Roland Arryn

Roland Arryn was the Lord of the Eyrie and Defender of the Vale from 370 to 382AC. A handsome, clever, and skillful man, he was generally well liked by his vassals and supporters until numerous attempts to incorporate the Mountain Clans of the Vale led to the rise of the Lords Declarant, led by his cousin - Alaric Arryn.

Appearance and Character
Roland Arryn inherited the look of his grandfather, boasting fair, blonde hair and an aquiline nose. Sharp eyed and sharp tongued, he charmed many he came into contact with, though those that knew him best would often remark on his absent-mindedness. Roland had little difficulty inspiring men, but great difficulties when it came to understanding them. His desire to be loved, and his general naivete, would eventually lead to his downfall.

Young Life
A rather bookish lad, Roland spent most of his early days reading through the library of the Eyrie and listening to the tales of their then-Maester, a Riverlander named Dafyd. Dafyd filled the boy's head with tales of knights and maidens and enchanted swords, and never answered any question with simple fact. It was Dafyd who awoke in Roland a love for stories and songs, and lit a spark in his eyes that would one day consume the Vale.

When Dafyd died in 358AC, Roland was left without friend or mentor. Oswin had ever been a better statesman than he was a father, and the pale, ethereal Bellandra at last had what she had always wanted - a daughter. Roland was left adrift, without guide or confidant, and as the months past and his grief grew worse, he began to rebel against his Lord Father. Oswin at once sent the youth away, having him ward with House Lynderly in the Snakewood. The appointment would last only a year before necessity returned Roland to the Eyrie, but the short stint in the old forest only deepened his melancholy.

The Royal Tour, and Afterwards
It was the Royal Tour that necessitated the return of young Roland to the Eyrie - the Targaryens and their court were on their way, and Lord Oswin had already ridden to meet them at the Bloody Gate. Roland attended the festivities that were held the Eyrie, visibly distraught - but all the loss and sorrow left the boy in a wave, when he first lay eyes upon Lenore Blackwood.

Her younger by near a decade, the youth had little hope of wedding the betrothed woman; but her beauty enthralled him, and he was at once smitten. Her husband-to-be, the Prince Aenys, also caught his eye - the youth was everything one might seek in a Prince, and seemed to Roland the finest man to have ever walked the High Hall of the Eyrie.

Their departure would leave the castle forever darkened in Roland's eyes, though he would live there the rest of his days. Roland was forever changed; he had been a dreamer in his youth, prone to flights of fancy and a deep-set desire for adventure and story-book tales of valor. But in Aenys he had seen the possibilities of a good, true knight; and in Lenore, a fair maiden worthy of defending. Roland committed himself at once to becoming the sort of man who could stand tall in their company; scholarly, clever, light on the feet, skilled with sword and lance and bow. Oswin watched proudly as his young heir soared to new heights, even if he did not fathom from whence the boy’s ascent had come - and, to the side, young Alyssa Arryn watched as well, and in her own breast felt the first stirring of love. They would marry half a decade later, in 366AC.

The Death of the Queen-That-Would-Have-Been
Lord Oswin passed late in the year 367AC, quietly in his bed - the only peace he'd ever truly known. It was perhaps his final months of life that spared the realm from a brutal war - for earlier in the year Lenore Blackwood was executed for crimes including treason and witchcraft. Roland had railed against the accusations, determined to ride to her defense; but he was a man grown, now, and his words no longer the declarations of a boy. It took father and young-wife both to keep him restrained, but with Oswin's passing, Roland inherited the title Lord of the Eyrie.

At once there were rumours of rebellion; of raising men to march upon the capital and take justice for Lenore Blackwood and her bastardized son. A foolish hope, to be sure, but young Roland was nothing if not a man of emotion and pride; when the rumours died, and the Lord of the Eyrie traveled to King's Landing to bend the knee - many in the realm presumed that the wiser heads had prevailed.

In truth it was guile, not wisdom, that curbed Roland Arryn - treachery, not caution or humility. Not long after the death of Prince Aenys, figures loyal to Lenore Blackwood arrived in the Vale; bringing with them dear and precious cargo, including a squalling boy.

The Later Life
The following years of Roland's life were a volatile mix of duty and ambition. Lord Oswin Arryn had spent decades warring against the Mountain Clans, as well as pirates and raiders; his legacy was one of battle and war, and one his son intended to bury with him. As Lord Roland Arryn sat the weirwood throne for the first time, he did so with the promise of peace everlasting; between the men of the Vale and all fellow Andals, between the men of the Vale and all who came in good faith -- between the men of the Vale and the men of the Mountains, he declared, who needed to be embraced back into the fold.

Many murmured at this proclamation, but Roland was well-known and well-liked throughout the Vale. A chance, most decided, would be given to him. Perhaps he was not as foolhardy as he seemed to be suggesting; and his wife Alyssa was known for her cool head and clever tongue. She would curb him, if nothing else; the Arryns had never lacked in powerful women.

As time went on, however, Roland proved a man of his word. Raids into the mountains were cut back entirely, and knights were sworn to turn off the road to run down clansmen spotted the valleys. Only those caught raiding were to be dealt with harshly, and of these prisoners were to be taken, in as many numbers as reason would allow. Many knights grumbled against these restriction, disliking their forced inaction. But Roland was the Lord of the Vale, thus his will was law. Conflict with the Mountain Clans drastically declined, whilst raids ticked upwards - slowly, at first, but faster and faster and faster.

The Lords Declarant and Death
In 379AC Lord Roland attended the Kingswood Tourney. Roland won small renown, besting several knights in the joust. In his next match, however, he slays his competitor, the lance shattering and sending a jagged shard into the man's throat. Horrified, Roland resigns from the lists and retreats into his tents, assuaging his sorrow with wine.

Before the night was over he would turn to other comforts as well; the disrespect done to his lady wife inflaming her brother Alaric Arryn against him. After Alyssa's passing, Roland's swift marriage to a new woman - this time, a woman of the Mountain Clans - would prove too much for both his cousin, and his vassals. Alaric would gather a group of nobles to his cause - named the Lords Declarant - seeking to overthrow Roland due to his repeated attempts to make peace with the wildlings and unify their peoples.

The bloody coup was a success, if not quite in the manner that many of those involved had desired. The battle on the shore of the lake left six of Roland's eight Winged Knights slain, and Valla of the Redsmiths, would-have-been Lady of the Eyrie, lost and alone in the mountains. Roland Arryn himself was shot in his attempt to flee; though most stories told by men of the Eyrie now mark the deed as self-defense.

Private Life and Targaryen Connection
In 368AC, unbeknownst to most of the realm, the son of Aenys Targaryen and Lenore Blackwood was spirited away to the Eyrie by agents loyal to the boy's mother. Roland - who had ever been enamoured with the royal pair - at once vowed to protect and safeguard the boy, raising him secretly in the Eyrie. When young Maegor began to grow, and hatched for himself a dragon black as pitch, Lord Roland sent him deeper into the mountains under the protection of several knights of his Winged Guard, there to study, trian, and grow in relative safety.

Though Maegor would one day leave the Eyrie, Roland did all he could to provide the boy with a noble, upright education. Lacking sons of his own, some believe that Roland took the boy out of paternalistic instict; whilst others point to his obsession with the late prince, and remark that he was only playing at being Crown Prince Aenys. Whatever the case or the cause, Roland Arryn devoted significant time and resources to the Waters boy; though much of that protection and training would cease following his death.

Legacy
Lord Roland left behind three daughters; the elder two old enough to remember him, and currently wed to House Elesham and House Waxley. The youngest was but a babe in arms when her father died, and was raised in the Eyrie by her father's cousin, Lord Alaric, as his own.

There are some in the Vale who still speak fondly of Lord Roland, for he was well-loved during the early days of his reign. His death, and the subsequent executions of the Chieftain of the Redsmiths and several of his warriors and councilors, saw a violent resurgence in wildling raids that the new Lord of the Eyrie met with sharp rebuttal. Peace, as it stands, seems forever away - but there remains one Lord of the Eyrie who dared dream such a dream, even if, in the end, it cost him his life.

The final mark that Roland left upon the world was with his brief wife; Valla of the Redsmiths. Rumours quickly began to spread that the wildling princess was with child, and birthed a baby boy with blue eyes and fair features, who she swore was the son of Lord Roland. If true, the boy would have a claim upon the Eyrie. Assuming he could prove his identity.