Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-38306117-20190330065023/@comment-38306117-20190405203529

History (badly written, someone please try to improve it whilst retaining the same information:) Berk is a small, rocky, wet and cold island, located on the Meridian of Misery. It was first settled circa 500 C.E. by Scandinavians of unknown specific origin, that is, we do not know where in Scandinavia they came from. We do know, however, that they were ruled by Chiefs of the House of Haddock, and that they became known as the Hairy Hooligan tribe. According to local folklore, the island (and the entire surrounding archipelago) was inhabited by dragons, who constantly attacked the Berkians. The Isle of Berk was ruled by a string of minor Chieftains, until circa 750 C.E., when Hamish I took control. He brought Berk to wealth and to prominence among the tribes of the Archipelago. When he died, the reins passed to his son, Hamish II, whose reign was only slightly less grand. Eventually, Stoick, known as "The Vast", became Chief. His reign, according to legend, saw redoubling of the Berkian defense against the dragons. Eventually, as Berkian folklore claims, he set his mind to locating the whereabouts of the dragons' nest, so that he might destroy it, and stop the threat to the Berkian people once and for all. The sagas, however, go on to tell of his son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, who historians believe to be a real person, making peace with the dragons and learning how to ride them. The Berkian sagas claim to be, and modern Berkians claim to be, records of the Isle's history. However, they were clearly written by someone wrapped up in his own fantasy. If we were to believe the sagas, we would have to agree with the notion that the Hooligan tribe fielded an army of Viking warriors mounted on dragons, and that they fought wars and battles, to eventual success, against great odds. However, not even the delusional author of the sagas could keep up the notion of dragons. He decided to put an end to his narrative, saying that Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III banished them from this world for their own safety. Apparently, Berkian power and influence faded into nothingness after this. The last event chronicled in the sagas is the wedding of Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III to Astrid of the House of Hofferson, which historians believe was an actual event. In summary, Berk is a minor Nordic island nation, with the usual economic dependence on fish, but one with a unique culture, such as the late December celebration of Snoggletog, and a yearly celebration of the fictional dragon races and battles that feature so prominently in the sagas. Because surely dragons can't be real, can they?