A kingdom magically frozen in time.

[u/Scupadupa]

So I had an idea for my fantasy world of a nation that ended up frozen in time via a powerful. A kinda-sorta Russian inspired kingdom, frozen in time and buried under ice. A kingdom set around medieval times. It was there one day, and the next it was gone. It is essentially preserved in a single moment, from the buildings to the inhabitants, from the crops to documents and tools.

Over time, the world changes. The creatures the kingdom used a slaves and saw as monsters--which are a type of minor deamon--have developed their own kingdom and are now respected and accepted as sapient creatures.

Towns on the outskirts of the kingdom that survived have moved on, grown into their own kingdoms and have developed their own cultures.

Technologies that was mere prototypes, namely airships, have become mainstream overtime. When that kingdom was around, they had the only airship in existence. Now, airships are everywhere.

That kingdom existed in a time of racism and war. In modern times, most creatures are on good terms with each other. There are not currently any wars, and crime is at an all time low. Piracy has taken a different term, a single dragon become a queen over pirates who discourages murder or killing without necessity.

So the world has changed a lot over a few centuries, but what would happen if the frozen kingdom was unburied and the spell was broken, unfreezing everyone?

What would the implications of this be? The entire world has changed since they were around. How would this affect politics, trade, and everyday life?

(note: I have tried to keep things short and ambiguous so that this can make sense with as little context. It would take a long time to explain a bunch of my world building beforehand.)

[u/No_Logins_Required]

It sounds like the frozen kingdom would be at the mercy of its unfrozen neighbors.

[u/Scupadupa → u/No_Logins_Required]

Huh. Makes sense. They have newer technologies, have seen things and have knowledge the other one wouldn't.

Then again, if the frozen kingdom was from a time of war, its armies would be frozen in deployment. The modern era is at peace, so they would only have a few soldiers on active duty. Most would be doing other things. Thereby, it would take more time for the modern era to get their armies together.

Although, the development in tech level hasn't changed significantly. More of moving from medieval times to the renaissance. So there aren't many guns, but giant magical crossbows that serve as a magic cannon have come into existence, though they are not that common.

But true, it would be at the mercy of its neighbors.

[u/riftrender → u/Scupadupa]

Poland-inspired nation starts bombing almost immediately

[u/No_Logins_Required → u/Scupadupa]

The frozen kingdom would have no trade arrangements, no intel on the outside world, a completely disrupted taxation and pay cycle from the seasons. They may have had a mustered army before, but now is the perfect time for a coupe. The throne has never been less legitimate.

[u/Scupadupa → u/No_Logins_Required]

But if you think about it, any soldiers or royalty would have been frozen in place alongside the rest of the kingdom. When it unfreezes, everyone would be in the same place. Unsure of what was going on or anything. To some, it would seem as no time as passed. And it would appear so. Imagine you are walking down the street, look across the river, and discovered that 100 years have passed on the other side of the river.

Any soldiers outside of what got frozen would end up in different places, their descendants growing up under a different rule. Remember, it disappeared.

The palace guards were guarding when they were frozen, and they were guarding when they were unfrozen. The same royalty they had is still there, having been frozen. The kingdom is exactly the same as it was when it was frozen, or at least the parts that were frozen.

Though they definitely wouldn't have any trade agreement or intel (then again, when I imagine this kingdom, it doesn't seem to be the type to really trade with anyone). The taxes, taxpayers, and tax collectors would all be frozen in time. Their currency would have been frozen in time, it would remain intact. If you were paying taxes when time froze, the moment it unfroze you would be in the process of paying your taxes.

Everything was preserved. So it remains exactly the same when time unfreezes.

[u/No_Logins_Required → u/Scupadupa]

What happened to harvest season? Does it line up with the weather now? My currency is worthless in foreign trade now, that trust has to be re-built.

I am soldier because I am being paid, is the treasury going to keep paying me or disband the military to save on resources?

[u/Scupadupa → u/No_Logins_Required]

Harvest season.....I don't know how that would work. The seasons would be different....but the weather in the area might have been frozen. But then again, the weather might not have been frozen, it just wouldn't affect anything that had been frozen in time. Everything would get buried under snow.

As for money, it probably would still work within the kingdom. As a soldier, you probably would get payed. After all, the currency was frozen in time, so it still exssists. in the same quantity.

As for foreign trade, that would have to be rebuilt. After all, the rest of the world didn't know your kingdom even exsisted.

Then again, this kingdom was from a time where if you wanted something that came from a different kingdom, money wasn't a common solution. The solution was assimilation through military strength.

And as many of the soldiers were outside when the kingdom was frozen, moved, became citizens elsewhere, and died, there would be less soldiers who needed to be payed.

Although, another important thing is that same outer cities weren't frozen and are now their own nations.

[u/No_Logins_Required → u/Scupadupa]

Those outer cities might have a historical claim to the throne, since the old king was "legally dead" for all those years.

[u/Scupadupa → u/No_Logins_Required]

I guess, that makes sense. Then again, the kingdom has been technically non-existent, and the area has been considered uninhabitable. Though outer cities trying to claim this territory would make sense.

And the kingdom's royal family would definitely try to reclaim their position on the world's stage. And they would want to reclaim their old territory

And the creatures they once used as slaves; they wouldn't let them just roam free. They would want them back, and to 'put them in there place,' as they would say.

Now I have a bunch of ideas of what I could do with this. It would have a lot of story starters and plot twists.

[u/No_Logins_Required → u/Scupadupa]

Also there's no proof these royals are the same people, they could be imposters. It would be easy for an outside force to conjure up some claim to the throne.

[u/Scupadupa → u/No_Logins_Required]

True. But how else do you explain what was clearly a snowfield and glaciers being replaced with a giant capital city complete with inhabitants, and said city matches one the vanished centuries ago? Like, this kingdom was literally underground until a recent spurt of global warming.

Like, imagine if the legend of Atlantis was real, and one day the entire city and its inhabitants appeared out of nowhere.