House Description:

Their seat, Storm's End, is an ancient castle raised by the Storm Kings from the now-extinct House Durrandon. The youngest of the Great Houses of Westeros, it was created when Orys Baratheon, one of Aegon I Targaryen's generals, his closest companion, and his rumoured bastard half-brother, took Argella Durrandon, the only daughter of Argilac Durrandon, the last Storm King, to wife. Orys took the sigil and words of House Durrandon for his own and became the first Lord of Storm's End. Members of the family tend to be tall and powerfully built, with black hair and blue eyes, as well as strong, square jawlines. They are known for their mercurial tempers and characters.


After the Dance of the Dragons, a posthumous son was born to Lord Borros who had perished on the Kingsroad. His widow, Elenda (born a Caron), assumed the regency for the infant Royce. She later remarried, to a man twenty years her junior: Ser Steffon Connington. Using her talents and daughters in deft diplomacy (though some of these caused her immeasurable headaches), Elenda made sure that the Stormlands cohered while young Royce grew tall and strong.

Royce proved to be a chip off the old block. As sole son of Lord Borros, he grew up to be rather self-important. Lacking a father figure, Royce was impressionable throughout his youth, and often irritated with trying to emulate and live up to a dead man’s example. His mother’s teachings and his own maturity blunted most of Royce’s conceit later, but in most interactions he remained high-handed and inflexible. By repeatedly clashing with the Dornish, Lord Royce assured himself of the support of his bannermen. His aversion toward his southern neighbours translated into the marital policy of his sons. Ormund married Amarei Dondarrion, while Balon wed a distant cousin of House Caron. Lord Royce perished in 190 AC, just shy of his sixtieth nameday, fighting Dornish raiders in the Red Mountains. He is remembered with equal parts fondness and frustration.

It was Balon who inherited the similarity of Royce’s darker character, being thorny and crabbed. Ormund on the other hand proved to possess an amenable personality, enjoying the company of others and bonding over good food and drink. Like one of his favourite wines, he has aged well. A true gourmand, Ormund enjoys the finer things in life whether it be hunting for game or women. Once married, Ormund’s eye wandered less though not indefinitely.

The new Lord of Storm’s End was wont to travel his lands, calling upon his bannermen at random intervals and often without advance warning. Well-liked and accessible, these visits and tours were also a good way of keeping an eye out for dissent and underhanded dealings. Never far from his side, like an angry shadow, was Balon. Though the two brothers occasionally seemed on bad terms they continued to work in tandem where management of the Stormlands was concerned. A point of contention was how akin Balon’s son appeared to his uncle in looks and nature, and rumours sprouted saying Lyonel was in fact Ormund’s. Proof is lacking, and logic suggests the speculations are mere slander, yet questions niggle in the back of Balon’s head.

The younger generation of Baratheons have been well instructed in what it takes to be a leader in the Stormlands, and indeed the world. Whether it was the Maesters at Storm’s End, Balon and the masters-at-arms in the yard, or Ormund himself – anyone who had cared for the boys’ education had worked hard to inculcate fortitude and focus. If they were to aspire to greatness, whatever that may be to each of them, they would have to fashion themselves into men of iron. Should the Stormlands cohere, then so too the sons of its lords. Balon drove them hard, collectively and separately. Even Argella, as she played in the castle’s stables or sat poise and proper whilst doing needlework, was raised within a world of sweat and steel. Childhood, for any scion of Storm’s End, was a preparation for conflict. Arms and horses, fighting, the exercises of the hunt and hawking; these were the delights of a true Baratheon. The delights and the means of putting them to the test, developing the reflex to give as good as one got. To take what was thrown at you meet blow for blow. Stormlanders were stubborn and demanding, and only by showing prowess as a horseman, hunter and warrior could one hope to win their approbation. Royce and Balon’s sons might rank among the highest born of the land, but without gruelling training and a way to prove oneself, that rank rings hollow.

Family Members:

• Lord Ormund Baratheon (50), called the Thunderhead for his boisterous nature.
• Lady Amarei Dondarrion, recently dead of a wasting illness.
  
  • Royce (31), named for his grandsire, the heir to Storm’s End.
    • Cyrenna Tarth, died in childbirth.
    • Arlan and Cyrenna (named for her mother), their young children
  • Orryn (29), recently returned from Essos. He was called Ornery Orryn in his youth by Royce.
  • Gowen (23) “Hotspur”, a dandy and real spendthrift, doubling down on the profligate and indulgent example of Lord Ormund. Gowen has a swordsman’s grace and a courtier’s wit, with the arrogance to inflate both. He is at times referred to as Hotspur due to his temper and nimbleness.
  • Argella (21), the youngest and most doted upon, the apple of Ormund’s eye.
• Ser Balon (49), Lord Ormund’s brother, married to a lady of House Caron.
  
  • Lyonel (27, born AC 175) the Laughing Storm, a knight of renown so called because he has the habit of laughing loudly at his opponents. Beloved by the smallfolk. Nephew to the Lord Baratheon.

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Nycarro Qosaerys

Age: Six and Forty.

Appearance:

In his younger days, Qosaerys may have cut quite the image of the dashing bravo. The slender water dancer's blade, the Myrish stiletto, the waxed and dyed moustache and beard, the colorful garb, the feathered hat, and the sharp, cutting grin all make for the picture, but the man himself is twenty years too old and more than sufficiently battered by life's wanton hardships and meanness. His eyes are tired, his skin is weathered by long years in the sun, his hair is thinning, and his teeth are not as a white or entirely present as they used to be.

Description & biography:

Captain-General Nycarro Qosaerys was not always Captain-General of the Maiden's Men. Before that, he joined the Company of the Cat as a crossbowman, led men as a junior captain in the Free Company, took to the seas as a sellsail on a Lyseni galley, went back to land shortly thereafter as a captain with the Men of Valor, betrayed the Men of Valor to join the Maiden's Men, and fought for years all along the way with those and other employers and companies unmentioned.

Ultimately, there is not a Free City Nycarro Qosaerys has not fought for, and only a handful he has not not betrayed while in their employ.

History

The second son of Ser Wyman Templeton, Jon ought to have grown up in the shadow of his older brother, Ronnel. Two years his junior, Jon and Ronnel spent everyday playing together until Ronnel was struck with a terrifying fever and brain sickness. Maester Kirwan, a young man with some radical practices, believed in ritualistic ‘bleeding’ and though painstaking, Ronnel recovered his wits though had been left perpetually weakened.

Ser Wyman took it hard and this was doubled by the death of his Wife Myrcella Templeton and their newborn daughter in the birthing bed the same year.
It was upon Jon that Wyman came to depend, the dark-haired younger boy grew strong and tall whilst his elder brother took a year to gather strength enough to rise from his chair. However, to flout tradition and promote Jon as heir to Ninestars was beyond Wyman’s comprehension. The eldest must inherit. His brother, Gawarth came to live with them to take Jon hunting and climbing, sparring and ranging whilst Wyman managed the estate and buried himself in the heavy tedium that is the day-to-day fayre of the Knight in the Vale. Meanwhile, Kennet Nash came to Ninestars to serve as Master-at-Arms. Wyman had spotted the young warrior at a Tourney near Heart’s Home and he’d been keen to accept the position which meant he had jurisdiction over a sizeable detail of men-at-arms as well as a detachment of mounted lancers numbering over one hundred.

As the boys grew to manhood, Ronnel was at least adequate with sword in hand, his triumph over his childhood illness was remarkable but a withered sword-arm and a crooked gait meant he looked absurd in the armour specifically gilded for him by the Castle Smithy. He insisted on competing alongside Wyman in a Tourney in Gulltown but was hurt early in the mellee and cruel jibes such as ‘the cripple o’ Ninestars’ were heard being heckled from the public gallery.

Wyman may or may not have heard these jeers but he was said to have stalked to his horse for the tilt enraged. It will never be known how he truly felt that day as he was unhorsed, surprisingly, by a Corbray squire and fell awkwardly, breaking his neck and killing him outright. Ronnel blamed his own disgraceful failure for his father’s death.
Despite Uncle Gawarth’s urging that Jon, and not Ronnel, should be the new Knight o Ninestars, Ronnel accepted the title and vowed that he would do credit to the role.

In truth, he was a fair and just master to the outlying communities and in the three years he served at the family castle, produce in the Vale increased and a period of prosperity ensued.

When growing trouble, however, threatened Templeton lands and the Mountain Clans grew bolder, Ronnel insisted it was incumbent upon him to sally out with a small detachment of leal bannermen and supress the incursion. Jon pleaded with Ronnel to allow him to deal with the clans in his stead: he was faster ahorse, a better sword and a stronger lance, but whilst agreeing Jon should accompany him, Ronnel insisted that it was he, as the eldest, that should ride to war in the black cape of Ninestars. Jon had his own armour, daubed with black tar and wore a yellow cape, emblazoned with a single black star; earning him the nickname Knight of the Blackstar- a joke amongst the men as Jon hadn’t been knighted but one he liked and would later adopt as an unofficial title.

Ronnel never returned from this expedition. Rumours told of how the column was besieged in heavy mist along some narrow mountain pass and Ronnel amongst the first to be slain. Under Jon’s leadership, the Templeton host rallied in the confusion and ran through their ambushers, scattering the clansmen. Afterwards Jon would only agree that his older brother died valiantly and would speak no more on the matter.

Upon hearing of the tragedy, Lord Donnel Arryn sent his deepest condolences and vowed to rally the Vale in an effort to suppress the increasingly troublesome clans (an endeavour that brought only moderate success). He summoned Jon to the Eyrie personally and knighted him formally though it wasn’t until many more weeks had passed and the Silent Sisters brought Ronnel’s remains to Ninestars that Jon took up the family shield; nine yellow stars on a midnight black field.

Personality

Make no bones about it, Jon loved his father and older brother. He vaguely remembers Ronnel’s childhood illness as a time of bewilderment and confusion and when mother died and the baby he remembers crying a lot but things moving on quickly.
He supported Ronnel’s decision to take the Knighthood and even rode to the Eyrie at his side when he formally received the Templeton ancestral title. But there are also memories that make him feel bitter; the young Corbray squire who decided to prove himself in the Joust a little too overzealously robbed him of a father and the cowardly conduct of the marauding Mountain Clans killing Ronnel was a grief he has ever found difficult to bear.

He is ambitious and relentless. Refusing to take a wife until he raises the House to a Lordship or a chronic lack of heirs demands it, he keeps Uncle Gawayne as a close advisor and sole heir to Ninestars as his father’s brother. He also has every intention of legitimizing Ronnel’s bastard, Harold Stone who was sent to foster at Ninestars after the death of his mother; a former handmaiden to Gawayne’s late wife who reputedly seduced the young Ronnel in the bleak months following Ser Wayman’s tragic death.

Jon is not quick to smile but neither is he quick to anger. Even in that Mountain pass, it took watching his brother slain to rile him into fury. However he is weak in the presence of Ronnel’s widow. He’d be the last to admit it to himself but the woman has a profound power over him; wed to Ronnel at 16, she soon grew frustrated with Jon’s older brother’s ‘failings’ in the bedroom; she began to bed Jon as well when he was only thirteen. Jon, to his credit, has managed to avoid siring a bastard on his conniving sister-in-law in all these years which seems to suggest the widow is barren. He is keen to foist her off on some other Knight as quickly as possible but in 17 years she has entrenched her position as the First Lady Templeton of Ninestars and it appears Jon is stuck with her. She is desperate for Jon to wed her, which would bring no opposition as in many families it is the ‘done’ thing to wed an older brother’s widow but her failure to bear a child in nigh on two decades and the appearance of Ronnel’s bastard (attesting that his seed bears fruit) has set Jon dead against the idea. Indeed, sex aside, the woman terrifies him.

Allayne Templeton (nee Waxley)
History

The Widow Allayne Templeton of Ninestars was born to Ser Ryman Waxley and Lady Daena Waxley, the fourth daughter and sixth child of a happy and lasting marriage; indeed both parents still live, well into their sixties. Allayne stood out amongst the other Waxley girls; Arda, Mowen and Bryda- more wilfull and precocious, but infinitely prettier- her raven-dark curls setting her apart from her straight-haired, mousy siblings with their high noses and brittle, high-pitched tones.

Life for Allayne was dull, never challenging and that tedium continued into her teenage years. She watched her brothers marry. Hadred, to a Meadows girl from Grassy Vale in the Reach, Haldred to a Daughter of Lord Farring in the Crownlands. Her sisters all managed to wed themselves to noble houses too; a Tarbeck, a Glover and a Hardying. All were younger sons or cousins but when a possible union to Templeton was mooted, her father was passing keen to see it done.

Allayne knew that Templeton was merely a Knightly House, like her own, but one that commanded weight and authority surpassing some lesser Lordly houses. Ronnel Templeton had been sickly in childhood but had survived and although partially disfigured by his malady, was still heir to Ninestars and a knight in the making. He was two years her junior but she liked that. Even at sixteen she knew she could mould the boy like a Wickenden candle…

The wedding was easily as lavish as any of her sisters’, although Mowen (the wife of Donal Glover) was conspicuous in her absence. The bedding… A non-event. Ronnel had been in his cups and at 14 it had taken too grave a toll on him. It was at least a week before he managed to fulfil his husbandry duties and mount her. She had to bite her lip to stop from laughing at his crooked stance and as he spent his seed within the first minute she nearly wretched as he groped at her with his withered right arm.
After twelve months of similar disappointment, she made her way along the North passage to Jon’s bed, where she taught him how a woman ought to be loved. He was a quick learner.

She doubted Ronnel knew to where she slipped late at night. She always told him it was to the Sept at the centre of the castle and he never asked any questions. Probably delighted to have such a devout and beautiful wife; praying to the Mother for a son, not stealing to the brother for a fuck.

For Ronnel’s underperformance in the marital bed, he was a kind and witty young man, there were times when she was genuinely proud of his endeavour and commitment to overcoming his shortcomings and growing into the Knight House Templeton needed him to be. His uncle favoured John but the new Master-at-Arms, Kennet Nash was shaping her husband into a passable swordsman, although he still sat ahorse awkwardly.

When the Tourney at Gulltown came around, Allayne was sickened to see Ronnel’s piteous early exit from a melee nobody thought he should join; she feigned illness and returned home early. She had already left when Ser Wyman perished.

Whilst Ronnel and Jon rode to the Eyrie for her husband’s knighthood some weeks later, Allayne realised, delightedly that her moon’s blood was late by at least a week. She had little doubt that it was more likely young Jon and not the virtually impotent Ronnel who was the father, but the seed was the same stock and what Ronnel didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. She waited patiently for all the signs of impending motherhood to begin, as she’d learned from her Septa back in Wickenden. She would tell Ronnel when she began to show, but weeks and months passed with no evidence of producing the next Templeton heir, or a dutiful daughter to provide some female companionship, something Ninestars sorely lacked.

As a year went by, Ronnel became happy as a prospering Master of the surrounding lands and realisation dawned on Allayne that the mother, or the Maid, or the crone had chosen to take her womanhood from her in payment for betraying her husband time and again for his stronger, more virile younger brother.
Well the others could take the Seven! She was the Nine! Allayne abandoned what frail attachment she had with the faith and kept a stony, politic silence about her evident barren womb.

She could always blame Ronnel for the lack of a child in the years they had been wed. After all, it stood to reason that his childhood illness may have taken his seed from him, or rendered it hollow.

Jon was wise enough to spill his seed elsewhere in their illicit sessions in any case, wary of siring a bastard on his sister-in-law which he’d no doubt have to watch Ronnel raise.

That mountain pass changed everything.

When Ronnel didn’t return and Ser Jon Templeton pinned her against his brother’s marriage bed and took her insistently and roughly, she realised that there was real danger her position would be broken. She was 21. She refused to go quietly into the night, her chance of raising herself in the world spent on a kind-hearted but pitiful cripple; a dead one at that. She implored Jon that marriage was a natural and even expected step. They’d been lovers for five years but Jon was equal to her ambition and far less naïve; even to her charms.

He suspected something was amiss that his Sister-in-law had yet to bear a child and of course, he knew that wasn’t down solely to Ronnel.

No. Jon wanted a Lordship. He’d watched his brother shamed at Gulltown and his father killed by a mere squire. Ronnel had been slain with ease by some clansman and Jon was determined to restore some venom into the Ninestars’ reputation.

No sooner had things settled into a kind of miserable post-conflict nothingness, than two children arrived at Ninestars within months…
The first was a slap in the face. Harold Stone was a boy of 4. He was brought to Ninestars by Gawarth Templeton. He said the child was Ronnel’s bastard, sired upon his late wife’s handmaiden who had recently passed from the pox. Allayne lost it. Not that Ronnel had cheated, but that he could have performed sufficiently to beget a child, a son no less, on some pox-ridden wench when illiciting any excitement from him for her had been an increasingly futile labour.

She had her suspicions that this handmaiden had been already with child when Ronnel allegedly dishonoured his vows upon her. However Jon saw Harold as a strange blessing, a shadow of his late brother sent to restore better fortunes to the Templeton estate. Privately, she seethed and her objections to little Harold’s stay in the West turret near where her (and Jon’s) chambers both lay were vociferous enough that it fell largely upon Gawarth to mentor the lad- as he had Jon all those years ago.
Her anger was quelled, however, when Lord Arryn requested Jon to journey to the Eyrie once more. Upon his return, he had an infant girl; Birgitte Sunderland was the youngest child to Kevan Sunderland- Arryn had insisted Sunderland pay for some never disclosed sleight by sending Birgitte to be fostered in the Vale. Templeton had been chosen and from the moment Ser Jon rode home with the gold-haired child, Allayne had found a new lease of life.

In the intervening years, Birgitte has grown into a beautiful young maiden, catching the eye of most of the men at Ninestars. Allayne remains a provocative beauty but her habit of wearing a black mourning gown embroidered with nine yellow stars ‘in memory of Ronnel’ has earned her the title of the Black Widow.

Personality
Allayne has always sought to better herself and her ambition has ever been her driving force. She has a sense of entitlement that may be said to be entirely misplaced, but she has ever felt superior in wits, beauty and charm to her sisters and has ever strived to control her environs. Even early in her marriage to Ronnel, Ser Wyman kept a cynical eye on her- seeing the way she used age and sexuality to control his eldest son. Her power over Ser Jon remains strong; he still makes his regular conjugal visitations but infuriatingly, he has ever proven too wise to take his barren Sister-in-Law to wife.

However, Allayne has proved with Birgitte, to have a genuine capacity to be loving and considerate, although the Ward she has raised has certainly been done so in Allayne’s image.

The other side of the coin is the ever-present icy coldness with which she regards Harold. She is intelligent enough to realise Jon intends to legitimise the bastard should old Gawarth die until such a time as he should marry and have trueborn children of his own.

History
Born in 185AC in the shadow of Ninestars, Harold’s mother had been handmaiden to Gawarth Templeton’s wife until her death and the termination of Mya’s services. In honour of her leal care of the ailing Rhona Templeton, the Templeton estate provided lodgings in the surrounding town and a retention salary that saw her want for nought. By the time she left Ninestars castle, Mya was with child. All Harold knows of this is that she always told him his father was a Templeton but that he couldn’t see him. By the time he was four, his mother had sickened and died from the pox and Harold distinctly remembers Gawarth coming for him and riding him to the castle on his dappled grey mare.

Harold was treated well by the castle staff and by Ser Jon who bid the little boy call him ‘Uncle’. Only the terrifying woman in black seemed not to fawn over the young bastard. He spent much time with Gawarth, a man nearing fifty but with a strong sense of right and wrong. He spent much of his childhood in the castle courtyard; practising with sword and (as he grew stronger) with lance. He spent long summer afternoons with Yohn Cowley, the Castle kennelmaster and the pack of friendly, bright-eyed dogs which would accompany them on hunts or treks. For days at a time, Yohn, Kennet Nash- Master at Arms, and Gawarth would take Harold out into the mountains or through the Vale of Arryn on one half-baked expedition or another. He loved riding and hawking. He would implore the men of the Castle to allow him to attend tourneys or take him on visits to the Lordly houses in the Vale.

Other than at bedtime, Harold spent his life outdoors. Anything was better than his fear of running into another witheringly hateful glare from Lady Allayne Templeton. He understood. He had been told how her husband, who’d been killed in a hunting accident, had fallen in love with his mother, Mya. He couldn’t blame him for that; Alayne Templeton was a cold and hateful woman in Harold’s experience.

Despite arriving at Ninestars in the same period of months as Birgitte Sunderland came to foster there, Harold seldom saw the girl, four years his junior until he came of age. Then, Birgitte would oftimes be seen walking in the courtyard, with or without Lady Templeton. She loved animals and Harold showed her the dogs and they would spend afternoons together enjoying the company of one another as siblings might.
However, of late, their friendship has been soured as Birgitte has begun to distance herself from ‘the bastard’. Words she now uses but lent her by Allayne, no doubt.
Harold has noted Birgitte’s beauty as well as any but knows his station and doesn’t want to align himself nearer to Allayne; who’d have him murdered before letting him near her precious ward.

Harold has been approached by Ser Jon regarding the notion of being legitimised should Gawarth pass before Ser Jon marries, to secure a male heir to the Templeton line but he thinks nought of it. Whilst he would love to bear the Templeton name like his late father, the notion of losing his Great Uncle Gawarth is too painful to comprehend.

Personality

Harold is a little lacking in wit, not to comedic effect but he works hard to understand the more complex mechanics of life; he’d much sooner be out on horseback or tending the Castle dogs with Yohn. He’s grown into a capable and dependable warrior and is genuinely well-liked (Allayne being the exception) by all at Ninestars. Maester Kirwan won’t hear a bad word said about Harold although whenever anyone likens the lad to Ronnel, the Maester only smiles faintly and returns to his duties.
Essentially, Harold is keen to help anyone, never sullen, never wan about his status as bastard born the only times he’d be known to cry as a boy were when Lady Templeton had scolded him; often as not simply for existing.

He is stubbornly loyal, almost standing as testament to his Templeton blood, and looks upon the family at Ninestars as the only family he has known and one he’d ride into the Seven Hells for.

History

Birgitte’s beginnings are sorrowful indeed. The fourth child and second daughter of Kevan and Jeyne Sunderland of Sisterton, she was unusually late in birth. Her Mother died during the birth and the child had to be dragged from her in a grim and bloody scene. Her father was away across the Narrow Sea on some business that couldn’t wait and only upon his return was his defeat in battle compounded by the news of Jeyne’s death.



He couldn’t bring himself to look upon the baby girl; leaving her care to a nursemaid of just 19.

When Lord Arryn sent for Kevan Sunderland’s son (His shady business in Essos being seen as ‘treachery’), Robett aged 8, he wept and pleaded his Lord’s men to take the unnamed infant instead. Learning of his grief they showed some leniency and took the infant, though the nursemaid was required to accompany them to provide milk; her own baby son had been stillborn and she was grateful to have the little Sunderland baby in her care.

Within days of their arrival at the Eyrie, Birgitte (still nameless of course) began to sicken. Some felt it was the altitude, not being of Arryn blood left infants prone to the sharp, thin atmosphere. So Arryn wrote to Ninestars. The Templetons had suffered the death of Ronnel and his Widow was young and childless. Ser Jon himself came to take the baby and the Nursemaid home to the Vale.

The Nursemaid was relieved of her duties formally on Birgitte’s nameday. Allayne Templeton choosing the name of her maternal grandmother. Kevan Sunderland had still never written or any of the household appealed to visit the child.

It mattered not, for Birgitte was a light in the darkness of Ninestars. Loved by all, her sweet, melodic voice could be heard as she ran, giggled and played in those narrow corridors and dusky towers. Allayne was a mother to her as caring, doting and loving as any little girl could have wished. She was taught of all the famous heroes and histories by Allayne, she studied the Seven and practised the faith with Old Kirwan- who served as the Castle Septon. She had various teachers hired to school her in embroidery, or in music- she became an accomplished flautist.

As she matured, she took more time to roam the castle on her own; she found she enjoyed the company of the staff and servants employed at Ninestars as well as those members of House Templeton to whom she owed so much; Ser Jon was dashing and handsome, she’d had a crush on him since she could remember and he always treated everybody fairly. She once dared speak of this to Allayne, whom she called ‘mother’ since she’d never known another. Allayne had found this highly amusing and Birgitte was quite cross that mother had taken her secret with such mirth!

Old Gawarth Templeton was gruffer but never unpleasant and Kennet Nash would always give her an apple if he saw her streaking across the courtyard.

Then there was Harold. Allayne never spoke of Harold but he had always been around. When she was ten or eleven, he’d taken her to Yohn Cowley and they’d spent the afternoon playing and looking after the dogs. After that they spent more and more time together but it was only ever in friendship. Allayne hadn’t liked it and had told Birgitte that Harold was nothing more than a bastard who lay with whores in town and that as a respectable lady it was unseemly that she should be seen with him.

So she had. Mother was right, she would help Birgitte to a noble marriage; she’d told her all about her sister’s weddings and Allayne’s own wedding to her late husband; Harold’s father, people said- but Birgitte would never mention that in front of Mother!

Personality

Bright and energetic, Birgitte has the license of a child still but her beauty and womanly looks belie her more naïve nature. She loves to play and hear music, to read or ride. To sing, dance, dress-up like a true Lady, something she hopes to become one day soon. Recently, she has had her first blood and she blushed a hundred times that evening as Allayne explained the ways of the adult world to her. She is a delightful and bright person to know but with Mother’s help, she is becoming wise to the ways of the world; she knows, for instance, that it is Women and not the Men that have true power. She knows that she has a gift in her beauty and that, if used correctly, that gift wields greater power than any sword.

For now, however, her first instinct is still to be charming and gay; with a light and joyous temperament and an infectious propensity to submit to lively giggles when amused- which is often. Although fast becoming an object of baser desires for men she meets, Birgitte remains largely ignorant of this and tends to take people at face value, so trusting is her nature.

Birgitte can become sad when reminded of the total lack of contact her own family on Sisterton have made since her departure as a babe-in-arms, but her resolve is that she will return to the island one day with a mighty and Lordly husband in tow and show them all what they’d missed. She had a family. House Templeton were her family now.
Birgitte is aware that Ser Jon hopes to earn enough trust from Lord Arryn that House Templeton might be raised to Lordship and this idea pleases her greatly. She has always been treated as kin to the Templetons and any successes they feel she would gladly share in. Anything to please her dear, dear mother…

Name: Rhaella Blackfyre

Age: 17 (born 184AC, turns 18 in 1 month)

Appearance:



Soft of feature, a fleeting glance would give no hints as to the soul beneath. It is a face that gives nothing away, though it is not without beauty or character. Rhaella's smiles are rare and laughter from her lips even rarer still. Her hair flows down in long waves, varying shades of blonde depending on whether the sun, moon or man-made flame catches it. Her most notable feature is a scar that runs concentrically around her left forearm. Rhaella makes no attempt at hiding it, nor does she seem particularly aware of the scar. It is simply another part of her body, something to be observed but not troubled over. She is slim of form and has a silent grace to her movements, her tread so quiet that she has been known to shock those she approaches. Seemingly indifferent to compliments or comments on her appearance, unless they come from someone she has a fondness for.

Biography:
Born to Daemon Blackfyre and Rohanne of Tyrosh, Rhaella was one of many many children. Rhaella did not speak until she was five years of age. No-one knows why and some suspect that she simply chose not to. There was no doubt as to her intelligence, for she was able to read and show understanding. Yet she always had a quiet simmering intensity, even as a young child. It was unsettling for both other children and adults alike. Many even feared she had magic, for she often appeared to know things she should not, though whether that was simply them underestimating the sharp eyes & ears of a young child, is not known.

When taken by her mother on a tour when she was but seven, they went to visit a house in the northern riverlands. Whilst staying at an inn, Rhaella wandered off, drawn outside by youthful curiosity. But it was dark and she was alone, and quickly the young girl became lost. Yet this did not perturbe Rhaella, she was brave for one of her age, and she simply continued trying to find her way back. During this time her mothers entourage had been frantically searching for her, only to come across her small frame on the ground, loomed over by the ominous form of a shadowcat. It was lucky that the starving creature had only managed to scratch at her arm, though the wound was large and bleeding heavily, and that they were able to scare it off. But despite the knowledge and skills of the maesters, it still left a permanent scar. Rhaella cried that day, as one would expect, but has never cried since.

One would think that the girl would retain a fear of such animals but that was not to be the case. When she was twelve a young panther cub was brought to court by a travelling merchant, a gift of sorts...if you could call it that. It was proclaimed that it was too wild and it would be easier to skin as soon as it was full grown. But Rhaella spoke up, insisting that she wanted to take care of the cub. She spoke to her father of having dreamt of a cat only the night before and proclaimed that she needed the creature, lest she deny the gods their visions. She named him Malthar, Mal for short. Rhaella silently bore many scratches and bite marks in those early days, no-one else willing to feed and care for the creature. Often they could be found in the gods wood, Malthar taking to sunbathing - to the protests of some - in the hearts tree on cloudless days.

As she grew older, Rhaella, as all of her siblings, was led to act and be seen as something closely akin to royalty. They were taught that they were equally, if not more deserving of their place in court. She loves her family, even her father, from whom she seemed to enjoy drawing ire. But it is only her elder twin brothers who she seems truly at ease around. To an observer she appears to fit easily within the court, her manners are impeccable, her words soft and well chosen. But there is just something...different about her.

Ever the enigma, Rhaella is recondrite, frustrating, impenetrable. She tends to either draw out peoples curiosity or their irritation. The girl appears to give no qualms about appeasing others or their opinions on her. She simply is and it is not for her to be upset if that provokes dislike.

House Hightower is truly an ancient House House that has existed since the dawn of days when they were kings. They founded the city that eventually would become Oldtown, one of the five cities of Westeros, and they allied with the Andal invaders instead of fighting them which led to the Hightowers adopting the faith of the seven. Oldtown was chosen to house the Starry Sept which was to be the center of faith in Westeros until the Great Sept was built in King's Landing. Also housed within their city is the High Tower itself which is the tallest building in Westeros. Interested in trade, and knowledge the Hightowers helped found the Citadel where all of the Maesters of the realm train.

History has shown the Hightowers have a talent for playing to their strengths despite being bannermen. They serve loyally but aren't afraid to move to a winning side if they feel their chances are better. They were loyal bannermen to the Gardeners but did not march with them to the fields of fire, and when the Tyrell's were raised as the new Wardens the Hightowers transferred that loyalty to the Tyrell's with no resistance. Slowly they gained favor with the new rulers of the Seven Kingdoms and eventually served as Hand to the King to King Jaehaerys and Viserys. It was around this time that the House fully mobilized its power to support Queen Alicent Hightower during the Dance of Dragons.

In recent times the Hightowers spend their days learning from the mistakes of the past. A much more serious sense of what could have been resounding within them. The family is strong, united, and is once again looking to make a name for themselves in the Kingdom. Jon Hightower has recently passed, and his son, Lord Ryam Hightower has now taken hold and has already enacted many new changes. The City Watch was given better training, equipment, and greater power while mercenary commanders were brought in to help drill a standing force of five thousand troops. Beyond that, messages were sent to find allies new and old as the new generation of Hightowers add to the rich history behind them.



House Members:

• Ryam Hightower (47, born 155 AC), Lord of the Hightower, Beacon of the South, Lord of the Port]
  
  • Lady Alys Hightower née Mullendore (48, born 154 AC), his wife
  • Ser Addam Hightower (26, born 176 AC), Heir of House Hightower
  • Leo Hightower (23, born 179 AC), Scholar, and Secondborn Son
  • Ashton Hightower (19, born 183 AC), Swordsman and squire to Ser Ryon Dayne, Wielder of Vigilance
  • Gerold Hightower (18, born 184 AC), Currently abroad in Braavos, is a known prankster and troublemaker, an excellent duelist
  • Lady Alicent Hightower (19, born 183 AC), Twin to Ashton and administrator

• Ser Otho Hightower (57, born 145 AC), Master at Arms and Lord Commander of the City Watch of Oldtown. Brother to the late Jon Hightower
• Maester Lonnard (82, born 120 AC), Maester of the Hightower
• Septa Tredare (69, born 133 AC). Septa of the Hightower, chief advisor to Lord Ryam.

House members

House Carmyne of Redfield

In Vengeance Virtue

House Description:
Just South of Riverrun, North of Pinkmaiden, West of High Heart there is a bend in the Red Fork and there lies Redfield. Some say it was named so because when the Red swells its banks the field floods. Others still hold to the tale of how the Old Lord Carmyne first of his name made it run red defending the Children. Either way the reason is lost to time. The Carmyne House has been a small house in the Riverlands easily overlooked, however in the last 30 years they have risen to prominence.

The Castle is no Harrenhal but is built to take advantage of the natural bend in the river as well as the hills that surround the valley that the House of Carmyne has cultivated. The House has done well for itself and has married into the surrounding families acquiring more land. Within the last 60 years the Carmyne’s began to look further afield to gain alliances with larger houses through marriage. They can trace lines from noble houses such as Velaryon, Targaryen, Blackwood, Tully and most recently Stark, most from marriage to a bastard but others from marriages to legitimate offspring of said house. The Carmyne’s were not in a position to be picky and so were not. However this was not as heavily accounted for, things like legitimacy and bloodlines but for the past 40 years. The Carmyne House has begun to show up and be a force to be reckoned with.

Recent History:
The current Head of House is Tobias Carmyne and has been the head of the house since his older brother, Bram, passed 5 years ago. His sisters Luci and Quinn still reside with him as they are yet unmarried. Tobias indulges them as well as his wife and children agreeing, like his father and mother, that they should marry for love. Remarkably Lyanna whom they thought was at the end of her child bearing years after Tobias blessed the House with the two girls later in life. The sisters both favor their mother and have had plenty of offers but none that have tempted them as of yet.

Family Members:

• Quincy Carmyne: _{Father of Bram, Tobias, Luci & Quinn; dead 12 years now. Deceased at the age of 52, born 138 AC died 190 AC.}
• Lyanna Stark Carmyne: _{Mother to Bram, Tobias, Luci & Quinn. Still residing in Redfield. Lyanna is 60, born 142 AC.}
• Bram Carmyne: _{First son dead 5 years now. Deceased at the age of 35, born 162 AC died 197 AC.}
• Mina Lefford Carmyne: _{Wife of Bram died in childbirth, dead 10 years now. Deceased at the age of 20, born 172 died 192.}
• Gwendolyn “Gwennie/Gwen” Carmyne: _{First born of Bram and Mina 18 years of age born 184 AC and Ward of Brandon Stark.(See below)}
• Jonathen Carmyne: _{Second born child of Bram and Mina. Died at birth with mother 192 AC.}
• Tobias Carmyne: _{Second born to Lyanna and Quincy who married before inheriting after his older brother’s death. Tobias is currently 37, born 165 AC.}
• Mya Rivers Carmyne: _{First born of Melissa Blackwood and Aegon IV. Mya is married to Tobias Carmyne and is very much her mother’s daughter. She is 30, born 172 AC.}
• Jarren Carmyne: _{First born son of and Twin to Janyce. Jarren is 10 born 192 AC.}
• Janyce Carmyne: _{First born daughter to Mya and Tobias and born minutes after her brother Jarren. Janyce is 10, born 192 AC.}
• Draykon Carmyne: _{Third born, second son of Mya and Tobias. He is 8, born 194 AC.}
• Rheygan Carmyne: _{First born second set of twins and second daughter to Mya and Tobias. Rheygan is 5, born 197 AC.}
• Rhynar Carmyne: _{Second born in a second set of twins, third son of Mya and Tobias. Rhynar is 5, born 197 AC.}
• Luci Carmyne: _{Third born, first born daughter to Lyanna and Quincy. Luci is 22, born 180 AC.}
• Quinn Carmyne: _{Fourth born, second born daughter to Lyanna and Quincy. Quinn is currently 20, born 182 AC.}

Household Members:

• Maester Golbin: _{A Maester from the Citadel that has been with the House for 25 years.}
• Renault Ford: _{Bowmaster and Game Keeper that has been with the house for 3 years.}
• Felix Yew: _{Man at Arms that has been with the house for 13 years.}
• Margret Yew: _{Cook who has been with the house for 15 years, married to Felix Yew.}

Name: Lady Gwendolyn Carmyne “Gwen” or “Gwennie”
Age: 18 born 184 AC
House/Affiliation: House Carmyne of Redfield & House Stark
Description & Biography: Gwendolyn is tall. She stands as tall as a man on average; an inch or two shy of six feet. Though she is uncommonly tall for a woman she is hourglass shaped. Due to her penchant for archery and swordplay, which her relations have not discouraged, Gwendolyn is muscular in a lean feminine way without detracting from her curves. Her complexion is pale as the snow that falls in the North with none of the freckles that normally cover a redhead. Her eyes are a lavender gray color and her lashes a deep coal black. Her eyes are quite striking and a blend of two of the houses in her lineage. Her hair is waist length, wavy, thick and a coppery red gold. Normally she pulls it into a braid but when she has to dress up she likes to leave it down.

Gwendolyn is the first born to Mina and Bram Carmyne. Mina being a Lefford came from the Westerlands and Bram from both the Riverlands and North has given Gwendolyn an interesting heritage. Unfortunately she was not as experienced with her mother's family due to Mina's death early in her childhood. Her father was a loving man and it broke his heart when her mother and brother died. He was distant in the last years and unfortunately passed. Her grandmother Lyanna had always been her rock and when her father passed Lyanna suggested that Gwendolyn be warded to House Stark. Tobias agreed and at the age of eight Gwendolyn was sent Northward to Winterfell.

Learning quickly that she had different freedoms and restrictions here Gwendolyn quickly picked up on the lay of the land. In the ten years she has been at Winterfell she has trained and learned along side her Stark cousins Ashe, Griffith and little Beylee. She dances quite splendidly and her singing voice is quite good, however she refuses to sing in public. Too many ribbings from her cousins about tripping over words. To be fair they were teasing and she was young and they meant no harm. Her needle point needs work, she spends her time working on her knife work and archery.

Gwendolyn is a charming flirt and knows how to use it to her advantage. She and Beylee have an on again off again war that at one point nearly came to blows because Gwendolyn irritated Beylee about something inconsequential just to see if she could. Brandon stepped in and that was the end of that. They love each other but rub each other the wrong way at times.

If there was an example of hero worship it would be Gwendolyn's relationship with Ashe and Griffith, who comes in a very close second. She arrived at Winterfell a cousin but she is more of a little sister who wants to copy an older brother. While she can handle a sword she prefers knives. She has practiced flirting with her cousins friends finding it hysterical whenever Ashe and Griffith would get protective of her. The boys friends soon wised up and Gwendolyn has become dangerously bored… until they were told that they would be traveling to a tournament.

---

Rodon Greyjoy

Age: 27 (175 AC)

House/Affiliation: House Greyjoy (nominally); In truth, Rodon only serves himself

Appearance:
Although he isn’t the tallest of men, what Rodon lacks in stature he makes up with his unnaturally blue eyes. There are those who say that he can steal away a man’s soul with a single glance, but Rodon usually only needs a sharp axe to do that. His dark hair is always cut short, and he never wears a beard, though there are times where he has a bit of stubble. Rodon’s most identifying feature is his gruesome facial scar that he acquired as a boy; he has long since killed that man that had given him a second smile. He wears chain over boiled leather for adequate protection as well as ease of movement. During active combat, he wears dark gray plate which is well-worn and has seen countless battles, but bears no insignia, making him look more of a sellsword or pirate than a member of nobility - however, this isn’t especially uncommon for ironborn reavers.

Description & biography:
Born the youngest son of Lord Toron Greyjoy, Lord Reaper of Pyke; his mother was a Farwynd of the Lonely Light, claimed by many to be a skinchanger and sea witch, and it was from her that Rodon inherited his ethereal blue eyes. Rearing a child on Pyke amongst thralls, blackguards, and whoresons is a cutthroat ordeal, with many never reaching adulthood for a variety of… suspicious reasons. Rodon would kill for the first time at the age of five, when he pushed one of Lord Toron’s baseborn wretches off of the cliffs at Pyke for taking one of his toys. The bastard’s body was never found, which isn’t much of a surprise when one considers the crashing dark waves and sharp rocks below. Lord Toron was well-known for his violent rages, and had even beaten to death one of Rodon’s elder brothers for a relatively minor dispute. Fearful of incurring his father’s wrath, Rodon smuggled himself onto one of his cousin’s longships, which was preparing to reave the Disputed Lands the next day.

Rodon was still only a boy of five, and there was only so long that a child of his age could live off of the salted fish from the barrel that he hid in and drink the condensation that formed on the walls of the ship’s interior. Soon enough the boy tired of salted fish and began to rustle through some of the ship’s other provisions, at which point a thrall with muddy skin found him and dragged the young Kraken before his cousin. This Greyjoy scion was a man of low cunning and even fewer morals, and he put Rodon to work rowing with the thralls and bastards that were used as the longship’s oarsmen. As a grandson of the Red Kraken, Rodon was initially excited to be reaving with his kin, though his cousin’s sinister intentions for him would only become clear after they made port. Rodon would be promptly sold off to a Pentoshi slaver who had a… unique preference for young boys; his cousin having had no fear of Lord Toron caring about the fate of one of his lesser sons, and much preferred to pocket a hefty sum of gold than keeping an annoying brat aboard his longship.

The Pentoshi merchant lord would be found dead not long after, his throat ripped open not by sword or dagger, but by what looked like the sharp teeth of a savage, feral beast. Household servants and slaves would later be questioned by officials sent on the authority of one of the most wealthy magisters of Pentos - all attributed it to an ironborn boy that had been recently purchased as a slave. The merchant lord had the new slave brought to his chambers to give him pleasure and was later found dead the following morning. No traces could be found of the boy in question, almost as if he disappeared into the ether, or had never existed at all.

Rodon would reappear at Pyke nearly seven years later aboard a longship called Dark Inheritance, which looked quite similar to the same ship that Rodon’s cousin used to captain… The return of the lost kraken was quite the shock to his older brother Alton, who had ascended to the Seastone Chair after their father died in the years since Rodon’s disappearance. Apart from his brother, most wouldn’t have even recognized him if it wasn’t for his eerily blue eyes. Of course, the entire court at Pyke was obsessed with the return of the lost son of Lord Toron, mostly concerning where Rodon had been and how he had survived for all these years. However, Rodon wasn’t entirely unscathed, upon his face was a gruesome scar that stretched from the corner of mouth towards his right ear. When viewing the right side of face, the scar makes it almost appear that Rodon is locked into a perpetual grin. When he actually smiles, it’s even more terrifying. As for how he received the wound, rumors are abound that he paid the iron price for Dark Inheritance by disemboweling the cousin that sold him into slavery all those years ago - and the crew switched their loyalty to Rodon immediately afterwards; with blood streaming down his face, many proclaimed that the Red Kraken had come again.

What is dead may never die: there was nothing that remained of the boy that Rodon once was, much to Lord Alton’s dismay as it had become clear that a monster had returned in his brother’s place. Those that had followed him back to the Iron Islands did not only consist of the ironborn that defected to him after the capture of the Dark Inheritance; murderers, rapists, pirates, corsairs, and various other cutthroats from nearly every corner of the known world now filled out the crews of Rodon’s nascent reaving fleet. Although a pale comparison to the Iron Fleet, yet throughout much of the world Rodon’s raiders were just as feared, all the while flying his personal sigil - a blood-red Kraken with bright blue eyes. Apart from the ironborn, his crew were made up of godless men, yet they were fiercely loyal to their young captain. Much akin to a pack of wolves, they recognized Rodon’s feral and ruthless nature. Alone they were little better than pirates that exist only to be a minor nuisance to the great powers of the world. Together, under Rodon’s vicious leadership, they were an unstoppable scourge that could put fear in the hearts of smallfolk and highborn alike.

Rodon and his reavers have terrorized the seas of the known world from Hardhome to Yi Ti, and even the most godless of men manage to find a deity to pray to when they see his longships come for them. He has consorted with shadowbinders from Asshai, sorcerers from Yi Ti, and warlocks from Qarth. It was a great disappointment to Rodon when they died the same as all other men. Still, this curiosity continued when he forced a captured septon to anoint him with the seven oils to see if knighthood would confer him with any greater strength. When nothing happened, he threw the holy man into the sea to meet the Drowned God. In truth, Rodon is a hypocrite; sometimes he is the most pious man you’ll find outside of the acolytes of the Drowned God, and at other times, he engages in open mockery of all gods and faiths. This is likely part of his wild mood swings, which make him highly unpredictable and dangerous. Still, one would think he was blessed by the gods given his near supernatural ability to exploit the weaknesses of his targets at the worst possible times, and a similar talent of disappearing into the ether whenever a stronger force attempts to ambush him. Then again, perhaps everyone else is cursed and he is their divine retribution?

Rodon’s exploits have been numerous and legendary in a relatively short period of time, many of which are increasingly difficult to verify. Along with the men who flock to him to serve under his sails, he was served as both a sellsword and sellsail in many of the endless wars in Essos, and depending on how the winds blow, on both sides at times. Much like his wanderlust, he grows tired of women easily - though he has certainly left a string of bastards in his wake; after all, he is a lover of men, women, and creatures barely considered human. He seized the Stepstones and ruled them like the Iron Kings of old for nearly six months, during which time he engaged in a bloody feud with the Corsair King of the Basilisk Isles for dominance of the Summer Sea. However, they would eventually find common cause by putting a significant portion of the New Ghis fleet to the torch. There was even talk within Westeros about raising an army to expel him from the region due to how disruptive his rule was for the trade routes into the Narrow Sea. Ultimately, Rodon grew bored with kingship and vacated the islands after receiving hefty tribute from Lys, Tyrosh, and Myr.

There are reports that a part of Rodon’s fleet is reaving along the coast of the Summer Isles, though there has been no sightings of his flagship, or even of Rodon Greyjoy himself. Dark Inheritance was last seen in the port of Volantis, and since then, the blue-eyed Kraken’s whereabouts are completely unknown. Yet, there are persistent rumors among fishmongers, smugglers, and pirates that Rodon is finally making his return to Westeros; a prospect that is certain to fill more than a few with dread. Part of this might have to do with the fact that there’s a degree of political instability within the Iron Islands at the present moment. Lord Alton Grey has been proclaimed dead after attempting to cross the Sunset Sea, and his eldest son Dagon has become the new Lord Reaper of Pyke. Despite wishing to return to the Old Ways and normally finding common cause with his uncle, Lord Dagon might be eager to rid himself of a powerful political rival. Of course, Rodon’s aspirations and intentions are anyone’s best guess - what is certain is that an iron storm is coming for Westeros.

Lord Commander William Forrester
Age: 29 Born 173 AC

Appearance:


Description & biography: The Forrester's are vassals of vassals, forgotten of often and regarded very little but they are nobles and their charge is the Ironwood trees they watch over used for weapons, building, and more they are important to the economy of the north and slow to grow. Hence the careful cultivation of the trees and Forrester's expert knowledge of plants, animals, and growing in the north. Yet when you are the ninth child of a vassal of a vassal you have little chance to gain anything instead, you ready yourself and seek honor and meaning on the wall.

Once a talented Steward able to grow and cultivate food even in the worst terrains, his care for the peoples of the Gift and saw him rise among his brothers. As good with a shovel as he is a sword he became well liked for well managed stores and careful records keeping helping turn the usually motley bands they had into well feed and efficient fighting forces. When the previous Lord commander died it was well made speeches by his brothers and the food in their bellies that told them a man with a plan is better than one with balls and bravado. So Will became the Lord Commander, putting them to work to improve their holdings and grow their numbers. He recruits and sends wander crows sometimes with escorts to bring back many men and offer life in the embrace of brotherhood doing work that might save civilization.

Yet House Forrester knows things beyond their place and Will has heard the tales he brings his belief in the magic and strange things are still a foot. Dragons may be gone and magic rarer than ever before but beyond the wall? That world is older than old, more like it was before the first men built anything. No, Will knows their are things the Night's Watch will need for the days to come beyond men, spears, and swords. He questions things like the dragonglass daggers found in some of the old castles armories, why defenses are built to the rear even though the wildlings slip through often, or why so much magic went into building this wall again enemy that could be thrown back with so much less effort.

He intends to solve these, but first... He has a traitor to catch and hang from the top of the wall for all those who abandon their brothers to see.

Age: 41 (161 AC)

House/Affiliation: House Hogg

Appearance:
Ser Hogg is an ultimate specimen of a man. So tall and broad, he can do naught but loom over all. His body appears to have been carved and sculpted, every angle exact, every muscle carefully laid to place. His eyes sparkle like sunrises, his smile can turn from warm friendship to slow burning desire with just a flick of his lips. Few can resist his charms and none want to.

Description & biography:
Though from a small house of landed knights, he has gained recognition and renown over the past three decades. He has never wed nor even sought marriage. He does not pursue women, but does not deny any who pursue him. Men have challenged him, none have bested him. He travels alone, yet always ends his nights surrounded by friends. He is recognizable on sight, and whispered about long after he has left.

He is the most interesting man in Westeros.
He is Ser Baekyn Hogg.

Name: Prince Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers
Age: 27
Biography: Brynden was born in King’s Landing as the bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen and his sixth mistress, Lady Melissa Blackwood, who had replaced the king's fifth mistress, Lady Barba Bracken. Brynden's older sisters were Mya and Gwenys Rivers. Although Melissa was eventually dismissed by Aegon IV in favor of his seventh mistress, Lady Bethany Bracken, Brynden was able to maintain close relations at court because of Melissa's popularity. Like all his half-brothers, Brynden was legitimized by Aegon on his deathbed, an action that earned the late king the whispered epithet of ‘The Unworthy’.

Aegor “Bittersteel” had always been resentful of Brynden. Brynden’s mother had replaced Aegor’s own as the King’s preferred consort, and later on in life it was Brynden, not Aegor, who earned their half-sister Shiera’s favor. Despite being lithe in frame and weak compared to his brothers, Brynden was smart, cunning, ruthless, and he held some mysterious form of charisma; a force of personality that spurred others to do Lord Bloodraven’s bidding. There are many who have gone as far as to accuse the Master of Whisperers of sorcery, but Lord Bloodraven has only ever held the good of the realm in his heart.

Name: Lady Melissa "Missy" Blackwood
Age: 45
Biography: Both younger and prettier than Lady Barba (albeit far less buxom), as well as more modest, Missy has always had a kind heart and a generous nature that led even Queen Naerys herself – as well as the Dragonknight and Prince Daeron – to befriend her. During her “reign” as the king’s consort of choice, she bore King Aegon three bastards: Mya, Gwenys, and Brynden (Bloodraven) Rivers.

Eventually, Lady Barba Bracken would successfully plot to replace her with her younger sister, Lady Bethany as king’s consort, but good Lady Missy had powerful friends in court by then, and she continued to call the Red Keep home along with her three children.

Nowadays, she mostly works in advising her young son and Master of Whisperers. Lord Worm has many enemies, after all.

Name: Young Lord Bennifer Blackwood
Age: 14
Biography:Son of Otho Blackwood, young lord Bennifer is set to inherit Raventree Hall and Blackwood Vale upon his ten-and-sixth name day. The orphaned grandson of Lord Quentyn Blackwood who was slain in a tournament melee by Ser Otho Bracken, young lord Ben intends to become a knight in order to avenge his grandfather’s murder at Bracken’s hands, and to force a pact of peace with House Bracken through a marriage arrangement.

Young Lord Ben is the son of the late Ser Edmund Blackwood, who died of a sudden illness prior to his own father, Lord Quentyn. Ben also has three younger brothers: Robert (12), Roland (10) and Roger (8), with each brother being two years younger than the prior, and an older cousin Lorent (16) who rules over Muddy Hall in Blackwood lands.

Name: Late Lord Quentyn Blackwood
Age: 57 ✝
Biography: Lord Quentyn Blackwood ruled Blackwood Vale from Raventree Hall for 35 years before his ultimately untimely death at the hands of Ser Otho Bracken. House Blackwood and House Bracken have been traditional enemies to each other since time immemorial, and though the scheming between both Houses had been limited to the royal halls as of late, this death and the ultimate feelings of revenge instilled in the four Young Ravens, may lead to a true renewal of hostilities between both Houses.

House Reed of Greywater Watch

Trees Speak. Shadows Live.

House Description:
Greywater Watch, also known as Greywater, is the seat of House Reed in the north. It is roughly located in an eastern headwater of the Green Fork in the swamps of the Neck, southwest of Moat Cailin. It is a Castle built upon a crannog, one of the man-made floating islands of the swamps, and it does not stay in the same place, making it impossible for ravens or enemies to find.

The crannogmen are so called for their habit of living in small villages formed of reeds and thatch that sit atop floating islands in the mire (crannogs). They are a poor people and seldom leave their lands, subsisting on fishing and frogging. Some claim the crannogmen's smaller size is because of intermarriage with the children of the forest, while others attribute their size to poor nutrition.

Crannogmen are talented hunters and warriors. Despite their short stature and somewhat primitive lifestyle, they have proven notoriously difficult people to conquer. They wield nets, bronze knives, three-pronged frog spears, and round leather shields. They use guerrilla tactics and have a mastery of their difficult terrain. According to those who have fought them, their houses, even their castles, move.

Crannogmen are looked down upon by most other people of the Seven Kingdoms for their tactics, which are viewed as cowardly. Ironborn claim that crannogmen poison their weapons and smear them with feces and worse things. Even a graze by a poisoned arrow can be deadly. The swamp-dwellers are disparaged as "frog-eaters" and "mud-man”, while ironborn refer to them as bog devils. Crannogmen are well acquainted with House Frey of the Twins, who control the crossing of the Green Fork. Riverfolk allege that crannogmen can breathe water, have green teeth, and have webbed hands and feet like frogs.

The histories say that the crannogmen grew close to the children of the forest in the days when the greenseers tried to bring the hammer of the waters down upon the Neck. The crannogmen and their Marsh Kings held Moat Cailin against southron invaders. They swore oaths of fealty to the Starks thousands of years ago, when King Rickard Stark slew the last Marsh King and took his daughter as wife.

The crannogmen are now ruled by House Reed from Greywater Watch. Other families of crannogmen are Houses Blackmyre, Boggs, Cray, Fenn, Greengood, Peat, and Quagg.[4]

They have a feud with House Frey, who have ruled the lands immediately to the south in the northern riverlands for the last six centuries.

Recent History:
Not much is known about House Reed for they keep their secrets close. Most recently they sent their only daughter to the House to ward at Winterfell. She began her wardship as a favor to her Grandmother who thought her niece Beylee could use more girls around her age after the Carmyne girl was awarded to Brandon Stark. This has been the most interaction outside of combat that the Neck has seen.

Family Members:

• Tor Reed: 50 born 152 AC.
• Moyra Tallheart Reed: 45 born 1157 AC.
• Carden Reed: 25 born 177 AC. A quiet serious man.
• Saerek Reed: 20 born 182 AC. Currently in Oldtown earning his Rings.
• Tomlyn Reed: 17 born 185 AC. A bit of a snot but kind in his own way.
• Sasja Reed: 15 born 187 AC (see character section below)
• ]Sarra Stark Reed: 67 born 135 AC. Grandmother to the Reed children.

Household Members:

• Joren Hull Master at Arms: 40 born 162 AC. Sweet but firm man that was Sasja’s first teacher in weapons.
• Lorris Hull Bowman: 37 born 165 AC. Wife of Joren and silent bowman of great skill.
• Jeson Bouge Kennel Master: 45 born 157 AC. Strict and stern man save for with his animals.

Name: Sasja Reed
Age: 15 born 187 AC
House/Affiliation: House Reed of Greywater & House Stark
Description & Biography: Sasja is small and looks young for her age like many Crannogmen. Barely breaking past five feet in height. Combined with her lean and athletic build she could potentially pass for a boy at first glance if not for the softening features of her hair and face. She prefers to keep her hair in a sensible braid or single tail when out hunting, camping or fighting and would have cut it short some time ago if her mother and grandmother wouldn’t have thrown a fit over it. Lately at the insistence of the more ladylike members of Winterfell’s court she’s been learning to wear it down, with some difficulty. Her eyes are a soft olive green and her skin is freckled but pale from time spent in the shadowy canopy cover and murky mists of the Neck. She usually wears practical hunting clothes or light but sturdy cloth and leather armor that won’t slow her down even if she’s climbing trees or falls into the brackish swamps of her homeland.

As the youngest child and only daughter of House Reed, Sasja grew up wanting to be a hunter and a warrior more than anything, especially after she was told stories of the Children of the Forest’s Wood Dancers and other bits of the old lore. This was less unusual among the Crannogmen, where a mix of the old culture of the Children, the harsh swamps and poor farming meant that men and women often had to hunt and fight together to survive. Sasja spent her earliest childhood trailing after Joren and Lorris Hull, a couple serving as her father’s Master at Arms and most skilled huntress respectively. Under their watchful eyes she learned all the traditional fighting arts of the Crannogmen including frogspear, knife and net fighting from Joren and eventually archery and general marksmanship from Lorris, all of which she took to with a passion.

Sasja’s overall education was so far sporadic and highly self-driven, much to the horror of her mother and grandmother and the amused exasperation of her Maester-in-training older brother. She has trouble sitting still for lessons on lineage or etiquette and couldn’t care less about fashion except for the impracticality of so many of the nobility’s popular outfits. She finds poetry a bore apart from old epics and improvising dirty limericks and mocking jibes. Her singing voice is excellent and pure but used mostly for Crannogmen hunting songs and bawdy soldier’s tunes. She can barely ride a horse, dances like a one-legged toad and has even worse sewing skills. In short, up until she was packed off to Winterfell she was a complete failure as a proper noble lady.

On the other hand all her awkwardness and inattentiveness melts away when she’s properly engaged in her element. She’s memorized everything her brother Saerek and mentor Loriss had to teach her about plants and animals and their uses in poisons, antidotes and medicine. She’s graceful and agile when moving through the near impassable marshlands of the Neck and can swim like a fish, climb like a monkey and move from shadow to shadow without making a sound if she focuses. While she’s somewhat lacking in social graces, she was able to learn the hand signs that Lorris uses to communicate easily and has been trying to teach them to her cousins at Winterfell. The same hands that fail at sewing can weave together lashings for a raft or lean-to and draw detailed pictures of plants, animals and people’s faces from memory. She’s even got an excellent sense of direction in spite of her usual inability to pay attention. Still, her lack of ladylike refinement was ultimately what got her sent to Winterfell and the Starks at age ten, her mother and Grandma Stark framing the trip as ‘saving’ her daughter from life as an unmarriable wild tomboy while her father more gently agreed that it would do her some good to get out and see the wider world beyond the Neck and maybe gain some perspective.

Since arriving in Winterfell five years ago she’s become like another Stark child, helped along by her blood relationship to the family and being the same age as Beylee Stark. She’s no less of a tomboy but has started to take her education more seriously, thanks in part to encouragement by her fellow ward Gwen Carmyne. She’s closest to Gwen and Beylee and often caught in the middle of the two’s frequent sibling wars, with which side she joins in on or whether she’s trying to restore the peace changing from incident to incident.

Lately, Sasja has been troubled by strange foreboding dreams, snippets of things she doesn’t understand and glimpses through the eyes of animals, though she always wakes before too long.

Name: Rylen Tyrell
Age: 35
Appearance:


Standing at a height of 6ft2, Rylen has always been the tallest of his brothers despite being the youngest. He would strike an imposing figure if not for his laidback, nonchalant attitude. Classic brunette curls atop his head, his head was shorn close to the scalp when he returned from Essos but he has let it, along with his beard, grow out of late. Scars are dotted about his body which he likes to point at and laugh (but fail to explain how he got them). Though age is beginning to creep up on him, he was born much later than his brothers and still has some liveliness about him.

Biography:

Born the third and youngest brother to Leo and Rycherd Tyrell, Rylen was never expected to live up to high expectations, or at least he decided from a young age that it would be more fun to set the bar low for himself. Whilst his two elder brothers were dutiful and hardworking, Rylen has always been much more relaxed, preferring to take every day as it comes. He once even went missing for two days when he drank too much and fell asleep in the middle of Highgardens maze. This however, is not to say that he is completely useless. Charming and able to speak with a natural ease, Rylen has always had the ability to talk nearly anyone into anything. There were many avenues in life this could've taken the young rose - the advisor to a lord or king, merchant, the leader of a ragtag crew of misfits & heathens. But life had another path for Rylen...

When he was but 17, he met and fell in love with with Rhea of House Reyne. Theirs was a whirlwind romance, not driven by political motivations or forced upon by voyeuristic family members. No, they were truly in love and after a courtship of only 4 months, were due to marry. Until...disaster struck! Rhea, by what was deemed to be an accident, fell out of one of the highest windows in Castamere. She was instantly dead, head crushed and all that. Rylen however was absolutely and unequivocally convinced it was not an accident. Of course, he had no idea who was behind it but he was sure it must have been foul play. Yet neither his family nor the Reynes believed it, quickly turning to other matters once she had been laid to rest. His frustrations grew and he knew he had not the skills to find out for himself. So he left.

Still a boy not yet having reached his 18th year, Rylen stowed aboard a merchants ship to Essos. He had little money, save for the small pouch of gold he had been able to grab and life was at first, difficult. Rylen does not speak much of this time, save for pointing out the few small scars he got. But he was young and had a sharp mind and even sharper tongue. He became a dab hand at trading, learnt more languages can he could count on both hands, and acquired a very decent tan.

There are many rumours regarding his essosi exploits. That he entered the House of black and white, that he took a Lysene wife and together they ran a pleasure house, that he learnt   bastardised High Valarian from a Tyroshi merchant, and that he was highly important in the Myrish lace trade. Rylen only laughs when these rumours are brought up, neither confirming or denying the tales. It is up to others to decide what may or may not be true.

Rylen finally returned at the age of 34, somehow having heard of his brothers death, and has remained in Westeros ever since. Now he lives a life of luxury. Occassionally he will go travelling but most often he can be found at Highgarden, paying no mind to political affairs and mostly working on his tan. There are also mutterings that he is writing a book about his exploits, but again in response to these he simply smiles and slathers on more oil.