Elite Jotun characters
Overview
The armies of the Jotun feature a number of elite characters vital to the well-being of the army, they provide support and leadership and fill out roles not performed by the core troops.
Godi
The faðir are the oldest and most powerful Jotun ancestors, worshipped as living gods by most Jotun and served by their priests, the godi. Godi serve from a young age, drawn from the ranks of the warrior recruits trained at the temple, they are taught how to invoke sacred rites to call down the power of their patron. Like the kirkja where they train, each godi is pledged to the service of a single ancestor, Ulven, Skaldi, Raðljóst, or Ulfur. Some godi travel the Jotun lands after their training is complete, acting as advisers and spiritual teachers to the jarls, but most remain with their kirkja and travel to war with the elite brethren schooled there.
Most godi are passable warriors, and will often take the field carrying the same weapons and armour as their companions, but their most important role on the battlefield is to fire the spirit of the warriors in their care and to tend to their wounds. Before battle, the godi will work the troops in their care into a fervour, calling their ancestor to the battlefield so that they can be heard by the warriors. During battle, they will call on the power of their god to restore the strength and vitality of those who are wounded but still able to fight. Most carry at least one potion designed to renew their strength (restoring hero points) allowing them to invoke the blessing of their patron deity for longer.
If a warrior falls, then the godi will try to reach them. They will examine the state of the warriors body and his soul. If it is clear that their wounds are too grievous and they cannot be saved, the godi will call on the ancestor to come and take the spirit across the abyss. They will also do this in rare cases where the wounds might be treated but it is clear that the deeds of the fallen are so mighty that their journey across the Howling Abyss is assured.
For those that can be saved they will administer sacred herbs to heal wounds and restore broken bones. The godi view herbs as a gift from the gods - claiming that they first grew where the blood of the gods was spilled. Their training includes the skills needed to apply the herbs as well as prayers to intone over the body of the fallen.
Jarl
Jarls are the leaders of the Jotun, the more warriors a jarl's warband contains, the more godi they have to advise them, and the more thralls they possess, the more powerful they are. Each Jotun army is led by a single powerful jarl - but all of the armies include several lesser jarls and their warbands.
Most jarls are already powerful warriors in their own right, but on the battlefield their strength is augmented by potions provided by their godi and by their pick of the best available magical equipment. They are usually accompanied by a retinue of the best warriors who will protect their lord with their life.
Jarls are expected to set an example for their warriors, to inspire their followers to strive for greatness and to impress their ancestors. This will rarely include leading from the front however; rather the role of the jarl is to command, directing their forces into battle. A jarl who takes risks with their own life seeking to impress the ancestors, or expends the lives of their followers carelessly, faces the condemnation of the godi for their selfishness.
Thrall Ritualists
The Jotun have little time for the practice of magic - they concede that such things can be useful - but they consider magicians to be of little use on the battlefield. For most Jotun magic is a thing of utility, the business of thralls - something to be done at the command of Jotun warriors - not practiced by them. Because their magicians are thralls, they do not fight and are kept well away from the battlefield. However many armies will include a sizable ritual team in their baggage train, to be called on when needed.
Most thrall ritualists are orcs, but some are human. For those who do not fight, a life as a ritualist is usually preferable to years of back breaking agricultural labour in the fields or digging in the Jotun mines. Thralls are not true slaves, but the life of many is hard none-the-less. Thrall ritualists spend most of their days in study, practising magic in readiness for when they will be called on. The overwhelming majority of them learn Summer magic - mastering rituals intended to buff their Jotun masters.
The life of any thrall is centered on the tribute they render and the ritualists are no exception. They are taught to view their magic as tribute - something to be offered up in gratitude for the danger taken on by the Jotun warriors in protecting them. When they perform their rituals, the recipients of the magic are the clear focus of the ceremony.
An army will usually include only a single thrall ritual team at most. They are kept in the rear, well away from the fighting (the Jotun take seriously their sacred responsibility to protect their thralls) and only called upon when a single powerful magic is needed - for minor battlefield ritual casting, the Jotun are more likely to call on the assistance of Summer heralds.
Summer Realm Magicians
Although the Jotun have little interest in casting spells or performing rituals, they respect the power and strength of the inhabitants of the Summer Realms - and the boons and magic that those beings can offer. The Jotun treat with the eternals of the Summer Realm as if they were powerful foreign dignitaries - making alliances and treaties with them which they regard with the same solemn honour as the alliances that they create with mortals.
In return the eternals will often send heralds to fight alongside the Jotun forces. Fae warriors in the service of Eleonaris or Cathan Canae are a common sight in Jotun armies, and servants of Hayak, and Barien are not unknown. In addition to warriors, the eternals of the Summer Realm will often send skilled magicians to serve alongside the Jotun troops providing them with boons on the battlefield.
Summer Realm magicians, heralds of an eternal such as Eleonaris or Cathan Canae cannot match the arcane prowess of Imperial magicians. They do not or cannot form covens, rather they perform mystical rites - akin to rituals - that draw power from the Summer Realm to provide small buffs to the Jotun warriors on the battlefield. Most will know a few potent combat spells with which to defend themselves if attacked - but by and large they focus on strengthening their mortal allies as they go to war.
The stats shown are for a herald of Eleonaris - different heralds will be able to perform different boons - for example a herald of Barien may know Unbreakable Spirit, Unbreakable Blades.
Summerborn Champions
The strongest warriors from a jarl's warband will be selected to accompany them when they visit the eternal citadels to ask for their aid in battle. Although the warriors serve as an honour guard, their role is not to protect the jarl but to help impress the eternal. Usually the visit will involve contests of strength, skill and endurance as the members of the jarl's retinue test their abilities against those of the heralds who serve the host.
By tradition, If the jarl is favoured by the eternal, then those who do well in these contests are awarded powerful summer boons. These can be invoked during the campaign to provide the bearer with strength and power - depending on the nature of the eternal who granted them.
Those who have been awarded the blessings of the Summer Realm are called Summerborn champions - their status among the Jotun confirmed by their triumph during their sojourn to the Summer Realm. Summerborn champions are always elite, the most skilled and capable of the Jotun warriors - but the power of the boon increases their strength yet further. Different eternals will grant different boons - champions of Cathan Canae receive a boon equivalent to Unbreakable Behemoth's Strength, while champions of Eleonaris receive a boon similar to Devastating Maul of Inga Tarn.
The deployment of the Summerborn will depend on their jarl - sometimes they will be fielded together in a single powerful elite unit. At other times they will be dispersed throughout the army, acting as unofficial champions for the units they are fight with.