Harron "The Black Kraken"

Harron in his older years as commander of the Eastwatch.

Harron in his earlier as the outlaw known as "The Kraken"

Harron is a veteran member of the Night's Watch and the current commander of the Eastwatch Fort, in the Wall. In his previous life, he has been an infamous outlaw and pirate leader that raided the east coast of the North and the Vale, and upon capture, took the black to escape the punishment of death.

## Appearance and Character:

Harron is a tall and lean man that could be seen as many as menacing by the way he walks and talks. His grey beard and hair are evidence of a life with many years, and the many scars and old wounds in his body indicate that most of them were spent in the ways of violence and blood. His bluish-grey eyes contain the wisdom of a thousand battles and his thick eyebrows denote him an air of harshness.

His voice is loud and authoritative, and his presence is demanding, but those in his command have grown to respect all those traits, and in return, they can sleep well with the knowledge that their commander won't send them to their deaths.

Those who know him and are of his trust, know also that Harron is generally a very self-centred man for the most part. But they may also know that behind that, the man fosters deep honest care for his brothers of the watch and those in his command, the same care he once boasted for the members of his dissolved outlaw band. For him, they are his family.

In battle, Harron is never seen without his prefered weapon, his steel spear, something that he wields in deadly fashion to mercilessly execute his enemies.

A naval man by nature, Harron often says that what he misses the most from his life before the Wall is the swing of the tides in his feet. He takes all and every assignment he can to have the opportunity to sail again, the most probable reason for his current command being the Eastwatch.

## History:

### An Ironborn or a Northmen?

Harron had a tough hand right from the start of his life. Being born as the product of a reave, Harron was half-ironborn and half-northmen.

His father Godric, one of the many men in the Iron Islands who periodically raided and pillaged their way into the Westerosi Coast, had taken a salt wife for himself, Ynys, a lowborn woman from the North. And a few moons later, Harron was brought into the world, born aboard a ship during a storm. That was seen by the raiders as a sign that the Drowned God savoured the boy, and as such Godric took him in, bringing him back to the Iron Islands.

Not being the son of a Rock Wife, the boy grew up among spits and rocks, from both the other adults and children native to the Iron Island. Even so, his father, Godric started teaching the boy how-to swing an weapon and the ways of the Ironborn.

Soon it was time for another raid, and still believing that the Drowned God favoured his son, Godric took the boy of eight with him with the hopes of good tides and wind.

Their intent was to go to the easy and fertile Riverlands. But just like the other time, Godric's ship ended up landing on the shores of the North. They did not have the disposition to go back into the sea with empty hands though, and once more decided to pillage the cold lands of the wolfs.

Their bad luck was evident when they came across a fully armed patrol. The battle was quick and bloody, but the results were clear. The Ironborn got wiped out by the patrol, and Godric, wounded, fled through the land.

Harron had managed to survive the skirmish but was quickly captured by the patrol afterwards.

The patrol was led by a man called Lester, and he was a retainer of House Marsh, a minor house of the North and he was in doubts what to do with the captured boy. He chose to wait and see, as he took Harron in shackles with him to their destination, White Harbour.

In White Harbour, a family of poor fishermen whose all three sons had just died volunteered to take in the boy and raise him. They taught him the customs of the people of the North and their gods.

All that trajectory made Harron a man of mixed beliefs and customs, being both a Northmen and an Ironborn.

### The Gods Have Their Own Plans

For six years, Harron grew peacefully. He did his best to leave his foggy previous memories of the distant shores of the Iron Islands, and try his best to become a fisherman under the couple that agreed to raise him. Ormund and Gwin were simple-minded and honest people, who through Harron, managed to overcome the grief of losing their three sons. They had all become a family and in his own way, Harron cared for them.

It was a brief period of peace.

Of course, that would change.

The moon was a hard one. Without proper food and warmth, Ormund grew ill. Gwin did her best to tend to him while in his bedridden state, but that just made her sick as well. Harron couldn't do anything but to watch, his fishing not bringing enough to keep them.

In his own way, Harron thought he would have to save them. His decision to try to do that would forever change the course of his life. That day instead of taking a boat to go fishing, Harron strolled the port of White Harbour. He stood watch for big ships with few guards.

With a measure of luck, Harron managed to steal a large crate full of food from one of the ships. It was enough to feed him and his family for a whole year. But he was too late. When he finally made his way back home, his foster parents were already cold. Harron could not believe it, he even tried, in a moment of desperation, to shove the food down their throats, but it was still too late.

12 days. That would be the total amount of time it took Harron for him to exit his state of grief.

In that time, he had screamed, cried, punched the fragile walls of the house and stared at his parent's frozen corpses. He had not the courage to move them from their beds, and the stench of rotten flesh was starting to permeate through the house.

But when finally Harron recomposed himself, he was different. He was angry. No, he was actually furious. His parents had died of starvation while a single crate from one of those trading ships had enough to keep them for a year. And he knew he was not the only one, he knew other urchins and kids who were in a similar situation.

Taking what remained from the food, he went into the alleyways of the city. He found kids freezing and starving, and he offered them the crate. The many kids gathered, like wasps into a torch, and fought amongst each other to take the most food.

When they finished, they looked at Harron, who watched the whole time, and said that if they wanted more, all they had to do was follow his instructions.

All the starving kids did not hesitate, looking expectantly to their new leader.

And thus was born what would become the Kraken's Tails.

### The initial years of the Kraken's Tails:

In his first time stealing, Harron had gotten lucky. The ship was poorly guarded and the crate was not too heavy. But if he intended to keep doing it, he would need better planning. Lucky for the urchins, Harron was something like they call of a true born leader. He quickly organized the many street kids and drew effective plans of action. The first few moons were riddled with failures and mistakes. But eventually, under Harron's leadership, the kids would start to become a real street gang.

After six years, the Starving Arms, what they were called at the time, was one of the biggest gangs of White Harbour, composed mostly of those initial children, who now were young lads and lasses. They weren't a real criminal business, though. They mostly went on doing heists and assaults. At first, they only stole food, but it did not take too long before they went into stealing coin to buy food. During those years the group had started gathering fighting experience, with their many misunderstandings with the city's watch and the other gangs.

Harron had an unprecedented reputation with his gang. They all followed his every word and believed fully in his leadership. Not only that, but they had started to become close friends, and essentially, a family

Soon though, the luck of the group would have start to run out. Their numbers had grown over the course of years, and what they stole wasn't being enough to keep them fed. Harron got too reckless and ambitious in his plan to solve that issue, and they tried to rob one of the biggest merchants of the city.

Of course, that could not have gone well. The merchant, furious with being targeted, conducted a witch hunt after the Starving Arms. Hired guards flooded the streets, and each day that passed they had fewer places to hide.

That was when Harron decided that they could not remain in the city. His next plan was as audacious and reckless as the previous, but this one was made considering what came after. Harron intended to steal a ship, and he and his outlaw band would become pirates.

And so they did, in a flawlessly executed plan, they stole a large ship, and sailed away from White Harbour.

### The Kraken Tails Consolidation:

Harron would prove to be a far better leader in the sea than on land in the following years. He remembered everything his father had once taught him about the way of life of the ironborn. He planned attacks on weaker ports and shores and boarded many trading vessels, acquiring the nickname of the "Kraken" as he plagued the east shores of the North for many years to come. His band would be infamously known as the "Kraken Tails" and over the course of the years, they would become more raiders than thieves, following the experience of their leader as an Ironchild.

### Once More, The Gods Make Their Plans:

Harron led a full life aboard his ship, the Red Maw. He had become a fearsome warrior and commander, as deadly with his spear and his bow as he was leading men. He took what he wanted, and lived free on the waves. His crew, his band, was all the family he ever needed, and each and every one of them was ready to lay their lives for the next. They had grown together. Theirs was not a bond of greed, but of comradery and trust.

Harron's ship was among one of the most wanted. Many times, fleets filled with armed men, were sent to catch him. But Harron was always one step ahead, and in the seas, he was nearly uncatchable being one of the most skilled admirals and sailor in the entirety of Westeros.

At the age of thirty and three, he had killed, pillaged and stolen from hundreds. Every lord of the eastern coast of the Vale and the North knew his name, and none managed to catch him.

But as with everything, Harron's luck was bound to end sometime.

After fleeing from a raid, Harron's ship was thrown in the middle of a brutal storm. The sound of wood cracking and men screaming were the last thing Harron remembered. That and waking up in a cage, shakled.

His ship had sunk. His band probably dead, and most certainly, disbanded. And he had been captured.

Facing capture, Harron's spirit was crushed. His punishment was surely going to be execution, and his band had been wiped. But the gods still had plans for him it seemed, during his trial, a recruiter from the Night's Watch who had heard of Harron's martial prowess attended and offered him the option to take the black.

Harron knew that it was either that or death.

The next day, he travelled North, to be a new member of the Watch.

### Life in the Wall:

Upon his arrival in the Wall, in the year of 109 AC, Harron was greeted with disdain. Many of the brother's of the watch were northmen who had heard of Harron's before and many had lost friends or kin to his spear. His welcome as a recruit was cold to say the least, both figuratively and literally, with the cold snow falling incessantly at the Wall. At first, he wanted nothing to do with the Watch. He was only here because he would have been dead otherwise.

Some years passed, and he took his vows. He was still mostly hated, and many of the brothers had started to bother him with open insults. They started calling him the "Black Kraken", a way to mock his previous title, and how he had ended here, in the Wall. He endured all that and more in silence, with little motivation to change their mind.

One day he was sent in a patrol along with two of the men that most hated him, Meryn and Tormund. All the way they picked up on him, cutting his saddle, insulting his mother, and cursing his name. They then met up with a band of eight wandering wildlings. They outnumbered them, and even with their rudimentary weapons, they presented a serious threat to three rangers.

The Wildlings quickly ambushed the rangers, and the surprise made their horses fall to the sides. Only Harron managed to jump off and not get stuck, the other two rangers did not get as lucky.

The situation was dire indeed, Eight versus One. Harron had the opportunity to flee and leave the other two behind for their deaths. But he did not.

Instead, he grasped firmly on his spear and faced his enemies. During his time as a recruit, Harron did little to show his mettle, as such he was supposed to have only below-average skill. That couldn't be farther from the truth though, as the first wildling to attack would soon discover with the sharp cold steel thrusting firmly into his throat. Without delaying, Harron twirled the pole of his weapon, and the sharp edge cut through another one of the enemy's neck.

In a matter of seconds, he had killed two of the opposition. The wildlings backed down as they saw this display of skill and ferocity. But they were still six, and he was but a single man.

Gathering their resolve once more, they charged at the man. Harron used the long reach of his weapon to wound them before they approached. When they finally arrived two more were already on the ground. Four of them attacked simultaneously, and even with a shield, Harron could not have blocked every strike. Harron felt the hot blood drip from several points in his body.

Falling on his knees, he thought he was done for. He thought that was how he was going to die.

What the wildlings failed to notice, though, in their unstoppable onslaught, was that Meryn and Tormund had gotten free. They stroke from behind and their steel made quick work of the remaining four.

When was everything over, all Harron could see was blood and snow. His body ached, and he certainly would not have the strength to go back. But what he also saw, was an extended hand.

Meryn helped him back on his feet and thanked him. Harron could have left, but he didn't. He stayed and he was willing to die before abandoning them, even after everything they had done to him. As for Harron, he took the hand. Those men could've abandoned him. And they had every right to. He killed their families in the past, and what for? His band was dead, and all he managed to accomplish was spill blood all of his life. He had lost his family, not once, but twice.

But what if the Watch could become his true family? They called each other brothers, after all, and most of them were here sharing the same hardships with the same goal. It was not different from the Kraken's Tails. The difference was they fought to defend something, not to destroy

That moment, Harron had an epiphany. That moment Harron decided to try for once in his life fight to protect, not to kill.

That day marked the day Harron truly had become a brother of the watch.

The tale of the expedition quickly spread. Admiration and respect started to appear where once was hatred and fear. Harron started taking his post very seriously and quickly started to make a name for himself on the Wall. "The Black Kraken" was no longer a title used to mock him, but to show respect.

His skill with commanding and reputation with the men quickly made him climb through the ranks of the Watch. And with the coming of years he'd become the Commander of Eastwatch at the year of 117 AC, and one of the most respected members of the Night's Watch.

Many chances he had to become the Lord Commander, but as with his appreciation of the sea, he refused every time, preferring instead to command the ports of Eastwatch.

Commanding over the last decade almost every sea battle or expedition

After the events of the "King in the Wall", Harron started to worry for the future of the Brotherhood. Over the course of years, the Watch and his men have become the most valuable things to him, and he is hell-bent on maintaining the stability in the order, whatever means necessary.

With the election of the young Lucifer Manderly as Lord Commander and the successful escape of Myles Marbrand Harron fears for what might happen in the future, for the dangers are always present.

## Family

Son to Godric, ironborn raider, and Ynys, northwoman salt wife.

Has over the course of the years sired many sons and daughters, though he does not know any of them.

## Npcs

\*Meryn - Prominent Ranger of the Eastwatch

\*Tormund - Prominent Ranger of the Eastwatch

\*Perkin - Prominent Steward of the Eastwatch

\*Tytos - Prominent Builder of the Eastwatch

## Meta

Attribute: Bellicose

Skill Points: 22

Skills: Leadership (CHA), Naval Warfare (MAR), Skirmishing (MAR), Precision (COM), Weapon Proficiency [Polearms, Ranged Weapons] (COM).

Mastery: Admiral (MAR)

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