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House Tyrell of Highgarden

Growing Strong

Description: House Tyrell is the principal house of the Reach: the most wealthy, most bountiful, and therefore most populous kingdom of Westeros. Among the Reach lords can be raised the single largest army in the continent, some one hundred thousand men at their peak, twice as large as any lesser kingdom. This alone commands House Tyrell respect, but is not the focal point of their vanity. Instead, the men of Highgarden preen themselves on their adherence to chivalry; their status as Westeros' most honourable knights, as skilled in battle as they are gracious in victory. The women of House Tyrell, too, are of the vainer sort, dressing in colourful and elaborate gowns that set the bar for fashion across the Seven Kingdoms, and both upholding and exemplifying all of the manners and grace of a proper lady. Highest among the Tyrell's titles is that of Lord Paramount of the Mander, granting them suzerainty over all other noble families within the Reach, but the Lord of Highgarden is also traditionally known as the Defender of the Marches, High Marshall of the Reach and Warden of the South—an appropriately lengthy list for a most noble household.

History: Though they now rank among the highest lords of Westeros, the Tyrells were once among the lowest. In the days before Aegon's Conquest, the Tyrells served as the hereditary stewards of Highgarden, loyal servants of the ruling House Gardener, Kings of the Reach. When the Targaryens came with their dragons, and the last Gardener King and his army were burned alive on the legendary Field of Fire, House Tyrell relented to House Targaryen and surrendered Highgarden to them, swearing their fealty to Westeros' new kings. For this act, King Aegon granted the Tyrells lordship of the castle they had once served, and created them Lords Paramount of the Mander, to rule the Reach under House Targaryen. The other, more powerful houses of the Reach—the Hightowers, the Redwynes, the Florents and others—were less than pleased.

In more recent years, House Tyrell of Highgarden has attempted to remain aloof from the bickering of other houses. Under the regency of Lady Meredyth Tyrell, the host of Highgarden did not become involved in the Dance of Dragons, even as their bannermen fought against each other on either side. It was feared that whichever of the warring factions, Greens or Blacks, came to be victorious in the war, might look down on House Tyrell for their neutrality. However, this did not come to fruition; the eventual deaths of both rival candidates for the Iron Throne led to the ascension of Aegon III and his marriage to Jaehaera, uniting the lines of succession and leading to an uneasy peace. This peace was a time of spectacular prosperity for House Tyrell, as they came to entrench themselves more firmly atop their weakened vassals. Under the reign of Aegon III, and the ascension of Lyonel Tyrell as Lord of Highgarden, the Tyrells have become as wealthy and prestigious as ever. House Tyrell's growing strength, though, chafes at their more ambitious bannermen, and Lord Lyonel seems more concerned with establishing alliances abroad and readying for the next war, never imagining conflict at home.

Tyrell Household

Lord Lyonel Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden,
 Defender of the Marches, High Marshal of the Reach,
 Warden of the South and Lord Paramount of the Mander.
Husband of Jocelyn Tyrell. Son of Meredyth Tyrell.

A man of chivalry, honour and prestige matched only by his unparalled modesty, Lord Lyonel upholds all the traditional values of House Tyrell, and is sincerely popular among both his bannermen and the smallfolk alike. A man of a martial mind, Lyonel is skilled—though not superb—at both generaling and personal combat, and is especially talented at the Reach's national sport and that most practical of schools of combat: jousting.

Aged 28, Lyonel is still in the earlier part of his prime, having personally ruled the Reach for over a decade now, and still looking forward to what will likely be decades more. Although made fatherless by the death of his predecessor and progenitor, Lord Viserys Tyrell, in his infancy, Lyonel was raised capably his mother, a woman known lovingly to the smallfolk as the Good Lady Merry. It was Lady Meredyth that governed from Highgarden while Lyonel was in a child, often times placing him upon the throne in Highgarden to make decisions on unimportant matters even as a small child. It was the rumours of what occurs to boys raised only by their mothers, though, that first turned young Lyonel's mind towards knightly endeavours. He was determined to be a strong lord, of both mind and body, and learned to ride and to wield a blade in his early teens, taught by the greatest warriors that House Tyrell's immense coffers could afford. Lyonel had some measure of natural aptitude to the arts of a knight, but most of his skill could be attributed to the second-to-none training he received in Highgarden, from the greatest knights in the realm.

As he entered his adulthood, Lyonel became interested in woman. He never become obsessed with lust—as some Tyrells had before him—but the young man's status as one of the greatest Lords in Westeros attracted a more than fair share of interested ladies. Some of these, smallfolk servants for instance, were little more than a distraction for Lyonel. One Lady, though, a beautiful, black-haired woman of the Stormlands, earned Lyonel's golden heart. After enjoying her company on the night of a tournament in Hightower, Lyonel inquired about the woman (politely) to his mother, and other advisors in court. It was decided that she would make a perfect match for Lyonel, as her marriage to him would win the Reach an alliance with the neighbouring Stormlands. This would serve House Tyrell well, ensuring that if the realm were to be brought back to the chaos that had ensued during the Dance of Dragons, there would be at least one mighty ally on which the Tyrells could rely. Thus, in a spectacular, vibrant ceremony along the Mander, Lyonel became wed to the young Lady Jocelyn Baratheon. The two quickly become close after their half-arranged marriage, blossoming into loving partners and often accompanying each other on public excursions across the Reach and beyond, winning Lord Lyonel the image of a popular romantic in the eyes of the smallfolk. The vassal lords of the Reach, however, were not entirely pleased with the match; each had hoped that one of their own daughters or cousins would wed Lyonel, and his and Jocelyn's rapidly blossoming public love became evidence of those shrewder among the Tyrell bannermen that their wedding night had not been the first occasion they had known each other's company. The feud between some houses of the Reach and some of the Stormlands was also agitated by the wedding. The Tyrells had always stylized themselves 'Defenders of the Marches', even though the Dornish Marches were a part of House Baratheon's domain, and those Reach lords whose lands neighboured the Marches resented that they would not be given opportunity to seize them within their new Lady's lifetime.

Not long after Lyonel and Jocelyn's wedding, the new Lady of Highgarden became pregnant. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy, whom Jocelyn gave the name 'Rendall'. The birth of a Tyrell son calmed, somewhat, the anxieties of the Tyrell's bannermen. The Baratheon woman was at least fertile, and had already managed to produce as many children as her mother-in-law Meredyth had birthed. Lyonel was excited to become a father, living out the romanticized image of a Lord that he had harboured since his youth, and was especially pleased to have sired a healthy baby boy. His love for his wife only exceeding past highs, Jocelyn became with child once more only months after Rendall's birth, and the midwives informed Lyonel that he could expect twins. It was a disappointment to him, and emotionally devastating for his wife, when one of the two children that Jocelyn carried did not survive birth. Of the girl and boy that the new mother bore, only the girl survived, the boy succumbing to the Stranger in the night before he could even be named. Teary-eyed, Jocelyn named her new daughter 'Sanya'. Lyonel became disappointed in his inability to improve Jocelyn's mood after her second son's passing, and the two began to drift apart slightly, Lyonel turning away from his duties as a father towards his duties as a lord, and Jocelyn becoming ever more invested in caring for her two young children.

Lady Jocelyn Tyrell, Lady of Highgarden.
Wife of Lyonel Tyrell. Sister of Lord Steffon Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands.

Charitable and kind, Lady Jocelyn Tyrell is well known as a patron of the arts in the Reach, having already become a popular figure in her adopted homeland even in the relatively short time since she has arrived. Her influence on her husband has focused mainly on supporting investments in the smallfolk: a number of new orphanages and septs all across the Reach bear Jocelyn's name, as do infrastructural works such as bridges and mills. Among the court in Highgarden, Jocelyn is somewhat infamous for her excessive charity, disliked by the house steward for her constant attempts to spend more and more still on everyone and everyone else. Nonetheless, she is adored by the smallfolk for her very public acts of kindness towards them, and is held in esteem by most of the lords of the Reach as well, held as an exemplar of a proper lady in both manner and appearance.

Known as the most beautiful lady in the Reach (and punishing accusations elsewise), Lady Jocelyn is an adoptee of the watershed of the River Mander, but an especially adept one. Her few years in Highgarden seem to have melted every drop of the Stormlands off of her frame, preserving only her assertive attitude, which she has learned to temper since her behaviourly impetuous days of youth alongside her family in Storm's End. Now a twenty year-old independent minded woman, Jocelyn is fond of her husband's laissez-faire attitude towards her, allowing her to dress and to act and to spend coin as she likes. The two spent their first year together after their marriage travelling all across the south of Westeros on an extended honeymoon, but still take excursions together into the beautiful countryside and to neighbouring holdfasts on occasion. These travels inspire Jocelyn's paintings and poetry; as an artist herself, the Lady of Highgarden is fond of lending financial support to her compatriots of creative mind—a fact which has attracted many great artisans to Highgarden, in the hopes of acquiring Jocelyn's patronage.

As the Lady of Highgarden and wife of the Lord Tyrell, Jocelyn knew on her wedding day that she would be expected to bare children for Lyonel. Her first child, a perfectly healthy baby boy, was delivered without incident, and to the pleasure of both court and the whole realm. The previous three Lords of Highgarden, Lyonel's father, grandfather and great grandfather, had scarcely bore fruit for their House. Lyonel was the only Tyrell left of the male line, and had been kept under close watch by his mother Meredyth because of the risks pressing on any such a young lord's life. The birth of Jocelyn's son, Rendall, ended these fears, and considerably improved the cold relationship between Jocelyn and the Good Lady Merry. Jocelyn's second pregnancy, however, was a different story.

After the ease of her first pregnancy, Jocelyn had let her guard down for complications in her second. Early into her pregnancy, the midwives had told her she could expect twins, and that because of this there was a greater risk of issue in the delivery. Jocelyn had scoffed; she was an accomplished mother, bountiful and glowing, and was confident that she would have three children with her beloved husband before their second year of marriage was concluded. Unfortunately, the midwife's warnings were proved correct, as althogh both children (second son and first daughter) were delivered without issue, the son died the night after he had been born. Jocelyn was devastated, and found that no effort on her husband's part could console her grief. She began to become more reclusive from him, leaving him to the affairs of the realm and contenting herself with dotting over her precious newborn daughter Sanya, and her older brother Rendall. Jocelyn's growing matronliness has put an end to her travels across the Reach alongside Lyonel, and halted, even lessened, the ever tightening bond between them since the day they'd wed.

Mother of Lyonel Tyrell. Known as "The Good Lady Merry".

The mother of the Lord of Highgarden, Meredyth (or 'Merry' by those close to her) would be expected to be a figure of considerable respect, due simply to her stature within the Tyrell household. This does not begin to explain the esteem owed to the spymaster of Highgarden, however, for nearly all of the renown she has acquired over her 48 years has come from her aptitude, not her lineage.

Born into House Hightower, Meredyth married into the Tyrell family at age 19, wedding the chivalrous Lord Viserys Tyrell in a grand, colourful ceremony in Highgarden. Their families wished them countless years of happiness together, but the Gods did not; Viserys died less than a year after their marriage, and on his death the leadership of House Tyrell fell to their infant son, Lyonel Tyrell. Most members of the household wished for Viserys' brother, Kevan, to serve as Regent, as he was the most military minded of the House, and the ongoing succession crisis in King's Landing threatened to plunge House Tyrell into armed conflict. Meredyth outmaneuvered Kevan, however, pledging as Regent to keep House Tyrell out of the war. Kevan retreated from the household, taking a trio of bastard cousins and a portion of House Tyrell's material wealth with him, with the intent of fighting alongside the Greens of his own accord. This unilateral move on Kevan's part solidified Merry's role as Regent of the Reach, and she would apply her diplomatic aptitude in the preceding years to lessening the war's impact on House Tyrell and the rest of the Reach as much as possible. She became beloved by the smallfolk in Highgarden's environs, revered as "Good Lady Merry" for keeping the bloodshed at bay and using saved coin to sponsor acts of charity. Gradually this admiration came to extend to much of the rest of the Reach, both among the smallfolk and the other lords and ladies who had kept their houses neutral throughout the war, as well as the ensuing ruthless politicking of the regency era. By the time of the adulthood of Aegon III, and the dismissal of his regency council, the Good Lady Merry had established herself as the beloved ruler of the most prosperous kingdom in Westeros. She would retain this status unopposed, until the participants of the Dance of the Dragons had finished licking their wounds, and the overmighty vassals of the Reach again began to assert themselves.

Meredyth had always been unsympathetic to the lesser lords of the Reach. Their cries of descent from House Gardener and demands for greater autonomy and respect fell on deaf ears in the latter years of Merry's regency, as the Reach's Good Lady Merry grew thorns to match her rose. She began to expand House Tyrell's demesne, using her good will with the smallfolk to annex towns, villages and farmlands from neighbouring rebellious houses. When Lords resisted, Merry responded spitefully, inciting revolts in their lands and hiring bandits to harry their roads. Only the Hightowers were spared, Meredyth still having a soft spot for her maiden family and it's Lord (and her brother) Otho Hightower. Over time, Merry's dealings with the underworld of Westeros to sabotage her vassal's affairs earned her a cadre of trusted agents—spies with whom she could rely on to ferry away whispered secrets in other households to her own ears. However, it was not until the adulthood of her son, Lyonel Tyrell, and Meredyth's subsequent dismissal as regent, that she began to perfect the art of intrigue.

Meredyth loved Lyonel. She had always been fiercely protective of the boy, insistent that the last son of House Tyrell would not follow in the footsteps of his father, Viserys, or his uncle, Kevan, and meet an untimely demise. In his first years as ruler in his own right, Meredyth leaned heavily on Lyonel, helping him to simmer down the heated conflicts that had arisen between House Tyrell and its most uppity vassals. The ambitious Lords of the Reach came to like Lyonel, associating his leadership of House Tyrell with a period of increased authority for them. This was largely an illusion, however—Meredyth still pulled the strings, but she had simply expanded House Tyrell's lands and authority enough for her own tastes. As Lyonel aged, Merry was content to help him usher in an era of increased respect between House Tyrell and its bannermen, to avoid the young Lord running into trouble in the future that he could not handle. Even as Lyonel asserted himself more, wedding Lady Jocelyn of Storm's End and turning his mind towards martial affairs, the Good Lady Merry kept a finger firmly planted in the Tyrell pie. Her influence as spymaster is much greater than her son realizes, and far, far greater than her old lordly rivals would hope.

-I will be adding at least two more members of the household. These will include Gella Tyrell, Lyonel's aunt, and at least one of Merry's agents among the smallfolk.
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