Samwell Blackwood

In 112 AC, then-Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen came to Raventree Hall as part of a progress meant, among other things, to find her a husband. Several lords and knights measured themselves against each other for the chance to wed her, and Samwell was one of those who stepped up to duel. He lost the bout to Amos Bracken, of the rival house, and with it any chance of marrying into House Targaryen that year.

The defeat was more than a tournament footnote. Blackwood and Bracken had spent generations fighting over primacy along the Red Fork, and a duel fought in front of a Targaryen princess only added Amos's name to an already long list of grievances.

When the Dance of the Dragons broke out, Samwell Blackwood declared for Rhaenyra after the fall of Harrenhal, putting his house on the queen's side against Aegon II and his supporters. The neighboring Bracken lands, loyal to the king, became enemy territory overnight.

Lord Samwell did not simply wait: he sent riders to raid Bracken lands, carrying an old rivalry that had until then played out in duels and tournaments onto a battlefield.

The rivalry between the two Red Fork houses reached its peak at the Battle of the Burning Mill, where Samwell faced Ser Amos Bracken once more, this time with swords rather than in a tourney yard. The two men killed each other: Samwell fell to Amos, and Amos fell soon after, struck by an arrow said to have been loosed by Samwell's own sister, Alysanne Blackwood.

Lordship of Raventree Hall passed to his son, Benjicot Blackwood.