House of Manstein

**Words**
 **Current Head**
 **Title**
 **Founder**

When the schism of civil war erupted between the various provinces of the Arathorian Empire and its central authority, many provencials took up arms in a quest for independace from the rule Empire's dominion. Marius Manstein, a relatively unknown soldier at arms within the province of Azeroth and first generation son of a migrant from Arathor, was one of many men who rose up and took arms under Logan Wrynn I in the rebellion. Although not much is known of what occured, it is thought that Marius excelled in the field of battle, and, in return for his bravery, was granted a small barony within the high mountains east of Stormwind. Such was born the House of Manstein.

## History

The House ruled over the lands of Barony of Faulkenburg for many generations and was generally reclusive in nature, prefering the quiet pleasures of hard work to the rousing politics of Stormwind City. As the decades passed, however, vast veins of gold and silver were found within the dusty mountains of Faulkenburg and suddenly the family found itself pushed into the center of Stormwind's aristocratic society.

Adapting well to their newfound wealth and role within Stormwind's nobility, the family prospered, with many of its sons serving honorbly in Stormwind's military, the King's ministries, and the Church of the Holy Light whilst its daughters found respectable marraige within the great Houses of Stormwind such as Ridgewell, Montclair, Farnay, and Wyrnn. It was not until the First War and the arrival of the orcs that the family would face its greatest injury; the complete destruction of its ancestral lands and near anhillation of its members.

   The defeat of the Kingdom of Azeroth after the First War forced the family to flee its isolated holdings, leaving the lands of the Barony of Faulkenburg to be savaged by the orcs of the Horde. Upon returning to their homes in the aftermath of the Horde's defeat at the end of the Second War it was found that the orcs had, rather industriously, totally mined out the entirety of the House's gold and silver mines, leaving what little land and wealth the family had in complete ruin.

## Post Second War

Never a family known for a great deal of prodigy, the House has yet to fully recover from the calamity of the First War. Lead by its current head, Erich Gottfried Manstein, the family saw itself dwindle to a meager one heir, Erich's son, Arminius Manstein, who has yet to marry or produce any children.

Although the numbers within the family dwindled to a radically endangered level, the family managed to lay claim to a truly vast amount of wealth. Erich's marriage to Wilhelmina Cartres, daughter of the Count of Northdale, and his subsequent skill in managing to evacuate the Cartres family's extraordinary wealth from Lordaeron before the kingdom's total fall to the Scourge,  left the House financially sound in the wake of its initial harship.

Using the wealth of the Cartres family, Erich managed to grow the House's wealth to that of enormous, and strangly undocumented, proportions. Records within the House of Nobles taxation rolls show that the primary source of his magnificent wealth may have involved several investment ventures undertaken by the House of Manstein via subsidary organizations; including mason's guilds involved in the reconstruction of Stormwind Harbor, a number of investment banks heavily involved in the loaning of money and the lucrative shipping company known as Faulkenburg Enterprises.

## Acquisition of the County of Eastvale

On January 31, 623 K.C., the House of Manstein was given the responsibility of governing the County of Eastvale with its current head crowned the Count of Eastvale.

With the King's attentions focused away from the kingdom and upon the conflict in Pandaria, administering the Kingdom became increasingly difficult. As a result, many of the lands that had been under the direct control of the crown began to delegated to the nobility for proper administration. It was in this manner that the Lord of the neighboring Barony of Faulkenburg, Erich Gottfried Manstein was granted the responsibility of overseeing the County and thusly named the Count of Eastvale.

## Acquisition of the Duchy of Eastburg

On August 3, 623 K.C. the House of Manstein was rewarded by King Wrynn for the efforts of its head, Erich Gottfried Manstein, by the elevation and reconstitution of its constituent lands -the County of Eastvale and Barony of Faulkenburg- into the combined Duchy of Eastburg.

Coming quick off the heels of their previous elevation to the Counts of Eastvale, the move has been perceived as hasty by some on the part of the King and members of House Manstein. Supporters of House Manstein, however, are quick to point to its significant and numerous contributions to the Kingdom of Stormwind, including its rebuilding of the formerly ruined Barony of Faulkenburg, the staggering increase in production capacity for the King's Navy via the Eastvale logging mills, its leadership in the widely praised Invasion of Tirisfal & Quel'Thalas, its role in bringing stability to the Church in the aftermath of Archbishop Benedictus' death, Count Manstein's considerable legal treastises and the House's purchasing of a staggering number of Pandaren war bonds.