The Lore of House Baratheon
House Baratheon of Storm’s End is one of the Great Houses of Westeros, ruling the storm-swept Stormlands as Lords Paramount. Their seat is the ancient fortress of Storm’s End, raised in the Age of Heroes by the Storm Kings of the now-extinct House Durrandon.
Sigil: A crowned black stag on a golden field.
Words: Ours is the Fury.
Origins and Founding of House Baratheon
House Baratheon is the youngest of the Great Houses, founded during Aegon’s Conquest in 2 BC. Orys Baratheon, one of Aegon I Targaryen’s most trusted generals and rumored bastard half-brother, led the assault on the Stormlands. He slew the last Storm King, Argilac the Arrogant (also called Argilac Durrandon), in single combat. Orys then married Argilac’s daughter and sole heir, Argella Durrandon, who had briefly proclaimed herself Storm Queen before her own men delivered her to him in chains.
Orys claimed the Durrandon sigil (the black stag) and words (“Ours is the Fury”), along with their ancestral seat. Through the female line, the Baratheons descend from the legendary Durran Godsgrief, who defied the gods themselves to build Storm’s End. This blending of First Men royal blood with (possible) Valyrian heritage gave the house its formidable strength.
Members of House Baratheon are typically tall, powerfully built, with black hair, blue eyes, and strong square jawlines, traits that mark them as unmistakable “stags,” even among their royal offspring.
Key Historical Figures
- Rogar Baratheon: Served as Hand of the King and Protector of the Realm during Jaehaerys I’s minority. He married the Dowager Queen Alyssa Velaryon.
- Borros Baratheon: During the Dance of the Dragons, he sided with the Greens (Aegon II) despite his father Boremund’s earlier Black sympathies. His daughters were central to political marriages; he died fighting at the Battle of the Kingsroad.
- Lyonel Baratheon (the Laughing Storm): A renowned warrior who rebelled briefly after a broken betrothal to a Targaryen prince, only to be reconciled through further marriage ties.
- Steffon Baratheon: Father of Robert, Stannis, and Renly. He died in a shipwreck in Shipbreaker Bay after a failed mission to find a bride for Prince Rhaegar.
Robert’s Rebellion and the Baratheon Dynasty
⚠️ Spoiler Warning ⚠️
In 282–283 AC, the house rose to supreme power. Lord Robert Baratheon, betrothed to Lyanna Stark, rebelled after Rhaegar Targaryen “abducted” her, sparking the deaths of Brandon and Rickard Stark and Aerys II’s tyrannical demands. Robert, with Eddard Stark and Jon Arryn, led the rebellion. He famously slew Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident with his warhammer.
Victorious, Robert was crowned King Robert I Baratheon. House Baratheon split into three branches:
- House Baratheon of King’s Landing — Robert on the Iron Throne.
- House Baratheon of Dragonstone — Stannis Baratheon.
- House Baratheon of Storm’s End — Renly Baratheon.
Robert married Cersei Lannister, producing (officially) Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen. During Greyjoy’s Rebellion, Stannis crushed the Iron Fleet. Yet cracks appeared: Robert’s reign was marked by excess, debt, and growing tensions with the Lannisters.
The War of the Five Kings
Robert’s death in 298 AC shattered the realm. His brothers claimed the throne:
- Stannis, the elder, with a claim rooted in law but tainted by his association with the Red Priestess Melisandre and shadow assassins.
- Renly, the charismatic youngest, who garnered support from the Reach through his marriage to Margaery Tyrell but died to a shadow before battle.
Storm’s End endured sieges, and the house’s fury echoed across the land. By the later books, Stannis fights in the North against the Boltons and the Others’ threat, with his daughter Shireen as heir.
Legacy and Traits
The Baratheons embody raw power, unyielding will, and stormy tempers. From Orys One-Hand to Robert’s boisterous kingship and Stannis’s rigid justice, they are storm-made men: hard, proud, and furious when roused. Their blood (mingled with Targaryen in legend) helped forge the unified Seven Kingdoms, but also sowed the seeds of future conflicts.
Ours is the Fury, a warning as relevant in the days of Robert’s Rebellion as it was when Durran Godsgrief first defied the gods. The stags of Storm’s End endure, even as winter approaches.
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