[center]Hightower[/center]

[center][img=http://awoiaf.westeros.org/images/thumb/7/7c/House_Hightower.png/250px-House_Hightower.png][/center]

House History: 

House Hightower's history stretches back to before the formation of the Seven Kingdoms. Already a seat of wealth and power, Hightower guarded its lands against outside invasion but were shrewd rulers, able to see the turning of the tide. It was this that brought them to ally themselves with the newcomers when the Andals came to Westoros, allowing them to keep their wealth and lands. Likewise, they followed suite and pledged their fealty to House Gardner when the House created the Kingdom of The Reach. They served their new liege lords with honor and tenacity, but as ever, they could read the writing on the wall when Aegon the Conqueror and his dragons invaded Westoros. Heeding the words of the High Septon, the lord of House Hightower did not march to the Fields of Fire with the King of the Reach who was slain by the Targaryens, And when Aegon eventually laid his sights upon Oldtown and Hightower, he found the gates open and it's people willing subjects and granted them mercy. Once again Hightower had played the right hand, once more they were allowed to retain their wealth and lands as a new House, the Tyrells, was raised to Lord Protector of The Reach. 

During the Dance of Dragons, Hightower sided with the greens over the blacks, in no small part due to then king Aegon II being the son of a Hightower maiden, with her father serving as the Kings hand. However, Hightower sustained substantial losses during the civil war, in part because several of the houses that had pledged to them turned and went over to the other side. 

When the Blackfyre rebellion began, Janos saw his brother join cause with the rebels. Janos and his Lord Father Abelar Hightower joined with the royalists and saw the rebellion ended, but even so, years later Janos fears the wroth of the Mad Lord Leos Tyrell should he believe House Hightower's loyalty waning.

House Members:

Janos Hightower- Voice of Oldtown, Lord of the Port, Lord of the High Tower, Defender of the Citadel, Beacon of the South, 55 years old

Jeyne Hightower- Wed to Janos , 53 years old

Kennos Flowers- One of Janos' twin bastards, 33 years old

Ser Kyle Flowers- The other of Janos' twin bastards, 33 years old

Abelar Hightower- Heir Apparent, 27 years old

Bryndon Hightower- Younger Brother, 24 years old

Myrielle Hightower- Younger sister, 11 years old

CS's: 

 [hider=Janos Hightower]
Age: 55

Appearance: [img=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-78mfzIvUVWg/UC4Cp43vaFI/AAAAAAAABMs/Wlt_gf2b7l0/s1600/BronnInterwebJ.jpg]

Personality: Janos is and has been the head of House Hightower for the past 18 years, since his father passed on. He was raised as would befit a noble of his station. Early on, he learned the ways of the sword and court, but more so he embraced his intelligence. Growing so close to Oldtown and the Citadel provided young Janos with a plethora of tutors and teachers along with his family's own Maesters. By the time he ascended to Lordship, Janos was as educated as most of the Citadels Acolytes. More than anything however, his Lord father had instilled in him from a young age that honor was everything. Everything that separated a Lord from the common folk. Life, however, thought otherwise otherwise. Life taught that even Lords were but men, and prey to the pitfalls all men face. The birth and his subsequent acceptance and adoption of his twin bastards taught him as much.

He is a warm man, slow to anger but quick to judge and not one to suffer fools lightly. He has as sharp wit and a tongue sharper still. He loves his family and they are his first concern, along with the well being of his House, its Bannermen and their subjects. He is an even ruler, just and fair, but knowledgeable as he is of the laws and treatises of the Seven Kingdoms, he can't help but acknowledge the flaws in them. 

Bio: Janos was born the eldest of three brothers. He, Leos and Damon grew side by side in the Hightower as the House faced its stern trials. The wars with the Dornish in particular. When peace was made and eventually mended through marriage, Dorne came under the demesne of the Iron Throne, the Realm was once again at peace, save for the occasional pirate raids on the coast. It was in this interlude of peace that Janos had become a man grown, and so began travelling with his Lord father Abelar Hightower, seeing to the matters of court and the high society. It was on such an outing that he'd attended a Tourney hosted in Oldtown. He was bested in his third tilt but found a Roxton maid calling upon him afterwards. So began their brief but fiery courtship

When Janos' Lord father became aware of them, it was too late; the bastards had already been born. Janos intended to marry her before the seven, but Abelar refused and threatened disinheritance. No son of Hightower would wed beneath them. "Honor," he'd said, " is more important than love, dignity, or a bastard." Janos had said nothing, but as he took the twins from their mother to be raised in the Hightower, he couldn't help but wonder if [i]Two[/i] bastards were more important than honor. Though seven years later, Janos was wed to Jeyne Oakheart and his first true-born son, Abelar, was born, but his father never forgave him for bringing the twins to Hightower.

He was wroth but spoke no more on the matter- or of the twins until the day he died. His last words were "The Bastards will never rule." Most assumed he spoke of Prince Daemon and Bittersteel, but Janos knew the words were for him. Their father had lived his life in the shadow of the Dance of Dragons, watching. Waiting for the day the land would divide once more. And so he'd taught his sons. 

They were told that one day, another Rebellion would rise. Abelar Hightower was but a boy, not yet a man grown when his Lord Father Ormund Hightower rode for the fateful battle of Tumbleton where he was slain by the Winter Wolves. The fact that he had never known his father saddened him as a boy, but made the young man strive to live up to his House's legacy. 

More so, it made the young Lord very guarded against betrayal. So Abelar had ensured that his progeny would be prepared for the day another pretender would try to rise up and challenge for the Iron Throne. 

So the boys grew with the best training and tutorage available from Oldtown. The studied with the Maesters of the Citadel and trained in the martial arts under the seasoned veterans of the Dance of Dragons. And so it went, with Abelar keeping a close eye on the political stability of the realm while his sons prepared for the inevitable. Through the wars with Dorne, and the subsequent overthrow of Targaryen rule in Dorne, he never lost sight or waivered from what he'd perceived to be the greatest threat to the Realm. And so it came.

However, perhaps he had forgotten the lessons of Reach lords who swore for the Blacks so many years ago, or maybe chose not to look too closely at his own family, but when the blades where drawn, Leos and Damon had gathered what men they could from their holdings and joined their cause with Lord Gormon Peake. With a weary heart, Janos had called his banners and set off to slay his brothers and kinsmen.

At the wars end, Damon had been slain, and Leos was shipped off to the wall after taking the Black. Janos had been the Lord of Hightower for but five short years and already succeeded in seeing his closest kin slain as well as by his own hand. But the Realm was secure, at long last. In the decade that passed since the Blackfyre rebellion was quelled upon the Redgrass Field, Janos worked to pass on the teachings of his father, to be always prepared, sharp of blade as well as wit for the day the Realm would split again. 
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[hider=Kennos and Ser Kyle Flowers]

Age: 33

Appearance: [img=http://4nabs.com/upload/local27/-a-song-of-ice-and-fire-beard-benjen-stark-black-gloves-black-hair-brown-hair-cape-character-request-eddard-stark-facial-hair-fur-trim-g-532b42e142d27.jpg]
Kyle is an intimidating figure, standing at almost six feet tall with a broad chest and a fighter's physique. He has become moreso since the end of the Blackfyre rebellion, where he'd lost his left eye. He wears an eye patch and is often seen with a shaggy mane and rough beard. 

Kennos, on the other hand shares his brother's stature, but is more sinewy and slender than his brother. His well kempt, his face bare and his hair short and neat.

Personalities: The Tower Twins as they're oft called, are identical physically, but that is roughly where their similarities end. Though both were educated and tutored Kennos took more after their Lord father, becoming studious and learned whereas Kyle aspired to become a knight and pursued martial prowess. As they grew and their father married, they quickly learned the harsh realities of being a noble bastard at court despite their father's fondness for them. But the Tower Twins always relied on and supported one another and where you found one, the other was never far. In their youth they were mischievous and possessing their father's wits, making their oft elaborate japes a frequent occurrence within the walls of Hightower and Oldtown until their father ordered an end to it.

Beneath this playful mask however, Kennos is cunning, with a mind for political machination and subtlety, and Kyle has made a name for himself as a swordsman of some talent. While Kennos possesses his father's even temperament, Kyle can be rash and unpredictable, prone to returning the veiled insults oft hurled at himself and his twin with harsh words and brash action, earning him the nickname 'The Black Tower'. 

They love their Lord father and his noble children, but their half-brother Abelar has always been contemptuous and openly disdainful toward the twins, causing no small amount of friction within the House. 

Bio: Kennos and Kyle were born in 176 A.C. in the Ring, but after their first nameday, Janos had brought them to Hightower to raise under his care. The twins found coldness and derision from their grandfather and his frigid wife along with the nobility entertained at the Hightower fostered scorn from the twins, but the love of their father along with the closeness and support of one another, they persevered. At 14 Kennos departed for the Citadel to begin his studies to become a Maester while Kyle continued his martial training. At 17 Kyle had been inducted as a lieutenant into Oldtown's City Watch. Two years later however, a raven came to the Hightower. Janos had been wounded fighting Dornish rebels in the south, and his host had been battered. 

The twins left Oldtown then to rush to their father's side, Kyle trading his blue cloak for the arms of his family, and Kennos fleeing the Citadel with but four links of his chain forged, earning him the moniker 'Half-Chain'. Kyle was knighted and Kennos found he was an able outrider. At the war's end a year later, the Black Tower returned to the City Watch, but the Half-Chain found himself without purpose, unable to return to the Citadel to complete his studies. So instead, he found himself overseeing the flow of coin through the House. Taxes, tolls and tariffs became his demesne, and soon Kennos was riveted deep within the world of trade within Oldtown. He invested the House's money wisely but soon saw the coin hidden within the merchants themselves. It was not long before Kennos had acquired watchers, spies and informants always ready to get the get what you wanted for enough coin. It soon came that Kennos had become a master of whispers of sorts to the myriad of traders and merchants that flocked to Oldtown, always eager to trade secrets for gold. 

 

[/hider]

 [hider=Abelar Hightower]
Age: 21

Appearance: [img=https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRVcGpxromn-WrWhs3FVJHFEZAo04YEPBVRbZS8uleerWoEzWuc8w]

Personality: AbelarHightower, heir apparent to the seat of Hightower hasn't changed much in the past decade. Even as a child he was as stern and immoveable as the tower emblazoned on his family's crest. People took to calling him the Little Lord for the cold indifference he payed everyone, even his family. He could be described as polite and courtly at the best of times, but never warm or amicable. Even his closest supporters and friends he keeps at a respectful distance. He was a man men could respect, but never love or feel ties other than duty for. He sees the world as a black and white affair, with right and wrong but no middle ground. Abelar is just, but his justice is harsh and stern, utterly lacking in sympathy or clemency. When once he caught his brother Kyle with a whore, he had the woman bound, disrobed save for a cloak emblazoned with a black tower and cast into the streets of Oldtown, parading his brother's shame for all to see. He did see that she was paid her due, and then some; Abelar affixed two golden dragons to her teats before casting her into the street. He sees his elder half-brothers as beneath him, and the affection shown them by his Lord father as a weakness of will and character. Mance prizes his honor above all things, in part due to the shame he feels his father brought upon his House, but mainly because honor was one more thing that separated him from the baseborn and lesser nobility. 
[/hider]