[OOC] Game of Thrones : The Pact of Ice and Fire (Always Open)

[Greenie]

@Greenie Did you have any interest playing other Greyjoy characters as well?

@MrDidact

Hmm... maybe later on in the game. I'm going to keep it to one character for starters, so I don't end up overwhelming myself.

[Masterkeun]

@MrDidact The deal presumably was done by Jon so if you feel a different house would make sense you could send him there. The Bolton's would presumably torture him to keep him in line, but again it's not necessary if you want to send him somewhere else.

[MrDidact]

@Greenie So would your character be involved in all the Iron Island madness or are they travelling?

@Masterkeun It would make most sense for a hostage like Malkor to be sent to live with either the Starks, the Tullys, or even to King's Landing. Even if they tried to be amiable to him, I could see Malkor developing a very personal grudge with Jon.

The Boltons have a familial history of torture, but with Ramsay dead, I don't really know if the tradition would be as strong. It's not like there's some kind of torture gene, that would be something that would depend on their upbringing. And Roose was a sadist but I don't think he tortured noble sons for shits and giggles. Domeric Bolton actually seemed like a nice kid.

[Masterkeun]

@MrDidact Sounds fine to me :) starks are fine since Mable was sent to the tully's and King landing got Steffon, I'll make the changes now

[bloonewb]

Hello! Reporting for duty!

[MrDidact]

@Masterkeun Once you do that, I think you're pretty much good to go and post in the CS tab.

@bloonewb Good to see you, still wanting to work on the Boltons?

@Xyo Still interested in playing?

[bloonewb]

@MrDidact Yep. I'm about halfway through the Char sheet now.

[Greenie]

@Greenie So would your character be involved in all the Iron Island madness or are they travelling?

@MrDidact

She's going to be a traveller. She'll have visited the Iron Island and probably lived there for a bit, but ultimately she's a traveller. Basically someone looking for... Something. A purpose. I'll be mentioning where she's travelled in her bio. No work tomorrow so I can work on the sheet later tonight. ^^

[bloonewb]

Here he is! My Bolton, complete with goatee!

House Bolton

House Bolton

Our Blades are Sharp

Region: The North
Liege: N/A
Holding: Castle Ethering

Recent History: The house of Bolton was very powerful approaching the long night. A tactical assassination left them with the entire paramountcy of the North. With the coming of the long night, Daenerys Targaryen pressed her claim on Westeros, and House Bolton was eager to change to the winning side. The Boltons had hoped to establish a peace agreement with the new queen, thus firmly cementing their place as Lords Paramount of the North with the backing of royalty, but then unexpected events led to their downfall. As it turns out, the supposed bastard son of Ned Stark, Lord Commander on the Wall, was actually the son of Rhaegar Targaryen. He renounced his rightful place on the wall, and forsook his vows by marrying the queen and having children. He got to Daenerys first, and told them an obviously false story of the alleged Bolton treachery. She broke the peace agreement with the Boltons and sent an army led by King Jon to sack Winterfell and the Dreadfort, driving the line largely into the ground.

Family Members:

Name: William Bolton

Age: 24

Appearance: At first glance, William is the spitting image of his grandfather, down to the shocking gauntness, the utter paleness of his skin, and the milky irises of his eyes that never seem to blink. Standing at a towering 6'5", he looks down upon almost everyone in the world in multiple senses of the phrase. One of his most distinctive features is his facial hair, which forms a ring around his mouth.

Role: Claimant of the Dreadfort

Equipment: The ancestral blade of Bolton, a sword, and some plate armor.

Skills: Like his form, William's mind reflects that of his ancestors. He has a keen eye for detail, and knows immediately if something seems off just by looking at him. However, ancestry gives and takes away, and William is also insanely paranoid, believing that all encouragements are lies and all comments are threats.

Biography: William is the last of the line of Boltons, claiming blood from Ramsay and Roose before him. When the Starks returned to Winterfell, led by Jon, Ramsay stayed behind to make an insane final stand where he met his end. Jeyne, under the custody of the Starks, gave birth in her prison chambers to William, who miraculously survived the dark unclean environment. Of course, nobody in the North had any desire to ward this child, borne of their enemies. So reluctantly, he was allowed to stay a ward of Winterfell, where a close eye could be kept on him. When Sansa left to oversee the Dreadfort, she took William with her, and granted him the humble castle of Ethering, where he has ruled since.

Notes:

[MrDidact]

@Greenie Look forward to reading it!

@bloonewb It's a pretty good sheet, but I have just a few minor quibbles.

1) I think it fits more that Jon would have taken on the Boltons after Stannis had a go, like in the show with the Battle of the Bastards. I can't really see Jon running to Daenerys for help instead of rallying his forces and I find the idea of Bran leading an army well... unlikely to say the least. I feel like the Boltons would have been taken care of before Daenerys landed on Westeros and things ramped up with Cersei. Plus since this is trying to stick to canon, Jeyne should already have been in Stark custody since she ran away with Theon.

2) It doesn't seem likely that the child would have just been sent away with the Starks just hoping for the best. That basically never happens when a child potentially poses a threat. Realistically, he would have been taken as a hostage and raised with the Starks. He might have been given a castle of his own, and this could be that Castle Ethering (I see no reference to it in canon).

3) So he wouldn't have the Dreadfort but he'd still vie for it. Your concept made him seem more like a manipulator than a warrior, so it would make more sense for him to be scheming instead of leading an army. Like he's pretending to be a loyal vassal but he's really planning on betraying the Starks, just like Roose. That's more believable than him somehow suddenly finding out he's a Bolton, somehow proving it to a bank, and than somehow marching an army big enough to besiege a major castle without any warning from the spies the Iron Throne has. It'd also improve his long-term survivablity a lot since I don't think a rogue lone upstart would survive a one-man war against the North and the Iron Throne. Especially since he's supposed to be smart, I think he'd rather scheme than jump straight to conquest.

Alternatively you could have him be more subtly vying for the Dreadfort by trying to get in the good graces of the Starks and Targaryens instead of trying to undermine them or openly rebel. So he might be kind of loyal but also looking out for himself above everything. Also your character can have a sweet ancestral flaying knife.

That's just my thoughts on it, otherwise I think you have a good concept.

[bloonewb]

@MrDidact

Aye, I'll get to changing my character sheet now. Castle Ethering isn't in the books or show, but if you play the Westeros mod for CK2, it's a small castle right next to the Dreadfort. Should I have William whisper poison into Sansa's ears instead?

[Gowi]

Or maybe William can be a heroic and chill dude in spite of his ancestry! Just a thought.

[MrDidact]

@bloonewb I think literally doing so seems well logistically improbable, but figuratively seems more workable :P

Seriously though, I like the idea that William kind of becomes a Varys type character. Seemingly friendly and loyal, and perhaps even helpful; but ultimately has his own agenda.

@Gowi Just once, I think there should be an at-least non-hostile Bolton Lord. Break the vicious cycle.

[Gowi]

Just once, I think there should be an at-least non-hostile Bolton Lord. Break the vicious cycle.

@MrDidact

In the Crusader Kings II mod, I played Roose's daughter (who somehow survived) who essentially was a good person. The whole North still tried to usurp me. Sent a lot of dudes to The Wall.

[MrDidact]

@Gowi Exactly, that adds more to make the story morally ambiguous. A decent character gets looked down on by their peers, who are also usually decent, just because their family has a bad rap.

[Greenie]

@MrDidact Under the Dorne heading there was this

Near the river Greenblood, the Faith of Mother Rhoyne is gaining vitality and many speak of adherents learning the art of water magic.

What kind of water magic would this be?

Also >.< My character's bio got a little too large *scratches head*. Would that be a problem?

[Greenie]

Here's my character.

Taria Snow

Name: Taria Snow

Age: 28

Affiliation: House Greyjoy


Appearance:
Taria is around 5 and a half feet tall and about 130 lbs.

Profession: Wanderer, will work for coin (except prostitution).

Equipment: Taria is not really a picky sort of person. The weapons she carries vary from time to time. If one's broken, she'll leave it to pick up another. She could very well have a longsword one day and a dagger the next.

At the starting of the roleplay, she will have two hunting knives like this.

She has a fur lined cloak, a satchel filled with unperishable foods and an extra pair of clothes, and a skin for water.

Skills: Having travelled most of her life, Taria is strong and hardy. One could call her the jack (of jill?) of all trades. To make coin, she's dabbled in all sorts of jobs during her travels. She can defend herself with a blade, she can build a camp, she can navigate land easily, and she can handle a small ship by herself.

She has nimble fingers and can be a skilled thief when she means to, though as she grew older, her thieving skills were pushed to the side.

She is very observant, even when it seems as if she's not paying attention. Her eyes and ears pick up things quite easily, so she knows where to gather information from while remaining inconspicuous. She also has a strong memory, remembering things others forget or deem unworthy of remembering.

Biography: Theon Greyjoy had been known as a man with prowess in bed. It was only natural, then, that he had left behind some sown seeds that came to bloom. Taria was one of these bastards. She was born to a prostitute in a brothel near Winterfell and was duly forgotten by her father. Granted, the situation taking place throughout the world at large at the time of her birth was rather severe. A war had just started and continued on for most of her infant and toddler years. Winterfell fell twice, once by her own father's hands, and next by the Bolton. By the time it returned to the Starks, Taria was already nearing three years of age. In fact, it was quite a surprise she managed to survive all the turmoil in the North as well as the War for the Dawn.

Peace was thankfully restored by the time Taria was around ten years of age, and as such, life returned to normal. Her mother hadn't stopped 'working' during all this time, so there was not much attachment between her and Taria. One thing that she had however told her daughter was that her father was the Commander at Castle Black. It wasn't a thing of pride, really, but it did incite curiousity in the girl. If there was one thing she knew, it was that she was never going to make money with her body like her mother. While she remained at the brothel, she continued to clean, earning coin and stealing when she could.

She was thirteen when deemed old enough to work alongside her mother. By this time, however, Taria had stashed away enough coin with which she could travel from Winterfell. She followed the King's Road northward, at first wishing to reach Castle Black and confront her father. However, after some months of travelling alone (as she didn't exactly trust men to leave a girl alone), she decided it wasn't worth the cold. What exactly would she ask him? It wasn't like she was the only Snow. There were plenty of bastards around, there wasn't anything special about her.

Her journey to Castle Black cut prematurely, Taria decided to head southwards this time around, once more travelling the King's Road. Unlike the way north, she found travelling this way quite easier and much more enjoyable, to the extent that she took her sweet time. She travelled through Moat Cailin, heading to the coast and staying there for a while. Perhaps it was here where she first encountered her love for water and ships. She didn't stay too long, however, returning to the King's Road and keeping away from the mountains, heading the Trident's way instead. From there she headed westward, stopping at Riverrun for a while before continuing onward to Banefort. It would seem that sometime during her travels, she had decided to visit the Iron Islands.

By the time she did reach Pyke, Taria was sixteen years of age. She had always been a tough and careful sort of lass, and now even more so. She met with her Aunt Asha, though didn't expect to be included in the family by any means. She knew better than that. She did, however, swear fealty to House Greyjoy, impressed with the fact that the blood of such strong people flowed within her. She also attributed her love for the sea to her blood. She stayed in the Iron Islands for a few years but eventually left. It wasn't like she did not wish to help, but there was nothing she, a simple bastard, could do to help, at least not in a military sense.

Taria's travels started once more, this time however by sea. By now she was nearing twenty-two years of age. Her time at Pyke and the Iron Islands in general taught her much about seafaring and fighting with a weapon. She was by no means a master, but she could hold her own for certain, at least that is what she believed. Navigating was the hardest hurdle she had to face, which forced her to keep her ship close the various western coasts. As such, she travelled north the Sunset Sea and then headed east to the coast of Dorne, where she docked for a good full year.

Her next journey took her north. She managed to sail past the Stepstones and the Broken arm fairly easily. However, to reach her next destination, Storm's End, she had to sail through Shipbreaker Bay, where unfortunately her ship did break. She barely managed to swim to safety and would have probably perished if she hadn't been found by folks passing by. Taria didn't get to meet Ser Davos, obviously, but at least she was alive and with a new respect for her life.

Once she had recuperated enough, the Greyjoy bastard decided perhaps it was time to stay on land for a little while. In truth, she was a little wary of sea travel now but didn't wish to admit it, even to herself. King's Landing was her next destination. Despite herself, she found it quite interesting. It was obviously a hub where she came in contact with people from all over, the King and Queen lived here above them all, and then there were the dragons. Seafaring pushed to the side, Taria took odd jobs here and there, enough to assure herself some food and a bed at night.

[MrDidact]

@Greenie The World of Ice and Fire book talks about Rhoynish Water Mages that managed to resist the dragons. We aren't given any more information than that, but given that the Rhoynar worshiped the River I kind of imagine them to be an aquatic analogy to the Red Priests.

There's no such thing as too long a bio in Advanced Roleplay, your character sheet is gold, put 'er in the CS tab.

[Greenie]

@MrDidact Awesome, thanks! :D

As for the magicky part, probably something I'll look into for way later in the RP ^_^

[bloonewb]

@MrDidact He wants his fort back. Is that so bad? Also, I already made a good and loyal Bolton character in a previous RP.

Also, why does Sansa have land? Isn't she Tyrion's wife?