House Tully

House Tully of Riverrun is one of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms. Lord Hoster Tully, the Lord Paramount of the Trident, rules over the riverlands from the Tully seat of Riverrun. Their sigil is a silver trout leaping on a striped field of blue and mud red, and their house words are "Family, Duty, Honour."
==Culture==
===Traits===
Members of House Tully tend to have fair skin, red-brown (i.e. auburn) hair, and blue eyes in a variety of shades.
===Customs===
House Tully follows the Faith of the Seven, although Riverrun still has a godswood.
Tully funeral customs decree that a deceased member is placed on a small boat. Men might be clad in their armor and surcoat, with a wooden sword and shield. They are placed on their cloak, among stones to make the boat heavy in the water, and driftwood, kindling and scraps of parchment to allow it to catch fire. In honor of the Faith, seven men are chosen to push the funeral boat to the water. Using a flaming arrow, the boat is lit afire.
==History==
===Pre-Conquest Era===
House Tully is an old noble house of First Men origin, dating back to the Age of Heroes. Ser Edmure Tully and his sons were allies of Tristifer IV Mudd, the King of the Rivers and the Hills, but the Tullys knelt to the Andal conqueror Armistead Vance after Tristifer's death. Edmure's son, Axel Tully, received land at the confluence of the Red Fork and the Tumblestone, where he constructed Riverrun.
Unlike many Great Houses, the Tullys never ruled as kings, but held Riverrun for at least a thousand years as powerful vassals of those who did. They often defended the Trident from the Kings of the Rock. Lord Elston Tully died supporting Lord Roderick Blackwood against King Humfrey I Teague. Lord Tommen Tully futilely supported Lady Agnes Blackwood against Harwyn Hoare, King of the Iron Islands, and Tommen's natural son Samwell Rivers was slain at the Tumblestone.
===Targaryen Dynasty===
House Tully rose to prominence during Aegon's Conquest, when Lord Edmyn Tully led the rebel riverlords who deserted Harren Hoare, King of the Isles and the Rivers, and instead supported House Targaryen. Following the burning of Harrenhal, Edmyn was rewarded with dominion over the riverlands by Aegon I Targaryen as the first Lord Paramount of the Trident. Despite being their new liege lords, the Tullys fielded smaller armies than the Blackwoods, Brackens, Freys, and Vances. House Tully was also not as wealthy as the Mootons, nor considered as prestigious as the Mallisters.
One of Edmyn's daughters married Lord Quenton Qoherys of Harrenhal, while Edmyn himself served two years as Hand of the King to Aegon the Conqueror, the first King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men. King Aenys I Targaryen relied on the Tullys during the rebellion of Harren the Red, and King Maegor I Targaryen was supported by the Tullys and the Harroways against Prince Aegon Targaryen in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye. The Tullys later supported Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen against Maegor. Lord Prentys Tully served Jaehaerys I as master of laws, while his wife, Lady Lucinda Tully, led the household for Queen Alysanne Targaryen.
In 101 AC during the Great Council, Lord Grover Tully spoke in favour of Prince Viserys Targaryen over Laenor Velaryon as the successor to Jaehaerys I. During the Dance of the Dragons, the Tullys ruled over, in name at least, the quarrelsome riverlords. The aged Lord Grover wanted to support the greens, but his grandson Elmo and great-grandson Kermit supported the blacks. Elmo led the riverlords to battle on the side of Rhaenyra during the Second Battle of Tumbleton. His grandfather died soon after, and Elmo himself followed his grandfather to the grave forty-nine days later. His young son Kermit led the Lads and slew Lord Borros Baratheon in the Battle of the Kingsroad. Kermit's brother, Ser Oscar Tully, founded the Stormbreakers.
The Tullys were Targaryen loyalists during the Blackfyre Rebellions. Lord Medgar Tully participated in the tourney at Ashford Meadow, where he challenged Ser Humfrey Hardyng in his first tilt but was defeated. Two years later, during the reign of Aerys I Targaryen, there was a new Lord Tully, a boy of eight (in 211 AC). He was surrounded by women, indicating he had no brothers or uncles.
===Recent History===
Given the riverlands' geographic vulnerability, House Tully has often sought alliances in case of invasion. Lord Hoster Tully sought to wed his brother, Ser Brynden Tully, hero of the War of the Ninepenny Kings, to Bethany Redwyne, but Brynden would have none of it. During the years-long quarrel between the two, Brynden took the moniker "Blackfish".
Hoster also took a ward, Petyr Baelish, an obscure lordling from the Fingers. Petyr fell in love with Lord Tully's eldest daughter, Catelyn, but was rebuffed. As consolation he took the virginity of Lysa, Hoster's other daughter. Hoster forbade Petyr from marrying either of his daughters due to his low standing, and ordered Lysa to drink moon tea to prevent her from bearing Petyr's child. Hoster accepted an offer from Lord Tywin Lannister to wed Ser Jaime Lannister to Lysa, but Jaime unexpectedly joined the Kingsguard before this could occur. Hoster rebuffed Tywin's offer of his dwarf younger son, Tyrion, as a replacement. Other prospects existed from House Brax and others, but Hoster finally accepted an offer from Lord Rickard Stark that Catelyn be betrothed to Brandon Stark, heir to Winterfell. Petyr duelled Brandon for Catelyn's favour, resulting in his exile from Riverrun.
The executions of Brandon and Rickard by King Aerys II Targaryen complicated matters, but Lord Hoster threw in with the ensuing rebellion of Lord Robert Baratheon against Targaryen rule, arranging for Catelyn to wed Brandon's brother, Lord Eddard Stark, and for Lysa to marry Lord Jon Arryn. The riverlands was a major theatre in Robert's Rebellion, and Lord Hoster fought in the Battle of the Bells. His control over his bannermen was not complete, however, as the Darrys, Mootons, and Rygers supported the Targaryens. Hoster also crushed the royalist Goodbrooks. House Frey delayed their contribution until after the decisive Battle of the Trident, itself fought in the riverlands. After the war, the Tully girls rode off to their husbands' seats, with Ser Brynden accompanying Lysa to the Vale of Arryn to serve as Knight of the Gate.
==House Tully at the end of the third century==
*Lord Hoster Tully, Lord of Riverrun. Died of old age, in 299 AC.
**Lady Minisa Whent, his wife. Died in childbirth.
***Lady Catelyn Stark, his eldest child and first daughter. Married to Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, with whom she had five children.
***Lady Lysa Arryn, his second daughter. Married to Lord Jon Arryn, by whom she has one son.
***Edmure Tully, his son and the former Lord of Riverrun.
*Ser Brynden Tully, Hoster's brother, also known as the Blackfish. Knight of the Bloody Gate.