Post by Stranger on Jun 14, 2014 2:41:03 GMT
Name: Lady Alianna Barnell
Age: 28
Role: Schemer
Background
One of the many grandchildren of Lord Walder Frey, Alianna’s family saw her as bad luck from the day she was born. Her parents both died in a springtime flood on the day of her birth and similar events have followed her for her entire life. Her wetnurse died of fever when Alianna was two years old and the maester who taught her as a child died of heart failure when she was twelve. Alianna’s childhood was a lonely one, despite her many cousins, nieces and nephews. She was ostracized for her bad luck and her orphan status, and the Freys were only too ready to be rid of her when she was married to Ser Silas Oberyn, a knight in service to House Tully. By that point her reputation had spread and no other man of higher station would have her.
Despite the inauspicious beginning of their relationship, Alianna and Ser Silas did come to love each other and within two years she had borne him a son, Daveth. Daveth was a sickly child, so his parents focused on teaching him more scholarly arts, with Ser Silas sparing no expense for the boy’s tutelage, donating all his winnings at tournaments to such concerns. Alianna thought that after Daveth survived several childhood diseases her curse was over, but it was not so. While serving the Tullys, Ser Silas was killed at the Battle of the Bells, leaving her a widow with a son to care for and little in the way of an estate to do it with.
With her husband’s death, Alianna again became a pariah as House Frey was not interested in bringing someone so obviously cursed back into their household. Lord Walder Frey lookedfor another option and found one a year later in the form of Tomas Barnell, a newly minted lord who deeply needed someone with courtly experience by his side. Lord Frey was familiar with the tales concerning the nature of Castle Grenward, and thought it would be one of the few places best suited to send his cursed granddaughter. Arrangements were made quickly and the two wed in a small ceremony at Castle Grenward. The Freys assume that since Lord Barnell has no family outside his son that the house will be wiped out soon by one curse or the other, giving House Frey a claim to the house’s land.
A lifetime as an outsider has led Alianna to believe that eventually everyone will turn on her and that she can only count on herself. The first exceptions to this were Daveth and Ser Silas, but then Ser Silas — the first man to not treat her like an unlucky penny — was taken from her. Through all this she became a controlled, willful, but quiet woman. She has learned to endure jibes and taunts, to pay no mind when she is ignored or forced out. Instead she feels herself to be above such petty concerns, projecting an aura of authority and stub-lesser matters. That said, she is not above going out of her way to cause trouble for House Frey and their allies where she can.
Alianna believes the best chance for the continued survival of House Barnell is the selection of her son Daveth as its heir. So far she has been unable to convince Lord Barnell of this, but continues to try. She keeps an eye out for some great task she could assign to her son to earn him some credit in his step-father’s eyes, especially if the task is more cerebral in nature. Alianna accepted long ago that her son was not a warrior
born and is instead extremely clever.
Age: 28
Role: Schemer
Background
One of the many grandchildren of Lord Walder Frey, Alianna’s family saw her as bad luck from the day she was born. Her parents both died in a springtime flood on the day of her birth and similar events have followed her for her entire life. Her wetnurse died of fever when Alianna was two years old and the maester who taught her as a child died of heart failure when she was twelve. Alianna’s childhood was a lonely one, despite her many cousins, nieces and nephews. She was ostracized for her bad luck and her orphan status, and the Freys were only too ready to be rid of her when she was married to Ser Silas Oberyn, a knight in service to House Tully. By that point her reputation had spread and no other man of higher station would have her.
Despite the inauspicious beginning of their relationship, Alianna and Ser Silas did come to love each other and within two years she had borne him a son, Daveth. Daveth was a sickly child, so his parents focused on teaching him more scholarly arts, with Ser Silas sparing no expense for the boy’s tutelage, donating all his winnings at tournaments to such concerns. Alianna thought that after Daveth survived several childhood diseases her curse was over, but it was not so. While serving the Tullys, Ser Silas was killed at the Battle of the Bells, leaving her a widow with a son to care for and little in the way of an estate to do it with.
With her husband’s death, Alianna again became a pariah as House Frey was not interested in bringing someone so obviously cursed back into their household. Lord Walder Frey lookedfor another option and found one a year later in the form of Tomas Barnell, a newly minted lord who deeply needed someone with courtly experience by his side. Lord Frey was familiar with the tales concerning the nature of Castle Grenward, and thought it would be one of the few places best suited to send his cursed granddaughter. Arrangements were made quickly and the two wed in a small ceremony at Castle Grenward. The Freys assume that since Lord Barnell has no family outside his son that the house will be wiped out soon by one curse or the other, giving House Frey a claim to the house’s land.
A lifetime as an outsider has led Alianna to believe that eventually everyone will turn on her and that she can only count on herself. The first exceptions to this were Daveth and Ser Silas, but then Ser Silas — the first man to not treat her like an unlucky penny — was taken from her. Through all this she became a controlled, willful, but quiet woman. She has learned to endure jibes and taunts, to pay no mind when she is ignored or forced out. Instead she feels herself to be above such petty concerns, projecting an aura of authority and stub-lesser matters. That said, she is not above going out of her way to cause trouble for House Frey and their allies where she can.
Alianna believes the best chance for the continued survival of House Barnell is the selection of her son Daveth as its heir. So far she has been unable to convince Lord Barnell of this, but continues to try. She keeps an eye out for some great task she could assign to her son to earn him some credit in his step-father’s eyes, especially if the task is more cerebral in nature. Alianna accepted long ago that her son was not a warrior
born and is instead extremely clever.
It's set just before the historic Blacks v Greens period