Harrenhal

Harrenhal, the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms, is the seat of House Whent in the Riverlands, on the north shore of the Gods Eye. Since the burning of Harrenhal by dragonfire in Aegon's Conquest, however, the castle has become a dark and ruinous place.

Harrenhal's holdings are some of the richest in Westeros, claiming vast tracts of green fertile land which reach as far as the hills of House Wode near the Crownlands. Harrentown is found near the castle.

## Walls and Towers

Harrenhal is built on a gigantic scale; its colossal curtain walls are sheer and high as mountain cliffs while atop the battlements the wood-and-iron scorpions seem as small as their namesakes when seen from the ground. Harrenhal's gatehouse is as large as Winterfell's Great Keep, and its stone is discolored and fissured. From outside the gatehouse, only the tops of five immense towers can be seen because the height of the walls obscure the view of them. Harrenhal's walls and towers are made of black stone.

Of the castle's five towers, the shortest is half again as high as the tallest one in Winterfell, yet none of the towers are proper, being bent, lumped, and cracked from the melting of the stone during the burning of Harrenhal by Balerion, the dragon of King Aegon I Targaryen, three centuries earlier. Their original names were lost with the death of Harren the Black.

The Five Towers:

* Tower of Dread is near the middle bailey and the mews.
* Widow's Tower connects to the Kingspyre Tower via a stone bridge. Underneath there is a great cell that is used to keep prisoners.
* Wailing Tower contains storerooms on the ground floor and cavernous vaults beneath.
* Tower of Ghosts is near the postern gate and the ruined sept.
* Kingspyre Tower contains the castellan's chambers. It connects to the Widow's Tower via a stone bridge.

Known Gates:

* The main gate has walls so thick that no less than a dozen murder holes are passed before one reaches the yard on the other side.
* The east gate is smaller than the main gate and is located near the Tower of Ghosts.

## History

### House Hoare

The seat of Halleck Hoare, King of the Isles and the Rivers, was a modest tower house at Fairmarket on the Blue Fork. His son, Harren the Black, built Harrenhal along the Gods Eye as a monument to himself, intending it to be the greatest of all castles in Westeros and for it to dwarf any other.

The construction of Harren's dream took forty years. Thousands of captives died in the quarries chained to sledges or laboring on the five huge towers. Men froze by winter and sweltered in summer. Weirwoods that had stood three thousand years were cut down to provide rafters and beams. Harren beggared the Riverlands and the Iron Islands alike to ornament his dream.

Upon its completion, Harren boasted that his new fortress was impregnable. However, he did not account for Aegon the Conqueror and his dragons invading Westeros. On the day Harren took up residence, Aegon came ashore at what would become King's Landing. Aegon flew his dragon Balerion, the Black Dread, above the high walls and forbidding towers and then roasted Harren alive in the tallest of the towers, now known as Kingspyre. Harren and all his line perished in the burning of Harrenhal. Due to the extreme heat of dragonflame, the castle took on a charred, melted appearance.

Since Aegon's Conquest, the castle has become a white elephant. It is too big to garrison effectively and too expensive to maintain. Harren allegedly mixed human blood into the mortar for the stonework; some believe that the castle is cursed and haunted due to Harren's hubris and the horrors that have occurred within the castle's walls, with the early deaths of its many rulers as proof. The curse is thought to prevent any lord from holding Harrenhal indefinitely.

### House Qoherys

King Aegon I Targaryen granted Harrenhal to Quenton Qoherys, although Lord Edmyn Tully of Riverrun was named Lord Paramount of the Trident. House Qoherys died out during the reign of King Aenys I Targaryen, however, when Lord Gargon the Guest was slain during Harren the Red's rebellion.

### House Harroway

Lord Lucas Harroway succeeded Gargon as Lord of Harrenhal, and House Harroway helped to defeat Prince Aegon Targaryen in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye. The Harroways of Harrenhal and Lord Harroway's Town were extinguished by King Maegor I Targaryen in 44 AC, however. It began to be said that the castle was cursed.

### House Towers

Ser Walton Towers was named the new Lord of Harrenhal after winning a melee announced by Maegor, though he died of his wounds within two weeks of the event. Jordan Towers received Harrenhal, though not all of the lands formerly belonging to House Harroway, as Lord Harroway's Town was granted to Lord Alton Butterwell and the rest of the Harroway holdings to Lord Darnold Darry. House Towers became extinct when Lord Maegor Towers died without heirs in 61 AC.

### Rhaena Targaryen

Since the sickly and impoverished Lord Maegor only utilized one of Harrenhal's five towers, the Tower of Dread, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen settled his widowed sister, Queen Rhaena Targaryen in Harrenhal. Rhaena, who lived in the Widow's Tower, became friends with poor Maegor, and she took care of his household after their lord's passing. After Rhaena died at Harrenhal in 73 AC, the king had her remains burned and interred in the castle.

### House Strong

King Jaehaerys I Targaryen granted Harrenhal to Ser Bywin Strong after Rhaena's death. The Great Council of 101 AC, in which Prince Viserys Tarargaryen was chosen as the Old King's successor, was hosted by House Strong of Harrenhal.

Lord Lyonel and his heir Harwin died in a fire at Harrenhal in 120 AC. It was blamed on the curse of Harrenhal, although non-mystical suspects included Prince Daemon Targaryen, Lord Corlys Velaryon, Lyonel's younger son Larys Strong, and even King Viserys I.

Early in the *Dance of the Dragons*, Ser Simon Strong surrendered the castle to Prince Daemon Targaryen during his assault on Harrenhal. Daemon used it as a base for the blacks to launch attacks in the nearby area. Prince Aemond Targaryen and Ser Criston Cole led an army of greens to retake the great castle, but found it abandoned by the blacks when they arrived. Aemond killed Simon and his kin.

After the Battle by the Lakeshore, Criston led his soldiers south along the Gods Eye. Aemond rode Vhagar and ravaged the riverlands, including burning all wooden structures in Harrenhal. Lady Sabitha Frey, who had occupied Harrenhal in the meantime, was forced to hide in a privy to survive the dragonflame. Daemon and Aemond later fought in the Battle Above the Gods Eye, a duel which killed both princes and their dragons, Caraxes and Vhagar, although Daemon's body was never found. Lord Larys Strong was executed during the Hour of the Wolf in 131 AC, ending House Strong.

### Alys Rivers

Alys Rivers was the so-called "witch queen" who ruled Harrenhal during the regency of Aegon III, following the Dance of the Dragons. She claimed to Ser Regis Groves and Ser Damon Darry that she was the widow of Prince Aemond Targaryen, and that their young son was trueborn and the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. Regis did not survive the encounter and Damon fled back to Darry. An ill-fated messenger sent to Darry claimed that he had seen a dragon inside Harrenhal. The regents in King's Landing planned to gather a large army to recover Harrenhal, but their plans were interrupted by the Winter Fever of 133 AC.

### House Lothston

King Aegon III Targaryen gave the ruined castle to Ser Lucas Lothston in 151 AC. The Bastard of Harrenhal was defeated by Ser Arlan of Pennytree in a melee in 193 AC.

Manfred Lothston was involved in the First Blackfyre Rebellion in 196 AC, and Lady Danelle Lothston helped to suppress the Second Blackfyre Rebellion with the might of Harrenhal in 212 AC. House Lothston was cast down during the reign of King Maekar I Targaryen (221–233 AC), however, as Danelle descended into madness.

### House Whent

House Whent, originally knights sworn to Harrenhal, became lords of the castle for their part in defeating the Lothstons.

Lord Walter Whent hosted a great tourney at Harrenhal in 281 AC. The famous tournament resulted in the crowning of Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone, as its champion, and is also noted for the participation of the mysterious Knight of the Laughing Tree. Ser Jaime Lannister was named to the Kingsguard of Aerys II Targaryen during the tourney.

Prior to the outbreak of Robert's Rebellion, Rhaegar abducted Lyanna Stark less than ten leagues from Harrenhal, wich led to the break out of *Robert's Rebbelion*. The Whents have been noted for their own tragedies.