House Wing

House Wing, located in The Eastern Marks, is a major Noble House in Merion. As the home and seat of power of one of The Twelvescore Ennobled it is a major geo-political force in Merion, and an important contributor to the events prior to The Cataclysm and the resulting Merionese Succession Crisis.

As the highest ranking member of the "Big Three" houses of United Merion, along with House Illwoll and House Golscat, House Wing is considered a "First Among Equals" within the Twelvescore Ennobled and is frequently thought of as an extension of the Candlebrooks themselves.

House Wing became a member of the "Big Three" through its assistance in establishing the Candlebrook monarchy and its subsequent service above and beyond the scope of other Twelvescore Houses.

## Geography and Climate

Like most of Wing Island, the land controlled by House Wing is mostly flat or slightly hilly. House Wing's land also extends far enough to control over half of the Pinions, a series of inlets that stretch into Wing Island from the Wax, which itself forms the southern and western borders of the house's lands. While the Flighthaus in the Eastern Marks is the house's seat of power, due to the additional services provided by House Wing across Merion, members of the house live throughout the kingdom and can be found anywhere within its borders.

## History

During the Seven Great Years and the rise of Alice I and the Candlebrook Monarchy, one of Alice's closest advisors and friends was Argos Wing, the founder and future Lord of House Wing. In exchange for his years of service to Alice, both before and after her coronation, Lord Argos was granted the entirety of Wing Island to rule and use to establish the new noble house of House Wing. Eventually, Wing Island, considered by many to be too large for a single House to control, would be separated into multiple fiefdoms, each controlled by a noble house.

Additionally, House Wing would forever serve as the Candlebrooks' closest . Over the centuries, House Wing would eventually come to serve as the kingdom's postal workers, police force, border patrol, chief advisors, and any other position which was asked of them. This led to the house's current and well-deserved reputation of being an extension of the Candlebrooks and being more important, influential, and powerful than any other Twelvescore House (although, by the most technical of definitions, every noble house of Merion is equal in rank).

### The Eight-Moon War

In 685 Years of Grace, the Lord of House Wing died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Hearing the news of his father's death, the heir of the house, currently stationed at Hotwing on the border of the [Patreon Desert] for house business, attempted to return home as quickly as possible, only for his ship to be lost to a storm on the Wax. This led to a muddling of the line of succession as the Lord's great uncles were identical twins and there was uncertainty and grumbling over which had been born first. Though the matter had officially been put to rest decades ago, one branch of the family used the uncertainty as an argument for their claim to the house.

At the time, the Candlebrooks' attention were focused on Barande, and they forbid the outlying Wing territories from getting involved, telling the two sides of the conflict, now known as the "Red Wings" and the "White Wings," to settle things themselves. Otherwise, when the Candlebrooks were done dealing with Barande, they may need to reassess House Wing's prominence in Merion. With Wing forces across the kingdom ordered to stand down, and a large portion of their local house forces still garrisoned at the [Patreon] Desert border, both sides called upon assistance from fellow Twelvescore Nobles and mercenary companies in order to gain the upper hand.

After repelling a major assault by the White Wings, the Red Wings maintained a firm grip on Wing Island. Withdrawing and seeking to rally forces from the League of the Palisades to retake their holdings, the White Wings, along with the hired mercenary company The Angels, attempted to take their fleet up the River Drevel, toward the Longmarsh, and make for the Mudgulf and, eventually, the Eastern Duchies. Running into the Via'Noziah mercenary company, at the time hired by the Red Wings, guarding the waterway, the White Wings attempted to bribe their way past the blockade and were swiftly turned down by the Via'Noziah, forcing an engagement.

The White Wings, unable to move all their forces up the river, ferried what troops they could muster and marched along the rider instead of attempting to sail up it. The Lady of the now-extinct House Drevelsyc, a Knight of Earth who had been assisting with logistics and the movement of supplies but lacked a significant amount of personal combat experience, moved to block the White Wing's movement with a baggage train and reserve forces, hoping that she would be able to delay the enemy long enough for Red Wing reinforcements to arrive. Her plan was ultimately successful, and the White Wings were forced to surrender, ending the conflict, but Lady Drevelsyc was slain during the battle.

Following the conflict, later dubbed the Eight-Moon War, House Dravnonia venerated both the Earth Academe and house Drevelsyc's library in the memory and honor of the late Lady. Additionally, in recognition for their service in the conflict, House Chelsie was gifted a portion of Wing lands previously held by the rebels, significantly increasing its size, while the Via'Noziah mercenary company was ennobled and became House Vianoziah, taking with the new rank a portion of lands previously held by Wing rebels.

## Personality and Atmosphere

Members of House Wing, especially the Lord and other high-ranking members of the House, tend to come across as very serious and humorless, much like the Candlebrooks, though to a less severe degree.

### Notable Buildings and Monuments

* The Flighthaus - House Wing's seat of Power on Wing Island. The Flighthaus is a grand castle that few other noble houses, even those with their own impressive castles, could hope to compare to.
* The Scarecrows - A collection of proto-castles constructed along the border between the Western Marks and Closethrone during the early days of Alice I's reign as a precaution against the western Marquisses in case of their refusal to swear fealty. The Scarecrows are considered to be precursors to House Wing's later operations across Merion and are today used for border patrol along the route into Closethrone.
* Hot Wing - A collection of bunkers and fortifications located on the border between the Red Hills and the [Patreon] Desert that are meant to serve as both a deterrent and first line of defense against a possible Barandean invasion.
* The Wing Beacons - Mountaintop fortifications within fire-signal range of each other manned by skeleton crews of Wings along the border of Ashervale and the Longmarsh.
* Luckless Wing - A modest holding on the island off the northeast coast of Bronzeclaw designed more for function than being architecturally notable.
* Old Westwing - A keep located just west of Queen Anne's Diamonds and just south of House Westwing, a former cadet branch of House Wing that was later ennobled in its own right.
* Wingwatch and Wingwatch II - A duo of imposing, anti-ducal-navy structures that jut out over the Mudgulf in the Towerlands and include a type of proto-cannons.

In addition to its notable and named holdings, House Wing controls many smaller keeps throughout the kingdom and maintains a presence in every region.

## Relationships and Diplomacy

### Relationships with The Crown

House Wing has a closer relationship with the Candlebrooks than any other noble house by a significant margin. Between the original closeness of the relationship between Alice I and Argos Wing and House Wing's service to the crown over the centuries, the Candlebrooks view House Wing as their most loyal and trustworthy subjects and have bestowed upon them, either officially or solely through tradition, a number of positions of power and authority. These positions include, but are not limited to, the following:

* The heir to House Wing serves as one of the fourteen members on the Wick City Council
* A significant number of seats within the Council of Graces are typically held by members of House Wing (members of Houses Wing, Illwoll, and Golscat combined make up approximately one-third of the total council)
* The Speaker of the Council of Graces is traditionally, but not always, a member of House Wing
* The Lord of House Wing serves as one of the monarch's chief advisors

House Wing, in return, is known to be incredibly loyal to the Crown and views its service as something to be both expected and done without question to the best of its ability.

### Relationships with The Twelvescore Ennobled

Due to their superior rank when compared to their fellow Twelvescore Ennobled, House Wing typically acts, and is treated, more like a less-powerful branch of the Candlebrooks than as a traditional member of Merionese nobility. Between this and their normally serious demeanor, members of House Wing tend to have a coldly professional attitude in regards to other noble houses. However, this also means that they do not tend to discriminate between houses and treat all houses equally until given a reason not to, although it is not uncommon for members of House Wing to act slightly pompous when dealing with other noble Ladies and Lords.

## Trivia

* The postal workers controlled by House Wing are frequently considered to be an unofficial fifth order of the Knights of Merion.
* House Wing's military is approximately four times larger than the average noble house's. Their troops are also almost all considered elite soldiers due to receiving extensive training and being, for the most part, heavily armed.