Marlon Manderly

Shield of the Faith

Defender of the Dispossessed

Order of the Green Hand

Marlon Manderly is the second son born to Warrick and Kyra Manderly. He is the current Lord of White Harbor.

## Appearance and Character

Marlon takes after his father the most in regards to his looks. The Manderly looks almost the spitting image of the late Lord Warrick Manderly, from the long black hair to the muscular build and tone of his body. Marlon grew taller than his parents, strangely enough, by at least a head and the is eerily the only trait that set himself apart from his father. Marlon took after his mother's fashion sense, however, and whenever he is within the walls of White Harbor, he prefers to wear extravagant and expensive silks and other exotic clothing.

Warrick's temperament certainly passed down to his second son, for Marlon's fuse could be described as nothing less than short and nearly non-existent. Prone to bouts of almost blood-thirsty fits of rage, Marlon carries on the firm and merciless ruler his father had become. Kyra's influence would not be outdone, however, as Marlon is just as content on the deck of a ship at sea as he is behind the desk in a solar for days at a time. Numbers and charts read as easily as words to Marlon, and he is not one to ever simply blindly trust others with his family's wealth.

## History

Born a few years before the downturn of the Kingdom of Winter, Marlon's infancy was one of lavish upbringing, though not nearly to the level of his older brother Daryn. Unlike Daryn, Marlon did not have his own army of servants and septas and maesters and whatever else the imagination could come up with. This hardly mattered to the boy, for as soon as he could walk, he followed Kyra around as if he were his mother's shadow. Warrick busied himself with both military matters and focusing on Daryn to give any more effort than snide remarks to push Marlon to take part in more "men-like" activities. That wasn't to say Marlon was purely a bookworm that hid indoors; he spent his fair share out rough housing with other boys his age, as well as his older brother.

Only thanks to his family's immense wealth did Marlon find himself spared of any kind of hardship the drought would have otherwise given him, and his childhood life continued on as dreamy and playful as ever.

Outside of having Warrick disappear for years at a time to fight the North's battles, none of the conflicts truly affection young Marlon, as him and Warrick were not very close to begin with.

When not following around his mother, or taking part in his studies with the maester, Marlon found himself drawn to his uncle, Domeric Manderly, and Wyndylyn Manderly. The young boy would spend hours of his free time play sparring with the other Manderlys, much more than he did with his own father and brother. So, when the news of Wyndylyn's death after the Battle of Westwatch-by-the-Bridge reached White Harbor, Marlon had to deal with the first time he lost someone close to him.

### Fighting Pirates

Although he would never find himself able to sail in The Trident, as he wasn't Warrick's precious Daryn, Marlon all the same still set sail with the rest of the family as they fought the relentless assaults of pirates. As glorious as it may have been to fight piracy at the helm of the Manderly's great flagship, Marlon would learn much more about sailing as he served with Domeric Manderly on his warship instead. Free from the burdens of commanding a large fleet, his uncle would take extra care to describe everything Warrick had planned in great detail, and in the battles, he would force Marlon to risk danger and stay upon the deck to witness a fleet fight in person.

By the time the pirates had been beaten back by the combined efforts of his father, the Lockes, and Karstarks, Marlon had learn invaluable lessons from his beloved uncle, and would return home a sailor already more talented than most of the north. Some would say, in hushed and fearful whispers, that Marlon was every bit the admiral and more than Warrick Manderly himself.

### The Young Lord

After returning home, Marlon would find himself once again the nearly ignored second son within White Harbor. His father kept Daryn within arm's reach at all times, focusing his full attention on his heir, while Kyra worked nearly day and night to replenish the once flowing treasury of House Manderly. The young Manderly was in a strange, bored limbo, and when he wasn't helping his mother with financial tasks, Marlon would take a Manderly ship into the Bite to sail. He quickly found himself never as happy as he was when out on the seas, breathing in the salty spray.

Marlon's boredom was short lived. Despite feeling a completely neutral feeling towards the North's subjugation into the Kingdom of the Iron Throne, Marlon joined his father when Manderly men were called upon to quell the rebellious Glovers and their ilk. Marlon, once again at Domeric's side instead of his father's, would watch the fighting from a distance.

The only time Marlon would fight in actual combat would come in the final days of the assault on Deepwood Motte. Entrusting his heir to lead the Manderly flank, Warrick pushed his own line further ahead in an overconfident bid for glory in battle. Daryn, to no surprise to anyone but Warrick himself, panicked and lost control of his line as soon as the slightest amount of casualties were sustained, causing Warrick's small force to be surrounded. Were it not for Domeric, and Marlon in small part, taking control of Daryn's utter failure, Warrick would have been killed there on the spot. As it were, Lord Manderly still suffered horrible wounds in the fighting, and Marlon wondered if he were about to lose his father as the Manderlys traveled back to White Harbor.

His ponderings would come true, as Warrick soon after died of his wounds, and his brother Daryn now became Lord of White Harbor. Having realized how useless and spoiled his brother was years before, Marlon grew to hate Daryn and moreso feared for the fate of White Harbor and House Manderly should the day come when Kyra, the only person holding the entire city together, passes away. Like before, Marlon's fears quickly came to pass; in late 129 AC, Kyra passed away peacefully. Many wondered how far the Manderlys would fall under the command of one so incompetent as Daryn Manderly.

In an interesting turn of events, Daryn's complete idiocy turned out to be the saving grace of White Harbor. Only a month after Kyra Manderly passed away, Daryn would drown in a completely avoidable fishing accident, as the Lord of White Harbor attempted to stand on the edge railings of his ship to cast his line further, when his foot slipped and he fell overboard.

Although no one outwardly rejoiced, Daryn's bare-bone funeral would give off the answer to any question of how the people of White Harbor felt about the short-lived Lord. Though never actively raised to be in this position, Marlon is eager yet nervous to continue the progress his grand-father and mother had led the Manderlys through.

## Household

Steward: Mycal

Castellan: Brandon Manderly

Master-at-arms: Thorren Woolfield

Head of the Household Guard: Orwen Flint

Maester: Bennard

Septon: Matthos

Knight-Commander of the Order of the Green Hand: Ser Domeric Manderly

## Meta

Attribute: Brilliant

Social Status: Principle Bannerman, Head of House

Allotted Points: 20

Skills: MAR: Naval Warfare, Navigation STA: Civil Engineering EDU: Naval Engineering

Mastery: Admiral