Physical Traits:
Karsen is fairly tall with an athletic, muscular build. In spite of this, he is actually quite nimble. He has brown hair, a beard, and blue eyes. Because he is the leader of House Stout’s Household Guard, Karsen has quite a few battle scars. He has one large scar on his abdomen. He has moderately large scars on his right shoulder and left thigh.

Personality:
Karsen has a good heart but also a terrible temper. He will yell and berate someone for whatever they have done to anger him but, his forgiveness and apology is sincere and heartfelt. It more than matches his angry outburst. As a bit of a womanizer, he is rarely seen without some beauty on his arms. High born or low born can be seen in his company, as long as they are attractive. He seems to have a preference for busty women as well.

Skills/Education:
Karsen was trained by Ser Walden, a knight of the Riverlands, who had become the arms master of House Stout. Karsen gained many martial skills from this training. He learned the skills of horsemanship; fighting from horseback; fighting with lance, sword, and shield; fighting on foot; small unit battle tactics; and grand strategy. Karsen was able to learn some basic etiquette about tournaments and courtly behavior by the fact that Ser Walden took him to some tournaments and advised him at feasts. He can be quite entertaining after he has a few ales in him and is more than a passing lover.

History:
Karsen’s father, Ser Mark Stout, is the current Lord of House Stout. Karsen’s mother is Emely Long of House Long, another house in the north. He has a brother, Paxten, who is two years older than him and a sister, Jamilyn, who is two years younger. At the age of sixteen Karsen became a member of the Household Guard. Over the next three years, he was busy hunting down bandits and wildling raiders. Since he was a quick learner with a keen tactical sense and good combat skills his reputation and bandit fighting ability continued to rise. Karsen sent many a bandit and wildling to the afterlife.

When Karsen was 19 years old he participated in the tournament (War of the White Cloaks) at the Golden Wedding of AC 49. He participated in the melee so he wouldn’t lose his horse and equipment and it was the only one a non-knight could participate in. When he was 20 years old in AC 50, Karsen, now leader of the Household Guard was sent, after House Stout received a call from House Stark, to serving in fighting a rebellion at the Wall. During his fight Castle Rimgate, he personally killed several rebels who attacked Lord Dustin (House Stout’s liege lord) before being slashed on his left thigh. Although wounded, his continued fighting in the battle and Karsen came to the aid of Rodrick Karstark. While fighting rebels with Rodrick, Karsen was slashed across the abdomen and unable to continue the battle. In 55 AC, Karsen participated in the tournament held because of the completion of the dragon pits. He was 25 and this time he, because he was a lord, he participated in the joust. Karsen was jousting Ser Brandon Mallister and took a splinter of wood the size of a dagger from Ser Brandon’s lance in his right shoulder and was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to the wound.