The history of Uppsala
In the times of the Vikings Uppsala was a busy center. The area was ruled
by the Gangrel methusalah the All High and his court of Valkyries. They
were among the most powerful of the vampires who lived in Scandinavia at
the time, mostly Brujah and Gangrel nomads.
However, came the time that other European kindred, principally Ventrue,
Toreador and Lasombra, who had tired of the constant raids on their
territories. Under cover of the conversion of scandinavia to
christianity, they methodically destroyed nearly the entire scandinavian
kindred population. The great hall at the area that would become Uppsala
was razed to the ground. The All high has never been seen since, though a
few valkyries survived, fleeing to the new world
Incidentally, I was given a book called "The Longships" for christmas. It's a
translation of a swedish novel called "Röda Orm" literally translated as "The Red Snake".
This book deals with the life and times of a Viking warrior, and includes some material
about Uppsala. I'm told that frankly the history from this period is a little vague -
understandable, all things considered. As soon as I've finished reading this novel I'll
see if I can incorporate some of its themes, as its rather good thus far. Until then this
will have to do. Its pretty much pat from what is found in the White Wolf book
"Wolves of the Sea".
The first Kindred to permanantly settle in the area after the purge
was a Toreador, a follower of the path of heaven, named Henrik.
He came from Switzerland to live in his native land when the archdiocese of
Uppsala was declared, a means by which to maintain the European kindreds'
control of the area, planting roots that are still visible today.
It was through his guidance of the kine that the true growth of the
city of Uppsala, approximately 5km from the location of the original
town of Uppsala, began towards the end of the thirteenth century. The
place that is now Uppsala was at the time called Aros, but was renamed
to maintain the Archdiocese. This move allowed Henrik closer to the
nearest high concentration of prey.
Henrik lived in contemplative isolation until the mid 1400s, the city
growing around the cathedral. At that time came another. Ragnar
Ericcson, a Brujah scholar, seeking a quiet place in which to continue
his work. He and Henrik found they had a great deal in common, and
Ragnar stayed, in 1477 founding the now world famous University with
Henrik's church influence as support.
The university had a torrid time in its first years. Clan Ventrue made
a great play for power through the Stockholm Bloodbath, and took
control of the city of Stockholm, before setting their sights to the
rest of Sweden. The Ventrue of Stockholm and their clanmates in Uppsala
used their influence on the royal family of Gustaf Vasa to cause as
many problems as they could for the fledgling institution. However,
Ragnar and Henrik fought these efforts back, and the Ventrue grip on
control of the royals slipped. This influence passed through many
kindred resident in both cities over the next 60 years, including a
period around 1540 when control fell to a Ventrue resident of Uppsala
named Bjorn Gustaffson. It was he who brought about the building of
Uppsala castle. Henrik managed to get control of Gustaf Vasa in the
end, though soon after the king died. Vasa is now entombed in the
Cathedral.
Further squabbles over control over the right to
influence the royalty followed until 1567, when a Malkavian of
the city - Tobias Wikstrom - managed to ghoul king Erik XIV...with
disasterous results. Following this, Henrik and Ragnar regained and
used this influence to further both church and university under the
pretence of keeping out catholicism, through the Uppsala Conclave of
1593. This was a mortal contract, though there was heavy influence
from the Justicar of Clan Nosferatu to settle the fighting.
Ragnar and Henrik - increasingly the former as the latter became more
and more caught up in study and contemplation - worked hard to make
the city thrive and grow. The mortal population grew, and the kindred
population with it. They used their control of the royalty widely,
securing a great deal of funding for the city through King Gustaf II
Adolf. That done, they relaxed somewhat to concentrate more on their
own projects. In doing so they let their grip slip, and their
influence was spirited away again, and finally, by the Ventrue, as they
had Gustaf Adolf's daughter Christina move the throne to their city.
Ragnar had the presence of mind to take the castle for his own. It is
now one of his havens.
The loss of the royal family proved more of a thorn in Uppsala's side
than it should have been. A group of the Tremere saw the slip as a
sign of weakness in the city, and decided they should be running the
university. Calls were made in the mortal world for the university to
move to Stockholm. The tremere got a great shock when they found how
viciously Ragnar fought on this issue. They even resorted to hiring
the services of Clan Assamite, yet even this failed. Eventually they
realised they were never going to win, and settled for vengeance.
Odinslund
In 1702 a fire destroyed much of the city. It is suspected among the
kindred that over zealous witch hunters were responsible, though
Ragnar has often contended that the Tremere showed them the way.
Despite the best efforts of Henrik's ghouls, the cathedral that had
been slowly growing burned to the ground. Henrik was inside at the
time. It fell to Ragnar to lead the rebuilding effort, with only one
of his childer at his side to aid him. Only Tobias survived with them,
and he moved to London, England - where he still resides. These events
were, however, overshadowed by the political fireworks in Stockholm,
where a war between Ventrue and ever-ambitious Tremere barely kept
within the masquerade.
Uppsala Castle
These struggles continued for several years, with varying degrees of
effect on the mortal world. The kindred population of Uppsala grew,
fed by those fleeing the struggles. They brought with them many
diverse influences, all of which Ragnar utilised to nourish the city
and his University. The struggles reached their peak in the 1770s, with
the Tremere pawn Gustaf III declaring himself king of all Sweden. This
also resulted in the beginning of hostilities between Sweden and Russia,
the Tremere attempting to remove the alliances the Swedish Ventrue had
with the Ventrue there. The Tremere also made alliances with the Stockholm
Toreador: they caused Gustaf to found museums, theatres and the Swedish
Academy in exchange for support in the war. These ploys worked, and the
Tremere were able to exile most of the Ventrue to Malmo, though many
escaped and fled to the region that is now Finland. They controlled
the Anjala pact in 1788, which led to the first stages of the founding
of independent Finland. The last exhibition of Ventrue resistance came in
their ostentatious asssination of Gustaf III in 1792 by an army captain
during a Toreador sponsored costume ball, though too late to stop the
Tremere victory.
the university main building
The next decades saw little activity in Sweden. The country was too busy
restabilising itself follwoing long periods of conflict. This period in
Swedish history saw much squabbling between the kindred of the country,
with the bitter Ventrue plotting, and pointing to the emmigrations to the
new world that caused large falls in the population until the early
twentieth century as evidence of poor Tremere management of the nation
from their position of absolute power in Stockholm. There were numerous
risings of anarchs and occasional problems with the Sabbat, who had
been at work in Finland.
The Gustavinium
During this period, during which Uppsala grew quieter, with a reputation
as an academic retreat with little for more thrillseeking kindred, the
only disturance to the city came in the 1880s when a young tremere of
Stockholm sought to make a name for himself and gain status with his clan
by finishing what his grandsire had started in stealing away the university.
This led to some instability in the university, though the attempts were
eventually fought off. This proved a great embarrasment to the Tremere
who had been conducting preliminary negotiations into placing a chantry in
Uppsala. The young tremere was heavily punished for his troubles, and
Ragnar managed to use the troubles as a bargaining lever to gain a large
amount over control over those who ran the chantry, a position that suits
him due to his great suspicion of the Tremere. The chantry was declared
in Carolina Rediviva, and Fredrik Persson assigned as its resident. Today,
the chantry remains more a sub branch of the large Stockholm house.
Carolina Rediviva - The University Library
Since the first world war Sweden has becoming more successful. They have
remained neutral due to the various influences at work, especially the
links of the Tremere to the Axis forces in Vienna. The clan saw Sweden
as a possible bolt hole if the war failed, though in the end they did not
need to use it as such.
Vastmanlands-Dala nation house on Sysslomansgatan
More modern developments have seen Uppsala host a grand conclave, led
by the Toreador Justicar Veronique Du Sable, in 1968 to coincide with
the meeting of the world council of churches in the city. During this
conclave an attempt was madem on Veronique's life by Sabbat. She was
saved by a tall, mysterious kindred...this was Seth, a Kiasyd still
resident in the city.
In 1977 the Swedish Agricultural university was founded to the south
of the city. Ragnar had a hand in its formation, though he suspects
other supernatural involvement aided the project without any contact
between him and them. This he takes as a sign of mage or lupine
involvement.
In modern Uppsala all is fairly quiet - the university goes from strength
to strength, and the city which has grown around it also. There are
some problems though, not least the fact that there appears to be a
spreading corruption growing in the city, like a cancer. This corruption has
pervaded an area of the city on the east side of the river, and Fredrik, who
had been investigating the problem, has vanished. Ragnar fears this may
lead to new hostility from Stockholm, as well as the fears he holds
over the nature of this new threat to his city.
Stora Torget - the city's center
Many thanks to Helena Olsson for her help in putting this history together.
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