Mistvale

Mistvale was a town situated in the northern regions of the Ashen Coast, though later subjugated by the Forsaken and laid to ruin by the invasion of the Orcish Horde. It had been centered around metals and metallurgy, owned along with a small portion of the land around it by the House of Avernus.

The town has since became the centre of an Earldom, bereft the ruin left behind by the undead.

History
Settled during Strom's colonization of the later Gilnean peninsula, the families of Avernus and Blackvale sent a small collective of families to venture forth into the northern regions of the Ashen Coast under a strained truce; their history of secretive agreements and ambitions for control laid the premise for a strong rivalry. Following their arrival and the founding of a yet-unnamed settlement, their differences came to a head and violence followed, resulting in a short-lived period of destitute bloodshed. Only following the timely assaassination of the current head of Blackvale did things take to change, and so it had fallen and ultimately unified under the what was now the House of Avernus.

Named Mistvale on account of their placement by Rowan Avernus I, the town saw a fortunate start, as the area proved to be rich with minerals and otherwise valuable resources. It garnered growth and revenue through a combination of personal and situational exploits, as the nearby conflict between the families of Cobal and Stanton come to a tumultuous close atop Bannhurst. The regional prosperity thereafter did well by it's townfolk, though they vied to remain independent from their neighbors - at such length, and by their lord's urging, they remianed careful and reserved. By this time, their small community had grown considerably, though not quite as expansive as those along their borders.

Once the call flew out across Gilneas to succeed Arathor, their ability to abstain had begun to weaken. Whilst building a relatively meager tribute of men-at-arms, the rise of House Cobalstant created a host of complications with preserving the influx of wealth; while disdainful in doing so, total freedom was not a luxury they could afford, and so they pledged fealty. Now a Baronetcies, the House of Avernus saw to the construction of a manor overlooking the rest of their land, though through this, their overall size became fixed.

War in the Ashen Coast
Following the establishment of the Kingdom of Gilneas, the area of the Ashen Coast experienced a mix of religions. Cobal's Hold and Karnsburg were strong worshipers of the Holy Light, while such towns as Rosefield and Gregor's Crossing, which were mostly agrarian, were strong supporters of the Old Ways and refused to worship the light. To add further religious confusion, worship of the god Deus was adopted in Brandon's Stead and Keel Harbor. With Bannhurst caught in the center, religious tension broke out within the area. As the strongest family in the area, the Cobalstants believed that Bannhurst should be kept to Light worship, seeking to oust Old Ways worship and especially worship of the god Deus.

Chapels to the Light were established in the areas of Cobal's Hold and Karnsburg, and a small cathedral was to be built in Bannhurst. Using stealth tactics and foreign mercenaries, the Cobalstants focused destruction on the towns of Keel Harbor and Brandon's Stead in order to cut down on Deus worship, in the eyes of the Cobalstants it was seen as a direct affront to the light and was to be snuffed out. By 600 F.A., the Ashen Coast' dominant religion was becoming Light worship.

In retaliation, an alliance was formed between the two towns by the name of the Ashen Coast Coalition, and rather than pushing for stealthy methods, a direct assault was sieged on Bannhurst in order to severely hurt the Cobalstant's wealth. The assault attracted a large amount of attention to the Ashen Coast by the rest of Gilneas, with other houses silently supporting the Deus worshipers with hopes of displacing the wealthy Cobalstants and establishing some hold in the area.

Fearing for their people, the towns of Rosefield and Gregor's Crossing banded together in an alliance of their own named the Rose Pact, laying siege to Bannhurst in order to displace both the Cobalstants and the Ashen Coast Coalition. The three way war in the town led to a severe decline of Bannhurst's prosperity, with the Cathedral's construction site destroyed and the great gold mine of Bannhurst being left unmanned. Unable to reap the benefits of the Ashen Coast, the armies of Greymane marched into the region, occupying the wreckage of Bannhurst and effectively ending the war. By the end of the strife, Keel Harbor and Brandon's Stead were left in ruins.

The Cobalstants funded the rebuilding of these two towns, establishing chapels of the Light, while Gregor's Crossing and Rosefield were permitted to continue their practices of the Old ways, and worship of the light was adopted in the area as well. Ultimately, Deus worship was effectively destroyed in the area as most practitioners were either slain or were converted to the ways of the light.

Originally built for self-sufficiency, Mistvale - by extension of a few small fields - had been seeded with faint traces of the Old Ways, though dominantly in worship of the Light. While never fully ousted, practices were kept secret under a mutual agreement indirectly involving Lord Warict, whom had succeeded the now-passed Brennor, and thus remained. Though notably tolerant, his inability to denoucne the unjust diction caused resentment for both Avernus and, to a greater extent, House Cobalstant to swell. The incursion of Greymane's forces were, at length, the only reason why precautionary measures were not taken and thusly, why differing opinions did not give way to violence.

This, in turn, marked the beginning of a darker time for the town; between a line of terrible lordship and lingering sparks of an uprising.

Marsh's Rebellion
For centuries after the destruction of Brandon's Stead and it's rebuilding, the lords of the town, House Greyfield, plotted against the Cobalstants. With the Ashen Coast Coalition's failure echoing in their history for hundreds of years and the family having been degraded down to the lowest rung of the noble chain, the Greyfields hired Alteraci assassins to destroy House Cobalstant around 943 F.A. For the most part, it was successful, being a large house and it's members spread wide, Cobalstants began turning up dead for months following the contract given. Fearing for their lives, most of the Cobalstants attempted to flee to Bannhurst to Cobalstant Manor, where Lord Hendrick Cobalstant ruled over the town.

Unable to house the influx of his relatives, Hendrick sent them away from Bannhurst, giving them refuge on small holds and minor farms, the majority of them setting up in Cobal's Hold and Karnsburg, which both housed a keep and manse respectively, both that had been relatively unoccupied for quite some time. However, before restoration could be completed, most of the Cobalstants were slain in their sleep aside from one, Jackson Cobalstant. Jackson was hunted down by the mercenaries and captured. Promising the men wealth beyond their reason if they aided him, the Alteraci mercenaries discarded their Greyfield banners and went under Jackson's employ. Feigning his demise, Jackson took on the persona of Harrison Marsh, who wooed and married Elisa of the Greyfields of Brandon's Stead. The mercenaries then assassinated the entire Greyfield family, bringing the town under Marsh's command.

Infuriated with his kin for having turned his family away and in his eyes leading to their deaths, Jackson led his band into Bannhurst under the guise of marauding bandits of unknown origin. After sacking half of the town, Jackson and Hendrick faced off in single combat, where Marsh was beheaded and House Greyfield was made nearly defunct with the murder of Elisa. Jackson's son, Kendrick Greyfield (given his mother's surname to hide Harrison's true origins), was adopted by the Cobalstants and later groomed to be their puppet as the effectively gained control over yet another town in the Ashen Coast.

Gerren Avernus, remarked as the last of the ill-reputed along the Avernus bloodline, felt profound disgust with the actions of his liege; his involvement was minimal. Making true upon a well-deserved and rather nasty reputation, his attention abruptly shifted away from his people, for he became obsessed with notions of jealousy and anger, even in spite of his position. In result, a rebellion on the home-front caught flame not long after.

Led by Malvern Rorensen, a party of enraged miners stormed the manor in the later hours of the night, leaving Gerren displaced and a noteworthy sum of money pilfered from the family coffers. Jareth Avernus, son and successor, came to power through means not entirely clear - while likewise bound to the Cobalstants, he began secretively offering support to various parties seeking to oust them from power.

Gerren later made a return and several attempts to reassume control via ignoble force; his subsequent rebuke cost him his head. The 'blight' as it had been nicknamed, was finally culled.

Doubts, however, remained heavily - whilst economically, situations drastically worsened.

Demise of House Cobalstant
Locked in a state of recession and hurting from lack of attention many years past, Lord Jareth - both fearful for and of his people - began searching for another means to survive. As Bannhurst and the collective Ashen Coast as a whole began to follow, they took to the example of their neighboring houses and began searching for arrangements to make ends meet.

Even in spite of their efforts, few yielded anything substantial.

By the time the second war began, the negligent Cobalstants had all but left Bannhurst to rot, sparking a raid which ultimately destroyed their house and their seat of power. Now free of their shadow, the weakened House of Avernus eagerly supported the rising House Grayblade.

Their gambit paid off.

As wealth and commerce began to return in lieu of war and bloodshed, Jareth sought a place within the revitalization. The extended an offer Vassalage, seeking a cut for the otherwise struggling town in exchange for minerals and precious metals. most exports were thusly directed towards Cobal's Hold for refinement; the overall growth granted Mistvale the break it desperately needed, and thus it returned to a size justa shade under it's former glory. With the new income, newer mines were dug seeking to broaden their exports and take a more active part in the subsequent result.

The rise also prompted inquiries as to aquisition of various improvements to tools and machinery after the formation of the Coalition, but their smaller and subsequent lack of major industrialization prevented anything major.

Arrival of the Seventh Skull
Following the end of the Second War and the closing off of Gilneas from the rest of Azeroth, a group of Lordaeronian deserters turned bandits became trapped behind the wall. Originally just harassing small towns such as Emberstone Village, the Seventh Skull sought to grip Gilneas' economy under its fist. Laying siege to several towns across the Ashen Coast, such as Rosefield and Keel Harbor, the Seventh Skull gripped the southern Ashen Coast economy. It was not long before attempts were made to harry Mistvale into submission - though Danforth, as ever an ever spirited lord, never lived to deliver them rebuke. Defiant nontheless, one such raid granted Aya, daughter of Jareth - reigning lord - the chance to escape. Precautionary measures were taken, however, while entreated to threats and idle promises, Bannhurst came under siege before any were fulfilled.

Always loyal to his liege, and in accordance to the precedent set forth by his predecessors, Jareth amassed a meager militia to aid the Grayblades in their defense; however, he arrived too late, finding that it lay in ruins and that the family utterly destroyed. Following immediate attempts at aiding the survivors in their escape via Caravan, it seemed as though everything lay on the precipice of disaster through disarray. Following the mysterious ends of both House Cloverfield and Grayblade, they began to draw their focus inwards; most sought little part in whatever plagued the other families, and the stark change would poise problems on their home front.

Now with a future unclear, those of Mistvale became restless. During this time, and for a short period after, the town went dark.

Death of the Darkoaks and the Worgen
While on a visit to Gilneas City to visit his son and sole heir, Galin Darkoak, Lord Balaforth Darkoak was slain, alongside his son, by Berenal Grayblade, the heir to Bannhurst and true heir to Cobal's Hold and Karnsburg. The man was arrested, though was later released on the grounds that he was framed. With no other heirs to the land, Cobal's Hold, Karnsburg, and the Ruins of Bannhurst once again found themselves under the name of House Grayblade, though it was short lived.

While the young Lord Berenal Grayblade sought out a military life and left minor lords to run the towns in his stead, the Worgen curse swept across Gilneas in the years to come. While the Ashen Coast were mostly unaffected, Bannhurst became the site of hunting parties, seeking out the wolfmen in the ruins. After a large pack of Worgen were found in the ruins, and Gilneas City had been lost, the people of the Ashen Coast destroyed the bridge connecting the Ashen Coast to the rest of Gilneas.

Lord Jareth began supplying his militia with the means to combat the roving beasts, though word of the fallen city weighed heavily on his mind; that, shortly before, had been precisely where he sent his wife and children. Unbeknownst, both his son and daughter fell prey to the curse.

Arrival of the Horde
The final blow to the Ashen Coast was struck by the hands of the Orcish Horde that had arrived near the end of the first invason of Gilneas. During this time, Rosefield, Cobal's Hold, Karnsburg, and Brandon's Stead were destroyed by the Horde. The people of Gregor's Crossing held fast against the Orcish Horde, and provided an evacuation route for the families fleeing from the Ashen Coast. The town was later abandoned when the evacuation was nearing its end. During this time, the ruins of Bannhurst along with most of the Ashen Coast were the site of battle between the Gilneans and their Night elven allies, and the Orcish Horde that was invading.

By the end of the siege, the Greyfield family was neary wiped out, having been butchered when Brandon's Stead was ransacked. The people of House Gregor and the Lady of House Greyfield followed Lord Berenal Grayblade and lent their men to the banner of The Blades of Greymane. Gregor's Crossing now operates as a militant base in the Ashen Coast, having sustained minimal damage during the assault.

After gathering what remained of his personal miliita, Jareth evacuated his people to Keel Harbor along the paths set forth by the nearby families, remaining behind to delay any potential pursuers. He was ultimately killed during the fighting and later risen by the Forsaken. The town was razed, reducing it's stature to ash and splinters.

By the end of the siege, the people of House Gregor and the Lady of House Greyfield followed Lord Berenal Grayblade and lent their men to the banner of the Blades of Greymane, the Avernus family eventually following tow.

Reconstruction
Under Aya's instructions, cartographers and a sizeable workforce managed to disarm any remaining tools of war; clearing them away from the original site of Mistvale, which had been reduced to little more than ash after it had been lost to the Horde. It had, at length, been rebuilt to accomodate several changes; leaving it more defensible and serviceable than it had been in the days of yore. Once fully rebuilt, arcane wards were erected to shield the surrounding lands from encroachment and further tumult; passable only to those who bear specific keystones, or those who are granted entry by other means.

It has since been repopulated, many families returning to the lands of their ancestors. It is here that Aya now stakes her seat of power, and where her people enter a new age for the Ashen Coast, and Gilneas.

Iron Scions
Given name after the bountiful metal found within the town's mines, the Iron Scions of Avernus are a long-lived order initially founded to serve as personal men-at-arms under Mistvale's reigning Lord or Lady. Nearly destroyed during the fall of Gilneas, they have undergone a dramatic shift in purpose, now stationed in the defense of both the Rise and the Ashen Coast as a whole.

Chosen selectively, each initiate is put through intensive screening; searching for specific qualities whilst also wicking away menand women with ambition and equally harmful tendencies. Following induction, the new generation is instructed to take an oath—once taken, it cannot be broken; while required to progress, the matter is entirely optional - initiates who walk away are sent back to their families with provisions to compensate their time away.

Those who remain are separated into one of three subsidiary categories, determined based on aptitude

Culture
The environment upon which Mistvale rose played a significant part in it’s overall industry and, to an extent, it’s culture; given the abundance of minerals beneath their feet, they cultivated a naturally close ‘bond’ with the earth - as well as a strange union between faint traces of the Old Ways and an already communal society, though prominently pious towards the light. Samplings of their literature - prominently poetry - adhere to this mix of ideology.

They took a liking to gatherings and storytelling, and would do so quite often.

As their backgrounds were of myriad origin, and given that they had been effectively capped by the rule of House Cobalstant in their early years, a sense of kinship was pervasive. Trust between varying families was such that few ventured to lock their doors when outside their homes, and loyalty enough to stand for their fellow man when trouble came around.

The people of Mistvale were hardy and strong-willed, though plagued by a darker history. Most stood a nick above average, and sported darker red hair.