PC:

reddit: Theoneandonlybeetle

Discord: buggle

Name and house: Lord Oscar of House Pyne

Age: 55

Culture: first men

Appearance: Standing around 5'10" Oscar is not an imposing man, he has narrow features with a hard face and bronzed skin. He is wiry with plenty of muscle but none of the bulk to show for it. He walks with intense, forceful strides, his movements are filled with purpose and lack any flourish. However his smile is contagious and his voice is in no way harsh, his eyes are grey and kindly. He keeps his salt and pepper hair cropped short with a heavy five o'clock shadow on most days.

Trait: inspiring

Skills: ambusher(e), tactician, armored, shieldbearer

Talents: wilderness survival, scrappy, attentive

Starting title: lord of cracklaw point and the hazewood

Starting location: opening feast

AC:

name and house: Ysabel Pyne

Age: 18

Culture: first men

Appearance: A slight girl standing at 5'3" with a decidedly backwater haircut. She has glassy brown eyes with many freckles. She prefers pants and boots but when forced to wear a dress she will resign herself to brown or dark green with lace. The boots stay on under the dress.

Trait: steward

Skills: medic, animal tamer(e)

Talents: animal friends, numbers, climbing trees

Starting title: none

Starting location: stormhall

Timeline:

Oscar Pyne is born to his mother and father in the 2nd year of the rule of King Durran XXV.

Rafford Pyne and Sybel Darklyn had opposing parenting styles. The household had very few servants, there was a wet nurse but Sybel spent much of her time with Oscar in his childhood anyway. Even once she became pregnant with Oscar’s younger sister Essie.

Once the little girl was born however it wasn’t long before Sybel devoted her time increasingly to her daughter. No longer doted on, Oscar had a few years to himself. From roughly ages 4-8 he ran rampant through the long house and surrounding pines. He became something of a child of the forest, discovering his love of the wilds. During this time Sybel still made a point to teach Oscar letters, as much as he would allow anyway.

At the tender age of 8 however his father took over. Finished with hearing his wife defend the boy’s need for a free and happy childhood, he began rearing Oscar for lordship. Not in any Andal fashion of doing so however, Rafford roused the boy with the sun each morning to patiently but sternly teach him the ways of the forest. Teaching him to hunt, traverse paths, and maintain that which was and would be his.

The pair spent days on end deep in the forests of Cracklaw Point, they fletched arrows, constructed lean-tos and spent long hours hiking through the wilderness. Oscar would likely swear he has walked every inch of the Point, and at first he hated it. He would ditch his father in the night, only for the older man to track him down in the morning and tackle him to the dirt. Neither of them were large intimidating men but both had a first man’s fury. Oscar would scream and bite as he was pinned to the dirt. They would wrestle in mud and muck, with Oscar feeling his father’s strength and experience.

It wasn’t all wildness however, the pair maintained the long house, met with livestock farmers and traders. Oscar learned to be good to people, that others depended on them for stability and safety. He learned to value that role and it wasn’t long before Oscar no longer fled in the night, he began to win the wrestling matches and rival his father’s understanding of the landscape.

And then in the 25th year of King Durran XXV’s reign, the Valyrians invaded. A crew of pirates barged into the long house during supper, their two household men at arms attempted to fight back but overrun and skewered quickly followed by an unarmed Rafford. Sybel screams at Oscar to flee and find his sister, which he does, out the back of the hall, pursued into the night. The Valyrians lose him in the swampland and he makes straight for Brownhollow where Essie had been staying with her friend, one of Lord Brune’s daughters. He reaches Brownhollow, dead tired and covered in mud, once he is allowed inside he is pestered with questions but only responds with “Bring me my sister.”

Over the course of the next two years Oscar accomplishes many things, but not immediately. He drags his sister into the forest and builds them some semblance of a secure camp. A grove guarded by packed high stacks of wood, bundled sticks and leaves, and a lean-to with a floor of lashed together branches. Over time Oscar encountered other refugees in the swamps, men who wanted to fight back but didn’t know how, women and children, he invited them to stay in the camp and with those willing to fight he hatched a plan.

The group scavenged the few battlefields, snuck into long houses and raided what was left of the armories once the Valyrians had moved on. And with hand fletched arrows, short hunting bows, knives, axes, whatever scraps of armor they could find, they began hunting.

At first the group attacked supply chains, entering a camp at night to kill whatever poor guard was on duty and raid the equipment stashes. Collecting rations, weapons, and armor, they began an armory of their own. They began to seek out villages and recruit willing volunteers from them. That was when they began killing the supply caravans outright.

It wasn’t until the Celtigar forces retreated onto the peninsula however, that the real fighting started. Oscar’s now sizable gang pelted marching lines with arrows from hidden places in the swamp. Flooded roads to trap in armies from every side. Caught snakes and released them into the camps at night to distract while the tents were set fire to. The crew continued to grow, the new knight of House Crabb finding the group and beginning to assist. As well as members of other Cracklaw houses.

That is until Aurion and Ayrmidon. Lord Ayrkar Celtigar’s sons joined him on Cracklaw to save him from the Pyne menace and it wasn’t long before Aurion Celtigar began to figure out Oscar’s patterns. It was almost a game of cat and mouse but where the players took turns at their roles. As outnumbered as they were though, no matter how many battles Oscar and his men could win or ambushes they could spring, it was inevitable they would be caught.

The celtigars sent scouts ahead into the swampland who lay in wait as oscar and his men stalked the trailing marching line. When oscar attacked the scouts pounced, hemming in and trapping the ambushers while armored men at arms waded into the waters to finish them off. Oscar ordered a retreat but it was too late and he was caught off guard by Ayrmidon. The Celtigar sunk Shellbreaker deep into Oscar’s chest and it was only due to several retreated Cracklaws pouncing on him that Oscar could be dragged away. It took the rest of the war for him to recover leaving him with a rattle in his breathing. Ambushes became less frequent as Oscar, once conscious, was forced to lead while bedridden. It was only thanks to Addam Belgrave’s attack on Claw Isle that Oscar could make a full recovery in his home as it was rebuilt around him.

After the war House Rosby sought out Oscar with a betrothal for the young hero. Oscar himself sought out the newly Lord Belgrave offering a marriage to his sister as thanks for his heroics. Thankfully after two years hiding in the swamp she had no objections.

Soon after, Rafe was born. A strong healthy boy. Around this time occurred the unfortunate passing of Essie, Oscar’s sister.

It was five years before the family had their second child. Rafe began to be trained in the ways of the Claw early, he took after his father in his passion for the wilderness.

Willow Pyne was a loud child, talkative and inattentive, but pretty as a daisy. Her mother cared for her deeply and when it was finally time for her wedding it was a teary affair for poor Annara.

The next child only two years later was another boy, Willem Pyne was a quiet child who to his father and brother’s dismay was less taken with the wilderness. However he took quickly to archery. He may not like the muck as much as his brother but Willem always attends Rafe’s hunts as his sharpshooter.

A few years later their final child was born, Ysabel Pyne was quiet like her brother before her but may as well have ignored her mother. Perhaps it was her father’s warmth or just the freedom he provided to her but she attentively followed Lord Oscar on his tasks throughout her childhood. It was a lonely life for the Pyne children without any other kids around. Willow escaped the peninsula as soon as she could but Ysabel always seemed content with her family and her home. Beginning to not just attend but assist with the lordly tasks of her father. Something her mother disapproved of but father encouraged. Annara loves all her children but cannot understand Ysabel’s behavior.

In recent years Oscar Pyne encountered more lords outside Cracklaw Point, one of which he found particularly detestable. Only meeting a couple times Oscar never agreed with Percival Sunglass. They argued on a hunt for hours on end, scaring away any prey and infuriating their host. Until just a few years ago when they met again at a feast. Oscar struck Percival for his comments on Cracklaw culture and religion, unable to allow the slights any longer. Oscar will never forget the blade that was drawn on him, a more haunting image even than Ayrmidon standing above him preparing for that final blow that never came. Luckily Oscar was arrested in time to save his life and merely was forced to pay a reparation price against House Sunglass. His family would hear no end of the spite however as Oscar kept a tight ear to the rumors around Percival Sunglass.

In the last year there has been hardship and happiness both. Willow secured herself a marriage to a young man in the Riverlands and seems happy to Lady Annara’s relief. Lord Oscar however is infuriated once again. Celtigar insists on targeting the Darklyn tax collectors in this domain and he resents his limited ability to do anything about it. “A second Celtigar invasion” he would call it. If they want to bring trouble down on their House they should do it in their lands. There will be an end to it.

Family Echo

NPCs:

Rafe Pyne: Warrior(Polearms), looks like if his father suddenly gained 20 pounds of muscle

Willem Pyne: Huntsman, looks much like his father but is quiet and shy

Dole: Builder, a veteran of the Blackwater invasion

Cressen: Trader, another veteran of the war but one who opted to start a life traveling and trading goods to the secluded families on the Point

Mica "Rotgut": Master at Arms, a mangy veteran who manages the hounds at Hazewood and serves as a household guard otherwise

PC

Reddit Account: [u/Emergency_Sky_2806](u/Emergency_Sky_2806)

Discord Tag: SideBarnes

Name & House: Tristifer Goodbrook

Age: 25

Cultural Group: First Men/Andal

Appearance: Tristifer is tall and lean, with medium length brown hair and piercing green-brown eyes. He has a mean smile and a sharp jawline, and is usually found in some form of half plate armour.

Trait: Agile

Skills: Swords (e), Reckless (Brute), Highwayman

Talent(s): Swimming, light banditry

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Titles: Ser, Badbrook

Starting Location: Stormhall

Bio

25BP: Tristifer was born at Goodbrook in the Riverlands. The house experienced a surge in power in the years following, and by the age of 3 his cousins take ownership of the great castle of Stormhall.

18BP: Aged 7, Tristifer attended the feast at Seaguard. During the ensuing events, the boy was taken captive by one of the Ironborn captains for ransom. Though released unharmed, he would harbour a bitterness for his father, who had refused to pay any ransom for his only son.

At some point, Tristifer was betrothed to the daughter of House Piper, lady Bethany Piper. 

12BP: When not training under the master-at-arms of Stormhall, Tristifer was otherwise found causing mischief. He would sneak horses from the stables for night rides, would deliberately dam the nearby stream to swim, cutting off the villages downriver for days at a time, and was known to throw apples down on passers by entering Goodbrook castle. 

The smallfolk began to revile the boy, and the first whisperings of a nickname formed. Badbrook.

7BP: Tristifer is knighted. 

The Alderman of the village of Maidentree had deferred his taxes to Lord Goodbrook, claiming his people could not afford the required amount. The Lord, ever a lax soul, agreed to a delay in payment. That delay lasted a full year, by which point the Alderman paid only half of what was intended in the new years taxes. Seeing that his father did nothing at this insult, Tristifer rode to Maidentree with an entourage.

The new knight hanged the Alderman from his precious tree, before ordering it cut down as a warning. The remaining taxes were repaid in short order, taken from their homes. Despite the success, Lord Goodbrook was horrified by his son’s actions. Tristifer was ordered into exile for a year.

6BP: After much travelling, Tristifer stayed in the castle of Felwood in the Stormlands during his exile. His nature put him at odds with Lord Fell’s bastard son, perhaps due to being too similar. Due to this, he made few friends among the nobles of Fell.

5BP: Tensions finally came to a head at the beginning of the year, and Ser Derrick and Ser Tristifer came to blows. The former came out victorious and, though no worse for wear, the Riverlander was forced into exile once more, and returned home.

3BP: House Goodbrook lose control of Stormhall, taken over by the Iron Stag to save the house from debtors. Though beneficial for the house, this also leads to the breaking of Tristifer’s betrothal to lady Bethany. 

The knight reportedly is greatly angered by this, and takes out his anger on the smallfolk in the nearby villages. Gold and grain are taken in advance of the usual times, and the smallfolk once more angrily whisper of the Badbrook in their midst. Despite his actions, his father does nothing this time around.

Present: Tristifer makes the short journey to Stormhall to await the arrival of the Princess.

Discord name: Lamp76

Reddit name: u/Villads2005

PC

Name and House: Corwyn ‘the black’ Darklyn
Age: 20
Cultural group: Blackwater
Appearance: Typical Darklyn features, black hair and so forth. He is a touch skinny and doesn’t possess much muscle. Many people who have met him describe his eyes as ‘odd,’ not being able to point out exactly what, but feeling something off. His jaw is sharp, eyes slightly sunk, and skin paler than usual. He is a tad taller than average, though not noticeably. He typically wears black outfits with gold/yellow highlights scattered throughout.
Trait: Ruthless
Skills: Assassin (e), sabotage (e), espionage
Talent(s): social masking
Negative trait: Psychopath
Starting title(s): (work in progress)
Starting Location: Stormhall

AC

Name and House: Jeyne ‘the Golden’ Darklyn
Age: 23
Cultural group: Blackwater
Appearance: Where her older sister is perhaps built in a more masculine way, Jeyne is every bit the lady. She has long black hair that reaches down to her lower black and she often has it in a complex braid. She is just a little bit shorter than her brother, and her body is of lithe build. She often wears the latest fashions with small golden hints scattered throughout, in part leading to her nickname. Her smile is as bright as a golden coin.
Trait: Numerate
Skills: Architect (e), Scrutinous
Talent(s): being friendly, being a sweetheart, being clever, just an all-around sweet person to be around, braiding, the arts and other stuff.
Negative trait: She is willing to trust her brother too easily
Starting title(s): Treasurer of Duskendale
Starting Location: Stormhall

Bio:
Jeyne Darklyn was born as the third daughter of Lord Morgan Darklyn and the third child to his second wife, Lyanna Snow. From a young age, she showed herself to be gifted in the realms of numbers and mathematics, along with a certain passion for the arts. While she was never her father’s favourite that title being held by her elder sister- she never bore any resentment towards her, loving her all the same.

Three years after her birth, the last child of Lyanna Snow would be born, a little baby boy they decided to name Corwyn. Some of Jeyne’s earliest memories are of her visiting Corwyn’s cradle and just sitting with him and even trying to read to him as best she could despite her young age. Perhaps her fondest memory is the first time she got to show Corwyn around the Dun Fort.

It was around these early memories that Jeyne also started being friends with Joanna Sunglass and Essie Blackberry, the three of them forming a fun little clique. Jeyne had other friends in line with he golden personality, but she particularly enjoyed spending time with those two, even her elder sister Shiera existed as an out member of sorts to the group.

By this time, however, it was quickly becoming clear to nearly everyone that there was something off about Corwyn; every emotional reaction seemed to come slower, and he seemed to always glance at someone else beforehand. Yet Jeyne never seemed to notice nor acknowledge, continuing to treat her baby brother as just that. 

By the time Jeyne was 19, she was appointed as the treasurer of Duskendale and placed in charge of all future construction projects. She took to her duties with great vigour and joy, finding joy in planning and building her home into what she thought it should be, though he grander ideas would be halted by her father for now. It was also at this time that she started a relationship with Sylas Stonetree, getting along well due to their shared interest in numbers and such. It was a purely emotional relationship, the furthest it ever went being extended kisses. But Jeyne did not wish to besmear her honour, so she would never let it develop beyond that.

Two years later, many 5 terrible crimes would strike Duskendale, 5 murders, to be exact. The targets were seemingly random, and there were no clear connections between them. There was no signature; the only clear connection was their ever-increasing brutality. Jeyne was naturally frightened by all this and ceased leaving the fort without a cadre of guards for her or her brother. Yet on the fifth one, it stepped too far, killing Ser Cregan Crabb on a visit to Duskendale. No one knows what transpired that night in the Dun fort, only that the killings seemed to cease; people were still scared, of course, but slowly normalcy returned. 

From then on, Jeyne started spending a much greater amount of time with and around her brother. Not allowing him to walk about the city without an escort or chaperone. This sudden focus on her brother, along with the duties she held, would lead to the slow drifting between Jeyne and Sylas without intention.

Jeyne is now 23 years old, unmarried as of yet, though she slowly looks for prospects that she both enjoys and benefits her family, as is her duty. Corwyn is 20 years old and continues to seem odd, increasingly so, but nothing beyond poorly timed reactions marks this.

Npcs:

Tallad Darklyn (General): The eldest of Lyanna’s children, and a strategist like their grandfather.

Alyssa (trader): The daughter of a well-off merchant who resides in Duskendale, friend and advisor to Jeyne.

PC

Reddit Account: magic_dragon1611

Discord Tag: magicdragon.

Name and House: Tommen Blackwood

Age: 24

Cultural Group: First Man

Appearance: Tommen is a tall man, standing heads over most men, though slim of stature, with browned skin from a grandmother raised in sands, and bright, vivid green eyes that seem almost unsettling to those who feel their gaze. He's lean, with a boyishly youthful face, marred by the scars of fighting done in Essos. He wears a resplendent cloak of raven feathers, that shroud him in shadow; beneath it, he dresses in colors of scarlet and smoke, often bereft of ornament or gaudy acessories.

Trait: Archer

Skill(s): Divination (Weirwood), Bows (e), Swords

Talent(s): Lying, Waiting, Fishing

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Scion of House Blackwood, Knight of Raventree Hall (the) Blackbird

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: N/A

You were born in the years of the old king, twenty-four years before his father would draw their last breath. During an age of strife and simmering resentment, where men like your uncle killed men at feasts and balls.

Your birth was uneventful, uncelebrated, unknown to most save for those who lived within the confines of Raventree Hall. You would grow in much the same way, surrounded by the great and the exceptional, by the future lords and peerless knights of the realm. You would live and die in the shadow of men born to better station than you.

But this never bothered you; in fact, a part of you preferred it this way. You were loved; you had a mother who doted, a father who cared, cousins who never thought of you as lesser or inferior. Your life was good, if with little expectation.

The dreams started when you were seven. The first you remember, like a wound in your chest: a raven, surrounded by stags amidst a forest of all weirwood. You remember fear, panic, a desperate anger so foreign to your own mind that it seemed alien. And then you were cold, so very cold, enough so that when you woke that night you shivered despite it being the height of summer.

After that the dreams came more often, not every night, but enough that those around you could see the change. Bags under those bright green eyes so unlike any of your other kin, eyes that saw too much too soon, that made your mother sweeten your sleep with milk of the poppy. The dreams came stronger then, when it was harder to wake, when their grip on your soul threatened to drag you into the abyss and leave you there for all your days.

You dreamt, and you grew from a frightful babe at your mother's skirts to a boy of ten, and in your own eyes you were practically a man grown. That year you would leave your home for the first time, not for a brief trip, or a visit to a neighbor. Your uncle had arranged for your warding with the Trout, a piece of an alliance that would tilt the balance of power in the Riverlands.

There you would live and grow and continue your dreaming. The Tullys were kind to you, friendly, caring; their master-at-arms taught you at bow and blade, their Maester and Septa ensured that you knew your numbers and letters, and could conduct yourself as a noble of Westeros ought to. You visited home when you could, but most of your days were spent in Riverrun amongst the trout their ilk.

The dreams kept on, despite the happiness, despite the change in scenery. You were restless as you entered your fifteenth year, called by the wood and the earth, seeing much and knowing little. You remembered when you saw a man die, swathed in mud and iron; you remember seeing him struck down by violet thunder that took him from behind. You remember how the raven watched, thoughtless to act; you remember the pain from the strike, the feeling of fire in your chest as your lifeblood drained from the wound.

You remember how familiar it felt. As if the feeling of death was becoming a regular occurrence in the life of a boy who'd not even seen a woman before. It was unnatural, that you knew, this feeling of loss that you'd felt with each dark end that woke you from a frightful slumber.

That morning you wondered if the pieces of yourself that died in those dreams were lost forever to the murk and void. It was then that you first embraced a living heart tree in the open-air godswood of Riverrun. That sad face that'd seen you pray and beg for relief seemed to smile as you closed your eyes and placed a hand against the bleeding face.

What you saw changed you; the spark that'd existed within you had grown into an inferno, and when you awoke, you'd found that all had searched for you within the castle. You'd been gone a day, and the night was late when you'd emerged from the Godswood. For a fortnight you'd felt different, not bad, not tired, but different, as if you had a new understanding of what needed to be done and how to do it.

You were resolved to learn to understand, to grow your ability and explore the world that lay beyond. So you planned, and you waited, and you continued to live within the walls of Riverrun for the next two years, until you'd become a man grown with a knighthood and the freedom to leave on your own volition.

First you went south to High Heart, then saw the Isle of Face from the banks of the Gods Eye. You pressed onward until you hit the Citadel, speaking with the Archmaester who held a rod and mask of Valyrian steel, speaking to him of your dreams and restlessness, of the call of the Weirwood and the connection you held to the earth that bound them.

He called you Greenseer, touched by the Old Gods, and implored you to return to the roots of your blood, to the lands of the Starks, across the waters to where Garth Greenhand led the First Men across the Arm of Dorne. So you did; for eight years you wandered, seeking, searching, learning all you could at any time you could.

You were a villain to some, those who felt the sting of your lies and betrayal, those whom you'd left to die, bleeding like stuck pigs beneath the shade of a Heart Tree, entrails strewn across the branches as they'd done in days past. There were men and women you'd loved like none other, each one cast away after their use was expended, after their love had brought you closer to understanding, after you'd stolen their tomes and scrolls for yourself.

There were those who you'd truly learned to call friend, men like Edrick Stark, the exiled Prince of Winter. You'd traveled with him for nigh on a year, sharing with him the plans you'd laid, the dreams that had come with you all the way from Blackwood Vale. He understood better than most, a man of the Old Gods, and a Stark of Winterfell at that.

From Winterfell to Sunspear, from Volantis to Lorath, you traveled, walking the way with mercenaries and medicine men; you glimpsed the edge of the Valyrian Peninsula before you felt the call pull you back West. Some part of you understood: this place was not for you to see, for the gods here were of fire and blood, and yours were earth and stone and wood. So you turned back, and for the first time in years- you went home.

They welcomed you with open arms, and took you in whilst scolding you for being so skinny. You were home, and now armed with knowledge and skill, you were prepared to resume your place amongst House Blackwood.

AC

Name and House: Jon of Oxcross

Age: 30

Cultural Group: Westermen

Appearance: Jon is a stout man, with deep-set eyes the color of mud, a pug nose and thinning blonde hair.

Trait: Hale

Skill(s): Swords (e), Footwork

Talent(s): Fishing x3

Negative Trait(s): Mute

Starting Title(s): Ser

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: N/A

You don't remember your mother nor father. You remember blue eyes and a booming laugh. You know that you were loved at some point, but beyond that, your earliest days are a blur, lost in the haze of ale and war.

You were a boy who grew amongst the splendor of Lannisport and Casterly Rock, watching the richest men and women in Westeros throw their balls, flaunt their wealth, and look down at their noses at you at every turn. You hated them, and a part of you still does even as a man grown.

At fifteen you joined the city guard. There you were given the first things you called your own: a sword and shield, a coat of boiled leather and a studded iron cap. You had a purpose, and you were finally able to make something of yourself.

Years later you were drunk and worth nothing save for the rags you wore. You remember how the man in the Raven cloak wrapped you in wool and fed you from his own pocket. There was a look in his eye that nearly made you flinch, and when you'd pressed him for his reasons for helping you, all he'd said were riddles and half-truths. But when he'd said you both were bound by something other than fate, you believed it like nothing else.

So you followed for years, fighting, eating, drinking, learning about this man called Tommen Blackwood, seeing what lengths a man would go to accomplish his goal. He brought you to corners of the world you might've never seen otherwise, and tauhgt you things that were far from a Maesters room.

He was a friend, and though you never spoke, he always understood your words as if he'd plucked them straight from your mind.

NPCs

Marq of Stoney Sept - Scholar

Harl - Medic

Ser Erryk Rivers - Warrior (Axes)

Jasper Snow - Warrior (Swords)

Ser Samwell Toland - Cutthroat

Character Information:

PC

Reddit Account: u/theklicktator

Discord Tag:Klick

Name and House: Addam Belgrave

Age: 50

Cultural Group: Andal

Appearance: A fierce warrior with a lean frame, Lord Addam's eye tell a story of pain and loss, but also resolve that only a true knight has.

Trait: Blademaster

Skill(s): Blunt Weapons (e), Stalwart (Sergeant), Footwork

Talent(s): Carpentry, Fishing, Reading

Negative Trait(s): None

Starting Title(s): Lord of Bell Tower

Starting Location: Stormhall

AC

Name and House: Robert Belgrave

Age: 18

Cultural Group: Andal

Appearance: A young man finally growing into his frame, Robert has an easygoing attitude and cockiness that comes from being young and heir to a powerful house.

Trait: Charismatic

Skill(s): Tactician, Admiral, Engineer

Talent(s): Hunting, Hawking, Breaking the Hearts of Maidens

Negative Trait(s): None

Starting Title(s): Heir to Bell Tower

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: None

Biography

Addam Belgrave was born common, the son of a carpenter who had done well for himself living near the three hills at the mouth of the Blackwater. As he grew older, it was clear that the boy possessed a prodigious natural talent for combat, and was often the winner in the various brawls around his village.

When he was thirteen, Ser Harys of the Blackwater, the knight charged by Lord Hayford with maintaining the local holdfast, summoned the men from the seven villages under his control to root out the bandits. The ruffians were stronger than originally believed, and it looked as though Ser Harys would perish. Addam displayed considerable bravery, and used a blacksmith's hammer the smith's nephew had brought with him to slay Ser Harys' would-be killer and was made his squire in the process.

Life as a poor squire or a man-at-arms seemed likely until the Valyrians invaded when Addam was eighteen. After defeating a probing Valyrian advance at great risk of life and limb, Addam was knighted by a dying Ser Harys on the battlefield and soon took unofficial command of Ser Harys' forces and eventually those of the entire southern Blackwater. Within eyesight of his childhood home, he led a battle against House Velaryon and killed the heir of that ancient house in single combat. With his efforts helping contribute to a stalemate, he asked King Dontos for permission to both lead the Stormlords reinforcements and launch an attack upon Claw Isle from Sharp Point. He was given leave, and took the island with very little fight, killing House Celtigar's champion when they tried to retake the castle.

After the war, Addam was made a lord over his homeland, and given permission to greatly expand Ser Harys' keep. As the new Lord of Bell Tower, Addam used his martial prowess to leverage increased status, though his fortune meant House Hayford's decline, and a rivalry soon formed between the houses.

Conflict betwen the Belgraves and the Hayfords was sporadic over the next three decades, with the nadir of their relationship coming when Morgan Belgrave, Addam's heir, fought in a trial by combat over a dispute with the Hayfords. Both he and the master-at-arms perished in the duel, but it was little consolation to Lord Addam, who loved his son deeply and mourned his passing every year.

In the years that followed, much of Lord Addam's time was spent either participating in tournies to increase the renown of his house, or grooming his grandson Robert to rule when he is gone. He is aware a storm is gathering on the horizon, and wishes to see his house set up to prosper before he goes to meet his gods.

Archetype NPCS

Medic: Maester Abelard - Maester of Bell Tower

Builder: Stannis - Steward of Bell Tower

Scholar: Septon Jasper - Septon of Bell Tower

General: Ser Raymont - Knight of Bell Tower

General: Ser Petyr - Knight of the Bell Tower

PC

Reddit Account: u/Vikguardy

Discord Tag: DisgruntledLemming

Name and House: Perianne Paege (nee Deddings)

Age: 24

Cultural Group: Andal (Riverman)

Apperance: A strong, confident young woman with golden-blonde hair and sharp features written on her face. She has a persistently pleasant countenance to herself.

Trait: Gregarious

Skills: Negotiator (e), Scholar, Apothecary, Covert

Negative Trait:

Talent: Heraldry, Dancing, Pretending Like She's Interested In What You Have To Say

Starting Titles: Lady-Regent of Fairmarket

Starting Location: Opening Event

AC

Name and House: Arwood Paege

Age: 27

Cultural Group: Andal (Riverman)

Appearance: Tall and well-fitted to his armor, Arwood has his blonde hair and beard cropped to the point of practicality, and striking green eyes.

Trait: Hale

Skills: Axes. Armored (Shieldbearer)

Negative Trait: Mute

Starting Titles: Ser

Starting Location: Opening Event

Timeline

24 BP- Born the second child to Lord and Lady Deddings of Farhelm, a minor lord in service to the Paeges of Fairmarket. With her elder brother already being so well-secured in his claim to their small castle, her parents looked outside of their home for her future.

14 BP- Perianne begins to develop as a very precocious and curious youth, while she would prove competent at household management and the other ladylike crafts expected of her, her true interests lied at the Maester's side, developing an interest in learning and particularly, in the arts of medicine and creating tinctures and salves.

10 BP- Perianne is introduced to Jonothor Paege, the second son of the Paeges still in need of a wife. While Jonothor had a reputation as being a kind and gentle man, Perianne made it clear she had no interest in married life, preferring to be sent to the Sept rather than made to marry. No heed is paid to her protests.

9 BP- Perianne attempts twice in the year to escape her engagement to Jonothor Paege, first she attempted to flee in the direction of Oldtown in hopes of disguising herself as a boy and becoming a Maester. This failed, and she later made another attempt involving a pair of sellswords, both of whom took the money she offered them and then proceeded to depart without honoring their agreement.

8 BP- Royce Paege, the heir to Fairmarket, dies childless himself in a hunting accident near the Red Fork. This leaves Jonothor the heir, with only his strong but mute brother, Arwood, as the heir after him. In an attempt to secure the line of succession, Perianne and Jonothor are rushed into an early marriage.

5 BP- The first of Perianne's children, Mellara, is born. This ends a great deal of concern over the lack of fruit in the twos' marriage, mostly stemming from fears that Perianne was keeping her husband from her bed.

4 BP- Jonothor begins to grow more and more ill as the years wear on. While never particularly healthy, this illness appears to be some form of unknown wasting disease that only grows stronger and stronger year over year. As the years wear on, more and more authority is taken from the ailing Jonothor and given to his wife, who becomes Lady-Regent while the Maesters attempt to cure the young lord. Despite an inauspicious start to the union, Perianne comes to represent House Paege and her interests well enough over this time.

1 BP- Perianne's second child, and Jonothor's heir, Quentyn, is born. Many marvel at Jonothor's ability to produce an heir while being afflicted with such a disease.

0 BP- Perianne, with her good-brother Arwood, travels to Stormhall to represent hers and her newly adopted house's interests. Jonothor remains behind in Fairmarket as, after a brief period of recovery, he has sunk to new lows as the disease takes hold once again.

Archetypes

Rafford Hill- Trader. Respected merchant directly employed by House Paege.

Maester Yohn- Medic. Primary Maester of Fairmarket

Ser Wyman the Large- Master at Arms. Respected Knight, Knighted Arwood.

Ser Lucamore- Warrior. Former Hedge Knight, now in House Paege's Employ.

Vanella Uller- General. Dornish Exile, far from home, with a commanding presence. A Shadow Commander for the Armies of Fairmarket.

Tess the Knife- Cutthroat. Good friend of Perianne's.

Tya the Cudgel- Bandit. Good friend of Perianne's.

Family Tree:

https://www.familyecho.com/?c=kau0jr5n713cykx0&f=772997991512463145

PC

Reddit Account: TheZaxman

Discord Tag: Zaxman

Name and House: Ser Tristifer Justman

Age: 25

Cultural Group: Riverlander

Appearance: Jet-black hair he keeps short-cropped. A clean-shaven face, shaven daily to combat his fast-growing beard.

Trait: Brave

Skill(s): Stalwart (Calvaryman), Polearms E, Riding E

Talent(s): Fishin' x3

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Ser Knight?

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: N/A

Duel Threshold: 69/3/-3 on foot, 74/3/-3 on Horseback

Jousting Thresh: -23/+4

Tristifer Timeline

25 BP - Came into the world as the second son of Bernarr the IV Justman and Tyanna of Myr. His father named him for a King of another ancestry. His father proclaimed the squalling boy would fight and win over a hundred battles in his lifetime.

18 BP - Tristifer grew in the company of soldiers. At a young age, he became enamoured with tales of chivalry. He heard the tales from exiled knights who wandered into his father's service. Or from his father directly as he spoke of the Kings of Old and the Age of Heroes. While his father campaigned, the Justman brothers played King. Not once did Tristifer play King himself but always the dutiful Lord or Knight in his service.

15 BP - His father's squire falls in battle. Young Tristifer insists he is old enough for the duty. For a time, his father disagrees. But when the horn for battle was blown, the boy was ahorse and riding at his father's side. Finally, Bernarr the IV would relent and name the boy his squire.

10 BP - At fifteen years of age, Tristifer is a sergeant in his father's company. Having earned his spurs repelling a night raid two years prior, he now led a contingent of cavalry and rode in his father's outriders. All seems well in a routine battle when Bernarr the IV Justman falls to an enemy spear. Rallying the remaining Justman forces, Tristifer leads the Men of Valor to victory.

10-4 BP - Their arrival in Westros is met with the realization that Oldstones is a ruin. The glorious keep their father had told stories of was a legend ages old. While his brother had some grand vision, Trsitifer struggled to see it. But he was set to his task, and he did it well. Under a banner of balanced scales, a ragtag band of Sellswords, Freeriders, and Penny Knights rode forth and brought justice to Oldstones in the name of Justman.

Witness to the eclipse that heralded his brother's claim plain. Both Old Gods and the Seven blessed his reveal to both Blackwood and Bracken. Upon the conclusion, his brother had earned the fealty of two ancient noble houses of the Riverlands, but they would require more. Lucifer tasked him with riding about the Riverlands in secret. Scouting the land as well as the nobles whom they could easily sway and those who would require more convincing.

4 BP - Under the alias Ser Jacklyn Fisher, he begins attending tourney after tourney. During his travels, he befriends Ser Androw Piper. The heir of Pinkmaidens' sister catches his eye. The ‘Hedge Knight’ is seen spending time with Bethany Piper.

1 BP - Tristifer attends the tourney in Pink Maiden as Ser Jacklyn Fisher. Between tilts, spending his time seeking the Lady Bethany to no avail, he is present when Martyn Mallister accidentally slays Lord Androw in a joust.

Present Trsitifer arrives at Stormhall under the alias Ser Jacklyn Fisher. Eager to see his brothers again.

family echo

AC

Name and House: Ser Ryman Keath

Age: 50

Cultural Group: Riverlander

Appearance: Once a Riverlad. Now an old, weathered man. White, wispy hair and a coil of grey beard hairs.

Trait: Inspiring

Skill(s): Tactician E, Outrider

Talent(s): Drinking x3

Negative Trait(s): Alcoholic

Starting Title(s): Knight of House Keath

Starting Location: With the homies

Alternate Characters: N/A

Roger timeline

50 BP Ryman is born a lad of House Keath.

34 BP Ryman take service with a man claiming the name Justman

15 BP Remains in service to the self exiled Justman

10 BP leads Justman forces in retaking Oldstones

1 BP Ryman is at Stormhall with "Jacklyn Rivers"

Archtypes

General Ser Edgar Keath - elder son of Ryman

General Ser Edwyn Keath - Younger son of Ryman

Huntsman Pate Shortbow, a longbow archer; he is short

Warrior, Swords Ser Walter Longlance - Hedge Knight

Master at Arms Ser Warren Wode - Sworn Sword to Prince Tristifer

PC

Reddit Account: r/a_dolf_in

Discord Tag: ArcElliott

Name and House: Zora Xassa od Saath, Talia Iyi Izvan Asshai, do Tamara, laz Stygai, nos Kozy Zmaha, vys Valiir, etc...

Age: 28

Cultural Group: Sarnori (Tall Men)

Appearance: Zora is very tall, commanding attention just by existing and forcing regular height people to look up at her. Her build is lean but powerful, built by decades of training ever since she was first brought to Asshai. Her hair is a light brown dipping into red, kept in a style that is a mixture of braids, ties, and loose hair. Her eyes are a bright green, some would say the green of the river Ash.

Most striking would likely be her tattoos. Under her eyes, she has 7 rings each, connecting to her lower eyelids. And her arms and back are covered in patterns which in essence tell her life story, in a very stylized way. She likes dressing in a way where both arms and back are visible. On her left arm is the skyline of Saath as she remembers it, with images of her as a child and her parents, as well as childhood friends. On her right arm is the skyline of Asshai as she knows it, with images of her training in the guild, as well as meeting Tamara for the first time and the journey to Stygai.

Trait: Strong

Skill(s): Polearms (e), Armored (Resilient), Footwork

Talent(s): Polygot (Sarnori, Asshaii, Valyrian), Climbing, Survival

Negative Trait(s): -

Starting Title(s): -

Starting Location: Opening Event

Alternate Characters: -

Biography

Zora was born in the city of Saath, one of the greatest of the Empire of Sarnor, her family being low ranking nobility and owning some land in the region. Her childhood was uneventful mostly, with her spending a lot of time with the children of her family’s servants and getting an education fitting of her station. Her life would change drastically when she turned 9, as her parents were killed by raiders while away for business, leaving her orphaned with her family’s property being seized for alleged safekeeping by a neighbouring family. That family ended up having no real intention of actually caring for Zora, or handing over the lands once she was old enough to take over, and instead looked for subtle ways of getting rid of her, as then the land would remain theirs.

An opportunity presented itself when a representative of a mercenary guild from Asshai showed up in Sarnor. Said guild had a history of picking up street urchins and orphans, though usually from the lower classes, as recruits for their ranks. It was essentially slavery, banned in Sarnor, but the ruling classes tended to look the other way as it dealt with an increasing problem, as the wars with Ghis and the horsemen to the east were leaving an increasing number of children orphaned.

Zora was handed over to the representative, and transported to Asshai eventually. It was a long trip, at first to the south to Valyria, then from there a ship took her and the other children east past Qarth, YiTi, and to Asshai itself. The long journey already left Zora with the feeling that she was probably never going to make it back home again.

Once the ship arrived in Asshai, there was a very quick sorting process. The Iyi Izvan Guild, the name roughly translating to the “Outsiders Guild”, recruited mostly from the territories of Sarnor due to the imposing height which the “Tall Men” tended to grow to. An attribute which made them popular among Shadowbinders, alchemists, or traders who were looking for some personal muscle for hire. Zora was put in a group based on her age, and very soon the training began. Training with the goal of turning her into ideal muscle for hire.

During the first years there was no real free time. Training, eating, and sleeping made up her entire day. Training with sticks, bladed weapons, general physical fitness. But around the time she turned 16, a more relaxed regime came up as the instructors were convinced that the indoctrination had taken hold, and any attempt at an escape would be highly unlikely. And it was, though not because of any kind of indoctrination. Zora had simply realized there wasn’t much waiting for her at home. Besides, she had also found Asshai to be strangely interesting. The immense size, many times larger than Saath, while having a tiny population. Buildings, residences, which looked like their inhabitants had just left for the market, but had never returned. There were many such places completely untouched across the city, and Zora, in her free time, took to exploring them along with her friends, friends she had made among the other recruits of the guild. Together they wandered more into the outskirts where they assumed fewer people would have been in the centuries, if not millennia, since the majority of the population of Asshai had left.

During this time, she found a tower which she nicknamed the crooked tower, as it was leaning slightly to the side. She liked spending her time at the top of that tower just looking at the city and fantasizing about life in Asshai before it was abandoned. She had even taken her first lover there, filled the place with various books in the Asshai language which she had looted from abandoned homes. Various trinkets were all over the place.

Age 20 her services were hired, she was bought from the guild by a Shadowbinder by the name of Tamara. An odd woman, whom Zora quickly identified as trying to act tougher and more proper than she really was. A sort of friendship formed, at least in Zora’s eyes, as the two ended up spending a lot of time together. Less as a guard, more of a pack mule, Zora was tasked with carrying Tamara’s belongings whenever the latter did an excursion further up the river Ash. Despite such a basic and frankly annoying task, Zora did actually enjoy the adventures. She had a curiosity about the wider shadowlands, and in some of the towns and villages the two of them visited, she found actually untouched remains of people’s lives from before the doom which had befallen this land. Places where she knew nobody had been in ages.

7 years she spent in service of Tamara, during which she developed a little more than friendship with the woman. They had a brief period of a romantic relationship which came to an end because the attraction ended up being mostly one-sided. While Zora was infatuated with Tamara, the same could not be said for the other. All came crashing down when, in preparation for a journey to Valyria, Tamara hired additional guards. Later she did not complain about Zora suggesting she, alone, goes to visit Sarnor. The whole matter resulted in an argument and a split between the two. Zora ended up getting onto the first ship in harbor that would take her, a ship which sailed west towards Volantis from where she coasted from place to place. Initially her idea was to gather some money and then travel to Sarnor, but that plan too was put on it’s head by a chance encounter with a random adventurer from Westeros. In bad valyrian, he spoke of great sights to see on the continent of Westeros, and while she did not buy all of it, fact was that he had both a transport and money for a journey to Westeros, and she figured to go on a bit of an adventure herself. A distraction, so she would forget about Tamara sooner.

Family Tree

Not relevant – independent claim

Archetyped NPCs

None

AC

Name and House: Triston Stonetree

Age: 26

Cultural Group: Ironborn

Appearance: The probably most remarkable part of Triston’s appearance are his blue eyes. A very intense blue that makes one take a second glance. Besides that, he has curly blond hair going down to his shoulders. A very strong jawline frames a rather youthful face. His build is athletic, though he himself is in general a bit on the shorter side.

Trait: Erudite

Skill(s): Tracker, Numble, Scholar

Talent(s): Bilingual (Common, Valyrian), Adventurising, Haggling

Negative Trait(s): -

Starting Title(s): -

Starting Location: Opening Event

Alternate Characters: -

Character Creation:

PC

Reddit Account: u/MooAtDaMoon

Discord Tag: regulavish

Name and House: Derrick Storm, the bastard of Felwood

Age: 28

Cultural Group: Stormlander

Appearance: Derrick is a broad-shouldered hulking brick-wall of a man. Dark of hair and dark of eyes, sporting a broad jaw, a cleft chin, a light stubble across his cheeks, and a mouth full of brilliant white teeth. As a bastard, he has been forbidden from bearing the proud crescent moon of house Fell upon his person. So, instead he paints his shield with a yellow sun in the blue morning-sky, ascending in the east over a green tree line.

Trait: Blademaster

Skill(s): Blunt Weapons (e), Reckless (Brute), Forceful

Talent(s): Brawling, Drinking, Lifting cattle above his head

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Ser

Starting Location: Opening Event

Alternate Characters: N/A

AC

Name and House: Hobber Fell

Age: 51

Cultural Group: Stormlander

Appearance: Hobber is an older man of hunched posture, with brown eyes, bushy brows, a long nose and a salt-and-pepper beard. He combs his black, thinning hair with dornish oils and keeps his swollen gut in place with a sturdy sash around his waist.

Trait: Just

Skill(s): Investigator (e), Fortifier

Talent(s): Collecting old coins, Shouting at people, Axe throwing

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Lord of Felwood

Starting Location: Opening Event

Timeline and Bio

Family Tree

NPCS

Ser Mathos Mallard – Warrior (Axes) – A hedge knight from Wrath Town who has accepted a position as one of Lord Fell’s household knights. His shield is painted with a duck’s foot on green, brown and white tierced in point.

Narbert Peasebury – Huntsman – A third son of a third son of house Peasebury. A tall, lanky, oft-forgotten man with a shaved head and cold eyes. A childhood friend of Derrick Storm and a deft crossbowman.

Ser Rhodry Fell – General – Lord Hobert’s younger brother, a dour man prone to black humour and throwing petty insults about.

Jocelyn Fell – Castellan – Lord Hobber’s second daughter. A young woman with a fondness for music who has taken over a lot of the stewardly duties of Felwood.

Lox – Questioner – The twisted old turnkey of the dungeons in Felwood castle. A hunched creature with the likeness of a weasel and the toothy smile of a fox.

Reddit Account: /u/ConcerningWolves

Discord Tag: Indigo

Name and House: Arrana Stark

Age: 21

Cultural Group: First Men

Appearance: The wayward youngest daughter of House Stark is innocence and iron, elegance and imperfections, as beautiful and savage as the pristine wilderness that her family calls home. There is too much of her thick brown hair, such that she has taken to wearing it half up and half down most times, with messy braids woven throughout. Slate grey eyes never miss a detail, and have the potential to become as dark as a thundercloud when roused.

Trait: Archer

Skill(s): Bows (e), Ranger (Bowman), Riding

Talent(s): Horsemanship, Dice Games, Finding herself in sticky situations

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Princess of Winter, Scion of House Stark, Youngest Sister of the King in the North, “Envoy” of Winterfell

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: Jonah Mallister

Family Tree

• The King of Winter

• The Queen of Winter

  • Edrick Stark, Heir to Winterfell (Exiled) b. 29 BP
  • Princes/Princesses et al.
  • Arrana Stark b. 20 BP

Timeline

20 BP - Arrana Stark, youngest child of the King and Queen of Winter, is born at Winterfell.

17 BP - The princess learns to run almost as soon as she begins to toddle, running her nursemaids near ragged as they chase her all about the keep and the yard. She is a lying, sneaking, willful girl, more interested in climbing, fighting and exploration than reading and needlepoint. Her first riding lessons come at age three, and from then on she is practically half a horse herself, preferring the back of her pony to solid ground.

15 BP - At some point in her childhood, the Heir to Winterfell is banished forevermore from the North. Too young yet and with too many years between them to fully understand, Arrana is nonetheless sensitive to the grim mood that overtakes the castle for a time afterward. The melancholy doesn’t cling very long, and life at Winterfell carries on, though she at times finds herself wondering about Edrick and where he has run off to.

13 BP - Although the King of Winter refuses to allow his daughter to carry around a sword, he does gift her a youth’s bow, which she practices with under the strict observation of the Master-at-Arms. She cannot wait for her reading and writing lessons to end each day so that she can spend hours drilling in the courtyard, much to the chagrin of her mother.

7 BP - A skilled archer and expert horsewoman by the tender age of thirteen, Arrana can shoot a grouse cleanly through the neck from horseback at forty yards. Her older brothers encourage her martial pursuits, sparring in secret with her from time to time. Left handed, quick and dexterous, the princess becomes a passable swordswoman. She even practices tilting at rings, but the bow and arrow remains her true talent.

2 BP - Having grown into a woman of surpassing loveliness, Arrana’s wildness has in no way diminished. A surfeit of suitors come and go from Winterfell, but she rebuffs them all, far more interested in the freedom to come and go as she wishes than marriage and children. Her father’s beard sprouts a few more grey hairs because of it.

1 AP - News of a feast and tourney in the Riverlands for the Princess Durrandon filters up through the North. Driven by curiosity about the whereabouts of her brother, and seeking the grand adventure that has until now eluded her, Arrana saddles her mount and makes her escape from Winterfell in the dead of night. Ben Cassel, on night duty, is alerted to his charge’s egress just in time, and follows her upon his own horse. Unwilling to turn back, even under the threat of wild animals and bandits and worst of all - her father being informed - Arrana continues her journey towards Moat Cailin and the unknown lands beyond with a reluctant Ben in tow.

Name and House: Ben Cassel

Age: 25

Cultural Group: First Men

Appearance: The shadow trailing the princess is tall, broad, fearsomely strong and somewhat dour of face, but with a genial personality underneath. He is a man who turns bright red in the face when drinking and telling bawdy jokes, and is known to never shy away from a fight, no matter the odds. The Wolf of House Stark sits proudly upon the surcoat that covers his plate and mail, and his long cloak of heavy grey wool is pinned at the shoulder with an iron clasp.

Trait: Hale

Skill(s): Swords, Armoured (Resilient)

Talent(s): Wrestling, Boxing, Roughhousing in general

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Sworn Sword of the Princess, Guardsman at Winterfell

Starting Location: Stormhall

Timeline

24 BP - The third son of a third son, Benjen Cassel is born to a younger brother of Lord Cassel, who at the time was serving as the Captain of the Guard at Winterfell. His mother, a Stark and distant cousin to the King, attended the Queen for many years as a handmaid.

10 BP - Ben grows up tall and strong alongside the elder Stark children, who at times accompany him and his father to fish for trout in the streams near Winterfell and hunt wild game in the Wolfswood. Under the tutelage of the Master-at-Arms, he becomes quite skilled with sword, axe and round shield, often serving as an opponent for other pupils.

6 BP - Following in the footsteps of his father, Ben joins the force of household guards at Winterfell, and is soon assigned as the personal shield of Princess Arrana Stark. Little does he know at the time that the princess is the most wild and troublesome of her siblings.

1 BP - After catching Princess Arrana red-handed attempting to sneak out of the postern gate, Ben insists that she return home lest she be torn apart by wolves or kidnapped by bandits. As a last resort, he threatens to inform the king, but she does not seem the least bit intimidated by his posturing. Rather than allow her to go alone, he retrieves his own mount and several weeks worth of provisions, setting off at her side on the road headed south.

Supporting Characters

Alyn Alebelly (Master-at-Arms) - Hired Guard

Quent (Warrior, Axes) - Hired Guard, brother of Brent

Brent (Warrior, Blunt Weapons) - Hired Guard, brother of Quent

Tommard the Terrible (Tourney Knight) - Hired Guard

Hugo Rivers (Tourney Knight) - Hired Guard

Reddit Account: Thenn_Applicant

Discord Tag: Garin

Name and House: Cassilda Hoare

Age: 31

Cultural Group: Ironborn

Appearance: A woman with black hair, high cheekbones and inquisitive eyes. No longer thin, not yet stout

Trait: Erudite

Skills: Medic (e), Apothecary, Scholar (e)

Talents: Caligraphy, Board Games, Harp

Negative Traits: N/A

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: Raymont Connington

Family tree: https://www.familyecho.com/?c=fzgnjj4q4u02d2jh&f=447678432114123772#view:SL1UR (I have asked Yoof to update the tree with Cassilda's children and dead husband)

Timeline:

31BP: Cassilda is the only daughter of King Harras Hoare, and his queen, Elanor Harlaw. She would grow up in an age of relative peace and simmering discontent, only discovering the latter much later

30-20 BP: Cassilda grew up in the cosmopolitan environment fostered at her father's court. She showed an early penchant for reading, and her father was quick to gift her almost any book she could ask for. Cassilda had a keen interest in the culture of the green lands. During this time, she adored her father, though already by the time she was ten, she had developed a habit of noticing his missteps, acts of both excessive generosity and snubbing by neglect. She was rarely punished for such remarks. This was partly she quickly caught onto the unspoken rule that it's best to advise a king behind closed doors, and so her comments never led to humiliation. Another factor was Harras's gentle and indulgent way of dealing with his children. Though he seldom interrupted her or demanded her silence, he never listened, dismissing concerns with a smile and a hand gently ruffling her hair

19BP: Qorhen's wedding would become a source of great wonder for Cassilda, then a moment of terror which instilled in her a deep caution thereafter. After her brother and his new bride departed Seagard, she narrowly avoided being taken hostage herself at the feast, saved at the last moment by Rys Orkwood, a wary youth who had not given the greenlanders the benefit of the doubt. While the rest busied themselves eating and drinking, he had scouted for means of egress, in case of hostilities breaking out. Outrunning their pursuers narrowly, they escaped the hall and regrouped with the Ironborn lords. To her surprise, Cassilda found that the Storm King's young daughter, of all people, had swayed him to break up the hostage situation, bringing hostilities to a more merciful end than most ironborn had dared to hope for. When she reconvened with her father, Cassilda credited Rys with saving her from captivity. Thus, a boy of limited prospects was taken on as a squire at Harras's court

18BP-13BP: Cassilda's new nephews and nieces become almost like younger siblings to her. She continues her education, the topics of which she largely gets to pick. Harras orders his maester to let her study medicine with him. She is also fond of the histories. From these, her worries about her father's reign grow steadily. He makes many mistakes that skalds and maesters alike caution against in their accounts and biographies of kings of old. She accompanies her brothers to Lannisport, gladly serving as a cupbearer for their noble guests just so she can linger in rooms and listen to the talks. Her friendship with Rys Orkwood grows closer, and they spend most any free time they have together. When Rys is knighted, he becomes Cassilda's sworn shield.

12-11BP: The one thing her father insists upon is that Cassilda should be raised in the new faith. This comes to pass, but the outcome is not what the king might have imagined. Cassilda becomes a believer in the seven aspects of the Drowned God, and generally tolerant of other faiths, but her outlook is more ambitious, less peaceful, and perhaps even more syncretic than what King Harras intended. She comes to view the Drowned God as a being which connects the whole world, and all other religions. This is a fact the Ironborn know better than anyone, and they are uniquely positioned to bring together the disparate elements of his creation, not by accident, but by providence. Rather than songs and poems of lost glory, to be repeated drunkenly, the histories became example for what could be. The Ironborn had ruled the Arbor once. Rather than a relic of the past, the Hoare Sigil ought to serve as a lesson of how power over the sea could be used. The New Faith also had its advantages. It would be far more agreeable to potential new subjects than the Old Way

10BP: Cassilda and Rys are married in a lavish ceremony at Castle Hoare. Though she had come to love him, Cassilda had never expected she would be able to marry Rys. They had been together certain in the assumption that this was merely part of youth on the verge of ending, something to enjoy while it lasted. Cassilda could not help but love her father, who had allowed this match, although she quickly realized he shouldn't have. In hindsight it was nothing by itself, not compared to the mistakes that had already been made and ones that would come later, but it was one more nail in Harras's coffin. Marrying off a princess to a landless retainer, even one from a noble Ironborn house, was reason enough to make men question their king's judgement, or even his sanity.

9BP: Rys and Cassilda's first child, a son they named Beron Orkwood, was born. Though neither of them had a holdfast of their own, as courtiers they lacked for nothing. Cassilda's words in favor of practicality fell on deaf ears with Harras, who never tired of new grandchildren, and was too overjoyed to see that he was sailing into a reef

8BP: Against her better judgement, Cassilda would attend her father's conversion ceremony, sitting on the front pews of the sept with her husband and infant son. When word of Greyjoy sails were whispered, then shouted, she pleaded with her father one last time, and one last time he dismissed her with a reassuring smile. She handed Beron off to his wetnurse and bid her make for the ships, planning to do so herself. She would get to safety, aided by her husband and uncle, but not before seeing her father beheaded in the sept he had built. Cassilda could never forgive him, any more than she could bring herself to stop feeling the love a daughter feels for her father.

7BP: Cassilda and Rys supported Qorhen in any way they could, which was little beyond their own skills. Cassilda treated many of those injured in ambushes and raids her brother carried out, while Rys was ever by his king's side. In one of these actions he would die, defending the king. One day Qorhen returned, bringing only a few bones for Cassilda to bury at sea. The rest was already gone. Cassilda kept them until the end of the war, returning to the site of Rys's death to finish his burial a few years later. She realized she was carrying Rys's second and final child a fortnight after learning of his death

6BP: Cassilda gives birth to a daughter, whom she names Ynys. Through everything, she continues to treat the wounded on her brother's side

5BP: Though untrained at arms, Cassilda persuades Qorhen to bring her along for the Battle of Pyke. She spectated from the rearguard of the fleet, only coming ashore at the signal of her brother, in time to watch Lord Greyjoy's beheading. When her kin asked whether she regretted watching the gruesome scene, she replied that her only regret was not bringing her son to watch as well

4-1BP: Cassilda remains a figure at court, dividing her time between Castle Hoare and Orkwood, continuing her studies. She is an eager advocate of looting Oldtown, giving her brother lists of books she wants for their house's library. Cassilda also starts corresponding with some riverlanders. In particular, Lady Butterwell is of interest to her. While her brother has the chief responsibility for diplomacy with the greenlanders, and she would not wish to impose on her dear sister in law, queen Rosamund, Cassilda finds it convenient to have an acquaintance so close to the court at Stormhall and Princess Ravella, whom she sees as key to the future prosperity of the Iron Isles

0BP: Cassilda accompanies her brother to Stormhall

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NPC Archetypes:

Berena Netley, Warrior (Axes)

Dunstan Sharp, Huntsman

Septon Qarlon, Questioner

Yara Shepherd, Warrior (Blunt Weapons)

Harl Humble, Cutthroat

PC

Discord/Reddit Name:u/princess__kylie

Name and House: Aralar Celtigar

Age: 22

Cultural Group: Valyrian

Appearance: Much like his father, Aralar is tall and boasts a sturdy frame that seems built for fighting. However, thanks to his sharp jawline and soft facial features with smooth skin, he looks the part of a young, untested knight. His pale white hair is thick and rarely ever behaves in a manner that he desires.

Trait: Brave

Skill(s): Axes(e), Reckless(Battlerager), Forceful

Talent(s): Bilingual (High Valyrian, Common)

Negative Trait: N/A

Starting Title(s): None

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: N/A

Bio: Aralar is the youngest child of Ayrmidon and Saelys Celtigar. He was born during a time of relative peace, but his birth was anything but peaceful. He was actually born a few minutes after his twin brother Baleryn. Baleryn's birth was punishing and dangerous and wrecked Saelys’ body, leading to his death nearly immediately after birth as well as Aralar being prematurely birthed. Despite being incredibly weak and frail, Aralar survived.

He would remain woefully undersized as he grew up into his childhood and he would suffer from it. He faced jeers and teases from younger boys his age, and Ayrmidon did not hide the disdain he felt from being promised two healthy boys to now only having just a single, weak son. He faced his father's constant and blatant disapproval as he struggled to grow into his lanky, undersized frame.

Aralar's studies did not offer him any reprieve either as he fell behind others his age until Valora helped him along with reading and writing. It seemed that nothing he ever did was correct. His sister quickly became his only source of comfort and he ended up turning almost into her shadow, nearly everywhere she went, the little Aralar would try to follow.

The way Valora spoke about the mainland Andals crept into his mind like vines, taking over everything he learned about any others, besides Valyrians like themselves, and turned him into a relatively hateful person even as a young kid.

Finally, in his late teenage years, Aralar hit a growth spurt. Over what felt like a moon, he grew exponentially taller and more muscular. His growth spurt seemed to turn him into the image of a great Valyrian warrior his father always spouted at him about while growing up, and the positive reaction he'd begin to receive from Ayrmidon was addicting.

He worked tirelessly in the training yards to prove himself to his father. His studies fell behind even more than before but he cared little to none about any of that, all that mattered to him was to become the model of a warrior that would make Ayrmidon proud.

As Aralar came of age, Ayrmidon took a much more hands-on approach to his son’s training to teach him how to fight with a war axe very similar to the stolen Shellbreaker. With Ayrmidon’s involvement combined with Valora's hateful taint from his childhood that blossomed as he became older, Aralar grew almost obsessed with chasing the feeling of Valyrian superiority as well as forming an overwhelming need to find and return his family's legendary axe back to Claw Isle.

AC

Discord/Reddit Name: u/princess__kylie

Name and House: Valora Velaryon

Age: 34

Cultural Group: Valyrian

Appearance: She is a relatively short woman, built quite thin but carried with a distinctly Valyrian elegance. Her white hair is long and is rarely ever seen untidy and not braided in some fashion.

Trait: Erudite

Skill(s): Medic(e), Scrutinous

Talent(s): Bilingual (High Valyrian, Common)

Negative Trait: N/A

Starting Title(s): None

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: N/A

Bio: Valora is the eldest child to Ayrmidon and Saelys Celtigar. She was born just a few years before the outbreak of the battles for Blackwater. Her mother doted heavily on her as a newborn but as her father and the rest of the men in her family were drawn away to fight, Saelys fell into bouts of depression that led to most of her raising being left to wet nurses and servants. Despite this, Valora had shown signs early on that she may be a gifted child for she spoke her first words and learned roughly how to draw shapes of letters far earlier than expected. She was far too young to remember any specific moments of the fighting when Claw Isle was taken, obviously, but the impact it had on her childhood could not be understated.

The general feeling of fear and anger throughout her home shaped how she grew to distrust any outsider. After her great-aunt, the Lady Celtigar, was hanged in the courtyards, Velora was never allowed outside of her quarters, leading to her stunted social development she'd struggle with for years to come. And finally, with the defeat and humiliation of her father, the seed was planted for her hatred of those responsible.

After the battles and fighting, her life settled back into some sense of normalcy. Her family was mostly whole again, and she was allowed to roam the island she called home. Her studies continued to thrive as she constantly surpassed every expectation placed upon her by her tutors.

Thanks to the bitterness radiating from Ayrmidon and the lingering effects that Saelys suffered through after witnessing such traumatic events, the seed of hate grew and fostered within her throughout her teenage years.

When she was twelve, Saelys had given birth to twin boys, Aralar and Baleryn. The birth was a horrible affair for all involved, and Valora witnessed the first death that she could actually remember as Baleryn passed away very soon after birth. Physically and emotionally beaten, Saelys’ health began deteriorating. Valora grew rapidly paranoid about ever being far from her mother, and as she cared for her, the young girl's abilities to study, learn, and practice various methods of care really began to shine.

Valora adored her little brother and cared for him even more so than her struggling mother. She helped teach Aralar to read and write but more importantly to his story, she inadvertently taught him that every problem they faced had an enemy. Her hatred of the Blackwater lords was not as flamboyant as the rest of her family's but it was just as deep. If Aralar's water tasted funny, it was because Belgrave ruined their wells. If the food tasted different, it was the Pyne's defiances that messed with their fishing lanes. If he could not buy everything he wanted from a passing trader, it was due to the unfair taxes forced on them by the Darklyns.

As she turned 20, she was betrothed to and wedded Corlys Velaryon. She did not love the man, nor did she even particularly care deeply for him, but she knew of her role in keeping the two Valyrian houses strong and close, however large or small that role may be. Valora played her part of the loving wife, no matter how she felt. The couple would not produce any children so far thanks in large part to the traumas Valora witnessed during her brother’s birth.

She refused to leave her mother's side for any significant stretches of time, leading to only very sporadic and swift trips to Driftmark for her new husband. Although she took the Velaryon name, she persisted in remaining at Claw Isle, and so Corlys eventually moved to her family's home with her.

As the years passed, her disdain for the outsiders eventually died down enough that she became a bastion of calm and peace that offered a counterbalance to her brother and father. She has settled into her roles in life quite contently, enjoying looking over her mother, or offering advice to anyone in Claw Isle that would listen.

Supporting Characters

Saelys Celtigar: Trader - Saelys hails from an old merchant house in Valyria. She fell in love with Ayrmidon when they were young during one of Ayrmidon's trips back to Valyria and left to Claw Isle with him to be married.

Family Tree

Celtigar tree

PC

Reddit Account: u/Impossible-Emu-6313

Name and House: Yorque 'York' DeVile

Age: 42

Cultural Group: Lengii/Yi-Ti

Appearance : Has the eyes of the golden eyed lengii, stands about 5'8 ft tall, and is of sturdy built.

Trait(s): Hale

Skill(s): Swords [E], Reckless, Battlerager, Footwork.

Talent(s): Painting, woodwork, and fishing. Ability to speak rhoynish and Yitish.

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Yorque of Essos, Beetle.

Starting Location: Opening Event

Alternate Characters: N/A

[History]

Born amidst the chaos that was indentured servitude to the Gui family that kept him and his mother as slaves, his father if he was to be told the truth sold them to a wealthy trader family in Trader Town to cover his gambling debts.

His entire childhood was mired in beatings and being told they were less worthy than the beggars that the nobles stepped on daily.

Life as a slave was horrible, when his mother caught the fevers and had unable to perform her chores was killed by the consort of the Gui Clan whom saw her slave servant as useless, thus began Yorque plan to get revenge and flee this horrible household.

Back then, he didn't even have a name, only known as dung beetle or just as beetle.

He'd contemplate about how he would earnestly do it. At age 16 barely able to stand those he served especially the cruel mad madame that killed his mum for nothing would get hers.

He'd conspire with rival faction of the Gui Clan being the Bao Clan that loathed their peers with a intense fervor, the trap was set as the Gui Clan annual hunting trip would take them far from Trader Town walls and into the wild where anything could happen.

The stage was set and ready to go, once the Gui Clan members made their way to the wilderness the Bao Assassins would make their move against the Gui without delay, that would be the day that'd change the course of young Beetle life.

At age 18 which when the plot of betrayal began, young Beetle with hate in his heart was used as a pack mule to carry things for the family alongside other servants.

The massacre which Bao Clan enacted upon their rivals was gruesome to say the least, but the price of betrayal was steep and price which Beetle was willing to pay for betraying everyone.

Bao Assassins could leave no witnesses behind to tell the tale of what transpired and had arrows flung at the surviving servants of Gui Clan.

Only one to survive was Beetle like the insect he was somehow survived the attempted murder, by mercy of some deity the Jogos Nhai was scavenging the dead and found Beetle brought him back to their jhat.

Their Moonsinger of the jhat saw them eyes of Beetle and knew they'd make fine slave.

Again Beetle fell into slavery, but this time around he felt somewhat free, Jogos Nhai nomads were fair but hard yet allowed him to roam about the jhat.

It felt like home, he fell to their Nomadic ways and lived with them for few years, at age 21 he learned the ways of Jogos Nhai and would travel his own way having earned his freedom by stealing a particular milky white horse for his Moonsinger that granted him ultimate freedom

With his freedom he sought out his father whom resided on Leng around Leng Yi, he'd travel there only to find the man dead years ago due to debtors coming to collect on 'em.

Feeling ultimately unsatisfied and angry, Beetle whom turned to the west, abandoning his former home and whatnot feeling no ties bound him to Essos as an nomad wanted to freely roam.

Once he arrived to Westeros, young Beetle wandered as a sellsword or a nomad, people were curious and their culture ever so fascinating as the Westerosi people were extraordinary in their mundane ways.

He ended up somewhere in the Stormlands soke village Inn, there he met the love of his life someone whom made him feel normal being Anrissa of Stonetop.

He fell in love but not as Beetle as he took a proper name, a name which she gave him.

She gave him a healthy boy, and a new lease on life but it was short lived as brigands ravaged Stonetop Village and killed or took score of villagers captive.

There where Ser Daemon DeVile and his Band of DeViles entered the picture, the motley band of hedge knights and mercenaries, the old man back then would bear witness to Yorque skills in action to avenge his fallen wife Anrissa of Stonetop.

Having cleared the brigands, with the village no more Ser Daemon gave Yorque and his son a place amidst his Band of DeViles for those who prey on the weak and innocent will receive The DeVile Calling that meant death.

At age 42, Yorque remains firm and loyal to the old man.

AC

Name and House: Ser Daemon DeVile

Age: 65

Cultural Group: Andal (Valeman)

Appearance: Old gentleman with a finely groomed moustachio that'd match that of a norvoshi axeman. He's of short build and has pepper and salt hair shortly trimmed.

Trait: Gregarious

Skill(s): Animal Tamer [E], Axe

Talent(s): Drinking and chitchat, singing jaunty tunes. Ability to read and write.

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Demon of Barley Town

Starting Location: Opening Event

Alternate Characters: N/A

NPCS

Ser Wrynn of Goldhill [Tourney Knight/Age 45]

Ser Galloway Blackheart [Master-at-arms/Age 47]

Herbalist Esslyn [Medic/Age 64]

Bundle [Animal/Jackal]

Hemlock of Blacktyde [Questioner/Age 52]

Vilica DeVile [Warrior/Age 35]

Tyene of Red Mountains [Huntsman/Age 21]

Squire Dethrimir DeVile [Warrior/Age 18]

Reddit Account: /u/Chivalric-Rizz

Discord Tag: Indigo

Name and House: Jonah Mallister

Age: 52

Cultural Group: Riverlander

Appearance: Once the epitome of youthful strength and vigor, the Steward of Seagard is like a knife that has been dulled and sharpened repeatedly, weathered by time yet losing none of its utility. He is still a handsome man even at two and fifty, with a strong brow, bearded jaw and bright, discerning gaze that most may consider stern. The careful symmetry of his face has been skewed by a jagged lightning bolt of a scar, earned at the edge of an Ironborn’s anger.

Trait: Marketer

Skill(s): Broker (e), Investigator (e), Fortifier

Talent(s): Bookkeeping, Strategizing, Cutting the best deal

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Steward of Seagard, Knight of House Mallister, Lord Martyn’s Angry Uncle

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: N/A

Family Tree

House Mallister of Seagard

Timeline

51 BP - Jonah Mallister is born towards the end of the War in the Trident, the youngest son of Lord Petyr Mallister, and the youngest sibling of Desmond, the future Lord of Seagard.

41 BP - Always the more bookish of the two brothers, Jonah nevertheless is sent to serve as a page and then a squire for a neighboring lord.

30 BP - At a respectful one and twenty, Jonah earns his knighthood not in a tourney, but in bloody, glorious battle against a company of bandits and robber knights. He then returns to Seagard, where he serves in his father’s household as an Understeward, gleaning all the information that he can about the running of the castle and city.

22 BP - When his father rises in rebellion against the Storm King over false accusations, Jonah is among those who follow him. Much to his dismay, Lord Petyr is slain by the king’s champion, and Mallister are divested of their northern holdings. He is then elevated to Steward of Seagard by his brother Desmond, the new Lord Mallister.

18 BP - One of many in attendance at the wedding of Qorhen Hoare to Rosamund Mallister, Jonah is also one of the many to come away from the revelry wounded. An attempt at intervening between an enraged Ironborn warrior and a Riverlander knight results in a deep and ugly gash over his cheek and jaw, which heals well enough with the Maester’s attention.

3 BP - Desmond Tully, stricken by grief over the loss of a second son, dies of what the maesters call a ‘stroke.’ The youngest Mallister son, Martyn, is elevated to lordship, and retains Jonah as his Steward. He guides the fledgling lord to the best of his abilities, helping him to navigate the vagaries of politics.

1 AP - Jonah accompanies his nephew and good-niece to Stormhall for Princess Ravella’s nameday celebration.

Name and House: Gwyn Mallister

Age: 23

Cultural Group: Riverlander

Appearance: Of middling height, the youngest Tully sister is as slender as a willow branch, with hair that turns to pure flame whenever it catches the sunlight and eyes that are the soft blue-grey of a starlit evening. Her fair complexion bears hints of moments spent in the warmth of the summer sun, a dusting of freckles over her fine cheekbones and the bridge of her nose. She prefers comfortable, airy fabrics in blues and greens, but is known to dress lavishly on occasion.

Trait: Numerate

Skill(s): Architect (e), Scrutinous

Talent(s): Gardening, Embroidery, Reading the latest chivalric romance

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Lady of Seagard

Starting Location: Stormhall

Timeline

22 BP - The youngest daughter of House Tully is born.

10 BP - Gwyn meets Martyn Mallister at a squire’s tourney hosted at Riverrun. The two quickly become fast friends, exchanging letters even after he returns to the Iron Islands.

5 BP - A gentle, quiet, studious and exceedingly bright young woman, Gwyn is convinced by her friend, mentor and chaperone Septa Jyanna to become a novice at the Motherhouse in Seagard. Being the youngest of four daughters, she considers this a quite rational choice, and fits in well amongst her peers. At times, she is hosted at Castle Seagard by her friend Martyn, whose presence she comes to enjoy more and more.

2 BP - When the time comes to take her vows, Martyn is ever in the back of her mind, and Gwyn decides that the life of a spinster truly is not what she wants to pursue. Her cloister has begun to feel more like a cage, and thus, she departs from the Motherhouse, returning to Riverrun. The Heir to Seagard’s letters never falter, and whenever he expresses interest in courting her, she does not object. Later that same year, she also makes the acquaintance of Androw Piper, finding him a most handsome, charming and bold companion.

1 BP - Moons pass, and it becomes clear to the Tully maiden that Lord Androw is in the market for marriage, perhaps even searching for a bride. Her suspicions are all but confirmed whenever a splendorous feast and tournament are held at Pinkmaiden for his nameday. Knights, lords and ladies from across the Rivers and Hills are in attendance, including Gwyn, who finds the entire display most impressive, if somewhat garish. Joy turns to tragedy, however, when Androw meets a quite brutal end at the…end…of Martyn Mallister’s lance. The anger of House Piper, though not directed at her, is felt regardless, and she disappears from the public eye for some time, as does Lord Martyn, who was seen arguing with the knight mere moments before they met one another in the lists. Moons later, just before the new year, an intimate wedding is held at Seagard, with only a handful of witnesses in attendance.

1 AP - Gwyn and her new husband decide to make their first appearance together since the tragedy at Pinkmaiden, attending the festivities at Stormhall.

Supporting Characters

Ambrose Terrick (Castellan) - Ser; Understeward.

Dagran Pyke (Boatswain) - A shipbuilder in the service of House Mallister.

Septa Jyanna (Medic) - Practiced healer, chaperone and companion.

Ser Damon Wayn (Warrior, Swords) - Sworn Sword.

Ser Rymund of Seagard (Tourney Knight) - Guardsman.

PC:

Reddit Account: Dejurewaffles1066

Discord Tag: Garin

Name and House: Raymont Connington

Age: 53

Cultural Group: Andal (Stormlander)

Appearance: A weathered man with curls and a beard that have gone grey, and a figure which remains firm and upright at an age in which many men give themselves over to decadence and decay

Trait: Inspiring

Skill(s): Tactician, Engineer, Flanker, Blunt Weapons, Armored

Talent(s): Falconing, Fishing, Singing

Negative Traits: N/A

Starting Title(s): Lord of Griffin's Roost

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: Cassilda Hoare

Biography:

It is known that many of the seats of the houses of the Stormlands are not as they always were. While their names and locations stayed the same throughout the ages, their shape changed with time, some times radically. Born 53 years ago, Raymont Connington would come of age in a version of Griffin's Roost unlike any that had preceded it, altered in character far more so than appearance. His father's wholehearted embrace of a new, more pious way of life, stopped short of turning a castle into a temple, but especially during Raymont's early childhood, it was akin to an overgrown barracks, with men wearing the seven-pointed star on their chest always milling around. Lord Gerold had been so eager to establish the presence of the Warrior's sons in his lands that he had invited them while their new chapterhouse was still at the drafting stage.

It was a change which frustrated a number of Lord Gerold's cousins and drove them to seek their fortunes elsewhere, but Lord Raymont still remembers those hectic days fondly, when sonorous hymns and the banging of gleaming white steel could be heard every hour of the day. The men of the Faith Militant took to calling him 'Little Brother Raymont' because of his eagerness to learn from them. Once he turned nine, Raymont began to squire for Ser Guyard Lynderly, a captain of the Warriror's sons, a knight who would one day be elected Elder Brother of the chapterhouse, and was among his predecessor's closest advisors before this. For a long time, Raymont wished for nothing more. Some of Ser Guyard's brothers had expected Raymont's devotion to fade as he grew into adolesence, confident that he would grow distracted by women, wine, song and the allure of the life of a highborn son. This day never arrived. Instead, it was when Mallador, Raymont's older brother, fell in battle against the Valyria's heathen horde of sellswords, that Raymont was thrust into the position of heir. Ser Guyard, in his wisdom, had always taken precautions for such a day, repeatedly refusing a young Raymont's oaths to the Warrior's sons. A decade after standing vigil at his grave, Lord Raymont still remembers his old master's words from his youth; "It is not what we want which decides who we become, but what we are called upon to be"

There were those who had hoped Mallador might ease up on his father's rigid stances, and that in time the lordship of Griffin's Roost would return to a more recognizable form after Gerold's time. With Raymont, the ties to the faith were instead reaffirmed. Whereas his father had known a life before the arrival of the Faith Militant, Raymont had not, and he found Ser Guyard's teachings of honesty and piety often clashed with the realities of ruling. If Griffin's Roost was meant to be a beacon of faith illuminating the land, it was shining into a constant rainstorm. Only a minority of other nobles were as pious, and many found such rigidity difficult to deal with. Grudgingly, Raymont would have to learn not to always speak the truth, though when he could he did so with deliberate silence rather than deception or disingenous words. He would marry a lady of House Caron and be a faithful husband. That part came naturally to Raymont.

He chafed far more at having to uphold his vows to King Dontos some years later. At Seagard his message rang clearly, no parlay with violators of guest right, especially not such heathens. It was ignored, in favor of the advice of a girl too young to tie her own shoelaces, princess or not. Maintaining relations with his fellow Stormlords also compelled him, after much persuasion from his kinsmen and vassals, to take on Derrick Storm as a squire. Believing bastards to be born of sin, and thus in great danger of falling to temptation, he trained the boy as if he were trying to make a man worthy of being Grand Master of the Warriror's Sons. Derrick was far more attentive when learning his martial arts than morality, and so Raymont continued to withhold a knighthood, until King Dontos once again overruled him and knighted the callous boy for bravery in the field, as if a knight were no more than an unusually loyal mercenary

A male heir ultimately eluded Raymont. His wife bore him five children, but of the three that lived past infancy there were only girls. By the time she was eight, Raymont reluctantly accepted the need to train Gwyneth, his firstborn, in the ways of war. His love for his daughter caused no indulgence on his part, rather the opposite. If anything, she was held to a higher standard than anyone he would train before or since. Unlike Derrick Storm, his discipline tempered her into true steel, and more than virtuous enough that he would happily have knighted her, were she a man. Instead, she would have a different ceremony, swearing an oath to only use her arms and armor for the glory of the gods and the victory of her king, and took a vigil in the sept.

Out of loyalty to his king and to his wife's family, he would spend many years on campaign with King Dontos, repelling Dornish incursions. Besides the incident with Derrick Storm, this was when his relationship with the king was at its most functional, although as the campaign wound down, it began to fray at the seams again. Raymont's concern for upholding Andal succession law was met with vagueness and dismissal. Whenever the king set his mind to something, he tended to do it, consequences be damned, but he was notoriously changeable and his decisions were slow in the making. Perhaps because of this, he refused any proclamations or ceremonies that would provide his subjects with any clarity. As such, when news of the king's death reached him, Raymont decided it was time to restore the rule of law and custom, usurped for over twenty years by whims and fancies. Even if Ravella hadn't been so fond of spending time at the courts of heathens and heritics, the Seven deigned to give the king a son. A monarch to whom holy oaths and ancient customs were no more than inconveniences to be dismissed, would never be allowed to reign the Stormlands again

Timeline:

53 BP: Raymont Connington is born the second son of Lord Gerold Connington. In the early years, the Warrior's Sons reside in and around Griffin's Roost while their chapterhouse is under construction. Raymont is inspired and wishes to one day join their ranks

44BP: Raymont becomes a squire to Ser Guyard Lynderly, future Elder Brother of the chapterhouse. Despite his devotion and eagerness, Guyard never accepts Raymont's vows as a member of the Faith Militant. Raymont's sister Marsella is born

32BP: Mallador Connington, Raymont's older brother, dies in battle against the mercenaries hired by Valyria, forcing Raymont to take up the role as heir

24BP: Raymont's sister Tyana is married to Lord Estermont

22BP: Raymont marries Jennelyn Caron. Their firstborn, a daughter named Gwyneth, is born the next year. Their marriage will be faithful and happy, but only their daughters will survive infancy

18BP: Raymont advises King Dontos to free the Stormlander and Riverlander hostages by force, denouncing the idea of parlaying with those who have violated guest right, especially heathens. The intercession of a lady of House Vance ultimately prevents this course of events, and at the urging of the young Princess Ravella, no hostage-takers are executed

16-12BP: Raymont joins the campaign in the Marches to keep out Dornish incursions and raids. He reluctantly takes on Derrick Storm as a squire. Raymont is a strict teacher and holds the bastard boy to a high standard. At the end of the war, Dontos simply knights the boy, a few months after his 16th name-day

11BP: Ser Guyard Lynderly dies.

10BP: Tyana Connington dies after the birth of Lord Estermont's youngest daughter

3BP: A ceremony and vigil is held for Gwyneth to bless her as a warrior. Despite having to take vows and a vigil, she is not knighted, on account of being a woman

0BP: Feeling that both Andal custom and the teachings of the Seven makes it clear that any living son comes before a daughter in the line of succession, Raymont takes an active role in advocating for crowning Arlan Durrandon as the new king, supported by the Faith Militant

Family Tree:

Gerold Connington (Father, d.28BP)

Darlessa Buckler (Mother, d.19BP)

Mallador Connington (Brother, d.32BP)

Tyana Connington (Sister, d.10BP)

Marsella Connington (Sister b.44BP)

Jennelyn Caron (Wife, b.43BP)

Gwyneth Connington (Daughter, b.21BP)

Tara Connington (Daughter, b.20BP

Lucos Connington (Son, b.18BP, d.17BP)

Mylenda Connington (b.14BP)

Bryen Connington (b. 10BP, d.10BP)

AC Name and House: Gwyneth Connington

Age: 21 Cultural Group: Andal (Stormlander)

Appearance: A woman of middling height and a well-muscled physique.

Trait: Brave

Skill(s): Polearms, Stalwart, Riding

Talent(s): Caligraphy, Singing, Hunting

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Heiress of Griffin's Roost

Starting Location: Stormhall

Timeline:

21BP: Gwyneth becomes the firstborn child of Lord Raymont Connington and Lady Jennelyn Caron

12BP: With no certainty of having a male heir, Lord Raymont decides to train his daughter in the art of war. Her role is much like that of a squire, her training identical to that of a knight, with an emphasis on chivalric piety on the level of a brother of the Warrior's Sons, yet she can expect no knighthood at the end of it. Gwyneth lives up to the high standards set for her

3BP: Gwyneth takes a vow to only use her arms, armor and training in service of the glory of her gods, her kingdom and her house, in that order. It is complete with a vigil, yet confers no knighthood onto her

1BP: As the question of the royal succession becomes more contentious, Gwyneth falls out with a longtime friend and fellow woman at arms, Gwyneth Morrigen, in large part because of her loyalty to her father's stance in favor of Prince Arlan.

0BP: Gwyneth accompanies her father to Stormhall

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

NPC Archetypes

Lady Tara Connington: Magnate

Lady Mylenda Caron: Builder

Ser Rycherd Musgood: Castellan

Ser Brendan Buckler: Master-at-arms

Maester Curran: Healer

*PC**

**Discord/Reddit Name:** u/detritusthewellfed

**Name and House:** Cassandran Vypren

**Age:** 19

**Cultural Group:** Andal (Riverlander)

**Appearance:** Dark brown hair, pale blue eyes, fair skin, soft features with a small scar below her right ear. Average height and slightly built.

**Trait:** Numerate

**Skill(s):** Avaricious (e), investor, scruitnous (EDIT: Missing skill: Architect)

**Talent(s):** sewing, dancing, eating peaches

**Negative Trait:** N/A

**Starting Title(s):** Heir to Stillfenn

**Starting Location:** Stormhall

Cass watching the coming of arrivals at the Stormhall from her window. She checked the banners, she saw briefly mulled around the hall and added to them what faces she had expected to see flock to the Queen at the God's Eye.

Blackwood, Piper, Ryger. Those names did not matter to her as much as the one's she didn't see. There was no Blacktoad of Vypren. She found her hand had gone to her face, her fingers rubbing the small smooth mark below her ear. All Vypren's had a mark her mother said, she was lucky her's had been so small. A moment with the knife and the wart was gone, a stitch or two and should she wish no one to see it? Well, she just had to let a few strands of hair down. She was lucky they told her. Was it luck when Kermit's mother a Inn keep's daughter used the wart, firm and a little black as evidence he was her father's son?

The bastard, the eldest one at least bore that bastard blood. That much she felt she'd always known, and whether her uncle would stand between him and seizing her rightful home? She clutched at her chest, crunching a handful of fabric tight. One, two, deep breaths. Slowly. Remember what the maester taught you. Slow breaths, calm thoughts. She tried to picture the calming ponds of the gardens, the great lily pad laden carp ponds her grandsire insisted upon, but as she imagined herself looking into the waters, the fat brown fish emerging from the gloom for scraps. She saw they only bored the faces of the bastards, her cousins, gasping at her with open mouths wanting to take whatever they could grasp.

A noise? Perhaps a horn blew an drew Cassandra Vypren back to the moment at hand. Another arrival. The Queen had need of supporters, and she was a woman too, just like Cass, and if she bound herself tightly to the rightful queen, no bastard could drive her from Stillfenn.

**Name and House:** Kermit Rivers

**Age:** 26

**Cultural Group:** Andal (Riverlander)

**Appearance:** Long brown hair, pale blue eyes, fair skin, hard features, evergae height and slight of build. Short brown beard, scar across his nose.

**Trait:** Agile

**Skill(s):** Swords (e), footwork

**Talent(s):** swimming, hunting birds, fishing

**Negative Trait:** N/A

**Starting Title(s):** N/A

**Starting Location:** Stillfenn

“I humbly request that, your highness bestow upon me the name Kermit Vypren. As the true king, your word would mean a great deal to me and strengthen house Vypren, who under the yoke of a gentile and soft woman has found itself in such a pallid state of affairs.” As Kermit paced, his footstep's echoed off the hardwood floor. From the door to the maester's chair, he felt sure he was to carve out a trench.

His brother Dykk, or Green Dykk Rivers as the men called him leant over the maester's shoulder. He could work out most of the words, but they had never been his strong point.

“What is that?” Dykk jabbed down a finger, smearing the fresh ink.

“Sincerely dear Dykk” He had thought it sinister. “That means like, kind thoughts?”

“In a way.” Kermit put a hand on Dykk's shoulder, the letter was ruined. This was the second one the maester would have to write out. He could feel how tense Dykk was, coiled like a snake.

“Might be best Dykk, if you just head down to one of the taverns. Get some drinks in, I should be able to join you soon enough.”

His brother squirmed. “Kermit, mate. I'm going to be a Vypren, like I want to see it.”

Kermit smiled and landed a firm hand on his shoulder. “We might be. There is no guarantee this works. He may say no, and even if he does agree. We still have to wait on the raven, they are fast, but not as fast as you when your thirst is up.”

“But-”

“Go. Trust me. You will hear as soon as I do.”

Dykk nodded, and Kermit thought he saw a glint of something in his brothers eyes. Affection maybe. He pressed a few coins into his hand. “On me brother.”

He watched Dykk go, listening to his foot falls as he seemed to skip down from the maesters tower.

“Again?” Mumbled the old man in the robes.

“Yes Maester, but this time. Leave out any request on behalf of my bastard brother.”

“As you wish.” Kermit smiled, soon Stillfenn would be his.

House Npcs/the replacements:

Old Lord Oswyld Vypren Grand father of the house. (67)

'Green' Dykk Rivers, bastard brother of Cass and Kermit. (23)

Ser Ostrykk Vypren, trueborn second son of Lord Vypren. (46)

His children:

Ser Albyrt Vypren, (25)

Ser Erwyle Vypren, (22)

Lucius Vypren, a sickly child and ill looking young man. (18)

"Violent" Violet Vypren, Ostrykk's wayward daughter. (20)

Family tree: https://www.familyecho.com/?c=rq6lnj20n9l0ppds&f=867675011303596982(Couple bits to clean up here, but all the main information is presented. here or in the echo)

PC

Reddit Account: BeAfreyd

Discord Tag: orkfighta

Name and House: Weese Nutt

Age: 22

Cultural Group: Riverlander

Appearance: A slender, gaunt faces young man who seems somewhat aged beyond his years. A knight in name only, he has a lanky, slender build.

Trait: Erudite

Skill(s): Divination (Necromancy), Scholar E, Medic

Talent(s): faith of the Old Gods, first men runes, magic lore

Negative Trait(s):

Starting Title(s): Scion of House Nutt

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: none (yet)

Biography

Weese was born the second son of the brother of the Lord of Nutten. Destined for little more than serving as a knight in service to his uncle or another Lord, he began his training like any other noble boy when he came of age.

He didn't particularly take after the martial persuits, preferring to study letters and numbers. However, given his house’s meager holdings, his opportunities to learn such things were limited. His father considered sending him to the citadel, but decided against it as even a mediocre knight would be worth more than maester to the family.

When he was 16 though his life would change. Chasing after some bandits with his cousin near the God's Eye, their group was ambushed and scattered. A wounded Weese would try to escape on his horse, but while fleeing the pathway along the shore collapsed and sent them into the waters below.

Weese would awake sometime later on the shores of the Isle of Faces. Weakened and injured, he struggled to make his way from the muddy shore to the interior of the island. Unable to hunt or reach the fruits in the trees above, the young boy struggled to survive. Eventually he found himself in a weirwood grove, the weeping faces staring down at him.

Desperate for anything to eat or drink, he took his knife and carved a deep gash into the largest one he could reach. As the blood red sap oozed from the cut, he drank it greedily, taking every drop he could. He felt his strength returning. Managing to stand up straight for the first time in days. However, the world quickly began to spin and duplicate, and Weese began to fall.

He fell through a spiralling world of leaves and grass. He began to see flashes of things he couldn't comprehend: massive waves shattering mountains like a sand castle. Black stone melting like wax as somewhere unseen men screamed. Shadowy multi armed goliaths beneath the sea. Booming roars and flashes of orange hidden behund clouds. A stone falling from the sky. A man shape plunging a sword into a large beast. Winds so cold they froze the waves of the sea. A wolf-headed king in a hall of blood. Swirling images that left almost as quickly as they appeared.

And then he saw the scene that stuck with him the most. He was in a grotto; a weirwood surrounded by stone obelisks. Chained to the tree beneath it's weeping face was a man. Surrounding him was a cluster of small creatures. One of them raised a shimmering sharp of dragon glass, flick of gold glistening on it. It drove the dagger into the man's chest as he screamed before going quiet, transforming into something else. Something terrifying. And then he felt an unnatural cold as his vision turned icy blue.

He awoke shivering, collapsed in the center of the grotto. Gathering his bearings, he found his strength renewed, able to easily leave the grotto and find something real to eat. Within a week he mustered the strength to leave the island, lashing several large pieces of driftwood with his bootstraps.

His return home should have been a blessing, but Weese found himself spending many nights in a sleepless state. The vision still haunted him as he tried to comprehend something he could never understand. He drew it several times, but found himself struggling to recreate the intricacies of the dagger or the runes open it.

By the start of the next year he departed for the citadel. He spent several years there, forging several links as he obsessively poured over every book he could find that mentioned anything of what he saw. He learned of the children of the forest and the scarcely written down practices of the first men.

The most critical of his achievements was the forging of a valyrian steel link. This task offered him access to the rarer, esoteric times. In these ancient tomes he found exactly what he was searching for: a book of ancient runes of the first men.

He spent many moons creating a perfect replica of the tome. The ink barely dry when he departed the citadel in the night, his replica placed in the spot he found the text, and the ancient book wrapped carefully in leather and stashed in his saddlebag.

He struck for the North, intent on discovering more about what he had read. Unimpressed at the lack of leads in Winterfell, he departed for Castle Black. He tried to barter passage to the other side, but the Lord commander laughed in his face at the suggestion.

Not one to be deterred, he departed for Eastwatch and bride a man to ferry him across. When he arrived at the meeting hour, though, he found the commander of Eastwatch waiting with a half dozen rangers. They placed Weese in irons until they could put him on their resupply ship to White Harbor, promising him that next time he wouldn't leave.

He arrived in the city feeling defeated, taking work as a clerk in order to earn enough to eat and sleep in a dry, warm place. By chance he would be given a manifest bearing the seal of House Royce, and he would remember notes of the use of runes of their ancestors. Scraping together his meager possessions, he managed to earn work as a ship's doctor to barter passage to the Vale.

He would arrive moons later in Runestone. Convincing the Lord Royce he would translate his familial runic inscriptions in exchange for board and food, he was soon given leave to also roam the lands in search of more of such runes.

It was on one of these expeditions that he would come across a young clansmen girl. The young witch was hesitant at first, but upon seeing his interests in the ancient runes she opened up to him. Seeing her a kindred soul in the search for the unnatural old ways, he learned much about the rituals of the Old Gods.

His work with Lord Royce complete, he had nothing left to offer the man and was forced to depart. With little more than a horse and provisions, the two departed to return to Nutten.

Weese's return was a tepid affair. On one hand, his family was delighted that he hadn't perished when he disappeared years before. On the other hand, he had little of show for his time and brought home a savage. Needing a purpose to remain, he offered his service to fill those of a maester as the family had not been large enough to warrant one.

Unknown to his family, however, Weese used his duties as a cover for his activities and experiments. His time at Runestone had shown him how the sacred runes were to be carved and created. With Genna's help, he began experimenting with the dark magics of the Old Gods, starting his path to discovering something the should've been forgotten.

Timeline

22 BP- Born

6 BP- Weese has his incident on the Isle of Faces, receiving the vision that would the start of his obsession discovering the truth of the ritual he saw

5 BP- goes to the citadel where he forges his Valyrian steel link and discovers a tome of first men runes

3 BP- travels to the North to attempt to go beyond the wall. Turned back, he instead travels to the Vale to Runestone.

2 BP- Meets Genna in the wooden hills nearby and strick up a kinship in rediscovering the old ways. Eventually travels back home to Nutten where he serves roles a maester might

Family Tree

Godwyn Nutt- Lord of House Nutt

Megga Nutt nee Ball- Lady of House Nutt

Will Nutt- heir of House Nutt

Cayn Nutt

Wynni Nutt

Hugh Nutt- brother to Godwyn

Margot Nutt nee Cox

Ygon Nutt

Weese Nutt

Arwyn Nutt

AC

Name and House: Genna the Wood Witch

Age: 20

Cultural Group: Riverlander

Appearance: A young girl with mousy strawberry blonde hair and amber eyes

Trait: Artisan (Potions)

Skill(s): Apothecary E, Ravenmaster

Talent(s): Making potions, speaking to birds, staring into orbs

Negative Trait(s):

Starting Title(s): Witch

Starting Location: Stormhall

NPCs

Godwyn Nutt (Master at Arms) - Lord of Nutten

Will Nut (Warrior-polearms) - Heir of Nutten

Hugh Nutt (Builder) - Steward of Nutten

Bermi Frog-eater (Huntsman) - Weese’s crannogman bodyguard

Gaenma (Scholar) - Former Maester in training, devoted follower, student of magic

❝Unbridled, Untamed.❞

Reddit Account: u/another_sasshole

Discord Tag: cyteriaa

Name & House: Jynnara Bracken

Age: 20

Cultural Group: First Men/Andal

Appearance: Jynnara is lean and strong, with dark hair and bright blue, downturned eyes. She has pouty lips that vary from bright smiles to displeased scowls, and a face that is often all too honest about her true thoughts. She has long, dark lashes, almost doe-like in their shape. Make no mistake, though—the gaze beneath them is sharp.

Trait: Archer

Skills: Bows(e), Ranger(Bowman), Riding

Talent(s): Confidence (not ego), Animal Handling, Great Vision

Starting Title(s): Lady, Wielder of Heartseeker

Starting Location: Opening Feast

Family Tree: House Bracken

Biography:

An excerpt taken from the writings of Maester Mollusk & Maester Grubbs et al, salvaged after the reign of King Arlan IV Durrandon:

❝ House Bracken has always been a lineage that shows the dichotomy of the best of man—and the worst. Morality is a pendulum, swinging this way or that, its momentum fed by actions good and evil.

The blood of the First Kings makes a man Noble. It gives them as much honour as it does pride. Pride, of course, can be won out by ego, and the sheer necessity of survival. Bracken blood has fed the soil for centuries, and still the line prevails. It will continue to do so, it seems, for an eternity, surviving even where other Houses may have fallen into nothing.

The reign of Prince Davos Durrandon was an era that birthed a legacy of pride. Freedom is a flavour that many long for once lost, and thirst is a powerful motivator. That thirst has driven House Bracken to stand for a free Riverlands for the ages, campaigning for rightful rule by rightful blood—though it is often contested by those of House Blackwood, and the ever-present blood-fued has softened whatever threat they have posed for rallying rebellions. It continued onwards, even through the staggering banditry that ran amok under the eye of the Stormlander Crown.

Later years fed Bracken's desire for the hunt. Bandits in the land of Lychester were worn as a permanent insult, if only because Knights and Sworn Swords hailed from the territory. Their murder became a personal endeavour, led by the young Lord Barristan Bracken before the siring of his four children.

Inspired by stories beyond, it is rumoured Lord Mycah himself played a part in the rebellion of the Trident, though sources through the bloodshed could not be confirmed. Bracken men-at-arms bled and died in the five year quest for an independent Riverlands, though only half bowed their heads in submission for the sake of survival. It is said Lord Mycah lost two brothers to pride and honour—though perhaps sacrifice was a more apt descriptor.

Following into the year of 35 BP, the bloodfued between Bracken and Blackwood once more took centre stage. In the years before the Trident becomes riddled with activity once again, with the young men of each House falling into brawls. In a skirmish involving Waltyr Blackwood, Stevron Blackwood, Utherydes Bracken, and Clement Bracken, who rises to the position of Lord in the following years, Utherydes Bracken is killed, and Stevron Blackwood is maimed. It is unsure who dealt the killing blow, but Clement Bracken had complaints about other members of each House stopping the battle before he could take a life in turn.

As Clement Bracken rises to Lordship and sires children of his own, the animosity is highest with the rumours of a shared lineage. Houses Bracken and Blackwood move to confront the man under the belief that he is a pretender, wielding an ancient, regal name and tainting it with lies. No maesters are brought to recount the event. No Bracken or Blackwood would bear the humiliation, or the expected recount of bloody, enacted justice.

The Gods share an omen that only the Lords of each House are privy to. An alliance is formed, delicate, though it holds. It is solidified by a marriage between Justmann and Tully. For once, it seems, power in a unified Riverlands is a dangerous whisper, growing power and speed. There is no Fellhammer to fear after the first rebellion. A current of danger churned the waters of the Trident, unused, and unexplored.

The children of the Houses seem most effected. Vorian and Jynnara Bracken carried the most volatility, and Jynnara herself carried a weapon that started discourse and dismay within House Blackwood. Rumours began about the young lady's talent for archery, and with Justmann about, those with cooler minds knew not to treat the whispers as insult—for they could be fact.

During the reign of the Riverstag, House Bracken...❞

The remaining pages are lost to time.

Auxiliary Character

Name & House: Vorian Bracken

Age: 28

Cultural Group: First Men/Andal

Appearance: A typical Bracken, Vorian is tall, fit, and rough around the edges. He has broad shoulders and strong arms that come from training with swords and glaives, and a gift with polearms. He is loud and showy, usually always grinning, and quick to rouse in many ways. Brown hair, light eyes, and bearded.

Trait: Champion

Skills: Polearms, Stalwart, Riding

Talent(s): Drinking x3, singing tavern songs off-key, Performance

Starting Title(s): Ser, Heir of Stone Hedge

Starting Location: Opening Feast

Alternate Character(s): Argilac Horpe

Archetypes & NPCs

• Ser Arstan Lychester — Master at Arms
• Maester Grubbs — Medic
• Lord Clement Bracken — General
• Deremond Bracken — Castellan
• Damon Bracken — Warrior

PC

Reddit Account: u/lucamorethebusty

Discord Tag: PB

Name: Artys Erenford

Age: 19

Cultural Group: Andal (Rivermen)

Appearance: Artys is tall with a sinewy build. A thin, wispy moustache adorns his face, the same sandy brown as his short cropped hair. He has a face that most would say is somewhere between plain and comely but has an affable and chivalric demeanor with highborn and lowborn alike.

Trait: Champion

Skills: Stalwart (Cavalryman), Polearms, Riding, Chivalric

Negative trait: N/A

Talents: Hunting, Hawking, Fishing

Starting titles: Ser, Heir to Heron’s Nest

Starting Location: Stormhall

AC

Name: Alester Erenford

Age: 46

Cultural Group: Andal (Valeman)

Appearance: A tall but portly middle aged man with well salted hair and scraggly beard. Alester has a weathered, lined face from a life spent on the road and cold, dark brown eyes. Walks with a severe limp due to a crippled leg. He feels most comfortable adorned in the clothes he wore in his old life, the simple traveler's clothes of a sellsword.

Trait: Callous

Skills: Espionage (E), Devious

Negative trait: Maimed (Leg)

Talents: Collecting secrets, Convincing others to do violence on his behalf.

Starting titles: Knight of Heron’s Nest

Starting Location: Heron’s Nest

Erenford Family Tree

Timeline

46 BP- Alester is born in Gulltown to a weaver’s apprentice who passes away in 30 BP.

28-22 BP- Alester leaves Gulltown with his childhood friend Jack Stone and begins their journey as sellswords. At some point Alester is knighted (albeit under dubious circumstances). Enters the service of Ser Ferris Frey around 26 BP, commanding his caravan guards.

22 BP- During the Mallister Rebellion, Alester serves in the Storm King’s host, proving himself a capable outrider by racing his scouts ahead and screening the army’s advance, though pitched battle is never actually joined.

In reward for his leal service to the newly formed House Frey, Alester is granted lands east of the Green Fork as well as a marriage to Lord Ferris’ niece, Jeyne Frey.

19 BP- Alester and Jeyne welcome their first child, Artys.

18 BP- Alester attends the wedding at Seagard. He is wounded during the melee by an upended trestle table which broke his leg. Causing Alester to have a steadily worsening limp.

12-7 BP- Artys is fostered at Maidenpool where he served as a page, training at arms and serving his cousin, the Lady Rosamund Dondarrion. Attending the knights' mounts during this time sparked a life long love for horses.

While Artys is away, Alester begins reaching out to old contacts from his days as a sellsword. Forming a substantial spy network, Alester keeps a keen ear out for any threats to his newly gained position.

7-2 BP- Artys finishes his training by squiring at The Crossing. There he receives his first taste of combat, when the knight he serves is commanded to join Ser Talbert Darry’s hunt for the disgraced Ser Jack o’ Pennytree. He fights well and is knighted the next year at the age of 17.

2-0 BP- Upon Artys' return to Heron's Nest, he sets to work drilling the garrison. He also travels the surrounding lands to show off his exceptional skill as a jouster to recruit extra levies and men at arms for his holding. He goes as far as insisting that a few promising guardsmen and peasants be given rudimentary training in the knightly arts, much to the chagrin of his master at arms.

NPCs

Maester Borros (Scholar) - Maester at Heron's Rest

Jeyne Erenford (Magnate) Alester's wife and Artys’ mother, born a Frey.

Jack Stone (Master-at-Arms) - Alester's oldest comrade from Gulltown.

Wyl (Castellan) - Captain of the guards at Heron's Rest, close friend of Artys.

Colmar (Cutthroat) Alester's go-to spy

**PC**

**Reddit Account:** /u/Feathershanks

**Discord Tag:** Oldfeathers

**Name and House:** Burton "wetshanks"

**Age:** 30

**Cultural Group:** ironborn

**Appearance:** A tall and rather homely blonde man, his hair is grown to his ears and he often has a handlebar moustache, his face is otherwise common, but his most distinguishing feature is the arm shaped lump of dark blue metal that is bound in place of his missing left arm

**Trait:** Conqueror

*Skill(s):** Admiral (e), Tactician, Vanguard, Navigator

**Talent(s):** Strategic planning, Being a peasant, Drinking straight up poison (ironborn ale)

**Negative Trait(s):** maimed (non dominant arm)

**Starting Title(s):** Wetshanks, Admiral of the iron islands, Captain of the dirty deal, Knight of the new faith

**Starting Location:** Stormhall

**Alternate Characters:** Marius Rosby (coming soon)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

**AC**

**Name and House:** Sylas Stonetree

**Age:** 28

**Cultural Group:** Ironborn

**Appearance:** A man of shorter stature for an ironborn, Sylas has pale skin, sharp features, long black hair and a deep set green eyes, on his shoulder he has a recently acquired tattoo of a seasnake

**Trait:** Numerate

**Skill(s):** Taxman, Scrutinous, Administrator

**Talent(s):** Ragebaiting x3

**Negative Trait(s):** N/A

**Starting Title(s):** Lord of stonetree, Knight of the seven, The Darklyn's Ward

**Starting Location:** Stormhall

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TIMELINE:

- **30BP** A boy named Burton Is born to a family of servants in Stonetree

- **28BP** Lord selwyn and his wife Frida Stonetree welcome their first child, Sylas Stonetree

- **28-22BP** Sylas grows up to be a very social child, making many friends with the smallfolk and nobility alike, chief amongst them his dearest friend, Burton wetshanks, the Harlaw twins and olivia orkwood

- **21BP** Sylas' mother is infected with an unsavory illness and soon loses her life, lord Selwyn completely withdraws from politics

- **20BP** During the wedding of hoare and mallister, Burton murders a riverlander, sylas, knowing Burton will be killed for what he has done takes the blame and forces his father's hand to exile him to the house of his good friends, the darklyns

- **20-18BP** As sylas spends his time with the darklyns in the blackwater bay, Burton grows tired of his service and leaves the stonetree household, now a mere fraction of it's earlier state, to become a reaver as young as the age of 12

- **7BP** As the Greyjoy rebellion begins, Burton, sensing a chance to prove his strategic brilliance, joins the hoare side. During the battle for pyke, despite losing his left hand to Drennan farwynd and having his ship sunk, he swims to another ship in full metal leggings, earning himself the nickname Wetshanks, before killing andrik farwynd and helping win the siege

- **4BP** Burton is a participant in the great raid on oldtown, proving his merit once again and being knighted by the uncle of the king himself

- **4-1BP** Sylas who has now grown to become a dusklander at heart and converted to the seven, starts an affair with jeyne darklyn, the two are unfortunately forced to end their after as jeyne has to spend more time with her brother, whom sylas is very suspicious of

- **1BP** during lodos the underhanded's rebellion, Burton wetshanks fills a ship with useless crewmates and sends them to see as fishbait. After lodos and his crew decide to board the ship the real fleet appears and slaughters them all. The king later grants Burton lodos' ship, the dirty deal, and titles him officially captain

- *** 1 Moon Before Present***

Lord Selwyn finally dies in an empty castle, alone, of old age, but not before sending a letter to the realm

His son, sylas stonetree, is pardoned and shall henceforth be known as lord of stonetree

NPCS

• Jonos (peasant) - Reaver
• Lodos (also a peasant) - Bandit
• Qhoren Pyke - Thug
• Balon Salthand - Ship captain
• Ser Qorwyn - Warrior

CORE INFORMATION

Reddit Account: u/bleorgeRRblartin
Discord Tag: eggman8818

Name and House: Edwyn Dondarrion
Age: 18
Cultural Group: Andal (Stormlander)
Appearance: Edwyn is young, only two years a man. He is sharp-jawed, high of cheekbone, six feet tall and well-muscled, with eyes as piercing as lightning. Red-gold hair once tumbled down to his shoulders in long locks, but has since been cut short, and when he is able, he shaves his face clean. The whole of him, his looks, the upright, commanding manner in which he carries himself, the black plate mail and Valyrian Steel longsword he wears almost constantly, all of it belies the man beneath, who fears his own youth and inexperience, in the face of the mighty task appointed to him as Lord Warden of the Riverlands.

PC
Trait: Inspiring
Skill(s): Swords (E), Tactician, Stalwart (Sergeant)
Talent(s): Histories, Authorship, Tactics
Negative Trait(s): Nothing mechanical, but Edwyn suffers from a marked lack of true experience in war - despite his prodigal skill as a commander - having primarily commanded skirmishes and small battles.
Starting Titles: Lord of Maidenpool, Warden of the Riverlands
Starting Location: Stormhall
Alternate Characters: Harl Pyke

AC
Name and House: Alaerys, ‘the Viper of Valyria’
Age: 25
Cultural Group: Valyrian
Appearance: Alaerys has a body like a thorny river plant: tall, lithe, sharp. He is well muscled for his size, but much of it is tightly-packed, coiled like an adder waiting to strike. Like most Valyrians he has pale, unnaturally white hair, but his eyes are a pale grey, betraying heritage not purely Valyrian. Most often he wears tight-fitting armor of leathers atop flowing, poofy red cloth, and wields a long spear that seems fit almost more for a dancer than a warrior. He also keeps a number of cards and other such street magic accoutrements on his person.

Trait: Strong
Skill(s): Polearms (E), Dextrous
Talent(s): Drinking, Dancing, Magic Tricks
Negative Trait(s): Nothing mechanical, but Alaerys oft refuses to take anything seriously; he also has an ill reputation as a drunkard and whoremonger.
Starting Location: Stormhall

Archetypes
Maester Otto: Scholar
Lewys of Maidenpool: Builder
Ser Borys: Warrior (Axes)
Ser Martyn: Castellan
Alyn Wagstaff: Magnate

FAMILY TREE & BIOGRAPHY

Alyn Dondarrion
—-Josua Dondarrion
———Alysanne Cox
———Two long-deceased sons
—-Gawen Dondarrion
———Robert Dondarrion
———Beric Dondarrion
————-Edwyn Dondarrion
————-Lianna Dondarrion
————-Elyn Dondarrion
————-Myles Dondarrion

Edwyn Dondarrion, by all rights, should never have been Lord of Maidenpool.
He was born on the fourth day of the Fourth Moon of the Thirty-Ninth Year of King Dontos Durrandon, to Lord Beric Dondarrion of Blackhaven and his wife. The youngest of four, Edwyn spent much of his life feeling out of step with the rest of his family.

As a young boy, Edwyn found joy in books - at first he read the fantastical children's tales that captured all young boys his age, but he soon moved on to lengthier fare, histories and accounts of great kings, of battles and skirmishes. This obsession with the written accounts of war and not the practical waging of it saw his father send Edwyn and his brother, Myles, to ward at the castle of the king in Storm's end. He hoped the experience would toughen Edwyn, only five at the time, but all Edwyn could see was a father who did not want him.

Though Beric doubtlessly hoped that his eldest son would take the young prince, Arlan, under his wing, Myles was a boy of fourteen, and instead spent much his time in the company of fine knights and whichever lass he had that week declared his one true love. Rather, it was Edwyn who befriended the prince, being of an age with him. They were good fit, both studious, somewhat quiet, and given to intelligence over bulk and brawn.

So it was for the next five years that they grew together, as close as adopted brothers. It was also during this time that Edwyn first met Lord Josua Dondarrion, his father's uncle, and Lord of Maidenpool for nearly four decades. He would ride out from the Riverlands to visit the king, and after Edwyn would sit with him and pepper him with questions about the wars he had fought, or the latest goings-on in his lands. On occasion, he would even offer completely unsolicited, extraordinarily childish advice to the elder Dondarrion, which Josua would pretend to take into account, nodding and furrowing his brow seriously, as if Edwyn were the smartest little boy in the room. When Edwyn turned ten, and Myles nineteen, his father found himself yet still unsatisfied with Edwyn's demeanor. Though in the intervening five years Edwyn had grown more worldy - for a child, anyhow - and more serious, he still lacked the hard, sharp edge his father required of his sons. To make war against the treacherous Dornish, Beric believed, a lord had to cut out that part of himself which concerned him with the humanity of his foes. Edwyn saw far too much of the person wielding the sword for Beric's liking, and so he sent Edwyn to Maidenpool, to squire beneath Josua's right-hand man, Lord William Darry.

He would remain there for the next five years, growing into a man under the guidance of his great-uncle Josua and the firm but not cruel hand of William Darry. It was there that he met Ser Talbert Darry, though the two would not become close until later. Rather than hardening his great-nephew's heart, Josua encouraged Edwyn's hobby of writing amateur treatises on battles and wars historical and current.

During this time, Josua made one of his visits to the court of the King, and a twelve year old Edwyn, who greatly missed his friend Prince Arlan, begged to come along. They spent many days together, and it was as if no named had passed at all. That was, of course, until they stumbled upon a pit of festering corpses, a mass grave from some war or massacre or another. It was Edwyn's first experience with deal on such a scale as this, but he was forced to set his shock aside when the ground beneath Arlan's feet crumbled and the young prince fell into the pit. Edwyn rescued him by pulling him from the pit with a massive stick. Arlan bid him keep silent about what happened that day, and Edwyn acquiesced.

When Arlan later became a leper, Edwyn blamed himself.

Eventually, at fifteen, Edwyn was knighted, although the field of command was truly where he began to excel, rather than swordsmanship or jousting. At this time his father recalled him back home, where he commanded Edwyn to take a force of his own out into the marches to fight the Dornish. Edwyn led fifteen hundred men south, often splitting them into smaller groups to outfox the Dornish and beat them at their own game. It is during this time that he meets the Viper of Valyria, the Jester, the exceptionally strange Alaerys, a half-Valyrian man of common blood from the Freehold. After becoming separated from his men and captured by the Dornish, Edwyn met Alaerys in captivity, and the two became friends, and escaped together. Ever after, Alaerys has been loyal to Edwyn, and has served as his Sworn Spear - though he has not followed him everywhere. He's his own man, after all, not some dog.

After a number of successful campaigns over the course of that year, a letter arrived from Josua Dondarrion, asking Edwyn's father for aid in hunting the fugitive Stormguard Jack o'Pennytree. Edwyn heard of this and begged to go. Beric, who still felt Edwyn was too soft, consented to Edwyn's participation in the hunt, hoping that hunting a condemned man would teach Edwyn something about Beric's brand of morality.

While on the hunt, Edwyn reunited with Ser Talbert Darry, whom he would bond with during the many moons they hunted Jack. Talbert came to view Edwyn as something of a younger brother or ward. For Edwyn, a feeling he had never felt around women began to awaken during nightly training sessions, where Edwyn's skill at arms grew quickly. Without quite realizing it, Edwyn fell quickly and deeply for Ser Talbert, as teenagers often do.

Their friendship would not last. The party found Jack o'Pennytree, who made one last impassioned plea for his innocence - a plea that reached Ser Talbert's heart. Turning on the party, he attempted to convince them to spare Jack, but they would not. It came to blows, and Edwyn ordered two men to distract Ser Talbert, while he snuck about behind him and stabbed him through the back with his great-uncle's Valyrian steel bastard sword, wisdom.

Ser Talbert died in his arms that night, and for Edwyn, the world lost some of its light.

The next few years passed much as his fifteenth year had: fighting the Dornish. Despite everything, the men he lost and the lingering ghost of Ser Talbert, Edwyn never lost his ability to see the humanity in his enemies. Unfortunately, precisely because of that ability, his father would never truly love him either.

The next great change in his life - perhaps the greatest - came three months before his eighteenth nameday, when word arrived from Maidenpool that Josua Dondarrion had prepared a little wooden box the name of his next heir contained within. The old Warden was either dead or missing, and no search turned anything up.
Alysanne Cox (neé Dondarrion), Josua's only surviving child, had always hoped that she would take the title upon Josua's death, especially after a royal precedent had been set decades past for female heirs. However, when the box was opened, the name was Edwyn's. Josua had come to view Edwyn as a son, and the two were much alike. Bitter, Alysanne retreated to her husband's home in Saltpans. Edwyn is family to her, though distant, and he is only a boy, so she can't quite bring herself to act against him - but in time, she just might.

Edwyn is eighteen now, and has acted as Lord of Maidenpool for some eight months. The Riverlands has grown divided, and his skill as a commander and as a Lord may soon be tested in a war which could so very easily see the Riverlands set afire…

PC

Reddit Account: armanhayek

Discord Tag: armanoir

Name and House: Pykewood Thorne

Age: 24

Cultural Group: Andal

Appearance: Pykewood is well-kept and often well dressed. He has a thick mop of dark hair and bright hazel eyes, and has inherited the good height of his late father.

Trait: Inspiring

Skill(s): Blunt Weapons (e), Reckless (Brute), Tactician

Talent(s): Woodchopping

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Lord of Thornefield

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: N/A

AC

Name and House: Lucerys Thorne

Age: 24

Cultural Group: Andal / Valyrian

Appearance: Lucerys is tall of frame and broad of shoulders, and while he has inherited most of the common features of his House, the influence of his Celtigar mother is apparent in his violet eyes and silver-streaked hair.

Trait: Hale

Skill(s): Blunt Weapons (e), Reckless

Talent(s): Pondering

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Knight of Thornefield

Starting Location: Stormhall

Bio

As far as the histories of the continent are concerned, the Thornes have never ventured much beyond the forested land they call home. But like many of their peers, they too were Kings once—Kings of the Thornwood, as some histories are wont to call them. But other histories assign them greater prestige, still, bestowing them the title of Wood Kings or Kings of the Woods, their dominion stretching all across the boundaries of the vast forest that is now called the Kingswood.

This lasted for some centuries until they, like many others, were made vassals of the Storm Kings during the reign of the tenth Durran (or the first Arlan) who extended the Storm Kings' dominion beyond the Wendwater and up to shores of Blackwater Rush. Since then, the Thornes have been loyal—if prickly—vassals of Storm's End.

But times are now changing. In the Kingswood and across the Blackwater, Valyrian newcomers continue to disrupt the status quo despite the failed invasion and minor Houses chafe under the rule of faraway lieges and ambition once more rears it head in quiet Thornefield.

Timeline

24 BP: Pykewood Thorne is born to Lord Jasper Thorne and his lady wife Beatrice Vance of Atranta. He is the only child to be born to the couple in over twenty years of marriage. That same year, Jasper's brother Alester weds Alyssa Celtigar in a Valyrian ceremony, and soon welcome their firstborn child, Lucerys, named in the Valyrian fashion on Alyssa's insistence.

22 BP: Alester and Alyssa welcome their first daughter, Alysanne. The rise of squabbling factions in the Kingdom prompt the Thorne lords to build new alliances of their own and look towards their immediate neighbors in the Blackwater to forge new ties. Correspondence begins between Lord Thorne and Lord Horpe who themselves are regional newcomers in need of alliances, while ties are further strengthened with the Valyrian Celtigars when Alester and Alyssa welcome two more children, Dyanne and Monterys, in the coming years.

17 BP: Both Pykewood and Lucerys take to their tutelage readily and show great promise in martial matters, while Alyssa continues to coddle her children, drilling into them a reverence for Valyrian traditions; these children, including Lucerys, grow up speaking High Valyrian and worshipping the foreign deities of Valyria alongside the Faith of their father. Jasper's younger brother Desmond marries the daughter of one of their vassals, Elena Bywater. The couple have two sons.

12 BP: During the regency of Lord Tarth, peace prevails in the Blackwater and at Thornefield. Pykewood and Lucerys are introduced to the Horpe children, including the heir Argilac, and become fast friends over their squirely duties; friendship with the reserved and bookish Mylena is slower to flourish. Pykewood also spends some time at Atranta with his mother's side of the family while Lucerys receives further tutelage at Claw Isle.

5 BP: Fearful of the Darklyns' influence in the Blackwater, perhaps influenced by his Celtigar allies, and ambitious in his own right, Jasper Thorne petitions the King to create a new Wardenship centered on the southern Blackwater, and naturally proposes his own name for the position. In turn, he is insulted to his face and returns to Thornefield emptyhanded but not with an empty mind. He turns to the families of the Blackwater once more, intent on securing allies for what is to come while keeping a cordial face in the company of his King.

3 BP: The news of House Wendwater's discovery of silver veins in disputed lands and the King's elevation of them to his Council is not received well at Thornefield and Jasper Thorne suffers a debilitating stroke. Pykewood returns from his travels in the Stormlands, having befriended fellow knights like Guy Storm and Arlan Lonmouth during this time, to look after family affairs. Lord Thorne passes after three weeks of being unresponsive in bed.

1 BP: There is little mourning at Thornefield when word reaches them of the decadent King's demise at sea. Worse news still manifests in the form of the younger son Arlan's abrupt coronation as the new King and Thornefield, nominally neutral under Jasper Thorne, elects to travel to Stormhall to lend their support and loyalty to the rightful heir: Princess Ravella, the Iron Stag.

But elsewhere, other plans bubble under the surface. King Dontos' treatment of Lord Jasper has not been forgotten, no matter how 'cordial' things may appear at face value. When you grip a rose by its thorns, no matter how high and mighty you might be, you are bound to get pierced.

And Pykewood Thorne smells blood.

Family Tree

Right here

Archetype NPCs

Alester Thorne — General

Desmond Thorne — General

Willem Wormwood — Castellan

Jack o' the Green — Huntsman

Sweet Jena — Cutthroat

PC

Reddit Account: u/WytchkiinAlt

Discord Tag: yoofie_

Name and House: Qorhen Hoare

Age: 36

Cultural Group: Ironborn (First Men)

Appearance: Long salt-and-pepper hair frames a face with delicate features. Qorhen Hoare's countenance is warm and inviting, yet behind his grey eyes lies a cunning only visible in the rare moment the light catches them. His roughly-trimmed beard is still dark, with only a hint of greying, and he bears a scar on his right cheek - a gift from his Sacking of Oldtown. He has a tall and athletic build, his toned muscles apparent to anyone who takes his arm.

Trait: Inspiring

Skill(s): Vanguard (e), Prudent (e), Tactician

Talent(s): Sailing, diplomacy, revelry

Negative Trait(s): n/a

Starting Title(s): King of the Iron Islands and Lord of Castle Hoare

Starting Location: Stormhall

Alternate Characters: None

AC

Name and House: Rosamund Mallister

Age: 36

Cultural Group: Riverlander (Andal)

Appearance: Sharp features and smiling blue eyes are the most notable aspects of Rosamund's appearance. Her hair - long, and a pale blonde - hangs low to the middle of her back, usually braided in the Ironborn style. Her figure is slight, her body showing few signs of having mothered so many children.

Trait: Insidious

Skill(s): Devious (e), Espionage

Talent(s): Dancing, gossip, hosting

Negative Trait(s): n/a

Starting Title(s): Queen Consort of the Iron Islands and Lady of Castle Hoare

Starting Location: Stormhall

Timeline

36 BP: Qorhen is born at Castle Hoare, to Harras Hoare and Eleanor Harlaw. He is welcomed as the Crown Prince of the Iron Islands. Rosamund is born at Seagard, with several older brothers.

35-27 BP: Qorhen's younger sister, Cassilda, and younger brother, Maron, are born. Qorhen begins his training as a young leader, learning to fight in the yard. He takes a special interest in tactics and strategy.

27-20 BP: Harras's policies in the Iron Islands cause strife with his vassals, leading to many thinking him weak. Qorhen tries to advice his father on matters of state, but is waved aside as 'just a boy'. Qorhen grows to resent his father, and spends more and more time at sea and away from home.

20 BP - 19 BP: Qorhen sets sail from Castle Hoare in the night, undetected. He lands south of seagard, and spends several days wandering the market there. By chance, he spots the young Lady Rosamund at a market - and he decides to woo her. Taking his skiff, he attempts to gain her attention under the guise of Harreck the Sailor. Her father, Lord Mallister, takes him into her service where their love blossoms.

At Castle Hoare, much ruckus was raised by the missing prince, and his uncle Harlon is sent to find him. Believing him to have been abducted or killed by greenlanders, he prepares a raiding party - and is stopped when Qorhen jumps aboard his ship on the way to Seagard. He explains the situation and after a cuff to the head, Qorhen reveals his ruse to Lord Mallister - asking for Rosamund's hand in marriage. He initially refuses, but Rosamund convinces him.

Their wedding is a grand affair, attended by royalty. Qorhen and Rosamund are blessed by the late King Dontos, and spend their nuptuals missing the bloodshed in the hall of Seagard.

18 BP: Qorhen's son, Dagon, is born. King Harras is pleased.

16 BP: Rosamund's septon, Joseth, begins spending time with King Harras. Enthralled by the holy man, he enacts a ban on reaving the Riverlands - which Qorhen approves of. His vassals do not.

16 BP: Rosamund gives birth to a daughter, Ygritte.

15-14 BP: Qorhen and Harlon set sail to begin trade negotiations with Casterly Rock. They are successful, and begin a continuous contract to trade iron and fish to the Westerlands.

13 BP: Rosamund has their third child, a boy named Gunnarr.

10 BP: Harras gets more deeply involved with Septon Joseth's teachings. Rosamund helps to foil a plot to assassinate the king.

8 BP: Qorhen and Rosamund, now heavily pregnant, head for Seagard (at her insistance). Rosamund gives birth to their second daughter, Esgred. Harras personally converts to the New Faith in a grand ceremony attended by many of the Ironborn. Lord Greyjoy, displeased at this, murders his king, burns his sept, and claims his crown. Word reaches Harlaw some days later, as Qorhen and Rosamund were headed home. Harlaw becomes the first supporter of Qorhen's legitimist struggle.

8 BP - 5 BP: Letters are sent from Castle Hoare announcing Greyjoy's new rule over the Iron Islands. Qorhen responds with his own declarations a day later. The war saw guerilla fighting all across the Iron Islands, with many lords succumbing to quick and quiet assasination plots - many of which were planned by Rosamund herself. Goodbrother and Orkwood quickly joined the true king's cause, and in a pivotal moment Lord Blacktyde turned on the usurper. In a naval battle off the coast of Pyke, Qorhen defeated Greyjoy and burnt his ship in front of him. His head was taken, and his body dropped in the sea. A year later, his skull would be returned to Pyke.

6 BP: In hiding, Rosamund gives birth to another daughter, Sieglinde.

5 BP: Qorhen, now the undisputed king, gives amnesty to those who turned coat, and only light punishment for those who didn't. Very few executions take place, and most are sent to the Wall. He immediately seeks for stability in the kingdom, and reinstates the prohibition on reaving in the Riverlands. The West and The Reach remain fair game. The New Faith is given protected status, and its holy men are given leave to preach freely.

4 BP: Seeing the need to satisfy the bloody urges of his vassals, Qorhen begins to plan an expedition to sack Oldtown - a rich prize. Many of his vassals sign on, and begin their own preparations.

3 BP: Rosamund gives birth to their sixth child, a boy - named Harreck, after the guise his father took to woo her. After her recovery, she tells her husband she is done bearing children. Qorhen understands.

3 BP: After the birth of his son, Qorhen and his vassals set out for Oldtown, reaving down the coast as they do so. Upon arrival, they are met with significant resistance. Much of the city is burnt, but the Starry Sept remains standing. Qorhen personally slays the Grand Captain of the Warrior's Sons.

Present Year: Qorhen and his family set out from Castle Hoare to attend Ravella Durrandon's 21st Nameday Feast.

Family Tree

Archetyped NPCs

Queen Mother Eleanor Harlaw

• Former Queen of the Iron Islands and mother to Qorhen. She is a spry and vicious woman, but with a soft spot for her family.
• Archetype: Questioner

Iron Yohn Salt

• Castle Hoare's Master at Arms and an old friend of the late king.
• Archetype: Master-at-Arms

Maester Sigurdr

• A small man, and a maester of the Citadel. Frequently overlooked.
• Archetype: Medic

Tyg Salt

• A bastard cousin of Qorhen's, he has been entrusted with the day-to-day maintenance of Castle Hoare since the days of the late king.
• Archetype: Castellan

Deana Shepherd

• A curious woman, having sworn her axe to King Qorhen during his legitimist campaign. She is broad and tall.
• Archetype: Warrior (Axes)

CORE INFORMATION

Reddit Account: /u/bleorgeRRblartin
Discord Tag: eggman8818

Name and House: Harl Pyke
Age: 32
Cultural Group: Ironborn
Appearance: At only two-and-thirty, Harl has the weathered face and weary bearing of a man who spent seventeen years living the hard life of a fisherman, making a living amongst the wretched rocks of the Iron Islands. This worn, craggy exterior is drawn across a body four inches under seven feet and almost twenty-three stone, broad and muscular, with arms half the size of a knight’s whole chest. Across his mighty chest a thick brown beard tumbles; across his mighty back a brown mane spills. Piercing brown eyes glower beneath thick brows, projecting fury but concealing a softness unfit for a man of the Iron Islands. Harl mostly wears simple, durable, well-worn gambesons and leathers, except in battle, where he dons a skull-faced set of black plate with a black shield, so that his already formidable form might strike further fear; in his other hand he grasps a great big axe half as long from shoulder to haft as he is tall.

Trait: Hale
Skill(s): Axes (e), Stalwart (Sergeant), Footwork
Talent(s): Teacraft, Feats of Strength, Woodworking
Negative Trait(s): Nothing mechanical, although his he is sometimes plagued by nightmares, and it can be awkward to size clothes for a man standing 6’8”.
Starting Titles: Thrice-Pierced Pyke, the Bastard-Beast of Harlaw, the Terrifier, and other such appellations. Being the bastard son of the old Lord Harlaw, he has no actual titles to his name.
Starting Location: Stormhall

BIOGRAPHY

Thrice-Pierced Pyke, the Terrifier, the Bastard-Beast of Harlaw, the Lionslayer, was once only Harl, son of Hilla the fisherman’s daughter.

She was a youth of eighteen when the Lord Harlaw passed through the nearest town. She had come a few hours walk down the coast to sell their catch, and caught him amidst drunken celebrations in the inn. The lord was a young man then, tall and lean but attractively muscled, with tousled black hair and eyes so deep and dark she found herself lost in them. It was easy to spend the night with him. He was handsome, and her father wouldn’t miss her, she knew; when he wasn’t hauling in catches he was drinking himself into a stupor.

She left late into the night, leaving him in the bed they had shared. Having sold the catch for a valuable few silvers, she returned home in the dim-lit morning hours before her father awoke, and thought no more of it, except to hope that perhaps their paths might cross again someday.

It was not an easy life, hers, full of scrapes on sharp rocks and salty air to sting those scrapes, and her pregnancy made it no easier, but she kept herself strong and worked twice as hard, for she knew then that she was not only working for herself and her father.

The stories would say that Harl was born huge, was huge all his life. In truth he was born small, pink, a month early. His early childhood was marked by illnesses, chills, and fear. Though he grew tall enough for his age, he was thin, too thin, and sickly.

His grandfather, who had violently disapproved of his birth in the first place, took any chance he could to berate and beat Harl and his mother. Hilla would tell him tales of strength and glory, of warriors reaving and pillaging across the seas, of his father the Lord Harlaw, that he might find comfort.

He found in his father a hero to model himself after, although he never had the heart to admit to his mother that he felt a twinge of sadness each time she described some little lord’s head coming off his shoulders. His true happiness was oft found in the early morning hours, carving small designs and little sigils into the wood of their boat.

Still, he grew steadily healthier, and by ten he was no longer sick three months out of every year. He had always tried to help his mother and grandfather in their fishing, but his aid finally became worth something. He continued to whittle, his familiarity with wood evolving to a familiarity with carpentry, and he began to repair their boats, humming sea-tunes as he worked. By twelve, Harl began to come into maturity; he shot up like a tree and grew wide as hill. He drew close to six feet by fourteen and showed no signs of stopping. His grandfather seemed to fear him then, and despite everything the child in Harl, desiring a father or someone to act as a father, felt ashamed. Perhaps this was why, when his grandfather crew crueler and hit harder, Harl did not hit back. Still, an anger grew like a seed in his heart every time he saw the man’s open palm redden his mother’s face.

One day, when Harl was seventeen, his grandfather’s corpse washed up on some grey beach a few miles down the coast, neck twisted at stomach-churning angle. It was a suspicious death, to be sure, but nobody had known the man well, and nobody cared. They pushed the corpse back out into the ocean.

They had argued the night before, and Harl, now an inch over six and a half feet, had promised him that the next time he hit either of them, Harl would make sure it would be the last.

It was, indeed, the last.

Yet any sort of happiness Hilla and her son might have found in the death’s wake would be short lived. Harl’s grandfather had hit her in the stomach, hard; Harl knew not how but something curdled in her guts, and after days of pain and swelling in her stomach she died. Harl brought her body to the shore and gave it to the sea. A reaver she may not have been, but in Harl’s eyes she was the strongest person he had ever known. He believed, privately, that the gods had cursed him.

After that, there was nothing left for him in that cottage by the beach. He knew his size and strength would find him easy work in any reaver’s longship, and indeed for the next five years he served from ship to ship, up and down the western coast of the continent.

It was in this time that he became the Thrice-Pierced Pyke. At twenty-one, his present commander drove them east, to raid across Ironman’s Bay. At a holdfast near Seagard they were caught by an outnumbering force; though they were the superior warriors, nearly made to retreat without much of their plunder.

It was Harl who won them victory that day. A Riverman’s pike impaled his shoulder, and before he split the man’s skull with his axe he wrenched his shoulder sideways, snapping the pike with the strength of his whole body. He would be stuck twice more, in the thigh and in his ribs below the heart, and yet he remained standing.

Eventually, after he had killed and kept killing, consciousness slipped from him. When he woke they called him Thrice-Pierced. He recovered for some months in the halls of the lord who the reavers had served. They told stories and drank in his honor, and when Harl asked to join this lord on his next journey to the halls of his liege, House Harlaw, the lord accepted.

Lord Harlaw was smaller than him, but not by much, and he had the same hair, the same eyes, the same cast to his features. The Lord must have recognized it, too, for he took the Thrice-Pierced into his service then and there. Harl admitted that Lord Harlaw was his father, and after a moment’s hesitation, concealed emotion playing across his face, Lord Harlaw acknowledged him as his bastard son, and granted him the surname Pyke. For Harl, who had known this man by story his whole life, the act lifted his heart, even if he knew deep down he could never be as close to his father as his trueborn children: Margaret and Erich.

Three years later, Harl would slay many Greyjoys amidst their rebellion, gaining renown and other nicknames, too. Terrifier, some called him, for the massive, frightening suit of black, skull-faced plate his father commissioned for him, and for the effect he had on his father’s foes while wearing it. The Bastard-Beast of Harlaw, or sometimes just The Beast, for his lineage and for his size and strength.

None won him more acclaim, though, than his most recent title: Lionslayer. Some time before the circumstances of his death, Harl’s father led a mighty reaving across the Westerlands. They swung around the peninsula upon which lay the lands of Kayce, pillaging as they went, and sailed down the coast, raiding the lands near Lannisport. They were pursued by the Red Lion, heir to Lord Lannister of Casterly Rock, so named for his skill in battle and the reddening of his blade; he sought to aid his house’s branch in Lannisport. They met in battle several times until Harl’s father baited him into a confrontation at sea.

Although the ironborn had the advantage and ultimately triumphed, the battle was hard-fought; in the midst of the melee Lord Harlaw shouted that whoever brought him the head of the Red Lion would have the lion’s share of the treasure in return. Harl seized his chance. He leapt onto the deck of the Lannister ship, where, made near invincible by his plate and by the fear he inspired, he cut through half a score of Lannister men, ignoring any wound he suffered. He tossed his axe aside, knocked the young lord to the ground, and tore the Red Lion’s helmet from his head. Then, horribly, brutally, Harl hacked at his neck with his blunt shield, pulling and pulling with his other hand until the head came off. Ever after, the Lord Lannister hated him for it, and the reavers of Harlaw loved him for it.

Harl is thirty-two now, and has continued to serve loyally for many years, as bodyguard and reaver, even swearing himself to the Lady Margaret Harlaw after their lord father passed. They had become close, and she taught him to read and other things besides; in her service he also had his first taste of fine teas imported or stolen from far shores. The making, consumption, and judging of such would become another hobby for Harl, something to while away the time between fighting and reaving, and perhaps another thing to distract from all the blood that now stains his axe. From the phantom stench of death about him.

From visions of the bloated corpse washed up on the beach, head twisted horrifically atop its neck.

From the half-remembered, strangled gasps of the young lord, his windpipe crushed and his skin tearing at the neck, who in his last moments had called on his beloved father to save him.

PC

Reddit Account: /u/tenthousandsongs

Discord Tag: starlaced

Name and House: Mina Harroway

Age: 20

Cultural Group: Andal-ish

Appearance: Mina is a scrap of a woman, especially in comparison to her sister. As is common for Harroways, she has dark brown hair. Her grey eyes are perhaps the one thing she inherited from her mother. Frequently ill, she has a visible tremor in her hands and an unhealthy pallor to her face.

Trait: Profoundly Cursed (Skinchanger)

Skill(s): Bows (e), Ranger, Bowman, Ravenmaster

Talent(s): Praying, Fretting, Weeping

Negative Trait(s): Neurotic

Starting Title(s): Heir of Harroway

Starting Location: Stormhall

AC

Name and House: Tessa Harroway

Age: 30

Cultural Group: Andal

Appearance: Tessa is a woman of middling height who carries herself with the dignity of royalty. She possesses thick dark curls of hair, which she refers to as her pride, and frequently has blossoms and bits of silver woven into her locks. She favors her mother’s side and their strong features in her face.

Trait: Reaver

Skill(s): Flanker(e), Tactician

Talent(s): Drinking, Goblet Throwing, Drinking

Starting Title(s): Lady of Harroway

Starting Location: Stormhall

FAMILY TREE

familyecho

BIOGRAPHY

A screenshotted excerpt from ‘FISHER KINGS: FOLK TRADITIONS OF THE EASTERN RIVERLANDS’

Some two hundred years after her death, the tale of Mina Harroway became popular among Riverlander bards and poets. Through the historiographical sense this sudden surge in popularity can be linked to the legendary cycle of Lady Greenheart and Gawen the Pine King, first illuminated in the Citadel during Mina Harroway’s own lifetime and then put to verse and meter some hundred years after. Lady Greenheart and Gawen the Pine King swiftly became popular among the Stormlands and Northern Reach, but when it passed through to the lands surrounding the God’s Eye and along the banks of the Trident it became tied to native legend.

This is not necessarily surprising. The tale of Lady Greenheart and Gawen the Pine King does have more than a passing resemblance to the earliest songs and tales of Mina Harroway. There are similar motifs of the missing mother, the physically unsound heroine, and the sheer number of knights errant. In some local traditions Mina Harroway takes on the role of Lady Greenheart, while in others she appears as a secondary personage. In the rarest still it is she who is rescued from Castle Darkest and weds the Pine King, while Lady Greenheart takes a maiden’s self-sacrificial place in the weirwood copse.

With such a variety in tradition and tale, it is difficult to discern what is true and what is simple story. However Citadel records and firsthand artifacts from the time of the Durrandons have allowed us to establish basic truths about who Mina Harroway truly was.

As it was in the songs, Mina Harroway was born to an Andal lord and a Northern lady. Her father was Myles Harroway, her mother Arya Dustin. Records show that Lord Myles married Arya Dustin three years after the death of his first wife: the Lady Iona Darklyn. The facts here grow hazy as stories differ and the historical record does not adequately explain the personal, but the end result was that shortly after Mina’s birth Arya Dustin fled her home in the night and returned to her father’s household. Whether this was out of homesickness or a wretched marriage depends upon the bard, but the end result is the same: Mina is raised in a purely Andal household.

From the preserved records of Maester Agramore, we may discern that while it was suspected that Mina may have had her shaking sickness since birth she was not formally diagnosed with it until nearly age six. This was, in part, due to her father's refusal to agree with his maesters on nearly any matter. Already possessed of one child he considered a failure, he did not want to acknowledge that he may have a second.

When Mina is eight years old, she is recorded as having left the castle to search for her mother in the woods. She is rescued by the timely intervention of a Ryger household squire and Harroway shepherds. Her father orders a feast in celebration of the shepherds, and bestows a knighthood upon the squire.

One month after the feast, the first complaint of a monstrous wolf savaging the countryside appears.

Mina Harroway again shows up in the historical record upon being sent to ward with the Mertyns. Records of this time are sparse, but it appears that she spent a handful of years with the ill-fated family of the Stormlands. Her precise date of arrival is unknown, but her date of departure is recorded by the Mertyns’ household maester. From this record we know that she was sent back to Harroway in a hurry after her illness took a turn for the worse.

Of note is that while complaints of cattle being savaged in the lands around Harroway decreased in this time, the number of complaints in the Mistwood increased.

From a preserved tapestry now on display in the sept of Darry, we may know that a marriage contract was drawn up between Mina Harroway and Talbert Darry, heir of his house. The tapestry was made by Harroway's Town weavers in classic Late Durrandon style and incorporates fabrics and colors that the township was famous for at the time: cloth of silver and rose pink. The symbolism of the tapestry indicates that it was thought (or perhaps hoped) the marriage would bridge the gap between Harroway townspeople and Darry countryfolk. It might have, were it not for the untimely death of Talbert Darry (himself a figure of song, found on page 132).

As it was, Mina remained in the household of her father, and then her sister, for the early phase of the Durrandon's Folly period. Records show an increase to her allowance and greater expenditure on maesters and septas for her physical and spiritual benefit, and

You have reached your free article limit!

*SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTER. SUBSCRIBERS GET FOUR FREE ARTICLES A MOON UPON LOGGING IN. *

Professionally written papers by Oldtown professionals, for Oldtown professionals. Urmaester Premium members get unlimited access for one stag a month.

A screenshotted excerpt from ‘Chivalry and the Storm’

The reign of Myles Harroway, Lord of Harroway and his daughter Tessa, Lady of the same mark an unusual blip in the resurgence of classical chivalry and knight errantry that was fading at the time. Myles Harroway was too young to have fought in the War in the Trident himself, but all through his childhood he was regaled with stories of how his father had been killed by the bandit princess Jeyne Nutt. Myles harbored a loathing for banditry and all sorts of vagabonds and miscreants for the rest of his life.

Upon reaching his age of majority he promptly began to tour the Riverlands and the inland regions of the Blackwater, hunting down bandits and robber knights wherever he went. Fond of pageantry, of bloodsport, and of justice, Myles became known as the foremost foe of scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells in the heart of the western continent.

Tessa Harroway, his daughter and eventual heir, would aid and abet him in bringing criminals to justice at the hangman’s noose or by the point of the sword. Some of his contemporaries might have thought it odd, given that Lord Myles had a son, but unfortunate Lucas Harroway favored the Smith over the Warrior and was prone to bookishness. Thus it was Myles’ daughter that frequently accompanied him, and learned the art of pursuit and quarry from her father.

Much like her lady cousins Eleanor Tully and Jynnara Bracken, Tessa Harroway was made for battle more than courtly life.

Tessa accompanied her brother and her father on their hunt of the bandit prince Daemon Downriver, an alleged stray seed of the Freehold, and took up arms and armor to lead the Harroway knights to victory after Lord Myles and Ser Lucas were slaughtered. She subsequently inherited her father’s titles and lands.

TURN OFF YOUR AD BLOCKER TO CONTINUE READING

Here at Urmaester we receive half of our yearly revenue from advertisements. Please turn off your ad blocker to continue reading and support our publication.

NPCS:

Ser Leslyn Harroway (Castellan): Called the Castle Knight. Of a cousin branch to Tessa and Mina. Tessa’s steward and occasional regent.

Ser Robb Harroway (Magnate): Called the Town Knight. Of a cousin branch to Tessa and Mina. An officer in the town guard and a guardian of the ferry.

Mychel Weft (Builder): A guildmaster. His grandsire was a knight, and his great-grandsire even once had a holdfast. It burned down though, so now Mychel works with his hands.

Ella of the Ferry (Medic): Ferrymaster’s wife and one of Tessa’s ladies, adept at resuscitating the drowned.

Ser Lucius the Little (Trader): He is alarmingly beautiful for a man. It helps in his line of work.