Against the Giants: YSGARDIAN WARS STYLE

Asgard within Planescape:

Within the paradigm of the planes, Asgard is one of the more powerful mythological cycles: that of gods who do battle with giants, amongst themselves, and finally succumb to the burning of the world by one of their own.  

Amongst planars, at least two powerful factions inhabit Asgard: the Takers and the Ring-givers.  Another Sect with power are the Ragers.  The Fated are the primary faction of the Asgardians: they choose the life of the raider.  As Thor, Odin, and the other Aesier have within the mythological cycle, so the people raid the other planes and their Vanaheimar and Jotnar neighbors to take control of the lands they consider to rightly be theirs.  Despite the low volume of inhabitants that follow the faction, the Ring-Givers hold a surprising amount of power due to their followers being primarily rulers: kings, thanes, and jarls.  These rulers are inspired by Odin the Ring-Giver, from whom flowed all goods within the realm, given freely (though sacrificed for) by Odin himself.

The Nine Worlds:

The Nine Worlds are connected first and foremost by Yggdrasil: the World Ash.  The twising branches and roots reach out to all worlds and realms.  This allows realms that would otherwise be considered to be in Limbo, Pandemonium, Carceri, and the Grey Wastes to all be within one plane.  Like Ysgard, the upper worlds (all but Midgard and Niflheim) are floating islands of greatly varying sizes, some attached by bottomless oceans (the realm of Aegir) and others simply chains of mountains or earth-bergs floating in the Sea of Stars.  Outside of the defined area of Asgard within the boundary walls and the greater mass of Muspelheim, the realms all overlap, sometimes in violent manner.  Jotunheim even penetrates into the tunnel realms of Nidavellir and Svartalfheim, where the troll realm of Brutheim menaces the lower caverns and the fiery realm of Muspelheim has aided the dwarven craftsmen but caused many realms to fall to the lava flows.

Asgard:  The primary realm of the Aesir.  A great wall obscures Asgard from the outlying realms of the inhabitants of Asgard.  The wall is visible at several points at the end of gigantic fjords accessible by boat, but the only true manner through the wall is by rainbow bridge (whether or not one is in a boat).  A ringing ocean separates the Aesir from their Asgardian followers.  The mortal/petitioner realms of Asgard are steeply rolling hills, mountainous hillsides, deep fjords, pocket forests, and great glacial valleys.  These areas of Asgard are coterminous with Jotunheim, leading to many battles with the Giants.  Traditionally, however, the Giants are hesitant to attack these realms as they are under the protection of the Aesir.

Vanaheim:  Similar to the Asgardian situation, the Vanir also have realms within Asgard which are accessible solely by rainbow bridge.  That being said, the Vanir are more likely to visit their own mortal/petitioner realms.  The Vanaheimar inhabit lands similar to those of the Asgardians, but that they border deep forests and are closely aligned with the Alfar (elves) within.  

Alfheim:  The Elven realms.  Slightly more a-moral than the typical elves, there are power groups within the elves that are considered dock-alfar (dark elves): in the upper forests, they frequently steel mortal children in an activity called going hulder.  For the most part, they are noble beings that inhabit the deep forests and allied themselves with the gods against the giants.  Still, quite capricious.

Nidavellir:  The Dwarven realm.  Accessed through mountainous areas of Asgard, Jotunheim, and Vanaheim.  More selfish than the elves, they see themselves as having been treated as slaves by the Jotnar and pawns by the Aesir.  Trickier and pricklier than their typical counterparts, their dignity is much more sacred.  Hate the trolls that savage their realms.

Svartalfheim:  If the Alfar are the elves that chose to follow the gods in their great battle against the giants, the Svartalfar were those that chose not to get involved.  Exiled for not joining the gods, they inhabit an enormous cavern through which a vast root system of Yggdrasil runs.  It is claimed that the vertically-oriented cavern has no true bottom, which may be possible: the king of the Svartalfar inhabits the lowest possible root wad in the cavern.  The Svartalfar are closely allied with bats and a common magic item is a cloak that allows one to fly as a bat.  The Svartalfar also have Dock-Alfar cells, though they are less aligned with each other and more likely to be cults of one sort or another, and far more likely to be outspoken than their Alfar counterparts.

Jotunheim:  The realm of the giants.  Where the crux of the adventures will be happening.  Jotunheim is typically mountainous, though some realms are also glaciers, steddings, oceanic depths, and bogs.  The giants tolerate the trolls in their lands.  Jotunheim inhabits an interesting place in the Asgardian realms in that one can cross the giant-lands to reach Midgard.  Midgard is always reached by crossing multiple oceanic channels, many of which are studded with islands that hang out into emptiness, and sometimes by lonely frost giants on icebergs.  The true danger is that one ends up in contact with Midgardsormr: the Midgard Serpent, who patrols the lonely oceanways between Midgard and the outer planes.  Most types of giants inhabit Jotunheim, with their rulers being: Thrym, the dead ruler of the Rime Giants; Surtr, High King of the Muspelli; Utgarda-Loki, the capricious illusionist ruler of the Thursa; and Aegir, the Aesic (Aesir relative) ruler of the Storm Giants, and jealous god of the ocean depths. 

Niflheim:  The realm of the unclean dead.  Ruled over by Hela in her hall in Hel.  Also, where the roots of Yggdrasil are gnawed on by Niddhogrand the gates are viewed by Garmr.

Muspelheim:  The burning realm of the Muspelli.  The nearly impregnable stronghold of the Fire Giants, ruled over by the Iron Fist of Surtr.

Midgard:  Literally: Middle Earth.  The mortal realms.

Other Realms:

Other realms established in Planescape include:

Winter's Hall:  Pandemonium.  One of the areas where Jotunheim is coterminous with Nidavellir, this is the realm where Loki broods when he wishes to be away from the Aesir.  Here, the Trickster surrounds himself with the beings he feels he should rightly rule.  They fear him, but they are certainly not allied behind Loki.  Outside the hall live the Bellowing Giants, Hill Giants that scream with the  winds of Pandemonium.

Pinwheel:  A point in Limbo that a root of Yggdrasil reaches.  Planologists claim that this is the point from which the fires from Muspellheim reached out to quicken Audhumla, unfreeze Ymir and therefore create the worlds.  Later, the demiurgic flames would be trapped within the realm of Muspellheim.

Carceri:  This is where the souls of Jotnar Thanes go after death.  Since the Jotnar already inhabit the planes, death is no more than a matter of exile to this realm.  Primarily, they inhabit the downed body of Mistcalfi (or Mokkurkalfi), an enormous giant (1000'+ tall) formed from Clay and built to help the jotnar Hrungnir in battle.  Dead Thrym stalks these halls, emaciated without the power of Jotunheim behind him.

Iavas:  I'll be explaining the Alfar situation lower, so it should all be made clear.  Oh, and the more I write on this, the more I'll probably work in the other Outer Planes.

Clueless:  Thanks for the kind words!  I'll probably plug away on this as a forum entry and then I'd like to consolidate it as a full entry.  I figure this is a good way to get feedback and MORE IDEAS!  Mwahahahaha!   Oh, and realistically I may never end up playing this.  One of my players lives two states away, and, you know, life gets in the way.  However, I can always keep it in my back pocket to play with my kids someday.  that is always an option.

 Calmar: I see the paradigm shift as being more a matter that a pantheon is, in itself, a rather insular idea: it is defined and given strict boundaries based on the beliefs of the generative culture.  So, essentially, planewalkers need to maintain a certain distance from seeing things through the prism of only a single religion or mythology.  By inundating oneself, the characters may find themselves changing to meet the world view of the mythology.

Giants:  There are three major types of giants in Asgard: the Rimir (Frost Giants), the Muspelli (Fire Giants), and the Thursa (Hill Giants).  Each of the Jotnar share certain organizational characteristics: they each have a ruling clan with the base name (Rimir, Thursa, and Muspelli) and they each have a clan that inhabits Niflheim.  Some resources for Jotnar: Mongoose Publishing's The Slayer's Guide to Giants, WOTC's Frost Burn...  I see each clan of Jotnar as resembling a third-hand tale of peoples the Norwegians would have met while a-viking.  The Frost Giants in their pale coloration have some sort of resemblance to Finns, the Fire Giants are an amalgam of people from the Mediterranean, and for fun let's say the Thursa resemble the Rus - Scandinavian people that resemble the Norwegians, but are distinct.  The great thing about fighting the giants is being able to customize the loot: giant-size looting!

Frost Giants:  The Frost Giants are the cold descendants of Ymir by way of Bergelmir, the giant who survived the Ymirflood. Frost Giants, in general, wield weaponry and armor shaped in the cold: axes beaten into shape, daggers made of ice, etc.  In the event that they have weapons or armor that are more ornamental or well-crafted, they are inevitably creations of the dwarves, either stolen or taken from the diminutive beings.

• Their highest clan are the Rimir, or Rime Giants (stats in Slayer's Guide...), the glacier lords.  The Rimir rule from enormous ice castles built within and atop glaciers.  All the major frost giants from the Eddas are Rimir.  The Rimir follow their fallen king Thrym, defeated by Thor lo those many years ago.  God-level Jotnar don't die, necessarily: in Thrym's case, his sould ended up in Carceri.  His son, Bergfinnr, slayer of Gehrfi the Thricebruin, a berserker of the most savage sort, is one of the few Rimir to go without a beard, a tribute to his fallen father.
• The next clan of Frost Giants are the Avalanche horde: a group of raiders that ride the seven rivers that run between the outskirts of Asgard and Jotunheim.  These Frost Giants are known for their unusual cunning: they frequently attack by burying themselves in ice bergs and waiting for their victims (if in any numbers) to drop their guard. 
• The Horefrost are the Frost Giants most frequently encountered in Asgard, as they held castles and holdings on the fringes of Jotunheim that abut both Asgard and Vanaheim. 
• The Niflheimar are called the Frost-bitten.  These are the sailors that will man Naglfar during Ragnarok.

Fire Giants:  The Fire Giants inhabit the blazing Layer of Muspellheim.  Here, Surtr keeps a strong grip on the other clans.  In contrast to the cold using, generally unartistic Frost Giants, the Fire Giants are incredibly creative, particularly in the manners that interest them: killing things.  Their weaponry is downright beautiful, and their highest warriors wear gold mail spun so thin to appear as silk.

• Muspelli are the highest clan of Fire Giants.  In contrast to their underlings, the Muspelli are actually half-elemental in nature.  They truly are born of flames.  Their castles occupy the central plains of Muspellheim, where they lord over the forgetenders throughout their land. 
• The most aggressive clan of Fire Giants are called the Flowing Flame, an enormous horde that flows like lava.
• The Flowing Flame are a breakaway group from the Blazing Void, the thanes of Skarnheim, in Jotunheim.  The Blazing Void inhabit an earth-berg of Muspelheim that collided with Skarnheim, resulting in a series of mountainous peaks that jut out horizontally from the face of a great cliff that overlooks the Sea of Stars.
• The Niflheimr clan are the Ashen Children.  These Jotnar are tasked with unfreezing Naglfar when they hear the rooster Fjalar sound his call.

Hill Giants:  While being just as crude and nearly as savage as hill giants in other games, Thursa also have a fair share of skill at illusions, making them fairly tricky adversaries.  While their clothing and weaponry are crude (unless stolen), they do wear more than just rude furs tossed over their bodies.  Thursa wear jackets and breaches rudely sewn together from dozens of hides of their animal meals.  Fur caps are not uncommon either.  Stats for Mountain Giants would probably work for advanced Thursa.

• Thursa are the high clan of Hill Giants.  These jotnar rule steddings on the unfrozen plains of Jotunheim (a status which does put them into occasional conflict with the Frost Giants), from which they hold a nearly nonexistant grip over their underlings.  Rule more or less consists of tribute, which is typically paid only at the time when a Thursa comes calling.  Thursa typically have the highest competancy in sorcery of the Hill Giants, and are ruled by a powerful illusionist: Utgarda-Loki (Loki of the Outyards).
• A loose affiliation of giants rule the great cliffs that overlook the fjord that connects Glorium to Asgard.  While most just throw rocks until they've sunk their prey, others have taken the driftwood and scraps available and built rude, sail-driven rafts.  At least one has jumped aboard a ship and taken the whole thing as his floating palace.
• One clan, the Risir, live in Pandemonium near Winter's Hall.  These giants felt a sort of kinship with Loki (needless to say, not returned) and gave him their fealty.  In response, he exiled them to the howling planes outside.  They are now the "Bellowing Giants" - Jotnar that can scream with the very winds of Pandemonium.
• The Niflheimr tribe are the Broken, savages that haunt the plains of Niflheim.  These gaunt beings are known for eating their fallen brethren.

Other Giants:  Other clans, not necessarily associated with the big three above, include:

• The Sturmr, or Storm Giants, ruled loosely by Aegir from his undersea realm. 
• The Skyrnr, or Cloud Giants, are the remnants of Ymir's thoughts dashed against the sky. 
• The Steinar, Stone Giants, are physical representations of Ymir's body.  The Hand is active upon the Outer Planes; the Eyes have set themselves up in Aleph, points in the universe where one can see everything; the Ears: one is in Pandemonium trying to drown out everything he has heard, the other has sat for his entire lifetime outside Glorium.
• Land Giants (See Slayer's Guide...):  there is only a single Land Giant: Mokkurkalfi (Mist-Calf), a creation of Thiazi's that was defeated by Thor and cast out of the Nine Realms.  His broken body lies atop one of the great red orbs.

Locations in Jotunheim:  Glaesisvellir:  If one wonders why Jotunheim would be located in a Chaotic Good plane, Glaesisvellir is the reason.  This realm, a vast glittering plain, holds Odansakker, or "Death's Acre", a site where mortals remain ever young and healthy, and thus never die.  Certainly a fine goal for adventurers.

Thrymheimr ("Thunder Home"): the realm of Skadi, giantess Aesir goddess of snow, this realm is named not for the nigh-continuous snow storms (better for skiing!), but for the fact that it is the easiest access to Loki's realm of Winter's Hall in Pandemonium, from which hole the winds howl in agony.  Skadi tolerates the Frost Giants who cross her realm, provided they do no harm to her petitioners and do not proceed towards Asgard. 

Galgvidr ("Gallows Wood"):  The wood from which the rooster Fjalar shall crow the onset of Ragnarok.  Off-canon: the place where the gallows god Odin hung thousands of Jotnar during the great war.

Gandvik ("Bay of Serpents"):  A tortuous ocean that runs from Jotunheim to the Sea of Stars (the outer dark beyond the limits of Asgard).  Inhabited by many Linnorms, the children of Midgardsormr.

Gastropnir ("Quest Crusher"): The home of Rimir king Mengloth, who built it from the limbs of Leirbrimir.  One of the more aggressive glacier-lords.

Hnitbjorg:  the mountain inhabited by the forlorn Hill Giant Suttungr, for Odin stole his mead of poetry (aided by Suttungr's children Baugi and Gunnlod).  One of the few Thursa skalds, Suttungr tells tales of treachery that led to the murder of his parents by the dwarves Fjalar and Gjalar.  Needless to say, he hates dwarves.

Ifing: the river that runs between Jotunheim and Asgard, it never freezes over.

Jarnvidr ("Iron Wood"): One of the most dangerous areas of Jotunheim, the Iron Wood is the abode of Angrboda, mother by way of Loki of Midgardsormr, Fenrisvulf, and Hela.  All manner of wicked creatures inhabit this wood, for Angrboda has lain with all creatures large and small.  In fact, finding a true animal within the wood is a blessed occurance.

Myrkvidr ("Mirkwood"):  A wood that runs on the border between Muspellheim and Asgard, through which the Muspelli will ride to go to battle during Ragnarok.

Utgardr ("Outyards"): The abodes of the Hill Giants.  Generally places where games are held that surround the central hall.

Okay, looks like I'm not getting to the elves today.