House Dustin of Barrowton
Casa Dustin de Fuerte Túmulo
House Dustin rules Barrowton, in the heartland once held by the Barrow Kings, and keeps that memory alive in the rusted crown mounted on its coat of arms. Sworn to House Bolton, the Dustins have sent men and swords into more than one northern war, from the armies that marched for the Targaryens to the soldiers who answered when Winterfell called its banners again.
Their name carries less weight than Stark or Bolton, but their history runs through some of the North's hardest chapters, with Lady Barbrey Ryswell leading the house through much of it.
Chapter 1
The rusted crown
Books only
The Dustins claim descent from the very first king of the First Men, and from the kings who ruled the Barrowlands after him. No one can prove it, but the house wears that claim on its arms: a rusted crown set above two crossed battle-axes, a reminder of a crown they no longer wear.
Barrowton, their seat, stands on the land that once cradled those vanished kings, and from there the Dustins serve as bannermen to House Bolton, who now rule the rest of that northern territory.
Chapter 2
The Winter Wolves
101–131 ACBooks only
Rhaenys TargaryenWhen the Great Council of 101 AC gathered at Harrenhal to settle who would inherit the Iron Throne, the Dustins backed Rhaenys Targaryen, daughter of Prince Aemon, against the other claimants.
Decades later, during the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, Lord Roderick Dustin led two thousand northern soldiers — men the house called the Winter Wolves — into that fight.
Chapter 3
The Tower of Joy
281–283 ACBooks only
Eddard StarkThe Dustins were also at the great tourney held at Harrenhal, weeks before the war broke out that would end with Robert Baratheon on the Iron Throne.
As that rebellion drew to a close, Lord Willam Dustin was one of the six men who fought alongside Eddard Stark at the Tower of Joy. After his death, the house passed to his wife, Lady Barbrey Ryswell.
Chapter 4
What was left of the house
298–300 ACBooks only
Robb Stark
Ramsay BoltonWhen Robb Stark called his bannermen, Lady Barbrey answered by sending him a portion of her men.
Those soldiers never came home: the ones who had survived until then were killed at the Red Wedding.
With the few men she had left, Lady Barbrey later traveled to Winterfell and was present at Ramsay Bolton's wedding.
