The Hearthguard

Origins

Raised in the long centuries of the Long Vigil, when the realm slept but its walls were still manned. The Hearthguard keep the oaths of the founding — to stand when none else will, to fall before the keep doth. Theirs is the steadiest tradition in the kingdom.

Culture

An order of hall and hearth. Each Hearthguard warden keeps a second trade — smithcraft, ice-weaving, or the longbow — and passeth it to a chosen apprentice. Ceremony runs thick in their halls; more than one visitor hath complained of the toasts running well past supper.

Combat Style

Three schools serve the Hearthguard: the Frostweavers, who slow the foe ere he reaches the walls; the Ironguard sentinels, who meet him at the gate with shield and blade; and the Deadeye marksmen, whose arrows carry across the longest of fields. Together they form a wall of cold, steel, and patience.

Relations

Bound in shared halls with the Forgewrights. Brother-arms with the McClouds upon the walls. Respected by the Sylvan, though held somewhat apart — their ways are of the keep, not the wood.