Rodrik Arryn

Defender of the Vale

Warden of the East

Rodrik Arryn is **Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, and Warden of the East**. He is the firstborn son of Lady Ysilla Arryn and Lord Consort Jasper Arryn. The Lord of the Eyrie is married to Lady Alysanne Stark, with whom he fathered Bethany Arryn with in 129 AC. He's known throughout the Vale for his iron fist and his beauty.

## Appearance and Character

Rodrik is an incredibly handsome young man with a strong build, who inherited his father's looks, leaving him with cold blue eyes that often seem to lack all life, and blonde hair. The Lord of the Eyrie is a rather tall man, with well-kept hair and a somewhat full beard. He's regarded as a charming young Lord, who though may come off as intimidating or brash, strives to be a kinder man devoted to the nobles and smallfolk of the Vale. Much of that can be credited to Lord Royce for turning what was once a spoiled and aggressive boy into the man he now is.

Besides that, Rodrik mirrors not just his parents and mentor, Lord Gerold Royce but also Gunthor Arryn when it comes to his personality. Those who've lived long enough to recall Gunthor, Lady Ysilla and Lord Consort Jasper Arryn often find the young man unknowingly exhibiting traits that belonged to the Falcons before him. They say that Rodrik temper can quickly flare up similarly to his grandfather, during which he becomes a cold and ruthless young man engulfed with rage. He's also adopted his mother's pragmatism when it comes to goals and difficult tasks placed before him, though as a younger boy he was quite the opposite, perhaps the countless losses shifted his view upon the world.

And lastly, just like his father before him, Rodrik is an incredibly arrogant and fearless young man. He carries himself as an Arryn should, with an air of greatness almost as if he believes he’s better than most, it comes almost naturally to the man who was once a spoiled little boy. That coupled with his constant strive to be greater than those before him, only adds to his own ego. Though that ego is often suffocated by his own personal grief, for the parents and child he lost. Much of that is usually hidden in various vices, from women, drinking to even hosting parties for various guests in the Eyrie and at the Gates of the Moon, the Arryn does well to mask his personal problems through his incredibly outgoing personality.

## History

### **104 AC - 111 AC The Fledgling Falcons**

Born in 104 AC to Lady Ysilla of the Eyrie and her Lord Consort, Jasper Arryn. He was their firstborn son, and only child following the birth of his elder sister Myranda in 100 AC. Since he was born, the entirety of the Vale knew that he'd one day be their lord and for that, they and his family spoiled the young boy.

Following his birth came the rest of his siblings, Arwen the year the followed, Desmara after and finally Alester. Each one year after the last. By the time he was five, Rodrik met his bastard sister for the first time, the little Roslin Stone that would plague his mother's life and earn his father her ire. Though the young boy immediately bonded with the baby, it was yet another showing of his kind heart to which he saw her as just another one of his siblings, it didn't help that little Roslin and Desmara looked nearly identical in his eyes.

By the time he was seven, he'd begun to cultivate a tongue of silver and as his father and mother came to blows, both spoiled him like none other in hopes of gaining his love. He'd grown up during a period in time in which his mother and father were constantly at one another's throats, shouting and fighting was his normal as a child and for that he'd grown somewhat resentful of both of them. More so when he saw other families whose parents seemed to truly love one another. For that he'd always hoped that his parents would change, yet nothing would ever come of that.

Instead at barely eight he'd dreamed of a future where his parents were simply content to be around one another. His elder sister Myranda of course would go on to bully the boy for his dreams, claiming that their parents would never love nor wish to be around one another for longer than they already had. Her bullying didn't stop there however, it seemed to continue on as he aged, likely as a result of him being the heir and not her.

### **112 AC - 120 AC The Lordling Grows!**

By the time he'd turned nine, Rodrik had begun to fully throw himself into his martial training. Much of it could be credited to how proud he made his father when he excelled against children his own age. As a child he'd heard stories of his grandfather from both his parents and other lords who'd traveled to the Eyrie to meet their future Lord. They'd told him of how Gunthor Arryn was this mighty warrior and general, whose life was cut short after he was murdered by the Targaryens, the same people he considered his cousins. It left a somewhat reluctant view about them. He'd love his kin, yet they'd taken his grandfather, a man beloved by the Vale, who'd pushed back the invading Clansmen with incredible might.

It was the want to be just like Gunthor and Jasper that made him move from wanting to simply be a swordsmen to wishing to be a great general. The sort that would excel even the War Hawk who was his grandfather. During his early teen years, Rodrik would read all sorts of books given to him by maesters in hopes of learning about military tactics and maneuvers in hopes of perfecting his chosen craft. Though he didn't neglect his own swordsmanship, less so considering he knew he'd one day inherit his father's Valyrian Steel longsword, the Talon, the reforged bastard steel weapon taken from House Hunter.

It would be during these years that he’d go on to squire under his father's oldest friend and his uncle through marriage, the High Justiciar of the Vale, Lord Gerold Royce. Though he was somewhat of a spoiled and temperamental boy, the young Arryn strived to learn under the man he’d called his uncle. Where under his mother and father he’d grown an aggressive backbone, it would be under Lord Royce that he’d found himself calming and learning the ways of a Knight.

And as he learned from a pious and kindhearted man, Rodrik would also grow to know love. Not that those he viewed as family, but of a woman. During a trip to King’s Landing with Lord Royce, he’d found himself falling in love with a girl during his stay in the city.  Though she was from a smaller and far less prestigious house, Rodrik felt true and pure love, the sort that swept the arrogant young man off his feet and towards the arms of a kind girl he’d barely known. It would be during his stay in King’s Landing that he sought to court her to the surprise of many who saw the future Lord of the Eyrie with someone they’d deemed below him.

Yet in his eyes his heart belonged to her and her alone. As he fawned over the girl and went out of his way to win her heart and hand, his dreams of being with her slowly began to unravel. The girl seemed agreeable with his courting, on his fifteenth name day, Rodrik sought out the girls father in hopes of winning him over before he went to his own parents. It would be here that he’d found the first of many great difficulties.

Her father despised the young boy almost immediately after he opened his mouth. Though he was the future Lord Arryn, the older man seemed to have an inherent dislike of the Vale and the woman who ruled it. Hoping to put what Lord Royce taught him into effect, Rodrik attempted to talk the man down in hopes of using his words to convince him that such a prestigious union was worth it. And as the pair went back and forth, Arryn slowly began to lose his temper as the older man continued to speak ill about his mother's worsening condition. Before anyone knew, Rodrik was quickly engulfed in rage and hurl insults and threats of death upon the man if he ever dared speak ill of House Arryn, namely his parents.

Before Rodrik knew the love of his life was informed that Arryn had threatened to kill her father and that quickly began to unravel their relationship, the divide grew further as her father died roughly a few weeks later due to the ‘harsh winters’. From them on the pair would never go on to see one another. Marking a horrible end to the relationship with Rodriks first love.

In the year that followed, Rodrik grew a superficial shell when it came to women, leaving him to keep even those who would enevidably warm his bed at arm's length in hopes of never repeating the failings of his first love.. His focus turned back to that of his training under Lord Royce, though by the end of 120 AC, he’d begun his trip back to the Vale.

### **121 AC - 125 AC A Man Grown**

By 121 AC, as Spring rolled into the Vale, the seventeen year old Rodrik began a grand tour in place of his father, the Lord Regent of the Eyrie. Without the guiding hand that was Lord Royce, the young man exhibited great amounts of arrogance, yet he began to cultivate his way with words further as he moved to appease the Lords and of course Ladies of the Vale who felt displeased with his father's regency. It would be here during his time appeasing them that they’d begun to grow a great respect for the man they all expected to soon become lord considering Ysilla's condition. Though there were some incidents in which were less than favorable, nights away with young women, some of which were the daughters of lords or fights with the young men his own age over trivial matters.

But nonetheless, his tour left a lasting effect, enough so that in 122 AC, during a tourney held in his honor, his mother who’d gone from being one of most beautiful women in all of Westeros to now a thin and sickly old woman who could barely walk on her own, spoke before her bannermen for the last time, informing them all that Jasper Arryn would step down as her regent and be replaced by her son within the year. To mark the end of that tourney, at the closing feasts at the Gates of the Moon, his father bestowed upon him the Bloodied Talon.

That same year marked the first reports of Poor Fellows establishing themselves within the Vale. It didn’t take long for rumors to spread that they’d begun harassing foreign merchants travelling through Gulltown. Rodrik’s council called to ignore the Poor Fellows presence in hopes that local lords would deal with them, yet none of that happened.

Instead in 125 AC, roughly three years after the Poor Fellows found a hold in the Vale, the Arryns finally elected to deal with them. Lord Jasper Arryn and Prince Baelor arranged a meeting with Benedar, the Poor Fellow. Before the end of it, it's reported that Jasper saw that the man wasn’t willing to ‘compromise’ with the Arryns after insulting his house and instead ordered him arrested, shortly after he’d personally sentenced him to death. This single execution would seal his fate in the months to come as Poor Fellows throughout the Vale heard of just how their leader was put down as if he were nothing but prey that the arrogant bird could simply come down from his mountains to kill. Rodrik fully agreed with his father's actions, claiming that the Poor Fellows had already committed criminal acts by harming heathens, foreigners and those they’d deemed sinners.

In retaliation, the Poor Fellows ambushed Jasper and other Valemen someways south of the Gates of the Moon. Once the new reached the Eyrie, Rodrik quickly turned into a ball of pure rage, fully intent on finding who killed his father and ensuring they were punished as brutally as possible. Alongside Prince Baelor, the Brotherhood of the Falcon and Rodrik marched out to Gulltown and brutally slaughtered the Gulltown Chapter.

Once they’d slaughter them, Rodrik returned to the Eyrie and set out plans to repeat it to all Poor Fellows throughout the Vale. Though just as he was set to head down to the Gates of the Moon, his mother perished. Marking the death of both of his parents in quick succession, though he’d known for sometime that his mother didn’t have long on this earth, it still hit him harder than he’d expected. Thanks to his eldest sister, Myranda, who’d also lost her husband during the attack, Rodrik found himself calming down and re-directing his rage, instead with his elder sister he’d found ways to cope with the lost instead of simply marching out to war, in hopes of finding some form of revenge. It was during this time that their relationship grew closer as his sister wormed her into becoming his most trusted advisor.

### **126 AC - 130 AC The Falcon Soars!**

With Myranda and the rest of his council, Rodrik felt secure in his place as Lord of the Eyrie. Still grieving the loss of his parents and feeling conflicted about all that had happened in the year that passed, Rodrik elected to have his council rule in his stead, as expected Myranda took charge and served as their head. All the while Rodrik began to spiral downward as he'd found comfort in liquor and women, feeling cooped in the Eyrie he'd go on to make way for the Capital where he'd meet Lord Dorian who felt sympathetic to the mans loss at the hands of the Poor Fellows, and in turn offered his eldest sons hand in marriage to one of Rodriks sisters. Though Rodrik kept himself somewhat collected during their interactions, he'd simply informed his squire to write back home and have Myranda and the council arrange the union should Desmara agree to it.

That same year, he'd ride on to Highgarden after his sisters agreed to a union and would go on to stay in the Reach during the wedding and for nearly four months afterwards, simply drowning himself in women from all corners of the Reach who'd wished to have a chance to meet the handsome Lord of the Eyrie, to him however it was a sort of coping mechanism as he sought intimacy and love in the arms of women he'd barely known. All the while he'd contemplate riding south to Oldtown to meet with the High Septon, even going so far as to tell one of his partners that he'd do so in hopes of cutting the Righteous One as his followers had done his father. The girl however talked him out of it, perhaps she'd truly loved him or perhaps she simply hadn't wanted him to die a foolish death.

But after that his time in the Reach came to an end, by the end of it Rodrik made plans to return him. It was as he'd made the trek home that he'd begun to think more about his own life, why had the Lord of the Eyrie all but neglected his duties? As he'd made his way into the Riverlands, he'd begun to truly ponder his life. It was there that he'd made his first step towards thinking of a marriage between himself and his Stark neighbors to the North. A portion of him sought to do it in hopes of further enraging the High Septon, all the while he'd gain an ally in the heathens to his north. He'd go on to do just that, in 127 AC, he'd marry Lady Alysanne Stark at the Gates of the Moon.

In the years that followed, he'd once more taken control of the Eyrie, though he's in a constant pull and push with his elder sister Myranda, who constantly vies for more power within his council.

## Family

###### *The Lineage of House Arryn*

* Hubert Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, b. 96 BC, d. 50 AC
* m. Ysilla Royce, Lady of the Eyrie, b. 98 BC, d. 52 AC
	+ Darnold Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, b. 18 AC, d. 54 AC
	+ Ser Rymond Arryn, b. 23 AC, d. 54 AC
	+ m. Teora Hunter, b. 26 AC, d. 89 AC
		- Gunthor Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, b. 46 AC
		- m. Ryella Grafton, Lady of the Eyrie, b. 46 AC, d. 86 AC
			* Ser Corwyn Arryn, b. 64 AC, d. 85 AC
			* Arthor Arryn, b. 67 AC, d. 85 AC
			* Ysilla Arryn, Lady of the Eyrie, b. 73 AC d. 125 AC
			* m. Balman Belmore, Heir to Strongsong, b. 70 AC, d. 97 AC
				+ Amanda Belmore, b. 93 AC
			* m. Jasper Arryn, Lord Consort, b. 77 AC d. 125 AC
				+ Myranda Arryn, b. 100 AC
				+ **Rodrik Arryn**, Lord of the Eyrie, b. 104 AC
				+ m. Alysanne Stark b. 101 AC
					- Bethany Arryn b. 129 AC
				+ Arwen Arryn, b. 105 AC
				+ Desmara Arryn, b. 106 AC
				+ Alester Arryn, b. 107 AC
			* w. Elinor Waters b. 79 AC
				+ Roslin Stone b. 112 AC
			* Queen Myranda Arryn, b. 75 AC, d. 97 AC.
			* m. King Viserys I Targaryen, b. 77 AC.
				+ House Targaryen
			* Queen Zhoe Arryn, b. 79 AC
			* m. King Viserys I Targaryen b. 77 AC
		- m. Anya Coldwater, Lady of the Eyrie, b. 70 AC, d. 95 AC
			* Carolei Arryn, b. 90 AC.
			* Teora Arryn, b. 91 AC.
			* Rowena Arryn, b. 95 AC.
		- w. Nella of the Milk Snakes, b. 59 AC
			* Willum Stone, b. 88 AC
		- Melantha Arryn, Lady of the Three Sisters, b. 50 AC
		- m. Cecil Sunderland, Lord of the Three Sisters, b. 42 AC
			* House Sunderland
	+ Ser Ronnel Arryn, b. 24 AC, d. 67 AC
	+ m. Lorra Melcolm, b. 28 AC, d. 56 AC
		- Gella Arryn, Lady of Longwake, b. 56 AC
		- m. Eldric Egen, Lord of Longwake, b. 57 AC
			* House Egen
	+ Denys Arryn, Maester, b. 27 AC, d. 90 AC
	+ Ser Jasper Arryn, b. 29 AC, d. 86 AC
	+ m. Janyce Lynderly, b. 26 AC, d. 69 AC
		- Steffon Arryn, b. 46 AC, d. 59 AC
		- Samwell Arryn, b. 50 AC
		- m. Marla Waxley, b. 54 AC
		- Symond Arryn, b. 53 AC
		- m. Sharra Upcliff, b. 58 AC
			* Jasper Arryn, Lord Consort, b. 77 AC d. 125 AC
			* m. Ysilla Arryn, Lady of the Eyrie, b. 73 AC d. 125 AC
				+ Myranda Arryn, b. 100 AC
				+ **Rodrik Arryn**, Lord of the Eyrie, b. 104 AC
				+ Arwen Arryn, b. 105 AC
				+ Desmara Arryn, b. 106 AC
				+ Alester Arryn, b. 107 AC
			* w. Elinor Waters b. 79 AC
				+ Roslin Stone b. 112 AC
			* Perianne Arryn, Lady of Runestone, b. 79 AC
			* m. Gerold Royce, Lord of Runestone, b. 76 AC
				+ House Royce
			* Roland Arryn, b. 83 AC
			* m. Some Hunter
				+ Harrold Arryn, b. 105 AC
				+ Catelyn Arryn, b. 106 AC
				+ Rhea Arryn, b. 109 AC
	+ Ser Jon Arryn, b. 31 AC, d. 49 AC

## Meta

**Birth Rolls:** Beautiful(18/18), Powerful(18/18), Straight (7/18)

**Attribute:**  Bellicose

**Skills:** Logistics(MAR), Formation(MAR), Weapon Proficiency/1H,Shields(COM), Military Engineering(EDU)

**Mastery:** Field Commander(MAR)