Westgate Family

Escutcheon showing the armorial bearings of the Westgate family. Blazon: Per pale and per chevron azure and argent; in dexter chief three billets two and one; in sinister base a millrynd; a bordure; all counterchanged.

The House of Westgate hails from the western edge of the small woodland region of Loratil, a day outside the Eston capital of Hawthorne. The house elder, Sir Rhydderch, recently stepped aside as his failing health no longer permitted him to handle the house's daily affairs.

Brice

The middle son of Sir Rhydderch, Brice assumed control of the family's estate in Atamara. Impatient with his elder brother's inaction in the ongoing war, he struck out to swear himself as a knight to Eston's Marshall Myrn'tek Grimoire. After waiting for some time on the 'Eastern Front' of Amdor, he participated in the Siege of Barad Falas. During the resulting confusion, as both sides struggled to regroup their troops, most of Eston's forces retreated, leaving him trapped within the city. He was wounded the next day as the remainder of Eston's forces fought valiantly to escape the enemy stronghold.

After his wounds healed, he bolstered his ranks with fresh recruits, neglecting to notice they employed shortbows, to the dismay of his surviving Lacirith Longbows. The weakness would show itself immediately, during Seventh Battle of Belegmon, in which the shortened range forced his men to advance, making them vulnerable to a devastating hail of enemy fire. His men retreated, but there was a silver lining. Of the casualties to his unit, most were light wounds that quickly healed, and only a few of his men were lost. Without stopping for replacement troops, Brice would be off to the mountains in Eston's ill-fated attempt to cut off Barad Falas by charging through Galadia and Nazgorn.

Eston's army was turned back to Anost, where it met with reinforcements from Darka and contingents from Tara and the Barony of Makar. Once gathered, the combined forces drove across the southern bridge. Brice's small band of men had no trouble with the river crossing, and soon fought valiantly to recapture Brice's estate. However, a large portion of the combined Eston forces were not so lucky, and severe delays at the southern bridge split the attacking forces. The resulting Eighth and Ninth Battles of Belegmon were bloody affairs, with worse than four out of every five units all but obliterated by the end of the morning. Eston's reinforcements surged across the river throughout the day, crushing the remaining Falasian and Islander forces that evening. Brice returned thereafter to Barad Lacirith, where he paid his dozen veterans, and then sallied forth to and from Hawthorne for another set of eager young faces to augment his troops.

Reece

"I am the eldest son of the House of Westgate. As my younger brother has usurped control of the family affairs in Atamara, I come in exile to start anew. My former kingdom is rife with war. I know not the state of affairs here; I am ready to again take up my blade, yet would welcome an interlude of peace." -- Reece's Letter of Introduction to the Antoza Commonwealth.

Reece would not have the peace he wished for. Taking leave of his brother Brice, he set out with his retainers to the port of Anacan. There, Reece quickly answered Baron Boromir McMahon's call for knights, and recruited a large, well trained group of infantry. Taking into account his own feelings about war, he saw fit to hire an older officer, Captain Ortlieb, to handle the actual training and oversight of his new unit. Unbeknownst to him, Baron Boromir was Marshal of the Legion of Anacan. Tasked with the defense of Antoza's northern border, Boromir ordered a quick strike into Lenamaziel to secure both sides of the vital border bridge. With Ortlieb's guidance, Reece's troops performed admirably, taking only two casualties during the young noble's first taste of combat.

Pryce

The only son of Lady Catrin, Sir Rhydderch's sister. At his cousin Brice's behest, he set out to the South-East Island to learn the arts of war in trial by fire. There, he swore allegiance to Proslyn Merytis, Lord of Falens in Taselak. His first engagement there was an attempt to strike at Ikalak's isolated cavalry in Cirannor. While the attack was a success, Pryce's unit took the full brunt of the cavaliers' charge, and was one of several Taselak units wiped out to the man that day. During his travels back to the capital, news would spread that the enemy cavalry were in all likelihood simply successful bait of a devastating trap. The day after he saw his men slaughtered, the main Ikalak army moved in to engage the survivors in the open field, routing the remains of the southern Taselak army.

Saeth

Sir Rhydderch's firstborn child by mere minutes, Saeth Westgate is Reece's twin sister. Throughout their childhood, she rebelled against her father's attempts to teach courtly manners. Leaving the art of diplomacy to Reece, who took naturally to it, she instead studied medicine and the art of the dagger. In her teens, she took quickly to hunting game, and her proficiency with the bow would do her namesake justice. Though she agreed with Brice's stance on the war in Eston, her twin's exile strained relations with her younger brother severely. A month later, she would leave home, traveling the mere hours west from the family estate to Eston's nearby neighbor, Darka. There, she intended to put her skill in combat to good use as a white shield, while still being able to defend her home realm in its time of need.