Alesander Florent

Lewys Florent

Norbert Florent

**Alesander Florent** is the current Lord of Brightwater Keep, the seat of House Florent, in the Reach.

## Appearance and Personality

Slightly shorter than average, and of normal frame, Alesander has blonde - verging on white - hair and pale blue eyes. He takes pride in carefully maintaining his well-trimmed moustache and beard, and is rarely seen clean shaven.

Rare is it that the Lord of Brightwater Keep will be found in anything less than the finest of fabrics and clothes. Alesander understands that it is not enough to simply act as a nobleman; one must look like one too. He has passed off a passion for sartorial elegance to his offspring, who also wear only the best clothes and jewellery.

Alesander is, for the most part, a cheerful and collected man - though perhaps at times a little reserved towards strangers. Unlikely to show his true feelings to any of those around him save his closest of friends, the Lord of Foxes is nonetheless a warm and jolly companion to most. It would be advisable not to misjudge the Fox of Brightwater, though; Alesander has be known to hold grudges against those who he believes have wronged him.

He does, however, share in the belief that it is House Florent who have the strongest ties to the now extinct House Gardener, once rulers of all the Reach. Though his father was quite open in his distrust and dislike of House Tyrell, Alesander's views are rather more mellow, and he has sought during his rule to repair any animosity that might have arisen due to his father's beliefs. Whilst he maintains that the lineage of House Florent is storied and superior to nearly every other House in the Reach, he tends to keep his opinions to himself.

## Interests and Hobbies

Alesander is devoted to improving the lands and holdings that he has been entrusted with. During his tenure of the lordship of Brightwater Keep there have been a great many projects undertaken to this measure: including the restructuring of the Keep itself, the creation of better irrigated fields and pastures, the repairing and replacing of roads and paths and the rebuilding of crumbling villages. Closest to Alesander's own heart has been the landscaping of a grand new set of gardens just outside Brightwater Keep, built to his own specifications and regarded as some of the most beautiful in all of the Reach.

Alesander has shown more interest in the world outside of the Reach than his predecessors have for many generations. Whilst he has been careful to ensure that the standing of House Florent within the Reach is maintained, his eyes have recently turned to look at occurrences outside of the borders of his homeland. Still, few opportunities for contact with the rest of Westeros have presented themselves so far.

## History

Born to Lord and Lady Florent, Alesander was his parents first and last son. Try as they might, Lord Franklyn and Lady Elaena would be unable to bring another child into the world after Alesander, with each pregnancy ending in miscarriage after his birth. Born their third child, Alesander grew up with two sisters, though his father insisted that he be brought up separately from them to ensure he did not grow soft. Still, from a young age Alesander grew accustomed to the finer things in life due to the relatively wealth of House Florent.

In 168 AC he was sent to [] to squire under Lord []. His time in [] passed relatively smoothly, as he assisted Lord [] in dealing with the everyday problems faced by those who guarded the [] borders of the Reach. Alesander did, however, quickly find himself unsuited to the military life that his father had espoused. Quickly, dreams of becoming a brave and gallant Tourney knight faded, and he refocused his attentions on more worldly things. Soon he came to become a talented administrator, able to manage ledgers, lists, accounts and the like with relative ease.

Lord Franklyn Florent, Alesander's father, passed away unexpectedly in 173 AC. Hurriedly Alesander returned to Brightwater Keep to take up his father's title and duties. He found the change an easy one, as he quickly grew into his new role governing the lands of his forefathers. However, there were few men loyal directly to him - he had, after all, not seen his Keep or lands for five years before his return as Lord. To all extents he was nearly a stranger in his own home. Thankfully a childhood friend of his, Ser Quentyn Norcross, the son of one of his vassals, proved a useful ally in securing the early days of his rule. The two men quickly became fast friends, and Quentyn was in 174 AC appointed Castellan of Brightwater Keep.

Years past, and the time came for the Lord of Brightwater Keep to marry. Alesander left such things to his mother, though, preferring to devote himself to the betterment of his lands and people. In the end, the Fox Lord was married to a young maid of House Tyrell: Merianne. The two wed in 179 AC, and though their marriage was not for love they would soon become good friends and partners.

Children soon followed their union. In 181, Merianne gave birth to a son and heir for Lord Alesander: Theo. Content that the future of her House was now secure for another generation, Alesander's mother passed away in that same year. Three years later there followed a pair of twins, Leyla and Lewys. All was good and joyous within Brightwater Keep, as the Florents lived a largely sheltered life away from the swirling torrents of politics that had begun to engulf much of Westeros.

Soon, however, War came to the Seven Kingdoms.

Alesander cared little for Aegon Targaryen, despite the support given to him by his liege lords of House Tyrell. War was bad for business, and Aegon brought war for reasons that Alesander could not truly support. He could not support Daeron, for he would go against the Tyrells; he would not support Aegon, because he felt no affinity with his cause. As such, the Florents did not march to join either of the Dragons as the war began to fester. Nor did their vassals. Many other Houses of the Reach also chose neutrality. All this changed, however, when the Ironborn arrived on the shores of the Reach.

Learning that the raiders had attacked the lands near Red Lake, and the Shield Islands, Alesander called his banners to him, and levied all the men that he could in anticipation of further raids. He was quickly proven right: soon, he received word that the Ironborn had laid siege to Bandallon, the seat of one of his vassals. Lord Florent wasted little time in sending word to Houses Beesbury, Bulwer, Cuy, Redwyne and Hightower to join his own forces in repelling the reavers from the Reach for good. In what came to be known as **The Assault on Bandallon** the Reachmen, led by Lord Alesander (who was himself guided by Ser Quentyn), dealt the Ironmen a stinging defeat and pushed them back into the sea from whence they came.

And so it came to be that House Florent joined the rebellion against Daeron. In repelling the Ironborn, they had chosen to ally themselves to Aegon's cause. Seeing little choice but to support Aegon wholeheartedly now, Alesander marched the remainder of his forces (and those of the other Houses of the Reach who up until then remained neutral) to join the host of Lord Tyrell. Subsequently, the Florent forces fought for Aegon at **The Battle of Blackbridge** in 186 AC, after which they quickly bent the knee to the victorious Daeron - along with the Tyrells and the rest of the Reach. Granted a merciful reprieve for his actions by King Daeron, a thankful Alesander hurriedly returned home to his family at Brightwater Keep.

The years after the Blackwater Rebellion were prosperous and peaceful. In 188 Merianne gave birth to a third son, Norbert. From 189-199 Alesander began an ambitious programme of restructuring and rebuilding within his lands. Villages were redesigned, roads and paths were repaired and extended, forests were cut away to make way for new pastures and fields that were better irrigated, and entire sections of Brightwater Keep were torn down and rebuilt under the personal specifications of Lord Florent. During this time a two-year landscaping project was undertaken which sees the gardens of Brightwater Keep become some of the most magnificent in all of the Reach.

In 199 AC, Theo returns to Brightwater Keep a knight and a far better warrior than Alesander ever was, after having squired at Starpike under Lord Hyle Peake for eleven years. Alesander begins to teach Theo about the intricacies of ruling and good governance, in order to prepare him for when his time as Lord of Brightwater Keep will arrive.