House Toyne

**House Toyne** was a noble house from the Stormlands. They blazoned their arms with a winged heart, black on gold, within a black bordure embattled. Their words are "Fly High, Fly Far". The current Lord is Damon Toyne, and his heir is Ser Beric Toyne.

## History

Lord Galladon Toyne served as regent for King Durran XXVII Durrandon for one year before resigning.  Galladon later assembled the Stormlander host to march against the King Edmund Gardener of the Kingdom of the Reach, but did not survive to see his king retake the Marches. While on the march, his horse misstepped and his heart burst from the sudden excitement. His son, Darron took up the reins and fought in the major actions of the war.

Darron would lead House Toyne in further wars, notably in 30 AA when King Durran XXVII Durrandon was slain in battle, and in 49 AA when the same happened to his son, Argilac X Durrandon. Darron would see no further wars, until he warred within his own body against a fever, which would claim his life in 58 AA.

His son Argilac, named for the king, would rule as Lord Toyne. A bookish man, he avoided the war against the Gardeners and Lannisters in 82 AA. His son, however, would not follow his father's wishes. Ser Eustace Toyne distinguished himself as a warrior, but many found his intelligence to be lacking. This belief would be confirmed when the Stormlands went to war with the Triarchy for the Stepstones in 106 AA.

Perhaps fortunately then, the son would pass before his father. Argilac proved exceedingly sturdy even in his old age, and Eustace would pass in 112 AA at the age of 61. Despite the loss of his son, Argilac would live in tremendous emotional agony until his own death in 126 AA, at the age of 86.

Robert Toyne was a smart and strong man, already thirty by the time he had ascended to lead the Rainwood and Cape. He ruled in peace for 26 years, dying in 152 from an inability to pass water.

The new Lord of the Rainwood, Bryce, would reign the shortest of all the recent Toyne lords. After having gotten into a fight with a travelling minstrel, the two would fatally wound each other in 160 AA. Their argument had been over Bryce's mistress, whom the minstrel had bedded. He would remain mocked in the ensuing years.

Ronnet Toyne was only 2 when he came to rule the Rainwood, his youth allowing his uncle Grance to seize control as regent and rule in his name for 14 years. However, the child's mother, Shireen, fought him in a secret war that most would never know existed. Grance held the power until a knight, fighting in the honor of Shireen (and supposedly, dishonoring her in the bed) slew him as Ronnet came of age in 174 AA, as Grance attempted to keep power despite the age of the new lord.

Ronnet would know no war, and ruled ably until 210 AA, fighting a last strain of the Spring Sickness. It would claim him, leaving behind his son Cedrik. Cedrik proved an adept politician, marrying off his daughter Shyra to Rolland III Durrandon so that all future Durrandon kings would have Toyne blood in them. However, he would rule only 15 years until an illness claimed him, leaving his son Pearse as Lord.

Pearse was, by most accounts, useless. He was not much for war, nor was he as skilled as his father in the courts. His piety was lacking, and he had a love for food that made him difficult to stomach the sight of. Nevertheless, he would rule until 258 AA, when death finally, mercifully claimed him.

Damon Toyne was born in 232 AA, to a father who most reviled. Unwilling to accept Toyne's position as a laughingstock, he slowly but surely took over the duties of his father until his own time to rule. 7 years later, he would have a son of his own. Kyle. Kyle was the light of his life, and when his brother Janos followed in 269, Damon was at his height. His brother Edric would have a son of his own, Beric, and Damon delighted in seeing the children getting along. However, in 281 disaster hit his brother- his wife died giving birth to his daughter, Tarah. 4 years later, he would pick a fight with a hedge knight, choosing combat as his form of death, leaving behind a young son who didn't understand why his mother and father had left him. Not in truth.

Seeing that the boy needed something to focus on, he sent him to be squired to the Crown Prince of the Stormlands, the future Durran XXX. There the boy would flourish, finding in Durran an older brother. Damon happily watched his nephew grow.

Although he would be too old to see action in the War of the Trident, his sons and nephew would go in his place, proving their skill at arms against the Clawmen. However, when the final battle came against Gardener, Damon's world would be shattered as his son's died in the Durrandon cavalry, leaving his nephew to pick up the pieces.

Although his nephew proved himself, and had been knighted on the field for his valor, Damon lost all the light in his eyes and scorned him, wishing he had fallen in the place of his sons. Focusing all efforts onto his daughter and heir, Mylessa, he tried to find her a match worthy of her, while preserving the family name.

In 296 however, the Storm War would break out, and Beric was sent with House Toyne's forces, where he would distinguish himself by slaying Cletus Yronwood, and fighting Anders Yronwood to a draw. The gods were not good to Damon, however. Seduced by a "noble knight" bound for the war, Mylessa would give birth to his bastard, Rolland, dying in the process. All that was left to inherit his titles... Was Beric.

Beric was sent to Storm's End, to act as the representative of the Warden of the Cape. In truth, it was to avoid looking at the "sorry waste of flesh and blood" that was his nephew. In truth, most would remark on the chivalry and skill at arms of his nephew, although his competitive drive and over-confidence did not lend itself well to a peaceful man.