Hill giant camp of Chief Groote

This was a broad hill giant steading situated high in the Ice Spires mountain range of northwest Faerûn.

Geography
This steading was situated in the rolling foothills of the northern Ice Spires, southeast of the Eternal Blizzard. Its largest portion stood atop four hills, overlooking a small valley that stood between it and the valley of Hartsvale.

Cutting between those four hills was an icy stream, which issued from a lake higher up in the Ice Spires. At the center of this steading the stream was dammed, forming a shallow pool that acted as a water supply. For a half of every year the stream and its pool were frozen solid. Outside of the camp was large pit leading into an underground network of tunnels that connected to an arm of the Underdark, though that passage was sealed off by the residents and the tunnels were converted into a storage space.

Description
Most buildings in this steading were constructed of piled rocks, cemented together by a thick paste the resident giants had drawn from animal fat. The rooves of buildings, as well as the catwalks that connected them, were sloppily hewn from the wood of coniferous species of tree.

Most inhabitants lived and worked within large tents, crafted from the hides of krotters, that were scattered around the perimeter of the steading.

Government
Life in this steading was rather loose and unregimented, though there were six categories of responsibility that the hill giants divided themselves into.
 * Fetchers: The assistants of the gluttons, who each served a specific one. Hill giants assigned this responsibility were typically among the steading's best and brightest, as part of an effort to groom them for later greatness. The best of gluttons would call upon them to handle the minor details of their position.
 * Gatherers: These were the hill giants responsible for procuring foodstuffs that couldn't simply be gathered or hunted from the wild. They used the steading's vast treasure horde to purchase items from merchants, often paying double or triple what an item was worth due to considering the horde otherwise useless.
 * Gluttons: The highest social status within the steading. These hill giants handled its affairs, legislated and enforce its rules, and directed the activities of the lower classes. Their most important duties were supervising hunting, gathering, and the creation of new recipes. Failure to live up to their responsibilities resulted in severe dishonor, thus instilling such a sense of pressure that some resorted to trickery or dishonesty to meet quotas.
 * Herders: These were the hill giants that tended to the steading's livestock. They were also responsible for butchering them, though most of that was carried out by slaves operating under their direction. They were usually trained in various techniques of caring and feeding that could radically fatten the animals they cared for.
 * Hoarders: These were the hill giants responsible for storing things, such as perishables and kitchen supplies, and for reporting inventory levels to the appropriate gatherers. Due to the clumsy nature of hill giants, at least one fourth of everything they stored was ruined or spoiled before it could be put to use. Despite that, their tribe had sophisticated food storage methods. Involving the salting, smoking, and freezing of various foodstuffs.
 * Hunters: These were the hill giants responsible for venturing out into the hills and mountains that surrounded their steading in search of prey, which occurred roughly once a week.
 * Priests: These hill giants were not considered one of the central duties of the steading, but they operated simultaneously outside and inside of the social strata. Priests strove to ensure that the steading's people remained faithful to Annam All-Father and the rest of the Giant pantheon, but particularly revered their race's patron deity Grolantor.
 * Storkokk: Otherwise known in Common as a "chief", the hill giant within this role acted as the leader of the steading.

History
This steading was founded in approximately 1166 DR, after hill giants were chased out Hartsvale's gentler hills by the man known as Hartkiller. In the years that followed the nobility of Hartsvale would make many attempts to drive them further away from the valley, wanting greater security for their caravans that traveled through the northern fringes, but their efforts were to no avail.

Around 1366 DR, the grand ruler of all hill giant tribes in the Ice Spires, Chief Noote, developed friendly relations with the royal family of Hartsvale. As a result, that kingdom's long standing feuding with the hill giant tribes came to an end. Following this event the steading's hunters were forced to cease their practice of capturing human game. Instead limiting themselves to bears, griffons, ogres, and any other exotic prey they came across.

Inhabitants
In the mid-14 century DR, over sixty hill giants inhabited this steading, three of which were priests, along with a dozen fomorian slaves and a menagerie of animals. The livestock of the steading was primarily goats and krotters, though they also had cows and the facilities necessary for caging more exotic creatures, including demihumans.

Notable Inhabitants

 * Groote, the chieftain of the steading.
 * Girog, one of the steading's highest ranked gatherers.
 * Gorgg, one of the steading's gluttons.