Aron Dayne

**Ser Aron Dayne** is a knight of House Dayne and the current Sword of the Morning. The youngest son of the late Lord Arthur Dayne is both the wielder of Dawn and a scholar with a great interest in the family’s history. Since the death of his brother Ulrick Dayne, he is one of the regents for his nephew Lord Aemon Dayne.

## Appearance and Character

Ser Aron has the appearance of many a Stony Dornishman, with lighter skin than those descended from the Rhoynar, but still distinguishable from those among the First Men living in the other kingdoms of Westeros. He lacks the physical features that associate the members of House Dayne with the scions of Old Valyria or even their predecessors. His physical build is that of a knight skilled with the blade, but not particularly muscular, as he spends as many hours in the library as in the training yard.

Trained as a knight, thus a warrior and commander of troops, Ser Aron has the skill and bravery necessary for that occupation, but it was never his only area of focus. He is an erudite man, as well, with interest in the matters of history and particularly those of a mystic nature, not only with regards to the Faith of the Seven, or rather, independently from the organised religions, in the first place. Descending from the ancient House Dayne, Ser Aron holds his own considerable share of pride and with all his bravery, he still is not one easily roused, but rather a patient person.

## History

### Early Life

Aron Dayne was born in the year 382 AC to Lord Arthur Dayne and his wife Melara, a kinswoman from the knightly branch of House Dayne that ruled over High Hermitage, as their youngest child, considerably younger than Ulrick, the heir, who by the time of his birth was already a young man. From early on, it was unlikely that Aron would inherit Starfall one day, and so his training that began after a few years focussed on the more knightly aspects of nobility, both regarding personal combat and the leading of troops in battle.

For that purpose, Aron was sent to become a squire for Ser Brynden Yronwood when he was eight years old, in the year 390 AC. During his formative years, training with his knightly master was his main occupation, and in personal combat, he became more skilled than most young men, though not quite reaching such formidable fighters like the legendary Ser Arthur Dayne of the Kingsguard. Besides the handling of the sword, Aron received education in the field of martial command, as well, and there Ser Brynden’s training proved solid, as well, even though it was clear that Aron would always be more of a fighter than a leader.

However, combat and war were not the only areas in which Aron was trained, and in the end, it occurred to him that they would not even be the ones about which he was most passionate, as during his stay at Yronwood, he encountered an entirely different field, as well, or at least so at first glance. The history of Dorne could be easily researched in the library of Yronwood’s Maester, where Aron spent the time dedicated to gaining skills related to statecraft and a basic noble education, and even if it naturally focussed more on the Wardens of the Stoneway, Aron indulged in the few material that could be found on the ancient traditions of House Dayne.

### More than just a Knight

When he became older and entered puberty, not only his skill with the sword, most often a two-handed one, as it was the type most commonly associated with House Dayne, and the lance, reached its peak, but Aron also spent more time in the castle town of Yronwood, where he made explorations of his own. Naturally for an adolescent of his age, that included visits to pillow houses, but quite often, Aron also listened to the Red Priests that from time to time visited the harbour, as remnants of the wave that came from Essos a few decades earlier.

Aron remembered what he had read about his ancestor Lord Edric Dayne, who had ruled during the early Fourth Century, and his childhood with worshippers of the Red Faith, as well as the writings on House Dayne’s traditions, which differed from the regular Westerosi ones in some aspects, and instead were more reminiscent of more Eastern teachings. While he continued to attend the services of the Septons - which as Baelorians were more moderate in Dorne, anyways - Aron took more and more of a liking to the Red Faith of R’hllor, dedicating much of his studying hours to read about it what he could get in Yronwood.

In 398 AC, Ser Brynden knighted his squire, and the newly-dubbed Ser Aron Dayne returned to his home in Starfall, where his brother Lord Ulrick ruled and already was raising his children. With the decent skill he had gained from Ser Brynden, Ser Aron assisted his brother in running the castle, but most of his time was spent with honing his skill at the sword, as well as in the library. Now, at Starfall, the resources on House Dayne’s history and its connections to the Red Faith were far more abundant, and so Aron further concerned himself with those mystic and mythic matters, as well as cultivating a thorough understanding of history in general, so that his skill in learning exceeded that of an average knight.

### Sword of the Morning

When Lord Ulrick died in 405 AC, not only the Lordship of Starfall passed on, but also the title of the Sword of the Morning. While the twelve-year-old Aemon Dayne could take up the former, the latter had to be held by the most worthy knight alive, and so, with all the scholarly pursuits he had followed still an adept fighter, Ser Aron Dayne was given the greatsword Dawn that had been handed down within House Dayne over the generations since its very founding.

As Lord Aemon, however, was not able to discharge of his duties yet, being a minor, Ser Aron took up some of those tasks as part of a council of regents together with the Maester of Starfall and Aron’s older brother.