[CHAR] War of the Usurper [A Game of Thrones - A Song of Ice and Fire]

Seat of Power:
Casterly Rock is one of the most renowned holdings in all of Westeros, matched only by The Red Keep, Eyrie and arguably Winterfell for its place in the minds of the Westerosi. Ruled by a house synonymous with wealth and power, Casterly Rock is as much a part of the Lannister’s fame as they are a part of its.

Family Members:biographies are included in the ‘Recent History’ tab
Hendry or “Harry” (born in 230 AC), died of a flux
Eleanor of House Marbrand (born in 238 AC), tending to her elder father at Ashemark
Willas “Will” died rescuing Richard from drowning, (was 13, born in 254)
Harys “Hal” or “Young Harry” (27, b. 255), famed tourney knight, died at the Tourney of Harrenhal in 281.
Richard (26, b. 256), the new Lord of the Rock
Marielle (23, b. 259), Lady of the Rock, née Lannister of Lannisport
Gerold “Gerry” (25, b. 257)
Joffrey “Joff” (24, b. 258)
Matylda “Tylda” (23, b. 259)
Joanna (22, b. 260)
Jon “Jonny” (20, b. 262)

Felix Lannister (26, b. 256), currently abroad in Essos

Richard

“I have been taught to be accountable. My Brother Will dived in after me, because he was the eldest and he saw me as his responsibility. I still think he was the best of us. He died to save me, and I will never tarnish that memory even if you so try to poison it. I keep the pain close to remind me what it means to be a man.”

A foreigner unfamiliar with Westeros would not have taken the man for the Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, for he scorned the most expensive trappings of lordship, the rich silks and gemstones and furred mantles that set men of rank apart from their less fortunate brethren. Richard preferred comfort to style: simple, tunics and high leather boots and mantles so short that in his childhood years he’d earned himself the nickname “Curtmantle.” Equally indifferent to fashion’s dictates and the opinions of others, Richard dressed to please himself, and usually looked more like a Lord’s chief huntsman than the Lord himself.

Name: Lady Marielle
Age: 23
Biography: 

Ambiguous, unformed, cloudy, indefinite; a taste of the many adjectives men and women from across the spectrum of specialties of "in the know" across Westeros use to describe the newest Lady of the Rock. A Lannister of Lannisport at a time when the cadet branch of Lannister distanced itself from it's more renowned cousins as much as possible considering the lack of physical distance. Though never openly dissatisfied and having shown support when demanded on multiple occasions, the cadet branch of Lannister kept mostly to themselves and were the opposite image of the Lannisters of the Rock:

Close knit and loving. An actual, functioning, family.

Theodore Lannister was a sickly child and lonely child, and the way he tells it, was made cunning for it. Fond of numbers and books instead of battles and tourneys, when he grew older and healthier, a boyhood spent in endless hours watching the city of Lannisport from the perch of his tower bedroom became endless days of exploration of the very city he had dreamed about earlier in life. Today he claims to know every road and every alley, every shop and storehouse. It was exploring his city that he one day ran across another curious minor noble; Kyra Kenning, middle daughter of the then Lord of Kayce. 

What followed was a romance that stands with any found in any song and book. Though Lord Theodore's father was relucant, hoping for a better match and balking at the competition the pretty Kyra Kenning's hand presented, Lord Theodore only became determined. What began as odd jobs from his father at learning how to run a household and a city at the same time, Lord Theodore took a job as dock master and began to leverage it using all that time spent with numbers and books into wealth. It became an obsession the way most young Lordlings became obsessed with the martial arts. To hear young Lord Theodore explain it, "It's all keeping score--whether it's lances, or coppers, it's all one big competition. And I would not be out worked for my prize." 

Fortunately for young Lord Theodore, Lady Kyra felt much the same about the boy. Where other young Lordlings were larger, with more muscles, and were better with sword and lance and horse, she found herself drawn more to the impishness and intensity of Lord Theodore, idolizing the way she could talk to him all night and all day and all the next night and day if they were allowed. While Lord Theodore's father was faced with a son showing promise and drive he couldn't have imagined given the boy's earlier sickly life, Lady Kyra's father was faced with a daughter that grew increasing stubborn and unhappy and disconnected. When she began to wonder allowed about joining the Faith, her Lord Father feared losing a political tool in the ability to marry his daughter. 

Both fathers met halfway between Lannisport and Kayce, and agreed to the match. The marriage didn't stop Lord Theodore's drive, but it did draw Lady Kyra into it, gifting Lord Theodore a partner in his efforts. Four children would follow, the oldest being a girl that looked like her mother, and thought like her father: Marielle Lannister. Healthy and close to both her parents, Lord Theodore and Lady Kyra encouraged the little Lady Marielle, and the young girl was never far from one, or both, of her parents even as they went about their lives. One brother and two sisters would follow, though as the family expanded the discontent with their cousins began to grow. Lord Harry of the Rock grew, as Marielle's father Lord Theodore described it, "Mad from grief and rejection, whoring himself and his House to any that would offer acceptance." 

The West was at a knife's point, and suddenly the happy family of Lannister of Lannisport was operating on the same knifepoint. Whereas Lord Theodore's mind and curiosity centered on Lannisport, by the time she was ten years of age, Lady Marielle had experienced most of the city that took her father twice that time due to his weakened constitution of his youth. Eager to allow his daughter to satisfy a curiosity he knew all too well, and to get her out of the dangerous West, Lord Theodore sent Lady Marielle and her younger brother off to see Westeros. And see it they did: every one of the "Seven Kingdoms" at least once, including near a year in Oldtown alone, most of that she spent tracking down every former Maester or Maester in Training she could for learning, for training. Though the Citadel has a rule of no women, Lady Marielle learned it to be more of a "guideline" that a hard and fast rule if you weren't afraid of doing some dirty work. And if you had quick mind to go with a quicker mouth. 

At King's Landing, her travels stopped, as she became a Lady in Waiting to the Royal House of Targaryen. Given what he knew of the current King, Lord Theodore liked it not at all, but his summons for his children to return got him only one of his children back: his son. Lord Theodore and Lady Kyra quickly visited King's Landing under pretense of business and kissing the Royal ring. What they saw only disturbed and scared them more, but it became clear to them that Lady Marielle wasn't leaving, and what's worse: she was enjoying herself. While Lady Kyra admitted their daughter had found her element "on the knifesedge", it took Lord Theodore some convincing to accept it. In the end that convincing came from an unlikely source: Lord Varys, the Spider. 

Once Lord Theodore realized that Lord Varys was attempting to gently, subtly, nudge Lord Theodore into taking his daughter back to the West "for her safety", he realized his eldest daughter was an irritant to Lord Varys. Enough of one for Varys to wish himself rid of her. Given Varys closeness to the Mad King, Lord Theodore admitted some twisted satisfaction in knowing that Lady Marielle had become such a pain for Lord Varys. Coupled with the pleas of several of the Targaryen royal ladies, Lord Theodore relented and left Lady Marielle behind. When open war erupted in the West, however, Lady Marielle bid her farewells to House Targeryen, and Lord Varys, and left for home. 

Though her family publicly supported Lord Harry, secretly they worked against him at every turn. An effort Lady Marielle soon expanded to levels that left Lord Theodore and Lady Kyra shocked. Where had their little lady learned such treachery and skulduggery? It was this effort that led Lady Marielle to meet Lord Richard for the first time in their adulthood; under moonlight, in secret, with Lady Marielle looking more a bandit secreting about in the night than a Lady of Lannisport. Much as Lord Theodore had found a partner in Lady Kyra, so Lord Richard found a partner in Lady Marielle. 

Lady Marielle expanded and refined Lord Richard's "other-than-martial" efforts in his conflict with his father and brother. Unlike her parents, however, there was no instant romance. Rumor always had it Lady Marielle fell in love during her travels; some said with a Ironborn ravager, some said a Northern Lord, others still a dashing Knight during her time at the Red Keep, maybe even Prince Rhaegar himself. Whatever the truth of it, Marielle insisted herself a maiden who was waiting for the right match. Though he needed no additional motivation, she was content to tell Richard, "talk to Lord Theodore after we've won, if you're serious." 

Just her luck, the man she called "Richie" partly to tease, and partly in affection, did just that. Lord Theodore agreed to the marriage, though only after speaking with Lord Richard for near five hours. About what even Lady Marielle has never been able to find out, a fact that frustrates the Lady used to knowing secrets before they can even be called secrets to no end.  

Gerold:

Tried to be his own man, but he has always felt to be living in his brothers’ shadows. Though of considerable knightly prowess and of fierce appearance, Gerold was duped by his father. Lord Hendry used Gerry to fight his other sons for him, while he himself remained sequestered with his mistress. Gerold has become an angry man for it. The only time he wielded true power was when his father needed him to stave off his other upstart sons. Furthermore, he oft-times feels disgusted with himself for tolerating Old Harry’s treatment of his Mother Eleanor, and condoning his open adultery. Gerold stood by when the Westerlands descended into factionalism, and failed to put a stop to it. In spite of the support from several vassals, Gerold had to forfeit his position as Hendry’s heir, adding to his rancour. Courageous though he is, Gerold has never lived up to the example of Richard, or Will before him. He is jealous of Richard’s acclaim and fed up with being the ‘younger brother’, even though he is more like a middle-child. Perhaps that is what makes him feel ignored by his family.

Joffrey:
“When I dream, I hold the world in my hand. Therefore the world is in my head. I ask you then, what is bigger? The world, or my mind?”

Joff is a known womanizer. He has more aloes than honey in him; his tongue is smoother than oil; his sweet and persuasive eloquence has enabled him to dissolve the firmest alliances and by his powers of language able to corrupt; of tireless endeavour, a hypocrite in everything, a deceiver and a dissembler. Joff the Joker he is also sometimes called, for he prefers to jape and laugh rather than play at the game and lose. He is quick to laugh and has a gift to make others do so too.

Jon
“I’m the youngest nestling. The lastborn. The runt. The Afterthought.”

Born in the year of Aerys II’s ascension to the Iron Throne, the proverbial runt of the litter; Jon grew up to be around 1.68 m in (5 ft 5) tall, relatively short, with a "powerful, barrel-chested body" and bright gold-red hair. John enjoyed reading and, unusually for the period, built up a travelling library of books. He enjoyed gambling, in particular at cyvasse, and was an enthusiastic hunter, even by Westerosi standards. He liked music, although not songs. Jon would become a "connoisseur of jewels", building up a large collection, and became famous for his opulent clothes and also, for his fondness for bad wine. As Jon grew up, he became known for sometimes being "genial, witty, generous and hospitable"; at other moments, he could be jealous, over-sensitive and prone to fits of rage, "biting and gnawing his fingers" in anger. Jon has lived all his life in the shadows, and he is quite content with playing second fiddle as long as he gets a ‘fair’ share of power and influence.

Recent History:

Shared Childhood
Out of five sons, four survived into adulthood. Willas drowned while he and Richard were out on the Sunset Sea in an accident. Richard, only a child at the time, had fallen overboard and in the rescue-attempt it was Will who ended up drowning after he got his foot caught in some rope. Lord Hendry was distraught and enraged, quarrelling with his wife, family and court. Most he was wroth with Richard whom he blamed for the loss of his firstborn and heir.

There was a marked change in the way Harry and Eleanor treated Richard from then on, and most of the doting affection was lavished on Harys or “Hal” who was affable and amicable. Harry wanted his sons to show pluck and spirit, and so he did not deny Hal outright. No costs were spared in the pursuit of Hal’s wishes. Pampered and spoiled, this caused the new heir to be unable to understand the consequences of his actions due to his family’s financial privilege, and he so became a typical child of affluenza.

Meanwhile Richard learnt that his father’s promises were much like counterfeit coins: they seemed genuine, but could not be spent. With Harry devoting most of his time to grooming Hal as his heir, and Eleanor largely occupied with birthing babies, the third son focused on his own education. It was an expectedly expensive one, and if Hal would not heed his costly tutors then Richard would.

Richard, Gerold and Joffrey (or “Joff”) were still being tutored when Hal was allowed to drop his studies in 270 AC and roam around Westeros to play at tourney-hero. With their parents no longer solely focused on Hal, and Richard still exempt from their affections, Gerry and Joff engaged in a war for their favour. Still, Lord Hendry’s infidelities and the unprocessed grief for Will had caused a rift between the parents. Marital tension and children vying for attention made for a very potent mix of conflict. Arguments and fights became the order of the day, chaos slipped into the household.

Jon was only a toddler and too young to realise and sought refuge in Richard’s company, the latter who largely viewed him as a defenceless cub in their volatile family. Jon’s elder brothers were already squires by the time he started his education, and he was placed with the girls who clucked over him like mother hens yet did not neglect to tease him. In the end, Hendry chose Gerry and Eleanor Joff, whom they poisoned against one another. Rivalries between the siblings were nourished alongside murderously dividing lines and Richard was ever caught in the crossfire. This could not last.

Disharmony
In 270 AC, when he was fourteen years of age, Richard quit the household to be ward and squire of the Crakehalls. Jon, having lost his protector, saw this as an act of abandonment and Harry was quick to foster this sentiment into resentment toward Richard. At Crakehall Richard perfected the requisite skills that marked out the noble from the baseborn.

His ambition, one that everyone with a care for his education had worked to inculcate, was to fashion himself anew, to become something forged out of steel. Such, indeed, was the labour of transformation that all of those who aspired to excellence were obliged to take upon themselves. Even girls, as they played in a castle’s stables or ran around its courtyard, were being raised within a world of sweat and iron – and childhood, for their brothers and cousins, was all a preparation for war. “Arms and horses and the exercises of hunting and hawking: such are the delights of a Lord,” had Richard’s father once exclaimed. To Willas at first, and then at Hal. 

Richard, though, had thought those ‘delights’ – as Hendry called them – were, far more crucially, a means of putting his sons to ceaseless test. The Crakehalls, bristling with martial prowess as they had done for centuries, went one step further. For only if a young man were prepared to risk death in the pursuit of some savage forest beast, or to practise with his sword all the hours of a day, or to perform prodigies of horsemanship, might he hope to win for himself that sweetest of felicities: the approbation of his fellows. Rank counted for nothing without this. The fact Richard had been their liege lord’s son counted not a jot when they included the young man in their midst.

Violence had shadowed the years of his childhood. Always he and his brothers were pushed to fight, to hit back when struck. To handle a lance properly while in the saddle, whether throwing it or couching it below the arm in the most up-to-date and lethal manner, with all a horseman’s weight and speed behind it: here was a skill that might take years to perfect, and as Hal broke his on the tournament fields of the Seven Kingdoms, Richard worked hard at it in the Westerlands.

Back at home things came to a head. Lord Hendry had openly taken a mistress and spent his days catering to her whims and fancies, much to the disgrace of his estranged wife and their children. Increasingly, Old Harry showed no longer interest in ruling his dominions, yet at the same time refused to delegate his tasks to others. His mistress helped herself to Eleanor's jewels and clothes and also began ordering about household knights, dismissed servants, and sat in attendance when Hendry was absent, thereby usurping Eleanor’s position as Lady. The latter left Hendry’s household and returned to her father’s keep at Ashemark.

Conditions in Old Harry’s lands became dismal as Ironborn prowled the coasts, and bandits and outlaws roamed the roads. Bannermen ignored instructions and saw to their own affairs. Small conflicts broke out and royal interference was needed to impose order. Gerry and Joff also came to blows, each one backed by different families.

It was not long before Richard, returning from a self-financed tour in the Free Cities with his cousin Felix, caught wind of these developments. Richard interpreted lawlessness among vassals as a profound menace to the harmony of the Westerlands, and to that end he wrote letters home urging his father to take action. Still, the warped relationship between them spoiled all chances of Lord Hendry to heed his son’s call. When no reply came, Richard even sought out his elder brother Hal who was still cruising along the tourney grounds of the Realm. Hal, acting aloof, minimalised “whatever it was that was happening” and elected to remain oblivious to the disorder gripping the West.

Taking Charge
Summoning his younger brothers to him, Richard wanting to patch up a truce between Gerry and Joff so together they could reinstate their family’s authority. Gerold blamed Joffrey for the descent of the Westerlands into anarchy saying he seduced several of them to revolt in hopes of gaining the lordship, while Joffrey claimed it was Gerold’s pomposity that had driven their bannermen to oppose him. 

Richard soon found out, however, that it was their father and his mistress who were playing their children and setting them against one another. Even though Eleanor was not in open conflict with her stray husband, Gerry had been incited to take on Joff, for the former had stayed at Casterly Rock while the latter had followed their mother into self-imposed exile. In any case, the Westerlands burned for their family feuding and all the while ambitious lordlings had taken advantage of the power vacuum to seize lands and settle private scores.

Gerold remained at Casterly Rock, refusing Richard’s summons, but he did not stop Jonny to leave the Rock and join Richard at Crakehall. They were soon joined by Joffrey as well, and the three brothers made plans to deal with all of their problems. When Gerold realised which way the wind was blowing and wanted to defect to his brothers, Old Harry and his mistress dangled the ultimate prize before him: Hal’s inheritance, the lordship over the Westerlands. Officially third in line, Gerry was made Lord Hendry’s heir in 277. Outrage initially swept throughout the Realm, but when Hal reneged on responding appropriately, several bannermen confirmed Gerold’s future title, much to the chagrin of Richard.

Richard tasked Joffrey with swaying their father’s bannermen to their side, a task the honey-tongued schemer was well-suited to. Not before long Richard rode out with a sizeable force of knights, making his presence more than the fantasy Old Harry passed it off as.

Instead of marching off towards Lannisport and Casterly Rock, Richard and Jon made for Cornfield. Lord Swyft was the first to be called to account, and demanded to pay the debts he owed. When he was unable to forward the funds, he offered up his daughter as collateral for his good behaviour and gave Richard control over his knights and levies.

Meanwhile, Joffrey had arrived at his grandfather’s seat of Ashemark, and together with his mother marshalled the Marbrand men. With Richard and Jon still a great distance away, however, Lord Marbrand refused to entirely devote to his grand-sons’ cause. Both sides called the other rebellious, and he did not wish to lead his House to war.

By the end of the year 277, the Serrets of Silverhill and Lyddens of Deep Den had also been coaxed and cajoled to join Richard, Joffrey and Jon. By then, Lord Hendry and Gerold realised Richard’s plan: to take and garrison the castles along the Westerland’s eastern border, effectively choking off Lannisport and Casterly Rock from the landside. Still, Gerold was confident that with a great harbour like Lannisport they could rely on supplies reaching them over sea, and thus took his time in rallying his forces.
Richard did not take his time and moved on to complete the encirclement. House Brax of Hornvale was forced to submit. House Lefford of the Golden Tooth initially wanted to oppose Richard’s forces, but by now Lord Marbrand had made his choice and was leading a second army from the north-west to lay a joint siege to the Tooth. Lefford, too, bent the knee.

Increasingly desperate now, Gerold invited Ironborn pirates to bolster his ranks, and together with the coastal Lords he made to face Richard in that most dangerous gamble of all: a pitched battle.

Richard, backed by Houses Marbrand, Lefford, Lydden, Serret, Crakehall, Brax and Swyft, faced Gerold, backed by Kenning, Prester, Reyne, Tarbeck, Sarsfield, Farman and others, on a plain near the Gold Road. Only one year his senior, but Gerold had to admit his brother’s skills as a battle-commander exceeded him more than just that single year. Gerold and Hendry’s forces were roundly beaten in the slaughter that followed.

In the aftermath, the Ironborn took advantage and seized Fair Isle, the Banefort and whatever else they could get their hands on. Villages and Septs were raided and burnt. Hal still had not declared himself for one side or the other, thereby possibly ending the internecine conflict. Richard implored him again, but nothing came of it but quarrel.

Richard spent most of 278 bludgeoning out the rebels and their Ironborn allies from the castles they had taken while his father and brother, cooped up in Casterly Rock, licked their wounds. In early 279, though, confronted with an army outside Lannisport and the Rock itself, all but a few bannermen abandoned the sickening Old Harry. Those who threw themselves on Richard’s mercy were pardoned. Richard made a final plea and together with Joffrey managed to persuade Gerold to forsake their failed struggle. Lord Hendry died alone, for it was said not even his mistress – arguably the cause for all this misery – was around when he died.

Richard became interim Warden of the West and held Hal’s lands “until the rightful Lord returned to claim his inheritance”, though none held great stock in Harys leaving behind the life of a tourney knight.

‘Lord’ Richard
Still, the embers of rebellion die hard, and later that year Houses Reyne and Tarbeck raised their banners in revolt. They cited Richard’s unlawful rule as reason, thinking Casterly Rock was sufficiently weakened by the recent internal conflict, and proclaimed themselves Hal’s champions.

Pardoned once, Richard’s retribution was swift and terrible. He descended upon Tarbeck Hall and Castamere on a great firestorm of rage and burnt down these seats. Lord Tarbeck was hanged from his broken ramparts, as was his eldest son and brother. Castamere too was riven asunder, provoking the infamous song after Richard wrote the initial verses in a bout of melancholy. Nevertheless, Richard showed clemency in the last moment, taking the youngest generation of Tarbecks and Reynes as hostages.

Establishing his rule, Richard worked hard to show himself as benevolent but firm. It was only in 281 AC that he could take a stronger position for Hal, that eternal glory-hound, had been stuck like a pig at the Tourney of Harrenhal. His brothers had been there, their faces slack as they watched him bleed into the dirt.

Returning home, Richard wasted no time in being invested as Lord Paramount of the Westerlands. Knowing intricately the nature of rebellion, Richard did not presume to take his followers and bannermen for granted. Humbly, in exchange for gifts of property, whether lands or strongholds or both, the Lords of the Westerlands were obliged to acknowledge their submission. Genuflecting before the Lord of Casterly Rock, placing their clasped hands in his, they proclaimed themselves to all the world as his vassals. They all knew the penalty that would be exacted for any hint of treachery: the wasting of all he owned, the slaying of one’s heir, the desecration of his body, and the shackling of his kin in bondage. The fate of Tarbeck Hall and Castamere, their owners and denizens, could hardly have made the consequences clearer. The Westerlands would cohere.

Richard and Marielle met during the internecine war between the brothers. Secreting knowledge across the lines, Mari supplied Richard with valuable intelligence that helped him bring the war against his father and brother Gerry to a relatively swift end. Though initially distrustful of this covert beauty, Mari quickly proved her value and skills. Not easily impressed, Richard became increasingly interested. Not only did she complement his own capacities, she completed the new Lord in several fields that felt foreign to him. The sense of mystique and raw talent the Lannisport Lannister possessed pulled on him, and Richard went ahead to contact Theodore Lannister. Coming to the table with the expectation to bargain his way into a marriage, Richard was surprised to find himself in a sit-down with this frail man that was his opposite. Not that the suitor was bad with numbers or organisation, just not outside of the province of army provisions or logistics. Theodore spoke to him profoundly, and in the end the two men found one another in an understanding that allowed for Marielle and Richard to be wed. The contents of this conversation, however, remains a mystery and thus a great source of frustration to the cut-throat spy.

OOC Notes:
The Reyne-Tarbeck Rebellion has been moved from 261 AC to 277 AC.
Marielle was and will be written by Ruby.
[CHAR] War of the Usurper [A Game of Thrones - A Song of Ice and Fire]

Sini

Sini
