The North

The North is one of the constituent regions of Westeros and was a sovereign nation ruled by Kings in the North before Aegon's Conquest. The largest region of the Seven Kingdoms, the dominion of House Stark extends from the border of the New Gift, which is controlled by the Night's Watch, to the southern edge of the Neck far to the south.

The north has been ruled by the Starks for thousands of years from the castle known as Winterfell. Notable bannermen of the region include Cerwyn, Dustin, Flint, Glover, Hornwood, Karstark, Manderly, Mormont, Reed, Ryswell, Tallhart, and Umber. Bastards of noble origin raised in the north are given the surname Snow.

The King at the Wall
After his timely intervention at the Battle of Castle Black helped turn back Mance Rayder’s wildling army, Stannis Baratheon offered to legitimize Lord Commander Jon Snow and name him Lord of Winterfell. Jon declined, citing his vows to the Night’s Watch, and Stannis marched south toward Winterfell with his army to deal with the Boltons.

Not long thereafter, Lord Commander Snow received a letter from Ramsay Bolton claiming defeat of the Baratheon forces and detailed accounts of Ramsay’s excesses of cruelty. Jon resolves to march south with a force of volunteers to join the fight to reclaim his family’s home. This, combined with Jon’s controversial decision to allow Wildlings to pass South of the wall, lead to a conspiracy of Black Brothers attacking the Lord Commander and stabbing him repeatedly. Some say the Lord Commander was killed by his attackers and brought back from death by Stannis Baratheon’s Red Woman. Others state that he was merely gravely wounded and she merely healed him with her strange and foreign magic.

Regardless of the truth of the matter, Jon Snow presided over the execution of his attackers and declared his Watch over and his oaths fulfilled. The brothers of the Night’s Watch considered his term as Lord Commander ended and never charged him with desertion.

The Battle for Winterfell
Stannis Baratheon’s forces made camp at a small village just west of Winterfell while they planned their assault on the ancient castle. Roose Bolton was at first content to settle in for a siege and allow the winter weather to destroy the Baratheon forces, but word arrived at Winterfell of an army of Valemen approaching from the South, sent by Lord Harold Arryn at the behest of his new bride, Sansa Stark. Not wanting to be pinned between two armies, Roose made the decision to seek battle and destroy the Baratheon forces before reinforcements from the Vale could arrive.

Lord Bolton initially sent Manderly and Frey forces for an initial sally against the Southern invaders, but the Freys were deprived of their commander by a pit trap dug by Mors Umber. When the battle lines were drawn up according to the direction of the Manderly commanders, the forces of White Harbor turned cloak and attacked the Frey flank, throwing the Riverlanders into disarray. The battle quickly turned into a slaughter and the Manderly forces joined Stannis’s army. With intelligence about the Bolton forces and Winterfell’s defenses provided by the Manderlys, the Baratheon forces advanced toward Winterfell.

The battle between Stannis Baratheon and Roose Bolton initially favored the Warden of the North, but Bolton forces failed to win the quick victory they sought. The fighting had devolved into a bloody stalemate and both sides were tiring when horns from the south heralded the arrival of Vale forces. Roose Bolton shifted his lines so that the walls of Winterfell would partially screen him from a Vale cavalry charge, but the fresh troops turned the tide decisively. Ramsay Bolton turned and fled with the majority of the Bolton cavalry, while Roose Bolton was cut off and slain. The next morning saw Stark banners rise over Winterfell once more, and the heavily pregnant Walda Bolton became a prisoner of Stannis Baratheon.

Against the Long Night
Jon Snow and a contingent of Wildling volunteers met up with the Baratheon and Vale forces shortly after the Battle of Winterfell. Several of Robb Stark’s bannermen swear oaths that the King in the North legitimized his half-brother and named him his heir before his death at the Red Wedding. Ramsay Bolton’s history of brutish, cruel behavior caused several houses that had sworn to Roose Bolton to defect to the Stark camp. The Northmen hailed Jon Stark as Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North.

Jon assumed command of the Northern and Vale forces and pursued Ramsay toward the Dreadfort while Stannis took his forces and marched back toward the Wall and the greater war waiting for him. Stannis and his men marched into the blinding snows and howling winds, never to be seen again -- though legends among the Wildlings tell of a man with a flaming sword, who turned back the Others and slew their undead king, saving the realms of men from eternal winter.

The Fall of House Bolton
Ser Davos Seaworth had undertaken a secret mission to retrieve Rickon Stark from Skagos, but Roose Bolton’s spies caught wind of Seaworth’s movements. The Leech Lord dispatched several of the Bastard’s Boys to intercept them and hold them at the Dreadfort for insurance.

When Jon Stark’s army caught up with Ramsay at the Weeping Water, the new Lord Bolton proudly displayed the flayed skins of Rickon Stark and Davos Seaworth on wooden frames outside his camp in the hopes of provoking the Northern forces into a rash attack. This stratagem was not nearly enough to overcome the crushing numerical advantage of the Stark army, and the Bastard of Bolton attempted to flee back to the safety of the Dreadfort. Knights of the Vale cut off his retreat, and Ser Lucas Corbray and Ser Andar Royce brought him before Jon Stark. Ramsay Bolton met his end on his knees at Longclaw’s edge, and the remaining defenders of the Dreadfort surrendered not long after.

Ramsay’s last act of cruelty doomed his House as Jon Stark presided over the executions of the remaining Bolton males and any loyal commanders and knights. The question of Walda Bolton’s child remained a contentious issue until a raven from Winterfell announced the birth of a daughter who had been named Emberlei. Jon Stark decreed that House Bolton was no more, and that Lady Emberlei would remain at Winterfell as a ward of House Stark. Castellans from Winterfell oversaw the former Bolton holdings for the following two decades.

The Second Conquest
Jon Stark returned to Winterfell with Rickon’s bones, where he was reunited with his half-sister Sansa. Despite some of his bannermen urging him to take up the mantle of King in the North, Jon follows the Lady of the Vale’s counsel and declines to call his banners. Not wanting to subject the North to further bloodshed and the ravages of dragonfire, the new Lord of Winterfell sent a raven to King’s Landing to pledge fealty to the Targaryens. Aegon and Daenerys recognized Jon Stark as the rightful Warden of the North, though rumblings for Northern independence would continue for years to come in castles and holdfasts throughout the North.

Jon Stark wed Wylla Manderly soon after taking up his seat as Lord of Winterfell, and she bore him an heir whom he named Eddard in the following year. They named their second son Brandon when he was born two years later. The two young wolves were a study in contrasts. While Eddard was stoic, laconic, and thoughtful, his younger brother was boisterous, hot-tempered and charismatic. The Lord and Lady Stark did their best to bring balance to their two eldest children by reining in Brandon's excesses and encouraging Eddard to step up and develop his skills as a leader.

The Intercession in the North
In the year 322 AC, Brandon Stark wed Emberlei Bolton at Winterfell. Jon Stark named his secondborn the new Lord of the Dreadfort. The following year, King Aegon VI announced the construction of a Winter Palace in the Sheepshead Hills in an effort to cultivate better relations between House Targaryen and the North. Construction was slow due to a series of missteps, and discontent toward the Southron royalty continued to simmer.

Rhaegar I sent his heir Prince Aenar and his sister-wife Princess Helaena to get the stalled construction project back on track and assuage the Northern discontent in the year 341. The visiting royals met with an aged and ailing Jon Stark at Winterfell, and Helaena undertook a tour of the North on the back of her dragon Starfyre that did much to defuse the mounting crisis and generate good will toward the crown.

Lord Brandon Stark became the focal point of the opposition to the Targaryen presence in the North and any attempts to extend Targaryen influence. His defiance only increased following his father's death. He led a raid against the Winter Palace that caused significant damage to the unfinished structure in the year 343 and was blamed for an unsuccessful attempt on Prince Aenar's life. His blatant contempt for his brother's authority forced Lord Eddard to raise his banners and march on the Dreadfort. Lord Brandon surrendered when Prince Aenar appeared astride Viserion above the battlefield rather than see his men bathed in flames. Lord Brandon was condemned to death, and Prince Aenar returned to the capital after the execution due to King Rhaegar's declining health. The Winter Palace was abandoned and its remains allowed to crumble in the harsh Northern climate.