Strike Them Down

47. thoros dondarrion, grandson of beric dondarrion. lord of blackhaven. westeros's most emotionally unavailable bachelor.

[xlordoflightningx-blog]

ooc

i'll be out of town on business for the next week, but i would sincerely encourage anyone to reach out for more plots with thoros. i hope everyone had an excellent weekend.

[xlordoflightningx-blog]

greeneyedreed:

Ascar couldn’t help but chuckle slightly, “Then it seems I play it well.” he paused a beat and explained, “You see, this song was written to help guide lost souls to their homes and loved ones.” he had been feeling more than a little lost within this foreign land and perhaps it was his own way of finding comfort. It wasn’t as though he could send a raven to Greywater asking for his family’s words.

“Forgive me, but I’ve yet to see you around the Keep, My Lord.” he said, curious eyes landing on the older man. As usual a great many questions flew to his mind that he worried would be considered too prying, if other responses were anything to go by.

“I won’t consider myself disturbed if there’s good conversation to be had. I fear in this place it’s becoming harder and harder to find.” Not that a Crannogman had garnered a great amount to begin with.

thoros dared to take a seat as the young man explained. he kept the particular melody in mind, thinking that perhaps he could learn it on his own later. of course, he could always ask the other to teach it to him, but thoros could be as stubborn as a mule and often liked to attempt things on his own before asking for help. 

drawn from his thoughts, the lord gave another smile. “i fear that you aren’t likely to find me in the company of other lords; more often than not, your best bet is to search the kitchens or the gardens. i must admit that i prefer cooking and sewing and flowers to talk of war and whores and other such bores.” he gave a whimsical wave of his hand as if to physically dismiss the very thought of such things. “and, if i do say so myself, i’m quite the conversationalist. or, at the very least, i have a lot to talk about. perhaps too much to talk about, depending on who you’d ask.” 

with a slight grin, he extended his hand. “thoros dondarrion, lord of blackhaven.”

[thexwildxones-blog]

Nimronyn Fowler did not like being ordered around, nor did she like being trapped. She most certainly cared very little for Targaryens, the descendants of those who conquered her homeland, stole her family’s crowns, and a thousand years later still kept Dorne under the heel of their boots. She also found that not even a small bit of sympathy could be summoned for the dead Rufus Arryn and his grieving family. The Vale was the home of the wicked bitch that ruined her life. Perhaps it was petulant of her, but she hated everyone from The Vale, as if her woes were their fault. As far as she was concerned, they were all to blame. But here she was, forced to remain in the bloody Keep. Caged like an animal. Making everyone stay until the murderer was found was the smart thing to do, of course, but that didn’t soothe her rage. Being woken up only stoked the flames. Hissing under her breath, Nimronyn cursed the mother of whoever bore the bastard banging on the door to her quarters. She combed her fingers through her hair and teased the locks into some semblance of presentability before pulling open the door and casting a coy smirk at the one who disturbed her. “I am not quite sure how things are done here, but where I come from we don’t wake those who sleep unless it’s life or death.” Bold, even as she wore only a slip of silk, Nim carried herself with an air of confidence. Behind her, two falcons screeched in agreement and bobbed their heads. “What do you want?” she sighed.

[xlordoflightningx-blog]

despite the miserable circumstances of thoros's . . . prolonged visit to the heart of the crownlands, he was determined to make the best of it. he was quite proud of the amount of needlework he'd achieved now that there was nobody around to knock on his door and insist that something urgent needed his attention. and yet that still wasn't quite enough to keep his mind busy. he tried sparring and singing and visiting the common folk, and he even spent a fair amount of time in the kitchens of the red keep.

there was one person he knew of that could easily quell his anxiety, but he staved off the desire to go to her. at least for a while. 

it was close to the evening when he finally summoned enough courage to seek her out, roses in one hand and chocolate treats in the other. she would be sleeping -- or near to it -- by the time he got there. it seemed wise to present her with gifts. he didn't want to get on her bad side. 

and thoros knew there would be whispers circulating, churning the rumor mill, of how he visited her late in the evening with gifts and disappeared into her chambers. there was never a shortage of rumors or judgement among lords and ladies, passed around by the ever-vigilant servants. it was his good fortune that nimronyn had little care for what others thought of her and her proclivities. a fond smile passed over his lips when he thought of her, and he quickened his pace.

as expected, she had been claimed by slumber and wasn't quite keen on being pulled away. thoros hesitated to answer, finding himself entranced by her visage. even ravaged by weariness she was . . . resplendent. thoros was lost in her brown eyes. he moved his lips but words were failing him. i must look like a great big fish before her now, he thought to himself. thoros turned as red as a tomato and he bowed his respectfully. "i offer my deepest apologies, dear lady; i hadn't meant to intrude. perhaps it would be wiser for me to visit another time." his heart thundered in his chest. b o o m. b o o m. b o o m. he prayed to the gods -- r'hllor, the mother, the maiden, the crone, and even the nameless gods of old -- that his visit was not in vain. he wasn't too proud to admit his desperation to be near her.

[greeneyedreed]

Ascar had found a deserted room within the keep and decided to spent the early evening playing some music. He’d settled on a chair with his pipes and began to play a song that was known quite well in his homeland but likely foreign to most others. The large room did have excellent acoustics and over the sounds of the garden outside the window his music echoed and Ascar felt truly peaceful for the first time in a great while. 

A while in he noticed a person standing in the doorway and stopped playing, “My apologies, I hope the music didn’t disturb you?”

[xlordoflightningx-blog]

trapped. thoros felt trapped. he worried more for his people than himself, though he didn't think he was any sort of a target. s u r e, many a feather had been ruffled when he declared house dondarrion to be bannermen to house fowler. he rejected the targaryens, the family that had declared his ancestors lords and given them lands -- T W I C E. surely that didn't warrant a knife in his back; or his head on a spike. 

one never knew what a targaryen would do, his grandfather would tell him. perhaps the murders were committed by another house, which seemed more likely; house arryn was loyal to the crown, and it didn't seem wise to start one's official reign by murdering allies. one never knew what a targaryen would do. thoros shivered as those words came back to him. 

glancing up from the book in his hand, he realized just then that he'd been wandering. he also hadn't been reading. thoros frowned when it dawned on him that he'd lost his place in the book while he had stuffed his head into the clouds of worry and despair. no matter; he could find it later. his concern now was sating his curiosity, drawn into another room by the sound of music. 

of course, thoros didn't want to d i s t u r b the stranger. thoros stood as still as a statue, even held his breath. the music was beautiful and soothing. thoros smiled a sad smile when his noticed presence caused the music to and abruptly. 

"disturb me? hardly; i was only wandering until i heard your song." thoros took a small step into the room and held his book to his chest. he bowed his head slowly. "i fear it is i who've disturbed you."

[xlordoflightningx-blog]

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.