Edwyn Tarly

Investigator

Edwyn Tarly is the head of House Tarly and the current Lord of Horn Hill.

## Biography

Edwyn Tarly was born the eldest son of Lord Franklyn Tarly and Lady Melara Caswell in the year 344 AC. It was a difficult period for House Tarly, and his father was given to rage in this period, as he learned his sister Alysanne had been bedded by Prince Roland Baelish, and he had gotten on her a bastard. House Tarly had been gravely dishonored, and Lord Franklyn spoke few words to his sister until his death.

Though Edwyn would be only one year old when his bastard cousin was born, the event became formative in a sense. His father’s visceral reaction would be memorable, moreso since the Lord of Horn Hill would explode upon hearing the names “Alysanne”, “Rolland”, or “Harold.” It taught his heir to respect and to jealously guard the family, traits he would carry forward with aplomb.

At two years of age his mother bore him a brother, Bryan, with whom he would be close. The birth proved extremely taxing on Lady Melara, however, and she would not bear another child for some time.

Young Edwyn would be trained in the handling of greatswords, naturally, so that one day he might wield the Valyrian steel blade Heartsbane. Their master-of-arms, Ser Hugh Hunt, drilled him mercilessly-- driven on by Lord Franklyn-- and though it was difficult and in many quiet moments Edwyn would allow the tears to overcome him, he paid for his skill with bruises and blood. One day Ser Hugh caught him sobbing and reported it to Lord Franklyn, and Lord Franklyn ordered him to be flogged with a switch that Edwyn chose from the willow trees in his mother’s garden. His father ordered the withholding of his knighthood for a full year after the event, declaring that knights did not cry. He would not cry again for thirty years.

By the age of sixteen he learned of his betrothal to Lady Rylene Fossoway, a fine match by most political calculus. He would first meet Rylene on their wedding day two years later, in 362 AC. The wedding was mostly a happy event, despite the awkwardness not only of their meeting but of Lord Franklyn’s overbearing acts throughout the night. Mercifully, that did not extend to the bedding. The two would not have a child until two years later, in 364 AC, when Marq Tarly was born.

As Lord Franklyn aged and to some extent mellowed, his heir was allowed to grow into the role of lord. His young family grew another member with the birth of his second son, Owen, in 366 AC. Ser Edwyn ventured to each of the keeps sworn to Horn Hill in that year, leaving his wife with the two children. It was among the first times he was out from beneath the oppressive control of his father, and he and Bryan hunted, fished, and drank in their freedom for as long as they could make it last-- even men tasked by their lord to keep the boys in line allowed them leeway, aware of their day-to-day.

Lord Franklyn grew ill in 368 AC, confined to his bed by Maester Willem. He would never leave it as fever consumed him, and before the end of the year Lord Franklyn would perish. Thrust into the role of Lord of Horn Hill, Lord Edwyn proved equal to the task. He arranged a lavish funeral for his father, little as he loved the man, and began to arrange betrothals for his own children and his brother’s. Geography was his chief consideration, leading to an arrangement with Lord Merryweather to wed a daughter to Marq when they came of age. Another betrothal would shortly be arranged with Lord Peake, between his daughter Emma and Edwyn’s second son, Owen.

Statecraft was not the easiest thing for Lord Edwyn, who learned his father’s characteristically blunt mannerism. It was war that taught him subtlety, but also a sense of assuredness. Lord Tarly joined his men in the Subjugation of the Ironborn, a war he saw no reason for. The senselessness of the conflict was capped by the inconclusive peace, which saw the Ironborn getting everything they wanted and the unheard-of marriage of an Ironborn wench to the King on the Iron Throne. Exposed to men outside of Horn Hill, however, including many who saw this as a great victory for King Edmund, taught Lord Edwyn to keep his opinions to himself.

Once home, however, Lord Edwyn reflected on the fraught history of the Baelish dynasty. Now Prince Roland had dishonored House Tarly, and his kinsmen Petyr II and Edmund had provoked a pointless war with the Ironborn. Their royal house changed wildly from the pious to the impious, from wealth to borderline ruin. He privately deemed it an unstable dynasty, but outwardly remained loyal to his liege.

Three years later Lady Rylene bore a son to him, called Androw. His brood grew again in 377 AC, four years later, with the birth of his youngest daughter, Bethany. Life in Horn Hill proceeded as normal. His brother Bryan bore six children with his wife of Rowan. The laughter of children echoed through the halls of Horn Hill as the massive next generation of Tarlys grew. It would be the happiest time of Edwyn’s life.

In 381 AC war broke out again as Brynden Baelish revolted against his kinsman and King, Edmund. Lord Edwyn and his sons, Ser Marq and Ser Owen, rode to war with Horn Hill’s levy. They linked up with Lord Tyrell’s host, and fought several skirmishes against the rebel Hightower men. The siege of Highgarden broke, and the rebel Reach lords split between those who returned to Oldtown and those caught on the north.

As the loyalists regrouped and prepared for their next move, Ser Marq and his betrothed, Lady Danya Merryweather, wed at the sept in Longtable. The event was modest but joyous, and by the end of 384 AC Lady Danya would bear a son to Ser Marq. The babe would never know his father, however, as the army prepared to chase the rebels to Bitterbridge.

This battle proved the most devastating event in Lord Edwyn’s life. At the Battle of Bitterbridge Owen, his son, was struck by an arrow in the din. Ser Marq, the heir to Horn Hill, fought through the rebels to his stricken brother but was mortally wounded in the effort. The brothers were found after the battle lain beside each other, Marq still loosely grasping his dented, bloody sword and Owen clutching at the shaft of the arrow that killed him.

Lord Edwyn was distraught, begging his leave of Lord Tyrell and escorting his sons’ bodies home. Only in the privacy of his home did he allow his sorrow to overcome him, and he remained locked within his chambers for three days while the Silent Sisters prepared his sons for interment. On the fourth day he emerged, red-eyed, to attend the ceremony and bury his sons. He returned to his mourning shortly afterwards. Lady Danya would name her son after his father, Marq, and guarded the child jealously.

The war ended with a loyalist victory, but Lord Edwyn had little to celebrate. His eldest sons were dead, including his heir-- the image of the dashing, brave knight of legend. Never the most outgoing lord, Edwyn grew withdrawn and short. He dedicated himself wholly to his work both as Lord of Horn Hill and the Steward of the Reach, splitting his time between Highgarden and Horn Hill. He grew distant from his wife and his brother, and short with his surviving children. Grief consumed him, and his brother began to see in him some of their father’s wroth and cold detachment.

Five years failed to heal this wound, rather it made it into a scar. Lord Edwyn was direct, increasingly short-tempered, quiet, and assertive. He utilized his access to the new Lord Tyrell to arrange a marriage between his niece, Elinor, and the lord’s son Mace-- establishing a link to House Tyrell of Highgarden, since the man his aunt married had taken her to the new cadet branch in Oldtown. He also negotiated the marriage of Emma Peake to his eldest surviving son, Androw, rather than the recently deceased Owen, to whom she was betrothed. Most recently he saw through the wedding of his daughter Alicent to Samwell Ashford, a long-awaited event.

When the word went out of King Edmund’s illness, the embittered Lord of Horn Hill smiled for the first time in six years. He blamed the King for his sons’ deaths, reasoning that a strong King would not have had his own kin turn on him-- not to mention that Lord Edwyn saw the reason in the rebels’ cause after the war. King Edmund’s peace with the Ironborn was obscene, and his wedding to one was even worse. Weakness and half-measures had rotted away his reign and bled the realm, bled House Tarly. Now King Edmund rotted away while living. It all seemed fitting.

He was shrewd, though, and knew better than to say so aloud. As the King grew more ill and the realm prepared for his succession, word spread of a tourney at King’s Landing. Lord Edwyn would not be caught at such an event, his hatred and his tongue would be enough to land him in the stocks if not at the headsman’s block. Instead he begged out of it by citing his duty to the Reach as Lord Leo’s steward, and sent his brother Ser Bryan to attend in his stead, alongside his unwed daughter Bethany and all of Ser Bryan’s children. Androw, now seventeen, would rule in Horn Hill while his father sat in Highgarden for their liege.

## Timeline

344 AC: Born to Franklyn Tarly and Melara Caswell.

346 AC: Edwyn’s only brother, Bryan, is born.

360 AC: Allester Florent arrives as Lord Franklyn’s squire, becoming friendly with Edwyn and Bryan.

360 AC: Is betrothed to marry Rylene Fossoway.

362 AC: Marries Rylene Fossoway.

364 AC: Marq Tarly is born.

366 AC: Owen Tarly is born.

368 AC: Lord Franklyn grows ill and rapidly declines, dying later in the year of fever.

369 AC: Alicent Tarly is born.

370 AC: Lord Edwyn takes part in the Subjugation of the Ironborn, laments the war’s uselessness.

373 AC: Androw Tarly is born.

377 AC: Bethany Tarly is born.

381 AC: Brynden’s Rebellion breaks out, and Edwyn rides to war with Marq and Owen.

382 AC: Marq Tarly and Danya Merryweather wed in Longtable.

383 AC: Derrick Tarly is born.

384 AC: Danya Merryweather gives birth to Edwyn’s first grandchild.

384 AC: The Battle of Bitterbridge. Marq Tarly is mortally wounded fighting to save his brother Owen. Both die on the field.

387 AC: Alicent Tarly weds Samwell Ashford.

389 AC: Androw Tarly weds Emma Peake, formerly betrothed to his brother Owen.

390 AC: Ser Bryan, his children, and Bethany Tarly depart for King’s Landing with Lord Tyrell. Lord Edwyn remains in Highgarden and Ser Androw in Horn Hill.

## Supporting Characters

* *Lord Horace Hunt (Cavalry General) -* The Lord of Hunter’s Rest grew up alongside Lord Edwyn, as his uncle Ser Hyle was for a time the Master-of-Arms in Horn Hill. He is a skilled rider and leader of men.
* *Lord Lucas Kidwell (Navigator) -* Lord Kidwell is a clever man, spending much of his time in Ivy Hall in the library there. His knowledge of Westerosi geography is respectable, and his abilities have come in use while his liege lead men in the past.
* *Lord Hugh Rodden (General) -* A leader on par with any high lord of the Reach, Lord Rodden grew notable for his campaigns against raiders in the Red Mountains at the behest of Lord Tarly. Raiders learned to fear Rodden banners, and Lord Hugh gained the admiration of his liege.
* *Ser Colin Uffering (Warrior [Swords]) -* A frequent traveling companion and former squire of Lord Tarly’s, Ser Colin Uffering is a skilled swordsman and has remained alongside his lord as a sworn sword, as well as whatever else Lord Tarly requires of him.
* *Maester Arnold (Scholar) -* An aged Valeman who took his oaths and forged his chain, Maester Arnold has been present to deliver each of Lord Edwyn’s children born after Owen. As with any maester he is trusted to handle ravens and medical emergencies, as well as educating the youngest of Lord Edwyn’s children, Bethany and Derrick.