Name: Erryk Yronwood, The Bloodroyal
Age: 29
Appearance: Erryk has often been described as a man with the body of a lion and the reflexes of a snake - a description which brings a smile to his lips every time he hears it. He has the pale skin of a Stony Dornishman, and the bright blonde hair and blue eyes that the Yronwoods are famous throughout Dorne for possessing.
His shoulders are neither broad nor slender, but his upper body is certainly muscular - a result of a near-lifetime of wielding a bow. Despite not having seen his home, Yronwood Castle, in far too long of a time for his liking, he still wears his family’s crest proudly, and even sports the light Dornish armour made for their horse archers, from leather and metal disks.
Personality: Like many Dornishmen, Erryk is hot-blooded, moody and impulsive. He has a sexual appetite that far surpasses even that of many Dornishmen’s, and one of his dreams is to bed a woman - and a man - from every corner of the globe. He's still fiercely loyal to the ideology that his deceased father had possessed: the dream of a Dorne ruled from Castle Yronwood, rather than Sunspear - and a Dorne free of the influence of Northerners. However, as a result of the Yronwood's backing of House Blackfyre in the Rebellion - and, by extension, their revolt against the Martell's authority - Erryk was forced to flee across the Narrow Sea, and banded together with Bittersteel and numerous other Exiles to create the Golden Company: doing so more out of a feeling of necessity than loyalty to Daemon Blackfyre.
As a result of his being trapped across the Narrow Sea, and the knowledge that most of his family were more than likely dead, Erryk Yronwood gradually became more hopeless - and, as a result and more indulgent in wine and women - and, as the years passed, earned himself a reputation as one of the Golden Company's greatest debaucherers. He has hardly any shame these days, and is open about his sexual exploits - a rare and strange trait, for the usually reserved and disciplined Yronwoods. Despite his reputation for drinking and fucking his way through every bit of gold that he receives from Aegor Rivers, Erryk is a renowned fighter - and fights fiercly for the Golden Company, out of respect for its leader: the 'Bitter Bastard', as he calls Aegor, the man having earned Erryk's respect: even if he
did hail from the other side of the Red Mountains.
Although he has mostly lost all hope in any chance of one day returning to Castle Yronwood and claiming his birthright, it is still Erryk's greatest dream: and he would quickly put aside his new addictions (in the form of wine, men and women) and focus the entirety of his being on returning to Westeros and conquering Dorne, should the opportunity present itself to him.
Bio: Erryk was born in Castle Yronwood in the Northern Regions of Dorne, the second-born son of the late Lord Yronwood and his wife. He was raised from a young age to foster a veiled hatred for the Martells of Sunspear, who ruled over his family from their seat by the coast. His father, a learned man, realised the importance of his son having an education - and saw to it that Erryk was provided with all the tutors and learning resources he needed to properly nurture and grow his intelligence.
As well as his reading and mathematics lessons every day, from the age of four Erryk was trained by his older brother of thirteen years what it meant to be a Yronwood: he taught him how to swing a sword, to string and fire a bow: and how to instill fear, respect and loyalty into the hearts of men over whom he ruled.
It was found, by the time that he was ten, that Erryk had a knack for riding - and seemed to be extraordinarily gifted with a bow. He was far superior to his brother when it came to marksmanship, whether it be on a horse’s back or with both feet planted firmly upon the ground. His father was extremely proud of his son’s new skill, and would talk about it to whoever would listen. Erryk participated in several marksmanship tournaments throughout Dorne, and almost always came first, second or third - giving his father even
more bragging rights.
By the time Erryk was thirteen, he was almost a man: muscular, bearded, intelligent and witty. His father decided it was time that he
truly became a man, and had Erryk’s brother arrange for a woman to take his second son’s virginity. The night was one of the best in Erryk’s life - and, even though he knew the woman was being paid, he was extremely proud of himself the next day. He soon developed a large appetite for women, and spent every moment of spare time that he had chasing after the servants and minor noblewomen who attended his father’s court in Castle Yronwood.
When the tensions that led to the Blackfyre Rebellion began to heighten, Erryk’s father announced that House Yronwood - and many other Northern Houses, loyal to The Bloodroyal - would not be fighting alongside House Martell in support of House Targaryen, but would declare their loyalties with the Blackfyre Rebels. Although the Rebels wanted to do away with a Dornish influence at court, Erryk’s Lord Father thought that they would be an excellent tool to do away with the Northerner’s influence in Dorne, and to dispose of House Martell and put House Yronwood in their place.
Erryk, considered man enough at fourteen, marched with his father, elder brother and uncles with the men that House Yronwood had mustered for the Blackfyre’s cause, and headed for the first time out of the Red Mountains and into the rest of Westeros. The fighting was fierce, and although the Yronwoods did not fully trust the Northerners, they fought with all of their might alongside them in the hope of defeating the Targaryens - and, by extension, the Martells.
Erryk’s older brother was slain by a knight from The Reach in the lead-up to the Battle of the Redgrass Field, a devastating blow to the morale of the Yronwood-led Dornish forces. However, they carried on, and fought alongside the Blackfyre Rebels until they began to rout as it became clear that they would not win against the superior, Targaryen-led force.
Erryk’s father urged for him to take as many men as he could and flee to the Free Cities, and to continue the fight for Yronwood superiority in Dorne from there. He knew that his father would surely be executed if left behind, but Erryk - ever an obedient son - did as his father demanded and fled over the Narrow Sea with a number of Dornish now-freeriders, and joined the Golden Company in support of Bittersteel - serving him in the hopes of one day returning to Dorne and reclaiming his rightful home, Castle Yronwood.