House Ghaele of Goodby Knoll
House Crest
A Tawny field with Vert escutcheon, containing a gauntlet Argent.
With thanks to Daniel Stewart
House Motto
Bold and Constant
House History
Centuries before Aegon the Conqueror set his eyes on Westeros or ever took flight on dragon-back to weld Seven Kingdoms together into one, the Storm Kings and the Ironborn warred against one another for suzerainty of the Riverlands. In the south and west the Kings of the Reach and Rock fought from time to time when the bonds of friendship grew strained, yet rarely with a goal of outright conquest; the Westermen were simply too doughty to pry away from their hills and ridges, and their raids into the broad plains of the Reach invariably ended in disaster when the Reachmen brought their vast numbers to bear. It was on one of these raids in the second century BC that the last lord of House Durgood fell without issue and his lands reverted to the crown. King Lancel V was more determined than many of his kin on conquest into the Reach, and in the course of a friendly meeting with the Storm King (already warring with the Gardeners) he asked for one of the latter's bravest unlanded knights that he might ennoble and take him into Lannister service.
Hubert Ghaele, a chestnut-haired knight and a courageous fighter, became the first lord of House Ghaele of Goodby Knoll. He went on to fight bravely beside his sponsor as King Lancel struck south for Highgarden, but was fending off two Reachmen when the Little Lion drove his dagger into a gap in the King's armor and killed him. The Westerland army collapsed and went home, but there has ever after been a cordial animosity between those sworn to Houses Ghaele and Osgrey. Under Hubert and his sons the Ghaeles thrived, but in the third generation tragedy struck as the spring sickness claimed most of those at Goodby Knoll including all of the family gathered at home for the celebration of a prestigious betrothal with a daughter of a nearby House.
The sole exception was the black sheep of the family, driven from home for his drunken escapades and known dismissively as Redgar the Windy for his ale-fuelled boasts about how his family would all see one day and come begging for him to return. Neither the brightest nor strongest of men, this second cousin of the recently deceased lord was passed out in his cups when the retainers arrived to recall him to his new station. It took a full five explanations before the hungover knight grasped that they weren't in fact hired to bait him in a cruel jest, and it was a more sorrowful man by far who journeyed home to the Knoll. It is a firm article of faith to the friends of the House that he was stricken by grief and thus cannot be blamed, but after a night's medicinal drinking he determined that this spring sickness was in fact no mischance but a calculated attack by agents of House Congrave, the betrothal merely a ruse to draw their targets together, and promptly declared war upon the other House over the loud and insistent objections of his surviving retainers. These retainers came to a quick and quiet agreement, and while Lord Redgar led a ragged army out from Goodby Knoll they returned without ever quite reaching House Congrave after he mysteriously fell from his horse and took a deadly blow to the head. His long-suffering young son Edgar had squired to his father for many years, and would now succeed him under a regency, going on to be called Edgar Ironhand in the annals of House Ghaele.
House Ghaele was fortunate to be at relative peace for a number of years. During this time, they were able to take stock of their lands and discover a number of previously undiscovered treasures. The first was the discovery of a rich source of Tin. Found mostly by accident by mason's looking for a better local for a quarry, the very rich vein helped propel the house forward in prestige and power.
Following on the tales of this find was a growth in the population. Drawn by the increased prosperity on the House's estate, the scattered hamlets exploded with people, who in turn settled more and more of the fallow lands, building up a strong agrarian base, with wheat, barley and sheep becoming the major exports from the land.
As many know, in the time of the Dance of Dragons there were two battles of Tumbleton. The second revolves around the stories of The Betrayers, their disunity and their ultimate deaths. What fewer know is despite the fact that it was ultimately a victory for the Blacks, they actually never took the city.
Lord Barrick Ghaele led a small troop, one of the few that was not composed of Rivermen, and was given the task of preventing the entrenched Greens from getting word out, since the command feared the potential of a battle on two fronts, since they already had dragons to contend with, and he succeeded in stopping a group of about forty men with his own unit of only twelve. They were carrying missives for another troop who was never found, though historians estimate they may have met with the retreating Greens and perished at the Battle of The Kingsroad.
As a reward for his service, House Ghaele received some lands taken from House Horst, who had sided along with much of those ultimately under Casterly Rock with the Greens. The lands were awarded during the much-maligned "Hour of the Wolf", by temporary Hand of the King Lord Cregan Stark. Because of his short tenure as Hand, the lands' status as Ghaele property is lightly disputed to this day.
All through the long and bloody Blackfyre Rebellions, House Ghaele made the truest and wisest choice; no matter how rich the promises, they refused to conspire with the agents from beyond the sea. Two Ghaeles fought at the Battle of the Redgrass Field, but the high cost in men paid that day taught then-Lord Haelric the virtues of caution. He stayed out of the subsequent rebellions when he could and devoted his wealth instead to raising a new tower in the lands secured from House Horst. When his son in turn was called to fight the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion he took a measured approach and answered his liege with half his men, leaving the rest behind to protect his expanded borders. As a result of this consistent policy many smallfolk came to live in the security of Ghaele lands during each rebellion, fleeing the anarchy elsewhere and growing the House's prosperity.
The reign of the Laughing Lion was a blessing for most of the vassals of Casterly Rock; his amiable and open-handed policy saw a time of peace and prosperity for the Ghaeles, part-fueled by extensive loans of gold from the Lannister coffers. During this time at the happy court of their liege, Lord Gregor Ghaele was wed to Lady Avrys Silverhill and with this added prestige wed to Tytos' loan was able to secure a marked expansion in the House's estates. The Ghaeles drifted a ways into the orbit of House Reyne during this period, but when Tywin took charge and sent agents to reclaim the debts owed Casterly Rock, Gregor recognized a different mettle in the young Lord and swiftly reaffirmed his loyalties, sending his eldest daughter as hostage to guest at the Rock until the funds could be raised and repaid.
Unfortunately the loan was not a small one, and by the time Lord Gregor had amassed the necessary coin years had passed, his daughter Tyra (the sister of the current Lord, Tyrick Ghaele) had flowered and when she returned from her time as hostage and companion to Lady Joanna Lannister, she came home with a bastard babe in her belly. The scandal rocked the House, and led to two known duels fought by Tyrick in the months that followed, along with some ill feeling toward the Lannisters who had taken such poor care of his sister while she was in their keeping. For the most part he put this aside before his father's death toward the end of Robert's Rebellion, though he is still known to be very wary of anything that might besmirch the banners of his House.
The past fifteen years have been a time of healing for most of the realm, of peace almost unmarred by violence. During the Greyjoy Rebellion the Westerlands rallied, but after the raid on Lannisport the fighting was left to Northmen and Rivermen and finally Lord Tywin released his bannermen to return to their homes. Eight years ago though, there was a sudden increase in banditry along the River Road. Efforts were made to quell them, but the raids grew ever more pervasive and for a time it seemed trade between Sarsfield and Golden Tooth would stop dead. Following a vicious attack on Ashen Tor, spies managed to connect the raids with a mysterious improvement in the fortunes of nearby House Spence of the Rylls, held by a landed knight once sworn to Castamere. Lord Tyrick worked with House Marbrand to bring an end to this robber-knight, slaughtering most of those sworn to his banner and dividing his lands between them. Tywin Lannister made no open remark on the small war fought in the heart of his realm, but following the Harrowing of the Rylls the collectors come to House Ghaele have adjusted their tithes to account for their new holdings; something Tyrick Ghaele and Damon Marbrand both take as tacit approval of their actions.
House Resources
Def 19 Inf 38 Lan 33 Law 14 Pop 26 Pow 27 Wea 56
House Holdings
Defense
Goodby Knoll (Tower), Ashen Tor (Ruined Tower)
Influence
Tyvorst Ghaele (Male Heir, 18)
Irnk's (Eldest Daughter, ??)
Jyana Ghaele, NC (Younger Daughter, 13)
Trystane Ghaele, NC (Younger Son, 10)
Land
Hills, Mine (Iron), Goodby Knoll, Tower
Plains, Coast, Port
Plains, Ruin (Ashen Tor), Hamlet
Power
Goodby's Lance (Cavalry, Green)
Gauntlet of the Knoll (Garrison, Green)
Ghaele Borderers (Scouts, Trained)
Ghaele Sea Guard (Warships, Green)
Ghaele Seamen (Sailors, Green)
Wealth
Maester, Mine (Iron), Port, 26 remaining
House Fortunes
+9 (net)
