A project I work on off and on, is a guide to giants and ogres of Athas. Figured I’d throw a little bit out there for fun.
Monsters- ettins, cyclops, b’rohg, megera, ash and cave giants (mostly to use as unique variants), Rom (from Al Qaudim), and the native giants of Athas. Half-giants. Gugs maybe? Some others I might be forgetting.
Voices- Some first person accounts and opinions to add flavor. Examples might be a ranger hunter of giants, a gladiator beast trainer, a druid, Balican silt sailor, a scholar who excels academically but has no practical experience etc.
Ettin
Two-headed ogres. These brutish louts exist much as cavemen do. They are semi-solitary, not forming groups beyond temporary families. They only make basic tools. Their incredibly hardy constitutions mean they can digest almost anything organic. If one head is dominant it is not above making the other one eat the most distasteful things.
Surprisingly, the ettin are easily hired as mercenaries. While undisciplined and not very clever, their huge girth and ability to wield two weapons at once, makes them intimidating and destructive to an opposing force. Their solitary nature also helps, as most groups would not be able to feed a large group of ettin. This way the typically club using ettin can now use more advanced weapons. They do seem to enjoy scaled up dual wield weapons, such as cahulaks or the double axe.
An unusual phenomenon is when one head is far more advanced than the other. One head will prove to be a psion or even a cleric. As a psion, the ettin is defined by impatience and force. They develop abilities which aid them in surviving or killing others. This will typically mean psychometabolism, which the ettin will manifest on an almost instinctual level without technique. Telekinesis, conversely, requires more thought and is rarer. In the hands of an ettin, it’s a blunt instrument. It’s a way to crush others from afar. In extremely rare cases, an ettin might dabble in psychoportation. This is ettin might find the chase frustrating, and uses it’s abilities as a short cut.
As clerics, ettins show no subtlety. By far the most common is worship of Fire. The ettin already revere it, as they often lack the means to make it on their own. Add to that its destructive power and immediate gratification, it’s by and far the most popular. More contemplative or passive beliefs are eschewed. A notable exception of Air, has the ettin using the wind to “share” her impressive body stank with opponents.
There a no known examples of ettin using arcane magic. Even the most generous druid laughs at the idea of an ettin druid. If the ettin is manifesting special powers, it’s always the one head. There are no ettin capable of having different classes per head. It seems that ettin cannot divide their attention or mental energy to different schools of thought.
Though it could be that they are just stupid.
To develop
- Possible relationship to the Pristine Tower (possibly post Cleansing Wars creation)
- Habitat and geographical distribution
- Likely treasure and wealth to be gained from ettins.
- Relations with other groups or races