Post by Ísland on Jan 2, 2011 17:20:49 GMT -5
Eirik Althingison Vilhelmsson
"It is better to be master in a cottage than a servant in a castle."- Icelandic Proverb
"It is better to be master in a cottage than a servant in a castle."- Icelandic Proverb
One half our Fatherlands is the ocean.
If you travel for a day, take bread for a week.
If you travel for a day, take bread for a week.
[/size]
Country: Ísland
Human name: Eirik Vilhelmsson, used to be called Eirik Althingison until he got confirmed proof of his lineage with Norway
Apparent age: 10 currently, was 17 before they were thrown back
Gender: male
Appearance: Eirik has a rather simple, if exotic, appearance. His white blond hair is constantly messy, due to a) the fact the country believes he has far more important things to do than his hair and b) the look actually suiting him. His violet eyes alternate between cold and aloof or fiery and passionate, depending upon the circumstances. The part he hates most about the transfer back in time is the fact that he has lost most of his height and muscle. He’s just over four feet tall and his build has reverted to its former fragility. While his skin has always been pale, it has taken on a more sickly hue, mostly due to the economic and social stress of the time period. The first time through the 1500’s, Ísland always wore the Danish fashions (mainly out of a sense of survival when dealing with Danmark) but upon reappearing in them has decided on more traditional clothing. Short, well fitting coats, simple knee-length pants, and knee high boots are going to be major parts of his wardrobe from now on. The only thing that really hasn’t changed about the male’s appearance is that Mr. Puffin is still with him and isn’t likely to leave any time soon.
If you wish to know what a man is, make him king.
One enemy is too many; one hundred friends are too few.
One enemy is too many; one hundred friends are too few.
[/size]
Strengths:
- Chess, Ísland is a master chess player, both speed and free. He also tries to apply his chess skills to real life (with varying degrees of success)
- Magician/Sorcerer, Is has always been able to see spirits but he did learn real magic, first from Norge and from his own experimenting. He is trying to find a way to move up in the time stream while dealing with his current problems.
- Music, Ísland is a great composer and poet. He doesn’t have much of a singing voice nor does he play instruments well; he’s a writer through and through.
- Sea-faring and fishing. Much of his economy is based on such.
- Loyalty- Ísland is loyal to those who catch his loyalty and keep it.
- Practical. Most of Ísland’s life has been a struggle for survival but from that came a practical minded person, able to see things for what they really are and prepare for the future as such.
- Independent. Ísland hates relying on anyone’s help or having other people tell him what to do.
Weaknesses:
- Grudges. Ísland holds them hard until the end of time. He’s trying to do better but so far, it’s only baby steps. Now, granted, you probably won’t know he’s holding a grudge until he explodes, but that’s a different issue.
- Emotional Internalization. No one really knows what’s going on inside Ísland’s head at any given time and he typically keeps his emotions to himself. Again, until he explodes.
- Explosions. Much like the volcanoes scattered throughout his land, Ísland will be calm and composed one minute and explode the next. Typically the explosions only happen when he’s under a great deal of stress or he’s finally fed up with whatever’s going on.
- Socially awkward. Okay, so it’s not a real weakness but Ísland has lived his life in almost complete isolation, first by choice and then not, so he has issues with crowds. Too many people make him nervous and drain his energy and tolerance quickly.
- Independent. Ísland hates relying on anyone’s help or having other people tell him what to do.
Personality: Ísland may be quiet and semi-stand-offish, but don't let that facade fool you. Underneath, things build and build and build until the male finally blows. He's getting better at not blowing up and talking things out before they get to that point but it's slow-going. Ísland is a passionate soul, particularly about his people and his land. I guess you could say that messing with them is his berserk button. Seriously, England learned that the hard way with the Cod “Wars.”
Beyond that, he is an independent sort and spent most of his early years taking care of himself just fine, thank you very much. Remember that he's an over thousand-year-old nation who only gives respect when it's earned and you should be fine. If you're willing to work with him, you'll gain his respect much more quickly and easily. Try to control him, tell him what to do, and bend him to your will and he will definitely resent you for it. As a small nation, he can't do much about it but it's the principle of the matter. He will start the silent treatment, as in, he'll stare at you until you leave him alone, get really sarcastic, or do something to let you know (if you're clued in) that he is not happy.
Aside from his occasional temper and control issues, if one manages to befriend him, they've got his friendship for as long as they don't screw it up. If they do, they have lost a valuable friend. Ísland is immensely patriotic and proud of his people and their will to survive anything. He's practical and even when he was first ten, seemed to be an adult in a child's body. Is has a wicked sense of humor and is something of a deadpan snarker, mostly thanks to years of watching Norge deal with others. Ísland watches, listens, and above all, fortunately or not, understands others' actions and reactions. He can put aside grudges and work with those he doesn't like and isn't above manipulating someone to better his position if he can get away with it.
The generous and bold have the best lives.
Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are.
Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are.
[/size]
Family: Norway is his older brother (they’ve confirmed it), Canada is technically family as he found Canada and considers him his, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland are extended family.
Friends: Greece, Norway, Japan, Canada, Russia (it’s complicated), the other Nordics, US, the Baltics
History:
Once upon a time, there was a land that had no people living on it. Then a brave, strong nation found this land and decided to settle it. A couple of years later, that nation also discovered a small yet hardy nation living on his own. Having made up his mind, the older nation became the older brother to the younger, teaching him and 'civilizing' him for a couple of years. A little time passed and the older nation had to return to his homeland. The younger tearfully vowed to protect the older's people for all time and silently promised to one day be like the older nation. Thus Ísland's life as a real nation began.
Ísland spent the next three hundred years as an independent nation, scraping a living together from rocks, ice, and fish. Lots of fish. During this time, as one of the many tributes he made to his big brother Norge, he took his little boats and explored. The wisdom of letting a six-year-old child perform such an act was questionable but his people loved the boy too much to deny him. Besides they needed all the resources/trading they could get. Ísland explored and set up posts in modern-day Greenland and Canada and used them quite extensively. He also met, though he wouldn't know it until years and years later, a toddler aged Canada. Slowly over the centuries, their relationship, if it could be called that, grew, eventually getting to the point where the wild, untameable Canada was sleeping in Ísland's huts and eating with him. Ísland considered himself an older brother to the young nation and thought, if only for a short time, that maybe he could be the little one's hero, much as Norge was his. It was a good dream while it lasted.
In the mid 1200s, Ísland officially tied himself to Norge's fate, becoming the latter's official colony. Norge still allowed the boy to do what was necessary for his survival and really, the only thing that changed was that now Ísland could go to Norge if he had a problem. The alliance would come to bite the boy in the butt. In the 1300s, Norge, and Is by extension, joined the Kalmaar Union with Sverige and Denmark. It would be a trying time for the nation. Tensions rose almost immediately between Sverige and Denmark and Ísland, not wanting to get caught in the middle over something he had nothing to do with, took to being quiet and distant. It didn't help much. Denmark holed the boy up in his house, refusing to let Is interact with the world. Things were worse for his people.
When the Union broke and Sverige took Finland and ran, Ísland was of two minds. On the one hand, he was glad someone escaped Denmark's clutches, on the other he was mad. Very mad. He was still here. He'd been abandoned. And he hated it. Things worsened for both him and his people after that. Among other things, Denmark dismantled his military and forcefully converted him, and Ísland was kidnapped by Turkey. Eirik distanced himself further and increased his silence as time wore on. Hatred grew in his heart for both his guardians. For Denmark and his refusal to listen and just let Is do what he needed to do, and for Norge who didn't do anything to change it. That was what ate at the boy the most. Norge didn't try to change anything. Even if Is understood why, this quiet rejection hurt. A lot.
The 1700s rolled around and did everything they could to kill the boy. Between a plague, a massive volcanic eruption, the resulting famine, his people's naturally poor state, and the destruction of his remaining government, Ísland was certain he wouldn't make it out alive. And for a time, wasn't certain he wanted to. But his people gave him strength, as he did them, and somehow everyone persevered. Battered and broken, certainly, but alive. And just when Denmark and he were about to come to blows, the unthinkable happened. In a way, it saved Ísland. In a way, it saved Denmark and his relationships, or at least stopped the descent into madness long enough for them to turn the tide. Either way, neither nation saw the event as a blessing. Denmark warred with Sverige, lost, and so lost Norge. Suddenly, the duo was alone. Nor's loss devestated both of them, and slowly, very slowly, actually led to a reconciliation between the two remaining nations. Ísland's hate morphed to pity for the bigger nation, pity that the other wanted so much, fell so far, and hadn't even realized it.
In a way, Ísland played the big brother for a time to Denmark, trying to help the older nation overcome their loss. And in return, Denmark started realizing Ísland's merits. Over time, they began to work together, as Ísland would have liked from the beginning. Over time, they actually became a family. Ísland's government was reestablished and just after the Great War Denmark officially recognized him as a partner. Ísland grew over this period of time from the skinny, tiny, wretch of a ten-year-old he had been all through the 1500s to the 1800s to a healthy thirteen-year-old. World War II wasn't fun for anyone but it was mostly troublesome for the young nation. When Germany took over Denmark, Ísland took his safety into his own hands and declared himself independent of Denmark and neutral in this war (even as he worried over his entire family). That didn't stop England from barging into his house and haughtily demanding to 'protect' Ísland from Germany. It was the beginning of rather...sour relations with the other island nation. But he tolerated England and later America because it was really the only way he could help Norge and Denmark.
Ísland emerged from the war stronger than he'd ever been and he used the opportunity wisely. He diversified his economy and finally pulled his people completely from the edge. He fought with England a few times over fishing areas but mostly, the latter half of the century passed quietly. Thankfully. The financial meltdown of the late 2000s left him sick and weak for a long time, even after Russia's help and Canada's offer of sanctuary for his people. He and Canada reconnected a bit, mostly over how alike their familial situations were and sending humanitarian aid to the world.
When the world went bad, Ísland was one of the few places on Earth still inhabitable. True, he was weak from the tidal waves that occasionally ravaged his lands but he could farm, fish, live off the land as he used to. Then he awoke to find that he was once again a ten-year-old and the year was 1500. After lamenting his lost strength, and the fact he was once again under Danish rule, he remembered Canada. Wondered if his friend was even alive in this time period. So his first mission: find Canada. His second: somehow keep Denmark from mucking everything up again. Both are easier said then done.
My enemy isn't the one who harms me, but the one who makes me evil.
If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.
If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.
[ OOC ]
[/size]
Name: TLO, Is, Vatican
Age: Almost 22
Experience: I played Iceland on the old forum, I play Vatican City, and I have been RPing in various circles for seven plus years.
Contact: PM first, please
Anything else?: Jens Bjorneboe
Bergatrollet ut på dörren sprang
“Hade jag fått den fager ungersven, så hade jag mistat min plåga.”
“Hade jag fått den fager ungersven, så hade jag mistat min plåga.”
This template was originally created by oli and tampered by Ophelia for Hetalia: True Destiny. Quotes are from the medieval Swedish ballad, "Herr Mannelig."
