House Darklyn

House Darklyn is an extinct noble house of the Crownlands. Their sigil was fusily black and gold, 7 white escutcheons upon a red tierce.
==History==
The Darklyns were a rich and powerful house who ruled Duskendale and the surrounding region as the Dusk Kings for more than a thousand years, at the height of their power exerting influence as far north as Crackclaw Point. They later bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror and may have been among the first to do so, due to their proximity to the site of King's Landing.
The Darklyns served the Targaryens with distinction and honour. No less than seven sons of the house, more than any other, served in the Kingsguard. Ser Rolland Darklyn - the youngest member of the Kingsguard until Jaime Lannister - saved the life of one of the kings during a battle and was made a Kingsguard on the spot despite his grievous wounds. He died within the hour, but the king survived.
Circa 270 AL, Lord Denys Darklyn was convinced by his Myrish wife, Lady Serala, to stop paying taxes to the crown as a demonstration of his strength. King Aerys II Targaryen decided to handle the matter personally and came north to confront Lord Denys. Denys panicked and had the king seized. During this scuffle, Ser Gwayne Gaunt of the Kingsguard was killed by the Darklyn master-at-arms, Ser Symon Hollard. Lord Tywin Lannister, the Hand of the King, surrounded the town with a substantial host. The siege became known as the Defiance of Duskendale. Eventually, Ser Barristan Selmy of the Kingsguard led a sortie into the town which successfully rescued King Aerys.
At King Aerys' order, every member of House Darklyn was put to death. Their lands were confiscated (and later awarded to House Rykker). House Hollard, the Darklyns' closest allies, was likewise destroyed, with their castle being pulled down. The youngest member of the house, Dontos Hollard, was spared after the personal intervention of Barristan Selmy and grew up to be a knight before he was murdered during the War of the Five Kings.
For House Darklyn there was no such mercy. Lord Denys and his children were executed. Lady Serala was accounted a witch and her tongue and female parts were torn out before she was burned alive in the Targaryen fashion.
Although the Darklyns have been utterly destroyed, several families in Duskendale - the Darkes, Dargoods and Darkwoods - claim kinship to the house, perhaps in the hopes of eventually one day making a play for lordship.
==Historical Darklyn characters==
* Denys Darklyn
* Rolland Darklyn
* Serala Darklyn, called the Lace Serpent, originally of Myr
Category:Extinct Houses
Category:Houses from the Crownlands
Category:Royal Houses
Category:House Darklyn