Dannyl Waynwood

Pride, as any Septon will surely warn, is a grave sin. Those who fall prey to its siren song run the risk of being drawn into a spiral of arrogance and recklessness that inevitably leads to their own self-destruction. However, as any Lord of House Waynwood can attest, there is another side to pride. Pride draws one’s attention to past glories and future victories, focusing the desires into a sharp edge of ambition that can cut through even the gravest of obstacles. Like any weapon, pride is a dangerous tool, but a potentially vital one, and Lord Dannyl Waynwood can testify to this as much as any of his forebears.

Dannyl Waynwood is the current Lord of House House Waynwood and the master of the fortress of Ironoaks, and his blood runs with the confidence and self-importance of his forebears. He is a noble but ruthless man, his every effort dedicated to the glory of his House, and, of course, his own place within its storied history. The import of the Waynwood name lies heavy on Lord Dannyl’s shoulders, and he weighs his every action against the great deeds of his ancestors. The blood of the Andals still runs pure in the veins of House Waynwood, and this is a source of great pride and no small amount of arrogance for the Lord of Ironoaks. Despite this self-importance, Dannyl’s loyalty and dedication to the Arryns has never been in question, though his open ambition is clear to any who know him. Under Lord Dannyl’s reign, House Waynwood has built its strength and sought to tighten its ties with House Arryn, waiting eagerly for a chance to prove its power and further secure its place as one of the premier Houses of the Vale.

Appearance and Personality
Dannyl Waynwood is a handsome man, in a forbidding, arrogant sort of way. He is tall and graceful, moving with the smooth steps of a trained warrior. Each movement he makes is measured and careful, crafted to convey a sense of dignity and pride. His face is slender and expressive, with a tight-lipped mouth and fine-boned features. His eyes are dark green and thoughtful, always measuring those that they observe with slow deliberation and showing little of whatever judgement that they make. Dannyl’s hair is light brown and shoulder length, though it is most often pulled tight behind his head to keep it out of the way and, vainly, to accentuate his striking features. He dresses well, in tailored doublets marked with the broken-wheel sigil of his house, though in battle he wears plate and mail of polished steel, covered in a tabard marked with the colors of his house.

As his appearance would suggest, Dannyl is a prideful and self-confident man, seeing himself as the chief representative of his storied House and the man tasked with continuing that honorable legacy into the future. With other nobles, the Lord of Ironoaks reveals himself to be an erudite and humorous man, always eager to make a biting quip or a clever observation. Where smallfolk are concerned, Dannyl is polite but undeniably somewhat patronizing, though he is always careful to treat those who serve his family well with all the honor they deserve. Indeed, Dannyl is a man who has fully embraced the Chivalric ideals of the Vale, viewing himself as a protector of the smallfolk and the caring but firm ruler of his lands. He is notoriously fair-minded where justice is concerned, and this has earned him something of a positive reputation among the people of Ironoaks and its surrounding lands.

Youth
Dannyl Waynwood was born in 380 AC to Lord Ryon Waynwood and Lady Alys Redfort. He was the first of two children, and his sister Rowena was born three years after him. From a young age, he was a headstrong child, noted for his willful stubbornness and utter self-assurance. The young Dannyl became notorious around Ironoaks for his elaborate games of war that dragged in dozens of boys from around the castle. Dannyl, of course, always made himself the general, and his youthful “army” often besieged the castle kitchens in search of sweets. The young heir to Ironoaks often sent other boys home in tears when they tried to take turns leading, a circumstance that alarmed his mother but was the source of good-natured pride from his father. After all, Lord Ryon pointed out, Dannyl was to be a lord. It was only natural that he spend his youth learning how to lead, and if the other lads were too thin-skinned to accept that, it was no fault of his own. The result was a child imbued with utter self-assurance and a clear understanding of the power that his family name and station granted him.

Dannyl was trained as a warrior, learning how to ride and wield a longsword from a young age. The Knights of the Vale are among the finest in the world, and even in those vaunted ranks the warriors of House Waynwood have a mighty reputation. They are some of the oldest Andal nobility in Westeros, their lineage tracing all the way back to the great Andal Invasion of the Vale, and they can therefore claim to have been riding and fighting as armored knights while their First Men neighbors were still scratching a living from the mountains with bronze tools. Dannyl was constantly fed stories of the great deeds of his ancestors, listening with rapt pride to the mighty legacy of his house. He showed impressive aptitude in the training yard, though he would never be the fastest, strongest, or most skilled of his comrades, and took to his other studies with gusto. The arts of command and statecraft fascinated him, and he took every opportunity to seek more information about what characteristics made an effective leader in the hope that he would live up to the astonishingly high standards set by his ancestors.

The Heir to Ironoaks
Dannyl was knighted by his father in the wake of an attack by the knights of House Waynwood against the Mountain Clans of the Southern Mountains. He rode with courage and skill among Lord Ryon’s forces, cutting down one of the tribesmen with his lance and another with his sword. The battle would leave a lasting mark upon him, for during the burning of the hostile raiding camp Dannyl witnessed shocking displays of the barbarity of the tribesmen that shook him to his core. The heir to Ironoaks would go on to develop a lasting and intense distaste for the Mountain Clans, viewing them as the last barbaric remnants of the enemies that his ancestors should have annihilated centuries ago. As time went on, Dannyl would continue to acquit himself with all the valor and chivalry that was to be expected from a scion of one of the most noble Houses in the Vale. Like most Waynwoods, he placed immense value on tradition, viewing its maintenance as the only thing that kept noble Houses like his from falling into the mud and losing all that set them apart. Indeed, Dannyl’s fascination with the importance of pure blood and family honor only grew as the years passed, and it prompted an arrogance and intolerance that was to become his greatest failing.

Dannyl was married to Catelyn Belmore by his father, and, though the marriage had been a matter of political convenience, it quickly blossomed into genuine connection between the two. Catelyn was intelligent, attractive, and, most of all, noble-blooded, and Dannyl found her to be an engaging and genuine partner. Dannyl became a father in 400 AC, when Catelyn gave birth to a boy named Arthur. Over the following years, Dannyl and Catelyn would have two more children, one a boy called Brynden, the other a girl named Selyse. Dannyl became a loving father, doting on his children and raising them with all the eager excitement of a new parent. These children were the future of Dannyl’s beloved House, and he was dedicated to seeing them succeed and grow into leaders who could see the Waynwood family name safely into the future. The Gods had blessed Dannyl’s children with good health, and they made it through the dangerous years of early childhood without major incident.

The Lord of Ironoaks
In 402 AC, Lord Ryon Waynwood came down with a serious fever after falling into a freezing mountain stream while hunting. His life hung in the balance for a time, and, though he would survive the illness, he was left greatly weakened by the experience. When he grew ill again the next year, it did not take long for the Stranger to come and claim him. Dannyl assumed his father’s position as Lord of Ironoaks and leader of House Waynwood and began to rule in his own right. By all accounts, Dannyl took his father’s death hard, for he had always been close to Lord Ryon and was very much a product of his father’s character and way of thinking. Nevertheless, with the help of his mother and the care of his wife, Dannyl did not allow his sadness to impede his rule. After all, as he had been taught from a young age, he was born to rule Ironoaks and add to the glory of House Waynwood. It was his one purpose, his sole duty. To fail to do his utmost in pursuit of this goal would be to spit upon his own honor, and that of each of his storied ancestors.

As Lord, Dannyl quickly began to forge his own chapter in the legacy of House Waynwood. His disdain for the Mountain Clans had only grown more bitter as the years had passed, and he led the warriors of Ironoaks on suppression raids to force back the bandits of the Southern Mountains who preyed upon the holdings of House Waynwood. Many clan raiding parties found themselves ridden down by the knights of Ironoaks, their primitive armor and weaponry no match for a charge of mounted warriors in plate and mail. However, though he led many of these suppression forces to success, Dannyl quickly realized that the Mountain Clans were a wily and cruel foe. Too often, he would arrive at the scene of a raid to find nothing but slaughtered merchants and looted caravans, and these incidents caused his focus on stopping the Clans to grow even stronger as time went on. The situation quickly turned into a cat and mouse game, with the weaker and less effective Clan raiders finding death on the tips of lances and the edge of swords, while the most wily and powerful became ever more savvy in their tactics and raids.

In the meantime, Dannyl has also sought to tighten the relationship of House Waynwood with the other great Houses of the Vale. Most notably, he has sought to firm his relationship with the Eyrie, as House Waynwood has ever been among the most loyal and reliable vassals of the Arryns and seeks to retain this reputation. Dannyl's sister Rowena is married to Osric Arryn, heir to the Eyrie, and the Lord of Ironoaks hopes to capitalize on this connection to help secure the future of his family. Additionally, Dannyl has sought to tighten relations with House Grafton of Gulltown, viewing the great port as a vital connection to the world outside the Vale. Though the Lord of Ironoaks is as pleased as anyone with the Vale’s glorious isolation, he also recognizes that to remain utterly cut off from the rest of Westeros is to allow stagnation, and that, above all else, is something that he cannot abide. House Waynwood is among the noblest houses in Westeros, after all. If it goes anywhere but forward, into the future, it will fall into ruin and lose all that makes it so glorious.

Recent Events
Lord Dannyl is currently en route to the Eyrie at the behest of his Lord Alaric Arryn, there to participate in festivities before departing for Harrenhal.

Family
Lord Ryon Waynwood (Deceased), Dannyl’s father

Lady Alys Redfort, Dannyl’s mother, b. 362 AC

Lady Rowena Waynwood Arryn, Dannyl’s sister, wife of Osric Arryn of the Eyrie b. 383 AC

Lady Catelyn Redfort, Dannyl’s wife b. 384

Arthur Waynwood, Son, b. 400 AC

Brynden Waynwood, Son, b. 402 AC

Selyse Waynwood, Daughter, b. 403 AC

Other Characters
Rickard Stone, Captain of the Guards and Castellan

Maester Allan