Eldric Arryn

Eldric Arryn was the ambitious son of Ser Arnold Arryn and a claimant in the struggle to succeed Lady Jeyne Arryn. His effort to advance his imprisoned father’s claim brought powerful support from Vale lords, but ended when Regent Corwyn Corbray upheld Jeyne’s testament and had Eldric put to death. His death did not settle the succession: it helped renew open conflict across the Vale.

Claim and Background

Lady Jeyne died in 134, having named Ser Joffrey Arryn her heir in a final testament. Joffrey was only her fourth cousin, while Ser Arnold was her first cousin and therefore much closer by blood. Arnold had twice tried to depose Jeyne and was imprisoned after his second failed rebellion. Years in the Eyrie’s sky cells and the dungeons beneath the Gates of the Moon left him mad; his son Eldric, by contrast, was described as sane, shrewd, and ambitious.

Eldric came forward to press his father’s claim. Many Vale lords rallied to his banners, arguing that established inheritance laws could not be displaced by the will of a dying woman. The dispute therefore turned on competing principles: Jeyne’s authority to designate an heir in her testament, and the challengers’ insistence on the claims arising from blood and customary inheritance.

The Regent’s Judgment

The conflict reached a decisive point when Corwyn Corbray ruled that Jeyne’s will must prevail and declared Joffrey the rightful Lord of the Eyrie. The other claimants refused to accept the ruling. Corwyn imprisoned Isembard Arryn, the Gilded Falcon, and his sons, and put Eldric to death. Arnold escaped Corwyn and fled to Runestone, where he had served as a squire in his youth.

Corwyn’s judgment settled the legal question in favor of Joffrey but did not reconcile the rival parties. His attempt to remove Arnold from Runestone brought him into confrontation with Gunthor Royce, who rode out in his ancient bronze armor to defend his sanctuary. When Corwyn drew Lady Forlorn, a crossbowman on Runestone’s battlements shot him. Eldric’s death thus preceded the killing of the regent who had ruled against his claim, and the dispute escalated into a broader armed struggle.

Renewed War in the Vale

The killing of Corwyn, one of the king’s regents, was treated as treason, comparable to an attack on the king himself. It also carried particular weight because Corwyn was Lord of Heart’s Home Quenton Corbray’s uncle and Lady Rhaena’s husband. War flared anew across the Vale: the Corbrays, Hunters, Craynes, and Redforts supported Joffrey, while the Royces of Runestone joined Arnold’s side alongside the Templetons, Tolletts, Coldwaters, Duttons, and lords of the Fingers and Three Sisters. Gulltown and House Grafton continued to support the imprisoned Gilded Falcon.

Eldric’s personal claim ended with his death, but the allegiance gathered around it survived as part of the wider conflict. The competing claims were no longer only a contest over Jeyne’s testament or Arnold’s bloodline: the regent’s death had made the struggle a rebellion against the Iron Throne’s authority in the Vale.