Historical Association: Auslura
Game Rules: Use standard Goliath ancestry rules
Goliaths are an old people of Auslura, most strongly associated with the continent’s immense mountain ranges, high valleys, and exposed uplands. Auslura is the coldest and most rugged of Kor Sirok’s major continents, and many Goliath communities occupy country where severe weather, dangerous wildlife, and seasonal isolation make permanent settlement difficult. Their populations are concentrated rather than widespread, and many communities remain separated from one another by terrain that can make travel difficult for much of the year. Goliaths are nevertheless familiar throughout the Ausluran highlands, where generations of life at altitude have made them particularly well suited to terrain that limits permanent settlement by many other peoples.
Most Goliath settlements are relatively small. Villages and clan communities are commonly established near reliable water, sheltered valleys, mountain passes, hunting grounds, or other places where the surrounding landscape can support a permanent population. In harsher regions, communities may maintain more than one seasonal settlement or move livestock and supplies between high and low country as conditions change. Travel between neighboring communities can require considerable preparation, and knowledge of passes, weather, snow conditions, and safe shelter is an important part of life in many mountain regions.
Goliath societies developed independently across Auslura rather than as a single continental civilization. Kinship networks, local alliances, and long-standing obligations between neighboring settlements are common ways of maintaining relationships across difficult terrain. Communities that control important passes or unusually productive valleys often become meeting points for trade and news, while more remote groups may have limited contact with outsiders for long periods.
Other Peoples of the Highlands
Goliaths share parts of the Ausluran mountains with other peoples, particularly Dragonborn. The small Dragonborn settlement of Phalygos is one example of the kind of isolated highland community found across the continent, though Goliath settlements have their own histories and traditions. Contact between neighboring peoples may involve trade, shared use of mountain routes, competition over scarce resources, or mutual assistance when weather and other dangers make survival difficult.
Goliaths who leave the highlands are found in Ausluran towns and ports and occasionally farther abroad. Their ancestry remains strongly associated with the mountains, but modern Goliaths are not confined to them, and individuals from long-settled lowland families may have little direct connection to the traditional highland communities.