What are the Giants

In the beginning before The First Pantheon was established there were the giants.
Hill Giants-By far the least intelligent of the giants and extremely reckless not
really having a sense of danger to their own lives. The other giants consider the
hill giant's primitive in nature. Also, the smallest of the giant races, the hill giants
see size as a show of power so they bow down to the other races of giant.
Stone Giants-Reclusive, quiet and peaceful as long as they are left alone. The term
"friendly giant" came from this race of giant. They do not seek power or glory
over the other giants. They keep to themselves in their caves and enjoy in
creating art, but they do not like to share it with anyone as they are generally
private creatures. Stone Giants have also been regarded as seers of omens and
prophesies as they will carve them out or paint it on their cave walls. From what
we know, most of their prophecies are cryptic but do come true in some way.
Fire Giants-Much like the dwarves when they first appeared, being master
crafters and warriors. They have a militaristic society were rank, position and skill
in combat is valued. The first wars against giants and the smaller races was the
Fire Giants vs the dwarves as they both shared a home in the Lonely Mountains.
Due to their arrogance the fire giants were defeated in many battles and were
driven out of their mountain homes. This was mostly due to the open field
berserker tactics that the dwarves had in place and their extremely hard to craft
and rare Giants Bane Axes. It is unknown where the Fire Giants went from that
point onwards whether they moved to a new continent or somewhere else within
the Lonely Mountains.
Frost Giants-Gigantic reavers from freezing lands beyond civilization, frost giants
are fierce, hardy warriors that survive on the spoils of their raids and pillaging.
They rule the frozen seas of the world with their massive long ships that patrol
the coasts of the continents. They are not a race of giant to be taken lightly as
they would rather die raiding then surrender to the smaller races of the world.
The other giant races consider them the most reckless and foolish of the races,
which is why they get the least respect from the lot.
Cloud Giants-Cloud Giants live extravagant live high above the world, showing
little concern for the conflicts and squabbles between the other races except as
entertainment. They rarely interact with any other of giant kind. They consider
themselves more noble or high born than the other races, solving their conflicts
with intrigue and politics that war or physical fighting as it is not their forte.
Storm Giants-Storm Giants are benevolent and wise unless angered, in which the
coming storm can affect the fate of thousands. They are referred as "Distant
Prophet Kings" as they live far away in isolated peaks of the world and are
considered to be the strongest of giant kind, as they can bring storms to swipe
societies clean of any map if they so wish it. They have elite warriors to put any
giant in their place if one was to step out of line. They are the peacekeepers that
keep the giants from starting wars with each other or the smaller races. If they
feel wronged though in any way, then a reckoning is within order and they will
not stop until it is sought through

Origins of Giants
The very first giants appeared in the north part of the continent. The Lonely
Mountains. This snow like tundra gave birth to the first generation of Giants.
Some say they were born from the stone and mountains themselves and others
say they were born from a spark of a forgotten god, that god being Balder, the
once believed god of Giants.
In the beginning unlike today, due to their birth place, the Frost Giants seemed to
have ruled all giant kind. With the first generation of Kings being that of the Frost
and Ice. Bragi being the first king, built a magnificent fortress within a mountain
ranged formed from ice and frost. It still sits there to this day, known as "The
Frost Oracle". Along this range is burial tombs of giant nobility from that age. The
fortress is now abandoned by any life other than a few skulking reaver tribes that
live within the mountains.
As the Giants began to spread out and find their own in the world, the Storm
Giants took the place as the rulers of the Giants. They grew in size and power
when they left the frozen tundra and all giants respect size and power. They grew
to become the biggest and strongest in terms of physical and natural magic
capabilities which granted them the title of Prophet Kings. They have only ever
had one king rule them, he was the largest and wisest of the Storm Giants and
had lived through all the ages up until now. His name was Thorandil.

The First War

The first war between giants was when they began to drift from the north, this is
when the Frost Giants felt that they were going to lose their grip on the other
giants. Due to the Storm Giants suggesting that the Giants spread elsewhere
because of the defeat the Fire Giants suffered to the dwarves, it seemed like to
the Frost Giants that the Storm Giants were trying to undermine and deliberately
break their rule which made them the first target. A war sprouted between the
two mighty Giants Races.
This was a war that created the valleys that some towns and settlements are built
in within the Lonely Mountains. It paved some giant caves and cracks within the
mountain range and for ages scared off any predators from living within the area,
they have returned now but for a while there was an overpopulation of elk and
mountain goat.
In the end of this 20 years' war, the Storm Giants decided it was pointless to carry
on fighting as the Frost Giants were relentless reavers who would not accept
defeat. They decided to abandon the war and move on from the Frost Giants, but
all the other Giants knew that the Storm Giants had won and the Frost Giants had
lost. This alone granted the Storm Giants title of Giant Kings
This defeat caused the Frost Giants to abandon their land based fortress of The
Frost Oracle and moved on to the coast and sea. They began building longships
and turned to raiding as they would no longer receive tribute so they decided to
take what they wanted. Building a new fortress on the North Sea. It is a frozen
mountain on the surface of the ocean water and it is build all along the perimeter
of this frozen mountain. It is known today as "The Frozen Refuge"

The Ordning
It was shortly after this war that the Storm Giant king, Thorandil, claimed to have
heard the voice of Balder telling him to give order and civilization to giant kind. It
was from this point that The Ordning was enacted. The giants accepted this act of
society like class ranking. Storm Giants at the top followed by Cloud, Fire, Frost,
Stone and Hill Giants. They accepted this as they never made any direct contact
after they spread out so it would not directly affect any of them. It was mainly put
in place to give a sense of place or order to the Giants is what Thorandil claimed
to those that asked.
Giants being worshipers of Balder as they believe they were born from his spark,
with the combined effort the Giants built a massive temple in worship of him in a
land that they were all unfamiliar with and far from their own as it would give a
sense of fairness to all, The Golden Sands Desert. It is here that the act of The
Ordning is inscribed in stone and guarded by alters dedicated to Balder. This
temple is known as "Balder's Gate" and legends say that if all Runes of Domain
are acquired it will take the holder of the runes to the realm of Balder but that is
just a legend.