The Ways of Maat and Maug-Understanding our Tallbrothers, An Excerpt~
...When one considers the race of giants, some images spring to my mind-towering, bestial warriors marching down upon tiny, insignificant warriors with the roar of an avalanche. Small swords and spears seem like toothpicks to the hammers of the giants, as large as horsecarts.
And yet somehow, in our stories, the small warriors always win.
What do the Giant's stories say?
In truth, most of them resemble our own-Giantkind is in many ways similar to humankind. There own stories indicate trials and victories over large, imposing enemies such as Dragons, or the sacking of cities, and the Glory for and pining of the old times in which they ruled supreme...at the base of giantkin culture lies a feeling of superiority-called "the Ordning"-which is a word for the laws they once enforced, and stands for a era of their enlightened rule-a true relic of the ancient times when Giants of all types were much more prevalent and powerful, often ruling large groups of primitive elves, men, and dwarves as Kings-some wisely, some not so, much as men ruled afterwards. Over the centuries, however, the "Stommven" (Man-Tribes) became more advanced through technology, and more numerous. The Giants found themselves overthrown by sheer attrition, their Ancient Gods banished to the Endtimes, and were scattered to the points of the compass. Nearly all ancient Giant cities-amazingly advanced and prosperous in those times-are only desolate ruins today, showing a glimpse into the majesty and reach they once held control over-in many cases, their people created their own cities around them, and remnants of Giant architecture can still be seen in some of our own modern day cities, such as Aretrian, Ferryborn, Dialelund, Sweetsling Rift, and Lychyard. In these times, the Giants themselves are usually a dwindling, bestial people-the Ordning is often used to justify the crimes and atrocities they commit upon other folks, when once it united Empires and kept them safe and prosperous...
...In short, most Giantkind feel the world should still belong to them-even as the kingdoms of men have pushed them further and further into extinction. Not only through war, but a dwindling. Giants breed slowly-and those who breed with humans produce weak half-breeds, often unable to achieve a tenth of the strength of their magnificent forebears, and few of those ever reach maturity, often falling to congenital disease, such as insanity, or heart attacks*. Those who do survive, produce even thinner and weaker blood in the ensuing generations. The blood of true Giants is believed to be long extinct-one need only look to some Giantkinds defacement of their own ancient murals of Heroes and Kings, a symbolic denial of the evidence that once they were of much greater stature than the Giants we know today...
...Most Giantkind still follow the ways of "Slaag uft Liv", or the "Life of Battle"...believing purity of spirit earned through endless conflict, and upholding the ancient law of Ordning may yet be their final redemption...
...
*Surprisingly, Heart disease is a usual fatality among the Giantkind of today, likely related to their weakened blood and larger, stronger bodies-it often strikes newborns, but nearly every Giant and the various half-Giants species are vulnerable to it, especially as they grow older. Their own term for this is "Syd Sorga", which merely translates to "Sudden Sorrow"-an uncommonly morose term for an usually unsympathetic and taciturn race. The irony that their hearts cannot support their bodies is one of brutal derision among their foes, and unending misery to them.
((Go filler RP!))
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Topic: City of Aretrian - IC Thread (Read 59600 times)