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Sovereign Application
PLAYER: Masa
NAME: Arthur Lannister
AGE: 20
ETHNICITY: Westerlander
HOMETOWN: Casterly Rock
CURRENT RESIDENCE: The Red Keep
OCCUPATION: Noble, Knight
SKILLS:
Arthur is an accomplished knight and has been trained by the finest men that money can buy. He excels at both swordplay and jousting.
He has been given a maester's education and although not the greatest student, he can name most noble houses by their banners and words, and has a typical noble's understanding of the world.
His family is rich. Though not a skill, it comes in quite handy to be able to utter the words: A Lannister Always Pays His Debts.
HISTORY: Arthur is the eldest surviving son of Alec Lannister, as his elder brothers either died stillborn or as sickly infants. He grew up relatively isolated in his home at Casterly Rock, where he was afforded with all the advantages a rich family could provide. Although not always the best student, he took his daily lessons from Maester Gaius while in the training yard he learned to use a sword. Under his father’s watchful eyes, he was expected to bring great glory to the Lannister name and to others, he certainly seemed to have the makings of greatness.
But where Arthur had a particular proficiency for martial prowess, his softness for the smallfolk would pose problems. He never had a problem with servants, but he would always be the first to object to the punishments his father would deliver. None of these were particularly egregious by Westerosi custom or law, but Arthur’s touch for mercy would more than once have his father require Arthur to carry out the sentence to toughen him up. Over time, he would learn to stifle his objections but never proficiently enough that his father didn’t know.
After his twelfth name day, he was to be sent off to Lord Tyrell as a ward in the hopes that the more battle seasoned Reachman would toughen him up, but the arrangement fell through. Rather than send his ward off to one of his bannermen, it was decided Arthur would stay at Casterly Rock instead. His life could have been scarcely called difficult, though it was not without incident. He was knighted at the young age of sixteen and at which point, even began to compete at tournaments and events. After winning one tourney in the Crownlands, he mistakenly named a bastard girl as the ‘Queen of Love and Beauty’, which not only earned his father’s rebuke but also a great deal of scornful mockery from his peers as well.
Whenever an uprising would occur in the Westerlands, it became expected of him to lead his father’s men to deal with it. In one of the first occurrences, his inability to lead resulted in the complete slaughter of a village of dissidents who had been hunting in his father’s forest. Although praised for his sense of justice, he marked that as his own personal failure. He would eventually take on a squire (more servant) after his life was saved in a freak accident, though the boy was not much younger than he was. One particularly scandalous event had Arthur falling in love with one of the bedmaids that went on for a few months before his father found out. His naive and young insistence on love only made it worse for the maid, resulting in the girl being exiled to find work elsewhere.
After his nineteenth name day, he was sent to accompany the king to fight off the pirates in the Stepstones to toughen him up and in order to develop a rapport with the ruling monarch. It was a difficult time not only due to his own lack of real war experience, but with his own king’s sometimes baffling decisions. He served loyally, ‘til the moment he witnessed both the king and his dragon come crashing into the sea. It was Arthur and his crew of Lannister men that fished the dead king from the sea. As the son of one of the high lords, he took it upon himself to bring back both the king’s body and the Targaryen’s ancestral sword back to the new king. He had been waiting at the Red Keep since then.
PERSONALITY: Arthur is a virtuous knight in a world where valor and honor are luxuries that not even the richest dynasty in the Seven Kingdoms can afford. He feels a strong sense of responsibility which though admirable, fails to grasp the bigger picture of things. When things go wrong, he is the first to step up to accept blame. Should his soldiers or servants be chastised, it’s always Arthur who steps into speak up for them. This was a trait from his childhood that diminished little in adulthood. He and his father have been known to have explosive arguments for which Arthur cannot have said to have ever won.
But it would be a mistake to paint Arthur as all virtue. He is a creature of his time and place in society. He might protect the smallfolk, but he is not so sentimental as to believe himself issues. Arthur is well adjusted to having his needs attended to and for never being short on the gold necessary to afford himself the luxuries of his station. It has often been his experience to misjudge the poverty of other noble houses when he will wear armor of exorbitant prices or to provide outrageous tips to whatever merchants he might have business with. This oft makes him popular among the mercantile classes, but it’s many small lords who secretly despise him while playing friends at a chance of having some of the Lannister wealth fall their way.
To some he is simply considered to be a useless prat. While it is true that Arthur has shown a talent for martial prowess and an ability to inspire his men, his military tactics are lacking due to his unwillingness to sacrifice his men. This makes him a favorite among soldiers under his command, but an impractical commander. Although taught by a maester, he has never demonstrated any special aptitude for education. He’s clever enough, as much as any other noble might be, but hardly exceptional. These problems have coalesced into making him a knight worthy of songs and tales, but a worrying heir to one of the seven kingdoms. He often feels more than he thinks.
His father’s strict discipline has over time had a lasting impact on Arthur. It is rare to see him in disagreement with his father, though it has led to instances where he has acted against his father’s wishes in order to simply apologize after the fact. Following the dismissal of the castle maid he had become smitten after, Arthur has learned that a lord can have a tumble in the local brothel, but it’s not his duty to go looking for love. Consequently this has left him to play his courtesies to highborn women, but to pay no special interest - unless his father deems he should. A marriage for the good of the realm is an inevitability he has made peace with.
But away from his father’s auspices, Arthur is a man quick to smile and jest who makes friends easily and treats his fellow knights as equals. He feels things stronger than he lets on, but must ever play a battle between earning his father’s approval and following his own moral compass.
CONNECTIONS:
His father is the Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, Alec Lannister.
Arthur mistakenly crowned Morgana Waters as the ‘queen of love and beauty’ after a Crownsland tournament that he won.
He previously met Lancelot before he had been knighted, at which point Arthur’s ‘gracious’ advice wasn’t well received (or given).
His mother was a Dayne and although he has little contact with his mother’s family, he’s more or less aware of who they are.
He fought with the previous king in the battles at the Stepstones, where he forged strong friendships among his fellow combatants.
CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: Arthur Lannister
AGE: 20
ETHNICITY: Westerlander
HOMETOWN: Casterly Rock
CURRENT RESIDENCE: The Red Keep
OCCUPATION: Noble, Knight
SKILLS:
HISTORY: Arthur is the eldest surviving son of Alec Lannister, as his elder brothers either died stillborn or as sickly infants. He grew up relatively isolated in his home at Casterly Rock, where he was afforded with all the advantages a rich family could provide. Although not always the best student, he took his daily lessons from Maester Gaius while in the training yard he learned to use a sword. Under his father’s watchful eyes, he was expected to bring great glory to the Lannister name and to others, he certainly seemed to have the makings of greatness.
But where Arthur had a particular proficiency for martial prowess, his softness for the smallfolk would pose problems. He never had a problem with servants, but he would always be the first to object to the punishments his father would deliver. None of these were particularly egregious by Westerosi custom or law, but Arthur’s touch for mercy would more than once have his father require Arthur to carry out the sentence to toughen him up. Over time, he would learn to stifle his objections but never proficiently enough that his father didn’t know.
After his twelfth name day, he was to be sent off to Lord Tyrell as a ward in the hopes that the more battle seasoned Reachman would toughen him up, but the arrangement fell through. Rather than send his ward off to one of his bannermen, it was decided Arthur would stay at Casterly Rock instead. His life could have been scarcely called difficult, though it was not without incident. He was knighted at the young age of sixteen and at which point, even began to compete at tournaments and events. After winning one tourney in the Crownlands, he mistakenly named a bastard girl as the ‘Queen of Love and Beauty’, which not only earned his father’s rebuke but also a great deal of scornful mockery from his peers as well.
Whenever an uprising would occur in the Westerlands, it became expected of him to lead his father’s men to deal with it. In one of the first occurrences, his inability to lead resulted in the complete slaughter of a village of dissidents who had been hunting in his father’s forest. Although praised for his sense of justice, he marked that as his own personal failure. He would eventually take on a squire (more servant) after his life was saved in a freak accident, though the boy was not much younger than he was. One particularly scandalous event had Arthur falling in love with one of the bedmaids that went on for a few months before his father found out. His naive and young insistence on love only made it worse for the maid, resulting in the girl being exiled to find work elsewhere.
After his nineteenth name day, he was sent to accompany the king to fight off the pirates in the Stepstones to toughen him up and in order to develop a rapport with the ruling monarch. It was a difficult time not only due to his own lack of real war experience, but with his own king’s sometimes baffling decisions. He served loyally, ‘til the moment he witnessed both the king and his dragon come crashing into the sea. It was Arthur and his crew of Lannister men that fished the dead king from the sea. As the son of one of the high lords, he took it upon himself to bring back both the king’s body and the Targaryen’s ancestral sword back to the new king. He had been waiting at the Red Keep since then.
PERSONALITY: Arthur is a virtuous knight in a world where valor and honor are luxuries that not even the richest dynasty in the Seven Kingdoms can afford. He feels a strong sense of responsibility which though admirable, fails to grasp the bigger picture of things. When things go wrong, he is the first to step up to accept blame. Should his soldiers or servants be chastised, it’s always Arthur who steps into speak up for them. This was a trait from his childhood that diminished little in adulthood. He and his father have been known to have explosive arguments for which Arthur cannot have said to have ever won.
But it would be a mistake to paint Arthur as all virtue. He is a creature of his time and place in society. He might protect the smallfolk, but he is not so sentimental as to believe himself issues. Arthur is well adjusted to having his needs attended to and for never being short on the gold necessary to afford himself the luxuries of his station. It has often been his experience to misjudge the poverty of other noble houses when he will wear armor of exorbitant prices or to provide outrageous tips to whatever merchants he might have business with. This oft makes him popular among the mercantile classes, but it’s many small lords who secretly despise him while playing friends at a chance of having some of the Lannister wealth fall their way.
To some he is simply considered to be a useless prat. While it is true that Arthur has shown a talent for martial prowess and an ability to inspire his men, his military tactics are lacking due to his unwillingness to sacrifice his men. This makes him a favorite among soldiers under his command, but an impractical commander. Although taught by a maester, he has never demonstrated any special aptitude for education. He’s clever enough, as much as any other noble might be, but hardly exceptional. These problems have coalesced into making him a knight worthy of songs and tales, but a worrying heir to one of the seven kingdoms. He often feels more than he thinks.
His father’s strict discipline has over time had a lasting impact on Arthur. It is rare to see him in disagreement with his father, though it has led to instances where he has acted against his father’s wishes in order to simply apologize after the fact. Following the dismissal of the castle maid he had become smitten after, Arthur has learned that a lord can have a tumble in the local brothel, but it’s not his duty to go looking for love. Consequently this has left him to play his courtesies to highborn women, but to pay no special interest - unless his father deems he should. A marriage for the good of the realm is an inevitability he has made peace with.
But away from his father’s auspices, Arthur is a man quick to smile and jest who makes friends easily and treats his fellow knights as equals. He feels things stronger than he lets on, but must ever play a battle between earning his father’s approval and following his own moral compass.
CONNECTIONS: