Hugh Dusk

Alesander Darklyn (Paternal cousin)

Hugh Dusk is the bastard son of Qarlton Qoherys, the late Lord of the Aegonfort, and the half-brother of Quentyn Qoherys, Lord of the Aegonfort. Through his aunt, Aelinor Darklyn, he is a cousin to the Dusk King of the Dusklands, Alesander Darklyn. His sigil is one he made himself, that of a flaming saltire, green, between four black skulls, on white.

## Description

### Appearance

Hugh, standing at 6'1" with a soldier's build, is a handsome man, not late into his thirty-third year. He has Valyrian features, the usual silver-gold hair and purple lilac eyes, his facial hair that of a more grown out goatee. He looks much like his father, more than that of even his half-brother, sharing the same brow and jawline and calculating expression.

His clothes are worn and few, being of not much importance to Lady Qoherys as he was raised in the Aegonfort- in fact the Lady wouldn't even allow him to play with his half-brother, much less make sure the young Hugh had decent clothes. His clothes are beige and grey tones, perhaps given his Valyrian features, with the odd pelt to keep him warm sown in to the lines of his shirts and coats. His pants are of standard make, and his boots and belt of well-worn leather.

### Personality

Being a bastard in the Aegonfort, Hugh had a conflicting childhood, and his priorities reflect such a youth. He was often solitary, preferring books and quiet over swords and boisterous noises. He found it more useful to better himself through history and study then through stupidity that often befell children his age. As a bastard, he had the world stacked against him, and he wanted to be as diligent and prepared as he could be.

Despite his surroundings, many would account that he was always in a good enough mood. He never seemed down or lonely, and was friendly and sociable with the few children he would find time for. Even at his half-brother's bullying, he didn't seem particularly vengeful, just focused on something else. This is not to say he was a pushover, rather quite the opposite. He stood up for what he believed in, consistently, without fail.

His actions were methodical and for a greater purpose in almost everything he did. He made an excellent page, and furthermore a fantastic squire, despite not being knighted for his services. He never let his bastardy define his choices. If given the chance, his actions and decisions might have led House Qoherys to great heights, or perhaps he simply would have been a good commander.

## Historical Events

### The Dayne and the Valyrian (265 AA - 273 AA)

Hugh Dusk was found in a basket at the gates of the Aegonfort by one of Lady Qoherys' handmaidens, with a letter attached to his blankets written in flowery print. It was addressed to Lord Qarlton Qoherys, telling the Lord 'he shouldn't touch what doesn't belong to him'. The Lady wanted nothing to do with this child, but Qarlton Qoherys vowed to raise the boy, perhaps thinking it recompense for his time spent away from ruling, away from the Aegonfort, perhaps to help him cope with what the two of them had lost not a moon before. Hugh was brought into the keep and given a place to stay, albeit a small room, furthest away from the throne room in Aegonfort, and the odd chair made of swords within it.

A year later, the Lord and Lady of the Aegonfort had a true born son, one Quentyn Qoherys, despite the Lord's notable absence that year in tournaments, and despite the Lady's previous attempts. The boy took after his mother, the only true sign of his named House being that of his purple lilac eyes. The boys were sometimes called the Dayne and the Valyrian, much to Quentyn's distaste, and so the nicknames died quickly when they were children. Quentyn's mother Darlessa had been Darlessa Dayne before her marriage, hence the aforementioned nickname.

Hugh hadn't minded the nickname himself, and it was rightly earned for it's short lifespan. He took after his father, silver-gold hair and purple lilac eyes, and so he looked the part of his keep's culture. He took to the language faster as well, and perhaps that wasn't the only thing distinctly Valyrian about him. As a child, Hugh often dreamed of dragons and fire, perhaps from all of his historical readings on Old Valyria, and some of the children would mention casually that he couldn't be burned.

### A Rather Rushed Understanding (273 AA - 290 AA)

Despite his bastard surname, and despite the Lady's particular disdain for the boy, Lord Qarlton Qoherys always saw to the boys training and education when he visited the Aegonfort between all his jousts and feasts and melees. Hugh would learn of various houses and kings under the Maester's teachings, and would practice swordplay and even unarmed combat with his half-brother, under the teachings of one Ser Willamen. The knight was definitely on the Lady's good-side, unlike Hugh himself, and he found that Ser Willamen often favoured Quentyn, allowing him unfair advantages during his training, and adhering to more of Quentyn's cruelty than most of the other member's of staff at Aegonfort. Not all his training was bad, but it wasn't built to give him a proper combat education and clearly favoured his brother, almost as if the knight and the Lady were conspiring together, so he did his best by reading and practising knightly techniques from various bard's tales.

He was organised in his studies, and between his combat beatings the Maester made note of this. Before long, Lord Qarlton Qoherys took note of this well, and made sure he was a page before the Lord would leave for another feast. Hugh enjoyed being a page, but it was boring work. At the very least, it kept him out of Quentyn's clutches, and gave him something practical to do with his mind.

As a natural progression, Hugh was squire before long. Being a page to the Master at Arms at the Aegonfort allowed him the courtesy of squiring his son, a man named Tylar. Tylar wasn't exactly a daring or heroic knight, but he finally gave Hugh some much needed sword-fighting instructions on days when Hugh had not much work to do. Hugh was able to piece together a rather rushed understanding of swordplay and unarmed combat, which thankfully allowed him to avoid Quentyn's attempts at violence.

### The Battle of Bitterbridge (290 AA - 292 AA)

When Hugh was in his twenty-fifth year, the Ironborn set the Trident on fire. Like most keeps in the Dusklands, the Aegonfort grew restless, and finally, Lord Qarlton Qoherys would remain at his keep for a period long than a fortnight. It wasn't long before a military force was raised, and House Qoherys was called to arms to march south against the Reachman advances. Hugh, part of this force like many other able young men, took what arms he could afford and marched with them.

His brother Quentyn marched alongside his father Lord Qarlton, but despite sharing blood he was of course a bastard, and so Hugh travelled with the army of his House. Perhaps in an act of rebellion, or perhaps strictly formed from the boredom of war camps, Hugh decided to design his own sigil to distinguish him from the others in the Qoherys force. Quentyn did not approve, however Lord Qarlton had an odd sense of pride when he saw it painted roughly on his bastard's shield. Hugh displayed it proudly on a shield he hung over his back; a shield, oddly enough, he never truly used.

In the Battle of the Bitterbridge, however, Hugh would get plenty of chances. Hugh was not part of the vanguard, and he didn't dare go to the bridge, but in the rain and storm he was fighting on the riverbank, which was equally horrible. He lost sight of his father and half-brother, and felt like an animal as he tried to stay alive. They lost the fighting, but by the grace of the old gods and the new, Hugh managed to make it out with only a few gashes.

### A Lord's Daughter, or a Knight's Temper (292 AA - 297 AA)

Suffering heavy casualties, the Duskland forces were clearly in no shape to fight, and despite his disdain for the Darklyn choice of surrender to Durrandon's army, Hugh was happy he hadn't just escaped one battle to die for sure at the next. He wasn't the only one, either. He'd bonded well with two men, Jack and Tristan, and they were happy they'd live another day as well. The three called themselves, unofficially, the Black Skulls, for the ones displayed on Hugh's sigil.

In the years to follow the three men grew very close, and Hugh finally felt like he had friends he could trust, unlike those he grew up with at the Aegonfort. With the Black Skulls, Hugh attended all manner of his father's tournaments and jousts and feasts, and tried as best he could to take a liking to the lifestyle of the one man who'd given him a chance at a life. He did owe something to the man. Hugh and his friends got up to all kinds of trouble, often involving that of a Lord's daughter, or a Knight's temper.

Though Hugh was finally enjoying himself, his half-brother Quentyn always saw to his misfortune. In his age, Quentyn had grown rather cruel, and what he couldn't get out on the battlefield he'd saved to take out on his brother, oftentimes in sight of guards at the Aegonfort. He had a spoiled reputation, and nothing would truly remedy that, but he could hold on to power, one thing Hugh certainly didn't have. The guards often turned a blind eye, but luckily Jack and Tristan were usually there to help, not that Hugh couldn't have handled him himself.

### The Death of Lord Qoherys (297 AA - 298 AA)

During one of the jousts his father attended, he suddenly fell rather ill, and was confined to his chambers at the Aegonfort under the care of the Maesters. His wife hardly showed an interest, almost paying more attention to the knights at the joust than her husband, but Hugh felt for his father, and was there by his side more often than Lord Qarlton's true-born heir. Lord Qoherys had even had an amazing joust, defeating the likes of Ser Willamen with a fatal blow, unfortunately for some, but one too many glasses of wine and the most tournament-savvy Qoherys the Kingdom had seen was knocked to his knees. Lord Qoherys confessed to Hugh in his final days that if he'd had more time, he would have legitimised him.

Hugh, befallen by the loss of his father, did what he could to ensure his reception was handled well, given that his half-brother and Lady Qoherys seemed distant from the death of Lord Qoherys if anything. He was properly buried, his spirit sent of to the Seven in good conscious. Hugh felt at peace for a short while, and spent what time he had in his father's chambers reading some of his old books, but he knew what was coming. Quentyn Qoherys would soon be Lord of the Aegonfort.

He knew his life wasn't on the line, but his lifestyle was most certainly at risk. In the year to follow the new Lord Qoherys did everything in his power to appose Hugh's advancement, even going as far as to deny his anointment as a knight that Ser Tylar had promised after the War of the Trident. Realising there was nothing for him at the Aegonfort, and unable to stand the words of Lady Qoherys, denying his ability to live up to a knight like that of Ser Willamen, he left for Duskendale with the Black Skulls, with the intention of never looking back. He made a bit of fortune selling his sword, lost a bit of fortune in various gaming tussles at taverns, but eventually came to the conclusion that someday he would go back to his family to face them.