Houman & Mehran Zowghian - The Rom of Kaff

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	Places Crowded Sea Scenarios Broken Talons

Quote

Alas, such is the cruelty of Fate!

Background

The rom are a race of subterranean, undead giants that with drew from the surface world in the distant past. They are sullen, malicious, and angry creatures, attacking any who disturb their final dwelling places or cairns. Rom are all male. They have tall, muscular physiques, similar to humans in proportion, with thinning, bone-white hair, sunken, glassy eyes, long, curling fingernails, and ashen-gray skin. They stand about 17' tall, retaining the supernatural Strength they possessed in life. They speak with sad, resonant voices. All are talented singers, poets, and musicians. The rom, like most living giants, carry some of their belong ings in a large sack. Their more valuable treasures remain hidden safely in their cairns. A rom's sack will typically include 1-12 throwing rocks, some treasure, and 1-8 personal items (including a musical instrument of some sort, usually a flute). Rom speak their own language and that of desert giants and jungle giants (q.v.). Most can also speak Common.

Rom are thought to be all that remains of an ancient race of giant herdsmen. They lived in the hills and on the plains where their giant cows could graze, some practicing a limited form of agriculture. They were a quiet, peace-loving people whose end came when their wives produced only male children; there were no further generations. Shaking their fists at the sad destiny Fate had passed upon them, they built enormous stone cairns for themselves, fashioned out of monolithic granite slabs. Entire clans of rom de scended into their self-made tombs, burying themselves alive. However, so great was their collective self-pity and anger at Fate, that their existence persisted beyond death. Their granite cairns can still be found today, towering over the plains or nestled among the hills. They are shunned by all forms of animal and insect life. Nearby vegetation appears stunted and lacks its usual color. All is quiet near these tombs during the day, but at night, one can hear a loud lamentation rising from within the cold, stone cairns, a plaintive cry against Fate. The giants are known to receive brave visitors during the night, who politely knock on the entrance to the tombs and humbly request hospitality for the evening. Those who brashly intrude on the giants during the night, or who break into a cairn during the day, will be immediately attacked by the 1-8 rom present in the tomb. They will throw any corpses outside as a warning to others against further unwarranted intrusions.