Maester Illric of House Cade
Titles, Nicknames: "the Brown," "the Brawn," "The Sewer (so-er, damn it!) of a Thousand Cuts," ...
Age: 32
Station: Formerly of House Bracken, maester to House Cade, and thereby advisor in all affairs to the Head of House Cade; Leoric Cade presently.
Maester's Chain Links: 3 silver (healing/anatomy), 2 iron (warcraft), 1 black iron (ravenry), 1 copper (history), 1 valyrian steel (higher mysteries)
Note: Illric was in the middle of gaining mastery of smithing (pale steel link) when Edmure died.
Family: House Bracken - All connections long frayed beyond rescue, as Illric was sent to Oldtown at a very young age.
House Cade - Maester Illric is held in respectable regard by all members of the House, as his service has been perfectly satisfactory, however the Maester keeps himself at arm's length from the members of the House, and thus he has not yet developed concrete relationships with any of the family members.
Description: Physical: Impressively strong for a maester, and uncommonly fit. Were it not for the familiar chains and robes that Illric wears, one would have great difficulty in pegging him as a learned man. His stature, roughly 6'4", belies a striking musculature that bears the taut strength of long hours of exercise. He weighs in at approximately 210 lbs. Illric has short brown hair, brown eyes, and a stubbly beard which refuses to really fill in, but he hasn't the heart to shave it. Without exception, Illric will be seen to wear the maester's robes, unless he is in the midst of a bout of exercises, at which time he foregoes the robes, and lays his chains nearby to his chosen place of exertion. He has a face of middling beauty, meaning he has the good fortune to be neither remarkably beautiful nor disturbingly ugly, and Illric's all-around appearance is average. His defining feature is certainly his physique.
Psychological: Illric's personality is one of discipline, hard work, and rigorous morale boosting encouragement. He has been during the span of his years, in service to a field commander, a travelling scholar, a hedge knight, and even the Seneschal of the Conclave. If his early years were anything to go by, Illric's present disposition was something of a casting of molten metal into a set mould, and not the carving of wood into its desired shape. All this said, there are precious few men who understand the call of duty more than Illric. "A man after Ned Stark's own heart, that one," have many remarked upon meeting the austere maester.
But beneath the cold veneer of chain-bound duty lies a man who is fraught with inner turmoil. He has been caught up in a world that is cruel, unkind, and seemingly indifferent to his wishes. He feels in many ways as though he has been cast like some forgotten stone into a rushing river, to cascade along the banks until he moors at one still place or another.
The defining characteristics of Illric's personality are discipline, in that the maester will pursue a task with a singularity of mind that is inspiring, frankness, in that the maester will unflinchingly describe the reality of a situation as he sees it with concise specific terminology no matter the audience, and wanderlust, in that until recently the maester had been caught up in an unceasing spiral across the Seven Kingdoms which was entirely accepted in Illric's mind.
The darker aspects of his personality are clear enough as well, in that Illric can be stubborn, judgmental, and callous at times where others show their vulnerabilities. All the positives of a strong man with clear objectives are reflected in that same man's weaknesses, where he can be proud, vain, and not a little temperamental. Still, Maester Illric does his best, and he will maintain that until the day he dies.
Biography: The seventh day of the seventh moon, 267 AL. The day Illric Bracken came into the world. An unwanted child in many ways, and forgotten by any of the accounts that matter, Illric was sent to the Citadel forthwith, the intent being that he return to his old House to be of some use to them. Of course, the Brackens got caught up in the wars that were going on as all of the Houses of Westeros did, and Illric was off and away in Oldtown, spirited away to become a maester. The truth of the matter is that as he was raised in the Citadel, proven in the Citadel, and chained in the Citadel, he is more a citizen of Hightower than a member of House Bracken. Many of the fears that might plague others when concerned with a maester's potential hidden allegiances are dispelled by the knowledge that Illric never knew his parents in any meaningful way. His birth parents that is, as he grew up as much a part of the Maester's circle as any. If Illric was an oddity in the Citadel, it was duly noted and promptly forgotten.
Illric owes his fortune in life to the generosity of a senior maester who took him in to his home. This maester, a man by the name of Edmure, was out on the heels as far as maesters go, but he could spare enough to feed the boy, and buy him the relevant supplies. The way of the maester didn't take to Illric right away, but he loved to run through Oldtown, playing with street urchins and getting into trouble. It was a tumultuous time for the boy, and his youth was such that he oft resembled a traipsing dog rushing through the crowds covered in dust and sweat. He grew strong, and it became clear that the boy thrived in the outdoors. In part to appease the guardsmen, and in part to assuage his own wary conscience, Edmure began to foster in Illric an adoration of woodlore, anatomy, and kinetic studies. It worked, somewhat. Illric began to study with masters of martial arts, becoming something of a pugilist. He took these skills and in his adolescent years, became quite the gambler, betting on his ability to scrap with this man or that man. Finally, the Seneschal stepped in for the good of the Citadel and outright banished Illric. Edmure begged and pleaded, but nothing could change the Conclave's mind. Despite all this, around this time there was a war on. Illric decided to test his fate and go to the war and meet his destiny. Destiny it turned out, involved getting his arse kicked by a commander of a regiment of the Mad King's soldiers. Joining up with them promptly, he became a squire of sorts for the commander. He had to the disbelief of the Conclave, been mostly paying attention whilst at the Citadel, and became indispensable when the maester who had been travelling with the regiment was killed in action.
After Robert's Rebellion succeeded, Illric realized he had the good fortune to be part of one of the regiments that had escaped total slaughter at the hands of the Baratheons. He was sent back personally by the commander, with a written letter signed and sealed explaining to the Citadel that quite frankly, "this whelp's got talent to spare and needs some learnin' to be done!" The Conclave, upon hearing his case after repeated efforts by Illric, was finally convinced and readmitted him and continued his training as a maester. Illric earned many iron and silver links in his chain, and became a reputable master of the lore of the body, and his medical expertise was rapidly growing when Edmure fell ill with an illness that had no cure. Tragedy had struck, and despite having proven conclusively that he had earned his place at the Citadel, Illric left not only the service of the Seneschal, but also the beautiful city of Oldtown for the last time. He joined up with a hedge knight who was helping to escort a petty Hightower lordling keen on documenting the flora of the Seven Kingdoms from coast to coast, and they had some adventures as they made their way east.
Not long after the greatest of their little excursions was done with, the motley band received a raven from Oldtown. It was directed at Illric, instructing him to journey into the Riverlands, to the House of Cade, wherefore they have need of a Maester. It had been a long while since the days of his uproarious youth, and yet Illric felt a little dampened. He paid his goodbyes to his roadside companions, who were to continue venturing east towards King's Landing, and made his way north.
He arrived at Castle Tarrow in the fourth month of 299 AL, and made himself known to be a maester chained and chosen to serve. His wandering days had seemed to have met their end, and though Illric would be the last one to admit to feeling tied down, understanding the boon that his life had been from start to now, he felt weighed down. Only time will tell if Illric feels similarly depressed when the sounds of war begin creeping down the countryside, and ravens begin to fly, speaking of a plethora of Kings, each claiming a legitimate rule. What role will Illric play? The Brawn, the Brown, the One Who Sewed a Thousand Cuts?
Time will tell...
EDIT: Added Illric's chain links, in case anybody is curious.
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