Damon Kenning

**Damon Kenning** is the current First Ranger of the Night's Watch, and a knight of House Kenning.

## Appearance

With sandy-blond hair, and a thick beard, Damon shows off his Westerlander heritage proudly, even so far north of his home. However, due to the cold climate at the Wall, he clothes himself in a thick fur cloak, clasped to his dark Watchman armour by the sigil of his house, a memory of the life he threw away to defend the realms from what lies beyond. Damon bears another memory as well, a golden lion brooch, gifted to the knight before his departure to the Wall by Gregor Lannister himself. He stands at just over six feet tall, and is muscular, constantly training himself.

## History

Damon Kenning was born in the year 253 AA to Ser Martyn Kenning and his wife, Cerelle Yarwyck. Born without any responsibility, and not expecting any, the young boy was allowed to do what he wished, and spent his time training with the knights of Kayce. Whilst not the best duelist, Damon knew how to use his sword with the utmost intimacy, defeating the other squires in the town with his knowledge, over his skill.

Focusing all of his training on combat and dueling, it was inevitable that the Kenning would enter a life that depended on it, and at sixteen years of age, he signed up with the Goldcloaks, swearing his sword in service to the Westerlands. In his tenure as a Goldcloak, Damon proved his skill, leading a small group of Goldcloaks into a bandit den, and scattering his group to avoid a heavy arrow barrage. For his service in the Goldcloaks, at the ripe young age of 18, he was knighted, and swore the first oath of his life.

In his time wearing the red cloak, Damon proved himself an asset to King Gregor Lannister, guarding the King and his family with great efficiency. When he was not with the King, he was training, and assisting the young squires and pages of the Rock in their practice, including assisting the young Briony Clegane in her training. However, whilst satisfied with his position, he felt wasted, standing around, and in 275 AA, Damon spoke with Gregor Lannister, and handed in his sword and his cloak, declaring that he was to head to the Wall. Thanking him for his service, Gregor gifted the knight a golden lion brooch, proud to see a true knight of the Westerlands at the Wall.

During his training, Damon stood out as a fighter, reliably defeating the other recruits in the training yard. With his innate knowledge of weaponry, the knight was quick to be promoted to a ranger. Proud of his success, Kenning could not stop himself from gloating, which drew the ire of Beric Trant, a recently-promoted steward. Beric was proficient with a greatsword, and was incredibly strong when enraged, and so beat the new ranger into the dirt. Knowing his failure to be more of a motivation than a reason to be distressed, Damon felt a grudging respect for the Stormlander, and vowed that one day, he’d knock the Trant back a little.

It was his first important ranging, four years after his advancement to ranger in 280 AA, that turned Damon onto the path he follows today. Along with one veteran ranger, named Josua Cressey, three newly promoted watchmen, Lewys Gower, Donnel Hawthorne, Edric of Wayfarer’s Rest, and Kenning ventured north, searching for a wildling band. Expecting a short journey, the rangers elected to bring less than a week’s worth of food. It was a foolish move. As soon as they reached their first camp, a deep snowstorm set in, with no signs of halting. Food began to run low, and one of the rangers set out to fetch a rabbit to cook and eat. He would not return. When the veteran ranger began to fall ill, the Westerlander followed in the footsteps of the presumed dead man. Closing his eyes, he stood as the snow fell around him, listening intently to the sounds of the forest. Hearing a rustling in a nearby shrub, the knight pulled a throwing spear from his belt, and aimed it into the bush, directing it toward the noise. After a yelp erupted from the leaves, he knew he had hit his target, and pulled the deer’s corpse from the briar. With the deer in hand, the knight returned to his companions, and cooked and fed the animal to them. Rejuvenated, and ready to set back to Castle Black, Damon had saved them, and was lauded greatly by the First Ranger at the time, Perros Briar, for his efforts.

For his great work on that ranging, Damon Kenning became a familiar face on expeditions north, often being transferred between castles, to assist commanders with their plans. Over time, the Westerlander became more than just a resource, but a necessity on any large rangings, being able to extend their duration for a decently long time. In 287 AA, twelve years after Damon’s arrival at the Wall, Perros Briar died, killed by a wildling arrow on a ranging to the Haunted Forest, and at 34 years old, Ser Damon Kenning, once of the Redcloaks, became First Ranger of the Night’s Watch.

Where Perros was often a hands-off leader, preferring to dispatch rangers on missions, and plan them in the safety of Castle Black, Damon commonly accompanied the larger rangings north, using his skills to sustain the men of the Watch. His tendency to lead rangings beyond the Wall would be what may have saved the Night’s Watch, in the end, for in 296 AA, Kenning and his party discovered a large Wildling Horde marching south. With great speed, the party returned to Castle Black, and warned Bryce Webber of the enemy movements. Assembling what army they could, the Lord Commander and the First Ranger set off north, along with Rickard Locke, to put down the barbarians. In battle, Damon proved himself once more, slaying many a Wildling as the fight went on. Bloodied, tired, and scratched to pieces, the First Ranger was relieved when Gyles Blackmont and his two-and-a-half thousand men arrived behind Hadrin Stormaxe’s army.

After the battle, Damon took it upon himself to talk to the badly wounded rangers, making himself popular with the men. There, he encountered a ranger who was attempting to seal wounds, set breaks, and fix the men up for the march back. Noticing the skill with which the ranger covered the wounds, Damon requested that the man, named Olyvar Lamb, join his retinue at Castle Black.

When Damon returned to Castle Black, he felt uneasy. If a wildling army was able to form so near to the Wall, without anyone discovering them, how could they be sure that it would not happen again? As he did before, Damon often joined rangings north, but requested that the Lord Commander allow him to send more out.

It was two years later that the only scenario worse than a Wildling invasion occurred. Bryce Webber was found dead in his quarters, and upon the election of Domeric Thorne, a skilled leader and ranger, things proceeded to devolve further, with Gyles Blackmont, Commander of the Nightfort, and the Commander of the Shadow Tower revolting against the new Lord Commander, thinking that Blackmont had the position stolen from him. Along with this, 90 men at Castle Black revolted, discovered by Beric Trant, the man who had defeated Damon twenty-two years in the past. With the Lord Commander at Eastwatch, it fell to Beric and Damon to round up the mutineers, and they dealt their judgement swiftly. Now, only 12 remain, and the Lord Commander fast approaches…

## Timeline

* 253 AA - Damon Kenning is born to Martyn Kenning and Cerelle Kenning.
* 259 AA - Old enough to wield a sword, Damon begins to train in weaponry.
* 269 AA - Damon joins the Goldcloaks, and begins his service to the Westerlands.
* 271 AA - After a particularly bloody battle, Damon is sworn into the Redcloaks.
* 275 AA - Damon joins the Night’s Watch, being unsatisfied with the Redcloaks.
* 276 AA - After becoming a ranger, Beric Trant beats Damon into the ground, and teaches him humility by doing so.
* 280 AA - Damon saves a ranging by hunting for food in a snowstorm, becoming famous for it on the Wall.
* 287 AA - Perros Briar, First Ranger of the Night’s Watch, dies in the Haunted Forest, and Damon succeeds him.
* 296 AA - Leading a ranging north of the Wall, Damon discovers Hadrin Stormaxe’s army, and warns the Lord Commander, allowing for an attack on the Wildlings.
* 298 AA - Bryce Webber is found dead, and the War on the Wall breaks out. Damon stays loyal to the Lord Commander.