Addressed to the Water Vikings community,
Good afternoon Water Vikings, and happy anniversary.
Hello everybody, my name is Aaronstone. I have the honor and the privilege of serving you all as the Head of the High Council of Vikings. I felt obligated that as a guardian of Water Vikings legacy and history to write something in celebration of this major milestone. Now let me be frank, if you had told me 12 years ago that would I be here writing this post I would have probably called you insane. Mainly for a few reasons because I could not picture myself still here all those years ago, and the other reason is because Bepboy hated me. Enough about that though, lets get into this.
Many people have come and gone throughout this armies history. From Zakster and Jed Pen to now Escot, Tomato and Lydia. The history of Water Vikings stretches across 15 years in a community that has evolved from just throwing snowballs at each other in the snow forts, to something more structured and political. I do think however the core principles, the dream of which Water Vikings was founded, stays the same to this very day. An army of people who have something to prove and through their perseverance, leads us to success. Now throughout most of our history we have historically unfortunately fell short of the ultimate victory, however internally I do not believe this to be the case. The bonds we form and the experiences we share I truly believe makes us different from every other army out there. So many people from our history are still in touch to this day and I do believe that the experiences shared here is the reason for this.
From our earliest beginnings in 2010-2013, where Water Vikings was born from a merger between the Masked Vikings and Water Troops. Our founders are still around in the shadows and myself, Kingfunks and Change are still around in some capacity. You all heard from me and Funks in an interview posted a few weeks ago. Twitchy is also still around, who while not remembering much about his early leadership, was gracious enough to give us an interview as well. This era of Water Vikings was crucial, as it saw the emergence of legends like Kingfunks, Bepboy9 and Dashing Snow. Who would set the tone for years to come and lay the foundation of what future eras of Water Vikings would look like.
With the foundation built by those few, the Water Vikings would emerge into the major army scene in 2014-2016. Heading to back to back Legends Cup Finals. Fun fact, I believe that the Water Vikings have the second most finals berths in the Legends Cup tournament. This era was where people like Bepboy became legendary community figures. It is also where Water Vikings fought a 3 v 1 alliance war, which we won due to the alliance blowing apart at the seams. This is also where people like Change, Adden, Revan, Buddy and King Hazard came onto the scene. Adden and Hazard were gracious enough to give us an interview as well.
The Wave returned in 2020, after a merger between the Shadow Troops, led by Pjayo and the Warlords of Kosmos, created and led by Superhero, formed the Golden Guardians. Golden Guardians was basically Water Vikings but yellow. By this I mean Golden Guardians had SO many Water Vikings legends and former leaders in it and it eventually rebranded into Water Vikings. Here the Water Vikings saw some of its largest confirmed sizes to date. It also saw the return of many legends such as Kingfunks, Buddy, Adden, Change, Jack283 and King Hazard. It saw the emergence of Pjayo and newcomers like Vivala, Guncotton, Hydro21 and Thomas. Here the Water Vikings defeated the SWAT army in the infamous Eagre Foray and then were defeated by the Black Ice Alliance in the Black Seas War. We were able to interview both Pjayo and Vivala about their shared experiences from this era.
After a short but successful era, led by Superhero and Guncotton, an internal crisis followed. Which saw the return of myself and Revan to the army. Together we rebuilt the Water Vikings and laid down a new foundation. One which worked and at other times did not. However through trial and error, we were largely successful. We gave an interview where we talked about our shared experiences. From many Templars wars to a tournament win in Champions Cup, to sparking a world war with Help Force and the rearrangement of our alliances. We paved the way for generations to come. This era of Water Vikings also saw the return of Pjayo and Guncotton, who helped me rearrange the internal workings of the army, which drove us to our highest Top Ten placements since we closed in 2016 and another berth in the Legends Cup Finals. This also coincided with another defeat of SWAT in the Second Eagre Foray and the emergence of Dino and Mabel as future main players.
Under the leadership of Dino and Mabel, the Water Vikings saw some of its largest sizes to date at the time. It also saw the rise of WVs AUSIA division, which carried the army to the finals of the second edition of AUSIA Arena. Their efforts culminated in our first major tournament win ever, Christmas Chaos XIII and followed by another a short few months later in March Madness XI, defeating our long time tournament rival, the Rebel Penguin Federation. It also saw the formation of the Blue Sunset Alliance, which defeated the Sapphire Concordat in a crushing 32-0 victory. We also saw the emergence of long time 2ic Claire and newly joined high command member, Cabin, who would become a massive part of Water Vikings tournament success. He would lead the Water Vikings to a victory over the Army of Club Penguin in the Fornlosing War, handing ACP its first CPPS war loss. Dino and Mabel shared their experience in detail during our Vikings Through the Ages column.
Halfway through the year of 2024, the Water Vikings entered into a bit of a dark age, led by Claire and Rye Bread. Despite this, through shear determination and resolve, they both kept the army afloat. Winning that years Small Medium Beach Brawl tournament. Both of them dug in and tried their absolute best daily to return the army to the heights that it saw under Dino and Mabel. This era also saw the emergence of Cobra, who joined the army as a 2ic and it also saw the formation of the Viking Academy, created by DrQueen. Through Cobras reformations after being promoted to leader and with the success of Viking Academy, the Water Vikings returned to the stages of years previous. Hitting high sizes and having a fully functional staff team coupled with multiple first place Top Ten placements. Cobras efforts culminated in the Legends Cup XV tournament, hitting 91 Water Vikings online, our largest confirmed size of all time. All three of them sat down for an interview which you can read here.
The overall point of this post is, how many of these names have you seen around since you have been here? Almost if not all of them. These people are all still here in some way or form. Whether its through chatting or still actively helping the army. These people are still here. All of our experiences, some amazing, some bad, bring us close together and bond us. Our shared experiences is what drives us to do great things. Its why many of us are still here, still talking to this day. Personally speaking I have known some of these people for 13 years now, imagine where some of you will be 13 years from now? I have made lifelong friends in this army, people like Revan, Buddy, Pjayo, Dino and Cobra and many many more. Many veterans that are still around from my time from other armies hate current armies, but not me. The reason I stick around here is not for nostalgia purposes or a sense of power, rather it is because of you and the things that you do. I am humbled and honored to be able to help guide you all and share my experiences, my story with all of you. It has been my mission since I took over for Kingfunks as head, to do my best daily to give you the same experiences that I had, so that maybe one day it will be one of you writing a post like this, talking about YOUR experiences.
I truly believe that this army is different from every other army in the community, those that come in from other armies have said the same thing. We are chaotic and a lot of the times things get intense and crazy. But we always emerge from it, better and stronger. Many times people have asked me, due to my years of service here, what does it mean to be a Water Viking? I have never had a true answer however after writing this post I think I have answer. A Water Viking is a dedicated person, someone who gives it their all daily, while uplifting those around them and is determined no matter what to give it their all for the army, someone who fights demotivation and bad times with the health of the community they built being the sole reason they keep going. That is what it means to be a Water Viking. To keep going no matter what.
Happy 15 Years Vikings, here’s to many more years of the Wave.
Light in Darkness
(quick note, shout out to the Water Vikings 15th Year Anniversary Committee, consisting of Aaronstone42, Kingfunks4, Pjayo, Dino, Vivala, Claire, B2xH8, Cobra and Rye Bread. Media Committee should give themselves a pat on the back for making all these interviews happen)