Arryk Bulwer

Peter Bulwer - cousin

Victor Bulwer - half-brother

Theon Bulwer - half-brother

Ser **Arryk Bulwer** is a character in Book 1. He is a knight in service of House Hightower of the Hightower. Coming from House Bulwer, he was actually born as Arryk Flowers, before being legitimized by his father, Lord Anthony Bulwer of Blackcrown. His stoic and rough nature causes him to be an outcast most of the time, one who rarely socializes with others, yet he is brave and unquestionably loyal to his liege.

## Backstory

Arryk was born as the illegitimate son of Lord Anthony Bulwer of Blackcrown. At the time, Anthony had no legitimate children of his own, as a past marriage has been childless and unhappy. As such, Anthony was kept around and trained as a fighter, something where he showed great potential with. At the age of fourteen, he was even legitimized, after it became likely that Lord Anthony wouldn't father a trueborn child. As such, he was Arryk Bulwer ever since.

However, as promising as he was as a fighter, he proved himself to be inept as the heir to Blackcrown. After a particular incident in which Arryk nearly killed his father's castellan for insulting his mother as just a common whore, he was exiled to the Free Cities for five years, hoping that it would teach him discipline.

Arryk was sent to Myr, where he witnessed the war against the Volantene, even joining the Second Sons for a while and fighting by their side against the Volantene. He indeed learned discipline there, as well as a sense of duty and loyalty that he had been lacking before. Taming his temper, he developed a firm code of honour. Unfortunately, this code of honour brought him into conflict with the Second Sons when he disagreed with their decision to serve the infamous Nain Anturion of Vaes Khadokh.

Leaving the Sons, Arryk returned once more to Westeros, learning that his father was about to remarry. His bride, Bellea Costayne, was younger than Arryk and over two decades younger than Anthony, but she was healthy and in good shape, which meant it was likely she would give birth to trueborn sons of Anthony.

Nobody was surprised when this indeed happened, as she gave birth to twin sons in the first year of her marriage with Anthony. Now having a trueborn heir for his house, Anthony decided to remove Arryk from his position as the heir to Blackcrown. Due to issues with his new wife, who was not fond of Arryk in the slightest, he also agreed to send him away once more.

This time however, he arranged a deal with his liege, Lord Manfred Hightower. Arryk was sent to Oldtown, to become the old lord's sworn protector. Though unhappy about having to leave his home again, he complied, travelling to Oldtown and joining the Hightower guard. In time, he came to enjoy his new assignment, striking a friendship with Manfred and his sons and becoming a loyal servant of House Hightower.

## Book 1

### Masquerade

During the events of the masquerade at Petyr Vyrwel's estate, Arryk attends together with Lord Hightower. As his sworn guard, he remains close to the lord, which is where he meets Jarek, an old acquaintance, as well as Jaron. Instantly distrustful of Jarek's presence at the masquerade, he shoots down their attempts to get close to Lord Hightower, suspecting them to be there to attack the lord.

While right about an assassination planned, Arryk remains wrong about the role Jarek and Jaron have in it, as they, in fact, are there to protect the lord on orders of the Burned Man. When the real killers, members of the Alley Cats, strike, Arryk is quick to react however and he manages to save Manfred's life. However, he is wounded in the process, taking a knife that was meant for his lord, albeit the armour ends up saving his life.

## Appearance

Arryk is an ugly man, with a broad, thuggish face. Full-bearded and with neck-long auburn hair, he has cold, green eyes and sports several scars all over his body, which give him an increasingly wild look. Albeit a quiet man, he has a loud, unpleasant and commanding voice, which he rarely uses. His physique fits his brutish facial features, as he is very tall and heavily muscled, strong enough to easily wear full plate armour, which he is never seen without while on duty. Most notably about this armour is the helmet, shaped like a bull's head.

## Personality

Arryk's most important trait is his duty. He is loyal and obediend to House Hightower without question and he takes his responsibilities as a knight and protector very seriously. While on duty, he is a man of few words, gruff and stern, lacking a sense of humour even when off duty, albeit he is more sociable when not around his lord or any other member of the Hightower family. Usually seen as a bit dull, people are quick to underestimate him as a mere brute due to his size and quiet nature, though he is actually quite intelligent and highly observant. Lacking social skills and being usually quite content with being the outcast in any group, he is not a man to advance in society, especially as he seems to be lacking genuine ambition beyond being a knight and defender. He is distrustful by nature, sometimes to a degree that is causing problems for his duties.

## Relationships

### Manfred Hightower

As his sworn knight, Arryk is deeply loyal to Manfred Hightower. The old lord has a personal fondness for the Bulwer knight and the two can be considered friends even beyond the duty. There is little Arryk would not do for his lord and he is not afraid to even lay his life down in order to protect Manfred from possible danger. This sense of loyalty and duty is highly appreciated in Oldtown and as such, Arryk is treated with high regards by his liege.

### Jarek

Jarek and Arryk have met in the past and the two have gotten along well enough for the sellsword to consider the knight a friend. That being said, Arryk doesn't remember Jarek with just fondness, but he holds a slightly worse opinion on him. In the end, their friendship was not enough for him to compromise his duty to Lord Hightower, as he was quick to shoot down any attempt by Jarek and his companions to get close to the lord, not knowing that in doing so, he incidentally ended up putting him in danger.