The Vale
A kingdom existing since the arrival of the Andals, even claiming to be the place where their feet first touched the land of Westeros. This is a place steeped in the history of its ancestors, the House of Arryn is among the oldest of the Andal bloodlines that still lives, and they still hold dominion over the land that their ancestors claimed, in a way. For years and years the Arryns ruled as the Kings of the Mountain and Vale, a separate nation from the rest of Westeros until one King was forced to bow down in the War of Conquest. However, due to their graceful surrender the Arryns were granted the honor of keeping hold of the Vale in the name of the King.
House Arryn resides during the summer years in their castle at the Eyrie which rests at the top of the Giant's Lance, the highest peak in the Mountains of the Moon, a place that is impregnable from any attack. The only way to reach the Eyrie is a narrow, rising trail that requires the use of a donkey, no horse can make it up the passage, and people traversing the trail must pass through three waycastles that have the ability to see miles below them and have bowmen at the ready to pick off any that would attempt an attack. During the winter years House Arryn moves the entirety of its household to the Gates of the Moon in order to avoid being cut off from supplies by any terrible storms that may come to pass. The Gates of the Moon are also well protected by the Bloody Gate and the one mountain pass that leads up to it.
The main group against the House Arryn are the Hill Tribes living throughout the Mountains of the Moon who demand that House Arryn leave from their ancestral home. For the tribes are descended from the First Men that lived there before the Andals even landed on Westeros, so they often attack the Gates of the Moon in the hopes of winning back the land that they believe is rightfully theirs. They rarely get very far though, for they live entirely self sustained in the hills surrounding the Gates, subsisting on the animals they hunt and the villages that they raid which results in the ragged appearance that dominates their tribes. The clothes on their backs include many animal furs, that they caught themselves, and worn down rags of clothing that they have stolen. Out of the few that have weapons even less have weapons of any good standard, for they are usually ones that have been passed down through families and little taken care of. Their lack of growth means that they do not have the tools necessary to get through the gate to what it is that they really want and often lose great numbers of men and women in their sieges on the wall.
Even with the Hill Tribes repeated nuances that the House Arryn does not deserve the castle in which they reside there are many houses that continue to swear their allegiance to Arryn as their liege. Any house, big or small, that wishes to pledge their allegiance to House Arryn does so in the High Hall of the Eyrie, the hall in which the Arryns partake in most business ventures. Men and women of the Vale vary in appearance, however not so much as many other places. The islands of the Vale have a large variety of people as they are constantly coming in on the ships that stop in port, just the same can be said of the coastal cities that reside within the Vale, however when one goes to the Gates of the Moon they will mainly see the descendants of the Andals and First Men who settled there originally.
House Arryn resides during the summer years in their castle at the Eyrie which rests at the top of the Giant's Lance, the highest peak in the Mountains of the Moon, a place that is impregnable from any attack. The only way to reach the Eyrie is a narrow, rising trail that requires the use of a donkey, no horse can make it up the passage, and people traversing the trail must pass through three waycastles that have the ability to see miles below them and have bowmen at the ready to pick off any that would attempt an attack. During the winter years House Arryn moves the entirety of its household to the Gates of the Moon in order to avoid being cut off from supplies by any terrible storms that may come to pass. The Gates of the Moon are also well protected by the Bloody Gate and the one mountain pass that leads up to it.
The main group against the House Arryn are the Hill Tribes living throughout the Mountains of the Moon who demand that House Arryn leave from their ancestral home. For the tribes are descended from the First Men that lived there before the Andals even landed on Westeros, so they often attack the Gates of the Moon in the hopes of winning back the land that they believe is rightfully theirs. They rarely get very far though, for they live entirely self sustained in the hills surrounding the Gates, subsisting on the animals they hunt and the villages that they raid which results in the ragged appearance that dominates their tribes. The clothes on their backs include many animal furs, that they caught themselves, and worn down rags of clothing that they have stolen. Out of the few that have weapons even less have weapons of any good standard, for they are usually ones that have been passed down through families and little taken care of. Their lack of growth means that they do not have the tools necessary to get through the gate to what it is that they really want and often lose great numbers of men and women in their sieges on the wall.
Even with the Hill Tribes repeated nuances that the House Arryn does not deserve the castle in which they reside there are many houses that continue to swear their allegiance to Arryn as their liege. Any house, big or small, that wishes to pledge their allegiance to House Arryn does so in the High Hall of the Eyrie, the hall in which the Arryns partake in most business ventures. Men and women of the Vale vary in appearance, however not so much as many other places. The islands of the Vale have a large variety of people as they are constantly coming in on the ships that stop in port, just the same can be said of the coastal cities that reside within the Vale, however when one goes to the Gates of the Moon they will mainly see the descendants of the Andals and First Men who settled there originally.