Jotun
Overview
The Jotun are orcs who dominate the lands to the west and north-west of the Empire. Historically they have been especial threats to Wintermark, the Marches and the Navarr territory of Liathaven. They are barbaric by Imperial standards, but they are neither savage nor primitive. They enshrine the warrior-ideal, and seem to fight the Empire as much for the joy of battle as for any desire for territory or hate for the humans.
The Tribe
Much of what the Empire knows about the Jotun has come from interviews with slaves, both orc slaves and human slaves taken by the Jotun who later escaped. They are a warlike tribe that values strength-in-arms and fighting-spirit as their highest virtues; to become more like their ancestors, they seek out challenges against which to test their might and their nerve. While they may view climbing a mountain, wrestling a mandowla or swimming across the Gullet to be renown-worthy acts, they seek true glory and renown in war.
The Jotun are literally defined by war, only those who are prepared to take up arms to fight against the tribe's enemies are considered to be people, everyone else is either an enemy or a thrall. War is seen as the greatest endeavour, the only proving ground where the tribe can truly demonstrate their worth, for the Jotun believe that only those who die in battle are able to cross the Howling Abyss. In battle they are joined with their ancestors, whose words carry them to greatness and who wait ready to take the farthest shore if they fall. A battle is about the tribe against their enemies - it is never about the individual. Small groups of warriors may pick fights with individuals, but they regard that as a fight - not a battle. A battle is the moment when the the Jotun come together as a people to overcome their enemies. Victory is predicated not on individual heroics but rather on the ability of the tribe to fight together.
Although the Jotun love war, they are a disciplined law-abiding people who have no time for gratuitous violence. War is seen as a worthy endeavour, a courageous and bold action that strengthens the Jotun people by giving them the chance to defeat their enemy. Internal feuding and confrontation by comparison is viewed as indulgent and greedy; those who start mindless fights or seek victory in fights or battles that do not enrich their clan are treated as criminals, or traitors if their action weakens their clan. Punishment is swift and severe.
Of all the great tribes of the orcs, the Jotun are without doubt the most pious. Most clans will decorate shields and armour with symbols of their favoured ancestor. In battle their ranks are accompanied by godi, fighting priests who invoke the blessings of the ancestors, bringing healing and great strength to those the ancestors deem worthy. Godi, even weak ones, are treated with great respect by the Jotun, but this pious attitude extends to others they deal with. The Jotun have scant regard for the tenets of the Imperial Way, regarding reincarnation as a naive myth but despite this they have been known to give special treatment to Imperial priests on occasion.
This tribe tends to act in a fashion identified by their Imperial neighbours as "honourable." They almost never use poison or venom, for example, preferring to win their battles by strength of arms. They may use complex tactics, but rarely employ ambush or other guerilla tactics unless they are greatly outnumbered. They will usually accept a surrender unless they have reason to believe they are being tricked in some manner, and often allow injured opponents to retreat. They have also been known to allow opponents who have fought bravely to gather their dead or injured, or retreat from the battlefield - while ruthlessly crushing those who they believe have behaved in a treacherous manner. However, they are known to greatly respect those who fight unarmoured or against impossible odds ... and express that respect by giving such opponents a glorious and honourable death in battle.
Those they defeat in battle are given a simple choice - to join the Jotun and fight for them - or to become a thrall - the property of the jarl who captured them. Most thralls live as serfs, confined to land claimed by their jarl they labour to provide food for the jarl's clan. In return the jarl's clan provides the thrall and their family with protection and sufficient food to survive. In effect the thrall is a slave but with one vital distinction - they may cease to be a thrall and become Jotun at any time - simply by agreeing to take up arms and fight for the clan. Most thralls are condemned to a miserable live of hardship, but those few with valuable skills live a better life, serving the clan as traders, crafters or sailors on the Jotun vessels.
Warriors of the Jotun
Among the Jotun, certain warriors especially stand out. They include:
- The Jarls are the leaders of the Jotun, and are always their strongest warriors. The jarls seem to rule areas of land in Narkyst and Kallsea, dominating the orcs and humans that live in those areas and contending among themselves for prestige and honour. Jarls are effectively chiefs-of-chiefs, and often have several lesser jarls (both Jotun and from subject tribes) who offer them fealty and tribute. A general is often a lesser jarl, taking charge of battle-field tactics at the command of a more powerful jarl who sets strategic goals for their army.
- The Ulvenwar are among the most noticeable warriors on the battlefield, wearing the head and pelt of a large bear, wolf or dire beast they have slain with their bare hands. They are usually armed with great weapons, rarely wield shields, and their faces are often painted or tattooed with warlike symbols. They are often selected from a young age and extensively trained in groups, pitted against each other in multiple challenges, and only the one who defeats the others is deemed worthy of becoming ulvenwar. Many ulvenwar appear to be shamans, or enjoy some special relationship with the Jotun ancestors.
- The Skjaldborg are surprisingly disciplined units of warriors who live together and are considered elite soldiers by most Jotun. They generally wield shield and spear, and the ties between them appear to be even more pronounced that the ties between normal members of a tribe. According to some stories, they believe that if one of them possesses the strength of will to cross the Howling Abyss, that warrior will return to carry their battle-siblings across when they die. They tend to be much more defensive than other Jotun, and occasionally use a variant of the challenge in which they call out a unit of enemy warriors. Skjaldborg never leave one of their number behind if there is any chance they can be rescued. Skjaldborg are often the warriors of a subject tribe, fighting in the style of their Jotun overlords.
- The Yegarra are usually lightly armed and armoured, and wield hunting weapons especially javelins and spears. They serve as runners, messengers and scouts and are usually encountered in small numbers. On the battlefield they engage in skirmishing tactics, but their real targets are the skirmishers, scouts and messengers of the enemy force. Some yegarra are humans who seek to gain the approval and respect of the orcish warriors; they often serve as auxiliaries or supporters to the core Jotun force. Human yegarra often look quite primitive, with rags or scraps of fur and bone tied to their makeshift leather armour.
Magic
Like all other intelligent beings the Jotun employ magic, but they do not seem to consider it a particularly appropriate weapon for the battlefield. The majority of Jotun magicians appear to focus of healing and restoring the limbs, armaments or general health of the warriors. There are few battle-magicians among them, and even those tend to focus on the swift heal, empower and purge incantations rather than the more aggressive spells. Jotun magicians rarely wear mage armour or wield staves.
The Imperial Orcs
The Jotun despise the Imperial Orcs. They never challenge them, and will not accept a challenge from one of them. They do not offer them quarter, nor expect it from them. Attempts by Imperial Orcs to change this attitude have been tragically unsuccessful.
History
The Jotun tribe is geographically divided but culturally united. The northern Jotun control the area dubbed Kallsea by the Winterfolk. They tend to be a little more cautious and more traditional than their southern cousins, and have a great deal of experience fighting the forces of Wintermark - they have been raiding into Sermersuaq and north-western Kallavesa since before the arrival of the Steinr. There are known to be a number of human settlements scattered across Kallsea, whose inhabitants offer tribute and fealty to their orc masters. These humans often fight alongside the Jotun, and seem to have little love for the Empire; while they are clearly not the equal of their inhuman overlords, they seem to have a social position below that of a minor orc tribe but above that of slaves or thralls. In 371 YE the Empress Britta dealt the northern Jotun a crushing defeat, driving them back into Kallsea and while they have made a few raids into Wintermark since then, they have not launched a significant attack against the Empire.
The southern Jotun occupy the area the Winterfolk call Narksyt. In pre-Imperial times they occupied much of western Bregasland and accompanied their northern cousins in raiding Kallavesa. With the arrival of the Marcher army from the east, they were eventually driven out of the marshes. Their numbers were swelled by the lesser tribes driven westward from what is now the Marches; according to historians, they engaged in a brutal war of dominance with the lesser tribes, conquering them and requiring them to offer fealty. Today the southern Jotun are much more aggressive than the northern branch of the tribe; in 347YE they began a campaign of conquest against the Mournwold, sweeping through Liathaven and driving out both the Navarr and the Marchers. They still occupy these territories to this day and make regular raids into Kahraman, Mitwold, Bregasland and even as far east as Tassato.
At various points in their history, the Jotun have entered into pacts with the humans of the Empire, most notably during the reign of Emperor Guntherm. These treaties reflect earlier conventions between the Jotun and the Winterfolk in the years prior to the formation of the Empire. Such pacts and treaties take the form of ceasefires, and rarely last more than two years although in some cases they have been renewed. Some thanes living on the borders, and even a few Marcher stewards have engaged in smaller-scale pacts with individual clans of Jotun in a similar way.