Tomb giant

Tomb giant

(Creature)

Type

Humanoid
(giant)

CR

12

Environment

Any land or underground

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of tomb giants

Source: Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen, pg(s). 84

Tomb giants are an offshoot of taiga giants dedicated to necromancy.

Appearance

Tomb giants possess rounded features and hairless alabaster skin tattooed with arcane symbols in black ink. Their eyes have black sclerae and ghostly white pupils. They move with an eerie, silent grace, and rarely talk. Tomb giants prefer simple clothing, typically togas at home and hooded cloaks outside. The average tomb giant stands 11 to 13 feet tall, and weighs approximately 1,300 pounds.

History

When a Thassilonian Runelord of Gluttony discovered the taiga giants' ability to sense and direct life energy, he transformed a number of them into the first tomb giants in a secret complex deep underground. He intended to use them as an army of necromancers against the other runelords, but died before he could do so. After a few generations, the tomb giants started to spread across the Darklands.

Ecology

Tomb giants can only conceive children in the hour after they have drained a portion of another creature's life energy. Because of this, they commonly keep prisoners on hand for when they wish to conceive children.

Tomb giants dislike bright lights and open spaces. They are vulnerable to sunburn, but otherwise are not particularly troubled by sunlight. At the age of ten, tomb giants are as big as a human and capable of fighting. Tomb giants mature and gain most of their magical abilities at 50 or 60. They show great skill in creating all manner of undead. They can live for up to 400 years, but view their mortal lives the same way humans view puberty, for after they die, their families and friends will either make them into intelligent undead or use their body parts to create other undead. Undead tomb giants are treated like family elders.

Society

Tomb giants prefer enclosed, underground lairs, usually cave systems. For tomb giants, sentient undeath represents the continuation of self-identity and is the highest hope for those still alive. Some of the most feared tomb giant punishments consist of execution followed by transformation into mindless undead, who are often passed down as family heirlooms.

Tomb giants are circumspect about their own safety, aware that some undead are hostile to the living and commonly create undead from the corpses of lesser creatures to use as servants.

Tomb giants are a secretive race, and go to extraordinary lengths to pursue and capture outsiders who learn of their existence. These prisoners are never seen again, either cooked as food or drained of life force to power the tomb giants' mating rituals before being eaten. Survivors tell tales of pale giants who made light conversation with their victims while preparing to cook them.