{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.

The Mudds once ruled as Kings of the Rivers and the Hills from a castle along the Blue Fork whose ruins are now called Oldstones. They were the last of the First Men to rule the Trident, reigning for "a thousand years". The Mudds, the most powerful and expansive of the First Men river king dynasties, claimed land as far south as the mouth of the Blackwater Rush.

Tristan Mudd is considered one of the worst Lord Commanders of the Night's Watch.

Tristifer IV Mudd was a great First Men king who was victorious in ninety-nine of his one hundred battles. His allies included Edmure Tully and his sons. When seven Andal kings, including Armistead Vance, banded against Tristifer, he lost his final battle and died in the fighting. Tristifer V was not the equal of his father and the kingdom was destroyed during the coming of the Andals to the riverlands. The Andal victors then fought amongst themselves over the riverlands.

Marq Mudd, known as the Mad Bard, was a would-be king who unsuccessfully rebelled against House Durrandon when the Storm Kings ruled the riverlands. His authenticity as a Mudd is unconfirmed.

House Tully rose to prominence during Aegon's Conquest, when Lord Edmyn Tully led the rebel riverlords who deserted Harren Hoare, King of the Isles and the Rivers, and instead supported House Targaryen. Following the burning of Harrenhal, Edmyn was rewarded with dominion over the riverlands by Aegon I Targaryen as the first Lord Paramount of the Trident. Despite being their new liege lords, the Tullys fielded smaller armies than the Blackwoods, Brackens, Freys, and Vances. House Tully was also not as wealthy as the Mootons, nor considered as prestigious as the Mallisters.

One of Edmyn's daughters married Lord Quenton Qoherys of Harrenhal, while Edmyn himself served two years as Hand of the King to Aegon the Conqueror, the first King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men. King Aenys I Targaryen relied on the Tullys during the rebellion of Harren the Red, and King Maegor I Targaryen was supported by the Tullys and the Harroways against Prince Aegon Targaryen in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye. The Tullys later supported Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen against Maegor. Lord Prentys Tully served Jaehaerys I as master of laws, while his wife, Lady Lucinda Tully, led the household for Queen Alysanne Targaryen.

In 101 AC during the Great Council, Lord Grover Tully spoke in favor of Prince Viserys Targaryen over Laenor Velaryon as the successor to Jaehaerys I. During the Dance of the Dragons, the Tullys ruled over, in name at least, the quarrelsome riverlords. The aged Lord Grover wanted to support the greens, but his grandson Elmo and great-grandson Kermit supported the blacks. Elmo led the riverlords to battle on the side of Rhaenyra during the Second Battle of Tumbleton. His grandfather died soon after, and Elmo himself followed his grandfather to the grave forty-nine days later. His young son Kermit led the Lads and slew Lord Borros Baratheon in the Battle of the Kingsroad. Kermit's brother, Ser Oscar Tully, founded the Stormbreakers.

Riverrun is the ancestral castle of House Tully, the Lords Paramount of the Trident. It is situated in the western riverlands, at the confluence of the Tumblestone and Red Fork rivers. Riverrun is north of Pinkmaiden and northwest of Acorn Hall. The castle sits along the river road, an easy ride which links Lannisport and the crossroads. It is a strong three-sided castle, although not especially large. It is a tenth the size of Harrenhal.Riverrun is bordered on the north by the Tumblestone and on the south by the Red Fork, while on the west a third side faces a massive man-made ditch. In time of danger the sluice gates can be opened to fill a wide moat and leave the castle surrounded on all three sides by water, turning Riverrun into an island and leaving it practically unassailable. It commands a view of many leagues.

The riverlands is a central region of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, consisting of the rich, fertile, and populous areas around the three forks of the Trident and the northern Blackwater Rush. At the time of Aegon's Conquest the riverlands and the Iron Islands were ruled by House Hoare, the Kings of the Isles and the Rivers, although native river kings ruled centuries earlier.

Because of their central position in Westeros and lack of natural boundaries, the riverlands have been a frequent battleground. The people of the riverlands are known as "rivermen" or occasionally "riverlanders", and they are a mixture of hardy warriors, peaceful fisherfolk and devout smallfolk. Their lords have a reputation for being notoriously quarrelsome, and are referred to as "river lords". Noble bastards born in the riverlands are given the surname Rivers.

The riverlands are ruled from Riverrun by House Tully, the Lords Paramount of the Trident. Notable houses of the region have included Blackwood, Bracken, Darry, Frey, Lothston, Mallister, Mooton, Mudd, Piper, Ryger, Strong, Vance, and Whent.

Age: 62 (born 140AC)

Appearance:


Description & biography:

Age: 28 (born 174AC)

Appearance:


Description & biography:

Age: 37 (born 165AC)

Appearance:


Description & biography: