Firbolg (FEER-bolg)

10 feet tall. Rugged beards. Fur coating their bodies. Black, animalistic eyes. Strength to rival a mountain bear. Indeed, firbolg have a fearsome reputation from those that sail the New World. With a description like that, it's no wonder that they are feared. However, this perception couldn't be further from the truth. Firbolgs live a peaceful, pacifistic existence with a culture that focusing on being as relaxed and stress free as possible, completely at one with nature.  

Overview

Firbolgs are known for their incredible size, leading some to theorise that they may be related to the giants of old. They resemble humans with wild hair and beards that they frequently adorn with seashells, seaweed and other trinkets. Their hair has a range of colours, commonly red or brown. Their bodies are covered in a layer of velvety fur similar to that in a short haired dog, which is usually a shade of grey.   They have an unusually strong connection to the natural world, and have the ability to commune with plants and animals around them. The also have an innate illusory magic ability, leading some to believe that they may be related to the fey. They live in the few calm pockets in the New World.  

Philosophy

Firbolg philosophy can be boiled down to simply "relax, be at peace, and let nature do its thing". The ideal goal in the average firbolg's life is stress as little as possible and enjoy the little things, and do as little as possible. They place great value in leisure activities such as sunbathing, fishing and surfing, a sport they invented. From their point of view, nature has provided everything they need to thrive, they just need to know where to look. They view the struggles of other races, the conquering ways of the NWTC and pirates as pointless struggling, and its better to just go with the flow, everything will work out alright eventually. A firbolg will only do as much work to keep their family and their turtle safe for as long into the future as they can. Only work if it benefits your family, is the idea.  

Settlements

Firbolg don't have any permenant settlements on any island. Instead they make their homes on the backs of Horizonback Turtles - enormous turtles that are native to the New World. Each turtle can live for well over a millienium, hosting multiple generations of firbolg. It is a symbiotic relationship, the turtle protects the firbolg family that rides it, and in turn the firbolgs clean the turtle, remove parasites, and protect the turtle's offspring when they land in order to lay eggs. Thanks to the firbolgs' ability to speak to animals, they are able to attend to their turtle's needs well and forge deep bonds with them.   Firbolgs will use driftwood and a few objects gathered from land to create houses and shacks atop their turtle. Entire families will live and die in these shacks. Whilst it is not uncommon for families to be on one solitary turtle, it much much more common for "Turtle Towns" to form, where multiple families and their turtles come together and travel together. These bonds can be so permanent that entire structures can be built across multiple turtles, creating a maze of rope bridges, fishing nets and other structures to allow travel from turtle to turtle.  

Huslyd Strom

The most important holiday for firbolgs is an event known as Husyld Strom(lit. Family Reunion), an event that occurs roughly every 50 years or so, when the Horizonback Turtles return to their birthplace to lay their eggs. Since many turtles are born on the same island, this means that many turtles reunite, as do the firbolg families that live on them. This gives firbolgs who have not seen each other in years see each other and catch up. A series of feasts and parties occur on the island lasting roughly a week, where gifts are exchanged, funerals are held for those that died in the intervening years, weddings and proposals between couples who hadn't seen each other in years, and tales are swapped. It's like a community check in. It's during this time that the turtles lay their eggs.   Despite their size, horizonback turtles only lay 2-6 eggs roughly twice the size of a chicken egg. Like smaller turtles, they lay their eggs on a beach, bury them in the sand, and leave the babies to hatch on their own and mad dash to the water, during which time they are extremely vulnerable to predators. This is especially true in the New World, were dangerous monsters and pirates alike consider Horizonback Turtle hatchlings a delicacy. A delcacy that also sells well on any market.   Since horizonback turtles lay such few eggs, their children need protecting, lest the species go exctinct. To prevent this, each firbolg family selects a young a strong member to be entrusted with a sacred duty; they must stay behind on the island and guard the eggs day and night, and once the eggs hatch, raise them and guide them back home. It is a perilous and dangerous task, a journey fraught with danger. This is considered a rite of passage for young firbolgs, and if they survive the journey, the strength and knowledge they gain gives them the ability to defend their own family. Firbolg families often don't approve marriages unless at least one of the couple has been on this journey, their Singelnvost (lit. Great Journey).  

Diet/Hunting

Firbolgs are omnivorous. They tend to stick to the shallower areas of ocean, where life is abundant. If a family is lucky enough to live in an area where underwater vegetation is abundant, they tend to be vegeterian, since plants are easier to catch. Where necessary, in order to catch food, many attach fishing poles and fishing nets to their turtle, or they hunt.   In order to hunt, a firbolg will have a large, spherical smooth rock called a Dinnie. They hold onto this rock and use it's immense weight to allow them to sink to the bottom of sea. From there they walk, grabbing plants, shellfish and crustesceans off of the sea floor, occassionally dropping the Dinnie in order to spear a fish, seal, or other larger prey. Trained firbolg hunters can hold their breath for easier over 10 minutes in order to complete a hunt.  

Leisure

Firbolgs place great value on the importance of enjoying the moment, and as such place great value on leisure time. Firbolgs enjoy napping, sometimes sleeping 16 hours a day, and other relaxing activities such as fishing and crafting. They have even created a few new sports to maximise enjoyment, such as surfing, a sport they are particularly good at due to their connection to the natural world, allowing them to predict where the best waves would appear. They also invented a sport known as Beach Ball, a game played in shallow water were teams compete to kick a ball through a tall hoop on a stick whilst preventing their team from doing the same. Even druidic firbolgs enjoy such leisure activities - most firbolg druids utilise their wild shapes to take animal forms to give other firbolgs rides or other play activities.  

Threats

Unfortunately, the firbolg's lifestyle is one that is easily disrupted. As the NWTC's presence expands throughout the New World and more pirates flock to the sea, firbolg numbers have decreased. NWTC ships land at horizonback turtles' nesting ground, pirates hunt the turtles for food or steal eggs. One firbolg is a powerful threat, but the superior technology employed by the newcomers can easily overwhelm a firbolg on their Singelnvost. Their rarity means that some sailors fetch a pretty coin by selling firbolg young into underground slave rings.   Because of this, firbolgs have had to move to new stretches of sea to call home that are more dangerous and treacherous, leading to more loss of life as the horizonback turtles aren't used to rougher weather. Whilst some firbolgs manage to find safe spots and live out their relaxed lifestyle, many firbolgs are not so lucky, often triggering the ancestral rage of the giants in them. These firbolgs forgo their previous lifestyle and form bands of borderline feral hordes roaming the sea on turtles armed with stolen weapons from passing ships, or stolen ships themselves. Firbolgs enraged this way fight more like beasts than people, and are especially dangerous, attacking any ship they find regardless of affilation or wrongdoing. These firbolgs are the reason for the race's viscious reputation.