User:Joshmaul/Joshmaul's Noble Houses

There have been many stories and histories written of the royal dynasties and houses that ruled mighty lands. But what of their nobles? What of those of their subjects that they had honored with land and titles? Here, a few examples of such powerful men are listed.

House Devaneaux
The Devaneaux family was a house of minor nobility in the Kingdom of Lordaeron prior to its fall in the Third War, connected to the House of Barov as they held land in the Barovs' dominion. During its heyday in Lordaeron, its sigil was the "unbreakable" fortress wall. Today, only two members are known to be alive (though one is not "alive" in the strictest sense of the term; more that he is "mobile").

Aurelian
Aurelian Devaneaux was a general in the army of Lordaeron who earned land and titles fighting for Terenas' grandfather against forest troll attackers in the north. He is the progenitor of House Devaneaux, who died of old age early in Terenas' reign.

Lucian
The son of Aurelian and his Lady Sophia, Lucian was born late in the reign of Terenas' father. Lucian was the opposite of his father; whereas Aurelian was athletic and skilled in matters of state and of war, Lucian was an inept and lazy man who rested on the laurels of his family. He was eventually appointed Magistrate of Brill, but was mysteriously found dead roughly five years before the First War; though there is no evidence to support it, it is believed that Lucian was murdered by his own son, Artimus.

Artimus
Born some twenty years before the First War, Artimus was trained at an early age in the art of combat and also underwent training by SI:7, the feared assassins' guild, in the years after Stormwind's restoration following the Second War. Seeking to avoid the mistakes made by his father, Artimus restored his House to prominence again, marrying the daughter of a Stormwind general and fathering a son with her. During the Second War, Artimus was appointed Royal Magistrate of Tirisfal, selected to oversee the administration of the Capital City and the surrounding villages, largely headquartered in Brill.

After the fall of Lordaeron, Artimus and Anastasia were recruited into the Scarlet Crusade, where they both rose to Commander's rank. Near the Bulwark between Tirisfal and the Western Plaguelands, Artimus was ambushed by agents of House Barov, who had become servants of the Scourge. Nursed back to health by the paladin Saavedro, who found him in Southshore and brought him to Northshire Abbey after one of his sojourns into the Plaguelands, Artimus was horrified to realize that the leader of the Crusade had been a demon, and that the Crusade was the enemy of practically everyone - the Alliance, the Horde, and the Scourge alike. Left without purpose, Artimus finally snapped. Fleeing north to Northrend, Artimus ran afoul of the crypt lord Anub'arak in the subterranean halls of Azjol-Nerub. The undead insect's massive claw impaled Artimus' chest and pierced his heart, killing him instantly.

Raised by the Scourge, Artimus became a death knight of Acherus and fought against his former masters of the Scarlet Crusade, slaughtering thousands with his dark "brothers". Freed at the Battle of Light's Hope Chapel and granted amnesty by King Varian Wrynn - at the behest of the Argent Highlord Tirion Fordring - Artimus became a member of the Alliance army and participated in the war for Northrend, right up to its conclusion in Icecrown Citadel. Following the Cataclysm, Artimus remains a soldier of the Alliance, but is left without a purpose. He hopes to eventually find that purpose, but he has no idea where to start looking...

Anastasia
Anastasia Britanov belonged to a family line that had migrated from Northrend many millennia before, and settled in Stormwind. Her father, Grand Marshal Mikhail Britanov, had fought for Stormwind for much of his adult life, and had in fact died in Northrend fighting the Lich King's legions in Icecrown Citadel. Anastasia met Artimus following the fall of Stormwind, when most Stormwinders fled north to Lordaeron; they eventually married, and Anastasia was styled Lady Devaneaux. Artimus trained her in the arts of combat, to better defend herself in a fight.

After Lordaeron fell, Lord and Lady Devaneaux both joined the Scarlet Crusade, where Anastasia remained after Artimus was believed killed by the House of Barov. During a patrol from Stratholme to Tyr's Hand, Anastasia was ambushed and killed by the Blood Knight Master Ordevaas Portalseeker and his companion, the Farstrider captain Omoikane.

Kieran
The only child of Artimus and Anastasia, Kieran Devaneaux is a giant of a man, standing seven feet tall, but is also thin and lightly muscled. He has a shock of white hair despite his relative youth, and along with his height it has made him an instantly-identifyable figure. Fleeing Lordaeron after its fall, Kieran lost the sight in his right eye to a sword-swipe during the Scourge invasion of Stormwind, by the creature that had been General Vorian Tanis.

With his father undead, Kieran is the technical patriarch of House Devaneaux. He is married to Celest Taylor, the daughter of a Stormwind naval officer, and they have five children - three boys and two girls.

House Kethlir
Relatively new to the Convocation of Silvermoon when Anasterian Sunstrider took the throne of Quel'Thalas, House Kethlir had fallen on hard times. Their symbol is a golden lynx.

Lor'tanis
Lor'tanis Kethlir was the first and most venerable of his family's patriarchs. Roughly the same age as Anasterian Sunstrider, he became a trusted friend to the new King and served as his court chamberlain until the day he died. The Council of Silvermoon came to admire Lor'tanis for his sense of humor, his humble desire to serve, and his keen intelligence, with many becoming good friends with him right up until the end.

Beginning with the Troll Wars, Kethlir remained a fierce supporter of Anasterian, but spoke his own mind and had his own opinions; he supported the decision to teach magic to the humans of Arathor, who possessed a natural affinity for it, and also believed in sending aid to the newly-formed Alliance against the rampaging Horde during the Second War. He also disagreed with the decision to leave the Alliance, but pledged to support his King's ruling regardless. During his service on the Council, Lor'tanis often had verbal spars with the arrogant mage Dar'Khan Drathir, and rightly believed that he would eventually turn on his people.

Lor'tanis' long service came to an end when he was murdered by Dar'Khan during the Third War. Anasterian would meet his end not long after, his soul consumed by the unholy blade of the corrupted Prince Arthas.

Lor'revan
Lor'revan was an overly ambitious, prideful and reclusive man, the exact polar opposite of his father, who served with humility and geniality. Remaining in Alliance service after the elves returned to Quel'Thalas, Lor'revan eventually saw that he could only gain so much in his current position. With the Scourge rising in Lordaeron, he eventually took up necromancy and joined the Cult of the Damned shortly before Dar'Khan's grand treachery against Silvermoon. He remained in the halls of the necropolis Naxxramas under the dominion of Grand Widow Faerlina, until he was dispatched to Naxxanar in the Borean Tundra by the Cult's master, Kel'Thuzad. Naxxanar's overlord, Prince Valanar, had recently tipped off the Alliance that something was afoot, and an expedition led by both Saavedro of Stratholme and Ordevaas Portalseeker resulted in Valanar's first death (his second, and probably final, death came in Icecrown Citadel).

Lor'revan fled Naxxanar, but Ordevaas caught up with him in the shadow of Naxxramas and beheaded him on the spot, his head sent back to Silvermoon as proof of decease.

Varanil
Varanil was Lor'tanis' younger son and not expected to become head of house. After his father's murder and his brother's treason, however, he ascended to leadership of his family. Varanil was a wise patriarch who supported maintaining links to the "other side" - the Alliance - despite the Horde's increasing hostility towards them.

House Ketiron
The Ketiron family have been indentured servants - and later staunch allies - of the Whitehairs since the exodus from Kalimdor, and have now risen to prominence with the ascension of its patriarch to the headship of the House of Whitehair. Its symbol was a blue hawk. After becoming head of the House of Whitehair, Taeril'hane Ketiron retooled the crest to incorporate elements of his own House as well as that of his wife's (see "House of Whitehair" below).

Melonar
Melonar was a powerful member of the Whitehair House Guard, serving as the Captain of the Phalanx for both Lord Dath'Kunam and Lord Kel'theris. During the Second War, Melonar was killed in a troll ambush during the invasion of Quel'Thalas. His son, Taeril'hane, would succeed him as Captain of the Phalanx for Lord Kel'theris.

Taeril'hane
Taeril'hane Ketiron was born roughly around the same time as Kel'theris Whitehair. As a result, both men are good friends and staunch allies. Though the Ketirons had long served in the Whitehair House Guard, including as successive Captains of the Phalanx, Taeril'hane was the first to become its commander after the death of Kaleris Skyfire, the previous Captain of the House Guard, during the Third War. A pious man by nature, Taeril'hane opposed the heavy-handedness of the Blood Knights' approach to wielding the Light, only having a change of heart when the Blood Knights embraced the true power of the Light. Trained by Ordevaas Portalseeker, Taeril'hane eventually rose to the rank of Master.

Ketiron accompanied Ordevaas throughout the war in Outland and for the vast majority of the war in Northrend. After Ordevaas' death, Taeril'hane became head of the House of Whitehair through marriage to Ordevaas' daughter Areinnye, and returned for the final attack against Icecrown Citadel. After the fall of the Lich King, Ketiron looked towards retirement; the stresses of war in Outland and Northrend had resulted in his raven-black hair going stark white, much like the genetics of his wife's family. Shortly before the Shattering, however, he was recalled to service, fighting for Vol'jin in the grand army he had raised to retake the Echo Isles, and later against the elemental unrest that heralded the Second Great Sundering.

During the war against the Twilight's Hammer after the Shattering, Ketiron was grievously wounded by Twilight ambushers. Though he recovered, his stamina was greatly reduced as a result and at last retired to Silvermoon, where he took up teaching new Blood Knights the arts of the Light, and began writing the history of the wars that had broken out or ended as a result - direct or otherwise - of the Shattering.

Ord'taeril
Ord'taeril is the son of Master Ketiron and his wife Areinnye, born shortly after Ketiron retired from active service in the Horde. He is named jointly for his grandfather, Ordevaas Portalseeker, and for Taeril'hane himself. With the blessing of Kel'theris, Ord'taeril is the heir to the House of Whitehair, as he was born to a scion of the family.

House Whitehair
The House of Whitehair sat on the Convocation of Silvermoon since its inception seven thousand years earlier. They are so named because of their family's predisposition for that hair color, though some have deemed this "unoriginal". Once a fanatical supporter of the Sunstrider Kings, the House of Whitehair is now largely dedicated to the land and people of Quel'Thalas as a whole. Their symbol was a red eagle embracing the rays of the rising sun, which represented the family's embracing of their homeland and people. After Taeril'hane Ketiron became patriarch, the crest was retooled to a double-headed eagle embracing the rays of the sun, representing the union of the families and its continued commitment to their land, with three colors - red for the House of Whitehair, blue for the House of Ketiron, and green representing the regrowth of Quel'Thalas.

Kal'manis
The first patriarch of the Whitehair line, Kal'manis was a mage who followed Dath'Remar Sunstrider across the newly-formed Great Sea to the lands that became Quel'Thalas after the Sundering. Kal'manis set many of the traditions of the House of Whitehair, including the wearing of a jade clasp in a topknot to symbolize the current patriarch. Kal'manis was one of High King Dath'Remar's chief advisors.

Zirannye
The first female head of house, Zirannye was the granddaughter of Lord Kal'manis, and married a Farstrider commander who was killed by the Amani in the early part of the Troll Wars. She had also fought during those wars as a Farstrider, and was killed during the siege of Zul'Aman by the chieftain of the Shadowpine, one of the Amani tribes.

Dath'Kunam
The son of Zirannye, Dath'Kunam inherited the House after the death of his mother in the Troll Wars, and remained for three thousand years afterwards. He died peacefully in his sleep shortly before the Second War.

Kel'theris
Nicknamed "Decibelius" due to the augmented powers of his voice, Kel'theris took his seat on the Council shortly before the Second War. He formed a bond with the Kethlir family and was opposed to the powerful magister Dar'Khan Drathir, an arrogant and self-absorbed man. Remaining in his homeland after it fell to Arthas, Kel'theris pledged himself and his House to the warlock Joshmaul the Corruptor, only turning away from him when he betrayed them. He and his son Ordevaas had many ideological differences, setting them aside for the sake of unity after leaving Joshmaul's service. Deciding to focus more on mage studies, Kel'theris stepped down - the only patriarch who has done so - in favor of his son. He remained as Ordevaas' chief advisor until the new patriarch's death in Northrend, and remains as the chief advisor of the current patriarch - his best friend, Taeril'hane Ketiron.

Ordevaas
A former priest trained in Lordaeron, Ordevaas assumed the name "Portalseeker" in light of his people's goal to find their way to Outland. Becoming one of the first Blood Knights of Quel'Thalas, Ordevaas eventually rose to the rank of Master under the tutelage of Lady Liadrin. At first supportive and loyal to the warlock Joshmaul, he turned on him after his old comrade, Saavedro, revealed the true depths of Joshmaul's treachery. During the war against the Lich King, Ordevaas became patriarch of the House of Whitehair after his father stepped down in his favor. But he did not have long to enjoy his status, as he died from wounds combined with a lung ailment after the Battle of the Court of Bones, his last confrontation with the vile warlock.

Kel'tanis
Kel'tanis is the younger son of Lord Kel'theris who was believed to have been killed by the Scourge. He had run away from home thirty years prior to the fall of Quel'Thalas in order to escape from his domineering father, who showed signs of favoritism toward his heir, Ordevaas - despite Kel'tanis taking up the arcane arts, as his father had done. Managing to escape death at the hands of Arthas and Dar'Khan, Kel'tanis spent a decade wandering the wilds of Quel'Thalas and northern Lordaeron until he was found by the Forsaken priest Sekhesmet. With the shadow priest's blessing, Kel'tanis has returned to Quel'Thalas and challenged Taeril'hane Ketiron's legitimacy as patriarch of the House of Whitehair - believing that, as the younger brother of the last true Whitehair patriarch, he had a superior claim.

Areinnye
Nicknamed "Scourgebane" early in her service as a Farstrider, Areinnye is the daughter of Ordevaas and current Mistress of the House after marrying Taeril'hane Ketiron at her father's deathbed. She also serves as the Captain of the House Guard, and is rarely seen without her lynx, Máire.