Jorunn

Jorunn is the fifth child of the Mother of All and the Father, occupying a unique position within the Nine Gods of Skyss as the patron and progenitor of humanity. Known as the deity of the Lost and Found, mischief, and the “little people” (humans), Jorunn represents the inquisitive and transformative spirit of the mortal races. Characterised by an affinity for the colour green and the sapphire gemstone, Jorunn is the only deity of the Nine to have fundamentally altered their divine nature to live among their own creation.

Jorunn’s domain encompasses the survival, multiplication, and inquisitive nature of humankind. While the other gods remained aloof or continued the labour of world-building through trolls, Jorunn became obsessed with the act of creation.

According to the ancient sagas, Jorunn fashioned the first humans from riverbank clay, seeking to mirror the Mother's creation of trolls from stone. Finding the clay easier to shape, Jorunn petitioned his sister Frijdodr to refine their forms. To breathe life into these “little people,” Jorunn sought nourishment from the Mother. In a definitive act of divine solidarity, Jorunn chose to shrink their divine form to join the humans, even altering their own physical anatomy to enable the biological production of milk to ensure human multiplication. This mythic transition explains Jorunn’s dual categorisation as both god and goddess in varying historical accounts.

Jorunn is central to the stability of human life on the Continent of Osnines. Following the chaos introduced by Meniaxter, who “snuffed the light” from human eyes to understand their life-force, a primordial compromise was brokered by Fafnir. Humans were granted finite lifespans, while Meniaxter promised to comfort those left behind, establishing the natural order of mortality that Jorunn protects.

As the god of the “Lost and Found,” Jorunn governs the visibility of things in the world. This domain extends to the retrieval of lost identities, objects, and souls, as well as the power to remain hidden from scrying. The aspect of mischief is not viewed as malice, but as a tactical tool used to bypass the rigid laws or “established paths” of more authoritarian deities.

The typical followers of Jorunn are found across all strata of human society, though his influence is most pervasive among the unlettered and the mobile classes.

• The Little People: As the creator of humanity, Jorunn is the default patron for all humans. Ordinary folk revere him as a protector against the more violent impulses of the Meniaxter-aligned Godbloods.
• Islander Fishing Communities: On islands like Straven, Jorunn is invoked for safety and successful hauls. His spirit binds the disparate communities together through shared survival and trade.
• Southern Adherents: In southern territories like Cottalem, the deity is known as Tiago, illustrating a global reach that persists even where Skyssian influence is contested.
• The Bereaved: Due to the divine compromise, those mourning loss often pray to Jorunn alongside Meniaxter to protect the spirit of the departed.

For the ordinary peasantry, worship of Jorunn is spontaneous and integrated into the practicalities of daily life.

Ordinary humans view the discovery of brightened or distorted objects as direct signs of Jorunn's favour. The discovery of a bent silver siller coin in the middle of a road is considered exceptionally good luck. Such items are often tucked into pouches or placed on thresholds as dedicatory charms to ward off the “lost state”.

The annual gathering at Portree is the primary communal celebration of Jorunn. It is a time of friendship-binding, games, and mercantile standardisation. The meet mirrors Jorunn’s promise to “look after the little people and everything they do,” allowing boat captains and community leaders to resolve bloodfeuds and formalise trade agreements.

Peasants often carve Jorunn’s runes into the wooden frames of their workshops. These runes are powered by the application of freely given human blood—typically a simple prick of the finger—which is considered “powerful enough for most purposes” such as warding off bad luck or ensuring “good timing”.

The Seekers of the Lost is the specialised mystery cult of Jorunn, exclusively for those with Heroic blood who seek to master the higher mysteries of discovery and concealment.

Candidates for the mystery, such as the foundling Noren, often manifest an innate “talent for discovery” even before formal training. Initiation requires the Seeker to find someone or something that has been “Lost” to the rest of the world. This often involves the bestowal of an amulet—typically a silver coin—that has been blessed through the intercession of another deity, such as Malfin.

• Concealment: High-level adepts are exceptionally difficult to track via scrying. By leveraging the god's mischief, they can “disappear easily” even in plain sight.
• Bypassing Wards: Conversely, Seekers can find individuals who are actively warded by other gods, slipping past divine defences that would stop a King's Justice.
• Jorunn's Eye: The cult utilizes powerful reliquaries known as Jorunn's Eyes—specialised sapphires used for scrying. One such stone is set in Queen Flora's crown, while another is kept in the secret archives of the Board of Trade (BoT).
• Transformation: The highest level of the mystery involves the ability to alter one's physical form, a power inherited from Jorunn's own shapeshifting. Masters like Alfarinn can live nomadically for centuries, stay looking in their twenties for decades, and move through the world entirely undetected.

• Noren Alfarinnsson: A direct descendant and initiate who takes more after Jorunn than his father.
• Alfarinn: A granddaughter of the god and a master of the combined mysteries of Justice and Mischief.
• Oddmundr: The late hero and wielder of Jafnadr, who was a devotee of Jorunn because he “cared about the little people”.
• Eskil: A cousin and adept who operates The Troll's Head and creates “geas detectors”.

• Portree: The site of the annual Fisher-meet and the central hub for the deity's human followers.