From Introduction:
Before the dawn of humankind, other creatures ruled the Earth. They would seem strange to us if they still existed, but they died out long ago, and their gods died with them. And yet, some of those gods still remain as ghosts, vagrants upon the astral seas. But not all are willing to fade away into nothingness. Some reached out and found a conduit through which they could reach back into this world.
When the wizards of Ardoussarlis found they could fuel their creations with meat and blood, they built portals into which they threw their gristly sacrifices, in exchange for power. Th ese desperate ghost-gods latched onto such exchanges, like the worst kind of parasites. The meat they collected, weaving their spirits through its material essence. They found they could build new bodies from it — bodies that could then return to the world they left behind. And that is how the meat goliaths came to walk upon this world.
They found this out too late, perhaps, for the city of Ardoussarlis was destroyed and the meat-magic of its wizards was lost along with it. Now, there are but few of these devices left to send meat into the hands of these greedy ghosts. But there are some, and as long as they exist — as long as humans still seek power through their use — there is still a chance for the meat goliaths to come again.