Murder of Corwyn Arryn

**The Murder of Corwyn Arryn** was an unprovoked attack by the Milk Snakes under the command of Dremond the Devil of the Vale. The loss of Ser Corwyn Arryn, a man widely renowned as warm, friendly, and capable, and the heir to the Vale, was one mourned for years to come, and is still very much felt by the Lords of the Vale of Arryn.

It is believed that Dremond the Devil is the only son of Timett the Tearless.

## Background

The Mountain Clansmen had been largely quiet for many a year now. Not since the days of Lord Denys Hunter had the Clans truly posed a threat, with their last true folly being the Attack on Gulltown. Alas, such is not to say they were silent, no, they were very much consistent in their raiding ways, beginning again just a few years after the Battle for the High Road, but not until 85 AC did they attempt anything so brazen.

## Engagement

###### *An Exert from the Writings of Maester Yorwyck's Work, "The War for the Mountains of the Moon".*

Little is truly known about the murder of Ser Corwyn Arryn.

The commonfolk like to say thousands upon thousands of Clansmen descended upon he and his men, to which he valiantly fought them off, holding them at bay for countless hours, before a craven Clansmen eventually snuck round valiant Corwyn's rear and slashed open the back of his leg, leaving him open to assault on the front, and his death coming soon after. Alas, it is nigh safe to say, this is untrue.

Others, Lords and the sort, like to say that Ser Corwyn did his best to rally his twenty knights, attempting to break free of the Clansmen and ride to the nearest safe haven of the Redfort. Once more, we know not. Though, what has remained a thought on the minds of many a Lord over the years since is the question of where the Redfort patrols were at the time. Yet the Redforts maintain the claim that they were;

*"Elsewhere at the time. The Clans had not been maliciously active for over a decade, how were we to know!"*

Some frown at this, some do not, personally, I think it true. How were the Redforts to know, the Clans had ever been quiet since the Attack on Gulltown, and even that was not truly the actions of the Clans, but instead a rogue boy, a child with sword and malice in hand.

And so, all we know of the engagement are the reportings given us by the man Arthor Arryn sent back to the Eyrie to tell his Lord father of his findings in the midst of battle. Three things we know, those being the following; Firstmost, the Clansmen held in their grasps steel of castleforged make; Secondmost, the Clansmen set a trap, and seemingly knew of the movements of Arthor Arryn and his men; Thirdmost, the Redforts, once more, were nowhere to be seen. Alas, this man died within hours of his arrival at the Gates of the Moon, leaving us with only one source of information able to be tapped more than the once; Ser Rodrik Redfort.

Yet, we must not be quick to judge. Arthor Arryn did march with some five-hundred men of the Vale, and a host of that size is not easily disguised. Arthor Arryn was a hasty youth, and what appeared to him a trap may well have just been misfortune given breath. And finally, the Redforts did charge in upon horseback during the final throes of the conflict.

Finally, to write not even briefly on the great speculation of the Lords and people of the Vale of Arryn would be an injustice to the histories. It is, widely believed, that the Chieftain responsible for the murder of Ser Corwyn Arryn, was Dremond the Devil of the Vale, who would later so come to bring end to Arthor Arryn's life so too. Further still, it is speculated that Dremond the Devil of the Vale is the only born son of the late Chieftain of the Milksnakes, Timett the Tearless, the man responsible for the Strife in the Snakewood, the Battle for the Mountains, and who was eventually defeated in the Battle for the High Road.

## Aftermath

The murder of Ser Corwyn Arryn resulted in much shock and upset throughout the Vale, with many a Lord and Knight calling for the Clansmen to be;

*"Butchered like the pigs they are!"*

As the common cry went. Lord Gunthor Arryn was strangely silent on the matter, that said, Arthor Arryn, Lord Gunthor's secondborn son, was not.