#house cafferen

[chic-beyond-the-wall]

Rings of the Stormlands

[melrosing]

decided I want a headcanon for Brienne’s house on the maternal side here’s my shortlist pls vote

[writingwenches]

OC Spotlights — Dornish Marches

get ready for slutty DILF Vibes. No set time period yet for these two men.

cw: medieval themed violence against women

In the year 12AC, a terrible thing happened. In Fawnton, on the wedding day of Ser Jon Cafferen to Lady Alys Oakheart the wedding party was tortured by the hands of Lord Wyl of Wyl and the women were sold to Myrish pirates. Amongst them were many members of House Dondarrion. This was the most infamous act of the First Dornish War. The generations since has seen much violence in the region, and is seen by lowborns as some of the most dangerous lands to travel for women. Highborn ladies whisper about slanderous rumors regarding the area and the houses surrounding it.

House Dondarrion of Blackhaven or House Cafferen of Fawnton

House is more for geography reasons, over anything. So, think of this as AU if it effects anything in the story LOL potential names include Cleoden, Baldric, Dermot, Galladon, Luceon, Dake, Gerold, Lucantine, Theodore, Wendell....

House Wyle of Wyle at the mouth of the Boneway, along the river Wyle

Titus Wyle or I was trying to think of some play on the name Hades or Hadal...Wyle's are most likely considered "Stoney Dornishmen"

The fued between the two men have been going on for ages. It starts out as a chance meeting of two young lads in the wilderness around their homes, too ready to fight, not mature enough to kill. Those fights turned into more and that more turned into something.

I don't know exactly what happened to break these two boy's hearts, but it must have been brutal...or expected.

sexy trash below the cut

The feud between houses are strong, and the two men continued it amongst themselves. Both houses are known for stealing woman, highborn or not, and using them to bare their children.

It has ben tradition in the area to have similarly looking lowborn girls to their ladies travel with them at all times, referred to as their Bridesmaids.

It is ill-advised to travel with women in your party through the area around Boneway, lest your daughters or wives be snatched up by the fueding houses as part of some scheme.

High Born Ladies of Westeros speak of the terrible things House Wyle does to captured ladies in their clutches, while House Dondarrion has similar rumors amongst noble Dornishwomen. Many stories are told in whispers amongst young girls in their bedchambers, of vile acts the men could do. Some of the most scandalous and secret stories, only known to the women and men-kissers of the realm, end in a beautiful, horrible, tragic romance between a captured noble lady and her ravingly handsome Dondarrion/Wyle Lord. They giggle, until they experience it for themselves.

The road between Blackhaven and Yronwood is traveled by raiders and traders in a hurry. Slavery is illegal in the kingdoms, but the Lords of both houses have sold members of the opposite family into bondage for generations, so they are known to look the over way, quietly endangering the low-borns of the area. Notorious brothels were established in the area, or those of particular taste, perhaps leading to Summerhall eventually being used by the Targaryen and Dornish nobles.

As the generations go on, it is said that they two houses have grown to look more and more similar to one another, mostly due to sisters and wives of the houses being stolen away and forced to wed their rival house counterparts. It is also common for decoy women being captured along with other ladies. It has been said that on numerous occasions, more beautiful woman than their true born daughters were used as Bridesmaids, as a way to deter their use as wives and broodmares.

It has grown common for spies are sent from both houses to the other, to find the true face of the ladies of their houses. Both houses put a lot of time and resources into their violence against women its romantic right??

Some noble women are treated as servants amongst their individual keeps, not being allowed to act their true station until later in life. Perhaps, some women are not told of their status until they are to be married away.

Both houses have known bastards around their houses. Westeros looks down on the Dondarrions for enabling the production of bastards. Dorne looks down on House Wyle for treating their bastard children more like servants or slaves rather than children.

Both castles have grown more as fortresses over the years, both houses have tunneled deep below their keeps to keep secret the majority of their estate. House Dondarrion is said to have a bottomless moat surrounding their castle, and perhaps the keep goes just as low.

Much like the Red Keep, both castles have dungeons for different purposes. Some are for prisoners, some are for high borns and nobles, and some are for torture. Different lords of the Dondarrion and Wyle utilize the dungeons in different ways, though most Lords have them filled.

can you tell I want to be chained up in a dungeon? oops

ehehe it could make Criston Cole sexier if he grew up around this trash 🤷🏻

I don't have much planned out, as for as plot for my handsome men BUT I'm noodling on it whoops. Maybe they fuck a targaryen? Or just fuck each others siblings :/// lol oops I'm sure there are ENDLESS crazy romance novel tropes that could come of these houses and maybe I'll write them all.

Always open to hearing opinions/whatever! Anon is on in my ask if its too embarrasing to talk about LOL

[redwolf17]

How do you go about making small side OC characters like many of the ladies that Sansa has? Do you create them to fit the story, or move the story around them? As an aspiring writer, any advice would be appreciated, your work is exemplary and worthy of study

Awww, thanks 🥰

Hmmm, it's a bit of both? I wanted Sansa's ladies to be spread across the regions of Westeros. I began by considering which houses Sansa would want to honor/keep close, houses who were not already on the small council or represented amongst Olyvar's knights/pages/squires. I had plenty of options for each kingdom; for the Reach, I picked a Hightower as a nod to a reader who is fond of them.

Denyse Hightower and Valena Toland aren't technically OCs; they exist in canon. Usually ladies-in-waiting were unmarried and young-ish, but as I didn't want a pack of teenage girls and women in their early 20s, I killed off Denyse Hightower and Valena Toland's husbands. Lady Waynwood canonically has multiple unnamed granddaughters; after checking the wiki, I found that her granddaughters could plausibly be anywhere from 1-30ish, and decided to make her namesake Anya a maid of 20. Gael Celtigar, Roelle Cafferen, and Elaine Lydden were made up from whole cloth, and are also more typical ages for ladies-in-waiting.

At that point, I just sort of mused over what range of personalities I wanted to include. Denyse Hightower being a bit scholarly/academic was irresistible, and Valena's characterization is based on the limited stuff we get in TWOW sample chapter. In TWQ, Roelle had been briefly mentioned before at the masked ball; I decided she would be stuck on Red Ronnet despite him being a fuckboy. The Waynwoods are noted to be homely, hence Anya getting that short end of the stick; her personality is relatively steady/mild.

Gael Celtigar ended up being a bit on the hormonal/horny end of the teenage girl spectrum because I did *not* want Elia Uller to stick out as the only female member of the retinue with an "improper" sexual appetite. (Thanks for that, btw, GRRM, it was totally necessary to have 13-14 year old Elia actively lusting after and pursuing grown men in the TWOW sample chapter, not like you've already made a bad habit of oversexualizing the Dornish UGH). Gael is otherwise a perfectly lovely young lady; god forbid teenage girls experience normal desire :/ dang medieval setting

I don't have any arcs planned for any of the ladies; their characterization will naturally expand/deepen as they pop up in future chapters and their personalities unfold to me, so to speak. It will be a mix of what suits the character and what is necessary for the story, if that makes sense?

Hope that helps! 💕💕💕

[thaliajoy-blog]

OC moment ! Selyse of House Oakheart.

She knew Westeros before the conquest, and was already married to her Redwyne husband when it happened. I made her up mostly because the most dramatic and horrifying event during the Conquest (or rather the first Dornish War) was a red wedding sort of event that happened to House Oakheart : Dornishmen led by the Wyl of Wyl slaughtered the lord of the House and most of his guests during the wedding of Lady Alys Oakheart and ser Jon Cafferen. Selyse is Alys' fictional older sister and was not present at the wedding ; my fiction is that she went to Essos to look for her sister (and her handmaids) who had been raped and sold to Myrish slavers. She embarked with men, steel and money, with men amongst whom where the brothers and fathers (and even bold female relatives) of the handmaids who had been sold with her sister. She had a bit of the power of Old Oak and the Arbor with her. She was by that time a widow, and contracted a second secret marriage in Dorne that she revealed only on her deathbed (she had two children by her previous husband, one of whom would become the Lord of the Arbor). She succeeded in bringing her sister and most of her handmaids home, though in part by luck !

As for her personally, she was the eldest child of the Lord of Old Oak, & like Catelyn Tully in ASOIAF, his heir until her brother was bien some ten years after her. She has a strong character and made a strong impression on people who knew her, inspiring much loyalty and earning the nickname "Lady Oakheart". After her step-father died, she became regent for her son for a few years. She lived to see Aenys succeed his father, Maegor usurp the throne and Jaehaerys take it back. She died early in the last king's reign.

In this fictional space, a bunch of ASOIAF characters descend from her, like the Redwyne twins or Olenna Redwyne/Tyrell and her children +grandchildren (including Loras and Margaery 💚), but also characters from other Reach houses who married Redwynes.

Made-up quotes (cause we have fun) :

"Make war. I think there is really one thing that needs our attention and our efforts : to bring our sister home."

"I cannot command your mother to stay, child. She will go where she will go."

"If you loved me, you would let me go."

[thronesfm]

May I have some house suggestions for Emilia Clarke please?

             𝐎𝐅  𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄    !    i  could  see  emilia  fitting  into  house  harlaw,  redwyne,  celtigar,  mooton,  lefford,  karstark,  hightower,  sunderly,  volmark,  goodbrother,  saltcliffe,  wynch,  drumm,  codd,  estermont,  or  cafferen.

[reignfms]

hi there ! are there any houses / wanted connections that could you see naomi watts, kasia smutniak or claire forlani fitting in ?

for wcs : timur blacktyde's oldest sibling, willas marbrand's cousins in house westerling, tharon redsmith's first ex wife, maery greyjoy's personal guard, myranda bolton's mentor, the family of guinevere lannister's late husband / members of house rykker, myriah yronwood's possible betrothal, erich harlaw's former fling, any of the spy wcs, lucerys targaryen's broken betrothals !

for houses : stokeworth, lynderly, keath, dalt, blackmont, massey, sunglass, celtigar, sunderly, wynch, locke, umber, oakheart, mooton, ryger, cafferen, estermont, morrigen, caron, elesham, redfort, sunderland, estren, lefford !

[cannoli-reader]

See, I don’t think that fits with his character.  The real tragedy of Robert is that he could have been all sorts of good things, he just can’t be bothered.  He knows right from wrong, it’s just that doing the right thing can be too hard for him to bother.  

While I think Tywin was mostly full of shit in his explanation of the situation with regard to Elia Martell & family, he was right in his assessment of Robert.  Not that killing the kids was the right thing to do, but that doing the right thing with regard to them and their claims was going to be hard, complicated and require on-going vigilance and Robert did not want to worry about it.  Also, Robert did see himself as the avenging hero.  He says himself that the Rebellion was the most fun he ever had.  He wanted to keep hold of the illusion that it was a simple battle of good versus evil  (another aspect of the tragedy - the Battle for the Dawn would have been right up his alley, as long as he had Ned & Stannis to do all the logistical planning, so he could concentrate on the fun part of war-time leadership), and that meant dehumanizing the enemy in his mind.  That the majority of House Targaryen were actually young children or innocent and supposedly protected women, was an inconvenient complication to the very real point that Aerys and Rhaegar were unfit to rule and deserved their fates by their own actions, and the war against them arguably justified.  With the kids dead, and the remaining similarly inconvenient Targaryens holed up in Dragonstone, Robert wants to just move on and not deal with the implications of what might be “necessary” for him to take and rule the kingdom, so when Ned calls out the deaths and wants to confront the perpetrators, Robert doubles down.  Calling Rhaegar’s children dragonspawn is Robert’s attempt to suppress his own conscience and deny Ned’s assertion, because he knows it was wrong.  

The thing is, 15 years later, Robert is engaged in self-destructive behavior, and is almost completely checked out with regard to ruling his kingdom.  The only things he seems to care about, beyond eating, drinking and screwing himself to death, is bringing Ned back into his life and destroying the last remnants of the Targaryens.  This is a guy who wants to get back to his youth, and wants to change something in his life without actually doing much personally.  He goes all the way to Winterfell, because it feels like doing something major, but he’s just going on a trip to recruit a single official.  He’s a king doing a royal progress, he should be looking into matters that Ned brings up when he arrives, but all he really seems to care about is bring Ned back to court and enjoying himself, with feasting and hunting.  As far as Tyrion & Jon see on the Wall, Ned’s efforts to get Robert to understand their problems might as well never happened.  Robert is totally checked out.  He is only interested in his friendship with Ned, he is yearning for Lyanna, but putting her on a pedestal too, suggesting what he really wants is not Lyanna in particular, but anything other than what he has.  Either he wants to be Ned’s brother-in-law or else having Ned around is the best substitute for whatever Lyanna really represents to him.  

The one exception to Robert’s disengagement (beyond wanting more Starks in his life) is killing Daenerys.  This is the guy who pardoned Balon Greyjoy, and Lords Grandison, Fell & Cafferen after they rebelled against him, and welcomed them back into his regime.  The Tyrells besieged his home for months, and now he’s hyping Loras Tyrell as his favorite new jousting prospect. But he really wants Dany dead, especially after learning that she is pregnant, despite Ned’s logical breakdown of the implausibility of the threat, compared to the moral lapse.  And the most honest and honorable man in the room after Ned also agrees.  And when Ned resigns and leaves, the complaint Robert is cited as making is his ingratitude. Like, bro, it’s really clear Ned has lines and you crossed them.  But Robert cares more about the rejection of what he offered Ned, than the defiance or refusal to serve, or the blindness to a threat to the realm.  Almost like the threat to his regime is not Robert’s priority here, and maybe what he really wants is to make Ned complicit in the crimes Robert allowed to stand 15 years ago and which almost ended their friendship.  

I think all this points to the deaths of the “dragonspawn” poisoning Robert’s enjoyment of his victory.  On his wedding night, when he believed he was about to have sex with a 17 year old virgin, he got too drunk to remember her identity.  Maybe he wanted to be on the right side, on the Stark side, of the moral divide and was in denial about finding himself in bed with a Lannister.  But even if we put it down to him simply being an inconsiderate ass, I can still see that divide as something that is bothering Robert after 15 years, even if he won’t let himself think about it.  It could be a part of why he hates Cersei, why he publically leaves her and “their” children standing around, to go visit Lyanna’s tomb, why he wants to bring Ned to his court, constantly complains about Cersei to him, laughs publicly at Lannister humiliations and the notoriously not-empathetic Cersei believes recruiting Ned is indicative of a dissatisfaction with her and associates it with replacing her, why Robert’s brother, despite seeing him willing to hook up with anything female over the years, seems to really be hoping his own candidate for Cersei’s replacement will remind Robert of Lyanna.  And why Robert seems to be baiting Ned at times with the Lannisters. “I’m still right, Ned, you’re still wrong, look how much I like the Lannisters, maybe I’ll give them more power, even despite your opinions of that thing back then.  By the way, I hate Cersei.” 

So he lets Jon Arryn talk him out of killing Viserys and Dany, because it really looks like they are gone for good, and he doesn’t want to repeat his sin, but also does not want to admit he was wrong to accept Tywin’s gift, so he pretends like killing them is a good idea and only his soft spot for Jon is allowing him to give up.  The only other time we see Robert persuaded out of something is when Ned & Barristan confront him with the reality that he is no longer able to compete in a melee, because of both his physical degeneration and his royal status.  Which isn’t really persuading, just pointing out that he’s not going to achieve what he wants by doing what they don’t want him to.  Robert flatly admits he rarely listened to Jon.  Ned & Varys reflect that forbidding Robert is a good way to get him to try to do it. So I don’t think Jon persuaded Robert on any sort of ethical or practical grounds, I think he just gave Robert an excuse to call off the hunt without admitting it’s wrong, or backing down from his dragonspawn position, and allowing him to keep grumbling about not being able to kill Viserys & Dany, because it’s totally the right thing to do and perfectly justified.  

And while Robert refuses to listen to any further arguments about killing Dany after Ned’s resignation is unaccepted, but brings it up himself to call off the assassination, even while handing Ned the power of the crown and probably knowing that he’ll undo it himself anyway.  He’s trying to do the right thing while he still has time.  He doesn’t know what’s going to happen when he dies shortly, but it looks a lot like sleep, and in his final rest, he does not want to repeat the nightmares he has suffered over Dany’s niece and nephew.  

Do you think Robert Baratheon was actually haunted by the memory of Elia’s children in the Lannister red cloaks, in the same way Ned Stark and Thoros of Myr were?

"I see no babes, only dragonspawn," sounds like a firm no.

-SLAL

[stannisvelaryon]

More than a feeling - Stannis Baratheon & Elenei Cafferen

[indisden]

Day 1 of 7: Winter and Mountains (inspired by the North and Vale of Arryn)

Mila Sivatskaya as Beth Cassel, daughter of Rodrik Cassel Jordan Patrik Smith as Maron Volmark, Lord of Volmark Hayden Christensen as Lancel Lannister Alexia Giordano as Lysa Breakstone, youngest daughter of Anya Waynwood Sarah Bolger as Shoren Cafferen, born Mertyns Rachel Skarsten as Lysa Arryn

[game-of-style]

House Cafferen of Fawnton, sworn to Storm’s End - Zac Posen Resort 2020

[goodqueenaly]

House Words Wednesdays: House Cafferen

Welcome to House Words Wednesdays! Each week, I take a House without known canon or semi-canon words and present what I think could make sense as that House’s motto. You’re free to suggest more as well, if your favored House has not yet been suggested; take a look at this link  to see what has already been suggested, and shoot me a tweet or ask through Tumblr if you have another House you’d like to see

House Cafferen is a noble House of the Stormlands, sworn bannermen of the Baratheons of Storm’s End. The Cafferen seat is Fawnton, although is unknown where specifically in the Stormlands Fawnton is. Yandel writes that during the First Dornish War, the Wyl of Wyl committed deeds so terrible that “they are infamous enough and still remembered, especially in Fawnton and Old Oak”. Since the Wyl castle is near the Stormlands side of the Boneway, and Old Oak is located up the western coast of the Reach about where the Shield Islands are, though, the passage doesn’t exactly narrow down Fawnton’s location. Suffice it to say, I doubt that the Cafferens have particularly kind feelings toward the Wyls, or Dornishmen in general, especially after those apparently unspeakable deeds.

The Cafferens have only come into the story in a retrospective manner, in discussions of Robert’s Rebellion. One of Robert's greatest victories during the war was the triple battle of Summerhall, in which he fought three battles in a single day and killed or captured three Targaryen-loyalist stormlords, including Lord Cafferen. Yet instead of imprisoning Lord Cafferen (and the likewise captured Lord Grandison), as Stannis admits he would have done, Robert extended his unique brand of personal charisma: bringing them back to Storm’s End, Robert instead treated them as friends, drinking, feasting, and even hunting with them. Lord Cafferen was clearly inspired by Robert’s magnanimous behavior and personal charm (especially in comparison to the violent, lord-burning, clearly mad Aerys II), because he joined Robert’s cause and fought under him at the Battle of Ashford. Unfortunately, Lord Cafferen’s newfound rebel loyalty would not carry him against Randyll Tarly: the Lord of Horn Hill slew Cafferen, cut off his head, and reportedly sent it to Aerys. 

For the Cafferen words, I settled on We Are Not Caught. The Cafferen sigil is two white fawns on a green field, which reminded me of white harts. In the world of Westeros, as in our own world, white harts are considered rare, mystical, even otherworldly beings, which can be pursued but are very difficult to catch: Sansa wishes that “her gallant prince” Joffrey would be the one to catch the white hart spotted in the kingswood (although even she makes allowances for Joffrey’s bloodthirsty nature, letting him transgress story tropes to kill the white hart for her), but it comes to pass that the hunting party “found the white hart, it seems … or rather, what remained of it. Some wolves found it first, and left His Grace scarcely more than a hoof and a horn”. (Unsubtle symbolism, GRRM.) The Cafferen beasts may only be fawns, but like their elder kinsmen they might boast that they could never be seized, as they were too pure and innocent to be a hunter’s prize. Unfortunately, the Cafferen history (to the extent we know it) has been nothing but being caught and assaulted. By the Wyls, by Robert, by Randyll Tarly, the Cafferens have fallen time and again, unable to evade capture and death no matter how pure their sigil appears to be. 

[snapshotsofwesteros-blog]

Fawnton, the seat of House Cafferen 

Château de Noisy, Celles, Belgium

[writingwenches]

I’m leaning towards a Stormlander! I have narrowed it down to three houses~

Two houses from the Dornish Marches:

House Caron of Nightsong, known for the Knights and musicians. They hold the title Lord of the Marches, although they do not hold dominion over other marcher lords. The Carons say they are the oldest of the marcher lords, a claim disputed by House Swann.

House Dondarrion of Blackhaven, located in the Dornish Marches near the Boneway, controlling the pass to Dorne.

House Cafferen of Fownton, in 12AC had their heir and his bride were savagely attacked by Dornishmen from House Wyle.

My OC villain man will enjoy killing Dorishmen and imprisoning their women in his castle, unfortunately resulting in half-Dornish bastards.

I want more post-dance OCS, but if I want him to interact with my OTHER OCs they are pre-dance rip

I also want to make an OC family for House Wylde! A relative of Coryanne Wylde with her alleged biography, a scandalous book called A Caution for Young Girls~ 😈 ((mainly because Rain House seems like the perfect geography to grow the best tea in Westeros))

I need a sexy male villain to do terrible things to me to all the genders and have many a bastard along the way 😙👌

Is he going to be from The Vale or The Riverlands? Or The Stormlands? Iron Islands?? The Reach?!?

I have another original northern house coming, with plenty of ogleable men

[aegor-bamfsteel]

Many people think House Wyl supported the Black Dragon, but why would they when part of the reason people hate the deal Daeron II made is because of their war crimes and presumably because they were never punished for them? House Wyl consistently commits war crimes such as rape, slavery (wasn’t Jorah near murdered for this?), attempted regicide (Baelor), etc. and are never punished for it by the Martells, so wouldn’t they be loyal to the Martells due to the many crimes they let them get away with like Gregor Clegane is to Tywin Lannister?

You’ll have to ask the people who believe the Wÿls called their banners for Daemon Blackfyre, because I believe they are one of the Dornish Houses most likely to support the Martells (aside from the Daynes of Starfall because of a marriage alliance with Maekar) due to the reason you just stated. Yes, the Wÿls were bannermen of the Yronwoods when Nymeria came, and unlike House Fowler they stayed loyal to King Yorick, but so did Houses Qorgyle, Blackmont, and Jordayne, and you didn’t use this previous vassalage as evidence for why these houses supported Daemon. Unlike the Yronwoods or the Blackmonts (if you believe the Vulture Kings were affiliated with them), after Nymeria the Wÿls always acted in the name of House Martell; in the First Dornish War, Wÿl the Widowlover cut off Orys Baratheon’s hand (in addition to killing Alys Oakheart’s father, castrating her Cafferen groom, and selling her and her maids into slavery. Arys Oakheart still recalls the event as infamous over 200 years after it happened. House Oakheart supported both sides during the First Blackfyre, which seems a point against a pro-Blackfyre House Wÿl); in Daeron I’s Dornish War, Lord Wÿl suspended Aemon the Dragonknight in a cage over a pit of venomous snakes, and challenged Baelor the Blessed to rescue him in a clear attempted regicide. You are right that we never hear of them being punished in canon. Consequently, I don’t think they would be inclined to rebel against the Martells who consistently treated them well. The Yronwoods guard the Boneway and the Wÿls’ castle is located somewhere along there, but considering the Yronwoods aren’t mentioned as sending men to Redgrass, it’s possible the Wÿls blocked them from coming up the pass and reaching the marches, where they might’ve found allies in House Peake (or again, they could’ve been blocked by House Dondarrion, who must’ve supported Daeron II thanks to Baelor’s marriage).

Apart from past loyalty that doesn’t seem to have carried over into the Blackfyre era, and close proximity, I’m struggling to find any point of positive connection between Yronwood and Wÿl that might make people think they both fought against the Martells. I even checked the non-canon Yronwood tree (though some of its information was canonized in Fire and Blood), and while the Yronwoods have 2 marriage ties to the Martells, 2 to the Blackmonts, and one each to the Manwoodys, Gargalens, Ullers, Vaiths, Jordaynes, and Santagars, they have none to the Wÿls. Marriage alliances don’t mean everything (see: the two Yronwood-Martell marriages when they later fought on opposite sides), but they do provide a decent picture of house relationships ca 130-170, and the Wÿl-Yronwood one seems distant. The only reason I could see them fighting on the side of the Yronwoods is if the Yronwoods’ ultimate plan was an independent Dorne, and thus allow the centuries-long rivalry between the Wÿls and the Marcher Lords to continue openly. However, that plan seems a little complicated (siding with half the Marcher Lords only to attack the rest of them later?), and comes without the security that House Martell has provided since at least Aegon I’s time. If you believe that some Marcher Lords supported Daemon because they wanted retribution for the war crimes committed in Dorne, then it stands to reason that they would want House Wÿl (whose head, as mentioned, tortured two members of the royal family with intent to kill) to give some sort of weregild. As far as we know, the Martells and Daeron II did not. Therefore, even without marriage alliances I think it’s more likely the Wÿls supported House Martell, who were willing to grant them lenience as long as their crimes were committed in service to their Prince. If you’re looking for other Dornish Houses who might’ve joined the Yronwoods, I think House Blackmont is the most likely, followed by House Drinkwater, House Allyrion, House Vaith and maybe Houses Santagar and Dayne of High Hermitage. But I doubt we’ll be getting confirmation either way anytime soon.

[aurora-light-blog]

Wylla of Wyl

“She (Nymeria) was lucky to land in Dorne, where powerful women are not locked away in septs and the beds of old men.” GOT Histories and Lore. Dorne by Oberyn Martell.

    I was inspired by these word in my fanfiction about Wylla of Wyl. This woman help set the precedence for future Dornish women in power. As fans, we know very little about her. Literally, there is one sentence written about her. First off, she is Wylla of Wyl, which is a common way of expressing a lordship I think (ex. Wyl of Wyl). So, she is probably of noble birth. She fought along with Yoren Yronwood (who was probably a king). For her to be mentioned means there was a lot of respect for her probably due to her prowess. Outside of Oberyn’s daughters, we actually haven’t heard of any other fighting Dornish girls. I wanted Wylla to be a fierce warrior.

    Weirdly, when thinking of House Wyl, I kept comparing it to Bear Island. Both locations are remote and border on enemy territory. As Bear Island has warrior women, I figure House Wyl would must likely have warrior women too. House Mormont is known for the honor and loyal, while House Wyl isn’t. Though House Wyl may not have honorable conduct, I disagree with it being a rebellious house. Their actions remind me of the Chinese Boxer Rebellion, where rebels fought the British because the government officially couldn’t. There is even hint that Deria Martell might have supported the Vulture King’s attacks. House Wyl is a nasty loyal house. Their cruelty didn’t come from nowhere. As Alysane Mormont said, “What we are is what you made us,” I think the violent attack on the wedding of Jon Cafferen and Alys Oakheart had been retaliation for hideous deeds done against House Wyl by House Cafferen. Sadly, because this is mostly the case in life. 

    Now to the weird tidbits. I actually reference real life Saluki for the sand dogs. I thought it was interesting that Wylla Manderly had this first name. House Manderly was originally from the Reach, and since the Reach seem to hate the Dornish, a Dornish name especially a famous enemy warrior’s name wouldn’t make sense. Unless... She was actually respected by House Manderly for some reason. This idea was added to my fanfiction. Honesty, given how randomly some names are placed in the series, there could be no reason behind it other than Martin couldn’t think up another name. The introduction of this story was actually the last part that I wrote and it was my second attempt. “Warrior’s Daughters” concept sadly didn’t make it into this story. The warrior women tradition in Wyl continued even after the Andals took over. It was renamed the “Warrior’s Daughters” just like the Warrior’s Sons and were sworn to the Faith of the Seven. Hopefully, I’ll be able to include that in some future story. That’s my headcanon. Feel free to use “Warrior’s Daughters” in your fanfictions. Thanks for reading.

   “Wylla of Wyl” is posted on An Archive of Our Own By DarthChocolate.