House Valkenmar of Faulmoor
“Steel and Sacrifice.”
— House Valkenmar motto
House Valkenmar is the ruling house of Faulmoor, seated at Valkenheim. Its authority rests on military power, old political legitimacy, and a tradition of severe public duty that has become increasingly literal during the Rotmire Blight.
Overview
Before the Blight, House Valkenmar stood among the strongest powers in the region. Valkenheim's fortifications, trade connections, and administrative importance supported a baronial system in which House Wilthorne of Ebonmoor and House Harrowden of Fenmire served as major vassal houses.
For ordinary people, that authority arrives as gates, soldiers, paperwork, quarantine orders, guarded supplies, and the question of whether the barony still has enough reach to enforce the next command it gives.
The Blight has weakened the practical reach of that system. Quarantines, ruined roads, lost settlements, military commitments, and scarcity have forced Valkenmar resources across a widening set of emergencies.
The house remains the legal center of Faulmoor's government, but its ability to enforce that authority varies sharply from place to place.
History
House Valkenmar's power grew around Valkenheim and the trade routes that connected the barony's agricultural lands, ports, military posts, Ebonmoor, and Fenmire.
Its relationship with House Wilthorne was historically close and mutually useful, while its relationship with House Harrowden was more openly unequal and pragmatic. The Blight has strained both arrangements.
Present Day
Baron Malric Valkenmar remains the head of the house. His government is associated publicly with hard containment measures and the belief that survival may require severe sacrifice.
The house's soldiers and officials continue to operate across Faulmoor, but shortages and competing crises have made direct control inconsistent. In places such as Greymire, Valkenmar authority is recognized even where day-to-day order depends on local power brokers and informal arrangements.
Tension with the vassal houses has increased as Ebonmoor protects its own trade and Fenmire uses its silver supply as political leverage.
Major Members
Baron Malric Valkenmar is the current head of the house and Baron of Faulmoor. Lord Ivor Valkenmar, his younger brother, is a prominent administrator involved in the house's economic affairs. Lady Freya Valkenmar and Lady Astrid Valkenmar are remembered members of the family lost during the Blight era, while Lukas Valkenmar remains the surviving young heir.