House Ghostwood

A Principal House of House Vaele. House Ghostwood rules over Greenburn in the Heartlands. Ghostwood is rightfully feared by many despite the warmth of Greenburn. Their nobility stems from the Blood Age, but they suffered a massive rebirth that changed their history and found all the descendants taking names of supernatural creatures. The town of Greenburn was named so alongside its twin, Redburn. Greenburn represents the Burn during the night, when it is full and beautiful, and Redburn represents it during the day, bloody and powerful. The Ghostwood banner is a dusky purple and striped black, with a large twisted Ghostwood at its center holding the Ghostwood Keep in its branches. A sinister skull is fashioned on the front of the tree. Ghostwood possess the Bloodsteel sword Pyrthos. They accepted this prized weapon as an act of courtesy alone, for they value the soul-conductive power of wood over Bloodsteel.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Sir Caspian Ghostwood, Lord of Greenburn and husband to Sharley Vaele. Their Children.

Shadow Ghostwood. Son. Squire in Valeris' army.
Raven Ghostwood. Daughter. Betrothed to the 'Bastard' Cayle Carantus, the son of the Forsaken Cayle Carantus.
Banshee Ghostwood. Daughter.
Revenant Ghostwood. Son.

Sir Phantom Ghostwood, younger brother to Caspian. Married to Lyra Aegis.

Lysandra Ghostwood, daughter of Beckon and Lyra. Lyra did not let Phantom name their daughter along the conventions of Ghostwood. He wanted to name Lysandra 'Harbinger'.

Nyla Ghostwood, sister to previous House Leader Orin Ghostwood. Nyla married the Vaele bastard Rustic and mothered two daughters who then married into the Isdemor line. It was at Nyla and Orin's time that the House suffered a massive rebirth. Ash Ghostwood, only surviving son of Lord Orin Ghostwood. Grandfather of Sir Caspian Ghostwood.

Culture

Due to the extensive and complex history of the Ghostwood House, their culture is likewise seen as peculiar and strange. Dark and evil to some. The town is seen as cursed. It is in a perpetual dusk, only lightly illuminated by the Burn in long shadows. The ground is made of compacted ashes, the ashes of thousands burned, and the trees that fill the town are supernatural, hauntingly eerie and supposedly raised by the God of Death himself. Historians of Vaskeer would see a striking resemblance between the controversial practices of the Ghostwood House and the tribes of Soleri. The Soleri practice Soulcarving, and when they get their ritualistic weapon upon becoming a warrior, undergo a rigorous ritual to chain part of their soul to the wooden weapon, hardening it into something akin to steel that only breaks when they die. The Ghostwood's practice is not so advanced, but they have found the strange conductive capabilities of the trees within their grove, and have taken to filling them with souls in ritual. These rituals started sometime during the period where the Ghostwoods were a thing of myth, children's tales about a dead forest and tall Keep in the place where everyone affected by the Ashenblight had been burned alive by Calavius the Demon. Ghosts were seen prowling the Ghostwoods during the night, specters in the trees. The Ghostwoods claim that they are ghosts of those that died during the burning. That the souls were placed on the land by Ethos himself, who created the Ghostwoods. The souls are white and grey, their power in the Burn but their forms amongst them on the ground. They were placed there by Ethos to protect Greenburn, and more specifically the Ghostwood Keep. Now, the Ghostwoods worship these ghosts and the trees that they live in, to ensure their own protection and goodness in the eyes of their God. This is a thing of high contention amongst the Iron Creed, where some view it as blasphemy and others claim that everything the Ghostwoods do is still in the name of their same God, just with different... methods. The Ghostwoods drain the souls of their criminals and those that wish to sacrifice themselves into the trees, which cause them to grow and twist, becoming malformed but powerful. The trees in Greenburn have become miniature versions of the great Spirit Tree, the tree that rises into the Burn at the center of all of Vaskeer, M'Boukho. More rituals go on within, but the Ghostwoods keep those secret and behind closed doors. Many modern Ghostwood members have started to adorn their clothing with glittering emerald jewels to reference how Greenburn used to be. Bringing color back to the House after a century of darkness.

History

The House known as Ghostwood was not always named as such. They were named House Maxler before, although some Historians claim that they may have been called Rinsen. Either way, House Ghostwood were once very different. When Redburn and Greenburn were settled, Ghostwood claimed the Greenburn while their rivals, House Kilrich claimed the Redburn during the Subjugator's rule as he distributed lands. This was a friendly rivalry, the two Houses far too occupied with defending against The Lost to bother killing one another. Greenburn was lush with green grass and the fertile soil of the Heartlands. That all changed when the Ashenblight hit the Empire. This was during the last years of Emperor Isidorus the Subjugator's rule. Ghostwood was ruled by Lord Orin and his sister, Lady Nyla. Perhaps due to the new land the people of Iron were settling in, or the rumored creation of the Ashenblight in a mad Soulomancer's lair, the Blight tore through the Iron people, killing thousands upon thousands. It was some sort of airborne plague that left Alchemists and Witnesses stumped, and the only remedy seemed to be to burn the body entirely. The Empire was still new and unsteady, the Subjugator doing his best to form order, but things were falling apart due to this blight. Isidorus' heir, Calavius Glore took the Iron Spear upon his father's death and set to extinguishing the Ashenblight for good. He decided that a necessary evil was required to save the Empire. He needed to find a town that could collect all the sick and dying, the contagious and otherwise. He found this in Greenburn. The sick were carted down the Shield, across the Heartlands, or skiffed across the Heart to arrive in the lightly forested town. Lord Orin and Lady were told nothing of this, but Nyla was at her son's side in Hero's Rest, away from Greenburn. Orin accepted these blighted refugees reluctantly and settled them in his town, which quickly found itself overflowing. Then, Calavius set the town alight. He burned the entire town with everyone inside, letting none escape. Then he burned all those that took part in the burning or escorted the sick to Greenburn to be sure. He was immune to the blight, his blood bolstered with Glore lineage. In one fell swoop, Calavius murdered thousands of innocents, but protected the rest of his Empire from the sickness spreading. Thus, he became the Demon, named after the horrid creations outside the Ivory Wall. Lord Orin perished alongside his town, but his infant child miraculously survived. Some say the child was blessed by Calavius' blood, or the Witnesses. Other's say the child wasn't at the burning of the town at all. But one young boy survived. He was aptly named Ash, and he walked into the ashes of Greenburn and wallowed in the death of his family and people. The ashes swirled around him and Ethos answered his prayers, lifting him far from the ground and enlightening him. After that, Ash planted trees deep in the ashes of Greenburn. They sprouted supernaturally, blessed by the God of Death, and the Ghostwoods were created. These thin, ghostly trees are speckled throughout modern Greenburn. The tale goes that Ash then created the Ghostwood Keep in the center of the town, and the place was a thing of myth and fairy tale for many years to come. A mystical Keep in the middle of a forest of dead trees, the land coated in the ashes of thousands of plagued sick. Kids were warned about the Ghostwoods. That if they were bad, they would be sent there to suffer and be tormented by ghosts. The fog around the Ghostwoods was filled with materialized souls unable to fly into the Burn, or the Heavens, or so the tale went. Calavius soon visited these Ghostwoods, intent to uncover the truth behind the tales, and was met by Ash Ghostwood and his family. Instead of burning them all, Calavius welcomed them back into the Empire, perhaps out of guilt. Common people began to settle in the Ghostwoods, which were lightly cleared to allow for a town. The ash was swept aside and houses built. It became known as Greenburn again, but the noble House that ruled it kept the name Ghostwood. Modern Greenburn still holds these gothic features. Strange Ghostwood trees dot the town, all twisted with malformed soul-features along their trunks. Rituals blaze in the darkness that permeates the town, and the Ghostwoods are queer, dark people. But they are nobility, and loyal to the Emperor, despite the burning of their town a little over a hundred years ago.