of | |
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 The Crest of the House Norman | |
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Founded |
~2800 B.D.P. |
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Founder |
Lord Thormeth Norman |
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Lesser Houses |
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Allegiance |
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Current Head |
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Holdings |
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Seat |
Redmile Creek, Redridge |
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Sigil |
Eagle |
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Motto |
Courage is Ours |
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Liege Lord |
King Anduin Wrynn |
The Great House of Norman is one of the oldest existing houses in the Eastern Kingdoms. It was founded in the ancient empire of Arathor around 2800 years BDP to House Trollbane and persists to the present day in service of House Wrynn of Stormwind.
The House of Norman continued in two houses: House Norfolk of Redmile Creek, Redridge and House North of Whitesands Cove, Stranglethorn. House Norfolk was, for the last three hundred years, the predominant house. However, House Norfolk was recently ended when its patriarch, Lord Robert, was awarded a county by the crown. He saw it fit to return to the old name of Norman.
Robert the Firstblood is the current patriarch of the Great House of Norman.
History of House Norman[]
The Old World[]
Due to the passage of time, much of the history of the Great House of Norman was lost. The earliest written records of the House point to its inception circa 2800 BDP, the record being a receipt for two goats, a pair of boots and glassware. It is known the house was a major house, controlling a large duchy.
The relevant history of House Norman began with the Independence of the Kingdom of Stormwind.
628 years ago with the War of Independence, much of the north was shaken by instability. The further north the houses were, the more they suffered supply line drop-offs and economic hardship. Cut off from their old source of power by the city-states that pocked Lordaeron, House Norman faced a dire decision: stay or leave.
The Great House was proud and many decided to stay. Their stories were never recorded, presumed to have faded to the dust of history. The men and women who migrated south, however, swore their loyalty to House Wrynn and built more modest seats of lordship than their ancestors. However, House Wrynn did not formally recognise House Norman as a vassal, and instead simply let them settle where they may.
The first seat was a northern seat in northern Redridge (modern day Burning Steppes) and the second a southern seat in southern Redridge. The northern seat of Therizmarr was purchased off dwarven lords who owned the area. The lease was for five-hundred (500) years. The southern seat was in Redmile Creek, Redridge, a piece of land under the barony of House Corvyn.
The house underwent a period of relative peace. Their houses were not as grand and their halls not as gilded, but they were safe and content with their lot. Over these years, the two seats of the house grew apart. Centuries turned their bonds of loyalty elsewhere, linked only by blood and name.
The Sundering of Three Hammers[]
The House of Norman was shattered by the War of Three Hammers. Due to the ongoing war, much of the exports that the southern Normans relied upon for economic success was lost. The southern strand suffered greatly from this period. They turned to their northern brothers for aid, citing their family bonds, but they were turned away - the northern Normans were profiteering off the war with their high-class mercenaries and arms manufacture.
Ragnaros the Firelord scorching Redridge too soon.
However, the tables turned by the end of the war when a great ritual spell was cast in the midst of battle.
Ragnaros the Firelord had been summoned too soon. The world was split asunder. The northern Normans had their land entirely ripped out from underneath, suffering heavy casualties to their population and to their prospects of longevity. Everything they had was lost.
The northern Normans were too proud to turn to their southern brothers for help - knowing how they turned them away. Instead the house took flight, changing their name to House North and turning to Stormwind City for rebuilding.
The two houses split at this point in time, and would not be bonded again for many centuries.
History of House North[]
Fleeing to Stormwind City with what little they had left, House North made a series of successful investments, finding wealth in the ebb and flow of the market.
Their wealth accrued over time and before long, House North found prominence once more. It was two centuries later that Jonathan of House North raised a force of sell-swords in search of profiteering and joined the Gurubashi War. He forged the contracts of his sell-swords to classify them as his bannermen - meaning any wealth or loot they accrued would rightfully belong to Jonathan. Jonathan's military prowess called mute any accusations of foul play with his men, as his leadership and strategic ingenuity led to many successful battles. Ultimately, it led the sword of King Barathen Wrynn to Jonathan's shoulders, and accolades spoken for knighthood.
Sir Jonathan the Cunning, as he had come to be known, invested what he earned from the war in a garrison outpost along the southern border of Stormwind's holdings in Stranglethorn. This outpost would come to be known as Whitesands Cove, Stranglethorn.
With the conclusion of the Gurubashi War and a new frontier ready for exploitation, Sir Jonathan turned his attention towards establishing himself as a regional power. Calling this new outpost home, the newly anointed knight used his wealth to commission a fortified stronghold accessible to both land and sea. Due to the nature of this acquisition, Sir Jonathan found business contacts through the Stone Mason's Guild. This somewhat nefarious organization benefited greatly from the aftermath of the war and the erection of many fortified holds - a shared interest with Sir Jonathan.
These contacts proved invaluable as Sir Jonathan struck deals with Stormwind business magnates to exploit the natural resources of his land. Lumber, fruit and a special flower used in making scarlet dyes were the major contracts built from these relationships.
Soon Sir Jonathan found himself the beneficiary of his own ambitions. With the finished construction of Fort Whitecove, Sir Jonathan was in fact a regional power and for the few brief years before the First War, he exerted that power lavishly.
With the onset of the First War, Sir Jonathan received reports from Elwynn, Redridge and Westfall of horrific pillaging and desolation. At the base of each of these letters was a request for dire aid, Sir Jonathan did not heed this call. Instead, with the further reports that the off-worlders were coming through Stranglethorn, Sir Jonathan left a standing garrison of thirty men in Fort Whitecove and sailed away with his wealth into the open sea.
Sir Jonathan sailed West. He travelled blindly in the seas, losing many crew along the way. When the food supply was dwindling, and mutiny was a single moon away, fate showed its hand. A small, quaint island appeared on the horizon: Tel'Abim.
Sir Jonathan and his crew landed on the beach and were met with a reclusive, yet peaceful tribe of human natives. It wasn't long before the Azerothians and the natives came to share beds. Jonathan had taken to the tribe's anointed priestess and it wasn't long before they too were sharing beds.
A child was born of their union, a boy named Michael Lambert North. It was a few years before the crew finally grew too restless and wished to return home, however. Sir Jonathan was reluctant to return. He wasn't sure if the war was over and didn't wish to subject his family to the risk. However, one night a great storm rocked the seas of Azeroth. Sir Jonathan's ship was spared from the wreckage, but, oddly enough, another ship was not.
An Orcish ship had crashed in the storm, uprooted and broken against the reef that surrounded Tel'Abim. On one of these ships, tethered and bound, was a human girl. She was still alive, floating on the body of a dead orc. She was found and rescued by the natives and brought before Jonathan and the tribe. -- It was discovered from this girl that the war was over. That the orcs had retreated and with what little they had, fled across the seas in search of the western land of Kalimdor.
Sir Jonathan heeded this new information and set sail when the winds next changed. He set sail with his new wife and his son, eventually returning to the shores of Whitesand Cove for the first time in six years. However, to Jonathan's dismay, an insurgency of orcs dwelled in his fort. The orcs were driven out after a protracted siege, with many taken as slaves to rebuild and work the lands for the next decade.
House North rebuilt what it had over this period, with Michael, the son of Sir Jonathan, rising to knighthood. Michael took over from his father shortly before the Third War, and Sir Jonathan died peacefully in his lands alongside his wife.
Sir Michael, the current patriarch of House North, has held the lands of Whitesands Cove to this day. He has expanded upon his father's work and has been appointed to His Majesty Anduin Wrynn's Royal Guard in the year 627 KC.
History of House Norfolk[]
Following the sundering of the Great House the southern remnants of House Norman suffered greatly. Although their northern brothers were nigh wiped from the map, they themselves did not have an easy time. The economic hardship of the war was compounded by a bout of drought in the region – brought about by the risen aura of the Firelord.
Crop failure, famine and subsequent rebellion tore through Redmile Creek over the coming century. On top of this, their ruling house, House Corvyn was irresponsible and decadent with their holdings. The House of Corvyn demanded high taxes to pay for their lavish spending and vast gambling debts. Life was this way for many generations, only resolved in the years prior to the First War.
This period, in the history of Redridge, came to be known as the Revolt of Pennies, named so after the rusty bucklers the traitors used resembling pennies. Veterans of the Gurubashi War organized and raised a force that took over many pockets of Redridge. Their aim was to take the essential services of the land, seal off the roads to and from Redridge and force secession of the region.
However, what the traitors did not expect was a small, unknown house raising a force of cavalry. House Norman, as it was still known, raised its banners and rode to the camps of the traitors within a forest clearing. Up until that point in the conflict, no major battles or assaults had been fought by the traitors – it was rumoured they hadn’t even drawn blood.
The three living generations of House Norman - Sir Mortimer, Sir Harold and Sir Robert (the current patriarch of House Norman) – rode in that cavalry formation. It was the ride of a new House. Robert, squire to his father Sir Harold, drew first blood in that conflict. He was knighted after the battle Sir Robert the Firstblood.
The cavalry charge of the three generations crushed the revolt and wiped out any chance that the traitors would take Lakeshire. For their service to the Crown, the house became officially recognized by the House of Wrynn as House Norfolk – its own strand of the Great House of Norman.
Though, little time was allowed for celebration. The First War crushed Redridge and Redmile Creek within it. House Norfolk was forced to flee north with their people. Sir Mortimer was killed during the sacking of Stormwind, and Sir Harold took charge of House Norfolk.
The Second War came and went with Norfolk blood spilled from Lordaeron to the Blasted Lands. House Norfolk fought bravely securing territory for their boy-King. They returned their lands after many years of warfare. Everything was destroyed.
Since that period, the lands have slowly but surely been rejuvenated. Green returned to the scenery and Redmile Creek bent the knee once more to their rightful liege lords House Corvyn – barons of Lakeland.
However, the Crown has since taken direct control over the assets of the barony due to a holdings dispute was brought to the magistrates of Stormwind. A goblin trade baron was eligible to own the plot due to exorbitant debt accrued by Lord Corvyn. Though, Sir Harold Norfolk fought for the barony to be retained as Crownland instead. Through the tradition of old oaths, House Norfolk was still sworn to House Corvyn, though, it was a defunct oath. House Corvyn’s last lord died in the year of the Legionfall Invasion.
House Norfolk acts as caretakers of the Crownland of Lakeland and Redmile Creek is its seat. Sir Harold retired when the ancient land of Pandaria was rediscovered, his son Sir Robert took the mantle of patriarch. Robert served for many years in the Kingdom of Stormwind, and when he retired from Commander of the Royal Guard, he was awarded a county for his service.
Robert saw it fit to end House Norfolk and retake the old name of Norman, to restore glory and honor to his ancestors. In doing so, he fulfilled the legacy of his father and grandfather and with the birth of a new child, that legacy will be secured.