Giants in Grey

The Giants in Grey, or Chu Jen Yin, were a group of legendary creatures of Shou Lung.

Description
The Giants were said to be of great height, standing high or taller, but humanoid in form. They wore flowing leather robes typical of a sohei, and these concealed their appearance. Most distinctively they were entirely gray in both dress and body. They were also surrounded by a thick fog.

Legend
A visitation of the Giants in Grey was said to presage the occurrence of an immense tragedy.

Within the Faith of the Nine Travelers, appearances of the Giants in Grey were claimed to be miracles worked by the Nine Immortals. A small sect of the faith even worshiped the Giants in Grey themselves, such as at the Temple of the Nine Travelers in Manass in Khazari.

Gray-clad giants figured in Wei Tsao Te's Shichi Hsi, a collection of history, legend, and official history, amidst other fantastical matters.

History
The Giants in Grey were first sighted in Shou Lung in Shou Year 703 (−547 DR). A huge earthquake destroyed the province shortly afterwards.

In Shou Year 858 (−392 DR), the Giants in Grey appeared in the then Imperial Capital, Hai Sheng, in the Imperial Compound itself. The following year, Shou Year 859 (−391 DR), saw the outbreak of the Ivory Plague. The disease decimated the population of the city and even killed the first Emperor Chin of the Hai Dynasty and most of his household and family.

Sightings of the Giants in Grey were made across the empire in Shou Year 980 (−270 DR), before blight struck the coastal lowlands, causing crops to fail.

In Wa Year 669 (251 DR), the Giants were also seen at least once in the nation of Wa, during the final battle between shogun Nitta Shogoro and the Shou Lung forces when the Hidden Shogun drove them from Wa at last and freed his island. Shogoro proclaimed the Giants' presence as a sign of the doom of the Shou Lung Emperor.

The Giants in Grey also heralded the birth of the twin sons of the thirteenth Emperor Chin of the La Dynasty, Shin Lu and Shin Ginsen, in Shou Year 2294 (1044 DR). They would go on to split the empire into Shou Lung and T'u Lung.

The Giants in Grey had not been witnessed for several generations by Shou Year 2607 (1357 DR).