Lord Bayard Royce

[Horas]

FIRST

Name: Lord Bayard Royce, called Bayard the Blind.
Age: 45. b. 655
Region: The Vale.

Skills:
Master Intrigue
Noteworthy Stewardship
Noteworthy Persuasion
Apprentice Law
Apprentice Valyrian
Novice Higher Mysteries
Novice Engineering
Beginner Music
Beginner Drinking

Reputation:
A tragedy befell Bayard and his house as a child. Bayard was only five years old, on a morning ride with his Lord father and a few retainers when they were brutally attacked. Lord Emmen was killed in the fight that followed. Bayard was terribly maimed -- one of the assassins slashed him across the face with his sword, blinding him. The boy only survived because the wound was grave enough that he was assumed dead. The attackers wore the garb of clansmen, but were suspiciously well armed and trained, and many speculated that it was a deliberate assassination.

A regent was appointed for the young boy. But while the man ruled fairly at first, his position made him power hungry. Soon rumors began to circulate that tragic Bayard, now fourteen years of age, would abdicate his lordship in favor of a monastic lifestyle. Apparently Bayard heard the rumors, and disagreed with them; he quietly raised his own supporters, who arrested the regent by force. The regent was thrown out of the Moon Door, and Bayard has ruled in his own name ever since.

Since that time, Lord Royce has been quietly consolidating his power, forging bonds with other noble houses through marriage and raising wards. He is a noted patron of the arts, and it is said that the poets, singers, sculptors, and chefs in his court are unparalleled anywhere else in the Seven Kingdoms. And a few, if they were paying attention, might notice that for a sightless man, Lord Royce seems to have eyes everywhere...

Appearance: Lord Bayard Royce is a tall, striking man. He does not have the muscled arms of a warrior, but has kept himself fit. Minus his scar, Bayard has classically handsome, noble features, with a patrician’s nose and dark hair graying at the temples. But of course the first thing that anyone notices is the brutal slash that runs horizontally across his face. His eyes are a terrible ruin surrounded by heavy scarring.

Lord Royce’s clothes are not flashy, but always of the very highest quality. He carries an intricately engraved bronze cane, but rather than leaning on it, he holds it before him, occasionally tapping the ground below.

[Horas]

SECOND

Name: Ser Crawley the Crawfish Knight
Age: 26

Skills:
Expert Intrigue
Noteworthy Sword
Noteworthy Espionage
Apprentice Land Battle
Novice Lance
Novice Archery
Beginner Athletics
Beginner Posions

History: Ser Crawley is common as mud, but the way he tells it he comes from a rich and powerful line of crawdads. He grew up on the banks of some nameless river in the Vale, and likely would have died there had he not one day fished up the corpse of some knight. Being a practical sort of lad, he reappropriated the tools of the man’s trade to his own benefit, made up a new name, title, and sigil, and set out into the world as a hedge knight.

Self-taught, Crawley nonetheless learned very quickly. He had no courtly manners, but he was easy to talk to and drink with. He had no booksmarts, but was clever enough to outfox those who did. At some point he also discovered that as a breed, knights and nobles were very stupid and gullible people who relied on imaginary things like chivalry.

Over the years, Crawley has done quite a few odd jobs, many not strictly legal, and considers himself a freelance jack of all trades. He associates, and occasionally leads, the Knights of the Flagon, a loose group of sellsword knights better known for their drunk and disorderly conduct than their martial valor.

Physical Description: Crawley has an open, honest face. He looks younger than his years, with large goofy ears, though he is not entirely uncomely in a boyish way. He has a lackadaisical air about him. He commonly wears beaten old armor, distinguished only by his large lobstered gauntlets, painted bright red.

Reputation: Crawley is essentially an unknown, but a few might have heard of some of the exploits of his mercenaries in the Stepstones. Those who scrutinize his movements for a long period of time may notice that he will on occasion meet with a few associates who work for people far higher up on the food chain...

[Horas]

THIRD

Name: Cassar Saras
Age: 39

Skills:
Apprentice Sword
Apprentice Healing
Apprentice Espionage
Novice Westerosi
Beginner Crossbow
Beginner Poisons

A foreigner of Volantene extraction, Cassar was sent to the Vale at a young age as part of an information-gathering initiative by an overzealous Triarch. Somewhere along the way, however, Cassar flipped, and now he works for Lord Bayard Royce. He shares his master's interest in learning, and over the years has dabbled in a number of useful arts, though he is a master at none of them. Cassar has no official job description, but near anyone who wishes to speak to Lord Bayard must go through the Volantene first, and his duties fall somewhere between bodyguard, secretary, and butler.

Physical Description: A slim, dark, and very neat man. He is always ostensibly polite, but does not particularly bother to hide the layer of condescension underneath. His black eyes are very sharp, and never stop moving.

Reputation: Lord Royce's eyes.

Skills updated 9/19/13: RP skill gain.

[Horas]

NPCs

At the Eyrie

Lady Kara Royce (nee Baratheon), 42, is the wife of Lord Royce and the daughter of Lord Baratheon. Kara is a friendly woman, lacking the walls of most people. She will happily chat with and tease even new acquaintances, and that combined with her fondness of drink has made her well-liked but given her a somewhat unladylike reputation. Short and busty, Kara was once a beauty, but the years have lent her a more matronly quality. She is proud of her long black hair, which has yet to develop a gray hair.

Ser Josiah Corbray, 18, is the fourth son of House Corbray, a newly minted knight with grand dreams of tourney fame. A handsome young man with wavy brown hair and blue eyes, he has little actual battle experience but is modestly talented with sword and lance. He was recently named Lord Bayard's sworn shield, a title which he is very proud of.

At White Harbor

Lord Mandon Sunderland, 39, is the lord of the Three Sisters. Isolated from the Vale proper, the Three Sisters have a reputation as a smuggler's haven. Lord Mandon was fostered at the Eyrie alongside Bayard Royce, and came to see him as an older brother. Though Mandon sees himself as a sailor and Captain first, Bayard trusts him and has found his diplomatic talents useful -- particularly in regards to the North, with which Sunderland has had extensive dealings.

The Knights of the Flagon

Ser Matthos Keath, 33, is the Crawfish Knight's second... or maybe it is the other way around. As Crawley once remarked to a bewildered employer, "Commanderin's tirin' work. It helps to take turns." Ser Matthos is a capable swordsman and commander, but is principally known for his cruelty. Matthos was reportedly vile enough to be run out of his own house, the notoriously boisterous Keaths of the Riverlands, and he wears a thief's brand on the back of his right hand like a badge of honor. Keath is tall, powerfully built, and handsome in a rough-hewn way.

[Horas]

Skills and NPCs updated.