Jarotajep the Plowman

The Tale of Jarotajep The Ploughman is the tale of the founding of the First Kingdom of the Jorans. It is commonly told by bards throughout the region, and is oft heard in hospitals of the poor traveler, the keeps of high lords, and every place in between. It is the tale of a peasant rising to become a king, and a man rising to the occasion to win the hand of his love, and overcoming monsters, men, and mother nature, making it popular amongst the peasantry and the nobility alike.

### The Tales

Jarotajep the Plowman was a peasant from the countryside, an honest plowman, good of character and with a strong moral code. He would even plow the fields of those who could not pay without asking for payment.

One day, however, while at market, he caught the eyes of the daughter of the king of his tribe, a girl named Bianka. Smart, kind and beautiful, of fair complexion and dark of hair, she was to be married off to the king of a neighboring tribe in exchange for an alliance, as is still common now. He noticed her as well, and they fell in love.

Bianka went to her father, Permsaje, to request his hand in marriage, yet he refuses to let his daughter be wed to a mere freeman. So, he gave him a quest. He could go out and prove his strength, wisdom, and heroism through a series of difficult tasks. He gave him no aim, and sent him out to prove his worth.

Jarotajep had no idea what to do, for how could he prove his worth to a Lord, when he was but a peasant? He was about to give up, when word came from the north that some great creature was rampaging through the frontiers, and was making its way toward his village.

The knights took up arms to beat back this foul creature of the wilds, and soon, it was upon them. It slaughtered the knights wholesale, its claws piercing their mail, its tail knocking men off their feet, and its bite cleaving men in two. Soon they realised that there was no defeating this beast, and the warriors fled.

But not Jarotajep. Rather, he stood his ground, with spear in hand, and he prepared to die protecting his village. The beast charged him, but he rolled to the side, stabbing at it as he did. The beast reared in pain, and swiped at him, but, as he was without the armor that weighed down the knights, he dodged back, and returned another stab.

They fought for many hours, the cycle repeating, and he slowly drew the beast away from the village. And yet, as he reached the hill at Kanberk, the beast lunged, an unexpected move, and Jarotajep was unable to dodge in time. His spear bent upon the chest of the beast, and the shaft snapped in two, yet Jarotajep was able to move out of the way. He found the beast was on the edge of the hill, with a steep drop behind it, and he took his chance.

Without a spear, the Ploughman charged into the beast, and with all his might, heaved the beast down onto the rocks below. He followed it quickly, hoping to see it dead, yet when he got there, the beast was yet still alive, yet incapacitated, so, doing the only thing he could think to do, he knocked it on the head with his sabot, sending it to unconsciousness.

He tied up the beast, and began dragging it back to his village. Hailed as a hero to both his village and his world, the town threw him a feast in his honor, attended by all the people from each village for many leagues. The Beast, now tamed by its new master, was put on display at the center of the fair.

Permsaje, seeing the beast, and knowing how this peasant had defeated the horrid creature where his knights, the best warriors in the tribe, had failed, was very impressed with the peasant lad. However, he stated that in order to wed his daughter, Jarotajep would have to do one more, as yet undefined, task.

You see, back in this ancient age, the Jorans lived in a large valley, surrounded on all sides by high, steep hills. As such, when it rained, the valley’s lowlands would often flood. Such happened at this time.

Soon after the beast had been tamed, there was a series of terrible rains. It rained for many days and many nights, and the floods were high. So high, in fact, that the floods began to threaten his village. Determined to save his town and people once more, Jarotajep had a great and terrible thought.

He hooked up the beast to his plough, and he set off in the direction of the south, using the beast’s strength to create a deep and wide furrow, into which the water rushed. He continued south, until he reached the barrier hills, upon which point he ploughed through the hills, giving the water a way to rush out of the valley.

The river which he had created, with the aid of the beast, wound its way out of the valley, and down toward the sea, opening up a trade route for new, foreign luxuries to come into the valley, and created a floodplain out, ensuring that the valley would never be threatened by water again.

When he returned to his town, he was again hailed as a hero, not by just his village or the surrounding countryside, but rather by everyone in the valley, friend and foe alike, for he had saved them all.

Permsaje way yet again pleased, for Jarotajep had, once again, saved his people, and had made him very rich by the trade coming up the river, now known as the Ploughwater, yet he still forbade him to marry Bianka. He said that he must perform one more task, and that he would have his blessing, but not before.

A neighboring tribe of Jorans, the Ferredati, ruled by the evil King Basamund, grew envious of Permsaje’s wealth, which continued to grow through trade along the Ploughwater. Basamund rallied his army of evil knights, and made his way toward Jarotajep’s village, the center of this new wealth. Permsaje rallied his men, but, as most of his knights were killed battling the Beast, he had to levee his militia to defend their homes.

Upon the field of Samospese Village the two forces met, and the battle began. The Ferredati forces, who were known to have powerful sorcerers and enchanters amongst their number, began to cleave through the militia army. Basamund, however, did not join in the fray. He had another goal.

It was during the climax of the battle that he found his target. Permsaje was at the center, killing all who neared him, rallying his household and militia to him, keeping them from routing. Basamund challenged him, and they began to duel, the battle raging on around them.

Permsaje ultimately fell, wounded by Basamund’s foul sorcery, and his forces began to rout immediately. Jarotajep, who was observing from a nearby hill, did the most heroic thing he ever could do, and mounted the Beast, spear in hand, and charged into the Ferredati. The beast ripped and tore into the evil knights, their armor like cloth under its teeth, and their magic like a breeze against its hide.

His comrades, seeing this turn of events, rallied back to their formations, and began to press their advantage, pushing the knights back, and beginning to rout them. Basamund, seeing the turn of events, began to fling spells left and right, killing many of the militia folk, until Jarotajep saw him, still standing over the mortally wounded Permsaje.

The Beast charged at Basamund, with Jarotajep mounted atop, spear couched under his arm, preparing to kill the evil sorcerer-king. Basamund desperately cast spells at the noble Ploughman, yet he realized he was doomed, and so, just when the beast was about to reach him, and Jarotajep’s lance was about to pierce his heart, he cast one last spell, an evil spell, one known only to the darkest magicians. He tore his soul from his body, and fled, incorporeally, into the forest, unknown to all but himself. He would resurface many times over the years to reap destruction on Jarotajep and his descendants.

Jarotajep, believing that the enemy was dead, and with his forces routed, dismounted and spoke to Permsaje, who was dying on the ground. With his dying breath, Permsaje gave Jarotajep his blessing to marry Bianka, and named him as the new king of his tribe.

Jarotajep would wed Bianka the following day, and the two would rule well. He would also set the Beast Free, on the condition that it returns to defend the Joran people in their times of great struggle. The House of Sabot would rule for many years, and would unite the rest of the Joran tribes into the Kingdom of Joraje, which would bring wealth and prosperity to their people for many centuries.

Jarotajep and Bianka would rule well, and for many decades, and would be married happily for all their lives. After Bianka died, he fell into a tragic madness, and wandered out into the forest, where he was met with the Beast, and they rode off into the wilderness. He would never be seen again by man.