Alester Rykker

**Alester Rykker** is the head of House Rykker and Lord of Duskendale and the Dun Fort.

## Biographical Information

### Born In

236 AC in the Second Moon, in the Dun Fort

## Family Information

### Sibling(s)

Donnor Rykker (half-brother)Carellen Rykker (half-sister)

### Children

Myles RykkerMyranda Rykker

Ryam Rykker

Leana Rykker

## Appearance

Alester Rykker is the very embodiment of vitality. He was never blessed with great height, standing at best a hand's span below his peers, but his broad-shouldered, compact form possesses obvious strength. Though Alester does not neglect personal maintenance, dark stubble usually stands out against his light complexion. Alester's blue eyes have not been darkened by the approach of middle age, but his light brown hair is streaked with grey and slowly receding, and it has been silvered at the temples since he was a man of eight and twenty.

## History

### Youth

In the midst of the winter, Alester Rykker was born, the eldest son of Ser Horace Rykker, who was himself the eldest son of the aging Lord
Jacelyn Rykker. Alester's mother, a Massey, died in childbirth later
that same winter, and Ser Horace was roundly censured by his father for
getting his wife with child twice during the long winter. Once the
spring winds settled over Duskendale, Ser Horace quit the Dun Fort for
the country, taking the 4-year-old Alester with him.

In the country, Ser Horace set up an estate around the towerhouse at
Cold Spring, raising eyebrows among his father's supporters. There, Ser
Horace married again, this time to a Buckwell, and Cold Spring soon
welcomed Alester's younger half-brother and -sister. Though the Rykkers
still hold great pride in their lordship over Duskendale, Alester still
prefers Cold Spring to the Dun Fort, associating the towerhouse estate
with his childhood. When Alester was 8 years old, he returned to the Dun
 Fort with his father. Because the willful Lord Jacelyn had not approved
 Ser Horace's second marriage, Alester and his father resided in the Dun
 Fort without Horace's Buckwell wife or their two other children. As a
result, these years in the Dun Fort were lonely for Alester.

Ser Horace rose to the lordship with his father's passing three years
 later. Though Alester's siblings came to the Dun Fort soon after Lord
Horace established his court, Alester left soon after as a squire to Ser
 Harys Harte, the Knight of the Quiver. Alester wintered with Ser Harys,
 learning knightly ways. Once spring arrived in Alester's 16th year, he
traveled Westeros with Ser Harys, attending tournaments great and small.
 It was not until Alester's knighting at the age of 19 that he returned
to the Dun Fort. At the Dun Fort, his father did not involve Alester in
his affairs willingly. In the way of sons shunned by their fathers, Lord
 Horace did not willfully neglect Alester, but he did not often seek his
 counsel at first. Ser Alester intruded upon Duskendale's affairs in
some ways, working for a time with managing customs, then leading the
Watch, and even traveling to the Free Cities for a time following the
increasing disruptions to Narrow Sea trade caused by Stepstones piracy
and religious conflict in Essos. Alester's journey across the Narrow Sea was only made possible after his aunt Elaena's wedding to Orys Velaryon. After meeting Velaryon at his wedding, Alester used his personal connection with his aunt Elaena to help him secure passage to Pentos. From this time onward, Alester has considered himself indebted to Orys.

Ser Alester returned to Duskendale after learning of Grazdan the
Gruesome naming himself King of the Stepstones. Remembering the
Ninepenny Kings, Alester called for his lord father to petition the king
 for a cleansing of the Stepstones. Lord Horace, perhaps seeing his own
neglect as the cause of his son's increasing impetuousness, instead gave
 Ser Alester a role in his councils. Ser Alester was also quickly
married off to Bethany Massey. Until Lord Horace's death at the age of
46 in 361 AC, Ser Alester learned the ways of lordship at his father's
side.

### Lord of Duskendale and the Dun Fort

As Lord of Duskendale, Alester has had little hardship. His
half-sister, Carellen, has been married off to a cadet branch of House
Rosby. His half-brother, Ser Donnor, serves ably as his right hand. He
has seen the birth of three of his four children during this time, and
all the while, Duskendale's trade has resumed and even increased. He
still keeps a steady eye on the Stepstones, carrying the sliver of his
old desire to see the Stepstones scoured anew. With a new king and peace
 restored to Westeros, Alester hopes that the time is finally ripe. He
also knows that his eldest son, the second of his children with Bethany
Massey, will have to be squired soon enough. As a result of the distance
 of his childhood, Alester dotes on his children overmuch, especially on
 his daughters. The Dun Fort has been transformed from his father's and
grandfather's days, now clearly the home of a loving family and bustling
 court. Travelers with whom Alester is affable stay for some time in the
 Dun Fort, even extending to those merchants who frequent the port of
Duskendale with profitable cargo, especially if they have provided
clever gifts for the Rykker children in the past. Alester is also known
to leave the Dun Fort for Cold Spring once a year with his family,
leaving his house seat in the care of Ser Donnor, his castellan. Some
among the Byrches do not agree with this behavior, calling him the Lord
of Cold Spring within their circles rather than Lord of Duskendale. When
 Ser Harys Harte brought this matter before Alester, Alester sent his
former master from his table. Only in recent months has Lord Alester
repaired his relationship with the Knight of the Quiver by naming him
castellan following his brother's departure from the role. Alester
counts few men among his friends, also likely the result of his secluded
 childhood - Ser Harys Harte, Alester's half-brother Ser Donnor,
Alester's good-brother Ser Terrence Massey, and the Pentoshi merchant
Dorion Agapitos.

## Timeline

336 AC: Alester is born.

339 AC: Alester's mother, Myranda Massey, dies.

340 AC: Alester leaves Duskendale for Cold Spring.

342 AC: Alester's father marries Una Buckwell.

343 AC: Alester's half-brother Donnor is born.

344 AC: Alester and his father return to the Dun Fort.

345 AC: Alester's half-sister Carellen is born.

348 AC: Alester's father becomes Lord of Duskendale.

348 AC: Alester becomes squire to Ser Harys Harte, the Knight of the
Quiver. He winters at Shatterstone Bridge with Ser Harys, training as a
squire.

352 AC: Alester leaves with Ser Harys to tourneys throughout Westeros.

355 AC: Alester is knighted and returns to the Dun Fort. He
participates in his first tourney at Rosby, one of only two times he
enters the list.

359 AC: Alester leaves Duskendale for Pentos on a whim; in that city, he befriends sellsail-turned-merchant Dorion Agapitos.

360 AC: Alester returns to Duskendale, thinking that Grazdan's seizure of the Stepstones will ignite a war with Westeros.

360 AC: Alester marries Bethany Massey.

360 AC: Alester's first child, Myranda, is born.

361 AC: Alester rises to lordship of Duskendale.

362 AC: Alester's second child and heir, Myles, is born.

363 AC: Alester competes in the tourney he holds in honor of his
son's first nameday despite his wife's arguments, to the consternation
of his wife and vassals. Luckily, he is unhorsed by Ser Garrett Rosby in
 the quarter-finals, sparing himself the dishonor of awarding himself
the grand prize.

363 AC: Alester marries his half-sister Carellen to Ser Garrett Rosby.

365 AC: Alester's third child, Ryam, is born.

367 AC: Alester fourth child, Leana, is born.

369 AC: Alester ignites gossip in the Dun Fort after sending Ser Harys Harte from his hall in the midst of a meal.

371 AC: Alester gifts Cold Spring to his brother, Ser Donnor Rykker,
making him a landed knight. Ser Harys Harte is welcomed to Duskendale as
 the new castellan of the Dun Fort.

## Family

http://www.familyecho.com/?p=CRC1O&c=16emsailxoa&f=571261442374362774