The Reynes, masters of Castamere for over two thousand years, hold court in their great thousand-and-a-half year-old castle. The large castle, built on a sloping hill overlooking the actual town of Castamere, boasts double mighty stone walls, one to enclose the town and the other the keep, with formidable battlements and guard towers overlooking the surrounding forest.
House Reyne information | Family coat of arms | |
Family motto | 'Our Claws Are Sharp' |
Family history | The Reynes claim descent from Robert Reyne, a knight who invaded Westeros six thousand years ago alongside his fellow Andals and who distinguished himself sufficiently in battle against the Mountain Men, the Vale's original inhabitants, to be granted estates and titles in the Vale, in the vicinity of today's Strongsong. These original Vale Reynes never got further than the rank of knight, and lived the lives of middling Vale nobility for four thousand years until they were slaughtered at a feast by their host, a knightly rival of theirs whose name has been lost to history, and their lands invaded by said rival. The sole surviving Reyne, Ser Robb Reyne, avenged his family by slaying his hated rival while disguised as a traveling bard, but as the man he just killed had the ear of the Arryn King of Mountain & Vale at the time, he was soon forced to flee to the Westerlands.
There, he entered the service of the reigning Lannister King of the Rock, fighting by his side in many wars with the Gardener Kings of the Reach and the Ironborn. He eventually became known as the 'Red Lion', especially after killing a River Lord in Ironborn service with the family's ancestral Valyrian sword 'Red Rain', for which he received the lands around Castamere and the hand of a Lannister princess. Unfortunately, it was not to last - in a later battle with the Ironborn on Fair Isle, he was slain and his sword 'Red Rain' taken by the Ironborn warrior Hilmar Drumm, who (being lightly armored) outmaneuvered him and bashed his head in with a wooden cudgel. His son and successor, also named Robb, attempted to give chase but was slowed down by his own armor, and to this day the Reynes harbor a grudge against the Drumms.
For two thousand years the Reynes served as bannermen to the Lannisters, performing many heroic deeds even without Red Rain to prove their loyalty to the Kings of the Rock, while covertly ascending the power ladder of the Westerlands to become the second most powerful house in the land, coming only after the Lannisters themselves. By 1 AL, Lord Ronnel Reyne, Fourth of his Name, had already built up alliances with the Tarbecks, Leffords and Westerlings and was preparing to overthrow King Loren Lannister, when an unforeseen disaster struck in the form of the Targaryen invasion. Reyne and his allies agreed to answer their overlord's summons, intent on betraying the Lannisters on the battlefield, only to be roasted by Aegon's dragons before they could carry out their plans. Following the deaths of so many Reyne troops and King Loren's submission, Ronnel's heirs largely forgot his plan, and the house alternated between ascents and declines throughout history like so many other houses.
A member of House Reyne, one Ser Robb Reyne, fought for the Blackfyres during the Blackfyre Rebellion and was promptly disowned by the rest of the family, which remained loyal to the Targaryens.
In 260 AL, Lord Rolland Reyne, an accomplished warrior nicknamed 'the Red Lion', revolted against the Lannisters with House Tarbeck. Despite his ally Lord Tarbeck's inexperience, Lord Reyne was a seasoned warrior bearing the scars of a hundred battles, and felt confident that he could succeed in realizing his ancestor Ronnel's plan. Unfortunately, it was not to be, as he was killed by an arrow to the throat in battle with the Lannisters and his host scattered. His ally, Lord Tarbeck, was captured and executed in a separate engagement. His son, the present Lord Raymun, bent the knee as part of a joint agreement with Lord Tarbeck's own successor, and the two houses were heavily fined for their audacity.
Since then, the Reynes have spent their time licking their wounds, and by the time of the War of the Usurper they had nearly recovered at least their pre-rebellion wealth, if not quite their influence and demographics. During the war the Reynes were content to sit back and continue rebuilding (unlike their old Tarbeck allies, who hurried to the aid of the Targaryens and were crushed at the Trident for their trouble), only mobilizing when summoned out of fear that the Lannisters would 'finish the job' so to speak, and proceeding to horribly bungle their already limited role in the war anyway.
Now, more than thirty years after the failed rebellion, the Reynes have fully rebuilt their strength. Lord Raymun, a slothful and war-weary man in his late forties, is in no mood to repeat his father's disastrous rebellion, and of his children, none really have their grandfather's ambition. Still, that does not mean the Red Lions will remain idle if the chance for greater glory presents itself... |
|
Residents | Raymun Reyne, Third of His Name, Lord of Castamere |
Lord Reyne presides over a council of war...or an order for more wine, it's hard to tell
Age: 51 (born 249 AL)
Gender: Male
Married? Yes (to Lia Serrett)
Skills: +4 Land Battle rolls, +2 Escape rolls, +2 Survival rolls, +2 Dueling rolls, +2 Siege Battles
Physical appearance: Very tall (6'5") and lean in build, having kept fit after years of drinking and eating through military drills. Dark-haired, dark-eyed and unlike his children, proudly wears a beard in the style of his father. His arms, chest and the left side of his face all bear scars from his battles with pirates and bandits.
Biography: Born the oldest son of Rolland Reyne, Fourth of his Name and the previous Lord of Castamere. Lord Reyne had an easy childhood, surrounded by the splendor of the Castamere court, and with fawning courtiers to look after his every need - until his father was killed in rebellion against the Lannisters, making him Lord of Castamere and head of House Reyne at the age of eleven. His first act as lord, at the behest of his terrified mother, was to bend the knee to the Lannisters, saving the house from utter destruction.
He changed little from the easygoing youth he was before his father's death, and if anything the years have turned him into even more of a sot who cares only for drinking, whoring, hunting and feasting, happy to sit in his castle and be forgotten by the rest of the realm. The War of the Usurper was one of the last times where he actually got blood on his hands, and even then he (in his capacity as the Westerman commander in charge of rounding up Royalist stragglers in the Riverlands, rather than one of those lords with the more glamorous role of sacking King's Landing) performed in a less than stellar fashion, letting many Royalist troops slip through his fingers and in one case marching in exactly the opposite direction of a large force of Reach and Dorne Royalists clearly making their way back to Ashford - to the point where his loyalty to the Baratheons and Lannisters was seriously questioned, though his half-naked and heavily inebriated appearance at his own camp led these rumors to die down in favor of blaming his apparent, but decidedly not maliciously intended, staggering incompetence instead.
Personality: Laid back and cool-minded, Lord Reyne is not quick to anger, instead preferring to solve disputes with negotiations or (even after getting over his gambling addiction five years ago) luck, in the form of rolling dice, flipping coins or having the accused and accusers play a game of cyvasse in his presence. Unlike his sons, he is not particularly reverent, especially given his long history of excessive consumption, whoring and (previously) gambling. However, he does understand that the Faith of the Seven is a useful tool to motivate his people into conflict when needed, and is more than happy to use it in this manner. Furthermore, he maintains a court-septon as needed and has allowed his sons' religious fervor to burn unabated.
A cautious politician, Lord Reyne is slow to make moves and reach decisions, but once he does he will stick to his chosen course to the bitter end or at least, until he himself can no longer sustain it no matter what he does. He prefers to wait for opportunities to present themselves rather than actively constructing them. He is similarly cautious when it comes to fighting, preferring to muster his might and the full strength of his allies behind him before striking; when he does however, he falls upon his enemies like a pride of starved lions, or at least he would like to say he does...in any case, politically or militarily, he is not one to shirk away from opportunities that present themselves to him. He does have a tendency to play up his supposed incompetence to hide his plans, and to try to make sure that he will come out on the winning side of any conflict by keeping a foot in both camps. |
Lady Lia Serrett | Age: 46 (born 252 AL)
Wife of Lord Raymun Reyne, mother to Ser Robb Reyne, Ronnet Reyne, Ser Ryman Reyne and Lady Rylene Reyne, mother-in-law to Lady Senelle Tarbeck |
Septon Ronnet Reyne |
Age: 24 (born 276 AL)
Gender: Male
Married? No (Septon)
Skills: +2 Devoted Member of the Faith, Denouncer, Fate, +2 Capture, +2 Assassinations
Appearance: Short for his house (5'6") and squat. Chubby, ham-fisted and ungainly, but with a much kinder face than his brother. Inherited his father's dark hair and eyes, though not the traditional Reyne beard.
Biography: Like his siblings, Ronnet grew up under the tutelage of his mother, Lia Serrett, owing to his father's sloth and boorish ways. He was later packed off as a fosterling to the Hightowers of Oldtown, while his older brother Robb was sent to the Tarbecks of Tarbeck Hall. At Oldtown, he immediately fell in love with the vast libraries of the city, with books dating back thousands of years, and awestruck by the beauty of the Starry Sept that used to house the Faith of the Seven's leadership until Baelor the Blessed constructed his Great Sept in King's Landing. It was here that he decided to become a septon, peacefully spreading the reach of the Faith unlike his warmongering, fanatical brother. His relaxed father, who already had his preferred heir in Robb, saw no problem with this.
Personality: More open than his brother, Ronnet rarely drops the genial smile he usually wears on his face. He is generous and kind, at least to those of the Faith of the Seven - he has a tendency to preach to those who do not, and to spurn them if they refuse to listen to him. However, this should not be taken as a sign of weakness; while Ronnet is far more peaceful than his brother, he is similarly capable of excusing sufficiently evil deeds as long as he can find something in the framework of the Faith of the Seven to justify them, and he is just as stubborn when it comes to clinging to his faith.
Unlike his brother, he does not enjoy gardening, though he most certainly does enjoy reading books. Though his father has dismissed this as unmanly, Ronnet has nevertheless seen allowed to keep a small library of religious texts and historical books in Castamere. |
Ser Ryman Reyne |
The closest to a flattering portrayal Ryman Reyne will ever get
Age: 22 (born 278 AL)
Gender: Male
Married? No
Skills: +2 Field Battle rolls, +1 Jousting, +1 Survival, +1 Assassination, +1 Escape rolls
Physical appearance: Fairly tall (6'2") and extremely spindly in build. Has a long face that led his brothers to mock him as 'Rider' (as in, 'of a (long-faced, obviously) horse', usually wearing a frown, and framed by straggly neck-length dark hair, matching his beady eyes. He is already growing the traditional Reyne beard.
Biography: The third son of Lord Reyne, and the one to resemble him most in appearance. Since an early age, his life has been a long chain of bitter failures and personal losses, from his older brother Samwell accidentally breaking his favorite toy when he was four by sitting on it, to his brothers poking fun at him as 'Rider' Reyne owing to his literal long face, to his best friend dying in an accident involving explosive watermelons when they were nine, to a lance splinter embedding itself in his groin during his first practice joust when he was fifteen, to being publicly rejected by a Lannisport prostitute when he was sixteen, among many other personal disasters and humiliations. Nevertheless, at 19, Ser Ryman is still holding on to the idea that his life can, in fact, improve despite his last sixteen years being nothing but one massive downward spiral.
Personality: Cynical, miserly and needlessly sarcastic, Ser Ryman is not a fun person to be around. He does, however, love to rant about his countless misfortunes whenever he is given the opportunity, and can have the occasional burst of passion when his luck turns up for a change or a sufficiently evil deed is committed in his presence. |
Lady Rylene Reyne |
A more flattering portrait of Lady Reyne
Age: 19 (born 281 AL)
Gender: Female
Married? No
Skills: +1 Birth rolls, +1 Survival rolls, +1 Escape, +1 Assassination, +1 Loyalty, +1 Capture
Physical appearance: A fair young lady with long red-gold hair like her mother and oldest brother, blue eyes, a pretty face and an attractive, full figure, though nothing to lose a kingdom over as her father and even she herself admits.
Biography: Youngest daughter (and indeed, youngest child period) of Lord Reyne, Lady Reyne grew up in a constricting environment, surrounded by fairytales and septas telling her she should not aspire to be greater than some lord's loving, doting wife. The one time she dared engage her oldest brother Robb in a mock swordfight, their septa broke them up and had them both punished. By now, she is grimly looking toward a dull future as some lord's wife, masking her frustration with the situation behind a facade of acceptance and even happiness.
Personality: While on the surface she has done her best to imitate the princesses and ladies of fairytales, always wearing a smile on her face and pretending to nod & go along with whatever the men of her family say, inside Lady Reyne is immensely frustrated with her situation. She most certainly does not look forward to becoming a toy of any lord, which unfortunately is the very role she has been told to accept from an early age, and has covertly been trying to frustrate her father's attempts to marry her off. Above all, she wants to be free and to marry whomever she loves, not to be forced into a marriage with a distant lord her father has arranged for her. |
|
|