"You must be hungry, here, have some go aguaje fruit. I know, it looks like we can hardly afford to host you, but as my father often said, when all you have is nothing, there's a lot to go around."

-The Chief of the Jondo Tribe, Whiro of the Jondo

Bolgan Culture

The Jungle Walkers

Arathia is a land of giant peoples. Beyond the famed giants, of cloud, storm, and fire, there are smaller giant-kin that are often not as often thought of as their larger cousins. One such race are the Firbolgs. The Firbolgs live in the Eastern Rathian Jungle, particularly a part of it aptly named the Giant's Wood. The Firbolgs have as far as their memory goes back lived in tribal communities spread across that region. These tribes existed mostly at harmony with one another, but lived in a harsh and unforgiving world. The wild creatures of the jungle constantly encroached on their homes, and the violent Grung slavers made the Firbolgs a constant target of their raids. The Firbolgs' giant blood could only push them so far, because unlike their cousins, they were a naturally peace-loving and timid people. To survive, they would hide. The Bolgan people became masters of obfuscating and hiding from their enemies. Raiders would find their villages abandoned, or moved in the night. In some cases, the Bolgans would band multiple tribes together for weeks on end, until the danger had passed. They would fight when they could, but they believed it was usually best to avoid conflict, to save their lives and treasure. This strategy of self-preservation led the Bolgans to avoid contact with all outsiders, not only their enemies, but their friends. Their isolationist ways made them capable survivors, but meant they were sheltered from the broader changes of the world around them. Eventually, the Alz Gamorans began to tame the harsh landscape of Arathia, and came in repeated contact with Bolgan tribes across the jungle. The tribes, largely ignorant of power politics, were merely happy to encounter a race of people that did not want to pin their heads to trees. However, in their naivety, they negotiated agreements with the Alz Gamorans that were perhaps not fully in their own interest. Some of the prominent Bolgan tribes made agreements to offer tribute to the Alz Gamorans, and in exchange, Gamoran regiments would be sent into the borderlands of their territory to fight off Grung raids and kill fearsome beasts. This secured for the Alz Gamorans the lucrative trade route to the Caxamalcan Commonwealth, and paid for itself in scores. The tribes, which survived well enough on their own, found themselves struggling at times to fulfill the tributes. Though, many tribes, more reclusive and harder to pin down, made no such agreements with the Gamorans, and yet still benefited from some of their protection all the same.

          The Bolgans are often interpreted as being pacifists. This is often an ignorant conflation of the Bolgans with the Caxamalcans, who are genuinely pacifistic. Rather, it is more accurate to characterize the Bolgans as risk-averse. If a fight is the best way to resolve a conflict, then a Bolgan will use that to resolve it, but often enough, especially with the foes the Bolgans face, it is far better to avoid battle. When the Bolgans do engage in conflict, they employ guerilla warfare almost exclusively. Of course, to many cultures, this seems like pure cowardice. But to the Bolgans, it would seem foolish to embrace extinction for pride's sake. Instead, warfare is not the center of Bolgan life. Bolgans live lives centered around living in commune with their environment. The Bolgans are comparable to some of the druidic peoples of the world, in that they hold an extreme reverence for the nature around them. However, the average Bolgan does not have a keen ability to manipulate nature. Instead, Bolgans go with nature, living in the gaps which it allows for them. They build their homes into caves, the crooks of roots, or under the boughs of a mighty tree. They do not farm, though they have no need to do so, because their ability to gather from the environment rivals the production of grain farmers. Some Bolgans eat meat, but considering it is always easier and safer to gather wild edibles, Bolgans generally eat plant-based diets (a fact of their lifestyle that many foreigners find most disturbing). Bolgans are wise readers of the messages that the jungle leaves for those who walk it, perceiving threats, seeing opportunities, and everything in between. However, despite their ability to read the jungle, the Bolgans' tendency towards isolation from outsiders make them fairly bad at reading other people, especially the double-talking ways of people from developed economies and cities. In an urban environment, this makes them particularly naïve, and easily manipulated. Still, they are not stupid, and adapt quickly to new situations. Many Bolgans have been enslaved in their past, and have a tendency to despise and fear the practice. Therefore, members of this culture are very likely to find anyone who condones of the practice to be moral monsters. In the wider world, this is a surprisingly rare sentiment. Still, most notable to those who visit the Bolgan tribes is the gentle and kind nature of the Bolgans. Bolgans are timid and weary of others, but to their kin and to those that they welcome amongst them, they are extremely warm. They share what little they have with others, forming friendships quickly, and breaking friendships rarely. Bolgans make enduring friends, loyal lovers, and reliable allies.

          The Bolgan people are most highly concentrated in the eastern Rathian Jungle, in particular the area in and around a part of it called the Giant's Wood, and around a huge lake called the Giant's Bath, both named after the firbolgs that have long lived near them. Many Bolgans also live in the Gamoran settlements in the surrounding area, serving as ambassadors, traders, and guides. The races of the Bolgans are most predominately firbolg, but will gladly accept any person of any race that lives among them permanently. The Bolgans have survived as long as they have, they would tell you, due to their firm belief in the pantheon of Gökotta, and Bolgan faith in Ashara and Ariendale's pantheon, spreading through recent missionary trips, has cropped up as well. Bolgans tend to be warm, gentle, and resourceful. They also tend to be naïve, timid, and isolationist. The dominant language among the Bolgans is, unsurprisingly, Bolgan, though those who interact with the Gamorans often learn Terran.

If you choose the Bolgan Culture, you gain the following:

~A +1 to your Dexterity score or a +1 to your Wisdom score~

~A -1 to your Charisma score~

~As a known language, either Bolgan or Terran~

~A Sub-Discipline in every knowledge skill on checks relating to Bolgan Culture~

Back to Cultures of Arathia

Back to Culture

Back to Expanded Backgrounds

Back to Adra - 3rd Era World Guide