The Giant Update
Game Update Highlights - 8/12/09: The Giant Update brings giant-sized new additions and improvements! - The Giants, Giants, Giants raid, a new spam filter, increased poison component drops, client memory optimization, and more!
New Spam Filter: Added server-side SPAM filtering to reduce or eliminate bothersome noise in chat and in-game mail.
Poison Component Drops: Poison component drops have been increased, mostly at the higher levels. At the higher levels it has been doubled, and the NPCs have been given a chance to drop 1 or 2 components. Humanoid rogues will drop 1 to 4.
Client Memory Optimizations: The client now uses less memory and has several new modes of operation to allow you to configure memory usage versus performance.
Giants, Giants, Giants: Angered by Norrathian adventurers' blatant disregard for Dragonkind, Tzudani, Emissary of Veeshan, has called adventurers to battle Norrath's greatest and largest foes. Amongst these behemoths there are the giants themselves, foes of the children of Veeshan and one-time rulers of Norrath. Standing in your path will also be massive constructs built by some to protect their homes and by others to destroy the world. Regardless of their origin and purpose, these giants stand ready, unafraid of your tiny blades and feeble magic. Challenge them with your raid force or fight them with but a single group if you are feeling truly brave. Fight against the greatest "big" foes of Norrath, from the Ancient Cyclops to the powerful Lord Brekt. Seek out Tzudani, Emissary of Veeshan, in the Plane of Knowledge and heed the call.
Ancient CyclopsRead the Game Updates Notes for 8/12/09 for a full list of changes and additions.
In the southern Desert of Ro, the Ancient Cyclops marches across the sands. He, along with his kindred that wander across Norrath, is widely known for their ancient rings.
Cazel
Cazel is a Sand Giant that lurks the southern desert of Ro. He is often referred to as “the Mad” due to his insane nature and unusual collection of trinkets; though others believe there is more truth yet to be uncovered about him.
Drovrag Velketor the Sorcerer
This supreme storm giant wizard was banished from Kael Drakkal and now resides in a castle built onto the side of a glacier. He is served by arctic kobolds, ice golems, and shard spiders. He is enemies with the Coldain and servants of Veeshan, but he holds a special hatred for the Kromzek who banished him for reasons that are unclear. His ultimate agenda is unknown but his continued experiments birthing ice creatures suggest the possibility that he may perhaps be intending to harm the Kromzek in a way they hadn’t thought possible – one giant against an entire army.
Avatar of War
The Avatar of War is merely a host for Rallos Zek. Rallos embodies through this form to watch over the activities of the giants in Kael and to challenge their strength and tactics.
Derakor the Vindicator
One of King Tormax’s agents, Derakor the Vindicator is responsible for unleashing justice upon those who oppose or betray the Storm Giants and King Tormax.
King Tormax
As the leader of the Storm Giants, King Tormax rules over both the Kromzek and the Kromrif. His lasting desire is to see every last Velious dragon crushed beneath a giant’s maul. To punctuate this fact, Tormax sits upon a throne carved from the skull of Hsagra, the mate of Yelinak of Skyshrine, who was felled by Kromzek hero’s blade.
The dragons of Velious are not Tormax’s only enemies, however, as the Coldain dwarves despise him and his people with a comparable passion. It was Tormax’s blade that killed Dain Frostreaver III, the great War King, a deed that has earned him eternal infamy among the Coldain.
The Statue of Rallos Zek
The Statue of Rallos Zek watches over the arena of Kael Drakkel, the storm giant city on Velious.
Doomshade
Doomshade is a dark and spectral creature that siphons the life from mind and body of unsuspecting explorers of the Umbral Plains.
Aten Ha Ra
Kyth Ha Ra, the ruler of Vex Thal ruled from within the great palace called the sacred heart, Vex Thal in their language. He was respected as a prophet of Luclin. It was thought that the prophets of Luclin spoke with her voice, their bodies merely a vessel that carried the voice of the great mother. Kyth had a vision of expanding the Akhevan Empire across the entire twilight region of Luclin. He instructed a great temple to be built within the Maiden’s Eye in honor of the great mother.
Wanting to oversee the building of the Akhevan high temple personally, Kyth created a shadow of himself and proclaimed it a prophet as he was. This allowed him to travel to the Akhevan high temple while utilizing his shadow to maintain order within the sacred city of Vex Thal. Before venturing to the building site of the new temple, Kyth created two talismans to link himself to Aten Ha Ra, his shadow prophet. He put the power to seal and open the gates of the city within this talisman. Kyth’s sentience was shared with both entities.
Hulcror
Standing watch in the Wall of Slaughter, Hulcror is a guardian of the Muramite Proving Grounds. This Bazu is charged with keeping outsiders away from the trials.
Grel Strongboom
Long ago, just as the giants had been created, a scout was sent from a group of giants known as the Kromian sect. This giant, known as Grel, who had been one of the most revered soldiers and scouts amongst his peers, had been tasked to find a new place for his brethren to move to and conquer.
His mission of exploration failed. In a great sundering, he was rent from the lands of the barren tundra of Everfrost into a land he'd not seen before. Numerous icons depicting dragons and their power were in front of his eyes, but he had never seen this place on any map known to man -- or giant. Shortly after he came to realize that he was stuck in this long-forgotten place of the dragons, he began to believe that he had lost his hat.
It was a hat he'd long since cherished as it was given to him by the leader of the Kromians and he was devastated that he'd lost it. He had begun that quickly to lose touch with reality because he felt he was doomed to be alone in this foreign land with no support for the rest of his life.
In these apparent lands of the dragons in the far north, he would spend the rest of eternity, alone, waiting for the time when his brethren would find him and free him from this hellish place.
In the time while he waited, a rift had formed between the Kromian giants. They quarreled constantly and eventually formed two separate sects. These two sects became the Kromrif and the Kromzek. To this day, they are left on Velious to battle the scourge of the dragons and dwarves in that region and have all but forgotten their brother Grel.
Now that the nest has been breached, Grel sees his opportunity to exit back into the world and retake his place among his Kromian giant brethren. He has spent his time usefully though, gathering several small clans of goblins to aid him in his attempts to take control over the nearby icy lands and to rid some of the immediate area from the dragon influence. In addition, he is ever vigilant to find his hat, which he though he had lost ages ago in the great sundering that left him in this place, and won't let anyone stand in his way to retrieve it, even if it is still on his head.
Antraygus
Long ago, a sporali spore settled into the groundwater via a pool in the Clan Runnyeye goblin lair, before it eventually leaked into Underfoot itself. The first sporali colonies began to harvest corathus, a strange resource secreted by the corath worms that caused sporali to grow and evolve at an alarming rate. Sporali shaman used corathus to feed their living weapons and, before long, shiliskin alchemists learned it can also be used to lower the melting point of many rare alloys. Sporali had primary access to the corathus resource because the Haru burrowed extensively through the soft earth of the Creep. For this reason, the sporali quickly became the target of raiding shiliskin.
Before the shiliskin could drive the sporali to extinction, the sporali shaman decided to pool their corathus and feed it to a single spore king. Thus, Antraygus the Root Father was born. The corathus made Antraygus near invulnerable and any sporelings he created were also unnaturally resilient. Antraygus and his offspring led a fierce resistance against the shiliskin raiders who eventually gave up on corathus altogether and turned their attention to harvesting nargilor, the coral with magical properties that grows below Illsalin. During the Shiliskin-Sporali Wars, the sporali bred many plants to use against the shiliskin, including mindspore and retchweed.
Ur-Gorlach
Ur-Gorlach is one of the many protectors and guardians Dreadspire Keep: Demi-plane of Blood and The Master: Lord Mayong Mistmoore.
The Colossus of Skylance
The Colossus of Skylance is guardian that protects Skylance the castle out in Arcstone, Isle of Spirits.
Avalanche
It is not possible for the Shades of Zek to hunt their kindred during the day, but they desire to keep those kindred from escaping the Serpent’s Spine Valley. Sometimes the Shade King sends Avalanche into the great glacier to ambush any Strakt that he finds there during the day. Avalanche is a huge ice golem with power over shadow and ice given to him by his master, the Shade King. Adventurers may encounter Avalanche and his prey. Avalanche is as single-minded about killing Strakt as his master is, but should anyone interfere he will crush them.
Beltron the Shade King
Then came the curse of Rallos Zek cast upon his own giants because they refused to participate in his war on the Plane of Earth. When King Beltron Wulfnor—the king who turned his back on the war—was being taken into the tomb, the voice of Rallos Zek was heard. The dead king's body rose up and attacked the procession. As each person was slain, they rose again as Shades of Zek and turned on those that still lived. Few survived that day, but the current king—Odeen Wulfnor—was one of them, and he will never forget that evil day.
Currently the Shade King rules the crypt. His followers are the Shades of Zek and the zombie minions made from the corpses of their ancestors. The Shades sent war parties to assault the city every evening, and hide within the crypt during the day. No living giant has set foot inside the tombs since the day the curse turned their king into the Shade King.
Commodus, Solar Construct
The Solar Construct, one of Solusek’s magma giants, stood guard over the Zenith Ring inside the Temple of Light and was ordered to prevent any from entering. The Construct and its attendants held fast against the invading army, but were unable to prevent Mayong from passing through the Zenith Ring to the Cusp of Suns, the island bearing the Throne of Ro. They are stung by their failure to contain Mayong and are even more determined that no one and nothing else will make it past them to threaten their god.
Mining Behemoth
The Mining Behemoth is the workhorse of the Steam Factory mines.
Pallorax the Soul Slayer
This dark and mighty winged creature embraces the darkness of the void. During battle he draws from the Riftseekers' power and consumes the slaves of the rift. Consuming the rift slave, dark energy crackles from Pallorax's fingers as his chaotic magic grows in power.
Lord Brekt, Rider of Discord
Lord Brekt is the leader of the Discord army. Serving Overlord Mata Muram’s wishes, he hovers throughout the realm of Discord and leads the armies to devour other demolitions.
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