[ARAGNEER] Renly Baratheon

Name:
Renly Baratheon

Age:
21

Gender:
Male

Sexual Orientation:
Bisexual but leans towards men more.

Species:
A shapeshifter.

Allegiance to House:
House Baratheon


Role to House:
Lord of the House Baratheon, heir to the Iron Throne and acclaimed King of Highgarden.

Personality:
Famed for his care-free attitude, the youngest of the Baratheon children is nothing short of charismatic. Some may say he seeks all sorts of attention but he was born with a gift of charming and being able to get himself out of sticky situations. His wits are always about him and he knows when a person needs pleasing. The young man has a way with words and as he holds pride as one of his main assets, he uses it to his advantage. He can be extremely loyal but extremely hard-headed. He has always had a problem with seeing what is best for the whole Kingdom as he finds it hard to look past his feud with his older brother. Many believe he is too frivolous and doesn’t have a cause to fight for. Of course, the young man will not admit this. He believes he has the most realistic cause and simply dislikes his grumpy brother, Stannis. In all, Renly is a cheerful, young man, who loves to laugh but can have a hard head when it comes to matters of the throne.

Physical Description:
It is said that Renly is the most handsome of his two brothers and looks much like his father, Steffon Baratheon, but holds his mother’s green eyes. Standing at six foot tall, Renly is the smallest of the three brothers. His lean figure contrasts greatly with the broad shoulders of most of the Baratheon men. Renly is lean but quite muscular with a healthy tan that makes his skin flow. His emerald eyes are piercing and his cropped but shaggy brown hair falls perfectly on top of his head. Usually the young man can be found wearing a golden antlered crown that causes his hair to spike up in several directions, alongside his gold and green armour, matching his eyes, that holds the golden antlers of the Stormlands’ sigil.

Powers and Abilities:
Unlike the other Baratheon brothers, Renly holds the ability to transform into a stag whenever he wishes. At times, the tines of his antlers can be seen peeping out from his tufts of chestnut-coloured hair and when angered or upset, they burst up through his head in alarm or to ward off any danger. With the ability to change into this magnificent, giant stag, Renly holds the ability to run quite fast when in this form and has better hearing than most people do. He can sense danger when it is lurking around the corner and is also more in touch with nature than he would be if he wasn’t a stag. Each ability holds its own special values but each brings weaknesses and strengths with it.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
With most shifters, they hold the problems that their animals hold. For Renly, he holds a lot of traits that his animal possesses and some are more dangerous than the other. In childhood he found that he possessed the skittish nature of any stag or deer. At the slightest hint of trouble, he would be out of the sight as soon as possible to make sure that he was not there when trouble came. He had learned to be weary as he watched his brother’s fight and continuously argue about the future of the Kingdoms they wished to rule. As time flew by though, the youngest of the Baratheon children gained the strength of a stag as it came to him through his pubescent years. Instead of continuing to dash off at the slightest hint of trouble, the young man now became stubborn and strong-willed. If danger was certain or a threat was close by, he would simply put his head down and charge right in. There was no stopping him and ever since those years, advisors and his new Rainbow guard have found it increasingly harder to get through to the boy’s thick skull. He has always been too proud to listen though. He listens to himself and a select few but believes that the strength and charisma he holds through his shape-shifting abilities will give him strength wherever he goes. Many would admire this but others scold it, believing him to be a foolish child with nothing but dreams of the world.


Weapons and Armour of Choice:
As a man who is not so keen on fighting, weapons and army are not well-known of by Lord Renly. His Rainbow Guard have always kept him as safe as possible to make sure that he is never harmed and since the young Lord has never been in war, he does not know what it holds but since claiming the title of King in Highgarden, he arranged to be clad in armour at all times and had a newly-forged sword made just for him.


His army of choice is just as beautiful as the knights of Tyrell that adorn his Rainbow guard ranks. Decked out in gold and green, the armour of Renly Baratheon is nothing short of stunning. As a boy who was said to have a love of shiny things and pretty colours, the armour suits his personality perfectly and the colours highlight every aspect of beauty and valour that the charismatic man holds. Gold metal plates cover around his muscular legs and thighs, making sure there is room to breathe in the appropriate places. Beneath all of this armour, is a long, emerald-green net of woven bands of special material. This material is simply wool to keep the male warm but as it is woven so tightly and inlaid into his armour, it is for extra protection and the green colouring accents the wonderful gold tint to his armour. On his upper torso, broad golden metal plates coat up to his elbows, leaving his gloved hands exposed and at times, freezing. These metal plates cover over his back and front, making sure that no harm could come to the future king of the Iron Throne. Upon his shining armour, he wears the proud tined antlers of the stag that adorns his banner. He cares little for how Stannis has thrown away their sigil, instead he wears his stag with pride, appreciating the house that he grew up in.

Attached to a smart, brown, leather belt around Renly’s slender waist is his weapon of choice. A long sword that goes by the name of Tine. A tine of an antler is said to be a bloody weapon, one that could pierce a man straight through the heart if there was enough force to it. Renly’s sword could do just that. The hilt of the blade is forged beautifully into the shape of two curved antlers with odd grips that help the fingers hold it better. Down the blade is an occasional wiry design of antlers, once again showing the pride Renly has for his house, no doubt a statement against his brother.

Finally, Renly holds no other weapons but two small daggers that he carries at the back of his belt. There are nothing special about these apart from that one was Steffon Baratheon’s, his late father. The dagger is not in particularly beautiful or designed but it is precious to Lord Renly and he holds it dear to him a tall times.


Background History:


The Childhood of a Boy Scolded
At the age of four, a young, brown-haired boy darted around the castle gleefully playing with a wooden horse that had been carved by a loyal friend of the family. Life outside was far from peaceful but as a boy, blood-shed and heartbreak was not witnessed. Jesters danced through the courts day by day, entertaining the boy, making him laugh jollily whilst the Maester of Storm’s End watched on with pride, hoping that one day the young boy before him would make a good heir to the household of Baratheon. The boy’s parents, Steffon and Cassana Baratheon often watched their youngest son, wondering how he had grown so different from the other two. Robert, Steffon’s pride, was an adolescent now, almost into his adult years, shaping up to be a fitting warrior but ruthless too, with a fickle heart that could change at the slightest second whilst Stannis, Cassana’s worry, was brooding and badly-tempered even at the young age he was. Renly, their joy, was a breath of fresh air to be around. He brought laughter and smiles to his family but was often scolded for bad behaviour and as Robert and Stannis grew, so did their scoldings. Often the boy became withdrawn, hiding in his room whilst a jester tried to make him laugh. Although he was still the jolly soul, as he grew taller and thinner than his brothers, he learned that he was going to have to impress his mother and father more than his brothers ever had to.
Tempers flared often and soon, the three brothers could be found scrapping in the Stables or in the yard, fighting with wooden swords, provoking each other to attack the next. Cassana and Steffon watched on in worry. Robert had grown strong and could knock out someone with one blow of the wooden stick he held as a weapon against his brothers. Stannis was cunning and often paid a stronger boy to fight for him, usually winning from his wits but of course, young Renly rushed in head first and often came home to the keep covered in whelps, bruises and bloody sores. Scolded for his foolishness, Renly was often sent to his chamber with no supper or dessert. The young boy began to brood but at the age of nine, when he had grown leaner but still just as boyish, things began to happen that could not be explained in such a small court, who had never seen this thing before.


The Stag Prince:
After many years of brooding, Renly was still the jolly boy he had always been. He filled his parent’s days with laughter and thrilling tales of things he had done throughout the day such as fly on the Targaryen’s dragons or see a warlock up close. All were false, of course but the tales spread far and fast and soon, the young boy was a popular storyteller. However, the story that would be told further on in his years would not be from his lips and would be nothing but the truth. At nine, Renly was growing into the handsome, young boy that many had said he would turn out like. He had grown accustomed to his brother’s beatings and being ignored by Stannis so he just got on with life but one day, Robert challenged him to a fight in the yard. Renly agreed but this time it was with small daggers and the penalty was honour. The young boy fought ferociously against his older brother, who was now twice the size he was. Scrapes and scratches could be found on the boy’s bodies but soon a fatal scrape caused Renly to snap. Robert threw a slice right down Renly’s army, causing blood to spill out everywhere. At the sight of blood, the young boy squirmed and tried to dart away. His usually-green eyes turned to a liquid amber and started with burning embers at the eldest of the Baratheon ‘tribe’. Great velvety antlers forced their way through the scalp of the nine-year old, causing him to cry out in pain and soon the whole body of the boy had turned into a magnificent yet small adolescent faun. Robert dashed off as fast as possible as the young Renly chased his brother away, only to hurdle straight into his parents. Immediately, he fell back into his human state and stared, wide-eyed at his parents.
Rumours began to fly and soon the Maester had given his verdict. The youngest of the Baratheon family was a shape-shifter. The first one in a long line of Targaryens and Baratheons. At first, things were terrifying and life had been turned upside down but Steffon and Cassana were proud and of course, the brother’s were jealous. Renly was taught how to shift correctly and soon, as he grew up, he was a grown stag, ready to face the world. The Stag Prince, they called him.

The Seat of Storm’s End:
In the coming years, the young man grew up to be a child of Autumn, excited by the prospect of war and knights and of course, being garbed in the most lavish armour his family could afford. His brothers had grown old now and looked down on him as a mere teen but he had always believed he was wiser and more full of strength than them. It was only when he was faced with his parent’s death that he found he may not be ready for war.
Sailing out from Shipbreaker’s bay, Steffon and Cassana launched their beautiful ship to the Free cities on King Aery’s request. The duo were meant to find Prince Rhaegar a beautiful wife so the bloodline of the dragons would stay strong but on their return, their ship hit rocky waters and the storm that blew that night raged worse than ever. Everyone lost their lives apart from a young fool that Steffon had wrote about. Now witless and shaky over his ordeal the fool, that goes by the name of Patchface , resides with Stannis, speaking prophecies of what would come and go. He is the only person who survived the storm and the only person that Renly did not want to see. He had been heartbroken by the loss of his parents and whilst his older brother’s mourned too, they did not mourn or show their grief quite as much as the young lord did. No fool could make him laugh and no rich food could delight his stomach. He was a shadow of his former self. A shadow that would soon become Lord of Storm’s End.
At his young age, Robert rebelled against the Targaryens and defeated Prince Rhaegar with his large sword, Warhammer. This led Renly to be protected by all who would protect the young lord as they did not want him to be taken as hostage. He lived a life of solitude, learning the lords, lady’s, houses and kingdoms that he would one day hopefully take over when his brother’s passed on the throne to him, if they had no male heirs of course. With his brother now on the Iron throne, Renly had little to worry about until he was given a place on the council and the seat of Storm’s End. His astonishment and surprise at this was unfathomable and he felt the rage that Stannis felt for him. He had taken his brother’s seat from him and now was the Lord of an entire Kingdom whilst his older brother simply held an old fort named Dragonstone. This led immediately to conflict of the brother’s but Stannis was rarely seen after he had been thrown to Dragonstone and Renly was allowed to do as he wished. Which was evident when the new Hand of the King, Eddard Stark arrived.
After Jon Arryn’s death and the three bastard children being born, Renly knew something was wrong and often warned Eddard. He knew that the man felt he had no claim to the throne but he felt the need to warn him of the scheming throughout the kingdom. Unfortunately, Eddard had never listened and once his head was lopped off, Renly soon darted from the Kingdom and took his seat back in Storm’s End.

A Forbidden Romance:
Although surrounded by his Maester, advisors and people who were loyal to the new Lord of the Stormlands, Renly had often felt lonely and the people of his kingdom eagerly awaited the news of an arranged marriage. This news never came. Instead, a young squire from the lands of Highgarden came into his service and he immediately felt the attraction between the two. The curly-haired Tyrell was a boy, two years younger than him but that didn’t mean anything. Renly knew that he was thinking in ways that a Lord should not and had never known how to deal with things like this. Instead, he tried to keep quiet about his new thoughts that occasionally occurred whenever his squire was tending to him but one night, when Loras came to clothe him for bed, the unimaginable had happed and since then, the two were almost always inseparable. They were best friends and now lovers but with the things going the way they were, Renly knew that the time was going to come when he would need a wife and since then has still struggled to find one and hide his strong feelings for the man he had knighted as the Knight of Flowers. Although he has never uttered the words of love to his forbidden partner, the day is growing nearer and with time not on his side, the man will soon utter the words when he feels it is right to.

Approval for the Antlered Crown:
After Robert’s ill-fated hunting trip, Renly stayed in Storm’s End, wondering what would happen next and trying to plan his next move. As the news came out that the three golden-haired children were not actually his brother’s, he knew that Stannis and him were now the only illegitimate heirs. It was their chance to take the throne and he believed he had the better claim. “Stannis has the personality of a lobster,” He would whine to his advisors, proving to them that he would make a better King than his brother ever would. With that, he started his rise to power.
Whilst his pride was strong, he continued to believe he had every right to hold the Iron throne in his power but one trip into the forest proved this to him further. As he galloped through the mighty woods of Mistwood in his proud stag form, the young prince of the throne came across a herd of deer, led by the most powerful stag in the forest. However, something shocking happened then when the stag bowed to him, showing a powerful connection between the two. In the Stormlands, a stag’s bow was said to be a seal of approval for something that the person he bowed to was struggling with. Whilst this could have been the forbidden romance Renly still battled with, he took it as his claim to the throne and immediately gathered his alliances to fight for his claim and set about a KingsGuard worthy of any young prince named the Rainbow Guard.
With his new guard at his side, Renly is unstoppable. His love for his Kingdom is strong and has the strength to succeed but will Stannis be his downfall and will the brothers come together in the Clash of Kings? Shadows lurk in the dark and it will be one that must fall for the other to succeed. Renly fears that it will be him and so he should fear. Whispers linger and spiders take flight as the battle will cause chaos when it comes to a head.