The Tidelords are a group of devotedly pacifistic giants who live around the coast of southern Brightmarch.
History
The Tidelords have been in Brightmarch for a very long time. Ancient Eitan records recount meeting the giants when the elves stepped out of the Cradle for the first time, and even at that moment it was clear to the elves that the Tidelords were already well-established as a people. For their part the Tidelords have never cared too much about writing down chronicles of their own past, preferring instead to etch petroglyphs on large rocks depicting scenes and figures from their history, religion, and legends.
Location
The stretch of coast between Zolha and Ninshrau in southern Brightmarch is considered by the Tidelords to be their homeland. Only their children and elderly permanently live there, however. Adult Tidelords can be found elsewhere across Brightmarch, though rarely north of the Ikena River. They prefer to remain near the sea when possible, but will travel through the plains and forests to reach new areas.
At some point in the distant past the Tidelords may have lived elsewhere in coastal Brightmarch as well. The sea arch of Aerie Point bears massive petroglyphs strikingly reminiscent of Tidelord designs, but these are at least 7000 years old, and no giants were in the area when the Eitan elves first set foot there.
Culture
Religion
Tidelord religion centers around a unique philosophy that draws meaning from the waves and tides of the sea. To the giants, the ebb and flow of the tides represent the give and take of life, symbolizing that any movement in one direction will necessarily entail a reaction back the other way. From this they conclude it to be a moral imperative that they live lives of ardent pacifism. After all, any violence meted out by the giants, intentionally or otherwise, will necessarily return to them in time. The Tidelords avoid conflict whenever possible, minimize damage when forced into fights, and keep to strict dietary rules, all to limit the harm they inflict upon others.
The giants often pray and commune with water spirits, who they believe to be agents that maintain the movement of the tides. Some also adopt the worship of gods of the Elven or Aserdian pantheons, but this is less common.
Society
For as long as the Tidelords remember, they have practiced a form of self-imposed exile. Upon reaching adulthood each giant sets out alone into the world, venturing forth to explore and find their place within it. Some find new lives in the communities of smaller folk, or else live out their days alone, but most return to the coast after a number of years. After settling down to raise a family, it is not unusual for the giants to depart again, leaving their children in the care of Tidelord elders. Then, upon reaching older age themselves, they return a final time. Tidelords elders are therefore greatly esteemed, as they form the backbone of their communities by educating each generation in the ways of the giants and tending to their communities.
The name Tidelord was an exonym applied to the giants by the elves of Eita, but is has since been adopted by them to refer to themselves.
Food and cuisine
Tidelords abide by complex rules as to what they can eat so as to minimize violence against others. They only eat the meat of animals under the most dire of circumstances, otherwise keeping to a purely plant-oriented diet, something that is no small feat considering how much much the giants need to consume on a day to day basis. Even then they consider their options carefully. Harvesting a plant in a way that kills it, or unduly sets back its growth, is to be avoided. A complex hierarchy provides guidance as to specifically what foods are less violent to harvest than others. As a result the food of the Tidelords is heavy on fruits, vegetables, and legumes that can be picked while leaving the rest of the plant intact. Fortunately, in their tropical environment there are many such potential food sources. Tidelord cuisine tends to be extremely straightforward, as the giants generally care little for the joy of eating, viewing it instead as a mere necessity.
Architecture and migration
The refusal of the Tidelords to harm other forms of life greatly limits the material they use to build their homes. Those that live along the coast most commonly make small dwellings out of cemented sand and driftwood, rather like a large lean-to in appearance. Away from the sea they are forced to improvise somewhat, depending on what is available in their local environment, but it is common for the giants to scavenge dead logs and foliage as building material. Regardless of the details of their construction, Tidelord homes serve as little more than places to sleep and for storage - nearly all other activities take place outdoors, as long as the weather permits.
Tidelords that leave their coastal homeland maintain largely nomadic lifestyles, generally camping in one place for a few days then moving on. Even along the shores of southern Brightmarch, Tidelords are semi-nomadic, frequently moving between small settlements.
Armor
As effectively no Tidelords carry weapons, they rely on other means to defend themselves from those who would wish them harm. To this end they sometimes wear heavy armor when passing through dangerous lands, though due to their size only the most unwise or territorial of creatures dare to attack them, and few other peoples of Brightmarch would have cause to either. Tidelord armor can take multiple forms, but their most distinctive style uses massive numbers of coins laced together into a lamellar. As the giants have no currency themselves, and place little importance on the concept, they primarily use old Eitan punched-hole iron coinage for this purpose, or more uncommonly silver or gold coins of the same origin. Paradoxically, in their attempt to defend themselves the Tidelords sometimes draw treasure hunters to them who seek the wealth the giants carry as protection.
Names
Tidelord names are self-given. Children are usually referred to by short descriptive terms until they are old enough to choose their own name, at which point their selected moniker enters use. It is common for Tidelords to change their names multiple times over the course of their long lives. These names typically take the form of brief titles or descriptions that reflect a giant's personality or role in their community. For example, the Tidelord mystic Aide to the Eyes and Ears assists in gleaning knowledge from the spiritual world, and therefore keeps a name that makes clear her responsibility and position in the giants' society.
Burial practices
Rather similarly to old Eitan practices that remain in use with some elven populations today, the Tidelords set their dead into the waves to be carried out to sea. Curiously, this tradition was already in use by the giants prior to their first encounters with the elves. It is of critical importance to the Tidelords that they die along the coast, or at least have someone to carry them back, as a failure to let ones' body drift out into the ocean would be to take more from the waters than one gave.