Elna van Gulik

Elna II van Gulik, 303

> I don't understand, Mallory. They vote on their own government and take care of their own business, yet still blame me for their plight. The peasants don't do that, the seers don't do that, it's just the terrible slothful mentality of the city folk then, surely?
>
> - Elna van Gulik

Elna Margareta Jacoba Adelheid II is the countess of Julich-Bergh. She rose to the throne in 303 when she inherited the baronies of Gulik and Hecke from her parents after they died because of a lightning strike.

## Biography

### Early life

Elna Margareta Jacoba Adelheid was born on 2 Fera 281 in Samar, Hinterbar. She was the fourth and final child of Floris Willem III van Gulik and Elna Jacoba Elisabeth Adelheid van Hecke. Floris Willem III van Gulik was the son of Floris Willem II van Gulik and Catharina Agete van Bergh, and as such inherited both these baronies, uniting Gulik and Bergh.

When Elna was 2 years old, her eldest siblings, the twins Truden and Menten, died from epidemic typhus, along with her grandparents and a third of the population of Gulik, Bergh, Hecke, Ooge and Exter. She was left with her parents and brother, Floris Willem IV, who was 5 at the time.

The youth of Elna was, according to Bruther seers, "riddled with omens, both good and downright unnerving". The following is an account by a Guliker seer:

> The day of her birth, a Guliker ship crashed into Corvus harbour, destroying the historic port. On her third birthday, three wolves were howling under her window [three is a significant number in Brutherdom]. When guards tried to scare them away with fire, they would not budge. Only when they saw the young princess look out of her window did the wolves leave. When the princess was eleven, she went out hunting by herself and was gone for seventeen days. When she came back, her face was covered entirely with blood, but her clothes were spotless, her boots did not even have dirt on them. She carried the corpses of two wolves on her shoulders.
>
>

These accounts terrified her brother, who worried his sister would attempt to overthrow him. On 1 Hyems 300 Floris IV gave Elna an ultimatum: leave Julich-Bergh forever or renounce the right to inherit the county. Elna considered this ultimatum unlawful and called for arbitration by her father the next day. He decided to remain neutral in the matter.

### Conflict with Floris IV

*Note: the following is an account as described by Elna herself. There are no other sources that have reported on this and as such this information should be taken lightly.*

On 3 Hyems 300, Elna was awoken by three masked soldiers. They stated that they were there to either take Elna to the Corvus harbour where she would be shipped off to Friderica and that if she refused to comply they would kill her. Elna jumped out of the window into a pile of soft snow. The soldiers ran outside using the stairs, giving Elna time to load a crossbow with three bolts, which she used to kill all men in one shot. She then decapitated one of the men with a hatchet and carried the head to the room of Floris IV, who was still sleeping. Elna cut off the hand of her sleeping brother and showed him the severed head. His brother, seemingly understanding the message, agreed to coexist with his sister without threatening her further.

On 4 Mariana 302 the parents of Floris and Elna were struck by lightning, supposedly because they did not sufficiently provide Donar with human sacrifices. Floris would officially inherit the county but was worried Elna would attempt to usurp him. Having only one hand, he knew he could not fight Elna off himself. Elna was aware of his fear and proposed a great hunt to decide who would become the count of Gulik-Bergh, instead of dueling for the title. Floris agreed to this proposal, as he knew he could bribe hunters to give him their game.

The night of 10 Mariana 302 the *Donarsjacht* happened. Not much is clear about what happened during the night, as citizens were instructed to stay away from the woods. What is clear and undisputed however is that at the break of dawn, Elna came out of the woods covered in blood with the skinned corpse of her brother carried on her shoulders and his skin rolled up under her arm. She walked into a peasant village and told the peasants: "Tonight, I have hunted the greatest game of all. I will not feast on boar, nor wolf, tonight I will be eating count!"

### Years as countess

On 11 Yornis 303 a smallpox epidemic began after a delegation from Astrea visited Julich-Bergh. On 3 Padret, Elna herself caught the disease, but recovered five days later. In the process, she became blind in her right eye, which she took as a sign that Wodan had personally blessed her.

## Personality

Elna II van Gulik is an impulsive, deceitful and extremely bold character. She seems to lack empathy entirely and reportedly does not regret any of the things she has done to her brother. Elna portrays several spychopathic traits. Aside from that, she is passionate and cares deeply about her interests. She is very optimistic about the future of her dynasty and her county, believing that one day she will be empress of all Spinocia. She has close ties with the peasantry of her nation, but cares little for her vassals in cities, believing the mayors would do a much better job at managing the cities than she is. She holds the Duchy of Astrea in especially high regard, considering them "intellectually, militarily and socially superior to us [Gulikers] in every way".

Elna enjoys hunting. Friderican rabbit stew is her favourite.