House Hightower

House Hightower of the Hightower is one of the most powerful of the noble houses in the Reach. Their seat is the Hightower, located in the city of Oldtown. The sigil of House Hightower is a stone white watchtower, with a fire on the top. Their motto is "We Light the Way". They possess a Valyrian steel sword called Vigilance.

The Hightowers are among the oldest and proudest of the Great Houses. They have often preferred trade instead of war, and have also avoided many wars because of their support for the Faith of the Seven. The Hightowers can be legitimately referred to as being either "of the Hightower" or "of Oldtown".

Some Hightowers are said to have dabbled in alchemy and necromancy.

The family is ancient, existing since the dawn of days when they were petty-kings. While most scholars believe they descend from the First Men, Maester Yandel posits they descend from the seafarers and traders that settled at the top of the Whispering Sound in an earlier time, men who came to Westeros before the First Men and seem to have founded the original incarnation of Oldtown. Whatever the truth, the Hightowers resided in the ancient black stone fortress of Battle Isle at the mouth of the Honeywine before the "Hightower" of stone was built.

The Hightowers built four successive wooden beacon towers atop the fortress. The legendary King Uthor of the High Tower is said to have commissioned Bran the Builder or his son Brandon to design the fifth tower, one built entirely of stone. Uthor's sons, King Urrigon and Prince Peremore the Twisted, were integral in the foundation of the Citadel.

Gardener Era
During these early days Oldtown was threatened and sacked many times, including by Ironborn raiders, Dornishmen, and the armies of the Kings of the Reach, House Gardener of Highgarden. The Kings of the High Tower raised strong walls and higher towers to keep any further invaders out. In the end, Oldtown was brought into the realm of the Gardeners by marriage, not by conquest, during the reigns of King Lymond Hightower and King Garland II Gardener. Lymond the Sea Lion wed the daughter of Garland, while Garland put aside his own wives to marry Lymond's daughter.

During the Andal invasion, the Hightowers and the Gardeners allied with the newcomers. Thus they were able to keep their wealth, lands and privileges. Protected by the might of Highgarden, the Lords of Oldtown turned their eyes to trade and commerce and grew with every generation to become one of the richest and most powerful noble families in Westeros. The Hightowers were also one of the first great lords to accept the Faith of the Seven and thus gave their patronage to the establishment of the office of High Septon and the building of the Starry Sept as the center of the Faith.

The First Targaryen Era
During Aegon's Conquest of the Seven Kingdoms, Lord Manfred Hightower heeded the High Septon and did not join the host of King Mern IX Gardener, on the march to the Field of Fire. When Aegon the Conqueror arrived at Oldtown on dragonback, Manfred opened his gates. Aegon spared the city, and the High Septon anointed him and acknowledged House Targaryen's right to rule all Seven Kingdoms.

The Hightowers were key members of the Greens against the Blacks during the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. King Aegon II Targaryen was supported by his mother, the Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, and his grandfather, the Hand of the King, Ser Otto Hightower. Ser Gwayne Hightower served as second-in-command of the City Watch of King's Landing. Lord Ormund Hightower commanded the greens' army from the Reach, which also included the knights Bryndon and Hobert Hightower. Three Hightower vassals (Houses Costayne, Mullendore and Beesbury) fought for the blacks, however.

Perhaps because of their heavy losses during the Dance of the Dragons, House Hightower chose to keep a foot in both Targaryen and Blackfyre camps during the First Blackfyre Rebellion, sending levies to the Targaryens and sons to the Blackfyres.

Prince Oberyn Martell and Princess Elia Martell visited Oldtown on their way to Casterly Rock where their mother was to broker their marriage to the Lannister twins, Cersei and Jaime. While in Oldtown they met Baelor Hightower, whom Elia fancied but Oberyn mocked after he farted in their presence. Lord Tywin Lannister later offered his youngest son, Tyrion, as a match for a Hightower daughter, but Lord Leyton Hightower declined.

Baratheon Interregnum
During Robert's Rebellion, the Hightowers followed their Tyrell overlords in fighting for Aerys II and the Targaryens, represented most prominently by Ser Gerold Hightower, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.

During the War of Five Kings, Lord Leyton known as "the Old Man of Oldtown", and his children shut themselves away, sending the required levies to Highgarden under a cousin and emerging only in defense of the Arbor. It is whispered that the Lord Leyton sacrificed his own life to create a great squall in the Whispering Sound that delayed the Greyjoy fleet in time for the Tarly and Fowler hosts to arrive in the city. For the first time in thousands of years, Dornishmen were cheered marching in the streets of Oldtown.

The Hightower fleet, under the newly-made Lord Baelor, watched as Euron Greyjoy's flagship sank, bathed in dragonfire from Daenerys' dragon, Drogon, and gladly bent the knee to the dragonlords once more.

The Brightsmile's Years
While the handsome Baelor Brightsmile only ruled for five years, he instituted a series of reforms ushered in an unprecedented period of golden prosperity. A reduction of tariffs, combined with active investment in Oldtown's waterfront, attracted sails from cities that had never traded in Oldtown before. While previous Hightower lords had mostly been content to hold court in their great fortress of Battle Isle, Baelor spent his time out amongst the merchants and smallfolk, brokering deals and handing down justice. Baelor himself led two voyages of the Hightower trading fleet to the East, returning with ships laden with treasure.

One of the more significant players to arise in Oldtown politics this time was the merchant, Peremore Hightower. Born to a distant branch of the Hightowers, Peremore forged six links of a maester's chain before setting out on his own as a merchant. Enormously successful, Peremore forged a mercantile empire that held trading posts in Volantis, Braavos, and Lys--a venture co-owned with his lordly cousin.

Family Members
Lineage

Past Members

 * "The Towering Septon" (dates unknown) High Septon of the Starry Rites 347AC - 349AC.


 * Patrice Hightower (329AC - 395AC) Second wife of Aenar I Targaryen. Queen Consort (349AC - 395AC).