for as long as anyone can remember, house dondarrion has had a f i e r c e rivalry with the dornishmen. legend has it that house dondarrion was lifted from peasantry to lordship when a mere messenger was able to escape two dornishmen, thus delivering a message to the storm king that allowed a great victory over the dornish. since then, house dondarrion has been rooted in blackhaven, their ancestral home located in the dornish marches, and have acted as guardians of passage into -- and out of -- dorne.
though unspoken after dorne was married into the rest of westeros, conquered by the targaryens, house dondarrion and their bannermen were tasked with being the first line of defense against any potential dornish incursion.
thoros was an only child growing up and he lost his mother at a young age. his father dared to rebel against tradition and took a wildling woman as his wife, being smitten with her spontaneity. alas, he was playing with fire ice. he was quite accustomed to the privilege of being a m a n and a lord, a privilege that allowed him to warm his bed with other women without penalty of law or ostracization. much to his father’s chagrin, he had to find out the hard way that you can take the wildling out of the wild, but you can n e v e r take the wild out of the wildling. when yara dondarrion discovered that her husband was enjoying the taste of other women she made sure that no woman would ever want him when she was done with him: yara c a s t r a t e d him and made a necklace from his stones. the maester was able to stop lord barristan from bleeding out, but he couldn’t save him from being a eunuch.
yara was able to escape, but she wasn’t able to take thoros with her. thoros was fostering at dragonstone at the time and she knew that a raven would reach them before she could. yara returned to the wild and was forced to leave her son to deal with the mess she’d made.
lord barristan dondarrion rarely, if ever, called his son home for any reason, allowing others to raise him. the times when they were together, barristan dondarrion was known for being cruel and abusive towards his son. it didn’t help matters that thoros tended to have a bit of a gentle heart and was just as interested in needlework as he was in swordplay. his comraderie with the dornishmen also seemed to stoke his father's ire; it's likely that barristan's hatred for their neighbors to the south was borne of their jokes about his...condition. barristan swore that he’d never let his son become lord of blackhaven, that he’d never die and allow such a soft boy to rule. it almost seemed like he’d keep that promise; lord barristan outlived all of his friends, and thoros began to wonder if he’d ever be lord, if he’d ever be able to restore a sense of warmth and joy in blackhaven, the kind that had been there when his mother was the lady of the keep.
thoros did everything he could to try and please his father, even marrying a woman he could never love despite his desire to wait until he found a woman that he wanted to devote his love and life to. he was twenty-seven when his father finally died and it’s a story that he lives to tell to this very day. you see, by the time he was twenty-seven he had been married for seven years. he'd also become quite close with certain dornish nobility. he tried to persuade his father to accept aid from the only person still offering: the young lady of skyreach. the people of blackhaven and his father's lands were starving, ravaged by drought. barristan was too prideful to accept aid from anyone and punished those that tried to reach out to other lords or ladies for help. after burning all of his bridges, blackhaven was on the brink of starvation. word has it that the king himself was bound for blackhaven to have a few words with the senile old lord -- and with a bounty plenty to feed the starved -- when lady nimronyn arrived at their keep and announced that she had seen to it that those under dondarrion lands that suffered from the drought and his wickedness were well-fed. barristan told her that he didn't want or need the help of a dornish whore. thoros became smitten with her when she smiled at the old man and asked loudly for all to hear if his wildling wife had taken his mind when she took his balls. barristan had a heart attack and died to the sound of nimronyn's laughter. she stayed for the feast celebrating thoros becoming the new lord of blackhaven and every moment spent with her deepened his affections. the way he ignored his wife all night became a scandal that followed him for years to come; some still believe that thoros deflowered her, unwilling to believe that they spent all night in his room drinking wine and talking while his wife slept in the guest chambers.
if you ask his ex-wife, she’ll tell you that his recent pledge to dornish houses, especially one so staunchly against targaryen rule, was stirred by his o b s e s s i o n with lady nimronyn fowler. yet another scandal to his name. he abjured his ex-wife after they had a fight when she found a journal of poems and love letters meant for nimronyn, a woman content to never wed. he's never taken a lover or wife since, focusing his attention on being a better lord than his father. even so, his flame for her never guttered. not even for a moment. she haunts his dreams. he sent a wealth of gifts to her and her daughter when he'd heard the joyous news, though he wished dearly that he'd been the father. still, he saw it as an opening and bided his time, happy to wait a few more years before formally courting her. things are going well so far and he feels like things are falling in his favor. she has yet to spurn him and some speculate that he's ready to seal the deal.
¤ thoros is an accomplished weaponsmaster and a knight. he's known for wielding a sword of flames like his grandfather's friend, the man for whom he was named, thoros of myr. ¤ after beric dondarrion swore allegiance to the brotherhood without banners their family was stripped of all their lands and titles, declared traitors by king joffery baratheon. they were reinstated when daenerys and robb claimed the iron throne; the dondarrions bent the knee and returned to glory. ¤ thoros is known for being quiet and polite for the most part. he loves to spend his time with the common folk, singing songs and playing with children. his greatest joy is cooking, music, and poetry. he collects recipes and instruments and books of poetry from all over the world and creates his own as well. there were once rumors that he never laid with his wife because he preferred the company of men; though that's not the reason he wouldn't bed his wife, he's not opposed to a male lover.
