Shadow giants, or “shadow people” as they called themselves, were large undead creatures of solidified shadow.
Every shadow giant was the descendant to the ancient halflings that once served Rajaat, the Warbringer during the Cleansing Wars. Following the betrayal of the Champions, they were exiled to the shadowy realm of the Black, sentenced to remain there due to the part they played in the calamity and because of their allegiance to the First Sorcerer. These halflings merged with the Black and from then on, could only interact with the real world in the form of shadows.
The shadow giants spoke both the ancient language of Ur Draxa – which was also spoken by the civilized halfling nations of the Green Age – and the common tongue of the Tyr region.
Description[]
Shadow giants varied in appearance depending on the amount of light they were exposed to.
In low light, shadow giants appeared as only vaguely humanoid silhouettes, with long, ropey limbs attached to a serpentine body. When exposed to light, they would grow more substantial, becoming like three-dimensional shadows, as tall as a half-giant. When in sunlight, shadow giants were known to rise as tall as 25 feet in height.
Blue lights, like sapphire embers, burned in place of their eyes, and when they spoke, a wide blue gash would open up where their mouth should be, accompanied by roiling black fumes.
Before the death of the Dragon of Tyr in Free Year 10, the shadow giants could only emerge partially from the Black, appearing as described above. Following this, however, they could take on the form of half-shadows in the material world, appearing simultaneously as both halflings and shadow creatures. In this state, their halfling portions were susceptible to normal attacks.
Combat[]
An encounter with a shadow giant could prove quite deadly, as they could drain their victims of strength through merely a touch. Whether striking with their shadowy fists, or by a concentrated effort, each of the giants’ attacks would draw strength from their foes. The longer contact is maintained, the more strength the giant is able to drain, and once all strength had been drawn, the victim would fall unconscious. Only after awakening once more can the targeted creature start to regain its strength.
When gripped by a shadow giant, one would start to become covered in inky blackness, the shadowy grasp expanding from the point of contact. The black would also draw heat from the victim, leaving them with a cold, numbing pain throughout the affected areas. A similar thing would happen to any normal weapons that struck the giant, as they would simply pass through them. A weapon that passed through a shadow giant would become brittle and covered in darkness, threatening to shatter like ice upon impact. Only the most potent of magical weapons could harm a shadow giant.
Another tactic of the shadow giant included pulling its target into the Black. If the shadow giant released a target while in the Black, the victim becomes stuck there, without means of returning to the normal world.
Due to their shadowy nature, bright light served to strengthen the shadow giants, and would cause them to grow larger, more substantial, and could even heal wounds they had sustained. On the other hand, in darkness, they fared far worse, growing weak – as there can exist no shadows without a light source.
Shadow giants were immune to being charmed or put to sleep, as well as being held, and against attacks that would otherwise cause cold damage. Strangely enough, though, they were extremely susceptible to pure magic. Defilers and Preservers alike who targeted a shadow giant with a magical spell would find that the spells normal effects failed, and yet, the shadow giant would feel the pain of the raw magical energies unleashed – the mightier the spell, the more agony would affect the giant.
Ecology[]
Shadow giants normally dwelt in dark reaches of the Black, but some could also be found inside the Pristine Tower.
It is unknown what shadow giants ate – or if they even did so or needed to at all. They did, however, desire and crave obsidian. They used obsidian orbs, gathered on Athas, as eggs to incubate their young. A deal struck between the shadow giants and a Urikite noble house secured a hundred perfectly shaped obsidian spheres each year.
Prominent Shadow Giants[]
- Umbra – Umbra was a part of the Urikite army during Hamanu’s campaign against Tyr in Free Year 2, preserving a deal he had struck with lord Maetan of House Lubar. He would go on to be defeated by Rikus in an ancient citadel dedicated to Borys of Ebe.
Sources[]
- The Crimson Legion. Troy Denning. TSR, Inc. 1992.
- Monstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix II: Terrors Beyond Tyr. Anne Gray McCready (Ed.). TSR Inc, 1995.