House Fairhair
A minor but ancient house, the Fairhairs have lasted for thousands of years since the Age of a 1000 clans in the first age and currently reside within Harehall in the Aedrinaran capital of Odinsthrone. The Fairhairs maintain a close relationship with the other house of Odinsthrone, House Iceaxe and have no open feuds or rivalries with other houses.
Tracing their ancestry to the long extinct Boar Clan, House Fairhair was founded by Gustaar Fairhair, a strong warrior and Jomsvikingr, who built his home of Harehall and ruled over a land of farmers and warriors in the hills of Odinsthrone. The house has maintained control over the region since, their minor stature and good standing with the local population earning them survival over the thousands of years of conflict around their homeland.
The House has seen a rise in status and prestige since the 40 Year War, as Haarold Iceaxe, the husband of Jalfrey Fairhair, became the most formidable and talented general of the Aedrinaran armies during the conflict.
Doomed 2 Die met the assembled armies of the Fairhairs and Iceaxes in Kulvrsford as Haarold Iceaxe traveled with his battlemaster, Magni Fairhair, to put down the Western Skallen. The army were talked into a truce with the Skallen by Val and have turned their attention to fighting The White Will.
Crest
The crest of House Fairhair is an orange field depicting the traditional sigil of the long extinct Boar Clan, the clan from which the Fairhairs originated. This form of the crest has existed for their entire history. Haarold Iceaxe, the Golden Boar, uses a modified form of the banner with the two axes of the Iceaxe house behind the boar with a bright gold field as his personal standard in battle and for his longship, The Lightbringer.Members
- Jalfrey Fairhair
- Haarold Iceaxe
- Magni Fairhair
- Sigrunn Fairhair
Allies
- Doomed 2 Die
- House Iceaxe
- Jarl Earling Horfhand
History
The precursors to House Fairhair were the small Vilderfolken Boar Clan, from which the house gets its sigil. A member of the group, Gustaar Fairhair, named for his long bright yellow hair and beard, built a keep near the modern city of Odinsthrone and founded his own house. The Fairhares ruled as nominal lords of this small area of land for most of the Age of a 1000 Clans, and were amongst one of the earliest to submit to Ragnar I the Great's conquest of Aedrinar and the founding of the third kingdom.
Members of House Fairhair went on to live quiet lives, content in their small patch of land around Harehall and earning the respect of surrounded houses and local commoners. Their respect and defference to more powerful houses has meant few dared to challenge them in fear of bringing the wrath of a greater clan or house upon themselves, and the Fairhairs themselves did little to interfere with or meddle with those outside their realm.
During the early second age, a new settlement led by the House Riverwalker was constructed near their territory, founding the precurssor city to Odinsthrone, Riverholm. The Fairhairs maintained a cordial attitude to the Riverwalkers and became more dependent on the growing city. When Yorvik II of Houe Riverwalker became High King of the fifth kingdom in 1982, Hjordis Fairhair became his keeper of coin, marking the only time until the Eighth Kingdom of Aedrinar that a member of House Fairhair took a position in court.
Riverholm would go on to be destroyed by Olaf II in 2191 during his invasions of the Southern Hold whilst forming the Sixth Kingdom. The Fairhairs did stand in battle with the Riverwalkers in their stand against Olaf, but when the Jarl of Lastlight surrounded Harehall Gunborg Fairhair offered his life in place of his people, with his son then taking an oath of loyalty to the new kingdom.
The Sixth Kingdom would not last long, and soon Harehall was surrounded by yet another hostile army in the 2260s when King Knut invaded their lands. The Fairhairs offered alleigance to Knut before his army arrived at their homes, and as such were allowed to assit in the rebuilding of Riverholm as the city of Odinsthrone.
The expansion of Odinsthrone saw Harehall incorporated into the growing city, become one of its outermost districts. The Fairhairs returned to obscruity, forging an alliance with House Iceaxe and keeping to themselves, occasionally rising to the rank of Thane within Odinsthrone but largely avoiding greater glory or placing a target on their backs.
Around half of the house would be slain at sea when Ulfgir V lost to the Eldrian Empire, with the house turning to one of the few surviving nobles within Odinsthrone, Sven Iceaxe, to rebuild the kingdom and the city, declaring him Jarl of Odinsthrone. The Fairhairs then became key players within the city, expanding business and educational interests, funding new riverdocks, temples, and academic buildings, feulling the Odinsthrone Awakening.
By the time of the Eighth Kingdom, the Fairhairs were amongst the most ancient of houses, although their lists of titles and achievements did not reflect it. During the 40 year war, Magni Fairhair, the uncle of current house head Jalfrey, took on a role as battlemaster for the Iceaxes, training the future King Hardrada in martial skills. Jalfrey also assended to the rank of head of the house and married Haarold Iceaxe, cementing the alliance between the two Odinsthrone powers.
With Haardrada's election as king in 1035, the Fairhairs have become heavily involved in his court with Haarold, Jalfrey, and their daughter Sigrunn becoming key players for Haardrada and often handling diploacy and management of the kingdom on his behalf. In 1052, Sigrunn Iceaxe resolved a pack of Owlbears raiding the mining town of Kullfjorde and was granted the title of Thane for her efforts, begining the process of House Fairhair slowly moving towards the small village instead of their ancestral home.
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