[ARAGNEER] Stannis Baratheon

Name:
Stannis Baratheon

Age:
35

Gender:
Male

Species:
Human

Allegiance to House:
House Baratheon

Role to House:
King of the Iron Throne

Personality:
Out of the three Baratheon brothers, Stannis is the one who is known for being serious, ill-humoured and hard-headed. It is incredibly hard to make the young man smile and he usually has a frown or a scowl placed across his face. Throughout his life, many hardships have crossed through the man’s mind and it seems that these have all eventually taken their toll on him. Many people throughout the kingdoms have commented on the lack of charisma that Stannis has and cannot believe the difference between him and his brother’s. Whilst Robert Baratheon was always jolly and up for a laugh, his youngest brother has always been charismatic and able to charm anyone who he comes across. Stannis is nothing like this. He has never been able to converse with someone without upsetting them or offending them. This could all be down to the fact that he has never felt the love or affection of another. His subjects do not love him and he feels love for no-one else. He has a cold and cruel heart.
If a child was crying and he was asked for help, the brooding man would simply turn him away, not wishing to meddle in such affairs. He has never been one to bother with the people of his court and instead, he simply sits brooding in his courtroom, leaving all the work to his advisors. He is hated by many and with his stubborn attitude, it is hard to get Stannis to do anything unless it was his idea in the first place. He does not like anyone’s ideas and instead, is only interested in what he wants to do and it has always been this way. He is filled with duty and a sense of justice. If he believes something is wrong then it is wrong and that is the end of this. He will not forgive those that do wrong to him. He is not the most pleasant man to come across and so it has always been advised to take Stannis’ attitude with a pinch of salt.


Physical Description:
Like his older brother and his father, Stannis a broad man with great shoulders and a muscular build. He is said to be the boy who was born most like his father with tough, muscular legs and a slender torso but with large shoulders that could support great armour and swords that would eventually be held on his back when the time came for battle. His skin can be seen as quite taut and wrinkled, showing how he had not aged well and unlike most Southerners, Stannis was blessed with pale skin that often looks slightly grey. This pale skin can often burn in the sun of King’s Landing but as his seat of power was Dragonstone for a long time, he never burnt, thanks to the salty sea air that Blackwater Bay brought to the ‘dragon’ –guarded castle.
Whilst the two of his brothers gained handsome qualities and Renly was blessed with beautiful eyes, Stannis wasn’t blessed with anything in particular. With a large nose that has obviously been broken in places, Stannis’ face is gaunt looking after the years of scowling. The lines around his mouth now show in a permanent frown and only the shadow of his salt and pepper beard can hide these lines that he has gathered through the years. Large lines lay horizontal against his large forehead and the toll of the years gone by show him as exhausted and drained. The beady, brooding blue eyes do not help either. Darker than the rest of his families, Stannis’ eyes are an aquamarine colour that can appear jet black at times but when the sun glitters on them, you can see that he is a true Baratheon, destined for the life his family set off.
Stannis’ attire is pretty simple. He never found reason to wear such fancy armour and garb, not wanting to seem like the King who was only interested in riches and since he is an accomplished sailor too, he needed light clothing for when he is on a ship with his crewmen. Stannis wears a black, leather doublet at most times with the fiery heart and stag emblazoned on his chest. Over this, he wears plain, tarnished armour that covers most of the leather and his underclothes. Finally, he wears leather gloves to cover the blistered and calloused hands, making sure that he doesn’t add to the calluses.

Powers and Abilities:
As a mere human, Stannis has no unimaginable powers or abilities that are tributes of certain species’. However, with no great powers like his brother, Stannis has made himself be skilled in everything he does. He is well-versed and well-spoken, able to speak in a tongue that his fool, Patchface, had brought back with him from Essos. Not many men in the Seven Kingdoms are able to speak fluent Common Tongue and fluent of another language so this is one of Stannis’ few abilities.
Along with this skill of speaking in a different tongue, the King of the Iron throne is a capable warrior, able to hold a fort when the time comes for it. This ability was found during Robert’s Rebellion when he held the keep of Storm’s End for his brother and protected the people with the help of the Smuggler, Davos Seaworth. This skill comes in handy with being the King of the throne. He is always the first one over the wall or the first one into battle and it helps his people’s moral when battle is wearing their spirit down.

Strengths:

Strong Sense of Justice

Law-Abiding

Courageous

Able Warrior

Honourable

Hardy

Holds the qualities of a king

Strong sense of duty

Weaknesses:

Lack of humour

Lack of compassion

Narrow minded

Fierce

Cold-hearted

Unforgiving


Weapons and Armour of Choice:

As a warrior and King, Stannis’ armour is meant to stand out from the rest. Most knights and kings choose ornamental armour and plating with fancy golden decoration but Stannis believes that fancy armour will not win a battle. He scolds his soldiers for choosing fancy plating and most of the time, chooses snarling, grizzly knights to be a part of his guard as he knows that they will not pride themselves on looking ‘pretty’. It is one of the reasons why Stannis curls his nose up at the idea of Renly’s ‘Rainbow Guard’ as they are all decorated in fancy armour with fancy colours; a sin in the King’s eyes. If he could, he would ban all fancy armour from being made but then that would, once again, not gain him anymore affection.
Stannis’ own armour is nothing but simple. Large boots clad his feet, making sure that nothing could penetrate through and injure him so that he would be a weak walker whilst normal breeches sit, tied around the waist by his sword belt, which holds Lightbringer. Beneath these breeches, a thick layer of chain mail makes sure that he has extra protection for if a sword was to slash at his legs. This chain mail is accompanied by thick, metal guards that cover his knee caps, his shins and his thighs, making sure all of the tender flesh that could be harmed is hidden from sight and protected with the thickest metal possible. Above the waist, Stannis wears nothing but chain mail along his arms and his torso, wearing two layers so that if one hole is bare then the other layer of chain mail will cover it. Over this, he wears a vest of leather and metal bound together with the fiery heart of R’hllor and the small stag that is his house sigil. The metal vest hides the heart and the place where the lungs can be found but it is only bound to him by a fine strip of leather that covers around where his sword belt is too so it may be easy to penetrate the man from beneath.
Like many men, Stannis carries a dagger in his sword belt at all times so that he may be prepared if there was ever an attempt taken on his life but his most prized weapon is the legendary sword that sits on his belt, Lightbringer. When Stannis first took the fiery God of R’hllor, he burned the seven gods he had grown up with and in turn, Melisandre, the red priestess, retrieved a flaming sword from the father. This sword had glowed for a while but soon, it was charred with ash and burned steel but it became the legendary Lightbringer and is said to emit a glow and a warmth from it whenever it is unsheathed. Whether this legend be true or not, it is believed by many and so many believe that Stannis is the rightful King since he has this sword.

Background History:

A Childhood without Smiles:

Born as the second son of Steffon and Cassana Baratheon, Stannis was the middle child. He often tried to live up to be like his brother, who was a fierce warrior with enough might to kill anybody at the age of ten but Stannis was never like that. He wasn’t strong nor cheerful like Robert or Renly. He was brooding at that young age with an insatiable thirst for things to be done with rules and laws. If Robert or Renly did something that their mother and father had said ‘no’ to then Stannis would be the first to scold them, telling them that they could never rule firmly if they broke the rules themselves. Even back then, he was ill-humoured. Many fools and entertainers passed through the court, trying their hardest to cheer up the grumpy, bad-mannered man, however, he often remained on his own, becoming well-learned in battle tactics, ships and how to speak like a true ruler. His mother and father often worried for the boy but Renly and Robert never feared. They often annoyed their middle brother, trying to make him chase them or fool around but Stannis often only shouted at them, growing angry that they did not understand that he was not a fool like them. Renly was the one who annoyed him most. Decked in colours and playing with elaborate gifts turned the boy’s nose up and often, Stannis would break these gifts, scolding Renly for being foolish and not preparing for whatever would come from the Targaryen’s reign. Stannis was always prepared for the worst. His serious nature caused many to fear him and his parents were often worried about their middle son, watching him with fearful looks from the castle windows as he watched his brothers sword fight, rolling his eyes and grinding his teeth at them. He was so different from his brothers that they could not believe he was theirs and at times, when Stannis became harder to cope with, they really did wish he wasn’t theirs. Robert and Renly were the favourites whilst Stannis was cast out. The age of favourites ended with Steffon and Cassana’s death though. Whilst Renly and Robert grieved, the thirteen year old Stannis sat quietly, brooding over what was to come from their deaths and estimating the time it would take for a war to begin or for Robert to take Storm’s End. He felt little for the loss of his parents but through the ages, this childhood without smiles has worn him down and he only continued to be an unemotional man with a heart of stone.

Robert’s Rebellion:

As the years passed, the middle child became well-known for his grumpy nature and his inability to break rules or feel for those who felt they must break laws to protect their loved ones. Many resented his attitude for a long time until Robert’s Rebellion. When the lovely Lyanna Stark was kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen, the eldest Baratheon brother called for a war on the dynasty of the dragons. Many could no longer stand the rule of the men that corrupted their kingdom and with this, Stannis became involved too. As a loyal man to his brother and a man at the tender age era of his twenties, he held the great seat of House Baratheon, Storm’s End, for his brother, making sure that it would not fall to any such siege and that it would remain as a safe place for the Kingdom of the Stormlands. It was a harsh time and many looked to Stannis for guidance and help but as a man who held no love for others, it was difficult to seek such solace in his being. Instead, many lost hope and clung to their young ones with wishes of mercy. It was up to the people fighting to give them peace and to allow their lives to go back to normal. Stannis ruled with an iron fist. He made sure that rules were not broken and that his people were kind to each other and were not making matters worse for themselves. This was crucial when Storm’s End came under siege, thanks to Mace Tyrell’s vanguard. He forced his keep to hold out for as long as possible and by doing so, he kept one of the greatest Targaryen loyalist armies from the field, ensuring Robert a smoother victory than he would of if the siege had broken. Soon though, Storm’s End was too surrounded for food to get in and it seemed as though they would soon fall but Stannis kept as stubborn as ever until a man named Davos Seaworth smuggled in food for the kingdom, helping them break the siege down and being dubbed their saviour. Since that day, Stannis has kept his loyal friend, Davos, at his side and granted him mercy for saving them. Although he was a smuggler, Stannis simply cut off four fingers of his hand to show that breaking the laws was unacceptable but he received his life as payment for saving the lord’s life. He would be quite lost without his right-hand man and rarely has let him out of his sight since the siege.

The Prize of Dragonstone:

At the end of the siege, much to Stannis’ shock and dismay, he was awarded the sacred Targaryen seat of Dragonstone; an ancient keep that had plenty of history of the dragons that roamed the great Realm of Westeros. Mad King Aerys was still in power and Dragonstone was filled with Targaryen loyalist, which needed ousting. Stannis ousted these menaces with no problem and as a reward, Robert gave him Dragonstone and named him the lord of the ancient cast. This outraged the brooding prince. As the middle child and next in line for the throne, he felt that it was his birthright to receive his father’s ancient seat of Storm’s End, where he could finally become the Lord of the Stormlands and rule over a kingdom of his own but his older brother had different ideas. He sent Stannis to Dragonstone, where Stannis felt like he was exiled from his family. His youngest brother, Renly, the new Lord of Storm’s End had done nothing in the war and so he couldn’t understand why he was the one who got Storm’s End. He began to brood even more and although he often showed loyalty, courage and strength for his brother, nobody could see the hate and betrayal that filled his heart. He felt as though he had been denied what was rightfully his and from that day forth, his love for his younger brother, Renly was to become cut short. The relationship became even more strained and there was to be little they could do to repair the broken brotherly love, if it was ever there in the first place.

The Master of Ships:

As another reward for his great warfare skills, Stannis was seated upon the small council of King’s Landing, where he was named the Master of Ships. He was pleased by this title as it showed how capable he was when it came to seafaring and when the time came to sail against the Greyjoys during their rebellion, the capable warrior smashed the Iron fleet with barely any ships, showing himself to be a great man for war. Stannis had always been proud of this victory, winning a whole island for his brother’s name but once again, his capability and victory went unnoticed. Many called it Eddard and Robert’s victory but it was neither of their victory. Davos, Stannis and many other wars had faced death head on to win the island of Great Wyk but they went unnoticed whilst the Realm praised their new king, crowning him soon after the victory of the rebellion. Stannis returned to Dragonstone, where he married Selyse Florent and raised a sickly, young girl with Greyscale named Shireen Baratheon. However, even his marriage went unnoticed as Robert deflowed Selyse’s sister on his own wedding bed and helped produce the only acknowledged bastard child of the Stormlands, Edric Storm. The child was quickly sent to his uncle Renly and Stannis lost any love he had left for his brother. Too much had gone on for him to ever forgive him. He was always the forgotten brother and that is why many believe he became the cold-hearted man he is today.

The Lack of Gratitude for the Stone Man:

As mentioned previously, Stannis was always loyal and gave endless service to his brother when he became the king but he was unappreciated in all of this. He was never thanked for holding Storm’s End against the Tyrells and instead, Eddard Stark was praised for lifting it. Instead of being thanked for holding Dragonstone, Stannis was cursed for letting two of the Targaryen children survive and take flight over the narrow sea and when Jon Arryn found it difficult to rule the kingdom whilst Robert was drunk and whoring, Stannis took over but was never noticed for that either. The grumpy male had done everything in his power to get recognition for being a great and loyal lord but nobody ever paid him heed. The fact that nobody showed an ounce of care for him fast turned him sourer than ever. The wrinkles on his face began to show more prominently and what had once been a mouth that could rise, fell into a constant frown that was getting increasingly harder to lift. At times, Stannis often wondered if it would be better to leave his birthright behind and travel to Essos in search of a life where he would be noticed but he was always filled with duty and honour and could never run away from what lay ahead of him, especially when he made revelations about Robert Baratheon’s and Cersei Lannister’s ‘children’.

The Studies of Lineage and his Revelation:

In the events leading up to Eddard Stark’s death, Stannis had been puzzled by the blond hair of Robert Baratheon’s and Cersei Lannister’s children. Whilst pouring over the books of family history, he found no other Baratheon child with blond hair and green eyes. This soon made his suspicions grow and he immediately sent a raven to Jon Arryn. Unfortunately, Jon had fallen too soon and could not make the revelation himself; instead Stannis quickly took action with his forces to become the King, leading to the Battle of Blackwater. With his claim being shunted by the Lannisters in power and with his eldest brother dead, Stannis knew it was his birthright to take the throne for himself. He set an army to sail into Blackwater and believed he would win because of a new whisperer in his ears. Selyse Florent, his aging wife, had grown close to a red priestess from R’hllor. This red priestess had started to whisper into Stannis’ ear before he decided that his claim was ripe for the taking and had caused him to seek no council but with her and Davos Seaworth. Many were outraged by this new religion on Dragonstone but others took to it quickly, all of them going so far as to burn the seven and believe in the ancient sword, Lightbringer, which many believe Stannis holds. This red woman led Stannis and his fleet to battle with her words and when their fleet was scorched by Wildfire, it was her that felt the pain of it. Stannis had been so angry with her words that he leaped and strangled her, threatening to cut off all circulation from her body but he soon let go but not before realising the fate he had sent his brother.

Rising Against Renly:

When Joffrey Baratheon choked on a gem at his own wedding, many believed that Tommen, his younger brother, would seat himself as King but Stannis drove the Lannisters from his sacred city with a new army and his fleet of pirates in Blackwater Bay. This time he was successful and was crowned king soon after. However, more trouble would soon arise. Other kings in Westeros began to crown themselves in their own lands and one of these was none other than his brother, Renly. Melisandre had spoken many words of just getting rid of the youngest of Steffon and Cassana’s children but Stannis refused to become a kinslayer. Instead, he has prepared his army and his fleet for any takeover that may arise whilst Melisandre sits in the shadows, conjuring up a menacing being to attack Renly. The King of the Iron throne has weaved a tangled web and needs the hand of the king, Davos, to help him untangle it and see what they can do to keep the throne for its rightful heir.