Serwyn Martell

Serwyn Martell is a young man whose vision of the world and what it provides is warped by perceptions of the present and tales of the past. While he was not born during the time his father was disgraced and had to bend the knee, he feels nothing but a cold bitterness to those who would mock him or his family. He would quite happily watch those who put House Martell in the position it is burn for the sake of revenge and yet his passion for the beautiful and his ambitions of freedom perhaps mediate what is a temperament which could flare up like the Dornish sun. All his life, he has been brought up with the mentality of wanting to reclaim what is theirs and gaining control over chaos.

## Appearance and Character

Unlike that of his father and grandfather, Serwyn did not inherit the appearance of his father entirely. While he shares similar dark brown eyes and the tanned skin tone of the saltish Dornishmen, his hair is hued a rich dark brown that is wild and wavy. Preferring it keep it short in contrast to his father for practical reasons, Serwyn's face is smooth with plump cheeks and full lips. The young Martell has built up quite the reputation over the years for being a very attractive young man in terms of marriage material. His choice of clothing often mimics that of his father, wearing silken, robe like, tunics made of red, orange and yellow silks. No matter whether it be on his clothing or armour should he be in a situation which requires him to be protected, he is proud to wear the emblem of House Martell. Regardless of what other people may think of him or his family, he sees House Martell as the true embodiment of what Dorne represents. However, unlike his father, he tends to be a bit more modest in terms of accessories, often going for simple yet effective choices such as a leather belt or leather bracelets.

Serwyn has a tension and precision about how he acts that provides him with the keen eye and deft hand he requires for not only his hobbies but for other ventures that he aspires to carry out. While he is not expectant of others to meet a heavy standard, he often requires of himself to meet goals and will stop at nothing to make sure perfection is assured. This often results in him pushing those around him away if he is in an intense focus, while this is not out of malicious intent, he is known to snap out in anger at those who would disturb him or disrupt his plans. Serwyn holds a loathing for those who have disrespected his father, perhaps out of the strong and brash influence his father has, he admires the strength of his father and perhaps takes after him more out of respect and awe than out of pure expectation. While he holds disdain towards the Iron Throne for the choice they made in regards to putting House Toland in a seat of power, his true unadulterated hatred is focused only on the life of Ashlynn Toland. A woman who he has in his own mind branded a parasite in the desert and worthy of nothing more than being reduced to blood and ash. If he were not an intelligent and tactful young man, there is no doubt that his disgust for Ashlynn Toland would have gotten the better of him at one point or another. Still, even to this day he cannot sometimes put up a mask of indifference at the mention of her name.

Still, he is loyal and caring to those whom he is close with (such as his family members) and a passionate and tender lover, for him - he always tried to focus on the bigger picture and the majority as much as he can. As a pansexual and liberal man, Serwyn doesn’t distinguish there being any major difference between male and male or male and female sex. To him the whole act of intimacy remains the same, it can either be deep, passionate and meaningful or it can be cold and disappointing. So whenever the urge for intimate relations comes over him, he will use his natural casanova like charm and woo whoever he cares to spend the night with. In truth, while not trained in the art of speech or persuasion, his sheer determination and bold passion has helped cultivate a true talent out of what started as little more than satiating a sexual hunger. However, his desire to be able to provide to the people and please those around him often leaves him mentally and physically exhausted as he occasionally fails to dedicate time to properly take care of himself. This results in erratic sleeping patterns, rushing the consumption of food and using carnal pleasure as a substitute for trying to keep himself appeased.

Serwyn is a capable fighter, however he tries his best to consider both empathy and logic in his actions and finds it best to consider the options in a situation before choosing slaughter as his solution. His mantra has always been to only attack if it is justified and if he ever can leave a person unconscious instead of dead he’d always take that option first with the hope of giving the person one last chance to change their ways and not commit themselves to the chopping block. This mentality however is cut short for those whom he believes are past the point of mercy such as Ashlynn Toland.

## History

### The Boy of Sunspear

Born in 112 AC to Lord Doran Martell and Lady Gwyneth Martell, Serwyn would be the first son that the couple would conceive after their two daughters whom they had six and seven years prior. His early years within Sunspear and in turn the Water Gardens were marked in tandem with the restoration of a city which was pulling itself out of the ground after the War of the Setting Sun . A lot of his early youth was spent with an emphasis on freedom and being active, he was allowed to run around and engage in physical activities to his heart's content, always burning off energy with his antics as he raced around the gardens often challenging the different servants to races (not that they would ever win as they always tried to give the young boy an advantage). Physical activity was an important aspect of Serwyn's curriculum growing up as his father Doran ,in his pragmatism and desire for revenge, seeked to prepare and train his son to be a valuable part of any war efforts in the future. While his plan for his son to become a field commander and lead the military would not come to fruition in time, Serwyn's proficiency with the Dornish polearm and dagger grew in strength under the strict tutorlege of his father who would make the young boy wake up early on a regular basis for training and sparring sessions to keep him on top form.

Furthermore, in his education, Serwyn took to the application of engineering and innovation like a duck to water. Whilst his father would be known for his knowledge of naval engineering, Serwyn took inspiration from the various ballistae and war machines and took to his room often to draw drafts for potential ideas of new innovative mechanisms to help boosten the Dornish army as he entered his pre-teens. It was in fact his studies of engineering and the choice to draw and sketch these blueprints which provided the first of many stepping stones in his passion for art, specifically painting. The absolute first catalyst that would contribute to the progression of much greater things was a rough drawing he made in 120 AC as a present for his two parents. The picture would be a very rough and rushed drawing of his two parents together, in his own words it was his 'new baby welcoming present'. From then on, for the benefit of most people, the boy managed to rapidly improve his skills through long summer afternoons or nights when he could not sleep and the glow of the moon painted a beautiful image of the Water Gardens at night. Quite often it was when he was drawing and painting where he could find himself most at ease as it provided him with distractions to move him away from the agitation and anger that would slowly become a natural part of his adolescent years.

### Early Adolescence

The following year, 121 AC, would mark the beginning of an interesting, albeit perhaps one sided admiration and desire for a friendship which would never come to be. Lord Doran Martell took in his nephew, as a squire, known as Daemon Dayne, a talented combatant who seemed to revel in the training of his father and had all the skills of a martial adept even at a modest age. Having someone who his father felt so much pride in was something that Serwyn struggled to understand at first. A mixture of jealousy from having less attention and focus from his own father, awe at just how amazing Daemon was to watch and relief that he would perhaps not have to fulfil the role that his father had seemingly been preparing him for. Daemon was a figure who Serwyn would wish he could interact with more than just an acquaintance, in the mind of the younger boy it was what needed to be done. It would be weird to try and force a friendship in front of his father and even if his father saw more of an ideal person to train in Daemon it did not stop that fact that Daemon was not a Martell and he was. Daemon was just his cousin.

Conscious of the fact that less attention would be focused on him, Serwyn took his pre-teen years to focus his attention even further on a combination of his art and also his ability to speak and interpret the motives and means of people around him. Considering his family's legacy, he had become aware of the power of words as well as actions and for him perhaps what was needed to balance his father out was not a pure capacity for war but a balance of combat ability as well as convincing conversational skills. He would often listen into talks and meetings of people within Sunspear (sneaking in due to being too young to actually attend), learning about how people acted and applying the failures and successes to his own diary where he constructed test material to use to practice. Starting off simply, he would try to charm or persuade members of the kitchen staff to sneak him a larger portion of dessert for mealtimes, however this got bigger and bigger as he used his words to try and persuade and explain to a handmaiden that she needed to not be so modest in her attire, encouraging small changes in the appearance of the handmaidens throughout the Water Gardens whose silk and chiffon dresses got shorter than they were before. Taking any action against the Iron Throne and against House Toland especially would not be something that could be done with brute force and it was from this that even until his transition to adulthood he would spend the odd evening daydreaming about plots that could destroy House Toland for good. Merely daydreams but vivid and bloody nonetheless. The mind of an artist was one which in the hands of Serwyn was beautiful yet monstrous, he once chose to paint a picture of Ashlynn Toland's head on a pike only to have it discovered and torn to shreds by his mother who berated him for engaging in dangerous activities, explaining how it would only take the one picture and one person seeing it for him to end up dragging their family through the dirt again. At this news, Doran engaged in a private conversation with Serwyn, inviting his son for a ride down the Greenblood they shared the first of a genuine father and son bonding session in a long time, only after the final escalation of the events of the Red Temple conflict in between the years of 121 AC and 125 AC did this manage to happen. In this moment, Serwyn promised to his father that should the time ever come and that if the opportunity ever arose than he would be allowed to kill Ashlynn Toland. Not wanting to promise this directly they agreed that when the time came, Serwyn would stand along his father not just as a son but as an officer and a manipulator of the system. Revenge would not go unanswered as long as he lived and their shared desire to enact justice in the future brought the distancing father and son closer together like before the adoption of Daemon Dayne.

### Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

For the most part, the years between 126 and 128 AC remained fairly stable and similar for the young Martell, still conscious of the promise that he had made to his father, he took this period as the transitory phase he needed to find moderation in his time keeping and ways to rationalise and compose his emotions. His love for art was still rife and free time would often be spent painting the different landscapes of Sunspear and the Water Gardens as well as members of his family. In reality, he had never loved being an individual who locked himself away however these were traits that he needn't care to change. The years of acting, studying and fine tuning his craft were all in preparation for a distant future where he would need to be on top form should House Martell ever retain its former glory again.

His trust and faith in his sister however was broken pretty much entirely due to the events of 128 AC:  In 128 AC, Tyene Martell disappeared when on a visit to Plankeytown. Fearing she was kidnapped by bandits or agents of House Toland who would cause harm to the girl, his father Doran sent word to the neighbouring Lords in an effort to try and locate the whereabouts of Tyene. When word reached him of a missing scion of House Toland, it initially allayed his suspicion against them, now suspecting simple banditry rather than a case of foul play. 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 and the two had been engaging in an intimate relationship all in secret. Hearing the news was something which his parents tried to avoid aware of Serwyn's opinions of House Toland however it would be in vain through the gossiping of some kitchen staff about Tyene's confinement to Sunspear. Serwyn took out a lot of his anger on his sister going far as to claim: "You are no Martell, you are not my sister. The moment you let that parasite touch you you abandoned me, you abandoned your family." No words could change the opinion or mediate the situation, for Serwyn as the following two years went by and he turned eighteen years old it could only fester further and further being within the presence of a traitor and a fool. However, with the discovery of his sexuality, starting after his 18th name day in 130 AC, his freetime would also be spent experimenting with the men and women of the brothels, letting himself take and be taken and trying to use the moment of vulnerability to help himself train his thoughts to be strong. By no means did it all mean anything to him on a personal level, in fact most of it didn't, however it was a means to an end. With this though, the already handsome man quickly learnt the means to woo and placiate another, using words and gentle gestures to persuade and entice, to the eyes of the most superstitious you could have called him a Dornish incubus. More and more, he would go out to the brothels and release his anger through pleasure or spend hours brooding and considering his next course of action. Upon news of the death of King Viserys and the coronation of the new King Baelor, his thoughts have become muddled and confused, not sure whether to trust this new king with being a better and fairer ruler than his predecessor or whether he would just be the same cog in an ever spinning wheel of destruction. Either way, for the young Martell, his patience is wearing thinner as the time goes and his desire to take action grows with each passing day.

## Meta

Attribute: Gregarious

Skills: Romance (Charisma), Silver Tongue (Charisma), Weapon Proficiency in Polearms and Daggers (Combat) and Military Engineering (Education)

Mastery: Orator (Charisma)

Stats:

Combat: 64 Threshold / 4HP / 9% Critical Hit Chance