Forrest Piper

Moriah Piper (26)

Marla Piper (25)

Forrest Piper is the third-born son of Lord Robin Piper and Cyrenna Piper. Due to the nature of being a third-born son, Forrest wrestled with his identity and role within House Piper for many years, often looking up to a wide variety of visitors that found themselves entertained by his father, Robin. Often bullied for his interest in court matters as opposed to learning to fight or command as both of his elder brothers did happily to appease their father, Forrest ended up finding purpose in his study of economics as well as working in the shadows to further his own goals. Having only recently developed a amiable relationship with his brother, Eldon, Forrest often finds himself predisposed with the position of Steward. A title that he is both proud of, but annoyed by.

### Appearance and Character

Much of Forrest's appearance fits his personality well. Despite a fairly muscular frame, he often found himself filled with anxiety so much so that he shook from an early age. This led to him feeling terrified of entering the sparring ring with his brothers, as being called a craven was an insult worse than death in their family. Rather than incur this type of alienation, Forrest often utilized a sly and cunning wit to fabricate useful reasons to avoid weapons practicing and instead focused his time on getting to know people and making contacts throughout the realm. Although he often feels the black sheep of the family, he still cares deeply for his family and seeks to serve them from the shadows rather than on the bloody field of battle.

In terms of his appearance, Forrest was often the runt as compared to both Harwood and Eldon, but the young steward has recently sought out training in private as to try and build some muscle in order to impress the ladies of the realm.

#### History

Born just before the beginning of the brutal winter of Maegor's Breath, Forrest was born with eyes of deep sapphire and an ever-curious mind. The years that consumed his years as a toddler were mostly kept inside Pinkmaiden castle as the cold of winter descended. Many within the castle would constantly check in on him to ensure that he had not withered away in the night from the shivering winds that swept frost and sleet across the region.

Throughout the young Piper's upbringing, he would often fabricate excuses to avoid sparring practice with his brothers. Whether it was running something to the village elders or greeting a foreign dignitary on their way to the Westerlands through their lordship. Forrest established himself as someone who made friends quickly and often engaged merchants in talks that occasionally resulted in them wanting to meet Lord Robin and requesting to establish stalls in the small towns situated around Pinkmaiden.

Upon turning seventeen years of age, Forrest finally came clean to his father concerning his fear of combat. Forrest and his father argued on and off for a fortnight and the militant Lord Robin even threatened to send his third-born off to the Wall or down to the Citadel. Forrest wouldn't have truly minded either to be honest, but the thought of isolation made him shiver in revulsion. Towards the end of the second week of their bickering back and forth, Forrest's mother fell ill with a strange sickness that their maester could not diagnose. Robin was stressed during the first few days, but when the illness left her bedridden for more than a week, he turned to his entire court in an attempt to find a cure.

It didn't help that the day after, the Rosegold Rebellion began. The Riverlands as a whole was befuddled and Pinkmaiden rushed to secure borders against the Reach and the Westerlands. While his brother, Harwood, began to draft battle plans and marshal Piper men, Forrest was left in the court of their fortified keep, tending to their mother and attempting to look after the people of Donnelwood as well as he could. Late one evening, he entered her chamber to find their maester, Burton, fumbling a vial into his pocket. He watched silently from the corner using the shadows from the candle to his advantage. Just after, he served a spoonful to their mother and whispered, "Come on, Lady Cyrenna, this is that medicine I made for you..." Unconsciously, his mother winced at it and then gave in, slurping it in her sleep and swallowing it. Happy with himself, Maester Burton then took out a small missive and used a nearby quill to write something quickly before gathering his things and leaving the chambers in a hurry.

Upon seeing all of this unfold before him, Forrest immediately suspected something awry. And so, in the wee hours of the morning, Forrest found himself in the cramped chamber of their maester. For the life of him, he simply could not understand why Burton would do anything wrong to them. They'd treated him well for the several years he'd been there, and even offered him opportunities to trips to see family. Not that they were very interested in seeing him anyway, most families were not very concerned with noble cousins. They were more a formality than anything else, and Forrest understood that better than most. Moving silently through the room, he found a half-crumpled missive. Forrest unrolled it to find a recipe for the tonic given to his mother.

> *She is responding as planned to it and the whole castle has been turned into chaos...*
>
>

The note went on to describe Burton's allegiance and a short monologue concerning his love for the family that exiled him and that he'd prove himself. At the end of the missive, he wrote elegantly,

> *I'll stay true to our words, Uncle. We laugh, they cry...*
>
>

It was all that Forrest needed to hear. The next morning, Burton, was found with a dagger in his hand and a gaping wound across his neck. Formal missives had been sent with his signature to Faire Hill as well as the Citadel detailing how his plotting had torn him apart inside and that he felt that the Stranger was his only friend and way to peace. The Citadel, horrified by every aspect of the matter, replaced Burton a few moons later with Maester Togarion, a relatively inexperienced maester from House Pyle. Despite his inexperience, he helped to get Lady Cyrenna back on her feet and enjoyed a cordial relationship with the Pipers who went on to simply call him "Tog."

A moon after Eldon returned, they enjoyed their final feast together before the Battle that would bring more tragedy to their House. The Battle of Tumbler's Fall was fought hard by all of his brothers and his father, and yet only Eldon returned. Although Eldon had almost always been away from Pinkmaiden, Forrest and Eldon found comfort in one another's grief and finally established a bond between them. Eldon recognized the way Forrest used his networking to get things done, and realized that he was an asset rather than an annoyance. Despite no one ever knowing the truth concerning Burton, Eldon called him out one night during a drinking match, and Forrest ended up revealing the truth. Eldon's response was the first time any man in his family had ever said they were proud of him.

In recent years, Forrest has taken his skills and used them to manage Pinkmaiden with the ultimate goal of aiding his family in any way he can. Every few moons, he invites his "friends" to come and visit Pinkmaiden and enjoy the towns around it; all with the intention of expanding his influence throughout the realm even more.

### Meta

Skills: Counterfeit, Infiltration, Clandestiny, and Economics