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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 8436701" data-attributes="member: 57383">Works for me.Let's see…A giant figure swathed in lightweight clothing the color of sand and rock, they could be human if it were not for the size, for they are twice the height. The being's eyes are a startlingly bright blue. What skin can be seen is wrinkled and leathery brown, as if burned by decades of desert sun.Desert giants are a nomadic race with a fearsome reputation as mercenaries and raiders, although most sustain themselves by herding livestock. The desert giant lifestyle is very similar to that of human desert nomads (since they face similar challenges from the desert). They prefer cattle for their meat and milk, but cows and bulls are hard to keep alive while wandering the desert so they will also have camels or sheep. Peaceful encounters often lead to trading for goods the giants cannot obtain from the desert, they prize cloth, salt, spices, and wood.Desert giant culture does not recognize settled people as having any right to grazing or water, and a tribe will graze their herds of a settlement's grassland or even crops with no apologies or compensation. Trying to force the giants to leave can be hazardous, so they are usually persuaded to move on by offers of mercenary work or "gifts" that are basically bribes.These giants are skilled riders but have difficulty finding mounts large enough to carry them, so sometimes resort to bizarre steeds such rocs, monstrous spiders, animated objects, or even undead. Some groups have no steeds, so must rely upon the power of a sand-shifter (see below) to ride into battle.Sand-shifters are desert giants born with the ability to summon the spirits of the tribe's ancestors and their steeds and grant them bodies formed from the sand of their home. A child sand-shifter can only call up animal spirits to serve as mounts, known as stony steeds, it takes an adult sand-shifter to summon the desert giant's petrified ancestors.When a desert giant becomes decrepit with age their eyes turn from bright blue to brown and their flesh gradually grows denser and earthier in a process of slow fossilization that continues until the giant dies of old age. [The deceased giant's relatives then bury the petrified corpse in the sands of their ancestral homeland. ?]Adults are about 12 feet tall and normally weigh about 1,400 pounds. Desert giants can live to be 400 years old. A desert giant who's ancient enough to suffer from fossilization may weigh up to 3,500 pounds.Desert giants speak Giant. Those with Intelligence scores of 10 or higher also speak Common.CombatUnlike normal giants, desert giants do not hurl rocks but are experts in throwing spears or javelins, including a special type of spear they have developed, the hurling spear (see below). Each hurling spear is a lovingly-crafted heirloom a desert giant will go to considerable length to recover and repair after throwing it at an enemy. The best hurling spears are masterwork weapons or even enchanted.Desert giants are skilled in desert guerilla tactics and favor ambushes prepared with their desert camouflage ability. If they have mounts they can make devastating charges. The best-coordinated bands may have their sand-shifters summon sandy-steeds beneath their camouflaged ambushers, so the desert giant warriors appear to rise out of the ground already seated upon their mounts!In ZakharaThe desert giants of Zakhara are a fading race, the curse of fossilization has slowly decreased them from a once-great civilization to a handful of small clans. As their situation becomes more desperate they have increasingly turned to banditry and mercenary work, and many young desert giants have gone to the cities to find work as warriors to sustain their families.</blockquote>

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