Nine Invitations to the Athenaeum Club (2)

For the last two invitations there is only the Vale of Arryn and the Westerlands left. Choosing some noble family in those two administrative regions wasn't that easy. Victor managed to find a worthy partner in the Westerlands first.

The Westerlands (8)

House Crakehall of Crakehall is one of the primary noble houses from the Westerlands. Their seat, Crakehall, is located along the Ocean Road between the Sunset Sea and a large forest.

Their arms depict a black and white brindled boar on brown. According to semi-canon sources their words are "None so Fierce".

On their journey to Casterly Rock to broker the proposed marriages of Elia and Oberyn Martell with Jaime and Cersei Lannister, the Martell siblings and their mother stopped at Crakehall. Along with Merrett Frey,Jaime squired for Lord Sumner Crakehall against the Kingswood Brotherhood. During Robert's Rebellion, Ser Elys Westerling and Lord Roland Crakehall were the first to enter the throne room of the Red Keep after Jaime slew King Aerys II Targaryen.

Having a good relationship with the House of Crakehall could prove very valuable for Victor and House Di Natale. Currently Victor is not able to transport his goods safely along the coast of Westeros to the Westerlands. This trade route is controlled by House Redwyne and House Tyrell, as Victor would need his ships to pass the Arbor. If he could form a commercial cooperation with House Crakehall Victor could use their banner and ships as a means of transportation and to allow his goods to flow into the Westerlands.

Even if House Tyrell and House Redwyne knew about this transaction, they couldn't blatantly attack a noble house of the Westerlands. If they did, Lord Tywin Lannister would surely have to deal with them, or he would lose a lot of his prestige which he so painstakingly builds up. And to be honest, Lady Olenna simply didn't have the guts to compete with the lion at his current peak in an open fight.

The current Lord of Crakehall, Roland Crakehall, is furthermore a very able man, that would even be talented enough to become the Hand of the King. Having him as a major business partner for House Di Natale in the Westerlands would become an asset for Victor's network of contacts.

The Vale of Arryn (9)

The Vale of Arryn or the Vale is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. It was formerly a sovereign nation ruled by the Kings of Mountain and Vale before Aegon's Conquest. The Mountains of the Moon surround the smaller Vale proper, although the valley's name is often applied to all of House Arryn's realm.

The Vale is ruled by the Arryns from the castle known as the Eyrie. Notable houses of this region include Baelish, Belmore, Corbray, Egen, Grafton, Hersy, Hunter, Melcolm, Redfort, Royce, Templeton, and Waynwood.

The mountainous border of the Vale of Arryn proper appears to include the Bloody Gate in the west and the Eyrie and Longbow Hall to the north. The fertile lands within the valley include Ironoaks, Old Anchor, Redfort, and a peninsula containing the city of Gulltown and Runestone. The town of Wickenden is located along the Bay of Crabs, in the mountains south of the valley. Castles north of the Vale proper in the valleys of the Mountains of the Moon and the snakewood forest include Coldwater, Heart's Home, Snakewood, and Strongsong.

Without any knowledge about the future Victor would pick House Grafton of Gulltown as his future business partner in the Vale of Arryn. Gulltown is the major port city of the Vale of Arryn. It is in a fine natural harbor at the northern tip of the Bay of Crabs, southeast of the Eyrie and south of nearby Runestone. It is the largest settlement in the Vale, but is much smaller than King's Landing, Lannisport, and Oldtown. Gulltown would be the perfect city for Victor to build his influence in the Vale. But there is one family that is very inconspicious right now, but will become very important in the future, the Baelish family. Not because of the current Lord, but because of his currently twelve-year-old son, Petyr Baelish.

Petyr's father was the smallest of small lords of a few rocky acres on the smallest of the Fingers, who befriended Hoster Tully during his service in the War of the Ninepenny Kings. This friendship led to Petyr being sent to be fostered as a ward at Riverrun.

Petyr was raised alongside Hoster Tully's children, Catelyn, Lysa and Edmure. Because of Petyr's family holdings and his short stature, Edmure gave him the nickname "Littlefinger," by which he is still called.

In the future timeline without Victor's influence Petyr would suffer a crual fate in the coming years. As the children grew older, Petyr fell in love with Catelyn, who was several years his elder. She did not reciprocate those feelings, loving him as a brother instead.Catelyn's younger sister, Lysa, on the other hand, fell in love with Petyr.Petyr would play at kissing with both Catelyn and Lysa in the godswood of Riverrun, attempting to stick his tongue into their mouths - which Catelyn halted, but Lysa both allowed and enjoyed.

When Catelyn's betrothal to Brandon Stark, the heir to Winterfell, was announced, Lords Bracken and Blackwood were at Riverrun to settle a feud with Lord Tully's help. Catelyn and Petyr danced six dances that night, but when he tried to kiss her, she pushed him away and laughed at him. Wounded by the rejection, Petyr got drunk, passed out at the table, and was brought to his bed by Brynden Tully. Lysa snuck in after him and gave Petyr her maidenhead that night. Still drunk, Petyr believed he was having sex with Catelyn, and even called out "Cat."

In 282 AC, when the date of Catelyn's wedding was announced, Petyr, scarcely fifteen years old, challenged the twenty-year-old Brandon Stark to a duel for her hand. He arrived with only a helm, breastplate, and mail, leading to Brandon taking off most of his own armor. Petyr asked Catelyn for her favor to wear, but she refused, giving it to Brandon instead. Catelyn begged Brandon not to kill Petyr, to which he agreed. While Brandon offered Petyr multiple chances to yield, Petyr refused to give up. In the end, Petyr was staggering and bleeding from a dozen wounds, when Brandon ended the battle with a backhand cut so brutal Catelyn was convinced it was mortal.

Petyr was given a fortnight to recover at Riverrun, during which time Lysa helped care for him. Catelyn did not go to see him, and Petyr refused to see Edmure, who had served as Brandon's squire during the duel.During this fortnight, Petyr slept with Lysa again. He would later claim to have taken the maidenhood of both Tully sisters, due to his belief that his first encounter with Lysa had been with Catelyn.

When the fortnight had passed and Petyr was strong enough, Lord Hoster sent Petyr away from Riverrun. Catelyn did not say goodbye to him. However, Lysa had become pregnant with Petyr's child because of their second sexual encounter. After Petyr had been sent away, Lysa revealed her pregnancy to her father, hoping he would relent and allow Lysa and Petyr to marry. Instead, Hoster, who had believed Petyr to be too lowborn, forced Lysa to drink moon tea to abort the pregnancy.

All those events turned Peter in the extremely smart and ambitious person he turned out to be in the start of the TV series Victor watched in his previous life. But honestly, right now forming any kind of relationship with the Baelish family would neither bring him any benefits nor would the Baelish family even be able to participate in the private club. In the end Victor decided against inviting the Baelish family and settled for his current best choice, the noble family Grafton of Gulltown.