4th Month, 286 AC.
Arthur Whent spent half his time at Greenhand Manor and a quarter at Harrenhal.
The remaining fragmented time was spent receiving guests, visiting neighboring lords, or roaming his own territory.
Besides managing the manor and training, Arthur also engaged in daily maneuvering with associated powers.
Ser Barristan Selmy was a "Grandfather Knight" of his great-uncle's generation.
House Frey was a matter of reciprocal courtesy.
To the east, the Darrys of Darry, the Mootons of Maidenpool, the Rykkers of Duskendale—these were all rather enthusiastic closet royalists.
Picking a general from among the dwarfs, the slowly recovering Harrenhal was undoubtedly seen by them as a significant reliance.
Geographically, now that House Whent was making money, they naturally wanted a piece of the pie.
Aside from these, he had good relations with Earl Jason Mallister of Seagard, Earl Jonos Bracken of Stone Hedge, and Earl Selwyn Tarth of the Sapphire Isle.
One was for trade routes; the other two were largely for marriage alliances.
Earl Jonos Bracken was very interested in Arthur. Earl Jonos had no sons, but he had many daughters, none of whom were betrothed.
Even if the younger girls couldn't marry yet, a betrothal was acceptable.
Earl Jonos even specifically mentioned his eldest daughter.
The eldest daughter, the heiress to House Bracken—this was the sweetest bait.
But Arthur felt Jonos was playing him.
For Jonos, the best choice for his heiress would be to marry a second son of a manageable lord or a landed knight who would marry into the family, while marrying off the other daughters elsewhere.
For Arthur to control the heir of House Bracken—that was too crazy an idea.
House Bracken's marriage prospects couldn't reach the level of the Great Lords; they were roughly on par with House Whent or lesser lords.
In the hierarchy of marriage, the eldest daughter held the highest value, followed by the others.
The fact that Hoster Tully managed to marry off two daughters to Great Lords was partly due to the chaotic times.
Like bargaining with a fishmonger at the market.
Arthur secretly speculated that this might be why Robert looked down on Hoster.
During the rebellion, Stark and Arryn joined largely out of friendship and honor.
House Tully, however, haggled for benefits, only rising early if there was profit to be made, and in the end, only brought half the Riverlands with them.
After making contact and collecting more information on the Riverlands lords and their heirs, Arthur and Ser Lucas had to admit that this generation of Rivermen had collapsed again.
Mediocrity written in capital letters.
This fit the expectation of Riverlands lords: long periods of mediocrity with occasional flashes of brilliance.
Whether in martial prowess or talent, they were a bit underwhelming—too green.
No tourney champions, and even worse on the battlefield.
For high-level experts, the Westerlands could produce the young "Kingslayer," the "Hound," the "Mountain," and the backup "Strongboar" Lyle Crakehall.
The North had the Greatjon and Smalljon Umber, and the Karstark bunch.
As for the Riverlands, aside from the aging "Blackfish," Jason Mallister, Tytos Blackwood, and Jonos Bracken—these old fellows were the end of it.
And even these old men couldn't compare to the young fierce generals of the Westerlands.
Let alone the likes of Edmure, Vance, and Piper.
No wonder the Riverlands were trampled like a public toilet during the War of the Five Kings; without good generals, you can't lead good knights.
An incompetent general exhausts the three armies to death.
Looking at it this way, House Frey was truly teeming with talent.
After all, with so many people, there were bound to be a few useful ones, like Black Walder and Hosteen.
Don't laugh at Edmure, for everyone is Edmure.
"I care about this goodwill, but I care more about those who are polite yet distant toward Harrenhal," Arthur said to Ser Lucas.
Ser Lucas slowly named those families: "House Blackwood of Raventree Hall, the two Houses Vance, House Piper of Pinkmaiden."
These families shared a characteristic: they were all western Riverlands lords and very close to Riverrun.
It just goes to show how fragmented the Riverlands truly were.
No matter how skilled Hoster was at dancing and talking, he could only rally half the western Riverlands.
"That is their choice," Arthur mused. If they couldn't be won over, then there was no need to try.
"The most lamentable among them is House Blackwood. Queen Betha Blackwood was the wife of Aegon V. But later relations faded, and they chose to support House Tully," Ser Lucas said with emotion.
The answer was simple: Hoster knew how to win people over and calculate, while Aerys, after going mad, offended people all day long.
King Aerys had a bizarre temper; he was a madman.
His closest childhood friend Tywin, the royal in-laws the Martells—Aerys offended them all, let alone House Blackwood, a somewhat distant old relative.
During Aerys's reign, Blackwood and Bracken disputed a piece of land. Hand of the King Tywin intended to award it to Blackwood, but King Aerys II decided to give it to Bracken.
coupled with the fact that House Blackwood was close to Riverrun, they rebelled along with them.
"They are staunch Tully loyalists. If we're not close, then we're not close. When Harrenhal's longbow corps finishes training, Earl Tytos will know what a surprise is," Arthur smiled brightly.
The answer key for longbowmen was ready-made; just copy it.
The most famous family of sharpshooters in the Riverlands used to be House Blackwood of Raventree Hall, but this generation was also lackluster.
Their quality couldn't compare to Black Aly, Red Robb, and Bloody Ben during the Dance of the Dragons, nor to "Bloodraven" Brynden Rivers during the Blackfyre Rebellions.
Black Aly was the sister of Earl Samwell Blackwood during the Dance, aunt to Earl Benjicot, and wife to "The Old Man of the North" Cregan Stark.
Black Aly was not only a sharpshooter herself but also commanded a force of three hundred longbowmen, a very formidable unit.
After her brother died at the hands of Lord Bracken, Aly ignited a weirwood arrow and shot Lord Bracken dead with a single shot.
Later, she led her troops to defeat the Lord of Storm's End.
Red Robb Rivers, a bastard of House Blackwood from Raventree Hall, was said to be the best archer in Westeros at the time.
When the Green faction's Lord Lefford was besieged by the Riverlands and Northern coalition of the Blacks, he attempted to send ravens to Prince Aemond One-Eye at Harrenhal for help.
However, Red Robb, with his exquisite archery, shot down every single raven asking for aid. Prince Aemond didn't receive a request for support until the battle was over.
As for Bloodraven, his Raven's Teeth were incredibly fierce.
Bloodraven had a personal guard of four hundred Raven's Teeth, equipped with weirwood longbows.
This unit showed great power during the Blackfyre Rebellion, where Bloodraven commanded them to shoot down Daemon Blackfyre and his sons.
Arthur's Riverlands longbow corps might not achieve the effects of Black Aly and Bloodraven, but they would certainly restore the glory of the Riverlands longbowmen.
---
Harrenhal training grounds. A dozen guards were aiming arrows at targets.
"Draw! Loose!" Ser Lucas Dayne watched the eager guards, then ordered them to step up one by one.
The guards focused their attention, then shot what they felt was their perfect arrow into the wind.
The results, of course, varied.
Archery is a skill; the best arrow flies as if gliding on smooth silk, hitting the bullseye.
The target was placed at fifty yards, or forty-six meters away—the normal distance for knightly archery.
Arthur had gathered the best archers of Harrenhal to see the results of their training.
Hitting the bullseye was superior.
Straying from the bullseye was average.
Missing the target was inferior.
Each man shot three arrows, and the scores were combined.
"Finished!" Wylis, who was in charge of changing targets, shouted loudly. The contest was over.
Arthur looked at the list of good archers, but these men weren't enough.
"There are also farmers and hunters in the territory. As long as they are skilled, let them try," Arthur said to Wylis.
Outside of Dorne, longbows were standard equipment; every lord equipped some longbowmen in their fief, the only difference being the number.
"Good, I will arrange it, Arthur," Wylis nodded.