Ser Anton Valentin, Knight of Oldstones

Anton Valentin

David Gandy as Anton Valentin

Personal

name:	Anton Valentin
house:	Valentin
father:	Cyric Valentin
mother:	Lorena Storm
spouse:	None
issue:	None acknowledged

Appearance

gender:	Male
age:	29
height:	6'4"
weight:	205lbs
eyes:	Blue
hair:	Black

Political

honorific:	Ser, lord
title:	Knight of Oldstones
position:	Head of House
predecessor:	Cyric Valentin
heir:	TBD

Background

Lord Ser Anton Valentin is the head of House Valentin, a brand new house founded only a few years ago when his father was awarded the land at Oldstones by House Tully in thanks for services provided during Robert's Rebellion. Anton has only just recently assumed the title of Knight of Oldstones himself after returning, it is rumored, from some years spent in the East as a mercenary.

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Cyric Valentin was born in the Riverlands, though he spent relatively little time there. The son of Valentin, a knight sworn to House Tully, and Jeyna, his wife (whose parentage was unknown), he grew up at Riverrun until he was sent to serve as page to a tournament knight, a friend of his father's from the Westerlands. He squired for the same knight, traveling the seven kingdoms with him until his 18th birthday. It took him three more years to raise the coin to outfit himself as a knight, and he spent another few years touring the tourney circuit before swearing service to House Caswell of Bitterbridge in the Reach. There he married Lorena Storm, a young woman who claimed to be the bastard of a noble house, but refused to ever say which one. In 259, their first child was born, a son they named Anton.

Tiring of service to the Caswells, Ser Cyric and Lorena traveled back to the Riverlands, and Cyric found a post serving House Mallister. In time, his son Anton was made page to a vassal of the Mallisters, and then when he showed promise, squire to a Mallister cousin. By 20 his skill in tournament had earned him the armor of a knight. As his father had before him, he spent several years traveling the tournament circuit before Robert's rebellion broke out. He joined his father in the host raised by the lords of the Riverlands, where both distinguished themselves. After the war, Lord Hoster Tully rewarded Ser Cyric for his valor and service by granting him the land at Oldstones for his own. There, Cyric founded House Valentin, choosing his father's name to be the family's.

Ser Cyric's ambitions were not great. He spent most of his money and energy on rebuilding a fortress at Oldstones, and paid very little attention to the other aspects of founding and running a noble house. Ser Anton, for his part, had gotten a taste for battle during the war, and found that tournaments no longer slaked his appetites. He raised enough money to buy passage to Braavos, and there joined a mercenary company. When Cyric died suddenly in 287, Anton returned, and found that it had been left to him not only to finish the castle at Oldstones but to finally choose a coat of arms, words, colors… and an overlord. It turned out that in the confusion at the end of the war, it had never been made totally clear to whom Oldstones would be swearing vassalage. Everyone seemed to assume that Ser Cyric was bannerman to another, and with only a small village, minimal income, and no sworn swords to speak of, plus no opportunity since for his service to be exercised, nobody really bothered to look into it any further.

Now, however, Ser Anton has taken over, and the tone of the place has changed. Though the area isn't much good for agriculture or mining or any settled industries of that sort, the hunting and tanning that was already occurring on a small scale has been encouraged, and Ser Anton has begun to build up something of a trade in hides and leather products. With trade, of course, comes not only coin, but other trade as well, and while Oldstones is far from a center of anything and could really only be called 'bustling' on a good market day, it is clear that things are picking up. Construction of the fortress has very nearly returned it to a livable, defensible level, and a couple of knights, old acquaintances of Ser Anton's, have been recruited to swear their service. Rumor has it that while his experience in such things is limited at best, Ser Anton has been lucky in his steward, on whom he relies heavily when it comes to the actual running of Oldstones. Who, exactly, this mysterious mastermind behind the throne is has yet to come to light, but it's certainly easy to believe that a career knight would need a little help getting up to speed on administrative matters, particularly a knight who was raised with no expectation that he would ever hold land.

Though still not worth much fuss, Oldstones is no longer a place to be ignored, either, and people have finally begun to question whose bannerman he is, exactly. The Naylands seem the obvious answer, being a House of fairly low standing and in the right region. The Tullys granted the land to begin with, but surely a poor knight wouldn't be bannerman to the Lord Paramount himself? And while there are personal ties to the Mallisters, it seems likely they would consider themselves a bit too great for direct service as well. Perhaps they might try to defer that honor onto their vassals the Terricks, who certainly wouldn't mind extending their holdings, particularly in a way so inconvenient for their rivals. Murky as the matter is now, it seems likely to come to a head soon, especially with the tourney at Stonebridge on the horizon, which will be Ser Anton's first real excursion into Riverlands society. How he will fare remains to be seen.

RP Hooks & Info

Below is more info about Ser Anton and his family, provided in hopes of giving others an idea of what their characters might know or have heard about him, and also some hooks for future RP. If you see anything here that strikes your interest in terms of creating shared back story or future plot, please let me know!

- Tournament Knight - Ser Anton spent several years prior to the rebellion as a knight traveling the tournament circuit. He had begun to win minor acclaim for his skill when war broke out. Having competed in most major parts of the kingdom at least once over those years, he could easily have met other knights or their squires from any region. He has also convinced several acquaintances from his tournament days to come to Oldstones now as his sworn swords, and rumor has it he is always looking for more, though it's unlikely to be a particularly well-paying position.

- Rebel - Before the founding of House Valentin, Ser Anton and his father Ser Cyric fought in Robert's Rebellion on the rebel side. Ser Cyric was at the time in service to Lord Ser Jason Mallister, and Ser Anton returned from tournament to join them in the rebel host raised by the lords of the Riverlands. They fought in several battles, distinguishing themselves enough to earn the lands they now hold. Exactly what they did to earn them is also the subject of rumor, but it was apparently something that merited the attention of the Lord of Riverrun.

- Mercenary - Ser Anton also spent several years in the east, having traveled to Braavos to work as a sellsword after the rebellion. This part of his backstory is still something of a rumor in the Riverlands, one that only serves to make him seem even more of an outsider. Tales of his supposed exploits grow bigger and wilder in the telling, painting the new lord as something of a barbarian, though (it is generally agreed) a barbarian skilled in the martial arts.

- New Noble - House Valentin and the title Knight of Oldstones have only existed for five years, and have remained obscure and easily forgotten for all five. Ser Cyric never involved himself in Riverlands society, and Riverlands society made no overtures toward welcoming a new lord into their midst. The more established houses will no doubt consider the Valentins upstarts, knights but not real lords, and making inroads into the political landscape will surely be a challenge.

- Murky Origins - Not only has House Valentin not existed for more than a few years, but the family's lineage is not exactly prestigious. Most noble houses can trace theirs for several hundred years, sometimes several thousand; the Valentins can trace theirs back two generations at best. This is likely to be a source not only of scorn but also rumor. Where do they come from originally? Were they beggars? Farmers? Shipwrecked Iron Islanders? By-blows of a traveling noble? Descendants of ancient kings? If Ser Anton knows, he isn't telling.

- Local Ties - Though where they came from originally and out of whom is unclear, the Valentins do have definite ties to the region. Ser Cyric was born at Riverrun, where his father Ser Valentin was a sworn sword to the Tullys for most of his life. After some years elsewhere, Ser Cyric returned to the Riverlands and swore his service to the Mallisters, spending years at Seagard before the rebellion and his elevation. Ser Anton was page to a Mallister vassal and squire to a Mallister before he earned his knighthood and departed the area.

- Oldstones - Once there was a great fortress on the hill now called Oldstones, said to be impregnable. It was the seat of the Mudd family, an ancient dynasty among the First Men, Kings of the Rivers and the Hills. When the Andals invaded, King Tristifer IV Mudd fought one hundred battles against them, winning the first ninety-nine before being slain in the last. He was buried at Oldstones, and his crypt remains today. Locals consider the place to hold some sort of power, and though fallen into ruins over centuries, neither fortress nor crypt have been looted or defaced. Some wonder what it means to have a lord in Oldstones for the first time in thousands of years, especially as they have watched the walls slowly rise on the horizon once again. Craftsmen, particularly masons, engineers, and architects, might have found work at Oldstones over the past few years assisting in the rebuilding efforts.

Family

- Ser Cyric Valentin - Ser Anton's father, the first Knight of Oldstones. He was awarded this title and the land that accompanies it by Lord Hoster Tully at the conclusion of the rebellion, in recognition of services provided by Cyric and Anton. He chose the name 'Valentin' for their new house, and spent the next few years gradually rebuilding Oldstones before his recent death.

- Lorena Storm - Ser Anton's mother, dead some years. She was the bastard daughter of at least one noble of the Stormlands, though precisely who she never said.

- Larissa Valentin Mallister - Ser Cyric's sister, Ser Anton's aunt. She adopted the family name after it was established, though only for so long as it took to convince Calvan Mallister to finally marry his long-time mistress. Throughout his three previous marriages, Larissa, then a commoner living at Seagard, bore him several illegitimate children, all surnamed Rivers.

Physical Features

Anton Valentin stands just above 6 feet 4 inches tall, with dark hair that might be curly if it were allowed to grow long enough. As it is, he keeps it a cropped mass of wiry waves that is notoriously unruly. The beard that darkens his jaw is the same shade, though kept short enough that it's really only a few days past stubble. His features are angular and rugged, his eyes a deep blue. They frame a nose that might be too long were it not slightly crooked, evidence of a breaking or two. Mouth is wide as well, but full lips even it off. His skin is naturally fair, but tanned by long hours outdoors, and in places scarred, most notably just beside and below his right eye, where a pale line cuts diagonally, disrupting the natural wrinkles caused when he smiles or frowns. Long arms and legs are corded and thickened with well-defined musculature, and from the breadth of his shoulders it can be assumed that the rest of him is as well. Still, he has not the ungainly look that some big men do; while his form is solidly muscular, he moves with the fluid grace and quickness of a well-trained warrior.