Scina Kaern

Quick Summary
Ruled by a Queen giant, the land is seperated into districts that are each protected by a giant. The giants and peasants have a symbiotic relationship as the giants rely on the peasants for food, and the peasants rely on the giants for protection.

Name
Scina Kaern roughly translates to: "Land of the United". It is often informally referred to as "Giant Land"

Defining Features of Scina Kaern
There are two distinguishing features of Scina Kaern; the first is that it has the largest known population of giants in Generica. The second is that each giant is the protector of their claimed area, called Districts, which include several towns and villages, occasionally cities. Many people assume that giants are destructive, illogical creatures, only found in uncivilised parts of the world, but Scina Kaern shows otherwise. The giants and residents of their districts have a symbiotic relationship, whereby the giant will help and protect the people from attackers such as other giants, magical beings, natural disasters, invading armies and so on, while the people provide food, company and education for the giant.

The Districts
A district is an area that a single giant protects, named after the giant e.g. Nairod's District. Typically, this is an area that the giant can easily patrol in a single day; any larger and it starts becoming more difficult to manage. The borders aren't generally set though, so there are sometimes cases of giants accidentally crossing each others borders without realising it. Sometimes, this can cause fights between giants, but generally only if the giants have a genuine cause to dislike each other. Indeed, most giants avoid fighting if they can, as it's very destructive to the land, the crops and the happiness of the people.

It is not unknown for people to refuse to feed their protecting giant if they feel that they do not respect the people or if they're doing a poor job of protecting them. This goes both ways, as a giant may refuse to protect people who do not respect them or don't feed them properly. If they cannot resolve the issue themselves, then they will take the issue up with the Queen of Scina Kaern.

Terraforming Land
Giants typically hibernate in winter, as there is less food available, making Scina Kaern far more vulnerable. The Queen has been taking steps to fix this, such as by building more storage warehouses and encouraging growing and trading for long-lasting foodstuff. However, many places are reaching the limit as to how far they can expand their crops, as there is simply not enough space for crops without making it difficult for giants to travel and not crush crops beneath their feet. Technically there is a lot of land available, it's just that most of it is unsuitable for crop planting and/or too inhospitable for the average villager. So, the Queen has ordered several giants to flatten hills and mountains, mostly by the Pontern/Aera Karn borders, to make them more accessible and easier to create fields in. This has the added bonus of removing potential dens of rebel/exile giants, though it has also forced remaining ones to band together for protection, which could become a problem if it is not dealt with soon. She has also hired Harvest Wizards to make the land more fertile and to alter the weather patterns for ideal crop conditions, even in Winter. These efforts have had mixed results as initally, in the first year, it had been very successful, but there are unconfirmed reports of magical side effects on the soil and food grown there.

The Queen of Scina Kaern
The monarchy is a recent addition to Scina Kaern and so far only consists of the Queen. When she arrived, Scina Kaern was known as Nasra Kern (Kingdom of Nasra), and was barely a country anymore. Its rulers had fled from some unknown terror, and the giants had established districts in several areas, demanding tributes from towns and villages. The Queen had heard of the giant dominated country and decided to try and get some of the land for herself, but while she was there she realised that the giants would not last if they remained independant; they'd either kill each other off or some other nation would come along and drive them out. Over the next 3 years she proceeded to defeat every giant she met, and then demand they swore fealty to the Queen; those who refused were exiled to the mountains on the border of Aera Karn. Eventually, she united most of the land and renamed it Scina Kaern, which loosely translates as "Land of the United".

The Queen has her own district in the centre of the country, called Queen's District, which is the most profitable area in the country, with access to the best food and goods that Scina Kaern and trading has to offer. The Queen is usually out travelling from district to disctrict, sorting out disputes and overseeing her country.

Religion
The gods of Scina Kaern mostly focus around strength and agriculture.

Educating Giants
The education of Giants may be a surprise to many, as most civilisations consider giants to be staggeringly stupid, but it turns out that they are as capable of learning as any other race, although there is a high number of learning disabilities/difficulties and so patient and adaptable forms of teaching are required. Giants are large, and have big appetites and so normally spend their time searching for food, but when their needs are catered for then they have time for hobbies and pasttimes, such as reading or storytelling.

Rebel/Exile Giants
The usual reason for being a rebel/exile giant is that some resent the idea of a Queen, much preferring the old ways of independence and being able to demand tribute from any village they like. They see relying on people (including other giants) as a sign of weakness, though ironically many of them band together to survive and raid nearby villages.

Most rebel/exile giants live in the mountains on the borders of Aera Karn and Scina Kaern. They will usually raid Aera Karn, but sometimes they become more bold and raid districts. This is more dangerous though as they are against other giants and it attracts the unwanted attention of the Monarchy. If a district's giant is killed, then the Queen will often come to the district's aid and carry raids against the giants in the mountains. Every year, their numbers become fewer.