Stannis Baratheon

Lord **Stannis Baratheon** is the Grand Admiral of The Royal Fleet, the younger brother of Lord Robert Baratheon, and older brother of Ser Renly Baratheon.

He married Selyse, of House Florent of Brightwater Keep. They have a loveless marriage; Stannis regards her as sickly and resents her failure to bear him a son (although the two have a daughter in Shireen Baratheon).

Stannis's squires are Devan Seaworth and Bryen Farring,

## **Appearance and Character:**

Stannis is a large man - tall, broad-shouldered and sinewy. Stannis has dark blue eyes and a heavy brow. His head has only a fringe of black hair "like the shadow of a crown", and he has a close-cropped beard across his large jaw. His face has a tightness to it like cured leather, and he has hollow cheeks, and thin, pale lips.

Stannis is a serious, stubborn, rarely-forgiving, hard man with a strong sense of duty and justice. He grinds his teeth regularly. Stannis is an accomplished commander, sailor, and warrior, with no thirst for battle, commanding from the rear. He has never had the affection of nobles or smallfolk alike.

Stannis is not a man for easy courtesies, and has always been uncomfortable around women, even his own wife, Lady Selyse of House Florent. During the years he served as the Grand Admiral of The Royal Fleet in King's Landing, he left his wife in Storm's End. He wrote to her, but only occasionally. His visits were even fewer, and he did his duty in the marriage bed only once or twice a year, and took no joy in it. Though he once hoped for sons, he would only have one daughter, Shireen.

Stannis has a good side and will show that if he is impressed with someone, and he is not above making personal friends. He was fond of his daughter, Shireen, defending her from his wife, Selyse. Selyse resented their daughter since birth on account of her gender and because of her Greyscale.

Influenced by Melisandre,

Stannis adopts a new sigil which depicts the Baratheon stag enclosed within a red heart surrounded by orange flame. Unlike many of his noble peers, Stannis dresses plainly. He sometimes wears a grey wool tunic, a dark red mantle, and a plain black leather belt from which hang his sword and dagger. On campaign he wears a studded leather jerkin over quilted doublet, worn boots, breeches of brown rough spun, and a belt studded with garnets and yellow topaz. Other armor includes wool and boiled leather or grey plate inlaid with a flaming heart. Ever since encountering Lady Melisandre and welcoming her into his inner council, he has accepted her religion in The Lord of Light completely and also her beliefs that he is the Prince That Was Promised, a messiah figure within the faith of R'hllor.

Stannis has an unbreakable code of honor and sense of duty and justice which governs his actions. During the Siege of Storm's End, Stannis held out against the crown's army despite the hunger, hopelessness and overwhelming numbers they faced. When Davos finally managed to smuggle food into the castle, Stannis made sure his men were fed first before feeding himself. He then rewarded (and punished) Davos fairly, which impressed the smuggler and earned his admiration

## **History:**

Stannis is the second son of Lady Cassana Estermont and Lord Steffon Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End and head of House Baratheon. He had an older brother, Robert, and a younger brother, Renly.

As a lad, Stannis found an injured goshawk, and nursed it back to health. He named the bird Proudwing, but his brother Robert called it Weakwing, as it would never fly higher than the treetops, and never soared. (Robert himself owned a gyrfalcon named Thunderclap, who never missed a strike). Eventually, Stannis's great-uncle, Harbert, convinced him to abandon the bird, stating that Stannis was making a fool of himself with it.

Growing up, Stannis always stood in the shadow of his older brother. Whatever Stannis did, Robert had done first and better. These feelings remained until adulthood. Even in his youth, Stannis had been an introverted child, who was mature beyond his years, solemn and joyless.

Stannis's parents were sent on a mission by King Aerys II to Volantis to find a bride for Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Stannis's cousin and the crown prince, but they were unsuccessful. Stannis and Robert were both present at Storm's End when Steffon and Cassana were expected to return from their voyage, looking on from the parapets of the castle. When the *Windproud* came in sight of Storm's End, the two brothers witnessed how the ship was smashed against the rocks in Shipbreaker Bay and swallowed by the sea, with Steffon and Cassana drowning. According to Stannis, he lost his faith in the Seven that day.

When King Aerys II Targaryen demanded the heads of Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark after the executions of Rickard and Brandon Stark, Lord Jon Arryn instead raised his banners in revolt, and both Eddard and Robert returned home to call their own banners. The resulting decision that Stannis faced whether to be loyal to his older brother and liege, Robert, or to his king, Aerys was a difficult one.

Stannis was at Storm's End when Robert returned from the battles at Summerhall with his prisoners, whom he kept at Storm's End, and eventually befriended. Stannis warned his brother that the men he had befriended were men who had wanted to deliver him to Aerys to be burned; while Stannis would have thrown them in a dungeon, Robert made them his allies.

Stannis remained behind at Storm's End when Robert marched again. From forces from The Reach and ones from The Stormlands loyal to House Targaryen, besieged the Baratheon castle. Stannis successfully held against the siege of Storm's End by Lords Mace Tyrell and Paxter Redwyne, which lasted a major part of the war. His garrison held under desperate conditions, only avoiding starvation by the timely intervention of a notorious smuggler, Davos. His cargo of onions and salt fish allowed them to hold the fortress.

After the siege was lifted, Stannis knighted Davos and, taking him into his service, allowed the new landed knight to choose the name Seaworth for his new house. True to Stannis's sense of justice, he also punished Davos for his crimes as a smuggler by removing the first joint from each finger of Davos's left hand, as payment for his past crimes. Davos accepted the punishment on the condition that Stannis carry out the sentence himself, which Stannis did, using a cleaver for a cleaner cut.

Stannis was appointed the Grand Admiral of The Royal Fleet by the newly crowned King Rhaegar I Targaryen after his coronation. A few years later, he wed Lady Selyse of House Florent. During the wedding, King Robert deflowered Delena Florent, a cousin of Selyse, on the wedding bed. This coupling led to the birth of Edric Storm, the only officially acknowledged bastard of the king. Stannis insisted that the boy was a slight upon the honour of his wife's house and promptly shipped him off to his brother Renly at Storm's End, to the annoyance of Robert's wife, Cersei Lannister.

Ever since encountering Lady Melisandre and welcoming her into his inner council, he has accepted her religion in The Lord of Light completely and also her beliefs that he is the Prince That Was Promised, a messiah figure within the faith of R'hllor. His household have largely followed his conversion. He has adopted the flaming red heart of the Lord of Light with the stag of Baratheon in the middle as his sigil.

Stannis is not fond of his wife. They seldom sleep together and despite their hopes they have no sons, only a daughter, Shireen. When Shireen was an infant, she suffered from greyscale. The disease almost killed her, and left her disfigured, but Stannis paid for healer from all over Essos and Westeros to come and heal her, so she was only left with a scar.