The Birth of an Empire

- Chapter I -
Slow Beginnings to a Great Adventure

I came here a long time ago. Landing on Kaarien's southern shores. The boat had capsized out there on the high waves and we washed up the beach. It was only afterwards that I saw him. My best friend… He lay there as peacefully in the sand as so many others. I could not bear to see him, so I left. I went up to the cliff on the east side of the island. I scanned the horizon but coun't see anything other than ocean and the fog which slowly came rolling in. Out there somewhere was the land we called home. 

I do not know for how long I sat there. When I got chased off the property by an old man it was already dark. I didn't know what to do now.

I continued across the desolate ground without glancing down at the beach. There he lay. I shook off my thoughts and walked towards a cottage. It was at this time dusk and darkness crept in over the island. The cottage released a homely yellow light from the window on a ruckel that has not been painted for many years. I went to the fence but quickly realized that it would not hold my weight, so I slanted through a small hole and into the garden. I now came to the side of the house and walked around it, to the door.

I stood there for a long time thinking. Would I be thrown out again? Would I be laughed at? In the end, I decided that the cold would not do me any good. I knocked. A male voice asked me to wait. I heard the chain on the inside move and the door slammed open. There stood a man leaning over a cane with a brown vest over a white shirt. "What do you want on a December night like this?" he asked me. After a brief explanation of the situation, he invited me.

The house was small and consisted of three rooms and a kitchen. In the kitchen doors and in the window frame hung red garlands and on a chair next to the kitchen table sat an elderly lady. She looked up from what she was doing now and showed me with an inviting gesture that I was welcome to sit down at the table.

After a very long evening I got to know the old couple. They told me about the island and said that I would be welcome to stay on their land if I helped them use it. They had rent they could barely pay, and I had already met the landlord. It was the old man by the cliff. Their land was meager and not much grew there.

When I woke up in the morning, some islanders had removed the bodies from the beach for burial. It would happen at a later time. The friendly old man I was told was Kurt told me that if I wanted to, I could collect the driftwood and build my own cabin.

I found a high place, up on a cliff on the east side of the plot and I draged up driftwood and ship parts. I do not know how many hours I spent, but in the end the beach was mostly empty and the pile of driftwood was large. I did not have any nails or the like, so I had a hard nut to crack.

After a meal prepared by Kurt's wife Stina, I got up and sat down at the fruit of my labor. I looked out over the waves, the sun was in the middle of the sky and it was relatively warm to be winter. With great effort, I moved parts of the pile to prepare a surface to start building on. After laying planks for a floor, I realized that this wouldn't work, I needed tools.

I spent the next three weeks working for Kurt, but also his neighbor Bertil. It did for a change. Kurt's arable land did not have much to do on this year, other than clearing weeds while in Bertil's forests there was all the more. Wood sales had risen recently and the fine wood that Bertil had was sought after. In these three weeks I got enough money to build the house, a total of 3,000 KM [Kaariska Marker].

I started thinking about whether it was worth building my house for that money. A plot further away, is for sale for 30,000 KM. Now I have a tenth of the money, enough to pay the down payment and I can take a loan from the bank that now owns the old government building (which now serves as a shopping center). It was privatly owned and so loaning from them could be risky

I asked Kurt for advice. He thought it'd be a smart investment, even if the land was not fertile and the nights would be long, it would be a place of its own. Bertil also thought it was a smart investment, but he also said he would miss me. I assured him I would come by as often as I could. After signing the contract at the center, my plot was mine and it was time to start moving.

Moving was not an easy thing, I decided to give most of the driftwood to Kurt so he can stay warm for the rest of the winter. Then we said goodbye to each other, even though we were not far from each other, we knew it would be a while before we saw each other again.

I collected the best of the wood on a sled made of unusable wood and headed off into the early hours the following day. The ground alternated between rocks and small patches of grass. Trees were a rare sight and when they appeared they were just crooked pines. After eight and a half hours, I arrived. Normally the trip would have taken half an hour, if not less, but with a sledge that got stuck and needed to be lifted over the smallest ravine, it took longer than expected. I arrived in the late afternoon and immediately started checking the ground, something I had not done before the purchase.

It was not much land I had, but it would be enough. What I could do with the plot was limited. Trees were not an option as the whole plot was whipped from the icy winds from the sea. Crops would be laborious because it was a rocky ground and the fishing rights needed to fish are a long and expensive process.

After thinking about a blow, I decided that it would be a very cold night if I did not do some form of windbreak. I took everything from the sled and disassembled it. I used one of the two sticks for the bottom to start digging. It was not efficient and the frozen ground was rock hard. The small plot of land that was on the east side of the plot was enough. After digging into what felt like an eternity, I chose to stop. There was no point in continuing as progress became less and less. The half meter down I came was more than enough and the one and a half to two square meter area I dug out was enough for today. I decided to take the pieces of wood and lay them out over an area that was closer to four square meters. I sat in my hole and listened to the wind howling over me. This is where my journey would begin.

- Chapter II -
The Start of an Empire

A couple of months passed and the spring flowers began to bloom. I managed to pay off the plot with money I earned from working on other's land but have very little left over. Every night I went out along the beach and collected driftwood. The pile started to get quite large and it seemed to me time to either sell it or use it before it goes to waste or acidentally catch fire.

I spent four evenings splitting the pile in two. The one that contained the finer wood and the one that couldn't be used for construction. The former pile was much larger and my idea was to sell it as driftwood. Profit may not be impossible to get  for the mound, counting in all the labour, but if I wait until winter it is worth even more, but I need the money now.

How though? If I go to the center, I get laughed out. So I remember a plant I saw a little further away on the plot. I flew up and rushed over there. There it was. It is a green plant with a thick and short stem with a large yellow flower on it. I felt the leaves on one of them. I remember correctly, it was sticky.

I took some ashes from the wood I burned to survive last winter and combined it with a crushed leaf of the flower and hoped.

When I came home in the evening from a hard day's work, I tested the idea I got earlier. Very true. It was possible to get a thick but durable color. Had it not been so low to the ceiling, I would have jumped up and down. Now I just needed something to store the paint in when I sold it.

I had a small amount of money left and rushed to the center. I just made it to a stall with cans before it closed. The lady behind the stand was removing the glass jars for the day. I asked if it was still possible to buy some. I managed to get a couple of cans and with them I went home again. I lay down on the tablecloth that I called bed with a big smile on my face.

* * *

I returned to the flowers and looked at them. I recognized them from Kurt's plot and know he wants to get rid of them. When I came rushing to Kurt's plot, he looked at me in surprise. I caught my breath and asked if he had any of the flowers left. He pointed to a tall weed and wanted to know what in the name of peace I was going to do with them. I asked if I could take them and he nodded slowly, suspecting something was up. I thanked and started looking for all the flowers.

After a cup of tea and an explanation for Kurt (which I felt he deserved) I headed back to my plot. I met a neighbor who waved kindly but otherwise the road home was empty. When I got home, I immediately set to work. The sun was high in the sky and for the first time since I came to the island I heard a bird chirping. I prepared fourteen cans before I realized the problem I was facing. How would I bring all these cans to market, and even if I got there, what would I put for price.

I had bought the cans for 15 KM each. Since the contents are only made of rubbish, I will not be able to charge too much per can if it is to be worthwhile for others to buy them. 35 KM was should be good. I also decided to sell it from smaller containers, as containers for a desk and therefore writing.

The first time was tough because my item did not sell as expected. With three large cans and 15 small ones sold, I had received a total of 320 KM. 

The following weeks I continued with the 'company' but decided to stay on the market for two days and work for others for the rest of the week. It was also possible for customers to come to my house and buy (it only happened once, but I sold three large cans, so it was well worth it).

The next big dilemma I faced came in the form of a new plot for sale. A very nice plot with a large cultivation of trees on it. It would cost me 40,000. A sum that I, just like last time, do not have. However, I might be able to afford the down payment.

I looked at my few possessions around me and decided to try to get the plot before one of the richer people on the island heard about it. I was lucky because the owner was in a great hurry to sell it and I got the plot. Now I own almost 2 500 m2 on the island. 

* * *

What now? Should I prioritize the color or the trees? I could use the time I spent working for others on working on the new land, but then I must be able to manage on what I earn from the plots.

After a long and sleepless night, I decided that it was best to give it a try, if nothing else, maybe resin can replace the sticky flower in color. It's worth a try, but nothing I will do today because I now need to start inspecting the site more carefully.

The forest was thick on this plot and many trees could be sold for good money, my biggest problem is that I do not have any machines to work with. When I walked there through the forest and heard the chirping of birds and saw moss growing over the rocks, I thought back. This was so reminiscent of the forest back home. The one I ran through when I last left home. The grief washed over me and I had to sit down on a rock. I did not care about the cold from the stone. I heard the waves of the sea below and began to wonder what would come next. I have a huge loan to pay off, so whatever I do, it must be good.

I could sell my other plot, then that money would cover most of the loan but the question is if I want it. Am I willing to sell the plot where my own adventure on this island began. I pretty quickly came to the conclusion that it would not come up. No matter how hard I would have to work, I will be able to handle this.

I went down to the cliffs by the sea. A ship is sailing out there. It looked like what I had been on that fateful day. Suddenly I heard a sound behind me and I spun around. There stood a boy almost twelve years old, looking at me in horror. When I looked at him, I saw myself in his eyes. I was afraid he would disappear as quickly as he got there, but time passed and he remained.

We stayed down there by the sea for hours and talked. His parents had abandoned him and he did not know what to do. Whether I could take care of him was doubtful. Maybe there is a possibility if he could imagine working without pay, more than food and housing, of course. I asked him if he could imagine working for me on this land and cultivating the forest with me. To my surprise, he agreed and we slowly walked back to my original plot.

- Chapter III -
A Labile Dictatorship

I have realized that it would be best to move my home to the new plot because that was where I would spend most of my days and the noise of the sea and storm was muffled by the trees there. The first plot would serve as a workshop for the paint. Together, Kalle (the boy) and I brought my things over to the new land. There we set up the base camp and I told him that he can build his own house, but must not use more than 300 KM worth of resources.

We had managed to find a small open area on the west side of the plot where the trees around us hid us from the strong jerk and toil of the wind. Both of us spent the rest of the day building our small houses. I had now learned how an efficient house can be built from the previous house and what improvements I wanted to make. The ground here was much easier to dig in, both good and bad, now it would be faster to do, but the walls would need to be stabilized so as not to collapse. This time I built a cave in the shape of a U where the entrance was first, then the work surface then the kitchen in the turn and finally my own private quarters at the far end.

With a roof and walls set up, the wind could barely be heard. There was an eerie silence and I just sat and listened. After a while, footsteps were heard. Kalle wanted help with his house. It was much smaller and consisted of only one sleeping block, expansion would come at a later time. He had done a good job and only needed guidance help with the latter.

The weather was balmy in the evening and during the night a terrible thunderstorm broke out. It lasted half the day after and the second half of that day was too wet for any proper work to be done. It was therefore decided that I would visit one of our new neighbors. My first goal was the older gentleman who owned two large plots. He is said to be very rich and is said to be a person who does not want to hang out with others.

It was therefore with uncertainty that I knocked on the yellow two-story house where he lived. He was, quite rightly, an older gentleman with a gray beard. I introduced myself and told him that we were now neighbors.

To my surprise he was very nice and invited me into his house. He told me that his name was Martin, but that I was happy to call him Mario and that his wife had passed away a few years ago and his children had abandoned him for a life on the other side of the sea. Since neither of us had anything else to do, I stopped there and talked to him until darkness began to fall.

When I went home in the last light from dusk, I thought back to our conversation and how inaccurate everyone had been about Mario. He was one of the nicest people I have met and my visit to him today would therefore not be the last. Not by far. I came home to Kalle and we sat in my house for a hot cup of tea (we had no tea leaves, so it was just water - but saying tea made it taste better). We sat quietly and enjoyed. I enjoyed it, not because I will now have to work harder than ever to pay off my debt, but because I now had a friend with whom I could share my adventures.

* * *

That's when we heard it. Two sharp bangs, we looked at each other. Then there were a few more. It could not have been a shot, could it? We quickly lay down in the house which now became a bunker. What had happened? Did we imagine? Was it anything other than shots? We looked at each other again, the horror in his eyes was palpable. I told him we should wait until tomorrow before looking for anyone.

Mario would definitely know what was going on. The banging lasted a couple of more hours and then they fell silent. I managed to sleep for a while, but I don't think Kalle managed to do the same. Here we were protected. The trees and bushes around us gave us protection and the little clearing we were in was small enough not to be noticed by passers-by.

At 2 or 3 in the night I could not stand it any longer and snuck over to Mario's house. He opened the door and looked at me. He looked very stressed and knew that whatever it was, they would not be long in leaving his house. I persuaded him to come back to the clearing and offered to help me carry something if he so wished.

He had his most important possessions in an old Volvo TL31 (since it's clearly the surperior brand). I asked what he thought of Kurt and Bertil. He suggested that we take the truck over the back of the market house and pick them up so they could arrive in relative safety.

In times like these, it was best to stick together. The tension on the way up was huge but we still managed to get up to them unscathed. We jumped out and split up. I picked up Bertil and his wife and Mario (Martin wanted us to call him that) and went to Bertil. Persuading them to follow was not difficult.

They too had realized the situation and packed their rust-red Volvo 244 (again, the surperior brand) full of their most important possessions. They took the car back to where we parked the truck. Bertil brought with him one of his old forest machines. The truck and the forestry machine would have no problem getting down to safe ground, but the car would have a harder time.

I suggested that I take the car on the roads that were there, it had been quiet for a while so hopefully it was safe. The others hesitantly agreed and we parted. I drove with the headlights off for safety and did not care in the least about the speed limits. I saw a roadblock towards the market building but did not intend to stop and ask them anything. Apart from a few green-painted old men in the forest, there was no life on the way back.

The others came home after me and we quickly parked all the cars on the far side of the clearing. When I told what I saw, we agreed that we would stay here as long as needed. We covered everything that could be traced to human activity with branches (as best we could) and then went to bed to get some sleep. In the morning we were seen out in the meadow and we agreed that it was safest to dig down instead of staying above ground because even small pits provide a lot of protection.

When Marita (Kurt's wife) finished the meal and we all chopped in, Bertil went through what options we had. Either we could try to hide as much as possible or pick up weapons. During the afternoon's work, everyone probably thought about what would be best for us.

Fortunately for all of us, a choice was not necessary. Mario went for a walk the following day and met some neighbors. These neighbors had informed him of the situation. A coup d'etat had been tried by some royalists but without much success. It all ended with the five young royalists dead along with two guards, a cleaner and 13 policemen.

- Chapter IV -
A Reflection of What Came Next

Sitting here at my marble desk with gold ornaments it's strange to think back to the very different life I lived before the coup. I remember when we finally agreed on picking up arms against the government. We promised the people stability and we promised them a reduced corruption. Our followers grew, just like the governments hatred towards us. But they wouldn't come to us, so we had to make a move and initiate the battle. 

We chose a misty morning when you could hear the ship's mist horns blowing in the distance. Every time we heard it we fired. We had trained for months and were well co-ordinated. The same could not be said for the governments troops. When we had cleared the government's main building and our political enemies were either dead or ready to sign the paper handing us the power there was a sense of stillness in the midst of all madness. We had worked so hard to get to this moment that we did not know what to do next. 

But at last we came to and in the morning we announced our victory to the islanders. They weren't happy - for obvious reasons they didn't want yet another period of instability - but at the same time they were releived to have gotten rid of the now former president. 

Our first order of business was to secure our monetary situation and that task was carried out brilliantly by Kurt and Bertil who came up with a law draft and from that draft all other laws were created. The laws ment standardisation for the people and they were happy as could be.

* * *

A problem that has plagued the island for a long time is a lack of space. Many people have emigrated because there weren't enough space on the islands. That's why the government stepped in and started standardising the plots. Disputes were from now on to be resolved by courts. People could now also get an insurance from the government as a part of a new system called Seal Steel Insurance. This all happened at an incredible speed and with the same enthusiasm we threw ourselves over the space issues. Dividing up the existing plots were not an option - that would !@#$ of the inhabitants and not be any good for anyone. So the other option was expansion. Kaarien was a part of a group of islands and explorers were sent out to the other islands. 

Azter was the only island not already settled by indigenous people - so that became the nations second island. They were both rules by my government, of course, but they had indipendent rulers as well to fix the problems specific to that island. Over time people began to return from overseas and our population grew and grew. So did our nations and we had soon conquered all the other islands.

* * *

Needing even more space than that we looked to the mainland. It was settled by a manic kind of indigenous people, but we needed their lands and so we drove them away. At this point it has almost been 25 years since I first set foot on Kaarien's shores and it is unthinkable the progress we have done. In what we called the new world - being the mainland - we set up colonial governments. As yet another ten years passed we gave them freedom as we didn't wish for bloodshed and they demanded freedom. 

This lead to the Empire of Kaarien being split in two. The four mainland parts became one entity and the islands another. I was the ruler of the islands - now called the Empire of Kaarien - while the mainland settled for the name Nova Lax and implemented me as their constitutional monarchy, which honored me greatly. During the last ten years the borders haven't changed much for either party. Nova Lax, with support from their ally Kaarien fought one of the bloodiest wars with the neighbour to the northwest. So far no-one has come out on top and the massive waste of lives have been for nothing. At the moment we have a truce and both parties have agreed not to enter the dessert separating us. Now being 89 years old I'm thinking about retirement, but I will stay as long as the people can't get enough of me! 

Nova Lax consists of oak forests with a smaller desert in the middle. The islands is mainly oaks and smaller shrubs but thanks to the harsh climat and strong winds the trees on the islands are not that tall. This also makes the islanders tough and we have a strong sisu! The island part of the nation is in risk of flooding, however our slaves keep the water at bay for now. Nova Lax however is safe form these natural disasters and is situated in the middle of a tectonic plate. Under my rule we have become a prosporous empire and I was even elected as Sovereign of Concord - a collection of smaller states. Due to my decision to leave Concord died and most of the members are now prospering in the larger alliance known as Order of the White Rose. Thanks to their generosity we have been able to expand and prosper. This has led to us being able to sport a mighty military consisiting of expereienced conscripts fighting for our glorious empire. The recent war has decimated Nova Lax's military and has made Kaarien's weapons stockpile run dry - but the enourmous amounts of money that OWR pumps into Laximperiet (the alliance between Kaarien and Nova Lax) has made it possible to keep up this war longer than our enemies. And they have taken more damage than us! That's the way it is and that's the way it shall remain!

Gory to Laximperiet! Glory to seals!