Vinterkros

Overview
House Vinterkros is one of the larger northern houses playing a role in the North. They are honor-centric to the point of foolhardiness, however will not hesitate to use legitimate tactics that the Imperials tend to use in battle. Their heraldry represents the Mountain Lion, which prowls some of the mountains in their lands.. From the last Imperial Census, Vinterkros's total population numbers have been rounded to 800 people.

Their known motto is, "Honor, no matter how dire the battle." They have a typical native appearance, with dirty blonde hair with blue eyes. However, some members of their family have had green eyes, and even rarely brown hair.

Overview
The true tale of Vinterkros's foundation remains a history to most. However, I, and many other scribes, have decided is generally accepted amongst the other houses that they came from an Imperial General who was sent to the Hinterlands for colonisation, thus marking them one of the, if not the oldest of the Northern houses. Another theory that offshoots from the current one is the fact their house started originally from an ancient raider clan that interbred with the general's family, though many, including the patriarchs of Vinterkros refuse to admit even the possibility that they hailed from such savage origins.

Early History
The oldest patriarch to date was General Kimp Vinterkros, who was responsible for creating Castle Vinterkros, the current hold which their house operates from. The next patriarch was General Kraler Vinterkros, his son, who was only sent North from the Imperial University who was the final general to have take command during the "Hard years", and living to see the Imperial Griffons "clear the way", making the rest of the campaign a breeze, civilizing the North. It was described that, during Kraler's rule, the native raids were getting more and more intense. A record has been recovered from an old footman's page that described life there. "The weeks [have] gotten more and more brutal. [General] Vinterkros has made an edict that states alcohol is banned for any guard personnel, to prevent us from sleeping [on the job]. Furthermore, I have noticed that a bit of our walls [seem to] crumble overnight, and I see less and less people coming into the hold every morning from the villages, as well."

With the Griffons paving the way, Castle Vinterkros was no longer a primary staging point for Imperial forces, but still remains as a large hub for civilians and peasants hoping to start a new life in the North.

Expansion
With Vinterkros (Now made a house as more and more land went under Imperial rule,) able to spend less resources fighting raiders, they could add more to their fiefdom. They spent no time claiming the forests to secure lumber, and reaching to the mountain edges for their quarries. During this time their population had managed to grow even more, with their numbers reaching past the average of 600.

The Blood War
During the Blood War, Vinterkros was a target for many Vampire raids. While not the main target (Any primary target would be an official Imperial fort), it remained yet again a staging point for both sides. The men, who were suited for fighting raider attacks (which typically happened at night for them, anyway), managed to fair better, but only by a small amount. Out of all of their attacks, there was a point where they actually managed to take the lower section of the city. Luckily a small Imperial battalion was on standby so when Vinterkros sent for their aid, they managed to crush the vampire army (which at that point was trapped in the lower section.)

Lumber
Vinterkros's economy is more or less based on three things; Stone, Wood, and Food. When the hold was first established, they quickly left behind the Oakwood in favor of the sturdier lumber in the North. Baalin Vinterkros however, managed to prevent a mass de-forestation by developing a method to prevent the trees from being completely wiped out. While the aging time of the trees was several generations, he would order his workers to reserve entire fields specifically to begin the regrowth of the pine trees.

Food
Due to their isolation from the Imperials, they were forced to develop their own crops. Of the dozens of

different foods they brought from the South, they were astonished to find only a handful would grow in the frozen soil. Nonetheless, they were forced to make due with the severely limited food variations they had. Of these, their trustiest food (aside from cattle products), was the Potato. As such, it is widely believed that the potato is the hardiest of foods.

Stone
The last of the resources harvested by Vinterkros was the stone. This is widely believed that most of the mountain regions were prime spots for native camps, forcing Vinterkros to settle in the middle of a Pine forest. However, as time grew on, and their influence reached bigger and bigger, small quarries (Nothing to compare to the grand quarry near Avalon), were developing under Vinterkros's aid.

Military Heritage
The Vinterkros army has a proud heritage of fighting off raider attacks, with only minimal casualties and damage to their homes. They specialized in fighting raiders, however they have since lost this talent over the generations, but are still formidable fighters. In terms of selecting men, theirs and the universal "Imperial Doctrine" is almost identical. The common soldier can be found in a leather jerkin, a small iron breastplate underneath, a chain tunic, and leather boots and gloves. Swordsmen will receive shoulder-plates and neck armor, while spear-men and pike-men receive metal helmets.

Census Numbers
The army currently stands at a 310 man count, standing. However there are enough weapons and armor for there to be a militia that nearly triples that amount for times of need. There are two commanders the each command 160/465-man battalions in battle. It hasn't been labled who would command the militia forces, but I believe it is Harkin himself (Or whoever the current lord would be) would lead over the extra militia forces that can be formed in extreme circumstances.

Geography of Castle Vinterkros
Castle Vinterkros is positioned in the middle of a forest. Due to the dire circumstances of its founding, a strategic location wasn't as much in mind as setting up a fort at all. It is set in the dense pinewood and there is a larger river to the east. To the south are where the mountains begin in Vinterkros's borders. Further North would obviously be the Far North, but tundras also reside in that area.

It is roughly a 2-3 days travel walking to the next fort, however the outlying villages are a lot closer to each other.

-Written by Scribe Ropellius of the University