House Stark of Winterfell

House Stark of Winterfell is one of the Great Houses of Westeros and the principal noble house of the north. In days of old they ruled as Kings of Winter, but since Aegon's Conquest they have been Wardens of the North and ruled as Lords of Winterfell. Their seat, Winterfell, is an ancient castle renowned for its strength.

Appearances & Traits
The Starks have a reputation for long faces, brown hair and grey eyes. Some are known for melancholy and iciness, while others have a wildness sometimes called "wolf blood".

The Starks are known to be people full of honor and filled with righteousness. Some of their members have been said to have magical ability such as greensight or the ability to warg.

History & Recent Events
The Starks are an ancient house of First Men descent. House Stark was founded by Brandon the Builder, a legendary figure who lived during the Age of Heroes. Bran the Builder is said to have raised Winterfell, the seat of the Starks, and the Wall, and other legends connect him with Storm's End and the Hightower. The Starks were Kings of Winter in the north for eight thousand years since the Age of Heroes, possibly beginning with Bran the Builder. The Night's King, the attainted thirteenth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, has been suggested to have been a Stark, among other possibilities. The Night's King is said to have been defeated by Brandon the Breaker and Joramun.

After Aegon the Conqueror invaded and set his sights on The North, King Torrhen Stark rode forth with a massive host to the Neck to defend his country from invasion. When they reached The Neck, Torrhen saw the massive dragons and large army of The Conqueror. After many days of thinking he would decide to give up his crown to Aegon and save his people from being turned to ash.

After King Torrhen knelt down to Aegon the Conqueror and surrendered his crown, Brandon the Boisterous left with his supporters and rallied around The Dreadfort. Lord Arnolf Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort named him The King of the North as his father had sworn fealty to the dragon lords. Lord Arnolf crowned King Brandon with a crown of iron. With the backing of the Boltons, Hornwoods, and Karstarks, Brandon’s army stood 15,000 strong. From The Dreadfort Brandon and his army marched on Winterfell. To conceal their movements the army marched during the night and rested during the day. As they arrived at Winterfell, the army set up camp. Brandon wrote to his father’s encampment on The Neck. After he had sent the raven, the Siege of Winterfell began.

The Siege of Winterfell
The siege would last 42 days and nights. The army encircled the castle, not letting anyone in or out. Brandon’s plan was to starve out the people inside, as he knew a full frontal assault would lose them too many men. Lord Bolton was more worried about the enemies to the south. On the thirty ninth day of the siege, Lord Torrhen Stark arrived with a host of 25,000. Some of the men were made up of the Northern loyalists, but the rest were made up of Targaryen forces that Aegon had sent to help. Through the use of messengers, Brandon and his father had sent terms of surrender back and forth to each other. According to Brandon’s maester, the last message sent by Torrhen contained no words, except three. “Fire and Blood.”

The sun started to rise on the forty second day of the siege. As the men woke up from their sleep, loud noise could be heard from the sky. It was nothing like they have ever heard before. Brandon would send out a scout to go see if Torrhen was up to something. As the scout reached Torrhen’s camp, he had realized there was no one in it. It would have been abandoned by his men. The scout ran frantically back to warn Brandon that something was up. As he was making his way back to the siege, a gigantic black dragon descended from the sky. The clouds had disguised it during the morning, and Aegon waited for the perfect time to strike. Flames spewed from it’s maw onto Brandon’s camp. Soldiers ran around screaming, trying to put out the fire casted upon them by the dragon. Balerion The Dread would land on the walls of Winterfell as it proceeded to decimate Brandon’s army. The massacre would not last long, only taking about 25 minutes for Aegon to finish. Any soldiers who were alive were allowed into Winterfell for their wounds to be treated. The dead were carried off by the cart full. Aegon ordered all the swords of the men from the battle to be shipped down to his base, The Aegonfort.

Lord Torrhen arrived back at Winterfell later that day. He scoured the wounded for his son, in silent hope that he would survive. When he could not find him, he assumed he was among the charred and burned like the rest of his army. Lord Bolton had suffered severe burns to his face, and would be permanently deformed. He would later perish due to his wounds, and his son would swear fealty to King Aegon. From this point on, no northern lord would ever raise their swords against the dragon lords.

Succession Dealings
In 7 A.C, Lord Torrhen Stark would suffer a stroke during a council meeting of Northern Lords, and pass away into the next life. As his son and only heir Brandon would have perished in the Siege of Winterfell, a succession crisis would arise. As the only living member of Torrhen’s line, Brandon’s bastard Dorren Stark would be legitimized and raised to Lord of Winterfell and of The North. Inheriting the North and Stark bloodline would be something Dorren would never have thought would have happened. Surprisingly though, with the little experience he had, the North prospered during his reign. Unlike his father’s headstrong nature, Dorren would be quite the opposite. He spent most of his time researching his predecessors and listening to the advisors his grandfather had appointed. Since Dorren lacked the experience to run one of Aegon’s Kingdoms, he looked to the people that did to help him.

When Visenya rose to the throne in the same year that Lord Torrhen had passed, Dorren had heard rumblings throughout the North of talks of rebellion against the Iron Throne. Seeing as what had happened to his father, Dorren had no intentions of challenging the Targaryens once more. He arranged a marriage between himself and Alara Arryn, the daughter of Ronnel Arryn, brother to Lord of the Vale. As the Lord of the Vale and Lady Visenya Targaryen had good relations, The North would show their loyalty to the crown. Together in their entire union they would have four children. Alaric, Walton, Wylla, and Lysara were the four children of Dorren Stark. The rumors of rebellion were squashed when Dorren attended Queen Visenya’s coronation and pledged his allegiance completely to the crown. According to the accounts of the maester’s, Visenya smiled upon him and told him “Rise my most faithful servant.”

While throughout the years the North did not deal with southern politics for the most part, Dorren had to deal with his own problems. Wildling attacks had increased tenfold in the years since Aegon had put the North under submission. The maesters of Winterfell guessed it was due to feelings that The Night’s Watch was weak now that they were under a king who ruled even more south then The Wall. The watch would cry out for support from Queen Visenya, but their cries would not be answered. This would often have Dorren have to supply his own men to fight off the Wildling invaders, or even sometimes leading counter forces against them himself. The threat to The Wall would plague Dorren’s reign throughout his time of Lord.

During 23 AC, Dorren would lead a force against a wildling invasion that had crossed into The North. He would bring his son Alaric to the battlefield. An army of 250 wildlings would face against the 1,000 Northmen that Dorren had mustered. A battle would commence in The Gift, lasting an hour and a half before the wildling survivors would flee Beyond the Wall once more. The Northerners suffered 153 casualties and 50 men were wounded. Alaric Stark would be one of them. He would have been blinded in his left eye, and left to wear and eye patch for the rest of his life. Alaric would be given the moniker, “Alaric the One Eyed”.

Religious Quarrels
In 41 AC, The Dragon’s Schism would have taken the realm by storm. A new faith created by Queen Magelle Targaryen would now be the primary faith in the realm. A stir of lunacy would surround the North as many northern lords would worry what would happen to the faith of the Old Gods. Lord Dorren would issue a formal statement to the lords of The North stating, “House Stark will continue to worship the Old Gods. In this time of uncertainty we will look to the gods to lead us.” This letter would reveal the stance of House Stark to the realm. Most of the houses in the North would continue to follow the faith of the Old Gods. The major house to convert to the new faith would be House Mandely. They would be staunch supporters of The Dragon’s Schism.

Lord Dorren would pass from this life in 49 AC. He would be buried in the crypts of Winterfell next to his father and grandfather. He would be known as Lord Dorren “The Grey”, symbolizing his bastardry heritage. Lord Alaric Stark would take up the mantle as Lord of Winterfell. Having big shoes to fill, the smallfolk would wonder if Alaric would be able to continue his father’s great legacy. Little did he know, continuing Dorren’s legacy would be the least of his problems during his lordship. Continuing where his father left off, he would bolster the Night’s Watch, providing them with 500 well trained soldiers. He would also give them a portion of land right underneath The Gift, this would be known as “The New Gift.” With these new upgrades, hopefully the watch would be able to defend against any wildling attacks, and would need not to call on Alaric.

During the year of 62 AC, Alaric’s worst task would be set upon him. A heretic by the name of Cregan Greengood would come to The North, preaching about how to convert to The Faith and how the Father would forgive them for following a false faith. Lord Manderly would house Greengood, and become his number one follower. Him and his teaching would cause an enlightenment throughout the houses of The North. The most notable of houses to convert to The Faith would be House Reed and House Dustin. Three principal bannermen would now be revolting against the Old Gods. Followers of the Greengood Order would go around burning weirwood trees and attacking people who spoke out against The Faith.

The start of the violence between the two religions would happen in 70 AC. Supporters of the Old God and members of the Greengood Order clashed outside the Gates of Winterfell during a feast thrown by Alaric to celebrate the seventieth year since Aegon’s Conquest. Three people died, including Alaric’s brother Walton Stark, a member of House Umber, and a member of the Greengood Order. As a result of this Lord Alaric was forced to execute 10 members of the Greengood Order for their crimes. This would just be the start of the religious tensions between the two faiths in The North. Throughout the years, many acts of violence between supporters of both religions occurred all throughout the kingdom. Lord Alaric was about to name the Greengood Order an official enemy of The North, which would cause a major issue throughout the region. It would likely result in war. Cregan Greengood would meet with Lord Alaric in private, just the two of them to discuss what would happen between the faiths. Cregan would order the members of the Greengood Order to stop committing violence among the followers of the Old Gods, and Lord Alaric would do the same. This was a step in the right direction to peace.

Although, before true peace could be attained, Cregan Greengood passed away. His supporter, Viserys Targaryen would take up the mantle as Holy Captain of the Greengood Order. Shortly after, in 79 AC Alaric Stark would be found dead in his sleep. He would be known as Alaric “The One Eyed, and Alaric “The Zealot” for his fight against The Faith.