Abelar Arryn

Abelar Arryn is a scion of House Arryn of Gulltown and the current Commander of the Winged Knights. He is best known for his guerilla resistance from within Gulltown during the Gulltown Massacre, and was responsible for the arrest of Ser Darryn Shett.

Appearance and Character
Abelar, called Abe by his friends, is starting to look his age. His hair, once as thick as the Kingswood, is now more comparable to some pitiful copse of trees in the Red Mountains. The wrinkles on his face reflect the valleys there, too. So far, what little hair he has left has remained as dark as tar, but that seems a small victory, all things considered.

One thing that age has not taken from him is his strength. He stands tall, and strong as an ox, with dark eyes that still burn with determination. Not winter, nor the death of his comrades, nor the horrors of war have managed to douse that flame.

Young Life
House Arryn of Gulltown may be barely better than merchants, but they are nobles all the same. The room at the top of the Eagle's Roost, their estate in Gulltown, is where Abelar entered the world as a mewling babe.

He spent most of his early years there, too. He spent most of his days in his family's vast estate, caring little for the world outside its gates. What time he did not spend there, he spent in the castle of House Grafton.

That held true until he turned eleven, at which point his father determined that, if he was ever to amount to anything, he had to leave home. His father arranged for him to squire for Ser Robin Arryn, a relative of the family serving on the Brotherhood of the Winged Knights. Abelar set out just a few days after his eleventh nameday.

It was fortuitous timing, leaving when he did. He arrived at the Gates of the Moon to discover a white raven had arrived only a day or two before him. He was spared the long climb up the mountain. Instead, the court of the Arryns came to him. He met Robin Arryn for the first time at the castle's gatehouse.

The Scarlet Winter arrived not long after him. The bitter cold kept them wrapped in furs and trapped indoors for much of the early period of Abelar's service. On those few days they were able to brush away enough snow to train in the yard, Abelar did all he could, often refusing to come back inside until Robin dragged him back in for fear of frostbite.

When the snows finally melted away three years later, Abelar truly came into his element. Finally able to practice on horseback, he proved himself adept with a lance, the true weapon of a knight. By his sixteenth nameday he was unhorsing knights with decades more experience than him.

Yet, when the Tournament of the Red Comet came, he was not allowed to compete. Not yet a knight, with Robin Arryn loathe to knight him so young, Abelar was forced to watch from the sidelines as the other knights of the Vale competed. He watched when Rhaenys fell to the lance of Leyton Lightsteel. He watched when the Crown Prince lost to a Bastard. It was hard for him to enjoy the festivities from the sidelines: both because he yearned to compete himself, and because even at that age, he could tell that the arrival of Maegor Waters at the Eyrie just before their departure did not bode well for the future.