Ettin Exile (Basic Lore)

Ettin Exile (Heavy; CR 8)
Lawful Evil - Large - Humanoid (Giant)
This creature possesses the Heavy role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure. This monster frequently has the Heavy role, but may be set to other roles if desired. Ettins are hill giants that have some fleshy quirk giving them two heads, instead of merely one. This is a surprisingly common mutation, occurring in about 10% of all hill giant births. Also surprising is the fact that the mutated head, nearly always smaller than the 'dominant' head, is both intelligent, and magically attuned. That is, they are spellcasters. The reason that ettins are comparatively rare, despite their high birth rates among the hill giant population, is that the mutated intelligent head tends to be an intolerable smart-ass all the time. As a result, most ettins fail to reach adulthood, either because their parents, neighbors or peers club them to death before they reach maturity, or they club themselves to death as a result of one of their many arguments with their stupider head. Encountering an ettin is often a pretty funny encounter, because of the constant self-bickering (and self-abuse). However, a wise party will not underestimate these ungainly behemoths. Ettins are terrible opponents, capable of massive feats of brute strength, as well as spellcasting. Ettins have a strong affinity with the earth, and their spells reflect this. Ettin Exiles are outcasts from society, much like Hill Giant Scroungers. In fact, they can often be found in the company of Scroungers. Exiles are almost uniformly made up of those ettins in which the smart head as completely dominated or subdued the hill giant head, taking command full time. As their first action, they got the heck out of giant society, where their days were clearly numbered. It is not unusual for ettin exiles to keep their hill giant heads knocked out, drugged or otherwise unconscious all the time.