House Withamhall

==Titles, Lands and Influence==
Originally, the House Withamhall held one of the highest ranks atainable by the aristocracy, being the rulers of a dukedom around the area of Westbrook and Westridge. The family also accumulated the title Margrave of Battlements.
That is no longer the case. The current Lord Withamhall owns a pathetic, symbolic square meter of land beneath Westbrook Guarrison, a house in Stormwind City bought with gold from his own pocket and enough salary to pay for a single housemaid. He has also been forbidden from calling himself or being called anything more honourable than Lord, a style usually attributed to Barons.
Interestingly enough, Lord Richeron Withamhall has achieved more influence through earned notoriety and through marriage with Elizabetha Istro than with all the completely forgotten glory of his ancestors.
==The History of House Withamhall==
===Early Records===
The first records of a family called Witham were found in the Ironforge archives and date to the century in which the Kingdom of Azeroth was formed. It is presumed that the family was amongst the settlers that migrated south from Arathi during the great exodus. How the records came to be in Ironforge is unkown.
===Rise of House Witham===
It is believed that the Witham family was risen to aristocracy 900 years ±50 before the opening of the dark portal. The earliest known member of House Witham, recorded under the name Sir Karl Witham, was a knight of the Brotherhood of the Horse (or one of its antecedents) and lived at the right time to be the first aristocrat of the family. Fragments of a rather romantic poem suggest that he achieved the status by saving the king's daughter from drowning. Sir Karl Witham did indeed marry a member of the present royal house, the Duchess Eilyan Wrynn, but the events described by the poem are not validated by any other source.
===From Witham to Withamhall===
The cause for the early transformation of the name Witham to Withamhall remains completely unkown. The grandson of Sir Karl Witham, the Duke Henroy Witham-of-the-Hall contains in the name the only clue to the mystery and suggests that the family became quickly associated with a hall of some sort.
===The Four Houses===
Arguably, the most prosperous period of House Withamhall took place during the life of Duke Willhaum Withamhall III. The family benefited of holding a great influence on the throne and a vast array of assets. It was during his life-time that the family aquired the lands in Lordaeron that would play an important part during a later family schism.
The most relevant enterprise that the family took part in during this period was the establishment of a strict alliance with the Houses Thalon, Prichard and Senate. While the reasons for the alliance are cloudy, it would last at least seven generations and result in many intermarriages.
===Family Schism===
((TBA))
===The Fall of House Withamhall===
By the year 100 before the orcish invasions, the family had fallen in to bad interbreeding habits, heavy vice and economic disarray. No one was the least bit surprised when Lord Zaenor Withamhall died at the age of 27, leaving behind huge debts and no children. The reputation of the noble house had sunk so low that the search for an heir was burried under more pressing bureaucracy and forgotten, leaving the dukedom under the "temporary" control of the throne.
It is likely that no viable heir stepped forward out of sheer embarassement.
During the First War, the family castle in Westbrook would be destroyed completely.
===The Renaissance of House Withamhall===
Until a few years ago, the rightful heirs of House Withamhall could be found in Northshire Valley, known best for their fine piglets and apples.
Recently, Richeron Withamhall, having discovered his heritage, was recognised officially as the Lord Withamhall. However, he was refused the right to rule the family's lands, and holds only a symbolic square meter of the land beneath the Westbrook Guarisson, which was largely constructed with the stones left over from the old family castle.
Richeron Withamhall has married Elizabetha Istro. This marriage was consumed with the birth of Iohannes Williaum and Annika Benedicta.
==Family Crest==
The heraldric arms of House Withamhall date back in to the darkness of the centuries. A field divided in two vertical halves, one blue, one silver, with a central tower in gold is held aloft by two gryphons. Above the shield is the ducal coronet and the crest, also a gryphon. Below the shield is the moto "Light of the Mind". The blue and white mantling is omited, as is the helmet.
The Withamhall family has had four major branches, each distinguished its arms from the others in various ways. As a rule, the elder branch has always maintained the original design. The Lordaeron branch changed its shield's partition to an unequal horizontal one, the Thalon-Prichard branch tripled the number of towers. The branch of Temothar had added a fleur de lis to its design, but it was dropped when the branch became the elder branch.
Marriage has also transformed the coat of arms. When the Lord Withamhall married the heiress of another noble House, the two coat of arms were combined through quartering. When Temothar Withamhall married Esmeralda Senate, the two family's coat of arms were combined. Today, the arms of Lord Richeron Withamhall maintain pratically the same design, the only change being the removal of the fleur de lis from the Withamhall section of the coat of arms, marking him as the Lord Withamhall. The right gryphon has also been replaced by the lion that held the Senate coat of arms.
==Members of House Withamhall==
Lord Richeron Miller Withamhall
Lady Elizabetha Istro Withamhall (Wife)
Iohannes Willaum Istro Withamhall
Annika Benedicta Istro Withamhall
Brother Pether Withamhall (Uncle, Priest of the Northshire Abbey)
Arnould Withamhall (Cousin, Priest of the Northshire Abbey)
Lord Temotheon Withamhall (Extremely distant undead relative that claims to be the Margrave of Withamhall)
==Estate of House Withamhall==
*Withamhall Manor - A large house to be found at the Mage Quarter in the City of Stormwind. It has two floors, a common room, a study, five bedrooms, a nursery, a kitchen, a scullery, a hall, a cellar, an attic, two storage cupboards, a bathing room and a small adjoining outhouse at the back.
*The Duchy - A square yard of land adjacent to Westbrook Guarrison. Total population: 1023 ants, 2 turnips and 1 burried cache of dog memorabilia.
*One collection of books and scrolls
:Scholarly works
::The Light
::Linguistics
::The Arcane
::History
::Runes
::Obscure languages
::Alchemy
::Biology
::Music
:Knowledge Resources
::Runic tables and lists
::Bilingual dictionaries
::Cursed atypical spell book
::Other spellbooks
::Metals and minerals
::Engineering schematics
::One very burnt book on Fel and Demonology
:Self-help books
::The Joys and Pains of Parenthood - Survival Guide
:Fiction novels
*Collection of magical artifacts
:Staves
:Orbs
:Wands
:Charged crystals
*Technomagical gyzmos
:Chronoarcanometer, built by Roudfus Fizzlespark.
:Arcane filters
:Mechanical squirrel with sound-recording aparatum. Non-functional.
:An assortment of largely unidentifiable contraptions, mostly constructed by Roudfus Fizzlespark, and mostly of little discernible use.
*One-eyed cat. Enjoys the use of claws on defenseless furniture.
*Parrot. Infamous for labeling everyone it sees as some kind of spy.
*Various toys for infants.
*Weaponry
:One sword, inscribed with runes that spell "Wiþam"; age uncertain.
:One mace, large, constructed from some kind of large purple crystal.
:A rapier, broken in two pieces.
*Several sets of armour. Many robes(mostly blue), dresses, tunics, trousers (few) and other types of clothing. The work of Master Tailor and Cutter Jonas Creeks prominently found.
*Much kitchenware and tableware
*Plenty of furniture
*One very used bedknob
Category:Nobility
Category:Family