House Blackfin
House History
Founding - Ascent
House Blackfin was founded in the years following the collapse of House Justman.
For years, Captain Skinner has lead the Blackfins to ply the waters of the Trident, supporting his motley crew with pillage of the smallfolk, nobility, and even the Ironborn raiders who scoured the Riverlands during this anarchic period. The chaos was so unruly that Captain Skinner was able to establish a base of sorts, nestled between the lands of House Lychester and House Bracken, and raid with impunity.
With the collapse of the Royal House, Blackwood and Bracken warred for dominance, and Ser Jonos Bracken, heir to the House was captured in a ruse at the Sept of the Warrior’s Seat. Lord Blackwood demanded that House Bracken bend the knee and acknowledge House Blackwood as the true heir of House Justman, else Ser Jonos would be slain.
As a matter of chance, Captain Skinner was restocking his longboats in Blackbuckle [a service done for him in exchange for not looting the town], when Ser Jonos and other prisoners were carted into town on their way to Raventree Hall. Somehow, in the next hour, Ser Jonos escaped his bonds, and found himself secreted in a fish barrel on Captain Skinner’s boats. A popular song among the smallfolk “The Blackfin’s Gamble” tells of how during the search for the lost captive Captain Skinner played dice with Lord Blackwood on the very barrel in which Ser Jonos was hidden, although this is widely considered apocryphal, as Lord Blackwood was not present in Blackbuckle at the time.
Once smuggled across the border, Ser Jonos struck another deal with Captain Skinner, and the Blackfins joined House Bracken in furious retribution on House Blackwood for their ruse at the Warrior’s Seat, although Lord Bracken was killed in the struggle. As a reward for leal service, Captain Skinner was Knighted by Ser Jonos and anointed by the Most Devout of the Warrior’s Seat for his defence of the faith, and raised to the ranks of the nobility, being formally granted lands belonging to House Bracken and the hand of Lord Jonos’s sister in addition to his old pirate hideout.
The Durrandon Years – Decline
House Blackfin suffered as many Riverland Houses have during the rule of House Durrandon, perhaps even more so as under the guidance of House Bracken, they have not been among the handful of Riverland Houses who have gone out of their way to win House Durrandon’s favour. During this time, House Blackfin made a number of unfavourable matches including with Landed Knights, which damaged the standing and influence.
Recent History – Glory
Brandomyr, the grandfather of the current Lord of House Blackfin gained fame and glory for his house.
Sixty Years ago a harsh winter drove thousands of Mountain clansmen into the Riverlands. With the onset of spring they savaged the lands of House Darry, Vypren, Erenford, Haigh, and Charlton, and even seized the Twins, though this was a simpler feat then as the keeps were wooden.
The Mountain Clans ravaged their way across the Northern Riverlands, burning out the keeps and holdfasts of minor lordlings and approached the town of Fairmarket on the Blue Fork. The townsfolk sent to Raventree Hall, and Stone Hedge but though both lords raised their banners, Lord Blackwood sent word that he would not defend Fairmarket unless the town gave over its independence to his rule [the town having been given an independent charter years earlier by King Durrandon]. Lord Bracken refused to march on Fairmarket with the Blackwoods at his rear, and the stage seemed set for a massacre of the smallfolk.
Lord Brandomyr Blackfin packed two hundred knights and men at arms onto his boats and under cover of darkness rowed up to the giant encampment of the Mountain Clans on the East side of the Blue Fork. There, with the benefit of surprise, he launched a surprise attack on the Mountain Clans, though they outnumbered his force at least fifty to one.
In the darkness, disoriented by the late hour and muddy ground, and by the thundering of war horns and ringing of the bell of the nearby sept, the Mountain Clans were driven into disarray. Lord Brandomyr was able to fight his way to the centre of the Mountain Clan encampment and duelled the Chieftain on the banks of the Blue Fork.
When dawn came, the Mountain Clans were driven to the four winds, as their lesser chieftains had bickered and taken flight with the death of their leader. Of House Blackfin’s forces, perhaps two dozen men remained. Lord Brandomyr, mortally wounded, was carried to Fairmarket’s Sept, and breathed his last within its walls.
House Blackfin received little thanks from House Durrandon for its service. Rather than rewarding House Blackfin, the King gave generous loans to House Frey to rebuild their keeps, dressed in stone, in exchange for a share of future taxes on travel and trade, and appointed a High-Reeve to guard Fairmarket and oversee the region’s recovery. However, the folk of the Trident have not forgotten the sacrifice of Lord Brandomyr Blackfin, least of all the citizens of Fairmarket, who erected a statue in his honour in the square beneath the Sept’s steps.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:26, Thu 24 Sept 2020.
