House ArrynHouse Arryn of the Eyrie is one of Great Houses of Westeros, and is the principal noble house in the Vale. Their main seat is the Eyrie, but they have many other holdings, including their winter castle at the Gates of the Moon. Both of these fortifications sit astride the Giant's Lance, the tallest mountain in the Vale, and the Eyrie is considered impregnable. Their sigil is a white moon-and-falcon on a sky-blue field, and their words are "As High as Honor."[1] Their line dates back to the old Andal peoples that invaded Westeros. Usually marrying other Andal nobles, House Arryn to this day has the purest line of Andal nobility.[2]
Recent EventsJon's marriage to Lady Lysa remains a distant one. At first the union had first produced only miscarriages, but finally she gave him a son, Robert, the last Arryn. Robert has been spoiled by Lysa despite the efforts of Lord Jon, and she makes no effort to teach him the ways of lordship. Jon is approached by Stannis Baratheon, who suspects that his brother King Robert has no trueborn heirs, and that Queen Cersei has cuckolded him with her own brother. The two investigate, but Jon is poisoned and dies before they can reveal their revelation. After Jon's death, Tywin Lannister offers to foster Robert at Casterly Rock, a plan which the clueless King Robert supports, but Lysa and Robert flee to the Eyrie. Meanwhile lords sworn to the Eyrie are incensed when Robert Baratheon grants the traditional Arryn title Warden of the East to Jaime Lannister rather than young Lord Arryn. Many of these lords court Lady Lysa; she strings them along to keep them vying for her favor. Despite overtures from Lysa's sister Catelyn Stark, Lysa keeps the knights of the Vale from joining the war against the Lannisters. Meanwhile she gains the custody of Tyrion Lannister, but soon loses it when her captain of guards Ser Vardis Egen loses a trial by combat. When Catelyn leaves the Eyrie she offers to foster Robert atWinterfell, which provokes Lysa to threaten to throw her sister from the Moon Door. Lysa declines to provide escort for Tyrion as he leaves the Vale, hoping he will be killed by the Mountain clans, but Tyrion turns the clansmen to his side. The Vale's neutrality is a cause of contention for all sides. Lysa's nephew Robb Stark bemoans his inability to march through the region, and Stannis wishes for their support as well. Lysa later defies expectation by falling on the outskirts of the Lannister camp. She marries her lover from her youth, Petyr Baelish, with whom she secretly plotted to murder her husband when it seemed Jon might send Robert away to be fostered by Stannis Baratheon. Later Lysa sees Petyr kissing her niece Sansa and flies into a jealous rage; she is killed when Petyr shoves her from the Moon Door. The frail Robert remains the ward of Littlefinger, who rules as Lord Protector of the Vale. Should anything happen to Robert, the heir presumptive of the Eyrie is Harrold Hardyng, a recently knighted squire and the great-nephew of the late Lord Jon thanks to a daughter of his sister Alys's marriage into that House. Baelish plots to wed Sansa to Hardyng, with the eventual goal of liberating Winterfell in her name. Several powerful nobles array themselves against Baelish's rule, calling themselves the Lords Declarant. As the Vale has been untouched by the war, they command a sizable military force; thus far their opposition has been peaceful. |
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HistoryPrior to the arrival of the Andals, the Vale was ruled by the First Men under the Mountain Kings. Ser Artys Arryn slew the last of the Mountain Kings and the Arryns became Kings of Mountain and Vale, according to semi-canon sources some six thousand years ago.[3] They renamed the land the Vale of Arryn, and their kings wore the Falcon Crown. They submitted to Aegon the Conqueror and House Targaryen when the young king wanted to ride a dragon, remaining Defenders of the Vale and Wardens of the East, a title that they have always held since.[4] The Targaryen civil war, the Dance of the Dragons, was a contest of claims between Viserys I's issue from an Arryn wife and a Hightower. Later, during the Blackfyre Rebellion, the House remained loyal to King Daeron II. At the climactic Battle of the Redgrass Field Lord Arryn's van was smashed by Daemon Blackfyre. The descendents of Lord Jasper Arryn have experienced a variety of calamities that have left the House with very few trueborn members. Jasper's successor, Lord Jon Arryn, married several times to try to sire heirs. His first wife Jeyne Royce died in childbirth, their daughter stillborn. His second wife Rowena Arryn, a cousin, died childless of a winter chill. His sister Alys birthed nine children by her husband Ser Elys Waynwood, dying soon after the last one. All nine died or took religious orders before they could reproduce. The war that became Robert's Rebellion started when Jon Arryn refused to surrender his wards Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark to the Mad King. The battle against Lord Randyll Grafton at Gulltown saw Lord Arryn defeat his royalist bannermen. During the war, Jon was one of the principal leaders and his marriage to his third wife Lysa Tully helped secure Lord Hoster as an ally. Unfortunately, casualties mounted among the few remaining Arryns. Jon's nephew and heir Elbert Arryn had been part of Brandon Stark's doomed party that went to King's Landing, andSer Denys, an Arryn of Gulltown and the "darling of the Vale", was killed at the Battle of the Bells. After the war, Nestor Royce ruled as High Steward of the Vale as Jon became Robert's Hand of the King. Lord Jon served for fourteen years before being murdered by poison.  |
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