Since first establishing themselves in Wintefell alongside nearby Winter town, House Stark
expanded to control much of the Northern territory of Westeros defeating rival rulers like the
Barrow Kings of the Barrowlands in the famed Thousand Year war, that was more likely a
series of wars over approximately 200 years.
In time they defeated other northern kings such as those of House Flint of Breakstone
Hill, the Slates of Blackpool, the Umbers of Last hearth, the Lockes of Old Castle,
the Glovers of Deep Wood Motte, the Fishers of Stony Shore and Ryders of the Rills.
They also conquered House Greenwood, Towers, Amber, Frost and may have possibly driven
House Blackwood out of the North, who claim to have once ruled the entirety of the Wolfswood.
Legends claim House Stark also fought a war for Sea Dragon Point against the Warg King
and his allies which included greenseers, skin changers and children of the forest.
But eventually the Starks prevailed, killing the Warg king and his sons, while taking his
daughters as captives.
Under King Jon Stark they built the Wolf’s Den to defend the White Knife river, while
his son Rickard Stark defeated the Marsh King and married his daughter to take control of
the Neck.
Under King Brandon IX they put down the raiding parties of Skagos in the east, where savage
men were said to eat human flesh, and in the west Rodrik Stark was said to have won Bear
Island from the Ironborn in a wrestling match, before giving it to House Mormont.
As the Ironborn had a long history of raiding and occupying the western coast, a number
of Stark Kings such as Theon the Hungry Wolf led armies to repel their forces, though these
confrontations gradually diminished following the rule of Rodrik Stark.
Over thousands of years many of the Houses that once fought against the Starks, became
loyal vassals, however others like the Red Kings of the Dreadfort, were not so willing
to bend the knee.
Known to be cruel and merciless, the men of House Bolton were said to flay their enemies,
claiming to have made cloaks from the skins of captured Starks.
Many wars were fought between these competing factions, and while King Royce Bolton II captured
and burned winterfell as did his descendant King Royce IV, House Stark was ultimately
victorious, with the red King Rogar the Huntsmen swearing fealty during the years of the Andal
Invasion.
Nevertheless House Bolton remained one of Winterfell’s less reliable vassals, with
a long history of rebellion.
Occasionally the Northern realm of House Stark expanded to include the islands of three sisters,
who were traditionally an independent power with a unique culture and religion, worshiping
the lord of the skies and lady of the waves.
However they were conquered for a time by King Theon Stark who also landed an army on
the fingers of the Vale and eventually these raids, led to the rape of three sisters, where
stories say the northmen committed terrible crimes, like killing children and cooking
them in pots.
Other legends claim the Northmen disembowelled prisoners and executing three thousand warriors
in a day, with some even saying Lord Belthasar Bolton made a "Pink Pavilion" from the skins
of a hundred Sistermen.
Desperate to remove the Northmen, the people of the Sisters swore fealty to King Mathos
Arryn II of the Vale, resulting in the War Across the Waters, or the Worthless war, in
which the Wolf’s Den was besieged and burned, prompting the King of Winter to authorize
an attack on Gulltown, burning the enemy fleet.
After control of the Islands changed hands over a dozen times, the Northmen finally lost
interest in the war and allowed the Vale to keep their holdings.
Roughly a thousand years before Aegon’s Conquest, as House Manderly grew rich from
trade along the Mander River in the Reach, king Perceon Gardener III started to see them
as rivals to his power, sending them into exile and giving their lands and castles to
House peake.
Faced the possible extinction of their House, the Manderlys found their saviors in the Winter
King’s of House Stark, who welcomed them as Bannermen in the North, granting them the
castle of the Wolf’s Den and charging them with the protection of the White Knife.
Although the Manderlys they came to consider themselves proud Northerners, they also held
onto their southern heritage, worshiping the new gods of the Faith of the Seven, and becoming
one of the only northern territories to promote Knighthood.
Nevertheless, the Manderlys were extremely grateful to the Starks for saving their House
and remained staunch Stark loyalists for many years to come.
Using the wealth they brought from the Reach, House Manderly built the city of White Harbor,
developing a bustling trade economy that would make them the richest House in the North.
Just as the western coast was subject to raids from the Ironborn, pirates and slavers from
across the narrow sea regularly plundered the eastern coast.
And so after defeating troublesome Sea Raiders in one of these attacks, Karlon Stark was
rewarded with lands and titles, allowing him to form House Karstark of Karhold.