House Elkhelm

**Head of House**
 **Heir**
 **Seat**
 **Lands**
 **Overlords**
 **Vassals**
 **Founder**

**House Elkhelm** is the ruling house of the duchy of Kingsmark whose patriarch is Lord Londuin Elkhelm. It is a house that stands relatively new among the esteemed names of other noble families, having been raised to the account of history only at the cusp of the First War, but remains an ancient name nonetheless. Memory of a long-forgotten warrior with a crown of antlers and iron survives in this name, though the tongues that might recall the truth of the tale are now long stilled to silence.

## History

House Elkhelm first appears in records with the mention of Sir Loras Elkhelm, who was raised to knighthood from the common soldiery for his valorous displays of courage and prowess in the wars fought in the days of the Kingdom of Azeroth. Sir Loras went on to distinguish himself as a Knight-Champion of the Brotherhood of the Horse during the First War, entering into legend alongside the likes of King Barathen Wrynn, Lord Anduin Lothar and other such heroes of an age now passed.

Sir Loras survived the First War and in secret conceived a child with his unannounced lover, Amelia Ashleaf, a lowborn priestess whom he had secretly been courting before the onset of the Orcish Horde's destructive warpath and secretly eloped with thereafter. Loras was only briefly a father to his newborn son before going on to enlist in the newly-formed Silver Hand, inescapably compelled by honor to fight for the reclamation of his homeland with whatever tools came into his hands. Thus Loras and Amelia were parted forevermore, never to meet again, the priestess left with naught but wailing babe at her breast and what little capital she had amassed as a childbearing refugee in Lordaeron.

Sir Loras engaged with the Alliance of Lordaeron in the Second War, performing no less commendably than earlier in his life. Amelia, dependent on the charity of others as she abided in Lordaeron with her infant son, found comfort in their mutual friend Sir Adam Greenwood, who witnessed and held the secret of Loras and Amelia's marriage and the true patrimony of Amelia's apparent bastard child. Sir Adam took to paid errantry to afford Amelia and her child enough comfort as not to perish in the desperation of the Second War, providing security of finance and home whenever he was able.

With the conclusion of the Second War and the reclamation of the lands which once constituted the Kingdom of Azeroth, Sir Loras led a sizeable community of refugees who returned to find their homes destroyed in search of a pristine place in the kingdom where they could start from the beginning. This they found on the northern shore of Stone Cairn Lake in a swath of land the Orcs had come to roam, but had not yet condemned to axe and flame.

A secondary conflict ensued, and under the championship of Sir Loras, the settlers prevailed against the Orcs of the Black Peak and founded a new home, called Kingsmark to draw the favor of their sovereign liege, to whom they would submit themselves as willing vassals and members of a healing kingdom. For a time Sir Loras dwelled in Kingsmark as its de facto governor, and many did expect that he would be made the high lord of the place as others around him, close allies of his, were so upraised. Yet before this could come to pass, Sir Loras enlisted with the First Alliance Expedition to Draenor and was lost with them after the severing of the Dark Portal, vanishing from all account until many years later with his rediscovery by and subsequent death in service to the Second Alliance Expedition to Draenor.

For her part, Amelia Ashleaf returned to Stormwind City after the Second War with her son in tow, alongside Sir Adam Greenwood who persisted in his care for them, he having had his sword-hand maimed in the fighting. Sir Adam searched for his old friend and fellow knight to no avail, he being lost to the far reaches of the untamed wilderness. Knowing that she could not lean on her aging friend forever, and that she stood no chance alone with a child whose absent and nameless father she still loved and refused to betray, Amelia surrendered her son into the care of Sir Adam, whom she compelled into vowing to treat as his own son as his true father had failed to do. Sir Adam did not make this vow lightly.

Amelia Ashleaf thereafter vanished from record, her fate ultimately a mystery and the fates of her son and husband perhaps unknown to her as well. A nameless boy now cradled in his arms, Sir Adam bestowed unto the boy the name 'Londuin', a rearranging of the name of the man's icon and a recently slain hero: Anduin Lothar.

Several years passed and Sir Adam raised the boy as his own page and squire, though he did not withhold the truth of the boy's identity. Londuin knew himself as Londuin Elkhelm from the day he knew what it was to *know.* He knew his name, he knew from whom he had gotten it, and he knew of the parting of his parents and the uncertainty of their fates. None of it seemed to matter as the boy took to training for knighthood like lion cubs take to pouncing on field mice in anticipation of larger, greater feats. As a page he learned to ride and swim and (grudgingly) to make sense of numbers and letters, then as a squire to read and strategize over maps and to fight and command from horseback. In all these qualities expected of any knight, Londuin excelled tremendously.

Londuin graduated into adulthood and knighthood simultaneously. On the day of his eighteenth birthday he knelt in the Cathedral of Light, had the ceremonial sword touch twice upon either side of his collar, said his oath and rose from his knee a man. Thus began his tale, the first chapter of a new book, following its prologue.

## Notable Members

### Sir Loras Elkhelm

Loras Elkhelm was a former footman who rose to become a Knight-Champion of the Brotherhood of the Horse, the prospective and unrealized Duke of Kingsmark, and father of Londuin Elkhelm. It could be said that he was the 'founder' of the Elkhelm dynasty, but this is not necessarily true as the name predates the founding of the kingdom; nevertheless, his name is the first to appear on any record in Stormwind.

### Amelia Ashleaf

Amelia Ashleaf was a priestess of the Holy Light prior to the destruction of Stormwind as a result of the First War. She had been the secret lover of Sir Loras Elkhelm, whom she could neither openly court nor wed as she was lowborn and devoted to her clerical functions. Following the First War and prior to the Second War, the two eloped and in secret conceived a child who in the eyes of all but they and Sir Adam Greenwood would remain an unclaimed bastard child (until the vouching of his parentage by Sir Adam several years later). Amelia Ashleaf conferred the care of her son to Sir Adam following the victories of the Second War and vanished, leaving no trace. There exists no record or confirmation of her marriage to Sir Loras Elkhelm and the parentage of their child except for the word of an honorable knight.

### Duke Londuin Elkhelm

Londuin Elkhelm is the incumbent Duke of Kingsmark, Knight-Champion and Steward Emeritus of the Brotherhood of the Horse, and a Lord Marshal of the Stormwind Army. Much like his father, Londuin has lived a life of extraordinary military service, devoting all his years lived so far to the prosperity of House Wrynn and the Kingdom of Stormwind. At present, he is the only living member of his house with no known legitimate or illegitimate relations.

## Lands and Vassals

### Kingsmark

Kingsmark is the capital and seat of power of its namesake duchy. A storied and populous city tucked away in northeastern Elwynn, Londuin resides in and rules from the dominant structure of Orcbane Keep, a marvel of a fortress dug deep into the bosom of the region's bordering mountains whose spires rise out from the cliffs and whose crenelated battlements run along the mountain-faces they are carved from. These overlook a large city that bustles with knights, soldiers, tradesmen and citizens fulfilling everyday functions as they roam the many cobbled streets.

### Riverheart

Riverheart village and the keep that governs it lie south along the main road spanning to and from the city of Kingsmark. The settlement resides on a generous islet between divergent blue waters, bridges of stone connecting the spit of land to fuller grounds and joining both halves of the duchy. The keep serves as housing for the Duke of Kingsmark's retinue, maintained in a state of readiness such as to answer any urgent call that may come from their lord. Villagers of Riverheart find their purpose in seeing to the upkeep of these knights and footmen, providing for them sustenance, additional quartering, and otherwise fulfilling the role of a village bound to its castle.