Domeric Bolton

## Personality

### Personality Description

Domeric Bolton is what would be best described as a manipulator. He is someone who can read the room and read other’s faces and body language to tell what it is that they want and then use it against them. He is therefore also a liar and a cruel man. He tends to order slow painful executions of his victims and criminals and is known to often let them escape only to then have them hunted down by him, his hunters, and his dogs. He of course also is cunning as a result having to constantly hide his actions and torture of others. Towards his family however he is protective though not in a loving way. More in the way of how a farmer would fiercely protect their only horse because it is their main thing keeping them afloat. Behind closed doors he’s harsh and strict towards them often slapping them around and worse when he disciplined them. However while cruel, sadistic, and manipulative he is also fair in that giving good service or performing tasks given well you get rewarded regardless of your background. A redeeming trait that has endeared him somewhat to his people & family you could say.

### Goals and Motivation

Well seeing the inevitable civil war on the horizon Domeric hopes to take the opportunity to overthrow House Stark as Lord Paramount and Warden of the North. Pretty traditional Bolton goals to gain higher status though he also seeks to make connections with other great houses to gain greater political influence.

### Reputation

His reputation is similar to that of all Boltons really. Many rumors fly about him wearing the flayed skin of his victims in his castle or him hanging them up in the Dreadfort’s secret room alongside various other similar rumors going about surrounding the man. Now to his direct people however he is best described as a silent everwatching dictator. Someone who is while benevolent in that he doesn’t impose harsh taxes or steals away young maidens into the night despite the rumors some of which are well earned he is regarded as someone who the moment someone steps out of line or breaks the peace are quickly made an example out of their bodies being impaled upon pikes for months throughout his territory. Most being bandits. Others not so much. A peaceful land, a quiet people is what he believes.

## Backstory

Born 34 years ago Domeric Bolton is an experienced commander and torturer. Born and raised within the Dreadfort he learned all the proper etiquette required from the nobility and of the history of House Bolton and House Stark. He learned what the Ironborn were and the Dornishmen. And finally he learned what it meant to be a Bolton. He grew up being taught how to torture others with the faminly ancestral knife and learn the ins and outs of the human body. This was common practice among the children of House Bolton and Domeric was no different.

Eventually however a fresh victim was captured. A wildling that had made it past the Wall. It was a man and it was Domeric’s task to interrogate the man for information on why and how he made it past the Wall. To put it simply it took Domeric 5 months to gain his desired information. He was after all but a boy still learning the intricacies of his trade. That and on more than one occasion he almost ended up letting the poor soul bleed to death. Now these mistakes were tallied by his father and once he had finished he was quickly given another prisoner to interrogate. He was to perfect his technique until it’d just take over one week to gain all the secrets of his prisoners.

Now before long at the ripe age of 20 he’d be married and three years afterwards he’d succeed his lord father after he and his wife died of old age. Now rumors and his house’s reputation is often enough to keep those of the smallfolk and his vassals in line though eventually he’d have a chance to prove himself. A band of wildlings and bandits had banded together within the Lonely Hills and began pillaging the countryside. Some of the victims were villages & towns located within House Bolton’s territory.

As a result the monster that dwelled in the halls of the Dreadfort was stirred and rose to rally all his bannermen as he marched upon the Lonely Hills Bandits.  And so under the cover of the rising sun Domeric Bolton led his men in a devastating assault upon the barely waking bandits in what many would call the Slaughter of the Lonely Hills. As the surprised bandits quickly broke and fled being subsequently hunted down by mercenaries and cavalry Domeric would pile up the dead and have their entire bodies stripped clean of their possessions and burned. Wounded enemies that still clung to life were then impaled upon a pike and the leader of this particular group was never seen again after Domeric took him back to Dreadfort. Afterwards thanks largely in part to exemplary service Domeric rewarded many hedge knights, knights, and sellswords within his employ with wealth, fame, and even titles with lands. This has while both served to cement him as a true heir to the Bolton Legacy also alert others that if they serve him and give exemplary service they get rewarded. It is also after this point that Domeric Bolton ordered that watchtowers, patrols of 10 men, and small outposts be made to both remind his people of his constant watch over them and also in case of any more wildlings that slipped past the Wall or bandits arose for whatever reason.