Doran Martell

Lord Doran Nymeros-Martell  is a man defined by his passions and grievances. The first Martell to be disgraced with the name of lord, he stews in his rage at his seat of Sunspear. He is married to Lady Gwyneth Dayne, who he has sired 4 children with. He also claims his cousin, Belandra Sand, as a paramour, and has sired one child onto her. A devout follower of both the Seven and the Mother Rhoyne, he holds a burning hatred for the followers of R'hllor.

## Appearance and Character

Lord Doran inherited much of his appearance from his father, embodying the salty dornish look in both feature and complexion. His hair is black with streaks of gray from age, going down to his shoulders in long locks that curl at the ends. Accustomed to light silks and leather armor, he often combines both to appear appropriately fashionable while still protecting himself. His wardrobe consists of the red and orange silks of House Martell, proudly wearing what he refers to as colors fit for a Prince. His armor is emblazoned with the sun and spear of his house, ensuring none forget which house the lord represents. He wears various pieces of jewelry, an assortment of bangles and necklaces in an attempt to show that the wealth of House Martell has not diminished despite its reduced status.

Doran holds many grievances, against the Tolands for stealing his birthright, To the followers of R'hllor for making Dorne bleed, and to the Iron Throne for propping up those who wished to see their Prince fall. A hot headed man, he is quick to perceive slights and even quicker to avenge them. His father’s death is a fixture in his plots of vengeance, still angry over their alleged assasination by poison of a Prince of Dorne by House Dondarrion.He is extremely passionate, loving both Dorne itself, and his family in equal regard. His reduced status has meant that he cannot act on any of his wishes, an infuriating prospect that leads him to be quick tempered to even his allies when things don’t go his way. Only years under the thumb of the Tolands and Targaryens have caused him to temper some of his worse impulses, biding his time until it is ripe to claim his rightful overlordship of Dorne.

Constant betrayals and alleged assassinations have led Doran to be an extremely paranoid man, constantly fearing that he will soon fall from the wiles of a poisoner or the hidden blade of an assassin. This has led him to take extreme precautions, organized by his paramour, to ensure his enemies don’t get the same chance they did against his father. He is known for requiring servants to eat a bite of all his food and drink prior to him tasting it himself. Along with these precautions, he requires that there be a compliment of guards protecting him and his heir at all times, regardless of where in Sunspear or the Watergardens they are. These measures are seen by many to be extreme, and causes much friction between him and his heir for how stifling her protection has been since her father learned of her tryst with the Toland boy.

When not consumed by his wish for revenge, Doran can be surprisingly gentle and loving, wishing for the happiness for his family and those his family loves. Houses who decide to marry into House Martell can expect a warm welcome from Doran, considering them as good as family by blood. This does not extend to his daughter and heir however, who he has had a difficult time with due to her perceived rebelliousness. The bastard spawned from her union with a Toland is a particularly troublesome sticking point, which caused so much rancor that the High Justicar removed the child to King’s Landing in fear that Lord Doran would kill the child. While Doran denies to this day he ever threatened a child and his kin, few who were present at his court at the time doubted that the High Justicar’s actions saved the child.

## History

Doran Martell was born to the late Nymor Martell and Teora Martell nee Allyrion in the year 86 AC. His early years would be spent in Sunspear, learning from maesters, septas, and the water priestess Sarella Martell. While none of his teachers would call him a good student, he was dutiful enough, listening even if with disinterest. Only his aunt Sarella would be able to draw him into his lessons, engendering into the young boy a deep love of his rhoynish heritage and religious practices.His father imparted upon him his unique view of the faith of the seven, conflating the Mother Rhoyne with the Mother. A source of tension between his father and his sister’s traditional Rhoynish beliefs. When not residing in Sunspear, Doran spent time in the Water Gardens with his aunt. It was here that he met many fellow noble’s children, playing with them in the pools along with the small folk.

By the age of six, his father started taking him out on his trips up and down the Greenblood, exposing Doran to the orphans that call the river home. It cemented his love of Rhoynish culture, and ensured that his father would always be associated with the slow moving rivers they would sail down for weeks at a time. His mother was named regent during these trips, which oftentimes became visits to various vassal’s keeps. This served a dual purpose, not only engendering his father’s views on rhoynish culture and religion, but introduced the Dornish realm to their future ruling Prince. Visits were made to Hellholt, Godsgrace, Yronwood, and Starfall in the following years. On one of these trips to Starfall, Prince Nymor Martell negotiated the betrothal of Doran to Gwyneth Dayne, a girl he had previously met during their shared time in the Water Gardens.The young Prince began showing a deep interest in the glory of combat, greatly inspired by his ancestors' wars against those north of the passes. Favoring the traditional Dornish spear, he quickly became a terror in the Sunspear training yard.

His mother Teora did not share either her husbands or good sister’s exuberance for traditional Rhoynish belief, she did no less to instill in Doran pride in his Dornsih heritage. It was she who thrilled him with stories of Nymeria and her thousand ships. He was to carry a proud legacy of Dornish strength, and to protect them from all foes who would see them bend. He had reached his twelfth name day before being assigned a knight for squireship, rather late for him to start but hardly unusual. Sir Cletus Martell was given the honor, a distant uncle of Prince Nymor Martell, but little more than a knight if not for his Martell blood. He would split his time between training with Sir Cletus and learning the intricacies of being a ruling Prince from his parents. His childhood up to this point had been idyllic, but assasination and the outbreak of war would change all of this for the future Prince of Dorne.

In the Year 99 AC, Prince Nymor Martell breathed his last, too much grief in Sunspear. Doran inherited his title earlier than expected however, Having only barely reached his fourteenth name day before his father’s unfortunate demise. His mother was named regent in his stead, taking the reigns of Dorne until Doran would be ready in a few years to rule. His mother believed his father’s death to be an assasination, poisoned by agents of House Dondarrion. Attacks across the border increased from both Marcher Lords and Dornish raiders, only serving to further inflame tensions. Tensions finally erupted into war upon Lord Dondarrion himself leading a campaign into Dornish territory. While his mother led the war effort, Prince Doran was present for much of her decisions, giving his advice which his mother took under advisement.

The war, soon to be called the War of Stormlander Aggression by the Dornish, carried on for years, initially going in the Prince’s favor but devolving into a stalemate in the Passes. By his sixteenth nameday, Prince Doran’s regency had ended, and his mother became an advisor. He was knighted soon after by Sir Cletus, Doran having become a truly deadly opponent with the spear. Now personally leading the war effort, he proved to be an effective wartime leader for his age. Regardless of his personal ability, the war would take a decisive turn against his cause upon the betrayal of House Toland and their allies. Attacked from land and sea, Sunspear was sacked and the Prince captured along with his family. Dorne would become a simple vassal of the Iron Throne, and Doran stripped of his Princely title. Ashlynn Toland would be named the new Princess of Dorne, and Doran only allowed to keep Sunspear as a Lord. To add insult to these grievous losses, his brother Andrey would be taken as a hostage, staying as a guest at Ghost Hill.

The years after his House’s fall from power would be hard on the newly made Lord Doran. Sunspear had been left little better than a ruin, and would take years before it could be fully restored. His own lands had become overrun with the agents of the new Princess, attempting to put down the series of peasant revolts that erupted following the war. It was during this time that he would meet two partners that would become his closest confidants. Fulfilling the terms of his betrothal, he married Gwyneth Dayne in Starfall, making her Lady of Sunspear in the year 105 AC. Tyene Martell would be born only a year later and her sister Tyena later the same year. She would prove to be a steady voice in contrast to Doran’s fury. While they became partners in rule, love did not blossom between them, instead finding comforts in the arms of paramours. Lady Gwyneth was discreet, spending periods of time only laying with Doran to ensure a child and drinking moon tea when with her lovers. Lord Doran only laid with one however, falling in love with his cousin Belandra Sand. She would do what Lord Doran could not, meeting with those groups inciting rebellion against Toland rule. No official support was given, but the Shadow City guard did nothing to stop such activity, allowing them to operate freely in his lands.

Lord Doran knew he could not move openly against either House Toland or the Iron Throne, so instead worked to shore up the weaknesses that led to his defeat. Sunspear’s navy had never been a focus of his ancestors, Nymeria famously burning her fleet to ensure her people would stay to conquer Dorne. This deficiency would need to be rectified, and Doran, with the help of Belandra, made efforts to expand their fleet.

Lord Doran’s fortune would change for the better when High Justicar Tarbeck was appointed. While no true friend to House Martell, he proved to be an obstacle to House Toland’s uncontested control of Dorne. The most significant of these actions being the release of Andrey Martell back to Sunspear.  Doran was blessed with two more children in 120 AC, a son by his wife and a daughter by his paramour. Lord Doran had continued his father’s tradition with his children, taking them on trips down the Greenblood while his wife ruled in his stead. While still aggrieved by the injuries and slights against his family, these trips would prove to be calming for Lord Martell, temporarily quelling the worst of his rages for a short time after these voyages. Lord Martell was sure to treat all his children as equals in fact if not in birth. Teora Sand wanted for little, and grew up as a sibling to her true born brother and sisters. While his children would be well taken care of, his own siblings had been largely left to their own devices, but House Martell’s position made it so this continued freedom could no longer be indulged. After a long negotiation, Ysilla Martell would be married to Garibald Tully, another house who also held grievances against the Iron Throne in 121 AC. His wife convinced him to take on his nephew, Daemon Dayne as a squire. The boy would become close to a son for him, not having had any of his children as of yet take interest in martial training.

Lord Martell might have been blessed with a happy family by the Mother Rhoyne, but his lands faced a new threat in the form of the fire god. House Toland had converted to the Red Faith years prior, but only in the decade after his third and fourth children did it raise its ugly head in the Shadow City. Its Red Temple, little more than a shrine for a decade, grew to be a true temple for the small minority of believers. Attacks by devout mobs were ignored by Lord Doran, and violence would regularly erupt against the followers of this strange foreign god. Teora Martell, still influential at court, pushed for Doran to sack the temple and put the priests to the spear. Doran was inclined to take her advice, but his wife and paramour consoled restraint in these religious turmoil. House Martell had little leverage against their new liege lords, and had little history to tell what the other Houses would do if the new princess attempted to protect her fellow faithful. Seething at the fire worshippers presence, Doran still decided to hold his fury, knowing House Martell was in too precarious a position to release it yet.

Lord Doran would have his last child with his wife in 126 AC, both agreeing that a fourth child was more than enough to ensure the succession. While still close friends, they would no longer sleep together, their one reason prior no longer being relevant. He had tried for more children with his paramour, but a series of miscarriages left the couple with no hope for another child. While Lord Martell would see no more children of his own, a grandson would come into the world far sooner than he had expected. In 128 AC, his heir Tyene disappeared when on a visit to Plankeytown. Fearing she was kidnapped by bandits or agents of House Toland, he sent word to neighboring Lords, seeking information on the whereabouts of his missing child. When word reached him of a missing scion of House Toland, it initially allayed his suspicion against them, now suspecting simple banditry. The only concern now being why no ransom letter had been sent to either Houses. A search party would soon reveal why, finding both Tyene Martell and Quentyn Toland near Godsgrace. Even worse, Tyene proved to be several months pregnant with his child, infuriating Doran with the audacity of Quentyn to dishonor his daughter. She was returned to Sunspear under heavy guard, restricted to her room for the rest of her pregnancy. Doran had demanded she drink moon tea, but his daughter refused, claiming to love Quentyn Toland and wanting to keep the child. Teora Martell wished to have guards pour it down her throat anyway, not willing to call a Toland a grandchild, legitimate or not. Doran could not bring himself to force her to drink against her will, and the boy was born near the end of 128AC. Hearing that his child had been born, Quentyn Toland travelled to Sunspear in the hopes of marrying Tyene Martell. This petition was quickly denied by Lord Martell, making it clear he would never allow him to sully his House any further than it has. Apparently angered by his response, the man dared to challenge Lord Doran for his daughter’s hand. The court in attendance had been shocked by the pronouncement, Doran being well known as a skilled warrior even as he reached his 42nd name day. With a laugh, he accepted the challenge, scheduling the duel to take place in the morning. Tyene begged him to relent, allowing her to marry her beloved, but Doran would not be moved. The duel would be a quick affair, ending the duel in seconds and ending Quentyn’s life.

This killing caused an uproar within Dorne, the High Justicar’s pronouncement of the duel being lawful doing little to placate the Princess of Dorne and her House. The affair would not leave House Martell without any consequences however, as the High Justicar feared for the bastard's life if left in the hands of the enraged Lord Martell. The bastard who his daughter named after him was given to the Iron Throne as a ward, a prospect that only further embittered him to his new sovereigns. His relationship with his eldest never improved, and she is still confined to Sunspear to the present day. His second child Tyena on the other hand would leave for Driftmark, having negotiated a betrothal with House Velaryon years prior.

## Recent Events

Heading to King's Landing to attend the king's coronation. His wife accompanies him whilst his heir and paramour rule Sunspear in his place.

## Stats

\*\*Character Name:\*\* Doran, Martell

\*\*Starting Title(s):\*\* Lord

\*\*Age:\*\* 44

\*\*Physical Description:\*\* Doran Martell shares his ancestors tan complexion and brown eyes. His black hair falls down to his shoulders, resting on the silks and leathers he most often wears. Speckles of gray having only recently appeared on the aging lord’s head. Lord Martell has a gaunt, angular face, lean and muscular from years of training. Just barely over 6 feet in height, he has the look of a warrior.

\*\*Starting Location:\*\* King’s Landing

\*\*Attribute:\*\* Strong

\*\*Social Status:\*\* Principle Bannerman, Head of House

\*\*Skill Points:\*\* 20

\*\*Skills:\*\* Weapon Mastery(Polearms),Footwork, Navigation, Naval Warfare

\*\*Mastery:\*\* Admiral

\*\*Username:\*\* /u/Malacanthian

\*\*Discord Username:\*\* Malacanth

\*\*Other Characters:\*\* N/A