Jotunheim

Character

"Giant Land," the country where the Norse giants live, is a harsh and demanding country where all small creatures are hunted by larger ones. Raw strength, elemental passions, and a sense of arrogant superiority make Jotunheim noxious. Abrasive weather and residents combine to make the giants' realm one of the least hospitable places among the Upper Planes.

Powers  

Surtr and Thrym. The giant gods of frost and fire rule Jotunheim, though the other gods of the giants pay occasional visits. Surer rules front Meerrauk, while Thrym wanders the mountains and glaciers with a band of giantish jarls (ruling lords). His court makes occasional stops in Utgard.

Description

Jotunheim is a realm of frost and fire, volcanoes and glaciers, not hospitable to visitors. The land is made of desolate plains and snow-capped mountains. Only sickly vegetation grows here — stunted pines, yellowing mistletoe, and scraggly weeds.    Jotunheim's the site of the Well of Mimir. Guarded by Mimir the Wise, the water from this magical well increases the Wisdom of the drinker by 1d4 permanently. Mimir himself (Proxy/male mountain giant/Fated) answers only to the giants and the Norse powers: all others are slain. His well is sunk in a dark crevasse between two hills, where one of the major roots of Yggdrasil enters the land.

Principal Towns  

Utgard's the major city and fortress of Jotunheim's giants. Utgard is heavily defended, and protected by illusions and camouflage. The city is ruled by a giant king. Utgard-Loki (see below), who keeps a council of jarls in line through sheer force of will. Succession among the giants is a bloody but usually mercifully short affair involving the slaughter of all pretenders to the throne until only one remains. On the few occasions when there are no sur-vivors, an ambitious commoner giant founds a new dynasty, usually a shaman or respected war leader.    Meerrauk is the ancient thronehall of the giants. an enormous underground city carved from soft vol-canic stone. Its towers are entire mountaintops, and its roots reach under the stone to the rivers of fire that burn beneath the entire eanhberg. The Skull-Throne of Ymir is the seat of all giantish authority; no giantish king crowned elsewhere is recognized in Ysgard.    The smallest of Jotunheim's notable settlements is the hall of the great Ring-giver of the giants. Brimir (Male frost giant/Ring_Givers). His beer-hall is Okalnir, a raucous place in summer that's almost entirely deserted in the winters, when Brimir is said to hibernate atop the beer kegs in the cellar. Giants come here to wrestle. boast. and drink themselves senseless, and they don't like visitors who can't keep the giants' pace. Any berk who can is welcome.

Special Conditions

Dwarves and gnomes are particularly hated and are prized prey — the giants of Jotunheim hate the small folk because Thor's hammer Mjolnir (whose bite has felled many a giant) was forged by Norse dwarves.    The Volsing clan of fourteen mountain giants runs a ferry over the River lying between Asgard and Jotunheim. They cross the lying once at dawn, noon, and evening. During the season of the midnight sun, they add a midnight crossing as well. Their raft can carry a thousand men and five hundred ponies, though few travelers send their mounts. (One of the clan has a fondness for horsemeat, and those who argue with the giants don't survive the river crossing.)

Principal Non-Player Characters

Many giants can work magic, but none are so skilled at it as Utgard-Loki (Mid mountain giant/Cleric 14, Wizard 14/Fated). One of the most powerful of the giants of Jotunheim. Utgard-Loki has wrestled with the Aesir and won through magic.    A wandering shaman of Kostchtchie preaches the tanar'ri lord's doctrine to the frost giants. Not even the Guvners know how many have joined his worshipers, since they've all been taken to Kostchtchie's layer of the Abyss to become frost mages. A dozen of the mages recently returned as high-ups, preaching to their fellows for more converts.    A movanic deva with broken wings serves as the jester in the city of Jotunheim, where he is kept chained to the high table. Named Silverwing by the giants who ambushed him years ago, he has never spoken a word in his long years of confinement. His wings were deliberately crushed under rocks until the bones reset at twisted angles, and he will never fly again. His bedraggled feathers are constantly molting. Some say the feathers bring luck, others bar that.

Services

The giants do little for those who aren't both rich and powerful: its beneath their dignity to work for the little folk. Any basher wanting to do business with the giants must first prove he's worthy, and he'd better be a blood if he wants to outwrestle, out-fight or outrun a giant in some challenge. They can drink an ale horn the size of an ox, can and eat a netful of fish. Despite their reputation for thick-headedness, many giants are as canny as knights of the cross-trade. 'Course, a basher who loses a riddling contest with a giant is more pathetic than one who loses a wrestling match — though probably in better shape.   If a blood can show up a giant, he'll always be respected in Jotunheim, where respect brings gifts, followers, and favors. Otherwise, he has no choice but to buy from the dwarves, who charge double for everything they bring to Jotunheim.