Goliath, Starhelm
Goliaths have been about since the early days of Haven, coming out of the Womb of Humanity a century and a half after the Dwarves did. Their creator, a Luminare named Dowyd, was looking to create a race of large humanoid to compete against the varying Founder Races. Though not as big as the Giants, Dowyd wanted his creations to impress. However, their size made it imperative that they had open land and large areas to roam. Clannish in nature they roam the countryside, tending their herds or seeking out new lands or better conditions to help their tribe. They can be great allies or terrible enemies and many tales have been told about being on the wrong end of a Goliath’s axe.
Goliaths are large creatures, with little hair, and often tattoos or scars they show proudly. They range to be about six to seven feet in height, with large hands capable of lifting and carrying heavy objects. Their skin is grey with earth or stone shades. While a Goliath can grow hair, typically black or brown in colour, you will mostly find that Goliaths are clean shaven from head to toe.
The tattoos of a Goliath tells a lot about their place in the Throng, in the Goliath social structure, and their own personal story. Their tattoos show their social status and their past deeds. Some tribes or individuals will also scar themselves in the same manner. Regardless of scarring or tattoos most Goliaths make sure that their art is visible and prominent for everyone to see.
Goliaths are versatile creatures with a determination to persevere. They are clan oriented, treating the safety and success of their clan first, themselves second, their tribe third, and Goliaths as a race fourth. They they are outgoing but cautious, and they like to travel and discover new things. To those on the outside of a Goliath tribe they may seem barbaric but in truth they are very orderly and rely heavily on their traditions to see them through.
A typical Goliath tribe is made up of a few different clans that are small in number. Essentially they are the different families that make up the larger tribe. Each family has their head, called the Dulwark and he (or she) represents the interests of that clan. Each tribe also has a central chieftain called the Og’Dulwark who is the strongest Goliath of the tribe. Physical strength to a Goliath is very important but an aging chieftain may keep his leadership if he is is also wise and crafty. Experience is very important and the Goliaths look for those who will strengthen their tribe, not just the biggest and strongest.
In the clan or tribe both men and women are looked upon equally and a female Goliath who is strong enough has every opportunity to lead the tribe. The only thing looked down upon in a Goliath tribe is weakness, whether it be of character, of determination, of skill, or of strength. The Goliaths value deeds and they love a good story. Traditionally they take their rite of passage around 30, which requires them to accomplish something of value, but there have been some that have completed their rite of passage much earlier. This earns them their second tattoo and the first that is their alone. The first tattoo is their clan tattoo and every Goliath has one shortly after they are born.
Humans of the Nomad tribes and Goliaths share much in common. They occasionally cross the same migration path and unless they are both starving they take the opportunity to trade stories, goods and warnings of dangers around. Sometimes two tribes may do battle for a shared prize but they don’t often break out into permanent hostilities.
As all creatures in Starhelm, the Goliaths loathe the Witch Queen and her Undead Army. The Witch Queen has taken many natural animals and poisoned them with evil and corruption. The Undead are an affront to the natural order and as such must be destroyed or feared at least.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Goliaths have a typical humanoid anatomy. Goliath skin is much tougher and feels very rough and strong. While it might appear like stone, it feels more like very caloused skin. The skin of a Goliath repairs itself much faster than most when recovering from surface level injuries.
Genetics and Reproduction
Goliaths reproduce just like any other humanoid, and are usually pregnant for about a year. Typically, while a Goliath female is pregnant she goes into a very strong survival mode, filling her body with adrenaline. This results in most pregnant Goliath women being faster, stronger, and more perceptive, but after giving birth their body will crash. It can take about a week or more for them to be able to stand and about a month for them to recover fully.
Growth Rate & Stages
Due to the adrenaline boost Goliath mothers have while pregnant, Goliath babies are much energetic. Their strength and stamina means that Goliaths start walking two months after they are born. They will begin talking after a year, and by the age of 5 Goliath children will average about 5' tall. Even at this young age Goliath children are fairly capable, particularly in comparison to other humanoids of the same age.
However, between the ages of 5 and 25 Goliath growth rate slows dramatically. During this time they will only grow about 2', and hit puberity around the age of 15. Once a Goliath reaches 25 they have reached adulthood, and it won't be until they reach 175 years of age that time will start to catch up with them. Even at an elderly age, a Goliath is still physically impressive.
Ecology and Habitats
Goliaths like to live in low temperature, flat terrain, like nothern plains or tundras. Sometimes they will move into hills or the foothills of mountains, but they try to avoid those as much as possible. They prefer when their terrain doesn't slow down travel, and like to have an abundance of larger animal, preferably with fur.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Due to their size and lifestyle, Goliaths tend to eat a lot. It is not uncommon for a Goliath to eat two to three times as much as is required. Their bodies are also designed for long-term hunting so they can survive on much less than other humanoids of similar or even larger sizes would need.
Goliaths favour hunting but are not solely reliant on it. They have a thriving and diverse agriculture that sustains them as well.
Behaviour
Goliaths thrive off of competition and challenge. Whether it is challenging others, the environment, or themselves, Goliaths like the sense of competition to thrive. If they can frame a problem, conflict, or goal into a game, challenge, or test, they will perform better and have longer engagement.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Goliath communities are called Throngs, which are usually made up of 50-500 members, and led by a Dulwark.
Dulwarks are chosen through competition, and if there is no current Dulwark then the Throng will open up a large tournament to determine the new Dulwark. Each participating member is afforded the opportunity to issue challenges, and to have challenges issued upon them. The Throng member that has the most victories becomes the new Dulwark.
While competition is the heart and soul of a Throng, they don't put a lot of stock in coin currency and only use it when interacting with non-Goliaths. For Goliaths competition is their form a currency. Typically Goliaths are fine with freely giving and helping each other, but if a Goliath feels that a request is too much, or if multiple people are asking for something, then a competition occurs. Whomever is fufilling the request gets to issue the challenge.
Throngs function in two parts - a Home, and a Rove. The Throng is split in two, with half staying at Home, and the other half going on the Rove. Those on the Rove seek to return at the six-month mark and then they take up their place in the Home for the next six months.
The Throng does this for 2 reasons. Firstly, it reduces resource drain in their home. Secondly, it is so that the Throng is continually working on improving the Throng.
A Home is a permenant settlement that the Throng lives in. It functions like any normal settlement; it grows crops, makes clothting and equipemnt, everything a normal settlement does.
A Rove is a semi-nomadic group that spends the six months living off the land, and accomplishing a goal assigned to them by the Dulwark. A Throng will almost always make multiple Roves, made up of smaller groups. These groups will be different sizes depending on what goal they were assigned. Regardless of what goal a Rove was assigned, they must complete it within the six months. If they complete it sooner, as most do they spend the remaining time living off the land and surviving until its time to return.
A Goliath on a Rove doesn't return to the Home unless in a dire situation, and a Goliath in the Home doesn't wander far unless there is a need to.
Facial characteristics
Goliath have very strong features, sharp jaws and cheekbones, a pronounced eyebrow ridge, and a large mouth with big teeth.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Plains, tundra, and occasionally hill and mountain bases.
Average Intelligence
Goliaths are not simple or unintelligent, like some would think, but because of their physicality they think with their bodies first. If that doesn't work then they will move on to other methods. Goliaths don't just throw themselves at a probelm blindly however. They will think through how to best handle a situation using their physical attributes.
As they are also a very competitive people, they will challenge and compete constantly. While most of them don't hold gruges about their losses, they usually won't handle consistent losses very well.
Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
Beauty Ideals
Goliath see beauty in strength. Most often this is physical strength, but any forms of strength can be beautiful to a Goliath. Because of this Goliaths will try and accentuate whatevr their strengths are, either with grooming, clothing, or jewelry.
Gender Ideals
Goliaths have a strong sense of gender, but they don't discriminate because of gender. There aren't a lot of physical differences between Goliath genders when it comes to size, strength, or potential, and often times female Goliaths will be taller than male Goliaths, though male Goliaths are often broader than females.
Because of the spike of adreneline, while Goliaths are pregnant its common for pregnant Goliaths to be doing more of the physical activities as a way of expending this excess energy.
Courtship Ideals
Goliaths will look for a partner that complements their strengths, and help them get better in areas they are weaker in. To Goliaths a partner that will always have your back and help you improve is the greatest show of love.
When a Goliath finds a person they wish to court and marry, they will issue a Challenge of Marriage. It is up to the person that is being proposed to to agree to the challenge. This is one of the only times in Goliath culture where it is acceptable to refuse a challange, and they can refuse for any reason they wish. Having no reason is also acceptable to refuse. However, if a challenge is accepted then both parties will pick two competitions to participate in. For the proposal to be successful, each competitor must win two challenges. The makes it likely that it will take multiple challenges for a proposal to be successful. For Goliaths that want the end result to be a successful courship, it is recommended to choose a challenge you are strong in, and one where you are not. If your partner can challenge your abilities on your strengths, while offering up methods of improvement on your weaker skills, it is a good match.
Relationship Ideals
Whether it is family, life partners, or friends, Goliaths know they need help in order to survive a Rove or a stay at Home. They cultivate good, solid relationships that focus on each party providing some strength, and support for improvement.
Average Technological Level
Goliaths are slightly more primitive technologically than other Lineages. However, they make up for that by being physically superior to most other Lineages. Goliaths do not much much stock in technological advancement, though they are not afraid of learning new things, or improving their knowledge or skill at something. They just don't put a lot of effort into increasing dramatically their technology, trusting in their strength and skill to win the day.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Goliaths can speak, read, and write Common and Goliath. Goliath, as a language has a lot of its roots in the Bairn tongue, though at this point it has progressed so far from that original language that knowing Bairn would only provide a good base to learn Goliath, not provide understanding of what is being spoken or written.
Common Etiquette Rules
To a Goliath, common eitquette is to always compete in challenges to the best of your ability, even when everyone involved knows the most likley outcome. To give up or go easy on your competitor is seen as very rude.
Common Dress Code
Goliaths prefer wearing very practical clothing, though not necessarily boring. Goliaths will often use clothing as a way of expressing thier skills and strengths. A hunter might wear a necklace of animal teeth, a blacksmith might wear hand crafted rings, and a scholar might wear glasses even if they don't need their eyes corrected.
Goilath's also have a strong cultural connection to their tattoos. Goliath tattoos will start at the hands and build from there, extending all across their body. It is not uncommon for a Goliath to get their hand tattoos around the age of 3 and continously get more thoughout their lives. A Goliath will typically avoid face tattoos except in specific situations, like when they leave a Throng, either by choice or exile, or when they die.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Worship: Dowyd
Golaith express themselves in a wide varity of ways, which may include things like pottery, sculpting, carving, and dancing . The biggest form of expression for Goliaths, however, are their tattoos. Tattoos hold so much cultural importance with Goliath, and they get them at such a young age, that some believe that their tattoos are natural markings. A tattoo artist holds a lot of respect and the art they perform is seen as the height of importance.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
To Goliaths, their tattoos will mark events in their lives, both positive and negative.
When a Rove has ended, there is a week-long celebration that happens at the Home to celebrate all that has been accomplished both during the Rove and at Home. This is also when people that were on the Rove settle back into the Home, and people that were at the Home prepare for their Rove.
Common Taboos
Refusing a challenge without adequate consideration is considered very rude to Goliaths. Usually Goliaths will accept most challenges issued to them, though its not uncommon for challenges to be refused. If a challenge is refused, some level of thought should go into to the refusal. An immediate refusal would either make you look like a coward, or make others believe that you don't consider the person issuing the challenge to be worthy of participating.
Returning from a Rove early or leaving the Home early for no legitimate reason is frowned upon. To Goliaths the Rove cycle is more than just a way to get resources or complete goals, it is a way of life, and ingoring that for no reason is seen as going against the needs of the Throng.
History
Goliath were created during the time of Haven by Dowyd, a Luminare of strength and power. He modeled the Goliath after himself, but he gave them to much of a drive to fight and grow in strength. While they were not mindless, this drive quickly overtook any other thoughts they had. They spent a lot of time fighting anyone and everyone they came across. Quickly they gained a reputation as a dangerous nuisance, and other Lineages began seeing them as a threat and too dangerous to leave alone. To prevent his creations from being wiped out, Dowyd approached his brother Yonto to help him. Where Dowyd is a god of power, Yonto is a god of precision. Dowyd didn't want his Goliaths to lose this drive, but he needed a way for them to channel this drive into something less destructive. So Yonto gave them a place to channel their drive by introducing them to competition. This inspired them to change their drive to be focused on competition, rather than fighting for its own sake. This change allowed the Goliath to move past this destructive nature of theirs and move on productively as a people.
As Goliaths progressed, they found that when they congregated in large numbers there usually wasn't engough resources to go around due to their size. They realized they could accomplish more in larger numbers, so they found a way to do both by introducing the structure of the Home and Rove. In this way they can still keep their larger numbers while not requiring as many resources.
Racial Features
Select two of the below per Goliath lineage chosen:- Hardy (Mandatory): Your skin is thicker, and your muscles and bones are denser than normal, almost acting as a type of armour. You gain a second special armour scale called Natural Armour. Your natural armour has an armour scale of your Fortitude value + your level. If this is reduced to 0 it doesn’t recover until you take a long rest, in which case it recovers fully.
- Darkvision: You can see clearly up to 60' in dim light and can see darkness as if it were dim light to the same distance. While seeing in darkness you can only see in shades of grey.
- Powerful Build: Your body is large and naturally more muscular than even someone the same size. you can add 2 additional dice when making Brawn attribute checks. Also, your carrying capacity is treated as if you were one size larger.
- Plains Hunter: You are very adept at traveling in open areas and covering ground quickly, as well as hiding and hunting in those same areas. While in open environments, such as plains, fields, steppes, light rolling hills the Plains Hunter, at the end of their turn can drop to prone costing no extra movement. At the start of their turn, if they are prone they can stand without spending extra movement. In addition, they can add 5 miles to whichever travel pace they are moving at, but this only applies to their own travel pace, not the group they are traveling with.
- Brute Strength: Goliaths are very strong and tend to strike hard. Regardless of the weapon they are wielding (including unarmed strikes), the minimum grimness is equal to their Brawn attribute.
Lifespan
Goliaths mature around the age of 25, but live until early to mid 200s
Average Height
6-8 ft. tall
Average Weight
350-400 lbs
Average Physique
Goliaths are size medium. They are very muscular with thick skin.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Goliath will usually have grey skin, that ranges from dark grey to light grey. They will also usually have tribal tattoos and markings over their body.
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