Sunday, December 28, 2025

(Georic Gazetteer) The Giants of Cos Mora

(Author's Notes: I began writing my gazetteer service to help dispel rumors and legends of the nations on the continent of Talaishia.  My greatest correspondence hasn't been in regard to any nation on (or below) the continent. The greatest intrigue are the kingdoms and lands far from our shores.  

My appendix entry of Hy Braseal has been my favorite entry of all folks, and more requests within that part of the world have been requested.  

So, despite my better judgement, I've accumulated fact and myth for the lands far south of Hy Braseal, below the impenetrable jungle, the high plains and hills perfect for high races:  The Giants of Cos Mora. 

One final and important disclaimer: Almost all of the information accumulated has ben derived from the same limited Hibernian explorers who visited Hy Braseal and Amazonia.  The Hibernians are famous for their drinking, their short stature (that could easily influence any claims), and the fact that their "explorers" were foolhardy raiders, rather than scholarly explorers.  The most outrageous and fantastical claims are listed as such.

Cos Mora

Pantheon:  Orddu’r Craidd 
Ruled By:  The Assembly of Six Colossi, various regional chieftains 
Capital: Q’ari P’illay ("City of Light")
Other Cities: Muru Lluk,  T’raqwayn,  Sari Runku.  Aserthera, Sekhimnos
Language:  Various Giant-Kin languages.  Even the smaller races speak the language right-heighted.
Flag/Emblem:  A silver spiral-mountain pierced by a thunderbolt, on a field of twilight blue is a decoration in a number of cultures
Coinage:   Mostly barter, Ore-weighted stone marks (never used by lesser races; mostly ceremonial)
Important Personas: Deep-Mother (Elder of Stone), Hail-wrath Tempest-Seer, Marn, General of the Canyon Hosts, Qwarfan the Molten Herald, Mayu Warmi Ayllin of Llinquwasi
Alliances:  None, sometimes with each other
Hostilities:  None
Open Warfare/Skirmishing:  Seasonal border clashes between Stone-Ice tribes and the Emberblood Forges.
Intrigues:  Titan politics run on prophecy, grudges, and geological omens.
Demi-Humans:  • Coka Wyrd Ogres (6%)
• Frost-Chisel Dwarves (5%)
• Frog-folk (3%)
Magickal Devices:  The Thunder-Seared Tablets, Ember-Forge Braziers, Stone-Memory Looms, Canyon Javelins of Lightning, Reed-Bound Chalices of the River Sibills, The Obsidian Heart of Pelondar

Thumbnail Sketch
The Titanland of Cos Mora dominates an entire southern continent below Vargaard. Far below Hy Braseal and Amazonia are vast plains, adamantine mountains, glacial fjords, and jungled river basins ruled not by men, but by at least sixfold civilizations of giants whose cultures vary as widely as their terrain.

Where lesser realms speak of kings or councils, the Cos Mora speak cyclical skyfire the elves haven't even notated, and the slow bargaining of beings who live long enough to watch mountains rise.

For thousands of years the giant tribes have shaped the continent’s geography through war, artistry, and divine pact-making. The storms of the mountains to the west and the ocean to the east are their loyal neighbors.   The rivers of Urqa run according to ancient treaties between stone and water.

Explorers from distant Senzar, Chi’in, and the Fortunate Isles agree on only a few facts:

• The land is impossibly fertile, shaped by ancient magic.
• The giants maintain loose boundaries; trespassers rarely return unobserved.
• Their temples predate known history.
• Each region houses a different giant-kind, each evolved to mastery of their domain.
• Lesser races survive only through shrewd alliances, mobility, or by living where giants find little interest.
• The Orddu’r Craidd pantheon blends sky-mothers, mountain-spirits, and storm-sisters—no two tribes interpret the myths the same way.

The giants of Cos Mora rarely attack outsiders unless provoked.
But when they do, they move with the inevitability of avalanches and rockslides.


Pampa Qhuri
Dominant Giantkind: Prairie Titans
Landscape: Endless rolling plains, windscoured steppes, monumental herds
Government: A triad of Shepherd-Matriarchs
Lesser Races: Halfling wind-riders, gnome grass-witches
Notable Sites:
• The Whispering Prairie-Stones
• The Aurochs-Spiral, a giant livestock city
• The Wind-Root Sanctuaries
Notes:
The Pampagor control weather patterns with slow ritual dances. Their strict fire-laws are enforced brutally.

Cos Mora South - Stone Giants 
Dominant Giantkind: Stone-Ice Giants
Landscape: Glacial shores, basalt cliffs, cobalt fjords
Government: The Neverending Council 
Lesser Races: Sealfolk, frost dwarves, wandering elven whalers
Notable Sites:
• The Frozen Reliquary
• Mount Ceirios, the Singing Glacier
• The Tidelocked Monoliths
Notes: Believed to be the oldest giant race; their burial grounds double as geomantic fortresses.



Kuyu Qhapaq: The Vinfael Emberbloods
Dominant Giantkind: Fire Giants
Landscape: Calderas, obsidian ridges, fumarole fields
Government: The Furnace Senate
Lesser Races: Fire-resistant dwarves,
Notable Sites:
• The Shatterforge Arches
• The Ember Crucible beneath Aconcagua
• The March of Broken Glass
Notes:
They are master smiths; their weapons are traded only under oath-binding rituals.

Qulla Suyu): The Airaith Tempestborn
Dominant Giantkind: Mountain, Frost, and  Storm Giants
Landscape: Thunder-split canyons, high desert mesas, salt flats
Government: The Lightning Oracle of Three Voices
Lesser Races: Aarakocra cliff-monks
Notable Sites:
• The Valle del Ryswrath (Valley of Red Thunder)
• Sky-Cairns of the Wayfarers
• The Salt Crystal Mirror
Notes:
They interpret lightning the way other cultures interpret scripture.

Urqa: The  Mire-Shapers
Dominant Giantkind: River Giants
Landscape: Wetlands, river forests, rune-woven waterways
Government: The Confluence Throne
Lesser Races: Amphibian folk
Notable Sites:
• The Temple of the Triple Current
• The Reed-Lantern Delta
• The Tide-Changer Beacons
Notes:
The most peaceful giants, but their flooding magic can swallow entire villages. 

Chaku Mayu: The Thornshroud Wardens
Dominant Giantkind: Hill Giants
Landscape: Dense forests, thorn labyrinths, humid twilight canopies
Government: The Verdant Matrons
Lesser Races: Jaguar-folk, sentient insects, vine "kobolds"
Notable Sites:
• The Green Labyrinth of Arahura
• The Root-Nexus where vines whisper
• The Canopy Thrones
Notes:
They wage a secret war against a hive of aberrant mind-eating plants.

GEOGRAPHY OF NOTE

The Rift of the Stone Mothers - A canyon said to be the wound left when the first giants crawled from the earth. Ongoing earthquakes are considered “the Mothers turning in their sleep.”

The Aurochs-Spiral of the Pampa - A city-sized spiral of earthworks used to herd the titan-cattle referred to as Aurochs.

The Temples of Urqa - Temples anchored alongside the river.  Priests offer water-prophecy.


The March of Broken Glass - A nearly impossible region to cross, volcanic activity, sulfur deposits, constantly changing landscape. 

The Salt-Sky Cairns - Skyward stone stacks perched on canyon rims.  Each Cairn marks a lightning prophecy

The Mirror-Delta - Water surfaces that reflect not the current moment but potential futures.  An unnerving experience, but one of the top draws for philosophers and bards.

Aroglith the Walking Mountain - A slow-moving colossus rumored to be a forgotten titan.Watching it move is like seeing a mountain breathe.  

Mentions of the Country in the Blog: None

GM Notes: The author of the Gazetteer wasn't being facetious, the "Appendix" entry on Hy Braseal and Amazonia netted the best debut for the Gazetteer, and thanks, and thanks to Episode #677 of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, and the Cos Mora was conceived.    Just enough bad Hibernian and pseudo-Incan to be wrong but interesting...

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