And The Sky Was Set Ablaze

by Aldon Blackreyne

Westeros and Essos have played a big part in the game of power. But what of Sothoros? What if the houses from the Southern continent decided to make their mark on history. After the Long Night , but before the Andal invasion. A new power arrives in Westeros. They are House Blackreyne, and they have a weapons with wings of their own. MAJOR AU.

2. Whitehall

House Whitehall

Sigil: A White Pegasus on a Golden Field

Motto: Wings of Faith

Founder: Haleron Whitehall

Titles: The Green Kings, Chancellor of Eridon, Keepers of the Faith

Seat: Skyfall - Shrykan

Holdings

The Shadowlands

Land of the Shrykes

K'Dath

Mussovy

The Grey Waste

Plains of the Jogos Nhai

Ancestral Weapon: Piety

Bannermen: House Soren, dukedom of the Shrykelands, House Ilinum, dukedom of Mussovy, House Neandus, dukedom of K'Dath. House Josoris, Dukedom of the Jogos Nhai Plains. House Amirad of the Shadowlands. Hundreds of minor houses.

Like their ancient enemies the Blackreynes, House Whitehall came from the continent of Sothoryos. Part of a people known as the Eridonians, the two families could not be more polar opposite of each other. Eridonian's are a feudalistic people, with two classes, nobility and peasantry. Unlike the Arnorians who believed in equality, The Eridonians society has a class system, a system that they work to ensure stays the same. House Whitehall is known for it's chivalry, honor and devout faith. Members of the family tend to be Tall and lean, with light brown hair and amber eyes. In contrast to the Blackreynes, House Whitehall possesses a winged creature known as a Pegasus.

Religion and Customs

Unlike the Blackreyne's three dieties. House Whitehall worships a single entity known as the Polarius the sun. Polarius, the Father of Light is not unlike Rh'llor in many ways. They pray to him for guidance, protection, justice, courage and strength. Those that worship the Father of Light are utterly devoted to him. They believe that any sinner and non believer must face judgment. They justify their actions by reasoning with themselves that it's what Polarius wants them to do.

The leader of the Faith of the Father is called the High Prophet. The High Prophet wields power that surpasses any duke and even rivals the High Chancellor himself. The High Prophet is considered the voice of the Father down on earth, Below him are the Disciples, Disciples are the pious guides of the nobles, every Duke, Earl, Count and Paladin knight is accompanied by one. Protecting these holy men are the martyrans.

Eridonian nobility consists of the Dukes who govern each province, Below the Dukes are the Earls. The more Earls that serve a Duke, the more powerful the Duke is. Nobles that are not fit to become a knight usually become merchants, tradesmen, doctors and teachers, these are the Counts. Finally there are the knights.

Marraiges are restricted to nobility and is considered holy. These marraiges are usually arranged at a young age by the parents of the spouses. No thought is given to age difference or to the feelings of the couple. All that mattered was what the families will gain from the match. In Eridon, marraiges are forever binding, the lady must be forever faithful to her husband. Should a woman be unfaithful, her husband is allowed to beat her. Peasants are not allowed to leave the lands of their Earls. As a result inbreeding is often practice and results in clubbed feet, lazy eyes and extra fingers.

The Peasantry of Eridon are slaves in all but name. Treated as property rather than people, they are uneducated and without honor. All peasants must surrender 9/10ths of their products to their Earl. Thus peasants remain poor their entire lives. Not that their lives mattered to the nobility. They are considered battle fodder, nothing more. They are forbidden from the temples of Polarius and cannot worship him directly. Regardless they still fear and honor him.

Military

It it easy to tell the nobility from the peasantry in battle by one simple thing, horses. If a man had a horse it meant that he was rich enough to own one and care for it. Seeing as peasants only had enough to sustain their lives.

Knights are the cream of the Whitehall army. Their are two types of knights Paladins and Pilgrims. Many paladins eventually become Earls in their own right. Knights make up 1/3rd of the Eridon Army.

Paladin knights are made up of Eridan nobility. Every fit male noble was taken to be trained in knighthood. The training instilled honor discipline and courage in Eridonian squires. They were trained in the use the sword, lance, hammer, axe, and mace. They never learned how to use ranged weapons since they considered them dishonorable. To earn knighthood, every squire must go on a quest. Quests vary, they could range from taking down bandits or saving a kidnapped maiden. Or it could also be proving yourself in battle. By the time they had earned their knighthood they were tough, fearless. and possessed a code of honor.

Paladin armour includes a leather doublet, chailmail and full plate armour with a bascinet helm. Their equipment includes a lance, kite shield and a second weapon of their choosing. Usually it's a longsword, but other weapons have not been excluded. All Paladins ride and are equiped with barding. The finest Paladins eventually become Pegasus knights.

Pilgrims are peasant knights. Paladins take the fittest of their peasant males as squires, they are taught seperately from the noble knights. Though they are not as disciplined or equipped as paladins. Pilgrims are arguably as skilled and expierienced as their noble conterparts. Pilgrims never rise above the status of knight. Unlike the Paladins who end up owning a small keep, Pilgrims are sworn in service to a noble.

Pilgrims are clad in plate armour, with a Great Helm. They're equipped with the Greatsword and a heater shield. Pilgrims ride Rounceys into battle. Peasants that become knights stay just that. Though they get the horse and armour befitting a knight, they will never become anything more.

The peasant foot soldiers of Eridon are a different story. They are poorly equiped and hardly trained in fighting at all. They come in three types, archers, men at arms and martyrans.

Martyrans are eunuch soldiers devoted to the Faith of the Father. Their fanaticism goes beyond tot point of insanity, determined to kill those they deem heretics, heathens and enemies of the faith. Martyrans have no training, but they make up for it in pure madness. They have no concept of pain and would continue attacking even if they are on fire or lost their arms. It seems the only way to stop them is to cut off their heads. Yet their are completely obedient to the High Prophet and his disciples taking any order without question.

Martyrans are clad in chainmail over boiled leather with spikes on the elbows and knees and helms with cruel horns. They are armed with blades attached to vambraces on the wrists and clawed gauntlets. Their skin is brindled and scared a covered in rings and their teeth are filed to fangs.

Men at arms are basically men conscipted to fight. Farmers, stableboys, and shepherds are the most common in the ranks. Men at arms only have chainmail and a kettle hat. All men at arms have a spear a tower shield and a secondary weapon, but their weapons are of poor quality.

Archers are considered the lowest form of soldier. Since they are considered to have no honor, they are allowed to use dishonorable weapons, namely the crossbow. Besides their crossbow they are also armed with a knife and tomahawk for close quarters combat. Since archers are considered dishonorable, they only have boiled leather to protect themselves.

Laws and Justice

Arnorian justice was considered strict, but Eridon justice was regarded as cruel. While the nobles are given softer punishments, for the peasantry, there was no mercy. They do not get a trial, nor do they have a chance to defend themselves. Thieves loose their arms, murderers and rapists are burned in order to 'cleanse' their souls. Rebel and any peasant that attacks a noble are given the worst punishment of all. They and their families friends and associates are hanged. Such is the price of rebellion.

Nobles on the other hand are a different manner. If one noble has been wronged by a fellow noble, then they are to settle their grievance in single combat. If the charge is more serious, than a trial is held. In these trials there is only a single judge. To avoid prejudice, the judge is usually a duke who has no ties to either the accuser or accused.

Eridon law forbids prostitution, homosexuality, lying in any form, adultery, incest, and blasphemy.

The one law that both Eridon and Arnor have in common is the guest right. As long as a guest of a house is given food, then no harm shall befall him. All those who break this sacred law are slowly dismembered.

Economy

Eridon gets it's wealth from the fertile lands of it's domain. Fields of corn, wheat, barley, oats, fruits and vegetables stretch for miles. Grapes that make wines of many colors and tastes are plentiful. Trade coming in and out of Eridon fills the coffers of the Eridon nobles. The vast woods of Mussovy, provide Eridon with a plentiful supply of wood.

Eridon Castle

On the northern shore of the Hidden Sea is the Seat of House Whitehall. Eridon Castle. Eridon is a concentric castle, wall within walls and a great keep in the center. Located on a hill, Eridon is can see enemies coming for miles

Eridon's first line of defense is a the ditch that surrounds the castle on three sides. The ditch is wide at the top and narror at the bottom. It's edges and bottom are covered in filth crusted wooden stakes. To prevent the ditch from flooding, the ends of the ditch have stone towers overlooking the Hidden Sea. Behind the ditch is the ramparts and a thick wooden pailsade crowned with spikes. The palisade is lined with watchtowers for archers. A rolling bridge located on the east side. spans the ditch for crossing. Behind the palisade is the main moat. The moat is fed by water of the hidden sea. This effectively turns the Eridon into an island.

After the moat is the square wall of the outer ward itself. The walls of the outer ward are 100 feet high and 30 feet thick. Made of rammed earth, the outer wall has round towers at the corners and square ones on the sides. The wall is lines with arrowslits, ballistas and machicolations Catapults are set up on the towers. The gatehouse is located on the north side full of murder holes. It has a huge drawbridge to span the moat and two portcullises behind it before reaching the main gate of the outer wall. The final gate is 20 feet high and 3 feet of solid oak wrought in iron. Trebuchets are set up in the land between the outer and inner wards.

Passed the trebuchets is the inner ward. The walls of the inner ward are sloped being 50 feet at the top and ninety feet at the bottom. At 300 feet high, they tower over the walls of the outer ward. The Inner wall is set up simular to the outer wall, The difference is the inner ward has no manchicolations and the gatehouse is located on the south side.

Finally came the keep itself. The Keep was a enormous square tower that rose 1,000 feet into the air. The tower itself narrowed after 500 feet with a giant fire up top thus making the keep a lighthouse as well, Simular to Arnor Keep, Eridon keep is large enough to house the storeroom, armoury, barracks, stables, kitchen, royal quarters, guestrooms, library and crypts comfortably. The gatehouse of the keep is on the north side. It has no less than 4 portcullises and a solid iron gate.

The Capitol of Eridan is Skyfall, formerly known as the City of Winged Men. Just a mile away from Eridon Castle. The city is protected by high walls and guard towers with several gates. Skyfall is the center of all trade in the far east, far larger than Qarth.

Pegasus

House Whitehalls ultimate weapon is the Pegasus. Bred from a horse and a great eagle, the Pegasus is considered one of the most beautiful creatures in the world. Like the Thestral, the hide of a Pegasus cannot be pierced by human weapons. Though they are not immune to fire, they can swim on the surface of the water like a duck. Pegasus look mostly like ordinary horses, the main difference being that the Pegasus has eagle-like wings, and cloven hooves. A pegasus has two weapons, the first is a platinum coloured horn on it's forehead. This horn can pierce the hides of both Thestrals and dragons of Essos. Their second weapon is their wings. The between the regular feathers of a pegasus wings are a smaller special feather type. These feathers are only 2 inches long, as light as their regular counterparts but are sharp as glass and harder as diamond. The feathers can pierce armour and wood alike. Pegasus are able to hurl these deadly missiles by beating their wings rapidly in the air. They always grow back every hour allowing them to do it on a regular basis. All pegasus have white hides and are herbivores.

Historical members

Haleron Whitehall - Founder of the House

Aric Whitehall - Led the Exodus out of Sothoros

Sorem Whitehall - Expanded the Kingdom of Alvion

Farlow Whitehall - Slain by Zhea Zorseface

Hammond Whitehall - Subdued the Jogos Nhai

Verden Whitehall - Hammond's bastard brother, slain by Zhe Zorseface

Eckthelon Whitehall - Took over Qarth