Editing House Stark (section)

===The Dance of the Dragons===
Edric was succeeded by Lord [[Ellard Stark]], who attended the [[Great Council of 101 AC]] to determine the new heir of the elderly King Jaehaerys. The final vote came to a choice between [[Viserys I Targaryen|Viserys Targaryen]] (son of Jaehaerys's second son, Prince [[Baelon Targaryen (son of Jaehaerys I)|Baelon]]) and [[Laenor Velaryon]] (grandson of Jaehaerys through [[Rhaenys Targaryen (daughter of Aemon)|Rhaenys]], daughter of his first son, Prince [[Aemon Targaryen (son of Jaehaerys I)|Aemon]]). Viserys was the candidate Jaehaerys himself preferred, and he won the final vote by a landslide, though the Starks were among the minority of lords who had supported Laenor (and one of only two [[Great Houses]], the other being the [[House Baratheon|Baratheons]]). Yandel that Ellard voted against Jaehaerys's preferred successor because the Starks were still bitter about the king forcing them to donate the [[New Gift]] to the Night's Watch, leading to its mismanagement. The pushed the Starks closer to the Velaryon faction at King [[Viserys I Targaryen]]'s court, and through them to ultimately side with [[Rhaenyra Targaryen]] during the [[Dance of the Dragons]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The North: The Lords of Winterfell}}

At some point after {{date|101}}, Ellard was succeeded by [[Benjen Stark (lord)|Benjen Stark]], and later Benjen was succeeded by his son [[Rickon Stark (son of Benjen)|Rickon]]. Rickon died in {{date|121}}, and was succeeded as the nominal Lord of Winterfell by his only surviving son, the thirteen-year-old [[Cregan Stark]]. Rickon's brother, [[Bennard Stark|Bennard]], served as [[regent]] during Cregan's minority. When Cregan came of age in {{Date|126}}, however, Bennard was slow to surrender his power. Relations grew strained between Bennard and Cregan as the young Lord of Winterfell chafed under the limits imposed on him by his uncle. Ultimately, Cregan rose up against his uncle, imprisoned Bennard and his sons, and took rule of the north into his own hands.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son}}

[[File:Cregan_Stark.JPG|thumb|350px|[[Cregan Stark]], as depicted by Douglas Wheatley in ''[[Fire & Blood]]''.]]

In {{date|129}}, as the [[Dance of the Dragons]] began, Prince [[Jacaerys Velaryon]] recruited Lord Cregan's aid for his mother, Queen [[Rhaenyra Targaryen]], known as the [[Pact of Ice and Fire]],{{Ref|TWOIAF|The North: The Lords of Winterfell}} even though the north was considered to be too remote to be of much influence in the war.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens}} Cregan initially sent the [[Winter Wolves]] under [[Roderick Dustin]], [[Lord of Barrowton]], and knights from [[White Harbor]] led by Ser [[Medrick Manderly|Medrick]] and Ser [[Torrhen Manderly]].{{ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant}}

After the gathering of one last harvest before winter,{{ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}} Cregan led a great army of childless, homeless, unwed, or old men, and younger sons, to King's Landing. He arrived after King [[Aegon II Targaryen]] had been [[poison]]ed, however, and though he had hoped to punish those lords who had supported the late king, [[Corlys Velaryon]], [[Lord of the Tides]], had already sent out ravens suing for peace. While the court awaited replies, Cregan held sway and arrested all those involved in Aegon II's death, as he objected to the murder of a king. The as-yet-uncrowned [[Aegon III Targaryen]] was cowed into naming Cregan as [[Hand of the King]], though Cregan served only a day in that office, a time known as the [[Hour of the Wolf]]. Lord Stark held trials for twenty-one out of twenty-two of his prisoners, with Corlys the only one spared a trial. Aegon III pardoned Lord Velaryon and restored his titles to him, which Cregan allowed when [[Alysanne Blackwood]] offered the Hand her own hand in marriage. Cregan returned north the next day.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aegon III}}

Cregan struggled to hold the north together against several threats during the [[regency of Aegon III]]. A devastating winter had already begun late in the war which ultimately lasted six years, and in {{date|132}} the north was one of the first regions in Westeros struck by the [[Winter Fever]], which continued through {{date|133}}. With the north weakened by winter, famine, and plague, a large [[Free folk|wildling]] war-band led by [[Sylas the Grim]] seized on the opportunity to force their way south of the Wall. His force of 3,000 raiders overwhelmed the Night's Watch at [[Queensgate]] and proceeded to plunder the lands to the south. Lord Cregan rallied what few remaining able-bodied men were left among his bannermen, then rode out to hunt down and destroy Sylas's raiding bands.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows}}

Cregan's eldest son and heir was [[Rickon Stark (son of Cregan)|Rickon]], named after his own father. Rickon predeceased his father when he died in one of the final battles of the [[conquest of Dorne]], during the reign of King [[Daeron I Targaryen]]. The north lamented Rickon's death, for the subsequent reigns of Cregan's younger sons after him were troublesome.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The North: The Lords of Winterfell}}