Jorund Brighthoof was a member the Pride and leader of the Geit Brighthoof clan. As jolly as he is blunt, anyone in the spheres would be glad to have Jorund next to them in battle or in their meade hall. After Nasser Graham's disappearence, Jorund returned to Jotun to unite the Geit clans against the White Lion Armada. However, he lost his life in the effort in a plot by the Armada and the rival Habrok Clan.
Early Life
Jorund grew up as the son of the leader of the Brightoof Clan, one of the most powerful clans on Jotun. The Brighthooves had long surrendered to Koan rule when Jorund came of age, and his family enjoyed the privileges of regional nobility so long as they paid proper respect and deference to their imperial overlords.
He grew up as most Geit nobility do, sailing his longships across Jotun's narrow seas, competing with his siblings and rival clans for glory.
The Pride's Rebellion
Jorund's life changed forever when he came across two figures floating in the ice, Nasser Graham and his pet lion,
Balabar. Originally, giving them a surly reception, Jorund was surprised to learn that this newcomer knew nothing of the Koan Empire that had ruled the spheres for the last three centuries. When Nasser suggested putting a stop to the Koa, Jorund initially laughed him off. But when Nasser saved Jorund's clan from being unjustly destroyed by the empire, improbably calling a fire giant to their aid, Jorund found himself in the middle of a rebellion.
Together with Nasser and his clan, they travelled across Jotun uniting the clans through a tradition called the Clansmoot. Once their army became powerful enough to challenge the Koan Empire, they left Jotun to rally the support of other nations and find a way to move their existing territory past the empire's defenses.
Jorund became fast friends with Nasser over their journeys, and even grew to begrudgingly respect the lion, whom he derisively referred to as, "kitty cat". Amongst the Pride, Jorund provided muscle and a no-nonsense approach to solving problems. He had little patience for the political intricacies of other nations. He often butted heads with Alyn Arkades, finding his more effeminate affect and "pixie magic" as befuddling as it did infuriating. But Jorund eventually found himself glad to have the Homyn around after that pixie magic saved him a few times.
Together, the Pride defeated
The Undying Empress and formed the Chimera Alliance. Jorund cared little for the bickering politics among his new allies following the empire's defeat. As far as he was concerned, he and his friends had saved the system and brought peace to all the lands. Any of the other conflicts that permeated the system were small potatoes in comparison and anyone who clung to them should be ignored as having a chip on their shoulder.
A Friend Disappears, An Enemy Emerges
Jorund returned home to rule the Brighthoof Clan, where he took many wives and sired many children. He even took his favorite, Garund, along with him on his occasional trips to Lion City, to introduce to Nasser and his children.
His happy retirement, however, came to a sudden end when Nasser inexplicably disappered. He soon learned that Source was running out of Nectar and that Nasser's son, Prince Lucas had formed his own Armada and sought to keep the Alliance together through military force.
Jorund saw these developments as more pointless bickering over the problem of peace that he and his friends had already solved. Nevertheless, at his comrade, Jin Bei's insistence, he travelled back to Lion City to lend the Alliance and Corsairs a hand.
Present for the Party's inaugural voyage, Jorund saw a bickering group of new corsairs with little direction. He lacked the patience for them to learn to work together as Jorund's own group once had, and demanded instead they bring a member of the Pride into their crew to rally them together. To everyone's surpise, he nominated
Balabar for the posiiton.
Jorund's plan faced a minor obstacle in that a Geit from a podunk clan on the North Sea named
Duncan Habrok had been appointed as
Balabar's caretaker by Nasser Graham. When Duncan protested taking the lion,
Balabar sternly reminded him of his clans standing in Jotun politics and said he would send warships to the Habroks to get the lion if he had too. It was a rather ordinary interaction for someoen who exhibited as much bluster as Jorund, but it would come to have dire consequences in the conflicts ahead.
The Clansmoot
At Jin Bei's request, Jorund returned to Jotun to gather another Clansmoot to take on the White Lion Armada. Jorund decided to take a backseat role this time, letting his son Garund take the reigns as the Clansmoot's leader. Although, none could deny his standing among the Geit people and guidance helped his son keep his position of leadership among the gathering of Geit clans.
Garund managed travelled across Jotun's South Sea, gathering ships from every clan. Unlike the Clansmoots of ages past, which gathered their strength through threats and conquest, Garund chose instead to build his navy through volunteers.
Death and Legacy
As the Clansmoot moved into the North Sea, the Party reunited with Jorund seeking a progenitor ruin on Jotun's north pole. What was worse, the White Lion Armada had sent a fleet to destroy the Clansmoot. After learning that Arkades has previously put them through the ringer with a bunch of Homyn nonsense about a vassal rebellion, Jorund assured the Party that he had matters well in hand and that their journey to the North Pole would be swift and painless, a promise that he proved unable to keep.
Jorund's wilfull blindness of the conflicts that still plagued the system proved his undoing. As the Clansmoot crossed the North Sea and contended with a fire giant, the rival Habrok clan invaded the Clansmoot, killed Jorund, and took his body.
The Habroks had not been so keen to move on from the ancient feuds between the Geit Clans in wake of the Empire's defeat, and they had held on to old grudges against the Brighthooves. With some encouragement from Thane Kestrel of the White Lion Armada, they saw Jorund's threats to
Duncan Habrok as threats of war, threats Jorund was consumating by bringing a navy north. The Party later discovered that the Habrok Clan was also slowly freezing to death, and being proud warriors seized an opportunity to go out on a blaze of glory against their old rivals.
With Jorund's death, Garund was left to command the Clansmoot on his own. Luckily, he did not let go of his father's ideals. With the help of the Corsairs, he made peace with the Habroks and recoverd his father's body, together leading the combined forces to defeat the White Lion Armada. Garund was rewarded for his efforts by ascending to a seat on the Chimera Council While the Geit suffered heavy losses, Jotun once again remained free thanks to the Brighthoof Clan.
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