Anyone else have this where you’re just going on about your day and suddenly thoughts about Domeric Bolton floods your mind and you just realize how robbed we were of seeing him as a good lord ….
♛ 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓 ♛ — DOMERIC KILCAIRN the LORD of BELHAVEN. tales of this 25 year old CIS MAN tell of their THOUGHTFUL and GENEROUS nature, but beware, for they are also SECRETIVE and VINDICTIVE. the gossips whisper they use HE/HIM pronouns and look strangely like KEITH POWERS. but i’ve also heard they bring images of AN ELUSIVE HOODED FIGURE WITH A MOUTH STUFFED FULL OF SECRETS, HONEYED MUSINGS WRITTEN UPON FADED PARCHMENT, AND RESTLESS FINGERTIPS TAPPING AGAINST A GOLDEN POMMEL to mind. how will their story unfold?
Content Warning: Death, murder
i. ( halcyon days ) His was an idyllic childhood. As a very small boy, Domeric loved peaches. They were fleshy and soft, sweet and pink. There was an orchard near the Rosegate that he loved to visit during warm summer afternoons, when the nectarines and peaches dotted the grounds. He would run and laugh and play, and eat the fruit until he felt his stomach was near to exploding. There were other children there too. Big ones and small ones, noble and common. They ran and tumbled amongst the trees, playing catch-me-if-you-can and come-into-my-castle. And when he returned home to the castle, when the setting sun was sloping down over green grass hills, it was to a life of excess and luxury. Every toy that he wanted was gifted to him, every sweet and treat handed over with a smile, and he wore the finest clothes that his mother’s gold could buy.
ii. ( silver spoons and silver tongues ) Domeric Kilcairn was educated with all of the finery that befitted a boy of his station. Though he was not heir to his family’s ancestral seat, he was still a lord in his own right, and he was taught just so. When he was a gangly teenager, finally realizing his power over the people around him, he brandished his fancy education and courtly authority to all that he felt below him. He made a mockery of serving boys when they informed him they couldn’t read, and he ordered around the stableboys simply just because he could. It was a rush. Just to know that he could make another person do something, because he had a whim or a want, was a feeling that never grew old. Domeric was at his worst during his teen years, but since maturing into an adult, he is not quite so demanding as he used to be. Power over servants was nothing compared to what could be, if he started pulling at the right threads and talking to the right people. He weaponized his smiles the way that other men used their swords, and hunted for secrets in any place that he could find them. One never knew when they might come in handy.
iii. ( house kilcairn ) Domeric loved his family. His mother and father gave him everything in life. His brother and sisters were the first friends he could ever remember having. He would do most of anything for them. He would lie for them, scheme for them, fight and kill for them if need be. However, even so, he was not above using them as tools. The people around him were strings to be pulled, however cherished they may be. Theirs was a dynasty of prestige and wealth, beloved by their people and allies alike. He wanted to see that grown, to leave his family better behind him than he’d found it. Sometimes that meant working in the shadows against their wishes, or their knowledge. Other times their interests were better served in public. Domeric competed in tournaments and archery contests, he danced with eligible ladies at balls, and did his hardest to present as the model, noble son.
iv. ( marriage ) It was his first successful scheme. He was thirteen years, lying in his bed, and imagining his future. It was a common activity--the daydreaming, and imagining how grand his life would turn out to be. He decided very quickly that a good marriage was key to his eventual success. His requirements for a match were strict. It took some time for him to narrow it down, but once he found the girl, all it took then was working on his parents. Calida Celtigar was from a house as prestigious as his own, but most importantly, they were rich. It didn’t take much for his parents to see the genius behind the suggestion. It took a few years for the details to be ironed out into an actual plan, but as he neared the cusp of adulthood, Domeric found himself victorious, betrothed now to a woman who by all definition, was to be the wife of his dreams.
v. ( secrets and knives ) At home in Eden, the court was littered with his spies. Maids and girls who whispered secrets in his ear in return for a handful of copper coins. Squires and soldiers, knights and guards that he grew up and trained with that told him what they heard, and what they saw, no matter how mundane. Some required bribery, and others required threats or sweet promises, but in the end they watched and listened and told him all the same. When Domeric heard something he did not like, his reaction was swift. Though he had yet to kill a man by his own hand, he’d seen to the death of three poachers, ordering their throats slit in the middle of the night before they could reveal his secrets. He pardoned them for their crimes in secret, without informing his parents or his older sister, and in return asked for their service. They betrayed him, had dared to blackmail him even. And so he’d found a cat’s paw, and brought an end to any risk they may have brought him.
Domeric, if he survived, would be a wonderful Lord. The real reason for father's pride.
The most cruel of the Lords of Westeros, the most ingenious and, undoubtedly, the most refined.
The harp perfectly combines with execution by leeches.
Domeric’s room at the Rosegate is large and airy, with large sloped ceilings painted a cream-colored white. His walls were a baby blue, lined with portraits and tapestries, hand painted and tailored by the best artisans that money could buy. In the exact center of the room was a raised platform, where his four poster bed stood proud, opulent, and tall. The bed was a dark, wooden oak with royal blue curtains that framed each side, giving him even further privacy in the comfort of his bed. His sheets were silk and the color of gold, and his blankets were always carefully made due to the careful work of Eden’s servants.
ii. where does your character hail from? do they still live there?
Domeric hails from Eden. He does still live there, though in recent years he has found himself visiting other noble courts, extending the hand of friendship to his family’s allies.
iii. if your character still lives there, do they enjoy it? or do they feel trapped & would prefer to live somewhere else?
Domeric loves Eden, and he loves Belhaven, and he loves his family’s castle of Rosegate. Though he finds himself travelling often, to return home is the sweetest feeling every time.
iv. are they religious? if so, what religion? are they devoted?
Domeric is performatively religious. It isn’t that he does not believe in the Gods, because he does. But he also does not spare too much of a thought towards them. However, even with that being the case, it is not rare to see him bow his head for prayers. To be godly only helped to sharpen the courtly perception he so loved to give off.
v. what is their occupation? how long have they been at this position?
Domeric does not have any official occupation beyond his duties as a member of House Kilcairn. He has yet to fight in any war, but should the occasion arise, he is prepared to take up arms and lead his family’s soldiers. In addition, he often takes it upon himself to maintain his family’s diplomatic ties, and makes it a point to keep in contact with other influential nobles in the realm.
vi. how physically threatening are they? emotionally threatening?
Domeric is not particularly threatening physically, at least no more than any other nobleman raised in the art of swordplay. He would certainly be very threatening to a baker holding a pitchfork, but the fight would be a lot more even with someone who had training, proper weapons, and experience. Emotionally, however, Domeric is much more threatening. He hunts for secrets and wields them over the heads of others, threatening to bring discord and strife into their life and relationships.
vii. is your character more extroverted or introverted?
Domeric is certainly more extroverted. He likes small talk and conversation, and hearing what other people had to say. However he does not find it a huge bother to be alone.
viii. do they have any scars? tattoos? birthmarks? other unique physical features?
Domeric is free of any significant scars, nor does he have any tattoos. The most unique look about him would be the way he adorned himself in expensive jewelry. His fingers were lined with rings, and his neck was often adorned with glittering amulets.
ix. do they have any family? if so, how close are they to their family?
Domeric loves his family fiercely, but even more so, he loves their family legacy. He is proud to be a member of his house, and everything he does is an attempt to increase their power and standing. He isn’t very open or transparent to them about his plans and motivations, but he is affectionate, most especially to his sisters, and likes to believe that they would all feel free to come to him, for whatever help they might need.
x. have they ever been to the capital? if so, what was the occasion?
Domeric has been to the capital on many occasions. Most often for celebratory events; weddings for important nobles, tournaments and jousts. Though since he’d grown, more and more often he found himself there to attend court, so he could report back to his parents on the goings-on in the heart of the kingdom.
xi. have they traveled much in their life? if so, what is the best thing they saw on their travels?
He has certainly traveled more than the common peasant. He’s explored most of Belhaven, finding it fun to ride off in a band of other knights and squires when he was in his late teens and early twenties. He’s been to the capital, and to capital cities of the other important regions, or the closer ones anyways.
The best thing that Domeric ever encountered during his travels was a peasant wedding near the western coast of Belhaven. He was riding towards the beach, with a mid ranged entourage of various courtiers and soldiers. They happened upon a village in the throes of celebration. The commoners had turned their town square into a dancing ring, and they all hopped and swung and spun each other around. Meat, a rarity for poorfolk such as these, was on display and there were torches and decorative bales of hay all around. He’d never been to something so… quaint, and ended up stopping to join the party with the rest of his people.
xii. have they ever been in love?
Domeric has never been in love the way the stories say. However, he is quite fond of his betrothed.
xiii. what is their greatest achievement?
It was Domeric who pushed for his own engagement. He was not forced into it like so many others, and instead embraced this opportunity to bring more prestige and power to his dynasty. Calida Celtigar came from the richest family in the land, and she made a great match. It was his own plotting and pushing that led to his parents agreeing to the match. He’s quite proud of the entire thing, really.
xiv. what is their greatest failure?
A bit of blackmail gone wrong. Three years ago, at the age of twenty three, Domeric played his cards too heavily, and threatened a minor nobleman in the city of Eden with exposure. The noble was funding illicit poaching, and getting ahead of himself, Domeric propositioned the man before having concrete evidence in hand. He lost the upper hand when the nobleman killed his accomplices and ran away to a land overseas. He never did inform his mother about the poaching, or the noble, or his own part in it. Lest she see something in him that she would not like.
xv. is you character literate? if noble, did they tend to their watcher’s lessons or did they slack off? do they enjoy reading, or hearing stories?
Domeric is literate, and can both read and write in fancy, curling script. He fidgeted through his lessons much as any small child might, but ultimately he paid attention to his watcher. He prefers to read over listening to stories. He reads faster than others can speak, so he would just prefer to do it himself.
WHO: Lord Domeric Kilcairn and Lady Calida Celtigar ( @your-grxce )
WHEN: Fourth Day. Dinner.
WHERE: Kingsport, Aros
It was whispered that he paid more for his outfit than half of the ladies here combined. And while that was certainly not true, it was not very far off. Lord Domeric was in dark purple velvet, with more than a dozen golden roses embroidered onto his doublet. A silken half-cape hung in a honey beige color off of his left shoulder, fastened with an amethyst brooch. It was among his finest regalia, and he felt (quite smugly) as if he were the best looking man at the party.
Domeric waited a few paces away from the ballroom, hands folded easily in front of his body. He waited on his lady, feeling very pleased about their fashionably-late arrival and the looks they were sure to get upon stepping into that room. He grinned to himself about this until familiar footsteps sounded from behind him. He turned and faced his betrothed.
---- “Wow, my lady.” He smiled at her--genuinely, and extended his hand for her to take. “I’m afraid you have me near to speechless. You look... very lovely. I feel like the luckiest lord in the kingdom to have a such a woman on my arm.”
