♛ → THE REACH presents GAEL HIGHTOWER, LORD OF THE HIGHTOWER & OLDTOWN. when the dragons danced in the sky he thought the GREENS would still fly, but in the blink of an eye, they would all die. The TWENTY-EIGHT year old MALE who was ARTISTIC & PERSEVERING before he saw the first of the flames, is now RESENTFUL & SECRETIVE after seeing the last. He's often associated with melodic stanzas echoed throughout the realm, the rotten dynamics of a distant family, and the acts of war committed in his family's name. ( Damian Hardung )
I. BASICS:
FULL NAME: Gael Hightower
DATE OF BIRTH: September 2nd, 116 AC (Twenty-eight years old)
HOMELAND: The Reach
STATUS: Lord and warden of Oldtown, Master of Arts
RELIGION: Faith of the Seven
GENDER IDENTITY: Cisgender male
LANGUAGE: The Common tongue
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Lady Talia Tarly
BIOGRAPHY:
117 AC: Gael was born as the third trueborn son of Lord Gilbert Hightower, but the fourth child altogether, considering the Hightower lord sired a bastard daughter some years prior (Florence, who was eventually legitimized a Hightower and became King Cedric's first wife until her betrayal and following execution).
117 AC - 113 AC: With some years between him and his older brothers, Gael never had a chance to become too close to them. In his firstborn, Gilbert Hightower had his heir and a son set for knighthood, and in his second son a child bound for the sept, with Gael being a spare in every sense of the word.
From childhood, Gael found an affinity with the arts. He was particularly drawn to writing and sculpture, beginning to try his hand at both despite the disapproving frown of his father. Initially, he endeavored to practice those crafts secretly, but in his teenage years, he found a brazen nature in the act of creating art. It became both an exploration of his thoughts and emotions as well as a way to challenge his lord father and his eldest brothers' attitudes.
129 AC - 133 AC: When the Dance of the Dragons started, Gael was only a boy of twelve and didn't play any role in the war, remaining in Oldtown. His brother Garland was the one to lead the Hightower forces for a few years until that eventual accident which left him crippled. During those initial years of the war, Gael had begun publishing some sonnets under a pseudonym (Hadrian Dunn), enabling their distribution to both nobles and literate common folk. In those poems, he explored his own emotional vulnerability while making clever use of historical and religious symbols in the works, every now and then wielding his pen to criticize the ongoing war. He was still rather young, so it wasn't suspected that Gael was the author. That was until he made a subtle reference to Otto Hightower, harshly criticizing his role in instigating the war. Subtle as it was, the subtext was clear to Gilbert Hightower and he was able to put two and two together, severely chastising his son for "standing against the family".
132 - 140 AC: Gael was sixteen and his father put a sword and a shield in his hands, sending him to battle to be of use, or to die honorably, which in Gilbert's mind, would be the best use for Gael. Rather than folding, Gael doubled down, openly beginning to write under his true name and distributing his writings in any battle camp he was in. Not once did he paint a favorable picture of his father, and some say that this might have been the start of the negative perception that surrounded Gilbert Hightower in later years.
Much to Gilbert's dismay, Gael did not die. In fact, the years of war forged him as a fairly decent soldier, and ironically, he ended up becoming the only of Gilbert's sons who could be summoned to battle when the need presented itself.
141 - 142 AC: After cutting ties with his father, Gael did not speak to him for years. He did not even attend his funeral when Gilbert Hightower was executed as a traitor along with other lords of "the old guard" by order of King Cedric Tyrell.
After the Dance, Gael also was involved in the war that eradicated the Ironborn, the civil war in the Reach, and the crusade in Alaym, further establishing his position as a skilled soldier under the command of Lord Omer Florent, or his cousin, Lady Lucrezia Redwyne, when warfare has taken them to sea.
He was appointed Master of the Arts by King Cedric Tyrell, a new position within the council of the Reach to continue to further the arts in the realm. Since gaining that title, Gael became a much more prolific writer. He has written a number of plays, participated in artistic exhibitions, and began working to develop of school of the arts set in Brightwater Keep.
142 - 144 AC: In the last two years, Gael separated noticeably from his lady mother, who never did much to be a present or loving parent, and from his eldest brother. Being away from Oldtown, he divided his time between Highgarden, performing his duties as Master of the Arts after Kind Cedric appointed him, and in the Arbor, having been Lucrezia's heir until the birth of her first child.
Gael and Garland's relationship remained very tense and distant until the eldest son's death, for Gael saw much of what his brother did as repetitions of Gilbert's behavior. To this day, he only maintains a good relationship with his other brother, the second-born Hightower.
To bring some stability back to his family after Garland's and his mother's murder, Gael wed one of Harlon Tarly's sisters, Lady Talia. It was an arranged marriage and there is little in common the lord has with his new wife, with both of them rarely spending more time together than is necessary.
CONNECTIONS:
House Hightower: Gael had a very strained relationship with his family, particularly his father, and his eldest brother, Garland. He had a civil relationship with his mother, though he resented that she never did much to parent him with any care or appreciation. Nowadays, Gael's only remaining immediate family is his other brother, who is a septon, and with whom he began building a closer relationship in recent years.
Omer Florent: Gael has admired the Florent lord deeply and has considered him one of his dearest friends since he was a teenager. Omer was the first person to encourage his writing and that is something Gael has never forgotten. He sees Omer as a bit of an older brother figure.
Lucrezia Redwyne: His cousin on his mother's side. Gael has always respected her and loved her dearly. His relationship with her became closer after Gael began distancing himself from his family, and he even resided in the Arbor for a long period of time in the last year.
Ophelia Fowler: A Dornish lady that Gael met when the peace accords took place in the principality of Dorne. Gael befriended her and later became infatuated with her. Ultimately, a relationship between them could not work and they ended up distancing themselves from the other.
Harlon Tarly: A painter that Gael has admired greatly for many years. Gael considers Harlon one of the most talented artists he knows and sees him as a bit of a mentor when it comes to the artistic world. As a mutually beneficial act for both houses, Gael recently married Harlon's younger sister, Talia.
Conall Blackbar: The of them became friends through Omer. When Conall's wife died under such suspicious circumstances, Gael asked him point blank if he'd killed her. Conall said "No" and the Hightower lord has honored that moment of sincerity ever since. They actually became closer after that, and Gael has stood by Conall when so many others had shunned or judged him for the incident. As Gael does, often gaining inspiration from those he knows, he even wrote a poem inspired by his friend and his circumstances. The individual in the poem is presented as Gael sees his friend, not as others do. What's sad is that Conall didn't recognize himself as the source of inspiration for that piece.
Give me all the connections, please and thank you!














