For years, TorHavn's founders (each separately) wished to live in a world
where nobility & chivalrie lived on, where the great errors of their parents'
world might be corrected ... but, because of the pervasive nature of their
upbringing, each (separately) thought that there was no hope or escape. No
land seemed available (all bought up, taken over, owned by somebody else),
oppressive governments (& prison! 1984!) were rampant, there was no money, no
allies, etc.
It all felt hopeless (and so did they) ...
Then, one of them discovered a local newspaper article where a group of
Northern Californians (U.S.) quietly (& without much comment) seceeded,
setting up house on an island
off the coast of California, near San Francisco. And, even though she did
nothing herself, the story silently implanted itself in her heart (and
subconsciously, she would remember it all her life). The year was 1985. And
this fearful, but starry-eyed dreamer who read this was named Kasimir Hunter
(she who would became the Warrior-Queen).
In the meantime, she fought the system as best she could (as did her
co-ruler, and others now part of TorHavn), for the Mother, for human rights,
for honour and the warrior's way (for the last, read: she trained hard,
played a lot of medieval RPGs and fought in the S.C.A. It was all she
had).
It would be ten years later, when she was having an "impassioned discussion"
about "how I would do things if I had my own place" that she told someone
(this person) about this secessionist group up north, and she was told:
"didn't you know that there is a book, by
Loompanics, about how to start your own country? Say! Maybe your country
is in that book." So she ordered it and had it come to her place of work
(Note: she mundanely works in a small bookstore; so everyone else had looked
at it after its arrival at the store, before she had even known it was there.
And so they knew before she did -- yet did nothing).
Once she had read the book, she wondered. Although the country she's read about was not there, many others were (all apparently still there, and no one had arrested anyone). And then one of her coworkers told her, "did you know there is a large internet community of other people who HAVE taken this step?"
Until that moment, she had taken so many other brave steps (stood in front of a logger's chainsaw, stodd for women's reproductive rights in front of an abortion clinic siege, yelled at conservative rich people at a political rally, etc.), but had always thought that, if she declared national sovereignty, the "powers that be" would come and take her away!! But "they"
didn't - and this gave hope).
As she surfed, she learned ... and wondered: why not? Carefully (for old
fears die hard) she approached a couple of friends .... and, as the story
goes: "we all discovered something quite marvelous ..."
And thus TorHavn was born (and the rest, as they say, is history) ...
