The Philiraki (pronounced fih-leh-RAH-kee), sometimes referred to as the Philiraki giant princes, are a group of storm giants who live in western Hellea, particularly on the Philiraki Peninsula and the Acapetra Islands. These giants maintain vast coastal castles and estates, governing the populations of smaller people that live there.
Location
The Philiraki have long called the western coasts of Hellea home. They reside in fortified manors up and down the rough seaboard, stretching over 500 miles from Iroikos in the north to the farthest-most of the Acapetra Islands in the south. They have a particularly large presence on the Philiraki Peninsula whose name comes from their own. Despite this vast territory, the giants control little of it directly, and nor do they have any reason to, preferring to maintain their isolated estates rather than exert broad control over the land.
Most Philiraki settlements lie within territory claimed by the city-states of the Halakran League, while a handful are within Ephardian territory.
Culture
See Hellea for more information on culture, geography, and history that is common to the nations of the peninsula.
Religion
Both the storm giants and smaller folk who work their estates - humans, tengu, dwarves, and so on - primarily worship the gods of the Hellean pantheon. Unlike elsewhere in Hellea, the hero-gods have few followers in the region. Veneration and prayer to Lycia are especially common amongst the giants, who see her as a goddess of the seas and skies first and foremost. To them, she is known as the Crashing Wave and the Thundering Skies, who rights the wrongs of the world through fearsome and indiscriminate force. Other popular deities include Hemera, Triteia, and Psais. The tengu population has also introduced the worship of gods from farther-flung places.
Traditions
Long distance communication is frequently performed by the use of thunder drums, an ancient practice of the giants. These drums can be heard for tens of miles (though are usually used on shorter scales), and are almost deafening up close. Messages are sent by converting words to complex sequences of drum beats - as each sequence corresponds to a word instead of a letter or sound, the full vocabulary is very large and takes a great deal of time to learn. The exact details of how to construct these drums are a closely guarded secret, which the drum masters only teach to carefully chosen apprentices.
Languages
The Philiraki speak a certain variant of Jotun that many others, including other giants, find difficult to follow. The storm giants' dialect and manner of speaking makes heavy use of metaphors, particularly invoking the seas and skies, which often have vague meanings to the listener. Hellean, Tengu, and Common are also widely spoken as well, as are Thadrian and Telan to much lesser degrees.
Food and cuisine
Philiraki cuisine incorporates a variety of ingredients, including seafood (fish, crabs, etc), rabbits, deer, moles, grapes, fruits from orchards (apples, pears, etc), nuts, foraged mushrooms, and a range of vegetables. The wineries of the giants' estates are famous for their ports, though comparatively little of their product makes it to foreigners.
Architecture and urbanization
Larger Philiraki settlements usually feature reinforced structures, storm walls, and drainage systems in order to mitigate the regular storms from the Sea of Khoros. Most taller buildings also feature prominent lightning rods, usually with ornamentation relating to the crest of the ruling prince.
The giants' estates, or their castle-homes, are monumental fortifications of stone. While often appearing harsh and imposing from the outside, within they usually feature many comforts, including spacious interiors, gardens, and running water. As the castle-homes are usually built along the coastline, many also have watchtowers that serve a second purpose as lighthouses.
The courtyards of castle-homes often house trees that are carefully tended to grow as tall as possible. These are a source of pride for the giants, who often maintain the same groves through generations. While some of these are trees that are native to the region, others are composed of redwoods from Rothurland.
Society
The Philiraki greatly value self-sufficiency within their estates, and source food, materials, and expertise from within their domains to the highest degree possible. This is not done as a matter of necessity, as they certainly have the resources and ability to specialize and trade, but is rather a consequence of the giants preference for their mostly peaceful isolationism.
Magic
Casters amongst the giants tend to prefer magic that deals with weather and environmental alteration, and in combat frequently use electricity-based evocation spells. Some storm giants choose to become ascetic druids and move away from their estates though this is uncommon.
Government
Each Philiraki settlement is ruled by a giant prince, who, despite the name, is not necessarily male. The giants consider their castle, as well as the outlying communities, farms, and gardens, to be part of their broader estate and under their control. Despite exercising absolute authority within their territory, the giant princes have a reputation as being fair and just rulers though harsh on evil-doers. The title of prince is hereditary. Most princes have trusted advisors of other ancestries who are relied upon to enforce the prince’s laws and provide and disseminate information.
Once a year, the giant princes of Philiraki convene a moot to discuss common issues and determine solutions to them. Barring irregular circumstances, this is normally the only time the various princes meet - the giants are naturally reclusive, and prefer to run their estates rather than get involved in broader affairs. Wars between the storm giants are highly taboo and almost unheard of; in the rare event of conflict, the other princes are bound by tradition and the edict of the first moot to assist the defender.
Economy
As the estates of the Philiraki are largely self-sufficient, they see little use for extensive trade, either with each other or outsiders. While a degree of international trade is present, mostly facilitated by Hellean merchants, the giants make every attempt to acquire resources or materials from a local origin first. Estates typically do not overproduce and stockpile in the event they do, and as a result the giants have little they are willing to sell to foreigners.
Relations
While the giant princes generally keep themselves removed from the affairs of others, they harbor a strong opposition to the raiders of Rothurland.