The Snow Manor & Estate

The Snow manor house and it's adjoining estate is at the western edge of West Sussex, and extends into eastern Devon / Cornwall. It has fallen into hard times over the centuries as the fortunes of the Snow family leaders have lost much due to theft and loss of valuable overseas trade.

Purpose / Function

The manor & estate is the present family seat of the Snow High Elf family & clan. The current leadership is regularly left in the hands of a group of family members as the owner is currently away in foreign lands search for lost fortunes. All family business and treasure is stored here, and chambers are kept here for visiting dignitaries from the Crown of Wessex & foreign lands. Tribal groups and distant clan members from the 'Old Country', aka Alfheim & Scandinavia.

Alterations

Despite following the ancient Elvan building style (similar to ancient Scandinavian style), the manor has been heavily modified taking in similar Saxon design. Modified further with heavy stone lower walls, along with rooms being extended and further rooms added. A couple of towers made of wood & stone has been added to the edge of the building too. The estate has been divided into farming areas, with stables added now, and defensive walls & towers. Many of the grounds not given to farming is given over to woodlands and animals given to be hunting introduced.

Architecture

Ther is a distinct Scandinavian & Saxon feel to the buildings especially the wood work. There have been elements of local Roman-Britain style architecture here & there, with slight North African designs took in a few details.

Defenses

Built beside a lake called Ice Water Lake, some of this is diverted to a moat around the manor. Rivers & streams also run through the estate as well as small patches of swampland mixed with rocks helping to slow down any attacking force. A small palisade, gateway & towers surround the main manor area made out of stone & wood. Hidden passages are spread around below points in the estate, some of which is linked to the larger passages below the manor. These can be flooded in some parts if infiltrated.
A standing guard is always present mainly of Elves & Half-Elves. A few Humans are in the ranks too. Most of staff are trained in the use of basic military arms & armour and will actively patrol the region. Each of the higher ranking individuals are made up of Housecarls and Thegns, and the leading member is of the rank of Jarl.

History

The Snow clan originally moved to the region just above the area north of what would become the town of Weymouth centuries ago. They  originated in the world of Alfheim and many crossed over to Midgard when they had the chance. As a minor clan of High Elves they seen the chance to exploit the resources of Midgard, and by moving around north western Europe, chanced upon the region they settled in at this time. Making links with other peoples over time, they built up connections with the locals, other Germanic peoples, the Feywild and the miners to the east & west of them getting a steady supply of iron & tin. 
About this time they realised they needed a base of operations and built the original Snow Hall manor, and took control of the surrounding land. When dealing with this the estate started to flourish and they made contact with the Phoenicians who had come to the mines they controlled in Cornwall. There, they seen the opportunity to expand both their holdings overseas and travelled back & forth to mines now on the border of Tunisia.
After a while, the Romans arrived and the Snow clan stayed neutral to both sides recognising they didn't have the manpower to overcome the Roman army. They made deals with them too and money flowed. When the Romans left the Snows kept the peace as they could in the region and had a few near scrapes with different tribal groups looking to assert their dominance. This caused the rebuilding of some of their estate a number of times.
Eventually, the Anglo-Saxons arrived and the Snows realised they had to do the same and struck up bargains with them. Unfortunately by this stage they had started to suffer. The estate has fallen into a state of minor disrepair after the Phoenicians don't exist anymore and their land grants overseas have been temporarily lost. At the same time, twin nephews of the present owner has stolen a number of valuable items from the ruling family causing a drop in monetary funds. Also, the present leader has gone looking for his inheritance over seas, and the family are worried he has fallen foul to some dark deed. This is especially true as the family always had contacts in the criminal underworld, and had also amassed many dangerous rare items in the past that was stored in old abandoned mines in their overseas holdings.

Founding Date

Unknown

Type

Manor house / Meeting hall