Located in North Dakota, the Forwynts were one of the first magical families to settle there, a distinction earned not so much by a pioneering spirit as the first Forwynt immigrant to the New World hating all Muggles while being practical enough to realize there were too many of them to fight. It would be another three generations before his descendants came to see anything pleasant about being away from the by-then-much-expanded family home, which bore a distinct resemblance to a castle, and two after that before a second son relocated permanently.

Once the leading family in the area, the Forwynt influence has declined somewhat over the past hundred years. A family where no one may be the heir until he has a son of his own to prevent the estates from falling into the female line, they have not adjusted well to even the most minor of social changes that lead to greater rights for Muggles, Muggleborns, "new" purebloods, the bourgeoisie, and witches. The decline in the number of male births over the past twenty years has not helped matters, either. The family has, however, remained 'a presence' in the northern United States, particularly in "their" state.

[OOC note on the following: it begins at the sixth American generation, and female marriages and descendants are not traced.]

The Forwynt Story

John Forwynt married and was dominated by Alberta, a severe, ambitious witch who only reluctantly accepted being an éminence grise. Their marriage produced three children: Margaret, John II, and Eleanor. Margaret and Eleanor married Some Pureblooded Men. John II married Isabel, a great beauty of good means and questionable virtue, and had four children: Maximilian, Helena, Isabel, and John III. Helena married Some Pureblooded Man and lived to a happy old age. Isabel, the fragile inheritrix of her mother's good looks, did neither.

Tree One: John-John III

Maximilian married Charlotte, a gentle, motherly witch dedicated to the ideal of ladyhood who his father thought would have a good influence on him. She failed in that task, but the marriage remained peaceful because Maximilian stayed gone too much for his boredom with his wife to turn into animosity. They had two children, Chauncey and Amelia. A month after Chauncey's wedding, Charlotte died of wizard's flu; two months after that, Maximilian married his Greek mistress, Marina. The result was a daughter, Geneva, and four years of abandon before Maximilian also died and had his last fling with scandal by leaving Marina and Amelia some of the most valuable family holdings, slightly heir Chauncey and Geneva alike. Marina, prohibited from doing so without losing her inheritance, never remarried but did indulge in serial casual dalliances for years. Amelia married Miles Raines, to general consternation. Geneva may or may not have married Some Pureblooded Man.

Tree Two: Maximilian-Geneva

Chauncey married Adeline, leading to a long and unhappy relationship between them marked by her jealousy over his sister’s influence on him. Nevertheless, the couple did their duty and produced two children, Matthias and Chauncey II. Matthias, the elder and more practical of the two, showed a very uncharacteristic level of irrationality when he fell passionately in love with and married Elizabeth without family approval. The Forwynts accepted the marriage readily enough, however, until it became evident that Elizabeth could not have children. Matthias refused all encouragement to divorce her and went into semi-retirement. Chauncey II reluctantly married Susan and had three children, Miranda, Leanne, and Chauncey III. Miranda is married with a child, Leanne married without one, and Chauncey the subject of many familial attempts to secure a good engagement.

Tree Three: Chauncey-Chauncey III

Heading back up the family tree, Maximilian's brother John III married Sarah and had three sons: Maximilian II, Frederick, and John IV. Maximilian II and his wife Laura entered a calm, reasonably content match that produced one child, Miles. Frederick was briefly married to Emma, who died in an accident shortly after their wedding without having any children; consumed with grief, Frederick refused to consider remarriage or even basic social participation and went into seclusion, studying and writing poetry that, though he was never completely aware of it, made him famous. John IV married Scottish pureblood Muriel, who he met during a post-Salem Tour of Europe. Their children were Melinda, Michael, Hugh, and Verdi, breaking the chain of Johns. Melinda married Some Pureblooded Man. Verdi, whose family is more or less aware of his homosexuality but finds it easier to ignore it as long as he avoids scandal, has so far avoided Muriel’s well-meaning efforts to find him a wife, but has had increasing pressure put on him to produce heirs since one brother was disowned and the other's marriage produced nothing but girls.

Tree Four: John III-Verdi

Miles married Marie-Caroline, a bored socialite of just-better-than-lukewarm-means. They get along tolerably well and have two children, Hope and Arthur.

Tree Five: Miles-Arthur

Michael made a love-match with Aurora Wright, which – with the Elizabeth incident of the other side of the family still fresh in everyone’s memory on top of Aurora’s family’s position in society – got him disowned. Not too surprised or dreadfully upset about this - he had been drifting away from the family for years - he absconded with a few family heirlooms and assistance from Muriel and relocated to South Dakota, where he had two children, Patrick and Annika. He and Aurora are prominent community figures in the small magical town of [name to be announced].

Tree Six: Michael-Annika

Hugh, like Michael, married for love, but his decision to become widow Carolyn's second husband was viewed as more acceptable by the family, not least because they all knew a flobberworm would be elected President before Verdi got married without John or Muriel resorting to the Imperius Curse. Hugh and Carolyn tried for years to produce the son they needed to move up in the ranks of the family, but gave up after five daughters - it was too expensive. Their children are Alicia, Emma, Susan, Elizabeth, and Honora.

Tree Seven: Hugh-Honora