Giant, Shadow

''Rearing above you is a giant form of shadow standing over fifteen feet in height. Although it is vaguely humanoid in shape, with arms, torso and head, its lower body trails off in wisps of black smoke instead of ending in legs. Its eyes glow a spectral blue.''

Tactics
Shadow giants are terrifying opponents, capable of wreaking havoc with large numbers of foes at once. The very touch of a shadow giant leeches the Strength from their foes and targets suffering a shadow giant's caress are sometimes taken back to the Black with the creature.

Tactics
Greater shadow giants are even more feared in battle than their lesser brethren. This is primarily due to their ability to attack several targets at once with the chilling power of the Black, but also because they possess more powerful immunities than smaller versions of their species.. The very touch of a greater shadow giant leeches the Strength from their foes and individual targets suffering a shadow giant's caress are likewise susceptible to being taken back to the Black by the creature.

Description
Greater shadow giants are more powerful relatives of the standard shadow giant. Fully mature versions of the species, they are seldom seen away from the Pristine Tower. There, they watch over the incubation of their young in obsidian eggs and guard against intruders who might seek to defile the mysteries of that sacred place.

Greater shadow giants normally stand around 20 feet in height but bright light lends them size and depth, and in full sunlight a shadow giant can grow to be as tall as 30 feet.

About Shadow Giants
Shadow giants, or shadow people as they prefer to call themselves, are descendants of ancient halflings who served Rajaat the Warbringer during the Cleansing Wars. Following Rajaat's betrayal and imprisonment, his loyal halfling followers were sacrificed by Rajaat's Champions in order to complete the downfall of the erstwhile lord. The halflings merged with the dimension known as the Black, where they were transformed into the creatures now known as shadow giants.

Shadow giants take one of three forms. The first is that of a shadowy, two-dimensional, humanoid silhouette with thin limbs, serpentine torso and blue embers in place of eyes. The second is the form of a solid, corporeal three-dimensional shadow as tall as a half-giant, while the third is that of a half-shadow that appears as varying portions of shadow and halfling. The shadow people speak the ancient languages of Ur Draxa and the civilized halfling nations, and the common tongue of the Tyr region. When a shadow giant speaks, black fumes rise from a blue gash that opens where its mouth would normally be.

Shadow giants normally stand around 10 feet in height but bright light lends them size and depth, and in full sunlight a shadow giant can grow to be as tall as 15 feet.

Society
Shadow giants dwell not only in the nether dimension of the Black, but also in the mysterious ruin known only as the Pristine Tower. The shadow people can emerge only partially from the Black, being trapped there until Rajaat's prison is destroyed.

No one knows how much time the shadow people spend in the Black or on Athas or what they eat. What is known of their life cycle is that they greatly desire obsidian, which they use to incubate their young. Noble houses, defilers and other potentates have learned that obsidian can be traded to shadow giants in return for their service.