Argella Durrandon
Argella Durrandon was the only heir of Argilac Durrandon, the last independent King of the Storm before the Targaryen conquest.
Her marriage to Orys Baratheon, sealed after the fall of Storm's End, gave rise to the house that would later rule the stormlands.
Chapter 1
Two marriage offers
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Argella was Argilac's only child, and her hand carried the inheritance of Storm's End with it. When the ironborn under Harren the Black began threatening his borders, Argilac tried to secure an alliance by offering his daughter to Aegon Targaryen, Lord of Dragonstone, along with land between the Gods Eye and the Blackwater as dowry. Aegon turned him down: he was already married to both his sisters, and the offered land did not even belong to Argilac — it belonged to House Hoare.
Aegon sent back a counter-offer: he would take that land plus more, this time from Durrandon territory, and Argella would marry Orys Baratheon, his childhood friend and general. Argilac had heard the rumor that Orys was Aegon's bastard brother, and refused to hand his daughter to one. He killed Aegon's messenger, cut off his hands, and returned them in a box with a note: "These are the only hands your bastard will get from me."
Chapter 2
The Last Storm
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Argilac's answer started a war: Aegon declared himself the sole king of the Seven Kingdoms and marched on the stormlands. Argilac died at the hands of Orys Baratheon in the battle later known as the Last Storm. With no king and no father left, Argella barricaded herself inside Storm's End and named herself Queen of the Storm.
The castle's garrison refused to share Argilac's fate. They rose up and handed Argella over to Orys naked and in chains. Orys removed the chains, wrapped her in his own cloak, and gave her food and wine. She is remembered for a line said to Rhaenys Targaryen during the siege: "You may take my castle, but all you will win is bones, blood, and ashes."
Chapter 3
Durrandon blood in House Baratheon
Books only
Argella ended up marrying Orys, the man who had killed her father, to cement the new lord's hold on the stormlands. That union gave rise to House Baratheon as heir to the Durrandons at Storm's End.
Her descendants, carrying Durrandon blood alongside Orys's, would go on to rule the region for generations.