Symon Bone

Symon Bone is a steward of the Night's Watch, and a bastard from the Kingdom of the Greenbelt.

## Appearance

Sy has a thick head of tawny-brown hair, soft to the touch, that’s cut into a raggedy mess atop his head. His bright eyes are brown, and his nose and cheeks are speckled with freckles as a result of time spent under the hot sun. He has playful, sharp features and a wide, mischievous grin, and wears a sword in his belt.

## History

Symon Bone was born the bastard son of Lewyn Lake, a cousin of Lord Lake, and a peasant woman named Cedra in 282AA. His first five years of life were quiet, uneventful, living in the small village near the Nook where his mother had grown up. His father acknowledged him, but otherwise kept him and his mother at arm’s length, providing them with enough money to feed themselves, but little else. Sy never even met him, and probably never would have had his mother not died.

Cedra passed away from a wasting disease when Symon was only six, and one of her last acts was to send a message to Lewyn, begging him to look after her son when she would no longer be able to. Lewyn agreed with some hesitation, feeling an obligation, and took his son away from his mother’s home to live with him and his family.

Sy never felt like he belonged in the Nook. Just across the border in the Principality of Dorne, bastards had almost none of the social stigma they had to endure in the other kingdoms, but the same could not be said for the Greenbelt, which had thoroughly eschewed the Rhoynish traditions that Dorne had embraced. The Greenbelt was one of the worst places in Westeros to be a bastard, and Sy felt disdainful looks prickle at his skin everywhere he went.

Seeking to distract himself, he started learning how to swordfight as soon as he was old enough, his father allowing him to make use of the practice yard and lessons from the master-at-arms so long as it kept him from causing trouble inside the keep, which he had begun to show a distinct penchant for.

Shortly thereafter, he began sneaking out, boredom driving him to adventure into the nearby towns. He spend more and more time away from the castle as he grew into his teenage years, honing his covertskills when it came to both regularly sneaking out of the keep and blending in seamlessly with the smallfolk.

Soon, he was fifteen, and beginning to feel trapped in the Greenbelt. He wanted to do something more with his life, to accomplish something meaningful and make his mark on the world, and to go somewhere where the bastard stigma wouldn’t follow after him. He’d heard stories about the Wall at the end of the world, how it was manned by a brave brotherhood who guarded the realm against wildlings and... maybe even worse things, the rumors whispered.

He spoke with his father, and they reached a quick agreement. Sy privately thought Lewyn would be glad to have the reminder of his shame on the other side of the world, out of sight and out of mind. Sy left the Nook on his sixteenth nameday with a horse, a sword, and a destination.

In the twelfth moon of 298AA, a bastard boy from the Greenbelt who called himself Sy, armed with a grin and a sword, arrived at Castle Black.

## Timeline

* 282AA: Symon Bone is born the bastard son of Lewyn Lake and Cedra, a peasant woman.
* 288AA: Cedra dies, and Symon is taken in by his father.
* 290AA: As soon as he’s old enough to do so, Symon begins learning to use a sword.
* 293AA: Symon starts teaching himself sneaking and the power of blending in.
* 298AA: Symon packs his things and leaves the Nook.
* 298AA: Present day, a boy named Sy arrives at the Wall to join the Watch.