Where did Bloodraven get his money?

[PrinceHenryris]

So apparently, Bloodraven has hundreds of archers in his service and presumably other knights and men-at-arms in his personal guard.  When he marched on Whitewalls, it's said he was flying his own banner next to that of the King, and had three hundred Raven's Teeth marching with him.

If all we consider are the three hundred Raven's Teeth, that's still a huge number.  At the start of aGoT, Winterfell had a guard of two hundred.  

So, how can a man who, as far as I can tell never held a castle or lands of his own, field a personal army of his own?

I understand that Aegon IV might have left him a bequest, but I doubt it was large enough to support anything close to the size of Lord Brynden's army.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

If one has a rich and generous daddy, and after works for rich and generous brother, one can hire two hundred men, no sweat. Even double that number, if need be. Ser Kevan could.

[devilish]

Kevan said that despite he didn't possess lands his brother made sure that he would be rich enough to live very well for the rest of his days. Bloodraven was 10 times more efficient and he was 100 times more important then Kevan ever was. He also served kings rather then wardens.

[Lord Corlys Velaryon]

Quote

Although he could not—and would not—rescind his father's last wishes, he did what he could to keep the Great Bastards close, treating them honorably and continuing the incomes that the king had bestowed on them. (The World of Ice & Fire, Daeron II)

So yes, Aegon IV did leave Brynden (& the other Great Bastards) certain incomes, with Daeron indeed continuing to what I presume was perhaps the First Blackfyre Rebellion or at the very least, until each came of age. A great question though! It seems like Bloodraven served on his brother's Small Council as essentially the Master of Whisperers post 1st BfR, & perhaps even beforehand. So he perhaps could've drawn on Crown finances for perhaps even a small part of his expenses. And of course once he became Hand for his nephew, Aerys I, he could basically do whatever he wanted. The unknown time is certainly pre 1st BfR ... The formation of the Raven's Teeth I find especially intriguing as well. Was it during the war before the Redgrass Field, or did Brynden found the "company" earlier? We don't know ...

We know they used weirwood bows & arrows, which adds another question of how & where they got the wood for such a large armament ... Bran sees in ADwD that Brandon Snow (half-brother of Torrhen, the King Who Knelt) snapped off branches of the Winterfell heart tree to carve arrows, but that was perhaps as few as three (i.e. "Balerion", "Meraxes", & "Vhagar") ... Only a few decades before, the Butterwells would've spent a fuckload for the trunks of weirwoods they used for the rafters of Whitewalls. I'm guessing it was gathered Brandon Snow style where they could, & perhaps had to be made up with imports from the North or something. My headcanon is that Bloodraven's inspiration for the Raven's Teeth were the archery contingents of the Lads during the Dance led by Black Aly Blackwood & Red Robb Rivers, & that they themselves used weirwood bows &/or arrows to help explain how they carved up so much!

Of course as also say, there's the ~300 men too, the true continual costs. Again, I think looking back to the Riverlanders ~65 years before him, Brynden perhaps most likely drew from loyalists of his own region, perhaps Raventree Hall in particular as actual levies. There may have been some professional (i.e. "sellbows", yeah that's not gonna catch on) archers from across the Narrow Sea. There may been some more adept with bows from among direct royal forces (household guards, garrisons, gold cloaks). Perhaps some famed bowmen from across the Seven Kingdoms (obviously they don't draw the same prestige & purses as jousters, many tourneys do seem to have archery contests & it'd be a much cheaper profession than that of a tourney knight) hired for their skills ....

[The hairy bear]

Besides the already mentioned incomes that Aegon IV bestowed to the great bastards, there are two other potential sources of money that Bloodraven could have relied on:

• The crown: He seems to have been a proven loyalist since the beginning. Once Daemon and Bittersteel started to make turmoil, Daeron I could have given Bloodraven the funds to organize a small company of elite archers for him to command. At the beginning they may have been a small company. Only when Bloodraven became Master of Secrets and then Hand, offices that would go with their own financing, their number would increase to the 300 figure we were given at The Mystery Knight.
• Raventree Hall: Her mother's family was a rich one, and would have a lot of interest to keep Bloodraven in power (and Bittersteel out of it). Doubtless the gave Lord Brynden all the money and men they could spare.

[The Fresh PtwP]

Also these aren't knights, no armor, no horses, no swords. Bows are alot cheaper. 

[Lady Blizzardborn]

From his Hand of the King and Master of Whisperers expense accounts.