King Mark-Halvar Ivarsson

King Mark-Halvar (born February 6th, 1674 as Halvar Ivarsson), or also known as King Mark-Halvar the Pious, is the current king of the North Sea Empire, which was once embroiled in civil war against the pagans. He rose to power in the south after when he gathered his most trusted men and fled for the Christian part of Norway to escape Floki Haraldsson's wrath against Christians, where he helped out the south push the pagans away from Oslo.

Halvar soon visited Constantinople during one of the many ceasefires organized between the Christians and pagans and dined with Emperor Constantine XII of Byzantium, to where he was brought to Haiga Sofia and baptized there, becoming Mark-Halvar. Soon, he returned to Norway to hear of the death of the previous king, King Harold Sigurdsson, at the hands of Floki Haraldsson, a will left by him gave full permission for Mark-Halvar to become king, which he took up with pride and announced a crusade against the pagans before ultimately defeating them in May 8th, 1699.

# Early Life

### Birth

Halvar Ivarsson was born in February 6th, 1674 to a former boat maker, name Ivar Akesson, also known by his other name of Ivar the Lame due to an accident that made him immobile in one leg, and the daughter of a farmer, Siggy. Halvar was born in the pagan north on the island of Eidem, Norway. When Halvar was born, Floki Haraldsson had killed his brother and took his throne. Halvar was brought to the mainland when he was 16 to serve in the pagan army.

### Army Life

Halvar, despite not having a family based in warfare, proved himself to be a great fighter and skilled archer. His skill with an war axe gained the ire of Floki Haraldsson and sought to have him as a leader, but he wanted to assess him first. Halvar first experienced combat in the Battle of Holten, where it was said he led a platoon of soldiers into the unorganized ranks of the Christians and cut them down, showing no mercy, gaining him the name Halvar the Gutter.

# Conversion

### Vision

Before the Battle of Vinstra, Halvar had convinced Floki to stop marching the men and women and to have them rest, so they would save energy in the preparation to attack Oslo. While Halvar was preparing to pitch his tent, he soon heard a voice in the wind. At first, he thought Oden was calling to him, so he followed the voice out to the woods, which then he was struck down with a light, where he was quoted as saying "At first, I thought the gods would have brought me up to Valhalla, but the spirit spoke to me calling himself, 'Jesus Christ', and that's when I knew my gods were fake". Halvar knew what he saw was the Christian god and one of the saints, which was Justinian. Knowing he couldn't return and tell Floki, he ran to his friend and told him what had happen, to hear that he too had experienced the same thing and few others had too. All knowing they couldn't let Floki know, ran for the Christian lines.

### Capture

Halvar and his gang were captured and thrown into the Oslo dungeon, where King Harold Sigurdsson soon visited them both and asked them about their visions. Halvar and his group were not trusted at first and were kept in the dungeon for a month before a Byzantine envoy asked for Halvar to be delivered to Constantinople at once. Halvar would never see his friends again after this, as they were repositioned and then recaptured by the pagans and executed due to their rejection of the pagan gods.

### Time in Byzantium

Halvar was brought to Constantine XII and became his helper for a bit when it came to labor, but soon released him from bondage after seeing him pray to an icon of Christ. Constantine XII soon taught him Greek, as Halvar taught Constantine XII how to speak Norse. Halvar soon asked to become a Christian. Constantine XII agreed, seeing that he was strong in his faith and that the two were very close friends. Halvar was baptized with Constantine XII being his godfather, in 1683, taking the baptismal name of Mark. He soon returned to Oslo to hear that now the pagans were knocking at the door.

# Life as a General and Coronation

### Defense of Oslo

Oslo was close to being defeated, as three attacks over the span of three days have weakened the walls and the people in Oslo were demoralized. King Harold asked Halvar to help defeat the pagan threat, since he knew them well. Halvar agreed to defend against the pagans. Dawning the Holy Face flag and nation's flag, he took a small contingent of soldiers and met Floki out on the battlefield, decisively defeating him and soon pushing him back to Hamar. Once returning to Oslo, Mark-Halvar was hailed as a hero and was given the rank of general.

### Rise to Kingship

Mark-Halvar and King Harold soon became close friends, and through Mark-Halvar's influence, had a majority of the population convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, as well as Harold himself. Harold wasn't able to have kids and he was cited as saying that Mark-Halvar was like a son to him and wished for him to reign if he was to die. Soon, Floki marched his army into Gjøvik, forcing Harold to declare war on the pagans once again. While although Gjøvik was a Christian victory, King Harold was killed in a duel with Floki while in the mist of battle. Mark-Halvar soon received the news and was filled with anger at the end of his best friend and father figure. When Mark-Halvar was coroneted, he made a speech to his people he now reigned over

> *"I will not stand idle while the pagans raid us. This defensive war has become nothing but the death of many Christian brothers and sisters. The only way to defeat the pagans is to strike them first before they strike us, for God's sake! For King Harold's sake!"*
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# The Northern Crusades

### The 1st Northern Crusade

King Mark-Halvar made no time to waste to go after Floki, declaring the 1st Northern Crusade in September 2nd, 1695. Gathering up men and some eager women and trained them to fight. Soon, Floki and King Mark-Halvar made combat in Lillehammer. Floki's forces were crushed and forced up north, but Mark-Halvar pursued and ambused them near the Gudbrandsdalslågen river. Many of the enemy troops drowned or were cut down. The 1st Northern Crusade ended with a battle at the city of Trondheim, where the winter settled in and King Mark-Halvar went home, taking Central Norway and either forcing the pagans there to convert or leave or face death. All pagan symbols were taken and thrown into the fjords.

### The 2nd Northern Crusade

King Mark-Halvar soon mobilized once again in August 26th, 1696. Seizing the capital of the pagans, Bodø, and forcing Floki to flee to Iceland. Quickly ending the 2nd Northern Crusade in December 2nd, 1696. For the rest of the 2nd Norhtern Crusade, it was Mark-Halvar marching with his army, destroying pagan idols, converting people, and killing those who resisted. Between this, Mark-Halvar came back to his home in Feburary 1st, 1699 to see the place was burnt down and a shallow grave which he knew his family was buried in. Once again, filled with rage, Mark-Halvar looked towards Iceland.

### The 3rd Northern Crusade

   Mark-Halvar soon marched on Iceland, where people soon ran to him as a liberator. Floki, hearing of his landing and the population converting, sought to take down King Mark-Halver. Floki met Mark-Halvar's army at Brunnholl, where fighting was ferocius. While although the king's army was caught off guard because they were baptizing people, they still managed to repeal Floki's army, forcing him to to his final stronghold of Reykjavík. Soon, Floki sought to try and decieve Mark-Halvar into thinking he wanted to become Christian too. King Mark-Halvar, seeing this bluff, offered him to come out, where he was jumped on by Mark-Halvar and captured, then beheaded, his head being put on a pike and his body thrown into a volcano. The stronghold soon gave out and surrendered in May 8th, 1699. With the survivors taken and thrown into monasteries to become converted, or were killed for lying and attacking the army. Over 90 of the defenders, however opted for suicide rather than capture. Soon, King Mark-Halvar went around, using his war axe to destroy all the pagan symbols he came across, torching temples to the pagan idols, and hacking priests to the gods to death. It was said that when he was done, his axe became so dull, it couldn't even be fixed by the best weapon's smith.

# Post-Crusades

### Mark-Halvar and Constantine XII

After the Northern Crusades, Mark-Halvar invited Constantine XII to Oslo, which the two were close and talked about theology and had talked about matters regarding the language in the North Sea Empire's Orthodox Church. It came to an agreement that Norse would be used, but there will be Greek Orthodox churches in the North Sea Empire.

### Mark-Halvar and Albert I

   Mark-Halvar, through Constantine XII, met Albert I of Spain. Albert I invited Mark-Halvar to Madrid, which he was given a tour of the city. Albert I and Mark-Halvar had a discussion through translators and even met Albert's wife, Queen Lunja IV, which Mark-Halvar was qouted in saying she had the "beauty softness of the North Sea in a calm summer morning". The two became close friends and Mark-Halvar supported Spain's claim on Gibraltar.

### Reforms

Despite vanquishing the pagans, Mark-Halvar brought on many reforms to the North Sea Empire that were enrolled in the pagan north. Women had equal standing in the law and could make their own decisions, like serving in the military and not be treated less like a man in the court of law. One of the many thing Mark-Halvar didn't bring over was slavery, declaring it unlawful and cracking down on it, especially in North Scandinavia and Iceland. But that doesn't mean it was gone completely. Slavery was used in a Roman way to pay off debts to either an Earl or as a punishment in the law, but killing a person working to pay off debts or serve a crime they committed, would be equal to killing a freeman. Mark-Halvar, after fully solidifying his power, announced Norse Paganism as a "dead religion" and outlawed the practice of it. While although some statues and other items survived Mark-Halvar's wrath, they are put away in a gallery that's heavily guarded and protected. Once a man was caught breaking in and praying to one, he was dragged outside and put to the sword.

### Marriage

King Mark-Halvar's fame spread into Sweden and the Geats sought to make a good ally or even a union with the North Sea Empire to protect them from the Swedes. Jarl Gizur invited King Mark-Halvar to his Hall. King Mark-Halvar agreed and visited Hrefnesholt, where Mark-Halvar fell in love with Princess Alva. Describing her beauty as such:

> *"Her eyes shown like the Baltic Sea at midnight and her hair waved in the wind like the waves of the North Sea. Her giggle was but a gift from God and her body molded by Archangel Gabriel himself."*
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after the two were married, the nation gathered around the Lake Vänern and were baptized into the Orthodox faith, destroying of idols was commenced and the expulsion of pagan priests who refused to convert was done. A small uprising started, but it was quickly disbanded and destroyed by the North Sea Army.