Viserys Targaryen, Hand of the King, Scourge of the Summer Isles, the CleverAge: 32
Appearance:Personality: Viserys isn't a great man, at least, he would never accept such a label. He doesn't have a mind that can process a million things in a minute, nor is he a knight worthy of the tales of yore. Everything he has was won through trial and tribulation, his academic knowledge built on endless hours of study, his quicksilver ability with blade earned through training and combat (although, he cannot joust to save his life). Funnily enough for royalty, Viserys never became accustomed to having anything simply provided to him, growing up in civil war and then captivity. An easy man to get on win, Viserys has many friends, although few he can honestly claim to be very close to, those that Viserys does permit himself to love, notably his family and wife, find themselves under his steadfast protection. Few, if any, minds can match the Hand of the King's in the matters of strategy, something rebels and Summer islanders have learned the hard way, their defences picked apart as if they weren't there, supply lines cut and forces surrounded. The easy-going, somewhat 'geeky' Viserys has a darker side however, a side which made his name feared as well as celebrated once he finally returned to Westeros. When angered his eyes burn with an inner fire, and entire families have been totally stripped of all title, if not their lives, upon betrayal of the King's realm.
Biography:A young child during the Dance of the Dragons, Viserys was yet to hatch his dragon when the war begun and during the height of the fighting, was sent away, along with three dragon eggs, in the company of his elder brother, with his dragon, aboard a galley to Pentos. Unfortunately for the two brothers they were intercepted by a fleet loyal to King Aegon II. Their vessel was captured, Aegon managing to escape on his dragon, leaving Viserys and the eggs aboard. Cunning even at such a tender age, Viserys disguised himself as one of the sons of the ship cook, but was betrayed by another child aboard the ship, looking for a reward. What became of said child Viserys does not know, the result was simply that he lost the eggs he was charged to protect, and taken to a trader's household, loyal to the cause of Aegon II, in Myr.
There Viseryes lived as a combination of prisoner and slave for many years, growing up in the foreign land of the Free Cities, his ability to forge easy bonds with others developed as he and the other servants gathered together, waiting for an opportunity to escape or reap revenge. At this point Viserys had not illusions of returning home to a kingdom, instead he simply dreamt of no longer being a slave. Such dreams came to fruition shortly after Viserys' 12th name day (the young boy had managed to keep track of such things, that, or no one else was there to tell him differently). With the disaster which was the dance of the dragons, it had become somewhat of a burden for his 'master' to keep a clearly High Valyrian servant around the manor, dealing with westerosi clients as he was, and so, sort to send Viserys out among a large bundle of servants to be sold at market. Despite only being children, with the improvised weapons Viserys had helped them all to conceal, they overpowered their life long captors as soon as they were free of the manor, and escaped into the city.
Once the description of the escaped servants spread around the city, it became clear this was no ordinary group of escapees. Viserys was eventually discovered, attempting to sneak aboard a large galley, by one Ser Gedron Strong, a descendent of the family which had supported his mother's claim during the Dance. Disbelieving at first, once no amount of washing rid Viserys' hair of its silver-gold hue, Gedron took it upon himself to bring the young Prince back to Westeros, to his rightful home. To say Viserys' spirits were lifted was an understatement, and Ser Gedron's tale of the reception that would await the rediscovered Prince did much to inflate that. For a while, after he returned, reunited with the brother whom he had lost, matters were just as he had hoped. The smallfolk adored the story of the returned Prince, especially when he turned out to be skilled with the blade and generally pleasant. Internal family matters became more troubled and events took place to forge a rift between the brothers, even if Viserys remained close and loyal to Aegon, even the most absent-minded of courtiers could notice the young Prince flinch at his brother's anger. To deal with whatever it was that plagued them, Viserys, already bookish, became increasingly interested in academic studies, visiting Oldtown on many occasions to further an interest in a certain subject on many occasion. His work on such was never lauded as brilliant, he would not have maesters doting over his work or describing him as brilliant, for Viserys never shared his knowledge, never attempted to stand out in his studies. He quietly learned what he wanted, before slipping away to some other duty.
The peak of Viserys' conflict with his brother occurred during while he was nineteen years of age, having increasingly developed the will to stand up to his oppressive brother, when rumours reached the court of a new King of the Summer Isles, one preparing to unleash a fleet of pirates upon the narrow sea, Viserys not only planned a response, he put himself at its head, to excuse himself from court for its duration. Unknowingly, Viserys set about the circumstances that would keep him from his home for another two years, in a terrible armed conflict which would earn himself the name 'Scourge' by the local people. It was not that his foreign invasion was viewed as such by all, many preferred the Prince to the tyrannical rule of their local monarch, but his invasion sparked two great years of bloodshed across the steaming jungle islands, and none who passed through that storm remained unchanged. Viserys himself came back a dour man, burdened by the toils of war. While his returned brought about much celebration throughout King's Landing, he did not remain long, instead choosing to tour the Kingdom of the Iron Throne for the next year, many who had known him before the war noticing a remarkable change in the man.
What brought him back was when his journey eventually brought him to Winterfell. It wasn't the scenery, natural or constructed, impressive as it was, that helped him so, but the inhabitants. To find his respite among the supposedly cold people of the Starks was not something he anticipated, but the young, sharp, amazing mind of one Vittoria Stark instantly awoke his old self, so swiftly that, and perhaps something he remains thankful for, she never saw the man he had hidden his true self behind for a year. Despite the years separating them, they were drawn to each other, the young girl practically falling upon his stories of his lineage, of Old Valyria and in doing so, he inferred to her all the advantages the learning available at the Citadel could bring a mind like her's. He wasn't the first or last to say so, he would find out, but he would late become very glad of her decision to follow such advice. Nevertheless, the Targaryen Prince was accepted less favourably by her family, that combined with her youth and an inability to try to bring such a precious individual into the perceived torture of his own family, he left, leaving only whispered Valyrian promises to write.
Viserys returned to King's Landing a rejuvenated man, and the balance between the two brothers was restored. He was named Hand of the King formally, assisting in both matters of the realm and court, even raising the royal children, the number of whom was beginning to grow even as Aegon slipped further into his darker thoughts. Viserys now too old and self assured to take the burnt of his pain, the King drew within himself, although it would be years before he became practically incapable of rule. It was during this period that Viserys' ability as the Hand of the King really flourished, becoming somewhat of a famed affair, Viserys always feeling somewhat exaggerated, as the realm began to show general signs of recovery. One major challenge that awaited such a rule was the issue of Dorne, and increasing hostilities between the two nations of Westeros, thus, when Viserys became aware that William Martell was studying at the Citadel, he took another extended break to visit Oldtown. Equally, although less publicly, he chased rumours of a certain northern lady, wowing her way through the academics of Westeros' largest city.
He met both, befriended the former, in the process picking up on several Dornish customs which would rather aid in diplomacy, striking one of those unusual friendships, persisting across international relations, and fell in love, properly this time, with the latter. The years that had passed had only sharpened Vittoria and now free of the constraints of the North, he was free to be open with her, as best he could. For once the maesters of the Citadel remembered who he was beyond his title, he was the one who seemed inseparable from their prodigy. For a Targaryen Prince of a humble, being in the shadow of someone for a change was deeply refreshing, and he felt no trace of jealousy for her success, particularly as he had never truly sought it himself. When she was 'summoned' North, their building relationship being reported on, Viserys took their time apart to apply himself to diplomacy with Dorne, securing some iota of peace amongst the dreadful raiding that had cost many lives of both sides, before once more assisting, or actively steering, his brother's rule. The death of his brother saddened him deeply, despite their conflicts, and rumours that he had been a part of some conspiracy as to the matter only hurt him further. He was present for his nephew's coronation, but left during the festivities, riding on dire news from the North.
He had never set out to strain any bonds between the now-Princess Vittoria and her family, but losing her was a worse prospect. He is still remembered in the North for holding the whole of House Stark 'hostage' to win Vittoria, not that any peasant would dare say such a thing to Lord Stark himself, or Viserys would ever claim such a thing. Private celebrations of the marriage were cut short by Daeron's call to arms, contrary to any advice Viserys had imparted. Now the Hand of the King prepares to win a war he never wished for, and to serve another King of his blood.