Post by Vaklu on Sept 19, 2014 0:21:56 GMT
"Brave as the greatest warriors of the Khaitis and Southern Tribes, but twice the size and strength of an ordinary person. Each one, man and woman alike, is a soldier and a sailor from birth. They have all the makings of a people of martial virtue and honor, for they revere strength and skill in all the arts of war. But alas, their false idols have led them to squander their great potential in greed, cruelty, and all manner of vagary and excess. They have respect for the strong but no mercy for the weak. Butchery, pillaging, and piracy are their trades.
It is to save them from such earthly self-destruction -and the divine condemnation that follows- that in the Harvest season of the year 813 of the Prophet I petitioned to his Grace Emperor Yvor the Reformer, Sword of Aed, who consulted immediately with his Holiness Vaekir Koen. By Aed's infinite wisdom they accepted my request, furnished me with a Declaration of Ultimatum, and sent me with the Grand Fleet to defeat the Jotun. And by Aed's infinite grace, the galleys of the Grand Empire swept their fleets out of the sea: For one-hundred faithful martyred and four ships lost we slew one-thousand infidels, captured their flagship, and scattered their fleet.
For four months we blockaded the misguided heathen giants, whose tyrants in their cruelty sent several hopeless sallies of fishing boats and rafts to their death. Finally, eight days after the New Year 814 of the Prophet, the Jotun King Higaf offered his surrender, pledging fealty to the Emperor and obedience to the commands of Aed and the teachings of the Prophet Raegar. So pleased was his Grace that he allowed the Jotun to keep their ancestral lands in the Eastern Isles, though they were required to forever abandon their unholy slaver colonies on the mainland coasts.
So it was that the Grand Empire taught the savage Jotun to bow to Aed through a lesson in humility. Knowing their gods could not make them stronger than the People of Aed, so they have joined us."
-- Grand Admiral Selman Reyid, Chronicles of the Great Northern Conquest
__________
The Jotun giants are the scourges of the northern continent. Savage warriors that have been raiding their neighbors from their longships for generations. They are large for their race and tend towards fair hair and light skin, though their sailors are often wind burnt and dark from their time at sea. Tradition and superstition control much of their lives. Duels of honor are common though the rarity of births ensures that only the most grievous feuds end in duels to the death or open war amongst the clans. Their Fashions very from clan to clan, Most preferring heavy leather tunics while others prefer to go armored at all times. The clan of the royal house has a preferance for kilted skirts in a variety of patterns. Their Islands are rough places with little in farm land, the majority of their food comes from their fishing fleets and the brave giants that hunt whale and kraken on the high seas.
To them the sea is the source of of all life, and as such their naive religion form with the sea at it center with sacrifices to the spirit of the waters in it's manifestation of the Great serpent. Since the coming of Aed the old religion has all but vanished. Though anyone who observes Jotun praying to Aed are under no illusion that the giants of the north are as devout as the Vaekirate would like. Though they are unwilling to discuss their gods with outsiders and will never admit to the old ways being continued, it is not uncommon for a jotun in the middle of his revels to praise the Green Warden or one of the other dieties of their faith.
Jotuns view the empire as simply a far away overlord. The oldest traditions of the clans revolve around the power of the strong. The ability of the imperial navy to completely blockade their home Islands durring the war was enough to prove the rightful strength of the Empire. Though should it show weakness the Jotun will test it's right to rule. For amongst the giant only the strong have rights.
It is to save them from such earthly self-destruction -and the divine condemnation that follows- that in the Harvest season of the year 813 of the Prophet I petitioned to his Grace Emperor Yvor the Reformer, Sword of Aed, who consulted immediately with his Holiness Vaekir Koen. By Aed's infinite wisdom they accepted my request, furnished me with a Declaration of Ultimatum, and sent me with the Grand Fleet to defeat the Jotun. And by Aed's infinite grace, the galleys of the Grand Empire swept their fleets out of the sea: For one-hundred faithful martyred and four ships lost we slew one-thousand infidels, captured their flagship, and scattered their fleet.
For four months we blockaded the misguided heathen giants, whose tyrants in their cruelty sent several hopeless sallies of fishing boats and rafts to their death. Finally, eight days after the New Year 814 of the Prophet, the Jotun King Higaf offered his surrender, pledging fealty to the Emperor and obedience to the commands of Aed and the teachings of the Prophet Raegar. So pleased was his Grace that he allowed the Jotun to keep their ancestral lands in the Eastern Isles, though they were required to forever abandon their unholy slaver colonies on the mainland coasts.
So it was that the Grand Empire taught the savage Jotun to bow to Aed through a lesson in humility. Knowing their gods could not make them stronger than the People of Aed, so they have joined us."
-- Grand Admiral Selman Reyid, Chronicles of the Great Northern Conquest
__________
The Jotun giants are the scourges of the northern continent. Savage warriors that have been raiding their neighbors from their longships for generations. They are large for their race and tend towards fair hair and light skin, though their sailors are often wind burnt and dark from their time at sea. Tradition and superstition control much of their lives. Duels of honor are common though the rarity of births ensures that only the most grievous feuds end in duels to the death or open war amongst the clans. Their Fashions very from clan to clan, Most preferring heavy leather tunics while others prefer to go armored at all times. The clan of the royal house has a preferance for kilted skirts in a variety of patterns. Their Islands are rough places with little in farm land, the majority of their food comes from their fishing fleets and the brave giants that hunt whale and kraken on the high seas.
To them the sea is the source of of all life, and as such their naive religion form with the sea at it center with sacrifices to the spirit of the waters in it's manifestation of the Great serpent. Since the coming of Aed the old religion has all but vanished. Though anyone who observes Jotun praying to Aed are under no illusion that the giants of the north are as devout as the Vaekirate would like. Though they are unwilling to discuss their gods with outsiders and will never admit to the old ways being continued, it is not uncommon for a jotun in the middle of his revels to praise the Green Warden or one of the other dieties of their faith.
Jotuns view the empire as simply a far away overlord. The oldest traditions of the clans revolve around the power of the strong. The ability of the imperial navy to completely blockade their home Islands durring the war was enough to prove the rightful strength of the Empire. Though should it show weakness the Jotun will test it's right to rule. For amongst the giant only the strong have rights.
