Originally Posted by
JbeJ275
Sorry for skipping over this, only just realised I never actually posted my thoughts. I don't have any super strong narrative ideas for this either but will propose something.
Maiabell's noble house was a hardy one that had remained on it's own lands since the start of it's long and wary history. When the first empire fell to monstrous attack, noble disunity and bandit uprisings it remained. Eventually consolidating a modest number of other estates, and while lacking in wealth becoming fairly prestigious and well positioned as land-owners. Another house started its existence much the same way, but fled to the North-West during one such time of hardship, banking their prestige and talents to become courtiers in the Empire of the Burning Sun. It remained there for many generations, using the old claim as a pretext of nobility before the land at the heart of the Old Empire was reclaimed, and they returned promising Marcelian the first that they'd provide much needed funds to his ongoing efforts to reclaim the lands in exchange for their od claims being fully recognised. Thus a deal was struck, with their original land being among that protected by Maiabell's house they offered gold and an alliance of marriage for land enough to back their nobility. They stayed true to their world for a generation, but never dropped their old claims on the surrounding areas, taking the civil war as an opportunity to reclaim all their old lands by purging Maiabell's house. Thus house Fordhearth reclaimed their land, and made a very motivated enemy.
Does that generally work?