House Blake of Shadowstone
The North may be ruled by the direwolves of House Stark, but they are not the only family here with ties to old blood, and the teeth to defend such claims. The shadowcat of House Blake is just as ancient, and just as deadly, if not more so, in our eyes if no one else's.
For many generations, the other houses of the North have viewed us with disdain at best, and suspicion at worst, slandering our customs while ignoring their own. The Boltons, who wore the skins of their enemies as cloaks, if they don't still do, the Magnars, who supposedly dine on the flesh of their prisoners, and the Umbers, who believe that just because you can swing a sword, or a fist, harder than anyone else, you can just take what you want, and we're supposed to be the uncivilized ones.
Still perhaps the North is right to be…wary…of us. After all, some of our practices are rather…unusual. Such as our ongoing trade with the Free Folk, providing tools and…protection in exchange for information and allies. I'd wager we know more about what happens beyond the Wall than the Night's Watch. Stranger still, to our fellow Northmen, is probably our tendency to take in, and train, Wargs, people who have the power to enter the skins of animals and see the world through their eyes. Most Wargs are left to die, but if we find them, we welcome them, for we are not so foolish to turn our backs on someone in need, just because we are superstitious.
And maybe that is the problem. The rest of the North is superstitious, or has become so. Most of our countrymen fear the dark, but not us, for darkness is where we come from. According to legend, during the Long Night, a White Walker and his dead warriors cornered a young Bran the Builder in the Northern Mountains. His companions were swiftly killed, and brought back, and Bran feared he would be next, when out of the darkness appeared a strange man, dressed in black furs, a massive shadowcat at his side. In his hands was clutched a blade, made not of steel, but of dragonglass, and before Brandon's eyes this stranger and his ally challenged the White Walker and his followers, and when the dead fell, they stayed down. This man, my ancestor, would become known as Devon Darkclaw, Slayer of the Dead, and Brandon Stark would learn two lessons from meeting him. One, the Army of the Dead was vulnerable to Dragonglass, Two, to defeat the White Walkers would require more than what the First Men alone were capable of.
Armed with this knowledge, Brandon sought out the Children of the Forest, combining their magic with the First Men's numbers, and with dragonglass weapons supplied by Devon, pushed the White Walkers back to the Land of Always Winter, and raised the Wall to keep them from entering the realm again. As a reward for saving his life, Brandon granted Devon dominion over the mountains where they had met, and so it was, that a Warg, became a Lord and returned to claim his already-made fortress, a mountain that had been hollowed out by the mining of dragonglass; Shadowstone.
But that was a long time ago, and, despite the saying, it seems the North does not remember what we have done, and why, considering the harassment we have had to endure from our fellow nobles, especially in recent years. Maybe they need to be reminded, yet again, of what our words, When the Night Falls, truly mean. Most men avoid the night, but it is not the darkness you should fear, but what you find within it, and, often times, what you will find is a hungry Shadowcat, stalking its prey.
And Cut!
Well, I didn't think I would pick this up again, but I was so please with how my first Lore writing turned out that I decided to continue.
My goal is to come up with a house for each of the regions of Westeros: Crownlands, North, Iron Islands, Riverlands, Vale, Westerlands, Reach, Stormlands, and Dorne. So far I've only done the Crownlands and the North. If you want me to focus on a specific region next, please let me know by replying. If don't get any requests, I'll decide, so don't be afraid to speak up!
Until Next Time!