Arlan Baratheon

Master of Laws

Edgar Baratheon, b. 363 AC

Johanna Baratheon, b. 364 AC

Jenelyn Baratheon, b. 364 AC

Children of Maris Tarth

Cortnay Baratheon, b. 370 AC

Galladon Baratheon, b. 373 AC

Argella Baratheon, b. 375 AC

Arlan Baratheon is the current Lord Paramount of the Stormlands and Lord of Storm's End. He also serves as Master of Laws for Queen Myrcella II Tyrell.

## **Appearance and Character**

Standing six feet in height, Arlan Baratheon was every inch a man of the stormlands and of his house - dark of hair, blue of eye, a stormy disposition that could rise and vanish in the blink of an eye. All throughout his life the man has made certain to carefully maintain his physique, ensuring that he never fell prey to the body of a noble that indulged in too many lemon cakes.

As a young man Arlan was more prone to flights of anger or impulsivity than he was in his later years after being tempered as a lord and through the harrowing experiences of war. How close his family came to extinction was not lost on the man in the least as he matured, fueled by a closeness to his grandmother Shireen, the only child of a would-be king and a woman that might have been queen herself had the War of Five Kings unfolded differently.

During his reign, Arlan has been noted as a lord with a steady guiding hand and as a man that preferred negotiation and diplomacy to resolutions requiring the use of arms. Nevertheless he was also a capable commander of men that was not afraid to call his banners if the need arose.

## History

### Early Life, 341 - 351 AC

Born during a time of troubles for the stormlands, Arlan was the first child of Davos Baratheon and Argella Caron, whose grandfather had once served Lady Shireen as commander of the castle garrison. By the time that he came into the world his grandfather Lord Clifford Swann had perished in an ill-fated attempt to pursue the pirates that plagued the coasts of the stormlands and Dorne.

His was a relatively comfortable life as the scion of a great house, even one that survived only due to the gracious nature of a queen whose claim upon the throne had been called into question by his own great-grandfather. Even with Queen Myrcella’s magnanimous gesture to her cousin Shireen, the rumors behind the queen’s parentage persisted in whispers around the castle - whispers to which Arlan became privy as he grew older.

Conversations with his grandmother on the topic were intermittently successful. At times Shireen would expound upon the days of her own youth in great detail, even including the losses that her father’s army suffered in the Blackwater Bay and the flight to the north and her own exile across the narrow sea. She told Arlan of her father’s conviction that his brother’s wife had committed treason, that her cousins were bastards born of incest. At other times the aging woman insisted only that her cousin was a good and kind and just woman, and that everything they held was owed to the woman on the throne.

Shireen passed from the earth when her grandson was nine years of age and she took with her those tales of a different era.

### Adolescence, 350 - 360 AC

A year later Lord Davos sought out an opportunity to bring the stormlands closer to the Reach lords of the Dornish marches by sending Arlan to Horn Hill to squire under Lord Merrick Tarly. It was a controversial choice in the court at Storm’s End to send the region’s heir abroad to foster.

Lord Merrick quickly made an impression on a boy accustomed to the beck and call of servants. Though he was not a cruel man, the marcher lord was certainly a stern taskmaster that set his expectations high, especially given his hands-on training of his squires. Initially resistant to the lord’s dictates, Arlan nevertheless came around to greatly respect the man, whose honorable rule over his lands was unquestioned.

Arlan was six-and-ten when the lords of the Reach opted to rise in rebellion against the Iron Throne, angered over King Alester’s decision to name his infant son as Prince of Highgarden. The king’s brother Prince Lyonel, who had held that title for years by that point, was much preferred by many lords in the region due to the capacity for home rule from Highgarden, rather than from the distance of the royal court.

Lord Merrick was one of the men that chose to side with the white rose and rose his banners. Knowing that the stormlands was like as not to be called into the fray the Tarly lord offered his squire a choice - stay and honor his vows as a squire, or break those vows and return to Storm’s End. Despite his respect for the Reachman, Arlan felt there was but one choice before him and he opted for the latter. En route, however, he happened upon a force of men under Lord Caron that were marching on Starpike. Rather than continue forward Arlan opted to fall in line with this army and accept orders from the more experienced Lord of Nightsong.

A decisive victory followed late in 357 AC when the stormlander and Dornish allies seized the castle of Starpike from the white rose rebels. Weeks and weeks later, while his father was retreating from Cider Hall, Prince Lyonel brought an army to retake Starpike. It was here that Arlan and Lord Merrick came face to face on the battlefield. Arlan and Lord Caron met a flanking maneuver led by Lord Tarly wherein the heir to Storm’s End and his mentor clashed steel but once before they each realized who the other was. Though there was no time for discourse on the field, it was not at all difficult for the two men to know there was as yet an unspoken bond that sent them searching for other targets.

Following the conclusion of the war Arlan never accepted knighthood as penance for breaking his vows as a squire.

### Marriage and A Path Forward, 360 - 369 AC

Two years later Raymun Tyrell, the new Lord of Highgarden, approached Lord Davos with an offer of marriage between his daughter and the heir to the stormlands. It was a diplomatic outreach as a means to bridge divides between the factions that vied against one another during the Sundering, and it was an offer that Lord Davos and Lady Argella accepted after deep consideration. Arlan took Amerei Tyrell to wife later that same year and their first child Orys was welcomed in the following year.

Lord Davos passed of a winter illness in 362 AC, prompting Arlan to ascend to lordship at the age of 21. That same year saw the arrival of three squires at Storm’s End - Androw Hightower, the future Lord of the High Tower; and Willas Redwyne and Loras Redwyne of the Arbor, the latter of whom would later be inducted to the Kingsguard.

363 AC saw the birth of Arlan’s second son by Amerei, a boy the couple named Edgar, followed by twin daughters Johanna and Jenelyn a year later. A fourth pregnancy would end in tragedy, however, with Amerei Tyrell dying of complications and bleeding that the maester could not control in 365 AC.

Were it not for the distractions ensured by the needs of his children and the tutelage of his squires Arlan would no doubt have descended into depression after the loss of his wife. He did become rather more reserved in the months afterwards, though his temper could certainly be roused if the circumstances were right (or wrong, as one might say). Two new squires - Roland Dondarrion; and Alaric Arryn, the second son of Lord Osric Arryn - came to Storm’s End.

### Life Moves On, 369 - 378 AC

Life continued on much the same as it ever did over the next several years. Tournaments and feasts were attended; disputes between bannermen were resolved; the occasional bandit was chased and punished; children were raised and squires were trained. Even absent a wife Arlan had an expansive family around him, which was once only a dream for his beloved grandmother.

Four years on from the loss of Amerei did the Lord of Storm’s End find himself ready to take a new wife - and thus entered into his life a woman named Maris Tarth. They had met two years prior at a wedding in the stormlands and enjoyed a dance together, with the lord finding the young woman thoroughly charming. At the time he was not prepared to consider a new marriage. Seeing her again, however, reminded Arlan of her many fine qualities, not to mention her blossoming beauty, and ere the night was over he had asked Maris’s father for her hand.

Their first child Cortnay was born a year later. Before 371 AC was over Androw Hightower and the Redwynes were knighted and released from their vows of service, and Steffon Penrose arrived as a new squire.

Over the next few years Arlan and Maris would welcome two more children to their brood - Galladon in 373 AC and Argella in 375 AC.

Following the tourney of Gulltown that same year the squiredoms of Alaric Arryn and Rolland Dondarrion concluded, though the latter departed Storm’s End for Blackhaven without being knighted whilst the former returned home to the Eyrie a knight. Robert Penrose arrived to squire under Arlan and a year later his kinsman Steffon took his leave of the regional capital.

### War and Peace and Loss, 378 AC - Present

From 378 to 381 AC the realm was embroiled in war once more with the invasion of Daena Targaryen and the Golden Company with the combined might of multiple Free Cities behind them. Lord Arlan naturally was on the front lines, as was his heir Ser Orys.

After the conclusion of the war Arlan returned to a Storm’s End in mourning. The elder of his twin daughters Johanna had gone missing whilst he and his heir were away, the young woman determined to pursue his martial interests and join the fighting. Unable to accept that his daughter was truly gone, Arlan once more left for a time, personally leading an effort to try and locate his daughter while at the same time he dispatched agents to all corners of the southern realm. Months and months of searching were ultimately unfruitful and he was forced to go home empty-handed and in grief - and not merely over a daughter, but his brother Triston who died in the war as well.

Old thoughts reared their head when King Garlan died suddenly and his sister Myrcella II ascended to the throne. The last queen to bear that name carried a different surname, the very same to which Arlan was born - but the whispers had said that she was never a Baratheon in the first place. Ambitions started to arise in his breast with the remembrance furthermore that the last queen’s children carried a different name than she did and that a new dynasty sat on the Iron Throne after her passing.

Appointed to the small council as master of laws in the waning moons of 382 AC, Lord Arlan was keenly aware that he would need to thread a thin needle between loyalty to his queen and his own ambitions for House Baratheon and the stormlands.

## Timeline

341 AC: Arlan born to Davos Baratheon & Argella Caron.

350 AC: Shireen Baratheon died and Davos ascended to lordship.

351 AC: Arlan started to squire under Lord Merrick Tarly.

357-8 AC: War of White and Gold. Arlan left Horn Hill and fought at Starpike. Davos fought at Cider Hall.

360 AC: Arlan married to Amerei Tyrell of Highgarden.

361 AC: Orys born to Arlan and Amerei.

362: Arlan ascended to lordship after his father died.

365 AC: Amerei Tyrell died of pregnancy complications.

369 AC: Arlan remarried to Maris Tarth.

378-81 AC: War of the Last Dragon. Arlan commanded the lead stormlander army. Orys fought with his uncle Lord Penrose. Arlan's daughter went missing and was presumed dead.

## Household

Ser Barristan Storm, castellan

Lomas, maester