Post by Stranger on Jun 15, 2014 21:21:23 GMT
Name: Septon Arlyn
Age: 24
Role: Expert
Background
At the foot of the Deepmont, nestled into the last curve of the causeway that climbs the mountain to the gates of Deepen Hall, sits the Sept on the Heath. Perched high above, the Vulture of Dulver rules the land. But below, the Merry Grouse (for so the smallfolk call Septon Arlyn) rules the people with a ready grin and an easy laugh.
Septon Arlyn began life as Arlyn Qargyle, third son of a landed knight sworn to the lord of Maidenpool. His father’s holdings were poor and with King Robert’s peace firmly established in the Riverlands, there were two stout young men ahead of him in line for the meager inheritance his father would leave. Not given to fratricidal scheming, Arlyn was packed off to King’s Landing to study under the Most Devoted.
On his nineteenth nameday, Arlyn said his vows in the Sept of Baelor and gave up the name of Qargyle. For another year he served in the great sept before shedding his fine robes for the brown habit of a begging brother and began the wandering journey that would end, at last, in the Sept on the Heath.
For three years, Arlyn walked the tangled web of roads that winds through the riverlands, into the westerlands and back again. He learned a great many things in those years: to be poor, to be hungry, to dress and treat the wounds and ailments life layers on the smallfolk who dig the earth and feed the kingdom. As he learned those lessons, the smallfolk to whom he ministered came to know him.
Six years ago Septon Arlyn came up the Dulver road bearing messages for Lord Harald and Septon Quayle of the Sept on the Heath. When he arrived, Septon Arlyn found his holy brother in poor health, and old. On the night before Arlyn was to depart the Sept and take up the road again, Septon Quayle collapsed of a stroke. The old man would never rise from his bed again.
What began as a brief visit became a vigil. Without a maester at Deepen Hall, the burden of caring for the old man fell to Septon Arlyn. He did so dutifully, and alone. Septon Quayle had few friends among his holy brothers, having been a dour and humorless man in life, and the Sept on the Heath, while rich in history, had never been a posting much sought among the order. Through the long year of Quayle’s decline, Septon Arlyn was the only member of the faith to attend the old man. Upon the occasion of his death, Septon Arlyn (who had, in that year, grown fond of the folk that lived about the Sept and, truth be told, rather fat) spoke the words over Septon Quayle, gave his body over to the Silent Sisters, and took up his post.
It wasn’t long before Septon Arlyn and the young heir of Dulver, Walton, struck up a warm friendship.
Lord Harald, though he had the respect and devotion of his smallfolk, did little to make them love him. What their lordship could not win and would not pursue, the people of the Stony Heath showered on Septon Arlyn.
With his ready grin and generous nature, it was hard to find anyone who had met him that did not love him. He spent as much time in the hamlet and wandering the hills tending to the faithful as he did preaching in the sept. He saw to the ailments of the common folk, delivered their children, blessed them and bestowed upon them their names. He saw them married, and buried. He tended them in life and in death. He was generous with the sept’s coffers, living frugally and giving out as alms all coins that came in at the offering but the barest minimum necessary to maintain the sept in good order.
Just as the smallfolk did, so too did Walton Dulver come to love Septon Arlyn. With no maester, the young heir’s education also fell to the septon. And as Walton fell short of his father’s idea of lordship, he found in Arlyn an alternative. A different way to rule.
Ser Walton’s affection for the septon has made Arlyn an unwilling and unknowing rival to Lord Harald. Arlyn did not set out to win anyone’s affection; it is simply his nature to do so. He would be dismayed to learn that in teaching Ser Walton of the Faith he has in some way supplanted the young heir’s father and shocked to find that he has, in the process, gained Lord Harald’s resentment. Thus far there has been no confrontation, but should Ser Walton make clear to Lord Harald his preference for the septon’s style of leadership over his father’s, a confrontation cannot help but be close behind.
Septon Arlyn is a portly man, his chief vice being a great fondness for food. Given his position as the much-beloved septon of the only sept in the district, he has no shortage of invitations to table in the homes of parishioners who are eager to lay as welcoming a meal before him as possible. He is sandy-haired, red-faced, and his eyes glimmer gaily as he makes kind japes of himself and all those around him. In his years wandering he learned the right end of a cudgel; though he is by no means a fighter, he can hold his own if need be. Most often, though, Septon Arlyn prefers to rely on an easy smile and the stature of his office to dissuade those that might do him harm.
Septon Arlyn has few ambitions of his own, generally being content to serve good people in the name of the Seven. He is, however, a charismatic man and quite astute once he turns his mind to a subject. Should he find himself in the right company he would not be the first man elevated despite his own lack of aspiration.
Age: 24
Role: Expert
Background
At the foot of the Deepmont, nestled into the last curve of the causeway that climbs the mountain to the gates of Deepen Hall, sits the Sept on the Heath. Perched high above, the Vulture of Dulver rules the land. But below, the Merry Grouse (for so the smallfolk call Septon Arlyn) rules the people with a ready grin and an easy laugh.
Septon Arlyn began life as Arlyn Qargyle, third son of a landed knight sworn to the lord of Maidenpool. His father’s holdings were poor and with King Robert’s peace firmly established in the Riverlands, there were two stout young men ahead of him in line for the meager inheritance his father would leave. Not given to fratricidal scheming, Arlyn was packed off to King’s Landing to study under the Most Devoted.
On his nineteenth nameday, Arlyn said his vows in the Sept of Baelor and gave up the name of Qargyle. For another year he served in the great sept before shedding his fine robes for the brown habit of a begging brother and began the wandering journey that would end, at last, in the Sept on the Heath.
For three years, Arlyn walked the tangled web of roads that winds through the riverlands, into the westerlands and back again. He learned a great many things in those years: to be poor, to be hungry, to dress and treat the wounds and ailments life layers on the smallfolk who dig the earth and feed the kingdom. As he learned those lessons, the smallfolk to whom he ministered came to know him.
Six years ago Septon Arlyn came up the Dulver road bearing messages for Lord Harald and Septon Quayle of the Sept on the Heath. When he arrived, Septon Arlyn found his holy brother in poor health, and old. On the night before Arlyn was to depart the Sept and take up the road again, Septon Quayle collapsed of a stroke. The old man would never rise from his bed again.
What began as a brief visit became a vigil. Without a maester at Deepen Hall, the burden of caring for the old man fell to Septon Arlyn. He did so dutifully, and alone. Septon Quayle had few friends among his holy brothers, having been a dour and humorless man in life, and the Sept on the Heath, while rich in history, had never been a posting much sought among the order. Through the long year of Quayle’s decline, Septon Arlyn was the only member of the faith to attend the old man. Upon the occasion of his death, Septon Arlyn (who had, in that year, grown fond of the folk that lived about the Sept and, truth be told, rather fat) spoke the words over Septon Quayle, gave his body over to the Silent Sisters, and took up his post.
It wasn’t long before Septon Arlyn and the young heir of Dulver, Walton, struck up a warm friendship.
Lord Harald, though he had the respect and devotion of his smallfolk, did little to make them love him. What their lordship could not win and would not pursue, the people of the Stony Heath showered on Septon Arlyn.
With his ready grin and generous nature, it was hard to find anyone who had met him that did not love him. He spent as much time in the hamlet and wandering the hills tending to the faithful as he did preaching in the sept. He saw to the ailments of the common folk, delivered their children, blessed them and bestowed upon them their names. He saw them married, and buried. He tended them in life and in death. He was generous with the sept’s coffers, living frugally and giving out as alms all coins that came in at the offering but the barest minimum necessary to maintain the sept in good order.
Just as the smallfolk did, so too did Walton Dulver come to love Septon Arlyn. With no maester, the young heir’s education also fell to the septon. And as Walton fell short of his father’s idea of lordship, he found in Arlyn an alternative. A different way to rule.
Ser Walton’s affection for the septon has made Arlyn an unwilling and unknowing rival to Lord Harald. Arlyn did not set out to win anyone’s affection; it is simply his nature to do so. He would be dismayed to learn that in teaching Ser Walton of the Faith he has in some way supplanted the young heir’s father and shocked to find that he has, in the process, gained Lord Harald’s resentment. Thus far there has been no confrontation, but should Ser Walton make clear to Lord Harald his preference for the septon’s style of leadership over his father’s, a confrontation cannot help but be close behind.
Septon Arlyn is a portly man, his chief vice being a great fondness for food. Given his position as the much-beloved septon of the only sept in the district, he has no shortage of invitations to table in the homes of parishioners who are eager to lay as welcoming a meal before him as possible. He is sandy-haired, red-faced, and his eyes glimmer gaily as he makes kind japes of himself and all those around him. In his years wandering he learned the right end of a cudgel; though he is by no means a fighter, he can hold his own if need be. Most often, though, Septon Arlyn prefers to rely on an easy smile and the stature of his office to dissuade those that might do him harm.
Septon Arlyn has few ambitions of his own, generally being content to serve good people in the name of the Seven. He is, however, a charismatic man and quite astute once he turns his mind to a subject. Should he find himself in the right company he would not be the first man elevated despite his own lack of aspiration.
It's set just before the historic Blacks v Greens period