House Royce of the Gates of the Moon

The main Royce line traces back to the First Men who settled the Vale before the Andals crossed the Narrow Sea. From that root, around the year 240 after the Conquest according to the Atlas catalogue, a cadet branch took root at the Gates of the Moon, the stronghold that blocks the only cart road into the Vale's interior.

Born as vassals of a vassal — bound to House Arryn through Runestone — the Gates of the Moon branch had spent generations building its own history before anyone outside the region took notice.

For most of its history, the Gates of the Moon branch was a vassal house with nothing but its stronghold's name to its title. That changed when Lord Petyr Baelish, by then holding power over the Vale, granted them full lordship of the Gates of the Moon for their "loyal services." The gesture turned a waystation garrison into a formal lordship, with its own place in the hierarchy of House Arryn's vassals.

Today the house is led by Nestor Royce, with his son Albar Royce as heir.