Vivika Stenrokk

Member since 2004

Since her childhood, the daughter of a ship captain and an archaeologist has always been fascinated by old stories about sunken ships and ancient hidden islands. When she would sit on her father’s lap and listen to his stories with eyes wide open every evening, her mother would laugh and suggest not to believe all of his sailing tales. Nonetheless, she would also intriguingly flip through the pages of her mother’s scientific books that illustrated drawings of antique towns and ancient inscriptions. During the holidays, she would go to the sea, where she learned how to dive, and soon proudly brought one or two of her own findings to shore.

When Vivika turned 12 years old, her untroubled childhood was interrupted with an unexpected misfortune: Her father’s ship mysteriously disappeared without a trace during a voyage on the Northern Sea – all investigations remained inconclusive. Since then, she was dedicated to study several similar mysterious cases that surprisingly took place on the Northern Sea as well, and not just the sinking of the Titanic. Throughout the years, she would be more convinced that this had something to do with the phenomenon from your favourite stories her father told: Rulantica, the legendary island, which is said to be hidden behind a magical curtain of fog, in the middle of the Northern Sea.

When she began her studies in Archeology, almost all of her tutors debunked her theory of the magical Rulantica, saying: This is nothing but a tale, and she should rather focus on legitimate research.

However, only one tutor was fascinated by her theory: Johann Malus. He was convinced himself that Rulantica indeed existed, and has been in search of it for years. Malus became Vivikas mentor, and together they employed more research. He too suggested her to be a member of the ACE.

When examining old sources, and gathering several oral reports about sailings, led her soon to realise that various clues and perhaps a key to Rulantica could be found by the wreck of ‘Tre Kronor’: In 1557, this ship was ordered by the Swedish King to search for Rulantica, and also mysteriously disappeared during its voyage. Its whereabouts were never found, however, Vivika and Malus did everything to accomplish this.

Apparently, the two came to disagreements, as Vivika claimed that Malus did not grant her her research achievements. Whether Vivika actually found the wreck, or even got to Rulantica remains unknown. After a diving expedition in the Northern Sea, she returned with merely an ancient horn in her backpack. From one day to the next, she quit her position as an in-house archaeologist of the Museum ‘Krønasår’, only to set off to sea once again. She has been missing ever since, however, there are rumours that she had left Malus a letter – from Rulantica, where she found a new home and started her own family. As Johan Malus disappeared without a trace as well, this assumption has yet to be confirmed or disproven.