Re: Discussion & Creation
Okay, so how about this then? I scavenged some of my previous Velaryon concept's bio and rewrote parts, and could use this as the basis of something to work with?
Back Story:
Eldest child of two children born to Ser Llydian of House Velaryon and Lady Eryadora (nee of House Sunglass), Acired grew up in the sheltered bays of her family home of Sudal, a tiny islet in the southern mouth of the Gullet.
Her father Ser Llydian, spent a long career as a knight of minor note at best, serving his greater kin and cousins of House Velaryon with loyal if undistinguished service. Lady Eryadora was the seventh daughter of her household and her marriage to Ser Llydian, while not unhappy, was the best match that could be arranged in her youth when she reached marriagable age, and so she spent many of her days thereafter pining for the richer and more cosmopolitan life of Aegon's Landing.
As the eldest of two girls, Acired was by practical necessity more of her father's daughter, taking much after him and spending much of her childhood learning things from attending his daily duties. She learned her letters at his side, as he tended to the ravens from Dragonstone and wrote his reports on his regular watches upon the distant seas' horizon. She helped him with his armor, his weapons, and when he took injury on the infrequent sortees against coastal raiders, she learned how to clean wounds with saltwater and sew them shut with fish sinew.
From her mother, Acired learned precious little of courtly life, showing talent only for the musical lessons Eryadora tried to pass onto her. Showing a predisposition for the ancient and traditional historical ballads, she would play her mother's heirloom lyre for her mother and father at the end of every evening, bringing small comfort through music to the weary couple before sleep.
Life for the family was simple and modest, and yet the young girl spent many happy Summer days never knowing much of the world that lay a few days sail from their shores. Her lessons were practical for the most part, though lore of lineages, heraldry, and landholdings were not ignored by her father as part of her learning, he was a pragmatic knight in service and knew well the value passing on the skills of counting numbers, bushels of grain, catties of dried fish, and barrels of fresh water.
As she grew older towards womanhood, the wishes of her mother for Acired to marry well put pressure upon her father to stop taking out on his daily excursions and occasional sorties to the neighboring isles. But for a chance foray against Ironborn raiders which left her father with a vicious wound that would not heal properly, Acired's destiny might have followed a different path altogether.
Sent to fetch her wounded father from the campaign and bring him home, Acired was present when the battle escalated, and their longboatss were overun. Taking up a spear to defend her father, Acired showed her mettle and acted as a worthy second, crying out to the men of the Driftmark to rally to her father's banner. Even after the tide of battle turned and the Ironborn were driven off, she remained by her father's side, tending to his letters and nursing his wounds along with those of her kinsmen. The mariners and warriors jokingly began to call her "The Lord's Shadow" as she never strayed far from his side as the campaign wound to a close. Eventually she acted as his crutch when he finally returned home to peace.
But the wounds taken in battle took a grievious toll on the man, and his health soon failed. Shortly after returning home, Ser Llydian awoke unable to move one side of his body, and remained bedridden thereafter. Unable to complete Acired's training, Ser Llydian sent ravens to his distant comrades from the (Stormlands?), asking to foster his daughter with them in Aegon's Landing where she could continue her education and hopefully find a place for herself. Lady Eryadora took kindly this opportunity as well, hoping that the fostering of her eldest girl in a more courtly environment might make more of a proper maiden out of her, and lead to suitable marriage prospects.
And so in this season of peace, like the calm before the storm, young Acired Velaryon has come to (somewhere in the Stormlands?) to be presented to the Lord and Lady (fill in the blanks), to be fostered and groomed, eventually to be introduced into Court...
