The Giants

The Giants

The Giants were the First Children—the first mortal beings to emerge from the remnant energy of The Firstborn's sacrifice. Described in The Iron Wedding as "once very real, nearly human like you and I, but larger obviously," they originated on the Zenwey continent and were regarded in later ages as legendary creatures referenced in old stories, tomes, and numerous children's tales. They were nonetheless confirmed to have persisted, in some form, into the modern era.

Physical Characteristics

In their original form, the Giants stood over thirty feet tall, were magnificent and terrible in appearance, and possessed lifespans measured in thousands of years—lifespans described in The Iron Wedding as unlike those of humans. They could naturally attune to crystals without tools or training, and were believed to burrow underground, with their movement said to cause earthquakes.

Note on height: The novel-based account on this page records Giants as standing over thirty feet tall in their original form, while the individual encountered in The Fight for Rislandia stood more than twenty feet tall. This may reflect the post-Sundering degeneration reducing their stature, individual variation, or a discrepancy in the source material. See conflicts.

Abilities and Vulnerabilities

Giants were capable of projecting thoughts and feelings, with the ability to sway battles and change the course of nations through this mental influence. In The Iron Wedding, this ability was further described as a possible telepathic capacity in which they feed on emotions. In The Fight for Rislandia, the protagonist had previously experienced a Giant controlling her mind, and soldiers with strong Giant's Blood Serum reactions were noted to be capable of sensing the Giant in Devil's Mountain.

Conventional weapons proved ineffective against them: bullets had no effect, and cannonballs were absorbed, though they slowed and pained the creature. Giants could jump to extraordinary heights—the one encountered in battle leaped high enough to strike the underside of The Liliana. The counter-serum (anti-serum) was identified as an effective weapon; the Giant roared in pain when doused with it, and anti-serum-coated cannonballs slowed and pained it where ordinary cannonballs did not.

The Giant encountered in The Fight for Rislandia was ultimately destroyed when Zaira von Monocle deliberately rammed The Liliana into it to end the battle, with the airship's forward turbine blades slicing it apart in the process.

Spoiler: The Crystal ConspiracyClick to reveal

Civilization

For two thousand years, the Giants built a golden age centered in Zenwey:

• Architecture: Cities that floated in the sky, bridges spanning chasms
• Technology: Automatons, weapons that could level mountains, continent-crossing vehicles
• Knowledge: Mapped the stars, studied time itself
• Culture: Art, music, literature, philosophy
• Dragons: Tamed great dragons as mounts and companions

According to old tomes, the Giants were also said to have inhabited the region now known as the Artacala Desert, which was once a fertile land during the age of their habitation. They were said to have come down from the Mitis Mountain Range in that region. Old stories further told of Giants crossing the Golgmarsh Ocean to the Areth continent, suggesting their civilization may have extended beyond Zenwey. Ivan, the Iron Emperor believed these old tales of giants across the Golgmarsh Ocean to be real.

The Fall

Pride corrupted some Giants who built the Convergence Engine, attempting to achieve divine power. The resulting explosion—the Great Sundering—destroyed their civilization. According to accounts in The Fight for Rislandia, the Giants' technology exploded, spewing chemicals across their land, and survivors were slowly transformed into bulbous creatures as a result. These survivors became known as evolved giants, and crystals were scattered across the world in the aftermath. In The Iron Wedding, this process was described as Giants having degenerated into telepathic blobs over time.

Interbreeding with Humans

Scientific Study and the Serum

The blood of Giants was identified as the source of the Giant's Blood Serum used by the Wyranth Empire. In The Blood of Giants, it was speculated that peoples or giants on the Areth continent may have studied the scientific properties of giant blood. In The Iron Wedding, it was noted that Ivan's scientists were able to revert some of the degeneration that had afflicted surviving Giants.

Survival into the Modern Era

In The Blood of Giants, Zaira von Monocle and her father detonated a bomb inside Devil's Mountain, destroying one such Giant. The pit where the Giant lived in Devil's Mountain was subsequently confirmed to be empty. James Gentry suggested there may be another giant or two still burrowed in Rislandia.

In The Fight for Rislandia, at least one Giant was encountered in open battle, demonstrating the transformed physical state described above. It had previously been controlled by the Wyranth Empire to wreak havoc on Rislandia. Its capacity to project thoughts and feelings made it a formidable force capable of influencing the outcome of engagements.

Juiyan had heard tales of giants but had never personally encountered one. Information about them was recorded in old tomes written in an old language, copies of which Juiyan possessed.

Legacy

• The Nightmen descended from Giant-human unions
• Evolved giants remain beneath mountains

Spoiler: The Crystal ConspiracyClick to reveal

• Ruins dot the landscape of Zenwey and beyond
• Their blood formed the basis of the Giant's Blood Serum
• The Artacala Desert was once fertile land during their habitation
• Zaira von Monocle carries giant blood through her maternal lineage

Spoiler: The Crystal ConspiracyClick to reveal

In A History of Rislandia

A History of Rislandia provides the most systematic scholarly treatment of the Giants found in any in-universe source, drawing on ancient texts, Nightmen oral tradition, and the sacred records of the Tribes of Zenwey. The sourcebook frames the Giants' story within the broader creation mythology and traces their influence forward into the modern era.

Origins and the Name "First Children"

According to A History of Rislandia, the Giants are formally designated the First Children—the first mortal beings to emerge from the remnant energy of the Firstborn's sacrifice. This framing is consistent with the novels. The sourcebook adds, however, that the Giants did not merely inherit life from that sacrifice: they "inherited fragments of divine power in their blood," a detail not stated in the novels, which may bear on the nature of the Giant's Blood Serum and the Giant's Blood Lineage.

The sourcebook names their continent of origin as Zenwey.

Civilization: Additional Details

A History of Rislandia elaborates on the Giants' golden age with specifics not found in the novels:

• Floating cities were held aloft specifically by air crystals; bridges spanning chasms were anchored by earth crystals; towers that pierced the clouds were built with fire crystals; automatons were powered by life crystals; and the Giants delved into the nature of time using fate crystals. The sourcebook thus ties each branch of crystal magic directly to a Giant application.
• The Giants' libraries in Zenwey contained "the sum of all knowledge," and they catalogued every plant and animal as well as mapping the stars.
• The Giants controlled approximately 15% of the world's landmass at their height, with their core empire in Zenwey and scattered colonies on the southern continent and various islands.
• The western peninsula that would become the Iberanth Peninsula was largely ignored by the Giants. A few Giants lived there as explorers, hermits, or exiles—a detail that may be relevant to later Rislandian and Wyranth history.
• The Giants occasionally enslaved Goblins for mining and occasionally enslaved humans in Zenwey. This is not mentioned in the novels.

Dragons and the Dragon-Riders

The sourcebook provides the fullest account of the Giants' relationship with dragons. According to A History of Rislandia, the Giants made a formal pact with the dragons: Giants provided treasure and knowledge; dragons allowed Giants to ride them. Some Giants bonded with dragons and became the most feared warriors in the world. A Giant dragon-rider could cross continents in hours, rain fire on enemies, scout distant lands, and carry messages between Giant cities. The sourcebook quotes: "Dragon-riders patrolled the skies, symbols of the Giants' mastery over all creation."

The sourcebook further speculates: "If Giants could naturally attune to crystals, perhaps they could also bond with dragons through some form of psychic or magical connection." This is presented as scholarly speculation rather than established fact. The Dragon-Riders of Old legend is thus given an explicit historical grounding in the Giants' era. The sourcebook also notes that dragons possibly predate even the Giants.

Spoiler: The Crystal ConspiracyClick to reveal

The Crystal Spire

According to A History of Rislandia, the Giants built the Crystal Spire and its ancient mechanisms, operating the tower using air crystals. The sourcebook quotes: "Scholars who have studied the phenomenon believe the crystals embedded in the tower may be recording and replaying sounds from the distant past, echoes of the Giants who once operated the tower's ancient mechanisms." The Giants also left remnants of construction throughout the Westerly Spine, including crumbling towers and structures of unknown purpose.

Geographic Reach and Disputed Origins

A History of Rislandia records several competing traditions about the Giants' geographic origins and extent:

• The Mitis Mountain Range is identified as a possible origin point, consistent with references in the novels to Giants coming down from that range.
• Ancient ruins in the Red Desert may be remnants of Giant civilization, and the desert itself may have been a center of their civilization—consistent with the novels' account of the Artacala Desert once being fertile.
• Some scholars believe the Giants originated in the Northern Wastes, and ancient ruins may lie beneath the ice there. The Frozen City legend is associated with possible Giant construction.
• Ancient ruins of the Giants are described as scattered across Areth, and the Ancient Empire is described as the inheritor of the Giants' knowledge.

The Nightmen and Preserved Knowledge

The sourcebook states that the Nightmen have preserved more Giant knowledge than any other people, particularly regarding crystals, and that they revere the Giants as gods. Nightmen believe their Giant blood makes them superior to pure humans and that Giants are the rightful rulers of the world. This ideological dimension is not addressed in the novels' existing page.

The Tribes of Zenwey are said to possess the most complete knowledge of the ancient Giants and the world's true history, preserving it in sacred texts. Atreblan monks are noted to preserve fragments of the First Song.

Evolved Giants: Feeding on Violence

The sourcebook's foreword adds a detail not found in the novels: evolved giants feed on violence. The novel-based account on this page records that evolved giants manipulate emotions, fostering hatred and rage, and speculates they may feed on emotions. A History of Rislandia is more specific, stating in the foreword that they feed on violence rather than emotions generally. Whether this is a contradiction or a refinement is left to the reader; both versions are recorded here. See conflicts.

A Second Evolved Giant: Plainsroad Village

According to A History of Rislandia, a second evolved giant was discovered in an iron mine near Plainsroad Village and was destroyed by Zaira's crew. This event is not covered on the novel-based account on this page, which records only the Devil's Mountain giant (destroyed by bomb in The Blood of Giants) and the giant defeated in open battle during The Fight for Rislandia. The sourcebook's account of a Plainsroad iron-mine giant may correspond to one of these known events or may represent a third distinct encounter. The novel-based account on this page does not record a Plainsroad iron-mine location for any giant encounter.

Ancient Skeletons

A History of Rislandia notes that ancient Giant skeletons measuring 30 feet tall exist and can be found in dungeons. This is the only reference in any source to Giant skeletal remains as discoverable objects, and it implies that physical evidence of the Giants' original stature survives into the modern era.

The Age of Giants

The sourcebook identifies the Age of Giants as a named historical era—the period the Giants ruled the world before the Great Sundering. The dragon Volcareth is noted to have lived through this era, making him one of the few beings with living memory of it.