“Giants are a huge and brutish species of monster, typically standing between eight and twelve feet tall. They possess remarkably thick skin and have great horns on their heads that serve as weapons and mating displays. Most giants dwell in nomadic tribes scattered across the Eastern Half of the Ringland, or hide in remote caves and mountains all but inaccessible to humans.

“Though generally believed to be unintelligent and animal-like, giants demonstrate surprising ingenuity and cleverness. I have encountered massive traps and abandoned structures in the isolated wilderness of Altica and Valkr that could only have been built by creatures with near-human skill, and in the Dog’s Tail Islands I witnessed enslaved giants who had been trained to fight with great shields and hammers. These monsters could even grunt out a few intelligible syllables their handlers had taught them, though I doubt such a feat is any more meaningful than a parrot screeching phrases back at its owner.

“In a quest for more knowledge about giants, I am now striking northwards across the Eastern Half, making for Ysland, where it is rumored that the legendary snow giants make their homes in ice palaces atop the frigid Ironhead Mountains. Should I even catch a glimpse of such a creature, I will be the first to have done so in living memory.”

-Excerpt from Athar of Phiaro’s biological journals