The Tourney at Ashford

Prince of Dragonstone, Baelor Targaryen – known as the Breakspear – is heir to the throne of the Seven Kingdoms and Hand of the King and will, without a doubt, one day take his place on the Iron Throne after his father, Daeron II, passes from this world. Unlike most Targaryens, Baelor is dark of hair and brown of eye and the normal Valyrian pale skin finds itself slightly darkened – features gained from his mother, Mariah Martell.

Considered one of the finest knights ever to grace the Seven Kingdoms, Baelor was instrumental during the Blackfyre Rebellion when he lead troops from Dorne and the Stormlands to Redgrass Field where they trapped the rebels against his brother Maekar’s army – an action commemorated in the song “The Hammer and Anvil.”

Despite him having all the makings of a fine king, Baelor is looked darkly upon by no small number of lords. His features mark him as more Martell than Targaryen and many believe that a “true” Targaryen should be the one to sit the throne, not some half-blood mongrel.

His wife is Jena, formerly of the House Dondarrion, and has given him two children: Valarr and Matarys. While Valarr has ridden to Ashford at his father’s side, Matarys remains in King’s Landing with his mother.

Youngest brother to Baelor, Maekar is seventh in line for the Iron Throne; knowing it impossible that he might ever sit upon it, he has contented himself with his place as Prince of Summerhall. Unlike his oldest brother, the bearded Maekar is considered a perfect Targaryen – white hair, purple eyes, and pale skinned tanned by years of commanding in the field.

Where Baelor was always a better knight, Maekar was always considered the better warrior and commander and thus stands in charge of his a portion of his father’s armies. In the field, his army stood against the mad attacks of Aegor the Bittersteel and it was by his hand and commands the rebel army of the Blackfyres was finally destroyed – a feat he remembers in the form of a wicked scar across his face when he faced Aegor in battle.

Despite his prowess and his part in the downfall of Daemon Blackfyre, Maekar is jealous of his brother; history remembers more the role of Baelor Breakspear and the errors of Daemon Blackfyre than it does of Maekar’s part in the Battle of the Redgrass Field. Despite this jealousy, he serves for the good of the kingdom at his brother’s side.

Maekar is recently widowed, his wife Dyanna having died in childbirth. Together they had four sons – Aerion, Daeron, Aemon, and Aegon – and two daughters – Daella and Rhae, the youngest. Maekar is accompanied at Ashford by Aerion though Daeron and Aegon seem to have disappeared from the caravans. Maekar’s two daughters remain in King’s Landing while his remaining son, Aemon, studies at the Citadel.

The most recent appointment to King Daron's small council, Grand Maester Ryon

A once strong and handsome man growing portly with his years, Darryn Ashford is head of House Ashford and a staunch supporter of both the Tyrells, his direct lords, and the Targaryens in general. During his youth, Darryn was a well-known tourney knight that eventually drew the eye of Lord Leo Tyrell, serving with him during the Blackfyre Rebellion and routing traitorous houses in the south.

In his advancing age, Lord Ashford has retreated more to his home, preferring to oversee the well-being of his lands as opposed to traipsing off across the Seven Kingdoms, leaving that to the younger knights. He has become a serious man, focused on ensuring that his line continues, though it’s clear beyond a doubt that he has a soft spot for his daughter, Ashlyn, and has so far refused anyone who has come to negotiate for her hand in marriage.

The nameday girl, Ashlyn stands on the boundaries between childhood and being an adult. While understanding that her duty to her house it to one day marry into another family, Ashlyn has never thought about how close that day might truly be. Her father seems content to allow that day to remain far away.

In the meantime, the young girl has taken an interest in horses and can often be found at the stables in the stable of Ashford Hold watching after the house’s horses. Although recognizing she is not bound for that world, she adores the training her older brothers undergoes and has a strong fondness for jousting – thus the tournament her father called for her nameday.

Lord of House Algood from a young age due to the execution of his father as repayment for House Algood’s allegiance during the Blackfyre Rebellion, Arryk Algood almost perfectly fits the average description of the Andals; with blonde hair, an athletic build, and a neatly trimmed beard, Arryk has slowly and quietly been rebuilding House Algood since he came to power after the Blackfyre Rebellion. So slowly and quietly, in fact, that many see Arryk as a coward with no direction.

Lord of Redwall since the age of ten, Arryk has spent most of his reign under the bootheel of various observers appointed by the Lannisters; in fact, it wasn’t until his fourteenth birthday that he truly became the power in Redwall, having had a regent appointed for him until that point. Growing up in such a situation has led him to become an quiet and reserved individual. That isn’t to say he isn’t without martial talents; Arryk is an accomplished tournament knight, having been knighted by the now deceased Ser Edmund Tarbeck, the previous overseer.

Despite claims to the contrary, Arryk has steadily been increasing his house’s fortunes; with the aid of his wife and her head for numbers, he’s been able to triple the income of the house from trade over the last two years, leaving the house with enough excess wealth to reopen a long abandoned mine in the north of the house’s lands.

Where many thought that the marriage between Arryk and his betrothed Tarbeck wife, Moira, would be loveless, the reality couldn’t be anymore the opposite; the two greatly admire on another and tales of the love between the two have spread through the nearby houses as something other lords can only hope to aspire to. The union has so far produced two children, Mathieu and Roslin, both of whom were doted upon by their parents. Since both were taken to be wards, Arryk has become more withdrawn then normal – something many point to when claiming that he’s a coward; after all, what lord would let his children be taken without resistance?

Thaddeus Dunn

Lord Commander Thaddeus Dunn, Protector of the Silver Hills, is a corpulent fellow; wounded in action during the final days of conflict with the Dornish, Thaddeus’ tendency towards mass consumption of food combined with his lack of activity have caused him to grow to prodigious size. Once a great soldier – but poor tactician – it was his overconfidence in the days after assuming his lordship that saw him missing half of a leg and forever kept from the battlefield.

Despite this, Thaddeus is a man who recognizes that any day now could be his last; in his growing age, his old war wounds pain him still and so he indulges in all the pleasures of life he can – and not just food. It’s rumoured that, over the last half decade, he’s spawned nearly two dozen baseborn children – though, of course, he denies any of them are his.

A widower with five legitimate children – two sons, Kevan and Hervey, and three daughters, Maera, Rhaenys, and Lydia – Thaddeus is a man now obsessed with seeing treachery everywhere. While that paranoia served him well during his early days, others now realize it may in fact be holding the house back as he refuses to treat with any of his former Dornish enemies and sees any other marcher lords who have made deals with them to be traitors to Westeros who are plotting to take his family’s land – an irony, given his one-time plan to seize control of Nightsong from the Carrons. One day, Lord Thaddeus insists, the Dornish will once again turn upon the Westerosi.

Once, Lord Eddard Forrester was a Stark. A good man far from the line of succession that served his distant cousins as a diplomat in the south, Eddard was recalled to the North when the first rumblings of the seeds of rebellion reached the ears of Barthogen Stark. Thinking he had given some insult in the south to warrant the recall, Eddard was surprised to learn that the Lord Stark was appointing him the head of a new noble house. Realizing that Barthogen had paid him a great honor and at the same time handed him a heavy responsibility, Eddard set about the work of ensuring that his cousin would not be disappointed.

Now an older man with short grey hair and a stiff but well-trimmed beard and standing slightly above average height for a Northerner, Eddard is a kind but stern man concerned mostly with the wellbeing of his family and the mission to which they were set. He walks with something of a limp from an injury received fighting on Skagos with the Starks; although he rarely shares the story of exactly what happened for him to have been injured, he does say that the campaign was worth it – even at the cost of the Lord Stark – and that they did the right thing in going to fight.

Married to Janna Crane, a Reachwoman, Eddard has five children: three boys – Willum, Marqus, and Deryk – and two daughters – Sybelle and Arwyn. With one of the boys married, another betrothed, and one of the girls married, he’s content that the family’s line of succession is set. His main concern for the longevity of Forrester, though, rises from the one family that has refused to back away from the claims they put to Forrester lands: the Whitehills – though ostensibly protected by his decision to swear fealty to the Glovers during the early days of the Skagosi uprising, Eddard still fears military action by the Whitehills is likely as soon as the chance arises.

Although concerned that the Whitehills may, one day, push their claim, Eddard doesn’t let the worry consume him; in his idle time, Eddard has taken to researching and preserving the history of House Forrester in particular and the North in general with the help of his maester, Myles – Ironrath is home to a library of books detailing various histories and myths of the North. He hopes to one day pass them down to Willum to continue.

Sent to Ironrath by his father, Lord Flint, to help seal the agreement between their families, Dennys Flint was raised among the Forresters from age eight. Thought to be In part due to the large portion of Wildling blood in the mountain clans, Dennys is much lighter skinned – almost the point of being ice white – and dark haired than even other Northerners. Although not a full knight – having never taken his vows – Dennys is a master of the martial and in charge of the men accompanying the Forrester party.

Lord Cedric Kellington is the only son of Jerome Kellington and Ythne Kellington (nee Connington). With a face that looks slightly malformed and an unruly mop of red-brown hair, Cedric is the utmost example of the spoiled noble. Given every leeway by his father since youth, his carefree attitude continued into his adult years after becoming lord and, now in his late 30s, Cedric is utterly unaware of the damage his decisions have done to House Kellington.

Cedric has been lord of the Cragfort for twelve years now; his father, injured during the Blackfyre Rebellion during the Battle of the Redgrass Plain, succumb to his an infection of his wounds and left the inexperienced and not-quite prepared Cedric in charge. His demands of luxury put hardship on the already strained peasantry, taking a sizable portion of what they were able to grow in the terrain in order to fuel his excess. The constant strain on the lands has not gone unnoticed by his neighbours, particular the Kellington’s banner house, the Cafferens, who have begun to enter negotiations with the Baratheons to swear fealty directly to the Stormlords.

But that isn’t the only concern his household has.

As of yet, Cedric is unmarried and has no heirs – not even, as with many other lords, bastards. While still a youth, he was never pressured to marry; his father declared that his son would marry only when he was good and ready, driven by Jerome’s own unhappy forced marriage. Even after ascending to lordship of the house with his father’s death, Cedric continued to delay marriage. Finally, though, Cedric has finally consented to marriage – if only to silence the constant nagging from his advisors (some of who already quietly fear it may be too late to bring the house back from the edge).

Cedric’s hobbies are wide and varied – and most cause at least one member of the house or another to sigh in frustration. He considers himself one of the best poets in all of Westeros, often locking himself in his chamber for countless hours on end composing his latest masterpiece; when presented in the great hall, however, most members of the house would agree his work is lackluster at the best of times (though none would ever say so to his face). Despite his bookish nature, he hasn’t left the martial training usually necessary for a lord slip by the wayside. Although a mediocre swordsman, capable only of putting up a mild defense at best, Cedric is an accomplished wrestler and finds great joy in challenging those who would visit Kellington and the Cragfort. While he refuses to pick up a bow or spear – thus precluding himself from hunts – Cedric is also an accomplished horseback rider, occasionally riding out with his Huntmaster.

Ostensibly the son of Desmond Terrick and his wife, Wylla, the truth behind Joseth’s birth is much more muddled. During a tour of their lands, the Terrick family came under attack by an Ironborn raiding party; the attack saw the death of both of Desmond’s first two children and the capture of Wylla by the raiders. Left injured by the attack, Lord Terrick was unable to launch any kind of rescue attempt. Enter the Mallisters: the silver eagles of Seagard offered to strike back for the Terricks; lost in his grief, Desmond accepted. Some months later, the Mallisters returned to Hawkspray with a heavily pregnant Wylla. Some months later, Wylla gave birth to a healthy baby boy; despite the questionable parentage of the child, Desmond accepted the boy as his.

Now middle aged, Joseth Terrick would not be mistaken for Lord Desmond any day. A towering and imposing man with hair gone prematurely grey, Joseth is a prolific knight, having lead the House Terrick forces during the Blackfyre Rebellion for the Targaryens in his father’s place. Wielding an oddly designed one-and-a-half hander taken from the body of a marauding Ironborn raider, Joseth was a terror both on the battlefield and in the grand melee at tourneys.

Married to Manon Frey, a cousin of the current Lord Frey, Joseth has had seven children: six girls – Rowena, Wylla, Joyeuse, Walda, Shirei, and Ryella – and one son – Desmond. Although it has left the line of succession unstable, with only a single male heir, it has presented Joseth the ability to freely marry his daughters off for political gain. While he looks beyond his neighbours for possible prospects, he readies his son to one day take the lordship, already including him in many of the decisions of the day-to-day running of the house.

As with many Terricks in the past, Joseth is an avid falconer. Aside from his sword, Joseth’s prized possession is a saker that he hand raised from hatchling to full grown hunting bird. Neither the bird nor his sword are ever very far from the Terrick lord, even on trips far from the relative safety of Hawkspray.

The youngest of the five children of Warryn and Alys Wydman, Lord Ythan Wydman has been styled by many as Lord Ythan the Unlikely (or, to a few, Ythan the Unlocky). A hard man with harder features (including a scar down the right side of his face from the blade of a clansman), Ythan is a product of his upbringing in the harsh and unforgiving Mountains of the Moon. His entire life has been devoted to securing his lands against the mountain clans and, after nearly fifty years, the exhaustion is beginning to show on his features.

Lord of Old Peake for almost fifteen years now, Ythan is the only one of his father’s children who outlived Warryn the Wyde. All three of his older brothers succumbed to injuries while fighting against the clansmen and his sister – born and died before Ythan was ever conceived – died of a winter sickness in her third year of life. Having lost his own eldest son – to the clansmen, he keeps telling himself, not to a madness that drove him to run into the wild – has affected Ythan as well, making a closed man even more closed. It’s clear from his actions that he cares for his family and his people but that to show it would only be to admit a weakness that could be exploited by others.

Married to Elza Waynwood – a distant cousin of his mother – has given Ythan a total of three children. Though his eldest Jon was lost, he has an heir in his younger son, Warryn, who seeks to be a knight as great as his grandfather, and a teenaged daughter, Berena, who is as of yet unmarried. Although the succession of the family line is still troubled, Ythan has little concern in the matter; after all, if he is unable to defend his lands, there will be nothing left for his family to rule. Thus, despite further suitors from Waynwood come to court his daughter, Ythan eyes lords beyond the Vale with whom he might treat and offer his daughter as part of an offer to help secure the Wydman lands.