YggdrasilBoard

Brief Overview prior to the rise of the North Sea Empire
Jorvic is based in the British Isles and was founded in 875AD after the Great Heathen army defeated the old Kingdom of Northumbria. Jorvic begun as a small state consisting of Yorkshire, Lancaster and a small part of Cumbria, more land along the south was also under Viking rule and all lands saw mass immigration from Denmark with many Christians fleeing south to Wessex and others choosing to stay, giving birth to Anglo-Nordic Culture and the Anglo-Danish Language which forever changed the ethnic, cultural and religious make up of North England.

Despite the several wars following into the 10th Centuary the Danelaw managed to defend it's land from the Anglo-Saxons attempts to re-take their lost lands. Over the 10th century many Norse kings either died without heirs or unite with neighbouring kingdoms of Danelaw and eventually in 947AD Danelaw became known as "Bretland".

North Sea Empire 1016 - 1445
Cnut the Great founded the North Sea Empire in 1016 after becoming king of Norway, Denmark and Bretland, with all three kingdoms having the same religon, similar cultures and now the same king Cnut united the three and formed the North Sea Empire.
After falling dangerously ill in 1035 Cnut felt he needed to leave a sharp reputation after death for maintaining the empires unity when his time is up, Cnut invaded what remained of Britan, Sweden and North Germany before dying in 1062 of Natural Causes aged 72.
Those whom ruled after Cnut later expanded through the Baltic Sea to increase their grip of Trade through the region increasing their power, Normandy and parts of the Holy Roman Empire were also annexed, reaching its Height in Europe in 1162 and maintaining said height until 1244 after the HRE invasion of Mecklenburg and the Netherlands.

Here is a map of the North Sea Empire at its height, from 1162 - 1244 lasting 82 years.

The empire saw many crusades against them throughout the 12th - 14th Centuries causing the empire to loose territory in South England, Germany, France and Poland. The Empires loss in economic power and treasury from the Baltic Sea Trade made many believe that they would benefit more by splitting into smaller kingdoms with the economy being unsustaining for a expansive Empire officially dissolving on December 1st 1445.

Jorvic Post North Sea Empire
Despite maintaining close relations with the Scandinavians military aid against Christian Forces was minimal in many instances due to the danes and swedes having to fight againsts crusades themselves and the Norwegians busy in North America, Jorvic lost much of it's Southern Lands to Wessex and Mercia and was pushed back to the River Trent by 1455, all Norse peoples were forced to either convert to Catholicism or face deportation and most chose to migrate North to Jorvic.
Jorvic just manages to defend the land it holds north of the River Trent and around the Humber river from further Anglo-Saxon invasions, and by 1483 the Border of Jorvic remains roughly the same for the next 183 years.
The Jorvic-Alban border also collapsed by 1455 though unlike with the southern border, Jorvic would manage to annex Southern Alba in the late 15th-early 16th Centuary.
The Jorvic Conquest of Lincolnshire began on December 13th 1665 as Wessex and Mercia had suffered through the 30 years war and was currently going through an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague killing tens of thousands of people every month, with the citizenry in mass panic and uncertainty Jorvic took advantage of the situation and invaded Mercia. Jorvic was successful in expanding it's southern border, ending on May 2nd 1666.

Map below shows the border changes of Jorvic during this time period:

Jorvic Invaded Ireland not too long after on August 1st 1666, annexing the east coast and establishing a semi-autonomus Kingdom of Ireland which was to be at the behest of the Jorvic Royals.
The east would suffer mass deportations of Catholics to the west and the mass settlement of Anglo-Nordic Norse Pagans. This angered the Catholic nations and so a Crusade was ordered by the pope on April 30th 1668, At first it looked as though Jorvic was about to loose with the joint French, Mercian and Wessex armies mere miles from the City of Jorvik when the Danes and Norwegians intervened which saw the French navy suffer heavy losses in the North Sea and with the joint Norse armies in the Battle of Jorvik on January 27th 1669 would see Catholic forces retreat out of the British isles which wouldn't see the end of Dane and Norwegian intervention as the armies along side Jorvic would raid and plunder throughout Mercia.
The armies razed land on a large scale leading to famine in the region from 1670 - 1675 starving around 500,000 people and would take Mercia a Century to fully recover.
As a token for their aid the Danes and Norwegians kept what loot they took alongside Jorvics promise to aid them both in their next war. The failed crusade would be the last crusade in History and ended on January 14th 1670.
The joint effort of this war saw greater diplomacy and support for eachother against Christianity and by 1683 Danes, Swedes, and Jorvish would also begin to settle in the colony of Vinland though it would forever be majority Norwegian in language and culture.

Trivia about Vinland
Vinland was founded in 1009 by Norway in New-Foundland, due to harsh weather and the events back in europe the Colony expanded very slowly until the 1470s when Norways economy could be focused on settlements in Vinland after the fall of the North Sea Empire the King of Norway saught to further explore America, and in the 1490s other European nations began discovering America which made Norway hyper-focus on colonialism and with a Head start in the 'New World' began exploration and mass settlement along the east coast before expanding west to the mountains of "Vinnish Columbia". Vinland Fought for Independence in 1782 after the rise in Taxation lead to a Anti-Monarchist, Economically Libertarian revolt kicking out the Norweigen leaders and their allies from North America, Establishing "New Oslo" as it's Capital City. Aftwerwards Vinland became an Economic Powerhouse attracting immigrants from allover the Norse parts of Europe, and remains Economically powerful to this day.

Jorvic's role in World War 2
King Garold II of Jorvic was an irredentist and believer in regaining the lands lost after the fall of the North Sea Empire and saw the greatest opportunity whilst Mainland Europe was engulfed in war after Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
On June 18th 1941 Jorvic invaded Mercia with Military support from their allies Denamrk, Norway and Sweden, Wessex and Cymru declared war on Jorvic in support of Mercia on June 19th the next day.

During Germanys invasion of the USSR by November 1941 with temperatures dropping to dangerous levels halted the German advance into Russia.
Führer Heinrich Himmler (Hitler was assassinated by Josef Römer in 1935) maintained strong relations with the Norse Pagan nations as Himmler had great interest in Germanic Paganism and even had plans of introducing paganism into the Reichs Society, Himmler maintained strong diplomacy with the Nordic countries during the late 1930s and in 1940 signed a non-aggression pact with the Norse countries.
On December 8th 1941 Himmler asked for the Norse countries to aid the Reich in its invasion of the USSR in exchange for promising lands claimed by Sweden and Denmark to which they agreed.
So on December 12th 1941 the Norse countries ((Except Vinland)) declared war on the USSR, the Germans aided Jorvic in their invasion of Mercia and Wessex which fought strong but ultimately failed.

On May 13th 1942 Mercia capitulated, followed by Wessex on August 1st the same year.
Jorvic annexed most of Mercia and on August 5th the remaining territory was formed into the Realm Commissariat "Ængland" with the Realm Comissioner being the heir to the throne Prince Cnut Ragnarsson X.

The war ended on January 22nd 1945 with the Collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia turned into a warlord state used by the Germans for Luftwaffer training and the Swedes, Danes and Jorvish gained territories which they were promised.
In total 44 million died, 1.056 million being Jorvish, 1 million being Wessexian and 960,000 being Mercian.

Map of Europe in 1945:

After the war the North Sea Pact, an alliance between the Norse countries slowly drifted away from the German Reich though maintained Neutral relations, later on the alliance would become an Economic free trade alliance along side the military aspect. In 1964 despite the difference in Government type Vinland joined the NSP making it what it is today the North Sea Atlantic Union (NSAU).

After the death of Heinrich Himmler on September 28th 1975 aged 75, the Reich plunged into civil war in Germany over uncertainty of who should be the next Führer.
This sparked what is known as the "European Spring" with independence movements popped up all over Europe and all movements fighting eachother over disagreements of who lays claim to what lands, Russia saw a golden opportunity to reclaim Eastern territory and so invaded the Reich on October 11th 1975.

This wave of nationalism spread to the Anglo-Saxon, Welsh, and Irish peoples under Jorvic rule, November 12th 1976 saw the death of Garold III and the young 24 year old Cnut X was crowned King of Jorvic and Ængland.
With the King being new and less experienced than his father the Nationalist movements saw this as their opportunity to gain independence.
November 28th 1977 Wessex proclaimed independence and declared King Albert V as its head of state. The Wessexian monarchy fled to Amerique after the nations fall in WW2.
Mercia and Cymru would later follow suit on January 1st 1978 saw the "new year revolt" where Mercians and Welsh rebelled across Southern Jorvic later proclaiming the Republic of Cymru on January 11th and the Republic of Mercia on January 18th.
With war raging in southern Jorvic the Irish Republican Army declared the "United States of Ireland" on March 2nd 1979 managing to push the Jorvish out of North and Western Ireland.
Jorvic requested aid from the NSAU though only Vinland could provide with members in Scandinavia also suffering their own independence movements.
The wars came to an end on December 23rd 1983, Ireland gained independence but failed to take East Ireland which is Majority Jorvic and Norse Pagan, Mercia, Cymru and Wessex also gained independence with a total of 3.6 million deaths, most of which were of Mercian and Jorvic nationality.

The popularity of Cnut X plummeted and it was well known he was disliked by most of the public with an approval rating of 39% in 1985, Cnut invested in healthcare, infrastructure, education, and built temples across Jorvic in a effort to increase approval ratings via increasing quality of life. His biggest success in boosting approval was the introduction of a National Health Service on Febuary 16th 2004 providing Healthcare for all Jorvic Citizens funded by tax payer money, achieving an approval rating of 49% by 2005.
Ultimately Cnut X would never exceed above 50% and this diminished his ethic to rule in the 2000s - 2020s, this knowledge that Cnut was unpopular contributed to a Alban Monarchist rebellion up north in what's known as "South Alba".
On January 10th 2005 it was found that one of the wealthiest business owners in Jorvic, who was also popular amongst the Alban minority Bearnard Ariss was the distant direct relative of a medieval Alban King proving he is of royalty. Once the information was made public riots and unrest across the Strathclyde region rose and on Febuary 25th 2005 Bernard proclaimed the "Kingdom of Alba" starting the "Alban Troubles".

Alba, seeing this as an illegitimization of their Republic, aswell as an opportunity to retake old lands with ethnic Albans within them invaded Jorvic on May 16th 2005, Bearnard knowing he was about to loose the war proposed to Jorvic that instead he'd be the puppet king of "Strathclyde" to which Cnut X agreed and the Puppet state of Strathclyde was founded on July 1st 2005. Cnut X did this as a loosing war would further hinder his public image, or that of a brutal stalemate with the Albans.
Alba and Jorvic fought until April 21st 2007 with minimal changes in the front lines Alba agreed to give it's Western islands autonomy as punishment for intervening in the war, with the condition that Jorvic keeps Strathclyde's autonomy which Cnut X agreed.

However with Alban royal blood being proven to still exist the Monarchist movement in Alba grew and by their most recent election in 2020 the monarchists got 37% of the vote, though if they win the 2024 election this could rise tensions as the monarchist movement seeks to retake it's southern lands currently controlled by Jorvic.
Speaking of rising tensions Cnut X dies of a Stroke on Febuary 11th 2024 aged 70, his 20 year old son Erik Ragnarsson IV is crowned king by Febuary 19th 2024 and during his inauguration was very vocal about his thoughts on his father referring to him as a "weak man" and promises to "Make Jorvic Great Again".
During his time as Prince he was never too shy to express his dislike towards the autonomus Strathclyde state and in his teen years has expressed xenophobic talking points when it comes to Jorvics Southern neighbours. However despite how his statements may seem his approval ratings started off positive with a 64% approval rating, believed to be the publics admiration for his confidence and bold statements, aswell as the obvious fact that he works out, eats healthy and is well groomed, all of which his father lacked. Proving to be a refreshing start with the Nations Leadership.

As of right now here is the current borders of Jorvic and her neighbours, aswell as the NSAU member states:

Jorvic Culture

The people of Jorvic hold their way of life very personally, with the country surrounded by countries which have historically oppressed and forcibly deported people like themselves the politics of the average Jorvic tends to be rather Xenophobic and have distrust in different religons and beliefs particularly with Christianity, diversity and progressivism tends to be rejected also with the idea that Norse traditional values must be protected.
The belief in Valhalla after death whilst in battle leads Jorvic, but also the other Norse Nations, to be the worlds biggest contributors to the worlds volunteers in foreign conflicts aswell as mercenary fighters. This belief also leads to high manpower and support for armed conflicts when they arise, statistics say 81% of Jorvics would fight for their country if a war with it's neighbours arises, compared to other Norse countries which average 80%-83% and Christian countries in Europe which average around 57%.
The Jorvish speak Anglo-Danish as during the times of the North Sea Empire huge Dane influence in language occured across the British Isles causing Old-English and Old-Danish to merge prodominently in Northern England, and the language there after devolped to be more similar to Danish than English over the next few centuries as the nation kept closer to their Norse brethren than the Anglo-Saxons who had their language influenced by the French, Culture was primarily infuenced from Danish settlers and with some immigrants coming from Norway and Sweden also, their cultures had minor influences too particularly in Jorvish Cuisine forming what is now known as 'Anglo-Nordic' Culture.

The Norse understanding of the Cosmos would adapt after further discoveries about space, the nine different realms are now seen rather as alternate universes than seperate planets. Yggdrasil became the universe as a whole with each realm connected by Yggdrasils "branches" which allows the gods to travel freely inbetween realms, Valkyries also travel in this fashion when collecting the souls of those who've fallen in battle to be taken to Valhalla.
The most common belief is that the Cosmological objects known as 'Black Holes' and 'White Holes' are the entry/exit points of these branches of Yggdrasil, with no evidence of whats inside a black hole or what awaits for you once sucked into one this is the average belief of what black holes are to the average Jorvic.

International Relations

As a member of the NSAU Jorvic is in a trade and military alliance with Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Vinland, and engages in free-trade with all these nations. Jorvic is on good terms with the Constitutional Kingdom of Germany and has bitter relations with the former German Reichkommisariats for their part in rebelling, leading to the "European Spring" of the 1970s aswell as Russias invasion of Swedish territory in the 1980s. Jorvics relations with their island neighbours can be described as 'cold' as their Christian neighbours openly dislike the Jorvic government and with the recent war with Alba doesn't make things better.
As for the North American Continent Jorvic is also bitter with the Mexican Empire on part with Vinlands bad history with the Mexicans, but aside from that Jorvic has no other international relations as all their focus is with maintaining strong relations within the NSAU.

Recent Kings of Jorvic

Garold Ragnarsson II
Born: November 12th 1917
Died: November 22nd 1976 aged 59
Ruled from: December 1936 - November 1976

Cnut Ragnarsson X
Born: July 19th 1953
Died: Febuary 11th 2024 aged 70
Ruled from: November 1976 - Febuary 2024

Erik Ragnarsson IV
Born: January 7th 2004
Ruled from: Febuary 2024 - present day