Samwell Piper

## Appearance

With stern and mysterious facial features, Samwell Piper is a handsome young knight. His eyes are deep pools of green that look as though they could burn through someone’s soul. He keeps his chestnut colored hair short, yet shaggy and always has a light scruff on his face. He has a scar along the side of his neck and across his lips from a battle during Durran’s Defiance. Samwell is tall, lean and muscular making his years of wielding a sword apparent.

## History

Born in 255 AC to Alyn and Lyara Piper, Samwell Piper was the first of three children and the heir to Pinkmaiden. A quiet child with a mischievous agenda, Samwell was always watched very closely by his mother and father. Any wrong move the young boy would make resulted in extravagant discipline by Lord Piper. Alyn Piper worried he wouldn’t have another son and did everything in his power to shape Samwell into a suitable heir. Knowing what plans his father had for him and how much it truly meant to the Lord of Pinkmaiden, Samwell decided it was best that he obeyed his father fully and learn everything he could from him while he was alive.

Samwell began to obsess over fighting and tactics, especially when watching his father wield Maiden’s Gift and use it with such ease and finesse. Alyn Piper was a great leader and fighter and as Samwell grew older he wanted to be just like him, so much in fact that the young heir would have dreams of inheriting Maiden’s Gift and leading House Piper to victory in glorious battles. In 263 AC Samwell’s mother gave birth to his younger sister, Myra, and Lord Piper’s eyes were on Samwell more than before. Samwell trained constantly with swords and learned everything he could about battle tactics and war. He wanted to protect his family and his house, especially his little sister that treated him as if he was her hero, even though he hadn’t had to save her yet.

In 265 AC, another sibling was brought into the world and with his father’s relief it was a boy. Thoren Piper was attached to Samwell’s hip from the moment he learned to walk. Lord Piper encouraged the behavior knowing Samwell had enough knowledge and skill to lead his younger brother down the right path and also the path that Alyn Piper wanted for both of them. Thoren wasn’t as naturally talented as Samwell and had to work extra hard to hold his own in a sparring match, but when it came to knowledge about the world they lived in, he was better. Lord Alyn Piper would often find the two of them over a pile of books, Samwell with his sword in hand and Thoren casually telling him things about different houses that he thought would interest Samwell. Samwell always listened and retained the information knowing that someday the material his little brother was telling him could be of some use.

When Samwell reached his teenage years, he was sent to Harrenhal to squire for Rhaegar Rivers along with Lucas Mooton, who he became close friends with over time. Everything his father had taught him at a young age had benefited him in this quest to become a knight. He was mature, focused and intent on becoming a better fighter and leader. Rhaegar was a wonder to watch with a twohanded sword in his grasp. Samwell watched Rhaegar’s every swing and mentally took notes, proving that he was learning something new each time the two would spar. During Durran’s Defiance Samwell put all the skills he had learned from his father and from Rhaegar Rivers on display as he went into battle. Slicing into Tully, Mallister, and Blackwood soldiers, Samwell provided aid to Rhaegar Rivers in the Battle of Harrenhal, his scars providing an everlasting reminder.

Samwell arrived home to Pinkmaiden, anxiously looking forward to seeing his siblings and eager to tell his mother and father stories about the battles he faced and how he received the new scars on his neck and face. However, he was greeted by grim faces and when a guard called him Lord, he sprinted inside Pinkmaiden. His mother, Lyara, was seated in the darkness with his brother and sister on the floor by her feet sobbing. Samwell wasn’t an idiot, he knew his father was dead. He trained his entire life to be fit to take his place and while he was feeling a great deal of grief at the loss of his father, he did not let it consume him. He had to stay strong for Myra, Thoren, his mother and his entire house. In a tight embrace with his mother she told him he was ready for what was ahead and that his father would be a proud man if he could see Samwell now. She then left the room and returned with Maiden’s Gift, recovered from the battlefield. It was his to wield now.

With his new lordship came new decisions. After the death of his father and the loss of several men, Samwell ordered that House Piper pull back from the war. Most of the houses in the Riverlands were fighting for and supporting Aemond and Samwell quickly realized that at this moment in time he put too much at risk if he continued to fight for what he believed in so aggressively, which surely wasn’t Aemond. He would spend his days training and getting ready for whatever fight was to come, often spending time in his chambers obsessing over battle tactics and how to outsmart anyone on the battlefield. In 273 Samwell was knighted by Lord Bittersteel for his actions during Durran’s Defiance.

In 275 Samwell’s mother, Lyara Piper, passed. The death of her husband and Samwell’s father five years earlier had proved to be too much for her heart to handle. Her bubbly and kind natured personality had turned cold and depressed. Maester Lymond found Lady Piper hanged inside of her chambers one early morning, her body blue and cold to the touch. When the news reached Samwell he immediately ordered that she be taken down before his siblings could hear of what happened. The secret of her suicide remains a secret between Samwell and Maester Lymond as the death of his mother alone was traumatic enough for his younger brother and sister, the young lord didn’t want them finding out that their mother made the choice to leave them behind.

In 278 on his sister Myra’s fifteenth name day, House Piper hosted a tournament. Since his mother’s death his sister had never really been the same and he wanted to do something special in her honor. Many different lords and ladies were present and for the first time in a while Samwell saw the spark back in his sister’s eyes, especially when he won the melee and his close friend Lucas Mooton won the joust and crowned her the Queen of Love and Beauty.

Currently Lord Piper is preparing for what is to come as the Riverlands continue to tear themselves apart over power. He takes his training very seriously along with the training of the men that will fight by his side. Samwell Piper may not be beautiful but he is indeed bold.

## Time of Events

255 – Samwell Piper born

263 – Myra Piper born

265 – Thoren Piper born

265 – Samwell Piper sent to squire for Rhaegar Bittersteel

270 – Fights during Durran’s Defiance and the Battle of Harrenhal

273 – Knighted by Lord Bittersteel

275 – Lady Lyara Piper dies

278 – Tournament of Pinkmaiden- won melee

## Family

Lord Alyn – Father (d. 270 AC)

Lady Lyara – Mother (d. 275 AC)

Myra – Sister (Gift: Altruist)

Thoren – Brother (Gift: Clever)