Game of Thrones - The Shadow Lord

The Houses

House Grayer:

House Grayer is a noble house in the North sworn to House Stark. Their banner is a roaring shadowcat on a gray field. Their house words are Blood and Steel. They are seated in Ravenhold, a region in the north-west of the Wolfswood given to them by House Stark thousands of years ago when the North was its own kingdom. The Grayers are one of the more wealthy houses in the North having crafted high-quality weapons and armor forged in the catacombs beneath Ravenhold. They trade and sell their weapons throughout the Seven Kingdoms and beyond the Narrow Sea. House Grayer has a substantial military force, its standing army equals about thirteen-hundred men, which is bolstered to about five-thousand when they call on the lesser houses sworn to them. The soldiers are highly trained and armored with the very best steel that comes from the forges.

The house was formed by a wandering Hedge Knight named Belgrin Grayer who settled in Winterfell and completed many dangerous tasks for the King in the North. Belgrin lead a charge against a large force of Crannogmen who no longer wanted to live under the rule of House Stark and rebelled against the King in the North. Belgrin slaughtered the Crannogmen and brought their leader to the King, who delivered the King's Justice. As a reward for his faithful service Belgrin was given his choice of land parcels to pick from and establish his own holdfast. He selected a region in the north-west of the Wolfswood in the foot of the Northern Mountains. With the help of masons and laborers from Winterfell, Ravenhold was built within the year. Belgrin's prowess in battle and his skills as a commander caught the attention of other Hedge Knights who quickly came calling at Ravenhold to swear fealty to the new lord. Soon Belgrin had an army comprised of battle hardened warriors who were proficient in turning the smallfolk into a formidable fighting force.

Ten years after foundation House Grayer received a plea for help from a lesser house further south in the North. House Bellistar was being laid siege to by a larger house who wanted the goldmines around the Bellistar holdfast of Goldspire and had cut off all routes of escape. Lord Belgrin lead the charge personally and with nothing more than a thousand men they broke the seige on Goldspire. In return the Bellistars gave House Grayer the rights to three of the goldmines and their best weaponsmith. Upon returning to Ravenhold the Bellistar smith was impressed with the steel that was being produced from the mountain mines beneath the city but thought he could improve upon it. After some trial and error the smith presented the first sword of many that would create the wealth the Grayers would enjoy for generations.

With the profits from the goldmines Belgrin ordered the construction of massive forges in the caverns beneath the castle and began to mass produce the swords, axes and armor that would become his legacy. The Lord of House Bellistar felt that his house should have a cut of the proceeds since it was their smith who had created the process to make Grayer steel. Belgrin refused and relations between the houses rapidly fell apart. The Lord of house Bellistar ordered an attack on the goldmines that he had given to Belgrin and slaughtered the Ravenhold laborers before sending their heads to Ravenhold.

Belgrin and his council responded immediately and launched an assault on Goldspire with the backing of the King in the North. The siege lasted almost a year before Lord Stark decided to intervene with his own forces. The Bellistars were stripped of their land and sent to a desolate keep on the Northern coast called Blackpoint. Half of the goldmines were given to House Grayer while the other half, and Goldspire itself, were given to a lesser house that had been sworn to the Bellistars.

With the influx of gold, Belgrin expanded his weapons empire by selling his products to sell-sword companies across the narrow sea and further south in Westeros. He forged a relationship with House Forrester, a vassal of House Glover, and traded his steel products for their ironwood products. Their arrangement is still in place to this day. House Grayer flourished in its weapons empire for centuries after its foundation, fighting in the many wars of Westeros by the side of House Stark. The current lord of the house, Ryden Grayer, fought with Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon against the Mad King and years later during the Greyjoy Rebellion. Now Ryden sits upon an empire training his firstborn son Edwen to takeover lordship of Ravenhold and any wars that may lay ahead.