Name: Addam Hightower, Heir of the Hightower, Heir of Oldtown

Age: 25 (born 177 AC)

Appearance:



Decently tall at exactly six feet, Addam is, like most of the Hightowers, a good example of looks being deceiving. He has medium-length brown hair that is usually styled to the right and is one of the few children of the current Lord to boast brown eyes. Appearing lanky and thin those that spar with him quickly realize that he is all hardened sinew, and exceptionally wiry. Handsome, with a quick and bright smile his features seem perfectly proportioned. Addam is fond of simple dress when not in his armor, preferring coats emblazoned with the Hightower sigil. His weapon of choice is the hand-and-a-half sword which he wears on his left hip opposite a gauche knife on his right.

Biography:

The firstborn child, Addam came quickly after the marriage celebrations of Ryam and Alys. As a baby and young child, Addam seemed destined to be a perfect firstborn child. He was patient and respectful, intelligent and perceptive, and cared more about making his mother and father happy.

When he was six years old he began training with various Maesters of the Citadel where he learned math, history, and so much more. A bright child, Addam managed to retain the information but never fell in love with the prospect of finding more knowledge. Not that he had any time to study more anyway as he was also passed to Otho Hightower, the brother of the boy's grandfather who commanded the City Watch of Oldtown and served as Master at Arms. Like his studies, Addam was decent at martial skills and found he had a talent with a dual-bladed style using a traditional longsword and a gauche knife. He was also a talented rider.

Addam grew up knowing that one day he would more than likely be the heir to Oldtown and so always carried himself with pride and distinction. He became a seasoned diplomat for one so young and went on a tour of the realm when he was six and ten to meet other Houses and to perhaps even find a young lady to court. Thus far it seems that his efforts bear no fruit but the young Hightower doesn't worry, instead figuring that when the time comes he will do his best to reassure his betrothed that he would do whatever he could to make her more comfortable and would truly care as he went about his duties as a husband.

When his father became Lord Hightower, Addam easily slotted into the role of heir. He sits at his father's side during meetings, discreet conversations, and open council sessions and has taken a heavy hand in the administration of the workings of Oldtown. Recently he has been tasked with standing up a ready and drilled force of men with the help of foreign officers. All the blocks are in place to ensure a smooth transition should anything happen to Lord Ryam.

Name: Leo Hightower

Age: 20 (born in 182 AC)

Appearance:



Tall, lanky, and thin Leo stands at six feet exactly but unlike his older brother does not boast the sinew of a warrior. His features are softer and sharper though it's subtle. Curly dark brown hair is usually untameable though he only has to run his hands through it a few times to get it to fall decently. He never lets it grow too long so it never covers his eyes which seem to change colors with the light from light blue to light green. He is always devoid of weapons as he was never any good with them and is instead accompanied by two guards at all times. Leo is fond of the fashions of the realm and can often be spotted in the latest colors which he has easy access to in Oldtown. While not a fighter, Leo does have good balance and is an excellent dancer, singer, and musician.

Biography:

An inquisitive child even as a babe, Leo has always been obsessed with the hows, and whys, of the world. His nose was almost always stuck in a book after he learned to read and he showed a natural aptitude for maths, history, and even more advanced learning. Scores of Maesters were brought in to help sate the boy's thirst for knowledge and Leo ate it up. On the other side of the coin, however, Leo was not much of a swordsman and abhorred training in the yard. He would run away for hours, hiding in some nook or cranny for hours with a large tome to read and escape physical training. Despite this, he grew tall and thin and developed an appreciation for exercise at least after reading about its benefits in a Maesters recording.

Leo was named after the Lord Paramount of the Reach and Warden of the South, a man recently deceased but still a gesture from Ryam, Leo's father, of the loyalty of House Hightower. And many times Leo considers how his namesake would take him. This pressure to do well has always existed even as a second-born son and Leo is hyper-aware of his flaws while rarely acknowledging his strengths. Luckily his family is always there to remind him of his idyllic memory, intelligence, and quick wit.

When he was ten while visiting the docks he was witness to a Brawl. He was protected, after his house guards were swallowed by the mob, by two unlikely men wearing simple leathers and rapiers. The two men ensured no harm came to the boy and afterward swore their swords and lives to Leo. Cosimo and Phario had been one-time merchants, one-time mercenaries, and often guards for Volantene highborn and so the Braavosi easily transitioned to the guarding of Leo. Now the three are hardly seen without each other and some have taken to calling them the triarchs.

Keeping with his tradition of not training, Leo has never been knighted nice shown any interest in starting the process. Nor has he shown interest in joining the Citadel as a Maester. He instead serves as his father, and older brother's left hand. Advising and offering his insights into issues plaguing the family. Routinely he can be found in the library, a study, or walking the city.

Name: Ashton Hightower, Blade of Oldtown

Age: 19 (born in 183 AC)

Appearance:



The tallest of the Hightowers just so happens to also be their best swordsman. Six foot two, Ashton is a merging of his two elder brothers. His features are sharp yet soft, and almost chiseled they are so precise. Quite handsome, Ashton has been known to cause a few double-takes and has had many a maiden attempt to woo him. His hair is a softer lighter brown than his brothers and it even takes a soft shine when in the sun. His eyes are a piercing bright blue which shines brighter when he is thinking or concentrating. Those eyes become cold and calculating thoughts in combat which is where Ashton thrives. Exceptionally quick, and intelligent Ashton develops his fighting style after analyzing the style of his opponent. The Valyrian sword Vigilance is always on his left hip even with the lad being ambidextrous.

Biography:

Born third, his parents were now quite used to the routine. However, fate is never happier to twist those routines. Ashton was born exactly five minutes before his twin, Alicent. And the expected easy delivery was made complex. Luckily the skills of the Maesters and the Fortitude of Lady Alys, Ashton, and Alicent's mother, a tragedy was averted. The twins became the delight of the High Tower and were showered with visits, fawned over by servants and Highborn, and served to cause smiles from the citizens of Oldtown. The twin delights they began to be called.

As they grew the twins were inseparable and while attempts had been made to give them their personalized learning it was hopeless and so Lord Hightower ordered that a merging of learning would have to take place. As such, Alicent was present during Ashton's martial training and Ashton was present during Alicent's lessons with the Septa. The two caused a great stir but still the twin delights often just caused smiles and small chuckles. Ashton was fiercely protective of his sister and often would get into fights to defend her honor from perceived insults from the other boys.

As the twins grew older, however, they did begin to form their own identities and begin to separate. A good thing as it was when Ashton was twelve that he was sent to Squire for Ser Ryon Dayne, the current Sword of the Morning. It was still difficult to say goodbye but to this day Ashton considers it one of the best moves he could make. Ashton flourished as a Squire, trying to always go above and beyond what was expected. He was a patient and attentive learner and took to the intricacies of being a Knight well. He was a natural talent with the sword, and while he would be trained and was proficient in most weaponry it was the sword where he was the most deadly.

His style of fighting is not flashy or glory-seeking, instead serving as exceptionally efficient and patient. Ashton never made the first move, instead always watching and adapting based on what he saw his opponent do. He never underestimated his opponent and when he was beaten he always attempted to speak with the opponent after and learn from the defeat. Now at nineteen, he was an exceptionally dangerous swordsman wielding the Hightower Valyrian blade, Vigilance.

More than willing to wait for his moment, and not in any rush to leave Ryon's side, Ashton has still yet to be Knighted and continues to serve the Dayne in his duties as a Knight. He has also struck up friendships with other Knights, though for the most part keeps to himself as he's somewhat awkward in social situations.

Name: Gerold Hightower

Age: 18, born 184 AC

Appearance:



The shortest of all of the Hightower lads Gerold still stands at a respectable five foot nine. A rogue at heart, Gerold has long light brown hair which falls to just his shoulders. His eyes are a deep blue that you could get lost while staring into and he is very thin. Preferring speed over all else Gerold prefers the Rapiers and the water dancing styles of Braavos. Extremely talented in the art, Gerold physically represents the form with easy-flowing movements and speed. He is handsome, but his cockiness and arrogance are always shown on his face with a smirk that many have said they wish to smack off the boy. Gerold is usually seen in a simple white linen shirt sprinting down the docks after playing a prank on someone or challenging some poor merchant to a duel. He can be respectful however and cleans up well, being an impressive and charming noble son in court settings.

Biography:

Born to the Hightowers on a bright summer day, Gerold was destined to be a firecracker. Doted upon by all Gerold learned quickly how to use his charms to his advantage. A prankster, no one was safe from the young lad when in the High Tower and he had to be watched constantly when guests visited as even they could be potential targets. Gerold always got along with the regular people more so than other highborn and he had countless friends in Oldtown where he would run off to and away from his lessons.

Gerold became Streetwise and worldly, combining his charm and wit with shrewd experience. He adopted a cockiness and was the instigator of numerous fights. Despite this, he truly loved his family and always regretted his wayward ways. More than one time he wished he had been born a simple commoner.

Eventually, a compromise had been settled. Gerold was to be betrothed to the Sealord of Braavos's daughter and live in Braavos itself. And within that city, he truly thrived. He was taught the art of water dancing and took to it like a fish to water. A natural fencer Gerold has become more Braavosi than Westerosi and fits into the crowd. He has grown to be a competent diplomat for his age and while his arrogant smirk remains, it is now serving as more of a mask instead of a weakness. Within Braavos he remains, awaiting the time that his betrothal is requested by his father to the King.

Name: Alicent Hightower

Age: 19, born 183 AC

Appearance:



The only girl of the bunch, Alicent has grown up surrounded by the males of her House. She routinely snuck out of her lessons with the Septa to watch the boys in the yard or escape into Oldtown with her Twin and whatever guards got unlucky enough to be stuck with the twin terrors. Alicent grew up athletic, mirroring her brother's inability to sit still for extended amounts of time. She trained with Rapier, knives, and shortswords while also developing a routine of running during the mornings Alicent can dead-eye throw a knife at a target, fight with one or two blades, and focuses on footwork and dodges. Through this, she managed to lock her excess energy much better and easier than her Twin. Alicent had light brown hair and soft green eyes. She has been trained in courtly matters and is a cunning player of the political games. She can easily navigate her way around situations with a smile and nod, feigning ignorance and always hiding her true strengths.

Biography:

The second half of the twin delights, or twin terrors if forced to guard them, Alicent's upbringing mirrored Ashton's for the most part. Alicent attended martial lessons with her brother where she found a talent with knives and shortswords along with a knack for evasive techniques. Unlike Ashton however, Alicent also paid attention to her studies from the Septa, only occasionally sneaking out. When Ashton was sent away to learn in Dorne, Alicent took it hard and retreated into the libraries and practice fields. She did her duty to her family but was not happy with her parents. She mostly interacted with them through her other siblings and instead preferred to make friends with the other nobles in the Hightower, or those visiting.

She developed a love of history, particularly the histories of the Lords and Ladies that came before her. She poured through notes, letters, and journals from the past and used them to develop a cunning political understanding. She eventually forgave her parents and took her place as the only female child and also her father's shadowy hand. While Leo advised on serious things, and Addam become the second opinion of Lord Ryam, Alicent became the advisor on practical matters, and political matters, and began to develop a knack for dealing in information. She was well known in Oldtown proper and had much clout with the common people, handling issues, giving out food, and overall making the city a better place. In return, she was given quite a bit of information and she has only just started sending those information gatherers out into Westeros.

History

The second son of Ser Wyman Templeton, Jon ought to have grown up in the shadow of his older brother, Ronnel. Two years his junior, Jon and Ronnel spent everyday playing together until Ronnel was struck with a terrifying fever and brain sickness. Maester Kirwan, a young man with some radical practices, believed in ritualistic ‘bleeding’ and though painstaking, Ronnel recovered his wits though had been left perpetually weakened.

Ser Wyman took it hard and this was doubled by the death of his Wife Myrcella Templeton and their newborn daughter in the birthing bed the same year.
It was upon Jon that Wyman came to depend, the dark-haired younger boy grew strong and tall whilst his elder brother took a year to gather strength enough to rise from his chair. However, to flout tradition and promote Jon as heir to Ninestars was beyond Wyman’s comprehension. The eldest must inherit. His brother, Gawarth came to live with them to take Jon hunting and climbing, sparring and ranging whilst Wyman managed the estate and buried himself in the heavy tedium that is the day-to-day fayre of the Knight in the Vale. Meanwhile, Kennet Nash came to Ninestars to serve as Master-at-Arms. Wyman had spotted the young warrior at a Tourney near Heart’s Home and he’d been keen to accept the position which meant he had jurisdiction over a sizeable detail of men-at-arms as well as a detachment of mounted lancers numbering over one hundred.

As the boys grew to manhood, Ronnel was at least adequate with sword in hand, his triumph over his childhood illness was remarkable but a withered sword-arm and a crooked gait meant he looked absurd in the armour specifically gilded for him by the Castle Smithy. He insisted on competing alongside Wyman in a Tourney in Gulltown but was hurt early in the mellee and cruel jibes such as ‘the cripple o’ Ninestars’ were heard being heckled from the public gallery.

Wyman may or may not have heard these jeers but he was said to have stalked to his horse for the tilt enraged. It will never be known how he truly felt that day as he was unhorsed, surprisingly, by a Corbray squire and fell awkwardly, breaking his neck and killing him outright. Ronnel blamed his own disgraceful failure for his father’s death.
Despite Uncle Gawarth’s urging that Jon, and not Ronnel, should be the new Knight o Ninestars, Ronnel accepted the title and vowed that he would do credit to the role.

In truth, he was a fair and just master to the outlying communities and in the three years he served at the family castle, produce in the Vale increased and a period of prosperity ensued.

When growing trouble, however, threatened Templeton lands and the Mountain Clans grew bolder, Ronnel insisted it was incumbent upon him to sally out with a small detachment of leal bannermen and supress the incursion. Jon pleaded with Ronnel to allow him to deal with the clans in his stead: he was faster ahorse, a better sword and a stronger lance, but whilst agreeing Jon should accompany him, Ronnel insisted that it was he, as the eldest, that should ride to war in the black cape of Ninestars. Jon had his own armour, daubed with black tar and wore a yellow cape, emblazoned with a single black star; earning him the nickname Knight of the Blackstar- a joke amongst the men as Jon hadn’t been knighted but one he liked and would later adopt as an unofficial title.

Ronnel never returned from this expedition. Rumours told of how the column was besieged in heavy mist along some narrow mountain pass and Ronnel amongst the first to be slain. Under Jon’s leadership, the Templeton host rallied in the confusion and ran through their ambushers, scattering the clansmen. Afterwards Jon would only agree that his older brother died valiantly and would speak no more on the matter.

Upon hearing of the tragedy, Lord Donnel Arryn sent his deepest condolences and vowed to rally the Vale in an effort to suppress the increasingly troublesome clans (an endeavour that brought only moderate success). He summoned Jon to the Eyrie personally and knighted him formally though it wasn’t until many more weeks had passed and the Silent Sisters brought Ronnel’s remains to Ninestars that Jon took up the family shield; nine yellow stars on a midnight black field.

Personality

Make no bones about it, Jon loved his father and older brother. He vaguely remembers Ronnel’s childhood illness as a time of bewilderment and confusion and when mother died and the baby he remembers crying a lot but things moving on quickly.
He supported Ronnel’s decision to take the Knighthood and even rode to the Eyrie at his side when he formally received the Templeton ancestral title. But there are also memories that make him feel bitter; the young Corbray squire who decided to prove himself in the Joust a little too overzealously robbed him of a father and the cowardly conduct of the marauding Mountain Clans killing Ronnel was a grief he has ever found difficult to bear.

He is ambitious and relentless. Refusing to take a wife until he raises the House to a Lordship or a chronic lack of heirs demands it, he keeps Uncle Gawayne as a close advisor and sole heir to Ninestars as his father’s brother. He also has every intention of legitimizing Ronnel’s bastard, Harold Stone who was sent to foster at Ninestars after the death of his mother; a former handmaiden to Gawayne’s late wife who reputedly seduced the young Ronnel in the bleak months following Ser Wayman’s tragic death.

Jon is not quick to smile but neither is he quick to anger. Even in that Mountain pass, it took watching his brother slain to rile him into fury. However he is weak in the presence of Ronnel’s widow. He’d be the last to admit it to himself but the woman has a profound power over him; wed to Ronnel at 16, she soon grew frustrated with Jon’s older brother’s ‘failings’ in the bedroom; she began to bed Jon as well when he was only thirteen. Jon, to his credit, has managed to avoid siring a bastard on his conniving sister-in-law in all these years which seems to suggest the widow is barren. He is keen to foist her off on some other Knight as quickly as possible but in 17 years she has entrenched her position as the First Lady Templeton of Ninestars and it appears Jon is stuck with her. She is desperate for Jon to wed her, which would bring no opposition as in many families it is the ‘done’ thing to wed an older brother’s widow but her failure to bear a child in nigh on two decades and the appearance of Ronnel’s bastard (attesting that his seed bears fruit) has set Jon dead against the idea. Indeed, sex aside, the woman terrifies him.

Allayne Templeton (nee Waxley)
History

The Widow Allayne Templeton of Ninestars was born to Ser Ryman Waxley and Lady Daena Waxley, the fourth daughter and sixth child of a happy and lasting marriage; indeed both parents still live, well into their sixties. Allayne stood out amongst the other Waxley girls; Arda, Mowen and Bryda- more wilfull and precocious, but infinitely prettier- her raven-dark curls setting her apart from her straight-haired, mousy siblings with their high noses and brittle, high-pitched tones.

Life for Allayne was dull, never challenging and that tedium continued into her teenage years. She watched her brothers marry. Hadred, to a Meadows girl from Grassy Vale in the Reach, Haldred to a Daughter of Lord Farring in the Crownlands. Her sisters all managed to wed themselves to noble houses too; a Tarbeck, a Glover and a Hardying. All were younger sons or cousins but when a possible union to Templeton was mooted, her father was passing keen to see it done.

Allayne knew that Templeton was merely a Knightly House, like her own, but one that commanded weight and authority surpassing some lesser Lordly houses. Ronnel Templeton had been sickly in childhood but had survived and although partially disfigured by his malady, was still heir to Ninestars and a knight in the making. He was two years her junior but she liked that. Even at sixteen she knew she could mould the boy like a Wickenden candle…

The wedding was easily as lavish as any of her sisters’, although Mowen (the wife of Donal Glover) was conspicuous in her absence. The bedding… A non-event. Ronnel had been in his cups and at 14 it had taken too grave a toll on him. It was at least a week before he managed to fulfil his husbandry duties and mount her. She had to bite her lip to stop from laughing at his crooked stance and as he spent his seed within the first minute she nearly wretched as he groped at her with his withered right arm.
After twelve months of similar disappointment, she made her way along the North passage to Jon’s bed, where she taught him how a woman ought to be loved. He was a quick learner.

She doubted Ronnel knew to where she slipped late at night. She always told him it was to the Sept at the centre of the castle and he never asked any questions. Probably delighted to have such a devout and beautiful wife; praying to the Mother for a son, not stealing to the brother for a fuck.

For Ronnel’s underperformance in the marital bed, he was a kind and witty young man, there were times when she was genuinely proud of his endeavour and commitment to overcoming his shortcomings and growing into the Knight House Templeton needed him to be. His uncle favoured John but the new Master-at-Arms, Kennet Nash was shaping her husband into a passable swordsman, although he still sat ahorse awkwardly.

When the Tourney at Gulltown came around, Allayne was sickened to see Ronnel’s piteous early exit from a melee nobody thought he should join; she feigned illness and returned home early. She had already left when Ser Wyman perished.

Whilst Ronnel and Jon rode to the Eyrie for her husband’s knighthood some weeks later, Allayne realised, delightedly that her moon’s blood was late by at least a week. She had little doubt that it was more likely young Jon and not the virtually impotent Ronnel who was the father, but the seed was the same stock and what Ronnel didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. She waited patiently for all the signs of impending motherhood to begin, as she’d learned from her Septa back in Wickenden. She would tell Ronnel when she began to show, but weeks and months passed with no evidence of producing the next Templeton heir, or a dutiful daughter to provide some female companionship, something Ninestars sorely lacked.

As a year went by, Ronnel became happy as a prospering Master of the surrounding lands and realisation dawned on Allayne that the mother, or the Maid, or the crone had chosen to take her womanhood from her in payment for betraying her husband time and again for his stronger, more virile younger brother.
Well the others could take the Seven! She was the Nine! Allayne abandoned what frail attachment she had with the faith and kept a stony, politic silence about her evident barren womb.

She could always blame Ronnel for the lack of a child in the years they had been wed. After all, it stood to reason that his childhood illness may have taken his seed from him, or rendered it hollow.

Jon was wise enough to spill his seed elsewhere in their illicit sessions in any case, wary of siring a bastard on his sister-in-law which he’d no doubt have to watch Ronnel raise.

That mountain pass changed everything.

When Ronnel didn’t return and Ser Jon Templeton pinned her against his brother’s marriage bed and took her insistently and roughly, she realised that there was real danger her position would be broken. She was 21. She refused to go quietly into the night, her chance of raising herself in the world spent on a kind-hearted but pitiful cripple; a dead one at that. She implored Jon that marriage was a natural and even expected step. They’d been lovers for five years but Jon was equal to her ambition and far less naïve; even to her charms.

He suspected something was amiss that his Sister-in-law had yet to bear a child and of course, he knew that wasn’t down solely to Ronnel.

No. Jon wanted a Lordship. He’d watched his brother shamed at Gulltown and his father killed by a mere squire. Ronnel had been slain with ease by some clansman and Jon was determined to restore some venom into the Ninestars’ reputation.

No sooner had things settled into a kind of miserable post-conflict nothingness, than two children arrived at Ninestars within months…
The first was a slap in the face. Harold Stone was a boy of 4. He was brought to Ninestars by Gawarth Templeton. He said the child was Ronnel’s bastard, sired upon his late wife’s handmaiden who had recently passed from the pox. Allayne lost it. Not that Ronnel had cheated, but that he could have performed sufficiently to beget a child, a son no less, on some pox-ridden wench when illiciting any excitement from him for her had been an increasingly futile labour.

She had her suspicions that this handmaiden had been already with child when Ronnel allegedly dishonoured his vows upon her. However Jon saw Harold as a strange blessing, a shadow of his late brother sent to restore better fortunes to the Templeton estate. Privately, she seethed and her objections to little Harold’s stay in the West turret near where her (and Jon’s) chambers both lay were vociferous enough that it fell largely upon Gawarth to mentor the lad- as he had Jon all those years ago.
Her anger was quelled, however, when Lord Arryn requested Jon to journey to the Eyrie once more. Upon his return, he had an infant girl; Birgitte Sunderland was the youngest child to Kevan Sunderland- Arryn had insisted Sunderland pay for some never disclosed sleight by sending Birgitte to be fostered in the Vale. Templeton had been chosen and from the moment Ser Jon rode home with the gold-haired child, Allayne had found a new lease of life.

In the intervening years, Birgitte has grown into a beautiful young maiden, catching the eye of most of the men at Ninestars. Allayne remains a provocative beauty but her habit of wearing a black mourning gown embroidered with nine yellow stars ‘in memory of Ronnel’ has earned her the title of the Black Widow.

Personality
Allayne has always sought to better herself and her ambition has ever been her driving force. She has a sense of entitlement that may be said to be entirely misplaced, but she has ever felt superior in wits, beauty and charm to her sisters and has ever strived to control her environs. Even early in her marriage to Ronnel, Ser Wyman kept a cynical eye on her- seeing the way she used age and sexuality to control his eldest son. Her power over Ser Jon remains strong; he still makes his regular conjugal visitations but infuriatingly, he has ever proven too wise to take his barren Sister-in-Law to wife.

However, Allayne has proved with Birgitte, to have a genuine capacity to be loving and considerate, although the Ward she has raised has certainly been done so in Allayne’s image.

The other side of the coin is the ever-present icy coldness with which she regards Harold. She is intelligent enough to realise Jon intends to legitimise the bastard should old Gawarth die until such a time as he should marry and have trueborn children of his own.

History
Born in 185AC in the shadow of Ninestars, Harold’s mother had been handmaiden to Gawarth Templeton’s wife until her death and the termination of Mya’s services. In honour of her leal care of the ailing Rhona Templeton, the Templeton estate provided lodgings in the surrounding town and a retention salary that saw her want for nought. By the time she left Ninestars castle, Mya was with child. All Harold knows of this is that she always told him his father was a Templeton but that he couldn’t see him. By the time he was four, his mother had sickened and died from the pox and Harold distinctly remembers Gawarth coming for him and riding him to the castle on his dappled grey mare.

Harold was treated well by the castle staff and by Ser Jon who bid the little boy call him ‘Uncle’. Only the terrifying woman in black seemed not to fawn over the young bastard. He spent much time with Gawarth, a man nearing fifty but with a strong sense of right and wrong. He spent much of his childhood in the castle courtyard; practising with sword and (as he grew stronger) with lance. He spent long summer afternoons with Yohn Cowley, the Castle kennelmaster and the pack of friendly, bright-eyed dogs which would accompany them on hunts or treks. For days at a time, Yohn, Kennet Nash- Master at Arms, and Gawarth would take Harold out into the mountains or through the Vale of Arryn on one half-baked expedition or another. He loved riding and hawking. He would implore the men of the Castle to allow him to attend tourneys or take him on visits to the Lordly houses in the Vale.

Other than at bedtime, Harold spent his life outdoors. Anything was better than his fear of running into another witheringly hateful glare from Lady Allayne Templeton. He understood. He had been told how her husband, who’d been killed in a hunting accident, had fallen in love with his mother, Mya. He couldn’t blame him for that; Alayne Templeton was a cold and hateful woman in Harold’s experience.

Despite arriving at Ninestars in the same period of months as Birgitte Sunderland came to foster there, Harold seldom saw the girl, four years his junior until he came of age. Then, Birgitte would oftimes be seen walking in the courtyard, with or without Lady Templeton. She loved animals and Harold showed her the dogs and they would spend afternoons together enjoying the company of one another as siblings might.
However, of late, their friendship has been soured as Birgitte has begun to distance herself from ‘the bastard’. Words she now uses but lent her by Allayne, no doubt.
Harold has noted Birgitte’s beauty as well as any but knows his station and doesn’t want to align himself nearer to Allayne; who’d have him murdered before letting him near her precious ward.

Harold has been approached by Ser Jon regarding the notion of being legitimised should Gawarth pass before Ser Jon marries, to secure a male heir to the Templeton line but he thinks nought of it. Whilst he would love to bear the Templeton name like his late father, the notion of losing his Great Uncle Gawarth is too painful to comprehend.

Personality

Harold is a little lacking in wit, not to comedic effect but he works hard to understand the more complex mechanics of life; he’d much sooner be out on horseback or tending the Castle dogs with Yohn. He’s grown into a capable and dependable warrior and is genuinely well-liked (Allayne being the exception) by all at Ninestars. Maester Kirwan won’t hear a bad word said about Harold although whenever anyone likens the lad to Ronnel, the Maester only smiles faintly and returns to his duties.
Essentially, Harold is keen to help anyone, never sullen, never wan about his status as bastard born the only times he’d be known to cry as a boy were when Lady Templeton had scolded him; often as not simply for existing.

He is stubbornly loyal, almost standing as testament to his Templeton blood, and looks upon the family at Ninestars as the only family he has known and one he’d ride into the Seven Hells for.

History

Birgitte’s beginnings are sorrowful indeed. The fourth child and second daughter of Kevan and Jeyne Sunderland of Sisterton, she was unusually late in birth. Her Mother died during the birth and the child had to be dragged from her in a grim and bloody scene. Her father was away across the Narrow Sea on some business that couldn’t wait and only upon his return was his defeat in battle compounded by the news of Jeyne’s death.



He couldn’t bring himself to look upon the baby girl; leaving her care to a nursemaid of just 19.

When Lord Arryn sent for Kevan Sunderland’s son (His shady business in Essos being seen as ‘treachery’), Robett aged 8, he wept and pleaded his Lord’s men to take the unnamed infant instead. Learning of his grief they showed some leniency and took the infant, though the nursemaid was required to accompany them to provide milk; her own baby son had been stillborn and she was grateful to have the little Sunderland baby in her care.

Within days of their arrival at the Eyrie, Birgitte (still nameless of course) began to sicken. Some felt it was the altitude, not being of Arryn blood left infants prone to the sharp, thin atmosphere. So Arryn wrote to Ninestars. The Templetons had suffered the death of Ronnel and his Widow was young and childless. Ser Jon himself came to take the baby and the Nursemaid home to the Vale.

The Nursemaid was relieved of her duties formally on Birgitte’s nameday. Allayne Templeton choosing the name of her maternal grandmother. Kevan Sunderland had still never written or any of the household appealed to visit the child.

It mattered not, for Birgitte was a light in the darkness of Ninestars. Loved by all, her sweet, melodic voice could be heard as she ran, giggled and played in those narrow corridors and dusky towers. Allayne was a mother to her as caring, doting and loving as any little girl could have wished. She was taught of all the famous heroes and histories by Allayne, she studied the Seven and practised the faith with Old Kirwan- who served as the Castle Septon. She had various teachers hired to school her in embroidery, or in music- she became an accomplished flautist.

As she matured, she took more time to roam the castle on her own; she found she enjoyed the company of the staff and servants employed at Ninestars as well as those members of House Templeton to whom she owed so much; Ser Jon was dashing and handsome, she’d had a crush on him since she could remember and he always treated everybody fairly. She once dared speak of this to Allayne, whom she called ‘mother’ since she’d never known another. Allayne had found this highly amusing and Birgitte was quite cross that mother had taken her secret with such mirth!

Old Gawarth Templeton was gruffer but never unpleasant and Kennet Nash would always give her an apple if he saw her streaking across the courtyard.

Then there was Harold. Allayne never spoke of Harold but he had always been around. When she was ten or eleven, he’d taken her to Yohn Cowley and they’d spent the afternoon playing and looking after the dogs. After that they spent more and more time together but it was only ever in friendship. Allayne hadn’t liked it and had told Birgitte that Harold was nothing more than a bastard who lay with whores in town and that as a respectable lady it was unseemly that she should be seen with him.

So she had. Mother was right, she would help Birgitte to a noble marriage; she’d told her all about her sister’s weddings and Allayne’s own wedding to her late husband; Harold’s father, people said- but Birgitte would never mention that in front of Mother!

Personality

Bright and energetic, Birgitte has the license of a child still but her beauty and womanly looks belie her more naïve nature. She loves to play and hear music, to read or ride. To sing, dance, dress-up like a true Lady, something she hopes to become one day soon. Recently, she has had her first blood and she blushed a hundred times that evening as Allayne explained the ways of the adult world to her. She is a delightful and bright person to know but with Mother’s help, she is becoming wise to the ways of the world; she knows, for instance, that it is Women and not the Men that have true power. She knows that she has a gift in her beauty and that, if used correctly, that gift wields greater power than any sword.

For now, however, her first instinct is still to be charming and gay; with a light and joyous temperament and an infectious propensity to submit to lively giggles when amused- which is often. Although fast becoming an object of baser desires for men she meets, Birgitte remains largely ignorant of this and tends to take people at face value, so trusting is her nature.

Birgitte can become sad when reminded of the total lack of contact her own family on Sisterton have made since her departure as a babe-in-arms, but her resolve is that she will return to the island one day with a mighty and Lordly husband in tow and show them all what they’d missed. She had a family. House Templeton were her family now.
Birgitte is aware that Ser Jon hopes to earn enough trust from Lord Arryn that House Templeton might be raised to Lordship and this idea pleases her greatly. She has always been treated as kin to the Templetons and any successes they feel she would gladly share in. Anything to please her dear, dear mother…

{202 AC} -Current Time
-Birth of Benjicot Blackwood, son of Bennifer and Olyria
{197 AC} -Marriage of Bennifer Blackwood to Olyria Frey
{193 AC} -Death of Marianne Blackwood, suffering chest pains
{190 AC} -Death of Benjicot Blackwood
{183 AC} -Birth of Roger Blackwood
{181 AC} -Marriage of Calera Blackwood to Manfryd Lothston
{178 AC} -Calera delivers a stillborn babe
-Ser Damon Paege is sent to the wall for murder
-Birth of Roland Blackwood
{177 AC} -Birth of Robert Blackwood
-Melissa Blackwood is set aside as King Aegon IV's mistress
{176 AC} -Marriage of Calera Blackwood to Ser Damon Paege, third son of Lord Kavan of Fairmarket
{175 AC} -Brith of Brynden Rivers
{173 AC} -Birth of Bennifer Blackwood
-Birth of Gwenys Rivers
{172 AC} -Melissa becomes mistress to King Aegon IV
-Birth of Mya Rivers
{170 AC} -Marriage of Quentyn Blackwood to Marianne Tully
{161 AC} -Death of Royce Blackwood, brother of Benjicot Blackwood
{156 AC} -Birth of Melissa Blackwood
-Birth of Calera Blackwood
{151 AC} -Birth of Quentyn Blackwood

Quentyn Blackwood

Age: 51 (151 AC)
Appearance:
A handsome man, tall and still at the height of his physical abilities. Quentyn often could be one for scowls with an eagle's beak of a nose, scattered with scars from prior battles. His brown eyes and grey-shot blonde hair is often slicked back from his face and a beard frames his mouth. Often he wears clothes of fine cloth, though of muted colors after his late wife passed.

Description & biography: Born to Benjicot Blackwood and his wife from the House of Moonton. His childhood was spent as was many lords, playing with his sister, Melissa, and his cousin from his Uncle's marriage to a distant relation of the House Waxley, Calera. When his uncle died from a fall in a tourney when the boy was ten and had just started to work as a squire for his uncle, Benjicott took the child and mother into his own house. Though the young woman left to marry an erstwhile knight leaving Calera behind. For all they were cousins, the three turned their relationship into one of the siblings

Years pass, and the marriage between House Tully and House Blackwood was announced with the union of Quentyn and Marianne. His wife found the marriage beneath her, but she remained close to Riverrun and Quentyn was careful to ply Marianne with favors and ease himself around her temper of willful youth. In truth, they grew to find companionship in each other if not love, but all was well enough. The Blackwoods had gained favor at court with Melissa becoming King Aegon's mistress and the Brackens were appalled at the fact.

It was after their first child that Calera was arranged to wed the knight Ser Damon Paege. A sullen man that both Marianna and Quentyn were uneasy with, but Calera was eager for children of her own and feared spinsterhood despite her young age. He was the third son and well off to provide for her. Benjicot arranged a place at his court, which was refused and the newlywed pair returned to his father's much smaller keep.

After two sons were born in the following years, Quentyn seemed rather satisfied and attempted to let the bed lay cold between himself and Marianne, having no wish for more children as she had born Robert with some pain. Thus he found himself in the fight for his life as he was ruthlessly hunted by his wife and fights erupted throughout Raventree. Quentyn had left Marianne be, refusing himself and her the pleasure of the marriage bed as he worried that another child might well kill her.Marianne did not worry about more children, claiming a babe over winter is hard on any woman and that if Quentyn did not mean to use what the gods gave him to bed her, then she would mount it for a trophy. The woman enjoyed hunting. Much to the amusement of Melissa who had been set aside as mistress that same year. Thus it was the following year that Roland was born, though tragic it was.

Tragic, for Calera, returned with an armed escort and fell weeping into the arms of her aunt. With all his apologies, Lord Paege informed Benjicot that Ser Damon had struck his wife and the child had come too soon. In his fury at that fact, Damon murdered the midwife and was sent to the wall. For how could a father cast death on his son? Gifts of gold and a ward were given over to Benjicot as well, the Paeges had no wish for enmity with the Blackwoods, and their offered gifts were accepted though the Lord of Raventree was keen to find his brother's daughter a good match. It was years later that Lucas Lothston offered up his son and Manfryd and Calera met for the first time. The man was exceedingly the gentle knight and Calera found him most acceptable though her critical words and eyes kept Manfryd's tongue curbed about his dislike for his mother and sister, and his assumed slight taken from the Targaryens. The fathers found it an acceptable match, which Quentyn agreed with. What the young Quentyn did not admit to what that he had taken to horse when the Lord Paege had come with the new and ridden after Damon Paege slaying the man by the sword. Perhaps it was fury or honor the man said nothing of it and left the matter to lie.

After the birth of his fourth and last son Roger, Quentyn had taken Bennifer as his own Squire and offered to do the same with Benjicot Lothston before the boy's untimely accident. Benjicot Blackwood had encouraged the Lord of Harrenhal to accept it but grieving even as their uncle and cousins did Manfryd was loath to let his children leave his side so soon after his wife's death birthing Elayne. The girl had the look of her mother and grew into them. It was in the year 190 AC that the Stranger came collecting both Benjicott Blackwood and the younger Lothston. There was no surprise of Benjicott's death, the man had been growing frail in his years and Quentyn in his recollection of that year would find it some small token of gladness that his father did not have to live to hear the news of Calera's son's death. Now, Lord of Raventree, the Lord took up the rule, and with the aid of his newly knighted son, Bennifer, he implemented a few changes but kept a stubborn hatred for the Brackens for thrusting his sister out of favor. Marianne urged her Lord husband to extend the offer to take Alysanne, Danelle, and Elayne as wards in Raventree. Noting that they had no womanly figure in their life unless one could count the recently returned Jeyne. Again, this offer was refused and with far harsher words. Manfryd needed no aid to raise his daughters and he had no wish for help from the Lord of Raventree. He had remarried and the woman could easily enough mother three girls in the ways of the world.

"The commoner mothering noble girls raised to be ladies. They will allow pigs in the great halls of kings rather than slaughter them." Had been Marianne's comment and Quentyn could hardly disagree. Yet he received a far more interesting letter from Jeyne, the woman urged him to send letters to the girls and keep them in contact with their mother's kin. Speaking of worry that the girls, the two, Alysanne and Danelle, at least with little Elayne following like a duckling, had joined arm in arm against 'The Harlot'. There would be no motherly aside from her, and that Manfryd was a man who would hold out hope for a son but in reality it was unlikely. He spoke too loudly and if he were to ever go silent there would be true trouble or he would be dead. She remarked that the latter was more likely as his health seemed to be failing since Benjicot's death. Using his wife as a measure for the situation, Quentyn kept to the suggestion of Jeyne as Marianne saw it as acceptable.

It was a year later when his wife died, clutching her heart and Quentyn shut himself away from his family. It took Melissa ordering Bennifer to break the door down along with a scandalized Robert for Quentyn to come out and more badgering from his sister and Roger for the Lord of Raventree to resume his life. Though he found it bitter and lacked the vitality without Marianne. The light returned to Raventree when Bennifer married Olyria Frey. The woman was ruthless with how a hall ought to look and succeeded where Melissa failed in knocking the webs from the rafters in Raventree.

Age: 29 (173 AC)

Appearance: Standing at six feet, the man is a literal giant with the muscles to match. His blonde hair is combed back often if not tied in a tail. Clean-shaven with strong features. He is covered in various scars from tournaments past, battles, and rough-housing in taverns. Dressing in mail and leather rather than court finery as often as he can get away with it.

Description & biography: Born the first son of four, Bennifer was always the one to charge into things. He did get better over the years, but in general, the man leaves the thinking to his younger brother Robert, claiming that numbers make his head hurt. Action is the better course to take. A large fellow, he is careful of his strength and often worried about hurting others as a large child would. So while he is bloody-minded and eager for a fight, Bennifer's anger is slow to rise and there is often a joke around the four that their mother must have laid with a Northman rather than their father for Bennifer's size and a hint of the berserk juggernaut within him. Those wise ones do not do more than a joke, however.

Training under his fathers as a squire, his mother arranged his marriage to Olyria Frey and the deal was sealed when his father became Lord of Raventree. Good-natured Bennifer saw little problems with the choice, though it hardly stopped him from visiting the taverns and brothels. Already a bastard, he often argued with his mother over that fact especially when he took the sigil of House Blackwood for his shield upon Quentyn granting him a knighthood. When Marianne died, she found himself regretting the harsh words, and those once frequent visits tampered off and he drank more. It took his mild-mannered Aunt ordering a keg of ale dumped upon him in his bed and a scolding tongue lashing that led him to help her attempt to break down his father's door. In those four years with only Lord and son in residence when Melissa returned to the court in King's Landing that turned Raventree into an air of ale and lack of care for beautiful things. Servants slacked in their cleaning, though repairs were kept up and the food turned out well-made but simple.

Upon the marriage to Olyria though the stout woman became a storm upon the 'squalor' she would be required to live in. The roars of temper between the two shook Raventree to its foundations for a solid year while cobwebs were stripped from the rafters and silk tapestries were hung in the halls. While not a marriage that started in love, they grew into it as Olyria taught her husband how to be a husband and not a meat-eating barbarian whose wife was an axe. After five years of marriage, they produced an heir in Benjicot Blackwood. The young mother and babe looked frail to the new father, it took Melissa's return and promise to stay with the two for Quentyn to drag his son to the tournament. It took one teasing jest from a soldier about their heir's state for the man to find himself filling and digging latrines all night for a week for the men to steer away from the topic.

Age: 25 (177 AC)

Appearance: With his dark hair cropped short and a small beard, Robert is a handsome man. Though his hands hold callouses from swords, the man can more often be found with ink stains on his slim fingers. A willowy man, he lacks the muscles of his brother and often is seen walking the halls of Raventree in long robes with a book or transcript of some records of the castle and the trade, but always with a sword by his side and a frown on his face.

Description & biography: The Young Steward, as the common folk called him, was forever a bookish child and Quentyn considered sending him to become a maester at the citadel. Marianne encouraged this and Robert was sent to the Citadel to study and to see if he would become a Maester in time. There was no lack of sons in the family and Marianne was young enough to bear many more children, which she insisted to do. So shortly after his youngest brother, Roger was born, Robert left to study in the Citadel and excelled at it. In all truth, he was expected to become a Maester, and save for the hand of fate he would be.

Receiving a raven of his mother's death, Robert rode north and found Raventree in disarray. His father secluded himself in his rooms and Robert found that his brother had taken to drink. Roland was stoic in his mourning as a ward of the Freys from the letters that Robert had gotten. As for Roger? Robert tanned the lad's hide after he found his brother trying to duel peasants and turned into a wild thing. Taking over the training of his brother, he tried to pull the family together but failed until the arrival of his aunt. The small folk were thankful for his administration and granted him the title 'The Young Steward'. For his youth when he took up the task of arranging Raventree's trades and taxes, and his kindness to them. What they did not know is that he had taken a lover of the smallfolk, a pretty young widow known as Rosy. With her, he could not return to forge a chain even if he had wanted to. While the family knows about it, none speak of the two small boys Rosy had in the intervening years. A small bit of respect for Robert, as the lack of marriage, was no choice of his.

Age: 24 (178 AC)

Appearance: Slightly shorter than his brother, Roland still cuts an impressive figure with his blonde hair and dark eyes. Often wearing the colors of his house and livery. A knight in truth, he lawfully follows the directive of his liege lord and practices his skill with sword and lance and keeps that physic. A man of few words and a cold demeanor, he was mocked by his brothers for not having any fun and his face matches the humorless eyes of brown over a hawk-like nose.

Description & biography: The fourth son, was born in protest of his father's celibacy. Even as a boy, Roland would admit to any wrongdoing the others did, even if it led to him being punished. It came to him being mocked and his older brothers teasing him in good nature, but not getting even a crack of a joke or temper back. The exact opposite of Bennifer, the lad was sent to his grandmother's family to foster. Though none unstood his self righteous and stubborn insistent to do the absolute right and honorable thing. While ideal for a knight, he lacked the troublesome fun that other boys his age often fell into. There he was a lonely boy and turned even lonelier after his mother's death. "His only lover is a sword." That was what many a Frey would say of Roland and in truth, there was little else to be said. His emotions were locked behind a tight wall and only once did they come out when he returned to Raventree. Finding that Robert had taken a lover and never wed the woman despite her having several bastard children. Then he demanded satisfaction from his brother for this besmirch on the woman’s and their own family name. It took Bennifer putting a snarling Roland in the dirt to stop the duel from going through. Though Roland shunned Robert for his disgrace.

Leaving Raventree often, he patrols the borders of their land and deals harshly with lawbreakers. Hanging and cutting off hands are some of the lighter sentences. More often, he sends men to the Wall. Where they could do service for the penance the gods demanded of their lives. When home, the man is often seen sitting near the weirwood tree reading a book or practicing his sword. Devout and pious, he shuns the Seven and keeps strictly to the Old Ways and the oaths he has sworn.

Age: 19 (183 AC)
Appearance: A handsome young man with shockingly blonde hair inherited from his mother. An oddity for a Tully. Roger has sharp features and a strong nose, though it has been broken at least once. Shorter than his brother, he has a thinner frame and is lankier than anything even Robert can account for. Dressing in fine silks with high necks and tunics that fit him closely, he cuts a handsome figure, just a noble should. Rings glitter on his fingers and in his ear, he often wears a sword that is ornately decorated and is quite obvious about his status as the son of a Lord.

Description & biography: The youngest child of Quentyn Blackwood, Roger is still a boy in many ways. Taken as a squire under Quentyn after his older brother, Bennifer, was raised to knighthood, there had been talks about sending Roger out to be a ward of House Tully, but they failed when Marianne died. Only at the age of ten, Roger was furious with the world and turned that anger into striking out those around him and, in particular, those weaker than him. Only a boy, he was found by Robert trying to bully a peasant into dueling him, having already beaten several boys with practice swords and leaving one with a broken arm. Robert took him as a squire and Roger found the life of pushing papers under "The Young Steward" something of an agony. He delighted in the sword and charming women, though he was crude in both and sometimes cruel. Often he was knocked about by Roland in punishment when the young knight found him picking on their young armsmen and the peasant boys.

Roger finally had tested his luck enough and when he was fourteen, he slaughter a pig herd's piglets for amusement. Robert paid off the man and gave Roger over to Bennifer who took the lad out to the fields to fight against bandits. They talked of anger and rage and the status of being noble-born when Roger was raised to be a knight. Bennifer was satisfied that his brother had turned himself around, for the most part. The large man had his own battle with his temper and had hoped to impart his wisdom on the matter to young Roger. But there was still a well-known kernel of hatred and bitter resentment in the boy. In a fight, the newly made knight would go for slow kills and wounds in tournaments. Mocking others even as he strutted his greatness. A cocky, arrogant youth.

Age: 46 (156 AC)
Appearance: A beauty with a slender frame that attracted a King in her youth, Melissa has aged like wine. With streaks of white in her once dark hair, her face has lines of age that smile and warm eyes carved into it. Dressing in court fashion, the woman cuts an impressive figure with her looks just as she does with her kind-hearted and generous disposition.

Description & biography: Sister to Quentyn and cousin to Calera, Melissa was a happy child. Her only sadness came from late nights when Calera would cry to Melissa about her mother's leaving, though those were few. The two had been raised together as sisters and the bond held for most of their life. Be it whispering about the glorious future they would have, who they would marry, how many children they would have. So unaware of the world.

So when her father took the girls to the court in Kings Landing, Melissa caught the eye of King Aegon IV. Benjicot was less than pleased when the King paid favor to his daughter, but there was something to be said for allowing the game to play out. Granted the Teats, known as Melissa's Teats, by Aegon IV, he allowed his daughter to play as mistress to Aegon until she was passed over five years later. Melissa found herself enjoying court life and befriending many of the lords and ladies she met, even Queen Naerys and the Dragonknight. When her reign as the King's mistress was usurped by a Bracken, much to Benjicot's dislike, Melissa returned to Raventree with her three children. Mya, Gwenys, and Brynden. Her beautiful children were raised alongside Quentyn's sons and though she often returned to court to call on friends there, Melissa never returned to King's graces.

When Calera returned from her time as wife to Damon Paege, it was Melissa who urged her brother for vengeance upon learning how turbulent the relationship was. Just as it was Melissa who smiled upon finding that King Aegon IV had legitimized his bastard children. Though she had no want for the Iron Throne, and knew well her children did not stand to claim the seat, Melissa found it a bitter bit of irony that the man she had once given in to lust for, something she came to regret, was so great a fool. It was shortly after his death that Melissa returned to the Red Keep to keep a Blackwood presence at Court. She accepted no husband that Quentyn offered her and upon her leaving told her brother. "I loved in lust once and had three beautiful children. You would see me wed for happiness brother, but I have happiness and could not provide you a match for advantage." She returned often to visits at Raventree. Her most notable visit was after Marianne's death. Then it had taken her badgering her nephews and brother into a fury to pick up the pieces of their lives, even if it took dumping a cask of ale over Bennifer's head and in private holding Quentyn as he wept.

Ever the caring woman, it troubled Melissa when she heard the words coming out of Harrenhal. She had been raised with Calera and wept for her death, but now with one of her children dead and another missing. The woman keeps a sharp eye and suspects there is more to death and disappearance than can be accounted for by ghosts. Though her hands are full of caring for Bennifer's wife and their newborn son. The large knight had been absolutely beside himself with worry until his aunt had come to care for mother and child and shoo the 'blundering oaf' off to the tourney.

History
Kings of Mountain and Vale
Legends claim that the Winged Knight drove the First Men from the Vale and flew to the top of the Giant's Lance on a huge falcon to slay the Griffin King. Records indicate that Artys I Arryn, the first King of Mountain and Vale, constructed the Gates of the Moon at the foot of the Giant's Lance, where he had defeated King Robar II Royce's army of First Men in the Battle of the Seven Stars.

Artys's grandson, Roland I Arryn, believed that the Gates of the Moon was both inferior to Casterly Rock and the Hightower and strategically vulnerable to raids from the Vale mountain clans. Allegedly inspired by Teora Hunter, Roland decided to build a new royal palace high in the mountain above the Gates of the Moon.

Construction of the Eyrie took place intermittently over generations, and marble was imported from Tarth in the narrow sea, as Roland disliked the appearance of stone available in the Vale. The first maester to serve at the Eyrie was Quince.

The Eyrie was inhabited as a pleasure palace for the Kings of Mountain and Vale during spring, summer, and autumn. The Arryns descend to the larger Gates of the Moon for winter and host a feast when they return to the Eyrie in the spring.

The Conquest
During Aegon's Conquest, Queen Regent Sharra Arryn fortified the Bloody Gate and had her son, the boy king Ronnel Arryn, take refuge in the Eyrie. The fleet of House Arryn defeated that of House Targaryen in a battle in the waters off Gulltown.

After the Field of Fire and the submission of the north, Queen Visenya Targaryen, bypassed the Eyrie's lower defenses by flying upon her dragon, Vhagar, to the castle's inner courtyard. Realizing that the Eyrie's isolated location could not protect against dragons, Sharra submitted to Visenya. Visenya flew Ronnel thrice around the Giant's Lance, and the boy became Warden of the East for King Aegon I Targaryen, the new Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.

Early Targaryens
King Aegon I Targaryen visited the Eyrie during his royal progresses.

During the reign of Aegon's successor, King Aenys I Targaryen, Jonos Arryn imprisoned his brother, Lord Ronnel, and took control of the Eyrie. When Lord Allard Royce's host of loyal bannermen defeated Jonos's rebels below, the self-proclaimed King of Mountain and Vale threw Ronnel to his death through the Moon Door. Aegon's younger son, Prince Maegor Targaryen, rode the dragon Balerion to the Eyrie. To avoid being burned by Balerion's dragonflame, the Eyrie's garrison captured Jonos and threw him through the Moon Door. Maegor hanged all of Jonos's followers from the walls of the Eyrie.

After Elinor Costayne was forced to wed King Maegor I, one of her sons from her first marriage was sent to the Eyrie to be raised.

King Jaehaerys I Targaryen visited the Eyrie on Vermithor during his royal progress in 52 AC. Princess Daella Targaryen died at the Eyrie after giving birth to Aemma Arryn in 82 AC. Lord Rodrik Arryn wanted his wife to be buried in the Vale of Arryn, but Queen Alysanne Targaryen insisted that her daughter be burned and her ashes interred at Dragonstone.

During the Dance of the Dragons, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon flew to the Eyrie on Vermax to secure an alliance between Jeyne Arryn, Lady of the Eyrie, and the blacks of his mother, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. According to Grand Maester Munkun, Jacaerys and Jeyne agreed to an alliance in the castle's High Hall, with Jacaerys promising to have dragonriders sent to the Vale to help protect the Eyrie from enemy dragons.

Jeyne had her first cousin, Ser Arnold Arryn imprisoned in the sky cells of the Eyrie and in the dungeons of the Gates of the Moon after two failed rebellions. After Jeyne died, her preferred heir, Ser Joffrey Arryn, was contested by Arnold's son, Ser Eldric Arryn, and by Isembard Arryn of Gulltown. After a civil war in the Vale of Arryn, Joffrey eventually emerged as Lord of the Eyrie during the regency of Aegon III.

Kings of Mountain and Vale
The Arryns are considered to come from the oldest and purest line of Andal nobility, which they say reaches back to Andalos and possibly Hugor of the Hill.

When King Robar II Royce began to unite the First Men and defeat some of the petty Andal kings during the Andal invasion, the Andals of the Vale united behind Ser Artys Arryn, the Falcon Knight, a native Valeman esteemed amongst his peers as the finest warrior of his day. Robar was slain in the Battle of the Seven Stars, possibly by Artys, and the First Men houses who remained bent the knee and swore fealty to Artys Arryn, the First of His Name, new-crowned King of Mountain and Vale. From that day, the Vale became known as the Vale of Arryn. Songs of the Vale conflate Artys with the legendary Winged Knight, who is said to have slain the Griffin King atop the Giant's Lance. The First Men who did not accept Artys as their king were forced into the Mountains of the Moon, becoming the Vale mountain clans.

The Arryns initially lived at the Gates of the Moon, but over generations they constructed the Eyrie. They often used the Eyrie as a summer pleasure palace, descending to the Gates of the Moon before winter made the Eyrie inaccessible.

The Arryn kings added Pebble, the Paps, and the Witch Isle to their realm. They battled with the Stark Kings of Winter over the Three Sisters in the War Across the Water, which featured King Osgood Arryn and his son and successor, Oswin the Talon, who burned the Wolf's Den. There were bloody battles wherein the Arryn fleet turned back slavers from Volantis, ironborn reavers, and pirates from the Stepstones and the Basilisk Isles. The legendary Lady Alyssa Arryn gave her name to Alyssa's Tears, a waterfall on the Giant's Lance, when she did not shed a tear for her murdered husband, brothers and children.

Aegon's Conquest
During Aegon's Conquest the Arryn and Targaryen fleets fought in a battle in the waters off Gulltown, which resulted in the destruction of the Targaryen fleet and the death of its commanding officer, Daemon Velaryon. Visenya Targaryen, on her dragon Vhagar, burned the Arryn fleet in response. Since both fleets were destroyed, the battle was considered a tactical draw, but a strategic defeat for the Targaryens as they were unable to take Gulltown. For House Arryn the trouble did not end there, since the Sistermen on the Three Sisters revolted after the destruction of the Arryn fleet.

Later in Aegon's Conquest, Visenya was charged with subduing the Vale. Sharra Arryn, Queen Regent of the Vale, ruling in the name of her son, the boy-king Ronnel Arryn, amassed the Vale's army at the Bloody Gate. Visenya, however, flew on Vhagar to the courtyard of the Eyrie to obtain the surrender of the Vale of Arryn. When Sharra returned to the Eyrie she found her son sitting on Visenya's lap asking if he could ride the dragon with her. Once Sharra yielded and bent the knee, Ronnel twice flew with Visenya and Vhagar. The Arryns have since remained Defenders of the Vale and Wardens of the East for the Iron Throne.

Targaryen Dynasty
Queen Rhaenys Targaryen arranged the marriage of Lord Ronnel Arryn to the daughter of Lord Torrhen Stark of Winterfell, in an attempt to knit the new realm together. There are letters at the Citadel which suggest that Torrhen only agreed to this match after much protest, and that his sons had refused to attend the wedding. In 37 AC Ronnel was deposed by his brother Jonos. When House Royce gathered forces against Jonos and besieged him in the Eyrie, Jonos threw Ronnel and his family through the Moon Door. Prince Maegor Targaryen flew to the Eyrie on Balerion, and hanged Jonos and his supporters. House Arryn continued through a cousin, Hubert Arryn.

In 80 AC, during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, Lord Rodrik Arryn married Princess Daella Targaryen, the king's daughter. Daella died in childbirth, giving birth to their only child, Lady Aemma Arryn. Aemma was married to Prince Viserys Targaryen in 93 AC. By the time Jaehaerys called a Great Council in 101 AC, Rodrik was deceased as well, and Lady Jeyne Arryn ruled the Eyrie. However, as she was in her minority in 101 AC, House Arryn played a small role in this council.

Upon the death of Jaehaerys in 103 AC, Prince Viserys was crowned king and Aemma Arryn his queen. During the early years of their marriage, Aemma gave birth to a stillborn son and suffered multiple miscarriages, though she also gave birth to a daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen, in 97 AC. Aemma died giving birth to her second son, Baelon, who followed her to the grave a few days later.

Following the death of Viserys I in 129 AC, House Arryn became involved in the Dance of the Dragons, where Aemma's daughter, Viserys's elder child and proclaimed heir, Princess Rhaenyra, and Rhaenyra's younger brother, Prince Aegon, Viserys's eldest surviving son, fought over their claims to the Iron Throne. Jeyne Arryn supported the blacks and her kinswoman Rhaenyra. At the start of the Targaryen civil war, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, Rhaenyra's eldest son, traveled to the Eyrie to secure aid for his mother's cause. Jeyne kept true to her promise and sent men by sea by way of Gulltown to join Rhaenyra's hosts.

Following the conclusion of the civil war, and the coronation of King Aegon III Targaryen, Rhaenyra's eldest surviving son, at the age of eleven, Jeyne became one of seven regents of the young king. She died in Gulltown of illness in 134 AC.

This led to a succession struggle. Jeyne's will named her fourth cousin Joffrey Arryn as heir. However Jeyne's first cousin Arnold Arryn had been imprisoned for trying to depose her but his son Eldric Arryn pushed their claim. A more distant cousin, Isembard Arryn, head of House Arryn of Gulltown, also pushed their claim. Even though Eldric was eventually killed, Arnold continued to oppose Joffrey. Finally Arnold and Isembard were forced to submit to Joffrey.

Name: Arthyr Arryn
Age: 23 born 179 AC
House/Affiliation: House Arryn
Description & Biography: Arthyr is a mirthful bundle of looking on the bright side. With a coy grin always plastered on his face the young man takes after his father eerily in terms of appearance and bearing. Like Donnel, Arthyr likes to make people laugh and smile while also being a very good listener. He has a tendency to be polite to the small folk and has even helped out quite a few pages or maids in the Red Keep. Arthyr also enjoys heading out into the city itself and to get a feel for life outside the castle walls. He has a group of kids that he taught basic swordplay and even bought them all arming swords when they came of age.

Arthyr is sometimes mistaken for a Lannister with his features, a curse of the golden hair. Luckily the Arryn livery he tends to wear makes up for it. He stands at exactly six feet, and has an athletic build. He has deep blue eyes that tend to always be shining with laughter, smiling eyes they have been called.

When he was twelve, Arthyr was sent to Kings Landing to squire under Ser Gwayne Corbray to train in arms and armor but to also learn the way of politics from the best that exist, the courtiers of Kings Landing. He watched, listened, and took notes on every day in court. He has developed a strong sense of being lied to, or being used, and like his father he has developed a formidable mask. He is hard to read and can go from smiling to blank faced instantly.

Arthyr is a skilled swordsman, not the best, but not the worst but his true strength is on horseback. On a Horse Arthyr is almost unstoppable. Sword, Lance, axe, mace, spear, and even the bow. He spends a lot of his early evenings in the stable training his horse and continuing the bond he has with the animal.

Arthyr's primary weakness is his blunt, stubborn nature. When negotiating he says what he wants and will rarely be moved from his decisions. He's shrewd and uncompromising but he does it with a smile.