"The Elder Giants long had studied the elements of the dreaming world, and the strengths of their brethren, the First Ones, and thought to make a creature like to them in image and in wisdom, and so brought forth the giants - and in an effort to strengthen their folk, tied their lifeblood to the elements of the world. So there were the Fire Giants, the Ice Giants, the Cloud Giants, and so on. But the Giants were too large to roam the world without it shuddering beneath their feet, so the Elder Giants brought forth the goliaths; hardy, strong, and long-lived."

-- Annalo Baelobane, "How the Races Came To Be"

The goliaths of Endon are a proud and reclusive people, descended – or so the stories say – from the blood of the very giants themselves. They are strong of body, deep in wisdom. Many who live in the Kingdom of Endon have never even seen a goliath, though all have heard stories. The stoneblooded goliaths have forged the history of the land beneath the mountains, and their legacy is the most enduring of all of the Endonian races. 

STONEBLOODED KIN

Made by the Elder Giants in their forges beyond the ken of mortals, goliaths seem, at first glance, to be very similar to humans or elves. Their skin, however, is rock-hard, grey like the mountain stones, and they stand far taller than most races. The goliaths are semi-nomadic by nature, reclusive by design, and the ones that venture down into the lands beneath the mountains are veteran travellers or young adventurers hoping to make their name. 

They are colossal in size, standing easily 7’ to 8’ tall, all the better to survive in the wilderness of the high peaks, and their bodies, dense as the rock, weigh roughly some 300lbs. Like goliaths in other parts of the world, their skin is a light grey, often with vertical dark grey stripes, and their faces are marked by bony ridges above their eyes. 

WALK OF THE ANCIENTS

Goliath culture is millennia old, and they walk in the paths set down by their fathers’ fathers before them. Either in their pinnacle cities built by the giants, like Agduvar or Agdu-Stein, or in the clans that wander the mountains’ shoulders, they form bands or clans. Their bond to one another is strong – there are few familial bonds, as humans know them, as every member of the clan shared responsibility in raising their young: to a young goliath, their ‘parents’ are their whole clan. 

It is customary amongst the younger goliaths to ‘earn’ their names: at birth, the children are given protonyms, or the beginning of their names, according to their traits – such as Lo, for one who is smalll, or Pip, for one who is brave. As they age, and achieve more and more, their names grow in accordance with their achievements. Because of this, young goliaths who have failed to distinguish themselves will go out and try to find adventures by which to earn their names.