Bjørn dynasty
| Bjørn | |
|---|---|
| Country | Vakrestrender |
| Founded | 1730 |
| Founder | Herleifr Bjørn |
| Current head | Jørgen Bjørn |
| Members | 1 |
| Religion | Akuanism |
| Motto | En Bjørn Styrer Alene (Bjørns' Rule Alone) |
The Bjørn dynasty is the family that is the Jarls of Vakrestrender and the owners of the Bjørn Trust. The family descended from the original deportee fleet captain, Herleifr Bjørn. He declared himself the Jarl of the isles and named the collection of islands Vakrestrender. Herleifr Bjørn declared the isles to be part of Norgsveldet under Fylkir-King Gustaf II. In 1730, Norgsveltian king, Gustaf the II mass deported religious minorities throughout the Norgsveltian colonial empire with the only exception being the fleet the Herleifr Bjørn and Ingunn Grande was heading, as their fleet was sent off to the south pole rather than to one of any of Norgsveltian colonies. The goal of the Norgsveltian king being that they would either all die at sea or freeze to death in the arctic conditions. So was his belief he refused to stock the deportee fleet with enough supplies for a week, forcing Grande to pay for enough supplies to leave the country safety. It should be noted that, Gustaff the II had a special level of hatred towards the captain, but due to the captain popularity within the Norgsveltian navy and the insistent of his advisers. The captain unknowingly escaped from being murdered by the king, who Herleifr thought specially high of. Believing the mission to settle the south pole was a special assignment, given directly by the king.
The fleet after being lost for several months after a small accident with the Akuanists tossing the maps overboard, discovered the islands of Vakrestrender where Herleifr Bjørn led a war against the native population and taking control of the islands. Much to the king’s annoyance, believing the fleet of various religious deportees would simply die from being at sea or natural causes. Herleifr Bjørn in particular was of great annoyance to him, expressed in several letters sent between the king and his advisers where he referred to the Jarl as a “idiot” and a “mental strength of a fat pigeon.” Herleifr Bjørn on the other hand thought highly of the king. Believing when the King deported various religious minorities and atheists in order to protect them from the more religiously extremist population on Norgsveldet. He said so as such, in his speech to the original settlers of Vakrestrender after the war with the native orc population and burning of their capital city. According to historical records made at the time, the speech was mostly met with confusion from the population. Herleifr Bjørn married the daughter of the merchant, Ingunn Grande who sponsored the deportee fleet of ships. For most of the history of the family, the Bjørn dynasty was considered to be unimportant for Norgsveldet save their Jarldom strategic location in East Aurora.
History
Gustaf the II assassination attempts on Herleifr Bjørn
[Many]
Surprise and Non-Consensual Dueling
In the 1750s and later on in years such as in 1850, Bjørn family would greet exiled nobles from Norgsveldet with a duel to the death. Often the exiled nobles was unaware of the law of allowing surprised and non-negotiable duels to the death by the hands of the Bjørn dynasty, nor was they prepared for such a event after sailing for months on end. Herleifr Bjørn himself, would greet nobles being exiled when they arrived in Vakrestrender only to kill them as they shook his hand. The news of the law reached the ears of the exiles, who later decided not to live out their exile in Vakrestrender. It is unclear about how many surprise duels Herleifr Bjørn had personally been in, though scholars suggests it is between the 80-90 have been victimized to the unconventional law. The law also included that the winner of the duel is free to seize all belongs of the loser. The Bjørn was banned from being surprise and dueled without their consent. The law was never repealed, and is mostly seen as a product of the times and has never happened to a non-Norgsveltian noble.
Great War
In the early 1900s, the Bjørn family fortunes changed. After the great war, Jarl Bjørn the III and his son Kristoffer Bjørn went on a series of business trips to gather investment for Vakrestrender. Starting in Rikevaarland after which they went to Norgsveldet, originally focusing on the loose financial regulations on Vakrestrender while still being part of Norgsveldet. Notably, Prince Kristoffer invited the bankers to stay at the castle. Starting a tradition of hosting influential and royalty persons into the castle during their stay at Vakrestrender. In addition to bringing financial institutions to Vakrestrender, they secured funding and investments into Valkyr tourism and sponsored an ad campaign. The tourism trade proved to be far more profitable to the family than banking. To this day, the Bjørn family has a reserved seat on several large banking firm’s boards. While mostly a ceremonial seat, it shows the level of collaboration between the Bjørn family and the banking institutions of Rikevaarland and Norgsveldet.