House Massey of Stonedance is among the most ancient houses of the crownlands, tracing its roots to the Age of Heroes when Lord Maldon Massey, a bannerman to the Storm King Durran the Ravenfriend, raised the castle Stonedance upon the hook of land that would forever bear his family's name. A house of First Men blood, the Masseys grew powerful enough to throw off Durrandon overlordship during the long reign of King Durwald the Fat, and for a time their petty kings ruled Massey's Hook as sovereigns in their own right, claiming dominion over the mouth of the Blackwater Rush. The Storm Kings warred for four generations to reclaim the Hook, finally reducing Stonedance after a year-long siege in the time of King Qarlton II, though the castle passed to new hands within two years when an Andal warlord expelled the Durrandon garrison and restored a Massey as puppet lord.
By the time of Aegon's Conquest, the Masseys were nominally bannermen to Storm's End, but their proximity to Dragonstone had drawn them closer to House Targaryen than to their Durrandon liege. When Aegon the Dragon crossed the water, the Masseys chose him over Argilac the Arrogant, and their loyalty was rewarded: Lord Triston Massey was named the first master of laws to sit on Aegon's small council. That closeness to the crown endured. Lord Albin Massey served Jaehaerys I in the same office and helped codify the laws of the Seven Kingdoms before his early death. Lord Gormon Massey perished on Dragonstone during the Sowing of the Seeds, killed in a failed attempt to claim the dragon Vermithor, and Elinda Massey, lady-in-waiting to Queen Rhaenyra, was said to have put out her own eyes upon witnessing her queen devoured by Sunfyre. Through triumph and tragedy alike, House Massey has remained among the faithful bannermen of the Iron Throne, holding Stonedance and Massey's Hook in the crownlands.