House Wenforth

Head of House

Agnes Emilia Wenforth holds the official power of her house. Her brothers are not subordinate to her, but their rights to the family’s coffers and political sway are no longer recognised by Stormwind. Nothing is known of her sister.

How did the family rise to nobility?

Several hundred years ago, a man named Petier Wenforth, a long-serving officer of the Stormwind army, lead an attack – and, in a way, a rescue mission – against an outlaw organisation that had been terrorising the nobles in southern Elwynn and had now taken over one of the manors, holding the High Lord of the house it belonged to hostage. Luck was on Petier’s side that day, and everything went brilliantly – by the time night fell, the group of outlaws had been captured, and the noble, a particularly strong supporter of the King, had been freed. To express their gratitude and award the man for his impressive military achievements, of which there was almost a lifetime, the Throne raised him and his family to nobility, granting them two villages in northern Elwynn – Rodenbury and Faringham – as well as a hefty sum of gold, which, pooled together with the fortune Petier had and still would earn himself, was eventually used to fund the construction of the Wenforth Manor at the foot of the northern mountains.

Perhaps surprisingly for an old man who had spent most of his life flailing about with a greatsword, Petier Wenforth had always been interested in the more refined cultural life of the Kingdom of Stormwind, often attempting to mingle with the painters and the musicians, the sculptors and the architects, the writers and the scholars that thrived in its capital. The first thing he did as a nobleman was choose for his family an insignia that brought the two passions of his life together – a sword with a ring of six pearls, which he saw as a mark of perfect, well-rounded beauty, looped around it. While the family has had its ups and downs, it hasn’t fallen from the Throne’s favour since then.

How does the family sustain its wealth?

Right now, they do not. Abelor Wenforth, Agnes’ father, was a ruthless man in some ways and so, hoping to shield his family from whatever ill fortune or, you might say, retribution might come his way, built his vast trade network on personal agreements rather than house-wide ones. These were all of them invalidated with his recent death, which means House Wenforth has lost most of its sources of income. Luckily, the fortune he has amassed over his long life, on top of the one the family already possessed, is enough to keep their coffers wealthy – at the moment. Agnes is still losing money quickly, however, and, aside from attempting to establish a new trade network for the house, she has already been forced to resort to measures such as selling their possessions and renting out their property once or twice.

What sort of assets does the family have?

The Wenforth Manor: Resting comfortably against the mountains in northern Elwynn, it has hardly been renovated since it was built, and is little more than a large decrepit farmhouse by modern standards. A fairly small expanse of farmland – compared to most nobles, at least – stretches to the south. Currently run by servants.

Stormwind Residence: A moderate-sized house in the heart of the capital. It has been the primary seat of the heads of this house since its focus shifted from agriculture to trade many years ago. Agnes resides here.

Rodenbury: A small, quiet farming village in northern Elwynn. Very close to the Wenforth Manor. It always grows enough food to feed their Lady and themselves, and almost never enough for there to be anything to sell.

Faringham: What used to be a village grew into a small town between Petier’s time and now. Larger and further off to the south, Faringham has a greater merchant and craftsman presence than Rodenbury. The miners under the Wenforths' employ used to be provided lodgings here as well – when the family still owned mines. Has a chapel and an inn.

Manufactory: A very small manufactory in Dun Morogh, purchased by Abelor Wenforth in a display of extravagance as his trade network expanded. At the moment the house owns it only in theory, as Agnes has all but handed it back to the dwarves in exchange for regular payments due to the financial situation the house is in.

The Jewelled Seat: Valuable enough to be considered a minor asset on its own, it is a symbol of Abelor Wenforth’s wealth and childish caprice. It is located in the Wenforths’ house in Stormwind, currently unused even for ceremonial purposes.

Treasury: A rather large fortune but no stable income at the moment apart from taxes. They are losing money.

Military: A very small guard force – one hundred swords at most, spread across all of their lands. Most of that number is militia; the house has only eleven professional guards in their service – four in Stormwind, four at the manor, and three escorting the High Seat.

What is the family known for?

House Wenforth has been known for several different things over the years. It started, with Petier Wenforth, as a mostly military-focused family that also supported the arts of Stormwind, losing both aspects in the next generation or two; as circumstances and High Seats changed, so did the focus of the house, from military to agriculture, from agriculture to trade. It reached the peak of its fame as a merchant house during Abelor’s tenure as High Seat, and it still retains some of its good name despite its current predicament. Agnes is making efforts to secure her family’s future as a house thriving on trade, but it is obvious already that she will be a far more patriotic noble than her predecessors. Rather than entirely focus on the family’s wealth, Agnes, believing that despite the current lack of steady income the coffers are full enough to allow this, has expressed a strong interest in supporting the artists and architects and alchemists and inventors of Stormwind and funding their projects in an effort to nurture a distinctly human branch of science and culture, so the kingdom would not have to rely on other races as strongly. It has become clear the Wenforths’ focus has shifted once again, this time to one of their original fields, but the question remains if Agnes will prove to be an efficient enough leader to keep the house afloat while balancing it with the duty she feels towards her nation as a whole.

How old is the family?

No official records remain, and what is known of Petier Wenforth comes from other, more vague sources, but it is generally assumed that the family was raised to nobility around two and a half centuries ago, perhaps three at most.

What can be obtained by creating a new family over joining one already in existence?

Pretty much the entire concept, as it is fairly specific – it is both a house strongly focused on human science and culture and a house in real danger of bankruptcy, both of which are very interesting ideas to me, and they’re fairly essential to this character as well. This kind of set up means that there are many potential storylines that can’t be explored elsewhere – a largely incompetent noble trying to get her house back on its feet, art and science patronage in Stormwind, Agnes’ father’s unseemly secrets, the entire family drama with her brothers – and I intend to tackle them all eventually, as time allows.

Is the family open for members to join?

As family members, not at the moment. Servants and the like are welcome.