AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will continue updating A Trial in Arendelle, but this project is going to be my main focus for a while. It will not take place in the same universe as ATIA, as I am going to make it as canon-compliant as possible, with the exception of this universe having geographical foundations in our world. While I am going to use Norwegian language throughout, the kingdoms of Arendelle and the Southern Isles are NOT in Norway and Denmark respectively, which is how I justify the climate of the Southern Isles to be warmer. This is on what I call 'Disney Earth." I hope my OCs please you, readers, because I find the idea of continuing the story of one canonical character and inserting many OCs a bit off-putting, but I am planning for the appearances of other canonical characters as the story moves forward. I hope my story pleases the Frozen fandom anyway. This is going to be an epic, so expect it to take a while to complete. Thank you, and please review my story if you feel compelled to do so (with KIND critique, if you please). Enjoy!
SUMMARY: Prince Hans could only ever barely keep his head above water. Hoping to take the easy road to forging a path of triumph, he traveled abroad in an attempt to steal a throne, but only returned with humiliation and defeat to his name. Stirs of discontent have rippled through the Southern Isles for years, but the sparks of uprising fan into flame as Prince Hans cracks the foundation of the royal family with his now-notorious Great Shame, until he is finally exiled from everything he knew as a punishment for compromising the absolute authority of the House of Westergaard. As Hans is tossed about the winds of change, he begins to find his own place at long last...as the guiding force behind a revolution that could divert the course of tyranny in the Southern Isles forever.
RATING: T for future violence and mature situations, but will probably go to M later on.
A Brief History of the Southern Isles
According to legend, the high gods of the heavens, led by Gud, created an archipelago out of the black rock of Hel's underworld, a rock stronger than iron but as glimmering as gold. Heat and pressure created the rocks that build the islands in the middle of the sea, and as a result, each of the fifteen islands in this holy chain was dotted with natural hot springs.
However, due to the infertile nature of Hel's rock, it was difficult for plants to thrive and animals to exist. Gud saw this and guided a small group of seafaring nomads to the biggest island in the center of the chain, and taught them how to create their own means to plant fruit-bearing seed and manage livestock. These nomads settled the islands permanently and were fruitful.
All of the fifteen islands had unique traits that made each one special, but unable to thrive without the alliance of the other fourteen. The largest island was large, strong, and resistant to the elements, therefore, it became the center for the people's militia and defenses, as well as the home of their chief and his family. Another island was uniquely beautiful and temperate, indicating a natural home for artists and peaceful folk. A third island was easier to cultivate vegetation and livestock from, and it became the source for the growing alliance's food stores. Yet another island was completely barren and barely habitable...it became the prison colony.
Each island was within a two days' voyage of another, and each smaller island was a satellite in a circle surrounding the largest island. The settlers of the archipelago initially saw their fellow islanders as allies only, and, eventually, fifteen separate tribes were established.
As is common in human nature, the fifteen tribes had quarrels with others. Some tribes actively fought the others, some tribes stayed neutral and refused to provoke another, others threatened to overtake their enemy islands and conquer the entire chain. Yet none of the tribes instigated conflict with the central island for fear of its superior defenses.
As a result, this central island developed the quickest, and became a center for trade, military exercises, and nobility. Over time, the group of people on this island grew too large and rich to be classified as a mere 'tribe.' They became a population, a population with an internal caste system and economy. They even turned their chief into a King and created a system of laws, known as the Stor Grunnlov, or "Great Constitution."
Over time, the Kings of the central island passed on their crown to the next generation, and the next, and so forth, until King Henrik III, ruling nearly three centuries after the first settlers arrived in the archipelago, saw the ongoing conflicts between the smaller islands in his domain, and vowed to put an end to it, and to bring all of the people into a united nation under his power. His dominant, fearsome navy was dispatched to every island in the chain, making quick work ending the feuds. King Henrik III ordered the Navy to spend ten years aiding each island in rebuilding their lands in peace, then to bring representatives to the central island to pledge their loyalty to their new ruler. And so, it was done.
The reign of King Henrik the Great (as he was to become known in history) was legendary, being one of prosperity and peace. His doctrine of union and teamwork between the islands proved effective enough to turn the chain of black rock islands into a strong, stable country. King Henrik chose to give this new nation a simple name: the Southern Isles. He did not want to cause stirs among his people with names of significance or noble indication.
Time went on, and the doctrines and practices of Henrik the Great were carried on and expanded upon by his offspring. The dynasty, sadly, died out when a mysterious plague ravaged the isles, having come to the country via a trade ship. Thousands died, including the King's only heir. This King, in his last throes of life, left the Kingdom in control of his head butler, Fredrik Westergaard. Fredrik, while adhering to the Stor Grunnlov most of the time as per his duty, had different ideas about how the country should be run.
When Fredrik passed on his crown to his own son, Rudolf, he instilled in his son a more conservative approach to leading. As this new dynasty was built, these more strict ideas, about the importance of the classes knowing their places and how punishment and discipline lead to lasting peace, became more and more extreme. Several of the satellite islands were abandoned so that the Kings could keep a closer watch on their people. The Isles became less welcoming to traders from foreign countries, in particular, the Northern Kingdoms of Moravia, Sigynburg, Corona, and Arendelle. The Stor Grunnlov was amended to the point where it barely resembled the original law of peace it had once been.
By the time King Hagen VII ascended to the throne, the kingdom had become all but a military state, keeping despotic control over the people. The prison colony of Innløsning had fallen under the practice of Skyldfølelse etter Fødselen, or Guilt by Birth, meaning that every person convicted and sent there would have his family brought as well, and the next two generations of that family would serve life sentences...until the 'bad blood' was cleaned out. Though there were whispers of discontent among the people of the satellite isles, these sparks were crushed under the central isle's foot quickly. But that did not prevent the occasional conspirator to step forward and offer up anti-government propaganda.
King Hagen married a woman of the noble class named Agathe, and rumor had it that, in spite of their arranged match, the couple held a deep-seated love for each other. Agathe was a beautiful woman, with hair of golden fire and eyes like jade stones. The rumors of a true love between the royal couple seemed to be confirmed when, over the course of twenty years, she gave birth to thirteen strapping boys in quick succession. Although, after a while, rumor also had it that Queen Agathe had grown desperate for a female child with whom to hold a special bond, which explained the many pregnancies in a row.
Agathe's small-framed body grew weak and sickly with the toll of all of the royal births. Many of the palace's maid and nurses did not anticipate Agathe being able to carry another baby after bearing her twelfth child, or, if she did conceive again, it was likely she would not survive the birth. In spite of the pleas of her doctors to refrain from conceiving again, Agathe defied the advice and grew big-bellied once more. She spent many days and nights in seclusion, either on bed rest orders or in her chapel, praying to Gud that her child be a girl. Hagen, meanwhile, was more than immune to the excitement of impending fatherhood by this time, and became isolated from her with the magnanimous task of raising twelve boys and bringing them into manhood.
Agathe gave birth to a thirteenth son in the dead of winter, as a raging rainstorm pounded outside the chamber window. Upon the declaration of the baby's sex, Agathe moaned, not in pain, but disappointment.
"I dread the thought of trying again...but this kingdom is meant to have a royal daughter," Agathe insisted, much to the chagrin of her attendants.
She gave the baby boy the first name that popped into her mind: Hans. A very common name meaning 'Gift of Gud." Hans perfectly resembled his mother, from her hair and eyes, to her strong nose and pallid skin.
Before Agathe could give suck to her latest child, she grew desperately ill with puerperal fever. Hans was baptized without her present, and, during the feast commemorating his arrival in the world, Agathe died. She had only one of her maids, as well as her two-year-old son, Helmuth, and his governess, at her side.
The funeral was tiny and insultingly informal for a beloved Queen of the Southern Isles. King Hagen did not mourn in public, but he wept madly in private. Resenting Prince Hans for his mere presence in the word, he made his views towards his youngest child known to his other children, who followed their admired father's suit in condemning their smallest brother. As a result, Hans was raised far away from the others, at the opposite end of the palace, and treated like less of a Prince and more in the manner of a more-common member of the gentry. Granted, this did give him more freedom to take up activities he preferred, and he practiced fencing and sword fighting with all the enthusiasm and skill of an Admiral in the Royal Navy (even his big brothers couldn't deny the lethality of their sibling's skill with steel).
Hans did have the closeness and sympathies of his next-older brother, Helmuth, because they shared a wet nurse and a governess. They grew up as the best friend of the other. However, Helmuth was not as much on an extrovert as his brother. In fact, watching his mother die, even as a toddler, let to him being an introspective, melancholic presence. At sixteen, he chose to enter the Brotherhood of the Isles, a clerical order that encouraged its' postulants to spend five years completely isolated from the outside world. Losing the presence of Helmuth, Hans was almost completely alone in the world. While he was able to seek solace in his more mature brother, Lars, who took up running the Royal Archives and Library, Hans grew desperate for attention and love, and was unable to find it. By the time Helmuth returned to the outside world as a full Brother in order to begin his holy work and to renounce his formal title of 'Prince,' Hans was a changed boy. While he still worked incessantly with swords and weaponry, he no longer was the optimistic ball of energy he had once been, having adopted a dour, cunning demeanour. A rift grew between the brothers.
Four years after the death of Queen Agathe, King Hagen chose a second bride, not for the reason of adding to his large brood, but for the companionship. As a result, the machiavellian King chose a strict, self-entitled, but extremely beautiful and compatible woman named Lady Frieda, also from the noble class. Unlike the fair, copper-haired Agathe, Frieda was dark-skinned, with amber eyes and hair as black as coal dust. Most of King Hagen's older sons looked upon her with lust, even though she was very young...younger, in fact, than the first seven of Hagen's own sons. All of the Princes, including those older than the new Queen, were commanded to call her 'Mother.'
Queen Frieda did not have the fertility of her predecessor, having only conceived twice and miscarried both times. However, in the time just after Hans' return from Arendelle in what would come to be known as 'The Great Shame of the Westergaards,' Queen Frieda managed to conceive, and the child within her proved strong enough to keep to life.
The shame of Prince Hans' attempt to conquer Arendelle led to a massive disaster for the Southern Isles' economy. Several trade partners refused to continue their partnerships in belief that the attempted assassination of the Arendellian Queen and her sister the Princess was a conspiracy dictated by King Hagen, leading to a drastic decline in the wealth and power of the Westergaards. Hans could not be stripped of his title, because the law stated that titles were born and inherited through blood and could only be surrendered by free will. However, he was tried and punished with thirty years of indentured servitude, forced to do the lowest, most shameful jobs the country had to offer him...but it was still preferable of being shipped to Innløsning.
The chink in the formerly-unyielding stone wall that was the establishment and the royal family led to a resurgence of unrest among the citizens, leading, in turn, to King Hagen seizing a tighter grip on his people. The nobles became richer and more isolated...the poor became vulnerable to capture and unjust slavery.
Hans, however, knew none of this, as day by day, as the weeks grew into months, he grew more and more isolated himself, as well as resentful of both himself and his family as he slaved away within the palace walls...