Barony of Rosehaven

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

Bounded by the Rubian River to the west, woodlands to the east, and rival fiefdoms to the north and south, the **Barony of Rosehaven** is an armed camp as much as it is a feudal domain: The population is clustered into a series of fortified villages in the Thalassian Marcher tradition, with crofters owning a portion of the harvest rather than a physical tract of land, reducing the incentive to build farmsteads away from the safety of the village for more convenient access to their land. The baronial seat of **Rosehall** is built along the bank of the Rubian, with earth-and-timber walls on the other three sides. A motte is under construction on a nearby hill.

Foreigners are a common sight, mostly experts and artisans from Quel’Thalas driving a vigorous public education program. The people of Rosehaven are proud to live by their baronial motto: *As with Arathor, so with Stormwind.*

## Culture

At its core, Rosehaven is an expression of Thalasso-Stormwind rapprochement and an experiment in the viability of Highborne unification. As such, it tends to attract settlers sympathetic to these goals - Half-elves, humans with elven spouses, homesick Thalassian expatriates, Shen’dralar refugees, and idealists hoping for a more harmonious future.

Veterans of the White Rose Fusiliers are prominent members of most newer settlements, and their civil war record is a matter of considerable local pride. *Toasts of We held the guns!* and *Not one step back!* are met with cheers, and the regimental battle chant and rude mockeries of the Parliamentarian cavalry - and the Golden Host in particular - have become popular drinking songs.

The Baroness Rosehaven treats local unity in much the way she does regimental esprit de corps, recognizing it as a key factor for the success of her project. Regular public festivals, personal appearances, and paying out of pocket to mitigate disputes between neighbors that cannot be mediated are not uncommon, and various land and labor reforms are aimed at fostering a sense of community and interdependence. Rosehaveners are proud of their diversity, seeing themselves as a model for the new world - So long as newcomers participate in the local customs, the customs they brought with them can often buy them a round or two at the local tavern until the novelty fades and they become a new patch in the Rosehaven quilt. How much of this is genuine goodwill and how much is the natural result of a majority of the population being newcomers themselves is an open question.

### Religious Beliefs

The majority of Rosehaven’s citizens are members of the Church of the Holy Light, but close ties with Quel’Thalas and the Lady’s own partiality toward Naaru worship have shown signs of fostering syncretic, unorthodox local practices. Jaira encourages this, commissioning religious art and involving the clergy in local governance.

### Local Holidays

Every Victory Day (March 4), they commemorate the Treaty of Hearthgrove with a parade, battalion exhibition drills, musketry competitions, and other martial contests and spectacles.

The anniversary of the Battle of Goldshire (February 12) is a more solemn affair, remembering those lost in that battle and all others during the war, chosen for having been a major turning point in the war.

## Economy & Resources

Rosehaven lives and dies by the river. While its farms produce a surplus of wheat and its herds grow the the day, investment in building enchanted elevators to allow more significant trade with Northshire and beyond than the narrow mountain paths allow has been a key objective from day one.

In the meantime, operating costs are offset by a steady stream of resources from House Tyrellian, investing in ensuring that Stormwind’s Highborne diaspora will have a voice and a place of refuge for a long time to come.

## History

### Founding

Rosehaven was founded in 634 K.Y. when Vaerien Greyson created Jaira Dawnstrider Baroness Rosehaven and granted her land in exchange for her continued service as a vassal, having forged a bond of trust during the war.

### Present Day

The resettlement of Rosehaven is modeled after the policies of the Sable Vanguard Resettlement Zones, vigorously recruiting new settlers, artisans; and skilled workers. Tensions have already begun to rise with their neighbors, however, and the Lady has made no secret of the fact that her Fusiliers have re-upped their contract in anticipation of just such an event.

## Settlements

### Rosehall

The baronial seat was purpose-built on the banks of the Rubian River, intended to be the center of a riverborne trade network. A nearby hill is ideally suited as the foundation for a motte, and the town itself is situated near the richest agricultural areas of the barony.

## Houses

House Dawnstrider-Rosehall rules Rosehaven. The Baroness Rosehaven is an outspoken proponent of Thalasso-Stormwindian rapprochement and Highborne unification. While her ties to her homeland make it difficult to be too explicit about her predictions regarding the Horde, her hopes for the future could not be more clear: The best future for men and elves lies with the renewal of the ancient alliance. As with Arathor, so with Stormwind.

They are best known for their White Rose Fusiliers, who served with distinction under the People’s Union in the Stormwind Civil War.