The Philiraki Giant Princes (pronounced fih-leh-RAH-kee) are the storm giant rulers of the Philiraki peninsula and surrounding islands. These giants maintain vast coastal castles and estates, governing the population of smaller people that live there.
Geography, flora, and fauna
Despite the craggy coastlines of the Philiraki Peninsula and surrounding islands, the interior is quite fertile and productive. Places that aren’t cultivated or settled are a mix of gentle hills, open canopy forests, and flat grasslands. The region has mild weather with a degree of seasonality - summers tend to be warm and while winters do see colder weather, snowfall tends to be sparse.
Storms that form on the Sea of Khoros have a tendency to make landfall around the Philiraki Peninsula, and increase in frequency in the summer months.. These usually bring large amounts of rainfall and high winds, but major damage to settlements is uncommon as the people living there know to anticipate such events.
Though the forests of the region have a superficial appearance of being wild, in reality most are carefully cultivated to create an ideal environment for certain plants and animals. Many of the forests are more like expansive orchards of fruit- or nut-producing trees, though travelers should be wary that this does not necessarily mean they are free of dangerous creatures. In fact, many of the storm giants prefer to keep potentially dangerous animals, magical and otherwise, within their estates, in order to keep other animal populations under control.
The forests of Philiraki are primarily deciduous trees, with some coniferous forests on the peninsula. Forest floors tend to be full of ferns, berry bushes, and other low growth, but rarely to a degree that they are difficult to travel through. The grasslands and hills of the region are primarily short grasses interspersed with wildflowers.
The animals of the peninsula are similar to that of elsewhere in Hellea, though with slightly fewer monstrous creatures. Rocs are kept by the storm giants and also live wild in the Philiraki region. One creature the giants try hard to eradicate is the krenshar, a strange and highly aggressive cat-like beast. Not native to the area, krenshars were introduced when a ship smuggling two pairs of them crashed on the peninsula’s western shores. They have since grown to be an uncommon but highly unwanted animal.
One of the signature animals of the region is the firefoot fennec fox, which are often tamed by the inhabitants of the area and kept as pets. These foxes are thought to bring good luck to those that take good care of them.
Like with the surface, the giants carefully tend the seas around their lands. A variety of animals can be found off the coasts, including mundane fish, eels, and mollusks and others, as well as their magical variants. Tribes of grindylows are a nuisance and occasional threat to those that travel these waters.
Demographics
Despite the colloquial name, only the ruling elite of the Philiraki Peninsula are giants. The vast majority of the inhabitants are humans, half-elves, dwarves, tengu, or one of a few other races who have a sizable presence in the region.
A handful of centaurs live in the interior forests, preferring to be left alone and given a respectful distance by the giant princes.
Culture
See Hellea for more information on culture, geography, and history that is common to the nations of the peninsula.
Religion
The giants themselves mostly worship the deities of the storm giant pantheon - Aegirran, Bergelmir, Skode, Skrymir, and Tjasse. While the giants do not care for great temples to their gods, each estate usually has smaller shrines and holy places in which to worship them. Aegirran and Skode are especially venerated.
While some non-giants have adopted the princes’ gods, the gods of the common pantheon remain in high regard. Gozreh and Erastil are especially popular among those that work the estates and castles. The tengu population has also introduced the worship of gods from farther-flung places, in particular Kofusachi and the Three Sisters.
Traditions
For the humans and other non-giant peoples of the Philiraki peninsula, traditions tend to be an eclectic mix of practices from a diverse array of regions. Many commoners are not far removed, generationally speaking, from ancestors who moved to the peninsula, and old traditions are not only kept but combined with those of their neighbors. While the culture of the region is closest to that of Hellea in a broad sense, it remains quite distinct from that of the people across the Greenwall. To a large degree this is due to the relatively high tengu population, who have brought an eccentric mix of influences to Philiraki.
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
Even among non-giants, fluency in Jotun is common (and very useful) in the region. The storm giants’ dialect and manner of speaking makes heavy use of metaphors, particularly invoking the seas and skies - foreign visitors to giant courts sometimes find it hard to determine the princes’ exact meanings. Hellean, Tengu, and Common are also widely spoken as well, as are Thadrian and Telan to much lesser degrees.
Occupations
Most of the common people of the region work in agricultural roles, though the giants’ preference for self-sufficiency means that settlements surrounding the estates tend to be home to skilled craftspeople and experts in a wide variety of fields.
Food and cuisine
Cuisine in the Philiraki peninsula 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 peninsula are famous for their ports, though comparatively little of their product makes it to foreigners.
Architecture and urbanization
Larger settlements in the Philiraki peninsula usually feature reinforced structures, storm walls, and drainage systems in order to mitigate the regular storms from the Sea of Khoros. Many renowned fortification engineers are from the area, or else have experience in designing structures for the giants and their subjects. 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 Eiklend.
Society
The giant princes 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 among both the giants and their subjects 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, watching over their territory even more closely.
Government
Each castle town is ruled by a giant prince, who, despite the name, are 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 races 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 giant princes 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 Eiklend.