Giant Crusades

The Giant Crusades is the name given to a decades-long period in the early 1000s OCA during which virtually the entire population of giants in East Corgana was wiped out. Less than fifty giants are known to be alive. 
==Background==
The crusades began in 998 OCA when Rodrick I, then king of Corgana, enacted a law he hoped would deal with a growing giant problem in the East. For several years, giant raiding parties had been razing villages and causing incalcuable damage in the region. Rodrick promised a purse containing 1,000 gold crowns to any hunter or group of hunters who brought him the head of a giant. When word reached East Corgana of the new ruling, response was almost immediate. 
==The Crusades==
From 998 to about 1050 OCA, warriors in East Corgana responded in droves to the new law. Thousands of hunters took up arms and banded together to bring down giant after giant. Scholars of the period theorize that the sheer amount of crowns invested by these hunters in new weapons and armor may be at least partially responsible for the Corganan arms industry being the juggernaut it is today. The amount of heads being turned in was so great that their stench soon caused White City residents to complain, and the amount of gold being paid out at one point nearly bankrupted the monarchy. Even when Rodrick reduced the award from 1,000 to 250 gold per head, the bounties continued to pile up consistently for decades. 
==Aftermath & Legacy==
The Giant Crusades have left a lasting impact on several aspects of East Corganan culture. Warriors will often boast about how many giants their ancestors killed, and dozens of villages are still decorated with the immense bones of giants killed during these events. 
The most obvious impact of the Crusades was on the giant population. Untold thousands of the race were killed, and by 1050 OCA virtually every giant in the region was either dead or had migrated elsewhere. As East Corgana was the most populous region of giants, this has had long-reaching consequences on the race's population across the entirety of Galapygos. Nowadays, less than fifty giants are known to be alive and scholars predict the race will be extinct within the next two centuries. 
==See Also==
*Giant
*Rodrick XIII - Rodrick I's descendent and current Corganan king
*The Reachlands
Category:Events
Category:Lore
Category:Wars