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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BOZ" data-source="post: 1686030" data-attributes="member: 1241">ok, scanned the rest of that info today.  first off, here is the rest of the pantheon-info from MonMyth and Giantcraft.Monster MythologyIntroductionThe pantheon of the giantish gods is more loosely defined than many others. Certain races, notably gnolls, flinds, ogres and minotaurs, have significant minorities who revere giantish gods, while a minority of evil giants have turned to the worship of deities who have risen from the ranks of the tanar'ri as Lords. Despite this diversity, there is a consistent core pantheon, and Annam is accepted by all giantish races as a great creator god.However, Annam's role in creating the giants (and the worlds) is very differently interpreted by different races and in different worlds. In some myths, Annam is the Creator of Worlds, the true Prime Power, and the other gods merely establish their races on the worlds he makes. Frequently, such myths tell of a pre-history in which giants were the first and only sentient race in the multiverse. Some versions tell of a fall of the giants (a fall from grace is sometimes mentioned by the good giant races). In other myths, -Annam works with human and demihuman gods to create worlds together, but usually he keeps his creations separate and aloof. In subtle mythologies, Annam is the Creator-By-Thought; Annam is a "sleeping god" whose dreams form the substance of reality and the enabling principle which permits creation by other deities. This view is often held by storm giant shaman-priests much given to deep philosophical reflections.In all cases, though, Annam is a god who is no longer particularly active on the Prime Material. There are many myths of his withdrawal from active involvement with his creation, ranging from the tragic (despair at the schism between his sons) to the comic (Annam is a polymorphous, libidinous god and he flees the Prime Material to escape the wrath and nagging of his many wives and concubines). Particularly with the good giants and the firbolgs, there is a definite element of playfulness in their beliefs and myths.Annam has a variety of offspring, of whom the two most potent are a pair always represented as brother and sister-not so much in biology, for a variety of females are credited as their mothers, but in terms of sibling behavior, friendly rivalry and good companionship between them. The male god is the mighty Stronmaus, god of sun and skies, a laughing and joyful god much loved by good cloud giants and storm giants. Stronmaus is almost always seen as the first-born son of Annam, who has much of his father's power, but is a more good-natured and sunny personality. His sister, Hiatea, has a powerful mythological background. Annam always valued sons over daughters, and if he was able to divine that one of his consorts was bearing his child, he would use magic to ensure that its gender was male. But the giantess who bore Hiatea concealed her pregnancy from Annam and had her child raised by firbolgs so Annam would not learn of her existence, fearing his wrath.Hiatea is thus born and raised into giantish society, but has to prove herself through a series of daring feats, culminating in an epic battle with a great monster which she overcomes so that she can bring a trophy to her father, who accepts her valor and worth (possibly caught off-guard by first learning of her existexistence when she turns up with the monster's head(s)). Sometimes this monster is a fifty-headed Lernaean Hydra, sometimes it is a massive tarrasque of singular size and strength, but it's always a truly terrifying opponent. On learning that he has a sister, Stronmaus is overjoyed and celebrates her existence with mighty storms that flood the worlds and wash away great evils.However, Annam also has a group of three "second generation sons" (in terms of their antiquity). Two of these are Surtr and Thrym, both detailed in Legends and Lore, and they become the evil leaders of the fire and frost giants. The third son is Skoraeus Stonebones, god of the stone giants, whose response to his brothers' evil is to hide himself below the world and protect his own people, ignoring the evils without and repulsing any attempt at invading his home. Skoraeus is thus a "withdrawn god", although his reasons for this are more introverted and self-absorbed than those which motivate Annam's withdrawal from the worlds.The third pairing of offspring are known by the other giants as "the runts" - Grolantor, the evil-tempered god of the hill giants, and Karontor, the misshapen god of the fomorians and verbeeg. Grolantor is always disowned by his brothers on account of his stupidity and relative weakness, and the race of hill giants is often seen as having originated in Grolantor's collecting and interbreeding the runts of many earlier giantish broods. Grolantor himself pollutes this degenerate racial stock in some myths by producing offspring with a series of earth-bound monsters (including serpents and medusa-like hags) and Cegilune, the hag-goddess (see "Gods of the Dark Folk") - His mating with a monstrous serpent which had heads at either end of her coiled body is often considered to have given rise to the race of ettins. In this behavior, Grolantor is a degenerated version of his father, who consorts with many female giants in pre-history to produce his various sons and daughters.Grolantor is usually represented (by other giantish races) as evil second and stupid first, although he possesses a certain cunning. Karontor, however, is seen as evil first and anything else second. In fomorian/verbeeg myths, he has a constant form, but other non-evil giants often have myths in which he is a fair and radiant god who grows jealous of Stronmaus, and his bitter envy begins to twist his form into the hideous shape he now possesses. This twisting is often associated with a descent into an Underworld where Karontor learns dark magical secrets from a race of ancient subterranean hags. He uses this magic to twist and warp some of the fairest of the giants on his return to the surface world, and they become the ancestors of the fomorians (and the verbeeg to a lesser extent, although his magic twists their nature only).One of two singletons is the evil, avaricious god Memnor, who has made the most significant inroads as far as turning giants to evil is concerned, for he is the patron of evil cloud giants. His mythic history and place in the pantheon are shady. In some myths, he is actually the brother of Annam and is weakened by him in an epic battle, which banishes Memnor to Gehenna (and frequently Annam has to retire from the Prime Material plane to heal his own wounds from this terrible confrontation). In others, he is born from the head or guts of a vast, barely sentient world-devouring monster that is destroyed by Annam (rarely, by Stronmaus). Certainly he is always regarded as an ancient god and perhaps the most dangerous in his evil. The other singleton is Iallanis, the goddess of romance, love, and beauty, who often stands in the shadows of Hiatea. Certainly her birth is said in myth to follow Annam's acceptance of his eldest daughter and consequent willingness to allow female offspring subsequently. Iallanis has taken over some of Annam's role as a fertility god, and her cult is usually small but growing in many worlds. Giantish Priests, Shamans, and Witch DoctorsFire and frost giants are both stated in the Monstrous Compendium to have witch-doctors. These do exist, but they are extremely rare. Why these races, unrelated to the goblinoids who have witch-doctors far more often, should have such spellcasting ability is most uncertain. There are no myths which explain why Thrym and Surtr are able to bring the skills of wizardry to their races, for example.On a general rules note, level limits for certain giantish priests given here exceed those in the Monstrous Compendium. The level limits given here supersede those in the earlier publication. This rules revision should not be difficult for any DM; player characters are unlikely to bump into cloud and storm giant priests on a daily basis, and individuals who are of higher spellcasting level than those in the Monstrous Compendium may simply live in different groups or lands (or worlds!) from those PCs have encountered.The cloud and storm giant priesthoods of Stronmaus require special mention here. Cloud giants have an organized priesthood which is hierarchical; this is a "traditional" priesthood. Storm giants present an altogether different picture. Hopefully, it won't confuse matters to call the practitioners of clerical magic here "shaman-priests." In rules terms, they are a priesthood in that they have restrictions and exacting requirements and also granted powers (as priests do). However, in role-playing terms, these storm giants are much closer to shamans; they are solitary, have no hierarchy or organized church, and they treat each other as equals irrespective of whatever their spellcasting level may be. They also believe themselves to be born with a gift which has to be actualized through inner journeys and stern deprivations and sufferings in the form of initiations. There is also an element of also childish playfulness among these shamanpriests, especially with their animal companions and in their telling of mythic tales, which fits paradoxically with their very advanced and subtle philosophies. So, the unique term "shaman-priest" is the best one to use with these exceptional individuals. In the case of rare "wrong race" priests of Stronmaus, these will follow standard rules based on the cloud giant priesthood. Only storm giants can become "shaman-priests."and, Giantcraft.  keep in mind a lot of this is FR stuff, so we will only be taking it with a grain of salt.  stuff from MonMyth or Planescape will overrule it, but if it doesn't contradict with the previously established stuff, it's good to use.Giantcraft What makes the religion of the Jotunbrud particularly interesting is its unusual multi-faceted nature. Although all of the giant breeds worship the same few gods, each has its own unique idea of what each god represents. Thus, there is often as much difference of opinion between the faithful of a single sect as between the devotees of two rival sects. In fact, in the past, entire wars have been fought among rival worshipers of a single divine being.The one thing that all giants agree upon is that Annam stands over all other gods in the Ordning (when capitalized in this fashion, Ordning refers to the entire pantheon of giant deities, itself an ordning of the sort described in "The Nature of Giantkind"). Almost as widely accepted is the belief that taller giants are inherently more holy and powerful than smaller giants. According to the general ethos of the Jotunbrud, Annam made sure his sons towered above the other races of Faerun in order to insure that they would always stand closer to their Father's heavenly throne than any of their rivals. In fact, Hartkiller's relatively small stature is almost certainly one of the reasons why the various giant tribes found it impossible to accept him as their king.Although each giant tribe confines the bulk of its active worship to one or two patron deities, most giants revere all the various giant gods. Giants routinely enter shrines dedicated to their tribe's patron deity and offer prayers to another member of the Ordning. Such conduct is perfectly acceptable-any giant temple can be used as a place of worship for any legitimate giant god. In fact, all giant priests are educated together and receive almost no indoctrination that extends beyond general beliefs and customs pertaining to the whole of the Ordning. When it comes to specific festivals and practices linked to a patron deity, giant priests are called upon to invent their own, using their generaltraining as a rigid guideline.Sitting atop the entire hierarchy of giant priests and shamans is the stormazin, the Great Priest of Annam. The stormazin is always a male priest of the highest level. His duties include tending to Annam's grand temple (currently located in the Ice Spire Mountains), traveling to each of the giant steadings to participate in important rituals and ceremonies, resolving disputes between priests, maintaining and revising the code of conduct for the clergy, and training new priests. Although the stormazin has no official sanction to establish policy that falls outside the religious arena, he is always a highly respected figure within giant society. Most chieftains tend to accept his advice, particularly since he traditionally offers it so sparingly.Stormazins hold the title for life. When the stormazin dies, the high priests of all the giant tribes gather to elect one of themselves to the office.The current stormazin of the Jotunbrud is an aging cloud giant named Xephras.Xephras(ZEF-fru.s)Stormazin of the JotunbrudNG cloud giant P13Ice SpiresXephras is an unusually short cloud giant with flowing white hair and a long white beard. Several hundred years old, he is now quite sickly and walks with a pronounced stoop in his back. For these reasons, Xephras is unable to visit the various giant steadings scattered throughout the Spires nearly so often as he feels he should. He is currently looking for a worthy successor so he can step down, though so far no appropriate candidates have emerged.Unlike most of the other giants of the Ice Spires, Xephras doesn't trust in the teachings of the Twilight Spirit. Although he has no clues to the Spirit's identity, he does not believe that the Spirit is a true representative of Annam's will.Xephras and his two disciples (both stone giants) reside in a marble temple located northeast of Hartsvale and constructed during the last years of the war against dragonkind.Priests and ShamansIn general terms, giant priests are limited to the 12th level of advancement (the one exception to this rule, the Jotunbrud stormazin, is always a 13th-level priest). Giant priests never gain additional Hit Dice through level advancement and always use the Creature Table (Table 39 in the DUNGEON MASTER Guide) for calculating their THAC0s. Priests are trained by the stormazin himself. There are rarely more than two of them living among any given tribe.Giant shamans are lesser clergymen who assist and serve the priests. They are limited to the 7th level of advancement and can select their spells from only two of the spheres listed for the patron deity of the priest they serve. Shamans are typically recruited and trained by their priests.In the Realms, there are no witch doctors worshiping members of the Ordning. Giant witch doctors can sometimes be found within the brethren of a few unusual cults, however.Note that all giant priests and shamans can use any weapon but never wear armor.Ordning Family TreeVirtually all the gods worshiped by the giants are related to Annam. Together, the members of the Ordning compose one large family tree. On the chart below, marriages or unions are depicted by horizontal lines; offspring are connected to their parents by vertical lines. Note that this diagram is not all inclusive. Over the years, several other beings have claimed Annam as a direct ancestor, and at least some of these claims are certainly genuine.</blockquote>

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