House Peake

House Peake of Starpike
Coat of arms	Three black castles on orange (Tenné, three castles sable)
Seat	Starpike
Head	Lord Titus Peake
Region	Reach
Titles	Lord of Starpike Lord of Dunstonbury (formerly) Lord of Whitegrove (formerly)
Overlord	House Tyrell
Founder	Husband of Florys the Fox
Founded	Age of Heroes

House Peake of Starpike is a noble house from Starpike in the Reach. They blazon their arms with three black castles on orange. The three black castles on their arms symbolize the three castles that House Peake once owned: Starpike, Dunstonbury, and Whitegrove. Since they gained Dunstonbury after having driven the Manderlys from the Reach at the behest of House Gardener, their arms were presumably different before this. Their motto has yet to appear.

The Peakes are Marcher lords from the Dornish Marches. According to Archmaester Gyldayn, House Peake was "land poor, rich in stone and soil and pride, yet chronically short of coin" during the rule of Lord Unwin Peake.

History

Kingdom of the Reach

House Peake is an ancient house of First Men origin. According to tales from the Reach, the Peakes, Florents, and Balls are each descended from one of the three husbands of Florys the Fox, a daughter of Garth Greenhand.

Famous Peakes of legend include Ser Urrathon the Shieldsmasher, Lord Meryn the Scribe, Lady Yrma of the Golden Bowl, Ser Barquen the Besieger, Lord Eddison the Elder, Lord Eddison the Younger, and Lord Emerick the Avenger.

The Peakes were historical rivals with House Manderly. During the reign of the Gardener kings in the Reach, King Gwayne the Fat persuaded Lords Manderly and Peake to accept his judgment on their quarrel and do fealty for their lands, without any bloodshed.

Near the end of the long reign of King Garth Greybeard, a problem arose with the succession as Garth had sired no sons and only daughters, one of whom had married Lord Manderly, and another to Lord Peake. Both lords were determined that their own wife should succeed to the throne, and the rivalry between them was marked by betrayal, conspiracy and murder, and finally escalated into open war with other lords joining the cause on both sides. The anarchy that followed lasted almost a decade until Ser Osmund Tyrell, the High Steward, made common cause with the other lords of the Reach and defeated both the Peakes and Manderlys. Ser Osmund then placed a distant cousin of the late Garth Greybeard on the throne who ascended as King Mern VI Gardener.

House Manderly was driven into exile from the Reach by Lord Lorimar Peake upon the behest of King Perceon III Gardener who feared the Manderlys' swelling power in the Reach. This allowed House Peake to acquire the Manderly seat of Dunstonbury. Lord Lorimar's daughter married Perceon III's son Gwayne and was the seventh Peake maiden to become Queen of All the Reach. As a powerful house, Peake daughters had married Redwynes, Rowans, Costaynes, Oakhearts, Osgreys, Florents and Hightowers over the centuries.

Targaryen Era

Unwin Peake with Orphan-Maker, by Douglas Wheatley in Fire & Blood

Lord Armen Peake and his sons perished upon the Field of Fire. Unlike the station they had enjoyed under the Gardener kings, they had no blood connection to the new Lords of Highgarden, House Tyrell, and thus had no reason to be favored.

Lord Uther Peake ruled during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and married one of Queen Alysanne's companions, Lady Prunella Celtigar.

At the Great Council of 101 AC, Lord Peake voted for Prince Viserys Targaryen.

During the Dance of the Dragons, Lord Unwin Peake supported the greens. He took command of the green army from the Reach after the Second Battle of Tumbleton and led its retreat. After the death of Lord Corlys Velaryon, Lord Unwin was given a position as one of King Aegon III Targaryen's regents. He eventually became Protector of the Realm and Hand of the King, which he later resigned when the king would not marry his daughter, Myrielle Peake.

Lord Gormon Peake was a fierce supporter of Daemon I Blackfyre and was considered one of the finest knights during the reign of King Daeron II Targaryen. After the Peakes chose the side of House Blackfyre in the failed First Blackfyre Rebellion, they had two of their castles stripped from them, leaving them only Starpike. Gormon was a part of Daemon II Blackfyre's entourage at the Whitewalls wedding tourney in 212 AC, and was subsequently executed for treason.

The Peakes rose against the Iron Throne in the Peake Uprising in 233 AC. King Maekar I Targaryen's helm was crushed by a rock hurled from the battlements of Starpike. Lord Robert Reyne and Ser Tywald Lannister were also killed in the Storming of Starpike. In the aftermath of Starpike, Roger Reyne, the new Lord of Castamere took vengeance for his father Robert's death by slaughtering seven captive Peakes before Prince Aegon Targaryen prevented him from harming others.

Recent Events

A Feast for Crows

Lord Titus Peake is married to Lady Margot Lannister.

A Dance with Dragons

Ser Laswell, Torman, and Pykewood Peake are exiles in the Golden Company in support of Aegon Targaryen. Laswell is sent to capture Rain House.

House Peake at the end of the third century

The known Peakes during the timespan of the events described in A Song of Ice and Fire are:

• Lord Titus Peake, Lord of Starpike.
  • Lady Margot Lannister, his wife.

With unspecified familiar relationship to the main branch there are also:

• Ser Laswell Peake, a knight. An exile lord serving with the Golden Company.
• Torman Peake, his brother. An exile serving with the Golden Company.
• Pykewood Peake, his brother. An exile serving with the Golden Company.

Historical Members

Before the Conquest

• Florys the Fox, founder of the House.
• Lord Peake, who quarreled with a Lord Manderly during the reign of King Gwayne III Gardener.
• Lord Peake, married to a daughter of King Garth X Gardener.
• Ser Urrathon Peake, called Urrathon the Shieldsmasher.
• Lord Meryn Peake, called Meryn the Scribe.
• Lady Yrma Peake, called Yrma of the Golden Bowl.
• Ser Barquen Peake, called Barquen the Besieger.
• Lord Eddison Peake, called Eddison the Elder.
• Lord Eddison Peake, called Eddison the Younger.
• Lord Emerick Peake, called Emerick the Avenger.
• Lord Lorimar Peake, who drove House Manderly from the Reach upon the behest of King Perceon III Gardener.
  • Lord Lorimar's daughter, who married Gwayne Gardener, the son of King Perceon III Gardener. She was the seventh Peake maiden to become Queen of All the Reach.

After the Conquest

• Lord Armen Peake, who perished on the Field of Fire alongside his sons.
  • Sons.
• Lord Peake, who remained loyal to the Iron Throne during the Faith Militant uprising.
  • His son and heir, killed by Warrior's Sons during the Faith Militant uprising.
• Lord Uther Peake, head of the house during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen. Married Lady Prunella Celtigar.
• Lord Peake, supporter of Prince Viserys Targaryen at the Great Council of 101 AC.
  • Lord Unwin Peake, his son. He supported Aegon II Targaryen during Dance of the Dragons. Later a regent, Protector of the Realm, and Hand of the King for Aegon III Targaryen.
    • Three wives.
      • Lord Unwin's firstborn son, who died in infancy.
      • Lord Unwin's eldest daughter, who died in childbirth at the age of twelve.
      • Lord Unwin's two daughters by his second wife, who both died in infancy.
      • Lord Unwin's second son, fostered on the Arbor as a page and squire to Lord Redwyne and drowned aged twelve in a sailing mishap.
      • Ser Titus Peake, Lord Unwin's third son and heir, knighted by Ser Jon Roxton after the Battle of the Honeywine and died six days later in a meaningless skirmish.
      • Lady Myrielle Peake, Lord Unwin's daughter, called Lady Turnips, was his only surviving child by the time of the regency, and a candidate for marriage to King Aegon III Targaryen.
  • A younger son.
    • Ser Amaury Peake, Unwin's nephew, a knight of Aegon III Targaryen's Kingsguard.
  • Ser Mervyn Flowers, his bastard son and Unwin's half-brother, a knight of Aegon III Targaryen's Kingsguard.
  • Ser Gedmund Peake, his brother and Unwin's uncle, called Gedmund Great-Axe. He was given command of the royal fleet by Unwin and later named lord admiral and master of ships.
• Lord Gormon Peake, known as Gormy, supporter of Daemon I Blackfyre and his son Daemon II Blackfyre.
• Lord Peake, who started the Peake Uprising in 233 AC.
  • 7 Peakes, killed by Ser Roger Reyne in the aftermath of the Peake Uprising.

Quotes

Lord Armen Peake and his sons had perished on the Field of Fire beside King Mern and his. With House Gardener extinguished, Aegon the Conqueror had granted Highgarden and the rule of the Reach to House Tyrell, the former royal stewards. The Tyrells had no blood ties to the Peakes, and no reason to favor them. And thus the slow fall of this proud house had begun.

—writings of Gyldayn

Gold was ever a sore point for Unwin Peake, whose own house was land poor, rich in stone and soil and pride, yet chronically short of coin.

—writings of Gyldayn

Aegon: Gormon Peake, the Lord of Starpike.
Duncan: That's down in the Reach, isn't it? Does he really have three castles?
Aegon: Only on his shield, ser. House Peake did hold three castles once, but two of them were lost.
Duncan: How do you lose two castles?
Aegon: You fight for the black dragon, ser.

—Aegon Targaryen and Duncan the Tall

Behind the Scenes

House Peake is a reference by George R. R. Martin to the books of Mervyn Peake, which are among his reading recommendations. Titus Groan is the main character of the Gormenghast series. Furthermore, Starpike's name is similar to Steerpike, the name of the main antagonist of the series.