[hider=House Stag of Appalachia][b]House Name:[/b] House Stag
[b]House Words:[/b] “Stout as a stag at bay, Vicious as a fox on the hunt.”
[b]Coat of Arms:[/b] [hider=House Ensign][img]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61vv-VnUxvL._AC_SL1500_.jpg[/img]
The Ensign of House Stag consists of a field with two equally sized bands of white and blue. The white and blue both represent the sky which the Great Mountains reach for. The white is a color symbolizing loyalty foremost, while the blue is for calm and steadfastness. The charge is a stag surrounded by a curling branch of a tulip poplar tree, both in gold. The stag is a symbol much like the phoenix, representing rebirth due to its antlers which shed and regrow every year, as well as representing being in connection with nature. The tulip poplar is a symbol of victory and endurance. The gold represents the glow of the mountains under the rising and setting sun.[/hider]
[hider=Star of the Stag]
[img]https://puu.sh/HFSrF/08d6cb4bec.png[/img]
The star is a common symbol among the Appalachian clans, and is often stylized in the local clan or house colors. Represented is a more ornate version of the Appalachian Star, though in reality representations range from extremely basic to very ornate. The symbol is seen painted on shields, breastplates, and bannerols.[/hider]

[b]Seat:[/b] Castle Franclyn, located atop and within Mount Viking, overlooking the northern reaches of Appalachian territory.
[b]Titles:[/b] None awarded, as Stag is considered a relatively minor House only really known locally, and is at best mentioned in passing when speaking of Appalachia.
[b]History:[/b] House Stag’s founding was never recorded, however it is known that Clan Stag originated from the region known as Campe Creek in what is now County Greene. Due to proximity, they’ve been staunch allies of their southern neighbors, the House Delver, for centuries. The modern history of House Stag began during the Great Mountain Feud. Located between House Delver and their enemy House Stiller, the then Clan Stag’s patriarch Rhys Madoc swore fealty to Anastasia Delver and took part in overthrowing House Stiller and helping in part to enforce the now Clan Stiller’s exile beyond the Cumberland Mountains. Rhys, for his loyalty, was given the title Hewer and his Clan’s status elevated to House, giving them a realm stretching from the mountains to the River Holston. Rhys was henceforth known as Rhys an Dileas, meaning ‘the Loyal’. Albeit, the relationship between the two Houses was strained by a disagreement of doctrine. Stag, laying more lowland than Delver and known for its elite Stiller-era offensive spear-equipped light infantry and less mobile but longer ranged longbow-wielding archers, was less suited than the other Houses to the Bear in Cave doctrine. Reluctantly, the core of House Stag’s levies took up the shortbow and javelin shortspear. They continue to serve in this capacity to this day. 

[b]Head:[/b] [i]Hewer[/i] Gareth Vaughn
[b]Heirloom:[/b] Crockett the King’s Cap - A coonskin hat believed to have once belonged to a great Appalachian king which united the Great Mountains against the Ozarks. Worn by the sitting Hewer of House Stag.
Green Mountain Glass Rings - A set of luminescent fragile stones (in reality Uranium Glass) set in aluminum bands. Used as rings of marriage between the sitting Hewer and their spouse.
[i]Mesyngir[/i] - An ornate longbow crafted from White Ash timbers and strung with hemp string. Prized and used by the sitting Hewer of House Stag.
[b]Traits:[/b] Those of House Stag are much like the Mountain gentry of the rest of Appalachia, being broad-shouldered and dark of both hair and eyes, with skin often freckled. Those born from the bloodline directly are on average multiple fingers shorter than other Appalachians, and more often than not bear a curse of 'Mountain Blindness', which is simple genetic red-green color blindness. Occasional genetic bouts of 'madness' have been known to affect certain male members of the Stag bloodline every other generation.

The non-blood related Mountain gentry of House Stag rarely differ from the baseline defined. The lowland peasantry have a much larger breadth and variance, more often being lighter-eyed and lighter-haired, with heights varying wildly. These lowlanders make up nearly three quarters of the population in the lands of House Stag.

Mannerisms among the populace do not differ wildly from the Appalachian standard. They are not masters of statecraft, however they are renowned across the Five Kingdoms for their hospitality and friendliness. They are however also a very suspicious people, bordering on prejudiced against those who do not hail from the Great Mountains. Oaths are never made lightly and a curse on a person or family is cause for combat.

[b]Misc: [/b]
- House Stag swore fealty to the reigning House Delver four centuries ago, and continues to be a pillar of loyalty and an enforcer-type force in the Appalachian sphere.
- Lowlanders are not permitted into the Great Mountains unless for official business and must carry a writ of safe conduct issued by a Highlander of note.
- Exact locations of fortresses, mines, and traversable mountain passes are privileged information, and divulging it is grounds for execution.
- Lowlanders are not permitted to possess a pickaxe.
[b]Quote:[/b]
[i]“When the oak is felled, the whole forest echoes with its fall, but a hundred acorns are sown in silence by an unnoticed breeze.”[/i] -Appalachian proverb, unknown author [/hider]