Berwald Oxenstierna

[sweden]

S W E D E N

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SO WE RODE DOWN TO THE RIVER WHERE THE TOILING GHOSTS SPRING ;;
For their curses to be broken…
We’d go underneath the arches where the witches are in the saying
There are ghost towns in the ocean…
- - -T H E - O C E A N- - -[/font][/center]

Nation: Kingdom of Sweden
Name: Berwald Oxenstierna
Gender: Male
Appearance Age: 21
Hair Color: Light blond
Eye Color: Greenish-blue
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 186lbs (seems about right but I'm no weight expert)
Appearance: Berwald stands at a somewhat respectable 6'42 in height, making him pretty much the tallest nation around. Along with his tall build he's also well set, and whilst not a wall like Ivan, he does still have a somewhat heavy build. Saying this though it's probably not much of a negative considering his warish background, as such his build makes him an incredible force it be reckoned with when he so wishes. His clothes alas though do manage to 'poof him out' so to say. With a thick and heavy blue overcoat that hangs loose on him he tends to look larger than he actually is, and instead of describing his cloths more I gave you a reference that includes his bin hat.

Facially he's rather broad, not in the sense of fat, more in the sense that this is simply structurally how his face is set. Saying this though the fact his usual expression looks to be just about the most traumatic deathglare you've ever seen, it's probably better this way. Framing this is a short mop of shaggy blond hair that seems to do whatever the hell it wants, when it wants. Thankfully though it's to short to cover his greenish-blue eyes, which are often covered by frame-less glasses.


- - -

K N O W - T H Y S E L F

Personality:
Berwald is a man of few words, often coming across as a mute who can only communicate with huffs and grunts. This is not actually true, he's perfectly capable of talking (all be it oddly), he simply chooses not to. This in itself is for many reasons, one being for the cold climate he grew up in, with the other being that very simply he's by nature a very mellow chap. He's blunt and direct, speaking only when needed, it would be a rare occurrence indeed to catch him mindlessly chatting away with someone, indeed such a thing has probably never actually happened before. As such he can appear to be anti-social, much by mistake actually. The fact of the matter is that he's just a quite person, by nature he's not a talker, something probably helped by the fact that his incredibly thick accent makes it next to impossible for a stranger to understand at all what he's saying.

Berwald has a nasty habit of accidentally intimidating everyone and anyone that comes near him, this being purely by mistake for the most part (heavens forbid he actually try and do so). Despite his threatening appearance he's actually a relatively compassionate man, caring deeply for a few select things, making him not so much the monster he may seem at a glance.

As a whole he's a strict and stern man, more often than not preferring that schedules and rules are followed promptly. If they're not then one of two things are liable to happen, he'll either lose patience and make you do it, or if he finds the situation mildly amusing he may watch for a time until yes, you guessed it, he losses patience and makes you do it. Despite not really being one to throw his weight around any more he still manages to get what he wants out of matters, perhaps through inadvertent intimidation, or perhaps because of the odd ways he has to get what it is he wants. Whatever it is it tends to work, meaning that even now he still manages to command respect upon matters.

Whilst his usual persona is stoic and calm he does actually have a more playful side under everything, and whilst it rarely shows it is still there. On occasion it may briefly be seen when something such as an argument or debate takes his fancy, but other than that one would have to pull something extraordinarily odd to actually get past the scary-ass seriousness. Indeed, one way to do so is to piss him off, and not just piss him off, drive him to a point of utter rage. This very very rarely happens, as more often than not he'd just rather walk away from whatever it is that's bothering him. Yet on the odd occasion it does happen you're likely to catch a gimps of the side that was not only a Viking, but also a damn strong empire. Whilst thankfully not explosively angry with things he'd still be more than a small threat if rubbed up the wrong way, as some people manage to do with him quite inadvertently.
Likes:
Finland~
Order
Piece and quiet
Observing shenanigans~
Not being under Danish control
The occasional argumentative spat
Making furniture
Arts and crafts
Cooler climates
Dislikes:
Denmark
People being scared of him
The fact he looks hellish scary without meaning to
Finland disagreeing with the whole wife thing
People not listening to him
Stupid behaviour
Corruption/tyrany
Arrogance
Fears:
Anything happening to Finland
Secrets:
Whilst he has an almost soldier like mentality he still retains a soft heart, meaning unlike with most it would be rather easy to pull him apart if you could push at the right points. Since few to none can this is hardly an issue though~
Is actually pretty sensitive and fun loving, whilst you're not likely to find him fawning over flowers or riding a hard-core roller coaster which totally doesn't exist at this point, this is still something to take into account even if it's not something he shows.... at all...
Whilst no longer the 'Conquer of the Baltic sea', the part of him that was is still there in some ways, meaning that screwing around with him is liable to end one way. Badly. For you.
His canned Surströmming can be used as a national weapon ?
Strengths: Strong-willed, level headed, loyal, honest, handy with craftsmanship, incredibly good warrior, compassionate
Weaknesses: Intimidating, very hard to understand due to accent, often totally misunderstood, kind of just snaps when enough is enough

- - -

T H E - P A G E S - O F - H I S T O R Y

History:

98 - - - Tribal period
800 - - - Swedish Vikings started, so was pretty much out there plundering everyone and their mother
801 - - - The first Christianity campaign was lead in Sweden
1050-1600 - - - Christianity is firmly established
1134-1155 - - - Götaland was permanently integrated with Svealand
1319 - - - Severed portions of Sweden were reunited
1319 - - - Unified with Norway
1365 - - - Rage quit a really bad leader, bringing his nephew in to lead the country
1397 - - - Kalmar Union formed
1430 - - - Got sick of the Danish attacking people every which way, so rebelled and kicked the Danes out of Sweden
1520 - 1520 - - - Another rebellion against the Danish, and again kicked them out of Sweden
1523 - - - Independence from the Kalmar Union
1600 - - - Took control of Estonia
1617 - - - Won against Russia and claimed a helluva lot of land, including full claim to Estonia and Latvia
1626 - - - Lost Swedish Livonia in the Polish Wars
1710 -1713 - - - A plague hit Sweden, received from Livonia and Finland
1810 - - - Death rates slowly began declining as health started to improve
1939 - 1940 - - - Aided Finland in the Winter War
1940 - 1943 - - - Allowed Nazi Germans to cross through Swedish territory
1943 - - - Trained Danish and Norwegian troops in Sweden

Allies:

Swedish War of Liberation
--- Free City of Lübeck

Livonian War
--- Denmark–Norway - Livonian federation - Poland–Lithuania

Thirty Years' War
--- Denmark-Norway - England - Transylvania - United provinces - Bohemia - France - Saxony - Electoral Palatinate - Brunswick-Lüneburg - Brandenburg-Prussia - Ottoman empire

Torstenson War
--- Dutch Republic

Second Northern War
--- Brandenburg-Prussia - Transylvania

Scanian war
--- France

Great North War
--- Holstein-Gottorp - Poland–Lithuania - Ottoman Empire - Cossack Hetmanate

Seven Years' War
--- France - Habsburg Monarchy - Russian Empire - Spain - Saxony

First Barbary war
--- United States - Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

War of the First Coalition
--- Prussia - Russia - United Kingdom - Saxony - Sicily

War of the Sixth Coalition
--- Russia - Prussia - Austria - Sweden - United Kingdom - Spain - Portugal - Sicily - Sardinia

Current allies are the EU, and NATO members. His closest alliance would of course be with Finland, though alliances with the other Nordics are also relatively good.... Probably because they're used to his scary face.

Stance in WW2;

During the second world war Sweden was stated to be neutral. However, such a stance was lost due to aiding Finland in the winter war, training Danish and Norwegian troops in Sweden, and also for allowing German troops to pass through Swedish territory freely.
Enemies:

Swedish War of Liberation
--- Denmark - Kalmar union

Northern Seven Years' War
--- Denmark - Lübeck - Poland–Lithuania

Livonian War
--- Russia - Kingdom of Livonia

Polish-Swedish war
--- Poland–Lithuania

Kalmar war
--- Denmark–Norway

Thirty Years' War
--- Holy Roman Empire - Spain - Denmark-Norway

Torstenson War
--- Denmark-Norway - Holy Roman Empire

Swedish Wars on Bremen
--- Bremen - Electorate of Cologne - Brunswick-Lüneburg - Denmark - Electorate of Brandenburg - Dutch Republic Dutch Republic

Second Northern War
--- Denmark–Norway - Habsburg monarchy - Poland-Lithuania - Russia - Brandenburg-Prussia - Dutch Republic

Scanian war
--- Denmark-Norway - Brandenburg - Holy Roman Empire - Spain

Great North War
--- Tsardom of Russia - Denmark–Norway - Electorate of Saxony - Poland–Lithuania - Cossack Hetmanate - Prussia - Great Britain

Seven Years' War
--- Prussia - Great Britain - Province of Hanover - Iroquois Confederacy - Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel - Portugal - Hesse-Kassel - Schaumburg-Lippe

First Barbary war
--- Barbary States

War of the fourth Coalition
--- French Empire - Confederation of the Rhine - Polish Legions - Kingdom of Italy - Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Naples - Holland - Swiss Confederation - Spain

Finnish War
--- Russia

War of the Sixth Coalition
--- French Empire

Swedish-Norwegian War
--- Norway

Sample Post:
Based on the Dano-Swedish War (1657–1658), I probably messed up details, BUT in my defence I couldn't find much on the war. Also, this could totally be used as a starting post for a thread~

So, this was what is was down to, then? He'd have sighed but it would have been a wasted breath, a wasted breath in the bitter chill as he and his soldiers marched. It was all down the that damn Dane, it was always down to him. That foolish little man of a leader thought he and his people incapable, foolish enough to send all forces to one battle, foolish enough to put everything into a painfully compromising situation and leave all else unguarded. It was their mistake though, Sweden and his men would march, as they were now, across this frozen desert of which they were so accustomed. With a puffing grunt the tall nation turned his head slightly, ignoring the cool blast of wind that licked at his face as he did, his men were ready... Well of course they were. He and his people had not come as far as they had by being ill prepared, they were strategic, loyal, and above all perseverant. The Swedes were not rash, and this was why they would win. Logically Denmark and his merry band of fools should have seen this coming, to strike out when least expected. Any more of a man would be ready, they would be marching toward Berwald, ready to clash horns with horns, axe to poll. Yet he would not be, the stoic man knew this, and despite it all this damn well aggravated him immensely.

The man was obnoxious and loud, he never listened and was an utter pain. Perhaps that made things all the more sweet in his mind, the jävel had it coming in the end. A sudden voice snapped him from whatever was to come next though, dragging him from aggravation and back to that usual calm... Even if it was a war-anticipating calm. "Sir, the men need to stop for a time, we've been moving for hours..." Stopping he furrowed brows somewhat before turning fully to face the young commander who'd just addressed him, sharp blue eyes dragging slowly over the troops, before again falling to the young gent... Who alas looked as if he'd just damn well seen the devil, still, in this situation perhaps it wasn't so bad. Whilst unnecessary he'd long since learned that intimidation on a battle field was not a poor thing, many a time a fool before him had faltered simply because of that cold look he cast, only to meet something far colder, and far more deadly. Still though, to see his own men with that look... There was something rather wrong with that.

Nodding sharply though he agreed with nothing more than a grunting 'hmph' sound. "T'ke 'n h're, no f're, n'd th' s'rpr's'." With a vague nod, having apparently understood the sentence which fell nicely into the category of 'utter gibberish except to people with incredibly strange minds', the soldier turned quickly, passing the message around swiftly. The various looks of relief were evident, though no sooner had Sweden turned away, long jacket kicking out behind him as his hand tightened around the poll in his grip, eyes narrowing against the thick snow falling... If his eyes were not deceiving him then there was something ahead, a dark silhouette against the otherwise white of the frozen belt. Cocking a brow he stepped forward, once, twice, and then he stopped, eyes widening before he stopped and spun, marching briskly back. "W''re h're!" He barked sharply, the seven thousand sum faces all snapping in his direction. It was a matter of duty, ever man here had fought war after war, they knew what they had to do, and so those that had sat stood, those that had stopped marched, and at a faster pace they approached the ever none suspecting Funen.

This would be swift, the island suspected nothing, they did not expect a large company to invade, they did not expect the Swedish army to march across the Small Belt to attack. After all, the Swedes were meant to be tied down in Poland, they were not meant to be here, they were not meant to be launching a counter-attack. Though here they were none the less~

With a gaunt expression he thrust an arm forward, poll pointing firmly onwards, the unspoken signal to attack. Of course they did, there was no running in screaming and yelling, because after all, should you do that they would know you were coming, and surprise was one of the greatest allies one could have in life. Especially a life like this that existed heavily on war, one now started that would end soon. It really was their own fault though...

It wasn't just done for pleasure.

Did you read the rules and Dark Reflections Canon? Si, and then I had Italian Pasta too, veeee~
Random fun fact about yourself: I'm terrible with a Tohaku accent so I'm making it up ? .... Iiii... used to be scared of natural sponges [/font]

[Germany]

Your profile is
ACCEPTED !

Welcome to the board! It's so nice to have a Sweden — the other Nordics will be thrilled!

Your profile looks pretty good; the only thing we really spotted that was of concern was your tendency to make comma splices sometimes. Such as here:

It was their mistake though, Sweden and his men would march, as they were now, across this frozen desert of which they were so accustomed.

Putting a period after "though" and starting a new sentence with "Sweden" — or replacing the comma after "though" with a semi-colon — would make this a little easier to read.

It's not a big deal, just something we noticed in a few places, and something you might want to watch out for in the future.

Again, welcome!