Post by Baldr Bjorg the Bonkers on Jan 17, 2016 18:53:10 GMT 1
Before human feet touch Hysteria, there were dragons on that isle. That’s probably the only thing people agree upon when it comes to Hysteria’s origins, everything else is marred in propaganda and confusion (most Histerian hystorian wrote some of their delusions into their books so you can’t really trust the accuracy of any of them).
Common wisdom is that the Vikings who landed on the shores of Hysteria all those centuries ago were outcasts from other tribes due to their mental instabilities, while others believe that the island itself slowly turns any inhabitants mad if they live there long enough. Whatever the case, the first Vikings to take up permanent residence there probably did so in a peaceful manner. Not because by that point Vikings were pro-dragon (again it’s still not known if Hysteria was founded before or after Hiccups time) but rather because no viking could have lived on that island for more than a day had they been violent.
This was not only because of the island having dragons on it (many more dragons with a much wider array of species than were found on berk at the time). Instead, it was because of what lived around it. For much of its human history, Hysteria had a dragon living in or around it who’s size could only be seen to be believed. Thought to have been the comparable to a Red Death or Bewilderbeast in size and power, this gargantuan, leviathan like monstrosity guarded the island and the dragons around it for many years and made sure than any threat to its home and the dragons on it was swiftly taken care of.
Descriptions vary between sources but they all said it always as black as your darkest nightmares with very large teeth and claws. Stories talk of times when this dragon has eaten ships whole, killing dozens of Vikings with a single bite and that, despite its size, the dragon was extremely fast in the water. They also talk of how, like a Bewilderbeast, it breathes ice (though most of the books described as a blue flame which froze anything it touched).
Their green eyes, which were the size of a Viking, had a strangely hypnotic effect to them and just like the Bewilderbeast, they could control the will of lesser dragons with ultrasonic sounds. This effect wasn’t limited to dragons, as there were documented reports of times when their hypnotic gaze affected humans, though it merely makes them docile, no actual mind control. That said, there are some people who theorize that the long term exposure the Vikings would have had while on the island could have caused the tribes predisposition to insanity, though most people still believe the first theory.
Whatever the case, many years were spent on Hysteria with dragons and Vikings coexisting together, with their black nightmare being alpha over all of them. It would occasionally take long naps or go away for a short to explore the deeper seas, but Hysteria was its home, and Hysterians it’s subjects. It was said that nothing could beat this abomination other than the wrath of Thor himself, a story goes that the strait between Hysteria and Villany was created when the creature and the god of thunder had a dispute and the dragon lost, hence the name.
Then some time over a century ago, for reasons not written by historians, the dragon took a nap in the middle of the Wrath of Thor and did not wake up. For years they were expecting it to wake up and be their terrifying guardian once more, but years turned into decades and the people started to stop caring, maybe he would sleep forever, maybe he had died. And so the population started to take more control of their island, be a more dominant force. By the time it had reached Norbert’s reign, most people had come to believe he was just a myth their parents had made up to be good little Vikings.
So when, 22 years ago, the Wrath of Thor froze over in the winter and did not thaw in the summer, they had no idea what was happening. It wasn’t until the infant grandson of the chief had gone onto the ice on day to play and saw the bright green eye below his feet that Hysteria was reminded that their guardian still existed. And though what happened that day did not end with the dragon regaining control over its island, Hysteria learnt that they should not have forgotten him.
This was why Hrothgar, once his father and sister were both dead and he was chief, had tiny islands which poked out of the water within a couple of miles of Hysteria turned into outposts which were always manned by at least a couple of Hysterians. These outposts were fitted with a horn which could be heard from the mainland which they were to blow once if they needed general support from home, twice if they spot dragons incoming towards the island, and if they blew their horn three times...well, a doom would come upon Hysteria once more, for winter will follow spring.
Common wisdom is that the Vikings who landed on the shores of Hysteria all those centuries ago were outcasts from other tribes due to their mental instabilities, while others believe that the island itself slowly turns any inhabitants mad if they live there long enough. Whatever the case, the first Vikings to take up permanent residence there probably did so in a peaceful manner. Not because by that point Vikings were pro-dragon (again it’s still not known if Hysteria was founded before or after Hiccups time) but rather because no viking could have lived on that island for more than a day had they been violent.
This was not only because of the island having dragons on it (many more dragons with a much wider array of species than were found on berk at the time). Instead, it was because of what lived around it. For much of its human history, Hysteria had a dragon living in or around it who’s size could only be seen to be believed. Thought to have been the comparable to a Red Death or Bewilderbeast in size and power, this gargantuan, leviathan like monstrosity guarded the island and the dragons around it for many years and made sure than any threat to its home and the dragons on it was swiftly taken care of.
Descriptions vary between sources but they all said it always as black as your darkest nightmares with very large teeth and claws. Stories talk of times when this dragon has eaten ships whole, killing dozens of Vikings with a single bite and that, despite its size, the dragon was extremely fast in the water. They also talk of how, like a Bewilderbeast, it breathes ice (though most of the books described as a blue flame which froze anything it touched).
Their green eyes, which were the size of a Viking, had a strangely hypnotic effect to them and just like the Bewilderbeast, they could control the will of lesser dragons with ultrasonic sounds. This effect wasn’t limited to dragons, as there were documented reports of times when their hypnotic gaze affected humans, though it merely makes them docile, no actual mind control. That said, there are some people who theorize that the long term exposure the Vikings would have had while on the island could have caused the tribes predisposition to insanity, though most people still believe the first theory.
Whatever the case, many years were spent on Hysteria with dragons and Vikings coexisting together, with their black nightmare being alpha over all of them. It would occasionally take long naps or go away for a short to explore the deeper seas, but Hysteria was its home, and Hysterians it’s subjects. It was said that nothing could beat this abomination other than the wrath of Thor himself, a story goes that the strait between Hysteria and Villany was created when the creature and the god of thunder had a dispute and the dragon lost, hence the name.
Then some time over a century ago, for reasons not written by historians, the dragon took a nap in the middle of the Wrath of Thor and did not wake up. For years they were expecting it to wake up and be their terrifying guardian once more, but years turned into decades and the people started to stop caring, maybe he would sleep forever, maybe he had died. And so the population started to take more control of their island, be a more dominant force. By the time it had reached Norbert’s reign, most people had come to believe he was just a myth their parents had made up to be good little Vikings.
So when, 22 years ago, the Wrath of Thor froze over in the winter and did not thaw in the summer, they had no idea what was happening. It wasn’t until the infant grandson of the chief had gone onto the ice on day to play and saw the bright green eye below his feet that Hysteria was reminded that their guardian still existed. And though what happened that day did not end with the dragon regaining control over its island, Hysteria learnt that they should not have forgotten him.
This was why Hrothgar, once his father and sister were both dead and he was chief, had tiny islands which poked out of the water within a couple of miles of Hysteria turned into outposts which were always manned by at least a couple of Hysterians. These outposts were fitted with a horn which could be heard from the mainland which they were to blow once if they needed general support from home, twice if they spot dragons incoming towards the island, and if they blew their horn three times...well, a doom would come upon Hysteria once more, for winter will follow spring.
