Giants

The Giants were the primordial inhabitants of Boriya, as the Dragons were in Erask. The first Giants, six in number, were divine beings, almost on a par with the Dragons in their power. Unlike the Dragons, however, the Giants had children, who were mortal, as well as creating the Giantings and Giant-Kin as their servants. The Giants forged an empire across Boriya and southern Erask, but over time they dwindled, until only a few were left alongside the giant-kin.   The ancient giants were united in a great empire called the Orthnar, or the Giant Order. This empire was divided into nine Eorldoms under the overall authority of the Orthegn. Three of the Eorldoms were in Erask and six in Boriya. A tenth was once established in Breis, but was decimated by the Gantua. The Orthnar crumbled millennia ago, as many giants dwindled in power through the generations, and the divine giants were lost in conflicts with dragons and mortals. Those giants who remain cling to the old structures and rites, but no social order larger than an Eorldom remains.   There were many giants, but only forty-two of them were immortal, and of these only six were divine. The six were the Alderen, the first created by the Fundamental Divinities. All of the forty-two were shaped from the same clay, but the Alderen each had its own peculiarities, which they then passed on the Atharen, the other thirty-six, and in so doing created the great social structure known as the Orthnar. Each of the Aldaren imparted a series of teachings to their followers, which the process of tradition has whittled down to sets of four precepts.   For all their power, the Alderen had a very specific limitation: That no Alderu could produce offspring with another Alderu.   Called variously the Second Order of Giants, or the First Generation, the thirty-six Atharen were immortal, but not divine. Before their numbers were all-but annihilated in the Earth War, they produced many thousands of offspring, some by Alderen, some from pairings of two Atharen, and others by the offspring of their fellows. These children were the Second Generation, but depending on their precise parentage were divided into three kinds.   The children of Alderu and Atharu were called the Third Order, those of two Atharen were the Fourth Order, and those with one Atharen and one mortal parent were called the Unranked. Over time, as the Orthnar has broken down and familial dynasties of mortal giants emerged, the ruling houses claimed descent - usually without solid evidence - from the Third Order, while the lowest strata - and sometimes the giantings - were declared children of the Unranked.  

The Alderen

Arax Thunderstrike

The oldest of the giants, the first fashioned by To from the divine clay created by Tet, was Arax, called Thunderstrike. To invested this giant with the power of its spear, Araku, and the wisdom of the cosmos. The resulting giant was powerful, but distant. Arax took only two Atharen under their wing, to be the first of the Ordrost, or Storm Order. From this beginning, the Ordrost has always been a small, but powerful orthu, for the life of a drostun is a demanding one.   The Precepts of the Storm are:

• Leadership - It is not the privilege, but the duty of the Ordrost to maintain the integrity of giantish society, although a number of modern drostnar interpret this precept as a mandate to rule.
• Prophecy - Many drostnar are afflicted with some form of foresight, and all learn to interpret prophecies and omens.
• Guidance - The Ordrost are charged with protecting the soul of the Orthnar. For some, this means offering ethical counsel, for others, preserving a conservative orthodoxy.
• Justice - Both individually and collectively, the drostnar are responsible for preventing injustice, as something distinct from upholding the law.

 

Dyzan Cloudstrider

The seconborn Alderu was noted for his clever speech and physical beauty. Unlike his elder sibling, he had no shortage of Atharen wanting to study with him, but all but three of them fell short of his standards. The orthu he created, Orska, continues to push its candidates to prove their worth, although it has grown substantially from its origins. The skanar appreciate and reward ambition, making the orthu more popular with would-be rulers than ordrost.   The Precepts of the Sky are:

• Law - The storm looks to justice, the sky to the law. Ordska is the keeper of legal codices and precedents, and trains the skanar to debate and argue points of law to one end or another.
• Arithmetic - The ordska are the keepers of the science of numbers, and in particular of arithmetic. Among modern giants, this has become a calling for trade and accounting.
• Persuasion - Rhetoric and debate are powerful weapons in the hands of the skilled skaun. They are easily abused, but there is some disagreement whether preventing this is a responsibility for the Ordska or everyone else's lookout.
• Deception - To the giants, and especially skanar, there is no sin in a lie told for a good purpose.

 

Hadrach Flameshaper

Hot-headed and physically powerful, the Flameshaper nonetheless possessed patience and an artistic soul. She took six students among the Atharen and taught them her craft, forging them into the Oreld, which remains a bastion of art and craft, as well as the heart of the Orthnar military.   The Precepts of Fire are:

• Forgecraft - The eldnar are bound both to preserve and to advance giantish metalworking, specifically, and art and artisanry generally.
• Command - Although the orthu is noted for fiery temperaments, eldnar are intelligent and calculating. They train in tactics as a matter of course, while military specialists also study broader matters of strategy and logistics.
• Instruction - Arts, crafts and skills must all be practiced and, on some level, taught. As the Oreld holds, fire only catches when it is fanned.
• Order - The eldnar are only too aware of how fast unchecked flames spread beyond control, and they recognise the need for organisation to prevent this. As a result, the Oreld includes many gifted administrators.

 

Boran Icecutter

Twin brother of the Flamshaper, Boran was all cool reason where she was fiery passion, remorseless where she was cautious, and single-minded where he could take a wider view. Her six Atharen students were warriors, first and foremost, and where the Oreld were fighters and crafters, the Orhrim gave all their focus to battle. Even among modern, mortal giants, the fire giants are respected, but the ice giants are feared.   The Precepts of Ice are:

• Battle - The Orhrim is not an army, but the hrimnar are warriors all, seldom without a weapon.
• Hunting - Self-sufficiency is a watchword among the hrimnar, and they are expected to be able to hunt and forage.
• Defence - The hrimnar are not architects, but they do understand fortifications.
• Training - While they consider the Oreld's focus on education unnecessary, the Orhrim recognise the need to hone one's skills. Orhrim training is brutal, and entirely focused on the other three precepts.

 

Petroth Stonedreamer

While Hadrach and Boran loved the function that the work of hands could bring into the world, their younger sibling saw beauty in both the world and in those works, even the weapons and armour of the Oreld and the Orhrim. They chose seven Atharen who also saw that beauty, and taught them to dream, and to seek all beauty in the world, and all truth within that beauty.   The Precepts of the Mountain are:

• Structure - The Orberg are architects, first and foremost, seeing the beauty in function and applying that to buildings, cities and societies alike.
• Aesthetics - Bergnar love beauty above all, but do not seek to own it. Instead, each bergun will seek to gather a collection of things with some common beauty, and make it available to all, seeking to enhance the beauty of each item by its inclusion in the whole.
• Contemplation - Bergnar are slow, dep thinkers, who come to know a thing only through weeks of study, and to possess knowledge or skills through meditation instead of direct instruction.
• Philosophy - The giants of Orberg seek structure in all things, including thought. They consider the world as a nexus of concrete and knowable truths, which can be understood and connected by associations which change their meaning.

 

Gaeas Earthborn

The last of the Alderen was also the hardest working. A born provider, she is known as the First Farmer, First Miner, and Allmother of the Giants. She taught a dozen Atharen to break the earth and glean from it sustenance and wealth. The Oroet has always been the largest of the Orthen, and in many ways both the least valued and the most important.   The Precepts of the Hills are:

• Growing - The oetnar tend the land to bring forth crops, both a duty and a sacred trust. This precept is also held to apply to animal husbandry.
• Gathering - That which is grown must also be harvested, lest it wither and rot on the vine.
• Delving - The oetnar also delve beneath the ground for wealth: ores, gems and rare stone.
• Stonecraft - The Oroet not only know how to dig, but how to find the earth where the things they seek will be found. This lore also makes them valuable to their mountain cousins when they seek stone for their constructions.

 

The Eorldoms