Great House Northguard
"I - Nahator Missar, first king of Hallia - hereby charge you to take ownership of the northlands; charge you to uphold our laws and customs; and, above all, I charge you to protect our Realm from all those who would wish harm upon it![...]" - excerpt from Nahator Missar's speech at Paul Northguard's knighting
Despite coming to Hallia for a new life, many refugees from the north keep their prejudicies from their previous life. Shurrans and farumens don't mix for their hatred for each other. The first time they were ever forced to truly unite, was when King Nahator Missar ordered the minor nobles occupying the closest lands to the Deadland to unite and form a single noble house, which in turn will be elevated into the ranks of high nobility. A feat, which was out of reach for the minor nobles individually.
So the Great House of Northguard was formed - as the name suggests - to keep the northern borders of Hallia from invaders. But more importantly, Nahator wanted the rift between farumens and shurrans to finally disappear. He beleived that if a clear goal like defending a border was given to the people - who above all wanted to leave their previous life behind - then they would be able to finally put their differences to rest.
Structure
Unlike in the other noble houses, Northguard doesn't have a single family controlling all house business. Several minor nobles - and mercenary groups - were ordered to form Northguard. These families kept their name, only the current head of the house takes on the mantle of Northguard.
The rest of the house is largely organized the same way as any other. The head is supported by a council, the most important people within the house. Generals, diplomats and also the heads of the families within Northguard.
Below that, each founder family takes care of their own business individually. These families are equal, no matter who sits at the head of House Northguard. To further unite them as one single house, Paul - the first Lord Northguard - ordered marriages between them.
Below the families are the retainers and enforcers, serving the nobles. And even further below are the servants and peasants, not official house members.
History
The tale of House Northguard starts when Hallia first officially opened its gates to settlers from the north. these settlers recieved land from House Missar. The first arrivals got the northernmost lands, then the more recent arrivals settled in the south.
In time the powers in the north - Shurrah especially - took interest in Hallia, sending raiding parties to test the kingdoms strength. The raiding parties entered from the north, thus they always arrived at a northern landowner's holding, thus it was their responsibility to stop them. As time went on, the minor lords to the north got really good at fending off raiders.
Realizing their potential, Nahator Missar - an old king by then - decided to grant high noble status to these lords, if they can unite under the banner of one house. This was unheard of, especially because both farumens and shurrans inhabited these regions. But the great house was formed and the first lord named his newfound house Northguard after the duty that was thrust upon them. They served Hallia faithfully, defending against the north until they saw a more immeadiate threat.
When House Riak rebelled against Missar, Northguard entered battle on the king's side. However, as the war went on they started to see the reason behind Riak's rebellion. They switched sides, which became a turning point in the conflict. After the dust settled, House Missar was no more. After Riak plundered the riches from Missar's lands, they granted them to House Northguard.
For King And Country
The wall in their crest represents House Northguard's duty to protect the kingdom from any and all enemies from the north.
Type
Geopolitical, Great house
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Veteran
Parent Organization
Location
Neighboring Nations
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments
Author's Notes
This article is created for the setting of my first novel, 'The Forgotten Houses'. Any and all feedback(content quality, grammar, punctuation, what's too much, what's left out) would be most welcome. If you read it this far, thank you and have a great day :)