AKA: Atn'yalhu, Flint Coat, Gennonsgwa, Nvyvnuwi, Otneyarheh, Ronongwaca, Strendu, Stonish Giants, Thunenhyarhen

Tribal affiliations: Iroquois, Huron, Seneca

Skunny-Wundy (which means Cross-the- Creek) was an average man in every way, only standing out because of his incessant boasting. Everyone knew him well, as he always interjected into other’s conversations, bragging about his great bravery. Skunny-Wundy would muse about all the courageous things he had done and would do, until people begged him to stop. There was only one thing he loved more than bragging, and that was playing tricks on people.

Near Skunny-Wundy’s village, there were numerous, terrible creatures: monster-bears, flying heads, horned serpents, aquatic beasts that would grab passersby, and, the most frightening of all, giants made of rock. One day, after a particularly unbelievable boast, the old chief challenged him, “Are you not even afraid of the Flint Coats?”

Skunny-Wundy laughed, “I’ll destroy any Stone Giant that dares to fight me. There’s no warrior greater than I! If-” Slowly, quietly, everyone slunk away, leaving him standing alone, shaking his stone hatchet, pacing back and forth, and boasting wildly.

The people soon gathered in the Council House to discuss Skunny-Wundy, secretly sending a man out of the village on a mission. Led by the chief, the people returned, gathering smugly around the proud man; smiling, he said, “Skunny-Wundy, rejoice! We have decided to give you a chance to prove your bravery.” Skunny-Wundy paused, looking around and feeling everyone’s eyes on him,” Ah, that is very good,” he stuttered, “But, uh… what do you mean?”

“We have decided,” said the old man with a slight smile, “to allow you the fight the Flint Coats.”

“Oh,” he paused, “That’s good, but… how can I find the Stone Giants? Why, they might even flee when they see me coming!”

“Don’t worry,” the chief assured, grinning, “A large Stone Giant stands on the other side of the river right now waiting for you! We sent a messenger to tell him that he should run away before the mighty warrior Skunny-Wundy came to destroy him. That made him so angry that he swore to stay there until you arrived.”

Skunny-Wundy became noticeably frightened, but he knew that if he didn’t face the monster, he would be the laughingstock forever. Standing tall, he exclaimed, “That’s good! I’ll go fight it now.” He made a big show of walking quickly out of the village, but slowed once he was outside of its boundaries, thinking deeply about how he would defeat such a creature. If he threw rocks at the monster, they would bounce harmlessly off; if he shot arrows at the beast, they would snap like blades of dry grass upon contact. However, he knew they were not very smart, so he decided to try to trick it instead of fight it.

Nearing the river, Skunny-Wundy heard a loud, formidable sound like the beating of a giant drum or the roaring of a great storm coming from within the forest. Skunny-Wundy inched closer, peeking out from behind a tree. In a distant clearing he saw what he was afraid to see: the largest, ugliest, angriest Stone Giant imaginable! The creature had pulled a giant pine from the soil and was tapping it irritably on the ground. As it slammed the tree down, it bellowed a terrible war song.

Skunny-Wundy turned around, tiptoeing away, “HUH? WHO IS OVER THERE? ARE YOU SKUNNY-WUNDY? THE ONE WHO SAYS THEY CAN DESTROY ME?”

He paused. “Yes,” he shouted with false bravado, stepping out from behind the tree, “I am he, and it is true that I can destroy you! Come over here and fight me!”

The Stone Giant waded into the river, holding the pine like a club; the water was deep and before he was halfway across, he disappeared under the surface. Skunny-Wundy ran upstream where the river was shallow and crossed before the creature resurfaced. The giant’s head popped out of the water, “HUH? WHERE IS SKUNNY-WUNDY?”

“Here I am,” called Skunny-Wundy from the other side of the river.

The Stone Giant faced him, growling, “WHY DID YOU GO OVER THERE?”

“Over where?” Skunny-Wundy answered innocently, “I’m still waiting for you. You must’ve gotten turned around while you were underwater. If you aren’t afraid of me, come over here and fight!”

Roaring with anger, the Stone Giant rushed into the river, disappearing almost immediately. Skunny-Wundy dashed along the shallow path, dropping his stone hatchet as he ran. When the giant reached the bank, it didn’t see Skunny-Wundy, but his hatchet. “WHAT IS THIS?” the giant bellowed, “THIS MUST BE A TOY!” It raised the hatched to its face and licked it, testing its edge; then it struck it against a boulder to test its strength. To the giant’s surprise, the boulder split in two. Skunny-Wundy watched from the other side; he had always heard that anything touched by a Stone Giant’s saliva would become magical, but he never believed it would be true!

Skunny-Wundy laughed, shouting and waving his arms, “Come over here and bring back my hatchet so I can cut your head off with it!”

The creature felt fear in its cold, stone heart for the first time in its long life. If the man’s little hatchet could split large rocks in two, he was surely strong enough to destroy him. “NO,” the giant pleaded “DON’T KILL ME, GREAT WARRIOR! LET ME GO AND I WILL MAKE SURE NONE OF MY PEOPLE EVER COME NEAR YOUR VILLAGE AGAIN.”

Skunny-Wundy pretended to ponder the agreement, eventually nodding his head in acceptance, “That’s fine. You can go with your life, but always remember Skunny-Wundy, the greatest warrior!”

The Stonecoat hurried away, leaving Skunny-Wundy’s hatchet on the riverbank. As soon as the beast was out of sight, he crossed over and retrieved the weapon, “The village will be so excited to hear this story!”

- an Iroquois Legend

The Stonecoats are a race of giants twice as tall as an average man; their hide is made up of a thick layer of dark gray skin covered in rock-hard scales－which are almost impenetrable. The Iroquois and Huron tribes linked the beings with ice and winter, describing them as primordial, man-eating creatures created by Flint (one of the twin grandsons of the Sky Woman and associated with evil). Other stories describe them as humans that were punished for evil acts, cursed to live as giant, cold, cannibal monsters. In reality, Stonecoats are aggressive, earth elementals that are more active during the winter. Throughout history, they have been used as cautionary tales for children: if you do evil things, you will become as big, dumb, and vile as a Stonecoat.

Standing 12 - 18 ft tall and weighing at least 800 lbs, the entities have earthy-toned bodies. With loud, roaring voices that sound similar to thunder and a slow, drawn-out speech pattern, these giants are not only unintelligent but bulky and ugly; in fact, the larger the giant, the uglier their appearance is and the larger of an underbite they have. Foul creatures, their teeth are craggy and brown like a mountainside, and their breath is musty like stale air from a cave; the elementals’ bodies are packed with odorous mud and debris and sparsely covered with matted, filthy hair. Moss and other vegetation grows on their head, shoulders, and back, often causing woodland creatures to mistake them for mundane terrain.

Similar to bigfeet, Stonecoats have a gland located under the arms; a musky substance is secreted by the creatures for territorial marking. The fluid is sprayed out from under the arms and onto trees, rocks, and other natural markers. The scent exuded smells like a mixture of skunk spray and a decaying animal.

All food is broken down in a stomach and transferred through a tube-like organ; from there, nutrients are absorbed. Waste materials and excess water is excreted from gaps located throughout the giant’s rocky hide. This excretion is a highly sought-after fertilizer said to grow the tastiest, largest, and hardiest vegetables. The creatures also have one large lung, a brain, and a heart connected to vast tangles of root-like strands; these structures transport nutrients, waste, water, and oxygen throughout the body. Vital areas are not protected by a skeleton, but especially thick sections of the rocky hide.

Stonecoats are not particularly intelligent or agile creatures. Frequently, the beasts are outsmarted and outran by prey like deer, canines, and humans; yet, their enormous size and strength gives them a huge advantage in a fight, as well as their perceptive, black eyes. Though the giants will eat any living creature, they prefer the taste of human meat above all others. When prey has been caught, the elementals twist their head off, excitedly eating it first.

According to legend, Stonecoats would raid Native American communities, stealing away as many people as they could; these unlucky individuals would be eaten by several giants at an annual, celebratory feast. The creatures only meet once per year during the Snow Moon (February’s full moon) for a day of peace and nonviolent socialization. At this time, the creatures share stories in deep voices and laugh over the struggling, anguishing forms of their morsels. At any other time, the beasts fight and bicker, becoming violent if trespassing occurs or engaging in battle for land ownership. Messages between Stonecoats are shouted at one another over territorial lines, even in cases of emergency or danger.

These giants are sexless creatures, reproducing only when chunks are broken off their bodies during fights. These chunks gain sentience (if weighing more than 100 lbs) after three hours and grow a bit larger with every meal; no one teaches them how to be a Stonecoat, for they are born knowing how. These youths reach maturity at 800 lbs, at which time they are able to “reproduce”. As they age, they become slower and less intelligent, eventually crumbling into a pile of stones. When vital sections, such as eyes or limbs, are lost, they do not grow back like their rocky armor does.