Willem Wylde

Willem Wylde is the firstborn son of Ronnel Wylde and Raya Buckler and heir to House Wylde. He is known for being brash, but is respected for his skills on the battlefield both with a blade and as a commander.

## Appearance and Character

Willem is tall and muscular, with a close-cropped beard he keeps neatly trimmed and medium-length black hair. He wears armor more often than not and spends much of his free time in the training yard.

He is known as a brash and boisterous man who is quick to anger and perceive slights where none exist. He is more comfortable on the battlefield than anywhere else, and it is said that he views the primary duties of a Lord to be inconsequential compared to leading men into battle. He is eager to fight anyone who will take up the challenge and was said to be eager to participate in both the Rosegold Rebellion and the Year of Skulls and Daggers; although during the latter he departed his father’s company after the Battle of Mistwood and seeing the actions taken by his father’s men.

## History

### Early Life

Willem Wylde is the firstborn child of Lord Ronnel Wylde and Lady Raya Wylde nee Buckler and eldest of three siblings. Born in 72 AC, he had an easy childhood and was frequently doted upon by both his parents. Lady Raya would frequently pull him away from lessons with the Maester to go riding through the rainwood, and his father brought him everywhere he went, especially on training exercises with the troops.

Willem was joined by a younger brother, Jasper, in 76 AC and a younger sister, Tyana, in 80 AC. Jasper and he were close, but not nearly as close as he and Tyana. When the then eight-year-old Willem first laid eyes on his sister he vowed that he would always be there to protect her, no matter what.

When Willem wasn't in lessons with the Maester or with his parents the young lad could be found in the training yard dominating the other squires and knight's children his age. The master-at-arms would frequently remark to Lord Ronnel that his son had the makings of a great swordsman, but he would need a more prolific swordsmen like one of the Kingsguard. Lord Ronnel, however, was reluctant to send his heir so far from home. This would cause a rift between father and son as Willem argued for a more prolific squireship with dreams of becoming one of the greatest swordsman, while Lord Ronnel remained stubbornly against it.

### The Squire Years

Eventually Lord Ronnel would secure a squireship for Willem underneath Ser Lorimar Dondarrion who had gained some renown due to his leadership during the Fourth Dornish War. Willem's squireship got off to a rocky start, with Lorimar dealing with the loss of his brother and then the death of his father not long after Willem arrived at Nightsong.

This meant that the first year of squiring he was left largely to his own devices. For some boys this would have meant days spent loafing about or shirking their duties, but for Willem it meant long hours spent in the training yard fighting anyone who was willing to train with him.

This period did not last forever, and as Lorimar began to accustom himself to Lordship Willem's training began in earnest. Lorimar was a harsh and demanding master, always pushing Willem towards perfection in anything he did. His techniques in the training yard were never good enough and his knowledge of the battlefield was always lacking according to Lorimar. Some squires might have resented the disdainful attitude of their knight, but for Willem it only pushed him towards perfection. It wasn't the squireship under a Kingsguard that he'd dreamed of, but it was what the boy needed.

### Earning Knighthood

When Lorimar began his secretive raids across the Dornish border Willem was there riding by his side into battle. The young boy found himself hungering for battle after the first such raid, eager to prove himself and test his mettle against real foes. He would quickly prove himself to be Lorimar's faithful sidekick well into the fifth year of his squireship. It was on such a raid that he earned his knighthood.

The raid was like any other they had been on, except a small patrol of Yronwood men were in town. Lorimar charged them, heedless of whether or not his men could keep up with his recklessness. Willem managed just barely to maintain pace with him, and when the two parties clashed it was Willem's blade that fell two men who would have otherwise felled Lorimar. When the battle was over and the raiders safely in Stormland's territory Lorimar declared he had nothing left to teach Willem and knighted him.

### Rosegold Rebellion

House Wylde was quick to answer Lord Raymont's call to arms at the outbreak of the Rosegold Rebellion, though this was not without some internal turmoil. Now Ser Willem Wylde, at the age of 21, had eagerly looked forward to testing his blade against real foes for the first time since earning his knighthood. His father, however, was reluctant to allow his heir to march to war with him.

Ronnel and Willem could be heard arguing day and night as the Wylde levies mustered at Rain House. Eventually Willem threatened to march under the Baratheon banners instead of his father's and Ronnel finally relented. The Lord and heir to House Wylde would march off to the Rosegold Rebellion side-by-side but the rift between them was larger than ever and would only continue to grow.

They would see much action during the rebellion, fighting at the Grassy Vale, Blueburn, Longtable, and finally Bitterbridge. While his father commanded the men of Rain House he was too old to lead them into battle personally, so the duties fell onto Willem.

The young heir to Rain House proved himself a capable commander and leader to the men under him during these battles, though he won himself no acclaim or accolades.

After the slaughter of Bitterbridge and the end of the rebellion, Willem and his father would return home with a depleted levy filled with weary men. Willem and his father both felt pride in how they'd served, though for different reasons. Where Ronnel was proud to have served the crown against rebellious lords who had eventually been cowed, Willem itched to return to the field of battle so that he might continue to test his mettle in a real fight. The early victories had been somewhat tempered by the later defeats, but all-in-all it only served to whet his appetite.

### Skulls and Daggers in the Woods

With the death of Aemon Targaryen in 96 AC, many in the Stormlands felt that the last real threat the crown might pose to a secession movement had ended. Lord Ronnel was quick to denounce any who dared voice such sentiments in his presence, going so far as to challenge a traveling merchant to a duel after hearing him speak of rebellion within Rain House's walls. During this time, House Wylde would announce the betrothal of Willem to Lynnea Horpe, and his sister Tyana to Arrec Toyne.

For the first few moons of 97 AC, however, it seemed that things would calm down, as they always have. But when rumors of bandits in the Kingswood began to circulate tension was quick to rise in the Stormlands. While many were perturbed by these actions, Lord Ronnel began to act erratically, ordering patrols out to remote areas and demanding that all travelers that passed through the borders of House Wylde's lands be searched upon suspicion of banditry.

Willem was quick to notice his father's paranoia, but the possibility of battle in the near future clouded his judgement. He began leading patrols further afield in hopes that he might be near where the bandits struck next. As such he was gone when his father's behavior turn from erratic to bordering on insane as the bandit's activities continued to ramp up.

It soon became clear that these so-called bandits were striking out at Houses loyal to the Crown while leaving alone those who supported secession. In the Fifth Moon, Lord Ronnel declared that he would safeguard his allied houses from the bandits and called his levy. House Baratheon supported the measure, and began to call up a few hundred knights to support.

Willem was initially thrilled with his father's call to action and returned home to assist in leading their army against the bandits immediately. However, they were not two days on the road before Lord Ronnel began seizing the supplies of passing merchants and raiding villages whom he deemed "supporters of secession". Willem's initial thrill was dampened as he began arguing with his father that this went against their true objective. It did not, however, stop him from remaining with the army as they continued to close in on the bandits.

Things would come to a head as the two groups, almost indistinguishable from one another now as Lord Ronnel and his levies has been declared bandits for their actions by House Baratheon, clashed near Mistwood.

The fight proved to be a disaster for House Wylde as Lord Ronnel's increasingly erratic behavior caused him to lose control of his levies. The bandits under the Lord of Storm's Heart were quick to route the Wylde men, and the battle turned into a mutual pillaging of a nearby village as men broke ranks and began to flee. Willem managed to rally the Wylde cavalry and moved to defend the village from both sides when he spotted his betrothed fighting amongst the Lord of Storm's Heart men alongside her brother.

He was stunned to see her here, and felt betrayed by her presence amongst those who he himself deemed bandits, though a small part of him knew his father's men weren't any better. He and what little men remained loyal to him fled the field after seeing Lynnea and returned home to Rain House.

A month would go by before Lord Ronnel would return home with what little men remained of his initial thousand levies. He was met with further disgust from Willem when he learned his father had gone as far to assault Storm's End itself in his madness. Ronnel raved and claimed House Baratheon was no longer loyal to the Crown and he'd only done what was necessary, but Willem would have nothing of it.

Ronnel, however, was still lord and commanded the men who remained to begin fortifying for the retribution that was sure to come from their liege lord. Two more months would pass before the Baratheon army turned up to deal with House Wylde for their treachery but a spell of normalcy had returned to Ronnel. Willem spent those months berating his father for his actions in disgracing their House, and when Roy Baratheon was on his doorstep Ronnel went to him on hands and knees to beg forgiveness for him and his House.

### Aftermath

The Wyldes were forgiven for their actions, but not without a price to be paid in the form of a ward giving up to House Baratheon. Tyana Wylde, Lord Ronnel's only daughter, was sent to Storm's End as a ward to ensure the good behavior of House Wylde for the foreseeable future. Rumor has it that since the day Tyana departed late in the year 97 that Willem and Ronnel haven't spoken a word to one another.

Additionally, House Wylde called off the engagement between Arrec Toyne and Tyana Wylde, denouncing House Toyne as common bandits and declaring that no Wylde would ever be fit to marry someone with blood so foul. Much more quietly, Willem broke off his engagement to Lynnea, sending her a letter in private letting her know that he'd seen her on the side of the Storm's Heart but that he would take that secret to the grave.

## Family Tree

http://www.familyecho.com/?p=START&c=102pk24azpb&f=458436176255688973

## Meta

Skills: Champion(CHA) Leadership(CHA) Logistics(MAR) Warcraft(MAR) Endurance(COM) Footwork(COM)

Aptitude: Berserker(COM)