House Valerius

**Head of House**
 **Administrative Seat**
 **Holdings**
 **Fealty**

**House Valerius** presides over the Barony of Blodwyn's Weald, seated in the darkness of Duskwood. The Weald contains a bevy of heavily forested land, amongst which a pair of quaint towns are nestled. The northernmost, Blackhearth, a lumbering town, and Pyre's Edge to the south, known for the quality of its equine stock.

## History

House Valerius was founded in 429 K.Y. when Adamant Wrynn II recognized Augustus Valerius for his exemplary service as a cavalryman in the Grand Alliance Army, leading a spirited charge during the Conquest of Stranglethorn Vale that turned the tide of one particular battle. House Valerius was established in the Kingdom of Lordaeron to the northeast, the Barony of Valewood nestled amongst the peaks to become a prominent source of ore and raw materials for the surrounding regions. During the First War, in year 593 K.Y., the Barony of Valewood was destroyed in the Horde's wake, House Valerius's beloved Patriarch Augustus falling in defense of his land. His son, Gaius Valerius, now the Lord of the House, took what remained of the family and the barony's inhabitants and fled southward to the region of Duskwood, Gaius returning to serve in the war. Critically injured in the Battle for Elwynn in year 594, it wasn't until Anduin's regency in 595 that his status as a Baron was once again recognized, granted a swath of land in the region he had secured his family in - Duskwood. Titling the land Blodwyn's Weald, for his great-grandmother, Gaius established first the town of Pyre's Edge and its now famous stables, making a name for the family breeding a larger stock of equines, destriers built to last through the dredges of war. With his first children, Magnus and Luella, born in 598, Gaius headed to the northern portion of his land to establish the town of Blackhearth, where he would construct the grandiose, sprawling Manor Black, where he would raise his children. Gaius, no longer able to fight, fell into the habit of reading and discovered a passion for the occult, seeking to understand the darker sides of Azeroth's forces and why they couldn't be embraced and used for good, rather than feared and utilized as weapons of malice. He would impart his newfound knowledge upon his son, Magnus, who at an early age would learn he held a strong connection to those who had passed from this life, but not yet passed from the world. Gaius's obsession for the dark would lead him into an abyss from which he would never climb, claiming the lives of both he and his wife when his eldest son was just fifteen. Assuming both the mantle of acting Lord of the House and newly inducted into service of the Church, Magnus would grow to be a stern man sharing in his father's passions for that which is least understood. It has yet to be seen if his love will deliver unto him the same fate as his sire.

## Notable Members

### Augustus Aurelius Valerius

Augustus was the founder of the official House Valerius.

### Gaius Darius Valerius

Augustus's son, who would bring the House from its fallen barony in Lordaeron to its new home in Duskwood, in Blodwyn's Weald.

### **Magnus Gaius Valerius**

Gaius's eldest son and the current Lord of House Valerius.

## Heraldry

**Description of Shield:** Black and white clash upon a shield in a per saltire layout, a rearing, blood red bull bordered by triangular cuts of ermine while an argent, eight-pointed star rests above.

**Motto:** We Are The Breath of Night.

**Provincial Compartment:** Duskwood.