Rycherd

Rycherd is a traveling merchant and burgeoning skinchanger. He is a survivor of an Other attack and a staunch friend of the Night's Watch.

Mother: [Deceased] Gwin

## Appearance

Rycherd has a lanky build hardened by hunger. He has wavy brown hair, light grey eyes and a fair complexion. He tends to favor warm, practical clothing and walks with a limp. Rycherd is never without his raven, Nightfeather.

## Skills and Weaknesses

Rycherd is a skinchanger, however, he is not a powerful one. He is generally only able to slip into the skin of Nightfeather while sleeping. Rycherd is also literate, a rare skill among the smallfolk, which helped to propel him into his current career path. Rycherd is extraordinarily prideful and stubborn, a trait he finds to be useful is his line of work. Many disagree. He walks with a limp and generally favors his left arm; these wounds are constant reminders of his encounter with the Others, and contribute to his restless nights.

## Early Life and Early Career

Rycherd was born to a smallfolk family towards the end of summer. He and his twin Rhea were inseparable for the first couple years of their life. The family were by no means well off, but they could provide for themselves most of the time. Their mother, Gwin, was literate and taught the two how to read and write. As winter began to enter Rycherd's life, change came to his home. Rhea died one night. No one ever told him how, but Rycherd distinctly recalls her screams. As winter passed, so did Gwin taking Normund's ears with her. Survivor's guilt began to set in, and Rycherd's relationship with his father became strained. He decided to make use of the talents his mother imparted to him and became a merchant. This served him Rycherd quite well. He was given a raven, Nightfeather, on the way. Until he arrived at Eastwatch, things were looking up for Rycherd. At Eastwatch, Rycherd's life would be changed yet again. While out searching for a caravan, he was attacked by what remained of them and their inhuman masters. The Others. Rycherd still doesn't know how he made it back to town. He doesn't remember much for about a week after it. Only a few memories remain and they all have a common theme. They appeared to be dreams from Nightwing's eyes. Rycherd hasn't done much since that day about a month ago. He was been running low on silver and his raven dreams have been occurring with greater frequency.

## Recent History

After a small excursion to look for a place to set up a small house, Rycherd returned to Eastwatch. On the way back, he experienced a raven dream where he saw Lord Howd Magnar and his Skagosi attack the castle. Rycherd dismissed the dream, but couldn't ignore his growing sense of foreboding. He arrived at Eastwatch to find that his raven dream was true and the castle had been sacked. Rycherd took stock of the surroundings and determined that the attackers had been wildlings. He began the journey to Castle Black to warn the Lord Commander of the danger.

On the way to Castle Black, Rycherd came upon Jojen Mormont, who was also headed to Castle Black. Rycherd told Jojen of the massacer at Eastwatch, and Jojen offered to help Rycherd to Castle Black. Before they could leave, they were set upon by two of Howd's scouts. Rycherd managed to subdue one whilst Jojen slew the other. During the fight, Jojen caught sight of a Skagosi neckalce on one of the scouts. Jojen and Rycherd interrogated the scout for the location of Howd's camp. Afterwards, it was decided that Jojen would go to the camp to rescue Sigorn Umber, while Rycherd would stay behind with the horse and Nightfeather. As Jojen left, Rycherd was left alone to reflect on his role in the torture.