 |
|
| Species | Cormoran |
| Order | Giant |
| Classification | Humanoid |
| Family | Huge Giant |
| Sphere | Air |
| Origin | Yandui made them from scattered boulders |
| Lifespan | 70-100 years |
| Habitat | Mountains and sky islands |
| Food | Large amounts of human fare |
| Description | Cormorans stand 18' tall. |
| Procreation | Follows the mother with other giants. With other humanoids or pseudohumans, mixed nations people are possible if size permits. |
| Esoterica | Cormorans are beings of mijjit and winds aether. They use the arts of these energies often. They also use pattern aether, poioumenon, solar aether, earthpower aether, Damskian power, kor, yahas, mana, euphony, dumaqu, Foundation, arnic feirua, arnic cacophony, seasonal aether, currents aether, banaru, fate, and spirits. |
| Body | Cormorans have supernatural size, strength, agility, and constitution. They are resistant to concussive damage and the cold. They have keen senses of smell. Cormorans practice the art of brathu, mixing diet and exercise, to alter their bodies. Brathu requires they eat a combination of beef, mutton, goat, and turnips in massive quantities each week, wade through 4' deep water for 100 miles every week, lift 1,000 lbs. twice a day, hurl a 100 lb. boulder and catch it twenty times a day, and jump 100 yards three times every day. Common alterations include massive waist lines (up to 9' wide), extra digits on hands and feet, and lighter bones. |
| Farming | The most commonly farmed animals among cormorans are cattle, sheep, oxen, hogs, geese, and goats, which they keep on the mainland near their islands. They grow turnips, greens, and other hearty vegetables as well. They innately know how to tend these livestock and crops. They never, ever grow beans. Their livestock come in wondrous shapes and forms, and many of them have unusual offspring--golden eggs, two-headed calves, piglets that can sing, etc. The farms of cormorans are terraced structures along the sides of mountains or edges sky islands. At their center are either castles or caves, depending on the clan of the giant. They build their own islands, either by moving their mountains into the sea stone by stone, or by throwing them into the sky and catching the winds. |
| Special Powers | Cormorans have the aforementioned powers of size, strength, agility, constitution, olfactory ability, body shifting, farming skill, and resistances to cold and concussive damage. They also can shape stone with their touch, breathe in and out clouds to move them around, and blow down buildings. |
| Weaknesses | Cormorans, if trapped in a pit taller than they are, lose their bearings and often panic to death. They are sickened by any kind of bean. Brown aether harms them. |
| Culture | Fee-fi-fo-fum. There are four tribes of cormoran: cormoran, corineus, trencrom, and blunderbore. The first three live on mountainous surface islands, the fourth on mountainous sky islands. Though the cormoran tribe is the largest, the corineus and blunderbore tribes are the oldest. Originally, all cormorans lived on sky islands, but a famine sent many of them fleeing to the surface world to find food. This is when they first encountered beans and discovered their inability to consume them. Those who stayed above were called the blunderbore for their fortitude; those who descended were the corineus. The corineus nation eventually split again, this time into three tribes: the corineus, who were farmers and warriors; the cormorans, who were farmers, raiders, and mystics; and the trencrom, who were cannibals. The cormorans live in autocratic tribal societies run by a warrior-king and his council of mystics. The corineus live in matriarchal societies run by a council of elders. The trencrom live in autocratic tribal societies run by a warrior-king. And the blunderbore live in a feudal society run by a patriarchal monarchy. Historically, female cormorans, called cormelians, have resisted fiercly the patriarchal status of their nations. Among the corineus, there is no marriage, only couplings. Courtship is casual and variable. Among the trencrom and cormorans, women are traded as property between families and forced to marry. Among the blunderbore, women have more agency but still must get permission from their families to marry. Courtship among the blunderbore means trading objects from one's hoards. Cormoran and trencrom children are raised by their mothers and other women in the tribes--and slaves. Among the corineus, all in the tribe care for the children. Among the blunderbores, children are raised either by their families or by servants. When children reach the age of 11 among any tribe, they begin training to take part in the tribe, either from their parents, in a school, or communally. They reach adulthood in their last growth spurt around the age of 19. Those who do not hit their growth spurt force it through having boulders hurled at their head by their friends. At adulthood, they are tested and taken into their chosen role--warrior, raider, farmer, etc. Those that fail have five chances and then are enslaved (trencrom or cormoran), made itinerant (blunderbore), or made to choose a new role (corineus). Farming is the main part of cormoran societies, but many also focus on raiding the farms of others. Communities of cormorans near each other raid each other in friendly competition, except in times of scarcity. All cormorans are hoarders. They collect all manner of objects, including gold, silver, and other finery. This attracts attention from others who seek to rob them, and they guard their hoards fiercely. However, they do not hesitate to use their hoards to buy what they need from other nations. As such, they have strong trade between their tribes and other nations. The festivals of the cormoran tribes are very similar, with a few variations. The main festivals honor the schisms in their past--the Descent and the Diaspora. The former is honored by all, the latter just by the surface giants. These are somber festivals with harp music and dirges. The other festivals vary by tribe, honoring slaughters, victories, harvests, and other notable dates. They are more merry and festive, with contests (hammer tossing, music, drinking) and performances (theatricals, musical, and presentations of curiosities from hoards). Every cormoran has five personal feasts in their lives: birthdays, adulthood ceremonies, first births, hoard celebrations (when one begins their hoard), and a special day of dance and drinking called melyn. Blunderbores also celebrate marriage. |
| Notables | |
| Sample statistics | PRO 8 ATH 11 STR 26 AWA 8 WIL 8 ROG 8 Farming 11 Special Powers [See Above] |
GrandGuignol
Copyright © by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors. Ideas, requests, problems regarding Foswiki? Send feedback