'STORM GIANT BACKGROUND' (2911)
The first children of Thera, the giants were created to test the creation powers of the gods. Large and intelligent, they made these giants in their own image to wander the realm. Consuming vast amounts of resources and hungering endlessly for more power, the giants covered every spectrum of alignment throughout the realm. Eventually, however, they fell from the favor of the gods, being cast away as a failed experiment. Those of their offspring that were deemed worthy of existence were scattered deep within the oceans and volcanoes, while those held in highest favor were granted the gift of limited flight and placed high in the mountains, forests, and valleys of the northwest. All were commanded to sleep, and decades passed as the storm giants slumbered, their enormous bodies growing only slightly frailer than the other giants. Eventually, summoned by the Mages of Chaos, an enormous storm blew across the oceans and rivers where the giants slept. Holding a fury which the realm had never seen, the storm shook to life the cold and inanimate giants. Taking the storm as both a gift of life, as well as a sign of anger, they sought out its depths with penitence in their hearts. Hundreds of storm giants died to the strikes of lightning and harsh winds during the months of The Great Storms, though the pious and dedicated nature of these first giants has survived to this day within the race. Many storm giants feel a strong need to find religious acceptance, a desire so deep within their culture that few other walks of life are even contemplated seriously. Even still, some will find themselves embracing their size and strength in an attempt to bring about righteousness through combat and arms. As a whole, their society is highly structured, mimicking that which is found in most kingdoms of man, though holding in high regard the tenets of nobility, loyalty, compassion, and faith. See also: 'STORM GIANTS', 'STORM GIANT SPEECH'