The name given to the first human inhabitants of Hârn and their descendants. Most Jarin now live in Orbaal, with small pockets in Evael and Azadmere. Many of the barbarian tribes of Hârn are of Jarin blood.
After the Atani Wars ended around 700 BT, most Jarin were gradually assimilated into the more warlike culture of the Lythian invaders or fled to Hârn’s more inhospitable regions. In northern Hârn, which came to be called Jara, the Jarin developed a crude form of feudalism in response to gargun raiding, but each settlement maintained a high degree of autonomy. These isolated strongholds were no match for the warlike Ivinians who conquered Jara, settlement by settlement, between 652 and 686, and established the Kingdom of Orbaal.
Through their long exposure to the Sindarin and Khuzdul before the Atani Wars, the Jarin acquired a mystique that has tended to set them apart from other humans and has earned them some distrust. Jarin are highly independent and extremely proud, which has at times led to practical or political difficulties. They are essentially a peaceful race, a trait that the Ivinians wrongly interpret as cowardice.
In Orbaal today, the Jarin are mainly serfs or slaves of their Ivinian overlords, but independent settlements have survived at Gwaeryn, Leriel, and Pethwys. Small but active resistance groups to Ivinian rule exist throughout the kingdom. Despite some assimilation, relations between the Jarin and the Ivinians are tense. The recent Jarin Rebellion (701–703) is evidence that the Jarin may prefer peace but are definitely not cowardly.
