Oh great, everyone here just can't mind their own business , Flynn thought to himself. He'd damn himself if he gave any hint of disdain towards somebody else today though. Now was not the time to lose his cool, specially when the object of his fury draped itself in blue.
"Yes to everything above." he would state, keeping his calm facade. "Flynn's the name. Yourself?" While he awaited for this fellow Ra Yellow's response, Flynn was already beginning to form an opinion about this duelist based on this seemingly indomitable aura she was giving off. Unlike his roommate Chris, Flynn had a feeling that she had even more potential than even himself, a fact that he would not freely admit. Of course, this begs the question why someone like her ended up here as well.
Something about this kid was...off. She couldn't put her finger on it, but Valerie just got the feeling that this Flynn guy was ready to explode at the drop of a hat. Or maybe she was just psyching herself out over nothing.
"...Valerie." She responded to Flynn's query before taking a sip of her iced tea. "You duel anyone yet? Can barely afford something from the vending machine off one win. Thinking the school wants us to seriously grind matches out if we want to get anywhere."
Meanwhile, Ceruli popped back up once more, the spirit perched on Val's shoulder as he peered straight at Flynn. He could've sworn he'd just felt the presence of another spirit in this room, minutes ago. But now the feeling had passed. Odd. Had they left already?
"I figured at least water would be free but I'm still up for a challenge." Flynn retorted."As for if I've dueled anyone yet, you're lucky number one, miss Valerie."
With drained lethargy and false bravado, Flynn booted up his duel disk and inserted his deck which he had kept inside of a deckbox attached to his belt. Having thoroughly shuffled his deck throughout the ocean voyage, one can only wonder what his luck would be with his starting hand and starting call with the customary coin flip.
"Call it, heads or tails." Flynn would state to his opponent as he initiated the duel.
"Tails. And drop the 'miss', would you?"
"Fine by me." Flynn quipped as the coin decidedly landed on heads. "I'm starting first."
Drawing five cards from his deck, Flynn started by playing out one of his favorite cards. "Silver Gadget in attack position, and with his effect I follow up with summoning Green Gadget which gets me Red Gadget from deck. They won't be here for long though as I link them away for Platinum Gadget!" The combo was a basic one but it was going to be enough with what Flynn had in his hand. "Next up, I use Platinum to summon Red Gadget in defense which allows me to retrieve Yellow Gadget from my deck. I set two facedown backrow cards to end my turn." The gears were turning and soon his war machine will be going into overdrive.
Another Machine duelist, huh? Was this going to be a trend? Valerie looked over her starting hand with a critical eye. Not bad. Topdecking the MST on her turn 2 draw was an absolute godsend with two facedowns on the other side. The board wasn't that threatening on its own, so she just had to hope she hit a battle trap or something.
"Alright, let's start this off with Mystical Space Typhoon. I target the facedown in the middle." She pointed, and it turned out she'd blown up Crusher Run. Damn, that was lucky. That would've been rough, especially if she couldn't topdeck a decent monster with the amount of draws she was about to have.
"Next up, I activate the Field Spell The Gates of Dark World and set two cards facedown. Then I play Dragged Down Into the Grave. We show each other our hands and each pick one card to discard from the opponent's hand. I've only got the one, and it's Broww. On discard, I draw one. Now let's see..." Valerie looked over Flynn's hand as he showed it to her, her face impassive. Oh, wow, that really didn't matter either. Just two Yellow Gadgets. "Yeah, sure, I'll pop the Yellow Gadget on the right. Now we both draw one off Dragged Down and I draw a second off Broww."
She regarded her two draws with a raised eyebrow. Oh, damn. This could actually work. "I activate The Gates of Dark World, banishing Broww from my graveyard and Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World to draw one more. On discard, Grapha lets me target one card on your board and destroy it, and I pick your other facedown."
Faced with a decision in his current agitated state, Flynn activated Metalhold The Moving Blockade before realizing his mistake. He couldn't take it back but he had to justify it as the play resolved before his eyes. "... I activate Metalhold as you pop it, targetting Red for its effect. Upon chain resolution, both cards are sent to the grave."
"Uh...sure." Valerie murmured, taken aback by the apparent misplay. Unless this was some weird four-dimensional chess strat, she couldn't see why he would've ended up losing a monster he didn't have to. "Moving on, I normal summon Beiige and activate Grapha from the grave to return Beiige to my hand and special summon Grapha. With my Field Spell on, Grapha goes up to 3000 attack. Battle phase, Grapha attacks Platinum Gadget."
[Flynn: -1400 LP, 6600 LP]
"Tch. As Platinum was the only target you had for Grapha's attack, you've triggered his grave effect. With my free pick of any Gadget to take his place on the field, I choose Gold Gadget. Just like Silver, he allows me to play another Gadget from my hand and you already know what's coming. Yellow to the field in defense and Green to my hand." Surely Valerie would believe that this was all according to plan. At the very least, Flynn managed to delude himself into thinking that this was the superior play by eliminating the alternative of Grapha being able to attack Red Gadget.
Well, she would have attacked Platinum regardless. Leaving a Link 2 on the board able to climb next turn was just asking for trouble. Still, Valerie frowned slightly at dealing with yet more swarm. Her facedowns weren't exactly conducive to handling that, although Mind Crush would trash his search.
"Fine, fine. Turn end. Your go. On your draw, I activate Mind Crush and declare Green Gadget. Into the grave he goes."
"Mhm, fine by me." Flynn stated as Green departed from his hand. He was not phased however as his resources were keeping up with Valerie's, at least on paper. Just by card count alone, he was deeper into his deck than his opponent. "I have a replacement ready to go as I play the Red Gadget I drew for turn to grab me a Yellow. Of course, I build the overlay network with Red and the Yellow on the field for Gear Gigant X and activate his effect for Ancient Gear Box. Furthermore, Gear Box's effect activates and allows me to add Ancient Gear Gadget to my hand. I set one facedown to end my turn." It was now six of Flynn's cards in rotation against Valerie's five cards.
"Alright. Draw, standby main." Valerie looked over her new hand, forming her play in her head. This wasn't exactly the best use of Ceruli, but she needed the Synchro at the moment more than opponent discards on monsters she wasn't guaranteed to draw. "I normal summon Fabled Raven and activate its effect, discarding two cards for one level and 400 attack each to my monster. On discard, chain 1 Beiige, chain 2 Ceruli." She picked up Ceruli's card and tossed it towards Flynn, much to her Duel Spirit's protest.
"Girl, be careful with that!" Ceruli spluttered, desperately hoping the boy at least caught the card without damage.
Oh no... Who the hell plays this card?!, Flynn thought to himself as he did managed to barely catch it. Perhaps unbeknownst to Valerie, she had just turned off his hail mary in Boot-Up Order - Gear Force's stringent requirement of only having Machines on his side of the field. He was silently livid.
"Beiige special summons to the board on discard, and I synchro summon my two level fours into a level 8. Get out here, Dark End Dragon. Battle phase, Grapha attacks Gear Gigant X, then Dark End Dragon attacks Gold Gadget."
[Flynn: -700 LP, 5900 LP]
"Gold effect which retrieves Silver to replace him on the field. Silver effect, of course, to summon out Yellow from hand which in turn grabs another Green."
"Main 2, activate Dark End Dragon's ignition to destroy Silver Gadget. Dark End Dragon loses 500 attack and defense. End phase."
There were a few cards in Flynn's deck that could turn the tide and he was almost half way through it: Limiter Removal, Gear Charge, even Solidarity. When he drew the second Gold Gadget for turn, Flynn could not believe the rotten luck he was dealt with. "... You win. There's no way out of here with what I have in hand." The only consolation prize he had was the fact that Valerie was no blue.
Wait, what? Seriously? She had zero cards in hand, and there was still a good chance of her next draw being a brick. This guy's loss wasn't assured, but Valerie supposed she shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. "Well, if you're sure, I'm not gonna bitch about the win. Good game, I guess." Not really. This guy probably could've been a better challenge if he'd drawn better. Or if he hadn't blown Metalhold for whatever reason she still didn't get.
Valerie took Ceruli's card back and deactivated her Duel Disk, tucking her deck away. "Think I'll go explore around campus for a bit. See you around, yeah?"
"Don't forget to take your iced tea or whatever... I'll see ya around." Flynn was dejected and exhausted enough to crash the moment he would reach his dorm room. At least he believed so in the face of Chris' shenanigans.
Flynn could only stand there, his face slowly blushing as he tried to find the words to express his bewilderment at Chris' audacity. Moments would pass before he would simply turn about and head for the door.
"You won this round, giant boy." he'd state before heading out. Normally, Flynn would be quick to find a witty remark to deflect such a dumb bit but perhaps he was still tired from the boat trip. Since he wasn't gonna find peace in his own room at this time, he decided to just find the nearest piece of furniture and simply crash there. While it wasn't exactly luxury decor, the Ra Yellow dorm did have serviceable common areas.
Surely the rest of the yellows weren't as weird as his roommate.
The sea breeze did little to calm Flynn's nerves. Multiple colossal chartered ships carried many of the freshly inducted students of Duel Academy to their island destination. Most would use their trip to socialize with their new peers and classmates. For the capricious Ra Yellow student, Flynn had decided to spend the last leg of the trip alone while overlooking the ocean from the vessel's portside — gazing into the blue with uncertainty and envy. It still didn't make sense to him.
Tried as he did, Flynn would have to carry this doubt with him as the ship reached the shore. It felt like a blur, walking from the pier to suddenly receiving his uniform. He was now wrapped in the glimmer of false gold. Reality had began to set in but he supposed that this was better than delinquent red. Curiously, the chancellor also wore red. What was up with that?
The rest of the orientation was standard fare and Flynn would uneventfully make his way to his dorm room. Seemingly arriving first, he would be ready to crash face first on to the bed closest to the door but he would be interrupted with the arrival of...
"Yo. I'm Chris, you?"
"Flynn... So, we're roommates. Any boundaries you want to establish? I'm cool with anything."
He wasn't. Flynn was already formulating a list of rules that would ensure that this titan of a man he was saddled wouldn't interfere with his studies. However, he figured it was the smart thing to make Chris think that they would arrive to a mutual agreement.
Just like a duel, Flynn had passed the turn back to his roommate.
Personality: A meticulous pessimist who hopes for the best but is expecting the worst. Flynn is not so secretly envious of his peers and is slowly becoming spiteful because of it. Choosing to bottle up his feelings, he presents a confident and respectful facade in public. For his own sake, Flynn intends to not get close enough to anyone from the academy in order to spare them from the inevitable disappointment of truly knowing him.
Once he's King of Games, he won't need friends anyway. Right?
History: School life tended to be easy for Flynn before arriving at Central Academy. He'd finish his tests with tons of time to spare and he'd duel circles around his classmates. Surely this would also be the case when he arrived at the prestigious dueling school of his dreams. The young lad had it all planned out - get accepted to Obelisk Blue and network with the elites of world via his new peers.
On the day of the entrance exam, Flynn held high hopes and even higher expectations. During the initial written test, he blazed through it without any reservation. He even cracked a smile as he submitted his answers before the majority of the other prospects. However, the practical duel against the proctor proved to be a bit harder. Going into it with the same reckless abandon he usually had, Flynn barely managed to get his win.
But that victory was all for naught. Instead of blue, he would be met with yellow. For the next few days after finding out the result, Flynn would be mulling to himself about where it all went wrong. Did he miss a page of questions? Surely his card knowledge wasn't wrong. Was it his academic background? It wasn't his fault that his family couldn't send him to an expensive boarding school!
None of this was his fault.
Still though, he wasn't gonna let this minor setback stop him. He's gonna grit his teeth and slowly get back on track, hopefully climbing over the lucky Obelisk Blues that overshadowed him in the process.
Spirituality: Flynn is completely unaware of dueling spirits. As far as he knows, cards are just mass printed products from the geniuses of Industrial Illusions.
Spirit Partner: Ancient Gear Gadget
Ace Card: Boot-Up Admiral - Destroyer Dynamo
Deck(s): Gear Today, Gone Tomorrow
Main Deck: Boot-Up Admiral - Destroyer Dynamo x1 Gold Gadget x3 Silver Gadget x3 Green Gadget x3 Red Gadget x3 Yellow Gadget x3 Ancient Gear Gadget x3 Ancient Gear Box x1 Boot-Up Corporal - Command Dynamo x2 Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo x1 Gravity Balance x1 Limiter Removal x1 Machina Defense Perimeter x1 Machine Assembly Line x1 Machina Armored Unit x1 Boot-Up Order - Gear Charge x2 Solidarity x3 Boot-Up Order - Gear Force x1 Stronghold the Moving Fortress x1 Powerhold the Moving Battery x2 Metalhold the Moving Blockade x2 Crusher Run x1
Alright, here's my CS. Tell me if I need to change anything.
Name: Flynn Aspadana
Gender: ♂
Dorm: Ra Yellow
Personality: A meticulous pessimist who hopes for the best but is expecting the worst. Flynn is not so secretly envious of his peers and is slowly becoming spiteful because of it. Choosing to bottle up his feelings, he presents a confident and respectful facade in public. For his own sake, Flynn intends to not get close enough to anyone from the academy in order to spare them from the inevitable disappointment of truly knowing him.
Once he's King of Games, he won't need friends anyway. Right?
History: School life tended to be easy for Flynn before arriving at Central Academy. He'd finish his tests with tons of time to spare and he'd duel circles around his classmates. Surely this would also be the case when he arrived at the prestigious dueling school of his dreams. The young lad had it all planned out - get accepted to Obelisk Blue and network with the elites of world via his new peers.
On the day of the entrance exam, Flynn held high hopes and even higher expectations. During the initial written test, he blazed through it without any reservation. He even cracked a smile as he submitted his answers before the majority of the other prospects. However, the practical duel against the proctor proved to be a bit harder. Going into it with the same reckless abandon he usually had, Flynn barely managed to get his win.
But that victory was all for naught. Instead of blue, he would be met with yellow. For the next few days after finding out the result, Flynn would be mulling to himself about where it all went wrong. Did he miss a page of questions? Surely his card knowledge wasn't wrong. Was it his academic background? It wasn't his fault that his family couldn't send him to an expensive boarding school!
None of this was his fault.
Still though, he wasn't gonna let this minor setback stop him. He's gonna grit his teeth and slowly get back on track, hopefully climbing over the lucky Obelisk Blues that overshadowed him in the process.
Spirituality: Flynn is completely unaware of dueling spirits. As far as he knows, cards are just mass printed products from the geniuses of Industrial Illusions.
Spirit Partner: Ancient Gear Gadget
Ace Card: Boot-Up Admiral - Destroyer Dynamo
Deck(s): Gear Today, Gone Tomorrow
Main Deck: Boot-Up Admiral - Destroyer Dynamo x1 Gold Gadget x3 Silver Gadget x3 Green Gadget x3 Red Gadget x3 Yellow Gadget x3 Ancient Gear Gadget x3 Ancient Gear Box x1 Boot-Up Corporal - Command Dynamo x2 Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo x1 Gravity Balance x1 Limiter Removal x1 Machina Defense Perimeter x1 Machine Assembly Line x1 Machina Armored Unit x1 Boot-Up Order - Gear Charge x2 Solidarity x3 Boot-Up Order - Gear Force x1 Stronghold the Moving Fortress x1 Powerhold the Moving Battery x2 Metalhold the Moving Blockade x2 Crusher Run x1
Sunlight had become scarce and night soon beckoned yet it felt as if an eternity must pass before lord Rycann of the Dreadfort could retire for the day. He had been listening to the trouble that befell his small folk, one after the other, since what felt like daybreak. How he longed for the days where a steed and a sword were his only concerns out on the hot fields of Essos. Nostalgia for an uncertain time now seen clearly with enjoyment kept his apathy at bay.
Still, the Redmark's daydreams would be interrupted.
"... And as such m'lord, I ask you on behalf of the small folk for a lighter tax burden due to the harvest failure." Those were the only words he had paid attention to from the latest petitioner. The man was well-dressed in southern fashion but had a full beard typical of that of a Northernman. If he had to hazard a guess? This was a freeman from White Harbor. What game was this upstart playing at, Rycann pondered to himself.
"Why would I reward failure?" Rycann quipped. The petitioner was caught offguard, mouth agape as he tried to recompose himself. "A-as I mentioned m'lord, without coin for supplies not only would the small folk starve but traders such as myself wou-" Before the petitioner could finish, Rycann had signalled his household guards to take the man away. Such naked greed was unbecoming and he had enough of dealing with that for a lifetime.
Still, this wasn't the first time today he had heard of trouble among the small folk's harvest. It wasn't quite winter yet but the threat of starvation and instability had to be taken seriously. How Rycann had wished that they could just stated their pleas all at once instead of doing so one by one throughout the day though. Before he could lament further, the next petitioner had entered and it was his own son Alaric. While a common sight within the walls of the Dreadfort, the Bolton boy did drag along an interesting companion.
"Alaric, why do drag a man bound and gagged to my court." the Redmark stated dryly, staring at a beaten up peasant stripped down to rags.
"My lord father, this criminal had been caught poaching on our lands. I have brought him before you to exact justice." Alaric responded with greater enthusiasm as he yanked the chains of the criminal.
The lord of the Dreadfort could only rub the side of his face at the response to his inquiry. "Lad, why do you waste my time? You are born of this house, you are free to administer justice in our name. Cut off this thief's hands and feed them to Brack's hounds for all I care."
The accused could only weep at his fate as he was met with uncaring silence from everyone else at court. As Alaric dragged him away with ease, the next petitioner would be yet another peasant in somehow even worse clothing. "Milord, troubles over the Weeping Water's coast has scared my hens and they do not lay as muc-"
Rycann simply stood up and walked away. He had taken all the foolishness he could bear for today.
The small folk of the Dreadfort are all complaining and Rycann has heard enough of their petitions. Unfortunately, he might have skipped over a peasant's sighting of trouble sailing his way.
A red flayed man on pale pink strewn with red drops
House Bolton of The Dreadfort
"Our Blades Are Sharp"
House Description: Once renowned as Red Kings during the Age of Heroes, House Bolton sowed terror and paranoia across the North as rulers of the Dreadfort. While they now bend the knee and pledge fealty to House Stark, the banner of the flayed man still inspires fear in friend and foe alike.
Recent History:
The ascendance of Rycann Bolton to the Dreadfort's lordship began in tragedy and remains shrouded in secrecy. His late lord father - Robett "Ravenskin" - had died due to illness and within the fortnight the disease had spread across the fortress grounds and claimed the lives of many others. Among the other lost souls were his eldest brother Rodrick and their household maester Bertram.
But that was many seasons ago. No specificities about the tragedy could be determined but rumours are a plenty. Whispers say that the Old Gods had punished their house due to Rycann and his brother Aden violating their house's oath not to flay men during their time in Essos. Further still, some braver and more foolish dare to say that the Redmark himself orchestrated the tragedy with the employment of Braavosi assassins. Though there is one truth known for certain with regards to this matter. Any man who dares speak of the incident may find himself before the lord of the Dreadfort, pleading a case as to why his tongue be not cut off for speaking falsities.
As for their political standing, there has always been an air of fear when dealing with the Boltons and Lord Rycann has used this to shore up his grip on power. None of the other Northern houses have any immediate issues with his position and he has also kept to his vows of fealty to the Starks with no quarrel. Time will tell if this will remain the case as grumblings from the south are starting to reach his court.
Appearance: The first thing anyone notices about Rycann is inevitably the eponymous burn mark that scarred his face. However, only some might make the observation that the lord of the Dreadfort obscures the untarnished part of his face with his long, dark hair.
Description & biography:
Born the youngest male among three brothers, Rycann's lordship of the Dreadfort was never set in stone. Witnessing the daily duties of his father's court, he had concluded that the politics of Westeros were not for him at an early age. On his sixteenth name day, he had departed the realm he had called home and would soon arrive on the shores of Essos to join the Second Sons mercenary company. His brother Aden, going by the nom de guerre "Quickbolt", had join this group of noble sellswords years prior and had risen to a captaincy due to his tactical prowess and ruthlessness. Serving as his brother's second-in-command, Rycann would quickly adapt to his new environment and pick up on the intricacies of a new field of politics. This one though had a lot more outright bloodshed involved.
Though he was now adventuring in an exotic land, the looming threat of death was always a knife's edge away. Yet, he revelled in this brutality and fought with reckless abandon. This would not be without cost however as an opposing foe nearly burnt off his face with a torch, barely surviving by choking out his foe and being saved by his comrades afterwards. Taking his survival of the crucible as a sign from the gods, he would wear his new scars as a badge of honor and would by then go by the name Redmark. However, it would be his further actions that would cement his reputation.
In the land of Essos, the most visceral of the Boltons' legacy could be freely practised by the two brothers as they were no longer bound by the oath the Starks had imposed upon their house as they were no longer in the North. During prolonged campaigns, those that would be captured among their routed foes that were neither rich nor noble would be flayed as a warning. The poor fools would be rope bound on makeshift wooden crosses, slowly burning away under the hot sun as carrion would come to feast on their flesh. The practice was widely reviled, demoralizing some and hardening others. Unfortunately, this happened to both their enemies and their allies. Their personal sellsword band among the Second Sons would dwindle to a loyal few, more ruthless but just as effective. The names Redmark and Quickbolt were now infamous.
However, his time adventuring would eventually come to an end as a messenger had informed him that tragedy had befallen upon his house, claiming the lives of his father Robett and brother Rodrick. A discussion between the two brothers would result in Aden refusing to give up his position among the Second Sons and the lordship of the Dreadfort had fallen to Rycann. While this might have sparked a potential succession dispute, the Quickbolt would meet his end as he fell off his horse while leading a pursuit mere weeks after Rycann returned to the Dreadfort.
His adventures are now merely memories. Lord Rycann had found himself in the position that he ran away from all those years ago. However, he cannot help but wonder how differently his life would have turned out if he had not returned to fulfill the duty he owed to his house.
Desmond Bolton
Age: 20 (182 A.C.)
Appearance: His skin is as pale as the snow surrounding the banks of the Weeping Water, hair as brown as first spring's mud on the Lonely Hills. If one were to describe the image of a man from House Bolton, one might have inadvertently described Desmond if it were not for his eyes. Instead of his house's ghost grey eyes, he instead possesses a deep auburn hue like that of his mother.
Description & biography:
The heir presumptive of the Dreadfort, Desmond Bolton indulges in the many pleasures of life that his station affords him. Like many others of his house, rumours surround his vices but none can be too sure about their true nature. However, unlike his kin, it is not just violence that plagues his reputation. Desmond supposedly beds many of the common folk women in a private residence at White Harbor while also squandering his father's wealth on frivolous luxuries imported from the other lands.
While a first born son of House Bolton, Desmond is uncharacteristically social for a Northman. Preferring the intrigues of southern court life over a Northern feast or melee, Desmond spent most of his teenage years as a page in the Reach under House Tarly and found the other kingdoms to be more vibrant and festive than his own. Even today, he keeps correspondence with his former hosts and attends events all over the Seven Kingdoms if only to avoid confinement of the cold walls of his own keep.
Alaric Bolton
Age: 17 (185 A.C.)
Appearance: Standing at over six feet and weighing at sixteen stone, the heavyset Alaric strikes a memorable figure at first glance. While the youngest of Rycann's children, he is easily the most imposing in appearance as he also possess the lineage's signature grey eyes. A calm demeanour constantly masks his face though many take to mean and assume that he is naturally cold and aloof.
Description & biography:
The second son of House Bolton and named after his mother, he is the clear favourite among Rycann's children. Unlike his brother who spent his formative years in the Reach, Alaric stayed in the North and had squired under Torrhen "Silver Fang" of House Stark instead. He was already naturally gifted in physical endeavours while the lessons from his mentor and his father would only further his martial talents.
While his grandfather was infamous in obscuring every endeavour he undertook, Alaric is seemingly becoming the Ravenskin's antithesis. The young lordling does not hold many secrets and is blunt with his words, accidentally offending his peers from time to to time. However, what he lacks in guile, he makes up for with nerves of steel and a heart of stone. Acting in the name of his father, Alaric has personally put criminals to the sword without as much as flinching.
Raelith Bolton
Rycann's only surviving sibling. While the title "Lady of the Dreadfort" would usually go to a female ruler of House Bolton or the ruling lord's wife, it finds contemporary usage in reference to Raelith. The lady Alarra detests her presence at court.
Alarra Bolton née Umber
Age: 36 (168 A.C.)
Description & biography: Once promised to be wed to Rodrick, Alarra would instead become Rycann's lady wife. A daughter of house Umber, she is noticeably taller than Rycann and is known for her straightforwardness.
Robett "The Ravenskin" Bolton
Description & biography: The late lord father of Rycann, the Ravenskin was known for many things and only half of those may be true. There was one thing apparent about his lordship of the Dreadfort and it was how he seemingly knew everything that went on in his realm.
Thus, one of the most prominent rumours about Robett was that he was a skinchanger and observed his domain through the eyes of ravens.
Rodrick Bolton
Description & biography: Rycann's eldest brother and once heir-presumptive to the Dreadfort. By all accounts, he was a fine noble who had a bright future that was snuffed out.
Aden "Quickbolt" Bolton
Description & biography: Second son of the Ravenskin and brother to Rodrick and Rycann, Aden was a lordling who loved fighting in melees and attending tourneys. Eventually, he would travel east to carve out his own fortune. He was renowned for his fighting prowess, specially with a crossbow.
He would meet an unfortunate end while chasing down his foes on horseback, accidentally getting bucked off and cracking his skull on impact.
A red flayed man on pale pink strewn with red drops
House Bolton of The Dreadfort
"Our Blades Are Sharp"
House Description: Once renowned as Red Kings during the Age of Heroes, House Bolton sowed terror and paranoia across the North as rulers of the Dreadfort. While they now bend the knee and pledge fealty to House Stark, the banner of the flayed man still inspires fear in friend and foe alike.
Recent History:
The ascendance of Rycann Bolton to the Dreadfort's lordship began in tragedy and remains shrouded in secrecy. His late lord father - Robett "Ravenskin" - had died due to illness and within the fortnight the disease had spread across the fortress grounds and claimed the lives of many others. Among the other lost souls were his eldest brother Rodrick and their household maester Bertram.
But that was many seasons ago. No specificities about the tragedy could be determined but rumours are a plenty. Whispers say that the Old Gods had punished their house due to Rycann and his brother Aden violating their house's oath not to flay men during their time in Essos. Further still, some braver and more foolish dare to say that the Redmark himself orchestrated the tragedy with the employment of Braavosi assassins. Though there is one truth known for certain with regards to this matter. Any man who dares speak of the incident may find himself before the lord of the Dreadfort, pleading a case as to why his tongue be not cut off for speaking falsities.
As for their political standing, there has always been an air of fear when dealing with the Boltons and Lord Rycann has used this to shore up his grip on power. None of the other Northern houses have any immediate issues with his position and he has also kept to his vows of fealty to the Starks with no quarrel. Time will tell if this will remain the case as grumblings from the south are starting to reach his court.
Appearance: The first thing anyone notices about Rycann is inevitably the eponymous burn mark that scarred his face. However, only some might make the observation that the lord of the Dreadfort obscures the untarnished part of his face with his long, dark hair.
Description & biography:
Born the youngest male among three brothers, Rycann's lordship of the Dreadfort was never set in stone. Witnessing the daily duties of his father's court, he had concluded that the politics of Westeros were not for him at an early age. On his sixteenth name day, he had departed the realm he had called home and would soon arrive on the shores of Essos to join the Second Sons mercenary company. His brother Aden, going by the nom de guerre "Quickbolt", had join this group of noble sellswords years prior and had risen to a captaincy due to his tactical prowess and ruthlessness. Serving as his brother's second-in-command, Rycann would quickly adapt to his new environment and pick up on the intricacies of a new field of politics. This one though had a lot more outright bloodshed involved.
Though he was now adventuring in an exotic land, the looming threat of death was always a knife's edge away. Yet, he revelled in this brutality and fought with reckless abandon. This would not be without cost however as an opposing foe nearly burnt off his face with a torch, barely surviving by choking out his foe and being saved by his comrades afterwards. Taking his survival of the crucible as a sign from the gods, he would wear his new scars as a badge of honor and would by then go by the name Redmark. However, it would be his further actions that would cement his reputation.
In the land of Essos, the most visceral of the Boltons' legacy could be freely practised by the two brothers as they were no longer bound by the oath the Starks had imposed upon their house as they were no longer in the North. During prolonged campaigns, those that would be captured among their routed foes that were neither rich nor noble would be flayed as a warning. The poor fools would be rope bound on makeshift wooden crosses, slowly burning away under the hot sun as carrion would come to feast on their flesh. The practice was widely reviled, demoralizing some and hardening others. Unfortunately, this happened to both their enemies and their allies. Their personal sellsword band among the Second Sons would dwindle to a loyal few, more ruthless but just as effective. The names Redmark and Quickbolt were now infamous.
However, his time adventuring would eventually come to an end as a messenger had informed him that tragedy had befallen upon his house, claiming the lives of his father Robett and brother Rodrick. A discussion between the two brothers would result in Aden refusing to give up his position among the Second Sons and the lordship of the Dreadfort had fallen to Rycann. While this might have sparked a potential succession dispute, the Quickbolt would meet his end as he fell off his horse while leading a pursuit mere weeks after Rycann returned to the Dreadfort.
His adventures are now merely memories. Lord Rycann had found himself in the position that he ran away from all those years ago. However, he cannot help but wonder how differently his life would have turned out if he had not returned to fulfill the duty he owed to his house.
Desmond Bolton
Age: 20 (182 A.C.)
Appearance: His skin is as pale as the snow surrounding the banks of the Weeping Water, hair as brown as first spring's mud on the Lonely Hills. If one were to describe the image of a man from House Bolton, one might have inadvertently described Desmond if it were not for his eyes. Instead of his house's ghost grey eyes, he instead possesses a deep auburn hue like that of his mother.
Description & biography:
The heir presumptive of the Dreadfort, Desmond Bolton indulges in the many pleasures of life that his station affords him. Like many others of his house, rumours surround his vices but none can be too sure about their true nature. However, unlike his kin, it is not just violence that plagues his reputation. Desmond supposedly beds many of the common folk women in a private residence at White Harbor while also squandering his father's wealth on frivolous luxuries imported from the other lands.
While a first born son of House Bolton, Desmond is uncharacteristically social for a Northman. Preferring the intrigues of southern court life over a Northern feast or melee, Desmond spent most of his teenage years as a page in the Reach under House Tarly and found the other kingdoms to be more vibrant and festive than his own. Even today, he keeps correspondence with his former hosts and attends events all over the Seven Kingdoms if only to avoid confinement of the cold walls of his own keep.
Alaric Bolton
Age: 17 (185 A.C.)
Appearance: Standing at over six feet and weighing at sixteen stone, the heavyset Alaric strikes a memorable figure at first glance. While the youngest of Rycann's children, he is easily the most imposing in appearance as he also possess the lineage's signature grey eyes. A calm demeanour constantly masks his face though many take to mean and assume that he is naturally cold and aloof.
Description & biography:
The second son of House Bolton and named after his mother, he is the clear favourite among Rycann's children. Unlike his brother who spent his formative years in the Reach, Alaric stayed in the North and had squired under Torrhen "Silver Fang" of House Stark instead. He was already naturally gifted in physical endeavours while the lessons from his mentor and his father would only further his martial talents.
While his grandfather was infamous in obscuring every endeavour he undertook, Alaric is seemingly becoming the Ravenskin's antithesis. The young lordling does not hold many secrets and is blunt with his words, accidentally offending his peers from time to to time. However, what he lacks in guile, he makes up for with nerves of steel and a heart of stone. Acting in the name of his father, Alaric has personally put criminals to the sword without as much as flinching.
Raelith Bolton
Rycann's only surviving sibling. While the title "Lady of the Dreadfort" would usually go to a female ruler of House Bolton or the ruling lord's wife, it finds contemporary usage in reference to Raelith. The lady Alarra detests her presence at court.
Alarra Bolton née Umber
Age: 36 (168 A.C.)
Description & biography: Once promised to be wed to Rodrick, Alarra would instead become Rycann's lady wife. A daughter of house Umber, she is noticeably taller than Rycann and is known for her straightforwardness.
Robett "The Ravenskin" Bolton
Description & biography: The late lord father of Rycann, the Ravenskin was known for many things and only half of those may be true. There was one thing apparent about his lordship of the Dreadfort and it was how he seemingly knew everything that went on in his realm.
Thus, one of the most prominent rumours about Robett was that he was a skinchanger and observed his domain through the eyes of ravens.
Rodrick Bolton
Description & biography: Rycann's eldest brother and once heir-presumptive to the Dreadfort. By all accounts, he was a fine noble who had a bright future that was snuffed out.
Aden "Quickbolt" Bolton
Description & biography: Second son of the Ravenskin and brother to Rodrick and Rycann, Aden was a lordling who loved fighting in melees and attending tourneys. Eventually, he would travel east to carve out his own fortune. He was renowned for his fighting prowess, specially with a crossbow.
He would meet an unfortunate end while chasing down his foes on horseback, accidentally getting bucked off and cracking his skull on impact.