Lore:House Ravenwatch

was a   noble house based in the   region of  . Working under the guise of this status, the house secretly consisted of  s who forsook their murderous ways and vowed to use their powers for good purpose. The house was a firm supporter of High King  , who knew of their true nature.   They also restrained evil vampires and attempted to redeem them to a better path, only killing them if they a serious threat to mortals, they would typically attempt this redemption through words, if that didn't work then the Ravenwatch would use force until they complied, they also dealt with other supernatural threats to mortals besides their own vampiric kin.    
     

Overview
thumb|left|Ravenwatch Castle, the headquarters of the house
House Ravenwatch was led by Count  , an   pureblood vampire, who had been turned directly by  . The house's base of operations was   in Rivenspire, just above the town of  . 

Members of the house lived by a code put in place by Count Verandis. It involved concepts of honor and vigilance, noble spirit and restraint. Their primary goal was to use their powers with responsibility, to help others. They were only allowed to feed on willing servants, never to excess, or on outlaws like bandits or cultists. They regularly trained to keep their vampiric urge to kill in control.  The House was known to accept vampires who were willing to follow Verandis' code into their ranks.  They also did historical research,   and often worked to keep less peaceful vampires in check. 

Known members of the house include the    , the   Gwendis, the   Fennorian and the  s   and Kathad.  The castle also housed a number of servants, who willingly let the members feed on them, and in return, their every need was tended to.  

At some point of history before   House Ravenwatch started manufacturing and selling fragrant cologne known as "Essence of Ravenwatch".  As of   decks of cards known as the Ravenwatch Tarot were widesprerad accorss Tamriel.  House Ravenwatch occasionaly held banquets in their estate, during which they distributed doilies with the Ravenwatch heraldry.  Equipment of the members of the house, such as their sashes were adorned with crest of the House. 

History
thumb|right|Baron Wylon Montclair
The exact foundation date of the House is uncertain; the leader of the House, Verandis Ravenwatch, has been alive since at least the First Era. The House came into existence at some point after  , when Verandis defected from his position as thirteenth Exarch of the Gray Host. 

In the mid-Second Era, Count Verandis was friends with the  , one of the three noble families that ruled Rivenspire after  . When Baroness   fell ill circa   and was close to dying, her husband   asked Verandis to turn her into a vampire to save her from death. Both Verandis and Leila refused, so Verandis used an   relic to cure her. Unfortunately, the relic was not powerful enough, and in time Leila's illness returned. Afterwards,  , an   in service of the Montclairs who secretly plotted to overthrow High King Emeric, manipulated Verandis and the Montclairs to look for a more powerful relic, known as "Abagandra", the  . This artifact, resting within the great spire of  , had been corrupted in ancient times, and it was corrupted further upon contact with Verandis. This resulted in all those present being turned into vampires, including the Montclairs. Baroness Leila did not want to live as a vampire and attacked Verandis, who was forced to kill her. This angered Wylon to the point that he decided to turn all the people of Rivenspire into  s through the use of the Lightless Remnant. Count Verandis felt great remorse for his involvement and issued a   declaring his loyalty to the people of Rivenspire and King Emeric, as well as his desire to destroy the Lightless Remnant.  

thumb|left|The Doomcrag
thumb|right|Abagandra, or the Lightless Remnant
Along with Houses   and  ,  , and the  , House Ravenwatch fought Montclairs' bloodfiends throughout Rivenspire, helped liberate upper   and  , and eventually participated in a final confrontation at the Doomcrag where the Vestige killed Wylon Montclair. Unfortunately, Montclair managed to activate Abagandra's curse before he died, and Verandis was forced to strike a deal with Molag Bal, who agreed to take both him and the relic to  . The people of Rivenspire were thus saved, and Adusa-daro became the new leader of House Ravenwatch. Shortly thereafter, Adusa and the Vestige defended the castle from an attack of assassins hired by  , one of the remaining Montclairs, and later killed him, ending the Montclair threat for good. 

After the death of Verandis, the remaining members of House Ravenwatch decided to continue his legacy and kept living by the rules he had created. Several of those affected by the Lightless Remnant's blood-curse were thought to have found refuge with the house. 

With the help of the Resolute of Stendarr  , House Ravenwatch also foiled the    's plans to obtain a powerful Celerity  .  At some point the Ravenwatch would be asked by King Emeric, to investigate the Nordic grave robbers known as the Draugrkin, who were searching the caves near Bangkorai Garrison. Fennorian would be sent to investigate, and eventually discovered the location of Unhallowed Grave, the ancient burial site where the Gray Host were interred. The Vestige, alongside Fennorian and a member of the Pyre Watch, would deal with the grave robbers, but not before many of the Gray Host urns were taken from the burial site.  

Later, the Ravenwatch would head to Western Skyrim following the trail of the missing urns, and would discover the vampiric threat posed by the Gray Host, now under the command of Rada al-Saran. Fennorian would then aid the Vestige and Lyris Titanborn, in dealing with the Harrowstorms and hinder Rada's efforts to resurrect his Gray Host. 
At some point the Vestige would aid Gwendis in rescuing the captive Adusa-daro from Greymoor Keep.  Afterwards, the Vestige, alongside Gwendis, would investigate Rada's connections, one of which involved a powerful vampire lord named Lady Thorn, and a mad alchemist by the name of Arkasis.   

The Vestige and Gwendis would then investigate how the Gray Host were defeated, and the investigation would go in an unexpected direction as it was discovered that that Verandis was once a former member of the Host. This led them to Grayhome, and using a dream walking potion, the vestige would uncover the truth, along with Verandis's journal, that Verandis was only trying to show the Host a better path. Through the journal, they discovered they could bring back Verandis from the dead and save him from his eternity in Coldharbour, and they would bring him back using an urn containing his essence. 

Sometime after, the resurrected Verandis would travel to Markarth, to warn Ard Caddach of the danger posed by the Gray Host. The Vestige, and House Ravenwatch uncovered Rada's plot to reawaken the Dark Heart, an artifact of Namira hidden within Blackreach, as well as his alliance with the Ard's advisor Lady Belain. His goal was to sacrifice all the souls in the Reach in order to free the Gray Host from their torment in Coldharbour.  After being discovered as an ally of Rada by The Vestige and House Ravenwatch, Lady Belain hurried to rally the Ghostsong Clan to enact the Prophecy of the Dark Heart. Those who deserted the clan were quickly killed, while the willing were sacrificed to the Dark Heart. Arana, a dissident of the Ghostsong Clan, aided the hero in discovering the Ghostsong's hideout, and discovered that her sister Nathari had primed the reawakening of the Heart. Many shades came forth, and Nathari herself was transformed to a voidmother and was slain. The victory brought the Heart to a temporary stasis. 
thumb|left|250px|Nighthollow Keep

House Ravenwatch then assaulted Lady Belain's Nighthollow Keep under Blackreach, and discovered the Heart deep within the keep's depths, as well as the ongoing ritual to fully reawaken it. It was too late, and the Heart was reawoken, pulling the souls of Markarth's denizens into it, and resurrecting the Nighthollow clan from its ashes.  Lady Belain unsealed the doors of Nchuand-Zel, catching those at Understone Keep off guard and almost killing Ard Caddach. The Vestige followed Arana into the Nchuand-Zel, and recovered the keystone within the ruin's depths to gain access to the Orrery of Arkthzand, which al-Saran required to harvest the Heart's power to its full potential. There, Lady Belain teleported the intruder's to the Dark Heart's chambers, and bathed in its power. Despite this, Namira intervened through Arana, and gave her the strength to press on despite her wounds. Together, the duo slew Belain, striking another blow against Rada, though Arana succumbed to her wounds after the battle. 

Despite the efforts to stop him, Rada was successful in binding the Gray Host to the Dark Heart. As a former member, Verandis was also bound to the Dark Heart. The connection would cause Verandis to lose himself to its darkness. However, he was able to resist its pull long enough to help stop Rada.   The Dark Heart remained a lingering threat, as it was awakened but not at full capacity, and Arkthzand's orrery remained charged with Void energy. With the heart's newfound power quickly draining, time was of the essence for Rada, and he conducted a meeting with some of the other leaders of the Gray Host north of Markarth, near the Druadach Mountains. Although Belain was gone, she managed to buy time for Rada to tie the heart's energy to the Gray Host, further laying down the foundations for his plans.  
thumb|right|Verandis,after being bound to the Dark Hearts power
After intercepting a letter at the Gray Host's meeting place, the Vestige learned of Rada's intent. The letter was written as a final act of desperation, and written on it was Rada's plea for Verandis to rejoin his Gray Host, and House Ravenwatch would come to realize Rada's plan in full. Rada had opened a gateway into his sanctuary realm of Grayhaven, using the Orrery as a map, and the Dark Heart as a power source and gateway for this endeavor. Grayhaven itself is "a piece of land sundered from the Reach" during the Planemeld, and is caught in the Void "between Mundus and Oblivion". Using the Dark Heart, they could anchor their souls to this sanctuary realm, leading to their contract to be severed with Molag Bal. Additionally, "Death [would] become as much a petty inconvenience to them as to any Daedra", thus the Gray Host could potentially go on never ending conquests.  

While House Ravenwatch were at his doorstep, Rada was inside his sanctuary realm, conjuring an apocalyptic storm from within known as the Darkstorm that would consume all the souls in the Reach to complete his goals. Despite Rada's skill with the Shehai, and his mastery over his Vampire Lord form, Verandis outwitted him and turned the power of the Dark Heart against him. 

Verandis stayed behind to manipulate the Dark Heart's power, returning the souls such as Arana's back to their proper place. With the Heart's power fading away, it pushed Verandis outside of the realm instead of entrapping him. Verandis became bound to its power, and would become its guardian, ensuring both that it would never be used again, and that both he and the heart would fade into obscurity. He would say his goodbye to the Ravenwatch, as he felt they were ready to operate without his guidance.   The Vestige was admitted into the House by Count Verandis soon after the farwell once they met once again in the Blackreach. 
 

See Also
For game-specific information, see the ESO article.

Notes
A city named Ravenwatch existed in the Second Era, its unknown if the city had any affiliation with House Ravenwatch. 

References