Herald and Allies: Vanua’s herald is an efreeti with 30 Hit Dice. His allies are Medium, Large, and Huge fire elementals. Favored Weapon: Heavy flail.
HISTORY AND FOLKLORE
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GOLIATHS
Mualio Lonehunter is a legend among the goliath tribes
CHAPTER 3
The Path into Icydark Decades ago, a well-organized band of frost giants under the leadership of Jarl Raurekk roamed the mountains, hiring every able-bodied goliath they could find to build an ice fortress called Haladath. The giants promised the goliaths payment in gold, armor, and weapons. But when Haladath was ready, Raurekk’s soldiers shackled the goliaths together and began marching them north through the mountains to a land where night conquered day. Many goliaths died along the way due to starvation, the bitter cold, or the cruelty of their captors. Some were forced to eat the corpses of the fallen to survive. None returned from the frozen north. Ever since, many goliath tribes honor their memory with a mournful chant to Kavaki delivered while the tribe faces north and weeps. No one knows why Raurekk marched the goliaths north, nor their ultimate destination. A few goliath escapees and frost giant deserters told
Mualio Lonehunter Perhaps the most famous goliath of all is Mualio Lonehunter, a goliath ranger with a peerless gift for stalking the most elusive game. For centuries, goliaths have told tales of Mualio
Illus. by D. Crabapple & J. Jarvis
Because they rarely travel beyond their mountain migrations, goliaths have had little influence on the events of the wider world—thus far. Nonetheless, when goliaths tell tales of their own history, they are as full of great heroes, perfidious villains, and epic struggles as the histories of other races. The following events and people are central to the goliaths’ oral tradition. Every goliath who grew up in a goliath tribe has heard them, but these stories are almost unheard of in the outside world. Each bit of goliath history detailed below has an associated adventure hook that describes a possible way for the event to Holy symbol of Vanua be worked into an ongoing campaign.
tales of the harrowing journey, but they didn’t know the answers to several perplexing questions: Why did Raurekk build a fortress he never used? What led him into the darkness of the northern mountains? Why did he betray and imprison the goliaths? Adventure Hook: The descendants and relatives of the missing goliaths want adventurers willing to walk the Path into Icydark and return their family members to them. Unfortunately, such an endeavor involves more than simply forming an expedition to the north. A cabal of undead controls Haladath now, and the few survivors of the Path into Icydark are widely scattered among goliath tribes and frost giant steadings. The mountains of the far north feature an array of hazards both natural and malevolent that have so far kept anyone from mounting a serious rescue effort.
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