Teresse Allairyon

## Braavosi Water Dancer

Recently released from serving as First Sword of Braavos under questionable conditions, Teresse has abandoned her life in Braavos out of spite and has ventured across the Narrow Sea in search of new meaning and purpose. Since her dismissal, she has become impulsive and rash. Her recent murdering of the First Sword who succeeded her has also caused her to become greatly paranoid and distrustful of others, as she is constantly watching her back.

## Appearance

A thin but toned woman who stands five feet and nine inches. Her skin is very pale she has long hair that is light red in colour and rests halfway down her back. She is regularly wearing light armoring that strikes a balance between offering sufficient protection and unrestricting movement.

## History

### Early Years

Teresse was born in 349 AC to Lynesse and Dego Allairyon, wealthy traders based out of Braavos. From an early age, Teresse was groomed to succeed her parents and take over their trading operations. During her early adolescent years, she was trained to work the family's stalls and manage finances and transactions in their absence. Teresse never truly took to the trading business, spending more time enjoying the presence of customers and getting to know them on a personal level instead.

One day, after months of befriending a fellow trader of Braavos who was an acquaintance of her parents, Teresse accepted a fine blade from him in exchange for a wealth of spices from the east. Teresse found herself captivated by the blade and chose to keep it as her own rather than turning it around and selling it for a profit. Her parents were initially frustrated by the decision, but they decided against taking the blade from her. It was, after all, just a single blade. In terms of overall profit, it would amount to a raindrop in the sea.

After practicing with her new blade in her spare time, Teresse wanted only to become better with it. She always fancied the notion of being skilled with a sword, there was a certain romantic quality to the idea. By this time, she was in her early teenage years and had limited access to the family's monetary reserves. Taking advantage of this, she took out a small sum and wandered all throughout Braavos in search of one thing - a water dancer named Icilio. After some searching, she did find one. Icilio was by no means the best fighter around, but he had enough knowledge of the art of water dancing to be of use to her and, when she explained her offer to him, he was unable to refuse her payment.

When not tending to the family business, Teresse was training fairly regularly with Icilio over the course of several months. She had proven to be a quick learner and, as Icilio had put it, she seemed like she was born to hold a sword. His complimentary remarks began to fill her head with many fantasies, including one that would be a first in Braavos - serving as the first female First Sword of Braavos. It had sounded like a bizarre wish, but Teresse had made up her mind.

### First Sword of Braavos

Several years passed, Icilio having long since teaching her everything he could and becoming a mere associate and casual sparring partner. Teresse's developments had reached a point in which she always had the upper hand, and always won their spars. She had grown quite confident and, when it was announced that the Sealord of Braavos would be spectating a highly promoted fighting tournament, Teresse dropped all obligations to enroll and train heavily. When the day had come for the tournament, Teresse had trounced all of her opponents. The Sealord was visibly impressed and, after the tournament when Teresse was declared the winner of her category (blades), the Sealord approached her in private and offered her the position she had dreamed of. The current First Sword of Braavos was an aging man who had noticably lost much speed over the years, and the Sealord was drawn to Teresse's youthful dexterity and grace. Without a second thought, she accepted the position. The current First Sword was immediately dismissed without much of an explanation. Teresse neglected to feel sorry for the man, instead only feeling pride in what she had accomplished.

From 371 onward, Teresse served as the First Sword of Braavos to the Sealord. Her skills had proven to be unmatched, and few dared to plot against the Sealord under Teresse's watch. Her skills only improved after she took on protecting the Sealord, and she began to wonder if such a prestigious position would belong to her for a lifetime.

It would not.

In the year 380, nine years after becoming First Sword of Braavos, the now thirty one year old Teresse was still as impressive as she had been since the day the Sealord first approached her. When the Sealord announced that he would be spectating a tournament, similar to the one Teresse had taken part in nine years ago, she was anxious to watch alongside him. However, her desire to prove herself even further got the best of her and she enrolled in the tournament. There was a commotion when it was learned that the First Sword of Braavos would be taking part and, much like the last time, Teresse entered and proved to be more than a match for many of the sword wielders. Teresse looked set to win the tournament until she learned of her final opponent - Icilio, her old teacher. She sought him out to reconnect with her old friend, overjoyed to find him again. He, too, was happy to see her and offered to have dinner with her to catch up on old times. Teresse agreed, and the two gathered under Icilio's roof to dine and catch up. Many laughs were, of course, shared between the two over trying to get each other to share their strategy for besting the other in the tournament. Teresse jokingly told him that she was going to feel awful about cutting him down.

When Teresse and Icilio gathered for their fight, Teresse found herself feeling unwell. She dismissed it, not wanting to show weakness, and proceeded with the fight. Unfortunately, near fever-like symptoms and lightheadedness led to Teresse being unable to focus on the fight. Icilio had visibly improved over the years as well, and he was able to get the upper hand on the ill Teresse and knock her to the ground. Over and over. When Teresse could barely even stagger to her feet, vomiting as she dared to try, the Sealord ordered the tournament's fight to stop immediately. Feeling that Teresse had met her match, and believing that he was witnessing a superior fighter before him, appointed Icilio as First Sword of Braavos. Leaving Teresse disgraced and unable to explain herself, she gathered her things and departed. She was convinced that Icilio had put something in her food, but nobody would listen. Despite her parents urging her to return to the family business, the disgraced Teresse instead turned her back on Braavos as a whole after feeling betrayed, and she boarded the first ship headed across the Narrow Sea.

### Across the Narrow Sea

After docking in King's Landing, Teresse wandered aimlessly around the city for some time before catching wind of a tournament occurring in Oldtown. Wishing to prove herself, she received directions to Oldtown from a member of the Kingsguard before setting out.

Against all odds, Teresse did not get lost on her way given the fact that the lands she was travelling were entirely foreign to her. Upon reaching Oldtown, she checked herself in at an inn and began to familiarize herself with the areas of the city that she would need to know over the coming days.

It was on the streets of Oldtown that she saw her first interesting sight in the form of an oafish man named Willem who sparred with those brave enough to challenge him. Willem was by no means a great fighter, but he was more than a match for an untrained commoner. When the brute accepted a challenge from a young boy, Teresse was fearful that the boy could be harmed and refused to let the sparring match play out. She intervened by publically humiliating Willem's skills and besting him with ease. This display caught the attention of various other individuals who had arrived for the tournament such as Arlan Dondarrion, Jason Lannister, Mero Prestayn and Polliver Payne. After individually exchanging pleasantries with each, Teresse went upon her way to await the start of the melee portion of the tournament.

When the melee started, Teresse found herself in a fighting pit with countless other fighters. It was a new experience for her, as she was used to one on one combat. Her inexperience with the tournament format caught her off guard and, despite eliminating a man named Edric Selmy, she was ultimately removed from the competition by Arlan Dondarrion. Teresse merely rested on the ground, unsure of how to comprehend her loss, before she left the tournament grounds.

In the day that followed, Teresse began to question everything that had happened up until that point. Her dismissal from the position of First Sword of Braavos, followed by her swift elimination in the tournament, began to make her doubt herself. This led to Teresse selling her blades to a local merchant before preparing to leave the city with the intention of returning to King's Landing and searching for a new purpose there.

Teresse's plans were interrupted by Mero Prestayn when he noticed her walking through Oldtown without her blades. After explaining herself, Mero refused to allow her to continue with her decision. His insistence on Teresse reconsidering her options was only met with reluctance, and Teresse almost grew hostile at the man's unwillingness to let her do what she pleased. In the end, he promised to let her go if she would purchase her blades back. She told him that she would do so and departed. This proved to be a false promise, and she never returned to the merchant.

### Return to Essos

Before departing from Oldtown, Teresse learned that Willem had forced a spar on the same boy from before. Teresse had been made aware that the boy was agreeing to spar with Willem as a way to get stronger in an attempt to get the better of other boys who bullied him. Teresse had followed Willem home and waited until nightfall before she entered his home and found the man passed out in a drunken state. She wasted no time in unsheathing her dagger and stabbing him repeatedly in the throat. Before departing the scene of the crime, she decided to take his blades on a whim.

As dawn broke, Teresse had already come up with a new plan. She had come to terms with the fact that she was not performing to the best of her capabilities and was dwelling on what had happened in Braavos. Anger took hold of her, and she hastily boarded the first ship she found that was bound for Braavos. She was going to get even with Icilio.

Several days later, Teresse arrived in Braavos once again. She waited until nightfall, at which poit she used her past experience as First Sword to stealthily move around the Sealord's Palace until she reached the sleeping quarters of the First Sword. She wasted no time in putting her knife to his throat and waking him. Icilio was surprised to see Teresse, but remained calm despite sensing what would happen next. He expressed no regret over poisoning Teresse, prompting her to angrily slit his throat and exit through his window, disappearing into the night.

### Relocating to the North

In order to avoid the alarm that would surely arise when the First Sword of Braavos was found murdered in his bed, Teresse boarded the first ship she could find that was bound for Westeros. After a few days of having only disgruntled deckhands to talk to, Teresse finally made her return to Westeros when the ship docked in White Harbor.

It was not long before Teresse met Tycho Dimmitis, a wealthy Braavosi who made Teresse suspicious due to his apparent following of the Many Faced God. Teresse was at ease as a result, both because she was a quietly devout follower of R'hllor and because she suspected that he could be a Faceless Man who was already on her trail somehow. Her suspicions were eased somewhat after she introduced herself as Bellenora Stavros and conversed with the man who did not seem to realize he was being misled, and she eventually accepted an invitation to rest at a local townhouse belonging to a man known as Lord Jon Locke.

## Timeline

349 AC: Born to Lynesse and Dego Allairyon in Braavos.

355 AC: Began extensive training to one day take over the family's trading business.

360 AC: Received a blade from a fellow trader, becoming attracted to the idea of swordplay.

361 AC: Started learning the art of water dancing under Icilio.

365 AC: "Graduated" from training under Icilio, becoming a young water dancer herself.

371 AC: Entered a tournament in which Teresse impressed the Sealord of Braavos enough to receive the position of First Sword of Braavos.

380 AC: Disgraced in a new tournament by her old master, Icilio, who succeeded her as First Sword of Braavos. Teresse immediately departed from Braavos.

## Miscellaneous Information

Teresse carries a rapier that she has held for some time, and was a gift from the Sealord that had been forged from the finest steels of Braavos. This rapier is named **Snare**, as Teresse believes that one is "trapped" once they are hooked by her blade.

While the blade itself is an absolute far cry from Valyrian Steel, it is made of the utmost highest quality steel available on the market. The Sealord of Braavos deemed it such a fine blade for water dancers that he had almost demanded Teresse return it when she had been dismissed from her position of First Sword of Braavos, but she openly refused. Knowing the skill Teresse possessed with the blade and not wishing to see anyone harmed over a single sword, the Sealord backed down from his threats and allowed Teresse to leave the city with it in hand.

Teresse also carries around a medium length blade at all times as well, knowing that her water dancing skills cannot be utilized in all environments or scenarios. This blade is carried specifically for those times. These medium length blades do not possess any sentimental value to Teresse, and she has gone through many since the day she had been appointed as the First Sword of Braavos.

## Family

Father: Dego Allairyon

Mother: Lynesse Allairyon