> *"It is strange, how fixed your world is, how immutable you are. We change like the seasons, like the wind, like the seas. It is freedom beyond anything you could conceive of. We are artists who paint with our bodies, who chase glory like eagles soar to the sun, and feel no fetters as you do, only Truth. There is such beauty in all of Creation! Why would we not seek to experience that a thousand different ways?" -Sialfi Sótrson, giant priest of Mode* ### Overview The most perfect children of the god [[Mode]], the shapeshifting giants are perhaps the strangest of the northern people. Denizens of the great isle of [[Stormhenge]], a perpetual warmth wrapped in the most fearsome of storms, they are little understood even by their neighbors, preferring to keep to themselves for the most part and wander the world secretly in many forms. Artists and warriors with few equals, their ships are said to sail the seas along the Jagged Coast, thick with ice and rime. In the south, stories paint them as brutish monsters, but the truth of the matter is far from what the "little folk" have conceived in their stories. ### Physical Characteristics Most giants in their true form stand from 5.8 to 6.7 meters (19-22 feet) in height, towering figures with sheet white skin and alabaster or silver hair and eyes that are black from corner to corner, with no discernible difference between pupil, iris, and sclera by color. Body types vary, but with the martial inclinations of their people, all are formidable foes with a prodigious strength and the ability to destroy even siege weapons by hand in their true form. Their voices are deep and resonant, but are sometimes difficult to understand for the smaller races because of the pitch. With a lifespan of approximately 300 years when not killed in combat, the giants tend to approach life with a long perspective. Unlike the [[Elves]], however, they do not suffer from Nintara. They mature at around 30 years old, though physically they are generally done growing around the same time as [[Humans]]. It is exceptionally rare to encounter a giant in their true form, as they are consummate shapeshifters and view the world far more fluidly than the other races. Most who encounter a giant never realize that they have. ### Special Abilities Through [[True Polymorphy]], the giants are able to take on the forms that they have studied as easily as breathing, the only price for their shapeshifting a relatively minor drain. Thus, when they leave Stormhenge and roam the world, they do so almost exclusively in the shape of animals or other races, guarding their secrets most closely. Giants can essentially flow from one form to the next without really needing a break, though the wounds they acquire as one creature transfers to their next body. If they are killed, their body does not revert to the original form (thus "true" polymorphy). Giants can also modify their own bodies with their abilities, which many races of the small folk find disconcerting, particularly since they have no objection to choosing the form that feels truest to their soul, even if that means taking on a different sex or presentation. ### Language The language of the Giants has a runic alphabet of 24 letters, sharp and angular in design. They do not repeat letters when written ( "tt" becomes "t", for example), and there is no difference between capital or lowercase letters. Each rune has its own name, which scholars theorize is to help young giants remember what sound they represent. The giants themselves would say it is because each rune is imbued with its own power. It is a gruff and harsh sounding language, but is highly stylized in the way it is spoken. Giants pride themselves on their poetic muster, each one composing a war hymn for the gods to be sung after their battles. While they seldom write on paper, it is not uncommon to see runestones on the isle of Stormhenge or various places in [[Ash Kordh]] graven with inscriptions honoring battles or individuals. ### Ethnicities Because of the relatively small, and thus densely populated, area Giants call home, there are relatively little variations between giant clans and thane-lands. A common language and constant meetings and cross-pollination has made for a relatively homogenous society. Those who wander out in the world on their adventures are still very much cut from the same cloth. ### Geographic Ranges The homeland of the giants is Stormhenge, a large isle off [[The Jagged Coast]] of Ash Kordh, shrouded in perpetual storm that isolates them from the rest of the world. They range widely beyond this as a rite of passage, however, but always disguised. ### Religious Practices ##### Belief in the Gods Giants wholeheartedly believe that the gods are anything but dead—instead, they maintain belief that the gods have retreated to Paradise, working in the world only through the weaves and wefts of Fate and their chosen avatars. While they identify most strongly with Mode, the giants honor all five of the gods of the East, placing each in their proper place: none above the others. While [[Aimti]] and [[Tek]] monopolize the lives of their children, the giants pay homage to all the gods even as they identify themselves as Mode’s creations. Their rituals usually invoke all of the Five, though they pray and sacrifice to each god differently depending on their domain. The giants as a people are devout, and connect their own deeds to their access to the gods in Paradise. The giants believe in two afterlives: a permanent Paradise, entered only by those who cover themselves in glory over the course of their lives, and the more temporary Underworld, where those who have been unable to enter Paradise fall and are reborn from. Ultimately, they feel that all will reach their appointed place in Paradise with the benefit of many attempts. They also believe that when the last of the living enters through the gates of Paradise, the gods will return to the world and renew it in a new Creation, viewing even the apocalypse of [[The Revealing]] and [[Godfall]] as merely a small part of a greater cycle of death and rebirth. Scholars of comparative theology suggest giants see their ultimate role as champions and vanguards of the gods, not unlike the “angels” of sorcerous traditions are extension of the will of their own gods. ##### Funerary Rites Typically, giants burn their dead rather than bury them, setting the souls free at dusk to join the stars, which are said to glimmer as hints of Paradise guiding and inclining the lives of those who will come after. Giants regard their ancestors with reverence, and it is said that speaking the deeds of the dead can call them into the world again. After each funeral, a great feast is typically called and the deeds of the departed are told in highly stylized oratory. Interestingly, this is true for both those who die with great honor and those who die in disgrace: the telling of the tale is used to purge the connection between the soul and their life among the people, so they can descend or ascend as appropriate. Giants who die without this benefit still pass on to their respective afterlives, but may find it a more arduous journey—and if they died as oathbreakers or similarly disgraced, this is said to pose a danger to their kin, for it is whispered they may return as “draugr” to attack the living. While scholars have never observed a draugr, giants certainly behave as if they are quite real and seek to set right affairs and honor their dead whenever possible. They will go to great lengths to ensure this occurs, often holding funerary feasts for those who do not return to Stormhenge after long absences, just in case. ### Relationship with Magic Much like the [[Elves]], giants are fundamentally creatures of magic who struggle to even conceptualize it as anything other than the air they breathe, the water they drink. They can seldom imagine what it is to be in a fixed state, unable to change their form, and like the idea of experiencing such a reality even less. They do feel a great pity for the “little folk” who cannot change their forms, and treasure each expression of beauty that is a soul. Giants have never been observed doing magic other than True Polymorphy and fortune-telling, though few consider the second to be actual magic despite the Giants’ emphasis on it as a people. Most theorize that giants are incapable of magic beyond their gift from Mode, though a few are said to be gifted with [[The Sight]]. ### Notable Cultural Practices ##### Agriculture and Diet Stormhenge’s seasons are much more mild than expected for the isle’s latitude, sometimes referred to as “the eternal summer”, though this is not in the strictest sense true: they still experience planting and harvest, complete with very mild winters. Giants in Stormhenge farm and herd not unlike humans, though their livestock and crops are significantly larger. Abroad, giants often make use of their shifting forms to hunt or graze. Seal blubber and liver are delicacies they particularly seem to enjoy, but even moreso the meat of great wyrms of the waves—a hunt worthy of a giant, as they would phrase it. Mead and honey are a staple of the giant diet and something they consume a great deal of when they have the option. They often find beer and wine too bitter or sour for their tastes, but giants have a special love for intoxicants that often overpowers that palate difference. ##### Clothing and Crafts Giants are artisans with an eye for aesthetics, infusing their natural love for beauty into each craft. As a result, their clothes and tools are never purely functional with no thought given to beauty. Most giant crafts marry their purpose to their appeal as works of art, and can take long periods to labor over. There are different schools of thought about beauty among giants—some are more minimalist and others more ornamented—but all of them take a great deal of care and pride in their craft. Certainly, they are most famous for their gear for war. Every sword has a name, every shield a story, and even their armor bears prayers to Mode. Stories persist of [[Elder Blades]], weapons forged before Godfall that shape to their wielder’s will. These relics are incredibly important to the giants, each one a legacy that stretches back into [[The First World]]. The giants are able steel-workers, unlike their neighbors in Ash Kordh, and produced most of the steel seen in the region prior to [[The Great War]], when the crafts of the [[Dwarves]] became more available. As far as garments, nudity is not uncommon when giants are relaxing and they are far less shy about it than other races, but they enjoy clothing as accentuation and mystery as well, often preferring jewel tones that match their bold and striking face and/or body paint. Soft wools and linens are the fabrics of choice, and it is said that the giants have trading networks that span the world to obtain the necessary dyes (though most who trade with them have no idea who they are actually dealing with). ##### Architecture The same principle that applies to their crafts certainly applies to their structures. Stormhenge is a work of art as well as a home, built vertically as much as horizontally, with great arches of stone and winding pathways decorated with murals and tilework linking different levels. The giants love stonework, buildings distinctive for the columns and circular or spiral patterns common to their homes and functional buildings alike. The inside of their buildings often are decorated with frescoes and statuary carved to me as detailed as possible. Most striking is the *Rhapsody of Sunrise*, a statue of Mode at the center of Stormhenge: wearing the form of a female giant on its eastern side, a male on its western side, both carved so that the marble covering them looks like wet, transparent cloth. The effect requires incredible skill. Wood and stone are the chief choices for building material, though the giants do occasionally use bronze for their doors, mostly so they can cast elaborate reliefs into them. This is usually reserved for special structures, as bronze is believed to ward off evil in giant tradition. ##### Music and Literature Music and stories are the lifeblood of the giants, connecting them through the centuries to their forebears and educating their children alike. Giants have few written histories except those events chronicled on runestones, relying on epic poetry spoken or sung to tell the history of their people and the great deeds they have accomplished. Many of these stories have percolated out to Ash Kordh as a whole, translated into Orcish. Thus, while giants can often speak many languages, they seldom bother much with reading or writing, preferring to rely on oratory. Literacy is usually only seen in their leaders and priests. Musical instruments preferred by the giants are usually simple, but beautifully ornamented: the harp, the lute, the flute, and the drum are favorites. As consummate travelers, sometimes other instruments find their way to Stormhenge and those who carry them pride themselves on their ability to play them. There is no part of life among the giants that has no place for music: births are heralded by songs, as are marriages and rites of passage, and giants go to their pyres with the funeral dirges they are famous for. ##### Rites of Passage Every giant must leave Stormhenge for a journey to be considered an adult. They place a high value on earning glory and experiencing the world beyond through various other forms. It is not uncommon for wandering mercenaries and adventurers chasing challenge to be giants in disguise, though they are seldom revealed. This rite is called the Seeking, and their return is known as the Finding. They take great pride and pleasure in telling the stories of their adventures and are celebrated with a great feast and sometimes competitions of strength, wit, and skill against those who have returned as well. It is considered vital that a young giant learn what the world is really like through the eyes of others, as they believe one cannot understand without experiencing it. ##### Love and Family Giants have a tendency towards romanticism, and many fall in love with many people over the course of their long lifespan. Half giants are not uncommon in Ash Kordh, but among their own people, most are relatively monogamous, though they may pursue different relationships in series. Family is incredibly important to the giants and children are precious things. They bear the surname of the parent of their choice, usually that of the mother. Giants on Stormhenge are matrilineal, with any family wealth or property split evenly among children as inheritance. Marriage is a relatively loose concept with the giants, and separation can be initiated by either party relatively easily: by unknotting the marriage knot over their bed. It is a delicate balance between freedom and loyalty. Infidelity is considered dishonorable, and giants will generally end a relationship rather than engage in it. ##### Warfare If anyone loves battle, it is most assuredly the giants. They pride themselves on their prowess in many forms and actively pursue conflict in the name of claiming glory. Giants seek just causes and often defend those who cannot defend themselves on their travels, but they will spoil for a fight with anyone. In [[The Great War]], giants were frontline fighters against the great [[Demons]] and risked much to save the East. They also notably fought alongside [[Sorne Fire-Heart]] at [[Losena]], preventing the enemy from breaching the wall in the night. Giants are dangerous in any form, and proud of it. Their tempers are usually calmer, but some are fiery enough that others should walk carefully around them. Giants seldom fight in a sense considered conventional, using their shapeshifting abilities very much to their benefit. While they almost never wear their true forms beyond Stormhenge, a bandit attacking a lone traveler might swiftly find themselves instead faced with a dire wolf, great bear, or any number of other animal forms. ##### Fate and Omens Giants view Fate as a fundamental force moving the universe, and believe that suffering and joy are both apportioned by the gods to a soul before they are born. They teach their children that it is the choice of response that determines destiny, however, not the events themselves. Luck is considered a finite resource for a giant, just as time is, and running out of either means death. They are quick to say that one can “hide in a hole if they wish, but their Fate will find them”, and believe heavily in prophecies. Omens are how the gods speak in the living world, if you ask a giant, and they are *incredibly* superstitious by the standards of other races, considering practically anything an omen, especially dreams. Certain symbols and animals have certain meanings in their tradition of dream interpretation, a practice that many giants engage in themselves—though they prefer to ask their elders and priests for interpretation. Giants honor their intuition and dreams far more than their logical thought, perhaps due to their self-perception as a people of artistry and mysticism. A nightmare might do more to sway a giant’s course of action than any amount of argument from another, and they have developed many little rituals and signs to ward off bad luck. ### Taboos and the Forbidden The first and most obvious taboo amongst the giants is, like many of Ash Kordh’s peoples, breaking an oath or lying, though they often extend this shame to those who honor the words of their agreements without also honoring the spirit. Additionally, despite their love of war, violence against non-combatants is viewed as abhorrent and punished harshly. Accusations of cowardice and treachery are both very serious matters and usually resolved through duels of honor with the little folk. With each other, this is somewhat less common, as a thane is usually consulted to sit in judgment (though this may still end in trial by combat). After a trial by combat, the matter is considered settled and decided: retaliation by loved ones of either party is unacceptable, perhaps a way for giants to prevent endemic blood feuds in a strong honor culture. Envy and the evil eye are also strongly discouraged, and kin-slaying is considered a worse crime than killing a stranger. While giants travel widely, it is taboo to reveal the location of Stormhenge or the nature of their True Polymorphy with few exceptions, always allowed only by the permission of the Gatekeeper, chief amongst the Thanes. Giants also take an exceptionally dim view of blasphemy, especially direct insults to the gods. They are a devout people and do not invoke the names of the Five in even curses against their worst enemies, for fear of polluting their own souls. Speaking ill of the dead is also considered dangerous, and most giants who have a low opinion of a fallen rival will remain silent rather than attack the character of the dead. ### Reputation and Relationships with Others Giants are little known as themselves, but well-liked in Ash Kordh and have good relationships with both the wild human folk who make their home there and the [[Orcs]]. They exist beyond that mostly as mythic people, brutish monsters in the legends of the Kingdoms of Men and fanciful tales among the [[Elves]]. In the aftermath of the Great War, their legend has grown and changed, but for the most part they remain myths and fairy tales rather than reality—something that suits the giants well. [[The Imperium]] maintains a healthy respect for their prowess as warriors after the Great War, and it is said that [[The Divine Imperatrix]] visits their memorial at Losena every five years in honor of the giants who died in combat with the legions of [[The Princes of Iron]].