House Royce of Runestone is an old and powerful noble house of the Vale, sworn to House Arryn. Their seat is the ancestral castle Runestone, located on the coast of the narrow sea north of Gulltown.
There is a cadet branch occupying the non-hereditary seat of the Gates of the Moon, located on the path that leads to the Eyrie.
The Royces of Runestone blazon their arms with black iron studs on bronze, bordered with runes and their motto, is "We Remember".
History[]
House Royce is an ancient house in the Vale. The house is thought to have started in the Age of Heroes, though supposedly, their history goes back as far as the Dawn Age. This means they predate Arryn rule quite a bit and trace their blood to the days of the early First Men, who once populated the Vale, although no doubt they have since been heavily intermarried with the Andals who conquered the Vale millennia ago.
These ancient kings, also known as the Bronze Kings of Runestone waged many wars against fellow First Men kings, such as House Shett, who were vaingloriously titled King of the True Men. King Yorwyck VI had claimed the Runic Crown when his sire died in battle and proved to be a most redoubtable foe, defeating the Shetts and driving them back inside their town walls of Gulltown. The Shett king, Osgood III, turned to Andalos, to ask the Andal's for help. King Osgood won his victory and this was House Royce's first meeting with the Andals. King Yorwyck VI led his house to several smashing victories over the Andals. His heirs carried on the fight after him, for the wars between the First Men and the Andals lasted for generations.
The last of the Bronze Kings was Yorwyck's grandson, King Robar II, who inherited Runestone a fortnight before his sixteenth nameday. He proved to be such a warrior of ferocity and cunning and charm that he almost stemmed the Andal tide. He succeeded in uniting the remaining First Men lords under a single banner to oppose the Andals, who by that time, controlled three-quarters of the Vale. These lords had been petty kings, but set aside their crowns and bent the knee before Robar Royce, proclaiming him High King of the Vale, the Fingers, and the Mountains of the Moon. During theBattle of the Seven Stars, the First Men host led by King Robar was eventually defeated and Robar himself killed by, some say, Ser Artys Arryn, others say Lord Ruthermont, or Luceon Templeton and even Ser Jaime Corbray. The end result was that House Royce survived by yielding up gold, land and hostages. The Royces bent their knee and swore fealty to Artys of House Arryn, the First of His Name, King of Mountain and Vale.
In the early days of Targaryen rule, Lord Royce of Runestone gathered forces to sweep away the rebels under Jonos the Kinslayer, brother to Ronnel Arryn, the King Who Flew, penning him and others in the Eyrie - although this led directly to the murder of Lord Ronnel, when his brother sent him flying through the moon door. After Jonos' death, the Arryn line continued through a cousin Hubert Arryn, who married a lady of House Royce.
In time, House Royce regained much of their pride, wealth and power, for during the rule of Lady Jeyne Arryn, Yorbert Royce, was the Lord Protector of the Vale, going to the Great Council of 101 AC, because Lady Jeyne was a minor at that time. The Lady of Runestone, several years later, was Rhea Royce, who was married to Prince Daemon Targaryen, a big player in Dance of the Dragons. During the Storming of the Dragonpit, Ser Willum Royce was killed and the Royces Valyrian steel sword Lamentation was lost.
In more recent times Lord Royce competed in the Tourney of Maidenpool of 207 AC where he was defeated by Ser Humfrey Hardyng. A lady of House Royce, Perra Royce, also married Lord Walder Frey, while Lord Tywin Lannister offered Tyrion Lannister for marriage to one of Lord Yohn Royce's daughters, but was rejected. Kyle Royce was a member of Brandon Stark's party when he went to King's Landing to demand Prince Rhaegar Targaryen's head for kidnapping his sister, Lyanna Stark. A prelude to Robert's Rebellion. This goes to show that they regained quite a bit of their standing.
When Lord Yohn went north with his son Ser Waymar who was joining the Night's Watch at the Wall, they stopped at Winterfell. There they hunted and in the training yard, Yohn fought and defeated both Lord Eddard Stark and Ser Rodrik Cassel.
They have several sets of ancient bronze plate armor inscribed with runes that are thought to make their wearers immune to injury. The truth of this claim has been called into question as quite a few Royces have died wearing them.