The Tolmyr, The Giant Folk

The Tolmyr are younger than the Avalone', the Dwarves and the Sea Folk, but their history is far older than that of the Children of Men.

They appear human in nearly all respects except for their incredible stature. The average height among them is eight feet, and a height of ten feet or more are not uncommon among them. By their own account, Tolmyr as tall as thirteen feet high have been known to walk among their kind.

Tolmyr are not only great in height but as a race are thick hewn and of incredible musculature

It is well for the peoples of Rysanthis that the Giants are not inclined towards conquest, for their prowess as warriors and their amazing size make them the most terrifying of battlefield opponents. There are are accounts of as few as two or three Tolmyr engaging entire troops of human soldiers in the border wars of times past.

But the Giants have historically shown no desire to move beyond their ancestral homelands, and appear to want no part of human society or Man's environs. They brook no intrusion or invasion of their own homelands, though, and the lands are given wide berth by the wary traveller. It is said that only a fool or madman rides over their borders (marked by great standing stones crudely carved in their likeness) without invitation or escort.

Tolmyr are fiery spirited. They can be as inclined to good humour and gregarious feasting and drinking as they are to bouts of  sudden anger and fight spirit, usually in response to perceived insults or sleights. They have no written language aside from abstract runes that are symbolic of things common to their experience.

They dwell in great wooden houses and halls and do little stone construction except for the buried tombs and holy places scattered about their hilly lands. They are adept at cattle husbandry and agriculture and keep vast farmlands and cattle enclosures.

The Giants are clannish by organization and have chieftains but there is a King who dwells in a fantastic hilltop hall near a sacred site. There is little organization among them, but clan warfare is also rare as family ties and intermarriage between clans runs deep.

Tolmyr are fairskinned and light haired as a rule, though fiery red hair is not uncommon among them. They incorporate iron into their weapons and favor long spears or crushing weapons when fighting. They exact toll and tribute when they do permit wayfarers to traverse their lands.

They like strong drink more than they should. They love song and music and have no delicate instruments but do use a great stringed lyre and giant drums.

Occasionally, there is a Tolmyr who wishes to see the world abroad and leaves the Tolmyr lands to travel through human lands and visit human cities. They are an uncommon sight in a human settlement but by no means unknown. Only Gurdos among the City States maintains a ban upon Giants entering their city, but it is said that some unfortunate Giants have ended up bondmen in the City of the Slavers, usually employed to turn vast wooden engines that power the industry of the city. But in other cities, Tolmyr are accepted and friendships between a Giant and human or dwarvish  companions is not unknown.

They do not, as a rule, like Baak-Suul. The Avalone they have a superstitious dread towards.