Minor House Spotlight: House Stormer

To anyone else, having a son risen to the ranks of the Thronesguard would be a great honour, but to Lord Stormer it was a sign of disgrace. "A man should rule not serve!" he cried out at the news of Ser Jerrod's appointment, "It is the caitiff who plays the part of another's dog, trapsing behind and jumping at command! No son of mine will play the cur!". The old nobleman had spat loudly as he spoke, his wine-stained tunic scattering with the debris of his evening meal.

House Stormer is an important but poor house of Southshire, acting as one of the final gate towns to Freystorm Bay and House Asterland. Their words, "Cut the Storm and Rend Fury", call back to their crude origins as ship raiders and pirates long before the Cornayan Conquest - now they feel more reflective of a child throwing toys from their crib.

The lands of Stormer's Shire are the last wooded land in Southshire, tall trees giving way to harsh sands and rocky beaches. The town itself has no keep, but a great number of wooden outposts and tall walls with siege defenses to hold off marching armies. The only stone building in Stormer's Shire is its church, which lies in ruins on the outskirts and has been largely replaced by visits to a local pilgrims shrine up the hill and along the woodland edge. A great hall is all the Lords and Ladies of House Stormer have to call luxury, a wooden construction of one single room line with benches and a high table. The nobility sleep in a wooden house in the heart of the town, though it is not connected to the great hall or any other feature and is largely unimpressive.

Where House Stormer finds its wealth is instead in its salt, produced and pulled from the coastal water nearby and harvested in salt fields to supply the realm with the ability to store and preserve perishable foods. The Lords Vaulter of Saltvault have a much larger supply and regularly outplay House Stormer in their trade, but enough money is made to keep the poverty stricken nobility from starvation.

Lord Bradyn Stormer, often named the Rusty Axe for his ineptitude as a fighter and for his blunt nature, is the patriarch and eldest member of House Stormer - with his wife and sole source of joy Lady Maud having passed away some seven years ago. Lady Maud and Lord Bradyn had five children in total, Ser Dunstan, Ser Jerrod, Lady Maud, Lady Avisa and Lord Roland. Lady Avisa had died during a winter of their childhood, the same year that saw wintertouched child Lady Lynette born to Lord Silver. As such, Lord Bradyn has always held a deep jealousy and distain for Lord Harrison Silver and any other whose children had lived healthy and happy lives.

It was, in fact, easier to count who Lord Bradyn did not have a deep distain for - his days were spent cursing names and successes of all kinds of nobility. His eldest son, Ser Dunstan, carried much a similar sense of moroseness - though his nihilistic attitudes and cynicism regarding knightly honour and the faith at large meant his anger was often directed more at the world than at the nobility of neighbouring keeps and towns. It was this nihilism that had torn such a rift between the eldest boys of Lord Bradyn, with Ser Jerrod's knighting coming from beloved knight of the thronesguard Ser Luke Fletcher and Ser Dunstan's coming as a result of a payment his father made to a knight in Lord Almeric Asterland's employ as to not let his favourite child be missed. This belief that knighthood meant nothing other than a title was what led Ser Dunstan to grow irritable with Ser Jerrod, who acted to uphold his duties as a shield of the innocent even when it directly harmed his own family.

Lady Maud, unfortunately, took much more from her father than her namesake - a covetous schemer and egotistical socialite that jealously looked to the sapphires of House Asterland and the shining armour of House Silver with eager eyes. Many proposals of marriage were put out by Lady Maud herself to all manner of high lord and knight, none so far have been answered or even considered. Only one proposal has been sent her way, an offer of marriage from the Lords of Moonhold to wed Lady Maud to their youngest son Lord Siward which she quickly turned down after meeting the boy and seeing the silver stained lips and tongue of his family and hearing the strange rhyme he would sing about Eight Shining Stars. Lord Roland, youngest of the children, took more after Ser Jerrod - a kind boy and inquisitive about the world and the role of the people in it. He was sent to Bridkeep to be trained as a monk there after his eighth birthday, with his father declaring he "wanted strong boys with axes, not weaklings with quills". As comes with the duties of a monk of Bridkeep, it is impossible to know what became of Lord Roland after this time.

After Garrick Ward's rebellion, House Stormer remained deeply loyal to Lord Almeric Asterland and his son - though denied the call by Lady Amira to avenge Ser Thomelin's death and reclaim Freystorm Bay. This is largely in character for Lord Bradyn and House Stormer at large, who are known for their large words and small actions. Some lords say that it is Lord Harrison Silver whose shifting allegiances offer the most worry, some ladies say that Ser Robert Warren may be the most self-interest man in the realm, it is the wise ones that know it is Lord Bradyn who serves no true master but himself - and even then he is a poor and unskilled servant.