Jaron

Harpy - lover

Ser **Jaron** is a hedge knight and a major PoV character in Book 1. Hungry for glory and with slightly naive expectations of the world, Jaron has been knighted recently. His first destination as a knight takes him to the city of Oldtown, where he soon becomes involved in a brutal war between the crime lords Butterfly and the Burned Man. Because of his heritage as a bastard, Jaron proudly calls himself **Ser Jaron the Bastard**.

## Background

Jaron was born in the small town of Blackhaven in the western Stormlands. His mother, Janissa, was a whore, while he never met his father. For years, Janissa would tell jaron that his father was a high lord, something which Jaron gladly believed despite the lack of evidence. For this, he was named Jaron the Bastard, a nickname he accepted almost with pride.

When he was twelve years old, his mother died after a short, but severe illness. It was only a few weeks later when he met Ser Matthos the Kind, a wandering hedge knight who took pity on the orphaned boy and decided to teach him how to be a knight. For years, Matthos and Jaron travelled through the southern parts of Westeros, taking the occasional odd job. Over the time, Jaron grew into a skilled fighter and after a particularly heroic feat, during which he saved Matthos life in the Dornish Marches, he was knighted by his mentor at the age of seventeen.

Jaron and Matthos continued to travel as equals, still journeying across the land. Unfortunately, their time together soon came to an end. During a stay at a tavern, Matthos got into an argument with a drunken man, who fatally stabbed the old knight. Though Jaron tried his best, he was unable to save Matthos. Left without his mentor and without a clear goal, Jaron had no other choice but to continue his travels, in the hopes of finding work and the chance to become the hero he always aspired to be.

## Book 1

### Dark Wings, Dark Words

At the beginning of the story, Jaron just arrived at the city of Oldtown, for the first time in years and for the first time without Matthos. He arrived at a small inn, with the intentions to spend the night there and to look for work in the morning. However, it shouldn't come to that. Shortly after sitting down, he was approached by a street urchin, the young Himani Sand. Himani revealed to him that the Burned Man, one of Oldtown's local crimelords, has taken an interest in him and wishes to meet him. He also warned him that ignoring the Burned Man's wishes would not be advisable.

Not feeling much of a choice, Jaron accompanied Himani to one of the Burned Man's hideouts in the poorer parts of the city. At the door, Jaron first met Harpy, the Burned Man's assistant and adopted daughter. Initially distant, she quickly warmed up to Jaron, as she escorted him to a waiting room. There, Jaron encountered the Ghiscari slaver Bakr al-Astapori, a business partner of the Burned Man, with whom he had a short talk.

Shortly afterwards, Harpy returned and brought him to the Burned Man. On the way, Jaron also had a short talk with Abbas al-Yunkari, Bakr's colleague and fellow business partner of the Burned Man, before he met the crimelord himself. The Burned Man acted polite, calm and reasonable towards Jaron, informing him of a debt Ser Matthos had with him, a debt he hopes Jaron could repay, by working with him against a couple of people whom the Burned Man sees as a threat to the stability of Oldtown.

### Broken Vows

Reluctantly, Jaron agreed to work with the Burned Man, who proceeded by giving him more details about the problem he faces. He informed him about Butterfly, the other crimelord of Oldtown, who acts far more ruthless and who poses a threat to the Burned Man and to Oldtown in general. The Burned Man claimed to have information about Butterfly having a similar interest in Jaron. He told him that he would protect him from now on and warned him about not trusting Butterfly in any way.

Shortly after leaving, Jaron realized that he had no idea how to return to his inn from his current position. He stumbled through the streets and alleyways of Oldtown for a while, until the sun had already set. There, he was confronted by three men, who revealed themselves as Solvers, Butterfly's ruthless thugs. They told Jaron that Butterfly had learned about him working for the Burned Man now and that they are here to kill him for this. Then, they attacked.

Though fighting valiant, Jaron was quickly overpowered. He recieved a blow to the ribs and a crossbow bolt to his left arm and while his armour saved his life, the limb was broken. Luckily for him, the merchant Terroma and his ward Ellena Terys were nearby. On Ellena's insistance, Terroma intervened, revealing himself to have skills far beyond those of a simple merchant, when he easily dispatched of the three Solvers.

### We Write History

A week after receiving his wounds and being saved by Terroma and Ellena, Jaron slowly recovered aboard the Pale Princess, where he befriended Ellena. While his wounds soon stopped to be life-threatening, he was far from recovered by the time new trouble arose. Ellena quickly warned him that Butterfly was still looking for him and she urged him to leave the ship, as his location had become too well-known. Reluctantly, Jaron followed her wish.

Outside of the ship, he encountered Harpy and her bodyguard Martin Wilshere, who had just planned to check up on him. As it turned out, Jaron had left the ship just in time, as two of Butterfly's best agents, Samuel Harrington and Jaylon Gordus, entered the ship just minutes later. Harpy explained to him that there is little they could do against Harrington and she took him with her, to one of the Burned Man's safehouses in the city, where she explained the next step in their plan.

She revealed that she had intentions of fighting Butterfly and of bringing him down before he would destroy the Burned Man's organization. For this, she enlisted Jaron's help. As she, Jaron and Martin bonded over a bottle of wine, she revealed that she suspected a traitor amid the ranks of the Burned Man. She managed to single out two sellswords, Robb and Jarek, who had shown suspicious behaviour. Martin was sent to spy on Robb, while Harpy enlisted the help of Himani to check up on Jarek. Jaron himself decided to accompany Martin.

### Butterfly

Together with Martin, Jaron travelled to Tanner's Alley, in one of the parts of Oldtown that were controlled by Butterfly. Being there made Martin visibly uneasy and Jaron himself did not feel well there. Eventually, they located Robb's small room in a rundown house. However, before entering, they overheard a talk between Robb and a man that was later revealed to be the Tom, leader of the Alley Cats and one of Butterfly's best men.

During this talk, the Tom gave Robb the task to lure Harpy into a trap, to deliver her to Butterfly, in exchange for a substantial reward. To Jaron's anger, Robb even agreed to this. The Tom quickly left through Robb's window, which was a sign for Jaron and Martin to storm the room, where they found Robb, lying amid half-empty bottles of booze. Though the sellsword claimed to have worked as a mole for the Burned Man, infiltrating Butterfly's organization from within, to lure the crimelord into a trap. However, Jaron did not believe him and he ordered Martin to beat Robb up, before taking him back to the Burned Man's headquarters.

There, Robb's version of the story got confirmed, by the Burned Man himself on top. In general, tensions between Jaron and the rude sellsword soon got higher, when Robb realized that Jaron started to show feelings for Harpy, whom he himself once harboured interest in as well. This got to the point where they almost got into a fight, though Jaron showed restraint, especially as he surprisingly met Ellena again, who had come to the Burned Man for protection from Butterfly's thugs.

Harpy ultimately revealed the next step in her plan. Hearing from Robb that Butterfly would be interested in her, she decided to lure him into a trap, by using herself as a bait. Robb and Jaron were supposed to fake their defection, by delivering her to Butterfly, while Himani would follow them and later lead Martin and his fighters to their position. Since the Burned Man would certainly disapprove of this, Harpy decided to pursue this plan behind his back. Despite severe worries about her safety, Jaron agreed to help.

The next morning, they prepared for their mission. Jaron was outfitted with a new set of armour, finely crafted by one of the best blacksmiths in Oldtown. Since the Burned Man had no use for it, Harpy decided to give it to Jaron, to ensure the best possible protection for him. They shared a tender moment, before Martin interrupted them, informing them that Robb had arranged a meeting with Butterfly.

Before meeting the crimelord himself, the trio was brought to a building, where they were expected by the Tom, leader of the sellsword group Alley Cats, as well as his bodyguard, the Moggy. Despite obviously distrusting their claims to have defected, the Tom nonetheless led them to a warehouse, where they were greeted by Butterfly, the fearsome crimelord, who quickly revealed to live up to his reputation, when he effortlessly saw through their ruse. Instead of killing them on spot, he offered Jaron and Robb a chance to join him for real, by betraying Harpy.

While Robb seemingly agreed to this, Jaron refused to turn on Harpy. A mildly annoyed Butterfly sent the Tom and the Moggy away to gather reinforcements, while he and his men cornered the two. A fight broke out, during which Jaron just barely managed to stay alive. Surprisingly, Robb revealed himself to be on his side after all, when he saved his life and fought against Butterfly himself. This brave action ultimately claimed his life, though Jaron managed to survive thanks to him.

The timely arrival of Martin tipped the scales in their favour. Together with several sellswords, among them Ayden Blackwell and Samantha Ducard, as well as the Ghiscari slavers Abbas and Bakr, Martin slaughtered Butterfly's remaining men. Samantha herself confronted the crimelord, who had allegedly been responsible for the death of her family years ago and she ultimately defeated and crippled him in a duel.

However, even in his beaten condition, Butterfly continued to taunt the ones present, especially Harpy, who had suffered immensely under him. She took a knife and attempted to kill the crimelord. After shortly considering the situation, Jaron decided that she would deserve her vengeance and in the heat of the moment, she proceeded to kill Butterfly with a brutality that shocked both of them.

### The Iron Price

After successfully defeating Butterfly, the Burned Man arranged for great festivities to take place. Jaron was led to these festivities by Ayden Blackwell, who also invited him over to the Burned Man's council, to decide their next step. However, Jaron first decided to celebrate their victory by celebrating with his friends, before promising to join later.

He soon met up with Martin, who introduced him to his lover Keira, who was technically only there to entertain the guests, considering that she was actually working as a whore for the enigmatic Hishi, owner of the Thousand Shades of Flowers brothel. Later, Bakr joined them as well and the three had a refreshing talk about the recent events. During this talk, Martin strongly encouraged Jaron to go and speak to Harpy, who was outside, still shocked about her actions in the warehouse.

## Appearance

Jaron is a young man of eighteen years, tall but not very muscular, more on the lanky side. He has fair skin, green eyes and black hair that falls down to his shoulders. After the death of his mentor, he also started to grow a stubble beard. His facial features can't be called handsome, but neither is he ugly, more plain and a bit ordinary.

While only having access to old and worn-down clothes and armour at the beginning of his time in Oldtown, he soon gains access to finer weaponry as a result of his work for the Burned Man. Shortly before the confrontation in the warehouse, he is outfitted with a fine set of armour, made out of heavy, grey steel and with fine golden ornaments.

## Personality

As a result of his youth, Jaron has naive expectations of life. He has high ambitions, dreaming of glory, honour an status far beyond his reach. While he is an intelligent young man, his lack of experience combined with a fiery temper sometimes causes him to act rash or to jump to false conclusions. One thing he absolutely hates is to be reminded of how low his position in life actually is.

Beyond that, Jaron is an honourable man with high morals, which he soon finds challenged after his arrival in Oldtown. He is unfailingly loyal to his friends, a brave fighter and outspoken against injustice. Despite his surroundings in Oldtown, he still tries to uphold some of the values he follows as a knight. Not a born leader, he nonetheless does not hesitate to take charge of a situation if necessary and he is decisive enough to stand his ground in an argument.

## Relationships

### Harpy

Jaron met Harpy during his initial meeting with the Burned Man. The beautiful handmaiden caught his eye quickly. In turn, Harpy was fascinated by his sense of honour, something that seemed utterly out of place in Oldtown. Despite hailing from completely different worlds and living completely different lives, an attraction formed between the two. Soon, their bond grew stronger when they survived the confrontation with Butterfly's men in the warehouse together and it was shortly afterwards that Jaron finally gained the courage to confess his feelings to her. A surprised Harpy confessed that she felt the same, which marked the beginning of their romantic relationship. Their bond quickly grew stronger and Harpy even confessed her love for Jaron during the events that followed the masquerade at Lord Vyrwel's estate. After the Burned Man's disappearance, she depended on Jaron more than ever

### The Burned Man

At first, Jaron was unsure how to feel about the Burned Man. He was intimidated by the crimelord's appearance and heavily disapproved of his illegal methods. On top of that, he doubted the Burned Man's intentions. However, as his morals started to adjust to Oldtown, Jaron started to see the Burned Man as the lesser evil and as necessary for the cities stability. From there on, both men developed a grudging respect for each other. While not on friendly terms, they nonetheless appreciated each others actions and the Burned Man even approved of Jaron's romantic relationship with Harpy. Ultimately, his respect for the Burned Man only grew after learning about his backstory. He decided to grant him a quick, merciful death after finding him in the labyrinth and he was clearly affected by this.

### Martin Wilshere

Martin and Jaron started off on the wrong foot and Jaron was a bit annoyed by the cocky arrogance of the sellsword. However, they soon grew closer as they underwent their first mission together and slowly, the two became friends. By the time of the masquearade, they had become very good friends, up to the point where Martin was willing to lay down his life to allow Jaron to escape. The death of his friend shook Jaron the hardest out of all the deaths on this day.

### Ellena Terys

After being wounded by Butterfly's men, Jaron met Ellena, who saved his life by bringing him back to the ship she was staying at. The following week, while Jaron's wound healed, he befriended the young girl. While their relationship hasn't been detailed much, Jaron quickly grew protective of her and expressed great concern when he saw Samuel Harrington and Jaylon Gordus approaching the ship.

### Robb

Jaron's and Robb's short relationship was defined by hostility. The two men did not get along easily, with Jaron being infuriated by Robb's constant teasing and his insults, while Robb was amused by Jaron's honour and values. He particularly disapproved of the knight's blooming relationship with Harpy, for whom Robb harboured feelings. Despite the bitterness he felt, Robb nonetheless went out as a hero, giving Jaron the necessary opening to save Harpy. This selfless act fully redeemed Robb in Jaron's eyes.

### Maron Mullendore

During the events of the masquerade, Jaron met Maron Mullendore for the first time. Displaying his affable and gruffly charming attitude, Maron gained Jaron's sympathies and he was thankful for the seemingly honest relationship-advice the commander gave him. However, his respect for the man was short-lived, as he soon learned the truth about Maron's work as Butterfly. The two became enemies during the fight in Tanner's Alley, where they came close to kill each other.