King Ivan Bjork

## Early Life

   Ivan was born on March 3rd, 1990 as the firstborn son of King Alvor Björk and Charlotte Björk. While the Monarchy has never acknowledged the fact, those who were present on the night that Ivan was brought into the world remember how close Queen Charlotte came to death. Perhaps due to this early misfortune and the fact that Ivan was considered sickly in his infancy, the young Prince was hidden from the world for the first three years of his life. From 1990 to 1993 he was confined to The Royal Palace in the capital city of Truvaria and was in the constant care of various wet-nurses and servants.

Crown Prince Ivan was introduced to the public on February 18th, 1994. His 4th birthday little less than a month later saw dignitaries from around the nation in attendance along with their children. This was the first time that Ivan was able to interact with those around the same age as himself. At this party he was gifted a young golden retriever puppy which he subsequently named Chance.

Ivan was seen occasionally alongside his family through the remainder of 1994 to early 1996 when his education began. His schedule was filled with classes such as Math, Science, Forestrian History, World History, Calligraphy, Swimming, Horseback Riding, Frozen Forestrian (the language), Forestrian Norse, English, Court Manners, Dancing and Philosophy. At the age of 10 Ivan entered The Royal Academy.

## Education & Adolescence

The Crown Prince Ivan's education expanded drastically as he approached his 12th birthday. He began to undergo training in composure, public speaking, flattery, swordsmanship, archery, running, climbing, swimming (more advanced techniques) and poisoning (How to deal with being poisoned, doing the poisoning and avoiding it).

He was taught extensively the history of his people as well as the internal politics of The Frozen Forest. All the hundreds of noble families, aristocrats, business owners, government officials and generally influential lot he memorized and committed to study. Alongside the domestic political subjects he was also given a thorough understanding of The Frozen Forest's various political alignments. His families allies and foes overseas.

In 1991 Princess Freja, Ivan's sister was born. The following year a bomb exploded inside of The Royal Palace, killing more than a dozen servants and injuring dozens more. The bomb had been placed inside of Crown Prince Ivan's room though by good fortune the Crown Prince was not inside of the Palace at that time. At 16 Ivan graduated from The Royal Academy and the following year he joined the Frozen Forestrian military. In 1992 his brother Ari was born.

## Military Service

Crown Prince Ivan commissioned into The Frozen Forestrian Navy as a Second Lieutenant in 2007. From 2007 to 2010 remained in the Navy, promoting to Captain in 2010 and taking control of the *Misery*, a frigate. This time was relatively uneventful though good for Ivan as it gave him the opportunity to develop his leadership skills in an environment outside of politics and the court. The entire duration of his naval career were spent in The Treezian Archipelago, sailing between the different islands in order to fend off piracy and rebels.

In the closing months of 2010 the Crown Prince voluntarily transferred to the Colonial Garrison Infantry. His first deployment was to the Island of Zemgadalum. On his third day on the island he was nearly assassinated by a bomb placed in his barracks which killed many of Ivan's comrades but miraculously left him uninjured.

The situation in Zemgadalum deteriorated quickly as colonial leadership lost control over much of the island throughout 2011. Ivan spent roughly two years in almost constant engagements as the rebels were beaten back and resorted instead to guerrilla warfare. Despite his title as Crown Prince Ivan slept and ate among his men and was frequently cut off and in hostile territory with dangerous weather and horrific diseases. The 210th "Fighting Tigers" Colonial Infantry Company which Ivan commanded saw some of the most vicious fighting due to Ivan's near-suicidal tendency to engage the enemy even when outnumbered or at disadvantage.

It was during one such assault in 2012 that the Crown Prince was shot by a rebel sharpshooter while directing his troops from the front. Initial reports by the rebels claimed that Ivan had been killed but in reality he'd been rapidly transported to the colonial capital at Ilegulbium where emergency surgery extracted the bullet from his body. Thankfully the round caused no permanent damage aside but did manage to end Ivan's military career as he was medically discharged at the behest of his father.

\*It's speculated that these experiences from 2010-12 led to the massive military surge when Ivan later became King.

## Increasing Responsibility

Upon returning home from the colonies Ivan began to take on some of his fathers responsibilities. While King Alvor was ailing, Ivan was eager to prove himself internationally and attended many events, sponsoring even more. In 2018 his sister Freja married King Frederick Krieger of Camelone. A year after that Freja had twins, making Ivan an uncle. While Ivan was pleased with the news, it ultimately reminded the Royal Family that Ivan was unmarried and without children himself despite being significantly older than Freja.

King Alvor subsequently sought out partners for Ivan but this search proved fruitless as Ivan did not decide on a partner during the event. Notably though during the event Ivan took the initiative to overthrow the socialist government in control of The Frozen Forest. Having made many allies in the government and military, the coup was relatively bloodless. Despite not being King this was a significant achievement for Ivan. Unfortunately it wasn't long after that King Alvor passed away and Ivan ascended to the throne.

## King of The Frozen Forest

Ivan's ascension as King was a turbulent one. Over the course of the first few months he survived half a dozen assassination attempts and suppressed a coup from within his own extended family. These events notably made him slightly paranoid about his own survival and his legacy. His first year as King oversaw thousands of arrests of regime opponents and a cracking down on socialist thought and socialist organizations. While many hail him as a welcome reactionary against a far more oppressive government, others see his actions as going in the opposite direction of constitutional monarchy. In fact it was under Ivan's reign that The Frozen Forest was returned to an absolute monarchy.

Ivan's hold on power is waning though as much of the nobility have come to back his brother Ari's claim to the throne. Conspiracies are rampant among the various shakers and movers in the capital and tensions couldn't be higher between the two siblings.