House Thenn is a new noble house of the north created in 300 AC.
Their coat of arms combines a bronze disk to honor the Thenn people with red flames to honour the devotees of R'hllor. The sigil echoes the sunburst of House Karstark.
Creation[]
House Thenn was created from the marriage arranged by Jon Snow, the then Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, between Sigorn, the Magnar of Thenn, and Lady Alys Karstark.
Jon arranged the marriage to protect Alys, whom he had known as a child, from being forcibly married to her cousin, Cregan Karstark, as Cregan's branch of the family wished to claim Karhold by having Harrion killed and Cregan has already lost, perhaps killed, two wives already.
The Red Priest Melisandre performed the wedding ceremony at Castle Black.
The Siege of Karhold[]
In the early days of year 301AC a host of 200 Thenn warriors approached Karhold, the ancient family stronghold of House Karstark.
As ordered by their new lady, Alys Karstark, the Thenns were to take control of the castle from her cousin Cregan, who had sought to usurp it by marrying her against her will. Her new husband Sigorn, would lead the attack.
Karhold stood atop a cliff, separated from the ground below by an immense drawbridge. This was the strongest defence remaining to the castle as Arnolf Karstark had taken what remained of its strength to war.
The remaining garrison was young and green, while outside the walls winter was coming. Few men would ever have dared to climb the cliffs of Karhold, but the freefolk had braved the wall and as such were unfazed by the concept of the climb.
When the Thenn berserkers scaled the walls their warcries alone lead some men to rout. What few dared resist the attackers did not live to do so.
With the castle largely subdued, the Thenns reached the great hall with Sigorn leading the charge finding Cregan fortified with what few retainers remained to them. The battle was short but bloody. No less than forty men lay dead in that hall alone, but the battle was over, for Cregan was among them.
Shortly after the battle the drawbridge was lowered and Alys Karstark could enter her home once more. Upon the drawbridge she met her new husband, a Karstark banner in his hand. She had expected him to raise his own standard, the red sun of Thenn. Instead Sigorn asked her to cloak him with the banner. Through this act he made it clear that Alys was the Lady of Karhold and of his heart. All but one of their children would take the name Karstark, until the establishment of Harrion the Host as a Lord in his own right.
The War for the Dawn[]
During the War for the Dawn, the battle between the men of the North and the freefolk against the threat of the Others, Sigorn Thenn took 100 men north to aid in the conflict. The battle has since fallen into the realm of mystery and legend, although it is known that of the hundred men that accompanied Sigorn beyond the wall, only half returned.
Upon his return, Sigorn was greeted by his wife Alys, who explained that she had given birth to a son, whom they named Jon.
Integration into the North[]
The freefolk who fought in the War for the Dawn were accepted into the fold of the North by Rickon Stark.
Despite this, many soon found the North to be too hostile, with conflicts soon erupting, leading many of the freefolk to elect to migrate back across the wall, feeling robbed of their past freedoms.
The Thenns, however, were bound by blood. They could not leave, yet there was much dissent among the migrants and the native Northerners in the forests of Karhold. The freefolk feared tyranny while the Northerners feared chaos and lawlessness. Sigorn would make a law to appease both. In the village of Bronzeforge, a settlement founded by the joint efforts of both peoples, they made a pact, stating the following:
- They would be free-men sworn to serve their lords rather than serfs. Councils would be held where they might present their grievances to their lords and laws would be made to protect every man and woman’s right to fair trial before the gods.
- Even when they bend the knee, men and women shall be free. This is true for man and god, this is true in ink and blood. This is the Lord’s Oath, which he must pledge to his people in order to rule them.
- The people have their half: As long as Lords shall speak the law, keep us safe from Winter’s maw, we will serve him on his land, pledging heart, and soul, and hand.
Lordship and Snowhearth[]
With the passage of time, House Thenn would be lords in their own right.
Following successfully putting down a band of raiders in 322AC, Harrion, youngest son of Alys and Sigorn, was gifted a tract of land, which he used to build a castle.
Rather than becoming a cadet to his brothers, he took his Father's name and swore himself to Karhold as a bannerman. Harrion wanted to show any and all who visited his home the same hospitality the Karstarks had shown his people. The castle was named Snowhearth, and for his hospitality he would be known as Harrion the Host.