Isselmere
07-11-2003, 18:59
Isselmere is a small kingdom to the south on the modestly sized island of Lethe, bordered on the north by the Ungforth Marshes separating the kingdom from the Republic of Lower Whingeing, on the west by the Solquist Sea, on the south by the tiny principality of Gudrof, and on the east by Hoblingland.
The kingdom's history began with the after-dinner slaughter of the nobility of the neighbouring kingdom of Anguist by Forthar I the Brute on 19 May, 985. Forthar and his co-conspirators, his brother Hengrist and the shaman Lormund the Foul, poisoned the mead of the visiting nobles simplifying the murder immensely. Forthar, after having killed his colleagues-in-crime, thereafter annexed Anguist and slowly imposed the Isselmerian culture upon the Anguistian. Despite this rather unfetching beginning, 19 May is celebrated as Coronation Day. Celebrants drink a mixture of lager and red wine to commemorate the event.
Forthar's dynasty, the Groebling, was short-lived. His son, Gorm the Crude, married Ilse the Unready of Nieland on 12 January, 999, and was subsequently murdered by her that night. Until the recent discovery of the Loundismund Annals, historians had assumed Ilse was simply unwilling to embrace her conjugal duties. It is now presumed Gorm's proclivities, which might have involved the local sheep, could have been somewhat responsible. Forthar died in peculiar circumstances involving Ilse, Queen Maldren, and some local livestock on 15 February, 999. Thus, the day after Valentine's Day is known locally as the Day of Happy Regrets (he died with a smile on his face).
End of Part 1
The kingdom's history began with the after-dinner slaughter of the nobility of the neighbouring kingdom of Anguist by Forthar I the Brute on 19 May, 985. Forthar and his co-conspirators, his brother Hengrist and the shaman Lormund the Foul, poisoned the mead of the visiting nobles simplifying the murder immensely. Forthar, after having killed his colleagues-in-crime, thereafter annexed Anguist and slowly imposed the Isselmerian culture upon the Anguistian. Despite this rather unfetching beginning, 19 May is celebrated as Coronation Day. Celebrants drink a mixture of lager and red wine to commemorate the event.
Forthar's dynasty, the Groebling, was short-lived. His son, Gorm the Crude, married Ilse the Unready of Nieland on 12 January, 999, and was subsequently murdered by her that night. Until the recent discovery of the Loundismund Annals, historians had assumed Ilse was simply unwilling to embrace her conjugal duties. It is now presumed Gorm's proclivities, which might have involved the local sheep, could have been somewhat responsible. Forthar died in peculiar circumstances involving Ilse, Queen Maldren, and some local livestock on 15 February, 999. Thus, the day after Valentine's Day is known locally as the Day of Happy Regrets (he died with a smile on his face).
End of Part 1