Lord Simon Tarly, et al.

[Sam]

First

Character Name: Lord Simon Tarly
Character Age: 23 (b. 548)
Character Nationality: Andal (Reachman)

Character Skills:
Legendary Battle Commander
Grandmaster Swordsman (Greatsword)
Master Horseman (Riding)
Master Lancer
Expert Leader
Expert Tracker
Expert Faith of the Seven
Noteworthy Falconer
Apprentice Intrigue
Apprentice Unarmed Fighter
Novice Steward
Novice Languages (High Valyrian)
Beginner Archer (Longbow)
Beginner Charm

Character Personal History: Simon Tarly was born in the summer of 548, almost two years to the day after his grandfather was killed in the Trial of Seven that ended the Rabble's Rebellion, as the war had come to be known in the years since. He was his father's second son; the middle child for his brother Brandon was born two years later. He was raised for the first four years of his life in King's Landing, not seeing his family's fortress at Horn Hill until King Rodrick Baratheon allowed his lords to depart the capital, having forced them to remain at his court for nearly five full years.

While his brother Justin was obviously the favored child, being his father's heir and by far the most clever of his brothers, Simon found a special place in his father's heart as he proved to be an adept warrior and quick to grasp the intricacies of tactics and strategy. His martial nature allowed him to bond with his father Samuel and the middle years of his childhood were spent in bliss in the Far Reach. Simon had a close relationship with his younger brother, Bran, although the pair grew apart slightly when Simon was sent to Oldtown to squire under Lord Robert Hightower. He earned his spurs at Robert's wedding tournament in 564, and returned to Horn Hill to serve his father and brother as a dutiful second son would.

By this time, the realm had spent four years in the depths of winter, while the King drank himself into a stupor and the malcontent notions that had led to the Rabble's Rebellion were beginning to be resurrected in the minds of his lords. Before these notions could materialize into treason, disaster struck the North. An invasion of the dead shattered the Night's Watch at the Wall, and began to move south preceded by rumors and speculation. The Hand had been ruling the realm in all but name for seven years and when dozens of warriors and generals, including Simon's father Lord Samuel, were murdered in their beds in 567, along with the King and Queen and most of their children, and Thatcher remained firmly in control of the crownlands and claimed that the invasion that was ravaging the north was merely malcontent rumors. He declared the West as open traitors, and the Reach watched from afar as the Mandermen and Riverlands brutally put down the purported rebellion.

By the time Thatcher was exposed as a member of the Cult of the Dead God and the new King fled from his assassins, the whole realm was in turmoil. Simon's brother, Justin, had assumed the lordship of Horn Hill, and since nearly all of the Great Lords of the Reach had been assassinated by the cult, he rallied the remaining Houses of the Reach and called their banners to Horn Hill. As xenophobic as ever, the armies of the Reach were reluctant to join with the meager forces of King Selwyn, until they learned that he had been cornered at Goldengrove by the armies of the Others.

The Far Reach armies marched north arriving at Goldengrove in time to join Selwyn in battle, until Lord Justin Tarly was killed. Since he had died childless, the Lordship of Horn Hill passed to Simon, who attempted to rally his countrymen before their forces were thrown back by the might of the dead. Salvation arrived soon after, in the form of five Targaryen women and three dragons, who obliterated the Others with dragonfire and accepted the homage of King Selwyn, who saw that he had no choice but to kneel. The Lords of the Reach followed suit, silently chafing under the obvious preference that the Targaryens showered on the Dornish.

Under Saella the armies of Westeros were united and fought for three bloody years as they pushed north eventually throwing the others back beyond the Wall itself. Three years spent in the saddle surrounded by blood and death had changed Simon from a hopeful and ambitious young man into a grim soldier, still idealistic at heart, but his faith in honor and chivalry had been irrevocably shaken.

Character Physical Description: Lord Simon is the spitting image of his father, Samuel Tarly, with tangled brown hair falling to his shoulders. His eyes are a dark brown, almost black, shadowed under a heavy brow. High pronounced cheekbones give Simon a somewhat regal bearing and he wears a beard, though he tends to keep it neatly trimmed although having been on campaign for several years he has not generally had access to servants or a barber. He is of an average height, standing about six feet, and built heavily as most men who spend their lives training for battle are. His favored weapon is the Greatsword of his House, Heartsbane, which he inherited with his lordship in the Battle of Goldengrove.

Character Reputation: Those who know Simon from childhood would say he was a cunning trickster, quick to laugh and always ready to play practical jokes on those around him, however this description is not even close to accurate, since the death of his older brother. The survivors from the Battle at the Wall know Simon as a deadly competent warrior, a fantastic commander of soldiers, and a grim, mostly silent man. He is known widely for his candor, and his willingness to speak the truth regardless of tact or circumstances, as well as for his fiery temper that can be ignited at a moment's notice. He is prone to destructive rages but he wisely does his best to keep these outbursts away from prying eyes. He is deeply religious, in his devotion to the Seven, and was known as a powerful tourney jouster and horseman, before war broke out. He was appointed to the position of Master of Laws by Queen Rhaenys in 571.

[Sam]

Followers

Ser Brandon Tarly
Character Age: 21 (b. 550)
Character Nationality: Andal (Reachman)
Character Personal History: The third and youngest son of the Lord of Horn Hill, Bran grew up overshadowed by both of his brothers. He was neither as cunning and wise as Justin, nor was he as powerful a warrior as Simon, so the youngest Tarly son had to carve out his own place in the world. He point blank refused to become a Maester at the Citadel when his mother broached the subject at his ninth name-day, and from that day forth he was the family's Black Sheep, so to speak. He squired for one of his father's household knights and, though he never progressed beyond a middling skill with a blade. He scorned hand-to-hand combat, preferring to practice his archery at the fortresses butts, and by age fifteen he was winning tournaments all across the Reach. When his father was murdered, Bran rode to war with his brothers, following Justin and then Simon all the way north to the Wall before the battles were over. The gruesome things that he witnessed in combat did little to daunt his carefree and joking nature and he still remains a trickster who excels at making others laugh, even under the grimmest of circumstances. It is rumored among the soldiers of the Far Reach that Bran could shoot a sparrow out of the air, from a hundred yards away, and he has long since been betrothed to a daughter of House Hightower, who lived at Horn Hill as a child ward.
Character Physical Description: Bran is a man of average height, standing a few inches shorter than his brother Simon, with coal black hair that he keeps closely cropped. His eyes are a startling green, which surprised both of his parents as neither of them had ancestors possessing that trait.

Ser Danwell Costayne
Character Age: 40 (b. 531)
Character Nationality: Andal (Reachman)
Character Personal History: Ser Danwell Costayne was born of a minor branch of his family's House, so after earning his spurs he entered the service of Lord Samuel Tarly as the Master-of-Horse in Horn Hill. He is a decent warrior, but a fantastic horseman and likes to boast that Lord Simon Tarly's skills on horseback are due solely to his tutelage, which is not an entirely untrue statement. When he rode north with Lord Tarly it was discovered that he was a great scout, so his abilities were relied on heavily by his superiors and more than once saved the Far Reach army from being flanked by a subversive attack.
Character Physical Description: Danwell is an uncommonly tall man, standing almost seven feet tall, but he is stick-thin and his skin has the brown weathered look of a man who spends much of his time outside being exposed to the elements.

Ser Peytr Redwyne
Character Age: 23 (b. 548)
Character Nationality: Andal (Reachman)
Character Personal History: Peytr was born the second son of his father, Lord Paxter Redwyne, the greatest admiral in the Reach. He was born within a week of his cousin, Simon Tarly, whose mother was sister to Lord Paxter. While his older brother was taught the ways of seaborne command, Peytr was sent to Horn Hill to be fostered at a young age, where he would eventually be trained in the ways of the sword. He squired for Lord Samuel Tarly and was raised very close with Simon. Petyr returned to the Arbor after earning his spurs in Lord Robert Hightower's wedding tournament in 564 and spent the next three years studying the ways of the sea under his father and brother. He proved to be a fantastic sailor and navigator, and had the showings of being a great sea commander, albeit being a young and headstrong man. He is not quite his brother's equal at commanding a ship, but he is a far better swordsman, and jouster. When their father was murdered in 567, Peytr's older brother assumed the Lordship, as well as command of the Flagship of the Arbor Fleet, the Grapes of Wrath. Peytr commands a beautiful warship called the Valkyrie that was captured from a westerman during the Blackwood wars in 522, but the fantastic design of the vessel has remained true over the years. Four ballistae are mounted on rotating platforms, allowing each of them to fire meter-long steel lances in any direction
Character Physical Description: Peytr is a tall man, standing well over six feet, with auburn hair that falls in lazy curls down to his shoulders. His eyes are a salty grey and he has a thin scar running down from the corner of his left eye, to his upper lip, the legacy of a thwarted pirate attack in 566.

Ser Ryam Flowers
Character Age: 44 (b. 527)
Character Nationality: Andal (Reachman)
Character Personal History: Ryam was born under very strange circumstances. His father was never known to him or anyone else, and his mother died shortly after his birth very suspiciously. She was in training to become a septa in King's Landing when she became pregnant, and when Ryam was born she sent him to be raised at her family's estate in the Far Reach. House Hutcheson was a minor knightly house, sworn to Stoatsheart, and his mother was found dead in King's Landing several months later. She never told anyone who the father was, and Ryam's uncle Ser Radek was killed by Lannister troops while investigating her death. When he was raised as a page in that household, although he looked like no other reachman, with golden hair and blue eyes. He squired for Lord Cyrus Varner, showing decent skill with the sword, but far better skills in the areas of information gathering and moving around unnoticed. He was knighted by Lord Samuel Tarly shortly before the Trial of Seven, where Cyrus Varner was killed, and so he has served the Lord of Horn Hill since. When Lord Samuel Tarly was murdered, Ser Ryam began serving his sons just as faithfully, and marched north with the Far Reach host in response to the invasion from the North.
Character Physical Description: He looks very unlike a reachman, with golden hair that he keeps relatively short, and light piercing blue eyes. He is an average height and build, decently muscled from training at arms but not as heavily built as most knights who devote their lives to physical fitness. His hair has begun to turn silver with age, though he still remains in good shape, with a strong lithe build.

Lord Jaymes Hightower
Character Age: 14 (b. 557 d. 571)
Character Nationality: Andal (Reachman)
Character Personal History: Jaymes Hightower was sent by his uncle to squire for Simon Tarly only four months before war broke out across the realm of Westeros. In the ensuing battles, thousands of men died and were resurrected by the invading forces of Death, and all of Jaymes' kin were killed in battle. His uncle Pedric, who had assumed the Lordship of the Far Reach, died with his three bastard sons in the shadow of the Wall, cut down the corpse of Jaymes' own father, who had died several weeks before. It was a long time before the chaos died down, and Jaymes realized that he was the last remaining scion of his House. He has remained the squire to Simon Tarly, and saw only a little combat in the north, though he acquitted himself well for a green, untried youth.
Character Physical Description: Jaymes is rather small for his age, but gangly, with a mousey looking face and a pointed chin. At fourteen he is growing quickly, but still is rather clumsy and has a tendency to get tongue tied when trying to speak in front of more than one person at a time.
Killed by wildlings at their camp south of the Wall