![]() Skoraeus had both priests and shamans, and to become the former required a certain level of fortitude. In their minds only Annam was superior in skill, and in his absence Skoraeus (as opposed to Stronmaus, the more commonly considered de-facto leader) was the head of the giant pantheon. Skoraeus was typically revered by stone giants, who worshiped him as the Great Creator. In particular he was allied with the deep-dwelling dwarf god Dumathoin, as well as the earth god Grumbar. Skoraeus was known to occasionally consort with the dwarven pantheon as well as the gods of the svirfneblin, though these were dealings done out of necessity rather than desire. He acted as an observer and a confidant to all parties, keeping their secrets unless forced or tricked into divulging them, though in the past he was also known to use his knowledge to help them in one way or another. In many giant legends he was said to have sat on the sidelines while his other siblings schemed or fought. ![]() Skoraeus was one of the many children of Annam All-Father by way of an unnamed sky goddess. Skoraeus would never venture above ground, and could not even be summoned there. Rather than these direct manifestations, Skoraeus more often used his preferred form of influence, his understated natural omens, signs only stone giants could discern, and his priests were capable of interpreting. In the rare cases he did, it was to protect them, lead them to new homes, or even more rarely to lead them to (or away from) a secret magical cavern or treasure or rich veins of stones or minerals, the latter kinds of interference being legend among the stone giants. Skoraeus often intervened in the affairs of the stone giants to guide their development, but only sparingly dispatched an avatar to Toril. In the Great Wheel, World Tree, and World Axis cosmologies he simply wandered, though in the second he specifically roamed the mountains of Jotunheim, preferably the roots of those mountains and the caves that lurked within them, and in the third he wandered across the vast, ever-changing mountainous regions of the Elemental Chaos. Skoraeus had no known residence in any given cosmology, though he was sometimes purported to lie at the heart of the world on the Prime Material Plane. Possessions Īvatars of Skoraeus were often known to carry a wand of earth or stone that would recharge at the start of each day. This was assuming he used magic rather than striking his enemies with his giant fists. He could cast crystalbrittle twice per day as well, as earthquake, though reports varied on whether he could do the latter once per day or once per minute. He could instantly summon 2-20 stone giants to come to his aid and once per day could summon 1-4 powerful earth elementals to serve him for two hours. He slowly healed from injury if any of him was touching raw stone, and did so nearly twice as fast if underground. Skoraeus's avatar was immune to spells of elemental earth, as well as those of acid and petrification, and could only be hurt by at least +2 magical weapons. Unfortunately for those who would want such information, Skoraeus kept his knowledge strictly to himself. ![]() By listening to the vibrations carried to him in areas touching rock, he could know everything that occurred there. Skoraeus was often considered the wisest of the giant gods, as well as the most knowledgeable (and he was deeply knowledgeable) regarding magics, wards, banes, hidden treasures, deeply buried wonders, and the secrets of the earth. Though he had his reasons for his seclusion, they were more self-centered and based on introversion than those of Annam All-Father. Unlike most of his siblings he was generally disinterested in the affairs of giantkind and indeed didn't really care for any race of beings, the sole exception to this rule being his obsession with the stone giants. Skoraeus was a withdrawn deity, generally a very dour and expressionless loner. Skoraeus was known to communicate through subtle changes in natural beauty, such as the coloration of rocks, the growth or pattern of stalactites, sparkling fountains, and the development of underground mosses and lichen. Typically he was depicted as twice as tall as any other stone giant, with some depictions known to go as high as 150 ft (46 m), and he might have additional features such as protruding spikes. Stone giant art depicted him either as a pair of hands, a chisel in one and a hammer in the other, or with the largest statue or relief carving of a stone giant in a tribe's domain. Skoraeus's avatar appeared as a stone giant of great size (in some instances 24 ft (7.3 m) and in others 30 ft (9.1 m) tall) with granite skin and thick, muscled forearms covered in corded veins.
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