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Part 1 of The Sacred Histories
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Children of the Wolf And Raven: A History of the Early Germanic People

Chapter 4: The House of Odin

Chapter Text

Odin, First Emperor of the Northern Empire

The son of Vingnar, grandson of Tror, and great grandson of Troan and Memnon, Odin, named after the Allfather, was born in the Kingdom of Vestfold in 1120 BC. Vingnar Trorsson had become King of Vestfold by conquest, usurping the previous King and establishing the Dynasty of Norr there.
Odin's mother was Asta Risnelis, an Elven woman from the south of Norway where her people kept the Elven culture alive in a time of increasing assimilation between Elf and human.
Vingnar had been born and raised in the Kingdom of Agder, the Kingdom his father, much like himself years later, took by force of arms in the early 1150s.
By eighteen Vingnar was King of Adger and already waging successful wars of conquest against Vestfold. He went to war against the Kingdom of Vingulmark and forced its King, Gandalf, to give ip half his Kingdom or face total conquest.
By the time of Odin's birth Vingnar was Overlord of most of Norway, respected and feared, but also hated. When Odin was a small boy he was sent by his parents to his maternal grandfather in the South where they hoped he'd be taught Magic and Shamanic rituals by the Elven elders, a hope which was accomplished when the boy was taken under the wing of Urlendr, an Elven Mage and Shaman distantly related to Asta and her family.
For his entire childhood and early teenage years Odin was trained in the ways of Shamanic Magic by Urlendr, growing to become a competent user himself, but it was who he met during this time that would aid him in his future life. 
All Shamans and Magic workers had Familiars, spirit animals who watched over them and guarded them. Urlendr's was a spirit cat named Niski, a Black male common house cat.
Odin acquired his Familiar at thirteen while meditating with his cousin. A hulking White Wolf appeared to him in his vision, their blue eyes magnificent. As it was customary for Elven Mages to name their Familiars in order to claim their service, the boy, thinking on impulse, named the Wolf Great Fang referring to his massive size.
The wolf accepted the name and agreed to serve him as his Familiar. 
It was two years later, shortly after his fifteenth birthday, that Odin learned his father had died in a sliding accident, falling through frozen ice, and now he was King of Vestfold. Leaving his mother's people he returned to his Kingdom, untested and still uneasy around humans.
Both would soon change.
Before proceeding further, it is important to note that much of Odin's early years as King have become confused with that of his later descendant Harald Fairhair. 
Both men were given the credit of founding Norway, but it was Odin who was the true founder, whereas Harald was rather the reunifier, bringing the Kingdom back together after the fall of the Arthurian Empire, which Norway was apart, in 683 AD. Through oral transmission their stories intermingled and mixed, Odin's melding into Harald so that some of Harald's early battles were not his at all, but his ancestors, which can be read about in The Saga of Harald Fairhair by Snorri Sturlesson. Further, legends surrounding Charlemagne, another descendant of Odin Vingnarsson, were taken from his life, stripped of their Paganism, and given to the first Holy Roman Emperor to enhance his prestige.

Vingnar's death brought joy to many in Norway, especially the Kings he displaced or forced to share power with him. In Vingulmark Gandalf and his eldest son Hake threw a grand feast in celebration, calling upon all their warriors and Generals to attend so they could discuss revenge plans.
They made alliances with the brothers Hogni and Frode Eysteinsson, sons of the King of Hedenmark who Vingnar had stripped of land, and with King Hogni Karusson of Ringerike.
These men set out under Hake soon after the celebration, commanding an army of eight hundred warriors to kill the young Odin and conquer Vestfold and gain revenge on the Dynasty of Norr.
They had hoped to take the boy King by surprise but Odin, by the aid of Great Fang, learned of their coming and assembled his army to meet them. Though he was inexperienced, his Familiar's lent him the courage of the Wolf and he led his men into battle with faith he would overcome the odds.
And he did, against it all Odin Vingnarsson defeated Hake Gandalfsson and the alliance of Kings, killing them all in a single battle along Vestfold's borders, filling the teenager with a sense of wonder at how powerful his Familiar's Magic could be.
He didn't stop here, but gathered more warriors and marched on King Gandalf, intent on killing him for the treachery he committed. 
In the battle that followed the elderly King was put to flight, running to Hedenmark for safety as Odin took over Vingulmark and absorbed it entirely into Vestfold. 
Filled with anger and a sense of purpose in conquest, Odin continued on, taking Hendemark, Ringerike, Gudbrandsdal, and Hadaland.
His purpose, as he declared to Great Fang during meditation, was to bring all of Norway under one King so that no more wars would be fought, no more death would befall fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and while the Wolf believed his sincerity, he also noted a selfishness in this desire. 
Odin may have been convinced he was fighting his wars for the good of the Germanic people, but his own lust for power was also a driving force.
In short order the Kingdom of Trondheim fell, and soon, by sixteen, Odin had all of Norway under his rule, his sweeping conquest able to succeed in large part due to the Kings of the different Kingdoms joining forces and fighting in pitch battles all together, allowing him to defeat them all in only a few key fights.
But he still wasn't done. For the next two years Odin waged wars in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, conquering each land within months and bringing them into the fold of his growing Empire.
Germany came next, the great host of Scandinavia descending upon the tribes living there at the beginning of 1100 BC. Human and Elven tribes banded together to fight against the invading Northmen, but it made little difference.
Odin, by now a hardened military man, formed his warriors into solid columns of power, making it nearly impossible for the scattered tribes to put up an effective fight. One by one they fell, even those who made alliances together. By summer of 1100 Germany fell, becoming part of the Northern Empire. 
Returning to Norway Odin had himself crowned Emperor, becoming known as the Wolf of the North to enemy and friend alike.
In honour of his victories and to glorify the Gods the new Imperial monarch ordered the construction of a grand Temple to the Aesir in the Upplands of Sweden. This Temple, known as the Temple of Uppsala, would become the greatest Germanic religious site in the Empire and for centuries after the Empire fell Germanic Pagans throughout Scandinavia and Germany would continue to make pilgrimages to it, praying and talking with the Gods.
Another joyful event for the Emperor was the birth of a son in 1099 BC, giving him a family and an heir. The boy, named Balder in honour of the Allfather's son and God of the same name (and a hint at what the mortal Odin may have beginning to see himself as), was the product of an affair he had while in Germany.
While many Elven tribes fought against the invading forces, some, like the Wood Elves of Clan Velindi, saw the writing on the wall and made peace and agreed to fight with him. Among this Clan was an Elven woman named Tamerin, an archer of extraordinary ability who came to the attention of the then King by how accurately she killed her targets.
The two began a romance quickly, the passion burning all through the campaign resulting in her pregnancy. Like many military men before and after, once the war was over Odin returned home without Tamerin but not before extracting a promise from her that she would bring him his child when they were born, and she kept her word.
In recognition of this Odin gave Tamerin an estate in Germany and paid her a monthly allowance, which the Elven woman used to stay in the capital of Vestfold so she could be near Balder, something Odin never questioned or resented.
The last great campaign of Odin's life came a year after his son's birth. Egypt, wishing to become a power house State like it once was under Ramesses the Great, made designs to invade Europe, seeing as much of it was made up of tribes and loose city States.
To that end the Pharaoh, Ramesses XI, a descendant of Ramesses the Great, raised an army of thousands strong and marched through North Africa into present day Spain, easily taking over the region with the help of local Chieftains, most important among them an Arab man named Harun ibn Walid who was appointed Governor of the new province as Ramesses continued his progress into Gallia.
Odin, informed of this advancing army while it was still in Spain, saw the threat it posed not only for continental Europe but also for his Empire and hurriedly marshalled his own forces, pulling warriors from every corner of his Empire in an attempt to stop the Egyptians from reaching Scandinavia and save the rest of Europe.
In this army of the North marched Elves, Finns, and Germanic warriors. Some were willing fighters, others less so, all bound under the Wolf and Raven Banners of the Empire, the symbols Odin's ancestors adopted so many centuries ago.
The Egyptian army, as Ramesses XI expected and hoped, ravaged Gallia, the Galatai tribes, as they were then called, putting up valiant resistance but unable to turn the tide, even those who were descendants of the great Heracles failed to do much to push the invaders back as where the tribes were not united, they were easy to pick off.
Once the Northmen arrived, however, things changed. Seeing the Scandinavians as a safer bet than Egyptians many Galatai tribes joined forces with Odin's men and together they managed to defeat Ramesses XI's army along the Seine river, and this victory pushed the Egyptians back, Odin keeping on the offensive until he drove them out of Gallia altogether and back into Spain.
Harsh and bloody battles took place across the Spanish countryside, Ramesses XI unwilling to surrender the territory he gained. Odin, Great Fang by his side, continued his advance upon the Egyptian lines, eating away at it inch by inch.
Fearing another open battle would destroy his dwindling numbers Ramesses XI made the decision to hold up in a hill fort close to what is now Barcelona, but this proved a fatal mistake.
Odin laid siege to it for a month and finally succeeded in sacking the hill fort. Ramesses XI and Harun ibn Walid both died in the final battle.
This victory over the Egyptians sparked an idea in the Wolf of the North. Taking what remained of the Egyptian army into his own ranks, Odin did not turn back into Gallia once he saved the country from invasion, but turned his attention to North Africa.
He invaded Egypt, taking the body of Ramesses XI as proof he had killed him fairly in battle. There were no battles fought here, the Egyptians losing all will to fight when they saw their Pharaoh dead, in a wagon pulled by oxen.
At the capital of Pi-Ramesses Odin delivered the body of Ramesses XI into the hands of his wife, Tentamun, and proclaimed himself the new Pharaoh, establishing the Twenty First Dynasty, following in the footsteps of his ancestor Longho.
Taking upon the regnal name of Hedjkheperre Setepenre, Odin stayed a year in his new Kingdom, making connections and friendships with the nobility, including Herihor, a General and High Priest of Amun in Thebes.
The two men would form a good rapport and upon leaving Egypt Odin entrusted the government to Herihor who proved to be a wise choice, serving the Wolf of the North well.
Leaving Egypt the Emperor did not go home as one may expect, but he continued into Asia, not on conquest but on diplomatic relations. In Egypt he had met what one would call ambassadors of the Shang Kingdom of China, representatives of King Di Yi, who wished to create a trading alliance with Egypt.
Odin decided to meet Di Yi in person (because why not?), taking seven months to reach China. Here the Emperor and Pharaoh met the King of Shang in his capital of Yinxu in modern Anyang, Henan county.
Much like his ancestor Bardus I many centuries earlier, Odin took well to the Chinese, he and Di Yi spending hours discussing Norway, their childhoods, and above all, the advantages of an trade alliance between their two realms.
Odin was eager to open up trade relations with the East, looking to enrich the North and bring in exotic trade goods was a great way to begin.
To seal their agreement Di Yi offered his only daughter Zi An on the condition she become Queen of Norway and Empress of the Empire, to which Odin swore, marrying Zi An soon thereafter.
By 1096 BC Odin and his wife, who took on the Germanic name of Astera in the West, were back in Norway, settling down to rule together.
The couple had three children in this order:
Osbjorn, born in 1094 BC, who would become a General in his elder brother's army in adulthood.
Unna, born in 1092 BC. She would go on to marry into the House of Brutus, being married to King Mempricius of Britain and becoming the mother of his heir Ebraucas, and foremother to most of the subsequent Kings of Britain, including Uther, Arthur and Constantine II Pendragon, and of course King Charles III of the United Kingdom today.
Sigrid, born in 1089, became a priestess of Freya and when Unna moved to Britain she went with her elder sister, founding a small Temple to the Germanic Goddess of Love, fertility, sex, and Magic in Wales where she married a local nobleman named Owain ap Peredur. In later years Sigrid later incorporated the Goddess Diana into the Temple, honouring her and Freya side by side.
With a large family now his, and a vast Empire to call his own, Odin was finally content to rule in peace. His lasted reigned until near the end of 1070 BC when he died of natural causes.


Balder I

In Denmark at the time of his father's death handling a dispute between Dark Elves and humans, Balder sailed back home on receiving the news and was Crowned by his stepmother in Vestfold on December 27th, 1070 BC.
He started his reign well, winning the support of the farmers throughout his Empire by cutting taxes and promising to protect their land rights, which he lived up to. 
For the nobility he gave additional support in terms of money and supplies to further colonize the North African regions of the Empire, and in Germany Balder established good relations with his mother's people.
In Egypt he ruled under the name Neferkare Amenemnisu. His most notable achievement in his reign as Pharaoh was authorizing Herihor years later in 1057 BC to invade Ethiopia, which the Hight Priest was able to conquer and bring into the Empire after a year long campaign.
For much of his reign Balder was a popular monarch throughout the provinces, his popularity due to his genuine concern for the people whatever their station or rank. He replaced the militancy of his father with compassion and save for his conquest of Ethiopia, he did not under take any military affairs, and never took part in any battle personally.
That is until 1040 BC, when a rebel Chieftain in Norway rose up, Guthrom, a grandson of Gandalf who desired his grandfather's lands back and the dissolution of the Kingdom of Norway and the Empire as a whole.
Balder called up his legions of warriors and marched out of Vestfold, sailing to the island of Frei in what is now Kristiansund municipality, where Guthrom was building up his army.
The Imperial army took the rebels by surprise, coming ashore on the northern side of the island and moving south where the rebels were, moving stealthily through the forest, until falling upon them in a great clash of arms.
Guthrom was killed early in the battle. Later tradition says Balder delivered the killing blow but this is not so, the Emperor being too busy directing the attack to personally hunt down and slay the rebel.
But it is true Balder fought bravery, but he was not his father and did not possess the same charisma Odin brought to the battlefield. Even so Balder did secure victory for himself, but it came at great cost.
Hundreds of his own men died in the battle, including his brother Osbjorn who was decapitated by a battle axe.
And the Emperor himself was mortally wounded, receiving two spears wounds in his right thigh and lower stomach. He survived the battle and was carried back to Vestfold where he died a few days later surrounded by his family.
By his mistress, an Egyptian woman of Israelite descent, he had one child, a daughter he named Thorunn in honour of the God Thor, who succeeded him to the throne.


Thorunn I

Born a few years before her grandfather's death in  1072 BC, Thorunn Baldersdottir was raised to be the heir from an early date when it was clear her father did not intend to have anymore children.
When she came to the throne she was in her early thirties and a mother herself to a toddler son named Ulric. Thorunn's reign was popular with the people of Vestfold and throughout Norway, but some in Denmark and Sweden weren't too pleased to be ruled by someone born out of wedlock.
In Egypt she was known as Mutnedjmet and her husband, the father of Ulric, Torvald, was called Psusennes. In Egyptian records it is Torvald who is stated as being ruler, however this is down to Egyptian bias regarding female rulers as it was Thorunn who made the decisions, Torvald only offered advice as her consort.
Thorunn added to the walls of the Temple in Taris  and moving her capital there within two months of her reign.
In the middle years of her reign a conspiracy arose between Lords in Sweden and Denmark, led by Godred Haakonarsson, Jarl of Torborg, a city in Sweden. Thorunn acted decisively, leading a dozen of her elite bodyguards into Sweden herself and challenged Godred to single combat.
The Jarl, never imagining she would have the nerve to do such a thing, couldn't refuse and so in the city center the two held a Holmgang.
Thorunn's speed and quick wit brought the elderly Jarl to his knees in a matter of minutes, bloodied thighs and legs cut open by slash after slash.
She offered him mercy if he would admit his crimes and swear to leave the Empire and never return. He refused and Thorunn drove her sword into his heart, taking his life.
After she killed him the Empress walked out of the Holmgang circle and returned to Norway, her agents rooting out the other noblemen and bringing them before her in the following weeks.
She offered them the same deal she did with Godred, and unlike him they all accepted, stripped of their lands, titles, and most of their wealth, being given just enough to leave the Empire with their families.
The rest of Thorunn's reign went peacefully, unfortunately for the Empress she fell ill in August of 1032 BC after eating a large helping of venison and drinking too much mead, possibly giving herself alcohol poisoning. She passed away on August 19th.


Ulric I

Ulric came to the throne at the young age of thirteen on the tragic death of his mother. As he was still considered too young to rule, his father became his regnant for two years until he turned fifteen when he was given royal authority.
Known in Egypt as Amenemope, one of his first acts as King was to recognize Granold Ivarrsson as Governor of Denmark. Granold had been a Jarl under his mother and loyal in the face of Godred's rebellion, so Ulric wanted to reward this loyalty with a promotion.
Granold was descended from Dan, a Greek-Israelite of the Tribe of Simeon and veteran of the Trojan War who, after the war ended, decided to continue living the warrior's life, leading his band of soldiers alongside his younger brother Angul. This band of warriors, composed of ethnic Greeks and Greek-Israelites (men born in Greece and like the brothers, descended from Israelites who left Egypt before the Exodus) became part of the Sea Peoples, raiders who attacked Egypt and several Middle Eastern Kingdoms.
Eventually Dan led his men to what is now Denmark and settled there in 1190 BC, becoming a Chieftain and, using his military skills, became Overlord of Denmark, naming it after himself. His brother Angul would become an ancestor to all the English people in later centuries and rule Denmark alongside him. 
Granold was proud of this family history and it made him grateful to the young Emperor for being able to hold the same position as his ancestor had, relating the story of his origins to Ulric and stating he was perfect for the job. Which, it turned out, he was, keeping law and order in Denmark for years, earning the byname 'Granold the Wise' for his fairness and care for those in need.
After Herihor's death in 1017 BC Ulric appointed his cousin Thorgest, nephew of Torvald, to become the next High Priest of Amun in Thebes. Thorgest's family moved to Egypt during the reign of Thorunn and Thorgest was a deeply religious and spiritual man who felt more connection to the Egyptian Gods than those of his native religion. He took control of the Egyptian and Ethiopian governments and was known by the Egyptian name Nesbanebdjed.
Like his grandfather and his mother Ulric did not lead his armies into war nor did he fight any rebellions. He was blessed with a peaceful reign with abundant crops and harvests. He went annually to the Temple of Uppsala where he donated large amounts of money for its upkeep and prayed to Odin and Tyr specifically for guidance in rulership.
He married Granold's daughter Alfhild and with her had two children, Granold the Younger, born in 1010 BC and Torvald in 1007 BC, but before either of his sons were born he had a daughter at fifteen with a serving girl, named Tyra, and despite arguments from his advisors, especially Granold, he named her his heir, and so it was when Ulric died in 1000 BC Tyra became Empress of the North and Pharaoh of Egypt.


Tyra

Her father's decision to make her his heir was a smart decision as both of his sons were still children at the time of his death and Tyra had just turned thirty, and like her grandmother, was already a mother herself to a son, Dan, in his early teens. Her husband was Granold's much younger half brother Hemmingr. 
In Egypt, much like under her grandmother, Hemmingr was said to be the leading partner in the couple under the name Osorkon while Tyra was known as Karimala. She understood Egyptian society as did Thorunn so did not take offense.
Tyra's reign was, much like her father's one of plenty. No conflicts took place across the Empire and she was able to tutor Dan in the ways of Kingship in peace.
Tyra died in 990 BC, after an ten year reign.


Dan

Known in Egypt as Netjerkheperre-Setepenamun Siamun, Dan came to take great interest in the North African province, visiting it several times during his reign. On one such visit in 987 BC he appointed his cousin Idolf, the son of Thorgest, to be High Priest of Amun and Governor of Egypt, Idolf taking on the name Pinedjem.
In 983 BC Dan married a Finnish woman who he met two years previously while visiting the province. Her name was Deena and her father, Sojvn, was Governor, and a descendant of Kalevi, a legendary Finnish King who was known for uniting the Finnish tribes under his rule centuries before the Germanic people even arrived to Scandinavia.
Dan, wishing to travel in North Africa and not wanting Deena to 'hold him down' asked her to remain behind with her father, something she agreed to when he promised to be back in three years.
But, as it turned out, Dan did not return in three years, instead he went back to Norway after that time with a new bride, an Egyptian woman named Isetemkheb, and crowned her Empress.
As one can imagine this infuriated Deena as she had given birth to a son during this time who she named Balder in honour of her husband's ancestor and this is how he repaid her patience?
Deena contacted a witch named Huld and asked her to cast a spell on Dan to make him come back to Finland or, if he wouldn't, kill him using a Mara, a night Demon.
Huld tried using spells for years to convince Dan to return to Finland, not wishing the blood of a monarch to be on her hands, but finally Deena bribed her with gold, and in 974 BC she gave in.
The Emperor died screaming in his bed that a creature was jumping on his chest, causing him to have a heart attack.


Balder II

Capitalizing on her husband's death and the fact his Egyptian wife was apparently barren, Deena went to Norway shortly after his death to present her son as the rightful Emperor. To this the Norwegian nobility agreed but they did not, as she expected, name her regnant. Instead they killed Deena on the charge of treason, suspecting she had something to do with Dan's death.
Balder II was raised by his elder half brother, Bruenwulf, a son of Dan by a Swedish mistress from his late teenage years. The two brothers were close and Bruenwulf acted more as a father figure to the young boy than a brother.
In Egypt Balder was named Psusennes II, Idolf ruling in the child's name as he had for his father. Balder II's reign was largely uneventful. He never married and tragically died young at age twenty three in 960 BC from unknown causes.


Bruenwulf

Although never intended to be Emperor by his father, Bruenwulf was the male last direct descendant of Odin left alive in the senior line (Ulric's two sons dying young without issue in the 990s) and had much experience ruling the Empire on Balder II's behalf, so there was little choice in the matter as no noble in Norway, those who had the most say, wanted to abolish the House of Odin since a suitable candidate was in their midst.
Known as Shoshenq in Egypt Bruenwulf visited the province in 954 BC to appoint Idolf's son, who was the first of the line to be of half native Egyptian ancestry, and who bore an Egyptian name, Input, as High Priest of Amun and Governor upon his father's death. 
It was while on this visit that Bruenwulf met Tentshepeh, an Egyptian woman of Libyan descent, a member of the Ma tribe, being descended from Paihuty, Chief of the Ma,, who he took an immediate liking to due to her beauty and grace.
He wooed her and convinced her to become his Empress, giving birth to their only child, Ivarr, in 953. However Tentshepeh had no idea that two decades before Bruenwulf had been married to a Danish woman, Lifa, with whom he had two sons, Eric and Stenwulf. 
These sons, in their early twenties now, would cause problems for both soon after Ivarr's birth. They believed, rightly, that they, not their baby half brother, were the true heirs of the Empire and so raised a rebellion in eastern Denmark and succeeded in, temporarily, carving it out of the Empire.
For fifteen years eastern Denmark was ruled as its own Kingdom by Eric and Stenwulf, the rebels succeeding in beating back each incursion by their father to try and reclaim it, but eventually in 938 BC Bruenwulf reconquered it and killed Eric in battle, Stenwulf fleeing before he could be captured.
The Emperor thought his son would never return and thus let his guard down. During that year's Yule celebration Bruenwulf and his family hosted a large gathering at their castle, inviting hundreds of people, noble and commoner alike.
Stenwulf, disguising himself as a simple merchant, attended the feast, making merry and toasting other guests until his father got up to give a speech.
When Bruenwulf stood near his throne, all eyes on him, Stenwulf struck. He launched out of the crowd, dagger in his right hand, driving into the Emperor's neck, stabbing again and again, blood spilling over his hands and clothing. Seconds later guards killed him, running him through with spears.
Father and son lay side by side each other on the stone floor of the Imperial family's home, Bruenwulf the victim of the first assassination in Imperial history. Stenwulf the victim of a father's neglect.
Ivarr was there and saw the murder take place. At fifteen he was Emperor, made so in the worst way possible.


Ivarr

Early in his reign Ivarr decided to leave Europe, not wanting to be near any reminder of his father's murder, and headed to his mother's homeland in Egypt. Here, bizarrely, he took his father's regnal name of Shoshenq and would not allow the scribes to make it clear they were different people. 
His father should have reigned longer in his mind therefore he would rule in his place, under his name. His reign in Egypt, the first to see an Emperor actually take up residence in the country, was uneventful until 934 BC when Jeroboam, an Israelite Governor, fled to Egypt seeking protection as he had been caught in a conspiracy to overthrow King Solomon.
Ivarr offered him protection on the condition that should he ever succeed in overthrowing Solomon, Jeroboam would recognize the Northern Empire as his Overlord and act as his vassal. To which Jeroboam readily agreed.
In 931 BC Solomon passed away and his son Rehoboam became King of Israel. Ivarr used the instability of Solomon's passing to invade, sweeping through Israel with sixty thousand horsemen and one thousand and twenty chariots, causing massive amounts of destruction and death.
What resistance Rehoboam offered was minimal, limited mainly to defending Jerusalem which was easily taken by Ivarr. The Northman burst through the city walls, killing any who opposed him, and sacked the Temple of Solomon, stealing hordes of gold, silver, and other treasures the former King had placed there in the care of the tribe of Levi.
Ivarr gave Rehoboam an ultimatum: Accept a partition of Israel, with the north going to Jeroboam and the south going to him, or die and allow Jeroboam to become King of all Israel.
Rehoboam accepted and so the Kingdom was divided. The northern half would retain the name Israel and be ruled by Jeroboam, and the southern portion, known as Judah after the largest Israelite tribe in the region, would be ruled by Rehoboam.
In order to make sure Jeroboam stayed loyal, Ivarr forced him to marry his first cousin, Ano, who he had made royalty (along with his entire maternal side) when he had settled in Egypt.
With the Northern Kingdom of Israel under his Overlordship Ivarr returned to Egypt where, in 929 BC, he married Karomat, the daughter of Input, and by her had two children, both daughters. The eldest, Thorunn, was born in 928 BC, and the other died in childbirth two years later, unnamed.
Ivarr reigned until 902 BC, never returning to the North, content to stay in his adopted homeland, but Thorunn did, and upon her father's death, she stayed in Norway to govern as Empress.


Thorunn II

Thorunn's first important act as Empress was to conferr the title of High Priest of Amun and Governor of Egypt onto Shoshenq, son of Input, who died a month after her father, and taking upon the name of Maatkare.
She married Steinmund in 900 BC. A son of a Wood Elven woman and her human partner, Steinmund spent his formative years in Germany living among his mother's people, Clan Varindi, only coming to Norway in order to claim his inheritance from his father's estate. 
His father was a descendant of Granold and as such, as with any noble inheritance dispute (a cousin wanted the land) Thorunn handled it at Court. 
While arguing his case Steinmund impressed the Empress with his intellect, humour, and for being quite handsome, and he more than adequately explained why he should be given the estate and so she granted it to him, marrying him soon after, the Egyptians bestowing him with the name Osorkon. 
In 999 BC Thorunn gave birth to a son, Ulric, securing the royal succession. Thorunn II's reign was peaceful throughout, plentiful crops coming in each year in every province.
Sadly she did not reign long, passing away unexpectedly in 887 BC, leaving the throne to her teenaged son. 


Ulric II

Being thirteen at the time of his accession Ulric's father acted as his regnant. Shoshenq gave him the  name of Heqakheperre Shoshenq in honour of his grandfather Ivarr. In 884 BC at fifteen Ulric took the powers of government.
In his early adult years he went to Egypt to conduct a state visit. While in the Kingdom he was introduced to Candena, a woman from neighbouring Nubia, a country in modern day Sudan. Candena was the daughter of Apate, an Nubian tribal King who was allied with Egypt, and as her father's only child was sent there to serve as an political hostage.
Beautiful, graceful, and intelligent, Candena caught the young Emperor's eye almost from the outset. There was a brief courtship, and then Ulric proposed. Candena accepted, becoming the first Black Empress to be Crowned in Trondheim, receiving the Egyptian name of Nesitanebetashru.
Together the two had one child, born in 877 BC named Torric. Later in life, in 856, the Imperial couple adopted a distant relative of Candena's, a baby boy named Tawit, and raised him as their son, Ulric bestowing upon him his father's name.
Despite their age difference Tawit/Steinmund and Torric would be close in their adulthood, with the Nubian Prince acting as his closest advisor.
As for Ulric he reigned until 831 BC when, in Germany, a rebellion broke out among the human tribes there. The elderly Emperor marched against them and defeated them, but at the cost of his own life. In the final battle, fought near what is now Cologne, he suffered a severe blow to the back of the head from a war club, shattering his skull, but it did not kill him outright.
Ulric lingered for days before dying from septic shock following his wound becoming infected. Following his death the Emperor's body, as per his wishes, was sent to Egypt where a very elderly Shoshenq conducted his funeraly rites, mummifying his body and sealing it inside a tomb in Tanis in the Nile Delta.


Torric I

Like his grandmother Torric commenced his reign by naming a new High Priest of Amun and Governor of Egypt, but not due to a death of the former Priest, but because Shoshenq was asking to retire. To replace him Torric named Shoshenq's son Iuwelot to the position as the man, now in his middle thirties, had been a priest of Amun for years at Memphis and was experienced and willing to take up the position. 
Iuwelot in turn conferred the Egyptian name of Hedjkheperre Setepenre onto Torric as his regnal name in his North African Kingdom. From Egypt Torric went to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, now under the rule of King Jehu. Jehu, a Monotheist who was tolerant of Polytheism within his Kingdom, welcomed his Overlord warmly. 
While in Northern Israel Torric visited the holy places of Dan and Bethel, paying his respect to the Israelite Pantheon of Gods, Jehu acting as his guide.
It was during the visit to the holy sites that a raid from Aram-Damascus (a Kingdom in modern Syria) took place, forcing Torric and Jehu to lead the Israelite army against the attackers under Aram-Damascus' King, Hazael. The combined Germanic and Israelite force was able to beat the Arameans back, but in later years Jehu would suffer more raids.
After leaving Northern Israel Torric visited the Kingdom of Judah in the South. One may think tensions would be rather high between the Northern Emperor and Jehoash, King of Judah and a descendant of Rehoboam, given that it was Torric's great grandfather who led to the united Kingdom of Israel to split in half, but Johoash's regnant (he was still but a boy) held no such hatred for Torric and allowed him into his Court. 
Jehoash was the last surviving son of his father, Ahaziah, all his other family members being killed in a rebellion led by his paternal grandmother Athaliah in attempt to secure power herself, which she achieved for seven years, ruling as Judah's first and only Queen, until Jehoash, saved by his aunt Jehosheba and her husband, the High Priest of Israel, Jehoiada, was Crowned King by them in Solomon's Temple. 
When his grandmother heard of this rebellious act she rushed to the Temple with soldiers to kill her daughter, son in law, and grandson, only to find herself at the wrong end of a blade, leaving the way for Jehoash to take the throne properly.
Torric and Jehoash's regnant, the Priest Jehoiada, made an alliance between their realms, becoming friends with each other on a personal level and sealed it with a marriage between the Emperor and Jehoiada and Jehosheba's eldest daughter Tamar. 
Tamar was, through her father, a descendant of Aaron, the brother of Moses and the first High Priest of Israel. Through her mother she was descended from King David and Solomon and through her the House of Odin would become members of the House of David. In Egypt she was known as Kapes.
Returning to Norway by 828 BC Torric and Tamar welcomed their first son, Magnus, in 827, and a daughter, Bathsheba, in 825 BC, who unfortunately passed away at three years old.
Torric's reigned ended in 793 BC when the Emperor was killed in a Holmgang against his son. Magnus, catching his father cheating on his mother with an Elven mistress, challenged the elderly man to a duel.
Duty bound to accept the Emperor put aside his parental feelings for his boy and met him in the circle, losing his life in the process. 


Magnus the Red

Given the byname of The Red due to how his father's blood splashed onto his chest and face as he killed him, Magnus Torricsson started his reign with violence and it continued. Going to Egypt in 791 BC, Magnus, known there under the regnal name of Osorkon III, led the defense of the Kingdom against raids from Assyria, a growing power in the Middle East. 
He fought several battles against them, and forced their forces back each time, coming to blows with Assyrian Prince Ashur-nirari, son of Assyrian King Adad-nirari, nearly killing the Prince before he fled the field.  
The Assyrian invasions continued into early 788 BC when Adad-nirari, realizing Magnus was an excellent General and there was little chance he would catch him 'napping' as it were, decided to come to terms with him. In exchange for peace and a friendship treaty between them with a renewal of trade, Adad-nirari gave his daughter Semiramis in marriage to the Emperor, making him a member of the Assyrian royal house. 
Semiramis was descended from a long line of Kings, stretching further back than the House of Odin or its predecessor the Dynasty of Norr in Norway, with her earliest known royal ancestor being Adasi, King of Assyria in the 18th century BC, bringing more prestige to Odin's descendants and infusing his family with more royal blood.
In Egypt Magnus' new Queen was given the regnal name of Karomat II, where Magnus stayed for several years after defeating the Assyrians. He made repairs and added to the Temples of the Goddess Bastest in Bubastis, the center of her worship in the Kingdom.   
Magnus, while never forgetting Germanic Polytheism, was drawn to the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses more, taking as his patron deity the God Amun, King of the Gods in Upper Egypt and patron to Kings. Magnus loved cats and Batest, the Goddess who often took the form of a woman with a feline head, became a favorite of his due to her protection of cats.
Magnus added to the cities of Memphis, Tanis, and Thebes, residing in each city for several months at a time, enjoying the company of both native born Egyptians and those of Scandinavian ancestry who had been born in the Kingdom, including a man named Kolgrim, who was a Priest of Amun in Memphis, who became a lover of the Emperor after Semiramis died in childbirth in 784 BC.
The son she gave birth to, however, survived, and Magnus named him Manred and loved him dearly, both as the last gift given by Semiramis who, despite their arranged marriage, came to mean a great deal to him, and because he thought he could never have children due to a bad dream he had as a teenager where he interpreted Frigga cursing his loins for some unknown transgression.
Manred was the apple of his father's eye as the saying goes, and the Prince grew up spoiled, first in Egypt than as the 780s came to a close in Norway where Magnus and Kolgrim decided to resettle.
Homosexuality (or in Magnus' case, bisexuality) as we understand was not deemed a moral crime in ancient Germanic law or society, but neither was it seen as desirable as it prevented procreation. Those who engaged in it were not shunned or treated differently, so long as they acted discreetly, keeping it to themselves in their homes. 
Magnus and Kolgrim did just this, with the Emperor never remarrying and maintaining a loving bond with the Norse-Egyptian for the rest of his life, Kolgrim acting as an uncle to Manred.
Another uncle important to Manred's development was his grandfather's adopted brother Steinmund. His great uncle, though an elderly man, was still as agile and strong as he was during Torric's early reign, playing with Manred, teaching him swordsmanship, reading, and horseback riding. 
Two other important people in the young Prince's life (and his father's) was Paanmeny, the Imperial family's doctor who Magnus brought back from Egypt and Ankhkherednefer, the guardian of the Palace, Scribe to Magnus, and a General.
Ankhkherednefer would, during the early reign of Manred, begin and complete a history of the House of Odin up to Manred's reign entitled The Lives of The Emperors of the North which would one day, centuries later, make its way to the Library of Alexandria in Egypt and copies of it went to Britain where Arthur Pendragon and his successors, descendants of the House of Odin and Magnus and Manred, read it with relish. 
Magnus the Red enjoyed a happy reign with his son and partner by his side. Despite acquiring his byname in an act of violence he was far from a brutal man, having a heart of kindness and understanding to both the high and low born in his Empire. When he fell ill in the fall of 755 BC Kolgrim nursed him night and day for two months, never leaving his bedside unless matters were urgent.
During this time Manred took his first steps in terms of rulership, governing the Empire in his father's name. Then, in late November, Magnus died, his son and partner beside him when he passed.


Manred

One of the last acts of Magnus' reign before he slipped into sickness was to appoint Nesibanebdjedet, the son of Iuwelot, as High Priest of Amun and Governor of Egypt, who in turn named Manred Usermaatre Setepenre Shoshenq. 
Kolgrim, on the young Emperor's request, stayed on as an advisor in the Imperial Court, as did Ankhkherednefer, and he kept Paanmeny in his employ, valuing the man's medical skills.
His great uncle Steinmund, white bearded and bald, was a constant figure at Court, never missing a day despite his nephew's requests he take it easy. Steinmund's energy continued for several more years, advising his nephew and even arranging his marriage to his cousin, Princess Naomi of Judah, daughter of King Uzziah and great granddaughter to King Jehoash. 
In 750 BC Steinmund passed away from natural causes, Manred having his body cremated per his wishes and sent the ashes to Nubia where the elderly man wanted them buried with his ancestors.
Shortly after Steinmund's death Naomi gave birth to a son whom Manred named David in honour of the great King of Israel both he and his wife shared as an ancestor.
In 748 BC a rebellion began in Egypt under a man named Pedubast, a General of Libyan descent who attacked and took Thebes with the aid of the Ma tribe, killing Nesibanebdjedet and establishing his base there and for the next several years Manred led armies against him, none able to oust the usurper, forcing the Emperor to divide Egypt in half between them, with Upper Egypt going to Pedubast and Lower Egypt remaining under Imperial rule. 
In the aftermath of losing Upper Egypt Manred selected a younger brother of Nesibanebdjedet, Harsiese, to be the new High Priest of Amun and Governor of Lower Egypt.
For the next several years an uneasy tension existed between Upper and Lower Egypt, Manred making it quite clear he intended on restoring control to the entire Kingdom, and was amassing an army of unprecedented size in order to do it. 
In 739 BC Manred struck, invading Upper Egypt at the head of an army comprising thousands, mostly Germanic warriors pulled from Denmark, Sweden, and Germany, chosen for their brutality and strength. Manred was not taking any chances and wanted only the best in his attempts at reconquest.
Pedubast was dead by then, having passed away in 742 BC, leaving his son Rudamun as Pharaoh of Upper Egypt. Redamun, untried in war, was utterly overwhelmed by this giant assault and retreated inside Thebes. A horrible mistake. 
In a month long siege Manred took the city, destroying Pedubast's Dynasty, but he did not kill Rudamun as one may expect. He understood the boy (still only nineteen) was out of his depth. In exchange for an oath of loyalty Manred promised to train him in the ways of war and make him a General in his armies, a offer Rudamun gratefully accepted. 
Rudamun would become a valued General of Manred's and serve well into David's reign. His daughter, Irbastudjanefu, would marry Harsiese's son and successor Nimlot.
After the reconquest of Upper Egypt Manred returned to Norway where he was able to see out the rest of his reign in peace.
Prior to his death he managed to arrange the marriage of David to Livia, the adopted daughter of Numa Pomilius, the second King of Rome, and the biological daughter of Rome's first King, Romulus, securing an ally in the Kingdom of Rome. 
Manred died in 730 BC, his death was followed by Kolgrim's soon after, the elderly man committing suicide over the loss of the Emperor who he considered a son, casting a dark cloud over David's accession to power.


David

David, unlike all his ancestors, never stepped foot outside Norway during his reign. Named as Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq in Egypt the Emperor gave little care for that particular province, entirely disrespecting the effort his father put in to recover it. Luckily for David, Harsiese and then Nimlot were able Governors who, by his neglect of Egypt, became the virtual Pharaohs themselves though of course they never took the title. 
A man of lust and pleasure, David threw himself into drinking binges and sleeping with the daughters of his nobility (with or without their consent). His father's spoiling gave him a classic case of 'spoiled brat' syndrome but unlike many he never grew out of it.
As he was utterly incapable (and unwilling) to rule, David handed the reins of government over to Hjalti, the son of Steinmund and his wife Alva, an Norse-Egyptian woman who came to Norway when Magnus returned. 
To his great credit Hjalti Steinmundsson did a wonderful job keeping the Empire together during David's 'rule' as his sovereign ran around drinking, fucking, and wasting his days away on the finest meats, sweets, and clothing he could buy. 
While the Emperor was drinking and partying in Norway, in other parts of his Empire things were turning south. In the Kingdom of Northern Israel Hoshea, a military man selected to be King by David after the former monarch, Pekah, had been assassinated (by Hoshea no less. David didn't care) was facing increasing threats by the Assyrians.
Things became so bad that Hoshea was contemplating switching loyalties to the Assyrians, but Hjalti managed to keep Northern Israel within the Empire for awhile, despite the hostilities the Assyrians were showing. 
In 727 BC, amid his almost nightly sexual affairs, David managed to get Livia pregnant before promptly telling her he wasn't interested in her anymore and shacking up with a Dark Elven mistress.
Livia, raised by the pious Numa, took strength from her faith in the Roman Gods, especially the Goddesses Diana and Minerva, and continued to reside in Trondheim as Empress, helping Hjalti govern the Empire, the two forming a close (platonic) friendship. 
In 726 BC Livia gave birth to a daughter whom she named Thorunn, both in honour of the great women of David's family and for Hjalti's maternal grandmother who helped as a midwife during her labour. David, drunk on the day his daughter was born (June 15th), never even learned about it until a day later, upon which he celebrated by getting hammered some more.
In 722 BC Northern Israel was invaded by Assyria and Hoshea, unable to defend his realm with his army and the small Imperial garrison, had no choice but to flee by ship, getting blown off course by a storm heading for Norway, and ending up in Japan of all places, at this time still a patchwork of different Kingdoms and tribes, where he met Queen Himiko of the Yamato Kingdom in what is now the Nara Prefecture on the island of Honshu, a descendant of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. 
Hoshea went on to marry Himiko and become King of Yamoto as King Osee, and their descendants would play a vital role in Japan's unification.
How the Emperor managed to survive until 712 BC is anyone's guess, but his hard living lifestyle eventually caught up with David and one day while attending Court he started suddenly throwing up blood. 
Horrified he called for the Court physician but it was too late. He past out on the floor and died minutes later. Thorunn was proclaimed Empress publicly a day later.


Thorunn III

Like many of her predecessors Thorunn III came to the throne as a young child, being twelve when she took the Crown from her father. Livia and Hjalti Steinmundsson acted as her regnants, continuing on the same pattern they had prior to David's death. 
In Egypt Thorunn III was recognized as Kapes II, Nimlot governing the Kingdom in her name and asserting his influence so much so that some in the North whispered he wished to become Pharaoh, but these were baseless rumours. Nimlot remained loyal to the Crown as his family had since Thorgest had been appointed High Priest all those generations before.
At fifteen Thorunn became Empress, her mother employing a single bodyguard for her instead of the traditional ten man unit the monarchs of the past used.
This bodyguard, known as a Housecarl, was named Ragnar Thorirsson, who hailed from eastern Denmark and had grown up in a semi nomadic family of deer hunters and fishermen.
Not wanting such a life for himself Ragnar joined the military at eighteen and saw service in Northern Israel, being among those few Imperial soldiers who survived the Assyrian invasion and returned to Northern Europe. 
Now, as a battle hardened warrior despite his youth, Ragnar was appointed to be Thorunn's near constant companion, an arrangement the young Empress found annoying at first but, promising her mother she would try it, kept him on.
Ragnar grew on her and over time Thorunn slowly started to develop feelings for the Housecarl. By eighteen she proposed marriage (an unheard of thing) and Ragnar accepted, being crowned Emperor consort and bestowed the name of Pami, meaning the Cat, by Nimlot. 
In 700 BC Thorunn gave birth to their only child, a son she named Jeremiah, a nod to her Jewish heritage of which she took pride.
In 695 BC, a revolt started in Egypt, led by a seer known as Seti who claimed to speak with the God Osiris. The God, he said, was unhappy with how the people lived, bowing to foreign powers, forgetting the ways of their ancestors. He, Seti, had been sent to cleanse the two Lands (Upper and Lower Egypt) and bring about the expulsion of all foreigners.
Dozens flocked to the seer, those down on hard times, those who harboured hatred, and those who simply wanted adventure. The rebel army attacked Thebes and Memphis, both times being repulsed by Nimlot who led the Imperial army against them.
Seti fled into the Sinai after the failed assault on Memphis where he began conducting raids into the Kingdom, burning villages and killing their people, proclaiming Anubis was sanctifying their souls by allowing them to escape their mortal slavery. 
Thorunn and Ragnar arrived late in April, bringing five hundred men to quash the rebellion. The Empress led the charge into the Sinai, her Housecarl and Governor beside her.
Throughout May, 695 BC the Sinai was filled with bloodshed as the two sides fought a brutal war. Seti's men, using the barren terrain to their advantage, set up ambushes and laid traps, killing a hundred Imperial soldiers in two weeks alone.
Then, on June 3rd, Thorunn herself was killed while leading a scouting party back towards Egypt to see if a rebel raiding party had slipped past them.
Seti, laying in ambush,  attacked the Empress and her men near the Reed Sea. Thorunn fought hard to save her men, giving orders for them to save themselves, but they refused to abandon her.
In all thirty died, including Thorunn, who was speared through the stomach.
Ragnar, a professional soldier to the last, kept his composure through his grief and continued on, leading the campaign in his wife's memory, until finally bringing Seti to Justice in September, executing him on the spot with an axe. 
When the Housecarl returned to Norway he had his son Crowned Emperor and set about securing his throne, knowing there were those who wished a distant cousin to take it instead.
He spent the rest of the year killing would be rebels, protecting Jeremiah's claim. Then Ragnar settled into his role as regnant, raising his son as a single father and ruling an Empire, a far cry from the humble life of hunter and fisherman he came from.


Jeremiah

Jeremiah took the reins of government from his father in 685 BC, at fifteen, his Egyptian regnal name being Aakheperre Shoshenq. 
Jeremiah's early reign was catagorized by his willingness to listen to his nobles when they asked for tax breaks, saying they couldn't afford them. He, naive and trusting, agreed, leading to resentment among the commoners who wondered why they had to continue paying their regular amount when much of the time they could barely afford it.
Ragnar cautioned his son not to favor anyone. He needed to rule fairly, not give in to every sob story he heard, but it took the young Emperor a few years to fully take this lesson to heart as he wanted to make everyone happy and feel safe. 
In his twentieth year the Emperor, while on pilgrimage to the Temple of Uppsala, met Freydis Arnsdottir, a priestess of Ostara, a Goddess of fertility and good harvests.
Freydis, a German of Swedish ancestry, was twenty three, and deeply religious, her focus being on the Temple, she barely noticed the Emperor but he certainly took note of her.
He tried convicing her to return to Norway with him but each time the priestess refused, stating her duty to the Gods overrode any earthly mission.
But, when Jeremiah promised to build her a Temple dedicated to Ostara in Trondheim and name her High Priestess, Freydis changed her mind, and agreed to return home with him.
This did not mean she was his. He had to work for that, monarch or not.  It took him a good year to win her over (even though she had liked him nearly from the first). The two, however, never married, but lived together in the Imperial Palace as husband and wife nonetheless. 
In 679 BC Nimlot passed away and Jeremiah appointed his son Takelot to be the next High Priest of Amun and Governor of Egypt. In the same year Freydis gave birth to their son and the Emperor's heir, Levi, named in honour of Jeremiah's distant ancestor Levi.
In 677 BC they had another son, Thorrin, who would become a close companion to his older brother. In 675 BC the family was completed with the birth of a daughter, Ragnhilda, who would become wife of Takelot's son and successor Osorkon.
Jeremiah enjoyed a stable reign, seeing no wars or strife among the people. In Egypt he appointed a family of Nubian military officers who would become administrators in Lower Egypt and later become known as the Nubian Dynasty even though, technically, they never ruled with a royal title.
Their leader, Piye, was from the city of Napata in modern Sudan. A devout man who regarded the Great God Amun as his patron deity, Piye took his office seriously, loyal to the House of Odin and through them the Gods.
Piye's family would continue rise in power until the days of his great grandson Tantamani in 568 BC when his descendants decided to return to Nubia.
Jeremiah reigned until 663 BC, dying of sickness.


Levi, Lord of Nara

Levi came to the throne at seventeen but had been prepared for it since he was old enough to speak by his father, Jeremiah not wanting his son to go through what he experienced.
The greatest test of his reign came only three years in when invaders arrived from the east, hundreds strong and battle hardened, under the command of a man named Jimmu.
Jimmu had spent the last several years in his own land uniting the various Kingdoms and tribes into a single nation, starting from his own Kingdom of Yamoto, creating the Empire of Japan.
Jimmu was a distant cousin to Levi, though there's little possibility he knew this. He was the grandson of Hoshea/Osee through his father, Hoori. His mother, Lan, was a Princess of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty, a descendant of King Wu of Zhou, who took the name of Tamayori once in Yamato. 
Why Jimmu decided to invade the West isn't entirely clear. He wanted to expand his Empire but knew the Kingdoms in present day China and Korea were too strong, so went searching for opportunities, believing he found one in Norway. 
The only problem was he hadn't stumbled upon a small Kingdom easy to conquer, but a strong Empire with a young Emperor more than ready to do battle.
Jimmu landed in southern Norway, entering the present day county of Rogaland and beginning his campaign only to be met by stern resistence by Hogni the White, Jarl of the largest village in the region. The Japanese and Nordic armies fought for hours in dense forestland, with dozens falling on each side, before Hogni eventually needed to retreat, Jimmu in hot pursuit.
Hogni died in the next battle but managed to hold the invaders back long enough for Levi to reach Rogaland and smash into the Imperial Japanese lines, cutting down five men with his own sword as he led the charge, no longer a boy, but winning his name as a man and warrior. His brother, though still a young boy, fought alongside him, Thorrin proving he lived up to being named after Thor.
Jimmu kept his men in formation and didn't allow them to retreat, locking them in a stalemate battle in the forest with the Nordic forces. The Japanese Emperor believed he could win if he could just find a loose end in the chain of the massive wall of Germanic warriors, and searched for one for hours, to no avail. 
Levi and his men broke through the stalemate within six hours, beating back the Japanese, sending them rushing to their ships in defeat.
Jimmu, his hand cut open by a sword wound, watched from his ship as the Germanic warriors crowded the shore, seeing the Japanese sail away.
Little did he know this wouldn't be the end of it. 
Using his resources Levi found out where this invasion force came from and then set out with his own army to Japan, intent on teaching Jimmu a lesson.
In late 660 BC  Levi landed on Honshu and quickly took the port city of Nara, surprising the whole Empire as this was the first invasion of its history.
Jimmu met the invaders just as Levi had and the two battled across what used to be the coast of the Yamoto Kingdom, with Levi winning three victories in a row, severely damaging the Emperor's reputation as a divine representative of the Gods. 
Jimmu, fearing what losing more battles would do, or even worse, if he lost the war, to his newly made Empire, sought peace instead of taking chances.
In exchange for peace he was willing to cede Nara and the lands surrounding it to Levi and his successors, give him deals on trade goods, and offer his eldest child, his daughter Princess Misaki, as wife.
Levi accepted the peace offerings and declared himself Levi of Nara, taking on the noble title of Lord of Nara which would from then on become a title each successive Emperor and Empress used.
Returning to the West in victory the Northern Emperor Crowned Misaki Empress in Trondheim and the two had a happy, if not romantic, marriage.
The conquest of Nara allowed Japanese and Europeans to move freely between Japan and Scandinavia, Egypt, and Germany. Many Europeans settled in Nara city and visa versa, with twelve Japanese families coming back to Trondheim with Levi, settling in and intermarrying with the Germanic population. 
In 657 BC Misaki gave birth to a son whom Levi named Balder. In 655 BC the Empress gave birth again, this time to a daughter she was able to name, giving her the name of her grandmother Tamayori.
Princess Tamayori would marry into Italian nobility, marrying Atticus Claudius, a nobleman of the Sabine tribe and with him she became an ancestor to Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, the first of the Claudi family to migrate to Rome in 500 BC, who in turn would become ancestor to the future Emperors of Rome, including Claudius and Nero, as well as British Kings through Claudius' daughter Julia Venus. 
Levi of Nara, as he liked to call himself after his conquest, ruled his Empire well after his peace with Jimmu, but there was still difficulties.
In 655 BC the Assyrians invaded Egypt yet again, this time defeating the Imperial forces before Levi could mobilize any relief efforts, leaving him with no option but to accept the loss of the province and Ethiopia.
Takelot was executed and his son Osorkon put in his place as High Priest of Amun but, unlike his ancestors, he did not receive the Governorship of Egypt. Instead that position went to Piye, who outwardly pretended to swear loyalty to the Assyrian King but in secret conspired with Osorkon and other nobles to restore the House of Odin.
This effort though did not happen overnight, and Assyrian rule in Egypt and Ethiopia went on until 637 BC when Levi, finally amassing enough resources in both Egypt and the North, marched against the Assyrians and defeated them in open battle, winning back the Kingdoms for his House and restoring his regnal name, Menkheperre  Necho, to himself.
The reconquest of Egypt was Levi's last great achievement. In honour of Osorkon's sacrifice (he died in the climatic battle) Levi named his son Harsiese as High Priest of Amun and allowed Piye to continue as Governor of Egypt until his death in 633 BC when he transferred it to Hariese. 
Harsiese would govern Egypt until 610 BC. He had no sons, only daughters, so the High priesthood and Governorship that had been in his family since the time of his ancestor Thorgest was passed on to another clan, that of Piye's, who's grandson, Haremakhet, became High Priest of Amun and Governor, marrying Harsiese's daughter, Tia.
Haremakhet and Tia's daughter, Tesrat, would marry Levi's son Balder, becoming Empress in his reign, her regnal name being Mehytenweskhet.
Levi passed away in 600 BC, after a rule spanning 63 years. Freydis outlived him by two months, soon following her son into the Otherworld.


Balder III

Balder, the third of his name, was, like his ancestor Ivarr, keenly interested in Egyptian affairs from the outset of his reign, wanting to make the Kingdom stronger. His regnal name was Wahibre Psamtik and under this name Balder made contact with Gyges, King of Lydia, a Kingdom in Anatolia, who sent him Greek and Carians, a people of Anatolia, mercenaries. He used these warriors to put down a rebellion in Memphis and other cities in Upper Egypt, small rebellions which were easy to crush. 
He rewarded his mercenaries with great wealth and asked them to stay on with him, which they agreed. Balder sent the Greeks to the fort at Daphnae on Lake Manzala, and sent the Carians to Elephantine island in order to keep possible Nubian raiders away.
As a middle aged man when he came to the throne, Balder did not have much energy for combat, having seen enough during his service with his father in 637 BC to defeat the Assyrians. Instead he devoted himelf to scholarly pursuits. 
He wrote a history of his family, from Odin to his father, which he left untitled but in it he included every major aspect of each reign of every Emperor and Empress who sat on the throne. He had it copied and sent to his relatives in Egypt and the other Germanic countries. Like other histories mentioned previously, this book would end up in the Library of Alexandria and into the hands of Kings and nobles for many centuries to come. 
In his later years, around 583 BC Balder became embroiled in war with the city of Ashdod, which was at that time a Philistine controlled city in present day Israel. He laid siege to it for twenty eight days before taking it and executing the leaders who sponsored raids on Egypt. He allowed the remaining nobility and citizens to live provided they stayed friendly with Egypt from then on out, which they did.
Balder III passed away in 580 BC, being succeeded by his son Sigurd, a product of his affair with a half Norse, half Japanese woman named Astrid. 


Sigurd

Sigurd's reign started with chaos, the Egyptian border country becoming overrun by the Cimmerian and Scythian peoples, allying together to harass the Egyptian frontier.
To counter this Sigurd went to Egypt where he was named Necho II by Haremakhet and quickly made an alliance with the Assyrian King Ashur-uballit II, who ruled a remnant of what his ancestors once did, the Assyrian Empire having fallen into ruin. 
This alliance did too, within a year of Sigurd's accession Ashur-uballit II was dead, killed by Cimmerians and Scythians who besieged his capital of Harran, leaving Sigurd to stand against them alone.
In 579 BC Sigurd went on the offensive trying to aid the last remnents of the Assyrian Empire, invading the Leventine region and fighting the Scythians.
The Scythians, an Iranian-Israelite people, were expert horse warriors and like the Germanic people had capable female fighters. They clashed several times. In the Battle of Magdolos he slew the Scythian King and two hundred of his men, driving the rest back out of the Levent. 
After the Battle of Magdolos he stripped the King and his soldiers of their clothing, sending them to the city of Miletus in Anatolia where he ordered them to be offered to the God Apollo as tribute, the Emperor a follower of the Olympian Gods who he learned about in his youth from Greek tutors his father employed for him.
He failed to save the Assyrian Empire however and returned to Egypt with the knowledge that the nation his ancestors helped build fell into ruin.
In 575 BC the Emperor, who remained in Egypt, went out again to war, this time against the Babylonians, who took over an Egyptian colony called Kumukh on the Upper Euphrates river.
Sigurd captured the city and slaughtered the Babylonian soldiers stationed within, allowing not one to remain alive. Following this victory the Germanic-Egyptian army marched on, meeting the Babylonian army under their King, Nebuchadnezzar II in the Battle of Carchemish in present day Northern Syria.
Here Sigurd led a charge into the enemy lines, riding a black stallion into the Babylonian infantry, his sword chopping down on those unlucky enough to be close by. He weaved and swerved, killing as he went, his men coming behind him.
It was a brutal task. Sigurd's battle prowess lent much to the Imperial fight but the Babylonians remained resolute, not allowing them to force them back. One soldier, an Assyrian in Babylonian employ, attacked the Emperor and brought him down off his horse, striking his leg with his spear, running through skin and bone.
Howling in pain the Emperor was dragged off the battlefield by aids and this shot down Imperial morale. The Babylonians capitalized on it, forcing a complete reversal and destroying the Germamic-Egyptian army, leaving barely any survivors. A thousand dead.
The Babylonian King pressed his advantage, absorbing Egyptian territory up to the Brook of Egypt, crushing the influence of Egypt in the Middle East, and soon thereafter they invaded the Kingdom, but Haremakhet, leading the Imperial army in the name of Sigurd, repulsed them.
The Emperor would survive his battle wound but lose his leg, needing to use crutches and ride horses for the rest of his life.
Sigurd returned to Norway where he stayed for decades until 518 BC when, at eighty one, he went back to Egypt to wage war one last time.
The Iranian Empire under Camyses, the son of Cyrus the Great, was encroaching on Egypt, and the allies of the Kingdom, the Cypriot Greeks, joined them, leaving the Egyptians and their Scandinavian and German counterparts alone.
Sigurd led his armies into the Battle of Pelusium in May of 518 BC. His daughter and heir Merinelda commanded the right wing and Harkhebi, the son and successor of Haremakhet, the left wing.
It was a short and decisive battle. The Emperor died in the thick of it, on horseback holding his sword high yelling orders, his mane of white hair whipping in the wind, a perfect image of a heroic Germanic warrior, but instead of victory that would accompany this image in our Sacred legends and Myths, it was followed by a horrible defeat.
Fifty thousand Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Germanic warriors died that day, while seven thousand Iranians died. Merinelda and Harkhebi fled the field when it became clear there was no winning, taking refuge in Memphis where Cambyses besieged them.
Harkhebi would die in this siege, leading the archers along the city walls, and Merinelda, forced to accept the loss of provinces her ancestors had held for so long, surrendered to Cambyses.
The Iranian King allowed her to live but expelled her and all Germanic people from Egypt and Ethiopia, whether born in the country or permanently residing there or soldiers, all were exiled.
Merinelda led them back to Scandinavia where she was Crowned as Empress in a somber ceremony.


Merinelda

Born to Sigurd and his German wife Mathhild in 540 BC, late in the Emperor's life, Merinelda was taught, like her father, by Greek tutors, her favorite being Amyntas of Ionia who stayed on when she became Empress to act as her advisor.
The battle of Pelusium and the subsquent siege of Memphis put her off of warfare, and instead Merinelda focused her attention on strengthening what remained of her provinces. 
In 510 BC she visited the city of Nara and dined with Emperor Itoku and his wife, Princess Amonotoytotsu. Relations between the Northern Empire and the Empire of Japan had been friendly and peaceful since the days of Jimmu and Levi, with much back and forth between the two States.
There were many Japanese families in Scandinavia who could trace their roots back to the early days of the Lordship of Nara, and some who came in the successive generations, and visa versa, hundreds of Germanic, Egyptian, and Ethiopian families lived in Nara, some for over a hundred years.
Merinelda made it clear she wanted this to continue, for both Empires to benefit from their friendship. 
When the Empress left Nara she headed to the State of Qin in China, receiving a letter from the Qin Duke, Ai, while still in Japan, asking to meet.
The meeting went well and opened up new avenues of trade and commerce with China, and forming a lasting friendship between Ai and Merinelda, who would write many letters to the Duke for the remainder of her life.
Back home in Norway Merinelda did not marry but had a relationship with her closest advisor, Ulf Anvaldsson, the son of a soldier and Greco-Egyptian woman who his father brought back during Sigurd's first campaign in Egypt. His mother, Berenice, was descended from Athenians who settled in Egypt in the 640s BC.
In 508 BC Merinelda gave birth to her first child, a son she named Ulf after his father, and in 503 BC she gave birth to twins, Anvald and Berenice.
All three of Merinelda and Ulf's children made it to adulthood, with Ulf and Anvald becoming an Emperor and Jarl respectively, while Berenice was given in marriage to Alexander I of Macedonia, becoming the mother of his children, and thus a direct ancestor of Alexander the Great.
In 484 BC Merinelda began experiencing chest pains that persisted over several months. She ignored them and continued to hold Court until one night in early November when, while preparing for bed with Ulf, another attack happened, taking her life.


Ulf I

Ulf Ulfssons reign was a quiet one. Raised on his mother's tales of Egypt he didn't seek war and instead put a focus on visiting each province and shoring up support for his rule. Like his mother Ulf valued his friendship with the Qin State and in 477 BC he traveled there after visiting Nara and the Japanese capital to see Emperor Itoku.
Qin's new Duke, Ligong, welcomed the son of Merinelda who he remembered seeing as a young boy at his father's Court.
Ulf and his group of Housecarls aided Ligong in repelling raids from the Rong Kingdom during their stay, the Emperor showing that, even if he didn't desire war he could still be a fearsome warrior when he needed to be.
The Rong attacked once more near the close of June, 477 BC, and Ulf and Ligong again led the defense, the Germanic Emperor outshining his Chinese counterpart only in his horseback riding, Ligong and he evenly matched in sword skill.
As a reward for his services, and to show his appreciation for the continuing friendship between their two peoples, Ligong offered the hand of his cousin, Ying Wu, to Ulf.
Ying Wu, a beautiful lady of the Qin Court and, like Ligong, a descendant of the founder of Qin, Ying Feizei, did not like this announcement. She saw the westerner as a barbarian.
To this Ulf laughed and took no offense. He accepted her hand in marriage even as she told him to his face he was beneath her and with Ligong's blissing he took her away back to Norway.
Ying Wu did not resist or kick and scream. She accepted her fate stoically, but for the next year she never missed an opportunity to mock or ridicule her husband and his culture, using her serving maids (who had been Qin noblewomen educated in the West) to do it.
But Ulf, through his genuine kindness and tenderness, eventually won her over. In 473 BC Ying Wu gave birth to Ulf's son and heir, also named Ulf.
In 470 BC she gave birth to another son, Thorstein, who would become Jarl of Sweden and an ancestor to the House of Munso through Bjorn Ironside's wife.
Ulf I ruled his Empire until 420 BC, dying of old age. Ying Wu, heartbroken, followed soon after.


Ulf II

The most important event in Ulf II's reign was his invasion and reconquest of Egypt, and by extension Ethiopia, from the Iranians. As a small boy at his father's knee he learned of his great grandfather Sigurd's death in the Battle of Pelusium and his grandmother's flight into Memphis and her valiant attempts to hold it.
From then on he dreamt of becoming a warrior and reclaiming his family's lost honour and lands in Northern Africa. To this end he trained daily under his uncle Anvald and his father's soldiers to build up muscle and get stronger.
By the time he became Emperor in 420, he was middle aged and thick with muscle. Almost immediately he invaded Egypt, quickly advancing and taking the Nile Delta, basing himself in Sais. 
Ulf II declared himself Pharaoh, taking the regnal name of Amenirdisu. His campaign lasted a decade and more, until finally in 404 BC he claimed the entirety of Egypt as his own, reestablishing the House of Odin as the royal Dynasty after a hundred years stripped of the Egyptian throne, having won it with the aid of Spartan soldiers, having made an alliance with the Greek city State in return for grain. 
This deal for grain was the second time Ulf II made a deal with the Spartans, the first was a marriage contract in 434 BC between himself and Princess Helen, named after her legendary relative of Trojan War fame, and daughter of King Pleistoanax.
In 403 BC Ulf named his son, Harald, the product of his marriage with Helen, Governor of Egypt, investing him with the power of his army and near total unlimited power.
Unfortunately for Ulf his son was envious of him and five years later Harald would rise up in rebellion against him, declaring himself Pharaoh under the name Nayfaurud. Ulf went to Egypt but not for war, he wanted to talk his son out of this madness.
Instead Harald attacked him with his army at Memphis, capturing the ancient city and taking his father's prisoner.
In front of thousands Harald Ulfsson executed his father, beheading him and holding up his head as proof he was now both Pharaoh and Emperor.


Harald the Kinslayer

Given the byname of Kinslayer by those who disapproved of his usurpation of the throne Harald initially stayed in Egypt for several years after becoming Emperor and Pharaoh, but by 393 BC he went to Norway where he established his Court.
Not much can be said of his reign beyond how it started as he was not an especially ambitious man beyond wanting power. He did order building projects in Egypt and Sweden, repairing the Temple of Uppsala, where he went on pilgrimage in 380 BC, praying to Odin for wisdom and help in battle should he need it.
In 360 BC, while on a visit to Egypt Harald was ambushed and assassinated in the Temple of Amun in Thebes just as he knelt down to offer prayers.
His killer, Hakor, claimed to be a son of Harald's born out of wedlock to an Egyptian woman, but no record confirms this and seems to have been a propaganda piece. The assassin took Thebes soon thereafter and the rest of Egypt followed swiftly.
The House of Odin would never again rule it, the Black land and Ethiopia becoming independent Kingdoms once more, only for Egypt to be reconquered by the Iranians again, and then by descendants of the House of Odin, Alexander the Great, and his half brother, Ptolemy. 


Kassandra

The daughter of Harald and his Athenian mistress, Kassandra came to the throne following her father's murder at the age of twenty. Many nobles urged her to attack Egypt again, to retake it for her ancestors, but she refused, but in return she promised to conquer a new land for their people.
To this end he contacted Tyre, a Kingdom in modern day Lebanon who had the best sailors in the world. She made an alliance with its King, Eugoras.
In secret the two planned an expedition into the Atlantic ocean to a land Eugoras' ancestors had gone to centuries before and where Kassandra wanted to begin a new colony.
In 358 BC, along with Prince Ishbaal of Tyre, the Empress led a combined Germanic-Tyrian fleet into the Atlantic ocean, sailing for weeks until they came ashore in what is today the modern U.S State of Georgia.
From the shore the combined Germanic-Tyrian expeditionary force pushed inland, coming into hostile contact with Native American tribes who, understandably, found it concerning a large force of obviously foreign people was coming into their land.
Three battles were fought, Kassandra and Ishbaal able to protect their ships and beat back the attackers, killing two hundred of them while losing forty men themselves.
The Empress and Prince succeeded in founding a colony, named Haraldstead in honour of Kassandra's late father, which would grow into a small but successful colony for the remainder of the Empire's history, with several families from Norway, Sweden, and Germany being among the founders along with a dozen Tyrian ones.
Once the settlement was established and peace made between the settlers and the tribes, Kassandra and Ishbaal returned to their respective homes.
In 355 BC Kassandra married Leontius, an Athenian nobleman of the Alcmaenidae clan, an important noble family who traced its ancestry back to King Nestor of Pylos who served in the Trojan War.
Together with Leontius the Empress had one child in 350 BC, a son she named Ulf in memory of her grandfather. 
Empress Kassandra died in 320 BC, greatly beloved by the people of Norway for lowering taxes when crop failure happened in 322 BC, and offering them relief food from the royal stores, proving herself to be a compassionate and selfless monarch.


Ulf III

Ulf III's accession to the throne coincided with the Republic of Rome becoming more dominate in Italy and in other parts of Europe and Africa.
He took notice, seeing the potential the Italian city State could have, reaching out to Rome in friendship in the latter half of his reign in 278 BC, brokering a friendship treaty in 275 and marrying Cornelia, the daughter of Consul Lucius Cornelius Lentulus. 
This treaty gave Rome the Empire's word that should she need it, the Emperors and his armies would march alongside the Roman legions as equals to face any enemy. The first war that saw this happen was soon after Ulf's marriage to Cornelia when he marched alongside her father into the tribal territory of the Samnites, an Italian tribe rebelling against Roman authority.
Ulf and his men helped Rome squash the rebellion but the Emperor did not return to the city with his father in law to enjoy his victory celebration, wishing to go home to Trondheim.
Cornelia gave birth to a son in 273 BC who Ulf named Frey after the God Freyr. Unfortunately Ulf did not live to see his son grow up, dying while stopping a raid from Germany on Norwegian soil, led by a rebel, Sibert of the Franks. 
Sibert did not rule the Franks proper but acted on his own accord seeking to become Emperor himself and believing he could take the throne if his ragtag band of men invaded Norway. Ulf and his warriors met them and slaughtered every last one, but the Emperor's horse was killed from under him during the last few minutes of the battle and he was thrown, landing on his head and breaking his neck.


Frey

Frey's mother ruled in his name until 258 BC when he took the throne in both name and authority at fifteen. His reign was largely uneventful, he ruled as a conservative monarch in terms of religious practices. He was a staunch Germanic Pagan while his immediate ancestors had been followers of Greek Gods alongside the Aesir.
Frey went to Uppsala yearly, offering gold, wine, and meat to the Gods and their human servants in exchange for their blessings. The God he felt closest to was not Freyr as one may assume, but Jord, Mother Earth and mother of Thor.
A deeply spiritual man Frey would go on 'retreats' into the forest weekly, seeking the landsvettir, the spirits of the land, and tried communing with the Elves, who had begun to leave Midgard due to how violent and chaotic humans were becoming. He had some success, but none would return in his reign.
In 248 BC, while walking through Trondheim, the Emperor spotted a woman at a meat vendor's stall. With long brownish red hair, flawless white skin, and dark brown eyes, she caught his attention immediately. He approached, asking her name.
She was Thora Domarsdottir, daughter of Domar the Butcher, with no noble or warrior blood to speak of in her immediate family. This, however, did not matter to Frey who was captivated by her beauty.
Everyday after for two months he came by her father's shop, speaking with her and learning more about her, over time becoming as intrigued by her personality as he was with her looks, coming to love her for who she was, not just due to lust. 
In 247 BC they were married and by the following year Thora gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Solvi who would go on to marry into the Antonia family of Rome and become an ancestor to Marcus Antonius, lover of Cleopatra.
In 245 BC they had another child, this time a son whom they named Aldric and he would be Frey's heir.
Frey reigned until 210 BC, spending his rule as a loving family man and being remembered as an honest and good Emperor, but also remembered for sending soldiers into the Second Punic War for Rome.


Aldric 

The Second Punic war would be where Aldric made his name as Emperor. Upon his father's death in 210 BC he joined his men on the battlefield as their monarch, fighting alongside the Roman soldiers at the battles of Numistro and Canusium against the invading forces of Carthage, both of which Rome and the Empire lost, leaving thousands dead.
Aldric continued serving after these defeats, going to North Africa in 203 BC with the legions and helping them score several victories against the Carthaginians, and being with the Roman army under Gaius Laelius at the Battle of Cirta where they defeated Syphax, King of Numidia in present day Alegria.
The final battle that Aldric and his Germanic warriors took part in was the decisive Battle of Zama in October of 202 BC where Roman General Publius Cornelius Scipio clashed with the Carthagian Master General Hannibal, the man who nearly sacked Rome several years before.
Aldric, the Wolf and Raven Banners of the Empire flying behind him, led the Germanic cavalry alongside Scipio that day and aided in winning the victory. Five hundred of his men died, and he lost his left arm, having it hacked off when he was knocked from his horse and an Carthagian soldier chopped down on it with his blade.
But he survived, returning to Trondheim a hero.
In 196 BC Aldric married the Spartan Princess Gorgo, daughter of King Nabis, the last independent Spartan King to hold the throne.
Nabis, descended from Heracles and a long line of Spartan Kings, being a direct descendant of King Demaratus of Sparta, was an enemy of Rome so for Aldric to marry into his family was an act of betrayal to the Romans, but be that as it may, they did not take action against him. Aldric, for his part, remained out of Spartan affairs and did not offer to fight alongside his father in law, but did send a thousand Germanic troops to him.
It did little good. In 192 BC, a year after Gorgo gave birth to their son Alexander, Nabis was assassinated outside Sparta's walls by Aetolian soldiers who he thought were there to act as allies.
Aldric did not seek revenge for his father in law's death, but gave him honours in Uppsala.
Aldric would reign until 173 BC when he died of natural causes. 


Alexander

Alexander came to the throne as a young man, dreaming of glory like his father won in North Africa and his ancestors had in Egypt and Japan over the centuries. But he did not see an opportunity to win his own until years after coming to power.
In 148 BC, the Macedonian Kingdom was without a King as Rome, in her ruthless efforts to conquer Greece captured Macedonia's last King, Andriscus. Seeing this and believing, for whatever bizarre reason, he had a claim to the throne by being distantly related to the former ruling Argead Dynasty due to his ancestral aunt Berenice, Alexander mobilized his forces and invaded Macedonia from Thrace (present day Bulgaria). 
Taking the Romans completely by surprise Alexander was able to conquer Macedonia and establish the House of Odin there. He ruled in northern Greece for a year, in which time he built up his image of being a new Alexander the Great who would free Greece from Roman rule.
By 147 BC, however, the Romans had mobilized their legions and marched into Macedonia under Quintus Caecilius Metellus, the man who defeated Andriscus. In an open battle outside the Macedonian capital of Pella Alexander lost, losing half of his army and being driven from the country. Metellus pursued him as far as Dardania in the Balkans but gave up the chase soon after.
Returning to Norway humiliated and disgraced Alexander remained in Trondheim the rest of his reign, never even stepping foot outside the capital. The destruction of his army severely crippled the Empire as he took most of his troops with him and many died in Macedonia. It was a blow from which the Empire would never recover.
In the year following his return Alexander married Akio, a Japanese Princess, the daughter of Prince Ohiko and granddaughter of Emperor Kogen and his wife Empress Utsushikome.
Together with Princess Akio Alexander fathered two sons, Torvald in 145 BC and Balder in 142 BC. 
His loss of the Macedonian throne and his defeat at the hands of the Romans left him a shadow of his former self and he did not do much during the latter half of his reign, dying in 120 BC.


Torvald

Coming to the throne after his father's death Torvald did not make much impact upon the Empire. He tried, and failed, to rebuild the Imperial army, asking noblemen throughout the Empire to give him money for funding, which they resented.
Many saw it as pointless, seeing the defeat in Macedonia as an omen that they needed to stop being a culture built on war, but Torvald rejected this and insisted they pay.
He reigned ten years, dying by poison in 110 BC. He had married in 123 BC to Selene, a Roman Jewish woman who was the great granddaughter of Jason, the High Priest of Israel in 173 BC who was unpopular due to his pro Hellenization beliefs. In 168 BC he was forced into exile from Judea and headed to Rome with his wife and children.
Torvald had a son with Selene in 122 BC whom he named Balder after his younger brother, but as Balder was still a child, and the Empire was in dire straits, the nobles chose the elder Balder to rule as Emperor upon Torvald's death.


Balder IV

In 110 BC the Empire was in crisis. Noblemen across Norway, Denmark, and Sweden were tired of supporting a Imperial Dynasty that had fallen from grace and, to them, lost favor with the Gods.
In short order rebels arose and civil war engulfed the Northern lands. Balder did the best he could to hold his ancestral realm together, but slowly it broke apart. The first was Germany in 108 BC, the tribes succeeding in killing the Imperial Governor and as Balder was busy dealing with rebels in Norway he could not go and put them down, resulting in the region seceding from the Empire.
Next Sweden fell away, breaking off with the victory of Alf Olafsson against Imperial forces led by Swedish loyalist Ask Bjornsson, establishing a separate Kingdom under his rule.
Denmark and Finland followed by 105 BC, ending the Empire Odin built nearly a thousand years before. 
Once the Northern Empire fell the Germanic people began to spread out of Scandinavia and enter continental Europe . Tribes such as the Cimbri and Teutons, Goths, Vandals, Franks, Jutes and Angles all came from this homeland, forging new destinies for themselves and creating new Kingdoms and peoples such as the English and the French.
Balder IV accepted this destruction. He made no attempts to restore his family's rule over his lost domains, letting them become independent. He focused on raising his nephew.
In 103 BC he was killed by an assassin, and Norway fell into chaos, Jarls becoming Chieftains of their own tribes and regions.
Princess Akio, rising through the ashes of this hell, was able to retain control of Trondheim and ruled it in the name of her grandson until 95 BC when Balder Torvaldsson became King.
Balder Torvaldsson would not reunite Norway in his lifetime, but his descendants would continue to rule and would one day succeed. Other descendants of Balder Torvaldsson spread out from Norway, going to Scotland and England in later centuries, becoming ancestors to Scottish Clans such as Clan MacKinnon, Clan Donald, Clan Armstrong, Clan Stewart, Clan MacNeil, and Clan Gordon.
The House of Odin may be gone, but its influence can be felt in the millions of descendants it has left behind in nearly every corner of the world.

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