House Winborne

**House Winborne of Ortin's Keep** is one of the Major Houses of Trost and the liege house of Ortinbras; many lesser houses are sworn to them. In history, the Winbornes ruled as Kings of the Northlands; since the kneeling, they have been High Lords of the Province. Their seat, Ortin's Keep, is an ancient mountain-carved keep renowned for its scale and strength.

Their sigil is a red phoenix with its wings outstretched upon a gold sun, across a field of black. Their House Motto is "We Rise from Our Ashes", a motto to be a warning of their grudges that they hold and that they do not subside their anger, even if they are broken down. Members of the family tend to be lean of build and of fair hair, with a shade of light blue eyes. The Winbornes have long distant relatives elsewhere in Ortinbras, such as House Airborn. More closer relatives exist, however, such as House Winborne of Coldshore.

## History

The Winbornes are a house descended from Marius the Great, a figure said in legend who had been the first man to successfully siege Ortin's Keep from House Ortinsan, in the stories, Marius is said to have had the aid of dragons, along with his mighty phoenix. The Winbornes descend from the Islanders to the far north, in the icy climates, hence their blonde hair and their inherited resistance to cold. A descendant of House Winborne created the Great Wall of the North, a stone wall that separates Ortinbras' border from the rest of Trost, along with a massive gate that is guarded by the Ortinbras Scouting Watch.

The historical Winbornes inhabited the Isles of Ice, the most northern point discovered in the known world. They worked without a feudal system, much like the tribal mountain clans of Trost, the Winbornes had the least amount of land in the Isles, so they set out on their longboats and rowed to the shores of Ortinbras, where they docked in newly discovered land, and they constructed the motte-and-bailey castle of Coldshore.

Now segregated from the Isles, the Winbornes settled in Ortinbras and were quickly found by the King of the Northlands. The King offered their fealty to be sworn and the Winbornes refused, probably to the language barrier of the Winborne's ancient tongue and the common tongue. A small war was made, to which a white peace was made shortly after. The Winbornes settled quietly until the coming-of-age of Marius Winborne, who had risen his armies and called the Islanders to war. A siege of Ortin's Keep was instructed, lasting several years, with the starvation of Highvale, and the king's paranoia growing, the King of the Northlands passed over his crown to Marius Winborne. From that day forth, the Winbornes have held The Northlands since, until the King-Uniter of the south rode to the north that was. The Winbornes had held the Northlands  for five centuries when the Uniter offered Killon Winborne's vassalisation. Intimidated by the Uniter's much larger army, Killon decided to bend the knee and give up his crown. The Northlands then crunched themselves into Ortinbras, a much smaller province, due to the Uniter's landing of titles to other Lords, although the recent Winbornes have slowly been regaining land from the unworthy lords.

## Members of the House in the past century

* High Lord {Tybolt Winborne}, first son of Eron. Died comatose, maimed by the trampling of a horse. Dubbed 'the Fierce'.
	+ {Kaesia Wick}, his wife.
		- High Lord {Akron Winborne}, first son of Tybolt and named 'the Crazed'. Murdured by his nephew, Robiorn Winborne.
		- Ser Tyron Winborne, second son of Tybolt. Exiled by his father with his love for the enemy's princess.
		- {Erys Winborne}, first daughter of Tybolt. Died stillborn.
		- High Lady Marissa Winborne, second daughter of Tybolt. Given the Lordship after Akron's death.
			* Ragnar Droko, son of High Chieftain Eirikr of the Mountain clans. Marissa's husband.
				+ Ser Robiorn Winborne, son of Marissa. Lord Commander of the Thronesguard.
					- Aelinor Valerys, his wife.
						* **Octaevya Winborne**, daughter of Robiorn
						* **Darius Winborne**, son of Robiorn
				+ Taegan Winborne, first daughter of Marissa.
				+ Dannika Winborne, second daughter of Marissa.
		- Anya Winborne, third daughter of Tybolt.
* Lady {Madalayne Winborne}, first daughter of Eron.
* Ser Karl Winborne, second son of Eron.
	+ his bastards 'the Waterbirds'.
		- Kordell Waterbird
		- Kerra Waterbird
		- Kahl Waterbird
	+ Katelyn Wick, his wife
		- Kaelan Winborne, first son of Karl.
			* {Jaen Whitehill}, his wife. Died of childbed fever.
				+ Kaeran Winborne, first son of Kaelan. A hunchback.
		- Kasia Winborne, first daughter of Karl

* Edmund Winborne, third son of Eron. A legitimised bastard.

{-Name-} - Deceased

-**Name**- - Yet to be introduced

### Household

* Ser Aaron Lerwick of Bluestone, personal knight of Marissa.
* Aeron Seraneth, a bard.
* Bryce Roth, Spymaster of Ortinbras.
* Ser Danyel Ubbe, Armsmaster of Ortinbras.
* Evander Thorne, Steward of Ortinbras.
* Elia Sunderly, handmaiden of Taegan.
* Ellyn Branch, handmaiden of Marissa.
* Garrick Thorne, a squire.
* Count Jayr Wylle, Castellan of Ortin's Keep.
* Great Disciple Kristyan, Disciple of Ortin's Keep.
* Kira Branch, handmaiden of Taegan.
* Maece Goldwell, Coinmaster of Ortinbras.
* Tanda Larke, handmaiden of Marissa.

## Historical Members

* Marius the Great, legendary founding ancestor of House Winborne.
* King Karl I Winborne, the first true known Winborne king.
* King Tybolt I Winborne, who made sure that the warlords in the south met a bloody end.
* King Tyron I Winborne, who instead of fighting the southerners, took their sons and daughters for wards and fosterlings.
	+ King Geralt II Winborne, son of King Tyron I, who took the same approach as his father regarding the warlords.
		- King Geralt III Winborne, died without issue. His only daughter's husband, Ser Jon Layten, took the Winborne name and became the first southerner to rule the Northernlands.
* King Karl II Winborne, extended his rule as far east as the coast.
* King Tomas I Winborne, built a great fleet and brought the Isles of Ice into the realm.
* King Lancel I Winborne, rode to war against the southern kings and conquered as far south as Riverpath.
* King Geralt IV Winborne, son of King Lancel I, lost all his father gained and earned the name Geralt the Unworthy.
* King Geralt V Winborne, the Great, sailed to the Isles of Ice and returned with a hundred hostages after their rebellion.
* King Tyron II Winborne, the Terrible, a strong king, famed for his prowess with a battle-axe, his true pleasure was torture.
* King Tomas II Winborne, disappeared with the ancestral greatsword Ashendar during an expedition west.
* King Killon I Winborne, the Last, last King of the Northernlands at the time of the Unity, he rose a High Lord.
* High Lord Jason Winborne, Lord of Ortin's Keep during King Robben I's reign. He was the older twin brother of Tyland Winborne.
	+ Lady Jayna Winborne, his widow.
* Ser Tyland Winborne, master of battle during the reign of Wendall I and the younger twin brother to the Lord of Ortin's Keep. Later made master of laws and Chancellor.
* High Lord Tybolt Winborne, son and heir of Eron, succeeded as Lord of Ortin's Keep and proved himself in battle and diplomacy.
	+ Lady Marissa Winborne, daughter of Tybolt.
		- Lord Commander Robiorn Winborne, the youngest Lord Commander of the realm and a feared knight.

## Sworn Houses

* **House Airborn** of Wolfsgate
* House Boatswain
* **House Branch** of Icewyn
* House Drewery
* **House Flinch** of Freyhall
* House Goldwell
* **House Larke** of Dragonfall
* House Lorel
* House Oriel
* House Ryall
* **House Sunderly** of Northmont
* House Thorne
* House Ubbe
* House Waylan
* **Winborne** of Coldshore, A large and ancient collection of cadet branches from the main house that live in city of Coldshore.