House Frey

House Haigh

**House Frey of the Crossing** is a noble house of the Riverlands. Their ancestral seat is the Twins, a pair of castles situated on each bank of the northern Green Fork of the Trident that serves as a vital bridge across the river. The lord of the house is called the Lord of the Crossing.

Their sigil is two blue towers united by a bridge on silver-grey, representing the Twins.

The strategic location of the Twins has allowed the house to become quite wealthy and to amass wider domains than their liege lords of House Tully.

## History

### Origin

House Frey dates back four centuries, making it one of the younger noble houses in Westeros. The first Lord Frey was awarded lands and a noble status, and began the construction of a great bridge spanning the Green Fork of the Trident. Construction was finished under the rule of his grandson, who added wooden keeps on both sides of the river. The timber keeps were eventually replaced by stone keeps, which received the name "the Twins".

Due to their strategic location, House Frey prospered by exacting tolls for passage across the river, greatly increasing their wealth. House Frey has grown into a powerful bannermen of House Tully of Riverrun, and the Twins are among the strongest castles of the Seven Kingdoms. However, some older houses look down upon the Freys as upstarts and toll collectors.

### Coming of the Dragons

During Aegon's Conquest, House Frey aided Aegon the Conqueror and rebelled against Harren Hoare of Harrenhal, the King of the Isles and the Rivers. The banners of House Frey flew outside the recently-completed castle on the night that Aegon I Targaryen's dragon Balerion the Black Dread laid waste to Harrenhal and unceremoniously ended the line of Harren the Black. Afterward, the Freys joined the other river lords in swearing fealty to House Tully, the new Lords Paramount of the Trident for House Targaryen.

Later, the two blue towers of House Frey also flew proudly at the Field of Fire, when Aegon the Conqueror solidified his control over the newly-forged Seven Kingdoms and defeated a massive host led by House Gardener and House Lannister on the field of battle.

### Discontent with the Dragons

Four decades later, one would be forgiven for thinking that House Targaryen was on the verge of collapse, as Lord Harwyn Frey feared during the deeply troubled rule of King Aenys I Targaryen. Rebellion upon rebellion erupted throughout the Seven Kingdoms, including a short-lived conflict within the Riverlands led by a man proclaiming himself to be the last true descendant of Harren the Black. This man styled himself Harren the Red and he succeeded in capturing the mighty castle of Harrenhal, wherein he slew Lord Gargon Qoherys, the last of that young house. Lord Harwyn himself led Frey men when House Tully answered the Crown's call to ride for Harrenhal and root out the Ironborn usurper, though they arrived too late and found only the corpses of servants and guardsmen.

When King Aenys elected to wed his daughter Princess Rhaena to his son and heir Prince Aegon, many voices within the realm cried out against the incest, including the High Septon, who went so far as to refer to the king as "King Abomination". Inspired by the High Septon's ardent belief, Addam Frey, the pious second son of Lord Harwyn, chose to leave behind his family and join the Warrior's Sons to fight for the Faith of the Seven and the gods.

### Maegor the Cruel

Matters became ever following the death of King Aenys. His brother Prince Maegor Targaryen returned suddenly from exile in Essos to claim the Iron Throne - and soon thereafter the newly-crowned king moved swiftly and decisively against the Faith Militant. Having claimed the Black Dread as his own dragon mount, Maegor the Cruel, as the king would become known in days to come, loosed dragonfire upon the Sept of Remembrance, which had become a central gathering point for the faithful opposed to Targaryen affronts against the gods. Addam Frey perished on that day, wearing the rainbow cloak of a Warrior's Son.

His elder twin Stevron, meanwhile, maintained fealty to House Targaryen - albeit not to the usurper upon the Iron Throne, but rather the true king Prince Aegon, who by 43 AC was seeking support from amongst the lords of the Riverlands and Westerlands. The young prince amassed a host of 15,000 loyal men and began to march, only to be met by King Maegor's own force at the God's Eye. Stevron led the men of House Frey and, like his brother before him, the heir to the Twins died resisting a king that he viewed as a tyrant unfit to rule.

Having lost two of his three sons, Harwyn Frey suffered a heart attack in the days that followed. As the man became frail despite not being of advanced age, his youngest son Merrett - at the time barely a man at five-and-ten - was forced to assume ever greater responsibilities for their house.

By 48 AC, a year after Merrett was wed to his wife Joyeuse Erenford, Lord Merrett passed from this earth. He did so with a smile upon his face, for he lived long enough to learn that King Maegor had died.

### Interregnum

The years that followed were, by and large, peaceful ones for House Frey, even when illness struck their lands and occasionally even claimed their own to be reunited with the gods.

In 55 AC, Perrianne Haigh, widow of Lord Harwyn, became stricken with the Shivering Plague and died, as did Joyeuse Erenford five years later. She had by this time given three children to Lord Merrett: their eldest son and Heir Hosteen in 48 AC; their only daughter Kyra in 52 AC; and another son Titus in 55 AC.

Kyra would later wed Lord Maegor Mooton of Maidenpool in 72 AC and bear him three children before the man was ultimately executed and his son Jonah succeeded him in 88 AC.

Hosteen was wed to Alys Darry two years later in 74 AC. She bore him four children: Alesander in 74 AC; Marissa in 78 AC; Corenna in 80 AC; and finally Meria in 82 AC. Marissa would later wed Howland Reed of Greywater Watch in 96 AC, as an effort to mend relations with northern houses following a series of raids between the Kingdom of Winter and the Kingdom of the Iron Throne.

For his part, Titus was wed to Serra Charlton in 78 AC, with whom he had three children before she passed. Their eldest Kevan was born in 77 AC; Amerei in 79 AC; and lastly Melara in 80 AC. He and his brother were both ultimately knighted by their castle's master-at-arms.

From 83 to 88 AC, House Frey was honored to foster a son of Riverrun in the person of Hugo Tully, with whom Alester formed a fast friendship. Theirs was a bound formed in childhood that endures to this day - although not without moments of exasperation, for Hugo has a streak of viciousness that sometimes perturbs his Frey friend.

### Recent Events

A few years later, in 90 AC, Lord Merrett's heir Hosteen suddenly fell ill. Despite Maester Lomas' best efforts, he was unable to aid the man, who ultimately succumbed to that which plagued his body. Shortly thereafter a decision was made by Lord Merrett to ensure that his grandson and new heir Alesander would mature at a more rapid rate than the boy of five-and-ten was presently doing. He was sent to Castle Darry to squire for his uncle Lord Harry, the Lord Justiciar for the Iron Throne.

Nor was peace to last forever, of course. Perhaps inspired by the successful secession efforts undergone by both the Kingdom of Winter and the Iron Islands in years prior, the Westerlands and the Reach joined forces in 93 AC to march on King's Landing in open rebellion against King Viserys I Targaryen. A hastily assembled parley at Riverrun was called by Lady Agnes Tully, who implored her riverlords to stand united with the Crown. Several houses elected to do so forthright, whilst others - including that of House Frey - did so only begrudgingly, for their liege lady was caught between her fealty to the Iron Throne and to kin at Casterly Rock.

The Rivermen met the rebels at a town called Tumbler's Fall. Outnumbered, the battle was short and bloody, resulting in a decisive defeat for the royalist forces. Ser Titus led the men of House Frey and has ever since been haunted by the memory of the carnage inflicted on that day. The Rosegold Rebellion, as it became known, was ultimately unsuccessful for Lord Lannister and the self-proclaimed King Tyrell, with their forces defeated at the capital city.

## Household

### Wards

* Hugo Tully, 83 to 88 AC
* Raymund Tully, squire to Ser Titus, 91 to 96 AC

## House Frey as of 98 AC

* Merrett Frey (b. 28 AC), the current Lord of the Crossing. A man generally kind and patient in temperament, he outlived two older brothers to ascend to his seat and has since ruled for decades. He grows weary of outliving family, having also lost gooddaughters, his only wife, and a son.
	+ Hosteen Frey (b. 48 AC, d. 91 AC). Died of illness before ever becoming lord.
	+ Alys Darry (b. 58 AC). Hosteen's widow and sister of Lord Harry Darry.
		- Alesander (b. 74 AC). Lord Merrett's heir. A gregarious man, he serves his uncle Lord Darry as squire and travels the realm to dispense the justice of the Iron Throne.
		- r. Mela Storm (b. 72 AC).
			* Roslin Rivers (b. 92 AC).
		- Marissa (b. 78 AC). Wed to Howland Reed of Greywater Watch. A quiet and generally reserved woman, she desires to see her husband assume what she views as his rightful place as heir over his twin brother.
		- Corenna (b. 80 AC). An outgoing and social woman, Cori has learned how to use her beauty as a weapon. She resides at Riverrun where she serves Lady Agnes Tully as a lady-in-waiting.
		- Meria (b. 82). Youngest of the brood, she is an excitable girl who dreams of valiant knights and glorious stories of chivalry.
	+ Kyra Frey (b. 52). Lady Dowager of Maidenpool and widow of Lord Maegor Mooton.
		- Jonah Mooton (b. 73 AC)
		- Joffrey Mooton (b. 74 AC)
		- Jeyne Mooton (b. 77 AC)
	+ Ser Titus Frey (b. 55 AC). Serves as castellan for the Twins and carries the authority of his father Lord Merrett. Widower of Serra Charlton.
		- Kevan Frey (b. 77 AC)
		- Amerei Frey (b. 79 AC)
		- Melara Frey (b. 80 AC)

FamilyEcho Family Tree.

House Planning Spreadsheet.

## Citation

Some text borrowed from A Wiki of Ice and Fire.