Alayne Serry

## Alayne Serry, Lady of Southshield

### Appearance and Character

Alayne has ruled as lady of Southshield for the past three years, after returning from a voyage in the Summer Sea. At age 21 she is already once widowed. Though she went through a traditional upbringing in the Reach, her appearance is rather rough given her social standing, with calloused handse and feet and particularly tanned skin on her neck and shoulders as a result of her travels. She lives rather indecisively, hesitant toward comittments and often prefering to avoid problems rather than adress them

### Early Life

Alayne was the last daughter of lord Matthos Serry, the only child of his second marriage after his first wife and son were lost at sea in 395 AC. Having to rebuild a family so late in life, the lord of Southshield was very protective of his wife and daughter, scarcely leaving the isle in the last decades of his life. Raised at a small, insignificant court on the western edge of the continent, Alayne was drawn to the sea from an early age. With the help of her uncle Edric she would spend years building a small sailboat of her own, which became one of her only ties to the world beyond her humble home. Though it was not normal for a lady's education she recieved some basic tutoring in warfare and tactics. One of her few friends was her cousin Malcolm, a young man largely shunned on the island as a result of being hunchbacked. One of the reasons she was accepted as heir was the general distrust towards her uncle's branch of the family

#### Marriage and self-imposed exile

Once Alayne came of age, lord Matthos was eager to see her wed to ensure the continuation of the Serry bloodline, however his reclusiveness backfired in the form of a lack of contacts outside Southshield, and so the range of options was rather limited. This combined with haste resulted in Alayne being wed to Ser Ellard Ball in early 413. The two would not get along well. Two moons after the wedding she showed the early signs of pregnancy, but miscarried the moon after. Alayne found her husband overly assertive and possesive, almost to the point of plain cruelty. Malcolm was especially poorly treated, with Ellard once even openly speaking of banishing him from the island. Meanwhile lord Matthos's health was quickly deteriorating and Alayne's complaints fell on deaf ears. The marriage was seen as consumated and could not be undone. Finally, the 8th moon of the year, Alayne departed the island in the dead of night, unable to bear life on Southshield any longer. She had no clear plan for where to go or whether to return. As her craft was small and held few supplies, she realized within a couple of days that she could not keep drifting aimlessly, but was unable to find a destination and unwilling to give in and go home. In the end the heavens would make her choice for her as a fearsom storm whipped up as she was unknowingly nearing Oldtown, throwing her far south into the Summer sea. Finally her boat was driven aground on the Isle of Women, north of Walano in the Summer Isles. There she would take hire with a captain named Akaya onboard a swan-ship. Over the next year she traveled with a crew largely made up of women, learning the ways of the islanders, which on occasion involved naval combat, but also commerce, language, and most importantly, shipbuilding. It gave her back the confidence she had lacked and gave her reprieve from her unlucky marriage, but Alayne still lacked any kind of plan for what to do in the future. She remained the heir to Southshield, which she had left in an uncertain position by departing so suddenly. She felt guilty, knowing she might have endangered her cousin, yet she lacked the resolve to return

##### Resolution and reign

Eventually matters would sort themselves out without her. In the middle of 418 she was found by a messenger while at port in Tall Trees town, who bore a letter from Malcolm. Her father and husband had both died and he asked her to return to Southshield. Finally she decided to return home. As a gift of parting, Akaya and her crew helped Alayne build her own ship, the Sunset Rose, which she would sail home. Upon her return Malcolm filled her in on what had transpired in her absence. After more than a year of Ellard's regency he had passed away, a year after the death of lord Matthos. Though Malcolm could have siezed power for himself, he chose to give it to her, though ever since he has been helping to rule Southshield, especially during the first year of Alayne's tenure. Three years later, Southshield appears stable, though the status quo is unlikely to last. For the time being, house Serry makes its way to the Arbor for the upcoming tourney