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My heartfelt thanks everyone 
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Alas, I am somewhat lacking on the reading front right now so I'd like to leave passing the awAARd on in the trusty hands of fellow readAARs - the choice certainly won't disappoint.
.Alas, I am somewhat lacking on the reading front right now so I'd like to leave passing the awAARd on in the trusty hands of fellow readAARs - the choice certainly won't disappoint.
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And thus open for nomination! First come, first serve, as usual.My heartfelt thanks everyone
Alas, I am somewhat lacking on the reading front right now so I'd like to leave passing the awAARd on in the trusty hands of fellow readAARs - the choice certainly won't disappoint.
Last year, I nominated @Peter Ebbesen for this awAARd for the entire cast of his AAR Born to Breed: House of the Prophets.
Today, I need to nominate @Peter Ebbesen again, but this time, for a very specific character: Sverker (the Genius King of Denmark) has very much come into his own ever since the AAR returned from its hiatus last month. In the recent chapters, Sverker has served the audience with some moments that are equal parts hilarious and satisfying. I can't ask for more, and this is my way of thanking @Peter Ebbesen for gracing the CKIII AAR forums with such a great protagonist.
And before @El Pip complains about my choice of a non-Stellaris work, I will remind everyone that the phrase "A World Gone Mad" appears on the very first page of Born to Breed. You've got to be prepared to embrace a little insanity when you step into the world created by @Peter Ebbesen, your new Best Character Writer of the Week!
Today, I need to nominate @Peter Ebbesen again, but this time, for a very specific character: Sverker (the Genius King of Denmark) has very much come into his own ever since the AAR returned from its hiatus last month. In the recent chapters, Sverker has served the audience with some moments that are equal parts hilarious and satisfying. I can't ask for more, and this is my way of thanking @Peter Ebbesen for gracing the CKIII AAR forums with such a great protagonist.
And before @El Pip complains about my choice of a non-Stellaris work, I will remind everyone that the phrase "A World Gone Mad" appears on the very first page of Born to Breed. You've got to be prepared to embrace a little insanity when you step into the world created by @Peter Ebbesen, your new Best Character Writer of the Week!
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You top yourself every time @Peter Ebbesen so what is another accolade? It's always deserved. Congrats mate!
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Why, thank you. I think in honour of the choice, that I'll let Sverker explain in his own voice just why he is such a great protagonist, in case there are any readers of BCWotW, who haven't met him yet. Following nordic tradition of the time, this involves no small amount of boasting.
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Welcome to my humble hall, Vølva of Freyja! My little witch told me you would come seeking aid, so speak up!
Mighty Sverker, I come on a mission of some urgency from my mistress, the great goddess. She seeks a true record of your nature to satisfy the demands of the future.
Tell your mistress not to worry her little head about men's business. I anticipated this by decades. As a mere child I stole the secret of writing and invented a new form of book, the diary, to chronicle my rise to power. The future can read it and be content, should the diary survive.
I see. High Queen Viola said you'd be happy to share details of your personality, but I must have misunderstood. I shall bother you no more, and instead ask your wives about the personality of the greatest man of our times, the Fylkir, glorious High King of Denmark, the Unchained Bear, the King with the Iron Rod, the...
Not so hasty! Don't bother my wives with such questions. They are all very busy doing woman stuff. Feeding the chickens, mending clothes, watering the children and so on. Yes, much too busy. I am not turning you away, it is just that there's really nothing special to my personality. Anybody could have ended up in my position, were they descended from Odin, a grandson of the prophet, one of the smartest men alive, unmatched in cunning, built like a bear, and married to my little witch.
I listen, o' king.
Right. Ahem. Traditional boasts coming right up:
I am Sverker, son of Udalrich the bear of Pomerania, and Freyja the Rather Too Perceptive, daughter of Sigurd the Prophet by his wife Yeldem the Wise, and thus through grandpa Sigurd's line I am a descendant of the Allfather himself.
I am he who stole the secret of writing from the elders and mastered it while only a small boy!
I invented the quotation mark!
I was educated in grandpa's court in non-axe diplomacy, the way of the future, and the future is now.
I am built like a bear, and in battle I am hardened against iron!
I unraveled the schemes of the wicked witch of Wessex and married her, bending her power to my will!
I am cynical, but practical where the gods are concerned; Grandpa Sigurd the Prophet put the fun back in fundamentalist when he reformed the faith, and I do my best to propagate it, bringing best practices to the heathen.
I am a man in my prime, and though I little understood women as a boy, thinking all of them stupid apart from my little witch, who is really, really, smart, I have learned much from her wise teachings, and now know not to ignore all they say, understanding that they occasionally need the comforting delusion of being listened to.
I am proud to say, that from the very first day I set foot on foreign shore, I have carefully followed the admonishments of not only my faith but also my little witch in the treatment of foreign women, which has made me the ardent feminist I am today.
I have raided from Sicily in the south to the shores of the eastern sea, and my fame precedes me. Wherever I go the men wail and the women rejoice!
I claimed the seven veils and the jewel of Cordoba, and thereby gained the complete first edition of Isidore of Miletos's compilation of Archimedes' works.
I schemed my return to power from my exile in Ireland, and with my little witch's aid I did return to court and served uncle Baldr the King as Chancellor.
I became known as the Iron Chancellor through the genius of my machinations in dealing with the numbskull chiefs and assorted morons, as well as the occasional mass slaughter I perpetrated, because some people just need killing.
I am he who convinced uncle Baldr the King to set up a High Kingdom and start handing out his lesser titles, lest the entire edifice collapse with his death.
I am a just ruler; I walk the straight and narrow!
I have great plans! I plan to unite my father's people, the Slavs, with the Danes, as a way of rolling back the increasing feudalism poisoning the Danish realm from those who've settled Western Europe and replaced the old feudal masters and taken up their ways. Will nobody stand up for the little Dane in the street with a sword, I hear the people cry? I WILL!
I took one of uncle Baldr's daughters to wife to secure enough of a voting block in the family that I was acclaimed High King upon his death in free and fair elections with most electors alive and the rest decently cooled several days in advance of the vote.
I became known as the King with the Iron Rod because of the salad incident. About which. No. Forget it. Moving on.
I took another of uncle Baldr's daughters to wife after the election because, well, it gets complicated. My little witch's arguments made it seem like a good idea at the time. She's good at that. Soon she'll push a fourth wife on me and I doubt that'll be the end. So many wives, so little time.
Because.... enough boasting. Hear me, Vølva, to understand me, you really need to understand my little witch, Viola... It is like this.
Even a cynical and fickle stallion like me, as my little witch likes to call me, is capable of love. I didn't think so as a child, but she proved me wrong. And where once there was one, all alone against the world, there were two, who became one. I love her, and only her, and I will never love another, no matter what I might tell anybody for the sake of convenience to have my way, and I have told many lies in my time. I'll burn the world and use my soul for tinder to protect her if necessary.
Don't take me wrong. I am fond of my second wife and my children and will do my best to humour them, and occasionally I feel strongly for one of them, but ultimately? They are all disposable, and my little witch isn't.
My little witch is smart and she is brave and compassionate, and she is the mother of my sons, and she rules my household with an iron hand. While she usually has a sunny disposition, when she waxes wrathful servants, children, and my lesser wives scramble with fear to obey her, and even the handy henchmen who serve as guards shiver at her wrath. Her righteous anger is a joy to see.
She may be small, but she has a big heart. Did I say small? I mean compact. No needlessly long arms or legs like so many other woman, no classical curves or classical beauty, she is female perfection to put all classical ideals to shame and just the right size to sit in my lap and snuggle while we plan damnation to our enemies. Who else in the whole wide world could be her match? Or mine? We were made for each other. I suspect divine collusion.
I never wanted another wife. But now I've got three wives. And it is all her fault. Sure, there are political reasons for taking several wives, but I could have gotten around those easily if I had put my mind to it, for am I not a genius? But my little witch would never have let me get away with it.
Because Viola, the wicked witch of Wessex, my little witch, the love of my life? She is all that, but she is also mad as a hatter, just more focused. That's not a problem to me, since a good marriage rests on accepting each other's peculiarities and I've grown used to it, but it has changed the trajectory of my life.
She has one clear goal that guides most of her actions. Her Grand Plan. And I'm integral to it. She.. Um.. Wants to be the greatest breeder of humans, ever. Perfecting the human race. Starting with me as the herd stallion and herself as the boss mare in charge of the herd for me to service, she has plans for inbreeding and crossbreeding and mares I encounter in the wild for several generations. She is a visionary, and her arguments for expanding the herd are always so reasonable that I find myself unable to oppose her. And don't get me started on her wishing lists for my business trips!
Even grandpa Sigurd would have been impressed by her single-minded dedication to her goal, and he was the one who changed the house motto to ”BORN TO BREED”.
ENOUGH. I have said too much, Vølva, but perhaps that will serve your mistress. I trust that you can keep a confidence.
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Welcome to my humble hall, Vølva of Freyja! My little witch told me you would come seeking aid, so speak up!
Mighty Sverker, I come on a mission of some urgency from my mistress, the great goddess. She seeks a true record of your nature to satisfy the demands of the future.
Tell your mistress not to worry her little head about men's business. I anticipated this by decades. As a mere child I stole the secret of writing and invented a new form of book, the diary, to chronicle my rise to power. The future can read it and be content, should the diary survive.
I see. High Queen Viola said you'd be happy to share details of your personality, but I must have misunderstood. I shall bother you no more, and instead ask your wives about the personality of the greatest man of our times, the Fylkir, glorious High King of Denmark, the Unchained Bear, the King with the Iron Rod, the...
Not so hasty! Don't bother my wives with such questions. They are all very busy doing woman stuff. Feeding the chickens, mending clothes, watering the children and so on. Yes, much too busy. I am not turning you away, it is just that there's really nothing special to my personality. Anybody could have ended up in my position, were they descended from Odin, a grandson of the prophet, one of the smartest men alive, unmatched in cunning, built like a bear, and married to my little witch.
I listen, o' king.
Right. Ahem. Traditional boasts coming right up:
I am Sverker, son of Udalrich the bear of Pomerania, and Freyja the Rather Too Perceptive, daughter of Sigurd the Prophet by his wife Yeldem the Wise, and thus through grandpa Sigurd's line I am a descendant of the Allfather himself.
I am he who stole the secret of writing from the elders and mastered it while only a small boy!
I invented the quotation mark!
I was educated in grandpa's court in non-axe diplomacy, the way of the future, and the future is now.
I am built like a bear, and in battle I am hardened against iron!
I unraveled the schemes of the wicked witch of Wessex and married her, bending her power to my will!
I am cynical, but practical where the gods are concerned; Grandpa Sigurd the Prophet put the fun back in fundamentalist when he reformed the faith, and I do my best to propagate it, bringing best practices to the heathen.
I am a man in my prime, and though I little understood women as a boy, thinking all of them stupid apart from my little witch, who is really, really, smart, I have learned much from her wise teachings, and now know not to ignore all they say, understanding that they occasionally need the comforting delusion of being listened to.
I am proud to say, that from the very first day I set foot on foreign shore, I have carefully followed the admonishments of not only my faith but also my little witch in the treatment of foreign women, which has made me the ardent feminist I am today.
I have raided from Sicily in the south to the shores of the eastern sea, and my fame precedes me. Wherever I go the men wail and the women rejoice!
I claimed the seven veils and the jewel of Cordoba, and thereby gained the complete first edition of Isidore of Miletos's compilation of Archimedes' works.
I schemed my return to power from my exile in Ireland, and with my little witch's aid I did return to court and served uncle Baldr the King as Chancellor.
I became known as the Iron Chancellor through the genius of my machinations in dealing with the numbskull chiefs and assorted morons, as well as the occasional mass slaughter I perpetrated, because some people just need killing.
I am he who convinced uncle Baldr the King to set up a High Kingdom and start handing out his lesser titles, lest the entire edifice collapse with his death.
I am a just ruler; I walk the straight and narrow!
I have great plans! I plan to unite my father's people, the Slavs, with the Danes, as a way of rolling back the increasing feudalism poisoning the Danish realm from those who've settled Western Europe and replaced the old feudal masters and taken up their ways. Will nobody stand up for the little Dane in the street with a sword, I hear the people cry? I WILL!
I took one of uncle Baldr's daughters to wife to secure enough of a voting block in the family that I was acclaimed High King upon his death in free and fair elections with most electors alive and the rest decently cooled several days in advance of the vote.
I became known as the King with the Iron Rod because of the salad incident. About which. No. Forget it. Moving on.
I took another of uncle Baldr's daughters to wife after the election because, well, it gets complicated. My little witch's arguments made it seem like a good idea at the time. She's good at that. Soon she'll push a fourth wife on me and I doubt that'll be the end. So many wives, so little time.
Because.... enough boasting. Hear me, Vølva, to understand me, you really need to understand my little witch, Viola... It is like this.
Even a cynical and fickle stallion like me, as my little witch likes to call me, is capable of love. I didn't think so as a child, but she proved me wrong. And where once there was one, all alone against the world, there were two, who became one. I love her, and only her, and I will never love another, no matter what I might tell anybody for the sake of convenience to have my way, and I have told many lies in my time. I'll burn the world and use my soul for tinder to protect her if necessary.
Don't take me wrong. I am fond of my second wife and my children and will do my best to humour them, and occasionally I feel strongly for one of them, but ultimately? They are all disposable, and my little witch isn't.
My little witch is smart and she is brave and compassionate, and she is the mother of my sons, and she rules my household with an iron hand. While she usually has a sunny disposition, when she waxes wrathful servants, children, and my lesser wives scramble with fear to obey her, and even the handy henchmen who serve as guards shiver at her wrath. Her righteous anger is a joy to see.
She may be small, but she has a big heart. Did I say small? I mean compact. No needlessly long arms or legs like so many other woman, no classical curves or classical beauty, she is female perfection to put all classical ideals to shame and just the right size to sit in my lap and snuggle while we plan damnation to our enemies. Who else in the whole wide world could be her match? Or mine? We were made for each other. I suspect divine collusion.
I never wanted another wife. But now I've got three wives. And it is all her fault. Sure, there are political reasons for taking several wives, but I could have gotten around those easily if I had put my mind to it, for am I not a genius? But my little witch would never have let me get away with it.
Because Viola, the wicked witch of Wessex, my little witch, the love of my life? She is all that, but she is also mad as a hatter, just more focused. That's not a problem to me, since a good marriage rests on accepting each other's peculiarities and I've grown used to it, but it has changed the trajectory of my life.
She has one clear goal that guides most of her actions. Her Grand Plan. And I'm integral to it. She.. Um.. Wants to be the greatest breeder of humans, ever. Perfecting the human race. Starting with me as the herd stallion and herself as the boss mare in charge of the herd for me to service, she has plans for inbreeding and crossbreeding and mares I encounter in the wild for several generations. She is a visionary, and her arguments for expanding the herd are always so reasonable that I find myself unable to oppose her. And don't get me started on her wishing lists for my business trips!
Even grandpa Sigurd would have been impressed by her single-minded dedication to her goal, and he was the one who changed the house motto to ”BORN TO BREED”.
ENOUGH. I have said too much, Vølva, but perhaps that will serve your mistress. I trust that you can keep a confidence.
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From the mouth of Sverker to the quill pen of Viola (aka the Witch) with very little editing for our edification as to the true story of the GRAND PLAN.
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This needs to be passed on, but as I have not been following AARs recently, I'll leave that to anybody who has.
Nominations are open.
Nominations are open.
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Congratulations, @coz1. @Bullfilter, Duchess Cecily would like your attention for the power should be rewarded and not the front-man.
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An excellent choice, very well deserved as always. You have done some excellent work putting some flesh and humanity on the historical bones and some of the interactions have been incredible, I'm thinking of several of the scenes with Richard and Henry in particular. Congratulations indeed @coz1
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Good choice! Lots of good characters, but the Duke of York is the best.
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