House Heywood

House Heywood is an old human noble house and they personify the culture of the eastern Northern Island. Of the old human kingdoms in the east, theirs is the only one that became a great house in Ancaepya, after the Blakwalls of Casonne were defeated by King Marcellus Danothes in his unification campaign.
They value chivalry, honor, and profit and are staunch followers of the Draconic Church. Their patron goddess, Hlal, has her main temple, The Home of Knowledge in Baymore. Because of their belief in Hlal, they are also extremely proud patrons of the University in Baymore and believe that one Heywood must always teach and one always study at the University.
Their crest, three yellow falling stars on a dark blue field, was adopted sometime after the founding of the University. The three stars represent the three human virtues, chivalry, honor, and profit. They also represent missiles launched by the trebuchets which made the founding of the University possible.

House Heywood rules one of Ancaepya's largest cities, Baymore. Baymore is home to the Baymore University, which is considered the finest University in the world. As such it is a center of trade and commerce. Its location on the banks of the Big Brother also contributes to House Heywood's wealth, as it allows the city to have a large harbour.
House Heywood and the houses sworn to it control the fertile lowlands known as the Heywood lowlands in the south of the island. As such they have a large population which they can draft into their military. The Baymore university also educates a large number of wizards, and most of the finest battlemages and healers are immediately offered employment in the Heywood army, so the Heywoods employ the largest number of magic users of any house.

The first historical records of House Heywood show them as a minor house, owning some land on the western bank of the Big Brother in around 3400 AD. They were vassals of the then prominent House Copelyn, who ruled the area as Kings. The Heywood's were knights at first, but soon rose to the rank of Baron and then Duke. By 3900 AD they controlled most of the southern bank of the Big Brother and the town of Baymore, which became their capital.
When the Baymore University was founded in 3093 AD the Heywoods were still officially vassals of House Copelyn, but their might was comparable to that of their liege lords. They became the University's most important patrons and in return the University caused Baymore to grow into a large city and an even larger source of income.
The Heywoods became Kings in 4026 AD when King Giles III Copelyn died without an heir and the kingdom was divvied up between its most powerful lords. They spent the next couple hundred years increasing their power and expanding their border until they became one of the three Great Human Kings of the East, alongside House Blakwall and Danothes.
Wars between the kingdoms weren't uncommon, however, nothing could prepare the diminished House Blakwalll for Marcellus Danothes' invasion in 4320. A war on this scale wasn't expected and after the Danothes army gobbled up Casonne and the whole Blakwall kingdom, they almost immediately continued their conquest into Heywood lands. One would think the mighty Heywoods could stand against the war-weary and diminished Danothes forces, but Marcellus had secretly entered into an alliance with the wealthy Elves of House Notillion, and the south-islander mercenaries which supplemented his forces were enough to bring the Heywoods to heel.
The Heywoods swore fealty to Marcellus Danothes and helped him continue his mad conquest. Their walls were reduced and they were kept on a short leash by the ruling house for a long time, but during the many crises and civil wars in the history of the Kingdom they have managed to return to their former glory and are now a force to be reckoned with again.