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New TWoIaF excerpt from the App [spoiler]


Lord Varys

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I guess this should help somewhat to resolve 'the burning Royce-Bolton question'.



The prose is really intense at times, and the Battle of Seven Stars really epic.



[Perhaps this opens a new perspective for the people who seem to think the book would focus too much space on a particular royal dynasty...]


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Ursula Upcliff, a reputed sorceress who called herself the "bride of the Merling King," it looks like a nod to Disney's The Little Mermaid. I wonder if she was a woodswitch connected to the Old Gods like Morna Whitemask.



Also, it appears the Valyrians were exporting Valyrian steel by the time the Andals were invading Westeros as exemplified by Andal king Qoyle Corbray wielding Lady Forlorn.



Torgol "the Grim" Tollett, so that's where Dolorous Edd gets it from.



Artys Arryn built the Eyrie not just at the site of his victory but near his birthplace and childhood home.


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Yeah, I recognized the Ursula hint, too.



Ran/Linda, is that you, or George himself?



Not sure if the origin of Lady Forlorn will be explained in detail, but the Corbrays may not have bought the swords from the Valyrians. It could suggests that the Valyrians - and their colonies - had been expanding quite a lot when the Andals finally crossed th Narrow Sea...



'The Grim' is a pun with Dolorous Edd's name itself. He is not dolorous, despite the fact that the name suggests it.



I don't think Artys Arryn built the Eyrie. The building of the castle should have taken decades, perhaps even generations (or centuries), and I'm not even sure Artys was the kind of man who would want to build such a castle.


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Not sure if the origin of Lady Forlorn will be explained in detail, but the Corbrays may not have bought the swords from the Valyrians. It could suggests that the Valyrians - and their colonies - had been expanding quite a lot when the Andals finally crossed th Narrow Sea...

The Andals also appeared to be coming in waves of different bands. There doesn't appear to be a mass exodus (yet). It could be that the Andals didn't leave Essos entirely until the Andals saw the writing on the wall with regards to the Valyrians, or the Valyrians were pushing north towards Andalos. The fact that Valyrian steel is available which requires dragonflame to be forged means it is long after the Valyrians domesticated dragons.

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Yeah. It will be interesting to learn how the Valyrian colonies expanded. First throughout the land, up/around the Rhoyne (Norvos/Qohor), or went they around the coastline first, and founded Myr, Pentos, and Lorath before expanding inland? Tyrosh, and Lys should be among the oldest, some time after Volantis.



As to the Andals: Andalos should have been some sort of nation, and surely some clans/bands would have tried to fight back, and if they had (somewhat) rich lands, they would have only gone after they had realized that you really, really should not provoke (or resist) the dragons.



The story only covers the Vale - some other Andals may have already started to land farther in the North, and especially down in the Stormlands, and down at Crackclaw Point/KL, which is really close to where Pentos lies to today.


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Ursula Upcliff, a reputed sorceress who called herself the "bride of the Merling King," it looks like a nod to Disney's The Little Mermaid. I wonder if she was a woodswitch connected to the Old Gods like Morna Whitemask.

Omg >.<

Is this says anything else about her? Asoiaf just keeps getting better and better o.o

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Omg >.<

Is this says anything else about her? Asoiaf just keeps getting better and better o.o

Apparently she was present at the battle between Robar Royce and Artys Arryn. She tried to lay a curse on Torgol Tollet, but he ripped her head off with his bare hands.

So house Corbray is confirmed to have Andal roots. I have always thought as them as having First Men roots.

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Apparently she was present at the battle between Robar Royce and Artys Arryn. She tried to lay a curse on Torgol Tollet, but he ripped her head off with his bare hands.

Oh o.o

um...is that possible o.o

So she wasn't a real witch :frown5:

Or he interrupted her channeling :lol:

Feed me with your knowledge! :devil:

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Oh o.o

um...is that possible o.o

So she wasn't a real witch :frown5:

Or he interrupted her channeling :lol:

Feed me with your knowledge! :devil:

Well, they say a lot of the info was taken by singers instead of records, so a lot of what Tollet did may have been exaggerated. The guy was fighting half naked with an axe in each hand. I do think she was a witch though.

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Well, they say a lot of the info was taken by singers instead of records, so a lot of what Tollet did may have been exaggerated. The guy was fighting half naked with an axe in each hand. I do think she was a witch though.

Thank you :cheers:

I hope the book reveals a little more information about her. Still it's a cute nod to Little Mermaid.

And when I said feed me with your knowledge, I meant write everything in the app :devil: JK

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A Royce sworn man (Torgol) killed a Royce ally (Ursula)? So I guess that makes it so the Tollets were not always sworn to the Royces. I don't have the app :crying: so can someone please confirm who was fighting who? Was it Artys Arryn, Torgol Tollet and Qoyle Corbray against Robar Royce and Ursula Upcliff? Thanks


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Ursula comes from a noble house from the Narrow Sea (a neighboring isle of the Paps), and her curse does indeed not have an immediate effect, but who knows why the hell Dolorous Edd is so dolorous...?



The source material for Yandel's tale of the Battle of the Seven Stars in entirely drawn from a song, but this does not make it less compelling (actually the other).



Some short facts (it's very late):



The First Men is split into many kingdoms: The King of the Fingers, the King of Runestone (House Royce), the King of Gulltown (House Shett).



First Men are stupid and use the the Andal invaders as sellsword against their enemies (strong enmity especially between Gulltown and Runestone). A Corbray kills the King of the Fingers with Lady Forlorn, and takes over the Fingers as 'Lord of the Five Fingers' (no king).



The Shett King takes a Grafton in his service and seals the pact with a number of marriages between himself, his children, and the children of the Grafton warlord, believing he could thus ensure Andal loyalty (he can't). King Shett dies in battle against the Royce King (which is won), but the King Shett is killed, by the Grafton warlord, it is said, who then takes over Gulltown.



The First Men are still stupid, the Andals keep pushing and pushing and they are about to be driven into the Mountains of the Moon two generations later. But then the Andal stupidity sets in, and the Andal petty kings begin fighting each other. This weakness is then exploited by Robar Royce, the grandson of the above mentioned Royce King, who charismatic enough to unite all the warring First Men clans and petty kings, and is then named High King of the Vale (Ursula Upcliffe is among them).



Robar allies with various Andal petty kings against their neighbors and thus topples both the King of the Fingers (the Lord Corbray is slain by Robar with Lady Forlorn which is could take from him during the fight). Gulltown is taken by the First Men with the help of the remaining Shetts, who rise against their Grafton king.



Finally the Andals realize what's going on, and unite under a war leader of their own - Ser Artys Arryn, the finest warrior of the Vale, of an impeccable Andal blood line (apparently descended from King Hugor of the Hill himself), who was born in the Vale near the foot of the Giant's Lance. He himself is neither Lord nor petty king, though, merely a knight chosen as war leader.



The battle is named after the Seven Stars that are seen at dawn of the day the battle is fought (which are, of course, interpreted as a sign of the Seven). Robar Royce and his allies are there first, have the high ground, with the mountain behind them, and secured their lines with pikes, trenches, and stuff.



Artys Arryn is called 'the Falcon Knight' because he has winged helmet. He wears silvered steel which is seen from afar. The battle begins at dawn, and the Andals charge seven times, and Torgold Tollett (and Andal, not a First Man) breaks through and wreaks havoc. The man is named 'the Grim', but he is not dolorous at all, but laughs at every turn, knowing neither fear nor pain. He kills Lord Redfort, Ursula. Robar eventually slays him with Lady Forlorn (which he tries to catch with his bare hands, but such an attempt is deadly when you try it with Valyrian steel - it cuts straight through his fingers and his body (he did not wear armor and fought with two axes until he lost them).



Robar targets Ser Artys and makes short work out of the knight in silvery steel, only to learn that this man was not the Falcon Knight. Ser Artys, who grew up at the foot of the Giant's Lance, led his best knights up a goat track circumvented the First Men unseen, and takes them from the rear. The rest is slaughter. Conflicting stories who killed High King Robar, the Corbrays claim they did it (and thus reclaimed Lady Forlorn), but other names are put forth, including Ser Artys himself.



Afterwards, the Falcon Knight becomes the first Andal King of the Vale of Arryn (as it is now named), and there are no longer any petty kings.


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A Royce sworn man (Torgol) killed a Royce ally (Ursula)? So I guess that makes it so the Tollets were not always sworn to the Royces. I don't have the app :crying: so can someone please confirm who was fighting who? Was it Artys Arryn, Torgol Tollet and Qoyle Corbray against Robar Royce and Ursula Upcliff? Thanks

It's was Artys Arryn, Torgold* Tollet, Ser Jaime Corbray, Grafton, Luceon Templeton, Lord Ruthormont vs Robar Royce, Lord Redfort, Ursula Upcliff, Lord Hunter, Lord Belmore, and Lord Coldwater. It turns out the Tollets were Andals, so they became vassals of the Royces at some point during Arryn rule.

The title "King of the Fingers" was previously contested between houses Brightstone and Shell before the first Corbray lord killed them.

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There was no mention of the Griffin King that Artys Arryn is famous for slaying. Hope this isn't all the content we'll get on the Vale, as I was looking forward to read about their wars with the North.

I figure legend mixed him with Royce, which doesn't make that much sense, seeing how Royce's aren't even close to Griffins.

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There would have been other opposition. There was First Men fled to the mountains that may have tried to storm Artys new base, or from somewhere else in the Vale. Knocking out the five main houses doesn't knock out the 50 minor houses that together are just a powerful. So I'd say thats were our Griffin Knight it.


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