[center][color=A9A9A9][b][u][h1]House Swann of Stonehelm[/h1][/u][/b][/color]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/whMLNB1g/House-Swann-Shield.png[/img]
[h3][b][color=A9A9A9]None So Just[/color][/b][/h3][/center]
[h3][b][color=A9A9A9]House Description:[/color][/b][/h3]
[indent]House Swann is one of the primary noble houses of the stormlands. They are an ancient house, claiming to be the oldest and disputed only by fellow marchers, House Caron. Their lands cover the lands surrounding the Red Watch on Cape Wrath in the eastern Dornish Marches. They control the Slayne, a major river and route inland to the Stormlands, resulting in their wealth and power. Like all Marcher lords, they have stood as protectors and instigators to incursions with the Dornish. [/indent]

[h3][b][color=A9A9A9]Recent History:[/color][/b][/h3]
[indent]House Swann declared for the Greens during the Dance, at the time led by Lord Clifford who saw it as only right that the first son should inherit, no matter a daughter's hurt feelings. Lord Clifford's brother, Ser Bryon, desperate to assure a lasting legacy, sought to slay Rhaenyra's dragon. Ser Bryon's plan was a complete failure, he was quickly engulfed in flames and died screaming. 

Ser Bryon's cousin, the Lady Johanna, had been taken to Lys years earlier by pirates. Lord Clifford had refused to pay the ransom for his fifteen year old niece and so she was sold to the pillow houses. Out of the hundreds of children, young men and girls that the Lyseni pirates took during this time, Johanna proved herself adept at navigating the unfamiliar and abusive environment she found herself abandoned to. She became the most influential of courtesans and ruled Lys in all but name. Following the Triarchy's collapse and the Daughter's War, she was briefly thought lost and dead. She resurfaced, with regular correspondence to her family in Stonehelm, particularly the daughters, until her death in 175 AC. 

Lord Allos had been an eager participant in the Conquest of Dorne, though his mood was tempered when he and his men served under the command of Lord Tyrell. Bad blood was not only between the Marcher lord and the Dornish. Reachman had been a thorn in their side even after Aegon's Conquest unified Westeros beneath the Iron Throne. The short-lived subjugation meant House Swann and their neighbors dealt with many more years of heightened hostilities with their southward counterparts. This left a worse taste in the Swann lord's mouth under the rules of Baelor and now Aegon. They held the line against the snakes, and reaped nothing for the effort. 

Most recently, House Swann has sought to resolidify their Stormlands power and secured a marriage with the Lord Paramount through Alys Swann. The current lord, Allos, had served as councilor to the Lord Paramount for many years as well. That relationship has begun to strain when he was ordered to return home when his wife passed unexpectedly from a brief but aggressive wasting disease. His son, Ser Gawen, holds to his father's ideals but the younger siblings have been swayed by the stories they hear from King's Landing. A crack has formed in House's foundation, small and currently inconsequential, but too easy to grow into collapse.[/indent]

[h3][b][color=A9A9A9]Family Members:[/color][/b][/h3]
[List][*]Lord Allos - b. 120 (age 58)
[indent][list][*]Lady Paramount Alys - b. 144 (age 34)
[*]Ser Gawen - b. 147 (age 31)
[indent][list][*]Balon - b. 170 (age 8)
[*]Lucinda - b. 175 (age 3)
[*]Willem - b. 177 (age 1) [/list][/indent]
[*]Ser Denys - b. 151 (age 27)
[*]Olorra - b. 155 (age 23)
[*]Olor - b. 155 (age 23) 
[*]Rhea - b. 157 (age 21)
[*]Bryon - b. 160 (age 18)[/list][/indent]
[*]Ser Galbert - b. 125 (age 53) + wife & 4 grown children
[*]Maester Leslyn - b. 127 (age 51)
[*]Lady Bonessa - b. 131 (age 47)
[*]Lady Andria - b. 136 (42)
[*][s]Lady Johanna, The Black Swan - 90-175[/s]
[*][s]Ser Bryon - 102-130[/s]
[/List]


[hider=The Heir]
[Center][img]https://i.ibb.co/TqtTG8xB/Gawen-Swann.png[/img]
[b][color=A9A9A9][h3]Ser Gawen[/h3][/color][/b][/Center]

[b][color=A9A9A9]Age:[/color][/b] 34 (147 AC)
[b][color=A9A9A9]Appearance:[/color][/b]
[indent]A man knighted over a decade ago, he remains trim and strong, though age and leisure have begun to soften the hard warrior edges. His skin is weathered with an assortment of old, healed scars from battles in the Dornish Marches. Gawen does not tower over other men but has a quiet prowess that still causes others to look up to meet his hard gaze. 

His dark brown hair is speckled with new gray that would also highlight his beard, should he ever let one grow other than when on extended travel. He moves with a deceptive heaviness for his frame, as if he were in full armor and not his court doublet and trousers.[/indent]


[b][color=A9A9A9]Description & biography:[/color][/b]
[indent]Gawen's childhood was in a time of relative peace from the end of Aegon III's regency until the Conquest of Dorne. He was close to his elder sister, Alys, and to his younger brother Denys. There were too many years between him and the younger siblings, and his duties that would take him away from Stonehelm for much of each year. 

He squired for a distant cousin in House Connington, his youthful days guided by martial training, long lectures from Maesters, and, over time, with his father's knights harassing the Dornish. He spent time in Storm's End, alongside his father who frequently served in the Baratheon court and provided council. Gawen was an astute boy, quick to learn many talents even if he mastered none. More importantly, he was only occasionally known for brashness; one incident in particular against a peer from House Caron had him punished with pointless manual labor for weeks. Not because he bloodied and broke the boy's nose, but for the embarrassment of such a public outburst.

Marriage to House Mertyns was out of practicality, the woman was being courted by House Caron, and with a strong marriage already made to their liege lord, Gawen's father was pleased to swing the local political scale to House Swann. It has been a fruitful and respectful union, although not one of great love or fondness. 

As Lord Allos ages, Gawen can see his future as Lord of Stonehelm approaching more quickly. Known for caution, he sees a future that requires action beyond their home. From anyone else, his father would have suspicions, but from his heir, he agreed with the cause behind the excursion to King's Landing. Their position in the Stormlands was certain, Gawen sought to expand that power and influence. In Aegon IV's rule, the ancient house can only do so by braving the dangers of his court. 
[/indent]
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[hider=The Twins]
[Center][img]https://i.ibb.co/6RwqdxpG/Olorra-Swann.jpg[/img][img]https://i.ibb.co/Rk2KddTK/Olor-Swann.jpg[/img]
[b][color=A9A9A9][h3]Olorra and Olor[/h3][/color][/b][/Center]

[b][color=A9A9A9]Age:[/color][/b] 23 (155 AC)
[b][color=A9A9A9]Appearance:[/color][/b]
[indent]The twins are of similar height, Olor on the short side of his peers and Olorra taller than hers. Olor is broad and sturdy compared to his sister's willowy grace. But both share a clear visual likeness, assuredly two sides of the same Swann coin. They share the same thick brown hair, Olorra's in waves she's grown to the small of her back, and Olor's kept longer than his father would like, below his ears. Their eyes are atypical from the rest of their siblings, hazel so pale it verges on gray. 

It is Olorra who appears the more serious of the two, a somber facade and icy shell. Olor exudes more warmth and is more likely to offer a welcoming smile or sly grin. She dresses for function and agrees to fine silks and laces only when threatened. He prefers the luxury of good clothing barring when the physicality of a hunt calls for more practical garments.  [/indent]
[b][color=A9A9A9]Description & biography:[/color][/b]
[indent]The Maesters had assured her that she did not carry twins. Olorra was born first, a quiet babe that the midwives fretted over as Lady Swann remained in labor. Olor was born thrashing and wailing. As third son and the Lord's fourth and fifth children, though, the twins were overwhelming left to their own devices after their surprise birth, along with the last two siblings who were born to the noble pair. 

The twins were always closer to each other than to their elder or younger siblings. As young children, Olor and Olorra would often be found speaking to each other quietly with words that sounded familiar but unidentifiable. As they grew, this specific closeness dissipated but the two were never found far from the other. Even as they began to take charge of the dynamic with the youngest two children, Rhea and Bryon, the twins were closer still.

Both share a love of hunting. In adolescence through young adulthood, he grew to appreciate books and theories over anything more martial. There had been a brief push to send the boy to the Citadel. Uncharacteristly for Olor, he vehemently fought against the mere suggestion that he would be removed from Stonehelm and from Olorra. He has a good mind for many subjects regardless, and remains an affable young man. Both Allos and Gawen found benefit in sending Olor on more diplomatic endeavors rather than waste his abilities lounging at court. 

On the other side of the coin, Olorra is stand-offish with any outside the family. Betrothals were sought when she was younger, but she avoided doing anything more the minimum of appearing at court and being physically present. She was more intended in the martial training her brother was not. However, Lord Allos had no desire for a daughter to take up the sword. He allowed for falconry and archery, and could not entirely keep the girl away from watching his master-at-arms train their men. The lady has no interest in raiding their Dornish neighbors or leading a knightly charge, but she does appreciate the physicality and strength it provides, should she have been welcomed to the training beyond a few times she attempted to dress as a boy to join in. 

Olorra had little interest of her own in going to King's Landing with her brothers, yet where Olor went, so too would she. Neither sibling as any delusions that Gawen also hopes to make a marriage alliance for both of them while at court. They both, perhaps foolishly, to find a way to remain beside the other even after their respective marriages. Olor intends to grow close to his sister's prospective husband and forge an alliance of his own, no matter where his family may send him in the future.   [/indent]
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