Horas Blackwood and Associates

[Horas]

Name: Horas Blackwood

Age: b. 478 (Currently 44)

Nationality: Riverlands

Byname: The Crow

Skills:

Legendary Intrigue

Master Poisions

Expert Healing
Expert Negotiation

Apprentice Disguises
Apprentice Courtesy
Apprentice Languages

Novice Higher Mysteries
Novice Stewardship

Beginner Riding
Beginner Daggerwork
Beginner Swordsmanship


Personal History: As a boy, Horas Blackwood was a meek and mild-mannered child who preferred a good book to a sturdy lance. As the nephew of Lord Terrence Blackwood he stood to inherit little, and his father found it unlikely that he would distinguish himself with the sword. And so at a very young age Horas was sent off to Oldtown to begin his training as a Maester.

Here Horas distinguished himself; he was quick-witted and studious, and rose rapidly. Even so, few thought he would ever amount to anything more than a particularly useful Maester. While Horas progressed quickly in all the required subjects, he soon developed a particular passion for one of the few things the masters did not truly understand – the so called Higher Mysteries. This interest led him to become friends with the future Grand Maester Nehmen, who shared his near obsessive interest in the subject. Horas left the Citadel before he completed his chain, leaving only a vague note about heading east across the Narrow Sea to further his studies.

Horas Blackwood spent fifteen years in the east, though he talks very little about them. Upon his return to Westeros, Horas began taking up duties in service to his house. He quickly gained the trust of his uncle Terrence and his cousin Warren for his sharp political eye and skill in negotiation. When a Baratheon king returned to the throne and House Blackwood looked on the brink of destruction, it was Horas who negotiated a peace settlement that left the Blackwoods as Lords Paramount of the Riverlands and Horas Blackwood as the king’s Master of Whisperers.

Few men can claim to have influenced the politics of Westeros in recent years as much as Lord Horas Blackwood. Horas has been both Hand and Regent to the King; he has started wars and ended them; he has toppled the reigns of his enemies and risen others of his choice in their place. He is responsible in part or in whole for the deaths of such notables as Lord Francis Varner, Lord Emmon Barclay, Princess Emelia Martell, Lord Lyas Bolton… and the list goes on.

Horas’ downfall came when he attempted to usurp the Regency of Lord Benfry Smith. While his coup was initially successful, eventually Blackwood’s gambit failed when Smith escaped and Horas’ allies began switching sides. His cause hopeless, Horas Blackwood committed suicide in an inferno that engulfed the Regent’s tower of the Red Keep.

Or so Westeros thinks… But the Crow is a tricksy bird.


Physical Description: Horas is a short, slim man with light brown hair and pale blue eyes. His features are generally not particularly remarkable, and his face rarely betrays his emotions.

Horas would almost be forgettable if not for the eccentricities he picked up in the East. Most noticeable of these are his lips, permanently stained blue. They give Horas a foreign, and occasionally sinister, look.

Reputation: Few men have a reputation fouler than that of Horas Blackwood. While once he was known as a coldly intelligent but useful man, his attempted coup has demonized him to the greater part of Westeros. He has been called a murderer, a poisoner, a coward, and a power-hungry traitor. He is known as utterly ruthless and supremely cold. If Blackwood has emotions at all, he does not show them, and there is nothing he is not capable of doing if he deems it necessary. Luckily, however, the man is dead. His corpse was recovered from the Red Keep, after all… and not even the Crow can outwit death itself, can he?


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CHARACTER'S SECOND

Name: Marei Swiftwaters.
Age: Unknown, likely in her early twenties.
Nationality: The Crownlands.

Skills:
Master Espionage
Expert Stealth
Noteworthy Knives
Apprentice Disguises
Novice Stewardship
Novice Crossbow
Beginner Swords
Beginner Leadership

Physical Description: Young. Brunette. Pretty, but not dazzling, with a face that is ultimately forgettable.

Reputation: Best known for her service to Lord Horas Blackwood and her brief stint as the kingdom's Master of Whisperers while Francis Varner was presumed dead. Disappeared after Horas Blackwood's death. Current location unknown.

[Horas]

THIRD

Name: Torrhen Keath

Age: Born in 502. (Currently 21)

Nationality: The Riverlands

Skills:

Master (doubly improved) Axeman
Master Throwing Axes
Novice Battle
Beginner Riding

History: Born the sixth son of Lord Horton Keath, Torrhen had little chance of inheriting his father's holdings. At age fifteen, he left his home to work as a sellsword. At seventeen he entered the service of Lord Horas Blackwood, and soon became his personal bodyguard. Prior to the fall of King's Landing, he slew Lord Walder Frey. When the Red Keep was taken, Torrhen was sentenced to the Wall.

Keath spent several months on the Wall before deserting. He is currently at large.

Physical Description: Torrhen Keath is tall and slim, with unkempt hair that often falls across his face. His eyes are blue and hooded and his facial features are harsh.

Reputation: Known for once serving the Crow. As a deserter of the Night's Watch, he can expect only death if he is caught.

[Horas]

Name: Ser Jory Piper

Age: Born 501 (23)

Nationality: The Riverlands

Byname: None

Skills:
Noteworthy Sword
Noteworthy Ambushing
Apprentice Bow
Apprentice Dog Breeding/Training
Novice Stealth
Novice Lance
Beginner Riding
Beginner Disguise

History: Cousin to Lord Burqe Piper, though also his heir until his cousin produces children, Jory Piper was born and raised at Pinkmaiden. An adventurous and persuasive child from a young age, Jory managed to convince his parents to take him all across Westeros. When he was old enough he continued to sate his wanderlust as a roaming knight errant, though he would always return to Pinkmaiden in time. He has picked up all manner of interesting skills and made an interesting variety of friends in his travels.

Physical Description: Jory is of average height and build, with short brown hair and twinkling green eyes. A grin which can be best described as "quirky" often plays about his mouth. He prefers chainmail and leather to plate, and can never be found without one of his two kite shields. Both bear the dancing pink maiden of House Piper; one with wisps of silk covering the naughty bits ("For when children and ladies are present), and one with nothing at all ("For those long nights on the open road").

Reputation: Ser Jory Piper is not a well known name, yet the man somehow seems to know an innkeep or washerwoman in every hodunk village in Westeros. Most of his peers regard him as a trifle strange, though thoroughly entertaining.