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Thorey VIII
Joseph Karl Stieler- Nanette Kaula
Thorey VIII
Queen of Vinland
Reign 4th May, 1902 - 16th May, 1931
Predecessor Svenný III
Successor Sofia
Born 19th December, 1874
Fjallasay, Vinland
Died 16th May, 1931
Báiguminsóbog, Eikland Fylk, Vinland
Spouse Prince Gustaf George of Gothenland

Count Willem of Fryslân

Issue Karl

Eirik
Sofia
Ragnar Hafsteinn Thoreysson
Freydis
Pjetur
Snaedis
Anna
Ragnar Hafsteinn Thoreysson

Full name
Thorey Elísabet Athena Svenný Rudolfsdottír
House Eiriksdottír
Father Rudolph, Duke of Lobkowicz
Mother Svenný III

Thorey VIII was Queen of Vinland in the early 20th century. Her colourful reign would oversee the rapid development of Vinland into a modern industrial nation.

Svenný III had secured the Eiriksdottír family at the heart of Vinlandic society, seeing off attempts by the Althing to constrain or even abolish the crown. As part of this she deployed her children almost as ambassadors around the country; opening public buildings, launching ships, touring new factories, inspecting the armed forces; basically making sure the royal family were visible and engaged with society. As a princess Thorey dutifully accepted her role in this, opening amongst other things new hospitals in Fjallasay and Karantóborg beginning a life-long interest in raising standards in medical care. She, along with her siblings, were also given honorary regiments, the 5th St. Katrin's Hussars in her case, a tradition which continues to this day.

Thorey would act as regent during her parent's long tour in Europe. She proved a distracted administrator more interested, it soon became clear, in seducing members of the Althing than any laws. While the newspapers and journals happily related the royal family's good works they also found another angle to keep the royals in the public eye; an endless source of gossip and scandal, mostly stemming from Thorey's relationships.

In 1893 Thorey was pressured into marriage, to the handsome Prince Gustaf George of Gothenland. Their relationship, though passionate, was tempestuous; they frequently argued, she hated his gambling, both enjoyed numerous affairs. Thorey would write to her sister Leopoldina in Luxembourg: "I love the man, his letters make me yearn for him, yet I hate his presence". Polite and charming together in public, in private they descended into blazing rows complete with broken furniture. They quickly found they could not live together. Gustaf George was given the modest Thorey mostly divided her time between the Aprikóshöll and Ononglegakest though her favourite residence was Queen Lara's house on Ingolfursey.

Thorey also holds the distinction as the only Vinlandic queen (that we know of) who would have an illegitimate child. On learning the Queen was now pregnant with another man's child, Gustaf George challenged the father of the child, Sávarr Thórdursson, Lord of Innsygliland, to a duel on St. Eirikeyja (the island on the opposite side of the Breidurass from Fjallasay was technically divided between Vinland and Abernakriga and hence essentially controlled by neither and had become a frequent duelling spot) on 1st January 1903 and shot the Lord dead. The Prince was quickly convicted of manslaughter and put under house arrest. Divorce proceedings were equally swiftly started, though as the marriage had clearly been consummated it first required a trial in the courts. Here the press happily reported both party's misdeeds.

Ragnar Hafsteinn Thoreysson was born in June 1903. Though Thorey would petition for his recognition, his birth provided an opportunity for the Althing to slim down the financial burden of the royal family. Thereafter only the Queen, her wedded consort, and their direct legitimate children, would be specifically provided for as part of the Royal Estate's revenues. The total amount was set at Kr1,000,000 which was considered very generous. Any other parties which the monarch felt should be given an allowance would be at the crown's discretion but funds would have to come out of the existing fund. This essentially set in motion the current system whereby the royals, essentially everyone excepting the crown princess, were expected to find alternative sources of income. Thorey, mindful that the Althing was capricious and that out of her (eventual) eight children only Crown Princess Sofia was effectively guaranteed a future income, sought to secure new sources of funds. The Althing managed the revenues from the crown estates i.e. the revenues from the land and buildings directly owned by the crown. They did not oversee any other sources of income so for the first time the crown would begin investing and buying into new ventures. Land or foodstuffs was considered off-limits as it could be seen as exploiting the average Vinlander. Transport however, especially canals and railways, was favoured.

Though canals continued to be useful increasingly railways were favoured to move people and goods around the country, especially as they could more or less run all year round whereas the waterways would ice-up in midwinter. Early locomotives were put to work near mines where their pulling power was appreciated rather than their paltry speeds, but it took the importing of a version of Ole Hansen's Slepnir from Denmark in 1903 for the technology to fire the public's imagination. This locomotive, named Ná Mér Sem Getr, could reach speeds of 45 kilometres an hour. Improved versions, more suited to the long-distances required soon were built by local inventors, the foundry of 'Bjarnisson & Kekkonen' leading the new field of locomotive production. Meanwhile other engineers were soon hard at work connecting the towns and cities with track and trying to overcome the challenges of overcoming Vinland's geography; namely bridging the rivers, or rather building bridges high enough to allow cargo ships to pass below. The Breidurass was beyond their abilities at this point. Connecting Fjallasay to the rest of the Hafsvaedaland was easy enough but to reach Abernakriga just the other side of the river you needed a ferry or a very long detour via Erie and Álengiamark. Still, the spread of railways through the Vinlandic (and Algonquinland, Abernakriga, Erie and Passamaquoddia) countryside, all driven by Vinlandic engineering know-how, tied the economies together. Even Álengiamark, generally aloof from Vinlandic matters agreed to adopt the Vinlandic rail gauge.

A vast amount of the Althing's time was spent on legislating for the railways, not only to allocate land to ever-expanding network but to clear land through the towns and cities to connect them up, provide funds for bridges and tunnels and bail out companies when funds ran out. The need to fix accurate timetables also led to the adoption of standardised timezones for the country; the maritime fylk all set their clocks to 'Atlantic Time', Fjallasay and the Hafsvaedalands were a hour behind on 'Lake Time'. Vinland's neighbours soon followed, standardising their clocks to fit the growing network spreading across the north-east.

Tlingit War[]

Thorey's reign co-incided with the expansion of Japan into Leifia. The north-western coast of Leifia was lightly populated with Tlingit tribes as well as multi-nationality trading posts dotted around on the islands and coasts. In 1904 Japan unilaterally claimed the entire northern Roasjoinn and with it claimed the coast from the somewhat woolly borders of Vinland's Norrland and Keewatin Territory down to the more-or-less agreed limits of Ktunaxa, and landed an army to back their claim. The act alarmed many Leifian nations, and, whilst Ktunaxa quickly came to an agreement and avowed its neutrality, other nations quickly scrambled to forge a more robust response.

Vinland would lead the way, forming a specialised 'Northern Army' which would support the guerilla tactics of the native Tlingit. This army was characterised by small units of highly trained infantry, well protected against the elements and wearing uniforms designed to hide them in the terrain rather than the standard blue of the regular army. During the winter they would use skis and artillery was pulled by reindeer. Meanwhile the Japanese army, with classic infantry, cavalry and artillery formations and deep blue uniforms, were adept at holding territory but could neither support itself in the interior nor pin down the enemy. They would suffer appalling loss of life due to poor supply chains, bad planning for the weather and to sniper fire. Thorey, for her own part, made regular visits to Keewatin Territory where the Northern Army was based, her visits bolstering Keewatin loyalty to the Vinlandic crown. More medals were awarded for bravery to the Northern Army than any other battallion in other conflicts.

The very nature of the terrain, climate and distances involved meant there would be no great decisive battles of the war. The Vinlandic and allied fleets, including early experiments with iron-hulled ships, sailed around Tawantinland and would make regular forays out from Ohlonemark, raiding Japanese shipping or shelling Japanese forts along the Tlingit coast or Hawai'i. Most of the ally's activities were forestalling the inevitable however; Japan could not be dislodged entirely from their new holdings. In 1916 the allied Tlingit tribes formally united as Lingit Aani and signed a peace with Japan. Japan was granted a considerable portion of the coastline but the interior was now held by the new Vinland-supported Tlingit government

Family and Succession[]

Thorey married Prince Gustaf George of Gothenland in 1893. They would have three children.

  • Karl
  • Eirik
  • Sofia

She would have have an extra-marital affair with Sávarr Thórdursson, Lord of Innsygliland, in 1902-03 resulting in one child.

  • Ragnar Hafsteinn Thoreysson (1903-1978). Married sdottír 1926. Three children.

In 1907 she married Willem of Fryslân. They had four children.

  • Freydis
  • Pjetur
  • Snaedis
  • Anna

Thorey would die in 1931. She was succeeded by her eldest daughter Sofia.

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