Isolt Rivers

## Bastard of Blackwood

### Relatives

Elyana Blackwood (Surrogate), Robert Blackwood, Meredyth Blackwood, Rosamund Blackwood, Elaena Blackwood

## Appearance

Isolt is tall and thin with hair like a burning flame, the trait that marks her most as her common mother's daughter. Her skin is peppered with freckles, her face in particular has a great many freckles. Her eyelashes are long over brown eyes with the slightest flecks of green around her pupils that is easily missed unless looking close. Her lips are plump under a nose as straight as an arrow. Isolt has long fingers, calloused from pulling on the strings of her mandolin. The bard is pretty, but no great beauty.

## History

Isolt was born in 361 to a common woman named Pia. Pia fancied the older man a knight in shining armor who would whisk her away from her mundane life as the daughter of a tanner. Pia, who since she had been small, had always dreamed of a life away from her family's modest business and thus was perhaps a bit to eager with her attentions to Waltyr. She loved him although he belonged to another and the love she bore him gave her a daughter who could never sit her place in his household. Pia named her daughter for her own grandmother whom she remembered to be a red and bright as the sun.

Isolt did grow brightly, for she always seemed a happy and giggling child that rarely ever cried or fussed. Isolt was the apple of her mother's eye and she could not stand the idea of her father never knowing her. Pia took Isolt to Waltyr in secret to make it known that he had a child; Waltyr being the respectable man he was did not deny his child but decided to leave her in her mother's care. He did, however, choose to provide a small financial support to Pia to keep Isolt fed and clothed, but their relationship did not grow deeper at that time. By the time Isolt was 4 years old her grandfather passed away leaving Pia to take over the family business. Pia often worked beside her daughter, Isolt kept to a small pen with a various assortment of musical toys to keep her busy. Even as a small child Isolt showed that she would have a very convincing voice, her ability to convince the adults of anything including her stories was uncanny. Her mother often compared her voice to bird song or the babbling of the river and though wasn't able to provide the best learning to her daughter Isolt appeared to have a way with what words she did have.

Isolt grew to love songs and stories and even as a small child she would sit in her mother's shop and sing stories to her mother's customers. Things changed though when later into Isolt's 7th year Pia grew ill. The shop was shuttered and the food in their small household dwindled. Pia held on for as long as she could, but eventually the fever took her. Isolt soon grew ill as well, a villager who know Pia and Isolt's heritage had taken her into his home to be looked after by his wife while he went to the Blackwoods' to bring Waltyr the news. The next day when the villager returned it was with the lord Blackwood who had come to claim his bastard. Isolt was brought to Raventree Hall and treated of her illness.

She never grew as ill as her mother had and instead made a full recovery. Isolt celebrated her 8th name day in a household she had never been in before. She had known her father was noble, but here and now she had a chance to know him. Isolt was as happy as she could be for the loss of her mother was still a fresh wound and not everyone in the house was so eager to have her around. Isolt grew to know what it meant to be a bastard, for her new mother did not care for her nor did her new younger brother. However her new sisters did not seem to mind her presence so much.

In the Blackwood household Isolt learned to play the lute and with years of practice she grew to become quite the artisan. Her youngest half-sister Elaena was quite fond of the stories she would sing for her. With Elaena, Isolt actually felt she belonged. As a child who never quite belonged in Raventree Hall, Isolt learned to be very sneaky and took a liking to see what sort of contraband she could smuggle in and out of her household. She even took time to train with the spy master of the keep to learn to write in code. It wasn't long until Isolt became quite the scribe. She used her skills to pen her own original songs.

Things seemed to be looking up for the bastard of Blackwood. She was a River who could learn many things and certainly had more advantages than she did living with her mother. But not all was perfect in her life, Isolt quickly learned that she would never bear children when her blood never came. Years went by without it and it was confirmed in her 18th year by the maester that she would never produce children on her own. There would be no family or romance to her name, there would be no offshoot proposals to lesser lords. No, Isolt would be a River forever. Isolt was devastated for a time, but eventually grew past this. If she could not bear children then she would do something with her name. She would travel and use her gift.

Isolt began to travel as a bard, first journey the lands near her home to spread her name before deciding to make her way to Kingslanding. There would be man lords and ladies there whom she could impress with her skill. She would no doubt find someone to hire her at court and if not, then they would know her name and would speak it to others so that they may hire her. The life of a bard was to be an exciting one, she already had the skills, now all that was left was to use them.

## Timeline

361 -- Isolt is born

365 -- Isolt's grandfather passes and her mother takes the business

368 -- Pia passes away and Isolt grows ill. Isolt is take into the Blackwood household

369 -- Isolt begins lessons on the lute

372 -- Isolt learn to smuggle things in and out of the keep, she also begins to learn code at this time

379 -- Isolt discovers her infertility

380 -- Isolt Travels to King's Landing

## Family

Waltyr Blackwood nee. Mooton-- father (40)

Pia- mother (342-368)

Elyana Blackwood -- lady of Blackwood, surrogate mom(36)

Robert Blackwood Half-brother (18)

Meredyth Blackwood eldest half-sister (17)

Rosamund BlackwoodMeredyth’s twin sister (17)

Elaena Blackwood her youngest half-sister (13)