Firbolg

Firbolgs were a reclusive race of giant-kin who preferred to avoid contact with other sentient races. They were both the most intelligent and the most powerful of the giant-kin.

Description
"Well, now. They live in the Big Cave – here in the fens. They look like you, as, of course, I said already, except they're much taller and broader and, well, hairier, and their noses are huge, I mean they just hang out of their faces like a limb hangs off a tree, and, well, they smell bad, and ..."

- Newt, the faerie dragon

Firbolgs resembled humans,  and the males would sport great, thick beards. Their thick, tough skin was fleshy pink, and their hair, though it came in many colors, was usually either red or blond and worn long. A firbolg's voice was deep and smooth, and they tended to roll their consonants when speaking.

Firbolgs were typically over tall, averaging a height of about. While firbolgs from other worlds weighed more than, those of Faerûn were lighter, with males being about  and females about.

The firbolgs of the Moonshae Isles were said to be considerably ugly.

Abilities
The average firbolg was stronger than a forest bear. Beyond sheer physical strength, they had innate magical abilities. Firbolgs were said to be resistant to magic. They could sense the presence of magical auras innately. They also had the power to change their physical appearance,   including making themselves larger or smaller. They sometimes used this magical power to blend in or interact with smaller races.

They had excellent vision at night and could perhaps see in the dark. Some sages claimed that firbolgs had regenerative abilities. Other sages reported that firbolgs could make themselves turn invisible. They were also said to be able to communicate to a limited effect with both plants and animals of their forest homes.

Personality
Firbolgs enjoyed quiet time in the woods, in harmony with nature. The forests were sacred to them and symbolized the heart of the earth and the adaptability of life. They saw themselves as the forests' caretakers.

While firbolgs of other worlds may have had tendencies toward a variety of alignments, those of Faerûn were usually lawful good in alignment, although they were seen as maug ("unholy" or "dishonorable" ) creatures by other giants, because of the sin of the goddess Othea.

Firbolgs considered greed to be one of the worst vices. They believed that one should only ever take what one needs and no more. They saw no value in material wealth such as gems and gold, but sometimes would find prankish ways of taking valuables from strangers, out of a sense of fun.

Firbolgs believed that charity was a virtue but also believed that it was harmful for the recipient to know the identity of the provider; because of this they appeared to be reclusive amongst the other races, although they were very sociable with established friends. They were extremely honest and could not lie without feeling physical discomfort, even if the lie was by omission.

Firbolgs tended to be over-confident and fearless, except for a pervasive phobia of humanoid mobs. They saw the wearing of armor as cowardly, and thus did not usually wear armor. Nor did they carry shields.

Firbolgs were cautious and shrewd in their dealings with outsiders. They distrusted most humans  and demihumans. Among non-giants, they were neutral with druids, elves, and fey. They were on good terms with storm giants, whom they looked up to and tried to emulate, but they avoided other giant races, and actively fought against the other giant-kin.

Combat
If provoked, firbolgs were formidable opponents, skilled both in physical combat and druidic magics. They preferred massive weapons, such as two-handed swords and halberds. They were strong enough to wield most human-made weapons in a single hand.

In battle, firbolgs fought tactically and relied on teamwork. They were adept at batting away or catching projectiles,  and had excellent throwing arms, like any giant did. They could easily toss a large rock weighing around.

Society
Firbolgs had a family-centered, clan-based society. They lived in settlements in remote hilly or forested areas. Their settlements were strongholds, including wooden structures, built from the trees around them, with defensive towers with catwalks between them. Rarely, they inhabited cavern complexes dug into the hillsides. They used their magic to ensure that their homes remained a secret to outsiders. These clan settlements were small, with between about four and sixteen members, often with a shaman or druid, and lived separate from each other. A few firbolg clans were nomadic.

A typical firbolg home was a huge one-story log building with strong walls. A large fireplace with multiple openings warmed a central common room.

As caretakers of the woods, they carefully and resourcefully lived off the land, making sure to ensure balance. During summer, they stored excess nuts, fruits, and berries, so that they could provide food to the forest animals during winter. Although they did farm, it was only to supplement their diets; they preferred a more hunter-gatherer lifestyle, rather than the brigand/raider lifestyle of many other giants. Their hunting grounds were usually spread out in a radius from their clan homes. They ate small portions of meat with most meals, and reserved large roasts of meat for special celebrations.

Most firbolg tribes preferred isolation from other races, avoiding their politics and struggles. If intruders entered their territory, they would usually try an indirect approach at causing the "invaders" to leave&mdash;driving game away to discourage hunters or redirecting streams or forest trails to confuse parties. If these methods failed, the firbolgs would at last confront the outsiders. If the outsiders seemed peaceful, the firbolgs would peacefully ask them to leave; if the outsiders seemed evil or seemed to have no concern for the forest lands, the firbolgs might mount a devastating attack. On occasion, they would trade with peaceful folk living nearby in exchange for providing services utilizing their great strength.

Firbolg adventurers were rare and most often were individuals separated from their tribes&mdash;orphans, exiles, lone survivors, or the like. A few adventured to gain knowledge.

Firbolgs seemed to have a natural tendency toward druidic magics, and many of their chieftains were thus druids. Others became rangers or fighters. Other adventuring vocations were rare; firbolg monks were completely unknown. About five percent of firbolgs encountered were shamans.

Firbolg communities were known to rally around individuals who contracted lycanthropy, rather than shun them, using all resources at their disposal to help the afflicted find a cure.

Government
The firbolgs had rejected the ordning, the customary social order amongst giants and giant-kin, and preferred to exercise free will by using a system called "the code". This was conceived in ancient times, although its exact origins had been lost, and a written copy was usually required to be carried by all firbolgs, but the exact implementation varied from one community to the next. It promoted the idea that the society was the most important aspect and superseded the individual. Actions were more important than relatives or heritage. If "the code" was breached, a firbolg might be enslaved within their own tribe or banished completely, although transgressions were uncommon. The implications of "the code" meant that the firbolgs would treat all intelligent creatures as equals, and thus they did not exhibit the same superior attitude that other giants and giant-kin displayed. For every decision made, they considered the effects on the forest and the rest of the natural world. During a famine, they would rather go hungry themselves than strain the land.

Firbolgs had a rough form of democracy known as "the cast". This involved summoning all the firbolgs in a tribe who then would cast their vote on an issue by using a rune-engraved stone. The actual "casting" of votes varied from clan to clan. In some cases, it involved literally tossing the stones. At one firbolg settlement in the Cold Mountains, they had built an enormous scale, and set their votes in the appropriate weighing pan.

Exile was often used as a form of punishment for an unforgivable act, such as killing a rare or beautiful animal or starting a forest fire. An outcast firbolg was never permitted to return home.

Nearby clans would gather once a year at the fall solstice at an enclave to settle any disputes among the clans. Shamans would preside over such events, which often simply were a time of celebration.

Religion
In general, firbolgs admired the goddess Iallanis. However, the firbolgs of the Moonshae Isles were an exception to this. They worshiped the demigod Grond Peaksmasher, thought by religious scholars to be the son of Hiatea. While in truth, the firbolgs were descendants of Othea and Ulutiu, the firbolgs of the Moonshaes believed that Grond carved them from stone and that the dwarves were the result of the "leftovers" of this process. Before Grond was reawakened, many of the firbolgs of the Isles were ruled by Kazgaroth, an aspect of Malar.

On the Moonshaes, the worship of Grond was originally led by shamans, but after Grond's reawakening, priests became active. Grond's priests were allied with the druids of the Earthmother.

Language
Firbolgs had their own tongue, but also spoke Common,    Giant,   and Elven. Sometimes, firbolgs who interacted with outsiders took elven names. The traveler Volothamp Geddarm reported that firbolgs had no names for themselves or their homes, but there were many named firbolgs and tribes in the region of Hartsvale in the North.

Biology
Firbolg pregnancies were typically about two years long. This was much longer than other giant-kin, who had pregnancies roughly equivalent to humans. Firbolgs reached adulthood at about 30 years, and could live as many as 500 years. Some scholars postulated that this long life was because firbolgs had fey blood, but most giant races had long lifespans.

Firbolgs consumed about twice as much as a human to survive.

Lycanthropy
Firbolgs were known to be highly susceptible to all forms of lycanthropy, though somehow immune to being afflicted with the wereraven form of the condition.

History
The firbolg race was created when Othea, wife of the giant deity Annam All-Father, had an affair with Ulutiu. While, as noted above, the firbolgs of the Moonshae Isles believed themselves created from the rock of the islands, the other races of those islands held to legends that the firbolgs crawled out of the sea, called forth by the Beast.

Like all the giant-kin races, the firbolgs were never granted a portion land by Annam from which to found their own "dynasty" inside the kingdom of Ostoria. They were initially welcomed by their fellow giants and learned their ways, but once their true parentage had been discovered by Annam he cast them out. They became excluded from the societies of true giants, despite Othea's best efforts to protect them.

In -5000 DR, in a great conflict with the land's dwarves, Grond Peaksmasher was imprisoned on Oman's Isle beneath the great Ice Peak. Without his guidance, the firbolgs of the Moonshae Isles over time degenerated into a barbaric culture little better than that of hill giants, engaging in violent raids against the humans of the islands.

In -2000 DR, a race of giants known as the fomorians were brought to the Moonshae Isles by the Beast's master, and they overpowered the native firbolg tribes, taking them as slaves. After a couple generations of forced breeding, the firbolgs of the Moonshae Isles began to assume some of the same disfigurements commonly associated with fomorians.

In 1365 DR, the firbolgs managed to awaken their patron god Grond Peaksmasher with the aid of Deirdre Kendrick. Grond then sought to elevate the firbolgs back to their full potential and culture. At this time, many of the firbolgs of the Isles began migrating to Oman's Isle to live in isolation from the other races.

Notable Firbolgs

 * Tavis Burdun
 * Galgadayle
 * Morten
 * Orvis Torval, a member of the City Watch of Waterdeep.
 * Raeyadfourne
 * Vander

Notable Firbolg Clans

 * Meadowhome
 * Helligbror
 * Kappebror
 * Kriggabror

Trivia
The Fir Bolg were a debatably historic people of debatable origin, who, if they were real, lived at one time and then again in Ireland. The "fir" in firbolg means "men" (plural, fear singular), with the whole name meaning, potentially "men of the belly", "men of the bag", or "men of baggy breeches", though historians are not exactly sure of the origin.

Volo's Guide to Monsters uses inconsistent plurals of this already plural word, with inconsistent usage even within the same paragraph. A person is not a firbolg, but rather of the firbolg.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Halls of the High King • The Orrery of the Wanderer
 * Video Games
 * Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
 * Novels
 * Darkwalker on Moonshae • Darkwell • Night Masks • The Druid Queen • The Chaos Curse • The Giant Among Us • The Titan of Twilight
 * Prophet of Moonshae
 * Board Games
 * Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters: Trouble in Waterdeep
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards • Spellfire: Master the Magic •
 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * A Dish Best Served Cold
 * A Dish Best Served Cold