House Darntus

The House of Darntus is one of the original Darnussian noble families that came to prominence during the Narikaton City-States era, in the city-state of Torchvan. It was a relatively minor house, until the warlord Darntus the Flying unified Narikaton under his rule, and proceeded to establish the Kingdom of Darnussia.

Early history
The myth of House Darntus, which for many years was the official family history, suggested that the Darntus house came to rule Narikaton by the consent of the wiser nobles of Narikaton, in hopes of ending the endless inter-Nariki wars that marked the first seven centuries of the common era. Darntus, grieving for his lost brother, reluctantly took up the crown to bring justice and peace to all the peoples, civilize the Shirmanians and Kozarians, and forge an empire. Beyond Darntus' father and elder brother, no mention of the family's history is made.

The truth is far less romantic. Based on ancient writings rediscovered in the 1800s, and accepted as official in the late 1990s, we now know that House Darntus was a relatively minor house until 745. Sometime in the third century, the village of Torchvan was taken over by a trio of outcasts from Oster. While their names are lost to history, we know that the descendants of the leader of the band became House Strommdor, and House Darntus came from one of his lieutenants. A third house reference appears briefly, likely the children of the other lieutenant, whose name later died out.

By the fourth century, the leader of House Strommdor was calling himself Jerl Printzeps, or "First Earl" of Torchvan, a city-state that now controlled the heavily forested lands between Oster and Merenberg. The leader of House Darntus was known as the "Earl's Sword," or enforcer, and was probably equivalent to a Baron or Viscount in later ranking systems. House Darntus remained in fealty to Strommdor, likely operating both as army, police, and tax collectors, to various lords of Torchvan.

The Fall of Strommdor
In 745, the fate of Torchvan, and ultimately Darnussia, hinged on a fire. The young men of Houses Strommdor and Darntus, including the lords of both houses, were meeting under cover of a wedding ceremony, presumably to plan a surprise attack on either Oster or Merenberg. It is not known how the fire got started, or spread to the basement where the meeting was taking place, but it is known that none of the men survived the blaze.

The last living male member of House Strommdor, Anton, was an old man, the great uncle of the Earl, and had been nowhere near the line of succession before the fire. Danton Darntus, the father of Darntus the Flying, was an equally unlikely heir, the second son of the second cousin to the Darntus House leader. Both houses were decimated, but House Darntus, at least, had two young heirs, while House Strommdor had no men young enough to have a son.

The Rise of Darntus
Earl Anton made a proposition to Prime Minister Danton, that Danton's elder son, Menkon, be adopted into House Strommdor and named as the heir; Danton's younger son, Darntionus, would then inherit (and rebuild) House Darntus. Both sons were married to young daughters of House Strommdor, to seal the agreement, and provide (both men hoped) a large number of sons to repopulate the two houses with. Anton stepped aside early, to allow Menkon to be crowned Earl, and earn the right to a second bride according to Nariki custom - unusually, Menkon's two brides were sisters, the daughters of the Earl preceding Anton, who hoped the union would create greater legitimacy both to Menkon's rule, and stronger acceptance of the children of that union as being of the Great House Strommdor. Anton's granddaughter was married to Darntionus, most likely just to secure the deal.

Darntionus took on the mantle of a successful general, winning victories on Shirmania and perceived (if not actual) victories against the Osters; by the 760s, he had a reputation as the finest military leader in Narikaton. He was, however, of a minor house, and could not command the Armies of Narikaton. Technically, his brother was of the major house of Strommdor, and was named General of an army sent to Alkavon in 762; Menkon, however, missed the boat (most likely intentionally, as he had never particularly trained as a warrior himself, being more inclined towards being an administrator), and Menkon's lieutenant, Darntionus, was thus able to command the army assembled by the Five States.

In 763, perhaps in revenge for being out-maneuvered, Menkon and his family were assassinated. Various villains have been named for this crime, but Darntionus blamed Houses Roux and Windwick for the murders, and demanded vengeance. With the support of Merenberg, and the tacit support of Marcele and Oster, Darntionus was named Governor. Ultimately, he destroyed Narik and Oster, deposed the ruling families of Ansest, and proceeded to conquer Kozaria and Alkavon, to become undisputed King of Darnussia.

After Darntus
Darntus cemented his role as master of Narikaton by taking a third bride, and later a fourth (but only after his first wife had died), and produced a large number of children by these unions. Upon his death, the children he produced by his fourth wife, the daughter of the Grand Kozar, became House Darntus-Kozar, so-named because under Narikaton noble laws, these children were ineligible to inherit on the islands, as their mother was a commoner under Nariki law; Darntus I, however, had granted some sons through this final union titles and domains on the mainland instead, where the Grand Kozar was not quite nobility, but was the closest thing to it.

Of his other three wives, the sons continued as House Darntus, sometimes informally divided into Darntus-und-Strommdor, Darntus-und-Roux, and Darntus-und-Merr, for his three "noble" wives. The Darntus-und-Strommdor line was weak, as many of Darntus' sons had died in the unification wars, leaving only a single heir. The Darntus-und-Strommdor line was extinguished when Darntus' surviving son failed to have any sons of his own. By 977, intermarriage between Darntus-und-Raux, Darntus-und-Merr, and Raux proper eliminated any real meaningful distinction between the three houses, and they became simply House Darntus-Raux (the Merr being dropped, as House Merr itself continued as a separate line).

To this day, the House of Darntus-Raux is one of the two main claimants to the Darnussian Crown (the other being the House of Af Enjnhelm) in dynastic succession. The Darntus-Raux line is the claimant via modified agnatic primogeniture, while the Af Enjnhelm line claims via pure cognatic primogeniture. Ultimately, the heirs of both Houses can trace directly back to Darntus the Flying.