THE WORLD OF STEEL & BLOOD

THE GOLDLANDS & THE NOBLE HOUSES

While the Bryants, Brandywines and Forresters established their own settlements and raised their own castles in the cold Winterlands, the people that remained in the West of Dragos expanded as well. The west would be known as the Goldlands; with its many mines of gold. The biggest gold mine being the Mines of Haze.

The noble houses that rose up were the ones who prospered the most, while some have been wiped off the face of Dragos.

Like the noble houses of the Winterlands, the histories of these Goldland families have only lore about their supposed ancestors and recorded histories that date back 500 years before the Destroyer, during the 40 Years of Blood and After the Destroyer.

THE HALLORANNS OF OCEANROCK

After Bryant the Brave led his caravan of people outside the borders of Siren's Bay, there were no magistrates or sayers of the law to govern the people, only organized criminal syndicates.

The Hallorann family started out as one such crime syndicate, with its founding months after the departure of Bryant the Brave.

The leader of this group was known as Hallorann the Sloth; a greatly overweight man with many mercenaries and hired swords in his service. Through intimidation, rape and murder, Hallorann the Sloth kept a strong iron grip on the citizens of Siren's Bay for twenty years.

It is said that Hallorann the Sloth was not at all a great-looking human and not at all well-endowed, according to the personal accounts of several brothel whores that serviced him during his visits.

Despite that disability, Hallorann the Sloth did in fact impregnate three whores and they bore him sons or at least that's what legend tells us. Sadly, it is also believed that once the sons were born, Hallorann had his enforcers rape and murder those whores and toss their corpses into Hallorann's personal kennels for his hounds to feast.

In the tenth year of Hallorann's crime-ridden reign, the construction of his fortress, Oceanrock had been underway.

And while Hallorann was continuing his work as a crime lord, his younger sister Katrina was tasked with raising all three of his bastard sons. Hallorann bestowed upon his three sons the surname of Hallorann, so that his bloodline would continue on after his death.

But while Hallorann was a vicious, selfish bastard, Katrina was no such thing. She was kind, thoughtful and strong-willed. It took every ounce of will power to raise her brother's sons: Mayce, Trent and Nikolas.

When the sons came of age, only Mayce and Trent followed in their father's footsteps and became his personal enforcers of his criminal empire.

The year of their initiation into their father's crime family, was their last, for they were killed after attempting to rob a forge master of his coin and his inventory.

The forge master, by the simple name of Sandor fought with the fury of a dozen soldiers and took the heads of Hallorann's sons. Mayce and Trent Hallorann were both twenty years of age, when they fell to Sandor's blade.

For his actions, Sandor knew that the full fury of Hallorann would be coming, but instead of fleeing Siren's Bay and his family's forge, he chose to stay and face his impending doom.

Hallorann the Sloth himself came to the forge, in all of his grotesque glory. It is said that Sandor shuttered with disgust at the sight of the obese crime lord being carried on a wood platform by servants of Oceanrock. The fat crime lord disembarked from his platform and sauntered over to the young forge master, with two bodyguards at his sides.

Hallorann gave Sandor an ultimatum: Surrender the forge or have his head severed from his shoulders, as payment for his sons' deaths.

Normally, an ordinary citizen in Siren's Bay would've gladly complied and take the first choice. But not Sandor, for he had a third option: Keep his forge and Hallorann can walk out with his life. Hallorann the Sloth just laughed out loud, thinking that the forge master was jesting.