True Giants

The true giants are the builders of the world.  It is from their hands that the material world exists.  They are tied strongly to the order that the material world embodies - they are naturally creatures of Law - their very existence is predicated on the order and predictability that Law provides. For this reason, true giants take oaths very seriously. They will not break oaths they have made (it reduces their rank in the Ordnung) and they expect those that have sworn oaths to them to keep them as well. Giants have a reputation for violence, but this is normally because they are enforcing or revenging broken oaths.
For this reason they are arranged into a hierarchy, called the Ordnung, which defines all of their existence, eschatology and culture.  To change the ordnung is to change the very fabric of the world.  All true giants are makers - they build and create, and find meaning in their lives in that act of creation.
The ranks of the Ordnung are:

1. The storm giants - who shape water
2. The cloud giants - who shape air
3. The fire giants - who shape iron with unquenchable flame
4. The stone giants - who shape stone
5. The dwarves - who are the machine makers - they combine the elements of the higher giants, but do not master them

True giants that have lived obedient lives are reborn at a higher level of the ordnung; those that destroyed rather than made at a lower level.
There are some creatures that the ignorant refer to as giants, because of their size, but are not true giants, are not tied to Law like true giants are, and are not in the Ordnung.  The Frost Giants of the icy wastes are actually related to Orcs.  The Hill Giants are just overlarge ogres or Humans.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Giant society is very hierarchical, and that hierarchy is enforced by the oaths of alleigance that giants will swear throughout their lives, rather than by birth or inherited position. The hierarchy is therefore very personal - a giant will serve his king not because he is a king, but because he has sworn an oath to serve him, and cannot break that oath.

Genetic Descendants

• Cloud Giant