Born the first of two daughters to Anathema and Tyroan Nayland, she grew up under her mother's hand, listening to the wild stories of the north. While clinging to her mother's skirts, they seemed of a far off place, and a far off people - fantasies that could never, ever be real. In her earliest years, the two people she remembered most were her mother and her brother, older by two years, Aeron. As soon as she was old enough to walk, she would shadow his steps, asking questions or babbling the same stories that her mother would tell her. They could often be seen about the family seat, playing games or getting in to mischief. Partners in crime, they would call it.
And so when Aeron was sent off to their mother's people to foster, the little Visenya wept for weeks that her favorite playmate, friend and brother was suddenly taken from her. But it did not sever their friendship. Whenever letters were sent north, Aeron would receive a clumsily written letter from his younger sister. It was a wonderful way of practicing her hand, she would say. But in each letter through the years, young Visenya would pour out her heart and fears to her brother, confiding in him each insecurity a child and then teenaged girl would have. Despite the distance between them, he always remained in her heart and one of her truest confidants.
At her mother's skirts, she began to learn of her mother's wilder ways, but as Visenya grew older, she was far more skeptical of the farfetched tales. Much to her dismay, her younger sister, Merida, seemed to listen more to these outlandish stories. But even she could not deny the skill and knowledge her mother had with herbs and remedies. To this, Visenya was drawn. It fascinated and intrigued her what a different mixture of plants could do to save a person, or in contrast, to end a life. Older she grew and while she began placing more of a distance between herself and her mother, she would take to shadowing the steps of the Maester, wanting to learn more of the healing arts.
But Visenya could not stay a carefree child forever. As she grew more and more into a young lady, she knew that it was her responsibility to bring honor to her family and marry well. To this end, she turned her attention toward everything a well-bred lady should know. She particularly enjoyed learning to sing and dance for it was something so entirely different than the usual pragmatism of her nature. At the age of fifteen, she was betrothed to a Knight of House Goodbrook - Ser Derik - and after a six month betrothal, she was wed shortly after she turned sixteen.
It was painful to say good bye to her family at the Mire but to do her duty was first and foremost. Packing her belongings, she left for her new life. About two years into the marriage, she gave birth to a daughter, Analyse. This little girl gave to her everything she felt she had been missing her entire life. It also brought her and her husband closer together. While the two would never share a passionate love, in their five year marriage, Visenya did come to love her husband deeply. He became her closest friend and she would grieve when he was taken from home when his duty as a knight called for it.
During these years, despite Ser Derik finding it an odd quirk in his wife, he encouraged Visenya to continue learning about the healing arts. While she never underwent the official training of a healer, she learned enough that she could have been a valued asset on any battle front. From the more home remedies and herbal cures that she had learned from her mother to the more in depth medicine learned at a Maester's hand, Visenya carried all of this with her, perhaps driven by her maternal instinct to protect and help those in need.
Time passed, Visenya and Derik watched their young daughter continue to grow, and were rejoiced when they discovered that she was pregnant once again. This time, Vis prayed for a son that her husband might instill with his wisdom and strength. But this pregnancy was not like the previous one. Her time studying medicine and her own instincts told her as much. In her regular correspondence home, she expressed her fears to her mother and both she and her father made the journey to be by their daughter's side during the birth.
There could be no way of explaining the grief Visenya felt when her child - the son she had prayed for - was stillborn. She confined herself to her room for days; grieving for the child she would never know. But she knew that there was more to be done, and perhaps she and Derik could eventually have that little boy that they had oft spoken of. But until then, she could not neglect Analyse, nor forget her duty to her House. Her parents returned to their own duties and Vis could only hope that life would be able to move on.
But Derik had changed with the baby’s death. It ate at him. There were times he could swear he could hear his son’s crying in his dreams. He could barely eat or sleep from the distraction. To try and calm his nerves and distract him from thinking about his son, he chose to go out on the hunt. But one should never be distracted during a hunt when the prey could very easily become the predator in the right circumstance.
Word was brought back to Visenya of her husband’s death in the late afternoon of October 26, 289. So soon after the loss of her child; the Maester of House Goodbrook feared that the Lady would simply die from the grief. Staying only long enough to pay her respects to her fallen husband and lord, Vis realized it might be time to go home. Even though House Goodbrook had treated her well over the past five years and she was welcomed to remain amongst them, in order to begin to recover from her loss, it might be better to be with those who knew her best.
And so Visenya has returned to Hag’s Mire first, in search of her family, having heard they may still linger after the Trial by Combat.
