Giants¶
"The Giants, already few in number, were all but eradicated." — the Terrun Compendium on the Third War of the Dragons (S372)
Contested
The Descent of the non-elemental giants question in Open Questions is pending a ruling; see the account below and the earlier accounts at the end.
The Giants are an Elder race of the Age of Titans, "the progeny of the Titans with mortal races." Four kinds carry an elemental endowment, Mountain, Storm, Frost and Fire, and four lesser kinds, Hill, Stone, Sea and Iron, do not. Once numerous enough to march beside Men, Elves and Dwarves against the dragons, they were "all but eradicated" in the Third War of the Dragons, and in the recorded ages they appear as scattered holds: a dozen Fire Giants in a volcano, Frost Giants driven from their caverns, Mountain Giants who once ruled a highland and lost it to an orcish demoncaller.
Origins¶
The Titans "were truly enormous creatures" who "tower over giants," and "the Giants are related to the Titans, and are the progeny of the Titans with mortal races." The 2015 lists of the Elder Gods name Morkagan the Forgemaster "Father of Giants, Dwarrow," and the Compendium's gods each claim a kind: Khardas created the Mountain-Giants, Pyri the Fire-Giants, Cordia the Frost-Giants, Erolan the Storm-Giants, and Rakkan the "Lesser Giants (Hill, Stone, etc.)."
The elemental kinds hold their power on loan. "The Einar endowed faerie powers upon Giants and so created the Storm, Fire, Mountain and later the Frost Giants. One giant of each type became the King of his race; an immortal being of tremendous elemental power. Children born to the giants temporarily share the endowment of their mother, but must journey to the King to receive their own endowment of faerie power in order to survive to adolescence. When a giant dies, their endowment returns to the King. In this way, the power is conserved with the King and is also finite in scope. Large populations of giants would leave the King dangerously weakened. It is hypothesized that should one of the Giant Kings be killed, no future Giants of that type born would reach maturity." The faerie giants "are immortal in form, but can be killed."
The kinds¶
| Kind | Nature | Descent or maker |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain | Elemental giants of the earth | Created by Khardas |
| Storm | Elemental giants of the air | Created by Erolan |
| Frost | Elemental giants of the cold | Created by Cordia; endowed "later" than the other three |
| Fire | Elemental giants of fire | Created by Pyri |
| Hill | Non-elemental | Descended from Mountain Giants |
| Stone | Non-elemental | Descended from Mountain Giants |
| Sea | Non-elemental | Descended from Frost Giants |
| Iron | Non-elemental; they live in the Underdark | Descended from Fire Giants |
Mountain Giants¶
"Elemental giants of the earth," creations of Khardas, and the ancestors of the Hill and Stone giants. In the regional history of the Storm Coast, during the Age of Lords (810 to 1260 MA, in the Age of Magic calendar), "Mountain Giants expand their control to include the Ghanari Highlands and the Orcish and Goblin clans there." In the Demoncaller Wars that followed (1261 to 1315 MA), "Orcish Demoncaller Drez'okmal unites Orcs, Goblins and Ogres of Ghanari and overthrows the Mountain Giants. He does so with the aid of swarms of demons that he summoned and controlled." The Ghanari Highlands are not recorded as theirs again.
Fire Giants¶
"Elemental giants of fire," creations of Pyri, ancestors of the Iron Giants of the Underdark. In the Drakkani Wastes, a volcanic wasteland of basalt, "a dozen Fire Giants + Azer servants" dwell under their lord Jotnar; "their home is in the volcano: Naur'pilust." In the deep Underdark of the Sancturi campaign, "Fire Elementals + Fire Giants control the Great Magma Sea and the Firelands."
Frost Giants¶
"Elemental giants of the cold," endowed later than the other three kinds. In the frozen Underdark of the Sancturi campaign a merged Pitch Monster and Frost Giant called Rupyt "controls the area. It killed and drove away the other frost giants."
Storm Giants¶
"Elemental giants of the air," creations of Erolan. With the Mountain Giants they were the giants who joined the alliance against the dragons.
History¶
When the dragon-ruled kingdoms had conquered a third of the continent, "an alliance of Men, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Giants (Storm and Mountain) and the few remaining Kalari Dragons, had banded together to stop the onslaught" of the Dragon Wars. The older history of the Age of Dragons remembers the cost: "At the brink of extinction, an alliance of Elves, Dwarves, Giants and Men began the Third War of the Dragons. During this apocalyptic war, the last of the Primal Dragons was killed. The Elves and Dwarves both suffered huge losses and a loss of the majority of their ancestral lands. The Giants, already few in number, were all but eradicated."
The sources on the Fifth Age do not list Giants among its peoples. The Oesterkull, the half-giants, have their own page; the Shambling Giants are Mithis-corrupted Oesterkull and are described among the Eldritch Horrors.
Gap
The sources give no description of any giant's stature, lifespan, speech, dwellings or customs beyond the lines above, and name no Giant King.
Earlier accounts¶
The 2014 demigods document gives the endowment the other way about: "The Einar endowed faerie powers upon regular Giants (Rock, Stone, Hill and Sea) and so created the Storm, Fire, Mountain and later the Frost Giants," so that the lesser giants came first and the elemental kinds were made from them. The Compendium and the 2015 regional notes, quoted in the table above, have the Hill, Stone, Sea and Iron giants descend from the elemental kinds. The two readings are the Descent of the non-elemental giants question. The 2020 history lists Giants simply among "the Titan Races (Giants, Dinosaurs, Faeries, Ventari)" the Einar created.