For thousands of years, the human race has populated Westeros, living off the land and
often warring for control of resources. Yet there was a time, now known as the Dawn Age,
before the First Men migrated into the continent, when other sentient creatures had dominion
over the territory. There was the Giant Race, a large and physically
powerful humanoid species said to grow between 10 and 12 feet tall. They are covered in a
shaggy pelt of fur and ride mammoths to travel. In battle most wield primitive clubs, and
speak a language now known as the Old Tongue. Then there were the Children of the Forest,
a mysterious and magical people, said to be small in stature, dark and beautiful. Some
say they could hear things no man could hear and see what no man could see.
A stone-age culture, they lived in caves and crannogs, even creating hidden villages in
the forests. Throughout the continent they carved faces into the Weirwood trees, coming
to worship them as the Old gods, believing that when they died, their spirits would live
on in the trees, keeping watch over the forests. Also known as Those who sing the song of earth,
it Is believed the children made music so beautiful it brought a tear to any who listened
Many of the Children possessed strange and powerful magic, such as the ability to Skinchange,
sending their consciousness into the body of an animal. There was also the greensight,
which granted them prophetic dreams, with some even able to speak to the dead.
For many years the Giants and Children of the Forest lived together in these lands,
with no indication of hostility between the species. However, 12000 years before Aegon’s
Conquest, humanity began their migration West. The First Men as they came to be known were
a bronze-age people led by the First King, who crossed into Westeros through the Arm
of Dorne, a land bridge connecting the continent to Essos, the lands beyond the narrow sea.
The First Men brought new technologies and cultural practices to the continent, introducing
metal, horses and pagan gods. They also had a writing system, using Runes to communicate,
though the meaning of these runes have largely been lost over time.
As they settled the land they burned the sacred Weirwood trees and cut down the forests to
build their homes. The Children, threatened by what they saw as a hostile invasion, fought
a desperate campaign to defend their homes, but their obsidian weapons and magic were
not enough. The First Men were numerous, physically larger and more powerful, with better weaponry
and armor, able to beat back the native population. Fearing that they might lose everything they
once had, the Children used their magic to break the Arm of Dorne, shattering the land
bridge to Essos, creating the Islands now called the Stepstones and halting the continued
migration of men into the continent. Yet even this victory was not enough to turn
the tide in their favor, and the war continued on growing more violent and aggressive. As
the Children of the Forest were pushed further North, legends claim they once again attempted
to break the land, calling upon the gods to send the Hammers of the Waters to shatter
the “Neck” of the continent and split the land mass in two. But they failed in their
mission, and merely flooded the territory creating the swamps and marshes seen today.
Eventually, the First Men met with the Children on the Isle of Faces, reaching a peace agreement
known as The Pact, which gave native race dominion over the deep woods while the First
Men took the oped lands and promised to cease their burning of the Weirwood Trees, with
many even coming to adopt the worship of the Old Gods.
After 2000 years of war, Westeros was at peace, however the years of violence and conflict
took a serious toll on the Children of the Forest, whose population was severely reduced,
beginning their descent into near extinction. By 300 AC, only a handful had survived.
The Giant race also suffered greatly form the arrival of humans, with Free Folk legends
claiming they were once quite numerous but were hunted by men and driven into the far
North, with their numbers dwindling over the years, with only a small number surviving
into later ages. Although many of the details are now only
remembered through legends and myth, some have recently come to suggest, that the invasion
of the Others, also known as the White Walkers, into the lands of Westeros during the Long
Night, may have its origin in the Dawn Age, when the Children of the Forest may have created
the creatures, possibly using Dragonglass in a magic ritual to transform humans into
this new race, hoping to use them as a weapon of war against their First Men enemies. However
the Others would not accept subjugation under the Children, turning against their creators
and eventually threatening to destroy both the Children and Humans of the continent.