Ordning

The ordning was the social structure to which all giants adhered, dating back to the ancient empire of Ostoria. It was similar to a class-based society, but was much more specific, assigning a social rank to each individual. Therefore, each individual giant knew which other giants were inferior and superior to himself, and no giants were equal to other giants.

Description

The giants of many worlds organize themselves in a complex social ranking called the ordning. At the largest scale, the ordning establishes the relative positions of the six main kinds of giants, with storm giants at the top, followed (in order) by cloud giants, fire giants, frost giants, and stone giants, with hill giants at the bottom. Other creatures of the Giant type—such as ettins and trolls—are not counted as part of the ordning, placing them functionally below the hill giants.
At a smaller scale, every giant has a precise place within the larger framework of the ordning, and each kind of giant has a different way of assigning that place. Cloud giants rank themselves based on wealth, fire giants based on crafting skill, frost giants based on physical strength, and stone giants based on a combination of artistry and rock throwing. Hill giants give their respect to larger and stronger giants without putting much thought into hierarchical ranks. Only storm giants, largely solitary and imagining themselves above such petty concerns, have no interest in ranking themselves. Regardless of a giant’s ranking within its kind, no giant can transcend the ordning of the six giant kinds; the most accomplished fire giant artisan ranks below the poorest cloud giant, for example.

Organization

The ordning applied to individual tribes, but it was an insult to treat a higher-ranked giant from another tribe as an inferior. Between different types of giant, there was a totally separate system, and even the lowest ranked giant of one type was superior to the highest ranked giant of an inferior type, but importantly, it was not considered evil to betray a giant of another type, merely rude. The types of giants were ranked as follows, in descending order:

• Titans

• Storm giants
• Cloud giants
• Fire giants
• Frost giants
• Stone giants
• Hill giants

Rejecting the Ordning

Some giants reject the ordning, in part or entirely. This rejection most commonly takes one of three forms.
First are giants who hold themselves to a different standard than the one their kind traditionally values. These are often giants whose ranking within their kind is low. For example, a contemplative cloud giant might pursue knowledge rather than wealth, or a weak frost giant might trade in secrets and blackmail to hold onto some measure of power. These giants might avoid the company of their own kind to escape the expectations and customs attached to the ordning. In addition, devotees of Annam’s daughters—Hiatea, Iallanis, and Diancastra—tend to push against the strict definitions of the ordning as a matter of principle.
Second, a few giants take a revolutionary stance meant to upset the ordning. A mighty frost giant warrior, not content to rule only frost giants and lesser creatures, could attempt to subjugate fire or cloud giants. Such revolutionaries often aim to impose their own kind’s understanding of the ordning on all kinds of giants, so a master artisan among the fire giants might attempt to claim a higher place than storm giants who lack the same crafting skill. These efforts rarely have any lasting impact, but some have managed to upset the ordning at a local level for a few centuries. Because their sense of the ordning relies on physical power and military strength, frost giants are the most likely to impose their standards on other giants. Along similar lines, sometimes giants measure themselves by the standards of a different kind of giant and try to break from the ordning by exceeding those standards. A strong stone giant, for example, might try to claim a place within the frost giants’ ordning. [12:34 PM] Third, giants who turn from the worship of Annam’s children to other powers (as described under “Gods and Religion” later in this chapter) also reject the ordning. In some cases, as in the hierarchical cults of Elemental Evil, the new religion replaces the giants’ ordning with a different structure that offers the same sense of order, purpose, and meaning. Such cults place giants at a higher position than the giants would otherwise enjoy in the ordning.
When giants join the cults of demon lords, they reject the entire concept of the ordning—the idea that there is any kind of order to the multiverse at all, which is the literal meaning of the word ordning in the Giant tongue. These giants reject meaning, status, and hierarchy in favor of chaos and destruction.

Origin of the Ordning

Most giants believe Annam established the ordning at the very beginning and that it reflects the birth order of his sons. One myth likens the ordning to the structure of the mountains: from lowly foothills (hill giants), up to the stone of the mountain (stone giants), the snow on the peaks (frost giants), the lava spewing from the peak of a volcano (fire giants), and then above the peak to the clouds (cloud giants) and the storm (storm giants). These myths depict the ordning as an inherent part of what it means to be a giant, as natural as the geography of the land.
Sagas told among giants on some worlds suggest other explanations for the ordning, linking it to the giants’ fall from Annam’s good graces. In some of these stories, the ordning isn’t natural at all; it’s part of the giants’ fall—an invention of Annam’s sons and a distortion of Annam’s will for them. In other stories, it is a consequence of their fall—a punishment Annam inflicted on the giants after they proved themselves incapable of governing the world. The ordning might be necessary, or a burden giants are expected to bear, but giants who hold these views often look forward to Annam abolishing the ordning in some mythic future.