The stranger looked up, his latest story completed. The tale was different from any we had heard, yet strangely familiar. The beautiful elven maiden in our company sat quiet, tears brimming in her eyes. The night had deepened as the stranger spoke and now the cries of wild creatures were nowhere to be heard. The wind had ceased to rustle the tree branches overhead, and even the water flowing in the nearby stream seemed muted and soft. Only the sound of our breathing and the crackling of the burning campfire rang out through the night. It seemed as if all nature around us held its breath to listen close to the story told by the campfire. We leaned in close as the stranger, clearing his throat with a low rumbling cough, began again. "So. Is it not ironic that the lowest creatures of all, the humans, ultimately attained ownership of the land? But that is the result of human will. Even the gods did not imagine that humans would ever become rulers of the earth. "Now, I will tell you the tale of the most brilliant human kingdom that ever existed. This is the story of the humans who walked the same path as the giants."