The Iotunnar People

The Iotunnar orcs have coexisted with the Lathléar People for long enough to be recognized by them as having a true claim to the Lathléannach as a homeland—something true of no other group save the Lathléar themselves. Though they are not a large population (approximately 15% of Olathe’s population is primarily Iotunnar in origin, and an additional 10% have at least a quarter Iotunnar heritage), they are Olathe’s largest non-Lathléar demographic group by far. Their place among the Lathléar is firm enough that the Lathléar often refer to them as onihimkauí ahis, meaning “our cousins,” a term applied to no other groups. The Iotunnar speak the Iotunnic dialect of Orcish, but the vast majority of them also are also native speakers of Lathléaril.
The Iotunnar people originated as nomads travelling the coasts of the Great Reservoir, and their population is concentrated there to this day. Seafaring is a core part of Iotunnar culture and history, and even now most Iotunnar are employed as sailors, shipwrights, fishers, and pearldivers. Their maritime lifestyle means that most are excellent swimmers; Iotunnar children are often taught to swim before they learn to walk.

Iotunnar Culture

The Iotunnar people are predominantly followers of the Old Faith and old druidic traditions. A unique feature of Iotunnar faith is reverance to a goddess known as Renna, a chaotic and sometimes fearsome deity of the sea and storms. Though Iotunnar tend to be casual in their religious practices, it is common for even particularly secular Iotunnar homes to have a small shrine to Renna, to which offerings of fish bones and rain water are given regularly.
The Iotunnar orcs were originally a nomadic people, and though centuries have passed since most Iotunnar communities were nomadic, their roots still influence some aspects of their culture. For instance, they still tend to live in communities organized the same way their nomadic groups once were: with clusters of related and unrelated adults dwelling together and raising children together communally. In traditional Iotunnar communities, these so-called kin-sets live together in longhouses, while in urban centers and other Lathléar settlements, they often live in adjacent apartments or townhomes. The Iotunnar do not have a marriage tradition, though some groups have adopted Lathléar customs with respect to marriage; though Iotunnar people may have longstanding monogamous relationships, those relationships (and other one-to-one relationships among adults) are still typically viewed within the context of the community as a whole. Many Iotunnar people that have children do so with multiple partners. Little distinction is made between one’s biological siblings and unrelated members of the kin-set, or between one’s biological parents and other community caretakers. Iotunnar women typically continue to live with the same kin-set they are born into throughout their life, while Iotunnar men are expected to go join a different kin-set after reaching adulthood.
Many Iotunnar orcs have some Lathléar heritage: approximately half have at least one Lathléar great-grandparent. As such, being part-elven is unremarkable for Iotunnar people (at least when the elven part is Lathléar; non-Lathléar elven ancestry is rare among the Iotunnar). Those of more recent Lathléar ancestry, like those with an elven grandparent or parent, are often called “half-small,” in reference to the Iotunnar epithet for the Lathléar, the “small-folk.”

Iotunnar Characteristics

Iotunnar people are tall even by orc standards: most are between 7’2 and 7’6 (218–229 cm). They are robust and hardy, and their traditionally-coastal lifestyle means that most Iotunnar are highly proficient swimmers. Some even have a bit of extra webbing between their fingers to aid with underwater mobility. Like most orcs, their skin is usually greyish, but Iotunnar people often have subtly blue-hued complexions. Skin tones of slate, muted teal, and steel blue are particularly common. Most Iotunnar people have light hair (usually ash-grey) and pale blue eyes. Like Lathléar people, Iotunnar people that bear a Lunar Gift often have unusual midnight-black or pale silver features. Among those Iotunnar orcs, the Lunar Gift of transformation—that is, some ability to shapeshift—is much more common than the gift of necromancy, unlike among the Lathléar

Iotunnar Names

Traditionally, the Iotunnar people have three names: a personal name, given at birth but often changed at adulthood; a surname, which references one’s matriline; and an epithet that describes some notable characteristic or deed, typically acquired in adolescence. When written out in full, Iotunnar names are typically presented with the epithet between the given name and surname, e.g., Idunn Sails in Storms Freyborn.
Surnames are always constructed in the same way: with the suffix “-born” appended to one’s mother’s given name. One’s surname is used only in the most formal of contexts; in casual circumstances, epithets—or abridged versions of epithets, like "Five" for "Rows like Five Folk" or "Drift" for "Adrift at Sea"—are typically used in place of names, and given names alone are used in polite company. Given names are often derived from the names of folk heroes, and as such, there are particularly popular names that are exceedingly common among Iotunnar people. Given names are loosely categorized as masculine or feminine, but there is no strict rule regarding who can use which sort of name.
Some Iotunnar people who live in Lathléar communities use Lathléar naming conventions in place of their traditional system, but the traditional system is quite popular overall. Some examples of traditional Iotunnar names are listed below.
Iotunnar Feminine Names: Ari, Astrid, Brigit, Brynhild, Eira, Frey, Hela, Inga, Ragnfrid, Revna, Sigrid, Solveig, Tyra, Ulvhild, Vali.
Iotunnar Masculine Names: Baldr, Brynjar, Einar, Erland, Frey, Gudmund, Harald, Hjalmar, Ivar, Leif, Lavrans, Naakve, Ragnar, Sten, Ulrik, Vali.
Iotunnar Epithets: Beat a Bear, Burned in the Forge, Curse Breaker, Doesn’t Speak, Half-Pale, Knows the Wind, Rows like Five Folk, Siren-Voice, Wanders at Night, Wise about Plants.

Meta: Iotunnar Names

To create more Iotunnar-sounding names, use Old Norse names for reference.

Species

Orc

Related Locations

• The Land-Between-Rivers