House Kaerfels

House Kaerfels is a Daelyrian noble house from the Midlands ruling over the archonate of Duskyon. The family is currently made up of five members, namely Alpha Kaerfels, Spoken Kaerfels, Shade Eptaskia Kaerfels, FranceMiner Kaerfels and Malve Kaerfels. Its seat is located in Frostarch. Like most Daelyrian nobility it can trace its roots back to Daelos and Illyax Ashborn.

Origin
The Kaerfels family originated Maekar Ashborn's son Aemon, about whom not much is known. His name translates to "the blessed one". He lived an incredibly long life for a mortal of his time and lived alone in his homestead in the Illeryon forests. Despite his little contact to the outside world, in the towns he was known as one of the most sapient men in the lands. He adopted a young boy, Lyrkar, who later became a wealthy merchant in Illerya. Aemon taught him everything he knew, so that Lyrkar, who had always helped him from time to time, had the best chances of changing the future. While generating large amounts of wealth, he settled down one day and married Vrenya adopting a new family name: Kaerfels. He is most known for inventing the Daelyrian overhang which is used in Frostarch to this day as a homage to his legacy.

Lyrkar's children, Allyris and Sonys Kaerfels carried on their tradition while also making the name more popular among the people. The Kaerfels family, proud of their invention, became a symbol for architecture. From there the family tree split in two halfs with the two brothers Tywin and Vesarys Kaerfels. Tywin lived a rather secluded life in honour of Aemon ,while Vesarys stuck with the mercantile life in Illerya. Tywin's grandson would later become Malve Kaerfels, mayor of the rural town of Milet.

The shift
It was only a few generations later when the Vesarys half of the Kaerfels family gave up being merchants. Elyria Kaerfels, together with her husband Siegfried Eichenbach moved to a ruined estate near Hilbor, which they bought from Dusk Synderys and repaired, making it a monument of Kaerfels architecture. While living there, they brought forth Spoken and later Alpha Kaerfels. However, the Hilbor estate was raided and destroyed by bandits and marauders. While Spoken and Alpha could flee, the parents are still missing.

Traditions
The Kaerfels family is a family of key Daelyrian culture and tradition. A custom the family is most known for is tourneying. Alpha Kaerfels was the first Daelyrian to host games to the people commonly. The events eventually evolved to entire tournaments which even brought forth a new type of tourney game, Jousting. Jousting has ever since been a symbol of Kaerfels tradition in Helmia. The construction of the Wyrmpit from the ruins of New Hilbor is the embodiment of this tradition, being the largest arena in the North.

Feasts and banquets have also played important roles in Kaerfels tradition, with the local cuisine being as rich as nowhere else in Helmia.

The fate of Elyria Kaerfels and Siegfried Eichenbach has influenced the mentality of the Midlands people. The lacking defense and protection during the bandit attacks shaped the build style of Frostarch, which was aimed to be defendable and pretty at the same time.