Harwyn Strickland

## Lord Harwyn Strickland

Harry Strickland, the current Head of House Strickland and Lord of Harrenhal.

## Appearance and Personality

Harwyn can be best described as cold, ambitious, and arrogant. Believing others to be inferior compared to him, he likes to avoid social situations. This behavior has left him with little friends and many enemies. He trusts only a select few, sometimes bordering on paranoia with his distrust.

Honor is also quite important to the young lord. He likens himself to be shepherd and the people of the Riverlands, his sheep. Always attempting to make the right and just decision to keep his flock thriving. His devotion to the Riverlands is fanatical. He would do everything in his power to see that his lands would be the most powerful in all of Westeros, no matter the cost.

Those close to him would say that he has a sharp mind. An intellect that would rival most in the kingdoms, but one that is rarely applied. He would much rather spend his days practicing with his sword arm than refining his tactics. Harrenhal's library is vast, yet he spends no time searching for books inside them

## History

### Childhood

From the time Harwyn arrived from his mother's womb, he'd been spoiled rotten. As the only son to Steffon and Ryella Strickland, he was given freedom to do whatever he wanted. Any and all wishes he thought up were granted. This led to Harwyn becoming a terror to any who roamed the courts of Harrenhall. Believing himself to be above everyone else, he bullied the other children and made the servants’ lives hell. His parents turned a blind eye to all of this, however. To them, he could do no wrong.

As a result, Harwyn had a rather secluded childhood. Tutors spent only the bare amount of time with him. The other children in the court only played out of fear. His other family members even began to dislike him. It seemed as if the only person in the world that tolerated him were his parents and sister.

This all changed when young Harry Strickland was born, named after his great grandfather. All his parents’ affections shifted onto the newborn child. Harwyn hated it. No longer was he their golden child, now it was Harry. Harwyn threw tantrums constantly to catch their attention again. It worked, though negatively. They had finally gotten fed up of Harwyn’s fits, bullying, and general behavior. They sent him off to squire for Lord Bracken, whose relative was married with a Strickland. Before the end of his first year there, Harry had succumbed to illness.

### Life in Stone Hedge

On the Third Moon of 356 AC, Harwyn reached Stone Hedge a spoiled, self-centered brat. At the start of his squirehood, he troubled Lord Bracken endlessly. He continued to bullied others like he had done in Harrenhal, and hardly ever listened to Lord Bracken’s orders. The man was enraged at Harwyn’s attitudes. As punishment, he put Harwyn in the training yard and ordered him to “spar with the guardsmen until you cannot lift up neither your blade nor your body.” By the end of it, Harwyn had thought that death would have been a more merciful punishment.

After that, he treated Lord Bracken’s orders as law. Harwyn would do everything he said immediately after he says them, and exactly just how he wanted it. He also attempted to never bully another soul again. Though he showed no signs of actually being nice to the other kids, he didn’t try to harm them either. The punishment also displayed his potential in dueling. Even as a child of nine, he showed great skill with the sword, as if it were an extension of his arm.

As Harwyn grew older, his talent only became more apparent. Practically living in the training yard, he always seemed to be refining his skills. What used to be punishment for Harwyn, was now his daily routine. Some would say he was obsessed with training. By the time he reached five-and-ten, he was already one of the best duelists in Westeros. Swordplay wasn’t all that he learned in Stone Hedge, however. When Lord Bracken wasn’t lecturing him on his footwork, the man would be lecturing him on how to rule. Teaching him how to keep his subjects in line through both fear and respect.

A few moons after Harwyn's seventeenth nameday, Septon Owen had declared himself High Septon. Lord Bracken was one of the many lords that joined with Harwyn's father to aid Lord Connington, allowing Harwyn to see his first taste of battle. He himself numbered among those that would assault Stoney Sept. During the battle, he proved he didn't only show great skill during training. Slicing through Septon Owen's forces with ease, he impressed many on the battlefield, including his father and Lord Bracken. The following battle on the Goldroad proved no different. Once again, Harwyn was among the best combatants on the battlefield. His actions would result in him being knighted not long after.

### Lordly Years

Harwyn had returned to Harrenhal a different man. Though he still believed himself above others, he didn’t actively try to remind everyone else of it. He no longer thought only of himself, but of the people he would one day come to rule. During his time in Stone Hedge, he had also found it within himself to make friends. Even having an exclusive circle consisting of people that he would trust with his life.

Reaching the age of twenty, two important events happened in his life. The Great Winter Sickness and his betrothal to Lysa Keath, both out of his control. The plague ravaged the Riverlands. Villages were filled with the dead and people mourning them, it seemed as if no one was safe. Many of his own family members caught the disease, including his father. The wedding with Lysa would also never take place, seeing as the sickness had taken her only a moon after their betrothal. Lord Steffon would delay his death many moons before finally passing.

Harwyn would come to power a year before the sickness had completely abated. Doing everything in his power to combat the disease, he ordered mass burning of the dead, much like in King’s Landing. Though he was hardly a religious man, he turned towards the Sept during the Winter and for the first time prayed to the Seven. When Spring arrived, he held a small feast with his family before packing his bags to travel to Pinkmaiden.

## Family

* *Lord Harry Strickland* (258 AC - 330 AC)
* m. *Lady Catelyn Mooton* (281 AC - 345 AC)
	+ *Lord Lewyn Strickland* (303 AC - 339 AC)
	+ m. *Lady Sera Vance* (305 AC - 367 AC)
		- *Lord Steffon Strickland* (326 AC - 369 AC)
		- m. Lady Ryella Piper (326 AC - )
			* Lord Harwyn Strickland (347 AC - )
			* Eleyna Strickland (350 AC - )
			* *Harry Strickland* (356 AC - 356 AC)
		- Robert Strickland (330 AC - )
	+ *Griff Strickland* (305 AC - 369 AC)
	+ Selwyn Strickland (305 AC - )
	+ Aemma Paege nee Strickland (312 AC - )
	+ m. Harrold Bracken (310 AC - )
		- Descendents of House Bracken