House Cerwyn is one of the priceable bannerman of house Stark and among the most loyal banners they have among their nobility. Long ago they have ruled as First Men kings but the close proximity to the Stark's quickly saw an end to that. Their house is said to be among the first if not the first that was conquered by the Stark's and remained as a major noble house to this day. While others would only find shame in such a claim the Cerwyn's wear it with a pride that shows their loyalty. While their closeness to the Stark's has led them to be among the first to be conquered today it makes them into one of the closest and highly regarded houses to the Stark's. This is no wonder because their keep is the closest to Winterfell out of any of their major nobility. They can reach each other in a day's ride and as such it is no wonder that while the Cerwyn's don't foster their children with the Stark's their children often form a bond of friendship between the many visits they make to Winterfell. Loyalty born from such friendships that persist between generations and is nothing to scoff at.

The house proudly follows the faith of the old gods and while not having a god's wood inside their castle grounds a short walk from the keep a proper gods wood can be found where one can pay respect to the gods. This house actually belongs to one of the few that fanatically believe in the old gods and will actively deny septon's and septa's entree into their lands. That is unless they are sworn to a northern house and have a specific sept were, they will be needed to preach and don't roam the lands in attempts to convert their smallfolk. The house does however tend to hold at least a cordial relationship to the Manderly's because of their firm loyalty to the Stark's. Meanwhile their relationship to the Whitehills and the knights in their lands remains tedious. It is however of note that the heads of the house have often announced that no marriages to those believing in the seven are to be held because it would thin out their blood connection to the first men.

Many members of house Cerwyn are known to practice fighting with a one-handed axe instead of the more typical swords in their youth and even well into their adult years. It is sadly unknown how this came to be, but I would wager that a shortage of iron over a prolonged time has lead to the houses preference of the less iron intensive one-handed axe as a primary weapon of choice.

The coat of arms displays a double-sided black battle axe on a white background.

Family Words: "Honed and Ready"
The word represents the two things that the Cerwyn's exceed in, having honed axes and being ready. For one they can manage to call all their banners in record time and by the moment that the Starks march south the Cerwyn's will have managed to call for their entire host. While normally these men would not seem like much compared to other major lords the fact that they manage to raise them all makes their force a major one in the army. As such they are not only ready to always help his liege lords the family is the one that is always ready for war.

Hold/Keep:
Castle Cerwyn is the hold of the family with the same name. It is among the Norths weakest castles and consist of a Don Jon with a bailey on a heightened ground. It is made completely out of wood and has over the centuries it has been sacked a few times. A rebuilding out of stone has never been considered as house Cerwyn has a rather poor sense for business and taxation. Prime example for this is the fact that even though they own some of the norths most fertile land and have access to both the Kingsroad, White Knife and its tributary they remain poor throughout the centuries. Another reason why they have decided against the costly undertaking is that they have often been ignored in wars in favour of directly attacking Winterfell. A more defensible castle holding a larger garrison would lead to more attacks on their castle to safe the enemy's army's rear. The castle lies on the most western tip of the Cerwyn territory and by the bridge over the Tributary that the Kingsroad takes. As such the village by the castle houses many more ins and brothels than other castles have access to normally.

The bailey holds no gods wood but one can be reached by a short walk on food. The gods wood of house Cerwyn is open to the public and any person that wishes to can easily visit it in person as the Cerwyn's never hire any number of guards to protect it. For why should they fear someone doing anything to their gods wood?

Geography:
The lands of house Cerwyn only have one facet. This is mostly because their lands are among the smallest of the major northern lords directly under House Stark. Another reason is because it lies between the White Knife and its major western Tributary. Because of this position the house is not that warried in its biomes.

Because of the two rivers it has an easy access to both river trade and freshwater fish. The lands on the tributary river have fast rising slopes that shield most of the populace of rapid rising rivers from melting snow by the end of Winter. Yet it still allows for an easy freshwater source for both animals and villages. The smaller shore by the White Knife meanwhile is more prone to over spilling but also allows for easier irrigation for fields. As such droughts are rather uncommon in these villages.

Much like the southern Stark territory these lands are very fertile and produce a great deal of food for other Northern holds. Even still the lands are rather poor because of bad administration. The higher than average taxes are the biggest reason why these lands are not as tickly settled as their Stark neighbours and neither as wealthy.

Lesser Lords:
House Snowknife is the most recent addition to lordly status in the Cerwyn lands. It was created by the marriage of a Cerwyn and Hornwood baseborn couple that was granted lands by the White Knife just after the New Gift was awarded to the Night's Watch. It has a keep similar to Castle Cerwyn. It is a rather wealthy house compared to others in the Cerwyn lands because it managed to catch a good deal of trade that flows along the river.

A former fishermen family has taken the name Trout centuries before and build a keep close by the Cerwyn seat of power. It has a sizable number of small fishing boats that catch a good deal of trout along the tributary river. Many a lord Cerwyn relaxes by spending an afternoon visiting this house and drink while fishing with its lords. It is no wonder that this house is among the most trusted among Cerwyn vassals because of this close connection.

House Ant holds the single salt mine these lands have opened and its coffers have swelled because of this. Much salt is needed after all to salt fish when you want to keep it for the winter. Yet it alone doesn't manage to meet the need of salt the people have. Then again, their trade good has caused the house to become more prominent among the Cerwyn vassals. After all the smallfolk is poor and buying salt from another lordship has its prize as well.

People:
The land only have about 40.000 smallfolk. The reason for this is not the lack of land to plough or a high death rate. The blame solely lies with the high taxes that these lands have compared to their neighbouring holds and the immigration that therefore exist. Many third sons leave this land because of this instead of setting up their own farms. In truth the land could comfortably support double the number of people and maybe even more to be honest. Much of the local smallfolk is extremely proud and will even start brawls to defend their lords despite all this.

Army:
As mentioned when talking about the house words this territory is rather fast in gathering their troupes for war. They can mobilise around 1500 men-at-arms rather fast and because of this are rather strongly represented in any army having to be ensembled fast. A downside to their army is that because of the rather poor economy they have only around 150 mounted troupes and require other lords to supply these more costly men.

As they are rather close to house Stark their army is similarly organised to theirs and much of their armour, weapons and food supply mirrors theirs. In fact, the armour and weapons are often directly purchased from them as their lands have to few iron mines and smiths to supply the iron and workers needed to produce these themselves.

Economy:
The people are poor, their lords are poor and traders mostly stop by to rest and eat not for trade or haggling. At least they are not going hungry because of the fertile land under their control. The land has no special produce that aren't avalable in other parts of the north but rather lack most of the normal money makers such as leather, wood and hides in numbers that would allow for good trade. The most notable thing commin from their lands are the fishes that are sold rather regionally and the exess food production.