Eldric Arryn

Eldric was the son of Ser Arnold Arryn, first cousin of Lady Jeyne Arryn, the Lady of the Eyrie. Arnold had twice claimed the lordship for himself, defying his cousin's right to rule.

The second attempt cost him his freedom: the regents locked him in the Sky Cells, and there he lost his mind. It was in that broken household that Eldric grew up, inheriting along with his name a cause that was not his own but that he would eventually make his.

In 134 AC, Lady Jeyne died without direct issue, and the lordship passed by right to a distant cousin, Ser Joffrey Arryn. Eldric, shrewd and ambitious, refused to accept that a dying woman's wish should decide the succession of the Eyrie, and took up his mad father's claim as though it were his own. He was not alone: many lords of the Vale called their banners, arguing that the ancient laws of succession should outweigh a whim, and Lord Isembard Arryn pressed a claim of his own as well.

The Hand of the King, Thaddeus Rowan, summoned all the claimants to King's Landing to plead their causes before the council of regents ruling in the name of the boy king Aegon III Targaryen. None of the arguments swayed the regent Ser Corwyn Corbray, who ruled that Lady Jeyne's final wishes should stand.

None of the claimants accepted the ruling, and Corbray answered harshly: he imprisoned Lord Isembard along with his sons and had Eldric put to death. Only Ser Arnold managed to flee King's Landing, and went on defending his claim to the lordship.