Post by Stranger on Jun 2, 2014 1:28:44 GMT
House Tullison"Stone Endures."
Liege: House Tully
Set on the edge of the Riverlands, among the rocky outcroppings on the westernmost face of the Mountains of the Moon, House Tullison rose from the humble beginnings of its founder to a place of prominence among the lesser Houses of the Seven Kingdoms. As a loyal ally of House Tully, House Tullison looks to the heart of the Riverlands for guidance and fuels the defenses of its namesake House with iron from its mines.
According to family lore, Joston Rivers, the founder of House Tullison, was born around 115, the natural son of the Lord of Riverrun. The Lord claimed Joston as his child, but sent him to be fostered at the Eyrie to protect the bastard against the machinations of his disapproving wife. Joston showed potential in the martial arts from an early age, and was made a squire to one of House Arryn’s sworn knights. At the age of 14, Joston accompanied his master to the armies of Aegon II, and continued to provide faithful service through the war that would become known as the Dance of the Dragons. By war’s end, Joston had come to his majority and was knighted by his grateful master.
With the war over, Ser Joston was left a soldier without any battles to fight, and so became a hedge knight. He traveled the lands of Westeros for five to ten years before coming across the mining camps on the western edge of the Mountains of the Moon, and it was in this unlikely place that he found his destiny. Joston arrived in the camps minutes before clansmen swept out of the mountains, howling their barbarian war cries, intent on slaughtering the miners, stealing the camp’s women and anything else they could carry away. Joston organized a hasty defense of the camp, and, though several miners were killed and Joston was seriously injured, managed to drive off the raiders.
As the smallfolk tended to his injuries, they told Joston of their near-daily battles for survival in defense of their claims. Taking it upon himself as a true knight to provide for their protection, Joston taught the miners how to defend themselves. According to his instruction, the smallfolk surrounded their camps with ditches filled with sharpened wooden stakes, and constructed mantlets covered with wetted leather to provide cover from arrows both hot and cold. He trained men and women alike to fight using their picks, axes and shovels, and children to standby with pails of water and dirt to fight fires. After several months, the smallfolk began holding their own against the clansmen and, while the attacks never ceased entirely, the clans began to seek out other, easier, targets just as often as they raided the camps.
The appreciative miners and their families began to refer to Joston as “Lord Ser,” regardless of how many times he told them he was bastard born, and no lord. Joston arranged for the iron ore produced by the miners to be transported to Riverrun, and there the smallfolk beseeched the Warden of the Riverlands to make Joston their lord in name as well as in deed. Impressed by the noble behavior of his natural son, the Lord of Riverrun sent a raven to Aegon III, citing the accomplishments of his bastard, and asking for Joston to be ennobled. In 145, the King granted the Lord’s request, and gifted Joston with the lands around the mining camps for the new House. Now a lord in truth, Joston set aside the bastard name Rivers and took up the surname Tullison, in honor of his father.
Shortly after his marriage to Lady Casserdre of House Piper, Lord Joston began to build his seat on a small spur of the Mountains of the Moon, using the stone quarried as a byproduct of mining iron for the construction. Completed in 150, Joston named his small castle Mountain’s Reach. The castle was designed to incorporate the rocky terrain as part of its defenses, giving Joston’s Rock (as it shortly became known) the appearance of having grown out of the mountain. The Noble Houses Lady Casserdre presented Joston with nine healthy children, five of whom survived childhood and ensured the continuance of the line. Joston died age 48, from a festering arrow wound suffered while fighting the clans.
During Robert’s Rebellion, Lord Sterl of House Tullison answered the call of Lord Hoster Tully and went to war against the mad King Aerys II. At the Battle of the Trident, Lord Sterl met his end, leaving his wife, Lady Moraine, in charge of his two-year old son Dunstan, and his newborn daughter Yves. House Tullison continues to follow the example of Lord Joston to this day. Its soldiers protect the smallfolk villagers and miners from the ravages of the clans, and the Tullisons have maintained close ties to Riverrun as bannermen and through the trade of iron ore. Tullison iron has gained a reputation for its high quality, filling the coffers of the House to overflowing. With a steady supply of stone from the iron mines, construction on Joston’s Rock has never really ended, making it one of the most secure castles in the Riverlands.
With the war over, Ser Joston was left a soldier without any battles to fight, and so became a hedge knight. He traveled the lands of Westeros for five to ten years before coming across the mining camps on the western edge of the Mountains of the Moon, and it was in this unlikely place that he found his destiny. Joston arrived in the camps minutes before clansmen swept out of the mountains, howling their barbarian war cries, intent on slaughtering the miners, stealing the camp’s women and anything else they could carry away. Joston organized a hasty defense of the camp, and, though several miners were killed and Joston was seriously injured, managed to drive off the raiders.
As the smallfolk tended to his injuries, they told Joston of their near-daily battles for survival in defense of their claims. Taking it upon himself as a true knight to provide for their protection, Joston taught the miners how to defend themselves. According to his instruction, the smallfolk surrounded their camps with ditches filled with sharpened wooden stakes, and constructed mantlets covered with wetted leather to provide cover from arrows both hot and cold. He trained men and women alike to fight using their picks, axes and shovels, and children to standby with pails of water and dirt to fight fires. After several months, the smallfolk began holding their own against the clansmen and, while the attacks never ceased entirely, the clans began to seek out other, easier, targets just as often as they raided the camps.
The appreciative miners and their families began to refer to Joston as “Lord Ser,” regardless of how many times he told them he was bastard born, and no lord. Joston arranged for the iron ore produced by the miners to be transported to Riverrun, and there the smallfolk beseeched the Warden of the Riverlands to make Joston their lord in name as well as in deed. Impressed by the noble behavior of his natural son, the Lord of Riverrun sent a raven to Aegon III, citing the accomplishments of his bastard, and asking for Joston to be ennobled. In 145, the King granted the Lord’s request, and gifted Joston with the lands around the mining camps for the new House. Now a lord in truth, Joston set aside the bastard name Rivers and took up the surname Tullison, in honor of his father.
Shortly after his marriage to Lady Casserdre of House Piper, Lord Joston began to build his seat on a small spur of the Mountains of the Moon, using the stone quarried as a byproduct of mining iron for the construction. Completed in 150, Joston named his small castle Mountain’s Reach. The castle was designed to incorporate the rocky terrain as part of its defenses, giving Joston’s Rock (as it shortly became known) the appearance of having grown out of the mountain. The Noble Houses Lady Casserdre presented Joston with nine healthy children, five of whom survived childhood and ensured the continuance of the line. Joston died age 48, from a festering arrow wound suffered while fighting the clans.
During Robert’s Rebellion, Lord Sterl of House Tullison answered the call of Lord Hoster Tully and went to war against the mad King Aerys II. At the Battle of the Trident, Lord Sterl met his end, leaving his wife, Lady Moraine, in charge of his two-year old son Dunstan, and his newborn daughter Yves. House Tullison continues to follow the example of Lord Joston to this day. Its soldiers protect the smallfolk villagers and miners from the ravages of the clans, and the Tullisons have maintained close ties to Riverrun as bannermen and through the trade of iron ore. Tullison iron has gained a reputation for its high quality, filling the coffers of the House to overflowing. With a steady supply of stone from the iron mines, construction on Joston’s Rock has never really ended, making it one of the most secure castles in the Riverlands.
It's set just before the historic Blacks v Greens period