Cloud giant

Cloud giants, called Skyejotunen in their own language, were a race of giants who preferred living among the clouds.

Description
The bodies of cloud giants often displayed handsome and well-defined features. Their skin ranged in color from milky white to light sky blue. Their hair was silvery white or brass, and their eyes were iridescent blue.

They often dressed in clothing made of the finest material and jewelry. Rather than wearing any form of armor, they preferred to wear or carry things enchanted with protective magic.

Personality
Cloud giants considered themselves to be above all other giant races, with the exception of storm giants whom they considered their equals.

Cloud giants were highly creative, masters at strategizing, and had great appreciation for music. Many of them considered appearance to be reflective of ones station in life, thus the more clothing and jewelry that was owned the more prestigious one was thought to be by cloud giants.

Biology
Cloud giants had vision that extended into the infrared, (although this was not infravision,) which allowed them to see particularly well through fog and cloud. They also had an excellent sense of smell.

Abilities
Cloud giants all possessed some control over their namesake, being able to summon forth a cloud of fog and mist at will.

Cloud giants were known to innately have a high affinity for runecasting as well as traditional sorcery.

Combat
As they were often skilled in strategizing, cloud giants often fought with other creatures in well-organized units under a carefully developed plan of attack. A typical tactic among them was encircling an enemy and barraging them with rocks to distract from the spellcasters among them.

When it came to close quarters combat, they were known to favor the use of greatclubs and morningstars that were appropriately sized for their use.

Society
Most cloud giants lived in family units, rather than the standard giant clan. Consisting of a mated pair, their offspring (if any), and a couple of close relatives. When they did gather into clans, they were typically led by older individuals who possessed talent in spellcasting. Every clan, family, and individual cloud giant knew where their nearest neighbors were, even if it was hundreds of miles away. Clans would sometimes join up with one another to engage in trade, throw celebrations, or battle against other threats. Though they preferred not to gather together in too great a number at any one place, knowing their combined treasure hordes would attract adventurers and would-be thieves. But if the need arose in a time of crisis, word would quickly spread among families and cloud giants would assemble.

Because of their appreciation for music, the majority of cloud giants were known to be capable of playing one or more instrument. Harps were one of the most favored instruments among them.

Diet
Many cloud giants were known to hunt for wild game, such as elk, but in general they were avid gardeners, growing gigantic versions of produce. Such as beans the size of turnips, turnips the size of pumpkins, and pumpkins the size of carriages.

They preferred their food to be carefully prepared with a variety of spices and sauces. Giant clouds were also known to have a fondness for finely aged wine.

Lairs
These giants preferred to live in the tallest mountains or even higher if possible. Those with magical talents often create floating castles or cities in which to dwell, held aloft in the sky atop a mass of clouds. Their strongholds always had a space that was devoted to a garden. These were seldom ever affected by drought, frost, or locusts.

Languages
Cloud giants spoke the general giant language Jotun, their own specialized version of it known as Jotunskye, as well as common. They were often illiterate, though to a lesser degree than giant races whose cultures put little value on education, such as hill and fire giants.

Names
Common given names among cloud giants included the following:
 * Males: Ahdaug, Arltulk, Durvaskr, Krokr, Kurruk, Lhammurt, and Vorskar.
 * Females: Agatra, Dagna, Dakkra, Dyrdiss, Eistla, Faena, Faenra, Haelda, Laugra, Yastra, and Ystrid.

Religion
Cloud giants were generally known to worship Stronmaus, though many were patrons of the giant goddess Iallanis. Those that typically had evil tendencies were known to worship Memnor. Beyond the giant pantheon, some cloud giants were known to serve the goddess Aerdrie Faenya.

Relationships
Clouds giants often demanded tribute of from humans and demihuman communities. They viewed tribute as only proper, for they drove many threats from the areas in which they lived and they were so kind as to not simply take what they wanted, though those of a more evil-alignment were liable to simply raid such communities.

Many cloud giant families would offer their bountiful produce to such communities when they became stricken with drought, frost, or locusts. Some cloud giants were even known to engage in trade with them for clothing, food, jewelry, and wine. Some communities established such good relations with nearby cloud giants that they would come to their aid if endangered.

Most cloud giant homes featured one or more pets. The most popular choices among them were creatures of the sky, such as griffons, giant eagles, hippogriffs, owls, and wyverns. Wyverns were more common among the evil-aligned members of this race, who were also known to keep both human and demihuman slaves. They were also known to keep creatures other than those that flew, such as spotted lions and dire lions, with rare creatures treated as more of a status symbol than companions.

Notable cloud giants

 * Fracto-Nimbuli
 * Zephyros

Rumors & Legends
Some folktales spoke of cloud giants mining small chunks of pure silver from the clouds their castles sat upon.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Hoard of the Dragon Queen • Princes of the Apocalypse • Storm King's Thunder
 * Novels:
 * Death Masks • The Titan of Twilight
 * Video Games:
 * Pools of Darkness • Secret of the Silver Blades • Treasures of the Savage Frontier
 * Board Games:
 * Assault of the Giants
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards
 * Gamebooks:
 * Big Trouble
 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * The Howling Void