I'm trying to flesh out the structure of society in ancient Thassilon in more detail. The giants are described as basicaly slaves and thrown in one bag, but I believe there would still be many distiction between their situations. After all, IRL the position of a slave in a quarry was different than the one serving in a rich person's house. And I think that every species of giants have different talents and would be put to a different work. So I'm trying to figure out the jobs for various types of giants (other than soldiers, as they all could be put in this role when necessary).
Hill giants: Stupid and simple, they don't have any talent except for their physical strength. As such they were used in jobs where finesse isn't important and pure strength is enough: porters, ditch-diggers, lumberjacks. They were also used instead in place of draft animals, pulling ploughs and powering milling, pomps and other such machines.
Stone giants: Possesing almost supernatural understanding of stone and its qualities, they did most of the construction work-related, from mining the stone in quarries to masonry. The more inteligent ones could even become architects. They may also work in mines, though because of their size I think this job would usually be given to some smaller-sized slaves, like kobolds.
Frost giants: I ahve a bit of a problem with them. They don't seem to posses many talents in crafts, except some weaponmaking, and even in that the fire giants are a better choice. I can't see much use for them outside the army.
Fire giants: Talented with metal, they were put to work in foundries and forges.
Cloud giants: The fact that they are one of the most cultured giant races suggest that they've had a prestigious position among other slaves. They could be the house slaves and handle more less physical work, as scribes, entertainers and servants.
Taiga giants: Their connection with nature predisposes them to work in food production as farmers, herders and hunters.
Storm giants: I don't see much use for them except the coastal areas, where they can benefit from their water-breathing ability in sea-related jobs. They are very militaristic, suggesting that they were used mainly in the army, similarily to frost giants.
I'd like to hear your opinions and other ideas how various giants were utilized in Thassilon.
Well, rune giants were the elite warriors of Thasillon, though that's a fairly well-established fact.
I imagine slag giants were elite metalsmiths, as they're explicityly described as such. As a cross between fire and stone giants, though, I'd see them as more like civilian artisans, whereas fire giants would be more focused on creating weapons.
Cave giants might be miners, as they would be naturally inclined towards such environs.