House Stark

The house ruling the North, the largest but most thinly populated territory of the Seven Kingdoms and the lands most vulnerable to Westeros' long winters that last for years at a time. They are a grim house of iron will and devotion to honor, holding to the old laws and customs of the First Men. They claim to descend from Brandon the Builder, who built the great Wall that seals the realm away from the far north. Their sigil is the direwolf, a large species of wolf that is no longer seen below the Wall. Their words are "Winter is Coming" Unlike other houses, their words are not a boast or declaration, but a warning; it serves as a reminder of their beginnings and the great importance of things to come.

History

The Line of Bran the Builder & Independent Rule

Unification of the North

The Starks traced their descent from the First Men in the Age of Heroes, when their founder Bran the Builder constructed the Wall with the help of Giants and the children of the forest and helped establish the Night Watch. He went to construct their city of Winterfell and ruled as the first King in the North.

Stark-Bolton Feud

They ruled the North as the Kings of Winter over the smaller petty kingdoms established in the North, with their rivals in domination being the Red Kings of House Bolton in the east and the Barrow Kings in the south, whom they eventually defeated. The North became united under their their rule, chasing away pirates from the White Knife, slew the last Marsh King and claiming the Neck by marrying his daughter, putting it under the governance of House Reed.

Andal Invasion & Union With the Boltons

Pact with the Boltons

The Starks made a pact with their Bolton rivals in response to the threat of the Andal conquest of the North. King Theon Stark raised a fleet to Andalos and retaliated by killing hundreds, conquering the Three Sisters and fighting the ironborn, driving them from Cape Kraken and Bear Island and slaying Ravos Hoare.

Fighting the Arryns

Their conflict with House Arryn of the Vale began with the former's attempted conquest of the Three Sisters, which began the War Across the Water between the Sisterman backed by Matthos II Aryn, the King of the Mountain and Vale, and the Starks. They landed thrice on the Fingers and reclaimed the Wolf's Den, scorched by their adversaries, including slavers from the Stepstone. Ultimately the Arryns were victorious.

The Starks have reigned the North for thousands of years, even withstanding the invasion of the Andals. As the Seven Kingdoms fell and the children of the forest were driven away, the North stood strong and maintained their religious customs and ways of life.

Aegon's Conquest & Submission

Field of Fire Aftermath

Eventually the days of the Kings of Winter came to the end when Aegon landed on Westeros. After Aegon's dragons destroyed the combined might of the Reach and the Rock in the Field of Fire, King Torrhen Stark bent the knee and swore fealty to the Targaryen dynasty in order to spare the destruction of Winterfell and his people. He was forever ever known as "The King Who Knelt".

Wardens of the North

As a result for his submission, Aegon named Torrhen Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. To further unify the realm, Queen Rhaenys Targaryen arranged for the marriage of Torrhen's daughter to Ronnel Arryn, the Lord of the Eyerie, which apparently was accepted after much protest and Torrhen's sons refused to attend. Since the, the Starks have spoke of rebellion and dissent and disappeared from history and absent in politics for a century following Aegon's Conquest, not taking any part in the later rebellions against the Targaryens. Torrhen had a line of successors with the name Brandon: Brandon the Boisterous, Brandon the Boastful, who attended the Golden Wedding. The Starks remained absent even in the conflicts of the Faith Militant and Maegor the Cruel, refusing the High Septon's call for aid, due to worshiping the old gods traditionally. The Starks only ever played a role in later wars was after Maegor's death. Faith Militant members and Maegor's supporters, including the Kingsguard remnants, were exiled to the Night's Watch by Maegor and his brother Aenys' son Jaehaerys. Neither of them had love for Jaehaerys so they plotted a rebellion against the Watch's leadership. Lord Walton Stark summoned his bannermen to crush the dissenters, of which survivors fled beyond the Wall only for wildlings and giants to finish the job.

Queen Alysanne Targaryen visited Winterfell only to receive a less than warm welcome from Lord Alaric due to the king's leniency to the deserters of the Night's Watch which led to his brother's demise. However, he was gradually charmed by her visit and his daughter grew particularly closed with the queen. Alaric's sons attended the tourney celebrating Jaehaerys' coronation, while he ordered his bannermen to put aside half their harvests for the sake of the coming winter, but a level of dissidence ended in famine, which was followed by the Shivers plague, in the aftermath of which Alaric died and was succeeded by his grandson, Edric Stark. Alaric's relationship with the Targaryens remained a complexity. It was said that he was charmed into giving the New Gift to the Night's Watch by the queen, in spite of his friendship with the Watch and knowing the northern lords holding those lands would be unhappy. But the Maester Yandel states the Starks had a different cause for opposing the demand of the New Gift, they feared that, under control of Castle Black, it will wither away, as the Night's Watch focuses primarily on the North and will neglect their tenants in the south. Time made this reality as the New Gift became disused from the neglect of the Night's Watch. There were archived letters in the Citadel from Alaric's sons of precedents against forced donations of land, nonetheless, Jaehaerys and Alysanne became popular in the North due to their other generous donations to the Night's Watch, and their construction of the new Kingsroad extending from the Neck to Winterfell and the Wall.

Great Council of 101 AC

Edric's heir Ellard Stark took part in the Great Council of 101 AC to assert Jaeherys' heir following his second son's death. Votes ultimately came down to either his second son or his grandson. The former was the more preferred candidate by Jaeherys, and he won the vote by landslide, although the Starks were among the minority of lords supporting Laenor. Yandel believed in his history that the reason why Ellard voted against Jaehaerys's preferred successor is because the Starks were still bitter about Jaehaerys forcing them to donate the New Gift to the Night's Watch, leading to its mismanagement. This vote would have longstanding consequences, as it pushed the Starks closer to the Velaryon faction at Viserys I's royal court, and through them to ultimately side with Rhaenyra during the Dance of the Dragons.

Dance of the Dragons

The North underwent a tumultuous period under the rule of the successors of Ellard Stark, which ended in a rebellion between his two grandsons, due to one of them clinging onto his power greatly and the other having great restrictions imposed on him. With the Dance of the Dragons already begun, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon recruit the aid of the Starks of Winterfell for his mother, Rhaenyra, sealing it under the Pact of Ice and Fire, despite the remote nature of their dominion. The Winter Wolves were sent by Cregan under Lord Roderick Dustin of Barrowton and the White Harbor's knights under the Manderly brothers. After the harvest was gathered, Cregan led a greater army to King's Landing right after Aegon II Targaryen's death by poison and his intent to punish his supporters quashed after ravens were sent requesting peace. Before the court, he arrested those involved, due to opposing a king's murder. Aegon III, who was still uncrowned, was forced to name him as Hand, holding the office for a single day, known as the Hour of the Wolf. Lord Stark held trials for twenty-one out of twenty-two prisoners, sparing Lord Corlys only and returned north after Aly Blackwood offered her own hand in marriage to him.

Troubles of Regency Era

He had trouble keeping the North united afterwards. A devastating winter already began late in the war which ultimately lasted six years, and in 132 AC the North was one of the first regions in Westeros struck by the Winter Fever, which continued through 133 AC. With the North weakened by winter, famine, and plague, a large wildling war-band led by Sylas the Grim seized on the opportunity to force their way south of the Wall. His force of 3,000 raiders overwhelmed the Night's Watch at Queensgate and proceeded to plunder the lands to the south. Lord Cregan rallied what few remaining able-bodied men were left among his bannermen, then rode out to hunt down and destroy Sylas's raiding bands. Cregan's eldest son and heir was Rickon, named after his own father. Rickon died in one of the battles of the Conquest of Dorne by the Young Dragon, Daeron Targaryen. The reign of his successors became troublesome. Overtime, the line of succession in the family began an internal conflict. His fourth son died opposing a Skagosi rebellion and eventually his descendant Beron Stark died fighting fighting off ironborn raiders under Dagon Greyjoy. His second son, Willam Stark would join with Harmond Umber, Lord of Last Hearth, in fending off a wildling invasion under Raymun Redbeard, the King Beyond the Wall.

Robert's Rebellion

Rickard Stark wanted to increase alliances with his neighbors in the south so he sent his second son Eddard to be raised by Jon Arryn in the Vale, where Eddard befriended Robert Baratheon. He betrothed his heir, Brandon to Catelyn Tully daughter of the Lord of Riverrun, Hoster Tully and daughter, Lyanna to the Lord of Storm's End, Robert Baratheon. But the tourney at Harrenhal changed everything. They met Howland Reed, the Lord of Greywater Watch. Following the jousting, Lyanna, not Elia Martell, the wife of the Targaryen crown prince Rhaegar, was crowned as the queen of love and beauty. Catelyn's hand in marriage was contested for in a duel between Brandon and Petyr Baelish, where Baelish lost, and Brandon rode to King's Landing after hearing of his sister's abduction, where he was arrested by the Mad King for plotting the crown prince's demise, which lured his father Rickard. Both were executed by Aerys II: Brandon strangled himself on a rope trying to save Rickard, who burned alive in his own armor. Fearing retribution, he demanded the deaths of Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon to their foster father, Jon Arryn, who instead raised his banners in revolt.

Eddard made an arduous journey through the Mountains of the Moon and the Bite to call his banners in the north. The new lord then marched south and won an important victory during the Battle of the Bells, rescuing his friend Robert with the aid of Hoster Tully. Next, he went to Riverrun, where he honored his late brother Brandon's betrothal by marrying Catelyn as part of the alliance to bring House Tully into the rebel fold.

One of the principal commanders in the war, Eddard took command of the rebel army after the Battle of the Trident, following the remnants of Rhaegar's army to King's Landing. Ned arrived at the capital after the Sack of King's Landing by Lord Tywin Lannister, however, and Lord Stark found Aerys II dead and Ser Jaime Lannister sitting on the Iron Throne. He had a falling out with Robert when Robert accepted the aid of House Lannister and condoned the murders of Rhaegar's wife, young daughter, and infant son. Eddard rode south the next day to relieve the siege of Storm's End.

After Storm's End, Eddard and six companions went to retrieve Lyanna at the building Rhaegar had named the tower of joy, finding it defended by three knights of the Kingsguard. Eddard and Howland Reed were the only survivors of the ensuing combat at the tower of joy. Eddard found Lyanna dying in a bed of blood, clutching rose petals, dead and black, in her palm. She forced him to make a promise to her, the contents of which are unknown, but which have haunted Eddard since. Eddard and Robert were reconciled in their shared grief over Lyanna's death.

Eddard returned from the war with his bastard son, Jon Snow, said to have been birthed by Wylla, and Ned was presented with his trueborn son, Robb, by Catelyn when she arrived from Riverrun. Ned buried Lyanna's body in the crypt of Winterfell beside her father and brother. Eddard's younger brother, Benjen, joined the Night's Watch within a few months of Eddard's return from the war. A skilled ranger, Benjen eventually became First Ranger.

Lord Stark fought in Greyjoy's Rebellion in 289 AC, and he took Balon Greyjoy's son Theon with him to Winterfell, a hostage to ensure the loyalty of the Lord of the Iron Islands. Eddard has ruled the north in Robert's name, keeping a distance from the intrigue-ridden politics of King's Landing.

The Starks take great pride in their traditions, its one of the few old Houses that still worship the Old Gods along with the Faith of the Seven brought with the Andal invasion. House Stark remains steadfast in support of the Night's Watch, even if the once great and powerful order has fallen on hard times. Much like their sigil, the great direwolf, House Stark is the stuff of legend in the North and through out the Seven Kingdoms.