House Baratheon

''This is the page for House Baratheon of King's Landing. For Storm's End, see here. For Dragonstone, here.''House Baratheon is one of the Great Houses of Westeros, and is the royal house in the Kingdom of Westeros, which they rule as Kings. Their traditional seat, Storm's End, is an ancient castle raised by the Storm Kings from the now-extinct House Durrandon. The Baratheon sigil is a crowned black stag on a field of gold. Members of the family tend to be tall and powerfully built, with black hair and blue eyes, as well as strong, square jawlines. They are known for their mercurial tempers, and their words are "Ours is the Fury".

After Robert's Rebellion, House Baratheon split into three branches: Lord Robert Baratheon was crowned King and took residence at King's Landing, thereby creating House Baratheon of King's Landing. Robert gave the seat of Dragonstone to his younger brother, Stannis, creating House Baratheon of Dragonstone. Robert's youngest brother, Renly, became the Lord of Storm's End, continuing House Baratheon of Storm's End.

Following the War of the False Stag, Robert's children by Cersei Lannister were declared bastards, and his natural born son, Edric Storm, was legitimized. It is the line of Edric Storm that currently rules from King's Landing.

Targaryen Era
House Baratheon is the youngest of the great houses, tracing its descent from Orys Baratheon, one of Aegon I Targaryen's fiercest generals, and rumored to be his bastard brother. Through the female line, the Baratheons are descended from the Storm Kings, as Orys slew Argilac the Arrogant, last of the Storm Kings, and married his daughter Argella Durrandon. Orys adopted the sigil and words of his wife's ancestral line. The line of the Storm Kings dates back to the Age of Heroes when their kingdom was founded by King Durran I "Godsgrief", a legendary hero.

Throughout the rule of the Targaryens, House Baratheon has usually remained a stalwart supporter of the Dragonlords. Though they have rebelled once before, crowning themselves Storm King, that rebellion was soon smoothed over by the reigning King. It wasn't until 282AC that House Baratheon would truly stand against it's one-time ally.

Robert's Rebellion
The War of Rebellion, or the War of the Usurper, was primarily begun by Lord Robert Baratheon and Lord Eddard Stark. Together, the pair began a war that saw the fall of House Targaryen, and the rise House Baratheon as the new Kings of Westeros. Robert himself led many battles, most famously the Battle of the Trident, where he slew Rhaegar Targaryen on the field of battle. His brother, Stannis Baratheon, held Storm's End against the might of the Reach for the better part of a year.

The War of the False Stag
When Robert Baratheon lay upon his death bed, he took it upon himself to legitimize his natural born son, Edric Storm, as Edric Baratheon. He denounced Joffery Baratheon as unfit, and named Edric his heir, charging the Hand of the King Eddard Stark to see it done. Eddard immediately informed the king's brothers, Stannis and Renly, but he was imprisoned and eventually executed by House Lannister. Stannis sent word to all of the realm, declaring Joffery to be falseborn and untrue, while Renly returned to Storm's End and the Stormlands, to raise an army of his own.

The Boy Who Would be King
Edric Baratheon, son of King Robert Baratheon and the woman Delena Florent, was housed and raised in Storm's End as part of Renly's court there. When word arrived that he was to be named King, there was much talk in the keep. Some thought that Renly's own ambitions would see him turn upon the boy, and it is possible that this was indeed the case. Perhaps he meant to see the Lannisters defeated, with the aid of Stannis and the North, before turning upon his unpopular brother and putting aside yet another "falseborn king". Whatever the truth of Renly's ambitions, he arrived in Storm's End with Loras Tyrell and other members of his company, and set about raising an army with which to march. When they departed, Edric departed with them, marching north along the kingsroad, taking their time while they awaited the forces of the Reach.

The Stag in Blackwater Bay
Stannis, however, could not long suffer to see his house insulted, nor a falseborn child of incest upon the throne. Gathering the Crownlanders that proved loyal to him, the nearest of the Stormlords, and near the entirety of the royal fleet, he set upon the capital and besieged it by land and sea, demanding the surrender of it's inhabitants.

Several minor skirmishes took place as Lord Stannis took hold in the Crownlands, besting those lords who proved loyal to the Lannisters. Captured nobles were hung, as an example to the others, only increasing Stannis' reputation for severity. In the coming years, the animosty he won in the Crownlands would work against him.

The Reunion of Brothers
When Renly at last arrived at the siege, his force more than doubled Stannis' own, boasting knights from the Reach and Stormlands in great number, along with archers and men-at-arms and engineers. The two brothers quarreled, each thinking that they ought be in charge, and their disagreements only deepened as the siege continued. When word arrived that Tywin Lannister was close, and might even approach, at once the two Baratheons were arguing once more.

Stannis favoured continuing the siege, hunkering down outside the walls and fortifying the position, while Renly insisted that after the battering he recieved in the Riverlands, Tywin's forces would be no match at all. In the end, Renly departed along with Garlan and Loras Tyrell, and several prominent Reachmen, leaving only a quarter of his initial forces with his brother. The mighty force marched west, into the Riverlands, trying to bring the Lion to bear. On a fateful day in 301AC, they succeeded.

The Battle of the God's Eye
Tywin Lannister, having skirted the forces of Edmure Tully, appeared with his host on the opposite side of the Tyrell forces. Caught between the God's Eye and the Lannister army, Renly and his men had no choice but to brace for the charge, as Tywin gave the order and brought battle to the southerners. The Gods Eye ran red with gore that day, its shores lined with the broken and the bloodied. Though outnumbering their foes, Renly and his army were soundly defeated, but managed to escape down the shoreline and into the Crownlands.

The City of Kings
As Renly and the remains of his army trickled in, Stannis cursed his brother's eagerness and folly. Somewhat refreshed by new arrivals from a new-raised army back in the Westerlands, Tywin was now in the position to threaten the siege. Within the walls, King's Landing was in dire straits, already beginning to feel the clench of hunger. One way or the other, every man knew that this battle would be the deciding of it.

The Battle for King's Landing
Tywin and his host approached from the West, and met Stannis' army outside the walls. The second largest battle of the war, the Battle for King's Landing proved the Lord of Dragonstone as the preeminent commander in Westeros. With Mathis Rowan commanding the left flank and Lord Randyll Tarly commanding his right, Stannis broke the strength of the Westerlands in a pitched engagement. The tide turned at the last when Jaime Lannister himself fell in battle - shattering the morale of his countrymen.

As the Lannister army broke and retreated, the city they fought to rescue turned to rioting, the citizens desperate and afraid for their very lives. It would be the Mountain Clansmen of the Vale, brought in by Tyrion Lannister himself many moons before, who would seize two of the westward-facing gates, and break them open.

The victorious rebels flooded into the city, taking it for the Baratheons and their house. Cersei Lannister, and her son Joffery, were both executed.

The Crowning of the King
As the Baratheons secured the capital, the war, it seemed, was at an end. But not all was stable or secure within the city. Edric himself was a bastard, legitimized or no, with two uncles of undeniable patronage. Renly Baratheon, darling of the Reach, seemed a powerful second choice - and while Stannis was the elder and the more experienced, he was not greatly loved.

The 'rumours' of a possible pro-Renly conspiracy grew until they were all but an open secret. With the backing of the Reach, there were few left that could stop him - only the Vale remained untouched from the fighting.

But Stannis, despite his own misgivings, refused to surrender to greed or ambition, and with Robert's final will in hand, agreed to crown Edric. As many of the rumours named a marriage between Margaery and Renly the foundation of their would-be alliance, Varys the Spider and Olenna, Queen of Thorns, came to an agreement.

Edric Baratheon was crowned in the Great Sept of Baelor, early in 302AC. At his side was his queen, the fair Margaery Tyrell, whom he wed in that same ceremony.

The Second Era (303 - 370AC)
The following years saw relative peace in the Seven Kingdoms, with several of her great powers either united or broken. The independence of the Ironborn proved a constant and unforgettable threat, but one that was not answered at any point in Edric's twenty year reign.

The Death of a King
In 323AC King Edric I Baratheon dies, leaving the throne to his son - Prince Raymont. Raymont seems an eager fellow, amiable if somewhat absent-minded. He was quick to secure relationships with the other Great Houses, for example betrothing his younger sister to his cousin Gareth Tyrell.

Some say the influence of his mother and her court proved too much, for his favoritism towards the Reach would be readily apparent.

The Old Enemy Returns
"Main Article: The Targaryen Invasion of 353AC"In 353AC, Baelor Targaryen, son of Aegon and Daenerys Targaryen, attempts to invade Westeros, and despite initial support by some minor houses, is repelled. Lord Loras Baratheon is slain in battle, Lord Hoster Tully also perishes during the war, while on the invaders’ side both Baelor Targaryen and his beast meet their end. Raymont Baratheon proves instrumental in the war, leading the charge in the retaking of Duskendale.

The War in the West
"Main Article: the War in the West"Years after the Targaryen invasion showcased the resurgence of House Lannister, the slowly rising West was once again tested. Armies from the Reach invaded the southern marches of the region, occupying lands and besieging several castles. Early victories saw the Tyrells far superior, and despite repeated petitions to the Crown, they were not ordered to stand down. In the end, it took a military retaliation from the Rock to see the traditional borders of the two regions restored.

The Ascension of Edric II
In 366AC, Raymont Baratheon finally passed, succeeded thereafter by his son, Edric II Baratheon.

Current Members

 * {King Raymont I Baratheon}, his son, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms
 * {Lynara Stark}, his wife
 * Genna Baratheon, Princess of the Seven Kingdoms
 * {Lord Velaryon}, her husband
 * House Velaryon
 * King Edric II Baratheon, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms
 * {Nymella Martell}, his wife
 * Queen Alyce Stokeworth, his wife
 * Prince Robert Baratheon
 * Beric Baratheon, Prince of the Seven Kingdoms
 * Cassana Baratheon, Princess of the Seven Kingdoms

Past Members
King {Robert I}, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Gored by a boar.
 * Queen {Cersei Lannister}, his wife. Executed by Stannis Baratheon.
 * King {Joffrey I}, his eldest son and heir. Executed by Stannis Baratheon
 * Princess {Myrcella Baratheon}, his daughter. Perished on Dragonstone.
 * Prince {Tommen I}, his second son. Died in King's Landing following the siege.
 * Delena Florent, of Brightwater Keep
 * King {Edric I}, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms
 * Queen {Margaery Tyrell}, his wife
 * Alerie Baratheon, his daughter
 * Lord Penrose, her husband
 * House Penrose
 * Elinor Baratheon, his daughter
 * {Gareth Tyrell}, her husband
 * House Tyrell
 * King {Raymont I Baratheon}, his son, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms
 * {Lynara Stark}, his wife