House Blackspyre and its retainers have performed admirably at the Tournament of Myrcella. The White Stag's jousting skills landed him in the eight finals and though the Heir of Blackspyre tilted poorer than his uncle his skills at archery earned him some grudging respect from his peers aside from a hefty purse of Dragons.
Most surprising was the performance of the House's team in the Grand Melee, however, as they managed to not only best the mad priest Thoros of Myr but also defeated the retinue of the Marcher Lord Roddrick Dondarion, before being bested by the Kingslayer and his Lannister followers.
But now the times have changed and the heralds sing not of birth but of death. Robert Baratheon, first of the name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, has called his banners and ordered them to march on the rebellious Balon Greyjoy, who has proclaimed himself King of Rock and Salt.
The Iron Islands, however, are not easily taken and the autumn storms in Shipbreaker Bay prevent the Eastern Fleet to join their might to that of the Fleet of the West anchored in the secure bay of Lannisport.
The winds are blowing colder and the rains are falling heavier and as war comes to Westeros the white ravens fly from the Citadel and spread their message:
Winter is coming...
maandag 17 augustus 2009
dinsdag 7 april 2009
House Blackspyre:
Foundation:
The foundation of House Blackspyre is according to some a time of madness. The Blackspyres have never seen it as that.
On the contrary, they see it as a time where only Lord Robert the Black saw reason. About 6.000 years ago when the Andals invaded Westeros with their steel and their new religion of the Seven the Blackryver Fjord is one of the places where the resistance of the First Men is strongest.
That is untill one of them betrays them.
What truly happened is lost in the mists of time and legend, but what remains is that the Black killed the leader of the army that stood against the Andals at the Fjord of Blackryver, and then took command. He then not only surrendered to the Andals but also showed them how to travel up the fjord to get behind the defense of the Stormlanders. Surprising them from behind, the Andals had a strategic advantage that eventually made the difference between winning and losing the war. Robert was awarded nobility and gifted lands at the mouth of the Fjord.
Time of Peace:
Ensuing the invasion of the Andals came a time of peace and allthough many of the Stormlanders considered Robert a madmen for handing the Andals the Stormlands on a silver tray.
Robert never really cared about what anyone else thought and showed remarkable statesmanship when he invested part of his monetary reward in building a port, roads and the three Fangs.
The fangs were three identical towers, two of them stood on each side of the Fjord and a third stood on a rocky island in the center of the Fjord dominating the entrance and acces to Blackmouth, the small tradeport nestled in the mouth of the Fjord and Shipbreaker Bay.
The Reign of Willyam the Flayer:
Only about 300 years ago, the Lord of Blackspyre was Willyam the Benevolent. He had everything a Lord of a minor House could wish for. An heir, 2 more sons, a beautiful daughter coveted by the sons of many of the greater, richer or more powerfull houses and last but not least a wife whom he absolutely doted on.
In the second year after the Landing, disaster struck Blackspyre tower, and in more then one way. Willyams first born son died of disease, soon after his daughter and wife became ill too as did his youngest son.
Always quite supersticous, Willyam believed that his House was struck by a curse and that only he could rid the Houes of it and safeguard it's future. To do so, he needed to ward his home against the powers of evil, and what better way then to dress your tower in the skin of those pure of heart?
Descended into madness Willyam killed and flayed a large part of the population of his land to dress the Fang on the island with it. Such madness could not be tolerated off course in civilised lands and so it was that Aegon Targaryen rode his dragon out to the Blackspyre and destroyed the third tower on the isle in the fjord. Nothing remains of the tower and the island has been known as Willyams Folly ever since.
During the worst of storms, it is rumoured that the voice of Wilyam can still be heard as he laments the death of his kin and his own folly.
The rise of the Phoenix:
As is the case of the Phoenix, so did House Blackspyre and it rose from the ashes stronger than ever before. Determined to prove to the world that his father was an exception, Walther, second and only surviving son of Willyam the Flayer raised his own sons to excellency and this was rewarded in the Year 42 after The Landing when his second son Yohn the Stallward was inducted in the King’s Guard.
The Secret of the Fang:
The greatest secret of the House Blackspyre is a very recent one. Robert VI, father of the current Lord Erik was unable to get his wife Gertrudis pregnant. After 12 years of marriage his frustration took to such levels that he went to seek solace with his sister Elysa Blackspyre. Before either realized they were involved in a tryst that led to a son.
Robert could not bear the thought of such a scandal involving his house, so he had his sister and his wife sequestered during the pregnancy. Claiming madness for the first and a troubled pregnancy for the second he was the only person allowed to visit either.
The night the incestuous infant was born, blood flowed freely.
3 women died that night to protect the secret of Robert VI. He had the midwife murdered while she was returning home from the delivery, killed his own wife with his sword and then threw his sister through the window of her room.
Robert claimed his wife did not survive the difficult birth and his sister, overcome by the news had thrown herself from the window when she heard the news of the death of lovely Elysa.
So it came that Lord Erik the Vicious was a product of Blackspyres on both sides. Robert told his son the secret of his birth on his deathbed, shaming Erik greatly and although no one knows of this, Lord Erik is determined to prove to the world that he is not an incestuous bastard child born in a night of bloody madness.
Current rule of Lord Erik the Vicious of Blackspyre:
Lord Erik’s rule is marked by war mostly and the reputation he built for himself. After King Robert died, Erik fought at the side of the rightful successor.
Every battle he fought was marked by a ruthlessness bordering the sadistic. Erik employed a very successful but crude tactic in which he would give the opposing army the chance to surrender in which case the officers in the army would be flayed alive and left to die while the soldiers were allowed to return home.
If they decided to fight however, none would leave the field alive. Erik never lied. He killed every prisoner his army took and flayed the officers alive before covering them in salt and leaving them to die. If the army did surrender, he disarmed the soldiers and let all of them leave, after they were witnesses to the flaying and decapitation of their officers.
Needless to say that by the end of the war, a great deal of armies rebelled against their officers when they stood face to face with Erik if those officers refused to surrender.
Some armies even found themselves leaderless the morning before the battle as their officers deserted knowing that except wining, their lives were forfeit anyway.
When Lord Erik finally returned after a long and hard campaign he became a stern but just ruler of his domain, leading House Blackspyre into a period of prosperity and growth. Erik is an ambitious man and now that his domain is stable and growing again, he is starting to look at the future, one with the crown of the Stormlands on his own head or in the hands of the Blackspyres.
Lord Erik’s main worry at the moment is his son, an incompetent wastrel and scoundrel in his own eyes. When Herolf was born after 2 miscarriages, Erik was overjoyed but when the boy turned 6 and became his father page, he proved to be a failure in all ways that mattered to Lord Erik.
HOUSE BLACKSPYRE STATS:
Defence: 22
* 2 linked towers
Influence: 24
* 1 First born son.
Lands: 20
* Mountains
* Road
* River
* Coast
Law: 29
Population: 18
Power: 46
* First Banner House
* Second Banner House
* Trained garrison
* Trained warfleet
Wealth:22
* Port
* Artisan
The foundation of House Blackspyre is according to some a time of madness. The Blackspyres have never seen it as that.
On the contrary, they see it as a time where only Lord Robert the Black saw reason. About 6.000 years ago when the Andals invaded Westeros with their steel and their new religion of the Seven the Blackryver Fjord is one of the places where the resistance of the First Men is strongest.
That is untill one of them betrays them.
What truly happened is lost in the mists of time and legend, but what remains is that the Black killed the leader of the army that stood against the Andals at the Fjord of Blackryver, and then took command. He then not only surrendered to the Andals but also showed them how to travel up the fjord to get behind the defense of the Stormlanders. Surprising them from behind, the Andals had a strategic advantage that eventually made the difference between winning and losing the war. Robert was awarded nobility and gifted lands at the mouth of the Fjord.
Time of Peace:
Ensuing the invasion of the Andals came a time of peace and allthough many of the Stormlanders considered Robert a madmen for handing the Andals the Stormlands on a silver tray.
Robert never really cared about what anyone else thought and showed remarkable statesmanship when he invested part of his monetary reward in building a port, roads and the three Fangs.
The fangs were three identical towers, two of them stood on each side of the Fjord and a third stood on a rocky island in the center of the Fjord dominating the entrance and acces to Blackmouth, the small tradeport nestled in the mouth of the Fjord and Shipbreaker Bay.
The Reign of Willyam the Flayer:
Only about 300 years ago, the Lord of Blackspyre was Willyam the Benevolent. He had everything a Lord of a minor House could wish for. An heir, 2 more sons, a beautiful daughter coveted by the sons of many of the greater, richer or more powerfull houses and last but not least a wife whom he absolutely doted on.
In the second year after the Landing, disaster struck Blackspyre tower, and in more then one way. Willyams first born son died of disease, soon after his daughter and wife became ill too as did his youngest son.
Always quite supersticous, Willyam believed that his House was struck by a curse and that only he could rid the Houes of it and safeguard it's future. To do so, he needed to ward his home against the powers of evil, and what better way then to dress your tower in the skin of those pure of heart?
Descended into madness Willyam killed and flayed a large part of the population of his land to dress the Fang on the island with it. Such madness could not be tolerated off course in civilised lands and so it was that Aegon Targaryen rode his dragon out to the Blackspyre and destroyed the third tower on the isle in the fjord. Nothing remains of the tower and the island has been known as Willyams Folly ever since.
During the worst of storms, it is rumoured that the voice of Wilyam can still be heard as he laments the death of his kin and his own folly.
The rise of the Phoenix:
As is the case of the Phoenix, so did House Blackspyre and it rose from the ashes stronger than ever before. Determined to prove to the world that his father was an exception, Walther, second and only surviving son of Willyam the Flayer raised his own sons to excellency and this was rewarded in the Year 42 after The Landing when his second son Yohn the Stallward was inducted in the King’s Guard.
The Secret of the Fang:
The greatest secret of the House Blackspyre is a very recent one. Robert VI, father of the current Lord Erik was unable to get his wife Gertrudis pregnant. After 12 years of marriage his frustration took to such levels that he went to seek solace with his sister Elysa Blackspyre. Before either realized they were involved in a tryst that led to a son.
Robert could not bear the thought of such a scandal involving his house, so he had his sister and his wife sequestered during the pregnancy. Claiming madness for the first and a troubled pregnancy for the second he was the only person allowed to visit either.
The night the incestuous infant was born, blood flowed freely.
3 women died that night to protect the secret of Robert VI. He had the midwife murdered while she was returning home from the delivery, killed his own wife with his sword and then threw his sister through the window of her room.
Robert claimed his wife did not survive the difficult birth and his sister, overcome by the news had thrown herself from the window when she heard the news of the death of lovely Elysa.
So it came that Lord Erik the Vicious was a product of Blackspyres on both sides. Robert told his son the secret of his birth on his deathbed, shaming Erik greatly and although no one knows of this, Lord Erik is determined to prove to the world that he is not an incestuous bastard child born in a night of bloody madness.
Current rule of Lord Erik the Vicious of Blackspyre:
Lord Erik’s rule is marked by war mostly and the reputation he built for himself. After King Robert died, Erik fought at the side of the rightful successor.
Every battle he fought was marked by a ruthlessness bordering the sadistic. Erik employed a very successful but crude tactic in which he would give the opposing army the chance to surrender in which case the officers in the army would be flayed alive and left to die while the soldiers were allowed to return home.
If they decided to fight however, none would leave the field alive. Erik never lied. He killed every prisoner his army took and flayed the officers alive before covering them in salt and leaving them to die. If the army did surrender, he disarmed the soldiers and let all of them leave, after they were witnesses to the flaying and decapitation of their officers.
Needless to say that by the end of the war, a great deal of armies rebelled against their officers when they stood face to face with Erik if those officers refused to surrender.
Some armies even found themselves leaderless the morning before the battle as their officers deserted knowing that except wining, their lives were forfeit anyway.
When Lord Erik finally returned after a long and hard campaign he became a stern but just ruler of his domain, leading House Blackspyre into a period of prosperity and growth. Erik is an ambitious man and now that his domain is stable and growing again, he is starting to look at the future, one with the crown of the Stormlands on his own head or in the hands of the Blackspyres.
Lord Erik’s main worry at the moment is his son, an incompetent wastrel and scoundrel in his own eyes. When Herolf was born after 2 miscarriages, Erik was overjoyed but when the boy turned 6 and became his father page, he proved to be a failure in all ways that mattered to Lord Erik.
HOUSE BLACKSPYRE STATS:
Defence: 22
* 2 linked towers
Influence: 24
* 1 First born son.
Lands: 20
* Mountains
* Road
* River
* Coast
Law: 29
Population: 18
Power: 46
* First Banner House
* Second Banner House
* Trained garrison
* Trained warfleet
Wealth:22
* Port
* Artisan
maandag 6 april 2009
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