Post by navynorge on Apr 6, 2011 3:43:20 GMT
• KONGERIKET ♔ NORGE
Name --- Erlend Svendsen
Nation --- Norway
Aliases --- Norge, Noreg, Kongeriket Norge
Apparent age --- 22
Actual age --- circa 9,000 (was not actually a declared nation, but there were cultures of people that long ago living in Norway)
Gender --- Male
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Eye color --- Navy/Ocean Blue
Hair color --- Medium Blonde
Height --- 5’ 7 ½ “
Weight --- 132 pounds
Skin tone --- pale, creamy ivory peach
Defining features --- His most defining feature is the detached hair-curl and dot that flot beside his head. These two features can at times represent emotional feelings within the male, whether through anger or some other emotion.
Additional features --- Erlend is built small, a thin body, muscular in ways but not buff or horrendously strong. His features are often compared to being feminine and soft, regardless of the masculine belief of himself.
He wears a white Nordic cross pin that stands for the cross that appears in every Nordic flag. (See "Lesser Known Facts" for more information.)
In attire, Erlend can typically be found in something sailor-related. If casual, he wears button-downs and ties, with jeans or slacks, always leather shoes. For special occasions he will wear suits, sometimes a tuxe if required. In the past he wears a variety of outfits, varying from viking clothes, to dress-robes, to military outfits, and old fashioned armor. He is also the only Nordic nation to have purely retained the traditional outfit of his culture, called the Bunad (shown above in the image). Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland have variations of this outfit, but in Norway there are different Bunad for every unique region in the country. In older times, people were recognized for having come from that region by the Bunad they wore. Norwegians keep this tradition alive to this day, and wear them on special occasions such as weddings and Norwegian National Day.
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Personality ---
Norway gives off a very different vibe than what is actually true. He is shy with strangers, and prefers to keep to himself, especially when around those he does not know because they make him uncomfortable. When with friends or liked people, he can come off as irritable, dull, uncaring, unkind, quiet, shy, or sometimes even cruel. These behaviors are mostly reserved for specific people he does not wish to reveal that he cares about. Occasionally everything will align just right and Norway is known to become slightly affectionate. Most of Norway’s behavior depends heavily on his mood, which can shift rapidly throughout the day.
He has a highly optimistic look on life, and works hard, expecting others to do the same. He is arrogant about his freedom, proud of all he has accomplished, and will defend it vigorously. Though highly competitive, especially in skiing as Norway is the home of skiing, he strives to have clean fun in every sporting event he partakes in. Even so, he is a sore loser, mostly when losing to Sweden.
Norway is also relatively soft, as well as being soft spoken. Regardless of his hard, outer exterior of brutal indifference, within he is timid, shy, sweet, fun, amusing, a little silly at times, and very open and welcome and warm to love from others. He needs to be around people just as anyone else, even if he complains, or behaves shyly. He does not show love easily, but regardless of his inability to be straight-forward, those feelings still exist for those most closest to him. Occasionally he'll even release fondness through insult.
Likes ---
• skiing
• Norwegian National Day
• Russ
• Nature
• Free time
• Kaffe
• Norse Paganism/Mythology
• Compliments
• Sailing
• Anyone who approves of Norway or Norwegian customs
Dislikes ---
• Impracticality/time-wasting
• Sweden
• Threats to his culture and tradition
• Extreme heat
• Loud, noisy, annoying people [AKA Denmark]
• Marriage (as in marriage to another nation. Been there, done that.)
Fears ---
• Being forced to join the EU
• Inhabitation/Slavery by/to another nation
• Damage to nature
Lesser known facts ---
• He actually really loves Denmark and Sweden, and doesn't know where he'd be without them. (Denmark especially)
• He hates appearing weak
• The Nordic cross he wears also stands for paganism. When Christianity was being brought to Scandinavia, Vikings who protested the act would wear small metal hammers upside down on their necklaces, replicas of Thor's Hammer, to protest the Christian movement. Later this event translated to comparing the upside-down hammers to upside-down crosses, which were also protestations to Christianity. Therefore, it is my belief that Norway's' cross in his hair has more hidden, subtle meanings than meets the eye.
Goals ---
• Stay out of the EU
• Stay independent
• Find a place to fit in comfortably, happily, and belong (whether romantically or friendship-wise)
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History ---
-Komsa and Fosna cultures in the Stone and Iron ages: First life recorded in Norway.
-The Viking Age: Battle of Hafrsfjord at Stavanger in 890 AD lead to Harald Hårfagre uniting Norway into one nation.
-Norwegians who did not approve of this fled for Iceland, including Erik the Red, who was father of Leiv Eiriksson (the first person to discover America).
-Olav Tryggvason and Olav the Holy bring Christianity to the kingdom. They tore down the pagan statues and built churches.
-Norway builds an empire comprising of the Faeroe Islands, Orkney Islands, Hebrides, Isle of Man, and (after 1260) Iceland and Greenland.
-Norway’s last run as an independent nation ended with Håkon V Magnusson. His son, Håkon the VI, married the Danish princess Margrete.
-Olav, their only child, inherits both the Norwegian and Danish thrones. Here starts the Denmark-Norway Union.
-Olav passes and his mother takes rule of Denmark and Norway, Sweden adding into the mix creating the Kalmar Union.
-Sweden secedes from the Kalmar Union, leaving Norway in its union with Denmark for circa 400 years.
-Christian III of Denmark declares Norway a vassal state of Denmark. Norway, injured by the Black Death, is unable to assert authority within the Union. Except that union with Denmark proved fruitful for Norway, but Denmark’s ongoing war with Sweden cost Norway land in Sweden’s favor.
-Napoleonic wars: Denmark joins sides with Napoleon, and at the end of the war is forced to cede Norway to Sweden. Denmark keeps Iceland and Greenland.
-Norway attempts to find a way out of belonging to Sweden, and forms a constitution, taking the Danish prince as their King. This is May 17, 1814; Norwegian National Day.
-Brief war. Sweden wins.
-Hundred years pass, Norway basically tricks Sweden into being released, and on August 13, 1905, Norway becomes independent again.
-WWI: Neutral.
-WWII: Neutral, but inhabited by Germany. Norway resisted with the underground military organization Milorg, but essentially did not receive freedom until Germany’s retreat.
-Norway joins NATO and continues to rise as a country, while life goes on into this day.
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Roleplay example ---
The sun was beautiful. He could feel it like a remarkable force, spreading warm fingers across his pale cream cheeks, caressing underneath his chin and flooding over his neck, radiating across his body in a wave like the warm folds of a mother during incubation. Nature was kissing his flesh, reminding him that, even though he had to be Christian now, she still loved him very much, and was always standing with open arms, ready to invite him back into her warm and caring embrace.
An aggravated sigh parted from his lips. He sat by the window, a tall, straight-backed and regal image, clothed in royal blue. The tunic-gown slid down his thin body, girded in at the waist and cinched to accentuate his attractive form, something he could remember did not matter before this time period. His thin but muscled legs were covered with wool stockings, a soft creamy color, like ivory milk, ending in a soft leather turnshoe, one on each foot, crossed at the ankles. The puffed sleeves brushed his hair as the male tilted his head from one side to another, cracking his neck, while long, thin arms stretched over his head, body leaning back with a gentle yawn. His blonde hair glistened in the beams of sun, the strands laying neat and conformed with one another on his head, one part on the left tamed back by his Nordic cross pin. No one remembered what it meant anymore, so he wore it with pride. The pin was his own little salute to Nature, as he imagined she was pleased with him, she and his old “pagan” gods.
Today was a boring day. Fiddling with the pendant he wore around his neck to keep up the appearances of his “stature”, the male tapped his fingernails against the arm rest of the chair, glancing anxiously out the window now and then. His King had summoned him here, pulling him out of his relaxed and simple cottage in the capital where he’d been taking a break, to appear in the palace for a short while. There had been a lot of unrest in years previous, the sort that made him tired and in need of breaks from politics and the pleas of people. The throne of Norway was always a bit unsettled, never resting on a level rock of firm faith for the people to depend upon. Håkon VI was a new King from a short line of Kings who had managed to lead him strong, who expanded his family and power, his wealth. He was proud of Håkon and his father, and his grandfather before him. Thanks to them, his brother, Iceland, was safe in his home, along with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. He hoped that Håkon would continue to lead him strongly, and confided this hope quite often in his closest companions.
Little did he know that hope was doomed to fail him.
He heard those footsteps out in the hall right before the door shoved open with a click. Turning his head with a jerk, unwilling to admit his heart was startled a little, he focused his dark, deep ocean blue eyes on the man standing in the doorway.
His hair was shoulder length and full, a soft dirty blonde color. His face was clean shaven, young and soft, but his eyes were wise for his age. Calm and blue, they met the deeper blue gaze across the room as he flashed an attempt at a subtle grin. But the man in the chair by the window could tell the other man was the happiest he could ever be.
“She said yes, Noreg. She said yes! She’s going to marry me!”
Norway’s heart sank, but he did not allow it to show on his features. He told himself to calm. Kings needed wives to produce heirs. Without a woman, Håkon would never have a child, and he’d again have no King. Even so, it wasn’t the fact that he was marrying that bothered Norway. No, that was great news. What bothered him was that he hadn’t been consulted on the matter. After a long and very quiet pause, he parted his lips to speak in a cool and tender voice, the sound deep and tranquil despite his nerves. “And who might that be, Konge?”
“Margrete, of Danmark.”
Norway felt his face pale of all heat and color. That nation, that name, the way Håkon breathlessly spoke it with a stupid, silly grin on his face, all of these things gave his stomach an immediate ulcer. Taking a deep breath through his barely parted lips, he folded his hands carefully in his lap and tried to remain calm. He had to remember who was in charge here, even if it was not fair. His life rested in the hands of that silly, young, impulsive man whom Norway had had much respect for. Up until now, that is. Håkon was playing the fool of a lover.
“If you marry her then what becomes of Danmark?” Immediately, as he spoke that name, the floating, laughing, cheesy image of Denmark as a teen came butting into his head like a ramming goat, busting so hard against the walls of his mind he felt a splitting headache form as the memory of drunken Danish laughter grated against his skull.
Håkon’s smile faded just a little. He stared at Norway; he stared at the floor. He looked out the window. Then he laughed a tad bit nervously.
“You’ll be marrying him, of course.”
This time, Norway’s face grew red hot. This being abnormal for him, he attempted to hide it by turning his head, which only revealed his mood to his King. He was irritated beyond belief, tossed into a foul mood like a little ship on turbulent waters. Yet somehow, aside from the irritation, beneath the choppy surface, warmth was blossoming in his heart. He’d always had a good relationship with Denmark. When they were younger, the two were Vikings together, along with Sweden. As a threesome they sailed their little worlds and wrought havoc on others, doused them in peril, then went home laughing and happy together. Denmark was attractive. He was similar to Norway in some ways, while outrageously different in most. But something about the Dane struck a weak chord in Norway’s heart that rendered him utterly defenseless against him.
Attempting to persuade himself to stab that warmth that blossomed until it bled out to its doom on the royal carpet beneath him, he reminded himself that homosexuality was wrong now that he was Christian. Of course, normal human rules hardly applied to him when it came down to the nitty gritty, so he could not use that excuse to get out of such a union. Håkon would be wise enough to use his own hidden fondness for the old, “pagan” ways against him, too. Thor himself was bisexual, and Håkon knew it.
Even so, there had to be a way to get out of such a union. He didn’t want to enter it. He was independent, he was wealthy, and happy, and he had a little brother. The people were well and rising, population expanding, why did they need Denmark? By all accounts, he’d be arrogant enough to say that Denmark needed him. As the thought struck him, he raised a fine brow, daring to glance back at his King, peering hard through the flush on his cheeks.
“You’ve decided… to unite Danmark and I without consulting me? What reason do you have for this behavior? Forgive me for challenging your authority, Konge, but I-“ His words faltered as he ran into a wall, unsure of what excuse to grab for. He took a steadying breath, knuckles white on the armrests, hands trembling and clammy.
The look Håkon gave him could curdle already curdled milk. It was rare for the royal one, and Norway knew exactly what it meant. He’d do what he was told, whether he liked it or not.
|-|-The Player-|-|
Username --- Brittany but please call me Brit. :3
Age --- 22
Time zone --- Central? AKA, posting from Houston, Texas.
