History of Vinland (The Unexpected Kingdom)

Vinland is a name given to North America by the Norse Vikings who settled the area following the first two settlements created by Thorvald, and Leif Ericksson

First Settlement
The First Settlement of Vinland traces its routes back to Thorvald and Leif Eriksson, two Norse Viking brothers who both made multiple voyages to the continent, and eventually established the first two Permanent settlements.

These Settlements of Jennestad, and Mossem eventually grew thanks to continued Norse/Viking immigration in which new and better lands were available, while successful the light population of Scandinavia in general only brought the settlements a few thousand immigrants (about 3000-5000 Total made the journey from Scandinavia) from Scandinavia, but did bring a string of constant immigration from Greenland over a few decades.

These Settlements following about 50-100 years of immigration, local population growth, and the ability to secure arable farmland allowed for a vastly expanded area that could be exploited ended up securing a bright future for the settlers which now numbered around 50,000 to 60,000 by the end of the European Settlement era

No Contact
About 1100 the Settlers at Vinland and Greenland lost most contact with Europe, and the minimal expeditions sent to Iceland and back to Europe yielded no results. The Settlers of Vinland proper decided that with this lack of contact, something had happened and it was their duty to continue on and prevent the extinction of their people. With this Vinland expanded South from newfoundland into the continent for years which established a large people of peace with minor issues, next to no conflict, and a expanding population.

Over the course of this period Greenland started to Depopulate as well and after about another 50 years Greenland had been all but abandoned except by a single fairly large settlement on the South-western Coast of about 12,000. With this depopulation and the increased available population in Continental Vinland the people were able to secure much more territory than normal with hundreds of farms with viable crops being established and harvested in increasing numbers each year. The increasing ability to farm and settle as they continued south began to create an exponential population explosion over the years and over a period of 100 years (From 1180 to 1280-90) of centralized growth over a vast space the population hit a Zenith of about 1.5 million before the central governmental powers in Greenland and the now cities of Jennestad and Mossem, collapsed. This collapsed led to a population decline due to various infighting and situations in which various Vinnish kingdoms formed and developed independently from each other.

Warring Kingdom Period
The Vinland Warring Kingdoms period was a time in which a large amount of Vinaland split apart into various Kingdoms and developed independantly but in a heavily positive fashion. The New need to fight amongst eachother as well as to protect from native tribes led to the resurgence in heavily armed warfare in which the Vins' Viking ancestors were particularly good at. This resurgence led to large portion of the kingdoms developing their own large population centers and able economies in which farms were given more stock and food production expanded heavily. This heavily Ingrained the Vinns in the land they had settled which by this point had hit the Hudson Bay and was pushing into the continental wilderness more and more every year.

This period in itself led to the Vinnish kingdoms developing the mineral resources of their areas more heavily and allowing for the first truly needed standing armies of the various kingdoms. The kingdoms themselves began their own private wars against natives as well but not nearly as often as when they fought amonst themselves. Finally after about 60 years of very inconsistant conflict, and the organization of various alliances the Main Three Powers of Velothhold, Jennestad, and Torvyald had established their own alliance systems between the many large and small kingdoms of the Vins. By this point their own distinct dialect of Old Norse had begun to develop giving them their own distinct language to a degree from their ancestors. Now over 250 years post settlement the areas had developed into their own culture with major issues facing them ahead.

The Warring Kingdoms period Finally ended when the Kingdom of Jennestad overcame the other two in a quick but bloody conflict in which the royal families of the Torvyald, and Velothhold were completely wiped out and Velothhold had been completely burned to the ground. The Warring kingdoms period is recorded to have finished about 1380-1390 after many of the kingdoms had in fact developed their own populations and infrastructure heavily.

However during this time the Torvyald who apart from one of their princes, and some of their other nobility, had explored and traveled as far down as the Great Lakes and had built Ships to sail down across them and map them, only a small amount of which had been mapped, and seen.

The Jannestad Dynasty
The Major Main line Family of the Eriksson family who had first settled in Vinland at this point had secured total control of Vinland as a full and well to do Kingdom, and by this point had secured a large population of almost 3.5 million inheriting many of these people from the larger kingdoms which had previously developed. Styling themselves as the Jannestad Dyansty and abandoning their previous surnames (which at this point had been Eriksson in honor of Torvald, and Leif and their father) Migrated the Capital further south to a new city of Aldhold more central to the new kingdom.

This new kingdom spent the next 120 years in a period of relative peace in which the Jannestad Dynasty had built up a very respectable and powerful kingdom. These years also began a cold war between Tribes which had remained in the Area, and the Kingdom of Vinland. The Tribes had secured a sort of alliance against Vinnish incursions into their territory by which at this point had extended well into the continent, secured territory arond the Great lakes, and a large portion of the Hudson bay area. This was the greatest extent of the Jannestad Dynasty proper and eventually Brought about the re-use of Viking longships to raid and Trade along the Great Lakes, and to a degree Travel down the Mississippi River. This culminated in a large slew of very small but effective trading posts down the river. Independant Traders and Entrepeneurs always sought to trade down the river to secure the large profits offered in trading for Native jewelry, while not extremely valuable through gold, but was valuable through its craftsmanship and ability to be put in the personal collections of buisinessmen, nobles, and even the Jannestad Family.

The Jannestad dynasty also managed by this point to use Steel to a large degree along with iron in its weaponry and over the 120 year period of their reign grew the population significantly following the age old Creed of their ancestors. "Protect your People, and they will Grow to make you Proud". The population at the End of the Jannestad dyansty had reached about 7.3 million and the first true census had been taken by the end of this period, but was not continued until almost 1850.

Alstad Dyansty
The Alstad Dynasty took over following a political marriage in which the Alstads, a Southern family had come around to Supercede the core Jannestad family in power, and influence. This led to a high profile political marriage in which the Jannestad family married their next in line daughter names Leifia Jannestad, to a Alstad Noble names, Aksel Alstad. Following the untimely death of Leifia and the lack of Heirs the Alstads inherited the throne over the Janestads allowing the Alstad family to marry who they pleased. While looking to create a Civil war, the Alstad and Jannestad family did very well in avoiding such a problem and allowed the Jannestads to keep their many cities, castles, and strongholds developed and governed over the centuries.

The Alstad dynasty ruled from about 1510 to 1620 following the extenuating circumstances of the English Arrival nearly a Century after takeover from the Jannestad family. This Period is marked by larger expansion further south into the continent, the securing of more and more territory along the coast and the establishment of one of the largest souther settlements to date along a river. The Settlement named Achim developed into a very large city of almost 250,000 due to its climate, location, and ability to send food stuffs north to the less agriculturally able old north cities. This became the Basis for returning ships and the development of better ships as well. The City of Achim became the heart of the kingdom around 1560 and continued to develop heavily during the period and managed to secure even more trade rights with southern tribes with which good relations remained.

Some of the great wealth of the city flowed in from much farther south than many thought existed. The Vinnish longships which in some cases had reached the Gulf of Mexica managed to meet up with an advanced native civilization known as the Aztecs, or Mexica. While contact initially was limited due to the Vinns lack of ability to travel fully down to them eventually after the establishment of Achim, larger and more well prepared ships managed to strike up trade with them and secured a long stream of gold trade to the Kingdom. While initially worshipped as gods this was not to last as the trade orient of later ship captains proved this wrong. The Establishment and disease brought with the Vinns had also served to level the population heavily during this period, and by 1510 they had reached the zenith of their populational decline. However when the Spanish arrived in 1519, the First contact between the Aztecs, Vinns, and Spanish was nearly obliterated by two of the three parties and only kept in record by the Vinnish traders.

More to come later