House Frey

## House Frey of the Crossing

House Erenford

**House Frey of the Crossing** is a noble house of the Riverlands. Their main seat is the Twins, a pair of castles 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.

The strategic location of the Twins has allowed the house to become quite wealthy. Under their longest living lord, Walder Frey, they grew greatly in both size and power. One of the most powerful bannermen of the Tullys, the Freys can field a thousand knights and three thousand foot.

Most of Lord Walder's humongous amount of offspring were killed in the Battle of Smoke and Sorrow, in which House Frey fought alongside the King. Both armies were incinerated by Aelyx Targaryen's dragon.

## History

House Frey is one of the younger houses in Westeros, dating back some six centuries when its founder was awarded lands and nobility. The founding Frey had a vision of building a great bridge spanning the Green Fork of the Trident and began its construction. His grandson ultimately finished the bridge's construction and built wooden keeps on both sides as well. Later generations replaced the timber keeps with identical stone keeps that were named the Twins. A large tower was constructed in the middle of the bridge and called the Water Tower.

The Twins' defensible construction and strategic location allowed the Freys to prosper by exacting tolls for passage across the river. The Freys grew into one of the richest and most powerful houses of the Trident. Their quick rise to prominence has caused other powerful houses to look down on them as upstarts. The Freys also became bitter rivals with their neighbors to the north, the crannogmen ruled by House Reed.

During Aegon's Conquest, House Frey aided Aegon the Conqueror and rebelled against Harren the Black of Harrenhal, the King of the Isles and the Rivers. Afterward, the Freys joined the other river lords in swearing fealty to House Tully, the new Lords Paramount of the Trident.

A young Frey was mocked as Fool Frey for asking for the hand of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. During the Dance of the Dragons, House Frey sided with the blacks against the greens. Lord Forrest Freydied fighting westermen in the Battle by the Lakeshore.

Dunk recognized the Frey banner among the arms displayed at the tourney at Ashford Meadow. Lord Ambrose Butterwell held the Whitewalls tourney to celebrate his marriage to his new lady wife who was a member of House Frey. Lord Frey attended the Whitewalls tourney, accompanied by his daughters, his four-year-old son (the current Lord Walder), his brother Franklyn, and his nephew. However, the tourney was used as an excuse by some attendees to plot the Second Blackfyre Rebellion.

During the tourney at Harrenhal, a squire of a member of this house accosted Howland Reed. The knight of House Frey was later defeated by the Knight of the Laughing Tree and told to teach his squire honor.

During the long reign of Lord Walder Frey, the house exploded in size as he and his descendants sired many offspring. Walder claims to have hosted three kings at the Twins during his rule. Under Walder's leadership, the Freys exploited their advantages to the fullest. Despite their influence, the Freys continue to be looked down upon. When Tytos Lannister acquiesced to Walder's proposal to marry his second son, Emmon, to Tytos's daughter Genna, the ten-year old Tywin Lannister spoke out against the match. Later, Lord Hoster Tully refused a Frey bride for his son Edmure, and Jon Arryn refused to foster Walder's grandsons at the Eyrie. Lord Walder, however, continued to exploit his leverage, delaying his answer to House Tully's call during Robert's Rebellion, only arriving to the Battle of the Trident once the outcome was already decided.

House Frey took little part in the wars to come, except for the Third Targaryen Rebellion, in which they saw an opportunity to prove their valor to the other Riverlords and to the Realm. They joined forces with King Alaric Baratheon at Darry, where they were to face Aelyx Targaryen. The battle took an unexpected turn, when the Targaryen dragon set the fields surrounding them on fire, incinerating the troops and crippling their morale. The broken Frey host spread out, the infantrymen mostly disappearing into the woods to become bandits, and the cavalry riding back to the Twins. Those who made it back to the castle closed the gates at their Lord's order, never to be opened unless it was absolutely necessary.

When a Northman host arrived seeking to use the Crossing, Lord Frey negotiated to marry a firstborn daughter of a powerful northern House and to receive a sum of gold in order to let the army use the bridge. This was one of the few times that the gates of the Crossing were opened.