INTRODUCING FAMILIES PRESENT IN THE NOVEL

THE CHRONICLES OF HOUSE NOCTURNE

"When Others Rest, We Watch."

CHAPTER I — The Beginning (1128–1163)

The oldest surviving reference to the Nocturne family appears in a tax register from the year 1128, in a small mountain settlement called Elderglen, where winters were long and daylight was often hidden by heavy cloud cover.

The record does not describe them as nobles, warriors, or wealthy merchants.

Instead, beside the family name was a simple occupation:

"Night Watchers."

At that time, villages depended on citizens taking turns guarding livestock, watching for fires, and warning of raids. Most people struggled to stay awake after midnight. The work was exhausting, dangerous, and unpopular.

The Nocturnes did not.

Generation after generation, members of the family naturally stayed awake through the night with little difficulty. They remained alert until sunrise and often slept only a few hours during the afternoon before returning to work.

Neighbors first believed the family relied on stimulants or secret rituals.

Nothing of the sort was ever found.

The First Recorded Incident (1137)

In the winter of 1137, a fire broke out inside Elderglen shortly after midnight.

The village church records note that while almost everyone slept through the smoke, Edric Nocturne, then twenty-three years old, noticed the unusual smell while walking the streets alone.

He rang the village bell before the flames spread beyond two houses.

Thirty-one families survived.

The priest who documented the event wrote:

"The man walks the darkness as though it belongs to him."

That sentence would later become attached to the family for centuries.

The Pattern Emerges (1145–1180)

As births accumulated over several generations, something unusual became impossible to ignore.

Nearly every direct descendant displayed similar traits:

They rarely required more than three or four hours of sleep.

Their concentration increased after sunset rather than during daylight.

Bright afternoon sunlight caused headaches.

They possessed exceptional hearing during quiet nights.

They remained calm in complete darkness while outsiders became anxious.

The local physicians had no explanation.

Many believed the trait to be hereditary long before the science of genetics existed.

Reputation Spreads

Travelers carried stories.

Some claimed the Nocturnes never slept.

Others insisted they disappeared during daylight.

Neither was true.

The family simply organized their lives differently.

Children attended lessons in the morning before sleeping through part of the afternoon.

Adults worked security, blacksmith forges, mills, and trade caravans during the night when roads were cooler and quieter.

Over time, neighboring towns began hiring members of House Nocturne whenever reliable night guards were needed.

Their reputation grew not because they were supernatural—

—but because they were dependable.

The Family Rule

Around 1160, the family adopted its first written household law.

It was carved above the entrance to their stone home.

"Night is not our curse. It is our responsibility."

Every child was taught that remaining awake while others slept was not a gift deserving pride.

It was a duty.

Someone always had to remain vigilant.

Someone always had to watch.

And in every generation...

that someone was a Nocturne.

This first chapter establishes the family in a grounded, historical way, where their mystery comes from an inherited trait and how society interpreted it—not from overt supernatural powers. As their history unfolds, myths, scientific speculation, political influence, and family conflicts can naturally develop over the centuries.

THE NOCTURNE FAMILY AND RESIDENCE

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