House Baratheon of Dragonstone

**House Baratheon** is one of the Great Houses of Westeros, and is the royal house in the Kingdom of Westeros, which they rule as Kings. House Baratheon of Dragonstone is a cadet dynasty from Dragonstone, descendents of the third son of King Renly Baratheon. The Baratheon sigil is a crowned black stag on a field of gold. Members of the family tend to be tall and powerfully built, with black hair and blue eyes, as well as strong, square jawlines. They are known for their mercurial tempers, and their words are "*Ours is the Fury*".

After Robert's Rebellion, House Baratheon split into three branches: Lord Robert Baratheon was crowned King and took residence at King's Landing, thereby creating House Baratheon of King's Landing. Robert gave the seat of Dragonstone to his younger brother, Stannis, creating House Baratheon of Dragonstone. Robert's youngest brother, Renly], became the Lord of Storm's End, continuing House Baratheon of Storm's End.

Following the War of the Five Kings, Renly Baratheon held King's Landing, Storm's End, and Dragonstone in his own right. Dragonstone was granted to his third son, Lord Cortnay, and so the branch was revived.

## History

### House Baratheon

House Baratheon is the youngest of the great houses, tracing its descent from Orys Baratheon, Aegon I Targaryen's fiercest general, and rumored to be his bastard brother. Through the female line, the Baratheons are descended from the Storm Kings, as Orys slew Argilac the Arrogant, last of the Storm Kings, and married his daughter Argella Durrandon. Orys adopted the sigil and words of his wife's ancestral line. The line of the Storm Kings dates back to the Age of Heroes when their kingdom was founded by King Durran I "Godsgrief", a legendary hero.

Throughout the rule of the Targaryens, House Baratheon has usually remained a stalwart supporter of the Dragonlords. Though they have rebelled once before, crowning themselves Storm King, that rebellion was soon smoothed over by the reigning King. It wasn't until 282AC that House Baratheon would truly stand against it's one-time ally.

### Robert's Rebellion and the Creation of the Cadet Branch

The War of Rebellion, or the War of the Usurper, was primarily begun by Lord Robert Baratheon and Lord Eddard Stark. Together, the pair began a war that saw the fall of House Targaryen, and the rise House Baratheon as the new Kings of Westeros. Robert himself led many battles, most famously the Battle of the Trident, where he slew Rhaegar Targaryen on the field of battle. His brother, Stannis Baratheon, held Storm's End against the might of the Reach for the better part of a year, and then stormed Dragonstone with the newly created royal fleet. For these acts, Robert named his brother Lord of Dragonstone and Master of Ships.

### The War of the Five Kings

After the death of Robert Baratheon, his two brothers - Stannis and Renly - both pressed their claim upon the throne. Though Stannis was the elder, Renly was more popular, and soon enough he met his brother outside of Storm's End, asking for his fealty.

### The Siege of Storms End

Stannis and Renly meet outside of Storm's End, parlaying briefly. Both refuse to back down, and though Stannis has the smaller army, he seemed confident in some hidden stratagem. Come the next morning, however, it proved of little use. The battle was short, and most of the men serving Stannis quickly either fled, surrendered or turned cloak, handing him over to his brother Renly. Renly sentenced Stannis to the Wall, and gathered his armies to march on King's Landing. The remainder of Stannis' forces, including his large fleet, retreated to Dragonstone.

### Mutiny on Dragonstone

The defeated fleet returned to Dragonstone and reported the news of Stannis' defeat and capture to the Castellan, Ser Axell Florent. Most of the remaining lords and knights agreed that it was better to surrender to Lord Renly than wait until he had defeated the Lannisters. Ser Axell, however, disagreed, deciding instead to continue the war in the name of Stannis' daughter, Shireen. Words turned to blows, and the castle turned on Axell, in which turned to be a short lived fight, capturing Axell and Shireen and turning over the stronghold to Lord Renly.

### Aftermath of the War

With King Renly crowned and ruling the Iron Throne, taking Shireen into his custody and claiming Dragonstone as his, he appointed Ser Andrew Estermont, who had been one of the leaders of the mutiny, and the king's cousin,as Castellan Though Renly had little time for the island, he rarely visited it at all and Andrew was left alone in charge for many years. Finally, however, when his third son, Prince Cortnay Baratheon, came of age, the King granted the castle to him, restoring the cadet branch of Dragonstone. Andrew continued to serve Lord Cortnay for years to come.

### War of the Exile

When new's reached King's Landing that Aurion the Exile, bastard son of the man who claimed himself to be Aegon Targaryen, sailed for the crownlands with the support of Pentos, Volantis and many Sellsword companies, the Master of Ships, Cortnay Baratheon, gathered the royal fleets of Kings Landing and Dragonstone and sailed to meet him. At the gullet the two forces clashed, in what would be the worst defeat of the war, costing the Lord of Dragonstone his life. With no male issue, his daughter, Cassana Baratheon, a girl of ten, inherited, but most of the ruling was left to Andrew Estermont, now an aged man and Castellan.

### The Reign of Cassana

As a child, Cassana had little control over affairs, much of this was decided by Ser Andrew. She was married to Cressen Florent, her second cousin, at age fourteen, with the explanation that the match would strengthen her claim on the castle. Growing up, she took over affairs in Dragonstone, and eventually Kings Landing, serving at the side of her newly crowned nephew, King Alesander, for some years. She had three children in this time, Rhaenyra, Gowen and Gawen.

### Current Members

* Cortnay Baratheon, Lord of Dragonstone - (311-352).
	+ Cassana Baratheon - Lady of Dragonstone (b. 331).
		- Rhaenyra Baratheon - Princess of Dragstone (b. 351).
		- Gowen Baratheon - Heir to Dragonstone (b. 352).
		- Gawen Baratheon - Prince of Dragonstone (b. 352).

### Past Members

* Stannis Baratheon, Lord of Dragonstone
* Shireen Baratheon, Lady of Dragonstone
* Renly Baratheon, King of the Iron Throne