The First Storm King, approx. 9000 B.L.
The story of the first Storm King and the founding of Storm's End is steeped in legend. During the times of the First Men, in the Age of Heroes, when strange gods and great warriors walked Westeros, the Stormlands were a warm place. They were not known for the violent weather which has buffeted the region for millenia. A man known as Durran forged a mighty Kingdom for himself here, and in doing so, his acts of valour and great strength won him the love of Elenei, daughter of the God of the Sea and the Goddess of the Wind. Her parents forbade her from loving a mere mortal, but Elenei defied them, and joined Durran in his keep in the Northern Stormlands.
Durran with Elenei
The pair were deeply in love, but on the night of their wedding, the Gods wrath fell upon them. A mighty and terrible storm destroyed Durran's keep, his home. Enraged, and spurred on by his need to provide a home for his new wife, Durran built first wooden keeps, then wooden castles, before moving onto formidible stone castles, seeking to build a stronghold to thwart the Gods' rage. Each time, his castle was destroyed. But on the seventh time, Durran built a stronghold with walls so smooth and thick that the storms of Shipbreaker Bay could not find purchase, and the castle stood firm and unmoving in the face of the Gods. Some say it was built with the help of the Children of the Forest, others say that he was aided by a young Brandon the Builder, but all agree that his fortress was among the greatest ever built in Westeros. This, he named Storm's End, as it would finally stop the Storm Gods from bringing pain to his family. Durran named himself the first Storm King, taking the name Styrm and becoming the first of it's House. Some called him Durran Godsgrief, for he took Elenei from her divine parents. He took the titles of Storm King, King of the Stormlands, and Lord Protector of it's people, and his descendants ruled the Stormlands until the Andal Invasion.
Storm's End
Horrik Stag and the Andal Invasion, approx. 6,000 B.L.
When the Andals came to Westeros with their steel weapons, new gods, and lust for war, among them was an aging warrior by the name of Tybald Stag. With him travelled his wife, and their son, Horrik, little more than a boy. As they landed on the fingers and took their first steps on this new land, Tybald keeled over, a smile on his face. He lived just long enough to ask his most trusted friend, Brant Connington, to train his son Horrik in the arts of war so that he may forge a mighty kingdom for himself. Brant swore by the seven to do so, as his friend died in his arms.
As the Andals swept away castle after castle in the Vale, setting up their own new noble houses, Brant continued to teach the young Horrik all he knew about swordsmanship and the lance, and the young boy became a fine warrior. Though he was to young to take part in the battle for the Eyrie, Horrik talked with Brant about the battle for weeks afterwards, trying to learn as much as he could about seige tactics. In the coming years, Horrik and the aged Brant traversed Westeros, carried by the tide of Andals looking for new lands to settle, fighting many battles and taking many women. They followed Garth Gardener to the Reach, and then turned North to battle with the River Kings in the Riverlands.
Andal Warriors sweep across Westeros
Eventually, Horrik Stag decided that he must strike out to seek his own land, and he gathered a group of warriors to his banner, the Black Stag. They struck out south and East from the Riverlands, towards the Kingdom of the Storm King. They stopped not far from the source of the Blackwater Rush and prayed to the Seven for three full days. They then erected a small stone monument to the Seven. Years later, an Andal would take this as a sign that he should settle here, and would found the town of Stoney Sept.
The Seven who are One
House Styrm was ruled by King Artos II, an experienced warrior in his thirties. He had watched as the Kingdoms around him fell to the Andals, but was confident that his fortress in Storm's End would hold. By this point, Horrik was entering his twenties and Brant was well into his sixties. Their first challenge came at the castle of Bronzegate, where the First Men of House Styrm's Kingdom had erected a huge wooden wall across a valley, with a mighty bronze gate set into it. Horrik threatened to burn Bronzegate to the ground, but the Lord there, a certain Dayton Buckler, challenged Horrik to single combat, rather than seeing his people burn. The old man's courage touched Horrik, reminding him of the father he barely knew, and he offered to marry his firstborn daughter (should be have one) to the Lord's grandson in return for his allegiance. Lord Buckler, fed up with the rule of House Styrm and pleased at Horrik Stag's mercy, accepted, taking the faith of the Seven. And so the band of Andal warriors became an army of First Men and Andals, marching on Storm's End.
Horrik at the head of his army
In time, the Stag forces met a small amount of the Styrm forces in battle not far North of Storm's End. The battle was over quickly, thanks to the superior numbers and weaponry available to Horrik. However, after the battle he saw the corpse of a young maiden, an arrow in her back, lying on the ground. He dismounted, and turned the body over. Immediately, he was struck by her beauty, and fell in love, his sadness at her death overwhelming. From a prisoner, he discovered what they had thought was an army was in fact an escort for the maiden, taking her from Felwood to the safety of Storm's End. The maiden was the sister of the Storm King. At this, Horrik's sadness turned to rage - at himself, the Storm King, and the nameless soldier who shot her - and he swore by the dead girl that he would take Storm's End and lay her body to rest there, before her corpse was spoiled.
In time, Horrik, Brant, and their forces made it to Storm's End. They besieged the castle, but Horrik knew that in order to keep his oath he would need to take the castle by storm, as a protracted seige was not an option. His men set about making ladders, and by the cover of night, approached the castle and raised their ladders. In his arrogance, King Artos posted few watchmen on the walls, thinking his castle would protect him from anything. But the army moved without torches, and were at the walls before the alarm was raised. Only as the first warriors made it onto the walls did the opposing forces appear in numbers. Durran's walls wan wet with blood, as they had run wet with rain for thousands of years, and Horrik's fury drove him to slay hundreds of men, before he faced Artos himself. They fought for hours, and a mighty storm appeared overhead. the ground slick with rain, Artos eventually slipped, the Storm King beaten at last by the Gods, and Horrik ran a blade through his throat.
The Rage of Horrik
After the battle, Horrik Stag layed his first love to rest, and found that King Artos had a second sister, Princess Drea. They were married soon after the battle, and Horrik made Storm's End his fortress. To honour his first love and his new one, he took the name Styrmhart, and became the Storm King, Horrik I. He also took the yellow of house Styrm as the field for his own Black Stag, and because of his terrible rage, took the words "Ours is the Fury" for his House. Brant Connington was rewarded with a newly constructed castle Griffin's Roost, and became one of Horrik's most trusted Lords and one of the most important Houses in the Stormlands. House Buckler was rewarded as promised, and Horrik spent the rest of his days securing the allegiances of those he had conquered, giving lands to his men, and securing his borders to make a lasting kingdom. Several of the most important houses of the Stormlands were formed from among Horrik's loyal band, including;
Lord Brant Connington, first of House Connington of Griffin's Roost Lord Luceon Swann, first of House Swann of Stonehelm Lord Marwyn Tarth, first of House Tarth of Evenfall Hall Lord Kole Penrose, first of House Penrose of Parchments Lord Jordon Wylde, first of House Wylde of Rain House
The Andal Storm Kings, 6,000 B.L. ~ 900 B.L.
Horrik's descendants ruled as Storm Kings for the next five millenia uninterrupted, and slowly but steadily expanded his kingdom South into the Dornish Marches and North beyond the Kingswood and into Blackwater Bay. They warred sporadically with the petty Kings of the Riverlands, the Gardeners, and the smaller Kingdoms to the South in Dorne, but were more or less untouched by the feared ironborn raids thanks to their distance from the Western coast of Westeros. Thanks to the naturally dangerous weather of the Stormlands and the multitude of strong castles built there by the various Lords, little of the Stormlands was ever lost to invaders. Duskendale was conquered under King Durran IV around 5,300 B.L. and became the main port of the Kingdom, trading with both those in Westeros and Essos.
The town of Duskendale, with the Dun Fort near right
With the Kingdom expanding through conquest, the Storm Kings made many enemies, and wars meant that the borders were constantly changing. At it's greatest extent, under King Rodin I (lived approx. 2350 B.L.) the Styrmhart's Kingdom stretched from Saltpans down to Wyl, but the Storm Kings never managed to make it further into Dorne. At times, House Styrmhart even contributed men to joint Andal efforts aimed at taking the North from the First Men, and several of the Stormlands' greatest Kings fell in combat against the Starks and in the bogs of the Neck.. Thanks to the naturally dangerous weather of the Stormlands and the multitude of strong castles built there by the various Lords, little of the Stormlands was ever lost to invaders, and the main area (from South of the Kingswood down to Stonehelm) was never taken. It was inevitable, then, that House Styrmhart's problems would come from within its own borders - within the family itself.
The two Kingdoms - 900 B.L ~ present
The reign of the last Storm King to hold the whole of the Stormlands, King Athalos, lasted from 934 B.L. to 897 B.L, the year of his death. He inherited the throne from his father, at the age of 31, and by 897 he was 68 years old. The King had three sons, and no dughters. The firstborn, Prince Caerac, was known for being a rebellious character, ruled by passions. His second son, Prince Tobin, was loyal to his father, deeply religious, and very intelligent, but could sometimes seem aloof. The third son, Prince Warrick, was sickly and meek, and was lucky to live past twenty. Prince Caerac had acted against his father's wishes for years, but the final straw came in 904 B.L. when he married a Buckler, descended from the First Men, entirely against his father's wishes. For this, Athalos disinherited Caerac, making Prince Tobin his heir. In response to this, Caerac and his wife, Helewys, moved South to Mistwood, where they proved to be immensely popular with the people thanks to Caerac's confidence and way with words.
The three brothers - from left to right, Prince Tobin, Prince Warrick, and Prince Caerac
Not long after, King Athalos sadly passed away, leaving his lands and his Kingdom to Prince Tobin. Prince Caerac was enraged by this, and declared himself the Storm King, gathering huge support in the South. Prince Warrick stayed in the North, but whether this was due to deteriorating health or loyalty to the new King Tobin is unclear. Regardless, King Athalos marched North with a mighty host, including the men of House Swann and House Grandison. King Tobin decided that he would not risk a war on two fronts, and sent men from the Crownlands under Torbrand Darklyn to Bronzegate, to defeat the Bucklers loyal to his brother and then join his own host at Storm's End. Though the Bucklers, the family of King Caerac's wife, fought well, they were ultimately outnumbered heavily and surrendered, allowing the huge host from the North through.
Comforted by these reinforcements, King Tobin rode to Griffin's Roost, the only castle between Storm's End and the lands loyal to his brother. Caerac came to Griffin's Roost with a mighty host, but the castles formidible walls beat him back, and he was forced to retreat. Heartened by this, and with the reinforcements under the Darklyns arriving, Tobin launched a counterattack on the disloyal Lords, taking first the Crow's Nest, then Amberly, and lastly Stonehelm, where he met Caerac in the battle. King Tobin slew King Caerac, but as he celebrated his victory, an anonymous soldier stabbed him in the chest, mortally wounding him. With both of their Kings dead, the two armies retreated to their respective strongholds, Mistwood and Storm's End. Tobin's forces did not press their numbers advantage, as the forests and mountains of the South made progress costly. Instead, both armies waited for their young Kings to come of age, before fighting once again.
King Tobin kills his brother with a lance, moments before his own death
|
Mr. Conservative
le Roi de fer
Re: Signup Thread for Game of Thrones 3.0
Primicerius
Protector Domesticus
Vicarius Provinciae
Reach for the Stars.
Pure-Blood
Senator
Dux Limitis
Primicerius
Comes Rei Militaris
Invertebrate
Primicerius
Originally Posted by Kip Bohannon
Comes Limitis
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
