House Danesworth
"Our wings span wide"
While other noble Houses trace their heritage to old warlords, merchants who pledged their vast wealth for lordship, and other lucky men who happened to have the right sticks at the right time, we built our name. My ancestors weren't great men, they weren't conquerors, yet our line rules over Dryfeld all the same.
Our banner is the white-tailed eagle carrying a single quill, a monument to our ways, set in silk. The beginnings of our House are in the famous Librarians Guild. Centuries ago, my ancestor Henry Danesworth served the guild as a Librarian with no titles and no lands to his name. Though a poor boy from birth, he made a living by stealing from irresponsible and unsuspecting merchants in Greytown. Soon enough, he started selling his "fortunes" for reading classes by noble Librarians, for quickly the streets taught him that the right lie can turn bronze to gold. At the anger of his drunken beggar father, Henry eventually entered the Librarians Guild at the age of fifteen, taking the oath to gather and spread the gods' knowledge, both seen and unseen.
The guild masters accepted his completion of the entrance tasks. However, they did not accept his thieving past. Henry was to learn the virtues of the Librarians, but also answer for his past crimes. He had to etch a quill symbol on his arm and face the gods' justice. In the words of the proud masters - "knowledge cannot be stolen, and what was taken must be returned". Henry was given the necessities of life in order to learn, at the noble cost of withstanding daily beatings and mental torture. Ten years passed and the cruel masters accepted their student as a Librarian.
He soon started utilizing his nimbleness and careful mind, for no one could forget the horrors of the dark room's disciplinary precautions. The Librarians of old were fanatics, blinded in their search. They sought to write down all that could be recorded, but what many did not realize is that whispers can be written down as well. When the War of Succession erupted in the Vinlands, the right allegiance was a matter of life and death, kings and usurpers.
The Librarians of Dryfeld plotted against the Wardmanes, providing their skills to Duncan Sander. But Duncan, unlike his brother Luther, was no tactician - unwise and hasty. When a seemingly legitimate letter with the apparent seal of House Sander entered the grand halls and informed the masters of an imminent invasion of Dryfeld, the masters quickly organized their meeting in the safe confines of a hidden chamber. The room was, indeed, secure and well hidden from the outside. No better moment to poison the Librarians' wine barrels and enact the safe transfer of power, from the former masters - to the new master. The chamber walls still remain secluded from the world, the old Librarians rotting away in the dusts of time along with their corrupted practices.
In one fell swoop, the Librarians Guild's wicked ways was ended, the product of their own arrogance and tunnel vision. Henry pledged all his knowledge, the Guild, and its men to the Wardmane cause, effectively sealing the war's outcome. For his wisdom, he was granted lordship over Dryfeld, founding House Danesworth. In the following decades, the Librarian's guild became synonymous with the Danesworth rule. Even today, our words fly on eagle wings, serving the realm as loyal friends of the Crown.
Centuries after the great conflict, many still do not realize that ink on parchment cuts deeper than any blade and the right words could make, even break, kings.
Our wings span wide
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