House of Wilde

The house of Wilde or de Wilde is a human noble and knightly family, originating from the central Dorath Highlands, who currently claim the throne of the Kingdom of Lithuar, and are dukes of Safford and Dorcaster, and earls of Eastmarch. Of Tolossian lineage, the house began as tribal chieftains in the war-torn borderlands between Tolossia and Lithuar. In the late 700s, lord Frithric (or Frederick) the Savage changed sides and pledged fealty to the King of Lithuar, taking his lands with him. His epithet was dwarvenized into a family name, and he became the first Earl of Safford of his house. His son, Adhemar became a renowned war hero during the Second Orc War, and was raised to a dukedom. He expanded his holdings in the east to include border areas rich in ores and mineral wealth. Over the following two centuries, the Wildes used strategic marriages to take advantage of dwarven succession laws to inherit extensive farmlands in the west and south. The Wildes became among the largest landowners in Lithuar, with over 11,000 square miles of hereditary estates prior to the Wilde Uprising in late 1020. Since then, lord Frederick IV has effectively assumed royal control over the entirety of Lithuar and annexed the royal domain to his hereditary lands.

Origins
The house's lineage extends beyond written records, in the form of an oral history that dips into legend. These oral histories were written down later, long after they allegedly occurred.

The house before Frederick the Savage are sometimes referred to Ligulfings, after the first of the line described in the oral history. Ligulf was, according to family legend, a traveler from the east who came from out of the Great Waste and into the fertile plains and uplands along with many other warriors in the 4th century. The humans established tribal kingdoms as they spread along the southwestern and eastern frontiers of the Old Empire. Ligulf proved himself in war during these frontier clashes, even being said to have slain a dragon in battle, and became master of a cluster of border villages. He pledged fealty to the Tolossian kings, though some historians suspect Ligulf himself may have been a Tudescan or Clovian.

In the 400s, the arrival of the orcs overran the human tribal kingdoms as well as the Empire, but the Ligulfings took pride in that they were able to fend off attack and keep their villages safe. Their villages, later merged into a town, came to be known as Safford, having earned a reputation as a safe and well-protected crossing over a river. Over the centuries, the Ligulfings proved themselves repeatedly in border clashes with the Lithuari dwarves, as the successor kingdoms to the former empire fought each other over land and resources. As the Tolossian kings adopted dwarven feodal models of governance, they converted traditional clan chieftainships into allodial fiefdoms, making them counts and knights in the process. The first Ligulfing to appear in written records is Rodolf Langsward in 550, in a royal decree granting him lordship over Safford, though it does mention his "illustrious family line", which implies that the Ligulfings were of some renown.

Rodolf died in 577, and after him his descendants have clear birth and burial records, and are mentioned in royal documents. He was succeeded by his son Agilo (unknown birth date, d. 590), then by Agilo's son Theoval (b. 562, d. 620), his son Garibald I (b. 590, d. 640), his daughter Heide (b. 610, d. 645), her daughter Brunhilde (b. 640, d. 710), her son Grimald (b. 660, d. 705), his son Garibald II,  (b. 678, d. 740), her son Edred (b. 700 d. 745), his son Garibald III (b. 725, d. 780), and her son Frithric (b. 750, d. 827). Many of these counts died in battle during various wars between Lithuar and Tolossia.

Emergence
As a young warrior, Frithric gained a reputation for ferocity in battle, earning the epithet "the Savage". He also had a cunning and treacherous mind that made him not to be trusted by his peers. When his mother died and he was able to take control of the family lands, he made a secret deal with the King of Lithuar. During a battle in 782, he refused to commit his warriors to the Tolossian king's side, which saw the Tolossian army wiped from the field and the king slain. He then swore fealty to the king of Lithuar, and brought his lands with him. The dwarven king knighted him and made him baron over his traditional fief. He was granted other lands as well, making Safford a large barony.

His eldest son, Arnulf (b. 770) died in battle in 794. Arnulf had proved to be a stalwart knight and his death was heartbreaking for his parents. By 795, the war between Tolossia and Lithuar had come to an end and the two kingdoms made peace, intending to focus on rebuilding and forging a new alliance against the looming threat of the Orcish Khaganate to the north. With the war over, Frithric was made an Earl, and he chose to dwarvenize his name and epithet as Frederick de Wilde.

Frederick's second son, Adhemar was born in 796, and was raised to become a knight while Frederick sought favor with his dwarven neighbor, the duke Wycliffe Strongbow. He fostered his son at the duke's castle, where Adhemar received an education and served as a squire from age twelve to sixteen. In 815, Frederick urged Adhemar to volunteer to serve with the Dorei Militia, an independent, multinational order of knights, mercenaries, and veterans that dedicated themselves to defending the Dorei River valley from orcish raids. The kings of the major states were not willing to engage the orcs and risk war, but some nobles acted on their own to protect their lands. When the raids turned into all-out war in late 819, Frederick placed his retinue and conscripted peasants at the disposal of the royal marshals, and played a role in the king's war council.

Frederick died on 13 Frostfall 827, and left his lands to Adhemar. The young lord was, at this time, a field commander in the Dorei Militia army, and had become the marshal of the Lithuari contingent. He returned to Steingard to be invested and swear fealty to the king, and was granted several new frontier territories in eastern Lithuar. Adhemar then continued to lead joint forces on various fronts, and later served in the joint war council under Quartermaster-General Arya Hafwen. He married dwarven noblewoman Isabel of Lonside in 829, after they met at a king's banquet. They had three children: Rodolf (b. 833), Adeline (b. 836), and Swain (b. 840). Adhemar was made a duke and given extensive lands in southern Lithuar after the war, and received an appointment as Lord Marshal of the Empire when the allied states were organized into the New Empire.

Rise to power
Adhemar was succeeded as Duke by Rodolf when he died in 857. A regency was held under Lady Isabel for three years until the new duke came of age. Rodolf had squired at the household of Duke Arnulf Ironfist, and came to power with a sharp mind and an education for law and business, a contrast to his father's warrior training. The new age of peace had reduced the need for feudal warfare, as disputes between lords could now be laid before the feet of the imperial Crown. With his mother's advice, Rodolf pursued infrastructure projects, building new roads throughout the duchy, and an aqueduct to provide fresh water to his fortress in Safford. With access to fresh water, the fortress developed into a citadel with an extensive town market; its population boomed and it became a major center of trade in southern Lithuar. Rodolf sought the expertise of Lord Ironfist, who was an expert engineer and businessman, and signed a treaty that would contract Ironfist's men to advise on and manage his major building projects. He next sought to exploit the hilly uplands for their rich stone and precious metal resources, also contracting Ironfist engineers in building new quarries and mines. His lands became second-largest producers of lead and silver in Lithuar, and the third-largest producers of stone and tin.

Rodolf was also a savvy negotiator, seeking to expand his house's influence by diplomacy and economy. He had succeeded in turning his duchy into a trade hub and economic powerhouse, and had worked closely with the House of Ironfist to do so, making them strong allies. Rodolf also was a close friend of the King of Lithuar, and secured rights over silver extracted in his territories; normally, silver and gold mines are under the sole right of kings, not feudal vassals. An arrangement was made where the silver produced in Safford was kept by the duke, but the duke would owe a direct tax to the king for the usage. Rodolf would use the silver to mint his own coins in great quantity, funding his building projects and supporting a large ducal guard of professional soldiers and retainers. In 865, Rodolf married a landed noblewoman from northern Lithuar, Martessa de Chateaucourt, daughter of the Duke of Dorcaster. Her lands provided new economic opportunities, as they lay along the Dorei River and included the market town of Hillford, several vineyards, and rich farmland. Their marriage was a fruitful one, though both were habitual with their infidelities. They had six children: Conrad (b. 866), Betrada (b. 868), Adhemar (b. 871), Margo (b. 874), Heide (b. 877), and Ilia (b. 879). He had four known illegitimate children with other women: Connor (b. 869), Tomasin (b. 870), Enrica (b. 875), and Tancredo (b. 878).

With his wealth and status, Rodolf was able to secure marriage contracts for his children that ensured them high status, weatlh, and inheritances. Rodolf died in 900 at the age of 57 after a stroke. He was succeeded by his eldest son Conrad in Safford. Martessa had willed her lands to her daughter Betrada, but Bertrada gave up her rights and joined a Templar monastery in 898, willing her inheritance to Conrad's heirs. Between 916 and 919, Conrad aided the king in ending a feudal war that had sparked among the eastern Marcher Lords. With the lands vacated after the conflict left many lords dead, Conrad was granted considerable estates in the east. In 925 these lands were consolidated and he was named Earl of Eastmarch. When Martessa died in 915, Conrad's only child Frederick (b. 890) inherited Hillford, and then inherited Safford and Eastmarch in 919 when Conrad died.

Frederick married his maternal first cousin Isabeau, Duchess of Dorcaster in 910, and they jointly exercised authority over their lands as they came to inherit them. Frederick differed from his predecessors in that he was not close friends with the King and took a more cool approach to the exercise of royal authority in his territories, in part because the accumulation of large tracts of land under his house made him capable of presenting a viable threat to the king. Frederick II did, not, however, antagonize the king and generally proceeded to build up his duchies' infrastructure and economy. The addition of Dorcaster changed things radically, bringing in vast areas of farmland and river that could be exploited for agriculture or as trade routes. Frederick and Isabeau had three children, all daughters: Tancreda (b. 911), Marthe (b. 914), and Renata (b. 916); Frederick II died in 937, passing the inheritance to Tancreda.

Tancreda's reign marked a sharp turn in policy. She consolidated her duchies under a common administration, managed by reeves appointed directly by her. She distributed castle lands to her loyal retainers, making them barons by means of subinfeudation. The King of Lithuar contested this action, and brought the matter to the imperial courts in 939. While the issue worked its way through its appeals, Tancreda continued her investiture of baronial power, enabling a highly flexible ducal army to be rapidly called up where needed. By the time the suit was received in the imperial chamber court, her potential forces rivaled the royal army; the court dismissed the suit on account of there being no law in Lithuar that banned subinfeudation. The King decreed that Tancreda had violated her feudal oath to him, formally confiscated her lands, and mobilized for war in the summer of 940.

Tancreda was able to call up soldiers much more quickly, and launched raids into the royal demesne. Royal knights rode into Safford and Dorcaster but met with resistance from the solidly-built fortresses, and were forced to withdraw. Those geographically closest to the Wilde lands had strong economic ties to them and were reluctant to raise arms against them, but they were also not willing to risk confiscation of lands from the King. The conflict became a war of attrition with little territory changing hands, and few other nobles intervening in either side. Lord Strongbow sided with the King, and lent forces to raid Wilde lands, but otherwise was unable to directly engage. By 942, the emperor threatened to intervene by force and demanded the two sides make peace, calling them both to the capital for a hearing. The emperor and the resident Confessor decreed that the territorial grant held by the House of Wilde was made by both the King of Lithuar and by act of the Imperial Assembly in 843, making them inviolable without consent of both the Emperor and the King. This affirmed the right to enfeoff without interference, but also acknowledged that Tancreda had violated her oath of fealty in preparing for war against her King and owed reparations.

The rest of Tancreda's reign was tense. The conflict had drawn lines between the old nobility, who supported expanded privileges for the aristocracy and prized their independence, and the King. Much of the newer nobility, who had been granted lands in the north and east, were indebted to the royal government and had not built up their own base of power. This war between the monarch and the Wildes became mixed with wider issues of the royal succession and conflict between factions at court. Soon after the conclusion of the war, disorder erupted between protectors of the King, who had suffered a mental breakdown in 945. Bloody civil wars would rage across most of the kingdom from 945 to 951 and then again from 954 to 961. Tancreda maintained neutrality in the first of these wars. Tancreda died in 955, passing the duchy to her son Frederick III (b. 936). Frederick ruled for around 18 years before tragically dying in hunting accident, but led the duchy carefully through the second civil war. He sided with the House of Lys against King Stefan VI, and helped Gorlois win the throne, though his intractable defense of his own ducal rights would not make that alliance last very long.

Frederick was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Adelaide (b. 955), and then by his younger son Tancredo (b. 960) when Adelaide died childless in 1005. Throughout these reigns, the dukes continued Tancreda's political trajectory of gathering allies and pressuring for their traditional rights, and economically expanding Dorcaster's trade and Safford's mining operations. Under Adelaide, Eastmarch became a major producer of salt, and the newfound salt trade enriched the previously blighted region. The Wilde house lands became highly prosperous, and the dukes used this money to fortify their domains with new castles.

Tancredo died in 1017, leaving the inheritance to his only son Frederick IV (b. 990). Frederick was an accomplished warrior, who had achieved fame fighting in the eastern borders of the Empire. His daring raids into Ucral earned him the nickname the Ferocious. However, his reign in Safford and Dorcaster has seen a belligerence towards the King such that he has earned a new epithet: the Wrangler. Frederick has made the appearance of a fop, but it is an open secret among the aristocracy that this is an obfuscating act of political theater. Frederick has used his extensive incomes to hire mercenaries in order to form a standing army, and has been encouraging infighting among the nobles aligned with the King. His goal had long been to gain imperial immediacy, and separate his duchy from Lithuar; many of the old nobles have sided with him and have formed a league with this common goal of independence. To this end, Frederick filed suit in the imperial court. His suit initially requested separation from Lithuar, citing the imperial-level grant of land from 843 as evidence of what should be imperial immediacy.

However, evidence arose during discovery that indicated that Frederick had a superior claim to the throne of Lithuar through his mother's line. He filed a new suit claiming the throne, with an ultimatum that if the issue was unresolved by the winter, he would press his rights by force of arms. The matter was still not settled, owing to the death of Emperor Owen and a large-scale international crisis in Tethar, and on 2 Frostfall, he formally declared himself the rightful King of Lithuar and rallied his allies. At time of this writing, Lithuar has erupted into civil war, with most of the old nobility siding with Lord de Wilde, and the royal capital of Kingston under siege.