Roose Bolton

A man of lithe, athletic build. Dark curls frame a sharp, comely face. He deigns to keep his face without a beard, but sports a degree of stubble. His eyes are blue; an impossibly icy blue, perhaps his most striking feature. Quick with a smile, quicker with a glare.

## Biography

“Don’t fight Roose.” That’s what the say, across the Narrow Sea. Most heed the words, but there always exist those who like to test the rule. They don’t last long, and those who came with them never need another demonstration. A devil with cold steel in his hand; imbued with a talent for taking lives with efficiency and particular brutality, and yet outside of battle he possesses the easy smile of a bard or a poet, the air of a man whose known naught but peace and revelry. What makes Roose dangerous is the fact that he’s tempered his emotions. Indeed, Roose is a man not ruled over by his baser instinct, Roose does not allow his primal side a spot upon the dais to council him. And as well, too. Roose took his father’s instruction to befriend Cregan Stark seriously, coming to love the man fiercely, more than even his brother by blood. It takes a cool head to scan each shadow, to look out for another as if they were an extension of yourself.

Roose does not lack his Father’s ruthless nature. Cultivated over the years, Roose offers mercy a single time, and should his enemy reject it then on their head be it. He believes in ending fights before they’ve begun.

But before this he was simply a boy born to Royce Bolton and his wife, who spent his early days haunting the Dreadfort’s halls. His father, away often due to his position in King Torrhen’s Court, saw him rarely, though once Roose could write properly they would correspond by letter; an affectation the two would not lose, even through the heir’s time at Karhold and Across the Narrow Sea. Theon Bolton, his father’s brother, stood in as a father figure during Roose’s formative years.

Aged 12, in 280AA, Roose was sent to Karhold to be fostered along-side his cousin, Cregan Stark, and Jory Karstark. Their time here was spent forging a bond; and each of them, from tip of the head to toe, stood a wild son of the North, unwilling to be tamed. They were a law unto themselves, quickly coming together in solidarity when their games got out of hand to avoid punishment. They never hid what they were doing, for none would touch them. Though occasionally scolded by Lord Karstark, they’d stand stoney faced until dismissed, and then they’d laugh, as though it were a game.

Aged 15, Jory dared Cregan to bed the Kennelmaster’s daughter, Sansa. Nothing went to plan, and Cregan forced himself upon her, which would result in a bastard son, but Sansa would be too afriad to tell the whole story in truth. Roose merely shrugged; Cregan stood a Prince, and Roose’s own kin. The girl meant little to him. Things continued as normal for three years, until the Lads were tasked with serving justice to a band of Wildling raiders. They did their duty well, bringing unbridled slaughter to the Freefolk, yet Sansa’s child would be slain in the attack, and, perhaps out of grief, the Lord Karstark was informed of Cregan’s dalliance. Calling instead for the Prince’s father to deal with the issue, Cregan would be stripped of title and exiled across the Narrow Sea.

Roose, as Jory did, followed Cregan, heeding Royce’s words before he departed for Karhold. He had sworn to watch out for Cregan, and so he would.

### Essos:

Essos provided the Lads with each and every debauched pleasure open to young men who stood skilled with naked steel and little scruples. They drank, whored, and fought their way through Braavos, bringing the cold tenacity of the North with them. After a while, with little coin, they would sign on with the Wolves on the Wind, and then afterward the Company of the Cat, and then, eventually, formed their own Company. In Norvos they called him the *Pale Hand behind the Steel*, and it was during his travels that he was granted a greatsword of qohorik steel, it’s hilt fashioned in the likeness of the Flayed Man of his House

He would meet a woman, and the two briefly would fall into an affair. She was married, a Volantene Magister’s daughter already married to another, but she fell for Roose’s quick smile, and eventually she would accompany the Pack across Essos, abandoning her old life. No stranger to getting down into the muck, she served as a medic for Cregan and Company. They had a child together, but tragedy befell them when, while trekking the plains, they were finally caught by men sworn to the woman’s husband. They struck like dogs, while Cregan, Jory, and Roose were otherwise engaged, and Roose returned to find her hung from a branch, her stomach torn open, entrails dangling. They left the child alone, untouched, but had made him watch.

Cold fury in him, Roose took a brief hiatus from the Company to seek an answer for the slight done to him. Cregan understood, and wished him luck in his endeavour.

Travelling to Volantis, the slaughter the heir to the Dreadfort meted out to the man responsible and his family was so great that news would travel. Though he hid his identity, Roose carved his way through the man’s brothers, sisters, household, and eventually, left the man’s young son flayed but for his face, which, when others would find him, would be contorted in agony. The man responsible they would never find, which raised questions.

He did not return to Volantis.

He returned to his brothers-in-bond, but never would speak of what he had done.

### The King is Dead:

Eager to rid himself of Essos and the ghosts that dogged at him, Roose found himself quite elated upon word of Torrhen Stark’s death. Travelling together, they would arrive in Karhold under cover of darkness. Roose would be reunited with his father for the first time in years, and the two would spend a night drinking honeyed ale and recounting their tales.

### Recent History:

Roose marched with Cregan Stark and his father to end the White Wolf’s false reign. Together, with Manderly and Reed, and their original allies, they would win a grand victory over Rickard Snow’s force. Ryon Glover would be the one, in the end, to strike down Iron Royce Bolton. Roose, unable to save his father, now inherits the Dreadfort and his father’s reputation, to stand beside Cregan for the times to come.

## Timeline

268AA - Roose is born at the Dreadfort

280AA - Fostered at Karhold, with Cregan and Jory. They become fast friends, enduring the same trials and tribulations

288AA - Arrives in Essos with exiled Cregan and Jory Karstark

290AA - Meets the woman who would become his wife, she abandons Volantis for him, they have a son

292AA - Saelora is caught and killed, Roose and company return to find her hung from the neck, her stomach ripped open. The boy is unharmed. Roose takes his leave to visit vengeance upon those responsible

296AA - Roose returns home

298AA to Present - Staunch supporter of his cousin, now the Lord of the Dreadfort following Royce’s death

## NPC’s:

Theon Bolton; Uncle; Archetype - Cavalry General

Artos Snow; Cousin; Archetype - Bastion

Ser Willem Black; Sworn Sword; Archetype - Executioner

Wylla; Attendant; Archetype - Medic

Lyara Bolton; Sister; Archetype - Scout

Rogar Bolton; Brother; N/A

Anwyn Bolton; Sister; N/A

Nothing; Volantene Victim; N/A