This page graciously provided by The Avant Gardes Society previously published in The Great Giant Sloth Wars and the Making of Modern Windenburg
The Arrival of the Eppsilom and the End of the Henburshtam Line (1860s)
As the Giant Sloths continued their slow but steady invasion across the lands, many who were fleeing them arrived on Windenburg’s shores. Several notable immigrated to Windenburg from far-off lands over the century.
[Image of Bjorgsen family]
Description: Descended from the Royal Family of Lingonberry, the Bjorgsen Family
Earl Lars Bjorgsen and the royal family of Lingonberry escaped with only their seventeen trunks of clothing and a lone valet.
[Image of Fyres family] Description: Descendants of Sir Rowan Fyres and the McIrish Family
Sir Rowan Fyres washed up on shore and was thought drowned until he sat up and asked for directions from a young woman who was collecting seashells. Chloe married Rowan and their decedents still live on the original estate.
[Image of Villareal family] Description: The latest generation of the Villareal Family
Duke Alonso Villareal, his infant son, Ferdinand, and niece, Anastasia Necteaux, wrote ahead to request safe passage and brought with them the family’s nectar-making equipment and their household aboard three ships. Unfortunately, their ships were separated during a terrible storm and only the Duke and his son’s ship made it safely to Windenburg. (The fate of Anastasia Necteaux is chronicled in Volume I of the Complete History of the Landgraabs available through Walrus Books.)
[Picture of Von Windenburg Estate] Description: No portraits exist of Baron Von Straud
Percy Dishey, the Baron von Straud, arrived with what was left of his court and originally settled in what is now called the Windslar Countryside. He married Princess Beatrice Von Windenburg and had a daughter before setting off to the southeast. Nothing official is known of what befell the party, but some say the fictional Stoker’s Journey is actually a true account of Lord Straud and his court. (Available from Walrus Books.)
For a complete listing of families who arrived during the Great Sloth Invasion, read J. Adelsstand’s Notable Families, Volume 27, published by Walrus Books.
The Princess and the Pirate
One of the most notable persons fleeing the Invasion was the esteemed and brave Princess Cordelia. Indeed, Prince Otto Von Windenburg was familiar with the princess as he had several times traveled to her kingdom and enjoyed tea with her. Saddened by the news of the loss of her kingdom, Prince Otto sent word that should the Princess ever wish a pleasant and safe vacation, she was welcome in Windenburg. His message took several years to arrive as the princess spent most of her time submerges in the Eppsilom, preoccupied with her various pirate boyfriends, painting, and home furnishings design.
Prince Otto, the only child of King and Queen Henburshtam the Nineteenth, was a great favorite of his people. Queen Morgana (nee Von Windenburg) had raised him to be compassionate, especially after the king was committed to the Asylum for Erratic Monarchs. The Queen ascended the throne, hyphenating the family name, the Von Windenburg-Henburshtam. Known for his kindness and generosity—and his excellent estate-grown honey tea—Prince Otto brought his love of gardens and gardening to the general Windenburg public. Under his careful tutelage, beekeeping became a renowned sport, and Windenburg Lavender Honey became a prized export. The sporting part came about by the bees’ dissatisfaction from their keepers wearing any sort of protective gear. This made collecting the honey quite challenging.
Bees are fickle creatures. Sweet, but fickle.
Prince otto, diary entry, may the fourth 1866
Prince Otto extended his generosity and kindness to immigrants as well, and under the Land Purchase Rights for Those Fleeing the Great Giant Sloth Invasion Act of 1867, parcels of land were set aside for the newcomers.
Prince Otto’s legacy of welcoming visitors and new residents to Windenburg continues to this day. If you are interested in purchasing land, the LPR Act was amended in 1892 to remove to TFtGGS clause. Contact the Windenburg Chamber of Commerce for referral to a land agent.)
Unfortunately, Prince Otto’s legacy of as one of Windenburg’s most genuine leaders was marred. Upon the arrival of Princess Cordelia and the Eppsilom, Prince Otto remembered how smitten he had been of the lovely princess. He also remembered her penchant for pirates over princes, and in an ill-advised scheme, the prince took up with a knockoff buccaneer, the Dread Pirate Richards, in order to impress the princess. Princess Cordelia, being wise in the ways of the world after spending so much time at sea and in the company of true pirates, saw though the Nearly Dread Pirate Otto’s scheme. She allowed him to court her and to be influenced by her sales-womanship. After gaining the exclusive contract for the Princess Cordelia Line of Home Furnishings, by Appointment of Her Majesty the Queen, Cordelia set about to devise a trap for the unsuspecting and dishonest prince. He was under the delusion that Princess Cordelia thought him an honest-to-goodness pirate, and being a trusting chap, fell easily into her trap. Or rather his finger did. He was forced to confess and discard his disguise before the princess showed him how the trap worked.
People ask why I favor the company of pirates to princes. While princes may have better hygiene and oftentimes good looks, I prefer the honest code of a swashbuckler on a ship to the intrigue of court that influences far too many of our handsome princes.
Princess Cordelia
Upon his promise to never wear a false leg again, trim his beard monthly, and wash regularly, the Princess left with the Admiral (commonly known as the Dread Pirate Roberts) and a license in perpetuum as Home Furnisher by Appointment to the Royal House of Windenburg. To show she meant no ill will, the Princess assured the court that all profits from the sale of the Von Windenburg’s Trap sculpture would go to Unfairly Affected, the Asylum for Erratic Monarchs charity.
All proceeds from the sale of the Von Windenburg Finger Trap sculpture go to charity. Miniature replicas available at Walrus Books & Gifts.
Prince Otto, however, never recovered from his tarnished reputation. He retreated to a hermitage in the Deep Woods where he is said to have lived in harmony with his beloved bees and nature for the rest of his days. His sister, Princess Miranda, ascended the throne and chose to style herself simply as Von Windenburg to save ink.
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