Desmond Darry

Jonquil Darry (5)

Bethany Darry (26)

Marya Darry (25)

Desmond Darry is the heir to Castle Darry and House Darry's fortunes, a strong and capable knight innocent of the ways of rule despite many years of study in the matter, though he is a capable general and wields House Darry's Valyrian sword, *Harvest*. He is married to Rosalind Tully with three young children; Marq, Falena and Jonquil.

## Appearance and Character

Desmond Darry is tall, with brown hair cropped short and the brown eyes of his mother. Despite his house being known for rather modest-sized individuals Desmond is an absolute unit, built like an oxen from days spent in the training grounds. His appearance takes much after his father Clement; while he has Amerei's brown hair his is far darker, and his eyes are the hazel of his father instead of his mother's shining brown.

Desmond is carefree and boisterous; always quick with a joke and the life of the party. Despite his exterior it hides an insecurity; despite his parents most ardent efforts he has never wanted to rule, and his mother's death draws closer with every day.

## Young Life

Desmond Darry was born amidst almost zero fanfare to Amerei Darry and Clement Hayford in the waning months of 409 AC. Within a week his grandfather Harry would expire of his injuries from a bandit's blade, leaving Castle Darry in the hands of a twenty-two year old woman with a painful shyness, a twenty-one year old knight who had never had more than rudimentary training in the matters of state... and the newborn Desmond as heir to it all.

From a young age Desmond's life was set out before him, as many young heirs are. From the moment he could read he was pushed into lessons with his sister Rowena, tutors (or as they grew older, their mother) schooling them in all the knowledge a lord was expected to learn. While his sister soaked up these lessons like a sponge Desmond was always a shade slower, and never truly *wanted* to learn such things.

His true joy came from the hours spent in the training yard with his father. Clement Hayford had been trained as a knight and even if adjusted to domestic life, relished the chance to teach his children to be true knights, both in combat prowess and knightly valour. Desmond would ever excel at the sword, a quick and enthusiastic learner.

When he was in his teens he would be sent away from home for the first time; a squiring at the twins under Lady Elana's husband, Ser Lancelyn Erenford; a man of nobility mainly through his wife but not untalented in the art of swordplay. He would learn quickly; Desmond was tall and strong, and showed the etiquette expected of a knight to be. He would be knighted a week before his eighteenth birthday by Ser Lancelyn as a measure of expediency, for he was about to be wed.

## Married Life

In a lavish ceremony at Riverrun Ser Desmond Darry would be wed to Lady Rosalind Tully, the eldest daughter of Lord Damion and Lady Rhialta. It was the greatest prize their house had snagged since their downfall in the Usurper's Rebellion, a marriage to a Lord Paramount; and the oldest daughter at that. The couple's feelings on the matter were not considered; it had been decided when Rosalind was ten and Desmond but eight, and anything but a luxurious and formal ceremony for the young adults was not happening. The vows were said, Rosalind's blue and red cloak was changed for a brown and black, the bedding was completed and all throughout the couple never truly bonded.

Fortune would favour him however, as at the age of twenty-one he would finally be given the chance to rule, and more importantly a chance at independence. Lady Amerei was always a lady who worked to excess, and finally years of little sleep, little food and even less true happiness took their toll as her mind collapsed, leaving her bed-bound for months. In that time Desmond would finally be given the chance to forge his own destiny... with limits, of course. Rowena was always the more capable sibling, and being their mother's caretaker represented her iron-clad will.

Still he was able to put his vision of what Darry should be into place on at least a limited level, and even after his mother's full recovery he would still be given much more influence than previously. Within a couple of years Desmond would have his first child; a red-haired boy named Marq born to much acclaim. Two more children followed two and four years later; a brown haired child with brown eyes named Falena and a young girl with curly auburn hair and electric blue eyes named Jonquil.

## The Bleeding

Before the Bleeding, there would be one last moment of happiness before the war. In 429 AC Symond Darry wed Vaella Velaryon in a lavish ceremony, far beyond even the one Desmond and Rosalind enjoyed thanks to Vaella and Symond's successful investments in the shipping trade. She might have been plump and forthright but she was also clever, pretty after a fashion and the first Valyrian bride House Darry had ever achieved. Even when they had had a seat on the Small Council, they had never been given such a highborn marriage. Considering both partner's relatively inauspicious youth they had been incredibly successful, Symond becoming castellan of Driftmark, he and his wife managing to avoid the Bleeding completely and instead having four healthy children.

In terms of blood, the Bleeding would be minor. Darry was close enough to the Crownlands that a rebellion so close would be foolhardy and while the loss of trade would translate to reduced revenue, Amerei had ruled for over quarter of a century, and knew well how to deal with such things. None would starve and barely half a hundred would die in the few battles important enough for Lord Tully to request their assistance. This was not to say that Desmond did not fight; he would lead the Darry detachment in all the battles of the Uprising, showing courage and bravery. Prior to the conflict he would be given *Harvest* in a lavish ceremony, the leather grip replaced with one to fit his own hand in a dark grey shade.

While the southern Riverlands would remain healthy, the same could not be said for further afield. While Eleyna Peake would remain safe and sound behind Starpike's impressive wall, Mina Hunter would be less fortunate. Accompanied only by a small group of knights she was returning from a trip to see her eldest two siblings at Darry when the mountain clansmen set upon her party, her broken body found later at the base of a hundred foot cliff.

## Recent Events

Following the Bleeding Darry would continue much as it had for the past thirty years since the Mummer's War, Desmond now having proved himself outwardly despite not inwardly wishing to rule. In the spring of 436 AC a rather bedraggled Symond Frey arrived at Darry, a newly made knight and heir to his house. Within days he and Bethany Darry had taken to bed. To the sheltered woman it was as if all the stories her aunt Alyssa had told her about whirlwind romance had come to life in her arms, but her heart would be shattered when less than a moon later he left her broken, and despite her womb quickening and the combined force of both Lady Darry and Lady Frey insisting he marry her, she would be left with a bastard named Brynden, born in late 436.

## Family Tree

\*PC in bold, AC in italics

\*\*Children up to player of house

~~Lord~~ ~~Harrold Darry, Lord of Darry~~ (366-409) m. ~~Lady Rhea Royce~~ (369-431)

..↳ *Lady Amerei Darry, Lady of Darry (387-)*m. Ser Clement Hayford (388-)

....↳ Lady Rowena Darry (408-)

....↳ **Ser Desmond Darry (409-)**,m. Lady Rosalind Tully (408-)

......↳ Marq Darry (428-)

......↳ Falena Darry (430-)

......↳ Jonquil Darry (432-)

....↳ Ser Symond Darry (409-), m. Lady Vaella Velaryon (402-)

......↳ Mariya Darry (430-)

......↳ Aegon Darry (432-)

......↳ Alyssa Darry (434-)

......↳ Aurane Darry (437-)

....↳ Lady Bethany Darry (411-)

......↳ Brynden Rivers (436-), illegitimate child with Symond Frey

....↳ Lady Marya Darry (412-)

..↳ Lady Alyssa Darry (388-), life partner to Lady Alys Tully (386-)

....↳ Ser Jon Rivers (411-), illegitimate child with Walys Mooton

....↳ Willow Rivers (413-), illegitimate child with Walys Mooton

..↳ ~~Lady Mina Hunter nee Darry (394-435)~~, m. Lord Karl Hunter (396-)\*\*

..↳ Lady Eleyna Peake nee Darry (397-), m. Lord Loras Peake (394-)\*\*