by Demonic Bunny
The Sundering
The first few centuries after the giants' invasion of Pellatarum were worrysome. The Shapers had observed, studied, made simulations and even conducted what limited live trials they could, but even they could not be certain that their predictions would be correct. The giants had arrived, but there were no signs that they were growing weaker. Then, finally, came the event known as "The Sundering".
The Sky giants had been among the first to arrive on Pellatarum. Of the many kinds of giant they were among the greatest, strongest and the fleetest of foot. Unlike other giant breeds, however, they were also among the most social, living not in scattered clans but in great cities. They alone among had overcome their base instincts and banded together in great communities. This was another form of evolution, as their prior enemies had been the mighty djinn (genies of the air) and their unwilling servants, the dragons.
When the sky giants arrived on Pellatarum they constructed great cities in the air, weaving clouds and magic into fantastic constructions that stretched for miles and forming great floating island-fortresses that dominated the skies. These cities were not just bastions, but also mobile warships from which the giants could descend upon the surface of Pellatarum.
The other giant species were somewhat lesser and later arrivals, but not by much. During these first centuries the elder races of Pellatarum hid themselves well, in the deserts, among the mountain peaks, or deep under earth and ocean surface. They waited, and they hoped.
And then it came, the first sign of the Sundering. It was not a lessening in power that came first, or a loss of the giants' sorcerous powers as the Shapers had predicted. It was a loss of one of their natural abilities.
Gradually, some sky giants began to lose their power to walk among the clouds.
It is uncertain what the sky giants could have done at this point. They still had enormous power at their command, and it was uncertain if the Shapers could have defeated them as things stood. Perhaps if the sky giants had acted promptly they could have marshaled their forces and remained the most powerful race upon Pellatarum. What they did instead was the worst thing possible for the future of their race: they banished their crippled kin from their cities in the skies. The exiles were told that it was the natural progression of things, that giantish adaptability was once again propelling the race onwards, but the true reason was that the sky giants were prideful and saw all non-cloud dwelling races as beneath them.
As time went on, more and more sky giants began losing their ability to walk among the clouds, with this loss of ability soon followed by a lessening in size and intellect (becoming what are today known as frost giants). Even the other giant races could see that this was not how it was supposed to be, but their numbers were few compared to the sky giants and their sorcerous abilities weaker.
Eventually, the only race oblivious to the lessening of the giant races were those few who still remained in their cold sky cities.. until they too were diminished. These last remaining sky giants did not lose their ability to walk among the clouds; they gradually lost their ability to resist the biting cold. Soon they were shivering in their aerial fortresses, discovering too late that they no longer had the power to make their cities descend to a lower altitude, nor to construct new ones. The cold finally drove them from their fortresses and down into warmer climates among the low and temperate mountains of Pellatarum.
Their arrogance and selfishness had gained them nothing but the unanimous hatred of their kin. Though a few storm giant seers took pity on them and stopped their lessening (as they had done for other giants long before), even today the cloud giants (as they are now known) are shunned and spat upon by their giant kin.
It is uncertain if any of their cities have survived the passing of time, although rumors of ancient sky-forts still trickle in from beyond the borders of civilization.
(Editor's note: If you are not imagining an adventure where PCs investigate a creepy abandoned (or is it?) and possibly booby-trapped city of unimaginable magical power, you're doing it wrong. )
PDF
