Gava

In the far northeast of Eria lies Gava, which the mainland tribes call the Land of Giants, last home of the Aesir. The smallest of the giant races, they are still huge by human measure, mostly seven to eight feet tall and 400 to 600 pounds, usually bronze-skinned and brown-haired. Several Aquaga tribes claim descent from them, and some scholars link them with the legends of First Age Atlantis.

Mountains ring the island and ice and snow cover all but the west coast, which favorable winds and mild currents keep warm; most Aesir live there. The seas teem with cod and halibut, seals and walrus, and musk oxen, wolves, elk and caribou roam inland.

The Aesir are aggressive and passionate, delighting in battle, song and drink. They sail in big wooden ships seeking their deadly foes, the Fomorians and the Jotun, but never attack weaker opponents and seek no conquest; because they live for battle, their once large numbers have steadily shrunk and they seem to be slowly dying out. Otherwise village life is pleasant: families live in great wood-and-earth lodges roofed with sod, furnished with moss-filled beds, carved bowls and stone tables and chairs, and villages of 2 to 8 lodges sit inside earthen walls against beasts and Fomorian raiders, with a central hall for war councils, festivals and drinking.

Their songs celebrate ancestral battles, above all their friendship with Hyperborea's dwarves, the destruction of a mighty Fomorian fleet some hundred years back, and old wars against the goblins of northern Mediterranea, said to have served the First Age Atlanteans. They love travelers' tales and usually welcome visitors. Their shamans, much honored, are warriors, healers and keepers of lore, and being good-hearted, the Aesir loathe necromancy and black magic.