House Drathos
None shall pass.
While the origins of this house remain a mystery to only a select few, it is undisputed that this house has arguably the most influence. During a time of utter chaos in the world, this house, led by Queen Drathos, swept through Jotunrath on a conquest to unite the noble houses. They could either bend their knee, or be sent to an early grave. Many chose to join House Drathos, and after three weeks of this conquest, Drathos had united the houses under one single Goliath banner.
House Drathos Origins
Arguably, one could see this house as being one of the smallest. In the year 1548 ADW, completely under the radar of all the other houses, this newly formed house claimed a small portion of land that no other Goliath house wished to have. This small but powerful family of Goliaths took hold of The Summit, another high peak within the country. It was the former hold of House Ebonmaw, and being a superstitious folk, Goliaths wanted nothing to do with those lands. However, this didn't stop House Drathos, and soon they reclaimed The Summit, as well as the stone and iron fortress city of Vorkuth that House Ebonmaw had built long ago.
These Goliaths were different. They sought isolation from the other houses, and wanted nothing to do with them and their fights for dominance. Their appearance, however, was what set them apart from the other Goliaths. For these Goliaths were incredibly tall, more lanky, and had pointed ears. The well-kept house secret among House Drathos was that they bred with Snow Elves. These Goliaths never originated from Jotunrath. In fact, they were originally slaves brought to the Thenalion Empire, somewhere in the years 1002-1003 ADW, when the Elves of the Thenalion Empire came to Jotunrath to claim tribal slaves. These tribal slaves were Goliaths of an unknown tribe, decimated by the Thenalion Empire-Goliath slave trade.
When these Goliaths escaped, they brought the Elvish features and blood with them. Goliaths are a proud and boastful race, and are aware that the Elves hate them. Any Elves that live in Jotunrath willingly either get the boot, or are seen as second citizens unless they can prove themselves as an acceptable member of society. Wanting to make an entirely new house of their own, that perhaps could one day unite the Goliaths together, these Goliaths named themselves House Drathos, Drathos meaning "united."
In fact, the plan was to unite the Goliath houses all along. They did not need to build themselves up to the might of House Ironborn, or the martial prowess of House Warborn. Simply, they needed to challenge the ways of the Goliaths to get everyone's attention. They created their own rules within their house and announced that they had a queen, which caught the gaze of all the other houses.
In the year 1578 ADW, this queen, known as Gremala Drathos, rode on the back of her huge ancient white dragon known as Frostwing and conquered the other houses, and uniting all of Jotunrath under one banner. Most other houses simply went on board with this idea, while others needed more convincing.
Role in Goliath Society
Frankly, House Drathos had no role in Goliath society until after Drathos conquered all of Jotunrath and united the houses. House Drathos remained isolated from the other houses for thirty years until they decided to unify their differences.
However, their impact and contribution to the laws and culture that Goliath society has in the future is unquestionable. Drathos came to the leaders of the houses that had sworn loyalty to her, and instead of having her house rule, she dictated that all the houses were to rule. From there on out, each house would act as a ruling party to their specific hold, and all answer to a leader in a higher position of power, in this case, a queen. This tradition would continue on even after Drathos stepped down from rule, and her daughters took control of the throne. It even continued after all of House Drathos stepped out of the leadership role, and House Ironborn took the throne.
Each Noble House was responsible for rulership over their hold, but also to the whole of Jotunrath. Each house would have a Chieftain, or a Lord that was in charge of the rule of their hold. They would then answer to the Queen on the throne. House rulers were chosen through the house family line, or if there was no one fit, a warrior's challenge would commence among the worthy citizens of that hold. All Goliaths have House Drathos to thank for making this rule official in the Icebound Declaration.
House Drathos in the Bloody Seven
While the other houses pledged their loyal bannermen and volunteers to the cause, House Drathos had the smallest amount of bannermen and volunteer fighters. They made up for their smaller numbers with highly trained and skilled fighters. Queen Drathos had a special taskforce herself, known as the Iceborn Elites that she sent on behind-enemy-lines missions with 100% success rates.