Bard II Torbjornsson Crovan
King of Norway and of Serbia
Genealogy, Part 1, 1388
Greetings, I am Bard Torbjornsson Crovan. King of Norway and of Serbia!
Ha! I have waited all my life to say that.
But, you should know: this moment is not merely the pinnacle of the career of a man named Bard. No, this moment is one long sought after by my family, my lineage, if you will.
We have struggled for this day for the last 303 years. Waiting for our chance, committed to our ancestor’s dying Oath.
Like all Crovans, I trace my line back to this man: Duke Gudrod Haraldsson Crovan. The first of our breed. All that we are is due to him and his children.
Some of you wonder, no doubt: Who is this Bard? How do we know he is not merely some cheap country cousin.
Well, I will tell you: My bloodline is the most pure of any living Crovan and now, finally, my bloodline has claimed the glory and the place in the Sun which cruel, cruel fate denied us so many centuries ago. Let me share my family history with you.
It all starts with this man: Saint Aslak Gudrodsson Crovan, Count of Tir Eohgain and once-Duke of Ulster.
And here he is, my ancestor and the rightful heir to Duke Gudrod and Duke Erlend: St. Aslak Gudrodsson.
Now, you all know that he drove the frogs from Ireland and many of you know that, as Gudrod’s most effective son, he nearly gained the throne at the death of his brother, Duke Erlend, but what you do not know…what no one knew except for his direct descendants: Duke Gudrod wanted him to rule.
It surely was no coincidence that St. Aslak was
sent to a military fort in Tir Connail as a youth, to learn how to command. His father was marking him out for a future leadership role. That is why Erlend Murdered Gurdrod and usurped the title…he knew St. Aslak would be named heir if he did not. The Saint masked his plans well,
even naming his oldest son after his usurping brother, though he never forgot that Erlend sat on his throne.
Erlend sought to bury The Saint’s memory by sending him to rule over a swamp, never knowing that in that swamp, The Saint would find his life’s work.
St. Aslak’s power would grow, as more lands were added to his Irish Dominion, though he still had to kneel to the murderous usurper Erlend.
Together, the brothers worked to fulfill their father’s dreams of revenge, even though they did still have difficult dealings with each other. Feelings that did erupt into
Murder Most Foul, although there is no proof it was St. Aslak. In fact, it was probably Halkjell’s idiot son.
As proof, I offer the simple fact that The Saint proudly supported Erlend’s son Ossor in the small family civil-war of the 1120’s and through his many early Crusades. Indeed, St. Aslak would clearly have served alongside his nephew, proudly protecting a Throne and Title that should have been his own, and marching in the forefront when Ossor conquered Norway, except that the Lord called him
in a different direction. In 1139, he began his most legendary feat, the ending of Amphibian Life on Ireland. What St. Patrick began, St. Aslak completed.
Even when
King Ossor went mad and killed himself, St. Aslak continued to support the family, fighting both Irish rebels and the Frog Menace
and uniting a large portion of the Island under his banner during Skofte the Heretic’s Civil War.
Although
The Saint did rebel against his Grand-nephew, he really had no choice. A Saint could never serve a Sinner, and St. Aslak willingly paid the price for his honor, losing his Duchy and many of his lands, but gaining freedom from the sinner. When he died in 1146, the Pope moved quickly,
beatifying and then Sainting this most holy man. What no one ever knew is that, on his death-bed, and in the presence of his oldest surviving Grandson Tor, St. Aslak swore a great and holy oath that his descendants could never rest until we had gained our rightful inheritance: Leadership over the Crovan Family and Mastery over the Crovan Dominions.
This is Aslak’s son Ottar, remembered for fathering Torre and dying to guard Tir Eoghain from Skofte’s vile hordes.
Tore held out, resisting the call of
gold and titles that lured many of St. Aslak’s other grandchildren into service with the Heretic King. So, while Skofte the Heretic was busily producing
children of dubious parentage, Torre produced actual sons carrying the precious Crovan Blood in their veins and stayed away from The Excommunicates’ accursed court until his death in 1173. It was with Tore’s son Svein that The Aslak Lineage began to move in Norwegian Circles.
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Now looking forward to meet this Bard with a dot on the a... 
as you could read 
Originally Posted by Alfred Packer
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