The Donner family is a recently defunct minor noble family that watched over a modest amount of land on the western side of the Kingdom of Gyt. The legacy of the family begins with a powerful blue dragon that lorded over the land for many generations, terrorizing the populace and siring various mixed-bloods that weren’t much better. This all changed when one, born of a human woman, refused to give in to his bestial nature and led a crusade to remove the dragon and his evil spawn from the land and restore peace. After a long and bloody battle, the Donner family’s ancestor emerged victorious. Taking on the name Alexander Donner, he swore an oath that he, and all his descendants, would never again go down the path of corruption and evil. Then, using the dragon’s hoard and taking only a small portion for himself, he spent the remainder of his life helping to rebuild the area and assisting those in need, becoming a hero in the eyes of the people.
Over the generations, Alexander's descendants stayed true to his oath; the occasional member fell into corruption but the family policed itself and those members were quickly eliminated. Throughout this time, the people of the area began to look more and more to the Donner family for leadership and guidance as they successfully responded to and solved the various crises over the years. It became official, however, during the time of Gyt's expansion into the region. The current Donner family head, wishing to avoid the deaths of the people at all costs, willingly submitted to Gyt's King under the intention that should any death be required, it would only be his own. The King, honoring his willingness for self-sacrifice, spared his life and, after his loyalty was proven over the years, granted the family a Lord title.