Chương 10: Fosterage II
A/N For those of you who don't like the lore, you can skip this chapter. Those of you who like to know about it can read it. It's not that important for the story. I have a lot to do this week, so this chapter is subpar. Sry about that.
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- The Eyrie -
- 272 AC -
(Robert POV)
I observed the Eyrie in the distance of the Mountains of the Moon. I knew a few things about the Vale and the Eyrie from the books I read in Storm's End's library. I was a bit disappointed with our library's size to be honest. I will make sure to increase the amount of books we have access to in the coming years. Another part, I want to talk about is the topic of Maesters ... like what in tarnation are those wanna-be scholars doing? Who did they think they were? They thought they were hot shit, while I was just shaking my head to the side.
I was already studying the little they knew about medicine and had plans of using the things I had learned in my past life, to make sure my family would not die randomly. There were some ridiculous things I heard from our Maester and there is no way, I would allow something like that to happen on my watch.
Anyway, back to the Eyrie. The Eyrie is an ancient castle and seat of House Arryn, one of the oldest lines of Andal nobility, within the Vale of Arryn. It is situated in the Mountains of the Moon on the shoulder of the peak known as the Giant's Lance, several thousand feet above the valley below. Although small compared to the seats of other Great Houses in Westeros, the Eyrie is considered impregnable to attack. During wintertime, the Arryns seek refuge against the cold in the Gates of the Moon at the base of the mountain.
[Picture]
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After we finally made it to the Eyrie, I was shown to my room, which was located right next to Neds. I was told that the lessons would start the next day, where Jon Arryn himself would start teaching me about the Vale ... oh joy.
"Today is the first lesson for you Robert. Ned, you already know some of this, but there is more to the Vale than you know. I will first tell both of you the history of the Vale, House Arryn and the Eyrie and then we will dive deeper into the things that define the Vale.", Jon Arryn started his lecture. I knew it was going to be long, but I was determined to use all the knowledge he was giving me. I could send this knowledge to Stannis after all. We might have to adjust a few things in our plans, so getting my hands on this knowledge from the Lord of the Eyrie himself was useful.
"Legends claim that the Winged Knight drove the First Men from the Vale and flew to the top of the Giant's Lance on a huge falcon to slay the Griffin King. Records indicate that Artys I Arryn, the first King of Mountain and Vale, constructed the Gates of the Moon at the foot of the Giant's Lance, where he had defeated King Robar II Royce's army of First Men in the Battle of the Seven Stars.", Jon started his tale.
"What happened in the Battle of the Seven Stars?", I ask.
"The Battle of the Seven Stars, or Battle of Seven Stars, was a massive battle that took place at the foot of the Giant's Lance during the Andal invasion of the Vale."
"How did it come to that?", I asked further. Jon smiled at my 'enthusiasm', not knowing that I was simply bleeding him dry of all the information he had.
"It seems you are interested in the Vales history. That's good. I'll gladly tell you.
The invading Andals initially conquered much of the Vale, as the native First Men kings were disunited and often collaborated with the Andals against each other. Once most of the Vale was under Andal control, however, they began to fight amongst themselves. The remaining First Men houses then began to unify behind Robar II Royce, crowning him High King of the Vale, the Fingers, and the Mountains of the Moon. After Robar defeated Qyle Corbray, the Graftons, and the Hammer of the Hills, the threatened Andals united behind the young Ser Artys Arryn, an Andal knight born near the Giant's Lance.
Robar's First Men, who were mostly on foot, fortified their position with the Giant's Lance at their back, lining their trenches with sharpened stakes. The Andals arrived at dusk three days later.
The exact details of the conclusive battle between the First Men and the Andals in the Vale are lost to legend. Andal songs claim the Andals began their attack when they saw seven stars in the dawn sky. The First Men resisted the first six Andal attacks, but the seventh was led by Torgold Tollett, who slew Lord Redfort and Ursula Upcliff. To prevent a rout, King Robar led the First Men's counterattack and slew Torgold the Grim. Hoping to render the Andals leaderless, Robar then duelled with Artys Arryn, slaying the armoured knight.
Five hundred Andal knights then attacked the First Men from their rear, as Artys was familiar with a goat track which led around the Giant's Lance. Leading these reinforcements was Artys himself, as one of his retainers had dressed in the Arryn armour as a decoy and been slain by Robar. The Andals routed the First Men, with all thirty of Robar's lords killed. Robar died in the fighting, although it is disputed whether he was vanquished by Artys Arryn, Lord Ruthermont, Luceon Templeton, or Jaime Corbray.
The Battle of the Seven Stars resulted in the extinguishing of fourteen First Men houses and the submission to the Andals of other houses, such as the Belmores, Hunters, Coldwaters, Redforts, and Royces. Ser Artys was crowned Artys I Arryn, King of Mountain and Vale. Those First Men who did not submit to the Andals fled into the Mountains of the Moon, becoming the mountain clans.", Jon concluded.
"That's quite crafty. Impressive to use such tactics.", I say complimenting the history of the Andals. This was bound to get me some brownie points.
"Indeed. It is a fine example of brains over brawn in my opinion.", Jon said and then looked at Eddard, "Do you have any questions, Ned?"
"No.", Ned says. I can tell that he doesn't seem to be all that happy with the story he was just told. House Stark are descendants of the First Men after all. So hearing about such a defeat by the Andals, must not sit well with him. But he is just far too timid right now to say anything.
"Good. Then, I'll continue with the rest of the Vale's history.
Artys's grandson, Roland I Arryn, believed that the Gates of the Moon were inferior to Casterly Rock and the Hightower and strategically vulnerable to raids from the Vale mountain clans. Allegedly inspired by his wife Teora Hunter, Roland built a new royal palace high in the mountain above the Gates of the Moon.
Construction of the Eyrie took place intermittently over generations, and marble was imported from Tarth in the narrow sea, as Roland disliked the appearance of stone available in the Vale, which is why the Eyrie looks the way it does. You both saw it when we rode here on our way.
The Eyrie was inhabited as a pleasure palace for the Kings of Mountain and Vale during spring, summer, and autumn. My House of Arryns used to descend to the larger Gates of the Moon for winter and host a feast when they returned to the Eyrie in the spring.
This leads us to history that happened over 250 years ago. A time we call the Conquest. I'm sure both of you know of this time, as you are both from powerful noble houses.
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During Aegon's Conquest, Queen Regent Sharra Arryn fortified the Bloody Gate and had her son, the boy king Ronnel Arryn, take refuge in the Eyrie. The fleet of House Arryn defeated that of House Targaryen in a battle in the waters off Gulltown, which sounds good, but it was not a fight like others we were used to. The Targaryens had changed the game ... they had brought Dragons into the mix.
After the Field of Fire and the submission of the North, Queen Visenya Targaryen, bypassed the Eyrie's lower defences by flying upon her Dragon, Vhagar, to the castle's inner courtyard. It was just that easy for them. Height wasn't something they had to bother themselves with.
Realizing that the Eyrie's isolated location could not protect against Dragons, Sharra submitted to Visenya. Visenya flew the young Ronnel thrice around the Giant's Lance, and the boy became Warden of the East for King Aegon I Targaryen, the new Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.
We won't go into more detail about the Conquest right now, but we will talk about it in the future. It is an interesting piece of knowledge and important to know if you are going to help your Houses with their relations to the other Kingdoms.
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During the reign of Aegon's successor, King Aenys I Targaryen, Jonos Arryn imprisoned his brother, Lord Ronnel, and took control of the Eyrie. When Lord Allard Royce's host of loyal bannermen defeated Jonos's rebels below, the self-proclaimed King of Mountain and Vale threw Ronnel to his death through the Moon Door. Aegon's younger son, Prince Maegor Targaryen, rode the dragon Balerion to the Eyrie.
To avoid being burned by Balerion's dragonflame, the Eyrie's garrison captured Jonos and threw him through the Moon Door. Maegor hanged all of Jonos's followers from the walls of the Eyrie. Another example of the Dragon's might in the old days and how the mere presence of one, could move the political game to the advantage of the Targaryens.
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During the Dance of the Dragons, also a topic we will talk about at a later date, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon flew to the Eyrie on Vermax to secure an alliance between Jeyne Arryn, Lady of the Eyrie, and the blacks of his mother, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen.
According to Grand Maester Munkun, Jacaerys and Jeyne agreed to an alliance in the castle's High Hall. Jacaerys promised to have dragonriders sent to the Vale to help protect the Eyrie from enemy dragons.
Jeyne had her first cousin, Ser Arnold Arryn imprisoned in the sky cells of the Eyrie and in the dungeons of the Gates of the Moon after two failed rebellions. After Jeyne died, her preferred heir, Ser Joffrey Arryn, was contested by Arnold's son, Ser Eldric Arryn, and by Isembard Arryn of Gulltown. After a civil war in the Vale of Arryn, Joffrey eventually emerged as Lord of the Eyrie during the regency of Aegon III.
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There is more to this than what I just told you, a lot more. But for now, this will do just fine. I wanted to give you both an idea about what the Vale is about and the history between the First Men and the Andals. I know that you Ned won't be all too happy about that, but it is history, and so we have to learn from it.
Now, that was more than enough for today. How about you show Robert the castle grounds a bit Ned?", Jon asked.
"Aye, I'll do that."
"Good. Then we will see each other later."
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Ned showed me the castle after that first lesson. I thought that it was a bit much for Jon to teach us all that in one sitting. There was something he wanted and I had a suspicion about what that was.
He thought I was stupid and giving me all this information, he thinks I am willing to help him with my project, to raise the Eyries status and fill their coffers. But that won't happen ... on the contrary, I will use this chance to the fullest. I think I should write Stannis as soon as possible. I am basically an inside man in the Vale. This could go amazingly well for us.
Another thing that interests me ... the Maester. I think I will spend some time learing everything he knows about medicine and then ... I will become better. That could be amazing for both reputation and information. There are a few things I know that will help immensely as the health care in this world is abysmal. I'm sure there is potential there.
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I am extremely busy right now, but the next chapter will be better.
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