House Peake

**House Peake** is a noble house from Starpike in The Reach. They blazon their arms with three black castles on orange. The three black castles on their arms symbolize the three castles that House Peake once owned: Starpike, Dunstonbury, and Whitegrove.

## **History:**

### **Kingdom of the Reach:**

House Peake is an ancient house of First Men origin. According to tales from The Reach, the Peakes, Florents, and Balls are each descended from one of the three husbands of Florys the Fox, a daughter of Garth Greenhand.

The Peakes were historical rivals with House Manderly. During the reign of the Gardener kings in The Reach, King Gwayne the Fat persuaded Lords Manderly and Peake to accept his judgment on their quarrel and do fealty for their lands, without any bloodshed.

Near the end of the long reign of King Garth Greybeard, a problem arose with the succession as Garth had sired no sons and only daughters, one of whom had married Lord Manderly, and another to Lord Peake. Both lords were determined that their own wife should succeed to the throne, and the rivalry between them was marked by betrayal, conspiracy and murder, and finally escalated into open war with other lords joining the cause on both sides. The anarchy that followed lasted almost a decade until Ser Osmund Tyrell, the High Steward of Highgarden, made common cause with the other lords of The Reach and defeated both the Peakes and Manderlys. Ser Osmund then placed a distant cousin of the late Garth Greybeard on the throne who ascended as King Mern VI Gardener.

House Manderly was driven into exile from The Reach by Lord Lorimar Peake upon the behest of King Perceon III Gardener who feared the Manderlys' swelling power in The Reach. This allowed House Peake to acquire the Manderly seat of Dunstonbury. Lord Lorimar's daughter married Perceon III's son Gwayne and was the seventh Peake maiden to become Queen of All The Reach.

### **Targaryen Era:**

During The Dance of the Dragons, Lord Unwin Peake supported the greens. He took command of the green army from The Reach after the Second Battle of Tumbleton and led its retreat. After the death of Lord Corlys Velaryon, Lord Unwin was given a position as one of King Aegon III Targaryen's regents. He eventually became Protector of the Realm and Hand of the King, which he later resigned when the king would not marry his daughter, Myrielle Peake.

Lord Gormon Peake was a fierce supporter of Daemon I Blackfyre and was considered one of the finest knights during the reign of King Daeron II Targaryen. After the Peakes chose the side of House Blackfyre in the failed First Blackfyre Rebellion, they had two of their castles (Dunstonbury and Whitegrove) stripped from them, leaving them only Starpike. Gormon was a part of Daemon II Blackfyre's entourage at the Whitewalls wedding tourney, and was subsequently executed for treason.

The Peakes rose against the Iron Throne in the Peake Uprising. King Maekar I Targaryen's helm was crushed by a rock hurled from the battlements of Starpike. Lord Robert Reyne and Ser Tywald Lannister were also killed in the Storming of Starpike. In the aftermath of Starpike, Roger Reyne, the new Lord of Castamere took vengeance for his father Robert's death by slaughtering seven captive Peakes before Prince Aegon Targaryen prevented him from harming others.

## **Family:**

* Lord Titus Peake, Lord of Starpike.
	+ Lady Margot Peake, of House Lannister, his wife.
* Ser Laswell Peake, a knight. An exile lord serving with The Golden Company.
* Torman Peake, his brother. An exile serving with The Golden Company.
* Pykewood Peake, his brother. An exile serving with The Golden Company.