A) Why HGs were now shadows of their former selves
B) That they were originally willing to do whatever it took to regain their former stature
C) A convienent backstory for my PC.
NOTE: This story is (partially) based off a character sketch.
Sandstrider Harrowking is the name of my PC. His stats are as follows:
Half-Giant Mineral Warrior, Soulknife 3 (Now SK 4); current ECL 6
STR: 25
DEX: 15
CON: 23
INT: 14
WIS: 15
CHA: 13
He's a good-natured sort of fellow, though he insists on burrowing into the ground each night when the party makes camp -- he was raised by Duegar (Dark Dwarves), so it makes him feel at home. He also strongly dislikes the color black. [FYI, he randomly slaughtered the DM's plot hook, which was a pair of female Assassin-monks dressed head-to-toe in black, with cloaks up.] I further envision him as somewhat pale for his race, having been raised in the Underdark and all. Maybe off-white or lightly tanned rather than the burnished copper common to his race. His hair is blonde, though I won't trouble you with the backstory on that one. As the plot in the game develops, I plan on him being revealed as an heir to the Half-Giant throne...though nobody knows he even exists at this point. His ancestors were captured by Duegar 7-8 generations ago, and they were believed dead. Unlike the average slaves of the Dark Dwarves, his ancestors not only lived through their captivity (long enough to reproduce, anyway), but thrived in it. He's not particularly religious, so that's not an issue.
When I say raised, I don't mean in a 'friendly-happy-upbringing' sort of way. He knew nothing but work for the first portion of his life until he escaped from his Duegar masters. He's now fallen in with an adventuring party (started as a caravan guard) and is nowhere near the Underdark.
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Sandstrider Harrowking is the last scion (or only free one) of a noble lineage. Raised in slavery, yet unbroken; unbowed.
He wears a diadem upon his brow. Sure, the players in the campaign and I know that our noble Half-Giant found it in a rotting bag hung from the waist of an Ettin he had just slain. We also know it had a dead humaniod head inside, and that Sandstrider dumped out the rotting head and put it on without washing it, and it magically resized itself to fit him, but nobody else knows that. What you and I (and the DM as soon as I send him an email) know that nobody else knows is that this was a long-lost artifact (it'll start as a wonderous item; he's only fifth level, after all) (now 6th) of the Half-Giant people, brought by them from their former homeworld of Athas. They had to nourish their developing psionic powers in secret, lest they be slaughtered by their masters; the first opportunity to test the portal they created to escape Athas came mere seconds after it was created. It was a brilliant first attempt -- but flawed, as most first attempts are. The portal worked, but it's energies twisted and changed the Half-Giants into mere shadows of their former selves.
Having arrived in this new realm, they found that they'd shrunk...that while they were originally 10-12 feet tall, the tallest of them was now a mere 8 feet in height. Instead of being incredibly hardy and strong, but not terribly bright, they were now only slightly tougher than the average human, and extremely musclebound. They still had much of their former muscle mass, but the body it had to fit onto was much, much smaller. Having all that muscle allows them to wield formidable weaponry, but they seem unable to handle things with their former gracefulness.
The diadem in question was twisted and warped by the energies of the flawed portal as well. It was originally the Crown worn by the Queen of the Half-Giant race, created in the slave pens of Athas for a sorcerer-king, and stolen back by it's creators moments before their flight. It is part of the Regalia of the Burnt Desert, and the sole item believed to have made it through the portal. The components of the Regalia were three: The Balefire Blade, a Burning Orb, and a Awe-Enduing Crown. The fate of the Orb is unknown; it was last seen in the possession of the Sorcerer-King. The Blade was wielded in the name of the Sorcerer-King by the King of the Half-Giants, as they marched forth to conquer the remainder of the world. When the Half-Giants opened their portal, he was on the far side of the world, and was teleported to the gate by the Sorcerer-King. But he was not teleported alone. He was teleported with the remainder of the mightiest host Athas had ever seen, and led the charge to the gate. Whether the Giantking intended to join his people in freedom or bring them back in chains is unclear; he was renowned for his loyalty to the Sorcerer-King; but the love affair betwixt him and the Queen is the stuff of legends; little Half-Giant girls sigh endlessly over the tales of that time to this day.
Wether his sense of duty and loyalty to the Sorcerer-King or the love he had for his wife would have prevailed is unclear...what is clear is that he dove into the Gate as it was being closed, and was never heard from again, on either Athas or their new home. The Blade remains lost to this day.
It is said, among the Half-Giant people, that someday One of the Line will come who will reform the Crown, wield the Blade, and return to Athas to claim the Orb from the Sorcerer-King. When He comes, it is foretold that He will rebuild the shattered Half-Giant people into a mighty nation, reclaim all three components of the Regalia, and restore the Half-Giant people to their former shape. Sadly, the Line perished eight generations ago, and few are those who remember the Line. As each generation lives and dies, fewer are those who hear the stories. Fewer still are those who believe in the Prophecy. These are dark times for the Half-Giant people.
The first stanza of the Prophecy is the most perplexing of all: He will come from the darkest of the night. He will come with the dying of the light. Seek the words that Burn in the Light. Wreathed in crystal shall he be, the Bringer of the Light, the Rejoiner of the Three.
This makes no sense, even to the most devout of believers...for the Line was broken in an ambush by the Perfidious Dark Elves. Though the city that launched the attack was slaughtered to an infant, no trace of the Crown was ever found.
There is a proverb amongst the Half-Giant people, though they know not it's origin: The candle that ignites in the darkest of night casts far more light than one lit in the light of the midday sun.
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What do you think? Is that a decent port of the Half-Giants? If not, please suggest your own variant...
Personally - as I have a problem with the idea of the Half-Giant even seeing themselves as a "people", and they are not normally considered too bright, I think there's a major flaw in the logic that, as a people, the Half-Giants would be able to achieve what Rajaat and many, many psions and wizards have never been able to do. Especially since most Half-Giants are little more than slaves, being (if I recall) the second-most-popular race for being used as a slave - merely because of their big, brutish size and and usefulness in labor and gladiatorial tasks. But, as I said, your approach is.....creative.