House Royce

House Royce of Runestone is formerly a Great House of Westeros. It ruled over the Vale as the Bronze King, until it was deposed by House Arryn during the coming of the Andals and became its vassal ever since. It formerly was a vassal of House Stark of Winterfell, but now recognizes the Lord of the Six Kingdoms as its king. Their seat is located east of the Eyrie, on the coast of the Narrow Sea. It is ruled by the veteran Lord Yohn Royce.
House Royce's heraldry consists of a pattern of black pebbles on a bronze field surrounded by runes in the Old Tongue of the First Men. Their house words are "We Remember."
==History==
During the coming of the Andals, the head of House Royce, King Robar II Royce, led and united the First Men of the Vale against the Andals, defeating the invaders in numerous battles before forcing them to retreat to the Narrow Sea.
When the Falcon Knight, Ser Artys Arryn, became the leader of the Andals, House Royce and the First Men met them in the Battle of the Seven Stars under the Giant's Lance. Although the First Men gained the advantage of high ground, the Ser Artys was able to outflank and defeat Robar II. House Royce would then swear fealty to House Arryn and became its most prominent vassal."Knights of the Vale"
==Members==
* Lord Yohn Royce, known as "Bronze Yohn". Lord of Runestone and current head of the family.
**{Robar Royce}, his eldest son and heir. A member of Renly I's Kingsguard. Killed by Brienne of Tarth.
**Ser {Waymar Royce}, his youngest son. A Ranger of the Night's Watch. Killed by a White Walker.
*{Kyle Royce}, with unspecified relationship with the main branch. Executed on the orders of King Aerys II Targaryen.
===Historical members===
*King {Robar II Royce}, the last Bronze King. United the Vale against Andal invaders and was slain during the Battle of the Seven Stars.
*Lord {Yorbert Royce}, Lord of Runestone during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen.
**{Rhea Royce}, Yorbert's heir. Estranged wife of Prince Daemon Targaryen. Killed by Prince Daemon, though believed to have died in a hunting accident.
*Ser Gerold Royce, Rhea's cousin.
==Family tree==
==Behind the scenes==
*While no official explanation has been given regarding the runes on House Royce's sigil, they can be translated into the Latin script from Anglo-Saxon (futhorc) runes as "RUN BEFORE YOUR BLOOD RUNS".https://i.gyazo.com/af12e31d493e5852a9dfa4f4f0c865a2.png -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_runes#Rune_inventory
==In the books==
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the Royces are the most powerful family in the Vale after the Arryns, and they are extremely loyal to House Arryn. House Royce is descended from the First Men, which is a very rare exception in the Vale, as the First Men were almost completely driven from the Vale during the coming of the Andals six thousand years ago. This extends to the point that in modern times the nobility of the Vale are considered to represent the purest Andal bloodlines, exterminating the local First Men instead of intermingling with them. However, House Royce managed to survive, and is very proud of their descent from the First Men, to the point that they include runes of the Old Tongue of the First Men in their sigil.
===Known members===
* Lord Yohn Royce, called Bronze Yohn, Lord of Runestone, the ruler of the main branch of the family.
** Ser Andar Royce, his eldest son and heir.
** Ser {Robar Royce}, his second son, known as Robar the Red since joining Renly Baratheon's Rainbow Guard. Slain by Loras Tyrell.
** Ser {Waymar Royce}, his youngest son, a ranger of the Night's Watch. Killed by the Others.
** Ysilla Royce, his only daughter.
In the novels, House Royce has a cadet branch ruling from the Gates of the Moon. However, since the Gates of the Moon do not apparently exist in the TV series, it is unclear if this cadet branch has also been eliminated. Its known members are:
* Nestor Royce, a cousin of Yohn's, Keeper of the Gates of the Moon, High Steward of the Vale, ruler of the cadet branch of the family.
** Albar Royce, Nestor's son and heir.
** Myranda Royce, Nestor's daughter.
Lady Jeyne of House Royce was Jon Arryn's first wife who died delivering a stillborn daughter.
Two other members are the deceased Lady Perra of House Royce, Lord Walder Frey's first wife and Ser Stevron Frey's mother, and Lady Ryella of House Royce who is married to Ser Arwood Frey, Lord Walder Frey's grandson. Mya Stone, the bastard daughter of King Robert Baratheon, serves as a mountain guide to the cadet branch of House Royce.
===Relationship to House Stark===
House Royce holds a blood-relationship to House Stark of the North: while it is an old connection, they still consider the Starks their kin, combined with their shared heritage as descendants of the First Men. Eddard Stark's paternal grandfather was Edwyle Stark, and Edwyle's younger sister Jocelyn Stark married Benedict Royce (apparently from the junior branch of the family). Jocelyn and Benedict had several children and at least three daughters, who married into House Waynwood, House Corbray, and House Templeton.
Lord Yohn Royce is the most vocal proponent among the Vale lords for openly joining Robb Stark's side during the War of the Five Kings (though Lysa suppresses these sentiments and enforce the Vale's neutrality). After the Red Wedding, House Royce is close to open revolt over Lysa's failure to aid Robb in his war, and the Waynwoods, Redforts, Belmores, and Templetons are giving them every support.
After hearing of the Sack of Winterfell, and the assumed death of his younger brothers, Catelyn urges Robb to officially name one of his distant cousins from House Royce as his heir. Arya is also assumed dead at the time, and Sansa had just been forced to marry Tyrion, and both Robb and Catelyn correctly fear that should Robb die, the Lannisters are planning on installing any child born between Sansa and Tyrion as their puppet to rule the North. Robb disagrees on the grounds that it is still a distant relationship, and prefers to name his bastard half-brother Jon Snow as his heir, because a as king, Robb he can have Jon legitimized. Despite Catelyn's objections, Robb issues a decree that legitimizes Jon and names him his heir until a son is born to him from Jeyne Westerling, and several of the lords sign the decree as witnesses. It is unknown what has become of the decree, as it is no longer mentioned in the books.
==Gallery==
House-Royce-Square.PNG|The sigil of House Royce.
Royce_sigil_106_Anatomy.png|House Royce's entry in the book, The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms.
House Royce.png|The icon of House Royce from the HBO viewer's guide.
Royce sigil runes.jpg|The sigil of House Royce contains runes from the Old Tongue of the First Men.
==References==
==External links==
* 
Category:Great Houses
 
Category:Houses from the Vale of Arryn
Category:Houses of First Men origin
Category:Royal houses
Category:Vassal houses
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fr:Maison Royce
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