leaf health, soil, and such) and you will see what powers dominate the area: water, solar, air, or earth.”
• “Be aware of the weather, and you will know how to move with the gods rather than against them.” If the giant likes the player: “The favor of the gods is a true benefit. Never underestimate it — nor the disdain of the gods.” (aaa)
• “You can tell a lot about the state of the world by watching the animals. The animals are foretellers of things that humans hardly sense at all. Humans have language and with language they tell themselves all sorts of stories from which animals never get confused.”
• "A magician can get mana they need for magic from light, living foods (especially sugars), even meat if they are stronger than the animal, but you must give back for the sacrifice, otherwise the gods and god-women will take it back 2-fold. Exercise creates mana if you've been under aberrant powers by swapping out bad order with your own better order. Knowledge creates mana through revelation of more divine order, or just removing false ideas and freeing the misordered cells. Finally, you can get mana by sacrificing parts of your own power (HP)."
• "Explorers, you should learn that maintaining your body temperature requires expenditure of either mana or HP. A hit-point is slain to create a shiver that re-arranges some of your body for warmth. And mana is generated by sacrificing minor cells that release as sweat to cool you. So be wise in regulating your temperature. Most of you don't need to worry since you play in a table (I do know from up here.). But it is good for the Explorer."
• "Never take for granted the signs you see in the world. Weather, lightning strikes, winds, gloomy days, strange behaviors in the people. What separates the prophet from the commoner, is that the prophet still reads the signs of the gods."
• "While many heros were made by woman and men striking it out alone against the cosmos, these virtues ended with the First Age. The gods have had their fill of replacements. Consider cultivating the relationship with one of the gods -- there's a lot of subtle assistance received by those who keep their Piety. Dull men don't notice it."

1. "Aim always for the highest peaks." It might seem like a simple statement about scaling mountains, but no, it means aim high in life itself. You can use this one to answer questions about minutae that while seeming important to the players are too mundane for the giant to worry about. 2. "Treat others as you yourself like to be treated." 3. "Don't ignore the simple and commonplace." For when players are trying too hard and are missing simple things. 4. "Be nice, the world is rife with the roughness of the common man." 5. "Never underestimate the power of a single individual with a pocket of seeds to plant -- or an axe to grind." (good for Ravenloft) 6. "The birds are flying into the sunset." - something like that (A brush of a remark that reminds them that the world is beautiful.) skunk-raccoon --> beaver --> fox-coyote -> hyena. Note also the way the giant speaks them. A giant hears your question, but it they don't operate at the same speed as you. When they are speaking them while looking far into the distance, they implore the listeners to see from higher vistas. When they speak to them more directly by looking at them, they are imploring them to look within. Such simple gestures speak volumes. If a noble giant like King Hekaton speaks to you, you best listen and write it down -- even if you don't understand the significance. Armed with just a handful of such aphorisms, they can be used to answer hundreds of different questions. = Further, a giant is more likely to leave a hint of something, rather than tell someone directly -- for they must give all beings a chance to find the reward hidden in their quests. For this reason, the cover of the campaign is waiting there with a hundred different runes and sigils, inviting anyone to divine their secret meaning. A giant might just leave some random object in the path of the players without uttering a word. Crude players may inspect it and figure it's useless, but it would certainly play some critical part in the campaign that they know not. Giants are as far from random as you can get. Remember that. You can be sure that when the townsfolk see giants roaming around that the attendance at temples increases greatly.

The giants come in with wars of the gods, to protect the innocent, the land itself, and magic. 
Depending on the DM, a rune could appear that is parsimonious with the DM’s knowledge and confidence in the realms. Some runes could give knowledge on our world, some about objects, some about where objects are located, etc. —- Topics brought up with Helios:

• It’s Yannam, the All-Father. They missed the first syllable/phoneme. The lasts phoneme should probably be an “n”, too.
• Dragons: 1, Each dragon has a color and those colors encode meaning about the relationship to the universe, figure that out and you’ll know what’s out of balance when you see one., 10 You can learn to talk to dragons, but if they ever talk to you, you’ve either done something very wrong or very right, 100 The language of dragons is a somatic language. It;s asublte art, but the knowledge you could gain is immeasureablr/as big as the un, 1000 level knowledge: see the dragon pages
• romance: 1, You want a girl/boy friend? Imagine him/her like 10: Women
• life: 1. 100 perhaps you’re just seeking a friend. 1000: You’re not getting younger asking me that.
• fighting: 1: If you want to fight well, have something to fight for. 10: Different monsters have different ways they store mana or get wounded. Fig 100:1000? if you want the critical hit to be reliable: keep tuned to your gods, have plenty of mana on hand, and keep your knowledge in tip-top shape.
• If you work with your gods, you can trade your HP for mana or your XP in extreme cases for HP.
• World: My worldd&dm is filled with richness, beauty, and possibilties, yet how do you get humans to understand and believe in them? I< come from a land before Time,
• Hekaton: “Pshaw, I see you at your gaming table —all of us giants do, but the god of us all makes us speak only to the level of which you are intending to BE, otherwise your game world interferes with ours.”
• Harshnag: “Never underestimate what the giants can see. Most of them are simply too bored with human mores to care about your daily concerns. You should think about things which would last for eternity and aim for them. That the giants and the gods would be inspired by and give protection.”

Uranus:

• Dragons: 1: The Red Dragon is for x
• Life:

—— DM notes (no players!):

• Giants are the NPC most like the DM and the DM should play to win. The DM is defending the realm in a way that they are the lord over. Let the dice decide without cheating but without leeway towards the players, either. Giants don’t generally entangle themselves with characters so it’s probably the players own fault if they lose — you should always make sure this is the case.
• Giants have been around long enough (relative to small people) that they have amassed types of wisdom that the best philosophers haven’t considered. Like how to manage the inclination of human ambitions and channel it towards their higher purposes, even when they don’t know it (utilizing their arrogance to think it’s all about themselves).
• Giants the size of a tree would be about LVL100, if they’re the size of a mountain, level 1000. If they weren’t this advanced, their mass would force them to collapse, yet they do not — they hold their stature because of very high XP. But, of course, so do dragons. HA!
• One can know how close a given giant is to the gods by how magnificient they are. “Magnificient” = huge [charismatic-type] order. Take note: even the men are beautiful, if they are close to the godhead.
• Giant speed is probably about up to 240ft per round. Managing a colossal frame requires huge amounts of XP, figure 10^9 at a minimum. The square root of that is roughly the expected HP.
• Like Tiamat, depending on various “settings” in the game, will determine how and what kind of giants are roaming the lands. These settings establish different gradients and items that can be found, unlocking certain things while concealing others.
• The runes can be used like a map. Points inside represent obstacles, points inside represent equipment carried. As the map is traversed and key interactions are made, things “click” into place. Each rune collects a piece of the larger puzzle and only through having all of them will it may be possible for King Hekaton arise and appear in the world.
• Figuring which giants are making noise is a matter of group composition (their gods, if any) and their behaviors.

   * Groups with a strong leader attract the Sun

• (aaa) Moving with the gods grants subtle advantages, like good luck, favorable challenges. Godrolls result in needed equiopment or other items, like food.
• One round to a giant is like 10?, 333? rounds to those of regular size.
• The reason(*) giants remain silent when inquiring about what’s happening in the realm, is that the giants don’t know if it is the player’s themSELVES who’ve caused the trouble. (**)
• If a player-group calms down a dark side giant (without free will) without killing it, they receive a special gift (usually somethign that gleams).
• If giants are slain, an equal counter-balance from the dragons should enter the realm as a constant presence that cannot (easily) be removed, wreaking havoc.
• This campaign should not be considered a “Boss” encounter. Instead, the luck of having an encounter (like being able to get an answer to any question) that is positive should reap rewards and the giants simply receeding into the background, to the Unknown. Like GOD, it is good to leave the question in the minds of men.
• The best way to interact with players exploring the evil side of alignment are the light-side giants (male/female/neutered(or gay)).
• If any of the players exercises the divine question option (where they can get an answer to ANY question they wish) they can exercise it only ONCE per encounter. If they happen upon the giant again, they may exercise it again. The challenge here is for you, the DM: can you channel the answer from the giants? You may indeed get the divine answer to the question.
• Players can ask a question to the right giant about the Underdark. The giants respond: “Underdark? Is that what you’ve called it? That is the underworld, it is not a place for mortals. Who told you of it?”
• The giants should be considered manifestations of the gods and, like Tiamat, are probably under-specified in the stat-blocks. Each of them is probably level 100, because a god with INT 20 is like a mortal with INT 200. They calls them "hill giants", gents, because to the giants, thems mountains are like hills (and they make them… perhaps through rituals are demarcating the boundaries of the range, and then scoring the valleys that should be formed).
• The presence of more than 6 giants suggests that there are actually more than 6 stats, or power centers (chakras), within the soul. A wizard or bard might divine this with a DC20 check or so.
• King Hekaton is a friend of Elminster the Mage (Ed Greenwood, the creator of FR).

Some runic answers.

Q: Where can I find a wand of wishing? A: You will have to look for that in yourself, but since you can’t open yourself, you will have to journey to the highest point and there you will find a piece of that puzzle.

Q: How can I avoid being damaged by a wand of wishing? A: Ask only for what you need.

Q: How can I find the best weapon of anywhere? A: You will have to find and gather all radiant weapons and unite them. […]

Q: Who is the

—— AL notes:

• The giants really are the gods of the universe. But it is the wisdom of these gods not to tell you this. It takes huge experience to carry a large body, whether man or beast, otherwise they’d collapse from their own weight.
• The Shrine of the AlFather is a special place that really shouldn’t be revealed to just anybody. Those who have the friendship of a giant might inform a PC about it, but probalby not — it remains their only memory of their history and has/acts as a portal to Vahalla. It could be said that the Spine of the World is the remnant of the Annam, the All-Father.
• The DM will probably (**) know if it’s their players who’ve been stirring up trouble. Ask them and see what they’ve been up to: pissing off Strahd, killing an old dragon, using too much magic, forming powerful alliances with unknown variables, etc.
• Also, key point: when the giants are dominant, the dragons are at bay and vice versa (otherwise they're in unresolvable turmoil with one another, as each is the "other side" of the other).
• This is a good campaign for aryan races and for players who are bored with the usual slash-fodder and want to explore something intriguing, that involves a larger quest and story-arc.
• Giants can leave behind curiosities that might leave the citizens baffled, but are opportunities for innovation -- like a 60' gleaming sword made of an unknown but lustruous metal. Perhaps the townsfolk and players will figure out how to make it into coinage (a 2nd Age or 3d? feat). XXXUpdate: This sort of thing happens only when the gods are gloomy and not able or hopeful enough to create a more prepared journey.
• Each dragon head and each giant are representing the corners of the universe, holding them, as Atlas held the Earth on his shoulders.
• If you encounter the SUN god, he won't give his knowledge of the game your players are playing directly. Instead, write the aphorism down: "Even the eight ability scores you use represent your soul`s respect and service to these eight corners of the universe. You didn't even know, though you've used them many times....such is the wisdom of the gods." Hands this over to the player, hopefully prepared in advance and printed out, not hand written. So in other words, as the giant hands something to the player in-game, YOU (the DM) hand the note to the player on the gaming table, for a nice effect -- as if the gods themselves were working/talking with the player.
• If the players wish to know more, after being given a piece of wisdom, the giant walks-on, turning to say "The lands themselves will answer your questions." (But if they DO ask with purity of heart, rather than getting as much as they can out of the giant, do try to refine the knowledge for them.)
• A good strategy to take as a DM here might be to make your players ignore the giants roaming the lands and try to divine their underlying meaning of WHY they're roaming their lands to build interesting plot points, because if there are giants roaming, you can be sure there is some SERIOUS SHIT going on and if you're an adventurer, you'll want to know.
• If there are players in the Underdark, the giants will surely be present somewhere. They’re balancing the realms in subtle ways to counteract the energy of the demons below. It might be to create more order in the villages or to give more power to the animals, or perhaps to generate mountains when serious battles arise that turn the tables in favor of the human(oids).
• The giants may plant several Shards of the Sunsword within the realms, in order to balance the need for the realm to have passionate adventurer’s creating new value for the game universe.
• The primary dynamic of STK <—> Tiamat, should be modified to allow the feminine expression of the Divine, sucn that the giants represent the masculine expression whiel elementals are used to express the divine feminine. These elemental forces are equal to the forces at the will of the giants, such that a hurricane (air elemental) or water typhoon (water expression), fire storm, etc. can be used to equally re-balance the elements with regard to human activities, or in rare cases, over expression of dragon activities (usually such chaotic over-extension of dragons is balanced by adventurer’s like yourselves and rewarded by the gods).
• X???: The presence of more than 6 giants suggests that there are actually more than 6 stats, or power centers (chakras), within the soul. Giants made the eight ability stats(?) within the soul, understand little one? They are the original human form of the realms of which all others are reflections, paltry at best. X?Xthat gamers use?X?. So each giant is essentially representing that corner of the world and soul of the PRIMUM MOBILUS -- The Prime Mover. Because they derive from the gods, their "ability" names become prior to the ones used by players. Some races, however, are related to these giants, Elven and Aryan, so could use them. For example, the gods don't have dexterity because the world moves around them, they have their life force which gives the capacity for movement. Players don’t have access to these extra two stats without transiting the Underdark.

—— WofC note (NO Adventurer’s Leagures!!!!):

• Note, some notes are not given to the DM and are placed in AL or WotC, so that they must rely on their superiors -- this is one of the lessons of the giants.
• The 8 giants, when they are in a dormant state, make the main GOD of the universe. This GOD should not be considered male or female, just like the dragon Tiamat and dragons, generally, because each arises before the appearance of gender and sexual reproduction. The dynamic elements, like fire and water, are the yin elements, while the static elementals (earth, air) are the yang elements. When the masculine form is used, the expression is in the form of a giant, when the feminine aspect is used, the expression is in the form of an elemental being (Earth vs. Sky).
• In order to hold huge amounts of mass, it takes huge amounts of XPerience — otherwise they’d collapse under their own weight. The giants are akin to GOD, just as the dragons.
• The gods view the desire of adventurers to kill dragons, for fame and notoriety, a nuisance. They know after the 1000 years war that the giants represent deep things in the known universe and even cross planes into other worlds (ours?). Yet, they also know that trying to control the humans is a thankless chore that has nearly zero rewards. So they tend to reward parties that are trying something new with the dragons which might actually create new knowledge in the lands.
• The solar giant’s name is“Heliosh”.
• The air giants name is "Uranus"
• Water giants "Zhalassan"
• Earth giants "Gaia"
• Cloud giant: "Jupiter”
• Time/Frost “Kronos"
• Hill giants: "Ourea"
• Forest giant: “Melora" (replaces "Guh" from the campaign books -- an indication of a premature activation)
• Giants should be played with a d100. Different sets of 10, 20, 25, etc. give direction on what kind of phrase they emit.
• "This universe is hold by the

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