Lord Leyton Hightower, also known as Leyton Lightsteel, is the Lord of Oldtown and the head of House Hightower of the Hightower.

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Appearance and Character

One of the Realm's greatest warriors and lords, Leyton is a strikingly handsome man in the prime of life. A dashing knight, tall and muscled like a maiden's dream, Leyton is of a muscled, but elegant build. He has the golden hair and chiseled good looks of the Lannisters from his mother, and carries himself with the feral grace of a talented swordsman and the arrogant superiority of the highborn. His blue eyes, once sparkling with laughter, have calmed to an icy blue not unlike his infamous father before him.

The pride of his House, Leyton is considered one of the deadliest knights of his generation. Talented with sword, lance, and bow, Leyton fought for House Targaryen in the War of Three Thieves and was knighted on the field for valor. Leyton had the reputation as a brash and arrogant young man of great potential--potential that reared its head at the Great Tourney of Harrenhal, where he courted controversy and acclaim alike during his stunning victory in the joust.

History

Upbringing

Born to Lord Lucifer Hightower and his wife the Lady Lynora in 387 A.C., Leyton was raised in the Hightower tradition by maesters the Citadel. While noted by his tutors to be a quick and precocious child, Leyton would often dodge his lessons to train with older boys in the yard.

At the age of seven, Leyton was sent by sea to King's Landing to serve as a cupbearer at the court of King Aenar Targaryen. En route, the ship was caught in a storm and broke apart. Leyton was one of the few survivors. While Leyton eventually arrived in King's Landing to spend a year at the Red Keep, this incident led to a lifelong aversion to the sea.

At an early age, Leyton was recognized for possessing tremendous talent for the sword. Sent to Summerhall to squire for Prince Maekar, a cousin through his Hightower grandmother, Leyton grew into a fine warrior under the tutelage of one of the realm's paramount knights.

Knighthood

As Maekar's squire, Leyton was given a sound education in both arms and the knightly virtues. Training under the finest masters-at-arms, Leyton developed quickly as a prodigy with the longsword, but never truly took to the Starry faith as his master might have hoped.

During the War of Three Thieves, Leyton fought valiantly at the Battle of Grey Gallows. Cut off from the main force in a foolhardy effort to rescue a fellow squire, Leyton killed three sellswords and captured a famous pirate captain. At the battle's end, Leyton was knighted on the field by Prince Maekar at the age of sixteen.

Although his exploits were never put to song, Leyton enjoyed a reputation as one of the realm's most promising young knights. This reputation was further nurtured by the melee at the Centennial Tourney, where Leyton won but ultimately saw his victory overshadowed by the deeds of valor by older, greater knights.

The King's Peace

After the war, Leyton spent most of his time in King's Landing, serving as a household knight in the Prince of Summerhall's retinue. Running in the same social circles as the flower of the young lords of the Seven Kingdoms, Leyton became friends with many other young lordlings and knights. Significant among them were the young Prince Rhaegar, Tygett Lannister, and Rycherd Crane, the heir to Red Lake and a long-time friend. In their company, Leyton developed a fondness for strongwine, pretty women, and fast horses.

This lifestyle of decadent excess caused a rift between Leyton and his former master, a devout adherent of the Starry faith, and when Prince Maekar, left the capital in outrage over the King's choice of the Princess Visaera, Leyton remained behind, taking up residence in the Hightower's great manse and setting up a household of his own.

The Mummer's War

Lauded as the one of the greatest knights of his generation after winning the Great Tourney at Harrenhal, he was seized by the Black Queen in the early hours after King Aenar's death to spend the majority of the Mummer's War a prisoner in the black cells.

Released in time to watch his father's sentencing, Leyton returns to Oldtown to take his inheritance in hand.

A Reconstruction

The years 408 and 409 are spent consolidating power in Oldtown. An attempted coup by a Hightower cousin is put down with ruthless efficiency, as Leyton comes into his own as Lord of Oldtown. Navigating the labyrinth that is Oldtown proves challenging, but he finds resolve in the counsel of his cousin and deputy, Dorian. Of infinite aid are a series of memoirs and papers left behind by his father Lucifer and previous Lords Hightower. He hosts various traveling lords, among them the Lord Aemon Dayne, called the Morningstar. They discuss the growing radicalization of the Starry Faith in Oldtown and parts of the Reach.

Most of the year 410 AC is spent abroad, traveling by ship to the Free Cities of the Three Daughters. On the way home, he makes an unscheduled stop at Dragonstone, to call on his old friend, the Prince Rhaegar. It is the first time they have spoken since before Leyton's imprisonment. The visit ends with an invitation to spend a few moons at the Hightower.

In moments of peace, Leyton finds time to establish correspondence with lords and ladies of the Realm, on both sides of his father's rebellion. It is both an effort to mend the trust his father broke, and an effort to salve the isolation of lordship. Among them include noteworthies like Lord Gwayne Baratheon, whose life he saved at Harrenhal, the Princess of Summerhall, whose arm he ruined at Harrenhal, and his betrothed, the Lady Aelora Velaryon.

Domestic Life

To all accounts, his marriage with the Lady Aelora, while a requirement of his House's parole, is a happy one. The wedding, held in 412 AC, is the event of the year, attended by nobles from all over the Reach and Realm. The couple father three children.

The first child, a girl born in the First Moon of 413 A.C., he names Alys for his long-lost favorite sister.

The second is a boy born in the Fourth Moon of 415 A.C., named Arthur after the famous Sword of the Morning of Dayne fame.

The third, another boy, arrives in the Seventh Moon of 417 A.C. Beside himself with joy, he asks his wife to name the child. She chooses the name Addam, a name worn by Velaryons and Hightowers alike.

Recent Events

418 A.C. brings with it summons to the Great Tourney at Summerhall.

Family and Friends

Lucifer Hightower

Leyton's relationship with his father is tenuous.

Rhea Hightower

Rhea is close to her lord brother, but is also known as the family's wild child, famed in Oldtown for her haughty beauty and wasteful expenditures.