Giants

Giants and Dragons are among the oldest powers in existence, predating the living world of Mundus as it is now known. They were not merely early inhabitants, but opposing intelligences present at its ordering—each embodying a fundamentally different answer to the question of what the world should become.

Where Dragons pursued the fullest expression of power through growth, accumulation, and self‑directed evolution, Giants sought fulfillment through structure, hierarchy, and the faithful execution of an original design.

The Ordering of Mundus

Before seas bore life and skies knew weather, Mundus existed as a raw, hostile expanse—rich in potential but unfit for habitation. The greatest Giants stood among the World‑Forgers, vast minds tasked with rendering the world stable, bounded, and enduring.

They did not create life so much as prepare a place for it.

Mountains were raised as stabilizing masses.
Oceans were set within measured basins.
Invisible currents of Mana were aligned into predictable pathways.

The work of the Giants was systematic and precise. Mundus was not born by chance—it was made viable.

Opposing this vision were the eldest Dragons, who believed that the world should not be constrained by imposed limits. Where Giants enforced parameters, Dragons encouraged unchecked growth. Where Giants defined acceptable outcomes, Dragons sought transcendence beyond any intended purpose. This divergence defined the first great conflict.

The Ordning and the Architects

The Ordning is not merely a social hierarchy—it is an echo of the Giants’ original mandate. Rank reflects closeness to the act of world‑shaping and the authority to interpret its intent.

At the apex of the Ordning stand the Storm Giants.

Storm Giants are believed to be the closest surviving inheritors of the World‑Forgers’ perspective. Their dominion over sky, sea, and vast distances reflects a worldview measured at planetary scale. Their oldest traditions speak of ancestors who “set cycles in motion” and “tuned the world until it held.”

Cloud Giants occupy a transitional role beneath them, concerned with observation, oversight, and the preservation of long‑term patterns. They are less concerned with shaping the world than with ensuring it continues to function as intended.

Other Giant kin—fire, frost, stone, and hill—represent increasingly localized applications of the same principle: exerting dominance over environment to maintain stability, productivity, or order.

Giants and Dragons: A Foundational Divergence

The struggle between Giants and Dragons was not fought for territory alone, but for authority over the world’s future trajectory.

• Giants hold that power is justified when it serves stability, continuity, and a defined purpose.
• Dragons hold that power is justified when it enables unrestricted growth, self‑determination, and transcendence beyond origin.

The ordering of Mundus ended without resolution. Dragons withdrew into isolation, lineage, and deep time, pursuing paths of transformation unconstrained by prior intent. Giants receded into monumental roles, embedding themselves within the world’s foundations rather than ruling its surface.

The tension between these philosophies remains embedded in the structure of reality.

Giants in the Modern Age

Modern Giants are diminished echoes of their predecessors, constrained by a world that now largely maintains itself. Yet they remain deeply invested in its continued functionality.

Storm Giants still interpret disruptions in Mana and climate as signs of systemic failure.
Fire and Frost Giants reenact ancient conflicts, confusing inherited directives for present necessity.
Hill Giants embody decay—what happens when order persists without understanding.

Many Giants believe Mundus is drifting from its original parameters, and that phenomena such as Ecological Collapse and Mana Burn are symptoms of accumulated deviation.

Relationship to Magic and Mana

Giants do not wield magic through study or faith. Their influence is intrinsic, arising from authority embedded at the world’s foundation.

• Mana flows around Giants rather than through them.
• Blight and Collapse are interpreted as mechanical faults, not moral ones.
• Giants are largely unaffected by Mana Burn, though extreme instability may provoke disproportionate and catastrophic responses.

In regions of ecological instability, Giants are less restrained—not more.

Legacy of the World‑Forgers

Structures attributed to Giants often predate recorded history and defy mortal understanding. These works are not dwellings or monuments, but interfaces: anchors, regulators, and stabilizers bound into the world itself.

Some scholars speculate that if enough of these ancient systems fail, the world may no longer remain habitable in its current form.

Whether the Giants were creators, caretakers, or enforcers remains debated. What is certain is this:

Mundus endures because it was once made to.