Barony of Sunhome

**Ruler**
 **Ruling House**
 **Resident Houses**
 **Seat**
 **Settlements**
 **Beliefs**
 **Founded**

For as long as anyone can remember, the Sunhome Valley has been a droughted chaparral, populated by only the hardiest of trappers and other wilderpeoples of Stormwind. Nestled between the peaks in the mountain range separating southwestern Redridge and northern Deadwind Pass, the Barony of Sunhome is one of the most secluded in the Kingdom, with its harsh landscape discouraging outsiders from entering. Ecologically, Sunhome is almost identical to the Redridge Mountains, albeit more arid, but the Barony is nonetheless considered to be located within the bounds of the Deadwind Pass.

In the center of the Valley is a humid marshland, where about half of the Sunhomians make their homes, and about half of that group lives in New Catarcton, the capital of Sunhome. New Catarcton envelopes the shores of the central Lake Miramere, with the lake's one island hosting the Greenhold, which is both the seat of Sunhome and the fortress of the Sunhome River Wardens.

## Culture

The Sunhomians are a resilient group, with their cultural identity coming from their reliance upon the land. As such, they are protective of their respective properties, and wary of dark magic due to the proximity of Sunhome to Karazhan. Most common-born could trace their ancestry to other parts of the Kingdom of Stormwind.

### Religious Beliefs

The closer a Sunhomian lives to a city, the stronger their belief in the Church of the Holy Light, with the Barony's only presence of the faith being in Seat. Those who live on homesteads upon the outskirts of Sunhome can be considered more superstitious.

### Local Holidays

The city-dwellers observe most holidays celebrated by Stormwindians, but all Sunhomians flock to the Seat for Hallow's End, reveling in the ideas of protection from dark forces and ridding themselves of fear through the Wickerman.

The one holiday specific to Sunhome is known as The Great Bear Hunt, notable in that bears are not native to Sunhome. During the annual Hunt, contenders head out to different sections of the wilderness with limited gear, and whichever hunter returns with the most supplies wins a bounty supplied by House Greenhand. The tradition honors the widely-believed story of a bear that came into Sunhome during the First War and evaded any displaced hunter who tried to trap it, until it was brought down by the mighty Sir Gideon Greenhand. This initial victory is seen as a good omen, as Sir Gideon went on to lead the militia in retaking Sunhome from the Orcs.

## Economy & Resources

The main exports of Sunhome are fish, herbs, and herbal products such as oils and potions. There are also some metal and stone mines against the southern hills leading further into Deadwind Pass. Many of the Sunhomian homesteads produce small bounties for themselves, but only some support the Barony, with tributes being voluntary as most of them are so few and far between. The farms that are located closer to the Seat for protection supply raw goods such as wheat, berries, nuts, and animal products. Between the Gnoll War and the fall of the Night Watch during the War Against the Legion, the traveling River Wardens of Sunhome would sometimes receive donations from the towns they visited during their periodic voyages up and down the Nazferiti in defense of Stormwind.

## History

### Early History

Prior to the corruption of Deadwind Pass, the land that is now known as Sunhome was a lake nestled in the southwestern Redridge Mountains that fed into the Nazferiti River. Over the centuries, the cursed winds brought drought to the land, dissipating most of the lake until it became a humid swamp, and then finally an arid chaparral.

### First Settling

After the creation of Karazhan in 137 K.Y., brave adventurers from the nearby towns of the Kingdom of Stormwind would gradually find their way to the valley more and more, until eventually an alternative route into Deadwind Pass was discovered. Hedge knights, trackers, and rogues began to find lucrative work in the two Shires promising safe fare through the Pass. Anyone from wayward wizards of Dalaran to intrepid clerics of Northshire could secure an escort through the valley to Karazhan, or even to the mystical Troll ruins of the Swamp of Sorrows on occasion. This valley would eventually become known as Sunhome, as it was the last sight of clear sky that travelers saw before they entered the supernatural haze of Deadwind. Only the hardiest of humans would come to settle in Sunhome, with some settling near Lake Miramere to plant crops in the verdant soil under threat of neighboring Murlocs and Gnolls, while most would establish homesteads further out into the hills, learning to extort the inhospitable landscape through herb-gathering and the hunting of the Valley's small mammals.

### Founding

The proper Barony of Sunhome was founded in 383 K.Y. when the machinations of Lord Keithton Cheatgrass proved successful in amalgamating the formerly disparate homesteads of Sunhome. Once the Lords of a fief in the northern Redridge Mountains, House Cheatgrass was forced to flee after the summoning of Ragnaros by the Dark Iron Emperor Thaurissan. For a time, the Cheatgrass host remained in Lakeshire, plotting their next move. Previously, the Sunhome Valley was considered indomitable by the other nobles of Stormwind due to its inhospitable climate and highly limited resources, with its populace few and far between.

However, through the Lord Keithton's plotting, the central Lake Miramere was cleared of Gnolls and Murlocs, and the outer reaches of Sunhome were razed of resources, forcing the Sunhomians to become more reliant upon the new central town of Catarcton for trade, thus making them more susceptible to taxation.

### The Gnoll War

When the Gnolls came in large numbers to Sunhome during the Gnoll War, the members of House Cheatgrass abandoned their citizenry, barricading themselves within the Greenhold as Catarcton burned around them. This further amplified the local disdain for the ruling House.

After the Gnoll War, House Cheatgrass was allotted royal coin in order to fund the Sunhomian military, and this was used to establish the Sunhome River Wardens, a group that would patrol the Nazferiti River and catch fugitive Gnolls and other bandits. This practice helped to partially replenish the environment of Sunhome, as the seeds of plants from Stranglethorn to Elwynn stowed away in River Warden boots, carried by the wind to the fields. Thus, over time, the stock of Sunhomian herb vendors diversified.

### The First War

When the Horde came to Sunhome with siege weapons, the members of House Cheatgrass knew that they could not hide within their castle, so instead they ordered a squad of River Wardens to escort them to Stormwind, but the group would never make it there as they were ambushed by and Orcish raiding party. Celesnia Cheatgrass, however, had stayed in Sunhome with the citizens and her family, the Greenhands. The remaining Sunhomian forces gathered whoever they could, telling them to flee into the wilderness where they could evade the Orcs.

### Resistance

Most Sunhomians will attest that during the months following the Orcish sacking of Stormwind, a large bear wandered into Sunhome. With most local families hidden separately or in larger groups out in the hills, it was difficult for them to hunt without drawing the attention of the Orcs, so many of the hunters chased after the bountiful source of meat and leather. However, it is said that this bear was so clever that it evaded any traps laid for it, drawing the hunters away. Right when they would lose the bear's trail, they would come upon more survivors who led them to the main group, hiding in a verdant cave and led by the Greenhands.

Once most of the Sunhomians had found refuge at the cave, Gideon Greenhand went out and slew the great beast, returning with its hide upon his back, and a plentiful supply of meat for the others. These supplies emboldened the survivors, and since then, the Sunhomians have viewed Gideon Greenhand as a legendary hero.

### Reconstruction

Soon after, the Alliance forces converged upon the Kingdom of Stormwind, and simultaneously Gideon and his militia struck at Sunhome, defeating the Orcs who remained at the Greenhold. It was in these battles that Gideon was knighted as Sir Gideon the Greenhand for the Orcish blood that he spilled, becoming the second of his House to be granted this title.

After the Greenhold was retaken, the Sunhome River Wardens were reestablished, with Sir Gideon as their Lord-Captain.

### Scourge Invasions

Shortly before the Northrend Campaign, the Kingdom of Stormwind came under attack by the Scourge, and Sir Gideon was slain by them while on a mission with his River Wardens. After this, his son and former lieutenant Garruk Greenhand was made Lord-Captain, leading them until the onset of the third invasion of the Burning Legion.

Simultaneously, Garruk's younger brother Gottfried left Sunhome to fight in Northrend alongside the Westfall Brigade.

### The Forest

After the fall of the Lich King, Gottfried "Grotto" Greenhand returned home as a war hero. Having obtained some sort of magical seeds from the Grizzly Hills, Grotto opted to plant them out in the barren hills in order to replenish some of the Valley.

Nothing happened until shortly before the Cataclysm, when overnight, a forest of tall and foreign pine trees grew where the seeds had been planted. Initially, some Sunhomians displaced by the Cataclysm began to settle this area, but over time it caused harm to the citizens and the native environment, to such a magnitude that Lady Celesnia forbade entry into the forest. She ordered guard towers to be constructed in the open space surrounding the perimeter of what would come to be known as the Forbidden Forest.

### Wild Scourge

After the shattering of the Northrend sky, wild Scourge began to run rampant across Azeroth, and they soon made their way into Sunhome, where Lady Celesnia Cheatgrass was slain, along with many other rural Sunhomians.

### Severance

The two sons of Lady Celesnia, Garruk and Grotto, had been on a diplomatic mission to Kul Tiras since the beginning of the Fourth War. The brothers swiftly returned home, and in the subsequent battles, Grotto Greenhand was slain by the Scourge along with the bulk of the remaining River Wardens, and Garruk was left severely injured.

After this incident, the newly ascended Lord Garruk doubled security around the Forbidden Forest, citing that wild Scourge still ruled the land within.

### Present Day

Since then, Sunhome has slumped into a state of stagnation, with the River Wardens no longer in operation to protect traders. The citizens who do not reside at New Catarcton mind only their individual homesteads and ranches, caring little about anyone else. The Forbidden Forest remains forbidden, and the remaining River Wardens act as captains, leading militia guardsmen in the city and outside of the forest.

## Settlements

### New Catarcton

The seat of the Barony of Sunhome is New Catarcton, a city that spans the forested banks and singular island of Lake Miramere near the Valley's center. The island is occupied by the Greenhold.

### The Greenhold

The Greenhold is both the residence of House Greenhand, and the barracks of the Sunhome River Wardens, however Lord Garruk has been the only residing Greenhand in Sunhome since the shattering of the northern sky.

### Homesteads

The homesteads of Sunhome are ranches and farms owned by Sunhomian families. The largest of these properties almost function as towns in and of themselves, a concept which, while not unheard of in large farms in any region, is more notable in Sunhome due to the relatively high dispersion of the populace.

## Houses

### House Greenhand

House Greenhand rules Sunhome. They are renowned for being great hunters and leaders, more liked by the Sunhomians than their predecessor, House Cheatgrass.

### Vassals

While the Barony of Sunhome lacks any other nobility, the valley's more prominent landowners each control a noteworthy percentage of the land.