House Bartheld

House Bartheld
"Joy in Service"
Liege: House Baratheon

Although it was loyalty to House Baratheon that initially raised the Barthelds to the nobility, the denizens of Hart House later became known for hosting indulgent—some might even say depraved—festivities each year, at which an ever-changing roster of guests would drink deep of their host’s hospitality. Fittingly, the most recent lord of Hart House abdicated his role to his grandson so that he could pursue the hand of Lady Yve of House Tullison. The new master of the house, Davain Bartheld, is much more conservative than his forbears, which is not sitting particularly well with most other members of his family.

House Bartheld is a minor lineage, born thirty years after Aegon’s landing when a serving boy saved Lord Raffin Baratheon from assassination. One of Baratheon’s banner knights is said to have knighted the lad on the spot. Ser Hamish Bartheld went on to prove that even a serving boy could rise to great heights. Although he was never brilliant—or even very good—as a soldier or a statesman, he developed a reputation for honor and loyalty that served him and his descendents well. To this day, House Bartheld is a family where good faith is regarded more highly than skill or cleverness.

Ser Hamish developed a huge appetite for everything life as a noble offered. By the time he died, he was obese, red-faced from drink, and suffering from several venereal diseases. The first Bartheld took his degeneration with good humor and, it is said, died with no regrets. The Barthelds emulate their eponymous ancestor, though most are more careful with their health. All of Hamish’s children—trueborn and bastard—did well for themselves in their own way. Some became Maesters at the Citadel or took the Black and several were knighted as well.

Despite gaining some respect as a family, without land, the Barthelds were dependent on the Baratheons for wealth and station. In return, the Barthelds have served the Baratheons as squires, chamberlains, companions, bodyguards, and bedwarmers and prospered. The most cynical Barthelds claimed—but never within earshot of their patrons—that House Baratheon never granted them holdings of their own to keep them dependent, so that the Baratheons could continue to enjoy the fruits of Bartheld labor.

Although they maintained a close relationship with House Baratheon, the Barthelds also acted as procurers and bodyguards for other houses, for a price. Rumors persist—vociferously denied by the Barthelds themselves—that the family whored its sons and daughters in the hard days after the Dance of Dragons. These stories continue to stain the House’s reputation.

Brom Bartheld, the first true lord of the house, began his career as a knight in service to King Robert’s father. He was also a friend of Lord Jamys Kytley, called the Sybarite, and a frequent guest at Jamys’s extravagant parties. When Brom’s cousin Tobias Bartheld tried to open Broms’s eyes to Jamys’s abuse and neglect of his smallfolk, Brom refused. Jamys was his friend, and that was all he would let himself see.

Brom and his sons, including one who served Robert as a squire, joined Robert’s Rebellion and distinguished themselves in battle. Although Brom survived the Trident, two of his four sons did not. As a form of compensation for the family’s years of service and Brom’s sacrifice, King Robert finally granted House Bartheld land of its own. House Bartheld was given the territory of House Asrig, which had lost all its sons in the war fighting on behalf of the Targaryens.

House Asrig had been the worst kind of nobles. Inspired by the cruelty of the Targaryens, they had satisfied their desire for luxuries and companionship at the expense of the smallfolk and indulged in cruel, extravagant punishments. Lord Leofrick Asrig was particularly fond of punishing entire families or villages for the misdeeds of a few. On one memorable occasion that a peasant insulted his wife with a bold stare, Lord Leofrick gave the man’s friends and neighbors a choice: either they delivered his eyes to the castle, or he would send his knights to claim ten. Upon hearing of the death of her husband and sons, Lady Inez Asrig had ordered every village and fortification burned to the ground and set fire to the castle from the inside. Brom Bartheld arrived to discover that his new house seat had been devastated. All the major structures and most of the villages had been destroyed and the peasants were traumatized and distrustful, eager to believe that their new lord was just as bad as the old one.

When Hart House was complete, Brom celebrated with a huge feast. The party won Brom many allies and goodwill from his creditors. Inspired, Brom turned his native hospitality into a tool. Since then Hart House has hosted a variety of colorful characters, from young men avoiding duels they can’t win to young women avoiding suitors they can’t shake to old lords reliving glory days they can’t repeat. Brom Bartheld boasts—without revealing any details—that Hart House has hosted at least one septon and his lover, and helped a pair of star-crossed lovers avoid their families long enough to be married in secret.

Young Davain Bartheld, Brom’s oldest grandson, is the current lord of the House. Brom retired unexpectedly and left Hart House—his aging squire, Dart Rivers, in tow—to seek the hand of Lady Yve Tullison. Davain is something of a black sheep, an ascetic in a family of sybarites. Davain has already alienated some of his wilder family members by toning down the yearly party. Davain’s father was particularly insulted by his decision to hire businesslike middle-aged servers rather than attractive girls, and his uncle Kent was annoyed to discover that Davain has banned hunting parties from departing Hart House with more than a single wineskin. Davain’s cousin Fendrel, on the other hand, is concerned that overabundant sobriety will hurt the house’s standing. The Barthelds thrived under Brom’s hospitality and permissiveness, and he is afraid that sobriety and propriety will ruin them.

Fendrel Bartheld, currently a guest of Hart House, is probably his cousin Davain’s worst enemy. Though Davain has the right of inheritance, Fendrel resents him and feels that Davain is not a proper Bartheld. He schemes to disgrace Davain and replace him.

However, Davain is not completely alone. His uncle Tobias remembers that summer will not last forever. With winter surely on the horizon, he believes that House Bartheld will benefit from more sober leadership. Not all of his sons agree, but at least one of them, Ser Alec, is Davain’s ally, though his duties to the crown keep him away from Hart House.