Folaria is a country that was warlike for many years, expanded through conquest and forcible spreading of the Norse religion. However, this only lasted from about 680 until 723, when much of the population died from a plague; most of the survivors were those from small isolated households, and those wealthy enough to have clerics or druids who could heal the sick. Thus, the ruling class survived long after most of the native population had died; most of the population after the plague consisted of transplanted people from Meest, which Folaria had recently conquered.
680 - Harald Fairhair, born 658, whose family had generations back been warleaders who had conquered territory without creating any sort of formal state, named his territory Folaria after an ancestor of legend named Folar. He established the first unified system of law, weighted heavily in favor of those with property. He shared a joint rule with his son Eric, known as Bloodaxe, for the last three years of his life, dying in 738.
During his reign, Folaria fought and conquered Meest in 709, and a plague that was brought over with captives ravaged the country in waves for the next 128 years, not being completely wiped out until 850, by which time most of the population could be counted on as being descended from Meests.
735 - Erik Bloodaxe, born 701, ruled in effect from about 732, took the throne when his very aged father finally died. He also lived a very long time, dying in 799 at the age of 98. However, he was ousted from rule by his much more popular brother Haakon, known as the Good, in 740, and fled to Biru, where he lived out the rest of his life in exile.
740 - Haakon the Good, born 721, ruled after usurping the throne until his death in 766. He died in an ambush when three of the sons of Erik Bloodaxe attacked him and his retinue while traveling.
766 - Harald Ericsson, born 736, one of the killers of Haakon, as the eldest son of Erik Bloodaxe, claimed the kingship. He led his army in conquering quite a bit more territory, usually killing the nobility and military leaders of the conquered territories. He died childless after nine years of rule, when he was deceived into joining with another king (Sigurd, who was unknown to him, a son of Haakon's who had been sent off in hiding for his safety) to fight in what is now eastern Folaria against the ruler of a territory named Harald, known as Bluetooth for reasons now lost.
775 - Harald Bluetooth, born 749, ruled until 794, when he died during a battle, facing an army led by his former ally, Sigurd Haakonsson. He had lost a great deal of his popularity as a result of losing territory in several areas, and much of his army had deserted him, taking up Sigurd's banner.
794 - Sigurd Haakonsson, born 759, ruled until 809. He was a strong believer in a dominant Norse religion, and harshly persecuted the other faiths that had crept into Folaria in the century since the founding. He was also known for the harsh treatment of his servants, especially for abusing the young females in his household, and was eventually killed by one of his own men.
809 - Olaf Tryggvason, born 792, a distant relative of Harald Fairhair, took over the rule in a lightning military coup that sent Sigurd's children into hiding. He swung the pendulum of religious tolerance so far in the direction of freedom that he alienated much of the populace, and after five years a rebellion led by Sigurd's sons grew large enough to force a war, culminating in a sea battle, in which Olaf was knocked overboard and sank to his death in his armor.
814 - Sweyn Ironfoot, the eldest of Sigurd's sons, was born in 784, ruled until 827. He led a series of military victories that saw Folaria ruling over all the land it currently holds, including lands since lost to the north and south, due to population drop from the waves of plague that still swept through the country every few years. He was succeeded by his younger brother Eric, despite having a number of sons who were in direct line to the throne.
827 - Eric Sigurdsson, born 788, ruled only two years. He tried to conquer Larn to the east, but the intervening mountain range made moving large forces difficult, and he was never able to win a large battle with Larn. He died of infection or disease during a retreat from a disastrous rout.
829 - Sweyn Siggudsson, born 794, Eric's younger brother, took the crown after Eric's death, but he lived only a few weeks. He was killed in an ambush in the forests west of Lyda.
829 - Olaf Haraldsson, born 819, was crowned as the closest in the direct line to the king, but it was very doubtful he was even close. Taking the throne at the age of ten, he held very little actual power, and grew into a slothful and somewhat despicable man. However, he eventually took real power, and his policies of allowing non-Norse religions, while enforcing the primacy of the temples of Odin and his kin, made him very popular with the general populace. The passing of centuries has mostly erased the memory of his transgressions, and the lack of any plague during his reign is seen as a sign of divine favor. There are many statues and memorials to him in the cities and towns of Folaria. He married, but had only one child, a daughter, and he was succeeded by a son of Sweyn Ironfoot.
842 - Cnut the Great, born 809, was crowned as the nearest in line for the throne, as the eldest son of Sweyn Ironfoot. He ruled for seven years, dying at age forty in his sleep. During his reign he vastly strengthened the temples of Odin, secured the borders, and made treaties with Larn. He established temples of Odin in many small towns, and ensured that people in every town would have access to priests who could help in the case of another wave of plague, which indeed happened in 845-846. His efforts saved many thousands of lives, and brought wealth and prosperity to the country. However, he left no heir, and was succeeded by a son of Eric Sigurdsson.
849 - Magnus Olafsson, born 838, was crowned after Cnut's death; Cnut had stated that Haakon should succeed him, as he had no heirs. Magnus was not crowned until his sixteenth birthday, but when he took the throne, he began leading a series of wars of conquest to the south, meeting and defeating a series of armies in a country that no longer exists in what is now the empty forests south of Folaria. He typically razed the towns to the ground, which is why no traces of them remain today. He fell overboard while at sea, under suspicious circumstances while on a voyage in 861; his body was not found.
861 - Harald Hardrada, born 830, took the crown after a brief civil war was fought when the previous king died. He ruled for twenty years, and was the last king of Folaria to try to invade and conquer Larn; the two countries have been at peace since. His army conquered several towns and had camped around another one, preparatory to siege, when they were encircled and annihilated by an army from Larn. Harald was killed in the battle, and his army was all but wiped out.
881 - Magnus Haraldsson, born 864, took the crown after his father's death. He ruled for three years, and caught the plague and died in 884.
884 - Olaf Haraldsson, born 854, ruled for 26 years. He ceased war against Lyda, and instead began a period of peaceful expansion into wilderness north and south. He again strengthened the Norse temples, helping minimize the effect of plague during his reign; the last occurrence happened in 898, and no sign has been seen since. He had no legitimate children, and his reign was followed by a period of unrest when several kings took the throne in succession.
910 - Haakon Magnusson, born 886, illegitimate son of the king before Olaf, ruled the majority of the country for two years of almost constant combat. He died while traveling with the army from one battle to the next, under circumstances not known, in 912.
912 - Magnus Olafsson, born 892, illegitimate son of Olaf, ruled for ten years. He spent most of the first five years reconquering the country, as much of it had attempted to split off into independent baronies. When this was complete, he began conquering new territory to the north and south, had some success, but died in battle in 922. He was the last king thought of as a warrior king, and the last to die in battle; during his years away from the capital, a bureaucracy gradually took over running the country, and after his death, the kings ruled in name only.
922 - Olaf Magnusson, born 917, took the (mostly ceremonial) crown at the age of five; his court was run by regents until he turned sixteen. He died a year later, from a fall from a horse.
933 - Eystein Magnussen, born 918, illegitimate son of Magnus, was placed on the throne after his brother died and no closer claimant could be found. He ruled during a period of peace and exploration, instituted building reforms that reduced health problems in the towns and cities, spread temples back into small towns where they had sometimes disappeared, and in general was known as a kind and wise, if not brilliant, king. He died in 953, apparently as the result of a heart problem.
953 - Sigurd Magnussen, born 919, another illegitimate son of Magnus, took the throne after Eystein died. He sent exploration fleets east and west, hoping to find new unsettled land, but in every direction he discovered that there was little land to take. Expeditions to the south had difficulty with the wild forests, inhabited by many monsters, and the land to the north had little worth the expense of settling. He ruled for 27 years, with most of the last decade being in effective retirement, as the power of the crown grew weaker. He died of general poor health, after a long sedentary life.
980 - Magnus Sigurdsson, born 960, was known as the Blind. While he had little power, he tended to abuse what he did have, and when the nobles grew tired of his excesses, his uncle led a group to assassinate him. Magnus's bodyguards tried to protect him, and the king was being carried to safety by one of them when both were, legend says, run through with the same spear in the hands of his uncle.
985 - Harald Magnusson, born 921, was the illegitimate son of Magnus Olafsson, and 64 when he took the throne. He was assassinated by another of his father's illegitimate sons after barely a year on the throne.
986 - Sigurd Haraldsson, born 982, yet another illegitimate son, took the throne as a child, and ruled for nineteen years. After he was freed from the regency on his sixteenth birthday in 988, he began having other possible claimants to the throne killed, which instead of cementing his position threw it into chaos. A civil war erupted, and he was killed during a mediation between him and two cousins. The throne was taken by Inge Haraldsson in 1005.
1005 - Inge Haraldsson, born 984, ruled for 25 years. The civil war that had begun during his predecessor's reign did not really end, and he was eventually killed in a battle with the forces led by a distant cousin, Haakon Sigurdsson.
1030 - Haakon Sigurdsson, born 974, ruled only for a year, and died in battle as the civil war wound down.
1031 - Magnus Erlingsson, born 1026, was placed on the throne as a proxy while the country's rule fell even more strongly into the bureaucrats. He held the throne for twenty-three years, until he died in battle at the age of 28, aboard a ship that sank with all hands.
1054 - Sverre Sigurdsson, born 1021, took the throne after Magnus' death. He was far from the warrior ideal of the kings of old, but was an able administrator. He fell ill aboard ship, and died during a voyage in 1072. His claim to be Sigurd's son may have been entirely fabricated.
1072 - Haakon Sverreson, born 1055, took the throne in a peaceful changeover after his father's death. He ruled for two years, and died apparently of poison. His stepmother Margareta, was accused of the crime, and chose a combat by proxy to prove her innocence. Her chosen warrior was slain, and she was executed for the crime.
1074 - Guttorm Sigurdson, born 1069, was a grandson of Sverre, and was placed on the throne after his uncle died. As he was only five, he had no real control over the kingdom. He died, apparently from poison, within a few months; the family of Margareta was suspected, and a number of them were killed in the aftermath.
1074 - Inge Baardson, born 1055, was the closest in blood to the throne. The conflict over the throne settled down a great deal during his thirteen year reign, and when he died in 1087, a grandson of Sverre's who was found during his reign took the throne without real dissent. He apparently had some sort of congenital disease that made him prone to illness and injury.
1087 - Haakon Haakonson, a grandson of Sverre's, born 1074, ruled for forty-six years, until 1133. The last of the conflict over the throne ended during his reign, as the lines of other claimants either died out completely, died without male issue, or married into the royal family. He was succeeded by his son.
1133 - Haakon Haakonson, born 1125, son of the previous king, took the throne after his father died. By this time, the position had become almost entirely ceremonial; the king is seen as a symbol of more primitive times, and has almost no power in government. He ruled until 1150, dying in a riding accident.
1150 - Magnus Haakonson, born 1131, is the current holder of the crown. He has taken an aggressive stance in using what power remains, often attending the meetings of the national congress, and has become a leader in modernizing the legal code of the country. The laws of succession are well codified, which should prevent any further strife over who holds the crown; the royal family has grown very large in the last few generations of peace and plenty. His heir is Eric Magnusson, born 1161.
910 -