#aliastafford

[danylreston]

Keep it Secret | Danyl & Alia

Danyl had spent the night out drinking with Roderick Fray and all he wanted to do was sleep. But the constant bustle in the kitchens made it difficult to get a moment’s rest and in the end, it only contributed to his headache. 

Castle Stafford was one of the biggest castles in Aragoth: the Staffords tended to breed like rabbits and the stronghold had to be able to hold all of them, as well as the many guests that the Warden may have at any given time. The last lord and lady had died off before they could have more than two children and so the place was looking a bit empty. Not that Danyl minded. There were stretches of empty rooms where no one ever went. 

He picked one such room and lay down upon the sofa, which was more comfortable (hard as it was) than any bed he had ever slept in. He didn’t know how long he had been sleeping, when he jolted awake, suddenly aware that someone else was there.

“Ah, my lady!” He said, jumping up as quickly as though it had been Lucian Moran or Rowlin Stafford who had found him. He bowed low, “Forgive me, I -- well, I only meant to rest for a moment. Please, I beg you, don’t tell Lord Stafford about this. He’d surely have me dismissed and I -- well, I have many mouths to feed,” He lied. He didn’t want Rowlin Stafford to ever see him: he would surely know Danyl for the thief he is. 

[renfrymoran]

Roses & Spiders | Renfry & Alia

A less extreme man would have considered Alia Stafford as a useful pawn long ago, but Renfry Moran wanted what he wanted and nothing less. Still, even he knew that winning the North for himself would take ages, if nothing was to be suspected. And in the meantime, if he could see Rowlin and his brother out of the way, Alia would be heir to the North and her husband would rule in her name. 

Of course, he would have to find a young man as easily manipulated as Alia herself should prove to be, but that was not something he worried over. The North was filled with idiots. And while he had no desire to be a puppet master behind the scenes, it would serve until he could make the North his own. 

In the meantime, he supposed he ought to start by being nice to the girl.

He groaned internally at the thought, but straightened and smiled when he saw her come down for dinner.  “Ah, there you are, my pretty little niece,” He said, “You’ve certainly grown up, haven’t you?” Renfry truly hadn’t noticed until he looked at her now. When he thought of her, he still imagined her to be a young girl of one and ten - if that - but it seemed she was more like twice that as she stood before him now. 

He had lived with her at Castle Stafford for years, but had never had any reason to give her a second look until this moment. She was a very quiet sort of girl and she tended to blend into the background, especially when surrounded by her rather loud family. 

“I don’t think I should have known you, if you did not look exactly as your mother used to.” He offered her his arm, “Will you allow me to lead you into the hall?”

[sysleydufey]

Sweetling | Sysley & Alia

“Oh good heavens!” Sysley exclaimed, coming upon her niece and nephew, “If you keep on like that, you’ll talk yourself to death.” She said to Rowlin, “And the gods above know we shouldn’t like that,” She added, with a hint of sarcasm. She did her best to keep them apart: Rowlin was a horrible child and his sister had no doubt, suffered countless abuse at his hands. 

Sysley wished she could have come to them sooner: when she might have done some good. But Rowlin was almost a man, grown and he the only person he would have to listen to was their Queen (not an especially comforting thought). So, she did her best to shield Alia from him when she could. 

“Your uncle requires your presence in his chambers,” Sysley said. “I’m sure whatever business you have with your sister can wait until later.” She added. Rowlin seemed like he wanted to make some sort of retort to show he was in control of the situation, but his uncle only summoned him when there was something important to attend to and he stomped past them. 

When they were alone, Sysley took Alia’s hand. “Come, my dear. Come take a turn with me in the courtyard. It will do us both some good to get some fresh air, I think.” 

[rowlinstafford]

Sibling Affections | Rowlin & Alia

This will be the last year for this silly tradition. He had always thought that celebrating Remembrance Day was a waste of time and money. Who cared if hundreds of years ago, the city saved the life of their lord? He had been an idiot, anyway. Anyone who thought that servants should mingle with their lords like that (even if it was only for one horrible evening) should have been left to die in the snow. 

His uncle valued tradition and had kept this one alive, but Rowlin would see it die when he held the North. 

The Ball wasn’t for another fortnight and yet it seemed that everyone was busy with preparations. Rowlin hated it. There was no where to go where he wouldn’t be reminded of it. 

And that was why, on this particularly cold spring day, Rowlin wandered into the library. He wasn’t looking for something to read (he had finished his schooling and never intended to pick up another of the boring things again), but rather something to do. 

When he realized he wasn’t alone, he smiled to himself. There, sitting by the fire, was his sister. “Ah, there you are, my sweet sister,” He said, mockingly. “I see you are alone?” He asked, pleased. She was alone less and less, anymore, between her lady-in-waiting and their irritating aunt. They both had an especially annoying talent of coming to her aid, but they couldn’t do that, if they weren’t here. 

“I hope you don’t feel neglected,” He continued, fingers tracing the molding over the fireplace, “I promise you I have not forgotten you. Everyone will leave you, sooner or later. It’s only a matter of time before they find out that you were so much less than they thought. But I never will. I will always be near.” He said it like a promise, but it was clear that it was more than that: it was a threat. 

[rowlinstafford]

ooc | Rowlin & Alia

SO. MUCH. LOVE. <333

Hahaha, so Rowlin is literally the WORST brother and I think he became that way b/c no one who had any control over him ever really stepped in and curbed his behavior. I was talking to Kate and their guardian and uncle, Lucian Moran, just kinda tucked them away when they were kids and never thought about them and now he wonders why Rowlin is such a delight to be around. 

Rowlin loves tormenting her and it’s god awful I’m so sorry. He’s definitely very emotionally abusive (and probs physically abusive at times as well, but he def would pull a Joffrey and have his guards do his dirty work for him). 

aLSO (I think this is mentioned somewhere in Alia’s bio but I’m not 100% sure and too lazy to check) she was engaged to marry a Mortain (basically the Staffords of the south) when she was a girl but he died. They never met each other but even though he was like 20+ years older than she was, i can promise that she would have been wayyyy happier with him than here at home with Rowlin. Anyway, even though he died like ten years ago, Rowlin def still brings that up like “remember how you were gonna get married but he died? that was fun.” 

Also he’s def looking out for someone for Alia to marry. He wants someone that’s awful (b/c he’s such a nice bro) but that’s also of high enough rank b/c they would be his heir until he and Lyna have a kid.

tl;dr: rowlin is a horrible person who will constantly put down his sister in every way 

[renfrymoran]

ooc | Renfry & Alia

So this is one of Alia’s wonderful uncles #not. Uh Renfry is so special how even to describe him?? IDK I don’t think he’s ever really paid much attention to her until recently b/c he HATES kids and is just like “ew”. Both now his niece is grown and he’s def keeping an eye on her because he wants the south for himself and unfortunately there are about 2093843 staffords that need to be removed before the south would be his and he means to eliminate all of them including Alia. #fantasticfamilytimes 

ANYWAY, if killing all these people proves to be too hard for him, I can see him trying to push one person or another to be Alia’s husband (someone Renfry woulc easily control that is) so that he only needs to get rid of his brother and Rowlin. I also think he sees Rowlin’s treatment of Alia and wonders if he can play on that somehow and idk I basically think that he might try to act v nice to Alia all of a sudden after years of ignoring her and try to get her in his corner b/c she might end up being a very important piece for his plans in getting the north. (idk that he’s gonna be at all sucessful with this but yeah that’s pretty much his only life goal.) 

[danylreston]

ooc | Danyl & Alia

so, Danyl has become pretty bold and even like lucian moran thinks he’s a servant when he isn’t and so i think he does spend a lot of the days above stairs when he can sneak away from tom and pretends he’s a servant and steals things when people aren’t looking haha. anyway, i can see him meeting alia and he’d probs flirt with her b/c she’s gorgeous #facepalm but then also stealing some silver off the table or something when she isn’t looking. 

[sysleydufey]

ooc | Sysley & Alia

So I think that Sysley really loves her niece and is just like "wow a sensible family member idek how to handle this" ;)) but no so when Alia's parents died, Sysley really wanted to take te kids to live up further north with her and her husband but her uncle Lucian who was named their guardian/warden until Rowlin comes of age, did not like that idea and yeah. So no doubt alias childhood sucked bc Lucian took zero part in raising them and left them to themselves and wow look what a gem Rowlin turned out to be. Anyway her husband died a few years back and now she's living in the northern capital with the rest of them. Also she would NOT stand for Rowlin's treatment of his sister and whenever she sees them together she's literally like: "yes yes we see you stomping about. Don't you have something more important to attend to than us?" Basically and just ~gtfa man no one likes you. Also she just wants Alia to be happy especially since she has been so poorly mistreated and she def sees her dead brother in her and SHHDJEENSJHZH ~family feels She's also gonna try to figure out Lucian's plans for Alia and she's gonna make sure that she is married to a good man that deserves her.