House Manning

**House Manning** is a noble house from the crownlands. According to semi-canon sources they blazon their arms with a red sea lion between two black pallets on white. Their seat is Redshore, a small keep that overlooks the Spears of the Merling King and Merling Rock. Their house words are *Looming Beneath* in reference to the immense danger that ships sailing near their shore face from unseen seamounts sitting just beneath the water. The current head of House Manning is Lord Davos Manning.

## Ancient History

### House Founding

**House Manning** came into existence when a young, ambitious, merchant found himself a ship and a crew. He began moving wares all up and down Essos, some legal and some illicit, from Braavos to Lys on his ship which he named *Undertow*. The young man, named Martyn, spared no expense with his ship and quickly made a name for himself. They say large crowds would come to the docks to see Martyn Manning and the *Undertow* but in reality they were probably only interested in the illicit goods he was smuggling into port. The luck and good fortune that Martyn had found could not continue forever though. On one passage through the Stepstones, *Undertow* was blown off course in a storm and destroyed against one of the many barren islands. Martyn found himself stranded on the island with only about a fifth of his crew surviving the wreck. Even fewer after a few days of being stranded with no reliable food supply.

Finally, after four days and nights, another shipped passed by the shipwrecked crew. It was a Valyrian ship and it gave Martyn pause. The Andals and Valyrians were not friendly with each other and he debated a worse way to die: starvation or Valyrian torture. However, his fears proved to be unfounded, the man who came ashore on a small boat dropped into the water from the larger ship was friendly and kind to the crew in distress. Martyn exchanged pleasantries and discovered the man was named Paetyn and was on his way to Pentos. Captain Paetyn offered Martyn and his crew passage to the next port and, more importantly, safety on his ship. Martyn accepted eagerly and thanked the man owing him a great debt.

Martyn eventually returned to the sea aboard his new ship, *Paetyn’s Mercy*, and he did not do so alone. Beside him, learning how to be a captain in his own right was his son, also named Paetyn after his rescuer. To this day **House Manning** owes a debt of gratitude to the Valyrian man who saved Martyn and it is not uncommon to see a male member of the House named in his honor.

### Andal Invasion

As Andals flooded into Westeros the Mannings were among the first to land in the Vale. They had built a large enough following through their trade and reputation to hire a loyal following. However, once landed in the Vale, it became apparent that there wasn’t enough land for everybody who had left their homes for this new life. So the three Manning brothers, Paetyn, Criston, and Petyr reboarded their vessel with any man willing to join them and set sail heading South. If there was not enough land in the Vale then they would find it elsewhere.

They hit misfortune in Blackwater Bay as a storm ravaged their ship and threw it into a formation of seamounts. The ship was destroyed, Paetyn and Petyr lost to the depths of the ocean and never seen again. It was only Criston Manning, the middle brother, to survive the shipwreck and only barely. It is said that he was rescued by none other than the Merling King. Little did the brothers know but they had sailed right into his domain and he had punished them. But then, in an act of mercy, he rescued the middle Manning and in doing so bought eternal loyalty from the family. The Merling King told Criston that he would put no more first men to the sword, rather he would take one of the Merling King’s own daughters as his wife. House Manning would serve as protectors of the Merling King’s domain including his spears in Blackwater Bay. Criston would build his keep right upon the water and he was tasked with driving away any invaders who sought to conquer the Merling King’s territory. Legend states, that in order to accomplish this task Criston Manning was gifted a trident by the Merling King. In honor of his house’s founding and Martyn Manning's first ship, Criston named the trident, Undertow.

From that day forward **House Manning** settled upon the rugged coastline of Blackwater Bay. Their keep overlooked the Spears of the Merling King and the rock that Criston had been washed up on when the mysterious deity saved him, Merling Rock. The Merling King would do his part and shatter ships upon the Spears just as he had once done to Criston’s. The difference now was that there somebody waiting for those who washed ashore, Criston would watch for wreckage and go down to the shore and unceremoniously execute every man who dared invade the Merling King’s domain using the very trident that had been gifted to him. Thus his keep became known as Redshore as the shore ran red with the blood of any man who dared step foot in the lands now belonging to **House Manning**.

As a somber reminder of the events that took the lives of his brothers, Criston altered his family’s sigil. Where it had been three red sea lions on white it was now a single red sea lion on white flanked by two horizontal black bars, one for each brother he lost on that voyage.

## House Members

* ***Martyn Manning (b. 25 - d. 78)***
	+ ***Archibald Manning* *(b. 45 - d. 85)***
		- **Davos Manning** **(b. 74)**
			* Shireen Manning (b. 100)
			* Humfrey Manning (b. 100)
				+ Addam Manning (b. 120)
				+ Bryen Manning (b. 124)
			* Davos Manning (b. 105)
			* Lauryn Manning (b. 108)
			* Alyssa Manning (b. 111)
		- Barton Manning (b. 79)
			* Alliser Manning (b. 105)
			* Sarina Manning (b. 112)
		- Elinor Manning(b. 82)
	+ *Benedict Manning (b. 49 - d. 93)*
		- *Jaxon Manning* *(b. 75 - d. 102)*
		- Matilda Manning (b. 75)
		- Jeyne Manning (b. 78)
		- Meredyth Manning (b. 80)
	+ *Myranda Manning* *(b. 58 - d.126)*

## Family Tree

* https://www.familyecho.com/?p=START&c=ltvkmxhnc7&f=582715683803827539