I'll be writing Chapter 1 when I get home today, I can give a bit of a hint that.... The rule of Henrik doesn't start very well....
The Legacy of the Vogelius Dynasty - The Rising Raven
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Henrik had to choose a council but he suffered from a problem that no one really liked him and he didn't know why. sure at feasts and hunts they were all smiling and pretending but he knew they didn't enjoy his company. Though it didn't bother him as long as he could keep drinking his wine. The collection of courtiers available to him wasn't that impressive, except for a chancellor that were actually quite competent and were well accustomed to the Christian lord thoughts.
Chief Henrik immediately sent his council out on their missions, specifically his well educated spymaster Jens of Uppåkra and chancellor Lennart of Helsingborg to Ringsted in Sjælland.
The demesne of Henrik isn't a very impressive one, he is the self-proclaimed chieftain of the old county known as Skåne that used to belong to the Hildetönn, He was quite quick to replace the various leaders of the cities and castles with people of his faith however King Knud IV demanded that Lund remained untouched and that the bishop remained. The King claimed that Henrik as a heathen lived at his mercy. Of course this angered Henrik as the laws of the realm clearly stated that the county was his and his alone to govern and this was clearly breaching the chieftains rights, pagan or not.
Trough the many feasts at the castle of Ringsted in Sjælland Henrik had acquainted Duke Harald of Jylland, Prince of Denmark. He knew how upset he was that his own father preferred his landless brother Svend over him for the crown of Denmark.
The King dares to claim elective succession law while he controlled majority of the land in his realm, making him and his sons the only possible electors with him having the majority weight of votes. Too add salt to the injury, a royal courier enters his chambers as he is clunking down his cheap wine. As he reads, angers overtake him and he throws the bottle at the courtier.
- "GET OUT" He roars at the poor boy that had travelled across the sound.
With the courier was a royal decree to revoke Skåne's rights to autonomy, giving more centralized control to the king and making Henrik owe his liege levy and tax.
Obviously Henrik's loyalty to his liege was tested when he couldn't even be guaranteed his old rights. At least he gets some good news when he receives a letter from his steward Gotfred accompanied with a bag of gold. Its the tithe of the peasants in the city of Dalby that they had been refusing to pay.
It goes a couple of months and in early winter a message arrive to Henrik's court carrying a scroll with the royal seal. The chieftain sighs, rolls his eyes and reluctantly accepts the message. The news from the capital is that his liege have put Jens of Uppåkra in the dungeons while he was trying to learn how to improve the Scanian troops by observing the Danish royal army. The Danish king keep taking liberties at Henrik's expense and this time he has had enough and answers the King by claiming he is the offspring of cattle and should be hung from a tree and beaten.
Now instead he has to replace his trusted Spymaster with his catholic wife who is the only one that shows anything that could resemble promise of intrigue. However now our dear chieftain had to keep a wake eye at night when he went to bed with his wife.
Apparently the King didn't care about Henrik's threat and demands as he later started a war with the independent Count of Lübeck that had been refusing the Danish King of what he saw was Danish by ancient rights. Obviously this war would be a short one as there were no powerful lord backing the small but rich count of Lübeck. While the coward that held the Danish crown called on his in-laws, the Norwegian and Swedish king. However this served as a warning of caution to our Henrik to keep a calm head for now.
Shortly after the war of Lübeck the Norwegian Invasion of the British Isles starts, of course backed by the Danish king. It leaves a sour taste in his mouth as he has to send his men of to fight for the Norwegian king in England. However he started to sense an opportunity was brewing....
...and joined a faction that had been formed by the Count of Fyn who apparently also was displeased with his lord....
The time passes on slowly in Skåne and the county has a longer period of peace and as the King is off fighting in the Isles it makes lifes so much easier for Henrik and his subjects. However at next Autumn his wife falls gravely ill having caught the Great Pox. Luckily for Henrik he doesn't care much for his wife and already starts inviting débutantes to his court to replace her when she is gone. However while happily having a feast and flirting with the girls, the maiden taking care of his sick wife comes and whispers to his ear.
- "Her belly has grown and she has stopped bleeding"
The next day he immediately visits the Temple at Uppåkra and sacrifices a goat in Eir's honour begging her for mercy and help to his wife and his unborn child, his first child and future heir.
His prayers are answered and after several stressful months his wife deliver a healthy baby boy which Henrik names Ubbe. Unfortunately his stubborn wife lives trough the whole thing...
The armies of Norway and Denmark are still fighting in the English fields, taking its sweet time. Henrik also gets some ideas of conquest of his own in the Isles. He looks to the small county of Ulster with no allies or relatives that can aid him. The Only thing he needs is the means to get there. His coffers were full, even with his expensive drinking habits, so he orders and pays for a shipyard at the coast of his castle Trelleborg in order to house the ships needed to invade the Irish lands.
However Skjalm, the Count of Fyn. visits our chieftain and tells him that the Danish king had to pull his entire army to support Norway in England as the Anglo-Saxon king put up a valiant resistance which was giving them the opportunity they had waited for...
- "To war it is then my friend..."
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Wanted to write more for the first chapter but I was starting to hit the 20 image limit pretty damned fast. So Instead I put the war for the second chapter that I will write tomorrow and will go into more detail than I originally planed for it. I can tell you I did not pick an easy scenario for me and having a dumb character (which is supposed to portray me :happy
I have to also role-play a drunkard and a fool
I have to also role-play a drunkard and a fool
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Because it is my real name, if I remember correctly I am the Swedish off-shoot of the Steenstrup dynasty from northern Jylland(My grandfather moved to Sweden after fighting in WWII). We also keep Vogelius as a second name and I am the only one left here with the name but there are still some in Denmark. There is also a Swedish based family with Vogelius as their last name but I don't know much about them. I'm not 100% sure if I remember that correctly because I think I was like 10 when my aunt told me this.
Witch-King made me norse because I have an Odin idol from Uppåkra on my desk, a bronze mjölnir pendant and a norse knot pendant carved in bone around my neck every day. And I kinda asked to be
Anyway is working on chapter 3 at the moment.
Edit: Also I don't believe it is Latin, even though it sounds like it, I believe it is Vogel from the German word for bird that the name comes from.
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When Cecilie hear of her husbands faith she arranges the release of the hidden away Prince Niels in hope the king has mercy on her husband. In all honesty she hated him and would love to see his lifeless body dangling from a noose. However he was still the father of her children which she loved above all else and she wouldn't want to see them without a father, however horrible he may be he was still caring for his children.
The gods seemed quite upset with him as his luck just kept getting worse. While in the filthy dungeons under Ringsted he contracts one of the many diseases running around.
Bed-ridden and scared to be hung he started having feverish dreams of the glory of Valhalla and the feasts he would partake in and the plenty cups of mead he would consume. He snapped out of it as someone loosened his chains, a guard, dragged him up out of the dungeons.
- "This is it, I'll finally die..." he thought to himself
The floor beneath him stopped moving, no wait it was the guards that had stopped. He looked up and in front of him was King Knud in all his glory. Henrik was about to spit on the floor but the guards dropped him and his face hit the stone floor.
- "Being only a minor accomplice to this revolt I shall spare you with only the punishment of paying a fine of 70 gold coins, Chieftan Henrik." a large grin started to grow on the king "You'll return to Trelleborg and take your place as vassal under the new Duke of Skåne, the former count of Bornholm."
The moment he gets to return to his home he starts to feel better and recovers from his sickness, but the bad taste of his defeat and new lord would never dissipate. However he did feel comfort of finally being home again. The economy of Skåne is quite badly at it from the war, barely being able to scrape together wealth for their new liege.
The political landscape had changed a lot however even though it was at peace for the moment. The King of Denmark took the opportunity to claim more land by banning the Count of Fyn and seizing his land and even stealing land from his son the Duke of Jylland. The once mighty duke was still in prison rotting. Having lost his favourite son in the war against the English he has now chosen one of his younger bastard childs to be he his heir.
In order to bring the county to other thoughts than the loss of Henrik at the hand of King Knud he ordered that a great winter blot was to commence! Invitation was sent out to all his friends and vassals to join. Of course the stubborn Bishop Egino of Lund refused to partake but knowing the cruelty of Henrik and not wanting to anger him more he pays a measly sum to avoid offending him.
Outside the temple of Uppåkra, they stood as the Gydja slit the throat of a boar and splashed the blood on the statues of Odin, Thor and Frey. Asking for good harvest, good fortunes and the usual. The body of the boar was taken away and prepared for the feast later. Soon enough a bunch of guards come up to the tree next to the temple, escorting the important sacrifice for the day, Prince Inge of Sweden...
Henrik smiles pleased as he sees the lifeless body of Inge dangle and the Gydja praising their lords.
The feast started, the boar was delicious and the fine wine even more so. All the problems seemed to vanish as the night went on and the future seemed a bit more prosperous for Skåne. It becomes known that Erik 'The Heathen' af Munsö has converted to Catholicism, that traitorous bastard.
A few months later Chieftess Cecilie dies of the Great Pox she has been struggling for so long, she haven't had an easy life living with Henrik but she did love her boys with all hear heart. And luckily they've been taking after her instead of Henrik. However she hasn't been able to give them a proper Christian education, but they have learned the Christian values making them kinder and will most probably not drink as much wine as their father do.
The first born son, Ubbe, was growing up to be quite ambitious and zealous to the norse faith. He often have the court play out against each other to get stuff his way. He has also shown that he is quite good with the stick when playing with his friends and for a kid shows actual martial prowess.
Chieftain Henrik haven't forgoten his ambitions to invade Ireland. Earl Cü Uladh of Ulster were growing old, weak and ripe for the taking of the Scanian armies. Now 3 years after the war the levies of Trelleborg are back to what they were before. However now he owed more troops to his liege ruling in Bornholm giving him only about 600 men to command. But he deemed it would be enough. However while planning his invasion of Ireland great news come from the island of Fyn.
For once Henrik didn't feel so alone, realizing he had brothers in the north Henrik immediately sends a courier to Norrland and asks for a betrothal between Ubbe and the Chieftan's daughter. Which he of course accepts.
Meanwhile outside the coast of Scotland...
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Probably yeah
Don't worry I'll mod in a nickname "The Hedgehog" that I'll give to one character after he manages something awesome.
Its only the Duke of Skåne that I am rebelling against, I will probably avoid becoming independent until I have enough power. Don't want that insane crusade pointed in my direction just yet.
Yes I will, my plan is to later have the Fylkariate use the HRE mechanics in EU4.
Currently I am porting over the chapters to SA as well but as soon as I am done chapter 6 will come up.
It kinda annoys me that I can only do 5 years updates most of the time so I might start doing chapters double as long, but save up half the part to post a day or two later.
How does that format sound?
It kinda annoys me that I can only do 5 years updates most of the time so I might start doing chapters double as long, but save up half the part to post a day or two later.
How does that format sound?
Well if you go by Hávamal then Odin himself did some very questionable things.
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The Scanian Duke had several allies in the Danish Kingdom, he quickly rallied the Count of Lybæk and the Duke of Jylland to his defence. Henrik cursed at the name of Harald, obviously having quickly forgotten how Henrik and his housecarls bled for the Duke of Jylland's failed uprising against the Danish king. However no matter how many Duke Egil of Skåne rallies to him it would be of no concern for our Chieftan. Henrik has grown to strong being able to fight of all of the Kingdom but the King himself at the same time.
Henrik's former liege stands no chance. The massive army amassed by Henrik has earned their experience fighting in Ireland and only a few troops are lost to the enemy skirmish.
The war was clearly already over, Jylland together with Lybæk had no way to defend the island of Bornholm from the Scanian soldiers, the only ones allowed to call themselves to be Scanian's. Jylland not wanting to lose his levy sends it off to siege Dunasead in Ireland instead of facing off in glorious battle!
Western Europe has actually become stable, the Kingdoms of Aquitaine and France were after several years of infighting at peace. However the Scandinavians are plenty busy meddling in the British isles. The Iberian Kingdoms partaking in the Reconquista has been quite successful without any help from the French, it will be interesting to see how that develop.
As predicted, as Bornholm falls a year after the war starts, so does the Duke of Skåne, and Henrik earns his position to yet again be a vassal under the tyrannical king of Denmark....
The King of Denmark knowing the threat that Henrik is starting to pose immediately gives him the position Master of the Horse in hopes it would pacify his bloodlust somewhat. However it doesn't matter Henrik who still starts his Faction to lower the crown authority of Denmark. As it is right now with these laws Henrik can't claim what rightfully belongs to Skåneland and thus Henrik, Blekinge, Halland and Bornholm.
But the constant wars and the many years has taken a toll of our Chieftan and in the end of September, 1092 he passes away to the afterlife. Even if it wasn't a warriors death, his sons are sure that Odins welcomes this great warrior to Valhalla none the less.
The title of Desmond goes to Karl, the third son of Henrik. The primary inheritor that takes over Skåne is his second son Grim.
The two brothers ruling together their fathers old demesne together. The transition went quite peaceful and Karl was quite happy with his seat in Desmond.
However Karl he doesn't get to keep his county for long because of a greedy tyrant for King and has to flee for refuge at his brothers keep.
Grim was furious, to take away what was rightfully their fathers and that he and his closest and worked hard to build up. Now ripped away from his children as if it was nothing, it was despicable. The greedy king Knud "The Great" of course couldn't wait to also get ahold of the perl of Henrik's demesne, Skåne. Grim and Karl went together to their men to lead them. They were looking forward to facing the foolish Danish king at battle, each hoping to cleave his skull with an axe.
- "Tonight, Copenhagen shall burn to the ground my brother" Karl said to his worried brother Grim preparing to defend his fathers land. "Father will welcome us in Valhalla after we've struck down Knud like the pig he is."
About 2000 men who were loyal to Henrik swear to Grim and Karl to fight for them and take revenge upon the name of their father.They begin their assault on the island of Själland, raping, pillaging and destroying it for what its worth, punishing the very heart of the Danish king.
The fortress of Ringested is sacked and the Princess of Poland, Wisna of the Piast family is dragged out and presented in-front of Karl and Grim. She's brave and big mouthed and in broken Danish proclaims how her father, the king of Poland, and her husband who is one of the many princes of Knud will kick them down and burn his home to the ground. A fitting woman to take as concubine and a humiliating defeat to the Estrid family and their allies.
However Grim receives message from home that his newborn child named after his father Henrik has died as a sickly infant.
However he has no time to grief, the Danish army is starting to move and King Knud is emptying out his treasury to fund his already drained armies. 4 000 Royalists are advancing on Själland, 3 000 is about to land from ships in the sound. Grim quickly spends a big chunk of his wealth to hire the Bulgarian Band to defend Själland. The battle ensues and the tired soldiers in the middle flank immediately falls making the core of the Danish army, the 2 000 soldiers on the right flank exposed and they start loosing troops by the hundred.
With that initial loss the Danes are broken and the rest of the army is quickly swept up by the Scanian troops with minimal losses. With that one battle the Danes have nothing left to defend themselves. Knud has no money left, no troops and his subjects tired of his constant warmongering, he is forced to accept the demands.
All hail the new bastard king of Denmark, King Eric of Denmark.
...Continuation of Chapter 6 will be posted in the weekend...
He soon shows his worth being as horrible as his predecessor. After the war against the Tyranny of Knud Estrid, the law of autonomous vassals was once enacted again as their father wanted. But Erik's first order of business is to yet again remove this right they deem to be theirs. At least some good news come as the chamber maiden tell Grim that he is father of a baby boy named Inge.
However with a whole Kingdom still tired from endless battles King Erik follows in the footsteps as expected of King Knud.
- "HOW DARE THESE ESTRIDS DEMAND THIS YET AGAIN" Grim screams to his warriors, "I know you are tired, I am tired but these christians believe they can do whatever they want against us Norse. But I tell you, the Vogelius house shall be the true faiths last defence! We shall never falter in our never ending task of protecting you and your families."
Its to war again, both sides weary of the last one so its quite quick. After the Scanians make short work of the remnants of the Kings Army, Erik quickly agrees to a white peace. However the wound is already too deep and both Grim and Karl now view the whole of the Estrid family as their mortal enemies.
The Vogelius family from here on out sat in motion everything they can to hurt their new enemies in whatever way they could. Being the second most powerful family, being far behind Estrid's, it wouldn't be an easy task. But it had to be done in honour of Henrik's memory.
As the focus for the two brothers switched to plotting instead, the years ahead was quite quiet and peaceful as they prepared for their revenge and waited for their opportunity.
Looking outwards in the year of 1096, the world remains the same, however the HRE has inherited a big chunk of the Kingdom of Aquitaine, namely the duchy of Bourbon and Aquitaine. A small revolt for some law change but nothing major. The fighting in Iberia is still going on, neither the Muslims or the Christians can get a decisive win so far.
First and foremost the Vogelius brothers are going to need a power base to fight the Danish king from. Yes the two brothers were the only one next to the king in power, however it wasn't enough because they had to also potentially fight the allies of the king, Sweden, Norway and Poland. Though Poland was no longer an ally of Denmark since the previous Danish King failed to protect his daughter, it was still something that could possibly be mended by the new King.
Anyway the first step they took is to start trying to get a hold of the title 'Duchy of Skåne', feeling no one else should be allowed to be calling themselves rulers of Skåne. It would also give them legal claims to Halland and Blekinge, both which conveniently belonged to the Crown.
Also while Grim is on the Hunt with his brother a strange bearded elder approaches their camp. Grim and all his companions are sure of it that it was Odin the Wanderer and he immediately abandons his hunt and seeks of the tales that this mysterious figure told of. However no great treasure is found, however they come home instead happy with a new kind of joy as the one found when children, perhaps that was the treasure he spoke of?
At his gates his wife stands waiting for him with yet another child in her arms, she tells him she named her Grethe. Over-joyous he orders a feast in the castle!
The years pass, in midsummer of 1099 news reach Grim of the Hashshashin Order of Assassins spreading their tentacles to Syria trying to exert control over the Holy lands. The despicable King Erik's reign wasn't for long, 6 years after his acquisition of the throne he dies and Denmark is now ruled by Queen Helena. May she not be as despicable scum as her predecessor.
Also another child is born to Grim, this one named Emilie. The gods certainly seem to be smiling upon the Vogelius family at this time, after all their struggle they've gone trough it is certainly a nice change of wind.
The new Queen is not an idiot, by far she is the most competent of the regents of Denmark in a long time. The first thing she does is recognize the threat the Vogelius family is, but instead of actively going after them she makes them vassals of the Duke of Skåne, preventing them from immediately attacking the crown again. The duke afraid of what they can do tries to please them and throws a feast to the two brothers which they happily attend to.
However later that year the Duke of Skåne is imprisoned by the Queen for plotting against the crown. Grim thanks Loki and uses this opportunity to hire a professional killer to take care of the Duke.
More time passes, several more children to Karl and Grim are born, however what is interesting is that the Queen of Denmark dies under "suspicious circumstances" and shortly after the Ynglings of Horway start a war to try and put their own on the throne, an old lady that won't live for long. However the Norwegian King is supported by both Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire so the Danish army doesn't last for long.
It ends as quickly as it was started, close after this event the Pope declares a new era of the Crusades.
The old Norwegian hag dies of age quick enough and is replaced by a new Estrid family member elected by the dukes. However, Själland is inherited by a Swedish duke, Grim and Erik sense that the opportunity to gain their power base to fight the Danish king has at long last come upon them...
A boar that fought valiantly is sacrificed in the gods honour for this.
Our chapters begin with the vile Duke of Skåne imprisoning our dear Grim for some easy money to his coffers. Grim of course pays the symbolic tribute to not get his head chopped of. This was however the Duke's gravest mistake as Grim immediately upon arrival calls upon his Housecarls to grab their weapons and head for Bornholm to yet again declare their superiority over their liege. Of course the Armies of Bornholm are but a joke in comparison to Grim's army and they fall easily. The Duke even shows being incompetent at leading his small army.
Grim without fear or hesitation charges in leading his army against the Bornholm Army, his men beside him inspired by his courage. After the defeat of the Bornholm armies, Grim doesn't settle only with that, but he forces also upon the af Bornholm family that the new Duke Jens shall be promised to be married with Emilie Grimsdatter and put under guardianship of Grim. These measures were to try and force the Bornholm's to stop abusing the rights the Vogelius family has been claiming for so long.
With peace to the county now, and Grim sure that Jens won't dare to go against him. Grim goes forward with marrying his heir Sivard to Gunhald, the daughter of the Åland Chieftan, one of the last holdouts for Norse believers in Sweden. Grim eventually hear his Christian subjects chatter about that their religious leader down in Italy has declared some sort of holy war against some other religion.
Unfortunately Ulvhilde of Frille dies of an illness she caught while travelling down to Skåne and dies young without bearing any children. But Sivard proposes to his father a courtier that he had been courting for a while as a possible bride, Grim reluctantly accepts but realizes the family legacy is more important than prestige.
With all the problems out of mind and the county of Skåne stable and strong, Grim and his brother Karl decides to head out for glory and to seize the golden opportunity the gods have given them. The Vogelius family is now at war with the King of Sweden and all her subjects to take back Sjælland for Denmark.
They are fully aware that this war will be different, they are now facing a big strong King capable of fighting them and crushing them. Grim being of a more deceitful nature has been making sure to be well informed of the courts of Scandinavia, and the King Henrik of Sweden has been fighting all of his neighbours, having no allies to call upon in case war at this moment happens, added to that the wars he has been waging has left Sweden bankrupt, having a deficit of 400.
As war is declared the Scanian army crosses the sound and rages over Sjælland yet again however this time to claim the land for themselves.
Grim has been laying siege for the last 3 years now without any resistance of the Swedish Duke owning Sjælland or even the Swedish King. The only news he hears of that is of any interest is that the holy war of the Cross worshippers has failed and their Pope's ambitions of conquering distant land remains dead.
But finally, as all of Sjælland falls under the control of Grim, the Swede's show up with just about a thousand men to fight the Scanian's, believing that a lowly chieftain and heathen would be of no threat to the army of a King. Seeing it as a joke, Grim decides to command his army himself as he faces the Swede's. Not before long the Swede's are forced to route by the tactics employed by Grim and a little less than 300 men manages to survive the onslaught as the Scanian cavalry pursues the fleeing soldiers.
The remnants of the Swedish Army comes back to their king telling how the Norse showed no fear fighting them and fighting beyond what they expected, not being just mere peasantry adhering to a false religion. Henrik of Sweden having lost face, is furious and mounts his entire army even if he can't afford it, even going so far to call in the King of Norway in the conflict, refusing to lose to a chieftain. However Grim is prepared, knowing he can't win facing both the fury of the Swedish King but also the famous Norwegian army that has been giving victories to the Yngling King constantly in the British Isles since 1066.
Grim is deceitful, and does not cower from using unorthodox tactics and does not face the enormous army head on. Instead he orders his men to board the longboats and head out to sea and wait for their opportunity. The Swedish army standing foolishly in the looted land of Sjælland, starving and unable to maintain a proper siege, the Swedish soldiers die every day.
Grim hear of ill news, the Chieftan of Åland has been executed by the Swedish King and now Henrik rules there instead, having killed of all of the Norse population living there. Our Chieftan decided to steer his 27 longboats and army there and lay siege to the undefended land of Sweden. The Nobles of Sweden getting unruly over Henrik's lack of success and his inability to defend their land starts pressuring him to just give up Sjælland. A year later he finally agrees and Sjælland now belongs to the Chieftain of Skåne, Grim Vogelius.
As the war ends, Grim comes home to see his son Sivard and his wife Gunhild with a child, Sivard hearing of the victories of his father had decided to name him after him in hopes that young Grim shall become as good of a man as his grandfather. Sivard's twin sister has also been making progress, her husband has inherited the crown of Lithuania, however she has yet to bear any children for him.
Chapter continues in the next part....
I've started to use too many pictures
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