Robert Arryn, Lord of the Vale
Age: 30 years of age (born 127)
Appearance:Robert is atypical for an Arryn lord, lacking the distinctly yellow-golden hair of his house. Though possibly handsome, he never experienced the sort of worship his elder brother received. Still, his blue eyes are evidence of his very pure Andal blood, even though his manes are a darker shade of blonde.
Description & biography:Though an infant the first time he saw a dragon, it was a memory Robert carries with him to this day. The fear and dread he felt the first time were reaffirmed a year later, and it cannot be said the new Lord of the Vale mourns their passing from this world.
Called “Robin” in his youth, middle-child of Jon Arryn and Amarei Royce, Robert was weaned at his grandmother’s elevated seat together with other Arryn kin. He experienced her as a most authoritative figure, tall and formidable. Beautiful still, in spite of her years, Jeyne Arryn led the Vale through the Dance on the side of the blacks. After the civil war she went on to serve on Aegon III’s regency council until her death in 134 in Gulltown. Some sort of ague, a fever, claimed her life and so the lordship passed to her son Jon.
Lord Jon Arryn’s manner of ruling chafed his second son the older he became. “Robin” saw much of his house’s authority and prestige whittled away by the headstrong lords of the Vale. While still loyal to their overlords, many grew independent-minded and raucous. Old feuds flared up again, and Lord Jon did little to check the increasingly self-governing Vale houses. Grandson to the famed Maiden of the Vale Lady Jeyne Arryn, Robert had a lot to live up to – especially after the failure his own father proved to be. Jon Arryn had a disappointing rule, in which much of the Vale’s prominence so painstakingly built up by the illustrious Maiden has slipped away.
In the two decades Jon was Lord of the Eyrie, Robert grew ever more resentful towards him. Whereas Donnel, the firstborn son was happy enough playing their father’s heir there was no sense of contentment in “Robin”. There was a restlessness about him, even from an early age rumoured he had picked up from ambulant lifestyle of his grandmother who alternated stays between the Eyrie, Gates of the Moon and Gulltown – not to mention her frequent forays into the Vale itself calling upon her subject houses. Robert too would travel later in life.
Lord Jon wasted his rule away holding feasts and tourneys, currying a lot of goodwill but little actual power. In fact, Jeyne’s heir proved adept at cultivating relationships with the Valemen, a role he had been taught by his mother who treated him as a useful extension of herself. Nevertheless, when it was time to rule in his own name, Jon lacked the sort of initiative so keenly displayed by his mother, and which was necessary to maintain his house’s lofty position. Fortunately Jeyne Arryn had wed Jon to one of Rhea Royce’s cousins, securing the support of one of the Vale’s most powerful houses.
As a child, “Robin” was quiet, private and bookish. He taught himself to play the harp, thereby earning his songbird nickname. Together with Sharra, the third and youngest Arryn child, he performed for the court. Sharra and he would often sit together to compose and write lyrics, and it remained a favourite pastime for both siblings even well into their teens.
It was Lady Jeyne and other forebears such as Oswin the Old Falcon and his son Osgood Arryn whom men called “the Talon” and sacked the Wolf’s Den that prompted Robert to look for examples elsewhere. That also meant learning about the brothers Jonos and Ronnel Arryn, showing young Robert his family was not above fratricide. Jon’s courtly fantasies knew no purchase with his second son, and so parent and child drifted gradually apart in spite of Amarei’s efforts of reconciliation. Miscommunication more than anything served to widen the divide, and when Jon and Amarei’s youngest perished in a fire things came to a head.
Donnel, who had started to drink too much, too often and too early because of his exhilarating lifestyle, had become a celebrated figure in the Vale for his congeniality and easy smile. Donnel had that quality that made men like him, almost as much as the women. For he knew how to laugh, how to dress and how to talk. He partook in practically every tournament of the Vale, often distinguishing himself in the joust. To Robert, Donnel was pretty as a peacock, radiant indeed but with an empty head. Like a golden coin, until you scratch at the surface and realise it was only veneer, finding nickel beneath.
Handsome and square-jawed the way that made girls turn their heads, Donnel made a name for himself as a splendid knight. Nevertheless, heavy drinking with his comrades devolved in a friendly wrestling match after one of Jon Arryn’s tourneys. Things would have been fine, if not for a chill wind that had chased the band of dandies inside the grand pavilion. A brazier was toppled, silk and cloth caught flame, and Sharra –likely tangled in the newly made dress for her sixteenth nameday – did not get out in time. Her charred remains were almost mistaken for the corpse of Donnel’s hunting hound that had also died in the fire.
It came close to a repetition of that age-old crime, brotherly strife, when word of the catastrophe reached Robert. The death of their sister hit him particularly hard, and Donnel’s dismissive attitude towards the ‘accident’ only served to enflame his passions. The eldest Arryn succumbed to even more drinking. Lord Jon failed to sufficiently answer the event, not even disciplining his eldest nor looking for measures that curbed such blatant alcoholism. He allowed Donnel to continue his waywardness, for that was the popular thing to do. Amarei, heartbroken, returned to Runestone, shutting herself away from the world. Shortly after she retreated to Quiet Isle, living out her days already old before her time.
Bereft of his Sister Sharra and faith in his male relatives, Robert grew disgruntled, angry at the world. He never played the harp again, and instead set his mind to acquiring the martial skills so neglected over the years. Robert became a skilled, capable fighter – particularly wielding a horseman’s pick – but never entered the lists proper. Not until he returned from a tour of the Free Cities and discovered a tournament was being held at Gulltown in his absence.
Rather than notifying his father and brother, he signed up for the joust as an anonymous knight and proceeded to single out Donnel. Robert beat him soundly, and revealed his identity to Lord Arryn and his unhorsed heir. The smallfolk cheered for him, but those lords and ladies seated close enough to see the look on Jon’s face sensed the boiling hatred that festered between the Arryns. Not that it kept the high lords from laughing in their bannerlord’s face. He had, after all, given them such free reign that even courtesy was starting to be forgotten.
Donnel, the bright lordling, inherited the Eyrie and the Vale but proved as ineffective ruling it as his predecessor. He threw lavish feasts, but failed to control his lusts and desires. One morning he was found dead after one night of heavy drinking too many, leaving no issue. Not for a lack of trying… When Robert took the Eyrie, he had to clean house, chasing out at least a dozen of his brother’s mistresses. Not just the immediate household was brought to heel, Robert has worked to restore Arryn’s influence across the Vale, led a successful Spring campaign against the Mountain Clans and, on the whole, shown to be an altogether different sort of animal than his brother or father before him.
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