House Pinewood

**House Pinewood of Eden's Rest** is an extinct vassal house of the Lakelands. They swore fealty to House Pyke until The War of The Bears where Lord Tylar Pinewood, the last head of House Pinewood, pledged loyalty to House Rocke and the Rebels whereas House Pyke remained Royalist. They ruled over the now-ruined settlement of Eden's Rest from the Pine Keep which was located in the South of the town.

Their Sigil was 3 Grey Pine Trees on a pale green field with a Brown Border.

## History

### Background

House Pinewood was an ancient house, dating back to at least the Age of Fire and were historic vassals of the despised House Pyke. They were fiercely loyal to House Rocke as both Kings of The Lake and as Wardens of The Lake after the Battle of the Lake. For centuries, House Pinewood ruled over Eden's Rest and became a well-liked House in the Lakelands and in the Kingdom as a whole. They gained a great wealth from fishing in the Bay at Jaxar's Run and from the great Pinewood Forest that surrounded them. This also allowed them to train fighters highly competent in Forest Warfare, including lethal archers.

House Pinewood was a vassal of House Pyke, who were quite brutal overlords and the Pykes imposed heavy taxes on the Pinewoods which would have to be resolved by House Rocke. House Pyke would usually take away the wealth of House Pinewood to further themselves as a House. This dynamic made House Pinewood more loyal to House Rocke and the nearby House Alder.

### The War of The Bears

Lord Tylar Pinewood became Lord of Eden's Rest and Head of House Pinewood a few years prior to The War of The Bears and was a great leader. He was a young man and was also brave enough to stand up against House Pyke and Lord Hugar Pyke. He built strong ties with House Rocke and the other Lakeland Houses, cementing House Pinewood as a firm ally of House Rocke.

When Lord Wyllam Rocke, Warden of The Lake and close friend of Lord Tylar, returned to the Lakelands with Prince Kaegan Boyce and gathered the Lakeland Lords to Ravenglass to inform them of the events in the capital and to rally the Lakelands in uprising against King Dannis, Lord Tylar and House Pinewood were the first to pledge allegiance to the Rebels. Despite their Liege, House Pyke's refusal and subsequent fleeing of the Lakelands to inform Royalists.

Lord Wyllam ordered Lord Tylar to siege down Eskdale, the seat of House Pyke. House Pinewood raised an army of around 5,000 and began their march to Eskdale from Eden's Rest. They found the fortification undefended and raised the Pinewood banner over the castle. With his army searching Eskdale for any clues on where the garrison was, the main gates to Eskdale closed shut and hundreds of Archers had climbed onto the walls and unleashed storms of arrows on the unsuspecting soldiers below. In a few minutes, over 2,000 Pinewoods were killed and close to a thousand wounded. Then the gates to the town reopened and Pyke cavalry stormed into the weakened Pinewood lines. After an hour of heavy fighting, Lord Tylar and his bodyguards were brought out from the Keep and executed, with their heads being paraded around the city before Lord Tylar's head was sent to Newcastle.

A force of House Pyke Cavalry led by Lord Hugar rode straight to the largely undefended Eden's Rest and slaughtered the inhabitants. He made his way to the Pine Keep and burnt it down with the besieged members of House Pinewood inside. Every single remaining Pinewood was killed and the House went extinct. As he withdrew from the town, he burnt houses and fields causing the remaining commonfolk to flee, with Rockshore taking in most of the refugees. Hugar retreated from the Lakelands to meet with a nearby Royalist Army led by Sir Daltas Carlisle.

Lord Wyllam was informed of the extinction of House Pinewood and he informed Prince Kaegan who in return demanded the execution of Lord Hugar for committing a horrendous act on commonfolk and causing House Pinewood's extinction. He moved his host at Ravenglass to intercept the Pyke's before they reached Carlisle and ordered the Lesser Houses of the Lakelands to use skirmishing forces to harass the Pyke Force.

### Legacy

House Pyke's crimes would soon be avenged at the infamous Battle of the Field. Sir Daltas would defect to the Rebels, bringing along the vast majority of the Northern Houses and the Royalist Army with him, after the death of his father at the hands of King Dannis. Out of honour, Carlisle allows the Slait's to flee but word of the defection does not reach Lord Hugar. The Rebel Northern Army then marches to meet the Pyke Force who are trapped between the two approaching rebel armies and defeated at the Battle of the Fields, just outside of Carlisle. Lord Hugar is killed and the remainder of House Pyke surrenders, being granted mercy by the Prince. The remaining members of House Pyke were held captive for the remainder of the war.

At the crowning of King Kaegan III Boyce, he outlined the punishments for the Royalist Houses. House Pyke would suffer the most and had their vassals, House Alder and House Foral, taken away from them. Kaegan also imposed heavy sanctions and ordered the Pyke's to repay a heavy debt to House Rocke as punishment for the extinction of House Pinewood. They would spend the next half a century trying to repay the debt. Many Lakelanders believe Eden's Rest to be haunted by the ghosts of the Pinewoods, remaining to enact vengeance on the Pykes who burnt them alive.