Giantkin Timeline

The history of the giantkin is filled with mystery and legend. The mass destruction of the Giant civilizations and the lack of reliable records means that much of what we know is based on conjecture gathered from studying ruins and the only partially reliable and frequently conflicting tales of trolls and the ancient and well guarded archives of the oni.

Pre-History

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• First Ogres and Trolls
  • Ogres were created by the True Giants to assist in molding the earth with their tremendous might yet (relatively) small stature while trolls were created as a strong but dull guard race to keep smaller races away. The exacts of how the Giants created them are unclear, but given the manner by which Ducaniel is believed to have created the orcish race it is clear that powerful magics were involved.¹
• Inheritance War
  • With the defeat of their True Giant masters, the ogres retreated to the foothills of the Serpentspine and swamps across Halcann to avoid being wiped out by the victorious dragons. To survive being isolated they took to hunting and devouring their own masters, beginning their descent into gluttonous barbarity. Trolls retreated far to the north and guarded the far northern lands of the frost giants during the War of Ages.
• Rule of Dragons
  • The True Giants took advantage of the Dragonic civil wars and fought back against them. The trolls were sent to hunt the dragons while the ogres were commanded to assist in rebuilding, however most ogres by this point possessed an insatiable desire for their former master’s flesh and rebelled, the few that regretted their actions exile themselves to the eastern hills of the Serpentspine, ultimately becoming the oni. By the time the Precursor Elves rose against the Dragons in the War of Broken Chains, the Giants of Halcann had already managed to wrest control back from the great beasts, forcing the survivors into hiding. The Stone Giants are believed to have been hunted to extinction by their ravenous former servants during this period.
• Rule of Giants
  • With Gerud freezing the north, most ogres were pushed back along the edge of the Serpentspine due to their dislike of the cold while the cold loving trolls were moved into Gerud’s realm as a reward for their loyalty.
• War of Subjugation
  • While the surviving True Giants were enslaved by the Precursors, the more monstrous ogres and trolls were hunted to near extinction, pushing them further into the foothills and swamps. The oni constructed their imposing castle-monasteries known as Shirgrii, hidden in the misty hills of the eastern Serpentspine.
• Giant Rebellion
  • The trolls and even the rebellious ogres joined the True Giants in rebelling against the Precursors. When the giants were defeated, the ogres returned to their swamps and hills while the trolls took to the mountains of the far north, zealously guarding it against any intruders.
• Ancient Bulwar
  • The God Kings of Bulwar wiped out the ogres inhabiting the foothills of the Serpent’s Reach.
• Rahenraj
  • The Rahenraj exterminated the ogres of the southern hills of the Eastern Serpentspine, with the oni managing to repel them from their fortified Shirgrii. The Raheni and the Yan began to view the oni as horned demons of the hills after witnessing their titanic strength in pitched battle for the first time in recorded human history and did their best to avoid attracting their ire.

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• Centaur Migration 590 BA
  • Centaurs arrived in the Forbidden Plains after being expelled by Castan II Beastbane. While the ogres hunted them with virtual impunity at first, as the centaurs collected themselves they fought back, pushing the ogres into 2 groups along the mountains; the Fathide Ogres in the west and the Sandmaw Ogres in the desert mountains of the south.
• Wars of the Giantsbane 407 BA - 357 BA
  • Frost Giants returned and rampaged across Gerudia and Castanor, bringing their loyal trolls with them. When the ogres heard that the Giants had returned they flocked to them, not out of loyalty but out of hunger for their flesh. The Frost Giants beat the ogres back into submission with the help of their Trolls. After the Giants were defeated, Castan VI Giantsbane began a series of exterminations of the Swamp Ogres that his successors continued, leading to their extinction.² The ogres of the Escanni Serpentspine foothills were also wiped out and the trolls retreated back to Gerudia, where the Castanorians decided not to follow due to the harsh terrain.
• Day of Ashen Skies
  • Trolls began attacking human settlements in Gerudia with even more frequency and brutality while the Fathide Ogres nearly starved to extinction. The oni managed to carefully nurse their supplies to survive, each Shirgrii sustaining itself with a guarded vault of food.
• Fall of the Sandmaw 25 AA
  • Driven mad with hunger, the Sandmaw Ogres launched into a mad frenzy against the centaurs, whose retaliation wiped them to extinction.³
• Rise of Maghargma 28 AA
  • As they neared the fate suffered by the Sandmaw, a Cloud Giant city crashed into the southwestern lands of the Fathides. They feasted on the remains within the city, regaining their strength and managing to survive their long famine. The many clans that flocked to the ruin began fighting over it, finally being defeated and subjugated by the chief of the Gravelhide clan, Ghornma Gravelhide, who declared himself Mengurkha, Ruler of Ogres, and changed his name to Maghargma Gravelhide, founding a kingdom in his name. He lead a horde against his rival clans, weakened by hunger, and the centaurs, carving a vast realm along the eastern foothills of the Western Serpentspine.
• Apotheosis of the Oni 42 AA
  • As Harimar rampaged through the Rahenraj, many humans fled from his armies into oni territory. The harimari armies pursued them, only to be ambushed and wiped out by the horned ogres, who mostly ignored the emaciated and battered humans as they figured they’d die soon anyway. They had not attacked the harimari out of love for humanity but for the defense of their lands. Nevertheless, the refugees viewed the feared oni as saviors and begin worshiping them, giving them sacrifices and offerings out of thanks, with the oni allowing them to stay in their lands in return for their servitude.
• Death of Maghargma Gravelhide 78 AA
  • The Great Mengurkha Maghargma died, leading to his realm falling apart as his warlords rebelled against his capital, regressing back into dozens of warring clans as his descendants struggled to regain power outside of the city’s walls.
• Fathide Civil War 80 AA - 125 AA
  • The son of Maghargma, Roghrin Gravelhide, marched against his unruly people to reinforce his rule. As the war raged on several centaur clans took the opportunity to offer their service to Roghrin, assisting him in reestablishing his father’s realm. With Roghrin’s victory and the power of his authority clear, the centaurs that assisted him were rewarded with iron weaponry and armor. This was the start of the long tributary relationship between Maghargma and the centaurs, where the centaurs brought slaves, food, and praise to the ogres in return for boons of iron and steel. The ogres that continued to refuse the Mengurkha’s rule fled to the forests north of his sprawling realm.
• Dragonwake 470 AA - 500 AA
  • With Elkaesal the White freezing the north during the Era of Frost, the remaining ogres of the northern pass migrated into the Serpent’s Vale, fighting through goblins and orcs to establish themselves in the swamplands. They scattered into hundreds of isolated clans largely focused in the southern end of the vale, stubbornly holding their bogs against those around them and ultimately becoming the Mossmouth Ogres.²
• Beralic Saga 882 AA
  • With the rise of the Kingdom of Bjarnrik and the death of Urgnak the Foul at Bera’s hands, the trolls were pushed to the far northern mountains and forests of Gerudia.
• Rise of Shrakk 1430 AA
  • With many of the goblins and orcs gone from the Serpentspine due to the Greentide, the Chief of the Mire Maw Clan, a powerful warlord known as Shrakk, conquered his surrounding rivals, becoming the supreme ruler of the Mossmouth Ogres.
• Resurgence of Maghargma 1438 AA
  • Weakened by centuries of decadence, the Fathide Ogres had fallen into a false sense of security; the Mengurkha had for centuries lounged in their palace gorging themselves on feasts provided by centaur tributes. While this had been happening the warlords of Maghargma had largely stopped recognizing royal authority, paying the crown lip service instead of tithes and raiding each other for loot and flesh. This decadence was broken when the centaurs suddenly attacked the realm. Mengurkha Borigg Gravelhide begrudgingly rose from his throne to repel the centaurs, believing that it would be a simple matter. He was quickly proven wrong as he was slain in battle. His successor, Ziltagh, had grown disdainful of the decadence, eager to reassert control and expand his realm. Now that he had become the Mengurkha he rallied his disobedient warlords and soundly defeated the centaurs, quickly earning the respect and loyalty of his vassals as he began the long process of reunifying his domain and expanding its borders to obtain new subjects and tribute.

Notes

1. While Orcs are believed to have been created from goblinoid, giantkin, and elven stock, the leading theories are that both trolls and ogres were created from small and deformed Giants, with trolls also having goblin heritage and ogres possessing dwarven blood. This theory has seen much resistance from the dwarves.
2. The exact origin of the Mossmouths is unclear, with several theories claiming that they're either the last of the Cannorian Swamp Ogres or purely Fathides that migrated into the Serpent's Vale. Still others declare that the true answer lies in the middle, with the Mossmouths being descended from both the surviving Swamp ogres and the Fathides that later migrated. Attempts to discuss with a Mossmouth Ogre have been met with indifference at best, aggressive hostility at worst.
3. Triunic archaeologists have discovered ruins, linens, and coinage in the deserts of the Forbidden Plains, the architecture being reminiscent of that of ancient Maghargma. This seems to indicate that the Sandmaw Ogres had long been in the process of settling into a sedentary culture and may have not been the roaming hordes they have long believed to have been. Some even claim that they may had already established small, city-state kingdoms at the time of their untimely demise.