House Lindhardt

House Lindhardt is one of the House of the Guild of American Magicians. Although the House has had a long history within the Guild, it was recently on the verge of extinction following a feud with House Friis, which led to the deaths of most of the Lindhardt family as well as the total extinction of House Friis and many of its Prominent Families. The House prefers to remain isolated from the politics of the rest of the Guild, focusing on the magicians in its area of influence centered around the Phoenix metropolitan area. The current Head of the House is Dirch Lindhardt, and the heir is Aksel Lindhardt, his oldest son.

History
The Lindhardt family can trace its history to magicians residing in the Denmark are of the Kalmar Union in the 1400s, and the American branch of the family was established in 1822 when several members of the family moved to America by way of the Danish West Indies. They originally settled in the northern Midwest in the area of Wisconsin and Michigan, but they moved to the American Southwest at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Lindhardts became part of the Guild when they became sworn magicians of House Raven, one of the founding families of the Guild. They quickly became one of the House's Prominent Families, receiving the rank in 1853, and following House Raven's extinction in 1877, they were awarded the rank of House by the Guild.

Although the House preferred to maintain peace between the Houses of the Guild, it was also proficient in war, retaining a number of magicians skilled in offensive spells. The House became embroiled in a feud with House Friis over control of magicians in the state of Arizona.

The Lindhardts was nearly driven to extinction during 1998 when many of the family members and supporters were massacred by House Friis and its supporters. The survivors were sheltered by the Grants, an Independent magical family, which enabled the family to return to power the following year.

The Lindhardts still deal with a reduced role within the Guild, but they instead use their time to rebuild their status in the Phoenix area.

Feud with House Friis
It is unknown what caused the bitter feud between Houses Lindhardt and Friis. The two Houses often stood on opposite sides during disputes, and House Lindhardt was seen as more affluent and established than the newly elevated Friis family. The two also vied for the same areas of influence, with House Lindhardt influential in the Phoenix area and House Friis dominating the Tucson area to the south.

Despite the poor relations between the two Houses, there was little violence between them. The most notable incident was a outbreak of violence between supporters of both Houses in Casa Grande that left 2 dead and 30 injured.

The year 1998 changed everything between the Houses. During a meeting between the two families to discuss economic rights in the state, Jan Lindhardt was brutally murdered by Johan Friis, and many of House Lindhardt's supporters, including most of their Prominent Families, were massacred in the following altercation. Dirch Lindhardt, at the time the heir to the House, fled west, arriving in Yuma before returning to the Phoenix area. He lived in hiding for several months, meeting Julia Zelle and James Grant.

The feud came to an end in early 1999. Following a series of battles in the Phoenix area, the Lindhardt forces were able to confront House Friis's leadership in person. As a result, House Friis was left entirely extinct, with any remaining supporters fleeing the area.