Exile of the Fire Giants

Lore & Background

This war created a permanent rift between the Golden Order and the giants. In their homeland, the Mountaintops of the Giants, the giants were nearly exterminated, their great fire dwindling into embers as the cold of the mountain seeped into their bones. The event is remembered not just as a military conquest but as a cosmic suppression, where the Flame of Ruin was sealed under the Erdtree's power. It set the stage for future conflicts, including the incursion of the Tarnished and the enduring legacy of the giants' curse.

In Their Own Story

The wind howled across the barren peaks, carrying ash from a fire long extinguished. Old Goran, his skin cracked like dried clay, stared down at the distant glow of the Erdtree through a veil of snow. He remembered the heat of Stormveil, the roar of the flames that had once warmed their halls before the Queen's decree turned the sky to ice. Now, only the Great Flame remained, flickering weakly against the endless white, a dying memory of a people cast out by the very gods they once served.

Reader's Guide

The sequence begins with Marika's decision to seal the Rune of Death, requiring the destruction of Stormveil Castle. Fire Giants are summoned or forced to ignite the castle, causing catastrophic damage that threatens the Erdtree itself. In retaliation and to prevent further harm, Queen Marika commands their immediate banishment from the central Lands Between. The giants are driven northward across treacherous terrain until they reach the Mountaintops of the Giants, a frozen wasteland far beyond the protection of the Golden Order. This exile isolates them for centuries, leading to a state of perpetual starvation and cold, while their hatred for Marika and her order festers in the silence of the snow.

Did You Know?

• The Fire Giants were nearly exterminated in the War against the Fire Giants, not exiled; the last survivor was forced to tend the Flame of Ruin.
• The Mountaintops of the Giants was the giants' homeland, not a place of banishment; the war took place there.
• The Fell God's influence is tied to the Flame of Ruin, which was sealed under the Erdtree's power, not merely separated by geography.
• The Fire Giants did not defy the Golden Order after its inception; they were an opposing force that Marika sought to eliminate to prevent the Erdtree from being burned.