Vereva/Giants

General

See also: Giants

The Giant, now extinct, was a sentient race native to the northernmost regions of the Almsaundean Continent. Calling Eidriel their home, they were violently killed off in the Heaven's War by the Bevesdanes who are also held responsible for the termination of the parasitic race known as the Gnomes, though the Giants could function well with or without their counterpart. The Giants were also the only of the sentient races to hibernate. They hiberated for the entire duration of the Month of the Darkness.

The Giants were said to be kindred to animals, easily able to handle even the most violent and unruly specimens of any species. This was likely their sentient feature as is written in the Thaumopaedia:

"To the Giants in the Wandering Forests, She gave dominion over the animal kingdom.

The Giants were then able to speak with and tame all the wild beasts of Vereva;

All save sentient being were under their command."

(Thaumopaedia: Chapter 12, Verses 13-15)

Appearance

Adult Giants were known to be at least thrice as tall as an adult Human, ranging from around 18'6" (564cm) to 21'4" (650cm) for men of the race and 16'5" (500cm) to 19'11" (607cm) for women. The average weight was estimated to be between 1,110 and 1,400 lbs (503.5kg-635kg).

Gender differences

A significant difference in anatomy was made in Giants (the only living sentient race that makes a significant difference is the Minotaur). Giant males had one singular, large eye covering the span of the lower forehead. Women of the race, having two eyes, resembled humans.

The single eye of the male Giant rendered them susceptible to poor eyesight, especially with depth perception. This contributes greatly to the acceptance of the Gnomes symbiotic nature and matriarchal society.

Culture

See also: Government of Eidriel

Giant culture was purely matriarchal. Women were in positions of power and ran the country, while men took on the support role that women take in other races.

Nutritionally, Giants were vegetarians whose diet consisted mainly of one food item: Treant leaves.

Clothing

See also: Human clothing culture

Giants wore clothing for practical reasons. Some scholars believe that Human clothing culture derives from the Giants.

Stereotypes

The only existing stereotypes of Giants are known from literature from time periods in which they lived and folklore passes down by mouth over hundreds of generations. As to respect their deaths, most negative stereotypes had become unvoiced and eventually died out. They were said to be a very humble and passive race, with kind hearts. They were vegetarians who, alike Aelves, were truly compassionate for their fellow creatures. Acchaërdom, a Centurion from the era of the Giants' demise, had written that a Giantess once told him that her race's populace was made of voluntary vegetarians because they could understand the voices of the animals around them. She explained that eating something with which you can carry a conversation was the true definition of cannibalism.