The Balance

I have some worrying news for you my child. Everything we do must be in accordance with the balance. Unlike the other fae, we giants must consider how our actions will affect the balance. Our size alone means there are things we cannot do. What do you mean mama? How can the balance be so cruel? Sweetheart, the balance isn't cruel. It is just the balance. Because we live for so long and are so much larger than others, the balance must be maintained. But I want a large family. The balance will not allow that, unfortunately.
— A conversation between a giant mother and her young daughter.

What is the Balance?

For most, it is a force that controls the balance between nature and the sapient beings of Corrigenda. Some species do not have an understanding of the balance. The fae and especially the giants are ruled by it for they can sense the Balance all around them. For giants, it is not merely something to consider, it is a force which controls certain aspects of their lives.

What the Balance takes, the Balance gives.

For the giants, it slows their reproductive cycles to a crawl in comparison to other living beings. Giants find it impossible to eat meat. The balance offers compensation though, in the form of an ability to tend plants which is nothing short of magical. Due to the Balance, a giant female is only fertile thrice in her lifetime. This means they average about two children and that is if they are very lucky. With the limited number of children born to giants, they treat their gardens as though they were the children they couldn't have. Some have gardens and plants which have been passed down from parent to child for many generations. Even plants with only a single year of growth have been known to live for centuries under the care of a giant. Giants enjoy tending large fields of flax, for crafting linen. Some of those very same fields have flax stalks as large as birch trees. This is due to the giant's ability to care for green things and grafting the tops back into the base over the centuries of harvesting.

The cruelty of the Balance.

The Balance is considered by many to be cruel. For many young giantesses, the dream of having large families like their friends comes to a crashing halt when they talk to their mothers about their dream. What is worse, is that a giantess doesn't know when she will be fertile for bearing children until it is too late for their first chance of bearing a child. This is where their mother will step in and show them the true joy they can receive from the tending of plants. The other way that the Balance is cruel is that it gives the giant three years warning before they die from natural causes. This means that for giantesses who have not had the chance to bear a child they have three years to ponder their life choices and what they could not contribute to the family. There have been several family lines which have died out because of the Balance.