House Florent

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House Florent of Brightwater Keep
House Florent.PNG
Coat of arms A red fox in a circle of blue flowers on ermine[1]
(Ermine, a fox gules within an annulet of flowers azure)
Seat Brightwater Keep[1] (stripped)[2]
Head Alekyne Florent (attained)[2]
Region The Reach[1]
Title Lord of Brightwater Keep[1]
Heir Melessa Florent[2]
Overlord House Baratheon of Dragonstone[2]
Founder Florys the Fox[3]
Founded Age of Heroes[3]

House Florent of Brightwater Keep is a noble house from Brightwater Keep in the Reach, one of the main houses sworn to House Tyrell of Highgarden.[4][5] Their sigil is a red-gold fox's head encircled by lapis lazuli flowers.[6][7][8]

Descended from Garth Greenhand by his daughter Florys the Fox,[3] House Florent also boasts a superior claim to Highgarden by their close blood ties to the House Gardener, the extinct Kings of the Reach.[9] Florents are known for their prominent ears.

History

Kingdom of the Reach

According to legend, the Florents, the Balls, and the Peakes can each trace descent from the sons of one of Florys the Fox's three husbands, each kept ignorant of the existence of the others. Florys was a daughter of Garth Greenhand from the Age of Heroes, the cleverest of his children.[3]

As vassals of House Gardener, the Florents had married into the royal family numerous times.[9] Through the centuries of the Kingdom of the Reach, the Peakes once boasted marrying their daughters to Florents,[10] as could the Osgreys that still boast that maids of their house once wed Florents.[11]

Targaryen dynasty

House Florent knights charge - by artist Tomasz Jedruszek. © Fantasy Flight Games.

During Aegon's Conquest, House Florent followed their liege King Mern IX Gardener in taking up arms against Aegon the Conqueror during the Field of Fire. After the battle, when King Mern and his sons burned and the Gardener's line ended, Aegon granted lordship of the Reach to House Tyrell, despite the Florents possessing a superior claim by their blood ties to the Kings of the Reach.[9][12]

House Florent was among the great houses of the Reach that bitterly complained about being made vassals of the Tyrells and insisted that their blood was nobler than that of the "upjumped stewards". Indeed, the Florents of Brightwater Keep could boast an older and more distinguished lineage than the Tyrells, and had closer blood ties to the Gardeners as well. However, their protests were of no avail, perhaps in part because the Florents had taken up arms against House Targaryen when the Tyrells did not.[12]

After the Dance of the Dragons, Lady Samantha Hightower nominated nubile maidens from House Florent, among other nobles houses, as potential queens for King Aegon III Targaryen, after Lord Unwin Peake sought to make his daughter the queen.[10]

In 206 AC, during the reign of Daeron II Targaryen, Ser Arlan and Dunk were in service to Lord Florent, who was blind. The Florent arms were spotted by Dunk in the assembled heraldry at the tourney at Ashford Meadow three years later.[13] Ser Aladore Florent, heir to Brightwater Keep, and Ser Jon Florent were listed on the rolls.[14]

Baratheon dynasty

Lord Tywin Lannister offered his son Tyrion for marriage to Delena Florent after she had been despoiled by King Robert I Baratheon. Instead, her father, Ser Colin Florent, married her to one of his knights, Hosman Norcross.

Recent Events

A Clash of Kings

A knight of House Florent - by Adam Duff. © Fantasy Flight Games

Selyse Florent is the queen of newly-crowned Stannis Baratheon, to whom she is lovelessly married. Recently a priestess named Melisandre has joined Stannis's court, and Selyse has fervently taken up the worship of R'hllor, the Lord of Light. As the War of the Five Kings breaks out, House Florent follows House Tyrell in supporting the late Robert I Baratheon's youngest brother, Renly. They field roughly 2,000 men.[15]

However, upon Renly's death at Storm's End, the house switches allegiance to Stannis, giving Queen Selyse more influence over her husband than ever before. The Florents are the most significant Reach house to defect. Lord Alester Florent's nephew, Ser Erren, is one of the knights Stannis sends to recruit Renly's infantry at Bitterbridge, but he is captured by Ser Loras Tyrell. Meanwhile, Alester's son-in-law, Lord Randyll Tarly, puts many Florent men-at-arms to death when he seizes Renly's stores to ensure they do not go over to Stannis's side.[citation needed]

Lord Alester is with Stannis during the parley with Ser Cortnay Penrose, who refuses to yield Storm's End or his ward, Edric Storm. Edric is the acknowledged bastard of King Robert, a result of Robert despoiling Selyse and Stannis's wedding bed with the queen's cousin, Delena Florent. Ultimately Edric is recovered, and spends time with his double-cousin, Shireen Baratheon, on Dragonstone, improving both of their spirits.[citation needed]

On Dragonstone, Alester joins his niece, Queen Selyse, and his brother, Ser Axell Florent, in fervently following the Lord of Light. With Axell having served for many years at Dragonstone as castellan, the Florent contribution to Stannis's cause is great. With Selyse having given King Stannis a daughter in Shireen, the Florents need not hearken back to the Gardener dynasty to recall royal ties.

Selyse's brother, Ser Imry Florent, is given command of Stannis's navy in the Battle of the Blackwater. He relies on the size of his fleet and does not send scouts ahead. Almost his entire force is trapped by the defensive chain and destroyed by wildfire; he dies along with most of his men. Despite Imry's bungling and the impressive defenses of King's Landing, Stannis's army seems within sight of victory. However, the Florents' rivals, the Tyrells, arrive with Lord Tywin Lannister from south of the Blackwater.[citation needed] The result is a rout, but most men picked up along the shoreline by Salladhor Saan's Lysene fleet wear the badge of Brightwater Keep.[citation needed]

A Storm of Swords

The Florents still dispute the Tyrells's ownership of Highgarden.[16] Following the Lannister victory, Lord Tywin dispossesses the Florents of their holdings and awards them to Ser Garlan Tyrell, the second son of Lord Mace Tyrell, as a reward for loyal service, forming House Tyrell of Brightwater Keep.

After the casualties and desertions of the battle, House Florent commands more than half of Stannis's 1,500 men on Dragonstone.[17] As the king broods, plotting his next move, Lord Alester is named his Hand. Alester and Selyse rule in his name during his self-imposed silence. However, when Alester plots to wed Princess Shireen to Prince Tommen Baratheon in an effort to make peace, he is thrown in the dungeons. Ser Axell arrests Davos Seaworth when the Onion Knight intends to murder Melisandre. Axell counsels Stannis to put Claw Isle to the torch in retaliation for Lord Ardrian Celtigar bending the knee, but Stannis dismisses this idea, agreeing with Davos that it is an evil notion, and Seaworth becomes Alester Florent's successor as King's Hand. Davos arranges for Edric Storm to be sent to Lys to avoid being burned alive by Melisandre. When Stannis decides to journey to the Wall, Melisandre burns Lord Alester alive to obtain favorable winds for the voyage.[citation needed]

During the battle beneath the Wall Jon Snow spots a ring of flowers amongst the banners when Stannis Baratheon's host attacks the wildling camp.[18] The banners of House Florent are later spotted flying at Castle Black by Samwell Tarly.[citation needed]

A Feast for Crows

Brightwater Lancers by Tomasz Jedruszek. © Fantasy Flight Games

The new head of the house, Alester's son Alekyne Florent, has taken refuge in Oldtown, where his sister Rhea is the wife of Lord Leyton Hightower.[citation needed]

A Dance with Dragons

When Stannis goes to the Wall, he leaves Axell with Selyse and some fellow queen's men at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.[citation needed] Axell begins calling himself the Hand of the Queen.[citation needed] Selyse and Axell travel to Castle Black on their way to the Nightfort, where the queen arranges marriages between her men and the wildling chiefs, betrothing Ser Axell to the eldest daughter of Gerrick Kingsblood.[citation needed]

Meanwhile, Ser Colin Florent remains castellan at Brightwater Keep in defiance of its new lord, Garlan Tyrell, although Ser Erren remains a prisoner at Highgarden.[citation needed]

House Florent at the end of the third century

Lord Alester Florent. © FFG

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


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alester
 
Melara
Crane
 
 
 
 
 
Axell
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ryam
 
Unknown
wife
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alekyne
 
Randyll
Tarly
 
Melessa
 
Rhea
 
Leyton
Hightower
 
Stannis
Baratheon
 
Selyse
 
Imry
 
Erren
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Samwell
Tarly
 
Talla
Tarly
 
Two
daughters
 
Dickon
Tarly
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Shireen
Baratheon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Colin
 
Unknown
wife
 
 
 
 
 
Rylene
 
Rycherd
Crane
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hosman
Norcross
 
Delena
 
Robert I
Baratheon
 
Omer
 
Merrell
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alester
Norcross
 
Renly
Norcross
 
Edric
Storm
 


Historical Members

References