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hel-phoenyx · 11 days ago

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A little essay on lysarean generational trauma, or why my brain is rotting away

Note : I will gloss over some events that are spoiler and there's probably many more I don't know about characters that aren't mine

Odin II, Matilda III and Kaizarz belong to @corneille-but-not-the-author

Generational trauma in the Kraken Coast royal families is even more rooted than the Vanasul tree.

Hey, that's a good introduction. Well, without context, it sounds weird. The Vanasul is a special brand of tree that was created, or gifted by War, to Hrotheim IX Voldsterein, one of the greatest Kraken Kings to ever lived. He's the one that started the bloodline, and all of his descendants bear the spell Heir of Vanasul, allowing them to enjoy a formidable vitality and mild regeneration.

It's not risky to assume everything started with Hrotheim, even though the only thing he left behind is his legacy. But for the sake of my point, I'm gonna travel, far, far further in time. At the beginning of the civil war, or even a bit before the Tyrant accessed power. When the family on the throne bore the name af Mundir.

Because the while trauma cristallised with them.

It started with Hrogni af Mundir. Born at a time the royalty was not very well liked, under the yoke of the Seraphims, the religion then leading all of Ink. Controlled by Adam Frosilaen, first son of the Frosilaen, but that's another story. My point is, it was not a good time for the Kraken Coast. Their glory was waning, the royal families had a lot of rivals, and it was hard living in there.

It was in that climate Hrogni accessed to the throne. Only son of the af Mundir, heir, born of a cruel father that only cared about his own power and was terrified of the rival lineage, the only descendants of Hrotheim at the time who obtained a name : The Laangfisk.

Particularily of Odin Laangfisk, only a year older than Hrogni, that bore the same name as the king.

So Odin Ist inculqued to his son fear, hate and cunning. He wanted him to be able to keep the throne, and not be worth of it. Hrogni, at the time, was an intelligent man, and quickly understood what his father was doing was wrong ; he saw the people's suffering, he heard about the rise and fall of the Seraphims, soon he understood he had to do everything in his power to not be like his father.

He hated his cousin Odin, when he was a teen. Because his father told him so. But Odin liked him, a lot, and that combined to the realisation his father was wrong on every way ended up making them friends.

Friends that got more and more tight-knit despite everything.

Hrogni accessed the throne hellbent on not making the same mistakes as his father. He didn't access the throne ready. He was proud, at the time, proud and brave, smiling like the sun because his father always frowned, and tried so hard to be the Good King Hrogni.

He saw civil war. at first fought against the Tyrant, told Faloi to fuck off. He wasn't the one that started the civil war, but he joined on the other side.

War destroys a kingdom. And Hrogni was not prepared for that. He was not prepared for the weight on his shoulders.

Despite everything, he ended up following the lessons on his father. Grew paranoïd. Hopeless. Cruel. Did everything in his power to keep his place. But still kept Odin Laangfisk with him. Because they were friends.

He was afraid of the rest of his bloodline but still trusted him with his life. Rejected everyone but him. It is said even his wife, the Norn at the time, was not as close of him as Odin was.

There is a certain tragedy in trying to become everything your father wasn't to end up far, far worse.

Hrogni was one of the most hated kings, because of a growing cowardice, the fact he ended up submitting to Faloi, and how he was crueler to his own people than to the enemies. People hated him, and him, feeling justified in his actions, continued to do worse and worse.

Even the birth of his children didn't stray him from the path of the monster. In fact, his heart closed for good after the death in childbirth of his wife, giving him his only daughter.

The five years following, he was just tired. Following on what he did but never adding more. He was, during those years, a surprisingly good father, wanting in the depths of his heart to at least do something his own father didn't do.

And then, tired, he decided to put an end to the Krakenese monarchy, only seeing death and agony in that system.

Forsaking every tradition, everything Hrotheim ever fought for.

Destroying was was the heart of the Kraken Coast.

The day he announced his resolution, Odin killed him. Plunged a sword in his back, decapitated him, and cried cradling his body.

He was now king by right of bloodline and coup, and his first action was to once again revolt against Faloi (that was, if you can't figure out, not pleased). He tried to do everything in his power to make the Coast great again (shoo, Trump, not you). He fought a lot, build a reputation on always being at the frontlines, becaus Hrogni wasn't.

Of course his children were perfectly equilibred. Cue his son and daughter falling in love with each other with no adult supervision and starting to become crazy, especially Matilda that had to keep everything for herself. But that's a story for later.

The problem with Odin's coup is that it was unnessesary cruel. While Odin was crying on his friend, his victim's corpse, the people he brought with him let loose. They killed Hrogni's two sons to make sure Odin wouldn't have any rivals and the only one who was left alife, thanks to Hrogni's advisor Brynhild von Zanaderstrassen, was his youngest child, his daughter Karan.

Karan is a bundle of trauma. Even more than survivor's guilt. Because the day Odin II killed Hrogni, she was hiding in the council room, spying on her father. She saw him die at the hands of "uncle Odin" and could only take from his corpse an earring, engraved with the af Mundir's sigil, and the sword of the af Mundir lineage, Dainsleif, the Bane of Life.

Brynhild saved her in extremis from the nobility's anger and Odin, that was already not overjoyed to see the other children die, managed to strike a compromise with her and them. Karan would stay alive, but she'd have to forsake her dynasty name and be raised as less than nobility. Meaning, she could not learn how to read, write of fight.

When you grow up as a princess, being just a refugee in a family that's not yours mark spirits a lot. Karan never forgave Odin for what he's done, but she was even more furious at the new prince and princess, Matilda and her brother. Because they had everything she hadn't and were loved the way she should have been loved.

Most of all they had each other while Karan was deprieved of her brothers.

That stung. Badly. She grew up in cold hate, forced to hide her name, hide the fact she could use the Heir of Vanasul spell, hide her birthright. She was by decree helpless and could not fight against Matilda for the throne, she didn't have any supports except for Brynhild, that was by chance still listened to by Odin, she felt utterly alone.

She never had the occasion to forget everything could have been different.

Over time, she fell in love with Brynhild's only son, Harald. A bit of a himbo, extremely good fighter, earned his own title, the Blood Warrior. Vampiric bloodline sorcerer with a mastery of Blood Domain that he used to go berserk. Heavily respected at the Coast for his fighting spirit and his ascendance.

He brought a bit of happiness in her life and they married while Matilda was going insane for loving her brother in a way sisters shouldn't. I'm pretty sure jealousy was there on her side, but that's not either confirmed nor important.

What's more important is that Karan ended up birthing two children from Harald. Her eldest daughter, Kriss, who was like her denied of posers except the Heir of Vanasul, but could, because of her father, access opportunities Karan couldn't.

And then her son.

That where the generational trauma really, really kicks in.

Because Tyr was born with powers. And not any powers. Ocean's powers. The most respected kind in the Kraken Coast equal to War's.

He was proven to be a dragon descendant, was the son of Harald the Blood Warrior and the grandson of Brynhild von Zanaderstrassen, and most of all he was an af Mundir. He was the perfect candidate to the throne.

And by Gods he was gonna take it back.

Meanwhile Matilda continued to grow crazy and two years lated ended up seducing her brother and giving him a child in secrecy. Well, as she was not married and seemed a bit too close of her sibling a lot of people doubted the truth, Karan included, but it was not exactly said out loud.

The child was Kaizarz.

Him, too, had tremendous powers. A prodigious strenght, abilities in War magic, and was quickly deemed a prodigy.

Ironically he has the same birthday as Tyr, just two years later.

That's when the full grooming starts. Matilda ends up losing her brother, only one she cared about, and starts a full descent in madness. At the beginning, she was just depressed and passive, not doing anything in the kingdom, so the council attempted to put her out of the throne to pu Karan and Harald ; it didn't work. She executed them all for high treason and realised she liked the taste of blood.

So blood she shed. Political opponents, foes, even her own people when they dared say a word against her. Her madness spread to all the continent, creating more and more poverty, even accentued by the war. She was starting to go on Hrogni's path, but with even more of a taste with blood. No one could stop her.

She wanted a legend worth Hrotheim's like her father told her and her brother again and again and again, to never forget the glory of the Coast.

At the same time, she realised two things about her son, her only family. One, he was a prodigy, exceptionnaly strong and reasonably intelligent. Second, he was her heir. and in front of her was her political enemy, her nemesis, the af Mundir's head, with a son wielding waves and thunderstorms people already call the Heir of Harkyr.

So to secure her place she trained Kaizarz relentlessly. Tried to make him her puppet. It never really worked, but she did put in his head many harsh lessons such as "a King never shows emotions". I don't think she was truly a mother for him at any time.

On the other side, and I don't know if it's better or worse, Karan made Tyr the instrument of her revenge not by ruthlessness and brute force, but by emotional manipulation and psych warfare she wasn't even aware she was doing.

She gave him Dainsleif, then taught him about its story. Encouraged him to get closer fom Kaizarz. Talked about her downfall. Put a lot of things in his head about being worthy of his name, worthy of his powers. She made him the savior syndrome child that he is and at the same time, she loved him like a mother did.

He didn't realise her emotional manipulation before the Incident, but I won't talk about the Incident anyway.

Point is, both of them grew up as the same kind of weapons, as heirs, as kings. And both of us became friends the exact same way Hrogni and Odin once did.

Probably falling in love at the same time but again, not important.

Their friendship had to be hidden from Matilda and Karan looked at it as a weapon but they were friends. Not able to say anything bloodline related with their family history but friends. Fighting for the throne in a way both of them weren't even aware of but friends.

Even when Matilda repeteadly humiliated Karan to the point she was only invited to the castle to be spit on or to assist at an execution of one of her former supports they were friends.

Not even their mother's mutual hate could separate them.

But it did take its toll and at the same time Kaizarz accessed to regency they began to drift apart. They couldn't see each other as often, and the words of their mothers started filling the gaps the other's absence created. Kaizarz was preparing to be king and Tyr was groomed to commit a coup.

At the same time he grew angrier. Because of the state the country was in. Because he saw his mother being humilated day after day despite her noble blood, something that seemed so important for everyone, before she got poisoned and killed like a nobody. Buried like a nobody, and his father dying of lethargy joined her in the anonymous graveyard even though he was so respected, because he was her husband. He grew angry at the fact her sister, who wanted a child so, so much, hesitated terminating a pregnancy of a man she loved an planned to marry, at twenty-two, because it would be too dangerous for the child to live in that situation.

And he grew angry at Kaizarz that didn't have time to listen to him, or at least appeared to.

Not Kaizarz's fault. He, too, saw the state of his country, and tried to fix it with the powers regents have. But Tyr could only see the tragedies, countless, among his loved ones.

It weighted heavy between them and the Incident didn't make things better, on the contrary. They could have become a new Odin and Hrogni. They still can. But Kaizarz didn't want to let go of his friend. He wanted to be anything but his mother.

Their relationship managed to be rebuiled on fragile basis and everything still stands between them, their grandparents' fate, their mothers's hatred, and their own history. Their trauma is family legacy.

Now the question is will they manage to break the cycle and grow happy together, as the greatest king to ever lived and his most powerful right-hand man, or will Kaizarz take Hrogni's path leaving behind a Tyr not strong enough to be Odin.

#hel is talking #lysara #lysara ibruael #hel ocs #hel stories #not my ocs #odyssey of the liberator #there's so many other things to say about their relationship and themselves #and the Incident #a country can't have two kings after all #but I limited myself to everything their upbringing is responsible of #I could talk more about the hidden competition #Kriss's own problems with being cast aside for her golden child brother #how their relationship crumbled to be better rebuilt (I hope)#damn even the kind-of-rivalry for Skuld's heart could be exploited #after all only Kings marry Norns #but I don't have the time nor the place here

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