- "Well, Marbad’s a good man and his people were scratching a living on the edges of the marshes at the mouth of the river. They’d settled there after King Marius of the Jutones drove them from their homeland after the Teutogens had taken their lands. I suppose it’s possible to live there, but why anyone would want to, I don’t know. The marshes are dangerous places, full of sucking bogs, corpse lights and daemons that drink the blood of men."
- —King Bjorn Unbergoen, telling the woes of the Endals and the Jutones[2a]
Map of the Barbarian Kingdoms
The Jutones and sometimes the Was Jutones or simply the Juton are an ancient war-like tribe of Human barbarians populating the lands of not just Westerland, but also the lands of Nordland and parts of western Ostland, making them the ancestors of the modern day Westerlander, Nordlander and close relatives of the Ostlanders.[1d]
History
Facing many hardships, the Jutones were a broken people before Marius led his exodus towards the West
Like many other tribes, the Jutones came into the lands of the Empire in -1000 IC and settled within the coastlines that border the Sea of Claws. This, unfortunately, spelled much misfortune for the Jutones.[1a] In time, the early Jutones were slain and subjugated by the Teutogens to their south and due to their proximity in the north, also became the main victims of the Norsii when they invaded the lands of the Empire.[1d] Faced with the choice of slavery, starvation or suicidal battle against the joint threats of the Norsii and Teutogens, their paramount chief, the semi-mythical King Marius, persuaded a branch of his people to instead flee the Forest of Shadows and head west with all they could carry, in a great exodus. Those Jutones who stayed behind were known as the Was Jutones, who would later become the ancestors of the modern-day Nordlander.[3a]
However they got there and for whatever reason they left, it's agreed that the Jutones were in the Wasteland by the year -20 I.C. There, all the tales state, they've drove out the tribes of the Endals which once made the Marshes their homes and soon engaged in a fierce war with the Fimir, with neither side giving quarter, each bent on genocide. Around -10 I.C., the Jutones and the Fimir met in a climactic battle amidst the ruins of the Sea Elf fortress. The Saga of Dobbe Arend, the oldest known with fragments dating from the sixth century, says that Marius met the Fimir queen in single combat and killed her on Slagveldsrots ('Battlefield Rock'), the old name for the island on which the Staadtholder's palace sits. He laid claim to the marsh and all the lands between "the forests and the seas" and founded his city on the Elven ruins of the ancient Elven city, proclaiming himself King of Jutonsryk ('Realm of the Jutones').[3a] Ever since then, the Jutones became fierce rivals with the displaced Endals, resulting in frequent retaliatory raids against one another. In respects to King Bjorn Unberogen for his efforts at repelling the hated Norsii, a small band of Jutones warriors were present at his funeral pyre, noted particulary for their custom of wearing feathered helmets and bright-colored jerkins.[2b]
He saw fit to name the city after himself which would later become the port-city of Marienburg, and built his tower on Rykseiland ('Realm's Isle'), these days called Rijkers' Isle. The next several centuries are shrouded in obscurity. A column in the crypts of the cathedral of Manaan bears carved names and accomplishments, some of which are still readable. Though styled 'kings', they can have been little better than chiefs in these days, ruling a crude fishing village amongst the ruins. King Euricius Mariuszoon and the twin-tailed comet of his reign are mentioned.[3a] The Jutones tried to settle the Wasteland, too, especially the fertile country around the banks of the Reik. One can still see the artificial hills of old motte-and-bailey forts, some maintained as places of refuge to this day. Small towns and villageswere founded on the Tumble Downs, of which Aarnau is the largest and oldest. None survived any of the few attempts made to settle the Bitter Moors, Almshoven being the last to die. After the first few centuries, these attempts at colonisation werehalf-hearted at best, a bone thrown to disaffected factions or young nobles who "wanted land, not fish!" Even in these early days, Marienburg was not only the chief city of the Wasteland, it was the Wasteland.[3b]
Unlike the other founding tribes of the Empire, the Jutones, though having respect for Sigmar and his people, refused the call for unification and instead stayed put upon their newly conquered homeland. The next time the Jutones enters history with any certainty is in the Chronicles of the Venerable Ottokar, an early Grand Theogonist of the cult of Sigmar. The unknown scribe records Ottokar's blessings on the efforts of Emperor Sigismund II, better known as Sigismund the Conqueror, who sought to extend the domains of "the unity of Divine Sigmar". While the Chronicle concentrates on wars to the south and east, it makes brief mention of a campaign against the "barbarians of the Reik's mouth" in the spring and summer of 501 IC.[3b] Mustering a great army, Sigismund is said to have swept aside the resistance of the Jutones and received the submission of King Bram, the Jutones ruler. The chronicler praises the wisdom and generosity of the Emperor, for "he neither razed their Citadel nor reduced them to charcoal, but rather loved them as Children, making their King a Baron and Vassal of the Empire, and naming the new province 'Weysterland'. The lands of the Jutonsyrk, which encompassed all the lands west of Sea of Claws to the forest of Laurelon, was integrated into the already established province of Westerland by the Endals. From then on, the Jutones and the Was Jutones of Nordland were finally within Sigmar's dreams of Empire.[3b]
Military
The Jutones were the first pre-Imperial tribe to develop the phalanx. This probably occurred because they were one of the few tribes to live on open plains rather than forested areas. For a time, the phalanx was highly successful, allowing the Jutones to defend their homeand for many years. However, eventually weaknesses in the formation were discovered and exploited, and the formation fell out of favour. However, it was a very important innovation in the military history of the Empire, because it introduced the concept of cooperative fighting. Most of the Jutones' contemporaries fought in loose bands and emphasized personal heroism over cooperative fighting. In this way, the Jutone phalanx presaged the style of war used in the Empire today.[4a]
Lore Conflict
- The lore concerning the Jutones are conflicted as there are three sources which give different accounts to their history.
- The most recent source, from the Time of Legends novels concerning the Legend of Sigmar, much of the history of the Jutones fits the lore established by earlier editions until the start of the second book "Empire" and later "God-King" which stated that Sigmar conquered the Jutones and forced them into his Empire, which goes against the established lore that the Jutones never joined Sigmar's Empire and were only finally intergrated when Emperor Sigismund the Conqueror invaded the Jutonsyrk. It is also stated in the last chapter of "God-King" that the Jutones kingdom of Jutonsyrk was lost to the Undead and the rulers of the Endals and Jutones intermarried, which would go against the established lore that Jutonsyrk still remained until the time of Emperor Sigismund.
- The second source, from the fantasy roleplay book, Sigmar's Heirs, stated that unlike the novel, the Jutones never intergrated themselves into Sigmar's Empire until the time called "Drive to the Frontiers" when Emperor Sigismund the Conqueror invaded Jutonsyrk and intergrated their lands and people into the province of Westerland, which was founded by the Endals of King Marbad. This section also metioned that the Endals also founded the city of Marburg, at the mouth of the River Riek which hinted heavily would be the future site of Marienburg.
- The last source, and perhaps the most detailed account of the Jutones, was a 1st Edition Fantasy Roleplay book called "Marienburg: Sold down the River" which stated in detail that the Jutones were the one to found a great city in an ruined Elven city (hinted heavily to be the site of Marienburg). Unlike the two other sources, this particular book never mentions the Endals and instead establishes the fact that Rijkers' Isle, which was the Jutones capital of the time, was indeed where the foundations of Marienburg was created, not the Endal capital of Marburg, which was heavily hinted in Sigmar's Heir to be the future site of Marienburg. Most maps which shows the layout Marienburg have shown Rijker's Isle at the mouth of the city harbor, indicating that it was the Jutones who founded Marienburg, not the Endals.
Source
- 1:Sigmar's Heir (Fantasy Roleplay)
- 2: Time of Legend: Heldenhammer (Novel) by Graham McNeill
- 3: Marienburg: Sold Down the River (1st Edition Fantasy Roleplay)
- 4: The Empire at War
- 4a: pg. 23
