Location from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
A fertile valley ringed by impassable mountains — the most naturally defended kingdom in Westeros, where the Arryns rule from their sky-castle and isolation is both shield and prison.
The Vale's geography is its destiny. The mountains keep invaders out, but they also keep the Vale's lords in, fostering an insular culture that views the rest of Westeros with suspicion. During the War of the Five Kings, Lysa Arryn sealed the Bloody Gate and refused to let the Vale fight for either side, and the lords who chafed under that decision still remember the shame. The mountain clans — wild, violent, armed with stolen steel — raid the high passes and make travel dangerous for anyone without an armed escort. Littlefinger found the Vale's isolation useful, turning it into his personal power base by manipulating Lysa and then eliminating her. The knights of the Vale are among the finest in Westeros, but they've spent years watching wars from behind their mountains, and that restless energy is building toward something.
A broad green valley of rolling meadows and clear streams enclosed on all sides by the Mountains of the Moon. The peaks are snow-capped year round, and the passes between them are narrow, winding, and haunted by mountain clans. The Giant's Lance towers above everything, with the Eyrie clinging to its shoulder like a white bird.
Also known as: the Vale, the Vale of Arryn, Arryn lands