House Sundripper
Sigil: on blue-black background, a golden cornucopia, that drops a drop of sunshine into a wooden chalice.
Words: Ours is the spirit.
Residence: Fruitstower
Banner: a golden cornucopia on blue
History: we were commonfolk in Old Valyria, we mainly practiced medicine there, but due to a really embarrassing situation, that involved several ladies of the most noble families and a substance that messes with a person's head when it comes to feelings, we had to leave the homeland, and sailed through the Narrow Sea about 150years before the Targaryens appeared.
We settled around the rich lands of Highgarden, and quickly set up our business, which included making the Nectar which is a destilled alcoholic beverage made of the excellent fruits that the Reach can provide. Soon, due to our Humble service, and to secure the family's resourceful knowledge under the Tyrells' authority, the then stuarts of Highgarden gave us lordship with the family castle, Fruitstower, and a vast land around it covered with woodlands of all kind of fruittrees, and rich lands of wheat and corn. Over a couple of decades the family gathered great wealth due to our knowledge, and the practice of alchemy and medicine. There cannot be a birthday in the great families of Westeros from Winterfell to Dorne without popping open a barrel of Nectar. We also provide a member of each generation to the Citadel, just as the Starks of Winterfell keep manning the Wall. After the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror, the family played a big part of securing the Targaryens' authority as rightful kings via our diplomatic skills and being a link to Old Valyria. The family grew close to the dragon kings, often winning important titles like master of coin and grand maester of the Red Keep, but the Targaryens were always suspicious when it came to "the blue eyed ones" as they call us(however we do not practice marriage among siblings to avoid the defects that may happen, but as Valyrians, we like to keep our blood -umm- pure, so it is encouraged for cousins to marry, and so, the members of the family are having almost exclusively pale blue eyes) . Our people can be found in almost every castle, due to their special knowledge, and as for gathering information, they are almost as effective as Lord Varys' birds. However these skills could determine the family to overgrow even the Lannisters in terms of influence, but we rather practice observing the more fierce families, and play 'the game' from the background. Also, as we are not of the blood of the andals or the first men, nor we have ever owned any dragons, the great families never cosidered us as one of them. Our men are famous archers and marksmen. We are excellent riders, and with our specialty composite bows our light cavalry is fast and deadly almost as much as the dothraki khalasars. The other families do not really like our ways of war: they say it's not chivalreous to use bows and arrows from hundreds of yards afar instead of engadgeing in an honorable fight. But even if this kind of strategy is considered inferior, i have to admit, it is anything but ineffective. See, since we have settled in, Fruitstower had been under siege only once: there were 8000 soldiers under the walls, eager to feast on the cellars of Fruitstower, and sack the city, when Wiktaron Sundripper ordered the killer rain upon the besiegers. Since then, the fine field under the city walls, and the creek that flows through it are called Fletching field, and Red creek... Shall I say one word more?
Unfortunately since the Usurper took the Ironthrone, we haven't had the opportunity to get closer to the new dinasty(let's just call them "antlered lions"), but we did do some important favors for the Roselords, which might be more useful on the long run, and in these rather interesting times it is not unwise anyway to take some steps further from the Red Keep.
The sigil of the Sundrippers is a golden cornucopia, that drops a drop of sunshine into a wooden chalice on blue-black background. It represents our ever-rich lands, the Nectar that comes from it(and secures our wealth) and the chalice shows the humble, yet functional nature of the family.
Our words are "Ours is the spirit." which refers to both the Nectar drink, and the spirit of Old Valyria, that drives us to gain more knowledge. But there is another proverb you might come across regarding our family "...so we would keep the traditions..." was originally a greeting with a glass of Nectar, but in time it became a reason instead of the reason. Why? So we would keep the traditions!
So all in all, we were always one of the minor families, but i can say we bare as much power –if not more– as those filthy Freys of the twins.
