House Curzon

**Head of House**
 **Heir**
 **Seat**
 **Lands**
 **Overlords**
 **Vassals**
 **Founder**

**House Curzon** is a Stormwindian noble house that rules over the Viscounty of Sutherford in Elwynn Forest. Descended from the Barons and Baronets of Courson, and seated at the family’s ancestral home of the Courson Fortalice. With a long history of military service and quiet management of their humble lands, the Curzons have maintained a tradition of quiet service to the Crown and to their liegelords, the Dukes of Aldridge, for five centuries.

## History

### Foundation

House Curzon was founded, essentially, as the House of Courson by Sir Edmund of Courson, 1st Baronet. A long-serving bannerman, he was rewarded for various acts of bravery with the reward of a baronetcy and a parcel of land in the hamlet from which he came, Courson, a small agricultural settlement on the Courson Burn, a small river, in southern Elwynn Forest. Successive generations of the family, whose name evolved from ‘of Courson’ to just ‘Courson’ to eventually ‘Curzon’,  managed their tenants in the village with a reasonable even if firm hand.

Eventually, the feudal relationship between the residents and the Coursons was formalised by the elevation of Dame Charlotte Courson, 4th Baronetess, to the station of 1st Baroness Courson. A highly capable money manager, she oversaw the development of new mills and granaries to better store and manage the farmed grain, improving the general profitability and welfare of the region.

Several generations onward, Lord Evroult Curzon, who was the 5th Baron, was elevated to the status of Viscount and given control of further lands along the Curzon Burn, down towards the Nazferiti River, including the crossing at Sutherford. Access to the wider river transport network made it much easier to synergize the harvest and transport of local agricultural product, and helped secure the idyllic agricultural plentitude within the Viscounty.

Throughout the whole of this period, the Curzons continued to serve dutifully in military service to the Kings of Stormwind and later to the Dukes of Aldridge when they were mediatized under them. Fierce warriors by nature, strict and disciplined, a number of distinctions were granted to Curzon lords.

### First and Second Wars

The invasion of Stormwind during the First War was devastating to the House, with the ruling Viscount, Lord Delphin Curzon, killed in the ensuing fighting. Sutherford and Courson were not spared the destruction and were almost entirely razed, with Lord Gauthier and his family fleeing north to Lordaeron, where they continued in the service of the Alliance.

Upon the return to Stormwind following the Second War, the House returned to its ancestral seat and began to rebuild. What had once been Courson Manor was rebuilt as the Courson Fortalice, a far stronger construction, and this became the seat of the 10th Viscount. Unfortunately, the 10th Viscount was killed during the period of unrest following the Stonemasons’ dispute.

### Third War

Following the destruction of Lordaeron and other northern kingdoms during the span of the Third War, the Curzons gladly took in a number of Lordaeronian families into their lands and care.

### Recent

With the death of the 10th Viscount, the 11th Viscountess succeeded in her minority. A protracted regency under her uncle, Sir Harluin Vaize, persisted until their power struggle broke out into the open and Sir Harluin’s attempt to maintain power over the Viscounty after her majority was quashed by the Viscountess’ loyalists.

## Notable Members

### Sir Edmund of Courson, 1st Baronet

A bannerman of the Kings of Stormwind, the Curzon baronetcy began with this man’s reward for bravery on the field of battle.

### Lady Charlotte Courson, 1st Baroness Courson

A shrewd stewardess and money manager, Lady Charlotte Courson was the first Curzon to be elevated to the nobility.

### Lord Evroult Curzon, 1st Viscount Sutherford

The elevation of Lord Evroult Curzon up to the Viscountcy elevated the House to the position it is in today.

## Lands and Vassals

### Viscounty of Sutherford

A reasonably small parcel of land in the southern Elwynn Forest, near the Nazferiti River and situated on the Courson Burn, it is governed from the Courson Fortalice, in the village of Courson. It also includes the river port town of Sutherford, where a ford crossing exists over the Courson Burn.