Rodon Greyjoy
Age: 27 (175 AC)
House/Affiliation: House Greyjoy (nominally); In truth, Rodon only serves himself
Appearance:Although he isn’t the tallest of men, what Rodon lacks in stature he makes up with his unnaturally blue eyes. There are those who say that he can steal away a man’s soul with a single glance, but Rodon usually only needs a sharp axe to do that. His dark hair is always cut short, and he never wears a beard, though there are times where he has a bit of stubble. Rodon’s most identifying feature is his gruesome facial scar that he acquired as a boy; he has long since killed that man that had given him a second smile. He wears chain over boiled leather for adequate protection as well as ease of movement. During active combat, he wears dark gray plate which is well-worn and has seen countless battles, but bears no insignia, making him look more of a sellsword or pirate than a member of nobility - however, this isn’t especially uncommon for ironborn reavers.
Description & biography:Born the youngest son of Lord Toron Greyjoy, Lord Reaper of Pyke; his mother was a Farwynd of the Lonely Light, claimed by many to be a skinchanger and sea witch, and it was from her that Rodon inherited his ethereal blue eyes. Rearing a child on Pyke amongst thralls, blackguards, and whoresons is a cutthroat ordeal, with many never reaching adulthood for a variety of… suspicious reasons. Rodon would kill for the first time at the age of five, when he pushed one of Lord Toron’s baseborn wretches off of the cliffs at Pyke for taking one of his toys. The bastard’s body was never found, which isn’t much of a surprise when one considers the crashing dark waves and sharp rocks below. Lord Toron was well-known for his violent rages, and had even beaten to death one of Rodon’s elder brothers for a relatively minor dispute. Fearful of incurring his father’s wrath, Rodon smuggled himself onto one of his cousin’s longships, which was preparing to reave the Disputed Lands the next day.
Rodon was still only a boy of five, and there was only so long that a child of his age could live off of the salted fish from the barrel that he hid in and drink the condensation that formed on the walls of the ship’s interior. Soon enough the boy tired of salted fish and began to rustle through some of the ship’s other provisions, at which point a thrall with muddy skin found him and dragged the young Kraken before his cousin. This Greyjoy scion was a man of low cunning and even fewer morals, and he put Rodon to work rowing with the thralls and bastards that were used as the longship’s oarsmen. As a grandson of the Red Kraken, Rodon was initially excited to be reaving with his kin, though his cousin’s sinister intentions for him would only become clear after they made port. Rodon would be promptly sold off to a Pentoshi slaver who had a… unique preference for young boys; his cousin having had no fear of Lord Toron caring about the fate of one of his lesser sons, and much preferred to pocket a hefty sum of gold than keeping an annoying brat aboard his longship.
The Pentoshi merchant lord would be found dead not long after, his throat ripped open not by sword or dagger, but by what looked like the sharp teeth of a savage, feral beast. Household servants and slaves would later be questioned by officials sent on the authority of one of the most wealthy magisters of Pentos - all attributed it to an ironborn boy that had been recently purchased as a slave. The merchant lord had the new slave brought to his chambers to give him pleasure and was later found dead the following morning. No traces could be found of the boy in question, almost as if he disappeared into the ether, or had never existed at all.
Rodon would reappear at Pyke nearly seven years later aboard a longship called Dark Inheritance, which looked quite similar to the same ship that Rodon’s cousin used to captain… The return of the lost kraken was quite the shock to his older brother Alton, who had ascended to the Seastone Chair after their father died in the years since Rodon’s disappearance. Apart from his brother, most wouldn’t have even recognized him if it wasn’t for his eerily blue eyes. Of course, the entire court at Pyke was obsessed with the return of the lost son of Lord Toron, mostly concerning where Rodon had been and how he had survived for all these years. However, Rodon wasn’t entirely unscathed, upon his face was a gruesome scar that stretched from the corner of mouth towards his right ear. When viewing the right side of face, the scar makes it almost appear that Rodon is locked into a perpetual grin. When he actually smiles, it’s even more terrifying. As for how he received the wound, rumors are abound that he paid the iron price for Dark Inheritance by disemboweling the cousin that sold him into slavery all those years ago - and the crew switched their loyalty to Rodon immediately afterwards; with blood streaming down his face, many proclaimed that the Red Kraken had come again.
What is dead may never die: there was nothing that remained of the boy that Rodon once was, much to Lord Alton’s dismay as it had become clear that a monster had returned in his brother’s place. Those that had followed him back to the Iron Islands did not only consist of the ironborn that defected to him after the capture of the Dark Inheritance; murderers, rapists, pirates, corsairs, and various other cutthroats from nearly every corner of the known world now filled out the crews of Rodon’s nascent reaving fleet. Although a pale comparison to the Iron Fleet, yet throughout much of the world Rodon’s raiders were just as feared, all the while flying his personal sigil - a blood-red Kraken with bright blue eyes. Apart from the ironborn, his crew were made up of godless men, yet they were fiercely loyal to their young captain. Much akin to a pack of wolves, they recognized Rodon’s feral and ruthless nature. Alone they were little better than pirates that exist only to be a minor nuisance to the great powers of the world. Together, under Rodon’s vicious leadership, they were an unstoppable scourge that could put fear in the hearts of smallfolk and highborn alike.
Rodon and his reavers have terrorized the seas of the known world from Hardhome to Yi Ti, and even the most godless of men manage to find a deity to pray to when they see his longships come for them. He has consorted with shadowbinders from Asshai, sorcerers from Yi Ti, and warlocks from Qarth. It was a great disappointment to Rodon when they died the same as all other men. Still, this curiosity continued when he forced a captured septon to anoint him with the seven oils to see if knighthood would confer him with any greater strength. When nothing happened, he threw the holy man into the sea to meet the Drowned God. In truth, Rodon is a hypocrite; sometimes he is the most pious man you’ll find outside of the acolytes of the Drowned God, and at other times, he engages in open mockery of all gods and faiths. This is likely part of his wild mood swings, which make him highly unpredictable and dangerous. Still, one would think he was blessed by the gods given his near supernatural ability to exploit the weaknesses of his targets at the worst possible times, and a similar talent of disappearing into the ether whenever a stronger force attempts to ambush him. Then again, perhaps everyone else is cursed and he is their divine retribution?
Rodon’s exploits have been numerous and legendary in a relatively short period of time, many of which are increasingly difficult to verify. Along with the men who flock to him to serve under his sails, he was served as both a sellsword and sellsail in many of the endless wars in Essos, and depending on how the winds blow, on both sides at times. Much like his wanderlust, he grows tired of women easily - though he has certainly left a string of bastards in his wake; after all, he is a lover of men, women, and creatures barely considered human. He seized the Stepstones and ruled them like the Iron Kings of old for nearly six months, during which time he engaged in a bloody feud with the Corsair King of the Basilisk Isles for dominance of the Summer Sea. However, they would eventually find common cause by putting a significant portion of the New Ghis fleet to the torch. There was even talk within Westeros about raising an army to expel him from the region due to how disruptive his rule was for the trade routes into the Narrow Sea. Ultimately, Rodon grew bored with kingship and vacated the islands after receiving hefty tribute from Lys, Tyrosh, and Myr.
There are reports that a part of Rodon’s fleet is reaving along the coast of the Summer Isles, though there has been no sightings of his flagship, or even of Rodon Greyjoy himself. Dark Inheritance was last seen in the port of Volantis, and since then, the blue-eyed Kraken’s whereabouts are completely unknown. Yet, there are persistent rumors among fishmongers, smugglers, and pirates that Rodon is finally making his return to Westeros; a prospect that is certain to fill more than a few with dread. Part of this might have to do with the fact that there’s a degree of political instability within the Iron Islands at the present moment. Lord Alton Grey has been proclaimed dead after attempting to cross the Sunset Sea, and his eldest son Dagon has become the new Lord Reaper of Pyke. Despite wishing to return to the Old Ways and normally finding common cause with his uncle, Lord Dagon might be eager to rid himself of a powerful political rival. Of course, Rodon’s aspirations and intentions are anyone’s best guess - what is certain is that an iron storm is coming for Westeros.
NoriWasHere,
Heckno12,
Alby47
