House Blackstone

**House Blackstone** **of** **Blackhaven** is the Great House of the Pale. The leader of House Blackstone holds the title of Lord of Blackhaven and Lord Paramount of the Pale. The sigil of House Blackstone is a black castle on a grey background.

## History

### Robert Maddox's Rebellion

During Robert Maddox's Rebellion, House Blackstone was fractured in their allegiance. Richard Blackstone, the legal head of the family, along with his sisters Morvella and Jeyne remained loyal to House Beaufort. However, Oliver Blackstone, the leader of a sizeable cadet branch of House Blackstone, allied himself with the rebellion and launched a coup against his distant cousins to seize control of the Pale and pledge the majority of House Blackstone's forces to House Maddox. Throughout the war House Blackstone remained a significant ally to the rebellion and was critical to the rebellion's early victories. Although an attempt to reclaim The Pale was carried out by a small splinter force lead by Morvella Blackstone and Prince Dorian, Oliver Blackstone was still able to rule House Blackstone in open rebellion against House Beaufort until finally, King Clovis sent the full extent of his forces to reclaim the Pale after Oliver Blackstone's brother, Nathaniel, gave the royal forces critical information regarding the remaining rebel Blackstone forces that allowed the royalists to quickly and easily end of the war. After the war, Richard Blackstone reclaimed his rightful place as Lord of Blackhaven and Nathaniel Blackstone was granted The Moon Keep for his cooperation and was allowed to found his own House.

### Beaufort Civil War

House Blackstone sided with Maximilian Beaufort and The Alliance during the Beaufort Civil War. Lord Charles Blackstone was a member of Maximilian's War Council and lead the armies of the Pale in defeating House Clareworth who sided with The Coalition. Growing fearful of his greatest vassal, House Fairfax, Lord Charles did not dare overtly move against them but chose instead to he keep a sizeable amount of his forces at Blackhaven to minimize his own House's casualties and allowed House Fairfax to provide greater support to The Alliance during many of the subsequent conflicts. At the war's end, Charles Blackstone joined Maximilian's official Small Council as Master of Laws.

### War of the Heirs

During the War of the Heirs, Lord Drake Blackstone's widow, Lady Angela Blackstone, lead the Blackstone forces as a strong ally of King Jacques Beaufort. At the outbreak of the war, Lady Angela led her forces alongside Lord Dennis Mason of House Mason in their ambush of House Maddox in order to prevent House Maddox from marching to the Reach and supporting Emelia Arx. House Blackstone would later go on to join the majority of Jacques Beaufort's forces and provide critical support during the Battle of the Alpines and the Great Battle of the Reach. After the deaths of Raphael Beaufort, Jacques Beaufort, and Emelia Arx, Lady Angela attended the Meeting of The Great Council as a supporter of Jacques and was chosen to be one of the new King Emeric Beaufort's seven regents.

## Notable Members

* Lord Oliver Blackstone- Served as a member of Robert Maddox’s War Council and lead a coup to temporarily seize control of House Blackstone.
* Lord Richard Blackstone- Served as Christophe Beaufort's Master of War.
* Lord Charles Blackstone- Served as Maximilian Beaufort's Master of Laws.
* Lady Angela Blackstone of House Giovanni- Named as one of Emeric Beaufort's original regents and served as a member of The Regency Council.
* Lord Siegfried Blackstone- Served as Emeric Beaufort's Master of War
* Lord Garrett Blackstone- Masterful spymaster and Master of Whisperers to Gaspard Beaufort and Laurent Beaufort