Ollmhor

Ollmhor also known simply as Giants are a potentially mythological race that appears several times within early Gilnean folklore. Attributed as just a common theme of the era that details them, Ollmhor comes from a Galui word that means monstrously huge. The giants were claimed to roam Gilneas during the era before the Arathorians came and according to folklore, they spoke a mangled tongue that sounded like a bastardization of Galui. They were later found to be a real thing during the Wicker Uprising in The Reach. Speaking Galui and some unknown language, the Ollmhor threatened to kill the humans of the Reach. These giants seemed to be led by Tolrigg the Flamebelcher, a fire wielding ollmhor. Their leader was slain by Borin Crakeriver and Briana Haven, leading to a scattering of the Ollmhor after the Wickers lost. Though it is unknown if any of the history of the Ollmhor are true, or if the Ollmhor are some sort of twisted summoned creature, they now wander the Reach. It is rare to see an Ollmhor, though they do occasionally make themselves known.

Attributed to being similar to large deformed humans, mention of the Ollmhor died out around the time of the arrival of Arathor. Several existing stories, archived at the time by the arriving Arathorians or those of early Gilneas that began to take on the Empire's new ways, claimed the Ollmhor were hunted to extinction or used as beasts of war and killed off. They were claimed to have notoriously low intelligence and bred slowly. As a result, Ollmhor, according to the legends, were not populous outside of their own settlements.

Tales claim that the Ollmhor ascended into the mountains, a tale that was later verified by the Council of the Coimeádaí, whom revealed what remained of the race lived in a snowy valley known as the Ollmhori Wastes. There, they lived in villages spread around the edges of the mountains, co-existing off the game that seemed plentiful among their region. Remarkably, they even show capability for farming, dismissing the notion that they are just lumbering oafs.

Culture


Ollmhor, in nearly all accounts, were not detailed as cultured. Unable to comprehend the process of making things such as a bow or more complex tools, Ollmhor society was primitive. Living in massive huts constructed of fallen trees and animal pelts, the Ollmhor were said to stay in groups, akin to a clan like system. The Ollmhor hunted in groups, using their numbers to swarm their prey and large tools, which often consisted of a club made of a fallen tree, to mass hunt. As a result, they typically relied on slower prey or more dangerous animals.

The Ollmhor were said to vary in relation to humans. Tales of slaughtering Ollmhor were not uncommon, as were the opposite of Ollmhor slaughtering humans. One of the most famous tales, Josef the Giantslayer, details the account of an Reach born man and his band of allies, being that of a pagan healer, an archer of unknown descent, and a warrior of Arathor, as they set off on the quest to see the Ollmhor driven to extinction. At the same time, there were also tales of Ollmhor living with humans or interacting in a friendly manner (in some cases they even claimed breeding). They were said to speak an odd guttural language that sounded like a bastardization of Galui.

No tales detail the leadership system of the Ollmhor, though it is presumed that the largest Ollmhor of the group was to be seen as a leader, be they male or female. This theory is supposed as many tales claim the Ollmhor scattered after the largest was slain, be it from fear or a lack of leadership. Ollmhor attire was also noted as primitive. Some dressed bare, with either nothing or little to cover their genitals, while some dressed in bark and hide armor. This inconsistency in the Ollmhor has led to many different interpretations, with some theorizing that some Ollmhor were smarter than others, while others merely claim it to be romanticism on part of story tellers on an already far fetched idea.

The Ollmhor were claimed to use odd magics, though it is not detailed into what this exactly pertained to.