Braxton Merryweather

**Lord Braxton Merryweather** is the reigning Lord of House Merryweather of Longtable in the Reach.

## Appearance and Character

Aside from a relatively handsome face, Lord Braxton Merryweather is... remarkably unremarkable. He is every bit the children's tale 'Lord', with warm, dark green eyes, fair skin hardly blemished by age, and wispy brown hair with a matching, well-kempt beard. He is rather slight of build, especially when compared to any of the knights of Longtable, packing muscle into a more trim, light frame than most. He rarely wears fanciful garments befitting a Lord, preferring light riding leathers during peacetime. In war, he makes use of a rather plain suit of armor, only differentiated from those of his sworn men by the modest horn-o-plenty placed atop the breastplate.

Lord Braxton is, on the surface, a kindly and agreeable man, constantly seeking good company, good conversation, and good libations. Seemingly a friend to all in the Reach, Braxton has made a habit of acquainting himself with his neighbors and treating them with the honor and kindness most Lords reserve only for their closest cohorts, and even then, sparingly. He is also surprisingly kind to the common folk beneath him, seemingly even in his deliverance of justice to all under his purvey.

However, beneath the surface, Lord Braxton is a bitter, spiteful man, driven by a petty desire for revenge over all slights done to him, both real and perceived. Whereas most would address these slights with steel, Lord Braxton knows his talents lie... *elsewhere*, and prefers to deal in honeyed words and whispers in dark corridors rather than the song of dancing blades.

## History

Braxton Merryweather was born in the 4th Moon of 72 AC, the son of Lord Axell Merryweather and his wife, Lady Lysara. The first, and frailest, of the three boys born to the Merryweathers, it was nonetheless the law of the land that Braxton should inherit, and what he lacked in the brawn of his father and brothers, he more than made up for in wits.

From an early age, Braxton was a clever boy, often seeking his own adventure wherever he might find it, even if it meant venturing out into the world beyond Longtable, oft finding himself as far as Starpike and New Barrel in his misadventures. How the boy survived to the age of majority is a mystery.

However, Braxton's youthful wanderlust came at a price. While his brothers played at war or impressed their father with knowledge of statecraft and military tactics, Braxton had little to offer but his 'friends' (often common boys and girls who barely recognized the future Lord Merryweather in his common clothes) and tales of his adventures, which did little to slake his father's anger. His mother simply stood aside, meaning that Braxton was on the receiving end of more verbal lashings (and a couple of physical ones) than he'd care to admit. Nevertheless, he never changed, comforting himself with the knowledge that his father would die, he'd be a man grown, and he'd have license to do well whatever the hell he pleased.

Many in the Merryweather Household were equally critical of young Braxton, though mostly behind closed doors, yet Braxton quickly made a habit of finding himself in places where he could hear such talk, and twist it to suit his own ends. He trained his silver tongue and careful ear to the point that by the time he was a man grown, he knew more about every knight and retainer in his father's castle than the Lord Merryweather himself, and none of it was good. A simple word here, and a report there, and anyone Braxton wished gone was simply gone.

Unfortunately, he couldn't get rid of his father or brothers.

Until the former got rid of himself, that is.

Perhaps it was an accident that claimed Axell Merryweather, a misunderstanding between a disgruntled knight and his liege Lord, or perhaps Braxton had found a man of short temper and strong arm with a beautiful wife that Axell fancied, stretched the truth to its breaking point, until the two men met and blood was drawn. After all, it's not kinslaying if you're not the one doing the killing. Braxton's first act as Lord Merryweather was, of course, to deliver justice to the man in question, who accepted his punishment without question. With this strong start, Braxton went about the business of Lordship.

In his time a-wandering and cavorting about the Reach, Braxton had learned the importance of making friends. By his 22nd year, he'd married- an entirely political alliance with House Rowan, sealed in marriage between himself and Sarra Rowan. Another trip around the Reach saw him marry off his brothers to a Footley and an Osgrey, and his sister to a Hightower and with that, he felt a sense of accomplishment. He'd done good work for his house, but there was more to do, and there was plenty of whispers about the state of the realm.

By the time of the death of the Black Dread, young Braxton had become Lord Braxton through and through, hiding his true, deceptive nature beneath a thick glamour of genteelness and culture, arming himself with the sharpest of sentences and the hardiest of lies.

## Recent Events

 During the Rosegold Rebellion, Braxton followed his fellow Reachlords in rebellion against the Targaryen Crown, with his most distinguished service coming at Longtable. During the vicious, bloody fighting, Braxton seized a moment of weakness on the flanks of the Baratheon army and surged through the forests near Longtable, initiating what would become a wholesale slaughter of the Stormlanders in his wake. There were no other moments of equal distinction for the Lord Braxton afterwards, and he contented himself with leading his men from the rear, where he lead them best.

As the Reach slowly destabilized, at last, Braxton saw an opportunity to make better for himself- he was a father now, after all, and a man has to feed his family- and he took it. When Hightower, his family by marriage, backed the White Roses and Dorian Tyrell. It was a gamble, one that could have, and by all accounts, should have ended with Braxton at the headsman's block, and of course, they lost. However, Theo Tyrell abdicated the Lord Paramountship not long after, and none other than Dorian Tyrell was next in line for the seat of Highgarden. In complete disbelief at the state of his desperate gamble, Braxton took to his newfound victory in stride, laughing and smiling all the way home to Longtable. Somehow, he had made out of all this like a bandit, and part of him was ready to test just how far this string of luck would carry him.

## Family

* Lord Axell Merryweather (51-81 AC)
* Lady Lysara Merryweather (59-89 AC)
	+ Lord Braxton Merryweather (62 AC)
	+ Lady Sarra Rowan (63 AC)
		- Lyanna Merryweather (86 AC)
		- Lyonel Merryweather (90 AC)
		- Lynesse Merryweather (93 AC)
	+ Lady Rhea Merryweather (65 AC)
	+ Lord Gerold Hightower (65 AC)
		- Urrigon Hightower (82 AC)
		- Ceryse Hightower (82 AC)
		- Olenna Hightower (84 AC)
	+ Ser Henly Merryweather (69 AC)
	+ Jeyne Footley (72 AC)
		- Gerold Merryweather (88 AC)
		- Renly Merryweather (90 AC)
		- Corlys Flowers (95 AC)
	+ Ser Harys Merryweather (71 AC)
	+ Margaery Osgrey (75 AC)
		- Axell Merryweather (89 AC)
		- Sansa Merryweather (97 AC)

## Household NPC's

**Ser Henly Merryweather, Scion of Longtable**- The second son of Axell Merryweather, Henly is a peerless warrior among his brothers, and walks with the stride of a practiced warrior. He openly disdains his brother's more underhanded methods, but remains loyal to him out of familial fealty.

**Ser Harys Merryweather, Knight of Longtable**- The youngest of Axell's children, Harys makes up for his lack of brawn in comparison with Henly and lack of wits across from Braxton by forming a solid middle ground between both, and focusing his own efforts on the affairs of Longtable itself- he's an intelligent man driven by love of coin more than love of his siblings.

**Lady Sarra Rowan, née** **Merryweather**- Possibly the only person in House Merryweather more cunning and subversive than Braxton, she publically appears to have her husband on rather tight reins. That, of course, is part of the illusion they've set for themselves- after all, Braxton must look the part of a lucky fool who's fallen into his lot in life to remain unmolested in his efforts, and she must appear strong to facilitate the facade.