• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Optio_Pootis

Private
72 Badges
Nov 2, 2014
22
1
  • Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne
  • Stellaris - Path to Destruction bundle
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mare Nostrum
  • Europa Universalis IV: Third Rome
  • Crusader Kings II: Jade Dragon
  • Victoria 2: Heart of Darkness
  • Victoria 2: A House Divided
  • Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
  • March of the Eagles
  • Magicka
  • Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations
  • Europa Universalis IV: Art of War
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
  • Europa Universalis IV: Conquest of Paradise
  • Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham
  • Crusader Kings II: The Republic
  • Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India
  • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome
  • Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Together for Victory
  • Crusader Kings II: Monks and Mystics
  • Europa Universalis IV: Rule Britannia
  • Steel Division: Normandy 44
  • Cities: Skylines - Mass Transit
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mandate of Heaven
  • Steel Division: Normandy 44 Deluxe Edition
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Death or Dishonor
  • Age of Wonders III
  • Cities: Skylines - Green Cities
  • Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization
  • Hearts of Iron IV: No Step Back
  • Stellaris: Humanoids Species Pack
  • Stellaris: Apocalypse
  • Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Victoria 2
  • War of the Roses
  • Cities: Skylines
  • Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado
  • Magicka: Wizard Wars Founder Wizard
  • Crusader Kings II: Way of Life
  • Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense
  • Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack
  • Europa Universalis IV: Cossacks
  • Crusader Kings II: Conclave
  • Stellaris
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet
  • Crusader Kings II: Reapers Due
  • Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man
A Background to the Royal House of Graham of King's Landing

The house was founded during the War of the Five Kings, under Samwell Graham, who, during the Battle of the Red Fork, helped to stop a northman from breaking through to Tywin Lannister during the battle. For this service, he was raised to the lordship of Myatt, in the high lordship of Silverhill. Through several generations, his children built their stronghold of Myatt into one of the greatest military camps in Westeros, to rival and surpass the Tarlys of Horn Hill.Eventually, their lieges, the line of House Serett ceased to sit the seat of Silverhall, and they were replaced, through marriage, by the children of House Graham, who were also heirs of Myatt. Their reign did not come without challenge, however. After being released from the prison of the last Lannister to sit as lord paramount of the Westerlands, Darlessa Lannister, for a snub during a feast, Flement the Young, the first Graham lord of Myatt and Silverhill and the great-great grandson of Samwell Graham, was ambushed by Westerling men, who took him for a traitor, murdered his men, and wounded in the process. After returning to Myatt, Flement the Young raised the banners of Graham, and his allies, House Peckledon of the Gold Road, marched on The Crag, slaughtered the armies of the westerlings, and behaded Manfryd the Unworthy, the last adult male Westerling. What followed was an infamous campaign of assassins, who killed every male heir, and to demonstrate further how the Grahams are not a family to trifle with, every female heir but Kyra Westerling, a half-blind 57 year old woman who lived out the rest of her days in sorrow in the court of Silverhall, mourning her family and dying, the last of her line.

Willard Graham the Gentle, the great great grandson of Flement the Young and son of Landyll Half Hand lived to see the greatest wildling invasion Westeros had ever seen, under King Crowkiller, who conquered the North and nearly conquered the Riverlands before he died in his bed at a very young age, leading the smallfolk to talk of Sorcery, or the wrath of the Stranger befalling Crowkiller. The maesters would speak of heart conditions, or assassination. All that is known is that his child son bent the knee, giving the Iron Throne some of the first rule it ever had over Wildling Land, as the lords of the Frozen Shore bent the knee as well. It was the great grandson of Willard the Gentle, Landyll II who suddenly and drastically climbed the ladder of power. He sensed weakness in the new house that ruled the Westerlands, the house of the Great Pyramid, and the Lannisters of King's Landing, who had ruled for 300 years ever since Tommen Baratheon declared himself of House Lannister. Landyll II had inherited the High Lordship of Sarsfield as well as Silverhall, and besides having over half the westerlands under his control, he had more men than the house of the Great Pyramid, and launched his war to sieze the Westerlands. After he siezed this seat, he married into an alliance with the Riverlands, and then rose in rebellion against the Iron Throne. Many minor lords joined him as well, and the war culminated in the Battle of Acorn Hall, where over 40,000 men fought a bloody battle, and a grinding Melee which resulted in a Graham Victory. Afterwards,with his 20,000 men, Landyll marched on King's Landing, siezed it, and with the royal family hostage, forced the surrender of the last Lannister king, Jacelyn Lannister, who then reverted to his holding of the Kingship of Myr, part of the vast Essossi empire that the Lannisters had conquered abroad, which stretched from Lys to the eastern fringes of Volantis, and then from Yunkai to New Ghis in Slaver's Bay. Landyll appointed his brother, Ormond Graham, to the Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, and gave Myatt to his Son, the Heir to the Iron Throne.

Graham Sigils and Icons
The basic sigil pattern that all Graham Banners follow are three golden escallops in a downward triangular pattern, all with the same Motto: Never Forget.
The Grahams of King's Landing, the royal house, have their escallops crowned, with a sword in their midst, on a black field, the crowns and sword recent additions to the original banner. However, the Grahams of the Westerlands have their escallops on a red field, keeping with Lannister colors.
Shortly after coming to power, Landyll resumed a project Jacelyn had begun, the recolonization of Summerhall. During this, Landyll found a Valyrian Steel Sword, which he reforged into a longsword with a crossguard that was about 6 inches long, while the sword itself was 31 inches long. The hilt was golden with a black leather grip-guard, and the blade had Black and Gold ripples. To commemorate his war-filled rise to power, Landyll had this sword named "Kingmaker."
 
Last edited:
  • 1
Reactions:
The Reign of King Landyll Graham I

The crowd cheered and roared. Landyll's old scars throbbed and his old bones ached, but he felt alive as ever on the horse, sitting above his defeated opponent, who he extended his hand to help up. Nothing made Landyll feel young again like a joust. It brought him memories of past days, when it seemed like he could kill a giant. It brought him back to Acorn Hall, that grinding, bloody melee that he found himself in the midst of. He always preferred fighting on foot, but in his old age, jousting was as good as cleaving through some sod's throat with a longsword. As he retrieved his lance for his next joust, his Squire attending to his armor and ensuring it was sealed up tight, his nephew, Dake Graham, the Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, Warden of the West entered the tent. The hand-shaped pin that signified the Hand of the King was prominent on his gold-peach tunic, above his left breast. He was a strong man, forged by training as a squire to his father Ormond, Landyll's Brother. Dake had the hairline of Flement the Young, or at least from what Landyll could see from the paintings of Flement the Young hung in Myatt's great hall; bald besides a spot on the top of his head covered with a patch of fuzz, departing from Flement with a thin pencil mustache, and had none of his father's fatness. Ormond had been a flabby, fat man, who followed after his mother Kyra Sarsfield, a greedy but good man, twin brother to a sickly infant who died a few days after he left the womb. Grim members of court secretly whispered that it was because Ormond sucked all the food away from him, and starved his twin brother, that it was why he was so fat. Dake gave a kind, short bow to his uncle, who nodded, and spoke. "Dake! Ah, get up, boy, get up!" Dake reverted from his bow, and as the squire backed away to allow a moment of intimacy at Landyll's wave, he hugged his nephew, and patted him on the back for good measure. "How have the Westerlands been?" inquired Landyll. "Ah, good enough. Money's flowing in and flowing out, renovating Sarsfield. It's no Myatt, but I'm trying." Landyll nodded. "Well, it's good to see that you're putting the wealth of the West to good use! Nearly everything I have is about as built up as can be, excepting for Summerhall. Still some things to do there."

Landyll smiled wider. He planned to make this a day worth remembering for Dake. "Let me call in my septon, there's something that needs doing. Kneel, nephew." Dake dropped to his knees before Landyll as the king called in his Septon, Humfrey, a fat old man whose hairline consisted of a few draggly hairs that populated the back of his head. In his hand, Humfrey held sacred oils that were carried everywhere in the service of the King, as many knighthoods were expected to be handed out in battles and at occasions like this. Landyll withdrew Kingmaker from the rack in his tent. "Dake of the House Graham, in the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave." He dubbed dake on the right shoulder, and then lifted his sword. "In the name of the Father I charge you to be just." He dubbed Dake on the head with the flat of his sword, signifying his conscience. "In the name of the Mother I charge you to defend the Young and the Innocent." He dubbed Dake on the left shoulder,and then withdrew his sword again. "In the name of the Maid, I charge you to protect all women. In the name of the Seven I charge you to be just and honorable." The septon stepped forward, and anointed Dake on the areas dubbed. Landyll spoke again. "Rise, Ser Dake." Dake stood, and as the Septon nodded, he inquired. "Is anything else required by you, my lord?" Landyll turned to him and spoke. "That will be all." Dake spoke after him. "Light a candle for my Son, please. He seems to have a slowness." The septon nodded. "I will do so, my lord." Dake spoke after the Septon left. "And thank you, uncle. I will serve you well." Landyll chuckled. "You already do. You're one of my greatest sources of tax income, my nephew, and one of my strongest vassals at forty-thousand men, only surpassed by the North." Dake nodded. "I wish you luck in your next bout, Uncle." Landyll nodded. "Well, I hope I entertain!" Dake chuckled, and excused himself.

Shortly after the conversation, in three tilts, Landyll unhorsed Ser Holgor Bulwer of Holyhall, winning the Tourney. He returned to the Red Keep with a pretty purse of 50 gold dragons. The kingdom had been at peace since the conquest three years past. The keep had long been stripped of lannister banners, and changed out for Graham banners. The night was coming on, and Landyll entered his chambers. Leona Falwell was sat, his king. Even in her old age, his queen seemed beautiful to Landyll. Her high cheekbones and round cheeks created the illusion of a permenant smile. Landyll seemed to fall into her embrace as she rose to meet his weary body. She pulled him down to the bed. "My love, I saw from the window. You are truly the knight of my heart, darling." Landyll chuckled. "Which makes it all the better that my queen is as beautiful as you." The two were too old now to do as they would have done when they were younger, to make love even after such a long tiring day. Leona was a direct descendant of the Westerlings, whose blood had long joined the Falwells. The descendants of the blood enemies of the Grahams now joined them in their beds. While there may have been no love-making that night, there were certainly embraces, which, at the age Landyll and Leona were at, was as good as making love.

A month had come and gone. It was the fifteenth of the third month, and Landyll was donning his armor. The pauldrons bore crowned escallops on them, and the chest bore the emblem of a longsword. Landyll's great helm had an open eye-slot, with the steel below extruding to give more vision upwards. A month before, the small council had convened, with Dake reading a note sent by a Lysene raven. "The summer isles," he read, "have invaded our lands within the isles. They threaten to follow this with an invasion of our mainland, and to sieze our lands for their own." As he put the scroll down, he spoke to the king. "This is a direct attack on one of our bannermen, my lord. We must respond." Landyll nodded. "Call the banners and the fleet around the bay. We will strike these islanders from our vassal's lands." As Leona approached, Landyll lifted his helm and kissed her. "I will return, my queen." Leona nodded. "See that you do, my love." The fleet had assembled at King's Landing, the banners of Dragonstone fluttering above the multitudes of tall warships, soldiers boarding the ships by the thousands. As Landyll prepared to board the ship, a figure in tall white armor and white cloak stood by his side. He recognized the elderly, stubble-faced man as Harrold Hill, a bastard child of the Turnberries. Landyll turned to him as the two boarded the ship. "How goes the boarding, Ser Harrold?" The man kindly smiled and spoke. "It goes well, my lord. The boarding should be done within the hour, and we'll be ready to set sail then." There were 40 thousand men aboard the four hundred ships, from the Crownlands and Dragonstone, as this was deemed a minor expedition. Volantene and Lysene forces were already parrying easlily the scattered assaults by the Islanders. "Ah, Harrold, it's just like old times, isn't it? Only we're not going off to fight a king, and my hair's turned grey." Harrold nodded. "Could say the same's happened for me, except I've quite a bit more stress now. Guarding you gets stressful, you know, with all your jousting, and all your adventures. A man usually retires in such age." Landyll shrugged, and spoke. "I'm not such a man. I've no desire to die meekly, I've always wanted to die on my feet. The bitch called fate hasn't got me yet." The two chuckled, and as the boarding finished, the fleet withdrew their mighty oars, weighed anchor, and rowed for the Summer Isles.
 
Last edited:
The Summer War, Year III of the Reign of Landyll Graham I
The waters of the Lysene Coast rippled kindly and calmly. The lands to either side of the fleet were lush and green, to the north, the Lysene Forest, and to the south, Lys itself, the great city of wood and stone. It had been a month since they had set sail, and Ser Harrold approached Landyll's side, with a letter clutched in hand. "Alaric Karstark, your Warden of the North, has declared war against a minor Riverlord. He's written to us to intervene and stop the war." Landyll grunted. This kind of in-fighting is what he thought foreign wars were made to stop. Ruling never stopped, not even when sailing to war. "Send a raven to Karstark. Tell him that if he doesn't quit his petty squabbles, I'm turning this fleet around and setting the north on fire from White Knife to the Wall." Harrold heartily chuckled. "I'll get that message to him." As he handed off the letter and dictated Landyll's words to Walys, Landyll paused, looking over the waters around him, looking past the forest of ships at the city of Lys. As Harrold turned back to him, he spoke. "If this were our youth, and we weren't on our way to kill some hapless islanders, I'd stop here and whore for a good week." Harrold nodded. "We could still probably do so. The volantenes and Lysenes are pushing now, the Islanders haven't shown themselves yet except on minor raids to Lys." He pointed at the Lysene forest, as the sun glinted off of steel within and the sounds of battle rung towards the water. "They're raiding there, but they don't have the men to take the strongholds here." Landyll nodded. "Well, they'll not be on the islands. That's a few less islanders to butcher." Harrold nodded. "That's truth." He turned and spoke. "I need some wine to stomach this sailing. You, my lord?" He nodded. "Bring me a cup. Or two." Within two days, the raven had returned. Alaric Karstark had found his senses, and ended his war.

A month had passed from the passing of the Lysene coast, and now the 400 ships of King Landyll had come to rest in Red Flower Bay. The army was unpacking, and setting siege to the villages that dotted the valley, first focusing on the Red Palace. 300 years ago, this was the dwelling of one Jalabhar Xho, a famous character at Robert, Joffrey, and Myrcella Baratheon's courts, before all three died violent deaths, Robert at the hand of a boar, Joffrey at the hand of Loras Tyrell, and Myrcella accidentally by her own hand in the midst of battle. A raven arrived to the temporary cages in the camp, kept by Grand Maester Walys, who approached Landyll as he oversaw the planning of the siege with Harrold and Symeon Graham, his youngest son, the ser of the castle of Ravenglass. "My lord, there's been a plot to fabricate a claim on the Westerlands, or so the Master of Whisperers says. Your cousin, Lord Garen Graham of Lonmont. Landyll sighed and spoke. "Send two ravens to lonmont. One to my cousin, asking him to end this plot. Send the other to his captain of the guard, to be ready on my command to sieze him. Walys nodded. Landyll looked out. The summer isles were truly a lush land. Such a shame that I must spill blood in this fair land,he thought. The army was vast and spread out. The navy had come to rest blockading the port of Summercove, the central city of this river vale, and its customs port. Seven days passed, and the army massed. Ladders, battering rams, and catapults had assembled before the walls. A chorus of 5,000 singing bows flung waves of arrows against the walls, forcing the defenders to the ground. Landyll stood with the masses of heavy infantrymen. He lifted his golden-hilted sword, pointed it to the walls. "MEN OF WESTEROS!" he bellowed, "THERE LIES YOUR PRIZE! STAND BESIDE ME, AND LET US TAKE IT!" The rush began, a frenzied charge of tens of thousands of heavy infantry all clad in boiled leather, chain mail, and a variety of helms, from kettle helms to half helms to full helms. Men cried the names of their homes and their holdings. Landyll and his retainers cried out not the name of the red keep, but their motto. "NEVER FORGET!" The summer islanders were still pinned on their intricate stone walls, made of a bright yellow stone. Mighty, throated drums of war slammed across the siege lines. The drums brought out a savage spirit, it drove the primal, killing instinct in the attackers. The ladders were put up, and the waves of arrows halted as the ladders came up, and the soldiers stormed upwards. Landyll was at the bottom of a ladder that in the blink of an eye had been filled with men. The clashing of steel resounded from the top of the walls. The attackers on Landyll's ladder were blessed with the luck to have been facing lighter infantry and archers, so that by the time Landyll had reached the top, there was a ring of men hacking and bashing back the militiamen armed with spears, long knives, and archers caught in the melee, trying to use their small daggers in the melee. Landyll rushed forward with Kingmaker, and thrust it through the throat of a man with a long knife who had gotten to the flank of a man ahead of him with the sigil of House Torrent, a knightly house pledged to House Graham, with its blue and green colors. The battle was long and bloody, with King Landyll bashing forward and hacking through. The pressure from this ladder diverted attention from other ladders, allowing those ladders to pour their numbers. In a short amount of time, the palace was theirs.

The palace was empty of the king of the isles. His family was untouched, and the troops continued to the city. However, the battle for Summercove would not be as easy. The battle raged through the streets, and it took a matter of months before the city was pacified, including its Temple of Flowers. After this, the army re-embarked: The islanders had sailed to Slaver's Bay, and landed their main forces on the island of Sumbyar, just off the coast of Old Ghis. The voyage took months, and by that time, in battle, the king of the Summer Isles had died of his old age. The voyage home had began, and the men began trading war stories on the voyage home. Even as his feet kissed the ground of home, a tourney was announced at the Crag, and he decided to round out his adventuring for the year with a ride from King's Landing to The Crag. The journey took a month, and he celebrated the new year in an inn near Myatt, sharing a horn of wine with his wife to the sound of a merry tune being played. The tune was a celebratory song traditionally played on the coming of the new year in Westeros. A month from his departure, he had reached The Crag. He beheld that wide plain before the sea, populated now by Pavillions and, in the midst, a great jousting field. He saw the old decrepit castle, and marvelled that anyone could live in such a ruin. He personally held a banner, not the banner of the Royal Grahams, but of the Grahams of Myatt, the original banner, which had no sword nor crowns upon the Escallops. This was a Graham tradition, that whenever the site of the Battle of the Crag was passed by a Graham, that graham must plant a banner upon the field. Graham planted it beside his pavillion, set up before his arrival, and he knelt before this banner. With this tradition taken care of, a small boy and his mother came before him. These smallfolk were dressed in simple clothing, the child's clothes little more than rags. The woman and the child knelt, and Ser Harrold stepped before the king. "Who are you that would come before King Landyll Graham, the First of his Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm?" The woman knelt, and spoke. "My name is Myra, milord, and this is my son Qarlton. Milord, I can barely afford to feed myself and the child. While I ask no alms nor charity from yourself, I would like a better life for my son. I would ask that you take him on as your squire." Landyll nodded. "I've need of such. Rise, miss Myra. I accept your offer. I shall, of course, require aid from your son during this tournament. Say your goodbyes, and after the tournament is over, feel free to bring him his belongings. I will remain here for a day." The woman bowed deeply before rising. "Thank you, my lord, thank you, seven blessings on you, your grace." The woman said her goodbyes to her son, and after she departed, Qarlton followed Landyll to his pavillion, and the two talked, and after a long day of preparation, Qarlton and Landyll slept, for a tourney awaited them on the morrow.