Post by Stranger on Jun 14, 2014 3:29:48 GMT
Name: Daveth Barnell
Age: 16
Role: Expert
Background
From an early age, it was evident that Daveth would never be a great warrior like his father Ser Silas. He was slim of body and weak of arm, and looked like he could be felled by a random gust of wind. His mother and father accepted this and encouraged other pursuits for him, buying him all manner of books and employing a maester to teach him. As a child Daveth wanted nothing more than to grow up to become a maester and spend his days in study. The death of Ser Silas opened Daveth’s eyes to how the world really worked. His teacher left, his books were sold, and his own family saw him as a weight to be offloaded as soon as possible.
At age ten Daveth’s mother married Lord Barnell and Daveth moved to Castle Grenward, counting himself lucky to get the room at the top of the tower that had been inhabited by the maester the Darrys had in their service. The man had died during Robert’s Rebellion, but most of his tools and books remained in the tower where he had left them. Daveth immediately went to work figuring out how to use the tools and reading all the books he could. While Daveth has never received maester training, he knows much of their arts and looks to learn more.
Whereas Daveth’s mother and father encouraged his studies, his new step-father had little interest in his continuing such activities. Lord Barnell thought Daveth a weakling from the start and this opinion has never changed. Lord Barnell has spent many hours trying to teach Daveth swordplay, riding, and archery, but Daveth has proved inept and uninterested in any of these. Garret has likewise helped try and teach Daveth some manner of military skill in the hope of increasing his stature in Lord Barnell’s eyes, but has met similar problems.
While Daveth has little skill in matters martial, he has a keen head for numbers, management, and social interactions—even exceeding his mother in the latter regard. In the last few years Daveth has assisted the castle steward, Farris Leed, in overseeing the castle’s management, and his efforts have increased the profits of the castle substantially. Lord Barnell does not notice these successes, aside from using the money to hire more troops. Daveth is confident that if he was given actual control of the house he would be able to increase its funds and influence.
Daveth takes after his mother, favoring logic and cunning over passion and emotion. Daveth sees the austere façade his mother puts up and tries to emulate it, but while he is much like her, years of living with Garret have changed him somewhat. The two are friends and Garret’s impulsive nature and ambition have helped Daveth get out of his shell. The two complement each other well, Garret providing the muscle and skullduggery while Daveth uses his brains and scholarly training. On more than one occasion, Garret has drafted Daveth into a scheme to bed a girl—schemes which rarely work out the way either lad had hoped.
It is evident to Garret and Lady Barnell that Daveth is the best choice to take over as the head of House Barnell, but neither Lord Barnell nor Daveth sees that. Lord Barnell thinks Daveth a weakling, while Daveth, ironically, agrees that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a proper lord. Daveth believes that being a noble lord is all horses and swords since that was what his father and step-father focused on. Daveth feels he must prove his worth both to his step-father and himself if he is to become Lord Barnell, an end result that both Garret and Lady Barnell support. And while he denies that he wants to lead House Barnell, Daveth knows he could lead it to greatness with just some more organization and social graces, especially if he has Garret at his side.
Daveth’s overall goal is to undo what he sees as the harm Lord Barnell has inflicted on House Barnell. He hopes to improve the family’s wealth by focusing on the house’s farming and lumber operations rather than adding more soldiers. He would raise the family’s influence by spending time at the courts of neighboring houses, in contrast to his stepfather, who favors his own hearth. Daveth also wants to put to rest the stories of the Curse of Castle Grenward and its ghosts once and for all, thinking such stories have no place in this age of reason and logic. Daveth has yet to experience any of the supernatural activity at House Grenward and dismisses stories of it as the results of drinking. What his actual purpose in denying the superstitions, however, is to protect his mother, since he believes she equates the castle’s curse with her own.
Age: 16
Role: Expert
Background
From an early age, it was evident that Daveth would never be a great warrior like his father Ser Silas. He was slim of body and weak of arm, and looked like he could be felled by a random gust of wind. His mother and father accepted this and encouraged other pursuits for him, buying him all manner of books and employing a maester to teach him. As a child Daveth wanted nothing more than to grow up to become a maester and spend his days in study. The death of Ser Silas opened Daveth’s eyes to how the world really worked. His teacher left, his books were sold, and his own family saw him as a weight to be offloaded as soon as possible.
At age ten Daveth’s mother married Lord Barnell and Daveth moved to Castle Grenward, counting himself lucky to get the room at the top of the tower that had been inhabited by the maester the Darrys had in their service. The man had died during Robert’s Rebellion, but most of his tools and books remained in the tower where he had left them. Daveth immediately went to work figuring out how to use the tools and reading all the books he could. While Daveth has never received maester training, he knows much of their arts and looks to learn more.
Whereas Daveth’s mother and father encouraged his studies, his new step-father had little interest in his continuing such activities. Lord Barnell thought Daveth a weakling from the start and this opinion has never changed. Lord Barnell has spent many hours trying to teach Daveth swordplay, riding, and archery, but Daveth has proved inept and uninterested in any of these. Garret has likewise helped try and teach Daveth some manner of military skill in the hope of increasing his stature in Lord Barnell’s eyes, but has met similar problems.
While Daveth has little skill in matters martial, he has a keen head for numbers, management, and social interactions—even exceeding his mother in the latter regard. In the last few years Daveth has assisted the castle steward, Farris Leed, in overseeing the castle’s management, and his efforts have increased the profits of the castle substantially. Lord Barnell does not notice these successes, aside from using the money to hire more troops. Daveth is confident that if he was given actual control of the house he would be able to increase its funds and influence.
Daveth takes after his mother, favoring logic and cunning over passion and emotion. Daveth sees the austere façade his mother puts up and tries to emulate it, but while he is much like her, years of living with Garret have changed him somewhat. The two are friends and Garret’s impulsive nature and ambition have helped Daveth get out of his shell. The two complement each other well, Garret providing the muscle and skullduggery while Daveth uses his brains and scholarly training. On more than one occasion, Garret has drafted Daveth into a scheme to bed a girl—schemes which rarely work out the way either lad had hoped.
It is evident to Garret and Lady Barnell that Daveth is the best choice to take over as the head of House Barnell, but neither Lord Barnell nor Daveth sees that. Lord Barnell thinks Daveth a weakling, while Daveth, ironically, agrees that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a proper lord. Daveth believes that being a noble lord is all horses and swords since that was what his father and step-father focused on. Daveth feels he must prove his worth both to his step-father and himself if he is to become Lord Barnell, an end result that both Garret and Lady Barnell support. And while he denies that he wants to lead House Barnell, Daveth knows he could lead it to greatness with just some more organization and social graces, especially if he has Garret at his side.
Daveth’s overall goal is to undo what he sees as the harm Lord Barnell has inflicted on House Barnell. He hopes to improve the family’s wealth by focusing on the house’s farming and lumber operations rather than adding more soldiers. He would raise the family’s influence by spending time at the courts of neighboring houses, in contrast to his stepfather, who favors his own hearth. Daveth also wants to put to rest the stories of the Curse of Castle Grenward and its ghosts once and for all, thinking such stories have no place in this age of reason and logic. Daveth has yet to experience any of the supernatural activity at House Grenward and dismisses stories of it as the results of drinking. What his actual purpose in denying the superstitions, however, is to protect his mother, since he believes she equates the castle’s curse with her own.
It's set just before the historic Blacks v Greens period