Arthur Hightower

Arthur Hightower is the current Lord of House Hightower and the Hightower, and Oldtown, subsequently possessing the titles of, the Lord of the Hightower, the Lord of the Port, Voice of Oldtown, Defender of the Citadel, and Beacon of the South. He succeeded to the titles as a boy no older than three years, when his Lord Father, Leyton Hightower, was killed in a joust by Aemon Dayne. Consequently, Arthur spent most of his youth in the capital, King’s Landing, as a constant of the Royal Court. He is the firstborn son to be birthed from the marriage of Leyton Hightower and Aelora Velaryon.

Appearance and Character
Arthur is a man of pleasant looks, and a generally kind and humble demeanor. From his parents, which, is not precisely known, he inherited his blonde hair, and from his mother, his blue-green eyes. Unlike his late Lord father, he is not the tall muscular hero that was drawn forth from children’s tales, but is instead a man of more moderate appearance, as he has always dedicated his time elsewhere, notably to his studies and satisfaction of his curiosities.

Whilst Arthur has never been a man to take vigorously to martial pursuits, and truthfully rather disdains tourneys, having adamantly refused to partake in them all his life, he has by no means taken to fat and lazy, but instead possesses the physique of one whom does engage in occasional but regular sport and physical activity.

Moreover, Arthur’s demeanor, while naturally kind, humble, and open to interaction, can at times, although these occasions are rare, turn to a great ire that will not dissipate until the situation has been deemed dealt with and the crime accounted for in Arthur’s mind. Yet, as great as the ire may be, there is still a notable aspect of control evident in the Lord’s features and make, with there being a distinct absence of physical outbursts, with the ire’s most evident aspect being the very out of character raise of voice.

415 - 423 A.C. Placeholder Title
The first few years of Arthur Hightower’s life were little more than the beginning of what was to become the last time he would see the Hightower and Oldtown until the later half of 431 A.C. From the earliest of ages, Arthur was to be separated from his elder sister, Alys Hightower, his two younger brothers, Addam Hightower, and Leyton Hightower, and his last living parent, Aelora Hightower, and kept so for nigh the entirety of his youth.

424 - 432 A.C. Placeholder Title
The early years of Arthur’s time in the Capital would prove largely mundane. While at first the youth quite evidently mourned the absence of his mother, as any would, with time, such lessened in concurrence with the steady fade of her from his memories, and they swelling number of new memories that were so borne without her presence. Most of the young Lord of Oldtown’s formative years would come to be guided by Septas and Septons, Maesters, and the occasional tutor of rank of note, but for the most part was a revolving door of those tasked with keeping the boy’s mind entertained in the short-term.

While much had been taken from Arthur in the name of reconciliation between that of his House and that of the House Dayne, as a young lad, he was still very much unable to comprehend why this was happening to him, why he could not be home, and with his family, even though such concepts were constantly changing for the boy, as he came to see those he grew up with evermore as his family.

As time went on, Arthur became fast friends with the likes of the [INSERT CHILDHOOD FRIENDS], and a swathe of noble offspring alike. The earliest years were the easiest.

Arthur however, would not remain a child forever. With the passage of time came events that the young Lord would come to witness first hand, or if not so closely, the aftermath was swift enough that it mattered not. In what came in the years after to feel as if it was all but a single year, within a decade Visaera I passed from this life, the realm was struck with a winter the likes of which Arthur’s generation had not ever seen, and the glorious affair that was the Springtide did occur.

While the first two of those events were dreary affairs for the realm, and only sought to break the iron mold Visaera had placed upon it, the wedding of the future King, Prince Aegon Targaryen to his sister, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen was an event revered by all, or at least, so it seemed from Arthur’s privileged position within the Royal Court. Now three and ten years, all this made sense to Arthur’s mind, the power, the titles, the positions, the bowing, the marriage, but still, a part of him, small as it was, wondered how Oldtown fared, how his siblings were, Alys, Addam, and 'Little' Leyton, and if his mother missed him so, for he found it hard to miss her in any context more than ‘she is my mother’. Aelora Hightower was to Arthur, her first born son, a woman unknown, and a mother long forgotten from memory. If it were not for the letters, and the talk of his family and the supposed life he was to one day assume in Oldtown with his intended, the Princess Naerys, it would have been wholly possibly for Arthur to think himself a lesser member of the House Targaryen.

The next three years proved fortuitous for Arthur, as he seemed to find himself more in this time, and come to meet with the things he enjoyed, and slowly wriggle away from more martial pursuits, at which he was strikingly average. Yet, even from in King’s Landing, Arthur began to hear of his young brother’s incredible wit and skill with the practice sword, even at such a young age. Once the talk of Addam began in the letters sent by his mother, he soon stopped reading them, instead allowing them to pile up, before feeding them to the fire one after the other.

Yet, when the King had his son take a second wife in Visenya Silvermoon, and in doing so, wed the baseborn daughter of a Lysene whore, Arthur Hightower, now six and ten, was enraged. This was not right. By the laws of both Gods and Men, this was not right. To take a second wife, while the first still lived.. No. Yet, as much as the Lord of the Hightower desired to leave the Capital above all else, such would have been too obviously an act of blatant disrespect, and so, the Lord of Oldtown was forced to endure this court of mockery and concubine worship for nigh on another year. But alas, once all the time he could force himself to stomach had passed, never had there been a faster ship to leave harbour than the one Arthur Hightower left upon.