VANAHEIM
steady course to the haven
HISTORY
Long before there was Odin, Ve & Villi there were three brothers, Njord, Bor and Mimir. The three sons of Buri. Njord, the eldest of the three brothers would succeed their father, leading their people into a time of peace and prosperity. Yet while their people flourished, the brothers could not find peace of their own. While Njord found joy in remaining within his borders, in making Vanaheim a place of learning, beauty, and culture, Bor sought to expand across the realms. Discontent with both his lot and the peaceful manner in which his brother lived, Bor left, taking those who agreed with him to a new home.For many years Vanaheim flourished, her resources abundant with trees that could 'burn a bonfire to block out the sun' and oceans rich with fish that made for harbors bustling with ships and markets teeming with merchants and vendors. On their coasts vineyards thrived, their grapes fat, feeding on the rich soils and salt air. Their citadels rose high into the sky, a feat only possibly accomplished by the divine. The cities grew, crowned with jewels in the form of libraries, sprawling mouseions with courtyards bursting with beauty. The Vanir became looked down upon by the Aesir, regarded as the old gods, content, pampered.
Njord, Skadi & Freyja, in their marble palaces, became the symbol for this race of old gods. Beautiful, pleasure-seeking, gluttons. Content to remain in the company of scholars and musicians, sinking ever deeper into their magic and mysticism instead of fortifying themselves.
Living upon their past glories while ignoring the ever-growing threat in the form of Asgard, now ruled by Bor's son, Odin. A man much like his father, but with even bigger dreams of what Asgard could be.The Aesir regarded them with suspicion, distrusting their way of life and their abilities, yet Odin did not come first with force. First, he came as a student, eager to learn their ways, a young king with the freedom to explore the realms. He became a devoted student of Freyja's, fascinated by both her skills and beauty. By her fierceness in battle as well, this woman-- these people, were not the sort that his father had once described to him, and his next moves would have to be carefully calculated.It was during this time that the young Aesir king met Frigga, a ward of Njord, a talented sorceress, gifted with the ability of prophecy. A woman who had seen his arrival years prior, and knew her role in his story. It was this chance encounter in the summer palace's gardens that gave Odin his grand idea. He could not marry Freyja, Njord's heir, but perhaps he could marry Frigga, a woman of standing in their court-- and in exchange, Freyja would marry one of his brothers.Freyja objected to such a match, both that she would have to marry the second-born Ve and that she would have no hand in her marriage choice. She went so far as to refuse to leave Vanaheim and barricaded herself in her chambers on the night of their union. The union was never consummated, as with a queen to keep his affairs in order Odin could begin making his father's dream a reality, bringing Ve along with him. For years, wars raged, Odin's reach spreading across the realm like a dark cloud that rained blood down upon the earth.
News reached Asgard quickly and what had once been a misgiving toward the Vanir became a festering hatred for them. In the eyes of the Aesir their prince and their friendship had been shamed. What had taken years to build between them would be ruined in nine short months.
The marriage was declared null and void, and though Freyja kept her life, she lost her reputation, becoming a harlot, a seductress in the eyes of all of Asgard. And with the birth of her first daughter, Sigyn, she would lose her realm as well. With no treaty between them, the two tribes of gods went to war.In Vanaheim, Njord, Freyja, and the newly returned Freyr called upon the anti-Aesir sentiment that had sprung up in the conquered realms to fight back against Odin's aggression. It was Sutur, who took up their call, granting them his fire, his force, in the first battle with the Aesir. At first, Vanaheim held strong against Odin's forces. Its royal family leading many a charge against them...but time wore on, gold was quickly spent, for Vanaheim's defenses had long since grown out of date, its army made up mostly of poorly trained young men, better suited for building the next arena for games than war. Even with their magic, it was a lost cause.For years they were forced back, further and further as Odin gained ground until one day they found him at the city gates. His army was vast, equipped to wait them out, trained to spread through the city like a plague, slaughtering everyone in their path. And though Freyja and Njord refused to kneel, their people did, fearful of what would become of them should they resist. There was no choice but to lay down their weapons and surrender to Odin.But he was clever about it, and he forced Freyja to renounce her claim and have Njord decree Odin as his heir before abdication. In the long years of war, Freyja's eldest daughter had grown as well, now a girl of what would appear as twelve she was clever, pretty, the sort of girl who would someday fetch a great marriage price. The sort of princess who might have once been an heir, one Njord and Freyja would not risk the life of. Decreeing it an act of mercy, in hope that the friendship between their peoples would someday be restored between the realms, he made Sigyn his ward. And so, Asgard gained a realm and its means to keep its displaced royalty in line.In his absence, Odin decreed a governor of sorts, while allowing the royal family to keep its titles ( though Njord was only known as a jarl now ). And the realm fell into disrepair. Heavy taxes were levied to pay for the losses Asgard had incurred, to teach a lesson that rebellion had a price. The beautiful marble palaces that had gleamed in the sunlight became cracked, the fine quays and roads of their cities becoming unusable. Inside of the libraries that had once been their pride and joy cobwebs grew, their collections gathering dust while the capitol's library had been picked over.They were a shadow of what they had been, and Njord became imbittered. The years of his life that were meant to be spent watching over his prosperous realm would now be spent wasting away in his summer palace. Watching from his window facing the sea as the realm around him crumbled.
They were a shadow of what they had been, and Njord became imbittered. The years of his life that were meant to be spent watching over his prosperous realm would now be spent wasting away in his summer palace. Watching from his window facing the sea as the realm around him crumbled.While Vanaheim fell to ruin, Asgard grew fat on her riches. Building with her resources, deifying themselves with the gold stolen from her palaces, yet Odin had made a mistake in selecting Sigyn as his hostage. The girl took the new opportunities she saw before herself, learning seidr from Frigga, eventually healing from Eir. Becoming dutiful in not only her lessons but in her observations, the daughter of Freyja knew when to be quiet, to observe, and when to present herself as an asset Odin could not afford to lose. He grew to disdain her for it.Of course, it was not an easy life, Vanaheim became mystified in the eyes of the Aesir once more. A realm of lechers. Of witches who would lure men to their ruin. Many saw her as one, especially when the second prince's eye turned toward her. Unlike her mother before her, she loved him too, and they planned in secret to find ways to marry, to return to Vanaheim and restore it to its former glory with Thor's blessing.But that dream did not come to fruition, and following the crisis of Thor's canceled coronation and Loki's regency, Vanaheim would find itself in ruins. Cut off from Asgard the realm descended into chaos, the forces needed to enact Odin's will could not reach the realm. A year of rebellion ensued, though the old king never lifted his finger, and held no hopes for a Vanir victory. He let his daughter handle it, allowed her to meet in secret to attempt a restoration to the old ways while in Asgard his granddaughter waged a different war.With Loki gone and Thor attempting to quiet rebellions all over the Nine, Sigyn remained in Asgard, carrying Loki's child, and with it, the only certain future Odin had to keep his dynasty alive. She used it to her advantage, for, at that moment, she was the future of Asgard, and everyone knew it. Even with the validity of such a union being questioned, she pushed for greater freedoms for Vanaheim, for at the end of the day bastard or not, her sons would occupy both Thor & Loki’s place in the years to come. But it was always a delicate balance, a chance to take that might end up with her head on a spike the moment she gave birth.This was a strategy she would maintain when Thor once more disappeared and 'Odin' resumed ruling, though this time he seemed much more willing to allow her wishes. With Loki pretending to be Odin, Asgard's grip on Vanaheim loosened, and a slow restoration began. She grew bolder in her strategies while letting her family she had not seen in centuries know of the changes to be made, to cut entirely the possibilities of their keeper ‘forgetting’.
It was not long before governor was sent back to Asgard, and Njord allowed to act in his place once more. Sigyn sent what funds she could and Njord allowed ‘errors’ in the ledgers. But this tentative return to glory could not last, Njord was growing older each day, and knew death was not far beyond his reach. His final triumph in life was learning of Odin’s death, and the fall of Asgard. Upon Sigyn’s return to them he slipped quietly from life, content in the knowledge that Vanaheim would once more be great.
With the fall of Asgard came the return of Vanaheim's heir. For five years she worked in secret, trading missives and overseeing first the reconstruction of the quays, and the roads, allowing the people's livelihoods to be returned, then the libraries and houses of art, and finally, when the treat of Thanos' retaliation against Loki's sons gone, Vanaheim had its first official monarch in centuries. Her coronation took place not in a palace, or in a grand mouseion with musicians and poetry marking the begin of a glorious reign, but by the ocean, the very body that had once been their lifeblood. The occasion was marked by no fanfare, for what sort of queen would allow for such frivolity when her people still starved in parts of her realm. When at its furthest reaches, now fallen Aesir soldiers and jarls still refused to loosen their grip and villages suffered.In the years since the work has not stopped, and Vanaheim's influence continues to grow in a vision combining both Njord & Bor's. Peaceful, a place of learning, but one that exercises her might in the form of innovation and grows her power through diplomacy. The royal family too is a combination of such visions, Vanir and Aesir, a Queen, a consort, two princes and a princess meant to not only rebuild Vanaheim to its former glory but shape her into their own image. A future far beyond what the original brothers or their successors could have imagined.
ROYAL FAMILY
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hhhhhhh NJORD
God of the Sea, Wind, Seafaring and the Hunt. The eldest son of Buri and his chosen heir. Currently the longest reigning monarch in Vanaheim's history. Under his reign, Vanaheim saw the height of its power and opulence.
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hhhhhhh SKADI
Second wife of Njord (now divorced). Acted as consort during the later years of his reign. Never officially coronated as queen. Left Vanaheim at the start of the Aesir/Vanir war.
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hhhhhhh Freyja
Goddess of Love, Beauty, Fertility and War. Firstborn of Njord's twins she was once heir to Vanaheim's throne, meant to be the realm's first queen to rule in her own right. The dissolution of her marriage marked the start of the Aesir/Vanir war.
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hhhhhhh Freyr
God of Fertility, Rain and Sunshine. Secondborn of Njord's twins he was made Lord of Alfheim at a young age as tribute.
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hhhhhhhh Sigyn
Goddess of Fidelity. Eldest daughter of Freyja. Current Queen of Vanaheim after its liberation from Asgard.
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hhhhhhhh Narvi
Eldest son of Sigyn & Loki. Crown Prince of Vanaheim and future king. He will be made Co-Regent when he comes of age.
