Cedric Estermont

Cedric Estermont is the second son of Lord Steffon Estermont and Roslin Tudbury and is the current lord of Greenstone. After his older brother Robert Estermont perished in the War of the Three Thieves, Cedric became the new heir, much to the distaste of his father. At the age of 22 he married Alayne Dondarrion and they currently have three children, all daughters.

## Appearance and Personality

Cedric is blessed by the Seven with a great physical stature. Standing at 6 foot-tall he has an athletic and muscled build, as a teenager and young adult he was quite lanky but good meals and hard training have filled him out. His brown hair falls down just above his shoulders. Cedric also has brownish-grey eyes and a sizable beard on his chin. Cedric's apparel is nothing fancy, usually consisting of a leather tunic or jerkin in the color of muted green or brown and even for court what he wears isn't much more fancy than that.

The lord of Greenstone was a bit eccentric as a teenager but seemed to have straightened himself out as lord, at least for a time. As a child, Cedric had a fascination for prophecy and a higher meaning, this resulted in odd behaviors, although these certainly lessened as he became lord. This also caused a rift between his father and himself until his fathers death, and to this day makes his councilors slightly wary of him even if Cedric insists this was in his past.

As of late he has become a bit disillusioned in things, haunted by his past and also his wife's inability to have a son. However, he is still relatively young, and his life story has really yet to be written.

## History

### Early Life

Born in Greenstone in the year 388 AC, Cedric Estermont was an adventurous child to say the least. His Lord Father made sure he was trained from a young age, forcing him to grow up with a sword in his hand. This only intensified when his father noticed that Cedric could be quite eccentric, he was steadfast on making Cedric a warrior who could fight for his brother when he became Lord. Cedric enjoyed it well enough, even with his father demanding he train continuously. By the time Cedric turned ten, he was relatively competent with a sword. However, his training changed after the death of his older brother.

### The War of the Three Thieves

The Estermonts answered the call to arms immediately when the Baratheons called their banners during the War of the Three Thieves. As much as Cedric’s father hated Targaryens and their dragons, his honor came above all else. During the Battle of the Broken Arm, Robert was slaughtered and Lord Estermont severely wounded. Cedric remained at Greenstone throughout the duration of the war, being tasked with ruling the place while his father and brother were gone fighting. Cedric squired for his uncle Edmure in the last two years of the war, earning himself his knighthood even though he had scarce left Greenstone.

### 402 - 410 AC

After being gone for three years, Cedric’s father returned home without his son and heir. Lord Steffon spent the next moon in solitude, only being met daily by the Maester to sup. Once he finally came out, he publicly shamed the blacksmith and blamed him for distracting Robert from his training and indirectly killing him. This made no sense as the blacksmith wasn't even in charge of Robert's training and scarce interacted with him. Lady Roslin Estermont, Cedric’s mother, stopped Steffon from exiling the blacksmith and accused him of being delusional and blaming others for something he was to blame for. From there, Lord Steffon's isolation only furthered, and he became more and more prone to anger.

Cedric was now being trained twice as much as he had been before. Being trained to fight and to be a Lord. However, there was no love in this training, it more felt like Cedric was being punished more than he was being prepared, and this caused him to sour towards his father who still spent the vast majority of his time in his room, grumbling to himself and thinking of what might had been if his favorite son were still alive.

Cedric did march some Estermont troops with the Baratheon forces during the Mummer's War. Cedric was no fan of the Targaryens, but rebelling against the Targaryens and siding with one of the bastards would mean rebelling against Baratheon, and that would surely result in his death and perhaps another burning of Greenstone. However, there was no fighting, merely quick surrenders, so he returned home scarcely having removed his sword from his sheath. At that point his father was virtually never leaving his room, and thus Cedric was left to the task of leading the meager Estermont forces. Cedric learned some things of military tactics while marching, along with the stuff he learned at home, but never had the chance to put them in action.

In the year 410AC it seemed everything came to head. This began with Cedric's marriage to a beautiful gal from House Dondarrion. Steffon was scarce seen at the wedding - attended by some Stormlands nobles - and some saw this as a slight to Cedric. About two months later, Cedric and Steffon were seen arguing over dinner, one of the rare ones they ate together. Later that night Steffon's body was found washed up on the beach, the maester said he had fallen from a high place and it was presumed that Steffon had thrown himself. There were rumors that Cedric himself had done it, but those were snuffed out quickly. With this tragic circumstance Cedric became lord.

### 410-418 AC

The beginning years of Cedric's lordship had not gone nearly as well as he would have liked. Cedric was originally happy with his wife Alayne, and he loved her as he'd loved no one before, yet as the prospects of her having a son became more dire he soured, and he began to obsess over it. They had three daughters - Alysanne, Shyra, and Tyana - but no sons. Indeed, even though they tried quite often it had been ages since Alayne had even been pregnant. Cedric longed for a son, but there was nothing he could do about it. His septon suggested that perhaps it was a problem with his wife and perhaps she was cursed by the Seven, and even though he had tried to leave his superstitious past behind that thought buried in his mind far more than he was comfortable with.

As a lord, Cedric was competent enough at first, he garnered the respect of his vassal and councilors, and they seemed to have forgotten his more eccentric past. His knowledge of commanding and of the sword grew and soon he became famed if only in local areas for his skill, although it was unsure how much of this was reality and how much of it was flattery. At tournaments he was moderately successful although never finishing first. He is less skilled at statescraft and intrigue, although he is still rather average for nobles in these areas, and thus heavily relies on his councilors in those areas.

All in all these first years of his lordship have been uneventful on the surface level, no big tournaments or wars, no drama to the public eye either. Cedric wanted an uneventful life at first where he could be happy with his wife and a son and pass on his legacy, but as of late he has been growing restless and falling into a state of what could almost be called despair. His lack of a son weighed heavily on his mind, as did many things in his past. Cedric has indulged in drink more often and even milk of the poppy, an old injury to his hip taken during a rough fall bothered him and he complained of pain and began losing his more jolly mood. He was only 30 but he felt far older. Often he thought back to that ill conversation with his father, finding his body on the shore the next morning. Guilt consumed him. Alayne worried but said nothing, their children still too young to notice how absent Cedric was. He still went to court, still did his lordly duties, still did swordplay occasionally. Yet, at what should be the height of his life he was fading, and fading quickly. This was a turning point, and he was not taking it well.

## Household

* Maester Lyonel
* Ser Myles, Captain of the Guard
* Ser Forrin, Personal Guard of Cedric
* Septon Boros