Dryn the Deathless

## The Horned King

**Dryn the Deathless**, or Dryn, son of Chella, was the first Horned King of the Mountain Clans and a chieftain of the Black Ears. He ruled as a legendary king of the united mountain tribes, eventually dying in battle with an army of the Vale.

## History

### Early Years

Dryn was born to Chella of the Black Ears and her husband in 285AC, her third son. He was a bright youth, skilled at arms, and was well loved by those that knew him.

In the year 299AC, Dryn followed his mother and their warriors down from the mountains in service of Tyrion Lannister, fighting for him during several engagements. After the Battle of the Blackwater, Dryn and his people were denied entrance into King's Landing, and so decided to take their spoils and head home.

As they traveled from the Crownlands back into the Vale, Dryn led the Black Ears in many raids, attacking small villages and traveling parties - but not above raiding battlefields when needed. By the time they returned to the Mountains of the Moon, Dryn and the Black Ears were much wealthier and better armed than they had been when they left.

After the death of Chella in 311AC, her four sons - turned five sons and three daughters by that point, along with a score of grandchildren - gathered their clan for a council. Among the clans of the Vale all voices are heard at such meetings, and it was here that the future of the clan was decided. The Black Ears chose Dryn as their leader - and no sooner had he been chosen that the son of Chella and his brothers set out to assimilate or destroy all other clans in the region.

### As the Horned King

Armed with steel and horses and wealth, the Black Ears and their allies quickly subdued or destroyed their opposition. Those clans that did not surrender were wiped out in the male line, their womenfolk brought back as slaves or concubines. Most, however, gave in, once the fighting began and the Black Ear's superior weaponry cut through leather armour and shattered bone weapons. Slowly the Mountains of the Moon coalesced under one ruler, and the legend of Dryn the Deathless began to grow.

According to the tales, Dryn fought a hundred battles, and died more than a dozen times. Each time he rose again grinning, laying into his foes with a weapon in either hand, his eyes wild with mirth. Ambush could not slay him, for as the arrows filled him he fought on. Poison, too, did not work, for Dryn would drink it and carry on making merry. A woman of the Painted Dogs even seduced the son of Chella, winning into his bed and driving her blade into him at the height of their passion. Still, the man did not die.

In time Dryn's famed horned helmet became a symbol of terror for his foes, and one of hope for his allies. Soon enough all the clans but one were united beneath his rule, and at some point during this period Dryn the Deathless named himself the Horned King, Ruler of the Mountains of the Moon.

### Conflict with the Eyrie

Word soon reached the Lords of the Eyrie, and though the Mountain Clans were hardly a threat - they saw fit to deal with this would-be King. A band of warriors marched into the hills, the banner of the Eyrie waving overhead; and in the shadow of the highest mountain, as a storm swept in from the east, they met the armies of the Horned Lord.

The battle raged for hours, neither side willing to yield. Dryn the Deathless had been slain thrice it seemed, and yet he fought on - until he was challenged by a young warrior of the Vale upon that slick hillside.

Their weapons met, and the sound of their duel rang forth like peals of thunder. Back and forth their conflict went, until Dryn at last stumbled and fell; the young knight's sword sweeping downward in a fatal arc. The Horned King was slain that day, for the final time - his body hewn into seven pieces and cast to the corners of the Mountains.