The Xuldorai (pronounced k-SOLD-oh-rye), also known as the Scarred Giants, are giants who live in the forests and plains on the southern edge of the Aban Steppe. Highly territorial, the Xuldorai use their chariots pulled by megafauna to aggressively defend the lands they consider to be their own.
Appearance
Fully grown, a Xuldorai giant is slightly shorter than most other giants, but at 15 to 20 feet tall they still tower well above any human. They typically let their hair grow long, rarely cutting it unless in anticipation of a great battle, at which point they roughly chop it off. The Xuldorai practice elaborate scarification in the form of deep, parallel, vertical lines that cover their arms, legs, and faces. Most wear hide clothes and armor.
Location
Xuldorai tribes collectively claim a massive expanse of land in the southern Aban, from the foothills of the Zakros Range in the west to the mountains of the Cage in the east. As a largely nomadic people, they occupy very little of this land at a given time, yet they remain very belligerent against any who would hunt their animals, settle in their territory, or even pass through. Most of this landscape is open grassland, but there are pockets of forest as well, especially around the rivers. The giants often dwell in these forests for protection and move through them to better remain unseen, yet paradoxically others traveling through the region are often safer amongst the trees, as the giants cannot use their feared chariots there.
The Amshani colonies along the northern coast of the Kirnashal Sea are well enough defended that the Xuldorai leave them alone, at least for the most part. The giants do occasionally pass by inland settlements like Giant's Grave and Araziash but generally give the fortified communities a wide berth.
Culture
Religion
See also: Xuld
The religion of the Xuldorai is complex and poorly understood to outsiders. The Amshani think the giants pray to demons, while to the people of Abanir they venerate evil spirits and the Nameless One. In reality, the Xuldorai worship entities they call xuld. The origins and exact nature of the xuld are unclear. Xuldorai religious art depicts them as shadowy figures with horns, multiple eyes, and often many limbs, all traits that very much fit with Amshani notions of demons and Abanir beliefs about evil spirits. But to the Xuldorai, the xuld are far more complicated than the foul beings with which outsiders associate them. The xuld are believed to be the ancestors of the Xuldorai and the progenitors of each of their tribes, from whom they still derive their names. Fickle and prone to violence as they are, the xuld nonetheless are also wise mentors and guardians.
Offerings and sacrifices are given by the giants to the xuld in much the same way as the Abaniri do to their gods. Shamans within the Xuldorai tribes summon the entities only when in dire conditions, as asking them for aid always carries a steep price. None from outside the communities of the giants have yet witnessed such a summoning.
Society
The Xuldorai are split across many tribes, each of which claims its own area of the steppe under the leadership of a shaman-chief, the senior-most of the tribe's religious figures. Despite their aggression towards outsiders, the Xuldorai tribes are generally peaceful towards each others, as long as none violate their declared territory. Tribes typically but do not always maintain at least one permanent village. Some, especially those who live in the flat grasslands in the general vicinity of Harghaan, are entirely nomadic.
To both the nomadic and settled smaller folk of the steppe, the Xuldorai are renowned and feared for their violent and combative attitudes towards non-giants. This belligerent outlook, and the strength to back it up, has kept others away from the southern Aban for a great many centuries, though in more recent years the Abaniri have slowly encroached from the north and the Amshani have built settlements farther and farther inland from the coast. Still, the Xuldorai serve as enough of a deterrent to drive the vast majority of trade along the Hundred Days Road towards its eastern route rather than the southern alternative. The giants are known to attack on sight any who venture forth into their steppe, rarely leaving survivors yet preferring to strike in places where the remains will be found. Their war-chariots, pulled by megafauna like saber-toothed dire cats, are easily capable of running down all but the fastest horses of the Aban. Amongst the targai of the southern steppe, it is commonly said that one might as well remain still when they hear the war-calls of the Xuldorai - at least then they'll die more quickly. Some targai choose to sneak through the rough terrain of the Broken Wheel Hills, where the chariots cannot travel, but even then the giants often patrol the flatter land surrounding this region.
The aggression of the Xuldorai is not without its purpose, however unprovoked it may seem to those who fall victim to it. The giants are well aware of how much food they must consume to support their large forms, and how relatively little the steppe provides them. Their attacks, then, are done to drive away competition for resources lest the herds they hunt grow thin. The fears of the Xuldorai are no idle worrying. Once the giants lived elsewhere across the Aban Steppe, even as far north as the Wildsun Range, but were forced to retreat into their current lands as the smaller peoples around them prospered off the same lands they required.
Languages
See also: Xuldorai (language)
The language spoken by the Xuldorai is evidently an isolate, for no other languages nearby or spoken by giants elsewhere in the world bear any resemblance that is more than circumstantial. Amongst other traits that set it apart, the Xuldorai language has no distinction between adjective and verbs and no real concept of a noun, instead chaining descriptive words to form a compound subject word. As a result the language is quite verbose when spoken formally, as the giants do in their dramatic fireside orations, but everyday use relies heavily on contractions of common terms.
Architecture and migration
Small permanent communities are built by the Xuldorai in the forests that can be found along some parts of the rivers that cross the southern Aban Steppe. Their steep-roofed log shelters are covered with branches and the foliage of trees to provide cover from the elements, and are all arranged in concentric semicircles around a large bonfire site. Any fires in the villages are carefully masked, however, primarily by burning only completely dry wood and surrounding the fire site with stretched hide barriers, as the giants go to great lengths to keep their locations secret.
Only the elders, young, and sick within the Xuldorai remain in these villages for any amount of time, as the giants spend most of their lives on the open steppe. There they use oval-shaped stitched hide tents for shelter, yet unlike in the forests, they make no attempt to hide their presence. The giants learned long ago of the fear other peoples have for them and now use this to their advantage, building bright, smoky fires through the night to announce that they are there. A group of Xuldorai might wander the steppe for months at a time before returning home, but others venture back more frequently, particularly those who act as hunting parties to feed their villages.
Names
Xuldorai names have four parts. The first is referred to as the xuld name, indicating tribal affiliation. The second and third are the individual's maternal and paternal grandfathers, respectively. Finally, the fourth is the given name.