Aesir

The Aesir are giants who make their homes in hill country and mountain ranges scattered across the known world. Their ancestors were the Jotun, the frost giants, but are smaller and a good deal cleverer. To human eyes they are towering, often wild-eyed, and genuinely frightening when roused. Their skin ranges from tan through dark brown to black, and their hair from light brown to auburn.

An Aesir's life is short, yet age does little to weaken the body; stories of clan chiefs past seventy still leading their warriors into battle are common. They bear children about as often as humans do, but for reasons no one understands 40% of their infants die, so their clans are close-knit but small.

No race feels things more intensely. A happy Aesir bellows with laughter and a sad one sulks for hours; slow to anger, an enraged Aesir is a terrifying sight. They seldom nurse grudges and bear no ill will toward any other humanoid race. They are especially fond of dwarves, whom they call their "little brothers" and have helped in wars against the trolls. Trolls and ogres are their hated foes, and Aesir clans often war on them.

Aesir delight in battle and rank among the fiercest warriors anywhere. Apart from their own shamans they have little aptitude for magic, and their love of the sea sometimes draws them into work as sailors, marines or corsairs.

Size cuts both ways in play. An Aesir gains +2 on saves vs STR and +1 damage per attack, and can carry 20 lb per point of STR, but most ordinary armor, equipment and some weapons are useless to them; they are far too brutish for bows or slings, and only the biggest, costliest warhorses can bear one without collapsing.