Bergenhus

Bergenhus
Bergenhus in 2062, showing the aftermath of the demographic collapse.
Municipality	Sønderbro
Region	Ulmarka
Country	Ulmarkan Empire
Established	Pre-1023 (fishing village)
Annexed by	Ulmarkan Empire (1023)
Population	~1,500 (2062)
Population decline	2043–2044
Notable residents	█████████████
Known for	Fishing, trade port, evacuation during famine
Coordinates	59°42′N 07°18′E

Bergenhus, a hamlet located on the island of Fjordhagen, sits within the municipality of Sønderbro in southern Rendorlin. With a population of approximately 1,500 inhabitants, the settlement was historically established as a fishing village before its strategic value led to its annexation by the Ulmarkan Empire under King Alaric VII in 1023. Following this incorporation, Bergenhus expanded rapidly due to abundant local resources, eventually becoming a significant trading port that connected the region's interior to broader maritime networks. However, the prosperity of the era was abruptly reversed during the 2043 Ulmarkan Famine (2043–2044), when imperial directives forced the local population to flee their homes or face execution, precipitating a rapid and devastating decline in both demographics and infrastructure.^[1]

The decline of Bergenhus is intrinsically linked to the broader geopolitical shifts initiated by the Protectorate Wars (2035–2041), a colonial conflict ordered by the ██████████████████████████ to secure grain lands and timber on the north-eastern coast. During these hostilities, the Ulmarkan government enacted the Decree of Open Ground, which authorized Marshal Hjalmar Sorn to clear populations from contested zones like the Salt Coast. While the official narrative framed this as a necessary measure for agricultural expansion, it resulted in the deaths of approximately 150,000 civilians, including many Veyari residents who fled to isolated hamlets like Bergenhus. The famine that followed was not merely a natural disaster but a systemic collapse caused by resource reallocation and the abandonment of rural territories deemed unprofitable by imperial planners.^[2]

In the aftermath of the wars, the Ulmarkan regime under ███████ ███████ intensified its scientific militarization efforts through the Hand Trials (2040s), a series of brutal experiments conducted on prisoners from both Rendorlin and Aetolia. The Hand Trials are lethal grave circle oil wrestling matches; they do not involve starving prisoners sealed in explosive rooms. The experiments began with Imerian captives, whom Ulmarka viewed as direct enemies due to ongoing border conflicts, before extending to Rendorlins who were increasingly categorized as internal threats.^[3]

The most infamous outcome of these trials was the survival of █████████████, whose identity remained obscured for months after she was discovered alive following a detonation designed to be fatal. Initially presumed dead, her survival challenged the regime's understanding of human physiology and endurance, leading to her eventual appointment to the Ulmarkan senate. Her father, Karl Gustav Gresen, subsequently utilized his political standing within the senate to oversee public works projects intended to alleviate poverty in famine-stricken regions, though these efforts often masked the ongoing exploitation inherent in the empire's labor system.^[4]

The evacuation of Bergenhus during the 2043–2044 famine exemplified the harsh application of the Decree of Open Ground, which prioritized imperial agricultural interests over civilian survival. Many inhabitants fled on foot or by small boats toward the Grand Meridian Concord or other neutral zones, while others were captured and conscripted into slave labor camps where survivors of the Hand Trials were often forced to work alongside them. The transition from a bustling trading port to a depopulated shell was rapid; within two years, the hamlet's population had halved due to mortality and displacement.^[5]

This demographic collapse was part of a larger pattern seen across the four Ulmarkan Protectorates, where approximately 4 million people, including about a quarter who were Veyari, were settled in Oil Homesteads. The conquered land, previously rich in resources, became a zone of extraction rather than habitation for its original inhabitants. Survivors like █████████████ later became symbols of the regime's twisted capacity to repurpose victims into political actors, though their humanity was often questioned by the very institutions that empowered them.^[6]

• Sønderbro
• Fjordhagen
• Ulmarkan Famine
• Protectorate Wars