Creature:Faer Gorm

"Hmmm. A pretty little ship we have here. Surely, such rich owners have lots of gold an' silver to give up, or can recite a worthy poem, hmm?"

- A Faer Gorm Giant Chief to a traveling merchant ship

The Faer Gorm are a blue-skinned race of Giants native to the waters near territory belonging to the. Though not strongly affiliated like many others, the Faer Gorm can be found, at times, fighting alongside the Mendel, and protecting their fisheries and wharfs from pirates. Faer Gorm require large amounts of water, salt or no, to survive, and, as such, a Faer Gorm will rarely leave the oceans, rivers and lakes where he resides, unless he feels it necessary. To outsiders, the Faer Gorm are often mistaken as lummoxes and mindless brutes, used by the Mendel to bash away their foes and smash boats that enter Mendel territory.

However, the Faer Gorm are far from mindless brutes, and their tests of skill often involve the reciting of poems and epics among their kind, and, often, in their underwater drinking halls and as such, will commonly challenge each other to trade insults in rhyme and music form, to test both the skill of the individual, and their quickness to come up with counters and other insults.

Early Times
Like the Elves that inhabit the hills near Mendel territory, Faer Grom inhabit the oceans, rivers, lakes and, sometimes, ponds of water near Mendel lands. As the Mendel know more of them then they do the Sidhai, Mendel farming communities have a long history with the Faer Grom, and will commonly leave them massive amounts of salted meat and strong kegs of alcohol to appease a Faer Grom, due to their control of water. Faer Grom Tribes spent much of their time, however, away from the Mendel, not amused with their inter-tribal warfare, and, at one point, when the Ugandalorians and Kodalorians fought, the two began throwing their foes' bodies into the nearby rivers, clogging the water with blood and gore.

Angered at this, the Faer Gorm tribes inhabitation the rivers summoned up their powers of water, and created a terrible storm, destroying the holdings of the two Clans, and forcing them to flee rather then face further destruction. The Faer Gorm, for their part, not only expanded their watery holdings, but also received much in abandoned alcohol from their former neighbors.

Since then, the Faer Gorm have guarded Mendel water ways form pirates, either demanding copious amounts of beer, spirit and other alcohol, or money from them. More often, Faer Gorm will surface, and their chieftain will demand the passers-by will finish their poem. If none of these can be satisfied, the Faer Gorm will sink their ship. Faer Gorm are, like the oceans, capricious and unpredictable, sometimes ignoring ships, other times attacking them.

After the unification of the Tribes, the Faer Gorm joined their land-bound kin, and became especially close to the Togunda, a race of sea-bound Dwarfs. Though they are rare outside of water, some Faer Gorm will join their allies' armies to fight alongside them, in hopes of some loot and alcohol.

Culture
Faer Gorm, to outsiders, are hard-drinking, bullying creatures, more at home using their strength and clubs to bash aside creatures and boats, then talking reasonably with anyone. However, these blue-skinned giants are more then capable of speaking and discussing more esoteric and philosophical matters with others. Often, in a challenge to their foes, when their boats pass through their territory, the Faer Gorm Chieftain, or one of his "Teulu", will rise from the waters, and challenge the skipper or captain of the ship to finish a poem, and, if done so well-enough, the Faer Gorm will let them pass.

Though they drink heavily, and curse often, the Faer Gorm are hardly the ugly brutes many mistake them for, and, like the Togunda Dwarfs, take the protection of the sea very seriously. As such, they rarely leave their sea-bound habitats, and often guard Mendel ships and allied boats that come through their territory.

The Faer Gorm have little central government, most answering to Tribal chieftains, and avoiding disputes with each other, often settling them with the writing of songs and lyrics, and, once satisfied, they will believe the dispute settled.

Behavior
Often, to outsiders, Faer Gorm will project the image of an unkempt barbarian, often drunk and cursing at their foes or passers-by, and demanding certain things, or else they will use their hefty clubs to crack open a ship. Many still believe a Faer Gorm nothing more then cannibalistic savages, though the truth is far different.

Faer Gorm are deeply poetic, reciting and, among the more skilled, speaking entirely, in poems to pass tests, or simply because they feel like it. A Faer Gorm will often challenge invaders to his territory to recite a poem, or, failing that, to complete a Chieftain's poem to a satisfying manner, or they will be crushed. Even in their drinking halls, a Faer Gorm will often challenge a rival or friend to a song-like battle, the bards setting the stage with a musical base line and accompaniment, and the two singing insults to each other, rhyming and singing their insults and counter-insults to one another. The first to back-off, hesitant for too long, or try and attack their foe, is considered the loser, though the only rule being not to insult one's mother.

Religion
Faer Gorm do not seem to have any sort of religion.

Biology
The Faer Gorm are large, around 15 meters in height, and covered in smooth, human-like skin. Faer Gorm are noted to have large hands, and highly muscled bodies. They are possessed of incredible strength, enabling them crush a boat with the swing of their clubs, and also noted for their extreme intellect, able to remember various poems from the world over, learn hundreds of languages, and remember those that insulted them and escaped, often awaiting decades to get their revenge. The Faer Gorm can breath in both land and sea, and in fresh and salt water, but cannot survive long without a large supply of water, even if it comes form rain.

The Faer Gorm are strong users of water magic, able to summon tidal waves and sea-storms.

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