The North

The Rills

Long Lake

Northern Mountains

The Gift

The Wall

The **North** is one of the constituent regions of Westeros and was a sovereign nation ruled by Kings in the North before Aegon's Conquest. The largest region of the Seven Kingdoms, the dominion of House Stark extends from the border of the New Gift, which is controlled by the Night's Watch, to the southern edge of the Neck far to the south.

The north has been ruled by the Starks for thousands of years from the castle known as Winterfell. The only city in the region is White Harbor, while the most prominent northern towns are the winter town and Barrowton. Notable bannermen of the region include Cerwyn, Dustin, Flint, Glover, Hornwood, Karstark, Manderly, Mormont, Reed, Ryswell, Tallhart, Thenn, and Umber. Bastards of noble origin raised in the north are given the surname Snow.

## Culture and Characteristics

A history of independence and years of relative isolation have made the North quite different in many ways to the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. Even prior to the War of the Five Kings, the North stuck to itself and its traditions rather than integrating further with the southern realms. As such, the cultural quirks that defined the region prior to its submission continue to this day. The recent influx of wildlings from beyond the Wall has further changed the cultural composition of the North, further pronouncing the things that made the North different.

Unlike the majority of Westeros, Northerners continue to worship the Old Gods of the Forest. When the Andals came to Westeros they were repelled by Northerners at the Neck and remained an independent people under the Stark Kings of Winter. While weirwoods south of the Neck were cut down by the Andals who worshiped what the Northerners called the "New Gods", the godswoods and their hearttrees remained the pulse of religion in the North. The Stark family, especially recently, are considered to be "touched by the Old Gods" and it is believed that the destiny of the North is inextricably tied to House Stark.

The Northerners, having spoken the Old Tongue far longer than any other people south of the Wall, have a unique accent and linguistic tradition. A remnant of the simplicity of the Old Tongue, Northerners are seen as incredibly blunt and lacking in flowered prose. They speak their mind and do little if anything to honey their words. This bluntness is valued by other Northerners as a sign of one's honesty. Talk too long to a Northerner without getting to the point and they are likely to walk away from you, bored with your lack of substantive conversation. Their accents are described as icy, especially the Starks who are seen as a living embodiment of winter. They speak in a rather low register, from the back of the throat and hard palette. Their speech does not lilt which, to an outsider, could make it seem like the Northerner is displeased with the person they are conversing with. Northern Common Tongue is full of "uh"s and "ah"s, softening letters like "r" and "i". Words like "Stark" come out as "Stahk" with emphasis placed more on the tail end of the word. Wildlings coming south from beyond the Wall brought with them their own, related dialect of the Common Tongue, not much different from that of the existing Northerners. As a result of their presence and influence on Northern speech, the new Northern dialect has diverged ever so slightly more. Additionally, many of the wildlings that resettled south of the Wall continue to speak the Old Tongue. This presence in the North has led many Northerners to take a renewed interest in the language and, while it cannot be said that the language is spreading, it has started to become a cultural facet once more.

Finally, the Northern culture is that of legends, storys, songs and ballads. The Northerners are distinct in their independent streak and remember fondly their fits of independence through their legendarium and traditions. Figures like Bran the Builder, the Night King, and Torrhen Stark have made up Northern legend for centuries while new figures were made legend during the last instance of Northern independence during the War of the Five Kings. Chief among them is Robb Stark, the Young Wolf, who led the North as king until his betrayal and murder by his own bannermen. Second only to Robb is a southerner, Stannis Baratheon. Good King Stannis, as he is called in the songs and stories, was instrumental in the restoration of House Stark and the defeat of one of the North's greatest villians, the Boltons. Stannis cemented his place in Northern legend when he marched beyond the Wall with Northern volunteers at his back to bring war to the Others and prevent an endless winter. Though it is unknown what became of King Stannis, it is known that the winter that he fought to ensure ended broke and the North was saved from destruction. It is believed and the story is told that Good King Stannis and his companions fought a great battle against the Others and their army of undead where a gravely wounded Stannis slew the Great Other with his flaming sword, saving the world from his cold, foul grasp. Though he and all his men would die on the battlefield, their memory would live on forever in the hearts, minds, and songs of the Northerners.

## Recent History

### War of the Five Kings, 298 - 300 AC

Remembered fondly as a brief golden age in the North, the War of the Five Kings saw a unified North under the kingship of the legendary King Robb Stark, known as the Young Wolf. Under his military genius, the scrappy Northerners pressed deep into the heart of the richest realm in Westeros, defeating the Lannisters in battle after battle. At his height, King Robb ruled the North and the majority of the Riverlands as a unified realm and utilized the combined might to challenge the Lannisters and King Joffrey.

Cracks quickly broke the facade, however, starting with the betrayal of Robb Stark by Theon Greyjoy who seized an undefended Winterfell with a handful of Ironborn raiders. Theon was dealt with by, though unknown at the time, another traitor in Roose Bolton through his bastard son, Ramsay. Further, Lord Karstark disobeyed King Robb and killed a pair of Lannister boys that had been captured in the seizure of a castle in retaliation for his own sons deaths in battle. For his crime, Lord Karstark was executed and his men left the Northern army.

King Robb's greatest blunder, however, was not in trusting a bannerman or making a tactical mistake. It was in following his heart and marrying for love rather than politics. King Robb had made an agreement to marry the daughter of Lord Walder Frey of the Twins. When he took the Crag in the Westerlands, however, Robb fell in love with Jeyne Westerling and married her, thus breaking his agreement with Lord Walder. Robb gravely needed Frey's men and went to the Twins to make amends. In what would become known as the Red Wedding, Robb had arranged for his uncle, Lord Edmure Tully to marry Lord Walder's daughter. At the wedding, Robb in betrayed by Lord Walder and Lord Roose Bolton, who had coordinated the ruse together and in one fell swoop killed the King in the North and ended Northern involvement in the War of the Five Kings. Lord Roose, for his efforts, was made Warden of the North by King Joffrey and Lord Walder was made Lord of the Trident.

Despite the tragedy, Northerners look fondly on the War of the Five Kings with songs and ballads sung regularly at feasts, many of which elevate the Starks, Umbers, Mormonts, Manderlys and other northern Houses as legendary heroes and condemn the Freys, Boltons, and Lannisters.

### The Great Council, 300 - 301 AC

Following the death of King Tommen I in a riot, Hand of the King Mace Tyrell called a Great Council, which elected **Myrcella I Baratheon** as the Lady of the Seven Kingdoms. A regency council, made up of Mace Tyrell, Randyll Tarly, Nestor Royce, Petyr Baelish, and Ser Jaime Lannister, was established to rule until Myrcella came of age. **Aegon Targaryen**, claimant to the Iron Throne, who also put his name forward during the council, was forced to call off his conquest and flee to Essos with the remnants of the Golden Company.

### Return of the Wolves, 301 AC

An alliance of Houses Manderly, Umber, Glover, and the Skagosi Clans, ousted the Boltons from Winterfell to reclaim the North for **Rickon Stark**. In the same year, Sansa Stark married Harrold Arryn, who succeeded the sickly Robert Arryn as Lord of the Eyrie. Negotiations conducted between the aforementioned parties resolved the North’s status as a constituent region of the Seven Kingdoms.

### The Long Winter, 301 - 306 AC

The Long Winter could have been a disaster for the newly re-established House Stark, who were governed under regency by Lord Wyman Manderly. Manderly expertly guided the North through the winter, staving off starvation, civil strife, and economic collapse through careful planning and deal-making. The Long Winter also killed the idea of an independent North ever being a reality again, as the kingdom had grown far too dependent on the southern realms for its sustenance. It was during the Long Winter that Brandon Stark, Rickon's elder brother returned to Winterfell. When he arrived, Bran was a changed man; he was vacant, cerebral, and gave off an aura of godliness that drove many Northmen to begin saying the Starks were touched by the Old Gods. Bran did not take up governance upon his return, he could not. He said only that he was no longer Brandon Stark and spent his days in deep, meditative sessions in the Godswood.

### Years of Consolidation, 301 - 306 AC

The Years of Consolidation was the period of time in which the War of the Five King's came to an end and saw the reintegration of Westeros into one realm once more under Queen Myrcella I Baratheon following the Great Council of 301 AC. Faced with the Long Winter, Lord Regent Wyman Manderly negotiated the North's reentry into the fold of the Seven Kingdoms. His negotiating ensured that grain and foodstuffs flowed into the North and saw to it that a Stark would marry Queen Myrcella's heir, laying the foundation for the first Stark Queen of Westeros in Dacey Stark.

### A Queen's Marriage, 306 AC

As the Long Winter passed and spring once again brought life to Westeros, Queen Myrcella married Willas Tyrell in King’s Landing. The ceremony was the first event in years to bring the whole of the Realm together in merriment and promised an age of bounty and unity.

### War of the Two Dragons, 309 AC

Coming from the far east, Aegon Targaryen returned to the Seven Kingdoms with his aunt and wife **Daenerys Targaryen** at his side, and they brought dragonfire and twenty-thousand swords to try and reclaim the Iron Throne for their dynasty. Their attempt at conquest ultimately failed, however, and the Realm persevered under Queen Myrcella. The Starks, still struggling to recover from the winter that they had just endured were slow to the fight. The North's entry into the war was further stymied by Lord Rickon's failure (or inability) to lead. Finally, in 310 AC, the Starks had raised enough men to march and set out south to join the war effort. Northern forces garrisoned Moat Cailin and continued the journey south, where they clashed with remnants of the Golden Company outside of the Bloody Gate and later met the remainder of Daenerys' expeditionary force as they fled the battlefield following her death. The Northern Army continued on to King's Landing but by the time they arrived, Aegon had fled and the war was over.

### Savage Winter, 321 - 322 AC

Fleeing a brutal winter (and, allegedly, supernatural horrors) an amassment of wildling tribes sought refuge south of the Wall. Due to the previous success of resettling Thenn and Redbeard as northern lords, Lord Rickon Stark agreed to bring them in as new denizens of his realm. The settlement of the wildlings led to agitation among the Northern lords who saw the wildlings as lesser. When famine struck the North, conflict between the old Northerners and the resettled wildings became violent, which compelled Lord Dustin to request the wildlings be resettled elsewhere, a request that was approved by Lord Rickon Stark. The wildlings were moved to the far less hospitable Lonely Mountains where they were subject to starvation and freezing temperatures. Enraged by his people's treatment, Lord Redbeard rallied the wildligns in rebellion against the Starks and the Northmen. The conflict, known as the Savage Winter, resulted in the suppression of the wildling rebels and a weakened House Stark under Lord Rickon.

### A Dynasty of Roses, 336 AC

**324 AC**: King-Consort Willas Tyrell passed away in illness and the young Prince Tommen inherited Highgarden, becoming the Lord Paramount of the Mander. As the latter was rather young, Queen Myrcella bestowed the honor of Warden of the South to her former betrothed, Prince Trystane Martell.

**336 AC**: Queen Myrcella I passed away and her son Tommen II Tyrell followed her as the sovereign of the Realm. His ascension to the throne was subject to some controversy, as he subsequently abolished the titles Lord of Highgarden and Lord Paramount of the Mander, an named his firstborn, Prince Alester, the Prince of Highgarden. This act signified the formal unification of the Crown and the Reach under the Dynasty of the Rose.

### The Falcon's Gambit, 361 - 370 AC

In 364 AC, piracy along the Narrow Sea plagued ships bound for White Harbor. Interestingly, it seemed that the only ships facing an increase in pirate attacks were those bound for the Northern city. Further, ships bound for the Vale seemed to see a net decrease in the amount of pirate attacks that they were experiencing. With time and a bit of investigation, the Manderlys discovered that House Arryn had made an agreement with the pirates wherein they would ignore ships heading to the Vale and harry ships headed for White Harbor. A simple plot, but one that would not stand in White Harbor. In 365 AC, Lord Manderly raised his levy and ships and sailed to the Three Sisters which were occupied by Northmen after a brief struggle.

Outraged by the invasion, House Arryn raised their ships and an armada of five and sixty sailed into the waters around Sweetsister where they were beaten back by the Manderlys. Seeing recapture as difficult if not impossible, the Arryns decided to attack the North directly striking at Widow's Watch to the far east. The castle fell to the Arryns who occupied it until the end of the conflict.

Upon hearing of the attack on Northern soil, Lord Beric Stark knew he could no longer remain neutral in the conflict. Truthfully, it had taken the old warriors entire might to remain neutral in the first place, at the first sign of conflict he had wanted to raise the whole North to march but cooler heads had prevailed. Finally, he had his chance and raised men from House Stark, Cerwyn, Hornwood, and Thenn to recapture Widow's Watch. As the siege was laid, the Starks would bide their time hoping to starve the Arryns before attacking.

Perhaps to the chagrin of those that were looking forward to a proper fight, King Alester landed in Pebble and ordered Lords Stark and Arryn to appear before him so that the issue could be resolved peacefully. Much to the surprise of all in attendance, King Alester ruled, rightfully, that the Valemen had been the instigators of the conflict and that House Sunderland and their adjoining vassals would transfer their fealty to House Stark. In one ruling, the North was granted uncontested control over the Bite. Governorship of the Bite was granted to House Manderly by their overlords, which aggitated the Sistermen, who would be a thorn in the side of House Stark until their return to the Vale.

### War of the Last Dragon, 378 - 381 AC

Following her conquests in Essos, Daena Targaryen, Queen of the Narrow Sea, invaded Westeros with her army of sellsails and mercenaries to once again bring the Seven Kingdoms under the banner of the dragon. After several years of brutal fighting Queen Daena and Drogon, the Last Dragons, were finally brought down, ending once and for all the final remnants of the Targaryen dynasty. Northerners joined the Westerosi in the field to combat the Targaryen invaders. Their decision to march cost the Starks the Sisters, which were invaded, occupied, and granted to the Vale in exchange for their support in the war.

Unlike the previous war, the Starks and the greater North would not sit idle. Under Lord Jon Stark and his aging father, the abdicated Lord Beric, Northern forces marched south immediately to rendezvous with the mustering royal army. Aside from a few that stayed behind to garrison keeps and govern. mostly under the watchful eye of Jon's siblings, a unified North went to war. Men of wildling and Northern birth fought side by side as Northmen for the first time in their history, building in the blood and fire of Westeros' bloodiest conflict a new national identity.

The North's entry into the war was at Harrenhal, where the Northern army was buttressed by men of the Riverlands including the Blackwoods, Mallisters, and even the Freys of the Twins, an old enemy of House Stark now turned wartime ally. The Northern force smashed into the besieging Golden Company and handed them their first defeat of the war. It was also at Harrenhal that the Starks relinquished control of the Sisters to the Vale in exchange for the latter's support in the war effort, anger in the North not for the loss but for the dishonorable actions of the Vale linger to this day.