Rhaegar Rivers

## Rhaegar (Rivers) Bittersteel

Rhaegar Rivers, later Rhaegar Bittersteel, is the bastard son of the late Lord Baelor Bittersteel and the former Lord Paramount of the Riverlands.

## Early Life

Lord Baelor Bittersteel, the Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, was not as pious as his namesake. The Lord of Harrenhal was a charming fellow with a penchant for conversation, gifted with a silver tongue. A handsome man, too – the sort of man adored by men and women alike. While this proved essential for his role as a diplomat and lord, it also proved him a lady’s man. At banquets, dinners, feasts and festivities, there was oft a pretty woman by his side – to the distaste of his wife, the Lady Rohanne Ryger. Rohanne was a beauty in her own right, and when the couple were together they always seemed to smile, but nothing could stop Lord Baelor from finding other women when they were apart.

One such woman was the Lady Daenerys Darklyn, a green-eyed maiden of seven-and-ten. It was the tourney of Daenerys's nameday where she met the Lord Paramount, he a man of twenty-nine years and she but a girl celebrated by her parents. The houses Darklyn and Bittersteel had been close friends for years, though Baelor’s seduction of their charming daughter certainly soured the relationship.

Nine months later, Rhaegar was born, spending the first few years of his life at Duskendale, with his mother. Upon his sixth birthday, Lord Bittersteel sent a letter of recognition demanding the boy be brought to Harrenhal to be raised as his father's son. Lord Darklyn accepted, knowing his place, though never forgetting.

As a boy, Rhaegar was taught by both the Maester, the master-at-arms and on occasion Lord Baelor himself. Rhaegar excelled in the majority of his studies, well-rounded in academic schools and a ferocious opponent with blade in hand.

## The Bastard of Harrenhal

Rhaegar spent years in his father's household guard and as one of his commanders, earning a knighthood from Lord Baelor upon his eighteenth birthday. Rhaegar would prove a useful tool for the affluent Lord Bittersteel, becoming known for his sharp wit and ability to read a battlefield or duel with ease. If Rhaegar had been a trueborn son, Baelor might have been proud, as the bastard was victorious in many a tourney - both in the melee and the joust.

During Durran's Defiance, Rhaegar served as one of Bittersteel's commanders, leading men through much of the fighting amongst the Teats and commanding the rearguard during the Battle of Harrenhal, ordering a retreat upon seeing King Maelys I Blackfyre defeated and the centre crumble. He arrived back at Harrenhal before his father's troops and before the king's, sheltering them behind the haunted castle's thick walls.

Rebel forces surrounded Harrenhal, victorious in the battle - Aemond Blackfyre had been wounded greviously by the mad king, preventing any firm leadership to assault the castle. The army settled down for a lengthy siege, as Harrenhal was infamously bloody to take. Rhaegar, blindly following his father's orders thus far, decided to take matters into his own hands. Assessing the situation, he realises that their cause is hopeless, but also morally wrong. He comes to the conclusion that Maelys is indeed a tyrant, unfit to sit the Iron Throne, and makes his move.

Rhaegar and those loyal to him take the castle from within, fighting Bittersteel-loyal troops as well as three knights of the Kingsguard. Rhaegar personally slew Sers Vardis Corbray & Harlan Arryn, while Ser Maric Kingspyre killed Ser Edmure Darry, the third Kingsguard, and Ser Baelon Bittersteel (the heir to Harrenhal). Rhaegar only meant to capture his father and Maelys and turn them over to the rebels, but the situation became compromised as one of his knights cut down Lord Baelor. Enraged by the death of his father, Rhaegar cuts down King Maelys I Blackfyre with Lady Forlorn, taken from Corbray's corpse.

Due to his actions, House Bittersteel escaped much of the wrath that would follow for the houses that supported Maelys during the war, and Rhaegar would later be legitimized as the new Lord Bittersteel of Harrenhal (for he was the only male descendant of the Bittersteel line). The war was over, by his own hand.

## Lord Paramount of the Trident

For the months that followed, Rhaegar assisted in subduing any still loyal to his father throughout the Riverlands as well as acting as castellan of Harrenhal. Upon King Daemon III Blackfyre's coronation, Rhaegar travelled to King's Landing to bend the knee. Lord Baratheon, on behalf of the infant Daemon, legitimised Rhaegar as a true Bittersteel and awarded him his father's titles - including the Lord Paramouncy of the Riverlands.

Before returning to Harrenhal, Lord Rhaegar now rode for the Vale with but an honour guard, and Lady Forlorn at his side. He stopped at several keeps before reaching his destination - Heart's Home, the seat of House Corbray. The new Lord Bittersteel gave Lady Forlorn back in person, as honour demanded he do, despite his growing reputation for dishonour.

Rhaegar has spent the years as Lord Paramount rebuilding and repairing his lands (and those of his vassals) from the carnage inflicted during Durran's Defiance. Rhaegar tries to rule justly and fairly, honouring any of Daemon's call to arms and defending his vassals against their foes. He refuses to clamp down on those who traditionally opposed his house, though it may be his undoing.

## Timeline

240AC - Born to Lord Baelor Bittersteel and Daenerys Darklyn.

246AC - Leaves Duskendale to be tutored at Harrenhal.

255AC - Has a son, Cailan, with a scullery maid in the castle.

257AC - Has another son, Daeron, with Lady Emphyria Butterwell.

258AC - Knighted by Lord Baelor, and given honourable station within the Bittersteel household.

258AC - Has his third and final son, Aegor, with a butcher's daughter.

264AC - Begins courting Lady Roslin Osgrey, after they both attend the Tumbleton Tourney. Rhaegar crowns her the Queen of Love and Beauty after winning in the lists.

264AC - Rhaegar, infatuated with Roslin, resigns from his father's guard and (along with a couple friends) becomes a hedge knight.

265AC - Rhaegar and co swear themselves to House Osgrey for a year. Roslin becomes with child - Rhaegar's child. At the end of the year, Daena is born to them.

269AC - Noting the rising tensions, Rhaegar returns to Harrenhal to serve his father once more.

270AC - Rhaegar commands a portion of the Bittersteel troops throughout Durran's Defiance, taking part in the fighting in the Riverlands and commands the Rear Guard at the Battle of Harrenhal. Upon realising that the war was lost and that Maelys was indeed as mad as was said, Rhaegar betrays his father and his king.

270AC - Rhaegar is legitimised and appointed the new Lord Paramount of the Riverlands.

271AC - Rhaegar travels to the Vale, returning Lady Forlorn to House Corbray.

280AC - Lord Bittersteel now travels to King's Landing, to attend Daemon III's coronation.

## Household

Family

* Lady Roslin Osgrey, Wife (b.352AC)
* Lady Daena Bittersteel, Daughter (b.266AC)
* Ser Cailan Rivers, Son (b.255AC)
* Ser Daeron Rivers, Son (b.257AC)
* Ser Aegor Rivers, Son (b.258AC)

Household/Court

* Ser Maric Kingspyre, Captain of the Guard
* Ser Willem Whent, Justice / Head Gaoler
* Maester Aeron
* Septon Bonifer