House Winters

The coat of arms of The Winterlands

**House Winters** is the extinct ruling house of The Winterlands. They were most known for uniting the Winterlander nations, and being the first house to embrace federal imperialism, as well as isolationism.

## History

### Foundation

Their accurate origin is unknown, as it reaches back to the tribal era in the Valendorian plains. Many tribes called their rulers "Winterlords" or "Lords of the Winter", and believed to be the messengers of their god, The Frozen One; who came to protect them from the harsh environment of the island, as well as mythical creatures.

Dorrick is the first noted king of Valendoria. While he wasn't the first chieftan to unite the Valendorian tribes under one banner, but he was the first to introduce feudalism to the island, founding House Winters. The original crest was blue-white split similarily to the current coat of arms of Ghost Kingdom).

### Rapid expansionional era

The winters were always the most leathal seasons on the island, most Winterlanders believed it's when the Frozen One comes down from The White Reach to claim the lives of those who he deems unworthy to live. The newly founded kingdom always waited for a snowstorm to occur before invading it's neighbors, annexing land most of the times. Others would willingly join the kingdom, in exchange of protection and occasionally land.

Valendoria was the first Winterlander nation to deny the the ancient Bosothist tradition of "letting The Frozen One judge the people", in favor of a higher population. He has constructed "Peasant keeps", which were hospital-like buildings, the smallfolk could reside in during the winter for a fee. The conditions were poor, but they were able to minimalize casualties.

Ironically enough, despite the church originally deeming the practice hereticaland unholy their relation quickly changed after the king awarded free access for bosothist priests. The clergy eventually annouced Valendoria as "the one ruler of the Winterlands", which only accelarated it's growth.

It was also during this time the coat of arms got its inverted borders added.

### The rise of the empire

The absolute Valendorian endgame was obvious, they wanted to create a united Winterlands under one banner. While Valendoria was able to expand to the west with ease (Adding Melandia, Cerinia, Pripat and Phirousia and temporarily Mella to their kingdom), conquering the east was a much bigger challenge.

On the south, another threat appeared when Mella broke off and over the decades founded the Kingdom of Maevilla (annexing Venderland and Indola). While conquering the north was also difficult due to the Norrish Horde, a dominant tribal confederation against the expanding kingdom, that has been harassing the two for centuries (Made up of Tovaria, Proshland, Kuvia, Kender).

The tense stand-off between the three lasted for decades, the silence was only broken when Maevilla made an alliance with the horde. The Valendorian king considered this a threat and declared war on both nations as soon as they've found out about the alliance.

Defeating both of its biggest rivals in a single war is still considered Valendoria's greatest military achievement, both nations were absorbed into Valendoria. Standing as the sole sovereign nation of the Winterlands, it proclaimed its status as The Empire of Valendoria, adding the two headed eagle to its crest to symbolize power.

### The reformation

Many argue that conquering all of The Winterlands was a mistake, Valendoria upkept the Winterlander isolationism, refusing to expand south to The Hales, and they were left with no direct rivals. As a result unrest broke out all over the empire, many between the different cultures, but most against the empire, calling for the restoration of their sovereignty.

The Winters were losing their influence over their provinces, so they decided to reform their empire into a federal one; that would change how it operates in many way:

* The Empire of Valendoria was renamed to The Empire of The Winterlands
* Each culture would reclaim some sovereignty, letting them have their own kings, lords and dynasties who manage the internal laws.
* These rulers were still serving under the emperor of Valendoria.
* Each of the new winterlander nations had to swear loyalty to be recognized.
* Annexing land from another wasn't allowed without the emperor's permission.
* Only a Winters could rule the empire.

While numerous rebellions still broke out, the reform was enough to appeal to most lords, who stayed loyal.

#### Contact with The Lauch Empire

While The Winterlands managed to stay independent from southern affairs, the rapid expansion of Lauchette did catch their attention, while many compared it to Valendoria's expansion, most people were suspicious of their borders approaching. It took over two decades after The Hales was annexed for the emperor to even allow Lauch visitors and merchants.

House Gaubert has tried to form an alliance with the empire multiple times, however it was declined, as each Winters ruler prioritized upkeeping their independence over an oversea alliance, and feared that Lauch infeluence would be a threat to an already unstable empire. Although overtime they became more and more welcoming to the Lauch visitors.

The relations only worsened with the death of the last male heir, Kayl Winters, leaving his sister, Stephana in the line of succession. Lorens Gaubert, the eldest son of the Lauch emperor and his party also visited the northern island to pay his respect, albeit the Bosothist traditions forbid outsiders from taking part of it, he was welcomed by Emperor Markas, who invited him to his palace as a guest.

After a couple of weeks, the Lauch prince asked for Stephana's hand from his father. The emperor understood that allowing him to marry her will leave The Winterlands in a personal union with Lauchette after his death. Markas now considered Lorens' visit another Lauch scheme to get a claim on the Winterlands. Enraged, he exiled the Lauch prince, who threatened war. Markas was unsure how to take the threat, but he knew that the Pripati and Phirousian shores couldn't withstand an invasion. Out of other choices, The Winterlands declared war on The Lauch Empire, which later would be known as The White War.

Both Markas and and Stephana died during the war, with no heirs left, the house has gone extinct, sending the Winterlands into

Even after their extinction, Lorens still claims that he wanted to marry Stephana out of love and considered Kayl a close friend.

## The Lauch branch theory

After the internal conflicts started to arise, many Bosothist monks left the Tovarian cathedrals, exposing numerous secrets that were kept hidden for decades. One of these is the existence of Empress Stephana during her reign holding a young child.

Many theorised that it's the of spring of her and Lorens and she was only going to reveal after Lauchette and The Winterlands came to peace, which only happened after her death. It's said that the clergy decided to hide the child and any mentions to them to decrease Lauch influence over the island.

It's worth noting that many of the "exposed secrets" were debunked, and the Tovarians obviously deny the existence of the painting, so the theory holds very little validity.

## Unique traits and traditions

Due to them being the most influencial dynasty, most of their traditions have carried over to the Winterlander culture.

Since they were considered to be a dynasty chosen by The Frozen One, there marriage restrictions were very strict. Incestual marriages were very common. While it didn't result in any recognizable external deformations, they suffered from other disabilities. The most common ones were:

* Infertility among the males.
* Very weak immune system.
* Hemophilia.