House Kord

The family Kord is a noble family of Cerc. The Kord family traces their lineage back to the “Rockfolk” tribes who lived in the Northeast Mountains. There are members of the Kord family who trace racial heritage back to Human, Dwarf, Goliath and Genesai. Individuals from Kordhold are shorter than average for humans, but possess powerful builds and large frames similar to those of Dwarves.     Kordhold is a large landholding in the Northeast Wardland, included in the lands of Kordhold is the origin flows of the River Laquetus. The primary large river to the East. Beyond Kordhold to the Northeast are the Cloven Craigs, and Kordsmen have a long and ancient hatred for the Minotaur races that live in the twisting caverns of the Craigs. To the Nothwest the Kordhold extends into the tall mountains, where the Kordhold ends and the lands of the Dragonpact begin is still up for debate and has remained a political issue for a generation.   The people of Kordhold are proud and have a long heroic heritage. Even before Kordhold could be reclaimed, the people of Kord had organized themselves within the city, financially and politically they became a powerful group of refugees. They proved themselves time and time again, when the Ward extended in to the traditional Kord lands the current head of the Kord demanded that the King grant a writ of land.   The Kord pilgrimage and reclamation was an amazing event. Seemingly overnight hundreds of Kordsmen packed up families, tools and equipment and relocated. Apartments and land holdings in the city were sold to other families. The Kordsmen left nothing behind for them to return to and started a long train of wagons and pack animals. There has never been a pilgrimage as large as the Kord reclamation. As they left they sang proud songs over goat hide drums, happy to return to their homeland after 400 years of exile.   The reclamation itself was a long and bloody process. Kordhold was overrun by mountain trolls, minotaur, goatmen. The mines were infested with Koblods and those who had remained in the Kordhold had become corrupted by the shadow. The people of Kord refused any assistance from the King or other Noble houses. The only outsiders allowed to join the Kord in the reclamation were the Golden Company but even then the contract had strict requirements about who could come serve in the campaign.   The reclamation continued for years, and stone by stone the people of Kord rebuilt. Mines were opened up, mills were rebuilt, quarries were worked, and soldiers returned home and planted crops. Every year, apprentices from Kordhold arrive in the city. Heroic blood runs strong in the Kord, every year after the Festival of Spearfall graduates from Kordhold would return home.   The current head of the Kord is Lord Barran. Barran Kord is descended from a Kord chieftain from before the fall. He is a shrewd politician, and has served in both of the bodies of government. The Kord family has a number of apprentices currently training in the city.   Kordhold is the largest producer of ore in the Wardlands. The also have timber holdings, farmland and fresh water. This puts the Kord in a dominant position for trade, Kordhold imports very little, but exports ore, stone and finished goods to the Cerc and the other Noble families. The Kord appreciate skilled work of all types and have a number of crafting traditions. They are master stonecarvers and metalworkers but also have traditions involving gemcutting, lapidary and bone carving and scrimshaw.   Kordhold is also one of the few noble houses that encourages education. People of the Kord all learn to read and write and those who can afford it receive private tutoring. The current fashion is to hire erudite Gnomes to serve as tutors for several generations.