Sarisa Cade nee Swann

Risa

Female

Twenty-Four

Heterosexual

Third Wife of Lord Leoric Cade

Lord Gulian Swann - Age 58. Lord of Stonehelm. He was handsome in his youth, but did not age gracefully. The many wars and battles have taken its toll. He has been ill for some time now. He is a serious, stubborn, rarely-forgiving, hard man with a strong sense of duty and justice.

Lady Roswyn Swann nee Serrett - Deceased. Roswyn had always been frail, and weak. She was a gentle and magnificent mother. She was always a very soft spoken, shy, and timid woman. She miscarried and died three days later from septicemia. Sarisa was five years old when Roswyn died. She was a devout follower of the Seven.

Ser Donnel Swann - Age 35. So far unmarried, and thus no legitimate children. He is the eldest son, and heir of Stonehelm. People mockingly call him Ser Donnel the Constant, due to changing who he supports, and bending his knee multiple times in order to save his own neck. The concepts of loyalty and pride, fly out the window when it come to self preservation. He does enjoy pretending he is politically savvy, and courageous, but he is far from it.

Ser Balon Swann - Age 26. He is young, brave, courteous and a skilled fighter. Many people consider Balon to be a good and valiant knight, well suited to the White Cloak. He is a renowned tourney knight and melee fighter, good with a lance, better with a morningstar and exceptional with a bow. He is Sarisa's favorite of all her family.

Ser Clifford Swann - Age 50. Lord Swann's younger brother and right hand man. He rules Stonehelm while Ser Donnel is away, and Lord Swann is ill. Clifford is charming and courteous on the outside, but behind closed doors he is a cruel man who is extremely brutal and abusive. He is a widow and was married to Meralith Vikary, whom with he had two daughters with. Little Stelsa died of wasting illness when she was six. And Dyana "fell" down stairs resulting in her death at the age of fourteen.

Lady Meralith Swann nee Vikary - Deceased. She was a very nervous, and somber woman. She enjoyed needlework, exotic teas, and her husbands absence. After the deaths of her children, and years of abuse at the hands of her husband Ser Clifford, she killed herself by overdosing on milk of the poppy, while holding her daughters hair ribbons. Sarisa was fourteen at the time, and the death of her aunt hit her so hard she contemplated becoming a septa.

Lord Leoric Cade - Age 46. Sarisa's father made the match between Lord Leofric and Sarisa quickly after five prior failed betrothals, and promises of marriage. For Sarisa future husband, her father sought a mature man, with a decent reputation, and without an heir. He is not the young handsome knight she dreamed about as a girl. She still hopes for love and romance, but she wonders if that's possible with a man much older then her who has already married twice before.

Sarisa is attractive. She has long wavy hair that is the same inky brown as her father. Her skin has always had tan to it. The most prominent feature on her face, is her lips, and light blue eyes that contrast with her dark locks. She has a nice enough nose, and hardly a blemish or scar to her skin. She is considered at bit on the taller side of average. Sarisa stands at 5'6, and weighs in around 130 pounds. Her favorite thing about her appearance is her naturally strait teeth.

Her dresses are usually made of soft materials, mainly cottons, and linen. She tends to be drawn towards the more simple feminine designs, and natural colors. Though intricate embroidery, and bead-work are a favorite. If she is not wearing her hair just plainly down, she is most likely sporting some kind of pretty braided styling popular in the Stormlands. Her jewelry also tends to be on the simpler side, if she wears any at all. She typically smells of wild flowers, as she bathes practically every night in floral water, and uses honeysuckle body oils.

She was raised like many other sheltered noble ladies, and thus is a sometimes naive to the harshness of the world. She can be overly sensitive at times, but will hide her tears for when she is alone. Before she married, Sarisa was known in the Stormlands for her beauty, charitable works, intelligence, and gentleness. She has a whole second heart for children, and animals. And she has always had the childish dream of being a perfect wife to a loving handsome lord, and having lots of children. She is intelligent, but at times can be a bit of a daydreamer. Her father would describe her as being a wallflower, and a romantic idealist. But her aunt Meralith always said that Sarisa was a lot more crafty, and fearless then she let on.

She knows how to play the part she's been given, whether it be the doting daughter, sweet sister, or dutiful wife. Sarisa knows what is expected of her. She is a considerate person, and if something happens that would aggravate an average person, she can typically just smile and move on. She is obviously a truly kind person at heart, but she does not forgive betrayal. She knows how to hold a grudge, and she has no qualms about revenge or getting even. She will hit you where it hurts most. So note that just because she is generally a wholesome sweetheart, does not mean she is ignorant, or gullible.

Sarisa was born in Stonehelm castle, to Lord Gulian and Lady Roswyn Swann. She was the only daughter and third child born to the couple. She was precocious, sweet, and full of smiles. Her brother Balon was two years older, and he quickly became her protector and best friend. She was never close to her oldest brother Donnel as he left to start training as a knight when she was only two. Many days were spent in the gardens together with their mother. She would read her children poems, and tell them stories as they giggled and played. Most of her early years were spent barefoot and following dear Balon around. Sarisa was only five years old when her mother passed away after complication from a miscarriage. She was old enough to understand that her mother was gone forever, and life seemed to change inside the castle. Her father grew even more serious, and Balon hardly spoke. Sarisa spent the next few months in tears.

A year passed, and her father had no idea how to raise children on his own. He knew he did not want to marry again. The Maester and the children's Septa was doing fine on there own but, he wanted a mother for his children. That's when his younger brother Ser Clifford and his wife came to stay with them. What started as a month long visit ended up with them coming to stay indefinitely. Thus a great part of Sarisa's early education came from her aunt Meralith, who taught her sums, heraldry, ethics, reading, etiquette, dancing, geography, writing, philosophy, and the practical subjects such as running a household, weaving, and sewing.

As a youth Aunt Meralith, Septa Rhea, Balon, and the cooks daughter Kyra were the people she was closest to. She spent her spare time riding horse with Balon, pretending to be a mermaid during baths, reading books in the library, playing with her dolls, and daydreaming about knights and princes asking to marry her. She and Kyra liked to sneak fresh honeycakes from the kitchen and have picnics on the roof of east tower. They would giggle about boys, and make up stories together. She taught Kyra to read, and Kyra in turn taught Sarisa all of the names of the flowers and there medicinal purposes.

Throughout Sarisa's childhood, Lord Gulian negotiated potential future marriages for her. When she was only four years old, she was promised to the young heir of House Estermont, but the contract was repudiated after three years. At the age of eight, she was then betrothed to marry Daven Lannister, but the engagement was broken off within a few years by Daven with Lord Gulian's agreement. Two more subsequent betrothals would take place over the next five years, both ending abruptly.

Her Uncle Ser Clifford acted like a charmer for the first year he lived with them, but he slowly began to show his true colors as time went on. More then once little Sarisa witnessed Ser Clifford hit his wife. She made it blatantly obvious that she hated the man. She would roll her eyes when he spoke politely to others, and she would glare at him anytime she saw her aunt had been crying. Her father and Balon both told her that it was between a man and his wife. Ser Clifford seemed to ignore her behavior, taking out his annoyance and anger on his wife more and more. Sarisa was nine years old when she got the courage to stand up to the man after seeing him backhand her Aunt for the final time. She threw her wooden doll at him, as she angrily screamed for him to leave her Aunt alone. The doll hit him square in the face, hard enough to bloody his nose, and he went off, picking Sarisa up by her hair, and twisting her arm around till it cracked. Luckily Balon and the Maester intervened.

Her father was furious when he learned about the whole scene. He sent Ser Clifford away for a short time. To negotiate another betrothal for Sarisa on his behalf, but in truth Lord Gulian had him leave before he did something even more stupid. It was no secret his brother had a temper, and no respect or care for woman. Ser Clifford's own daughter Dyana died at his hand, not that anyone outside the family knew the whole truth. Several months later Ser Clifford returned on his best behavior, and Sarisa kept out of his way. Though she was refining the art of being passive aggressive and making witty snide remarks anytime they conversed. She could tell by the way he bunched his fist, and clenched his jaw when he smiled, that she was getting to him. Once her poor aunt Meralith started looking worse for ware again, with all the crying and bruises, Sarisa took it upon herself to exact revenge by pouring ink into Ser Clifford expensive rare wine collection. Later in the day her best friend Kyra received Ser Clifford punishment for the destroyed wine, when he knew full well Sarisa had done it. Little Kyra had practically been whipped to the bone, and unfortunately she succumbed to a fever brought on by her wounds the next morning.

Sarisa blamed herself for the death of her dear friend Kyra. But she also would never forget who killed her. After this Ser Clifford seemed to be utterly calm and content for a long period of time. Sarisa made it her job to say out of his way, and Balon never seemed to leave her alone for fear of their uncle. Their father had had enough and Ser Clifford was again sent on a journey for the next year and a half. Time passed, and Sarisa was ten when Balon left to start his knight training. Her arrogant older brother Donnel came home sporting the title of Ser, and spent more nights in the local brothel then in his own bed. Sarisa made sure to not enrage Clifford once he returned. Normally that just meant staying out of his way, and being cordial. Sickeningly Donnel and Clifford seemed to get along like long lost friends.

She was fourteen when the maidservant found Aunt Meralith dead in her room clutching her deceased daughters hair ribbons, and a goodbye letter. On the bedside table was five empty bottles of milk of the poppy. Clifford's list of innocent lives taken was ever growing. Sarisa had resented her father for not doing anything in all these years to stop his brother, but a few months after Aunt Meralith passed he sent Clifford packing. Apparently all this time he had been helping the poor woman, just by having her live in Stonehelm. Her aunt's death took a tole on Sarisa. She refused two offers of marriage and even told her father she was contemplating a life as a Septa, for fear of having a husband like Clifford. She was blossoming into a beautiful young woman, but marriage was off the table for the next year, as she mourned her aunts death.

She was sixteen when her latest betrothal fell through due to the young knight dying in battle, she wondered who the next possible match could be. Sometime she felt like she was cursed to never marry, as every betrothal seemed to end in the grooms death or Lords reneging for finding love in another. Her father grew ill before he could set another match up. Being a doting daughter was how she typically presented herself anytime her father was around, and now that he was chronically sick it was no different, she spent many days as a nurse to her father, and she took the reigns of running the household with the help of the Maester. Donnel left to do his duty, and Balon was in King's Landing winning tourney after tourney.

She was nineteen and getting past her prime in blushing bride years. Her father was still ill. Balon was now a member of the white cloaks, and Donnel was off pretending to be a clever battle strategist, and leader. Clifford came back after many years of being a knight, and solider. He placed himself as temporary lord of Stonehelm while Donnel was away fighting, and Lord Gulian was ill.

She was twenty two when she gave up ever thinking she would marry. And reconciled herself to being her fathers nurse and a spinster for the rest of her life. During a short bout of wellness, Lord Gulian quickly betrothed Sarisa to the first good potential match. The marriage was much less of a political or potential gain then he had once wanted for house Swann, but he felt that he was setting his daughter free in a way. Lord Leoric seemed to be a relatively good fellow in need of a wife to give him an heir, and Lord Gulian wanted Sarisa to have a life outside being his nurse.

It's been a longer engagement the she hoped, and She has yet to meet her intended as he has been off fighting the war. Sarisa has arrived not to long ago at castle Tarrow and is now preparing for the wedding and meeting of her betrothed.

Faith of the Seven

She has a white horse named Lysithea.