House Massey of Stonedance

Maldon Massey served as a bannerman to Durran Durrandon, the king they called the Crow's Friend, and on his lands he raised the castle of Stonedance, claiming as well the lordship of the headland known as Massey's Hook.

That loyalty did not last. Under Durwald I Durrandon, the Masseys rose against their overlord and broke the fealty that bound them to the Durrandons. For generations afterward they were counted among the houses that contested control of the mouth of the Blackwater.

The Durrandons answered the challenge generations later. King Qarlton II laid siege to Stonedance for a full year until it fell, and in taking it he killed King Josua Massey.

The victory did not hold. Within two years, one of Josua's daughters married an Andal warlord from across the sea, Togarion Bar Emmon, who drove Qarlton's garrison out of Stonedance and restored command to the dead king's son. In time those same Andals made peace with the Durrandons and sealed it with new marriages.

When the War of Conquest broke out, the Masseys did not stand by their king. They turned their backs on Argilac Durrandon and threw their support behind the invading Targaryens.

The gamble paid off. Once the war ended, Aegon I rewarded Triston Massey by naming him Master of Laws, and when the Crownlands were organized as their own region of the Seven Kingdoms, the Masseys stopped answering to Storm's End and answered directly to the Iron Throne instead.

Lord Massey was among the few lords who did not abandon Maegor I Targaryen. On the day the king died, he had gathered his remaining loyalists in King's Landing to plan battle against his newly crowned nephew Jaehaerys; the small number of great houses present drained their will to fight.

The change of king did not push the Masseys from power. Albin Massey inherited the office of Master of Laws under Jaehaerys I and sat within the innermost circle of his council.

During the Dance of the Dragons, Lord Gormon Massey tried to tame Vermithor at Dragonstone. The dragon killed him.

When Lord Brynden Rivers marched to Whitewalls to put down the Second Blackfyre Rebellion, men of House Massey rode among the troops accompanying him.

At the Tourney of the Hand, among the banners of the assembled knights flew the triple spiral of House Massey.

Years later, Ser Justin Massey counted among the Queen's Men and stood beside Selyse Florent at Castle Black.