The Alliges Dominion (Uh-lee-jez)

The cliff stretches as far as the eye can see to the east and west, vertical reaching up into the air. As I drew closer I could see it was a cliff, but not a cliff. Fine lines can be seen, showing that the cliff is composed of giant blocks of stone. While some have broken loose and been shattered the height remains. What manner of being would create such an endless structure?

Meldor's travel journal

Born from the survivors of the chaos, infused with the strength and steadfastness of the rocks in which they hid, the Alliges were one of the three dominant races in the early years of Orlos. Despite the abundant evidence left by the giants, relatively little is known about their culture. The littlefolk, as they called them, only have the oral tales of their enslavement as record and many of the Alliges structures melted under dragon fire. As such, what follows is more a collection of trace elements of the society rather than a detailed biography.

Societal Structure

It is known that the Alliges were split into numerous clans and each clan was based on a family unit. Only in the latter days did these clans unite as larger threats started to encroach from the outside world. Although not violent by nature, the clans when provoked into war wreaked such damage that the occurrence seemed to be avoided by everyone.


Within the clans, the Stuimendiesk, or clan leader, made the major decisions. They tended to be the eldest member of the clan, male of female. Few of the littlefolk were allowed near the Stuimendiesk as even the dirtiest of tasks to care for them were above their position.
The Volkeriesk were the adult members of the clan. The older the member, the more priviledged the individual. Many of these individuals managed the littlefolk. The littlefolk themselves, composed primarily of humans, elves, and halflings, were the bottom of the ladder, acting as slaves to the whims of the Alliges.

Stuimendiesk


Volkeriest


Youths


Littlefolk

Societal Conventions

Fashion

The Alliges are most often described as wearing flowing silks, garments made from the silk of Cariworms which can be still be found to the west of the continent. It is said that each clan had its own colors and symbols and that most were flamboyant in style.

The few garments that have been found, however, seem much more mundane in style. Created in rough leather, only partially treated, they seem much heavier in design and more for manual labor. Possibly this discrepancy is due to the silks not surviving as long or having been more vulnerable to the fires that rages across the continent during the dominion's fall or perhaps it is due to a misremembrance over the generations.

Food

The Alliges were nearly completely carnivores. They kept vast herds of cattle, thousands deep, from which they staunched their hungers. The bones of the cattle that have been archaeologically found show that they had been bred to much larger dimensions that survive to date and may be the ancestors of the giant yaks seen further to the north on @Madiatas.

Hunting and fishing also provided resources for feasts. Great wales and migratory birds could be caught from the coast and the Alliges were not above scavenging from kraken and other monsters that occasionally washed up on the shores. The greatest delicacy were the littlefolk though, particularly those that had been raised for the sole purpose of the feast.

by Yuriy Rzhemovskiy

Architecture

The size of the Alliges seemed to limit the scale of their buildings. Although the youths often built timber structures, the adults lived most of their lives outdoors. Their primary residence was kept in giant quarries that descended between fifty and, on a few rare occasions, several hundred feet deep. These quarries were kept generally open and offered shelter from the winds that scoured the continent.

Due to their nature as pits, the quarries would end up accumulating vast quantities of water. This led to the development of drainage systems and channels within the walls and base of the quarries, funneling the rain water into deep fissures that disappeared into the underworld. These channels were often arranged in artistic patterns, forming giant loops or waterfalls. However, due to the silty nature of such runoffs, they constantly needed maintenance and clearing, a menial task that was delegated more often than not to the littlefolk.

by Marc-Olivier Jodoin

The stone from these quarries was often employed in the building of giant walls or similar structures between different clan territories. Over a dozen such structures are known across the continent and were built to a colossal scale dwarfing any modern constructions. They formed formidable obstacles in the landscape.

Holidays

It was on our third day in the new land that the earth trembled. We felt the very mountains shake and, for the briefest of moments, thought that we had failed to escape the great dance

King Eldervine Redtree's The Making of the North
(history of the Stonebrook Dynasty)

Very little is known about the significant holidays within the Alliges Dominion. What records have been passed down through the ages remain hard to interpret. A few points can be drawn together though.

It seems that the weather played a large role in Alliges society. Tales of great gales and storms can be found etched on the giant stone blocks scattered across their former dominion and sewn into the oral histories. This would indicate that the spring and summer months were particularly festive with an increase in the monsoon activity coming from the Storm Surge Sea.

Additionally, it is known that these great storms were commemorated by gatherings of clans in the Dancing Sands (the largest desert on Alliges). It was here that the great Shuffle occurred, a huge dance that churned up the soils and stunted any plant life in the region. The Shuffle was known to send shockwaves through the ground for miles around as the giants jumped and pranced in unison and waves of mud would go cascading down into the quarried camps, drowning littlefolk who had been left inside.

by John Fowler

Finally, the storms were also commemorated with great feasts. Cattle by the hundreds were killed and huntsmen presented exotic catches from the furthest reaches of the lands. It has also been suggested that the first great storm of the season marked the coming of age ceremonies for the Alliges youths, a time when scores of the littlefolk, specially raised, would have been sacrificed and eaten as the central course for the feast.

The Alliges - A Legacy

The Alliges Dominion collapsed in 849 AC following the eruption of Zarcolith. The vast clouds of ash killed off many of the littlefolk and drove the giants into a civil war. Those few who survived were then crushed by the flight of the dragons who took advantage of the constructions built to their dimensions and the disorganized foes.

The memories of the dominion have endured long past the fall of the Alliges though. Giant quarries, artwork, and remnants of the walls still remain in the landscape, echoes of a world long past. Particularly on the coastlands statues can still be seen, occasionally, reaching out of the waters as if trying to re-grasp the land they have lost. The Dancing Sands also still remember the great Shuffle that used to cover its surface, the ground remaining packed so tightly that plants even to this day still are refused purchase and only the topmost grains are left to be flung on the winds.

by Rosario Esposito La Rossa

Finally, the Alliges were the ones that began the colonization of all of the other continents and the underworld. Littlefolk fleeing the dominion both outwards and downwards managed to thrive and form new civilizations that survived the flight of the dragons. They harbored an enduring hate for giant kind though and the few who survived that had been tainted with giant blood were outcast from society and, in extreme cases, hunted down and exterminated. It has thus led to a current hatred between the littlefolk and those with giant ancestry, such as the goliaths.

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Related Myths

• Orlos's Creation Theories

The Storm Eye

by Louis Maniquet

This artefact of immense power is reputed to have been found in the ruins of one of the Alliges quarries. It is a crystal that has been shaped and polished until it is a perfect spheroid and as clear as a drop of water. The crystal itself has the power to shape storms, both emphasize their power and to disperse them. This has led to the belief that the artefact was once wielded by a most potent Alliges priest. However, the size of the artefact, a sphere that could fit into the hand of a littlefolk, possibly belies this origin.

The Step

by steven maarten william V

The Step refers to a portion of a great wall of the Alliges that overlooks the Storm Surge sea. The monstrosity reaches nearly 60 feet into the air and, as the name suggest, is composed of four steps or tiers. Whether this used to be a giant's stair case or some form of sea barrier is unknown but the sheer scale of the creation has deterred ships and other crafts from alighting on this shore.

The Shuffle

by CHUTTERSNAP

The Shuffle is believed to have been a traditional dance among the Alliges. It commemorated the major storms of the summer, particularly the first storm of the season. Although the moves of The Shuffle have been long since lost to time, parts of it can be surmised from the tales of the surviving littlefolk. Most of the moves seem to have involved a sliding of the feet through the mud (hence the name). This created waves of mud which then sloshed over the participants. The height of the dance though was the great thunder; all of the giants would jump, following the rhythm of the storm itself, to land on the ground simultaneously. This caused tremors to rock through the earth and the mud to almost become completely liquid for the following seconds. The dance started as the storm struck and lasted through the storm until the sun came and baked the dance floor hard as a rock, preserving the steps for eternity.