Maester Jon

**Maester Jon** is the Maester of Winterfell, and has served as an advisor to Berena, and before her Jon, for over two decades now. Staunch, severe, and well learned, Jon is a constant source of neutral and calm advice, an excellent and much appreciated counter to Berena's wildness.

## Appearance and Character

Maester Jon is a Northener through and through. Brown, greying, hair, tied back to frame a face of harsh, weathered, angles, but his is not an unkind face. That does not make it kind, however, for Jon is as the North - steadfast, unchanging, and dependable. Kindness is something that can rarely be afforded. Tall, his height comes in useful when challenging Berena's decisions; easier to hold his ground if he can look her in the eye when disagreeing. From Winter Town originally, Jon still dresses as simply as expected both of a northman and a maester - woolens of black and grey. Cheap, but practical and warm.

Jon was perhaps closer to his namesake than he is Berena, but he has found his advice needed more, perhaps. Whereas Alys Arryn was perhaps Berena's first councillor in the beginning of her reign, Berena has come to rely on the other Northener more and more. Quiet and unassuming, Jon is a man few have reason to like *or* dislike. He is trustworthy, solid, but not someone who seeks out secrets to hold. He keeps to himself, happy in his duty, contented in the North, and determined to hold by his vows.

## History

Jon was born to Lord Jon's personal hunter; the beginning of his life was a simple one, assuming Jon would take over in his father's place. There was some small manner of concern; the boy was tall, but slim, shy and uncaring for the outdoors, and his father despaired. When Jon was eleven, however, came the opportunity to change his life. While out hunting, Jon's father had helped Lord Jon drive off a pack of wolves that had come for their kill. Lord Stark had taken note of Jon's unhappiness; but had noted a sharp mind when speaking to the lad on occasion. He offered to fund the boy going to the Citadel of Oldtown, to remove himself as a burden from his father, and aid the realm. Stark so frequently sent men to the Watch that he thought it high time he aided the other oathbound men of the realm. Jon's father accepted enthusiastically; Jon, even moreso.

That happiness lasted until he got to the city of Oldtown. It was hot and far too busy for him; it took a long while for him to stop feel nauseous just going outside, and the boy never truly acclimatised. He did at least excel in his studies. He had a sharp mind that applied well to numbers, maths, and recalling the laws and histories of Westeros. More morbidly, his father's lessons on how to skin, pluck, and gut the various animals they hunted and snared gave him a head start in the knowledge of the body crucial for learning the art of healing. Silent unless he needed to talk, honest and sincere, Jon was a likeable man and when he was eventually made into a full maester, between simply asking the Seneschal, who rather liked him, and a request from Jon Stark himself, Jon returned to Winterfell, to assist and soon replace the aged Maester of Winterfell.

His time in the Citadel, full of politics, braced Jon for advising a Lord Paramount. It wasn't long before he proved himself useful in noticing those plots that swirled in the shadows of Winterfell, of people who were out of place or oddly nervous; the ones who nearly always had gold from lords interested in hearing what Lord Stark decided. Jon swiftly became a trusted confidant, and was one of the few people that could wear down the wilful Berena, his placid stone unbending before her wild fire. Occasionally, she would even sit and listen to his lessons. Sometimes.

Berena remembered how useful Jon had been to her grandfather, and upon her ascension, kept him as close to her side as he had been to her grandfather, appreciating how the maester would meet her fiery nature with honesty and, more importantly, never taking offence.