Qhorin Volmark

Last Son of the Black Line

Qhorin Volmark is the Lord of Volmark, sole legitimate member of his house, and last remaining claimant to the black line of House Hoare. Rather than dedicating himself to reaving like so many of his kin, he instead devotes himself to the shadowy arts of intrigue, boasting a deep-spanning web of informants and agents said to span across all Seven Kingdoms.

## Appearance and Character

The Lord of Volmark is a peculiar man. Small-shouldered and slender, he stands gangly tall above most; traipsing from place to place with a deliberate ire as if he were an oddly-framed skeleton puppeteered by some invisible host. His features are strong and high, yet thin and held tightly to the bone. What little emotion he expresses beyond contempt is minimally-shown upon his face. His pale skin is unblemished with age or complexion - in fact, it is excessively clean, with the only feature cutting away from such peculiar normality being a single scar framing the mid of his left eye. It has oft been said that his amber eyes have been said to speak a thousand hidden whispers, and for good reason, for perhaps they do.

While he is not a man of many words, the Lord of Volmark is able to command an immutable level of respect from his peers all the same. Where many Ironborn would demand the respect of their fleets through sheer willpower, strength, and honeyed words, Qhorin instead imposes his strength through the sheer wealth of knowledge he exudes. With an ear and mouth in any court with secrets to bear, the Lord of Volmark's presence is constantly known.

It is said that Lord Qhorin’s web extends to courts impossibly far, and that he is somehow able to accrue hidden knowledge whispered within even the most tightly-sealed rooms. With such whispers and improbabilities surrounding him, perhaps the rumours of his sorcerous proclivities are merely clues to a far more sinister truth?

## Background

### Early Life (74 AC - 85 AC)

Qhorin was born the first and only child of Lord Harlan Volmark in 74 AC. Killing his mother at birth and suffering from a weak and sickly disposition, Harlan passed the boy over, instead electing to father a more worthy heir. This aspiration of his soon died however, with each child reared thereafter dying in some unfortunate mishap before long. Many would come to cite such tragedy as the terrible curse of Black Harren, come again to wrap his wretched hands around the throats of his surviving kin. Whatever the reason, Harlan fathered no more children beyond the first.

Even as a boy, Qhorin was by no means regular. Haunted by the circumstances of his birth and his family's supposed curse, the boy would learn from a young age to estrange himself from the rest of the world. He would spur the company of others, worried that they too would earn the ire of Black Harren. Instead, Qhorin found more favourable company in the arms of the countless animals littered about his domicile. These animals, both domestic and otherwise, were frequent companions of his, and throughout his adolescence it would become a rare sight indeed to see the young lordling without an animal familiar following closely behind. Such was his bond with his animals that his caretakers would often find the boy in an odd stupor when he believed himself alone, his lips curled into a deadly silence and his golden eyes glazed and distant. Some would accuse him of witchery, though any and all accusations would be quickly waved away by his Lord Father.

As Qhorin grew, it became clear to his father that he would never excel in the martial arts of their culture. Rather than an axe or sword as his favoured armament, the boy instead found an even sharper weapon: his wit. With a penchant for skulking and of an inquisitive mind, Qhorin quickly came to learn that he was able to avoid whatever responsibilities set out for him if he simply pushed upon the right buttons. Luckily for him, he was the heir to his lordship. Finding said buttons was an all too easy task. While this worked for a time, his lack of training would eventually come to haunt him. After a particularly disgraceful demonstration of his apparent growth in swordplay, Harlan would come to discover Qhorin's duplicity. Resigning himself to the idea that his son would never reach the martial efficacy he wanted, he instead cast his embarrassment of an heir away to a court that would more keenly fit his natural aptitudes: Old Wyk.

### Warding (85 AC - 89 AC)

In the Court of the Seadragon Throne, Qhorin truly prospered for the first time. Warding beneath the Iron Queen Lyanna Greyjoy, the adolescent Lord of Volmark finally learnt how to be a lord in truth. Not only that, but it is there he also learnt the value in corralling the worse tendencies of his people. At the core of it, he realized that they were a violent force, too entrenched in their cultural barbarism to rouse to simple diplomacy without the shedding of blood. No matter the size of their fleets it would never truly suffice. Ruling through pure military might as many of their previous monarchs had was proven time and time again to be unsustainable. In order for his people to truly flourish, he thought, in order for them to *truly* achieve stability, they would need to be leashed in other ways. This lesson, pragmatic as it was, would come to define him and his actions years later.

### Lordship of Volmark (89 AC- Present)

After the untimely death of his father and subsequent termination of his warding, Qhorin quickly ascended to inherit his ancestral seat. With many on his regency-council favouring his bastard cousin over him, the fresh-faced Lord Volmark initially struggled to assume control. For months this continued, until eventually, all at once, these troubles stopped. Loyalty and stability reigned supreme within the Isle of Volmark once more, though for whatever reasons remains unseen to this very day.

## Family

* ~~Iron King Qhorin Volmark I~~
	+ ~~Iron King Harwyn Volmark I~~
		- ~~Harlan Volmark (d. 89 AC)~~
			* **Qhorin Volmark (b. 74 AC)**
		- ~~Wulfgar Volmark (d. 76 AC)~~
			* Wulfgar Pyke (b. 77AC)

## Household Members/NPC's

* Wulgar Pyke, bastard cousin of Qhorin Volmark.

## Meta

Skills: Espionage(INT) Infiltration(INT) Counter-Intelligence(STA) Skinchanging(MAG) Clandestinity(STE)

Aptitude: Cloak and Dagger(INT)