Jon the Ageless

## History

Jotunheim was named after Jotunheim, the Master of the Staff, created by Tolumvire of Arendur using the residual psychic energy of the dying future. He was one of six "Arendurians," immortal and born with arcane power, able to teleport back to the city of Arendur at will. He was a prototype for Tolumvire's vision of a new mankind, but would be supplanted when the Illuminated developed a method to alter the composition of living creatures with the Tower.

Jotunheim the Lesser would accompany Tan Blackhand and Master Arazon to Caprakan, where he would commit deeds that led him to be deemed culpable for the genocide there. In any case, he was directly responsible for killing many Caprakanites who sought revenge. He never repented for his role, believing that he had done his duty in helping create the city in speech.

After the fall of the Arendurian Empire, Jotunheim the Lesser remained in the Tower of the Illuminated, doing dangerous missions at the command of Jotunheim the Greater. The "Arendurian" believed that the new Grand Master hated him and his kind, associating them with Tolumvire's cruelty and tyranny, and wanted an excuse to be rid of him. For twenty-five years, Grand Master Jotunheim insisted that the absent Curtin was still the Master of the Sword, despite the fact that Jotunheim the Lesser had taken over his duties in all but name. In reality, though he did not know this, Jotunheim did not trust the six "Arendurians," believing that their loyalties lay with the demon lord Tolumvire, not the Illuminated as a cabal. Despite the perceived slights, all five performed their duties without complaint.

## Personality

Jon the Ageless is thoughtful and contemplative; his mind as sharp as any sword. He is a master of the most destructive arts of magic, wielding fire and lightning with impunity. His role is the battlefield - he tempers wild destructive talent with a logical mind and a sense of caution.

## War of the Philosopher-Kings

Having taken to calling himself Jon to distinguish himself from the Grand Master, his origins had been lost to time and humor. The younger men observed that he never aged, and so called him Jon the Ageless, Acting Grand Master of the Sword. Jon appreciated the epithet, because Tolumvire had created him fully formed as an adult, and so it fitted him well. When Curtin rejoined the Illuminated during the founding of New Arendur, Jotunheim seemed positively happy to reinstate him as Master of the Sword. To Jon's relief, Curtin respected Tolumvire's creations and valued their loyalty and power. He was quick to make Jon his Equerry and deputy, and allowed him the opportunity to take initiative and exercise his judgement. Though Jotunheim did not care less, his successor, Grand Master Tan Blackhand - with whom he had served in Caprakan - believed he was more loyal to Curtin then to himself. Jon secretly resented the mistrust, and believed - not incorrectly this time - that Tan did not like that Jon remembered the atrocities he had committed.

Jon the Ageless fought in the Battle of Forester's Town, where he briefly dueled Brennen and subsequently lost. After Curtin's injury, Jon would take over more and more of the duties of Master of the Sword. Curtin would delegate a lot to him and trusted him implicitly.

## After the War

Jon did his utmost best to stay apolitical during the clashes between the Illuminated and the Carcosai, but his confidants knew that he despised Scaevola for turning on the nation in the way he had. He was at the forefront of the fight against the Hexenjägers, and the first to bluntly state that Arendur would lose. When Tan Blackhand ordered Curtin to flee and take his knowledge with him, both men refused to tell Jon about their details. Shocked to his core, refusing to believe that the Doctor had fled, Jon the Ageless struggled to retain to will to fight. Everyone expected that he would be promoted to Master of the Sword at last, but Tan Blackhand shocked the Illuminated by putting Arazon in charge of the Branches of the Rod and the Sword, and naming her Warmaster as well. Many of Jon's closest supporters said amongst themselves that Jon should have been made Warmaster instead, but the demoralized "Arendurian" found his resolve and soldiered on.

During the war crime trials, Jon the Ageless was treated as the highest ranking member of the Branch of the Sword. He considered it an ironic honor, but as a final slap in the face, he was not executed alongside the other Masters - Voidwatcher, Grundelthum Sunder, and Tan Blackhand. Jon refused to sell out any of his comrades, knowing full well that death awaited him, and never compromised on his ideals. He was the highest-ranking member of the Illuminated to never repudiate his beliefs or try to minimize their actions, and died filled with pride and scorn.