♛ VICKON II GREYJOY
↳ details; 32 (b. 473AC), male ↳ status; bisexual, widowed, no children ↳ faceclaim; ricky whittle ↳ hails from; pyke, the iron isles ↳ loyalty; house greyjoy, the iron throne.
↳ title; lord reaper of pyke, ruling lord of the iron isles ↳ religion; the drowned god ↳ spoken languages; common tongue ↳ reason for being in sunspear; the summit
♛ PERSONALITY
↳ type; executive ESTJ-A ↳ alignment; chaotic neutral ↳ star sign; scorpio ↳ positives; resilient, self-sufficient, versatile, cautiously open minded, loyal, tenacious, devout ↳ negatives; wounded, romantically-emotionally stunted, tentatively paranoid, can overly ambitious and also stern
♛ BIOGRAPHY
↳ family lineage.
his father, balon greyjoy had married his mother when they were barely into man and womanhood. her name was uthora goodbrother and was the middle-born daughter of house goodbrother, with dark auburn hair and sharp hazel eyes she had caught the heir of pyke’s attention during a celebration her house attended at his home. after a short courting period, and the elated enthusiasm from balon’s own father at the match, they wed when the young lady uthora was seventeen. sweethearts didn’t really describe their relationship, as there was nothing sweet about it: it was fire and passion and adventure, adrenalin hunting, risk taking and enjoying their youth as any ironborn would. of course that did slow down when, after two years they found themselves expecting their first child together. it would go on to be a boy, who uthora insisted on naming vickon after the first elected lord to ever rule the iron isles. such a name would come with a burden of expectations, but both balon and uthora intended on fostering a fierce child in their heir, and any children to come.
there was another child after the dark haired, brown-eyed vickon was born. a few years later, a girl would join the growing family, bringing the song of children’s laugher and riot into the salty walls of pyke. trained hard from their childhood, both the two children of balon and uthora spent half their time on land and the other half either on or in the sea. balon inserted lessons in military strategy and captainship, insisting his heirs work every position on the decks of a ship from deckhand to helmsman to pot wash. uthora also took it upon herself to raise her daughter as she had been raised; strong, smart, wise and a capable ironborn. they had no imminent plans for more children right away, as they were still young parents and that might have been the reason why the sudden passing of uthora was so hard on balon and the two children. she had, unexpectedly, found herself with child far too quickly for both hers and balon’s liking. they wanted to ensure they could raise vickon and his sister right, they could handle the iron islands like the true rulers they needed to be and after a long discussing and many tears they summoned a maester and a moon tea was brewed. though she was only weeks into her third pregnancy, and there was no reason to expect any problems, over the night that came the lady uthora succumbed to complications that young vickon never learned of and she never saw the sunlight or smelled the sea again. mourning was hard, seeing his younger sister cry and beg the drowned god for their mama to come back, it broke vickons heart. in fact, for months afterwards, his little sister would climb into bed with him in a state of quiet sorrow.
when his father remarried a dornish woman, vickon found himself in a strange situation. he wanted his father to be happy, and he seemed to be, but he resented any woman who would wear his late mother’s title of ruling lady of house greyjoy. old enough to remember his mothers laughter, the shine of her hair, the kindness of her eyes… vickon knew he would never warm to the lady myria, but he promised he would never allow his personal feelings to hurt his fathers happiness. it seemed too soon that children, his half siblings, began to join their family and vickon felt all the more out of place. he was older, and he could not bond in a paternal way with her. if anything, he viewed lady myria greyjoy as not his new mother but as his over-lady and he respected her for that reason. she also seemed to bring lightness back to his fathers heart so he could not bring himself to make waves within pyke. instead of bonding with the new blended family he pushed himself out to sea on the iron fleet.
young and eager and harder than the rock of the iron isles, vickon was deemed a quiet fire; jokes and jests were made about his similarity to his namesake who was apparently stern-faced as well. he found himself in plenty of fights, plenty of games of dice and card and chance, and he worked until his hands were hard with callouses and his clothes were crusty with dried seasalt. vickon, he soon realized, was born for hard work and challenge which continued to please his father greatly as his son stayed on track to be a captain in the iron isles’ fleet. a few years on vickon was to choose a bride, and he deferred to his father over a private meal and ale about who this should be. they scrutinised over the eligible ladies of the iron isles, and who would be the most ideal partner and lady reaper of pyke when vickon would inherit the seat, for he would marry no one else than an ironborn woman. vickon often thought that he was arguably one of the most devout followers of the drowned god of all his siblings, he prayed often and fervently. thanking the drowned god for the good, praying for bad to end quickly, praying that his lady mother was enjoying her seat in the drowned gods watery halls, approving of her only sons achievements. settling on house kenning of harlaw isle, with the blazon of the storm god (the drowned gods enemy of over a thousand thousand years), was an unlikely choice in the eyes of many. however, the lady naoka kenning caught his eye quickly and soon conversation revealed how similar they were. she matched him in intelligence, in quick wit and jokes, in the cracking of her tongue like a whip when she commanded her accompanying house kenning guardsmen to stop making drunken fools of themselves. born less than a year apart in age, now capable captain and heir to pyke, lord vickon ii greyjoy and lady naoka of house kenning were married in the year 492AC.
as a wedding gift, balon and lady myria gifted vickon and his new bride the galleon ship the storms howl, one that had pride of place in the iron fleets arrangement. though vickon had spent most of his time upon the iron fleets’ principle ship, a man-o-war vessel sea death, the storms howl served as a temporary home as the newlyweds spent their time on the seas, travelling with a youthful hunger. the early years were good, and would have continued to be fruitful if not for a freak, sudden accident that stole another woman from the vickons heart. down the gangway of the storms howl, they had returned from visiting naoka’s family upon harlaw isle, they and their crew were enjoying the end of their voyage. no one properly saw how she lost her footing, but a small yelp of surprise followed by a body-loud thump and vickon shoved his way through the crew members to find his young wife lifeless and limp with no breath in her body. there was no blood and no pain when she slipped on the salty, slicked wood of the pier… but she was gone from the world, from his world, in the blink of an eye. widowed far too young, damaged and angry at innocent losses of his personal life, he pushed himself instead into the career of a captain with eyes on a prize beyond the iron isles. the drowned god had set vickon adrift alone in turbulent seas, but he was determined to not flounder or sink as he reached out to the red keep of the crownlands, to the office of the heir to the iron throne, prince baelor targaryen.
over the space of a year the two corresponded formally as vickon expressed his desire to represent house targaryen as the master of ships on prince baelor’s council when he would assume the throne in the years to come, and they settled on an agreement. lord vickon would sail to the red keep and meet with the prince face to face, present his reasoning why he was the superior choice for a master of ships. of course vickon knew that there was no other who could rival the ferocity of the iron fleet, and his ability to captain galleons, sloops, man-o-wars and all in between gave him a versatility hard to rival. the meeting went well, and after discovering much in common and enjoying some healthy debates about their respective gods and beliefs and personal opinions, they found a mutual respect and a budding friendship that continued on when he returned to the seas and back to the iron isles. he had spent much time then on assignments from his father, on training up his crew and exploring, escaping his grief as best he could. at his fathers request he took on his half-siblings into his crew, where there were no free passes nor easy ways out for the children of the lord reaper and he commanded them as he did the rest of his crew.
vickon never did re-marry; instead taking the occasional salt wife or lover. he knew he had a position on the small council of westeros in his near future, alongside a man he was proud to call friend and future king and he would pass his seat to a sibling as castellan if their father would pass in that time, he had a plan with which he had spent much time working over. though it was not his father who passed in the years that came — in the sept of ashar where the sept of baelor once stood, a strange irony upon them all as they bid their final farewells to the king who never was, baelor the third, who had suddenly been pulled from the world to join the halls of the drowned god. of course vickon knew that baelor was a follower of the seven, as most of westeros did, but vickon liked to imagine him alongside the mighty drowned god and the finest warriors and members of the world alongside him, perhaps his friend may meet lady uthora greyjoy. the sadness was felt across the lands, but none more-so than it that sept of the seven where the closest of the prince gathered privately and grieved in the painful, sorrowful echoes of the barely filled sept. he lingered in kings landing for a time alongside king maegor and princess rhaena: baelor had often spoken of his sister in letters, and part of him felt compelled to ensure that his friends kin was going to endure, however painful. no one seemed to understand what had happened to baelor or how his last moments were spent… but it appeared clear that it was not pleasant. it was on his return home, his future plans gone with his friends final breath, that his paths crossed with a woman who would change his life for the first time in many years.
protecting those weaker than him was something vickon felt to his core and thus began their relationship. a lost soul saved by the drowned god and delivered to safety on the decks of the storms howl by pure chance and misfortune, though stripped of her apparent memories she seemed filled with the will to live and that spurred him to action. she would go on to thrive, recovering from whatever had befallen her, and he would go on to tentatively open his heart as much as he was able to as he returned with his new salt wife to the shores of his home. within the year however, his father succumbed to the afterlife and the title, the salt throne was passed to vickon ii, lord reaper of pyke. beginning his rule not years removed from his friends death and the change in leadership, the new heir of westeros becoming baelor’s younger sister and the certainty of him having a position on the council now in question, he decided it best to stay as ruler of his lands rather than leave the ironborn without their true leader. he already knew he was content in being loyal to house targaryen: the members of the red keep had all treated him well, they were all sound and intelligent of mind, with admirable and well thought-out policies and plans for the world. far removed from the red keep, with no interest in taking over the throne, he didn’t keep closely informed on the process that king maegor had organized for his only remaining child to find a suitor and when the raven arrived from kings landing penned in a scrawl it seemed from baelors younger sister who warned him that something had gone terribly wrong and the targaryen reign would be coming to an sharp end. never in his wildest dreams did he imagine what was to come: the first lannister reign in over two centuries and baelors little sister, the fierce little dragon prince rhaena had been (it appeared to vickon) forced to surrender her title to the son of lord tristifer lannnister.
vickon knew very little of the lannister children: there were two sons and one was a tenacious land commander, but that was all he knew. his late father, however, had never spoken a kind word about the grey lion of the west. he often spoke ill of any other house, degrading all other gods, cultures, mocking the ironborn and once coming to physical blows in their past. balon had hated lord tristifer lannister, and vickon was immediately suspicious and enraged at the concept that the son of such a true cunt could have stolen or bullied the throne into his own hands. however, after hearing some positive things about the new lannister king and after meeting him at the wedding of the lannister and princess rhaena he found himself less wary. not fully in support, but not in direct fear. it seemed the son of tristifer, arryk was his name, did not take after his father in the traits balon had condemned and disparaged. vickon also hoped that rhaena would reach out to house greyjoy for an ally or support if the new king revealed himself a tyrant.
returning to pyke and correspond from a distance, vickon sent his sister to represent house greyjoy at the celebration of the young prince’s birth and focussed on advancing and perfecting the iron fleet and quashing any whispers of rebellion within his waters. still flanked, oddly happily, by the woman he had rescued nearly three years prior, vickon was only moved to leave pyke with the political summit on the horizon after the schism fractured the kingdom, watching pyke shrink in the horison he knew it was time to reveal himself in the public eye as the lord reaper of the iron isles and make the true ferocity and power of the ironborn voice heard.
↳ personality.
he was already stunted by the loss of his mother at such a young age, and the secondhand experience of his sisters sadness as well. he shouldn’t have but he did carry that in his heart and this was increased when naoka suddenly died. vickons faith has always kept him strong in ways he doesn’t understand, but he takes great comfort in knowing that the drowned god would have welcomed his mother, his young wife, his father and friend into his watery halls and given them the life that was stolen. taking a salt wife has allowed him in recent years to soften himself, but his guarded heart has long been a part of him that he will not erase again. vickon is, despite his slight detachment from his half siblings and really any reminder of his lost mother, ultimately a protector and this bond is only extended to people who have truly earned it.
↳ the splitting of the kingdoms.
honestly the schism somewhat caught him by surprise, due to the amount of kingdoms who decided to revolt individually instead of collectively. he thinks some have just reason to be in such a rage, but some he thinks are acting like irrational fools begging to be quashed.
♛ STATUS; TAKEN