House Velt

House Velt

Vigilant and Silent

Status:	Minor (Status 4)
Seat:	Owlkeep
Current Lord:	Larrus
Current Lady:	Aldia
Realm:	Stormlands
Heir:	Quayle
Liege:	Gulian Swann
Cadet Branch:	None
Vassals:	None
Maester:	None
Ancestral Weapon:	Eclipse, a Valyrian steel bastard sword
Founder:	Ser Dominic Storm
Founded:	Rhoynar Invasion

Distantly related to the Targaryens (as so many Stormlords in the time since Aegon's Conquest have been), House Velt was quite proud of its connections. Founded by a Targaryen bastard, Ser Dominic Storm was known as a quiet, pale man and master of spies. He took for his sigil an owl, white with Valyrian violet eyes, on a night-black background. Some say that House Velt is cursed; others simply assume it is the bastard's blood in their lineage coming to the fore, as they have seen bad luck in recent days. Today, they are known as the rivals to House Seraen, and for their greed. They also have a reputation as Targaryen loyalists, although Lord Larrus has gone to great lengths to put that reputation behind his family.

Domains

• House Fortune Rolls: Law -2, Quarry +1; all Wealth increases due to House Fortune rolls are increased by +1.

Whitvale

A mountainous, forested domain, Whitvale is well-known for its verdant beauty. (Lands: Mountains 9, Light Woods 3)

• Owlkeep: Built on a wide promontory overlooking the quarrytown of Whitvale, Owlkeep is an old fortification, dating back to the Andal Invasion. It has a number of tall, open-windowed towers, and a small wood that hugs its outer walls tightly. (Small Castle, 30 Defense)
• The White Feathers: Clad in white and grey, and seated on nimble mounts, and White Feathers patrol the lands of House Velt, and are well-known for their incredible aim and hit-and-run tactics. (Elite Archers/Scouts)
• Owlkeep Talons: Dressed in chain and wielding owl-wing halberds, the Talons are the personal guard of House Velt. (Trained Personal Guards)
• The Owlery: High above the Owlkeep proper, in a cavern that is open to the air on two sides are the House Velt crypts, decorated with fine carvings of owls perched atop the biers of Velt ancestry. (House Crypts)
• Whitvale Quarry: A source of fine, pale silver-white marble, and the basis of House Velt's prosperity. (Basic Quarry)

Owl Hills

Rolling hills of shepherds and farmers, the Owl Hills are where the mountains that make up Whitvale descend suddenly down into the Marchwater Vale proper. (Lands: Hills 7)

• Owl Hills Militia: House Velt has organized and trained the folk of Owl Hills in their own defense, aided and led by the White Feathers when necessary. (Trained Peasant Levies)

Members of the House

• Lord Larrus Velt: Lord of the House. The youngest sibling of his generation of Velts, Larrus is also the only one left alive. His older brothers died on the Targaryen side of Robert's Rebellion, and his father refused to bend the knee even when Lord Swann did, forcing Lord Swann to execute the man. The last of his family, Larrus was but a boy when he became Lord Velt. Lord Larrus is a practical and reclusive man, seemingly content with his lot, albeit of a melancholy nature. His features are distinctly Valyrian. (33 years)
• Lady Aldia Velt: Lady of the House. Daughter of Ser Manus the Drake, Aldia grew up in House Velt. After Larrus became Lord Velt, he asked the knight's daughter - the only women he'd ever loved - to marry him, and she agreed. Aldia is a stable, bright influence in Owlkeep and has raised three children. She does her best to fight her husband's dark moods, but also clearly knows when to simply leave him to them. (35 years)
• Pramia Velt: The oldest daughter of the lord, Pramia is a stunning beauty. Her features are richly Valyrian, with pale silvery hair and eyes of a distinct and somewhat haunting amethyst hue. She is deeply intelligent and charming, as much her mother's child as she is her grandmother's protege. (17 years)
• Ser Quayle Velt: Silver-headed and blue-eyed, Quayle is the heir of Owlkeep. Recently knighted for a martial victory at Lord Swann's Wedding Tourney, Ser Quayle swore to enter service with House Swann as part of a deal that allowed his grandmother to take vows with the Silent Sisters instead of being executed for her treason. His service at Stonehelm has just begun, where his fellow knights have found him a prodigy with the bastard sword. The young man eagerly anticipates that day when Eclipse, the House's Valyrian steel blade, is his as lord. (16 years)
• Marshall Velt: A quiet boy who rarely speaks, Marshall is Lord Larrus' treasure. The quiet boy often finds his father in the deeps of his melancholy and simply sits at his feet, playing with his toys or leaning his head against his father's calf, staring into the flames. Though Aldia wishes to send him to a nearby House as a page, in order to teach him and secure alliances with other Houses, Larrus is very hesitant to do so. (7 years)
• Dimesia Velt: Lord Larrus' mother, Dimesia is in many ways the real power in Owlkeep. An older woman well-advanced in her years, Dimesia is bitter and scheming and well-known for harboring all manner of resentments and grudges. She also still mourns the death of her husband. Dimesa was recently discovered to be the architect of a plot to kill Lady Beony, Lord Swann's new bride; only the eloquent intervention of Pramia and an agreement by Ser Quayle to serve in Lord Swann's household stayed her execution. She has since taken vows as a Silent Sister, and was sent to Oldtown to the motherhouse there, where she is forbidden from ever communicating with her House again. (58 years)

Retainers of the House

• Ser Manus the Drake: A man in his fifties, Ser Manus was called "the Drake" because everyone suspected he had Freehold blood in his lineage somewhere, due to his pale blonde hair and deep blue eyes. A knight who fought with the Targaryens in his day, only his duty to keeping Owlkeep safe allowed him to surrender his sword. Ser Manus now serves as the Castellan and Master at Arms for Owlkeeps forces. His squire is the young Quayle, the Velt heir. He occasionally has disagreements with the dowager Dimesa over his training of Quayle - she would have him be treated as a lord and heir at all times, while Ser Manus heartily believes in breaking the boy of his pride. His shield depicts three green wyverns on a field of grey. (53 years)
• Deluvis Storm: A bastard from out of the Rainwood, Deluvis acts as the steward for the House. In the absence of a maester for the House, he also often functions as Lord Velt's secretary, assisting him in the running of his domain. Deluvis is a handsome man in his late twenties, with an eye for the ladies. (27 years)
• Ser Rauntmyr: A knight who Ser Manus took on as a squire and knighted himself, Ser Rauntmyr used to be a simple fisherman's boy from Helmport who impressed the knight with his desire to be a knight. Ser Manus took a chance, and the boy's enthusiasm was more than just boyish fantasy. Ser Rauntmyr's arms are two gold shells on a chief of dun above a sea-blue field. (31 years)

History

• Ascent: X
• Victory: X
• Decline: X
• Villain: X
• Decline: X