Stefan I Borson

Emperor Stefan I Borson of Britannia, King of Albion and King of the Berserkers, was the only son and child of Karl Borson, Chief of the Borson Clan, and Adele du Normeau, Princess of Britannia. He was the only Scandinavian Emperor of Britannia. After his maternal uncle Harold I's death without male issue, he seized the throne before his cousin Martha Normeau could put her infant son Harold Parlaton on the throne. After Martha fled to Torennes with her son to seek refuge with her husband, Harold I's bastard Richard Blade started a rebellion against Stefan. He offered to serve as Lord Protector of Britannia until his nephew Harold Parlaton came of age. Most of the Albian lords liked this offer, and pledged themselves to Blade's cause as a result. In retaliation, Stefan united the Berserker clans of Scandinavia, who all decided they wanted a Scandinavian on the throne of Britannia, and became King of the Berserkers. With his new Berserker army, he crushed Blade's Rebellion before Gerald Parlaton could reinforce his army with troops and ships from Torennes. After his rebellion had been crushed, Blade fled Britannia, but was eventually caught by bounty hunters and returned to the Capitol, where he was executed. However, when Harold Parlaton came of age, he brought an army from Gaurika across the Æropan Channel and rekindled the flames of rebellion. Stefan's heir Eustace Borson died in this rebellion, and a year later the war ended when Parlaton took the Capitol and executed Stefan. Stefan's last legitimate son Walter took the Berserkers back to Scandinavia and was allowed to live and rule as King of the Berserkers. When Walter came down ill without issue, he legitimised his bastard half-brothers Geoffrey and Rolf and named Geoffrey his heir. After Walter's subsequent death, King Geoffrey decided that his kingdom should be respected as a nation, and not as a tribe of barbarians. Thus, he called himself King of Scandinavia rather than King of the Berserkers and founded the Kingdom of Scandinavia on the foundation of his father and half-brother.