House Criston

House Criston is a medium sized Vandal House located within the fortress of Castle Stragnarax, and the village east of this fortress located within the Kingdom Of Lucerene. House Criston was born from nothing and was founded based on the single minded goals of the members to make themselves more then just a poor family living day to day hoping they didn't die. House Criston became the Sworn House of House Brent during their rise as they believed that this was the best house in order for them to grow in the way they wanted to.

The Origins of House Criston begin in the eastern fields of Lannistane, and from here they endured hardships that would have broke others but instead it drove them on. The original members of House Criston were born in the extreme poverty of the regions east of Lannistane and throughout this time the family watched as the father and mother attempted to make a living farming and this took everything from them. At the age of fifteen for Grandon Criston the region was wracked by the Lannister Civil War and during this time the forces of Tylin Lannister were running rampant killing and raping whoever they wanted, and during one of these attacks Grandon was forced to watch as Tylin Lannister came with men to his farm and raped his mother and beat his father nearly to death. During the attack one of the gaurds a young man would also attack Heather Criston in the face so saveagly that she was forever scarred physically because of this attack. When they had finished and killed her mother they left his broken father on the floor next to his beloved wife. Grandon would care for his father, and when his father recuperated he would sell the farm for whatever he could get and the family packed up and moved to the western town of Hillsbrad where they attempted to restart their life. His father though was never the same and Grandon was increasingly forced to care for his family which brought him into the idea of making it so that they never had to worry again. In this way he and his siblings worked together to increase their families power, and after years of this they founded House Criston.

Early History
Grandon Criston was born in the extreme poverty of the regions east of Lannistane and throughout his youth he watched as his father and mother attempted to make a living farming and this took everything from them. At the age of fifteen the region was wracked by the Lannister Civil War and during this time the forces of Tylin Lannister were running rampant killing and raping whoever they wanted, and during one of these attacks Grandon was forced to watch as Tylin Lannister came with men to his farm and raped his mother and beat his father nearly to death. During the attack one of the gaurds a young man would also attack Heather Criston in the face so saveagly that she was forever scarred physically because of this attack. When they had finished and killed her mother they left his broken father on the floor next to his beloved wife. Grandon would care for his father, and when his father recuperated he would sell the farm for whatever he could get and the family packed up and moved to the western town of Hillsbrad where they attempted to restart their life. His father though was never the same and Grandon was increasingly forced to care for his family which brought him into the idea of making it so that they never had to worry again. In this way he and his siblings worked together to increase their families power, and after years of this they founded House Criston.

First Battle of Castle Stragnarax
Main Article : Battle of Castle Stragnarax


 * "The construction crews of the Order of the Grey Dragon still lined the streets, and nearly seventy percent of the towers were incomplete when we got news that the Orcs were crossing the line and heading towards us."


 * -Thomas Brent



Castle Stragnarax was designed as the center of the western defences of Lucerne, alongside the rebuilt Eyes, and the castles of Dragonhorn, and and it was during the period following the Invasion of Westbridge that its purpose and defences would be tested for the first time. Following the end of the invasion and with the armies of Lucerne retrurning to the valley after victory the Eyes caught sight of a large force of Orcs moving towards Castle Stragnarax. The Eyes immediatly sent ravens and a single scout to Castle Stragnarax, and from there they sent requests for assistence to Hilsbrad and House Greymane.


 * "Hundreds flowed into the gates of the castle, and from these our defenders swelled. We prepared as best we could for what we believed was our deaths. When the Orcs arrived they would find a well defended Castle that was not going to die easily."


 * -Blake Dinton

With the Orcs incoming the defences were prepared and all troops were called in from the villages and farms nearby. This swelled the defenders of Castle Strangarax to a force of some 5,500 men at arms along with the twelve training members of the Order of the Violet Dragon that had remained in Castle Stragnarax under the command of Benjamin Bradfoot. The castle itself was commanded by Thomas Brent but his inexperiance meant that he left the defence of the city to his honor gaurd commanders and Benjamin Bradfoot, along with the council of his military force. The Plan for the defence consisted of holding on for as long as they possibly could while they waited for the army of Hillsbrad to arrive and relieve them, alongside the rest of House Brent coming as well.

The Orcs Arrive



 * "The first sign of the Orcs was the massive stream of screaming and shouting that came from them. They were definetly not going for stealth because they just wandered into the open and those stragglers were shot by our archers, while the remainder of the army chopped down trees in the forest."


 * -Benjamin Bradfoot

It was two days after the Raven fortold of the coming Orcs they arrived west of the castle and begin chopping down the trees that were there to use to construct ladders, and siege towers. The Orcs spent an entire day doing this and as they worked the defenders of the towers were firing long range balista shots at them which were able to destory one of the towers before it was able to be used the following day. Also during this day the Orcs attempted to push forward siege machines in order to batter holes in the walls but they discovered the accurasy of the balistas was extreme as each siege machine pushed forward was destoryed in turn with only a few shots getting off and dowing little damage to the wall. After spending all of the energy constructing the siege machines they found that the catapults and such were destroyed the moment they got into range, with only a few actually able to launch a real shot at the walls. Without any hope of launching their catapults the Orcs would move their forces forward and their seige towers that had been hidden would be pushed forward for the first attack.

The First Attack



 * "I 'had been trained alongside the noble elite in the Lucernian Academy for a year, and during this time I had specialized in siege warfare. That was the problem with the Orcs. I was trained to fight against diciplined troops using strategies, but the Orcs just flew out of the forest in this massive wave. They had a level of shock value to them but in the chaos they were seemingly charging at random. Easy pickings for the methodic fire from the walls. The sadest part of the charge was the fact that they had four siege towers, and then a huge number of ladders which they didn't realize till they reached the walls weren't tall enough to reach them. Watching the army run around at the base of the wall after ninety percent of their ladders weren't tall enough was one of the most shocking sights I've ever seen."


 * -Thomas Brent

With their seige machines set up the Orcs attacked in a vast wave of upwards of 25,000 of which the vast majority attacked the main gate while some 7,000 attacked the southern section defended by Marbrand Keep. The northern wall also had some two thousand Orcs attack it but these were extremely disorganized and the least of the problems of the Castle. As the Orcs advanced they were devestated by the massive array of archer, and balista fire by the time they reached the wall they had lost significant numbers.

Attack on the Main Gate
The attack on the main gate went disasterasly with all four of the Siege towers destroyed, and with the huge array of archers present the Orcs that massed on the ground trying to get up the ladders were caught in a killing zone and lost huge numbers before the Orcs retreated leaving behind the ruins of much of their force alongside the destroyed siege towers.

Attack on the Tower of James the Vigilanat

 * "When I got word that we lost control of the Tower of James I felt my first trickle of fear into my heart. I thought for a brief moment of the deaths of the entire castle, and in that moment I nearly paused. Benjamin grabbed my arm as if he knew what I was feeling, and with that I shook my head and ordered the counter assault on the tower."


 * -Thomas Brent

The Orcs attacked the three areas and it was only at the tower of James the Vigilant that they had any real success. The Orcs were able to keep their seige tower alive in this section and with its survival they were able to mass over the wall, and this caused the beggining of an intense fight over the tower. The Orcs slowly pushed them back into the tower, and forced the defenders to lock the gates into the tower, and block them outside. The Orcs attemtped to break through the gate, and during this time the Orcs begin to take fire from the inner wall as they were free to fire on them now that the defenders were gone. As they took heavy casualties they found themselves unable to break into the tower itself, and begin spreading throughout the walls of the western walls to the point that they attempted to break into the main forces at the main tower itself. During this time Thomas Brent would order the main reserve forces sneaking out through the more southern tower and behind the Orcs of whom were busy sprawling all over the walls. Now behind their lines the relief force set the siege tower alight and then was able to get back through the tower with minimal casualties. As the siege tower burned down the Orcs found their reinforcements ended and they were slowly wittled away at by the massive number of archers all along the James Towers.

Attack on Marbrand Keep
The Attack on Marbrand keep went well at first with the Orcs able to climb over the walls and get into the actual castle but once there the design plan went into affect with the Orcs now stuck in no mans land with no ability to get over the next defences, and they were basically anihilated with very few returning to camp.

House Greymane arrives
See Also : House Greymane