House Arryn

**House Arryn of the Eyrie** is one of the Great Houses of Westeros, and is the principal noble house in the Vale of Arryn. Their main seat is the Eyrie, which is considered impregnable.House Arryn has at least one other holding, their winter castle at the Gates of the Moon, which was once their main seat. Both of these fortifications sit astride the Giant's Lance, the tallest mountain in the Vale, the Gates of the Moon at its foot, the Eyrie at its top. The Arryn sigil is a sky-blue falcon soaring against a white moon on a sky-blue field, and their words are "*As High as Honor*".

The Arryns of the Eyrie have a collection of distant relatives located throughout the Vale. Although much poorer than the ruling Arryns, aside
from the Arryns of Gulltown.

## History

### King of the Mountain and Vale

The Arryns are considered to come from the oldest and purest line of Andal nobility, which they say reaches back to Andalos and possibly Hugor of the Hill.

When King Robar II Royce began to unite the First Men and defeat some of the petty Andal kings during the Andal invasion, the Andals of the Vale united behind Ser Artys Arryn, the Falcon Knight, a native Valeman esteemed amongst his peers as the finest warrior of his day. Robar was slain in the Battle of the Seven Stars,
 possibly by Artys, and the First Men houses who remained bent the knee
and swore fealty to Artys Arryn, the First of His Name, new-crowned King of Mountain and Vale. From that day, the Vale became known as the Vale of Arryn.Songs of the Vale conflate Artys with the legendary Winged Knight, who is said to have slain the Griffin King atop the Giant's Lance.The First Men who did not accept Artys as their king were forced into the Mountains of the Moon, becoming the Vale mountain clans.

The Arryns initially lived at the Gates of the Moon, but over generations they constructed the Eyrie.They often used the Eyrie as a summer pleasure palace, descending to the Gates of the Moon before winter made the Eyrie inaccessible.

The Arryn kings added Pebble, the Paps, and the Witch Isle to their realm. They battled with the Stark Kings of Winter over the Three Sisters in the War Across the Water, which featured King Osgood Arryn and his son and successor, Oswin the Talon, who burned the Wolf's Den. There were bloody battles wherein the Arryn fleet turned back slavers from Volantis, ironborn reavers, and pirates from the Stepstones and the Basilisk Isles. The legendary Lady Alyssa Arryn gave her name to Alyssa's Tears, a waterfall on the Giant's Lance, when she did not shed a tear for her murdered husband, brothers and children.

### Aegon's Conquest

During Aegon's Conquest the Arryn and Targaryen fleets fought in a battle in the waters off Gulltown, which resulted in the destruction of the Targaryen fleet and the death of its commanding officer, Daemon Velaryon. Visenya Targaryen, on her dragon Vhagar,
 burned the Arryn fleet in response. Since both fleets were destroyed,
the battle was considered a tactical draw, but a strategic defeat for
the Targaryens as they were unable to take Gulltown.
 For House Arryn the trouble did not end there, since the Sistermen on
the Three Sisters revolted after the destruction of the Arryn fleet.

Later in Aegon's Conquest, Visenya was charged with subduing the Vale. Sharra Arryn, Queen Regent of the Vale, ruling in the name of her son, the boy-king Ronnel Arryn, amassed the Vale's army at the Bloody Gate.
 Visenya, however, flew on Vhagar to the courtyard of the Eyrie to
obtain the surrender of the Vale of Arryn. When Sharra returned to the
Eyrie she found her son sitting on Visenya's lap asking if he could ride
 the dragon with her. Once Sharra yielded and bent the knee, Ronnel
twice flew with Visenya and Vhagar.The Arryns have since remained Defenders of the Vale and Wardens of the East for the Iron Throne.

### Targaryen Dynasty

In 80 AC, during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, Lord Rodrik Arryn married Princess Daella Targaryen, the king's daughter. Aemma died in childbirth, giving birth to their only child, Lady Aemma Arryn.Aemma was married to Prince Viserys Targaryen in 93 AC.By the time Jaehaerys called a Great Council in 101 AC, Rodrik was deceased as well, and Lady Jeyne Arryn ruled the Eyrie. However, as she was in her minority in 101 AC, House Arryn played a small role in this council.

Upon the death of Jaehaerys in 103 AC, Prince Viserys was crowned king and Aemma Arryn his queen. During the early years of their marriage, Aemma gave birth to a
stillborn son and suffered multiple miscarriages, though she also gave
birth to a daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen, in 97 AC. Aemma died giving birth to her second son, Baelon, who followed her to the grave a few days later.

## Recent Events

### Blackwater Rebellion

* **The First Battle of the Fork** - Daemon Targaryen and the

Brackens, bolstered by Daemon's army and the knights who clamoured to
fight by his side, drove the Blackwoods across the Red Fork, into
Blackwood Vale. Several Blackwood scions were slain or captured, and
after the victory Daemon was said to profess that *"Blackwood borders would never extend so far south again."*
**The Second Battle of the Fork** - Reinforced by Tullys, Pipers, and
 Mallisters, Daemon and his allies are driven out of Blackwood Vale in a
 bitter and hard-fought battle. Though Daemon fights well, slaying one
of Lord Tully's sons and forcing a Piper scion to yield, the Brackens
are forced to retreat across the River. A young nobleman wounds Lord
Mallister.

Under the command of an Arryn, Royce, and Hunter,
 the hard heart of the Vale stood against the approaching army of the
North, outnumbered severely but holding the surer ground. Waiting for
their foes just outside of the swamps of the neck, the Battle of the
Bite was the largest battle in the Rebellion, and saw ten thousand men
from the Riverlands, North, and Vale slain, and many more wounded. In
the end, the Arryns were defeated, their army thrown back and routed.
Winter had come to the Riverlands.

**The Battle of the Bite** - An enormous battle just off the Kingsroad, near the bay most men call the Bite. Lord Royce took the center, Lord Hunter the right and the Arryn the left, while Lord Stark allowed his men to arrange themselves as they would. With the flat
terrain it seemed like the perfect spot for cavalry tactics, and here
the Vale excelled - outnumbering the Northern horse nearly four to one,
and far better in both armour and quality. When battle was joined the
Starks drew into formation, allowing the Vale to crash against them like
 a hammer. The two forces grappled like drunken men, neither willing to
yield - until the Arryn brought his horse in a wide berth, hoping to
smash the Northern flank and drive them towards the sea. The Neck,
however, was unforgiving - the charge faltered and broke in the swampy,
treacherous earth, and the Northmen - largely afoot - took swift
advantage. Desperate to support the crumbling left Lord Royce sent men
to aid them, weakening his center line that still held the road. The
Starks spared little time - led by Umbers, Forresters, Whitehills,
Karstarks, and a half dozen other nobles, the Northern Van pierced the
Vale's heart like a heavy axe, shattering their center and dividing the
army in two. Lord Hunter was driven toward the Bite, while the young
Arryn was forced off deeper into the Neck, the Vale's forces routing
shortly after.