v-s.net v0.6

Thursday, 1:22 pm in Corner

The following is a scratch-dump of ideas about the jötnar from the Cornerverse.

Though often used incorrectly to refer to all giants, technically the term jötun¹ should only be used to describe the eldest race of giants.  Born from the abyss of Ginnungagap   in the beginning of the world, the jötnar are children of the universe’s primal forces.  Jötnar are highly reclusive by nature and few, if any, venture for long outside their massive mountain-top city in Jötunheim (called ‘Jötunheim’; the jötnar refer to other places in the realm such as Jarnvid as ‘Útgarðar’ (‘outside’)).  As such, very few non-giant races in the realms have ever seen one, thus leading to the confusion as to the difference with the more common thurs.

The average adult jötun (but see below) is a humanoid roughly seven to nine feet in height.  Jötnar have only one gender (they are all hermaphrodites) but two castes; void-caste and chaos-caste.  Void-caste jötnar tend to be blue or greenish in colouration, and exhibit piscine or reptilian traits.  In jötun society they are generally considered to be cool-headed and logical, often to the point of extreme detachment.  Chaos-caste jötnar, on the other hand, exhibit yellow or red colouration and mammalian or insectile features.  They are considered to be passionate and creative, but also with a penchant for destruction and irrationality.  The differences between chaos- and void-caste jötnar are more than simply superficial, however the two castes may interbreed; technically, there are no ‘mixed-caste’ jötnar².  Jötnar are extremely long lived but offset this with low fertility rate.  Due to the rarity of births and the difficulties of the jötun life cycle, jötun children are ferociously guarded and never allowed contact with other races; most races are not even aware that jötnar have children.

Jötnar are oviparous.  The eggs are spherical in shape and slightly smaller than a human baby.  Their thick, nearly-indestructible shells are pale mauve in colour and flecked with black, however it is customary for jötnar to decorate their eggs with paints, runes and ‘jewellery’.  Jötnar eggs take roughly six months to hatch, during which time they are cared for and kept warm in a communal nursery; jötnar have no concept of individual ‘parents’ other than as biological entities, and all children are raised by the whole community.

On hatching, jötnar are small, fluffy, predominantly quadrupedal and obnoxiously cute.  Some have small vestigial wings which develop as they mature.  Jötun children are generally covered fully in fur, which starts off as pure black though their ‘adult’ caste-colouring begins to appear as they mature.  Many superstitions exist as to what kind of upbringing for a jötun child will cause the onset of which caste, though there is little evidence to suggest that environmental factors have much to do with this development; jötun children born to same-caste parents will always be of that caste, while jötun children born to mixed-caste parents have an equal chance of becoming either.  Jötnar do not ‘age’; rather their physical maturation is intrinsically linked to their intellectual and spiritual development.  All jötun children begin by learning the basics of their language, followed by the fundamentals of jötun magic.  Generally individuals are allowed to progress at their own pace on this path, as there is generally little time impetus to grow up fast.  It should be noted that theoretically it is possible to keep a jötun in its child-stage forever by simply denying it appropriate education; this is one of the reasons adult jötnar protect their children so ferociously.

As a jötun matures, it gradually grows in size and takes on a more ‘humanoid’ appearance.  Black fur is slowly replaced by skin, feathers, scales and/or fur displaying appropriate caste markings.  A coming-of-age ceremony marks a child jötun’s acceptance into adult society; exact dates vary, but traditionally this is held when the young adult loses the last of their ‘baby fur’.

Adults make up the vast majority of the jötun population and they are the most commonly associated ‘form’ of the species. However, their process of learning and maturation does not stop.  As jötnar become more powerful they tend to also grow physically larger and more ‘feral’ looking.  The cumulation of this process is achieving what is known colloquially to jötnar as ‘elder form’ (dreki) and what to most other races can simply be described by the world ‘dragon’.

Elder form jötnar are big.  While ‘young’ dreki are usually roughly the size of small cars, they quickly grow to reach lengths of over twenty feet and greater.  All dreki are quadrupedal, though their front paws are dexterous (if large) and they retain their opposable thumbs.  They are ravenously carnivorous, and all possess wings capable of true, highly mobile flight that belies their large size.³  Dreki do not breed, nor are they capable of producing sounds other than that of the jötnar tongue, and though they can still theoretically understand any other languages they learnt in life, the telepathic and empathic sensitivity of the elder jötnar is such that they generally rely on that rather than linguistic communication.  If a dreki wants to communicate with a member of another race, that individual will ‘understand’ the jötun’s intent even if not the words; though the experience is often highly distressing to species such as humans not used to dealing with telepathy.  Only about 5% of the total jötnar population at any one time is made up of dreki.  This may seem odd considering the jötnar’s seeming immortality, however it is an open secret that it is possible to reverse the process; either by massive trauma, force of will or special ritual.  All these processes involve a process of ‘forgetting’ certain knowledge.  It’s not widely known, but it’s theoretically possible to regress an adult jötun back even further – to full childhood – using similar processes.  Doing so as an act of aggression or negligence would almost invariably be seen as an act of war against the entire nation.

Character Creation

• Child Form: Normal starting stats, Wyrd 1, size 2-5, no Runes, restricted Backgrounds.
• Adult Form: +1 all physical stats, Wyrd 2+, size 6-8, 3 ‘free’ Runes, may purchase Rituals Merit, 25 experience.
• Elder Form: +3 all physical stats, -3 Manipulation when dealing with non-jötnar, Wyrd 8+, size 9+, 100+ experience.

1. More correctly, jötunn (pl. jötnarr). ^
2. Technically.  There is one; Loki, and legend seems to imply that he is simply the latest, rather than the first.  It’s fairly safe to assume that dual-caste jötnar are simply freakishly rare rather than totally non-existent.  They tend to show ‘mixed’ colouration and, unlike other jötnar, are always fertile with their own kind.  They are so revered (and rare) within jötun society that they become de facto monarchs to the entire race. ^
3. Like all winged jötnar, it’s innate magic rather than than actual physical wings per se that enable flight. ^

• Tags » corner, jotun, roleplaying, rp rules, writing