Gunthor Arryn

* 98 AC
* 73 AC

Lord of the Gates of the Moon

Defender of the Vale

Warden of the East

Hand of the King (Retired)

The Red Falcon

Ysilla Arryn

Myranda Arryn †

Zhoe Arryn

Willum Stone

Carolei Arryn

Teora Arryn

Rowena Arryn

Gunthor Arryn was the firstborn son of the marriage between his father, Ser Rymond Arryn, and his mother, Lady Teora Hunter. He was the eldest of two children to be born from their union, with a sister, Melantha Arryn, coming four years after his own birth.

Since, Gunthor Arryn has wed twice and fathered eight legitimate children, and one bastard. On his first wife, Lady Ryella Grafton, he sired his first five children; Corwyn, Arthor, Ysilla, Myranda, and Zhoe. On his second wife, Lady Anya Coldwater, he fathered another three; Carolei, Teora, and Rowena. Further so, in 88 AC, he fathered a bastard son, who he named Willum Stone.

Gunthor was the Head of House Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, Lord of the Gates of the Moon, Defender of the Vale, and Warden of the East. He has also served as Hand of the King.

## Appearance and Character

The Lord of the Vale was a man of fierce looks. Having ever been a tall individual, Gunthor Arryn has spent most of his life towering over his piers, as he has grown to stand at 6'3' tall. Further so, with his build becoming rather an imposing and bull-like make, as he grew, the Lord of the Vale was undeniably a menacing warrior in his youth, and remains to this day a man of urgent attention when he enters a room.

While in his youth his flesh remained unblemished, later life would not see it remain so. Skirmishes with the Mountain Clans, and notably so, those battles and engagements during the War for the Mountains of the Moon, saw a great many scars come to cover his person. In addition, while having once possessed a well-kempt beard and head of hair of a deep brown, with said hair being short even, now, over the past decade and a half, it has for the most part fallen into a noticably unkempt way, as it has grown long and begun to turn to the grey of old age.

Moreover, the Lord of the Vale has rather a penetrating gaze, with eyes of greyish green and the ability for his expression to sour rather fast.

Though known as a friendly and warm man to his kinfolk, vassals, and those who he knows as true men, the Lord of the Vale harbours a strong dislike for many outside the Vale of Arryn, and a stronger hatred for a number more. It is safe to say that those outside the Vale would feel pleased to be treated indifferently by Lord Arryn if they knew him well.

While in his youth having very much been a Lord of progressive policy, even seeking peace in every place he could, his years and experience have much soured the Lord of the Vale's outlook on the world. Where once, despite past insult, Gunthor Arryn sought peace and resolution, as he did in the War for the Bite with Lord Medrick Manderly, nowadays he would be much more like to turn to violence.

Such said, while Gunthor Arryn was a man of peace once, he has never not been a warrior. In his youth he is known to have wielded both a great-axe and a two-handed broadsword, forging rather a terrifying picture for his foes, as he stood clad in armour and weapon in hands.

Though such said, while the Lord of the Vale finds a special talent in waging warfare, he was not hasty to war, or at the very least, has not been so in the past. Yet, to say Lord Gunthor Arryn was not changed by the losses of his sons Ser Corwyn Arryn and Arthor Arryn, only to later be followed by the death of his daughter, Myranda Arryn, one would be a fool in a Lord's clothes.

While having returned to, for the most part, his usual self after his sons deaths and the War for the Mountains of the Moon, the Lord of the Vale is noticeably no longer as welcoming to outsiders as he once was, and further still is easily noted by those who have known him for a long while as not being of the same smile and jovial nature as he once was. Such was only further exacerbated by the treachery of the Reachmen and the Westermen in 93 AC, and then by Myranda's untimely death in 97 AC.

As such, resulting from the losses of his three children and a desire to see power sapped from the Reach and the West, Lord Gunthor Arryn has since rather found comfort in the Seven. While having been raised amongst the Seven and anointed with the seven oils, Gunthor Arryn was never a particularly religious boy nor man, though as the years pass so do we change, and so has Gunthor Arryn found solace in the Seven. Alas, such is not to say he is a paragon of virtue, for as all men, he has his vices.

No longer the hopeful and progressive youthful Lord he once was, Gunthor Arryn was not one to be tested by summer Lords and foul turncloaks, but alas, time shall tell . . .

## History

### 46 - 62 AC Youth and Regency

Gunthor Arryn was not born to be Lord of the Eyrie. No, upon his birth, he was but the firstborn son of his Lord grandfather's secondborn son. And so, while given the opportunities and upbringing worthy of an Arryn for his first eight years, Gunthor Arryn was not seen as the inevitable heir, for even while his uncle, Ser Darnold Arryn, whom later became Lord Darnold Arryn, was unwed, he was still a relatively young man and expected to in time find a wife.

Though, in 54 AC, when Lord Darnold Arryn and his younger brother, Ser Rymond Arryn, Gunthor's father, sallied out to face the Clansmen who had been harassing the people of the Vale and had so brazenly attempted upon the life of Lord Corbray in the Strife in the Snakewood, misfortune struck at the Battle for the Mountains. The Arryn brothers two were cut down, with their heads to be displayed along the High Road as prized jewels. And so, the lordship of the Eyrie passed to young Gunthor Arryn, a lad of eight. As consequence of his youth, his uncle, Lord Denys Hunter, was named Regent of the Vale.

Upon his appointment to the Regency, Lord Hunter wasted no time, promptly gathering a host and making battle against the Clansmen in the Battle for the High Road. Such proved a resounding success, and in doing so, cemented Lord Hunter's position as Lord Regent, warding off other such ambitious Lords as Waynwood and Redfort.

Lord Hunter proved a most capable regent, ensuring the workings of the Vale ran smoothly and without hinderence during his nephew's childhood and adolescence, and ensuring he had the best training at arms, the best maester in the Vale to guide his more learned pursuits, and that he would come to understand that politics are both a dangerous and necessary game. Further still, Lord Hunter much instilled the virtues of peace into his young nephew, virtues that would remain ever-present in his rule for decades to come.

### 62 - 67 AC The Reigns Are Mine

Finally, in 62 AC, Gunthor Arryn reached his age of majority, and so, the regency of Lord Denys Hunter did come to an end. But such was not to say that Lord Denys Hunter was to suddenly return to Longbow Hall and not be of service to his liege. No, for a great many years to come, Lord Denys Hunter served as his nephew's foremost advisor on all things, from internal matters of the Vale to external matters regarding the Thrones of Iron, Winter, Sand, and Salt.

And so, while Lord Hunter was no longer directly ruling the Vale, a great many of his policies and beliefs, were so too shared by Lord Gunthor Arryn, for Lord Denys Hunter had after all, been to him as a second father. One of those policies, was that the Arryns required strong marriages in order to secure the Vale and her vassals. And so, in 62 AC, Lord Gunthor Arryn wed Lady Ryella Grafton, a daughter of the Lord of Gulltown, though not without unanimous support, for Lord Redfort's eldest daughter had been rebuffed in so doing. While some years later, Gunthor's only sibling, the Lady Melantha Arryn was wed to Lord Cecil Sunderland, bring to an end a betrothal of some years, having been previously arranged by Lord Hunter during his time as regent, in order to ensure the loyalty of the Sistermen, as the Bite had been called into question with the independence of the North.

Yet even so, these years were ones of peace and growth. For in 64 AC, a son, named Corwyn, was born to Lord Gunthor and Lady Ryella, the first of what would later become their five children. Then in 67 AC, a second son, Arthor, did so follow. To say Gunthor Arryn was most pleased with his two sons would be a fierce understatement, for not only were two sons the dream of any Lord, but he and Ryella had, as was said by a close friend of Lord Gunthor, *“a marriage happier than most all”*.

### 67 AC The War for the Bite

Alas, in 67 AC, the conflict in the Bite did so reach a boiling point, forcing the young Lord Gunthor Arryn to part from his young family and ensure the Three Sisters did so remain the propert of the Vale and so protected.

Lord Gunthor would come to participate in the third stage of the War for the Bite, and would for the first time raise arms in defence of the Vale. For the War for the Bite had not been a simple one, but instead had spanned many a decade, with the first stage occurring in 21 AC, while the second stage later came in 40 AC, and the final and third stage, followed in 67 AC. It was to the third stage that Lord Gunthor Arryn, a man of one and twenty at the time, did partake.

The Bite had ever been a heated and hostile domain, and so when Lord Benedar Borrell and Ser Hallis Manderly saw to it that violence would return to the Bite in great proportions in 67 AC, Gunthor was left with but a single choice; to act, to defend his vassals. And so setting sail from Gulltown did go the Lord of the Vale, with a Grafton fleet at his back.

The fighting would come to occur on Sweetsister, the most prominent of the Three Sisters, as it was hope to House Sunderland and the town of Sisterton, though the fighting did not prove terribly bloody. While the early stages of the conflict before the arrival of Lords Arryn and Grafton proved rather one-sided, when Lords Arryn and Grafton met Lord Medrick Manderly in battle, the bodies did so begin to pile. But Gunthor Arryn was a man of war, not a man of malice and murder, at least not yet, and so, spying Lord Manderly in the thick of the fighting, he did so call for a truce, and while the fighting did take sometime to reach a tense truce as the two hosts drew back from one another as word spread amongst the men, eventually a peace was so settled.

In the aftermath, and for the peace to be held, Lord Benedar Borrell and Ser Hallis Manderly were both 'sent away' from their respective Sweetsister and White Harbour for a period of a half decade, in order to ensure cooler heads prevailed.

### 67 - 73 AC Peace Returns

Though for nigh on six years no further heirs were born to Lord Gunthor Arryn and Lady Ryella Grafton, such proved of no worry, for the two already had two strong and healthy sons, and the Vale was at peace. These years, despite rumblings and rumours of growing Clansmen activity, of movement in the foothills of the Mountains of the Moon, and of a growing suspicion of what might be happening under everyone's noses, peace and prosperity prevailed.

Though, peace and happiness were not for all. In 68 AC, a most black incident did occur. Lord Kyle Royce, in a mad fit of rage had seen fit to murder his two sons, an action which would see his own House turn against him and bring him for trial at Eyrie, and later execution via the Moon Door. Then so, nigh four years later, Lord Redfort was angered when his thirdborn son was overlooked for the position of Knight of the Bloody Gate, save the truth that he was not the standout candidate.

And so, for the most part, these years were blessed with a selection of tourneys and feasts as the Vale proved most bountiful.

### 73 AC Mother's Mercy Guide Us

Yet 73 AC would not remain a year of peace and prosperity, no, it would instead mark the beginning of the dark turn that was headed toward the Vale of Arryn and its Lords and people. The fourth moon of the year would bring both blessing and curse to the ears of the Eyrie and the Vale. For in that very moon, both did the birth of Ysilla Arryn, the thirdborn child and firstborn daughter of Lord Gunthor Arryn and Lady Ryella Grafton occur, that so too did the failed Attack on Gulltown take place.

It was in the aftermath of the failed attack, when word reached the ears of Lord Gunthor of the harsh, and in his opinion, unnecessary punishment brought unto the young Ruryk of the Metal Men, at the hands of Lord Carth Grafton, that against the advice of his dear and true uncle, Lord Denys Hunter, did Lord Arryn issue an edict through the Vale, declaring it to be the Law of Mother's Mercy.

Gunthor deemed it so that there were but a select few ways by which Clansmen could be executed, in order to prevent the brutality that did come unto Ruryk of the Metal Men taking place again, for Gunthor saw such cruelty to be unbecoming of the Lords of the Vale, and of far lesser calibre than was the worth of the Lords and nobility of the Vale.

Though Gunthor's views were not held by all in the Vale. Most vocal were Lords Redfort and Moore, seeming to take personal offence. But not to the Law of Mother's Mercy did they take issue, but instead to Lord Gunthor Arryn 'over-reaching' as they stated many a time, arguing that he was going beyond his rights and powers as their liege lord. Alas, thankfully, for Lord Gunthor, their concerns were not held by the majority and so were eventually brought to quiet with the promise of an Arryn-Redfort marriage.

### 73 - 83 AC The Road Grows Dark

The period of 73 AC to 83 AC, while seen by outsiders as a time of peace for the Vale, was anything but. While the Second Conclave of the Clans had failed to achieve anything of true note, and Ruryk the Ruin of the Metal Men had met a swift end at the hands of Lord Carth Grafton, the Clans did not remain quiet forever.

With the Battle fort he High Road having been almost some twenty years prior by 73 AC, the Clans' numbers had replenished, and so by 74 AC, the frequency and strength of their raids began to increase. It was not a sudden increase, but it was enough that tensions in the Vale began to rise gradually over the nine year period from 73 AC to 83 AC. Where 67 AC through 73 AC had seen tourneys and feasts aplenty for the nobility of the Vale, these years would not. Lords and Ladies gradually began to feel less certain when travelling the Vale, and a select number even opted to remain within the safety of their keeps.

And so this uncertainty was soon paid in kind. Come 75 AC, the same year that Gunthor and Ryella's second daughter, Myranda Arryn was brought into this world, so too did come a fierce and unforgiving winter. Maegor's Breath, as it is commonly known, came to sweep across the Vale. First to freeze was the Three Sisters, and despite Lord Sunderland's best attempts, none of his ravens proved strong enough to make the journey to the keeps of the Vale mainland. Some two moons later, the Vale of Arryn felt winter's cruel embrace. Nigh all movement throughout the Vale came to halt in these next months. The mountain passes filled so terribly with snow even the most expert journeymen had trouble, and travels that would have taken a day in other season came to take five. The Lords of the Vale stayed warm inside their castles and waited. The people of the Vale starved, froze, and died, coming to find rather a penchant for looting and spilling blood. Yet there was little the Lords of the Vale could do.

Though in 78 AC, the same year that did come the birth of Zhoe Arryn, the winter finally broke. But in its wake, came an outbreak of Dragonblight most fierce. Some came to blame the Crownlands, others say Northerners engineered it, while some still turned to the Clawmen for suspect. But alas, the saying that became popular within Gulltown, where a great number of bodies, both living and dead, would come to be burned was that “them Targaryens did it, the Gods are angry with them folk”.

Alas, the people of Gulltown would be forced to - for the most part - suffer this plague on their lonesome. When word of the plague reached the Eyrie, Lord Gunthor Arryn made the pragmatic choice, and ordered Gulltown shut off from the rest of the Vale. Ships were burned, merchants cried out for their lost profits, the gates were barred, men from Runestone and Ironoaks were stationed outside the walls of Gulltown with pikes, and the plague did not spread.

At least, it did not spread until 79 AC. Through the Riverlands it came, that much was undeniable. Whether through trade or what have it, it came. Wickenden, the Redfort, they reported it first, and then so it spread like wildfire, for the next year, the Vale whole would suffer a most grave reaping.

But in 83 AC, the call for more Vale blood came. This time it was not the Clansmen, nor a winter, nor a plague, but rather King Rhaegar I Targaryen, and the ambition for a Dorne submissive, that came a calling in blood and war.

Lord Gunthor Arryn, now seven and thirty, and having seen five children borne by his Lady wife, was reluctant to heed the call, but knew it his duty, and so the men of the Vale were called upon and marched to Gulltown.

### 83 AC Mocked By a King

This great King of ours, known for his fierce and unwavering rule over those kingdoms still apart of the Iron Throne's dominion, were, as it was whispered in his day by some, "enthralled to the throne", and so when the call came in 83 AC, the men of the Vale marched. Lord Gunthor Arryn had always foremost been a man of peace, and while he saw no true place for the knights and men of the Vale in an war for Dorne, he wished even less so to bring conflict to the kingdom of the Vale of Arryn itself.

So the men did march, and from Gulltown they did sail. Alas, the Vale of Arryn was significantly further from the borders of Dorne than the Stormlands and the Reach, and so much and more of the war did so occur before the host from the Vale did even make land. And then when eventually they did, the King on the Iron Throne saw fit to, as a great many of the Lords and knights of the Vale saw it, refuse them opportunity for glory and combat, as the Fourth Dornish War had been ended with an accords of peace between the two illustrious monarchs. The isolationist Prince of Dorne wanted nothing more than to hide behind his closed borders, and the Stern Dragon was too worrisome of his collection of kingdoms remaining to press on any further.

But to say the Valemen did not leave their mark, despite the efforts and commands of Lord Gunthor attempting to stop them, would be but a falsity in the history books of a maester in service to the Iron Throne, mayhaps even one of the Lords within the Vale itself. For when word reached Sunspear of this peace of cuckoldry, the men of the Vale raged and rioted, defiled and drank, abused and assaulted, and made certain to leave a physical eyesore upon the Dornish coast, before so departing home once more.

### 84 - 85 AC Unsafe Is Home

A brief respite. Such is how many in the Vale look upon this period of time. Caught between the Fourth Dornish War and the thick of the War for the Mountains of the Moon, many of those highborn enjoyed as best they could a time of relative peace, of family life, of being young, of bedding maidens, of sparring, of drinking, of fun. Though while the highborn pleasured themselves, as they always do, the lowly amongst us suffered. The people of the Vale were evermore becoming subject to greater Clansmen raids, and so, in 85 AC, such tensions would come to a head.

### 85 - 88 AC The War for the Mountains of the Moon

Ser Corwyn Arryn, the heir to the Eyrie, to the Vale of Arryn, to the legacy of Lord Gunthor Arryn, would meet his end in 85 AC. The Murder of Corwyn Arryn proved the first noteworthy act of the War. With the Clansmen having been lying in wait, the Redforts absent, and Ser Corwyn and his companions barely armed, there was no contest. Soon enough so too came the death of Arthor Arryn, as he attempted to seize justice for his late brother. Once more, the Redforts were absent.

At this, Gunthor Arryn is said to have lost himself, having fallen into a shell for the two days after, refusing to meet with any, even his wife, save his commanders already within the Eyrie. Ser Artys Upcliff, a man who had been close friends with both of Gunthor's now deceased sons proved one of the select he spoke with, and in large part, alongside the aged Lord Denys Hunter, was forced to relay information to the court of the Eyrie and the Lords of the Vale.

But such would not last long. Soon enough, Lord Gunthor Arryn departed from his isolation and declared so;

*"High As Honour will have no place in this war. Raise the Red."*

And so it was. The men of the Vale would be split between Two Great Hosts.

Lord Gunthor Arryn would lead the First Great Host, made up of men from the Houses of Arryn, Belmore, Corbray, Hersy, Coldwater, Egen, Elesham, Lynderly, Pryor, Wydman, and a range of other lesser Houses, with these men coming to see noteworthy conflict in the Red Parlay, Slaughter of the Villages, Struggle for Strongsong, Battle of the Coldwater, and the Massacre in the Mountains of the Moon.

While Lord Robar Royce would lead the Second Great Host, made up of men from the Houses of Hunter, Redfort, Royce, Templeton, Waynwood, Hardyng, Melcolm, Moore, Shett, Tollett, Upcliff, along with a ranger of other lesser Houses, with these men coming to see noteworthy conflict in the Battle for Ironoaks and the Slaughter Between the Four Forts.

The war proved long and bloody, taking a grave toll on both sides, with thousands of Valemen and Clansmen losing both their lives and their minds to the war. In its aftermath, a tense peace settled over the Vale of Arryn and the Mountains of the Moon, as neither possessed the strength nor the willpower to push on any further, and so there was no other option. The Lords of the Vale returned to their castles, while the people returned to their fields and menial lives, and the Clansmen retreated deep into the Mountains of the Moon. An odd and eerie silence settled over the Vale for a time.

### 88 - 93 AC Respite and Quiet

With the war over, and a peace having returned to the Vale, Gunthor Arryn returned to home. But it was an empty home, a hollow place. He had known for some time that his Lady wife, and longtime love, Ryella Grafton had thrown herself from the Eyrie in 86 AC in the wake of the loss of their sons, but until now, he had not had to deal with the reality of such a thing. Further still, his Lord uncle's death in that same year as Ryella's, the death of a man who had been a father to Gunthor all his life, such was too much loss for one man to bare. Where a hollow and hurting man already existed, now that man broke.

For a full year, Gunthor Arryn hid away within the Eyrie, allowing but a select handful of people to see him. It was whispered, for a time, that he had gone mad, and for another time, that he had starved himself to death, or even flung himself from the Eyrie as his Lady wife had done but a few years earlier. Had it not been for the fact that all the Lords of the Vale had suffered so dearly in the War for the Mountains of the Moon, they may well have taken up arms against one another in an attempt to crown someone new the Lord of the Eyrie and Defender of the Vale.

But alas, in 89 AC, Gunthor Arryn returned from his isolation. Still to this day, many question why in the second moon of 89 AC he did so come back to the world. Some say it was due to the actions of Ser Artys Upcliff, others whisper the serving maid who had been bringing him his food had now bored him, others still whispered that it was simply that he had grown tired of being locked away with his bastard son, Willum Stone, a boy fathered on the daughter of a Clansmen during the war, and born during the year prior. Few others still murmured that he had grown lonely without the company of a proper lady, and needed . . Satisfaction. The truth, remains a mystery.

Though some moons later, once Lord Gunthor had regained himself and his wits, he did so announce to the Lords of the Vale that he intended to wed Lady Anya Coldwater in a small ceremony at the Eyrie. All Lords were invited, but were encouraged not to bring excessive entourages. Lady Anya had long been renowned for her beauty throughout the Vale, and some whispered that she had been suggested by Ser Artys Upcliff, who had spent time at the Coldwater after his injury in the Battle of the Coldwater, as he had seen her firsthand and thought her beauty may serve well to bring back Gunthor's old self. Few others still, being a shameless and indecent sort, these were, suggested, for but a short while, that Ser Artys had gotten the young Coldwater girl with child during his time there, and now sought to cover up the dishonour, though there remains whatsoever no proof to this statement, and it has largely died out in the decade since its birth.

A year later, in 90 AC, the first child to be born of the union of Lord Gunthor and Lady Anya was a babe whom they named Carolei Arryn, and so with Carolei's birth, came a demand from his young wife; send Willum Stone away. The boy would find his new home at the Redfort, though in the years to follow, Gunthor would come to make the journey fairly regularly to see his son, while also sending letters and gifts. Later, In 91 AC, Carolei would be joined by a younger sister, Teora Arryn, while in that same year, Ysilla Arryn, was sent to Strongsong to wed the heir to House Belmore.

### 93 AC Turncloaks and Dishonour

93 AC proved a year of many emotions for House Arryn. With Lord Gunthor's secondborn daughter, Myranda Arryn, having wed Prince Viserys Targaryen earlier that year, House Arryn was riding high at the start of the year. But when King Rhaegar I Targaryen met with the Stranger that same year, war came to the Targaryen realm once more. Civil War has never been a pretty thing, and the same can very much so be said for the Rosegold Rebellion.

The treacherous whorespawn named Tyrell and Lannister were swift in their assault upon the King's Peace. From the Grassy Vale, to the Blueburn, to Tumbler's Fall, to Longtable, to the Goldroad, and to Bitterbridge, the rebels saw victory, and claimed success. Lord Tyrell, an ambitious upstart born of ambitious upstarts, even saw fit to crown himself King of the Reach, spiting the House that had so named his worthy of Paramouncy over the Reach.

But such a wave of success would not last forever. Lord Gunthor Arryn had been fast to raise a host and had so marched down the High Road with ten thousand men, a host later joined by those Rivermen defeated at the Battle of the Goldroad. The combined forces of the Vale and the Riverlands, under the command of Lord Gunthor Arryn, reached the city of King's Landing just two days prior to the arrival of the treacherous Westermen. Lord Gunthor had spared no time, provisioning the city as best for a siege as he could, calling in the people from the countryside, and preparing the city for the inevitable assault upon its walls.

With the King away, and those Targaryens still within the city striking Lord Gunthor as rather useless, he was swift to take command of the defences and law within the city, all in the name of his sweet daughter, the Queen, Myranda Arryn, of course.

And so it came. The Westermen proved brazen and hot for battle, just as Lord Gunthor had predicted. The walls, he knew he could not hold, and so instead, Lord Gunthor allowed their entry into the city, falling back to the Red Keep so as to feign a failed defence, though fighting the Westermen for every inch they allowed them. The trap was set.

With the path to the Dragonpit having been left unguarded so as to lure the Westermen toward it, for green boys and new knights were always ever so ready to claim crown and glory for themselves, the men of the Vale and the Riverlands waited, holding strong at the Red Keep, as they had planned. Then it came, that mighty roar, for with the aid of the Dragonkeepers, the lines of the Westermen were sent into chaos. Flame and death reigned that day, and so as they took hold, so too did the forces under the command of Lord Gunthor Arryn sally out and smash through the Westermen, forcing them from the city and gifting the Stranger with those dumb enough to put up a fight.

Sometime later, a peace was concluded between King Viserys I Targaryen and whorespawn turncloaks of the Reach and the West. Much to Gunthor's dismay, he was not included. When word reached Lord Arryn of the appointment of the traitors and false men to the Small Council, it is said he raged and roared so fiercely half th city could hear him so. Soon enough, the Valemen departed the city for the Vale, though Lord Arryn did leave a few hundred knights and men-at-arms to guard his daughter and her interests.

### 93 - 98 AC If Only We Stayed at Home

The Rosegold Rebellion, or the Traitors' or Turncloaks' Folly, as Lord Gunthor likes call it, did naught to better the foul mood of Lord Gunthor. The Rebellion had confirmed for Gunthor much of what he had long thought of those outide of the Vale; that they were men of low worthy and lacking any true mettle. The Reachmen and Westermen had earned themselves a long-lasting and hateful place in Gunthor's heart, while those Riverlords who had proven themselves to be men of worth and high calibre had earned mild praise in the mind of Lord Gunthor, though he would not be forgetting their inability to crush the Lannisters on the Goldroad anytime soon.

As such, return to the Vale and the Eyrie came as a much sought after and needed respite for Lord Gunthor. In the years to come, Gunthor would sire for himself a sixth daughter, a Rowena Arryn, being born to Lady Anya Coldwater in 95 AC. Though, much to Gunthor's upset and anger, Rowena's birth came with Anya's death. Childbed fever had taken the second Lady of the Eyrie to stand beside Lord Gunthor, and in the wake of her death, the man that Lord Gunthor Arryn had been before the War for the Mountains of the Moon is said to have vanished from this world completely so.

While his marriage to Lady Anya had not been one of love, he had, over the years they had been together come to hold affection for her, and to rely on her constant presence, and so, when she passed, it was only natural that the Lord of the Vale, now nine and forty, did so take a mistress. One of his late wife's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Dalla Blackwood, would come to warm the bed of Lord Gunthor Arryn, though such was purely as a physical companion, even if Lord Gunthor saw no need to keep such private.

Further still, during the years following the Traitors' Folly, Lord Gunthor increasingly found solace in the Seven. Following the losses of Corwyn and Arthor, the loss of Ryella, the War for the Mountains of the Moon, and now, Anya's own passing, Gunthor had found himself evermore needing a constant in his life, and so the Seven did gradually come to fill that hole.

Then in 96 AC, a raven from the Capital came. Lord Gunthor Arryn had been summoned to King's Landing, to take up the post of Hand of the King. Prince Aemon Targaryen was dead. Lord Gunthor served the King faithfully for some moons after the passing of Prince Aemon, growing to hold rather a special animosity for Ser Lucien Hightower, and Lord Tytos Lannister. The latter of the two most especially. Such said, Gunthor did find Lord Urrathon Redwyne to be a skilled coin-counter, though found it rather challenging to separate his opinion of Lord Redwyne from that of the rest of the Reach. Further still, Gunthor did find Lord Commander Aethan Velaryon to be a commendable man, while so thinking this Master of Whisperers, Arynno the Essosi to be rather a foul upstart, but an effective man.

Then, in 97 AC, calamity rocked Lord Gunthor Arryn, the Small Council, and the Kingdoms. Queen Myranda Arryn, had breathed her last. The Curse of Maegor had taken her in her childbed, along with her sons, Prince Valarr Targaryen, the boy lived only a few days.

Gunthor was quick to place blame. Everyone from Ser Lucien Hightower, to Lord Urrathon Redwyne, to Lord Gwayne Tyrell himself, and that whore's son Lord Tytos Lannister, and all the way to King Viserys himself. Gunthor had made demands of Viserys to allow him take his daughter's body home to the Vale, but had so been denied by the boy King. Lord Gunthor Arryn soon left the Vale with his entire retinue, and those men he had left with Myranda some years prior. To say the last words he exchanged with the King held anger would be but an understatement, and a considerable one at that.

Since his return to the Vale once more, and the passing of his eldest daughter's husband, in early 97 AC, Lord Gunthor Arryn has focused his time on ruling his realm and ensuring peace reigns throughout the Vale. His focus has also further been given to his three young girls, Carolei, Teora, and Rowena, though to say he feels pain over those children lost when with them is once more, but an understatement, and so, much of his focus instead goes to Ysilla as he prepares her as his Heir Apparent, while so too does his attention go to his squires, Roland Arryn, and Lord Archibald Hersy, and so too his pages, Oswin Blackwood, and Hendry Darry.

Now, with the death of the last dragon, with Balerion the Black Dread now gone from this world, Lord Gunthor Arryn has travelled to King's Landing once more. With anger in his heart, and ambition in his mind, despite his age, Lord Gunthor remains a healthy and hearty man. Only the Gods know how the Game of Thrones will play out.

## Recent Events

98 AC

* Lord Gunthor Arryn held a meeting of the Lords of the Vale and their retinues at the Gates of the Moon.
* Lord Gunthor Arryn and the House of Arryn then travelled to King's Landing, for the funeral of Balerion the Black Dread.

## House Arryn

###### *The Lineage of House Arryn*

* Hubert Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, b. 96 BC, d. 50 AC
* m. Ysilla Royce, Lady of the Eyrie, b. 98 BC, d. 52 AC
	+ Darnold Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, b. 18 AC, d. 54 AC
	+ Ser Rymond Arryn, b. 23 AC, d. 54 AC
	+ m. Teora Hunter, b. 26 AC, d. 89 AC
		- **Gunthor Arryn**, Lord of the Eyrie, b. 46 AC
		- m. Ryella Grafton, Lady of the Eyrie, b. 46 AC, d. 86 AC
			* Ser Corwyn Arryn, b. 64 AC, d. 85 AC
			* Arthor Arryn, b. 67 AC, d. 85 AC
			* Ysilla Arryn, Heir to the Vale, b. 73 AC
			* m. Balman Belmore, Heir to Strongsong, b. 70 AC, d. 97 AC
				+ Amanda Belmore, b. 93 AC
			* Queen Myranda Arryn, b. 75 AC, d. 97 AC.
			* King Viserys I Targaryen, b. 77 AC.
				+ House Targaryen
			* Zhoe Arryn, b. 79 AC
		- m. Anya Coldwater, Lady of the Eyrie, b. 70 AC, d. 95 AC
			* Carolei Arryn, b. 90 AC.
			* Teora Arryn, b. 91 AC.
			* Rowena Arryn, b. 95 AC.
		- w. Nella of the Milk Snakes, b. 59 AC
			* Willum Stone, b. 88 AC
		- Melantha Arryn, Lady of the Three Sisters, b. 50 AC
		- m. Cecil Sunderland, Lord of the Three Sisters, b. 42 AC
			* House Sunderland
	+ Ser Ronnel Arryn, b. 24 AC, d. 67 AC
	+ m. Lorra Melcolm, b. 28 AC, d. 56 AC
		- Gella Arryn, Lady of Longwake, b. 56 AC
		- m. Eldric Egen, Lord of Longwake, b. 57 AC
			* House Egen
	+ Denys Arryn, Maester, b. 27 AC, d. 90 AC
	+ Ser Jasper Arryn, b. 29 AC, d. 86 AC
	+ m. Janyce Lynderly, b. 26 AC, d. 69 AC
		- Steffon Arryn, b. 46 AC, d. 59 AC
		- Samwell Arryn, b. 50 AC
		- m. Marla Waxley, b. 54 AC
		- Symond Arryn, b. 53 AC
		- m. Sharra Upcliff, b. 58 AC
			* Ser Jasper Arryn, b. 77 AC
			* Perianne Arryn, Lady of Runestone, b. 79 AC
			* m. Gerold Royce, Lord of Runestone, b. 76 AC
				+ House Royce
			* Roland Arryn, b. 83 AC
	+ Ser Jon Arryn, b. 31 AC, d. 49 AC

## Retinue

**Posts Within the Eyrie:**

* Castellan: Yorbert Donniger
* Captain of the Guard: Ser Artys Upcliff
* High Steward of the Vale: Lord Cecil Sunderland
* Household Knights of Note: Ser Symond Arryn, Ser Jasper Arryn, Ser Morton Elesham, Ser Qyle Wydman, Ser Triston Ruthermont, Ser Symond Shett
* Lord's Mistress: Lady Dalla Blackwood
* Lord's Pages: Oswin Blackwood, Hendry Darry
* Lord's Squires: Roland Arryn, Lord Archibald Hersy
* Maester: Eustace
* Master-at-Arms: Ser Lucas Longthorpe
* *Keeper of the Gates of the Moon:* Old Ser Creighton Coldwater
* Blacksmith: Jon of Greentown
* Kennelmaster: Ser Lyman Hersy
* Maester: Oswell

**Posts Within the Bloody Gate:**

* *Knight of the Bloody Gate:* Ser Dunstan Belmore

## Quotes by Gunthor

***“High as Honour will have no place in this war. Raise the Red.”***

Gunthor Arryn to the Court of the Eyrie in 85 AC, two days after he received word of the death of his second son, Arthor Arryn.

## Quotes about Gunthor

***"I am sure I speak for most of us when I say that he has never been afraid to voice his opinions and would have made us aware of it if he thought his pleas went unheard."***

Lord Urrathon Redwyne to the Small Council in 98 AC.