| "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." |
|
|
Who is he?
Ser Karel Stenhammar, sworn sword to House Nayland. It's known that he's the fourth child of a struggling couple that, at least when he left them, lived on a farm outside of Lord Harroway's Town. He squired with his mother's cousin, a free lance named Ser Matjaz Cowell, before getting knighted after a battle with mountain clansmen on the High Road while protecting a merchant caravan.
He became a sworn sword to the Naylands a number of years back, bringing with him his son. The mother of the boy having been dead for a number of years.
The Background
Born to a pair of peasants not far from Lord Harroway's Town in the summer of 253, Karel Stenhammar was the fourth child of the couple. Marek and Carline. His older siblings were his five years older brother Pieter, and the two years older twins Lyam and Ulrika. The family struggled, and although they got enough food to get by, there was very seldom a time that they could say they weren't feeling hungry.
When Karel was about 14, a free lance, Ser Matjaz Cowell, Carline's cousin, stopped by to visit the family. Karel had grown into a strong boy, from doing quite a bit of work helping his father repair things and so on, something that impressed the knight. And after a discussion with the entire family, he offered to take on Karel as his squire, something Marek and Carline agreed to let him do. Partially because Matjaz ensured them the boy could become a good knight one day, and partially so they would have one mouth less to feed. And so, Karel had to say goodbye to his family, and left with Matjaz, preparing for his life to become the adventure he'd always dreamed about.
But it was a rather hard life, with lots of hard work, and small tasks that constantly tried his patience, in addition to lots of travelling wherever Ser Matjaz needed to go to be hired. It took quite some time before he got used to this way of life, and often he wanted to just quit and get back home, but the knight he followed was good at motivating the young lad, who after a while started dedicating himself to becoming a warrior.
It was clear to see early that like his knight, Karel's weapon of choice was the war hammer, and he soon showed some promise with that rather heavy weapon. He also got to learn a bit about other kinds of weapons, finding them quite interesting, but the war hammer was always his favorite. Other things he learned was riding, hunting and surviving in the wilderness, since Ser Matjaz often stayed in the wilderness while going from place to place.
There were a few places that the two ended up in more often than others, and it was in one of those places that he met a girl who’d take up a special place in his life. The girl’s name was Winessa Ports, and every time Matjaz and Karel was in town, the young squire spent as much of his time as he could with her.
It was right before they left for one of those long periods of travel again about the time when Karel had turned 19 that he found out that Winessa was with child, and he was going to become a father. She knew that he could not settle down yet, and he promised her that as soon as he could, he would come back and marry her.
As the knight and squire left again, Karel doubled his effort to learn the things he needed to know, hoping to get through it very soon so he could keep his promise to Winessa. Unfortunately, they could not be there as the child, a boy who got the name Hoekenn Meikell Stenhammar, was born. The fact that he wasn’t able to be there when his son was born has haunted Karel ever since. They checked back on the woman and the kid when the young boy was about six months old, spending a few weeks there, before they were hired to help protect a merchant caravan travellng on the High Road up to the Vale of Arryn. This trip would change Karel’s life even further, as they were attacked by a large group of clansmen from the mountain clans.
The battle that followed was chaotic, especially for a young squire, and he soon found himself separated from Ser Matjaz, and he tried as best he could to remember the lessons he had gotten from the man. Suddenly he found himself near one of the lead merchants in the group, an older man, who was attacked by two of the clansmen. The merchant wasn’t good when it comes to fighting, so Karel threw himself in between the man and the clansmen, managing to take down one of the attackers in his initial attack. The second was a bit tougher, and Karel got a solid cut to his side, leaving a solid scar there for later. But he managed to get the clansman killed, and guard the merchant before passing out at the end of the battle.
When he woke up a few days later, they were in the Vale, the wounded getting treatment for their wounds. And the merchant Karel saved was quite grateful, and promised to sponsor the young man when it came to the gear that he needed to become a knight. And as soon as he was back on his feet, and the gear was in place, Ser Matjaz did the ceremony which turned young Karel into Ser Karel. Getting the chance to keep his promise to Winessa, he went back to the town, and the two of them were married not long thereafter. This allowed Karel to take more care with of his family, although like when he was traveling with Ser Matjaz, he spent long periods of time out on the road, to earn some money for his little family. That was how life was for a few years, until Winessa fell ill and died. The town held too many memories for Karel then, so he took his son with him, and started a travelling life.
One thing was clear as they went on the road. Karel had a tendency to end up in troublesome situations. Not because he actively tried to find them, but because they had a tendency to find him. This was one of the reason he took his son on as a page when the boy was old enough, wanting to give him a chance for knighthood as he grew up. It seemed that what the boy was best at was the things involving weapons, though.
When his son first began to help him when they got in trouble, Karel got a little worried about that, but he soon learned that it was a good thing, since the kid was competent in these matters. But he knew that to give his son the best chance to become the knight he had hopes the boy would be, he needed to find a place to settle down, hopefully to serve a house.
And it was about five years ago that he was working for House Nayland, and got the chane to swear his sword to the house. He also managed to get his son to be a page, and later a squire to one of their knights. Karel’s become very loyal to the Naylands, fully willing to lay down his life for the house, if needs to.
Family
- Marek Stenhammar, father
- Carline Stenhammar, mother
- Pieter Stenhammar, older(5 years) brother
- Lyam Stenhammar, older(2 years) brother
- Ulrika Stenhammar, older(2 years) sister
- Winessa Ports, wife(deceased)
- Hoekenn Meikell Stenhammar, son
Physical Features
He's standing about six feet tall, this man that seems to be in his thirties. He's got the build of someone who's spent most of his life staying in good physical shape, slender but with strength. His hair has a brownish red color, and is just a few inches long. Steely grey eyes watch the world a bit carefully, right above a nose that seems to be slightly larger than the average. Pale and rather thin lips frame his mouth, and there's a short beard, the same color as his hair, along his jaw. His skin is a bit tanned, like a man who's spent much of his time outside traveling.
Others, Himself and Other Things
- The Cover
- House Nayland
- House Erenford
- House Charlton
- House Haigh
- House Frey
- House Mallister
- House Terrick
- House Groves
- House Flint
- House Banefort
- House Westerling
- Commoners
- Personality
"There's a battle ahead
Many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're traveling with me"
- "Don't Dream It's Over" Crowded House
Recent Activity
(aemy brennart daryl freya jocelyn karel logs nedra nikolus ozric social)
(aeliana aelinor aeron aleister anathema aralima daryl event freya hareth hoekenn jocelyn karel logs miranda nedra perrin rafferdy renholdt rickart tiaryn tyroan)
(anathema hoekenn jocelyn karel logs renholdt senna social taleryth tyroan)
Gallery
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
