The Arenik Giants

One should never underestimate the power of smaller beings. A good example of this is the frequent wars of the Dwarves and Aina who, despite their smaller size, won against the Arenik Giants time and time again.

— High Sage Syronikir

The Arenik Giants were a culture of giants inhabiting the western side of Farlis. Despite being Giants and therefore having a height advantage they were quite often being invaded since ancient times. Eventually they were drive away from much of their original homeland until they only had a fraction of their original territory left.
With their food supply in decline due to the limited space the majority of the Arenik Giants eventually perished. When their last territories were conquered some fled to the northern continent while others hid in the mountains. Today there is almost no Giant to be found in Farlis excpect for small settlements in the remotest regions.

Extra Information

Continent

Today the Arenik Giants can only be found in remote region in Farlis or in Idravil.

Origin

These Giants originated from the western regions of Farlis but were eventually driven from much of their home region.

Ruled by

Various chieftains

Known For

Stone architecture, mountain carvings

Derived cultures

Various Giant cultures in Farlis and Idravil

History

Origin

In early history the western side of Farlis was ruled by the Arenik Giants. This was during the time of the Elven migrations which would change the layout of the continent. At first these migrations were not a threat for the Giants but eventually they lost some mountain regions to the Elves. The Arenik themselves did not know how to use magic which put them at a disadvantage against the Elves.
They decided to let the Elves keep those regions as the Arenik did not think it was worth the effort to keep losing people to a war for just a small region. Little did they know that this would lead to their downfall.

by kefkejaco with Inkarnate

by kefkejaco with Inkarnate

Losses and gains

For a long time the situation remained stagnant. The Elves of the mountain regions became known as the Aina and continued to develop their magic but their were no hostilities yet. This changed when suddenly the Deep Dwarven Kingdoms fell one by one causing total chaos on the surface settlements as well. The Arenik Giants saw this as an opportunity to gain some new territories and invaded the Dwarven lands.
The war was, however, quite more costly than the Arenik has anticipated as the Dwarves were much more skilled in the art of war. For the Aina this was the ideal time to get more territories as well. They attacked the already war weary Arenik and managed to lay claim to a large portion of their realm.

Under Dwarven rule

After that war the Aina and Arenik decided to no longer wage war against eachother as both sides had lost lots of lives. Trade started to bloom once more between the two cultures. However, the Dwarves who had finally restored order in their realm had not forgotten about the Giant's earlier conquests.
Over the centuries that followed the Dwarves conquered more territories of the Arenik until eventually they were left with only a small region. The Arenik were not able to produce enough food anymore to feed their population causing many to leave towards the northern continent. Vast areas of forests were cleared to create giant boats allowing them to reach Idravil.
When the Dwarves finally conquered their last territories the remaining Giants either fled to remote regions or were taken prisoner by the Dwarves. Under their rule the Arenik suffered greatly. They were used to clear tunnels for the growing mining businesses. This was often done under abominable circumstances, with Giants often needing to crawl for the entirety of the day. Man of the Arenik perished during this period. Several centuries later the remaining Giants were set free and given some land in northern Farlis but their numbers had fallen to an extremely low point.

by kefkejaco with Inkarnate

Culture

by kefkejaco with Midjourney

Stone workers

The Arenik Giant were fantastic stone workers. It was a common sight to see them moving giantic boulders towards their settlements were they were used for monumental buildings or statues. They were able to work these stones into beautiful works of art. Most of these depicted religious stories but some were also statues of great leaders of heroic fighters.
For their buildings the Arenik often cut large stones from the mountains which they then used for their walls. Due to size of these stones the Arenik did not need to use a lot of mortar as their structures were quite stable. In contrast to smaller humanoids they were also much more efficient in transporting these stones. However, their size also had the downside that their building needed to be bigger. In order for their buildings to be stable despite their size they were often creatied in terrace like structues.
Another form of art from their culture was carving into mountainsides. Just like their statues this was often to depict religious stories or heroic people. Many these carving can still be seen toay in Everir Mountains.