| Black Widow of Dorne |
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| Adelaide Kane as Ashara Martell (Vaith Uller Dayne) |
| Name: | Ashara Martell (Vaith Uller Dayne) |
| Aliases: | Shara |
| Faction: | Dorne |
| Organization: | House Martell |
| Occupation: | Princess |
| Rank: | Great Noble Lady |
| Age: | May 8 96 (24) |
Ashara was murdered by her first husband's relations.
Description
Slender of form, dark of hair, and fair of skin, Ashara appears as a play of light and shadow, lit, perhaps, by the warm amber brown glow of large eyes beneath arched brows. Her hair falls around her features with the dark shine of a raven's wing, reaching just below her shoulder blades. She's fair for a child of Dorne, skin pale with a flush of rose over her cheeks and in her lips, and her features are gently rounded, inviting. Though she's lightly built and only a few inches over five feet tall, she carries herself with flawless grace and composure, even in moments of repose.
She dresses in flowing silks, often in the deeper tones of Martell orange and gold, with touches of crimson or black. They're most often fitted at waist and shoulder, then flow in layers of nearly sheer fabric at skirt or sleeve. Trim is rich, occasionally jeweled, and matched by hair pins or headbands.
Background
Ashara is the only child of Prince Quentyn Martell, brother to the ruling Queen Amarei Martell, and his wife, Lady Taslyn Yronwood. Prince Quentyn would have other children, of course, by his many paramours. But after providing her husband with one child, Lady Taslyn insisted that she wouldn't give him another until he gave up his lovers. And having provided his wife with one child, Prince Quentyn felt no need to give up his lovers. Had she been born anywhere but Sunspear, Ashara might have grown up a lonely child. As it was, she grew up surrounded by cousins, bastard siblings, and fosterlings alike.
She was a charming child, well able to get along with any of the other children, and apparently untouched by the strain between her parents. Either that, or she understood it well enough to get exactly what she wanted out of either of them, as Lady Taslyn and Prince Quentyn weren't much for speaking to each other. Though she enjoyed physical pursuits, it was usually in the service of the pursuit of information. She had a sharp mind, performing well in her studies.
When Ashara was fifteen, she was - if not the jewel of Sunspear - well-loved by family, staff, and visitors alike. An attractive young woman, she drew looks and marriage offers, and when one came from Lord Jaesin Vaith, a young knight some seven years her senior, the match was deemed an appropriate one. Ser Jaesin was a tourney knight of some small renown, widely regarded as a knight of good breeding and certainly potential, but one who might need the guiding hand of a sensible woman to reach his fullest potential.
Unfortunately, Ashara wasn't quite secure enough in herself to be the guiding hand he needed. Not yet. She was sixteen when she became pregnant with their daughter, and so long as Jaesin busied himself with male paramours, she made no protests. After Elaina's birth, though, Jaesin expanded his conquests to include other women. Ashara might have remained content, except that one, a Gargalen lady, had been heard to be whispering about how she would replace Ashara in every way that mattered.
Ashara had watched her mother grow bitter over the years as her father's lovers multiplied. She had no intention of going down the same path. Elaina was a year old, and Ashara just short of eighteen when she became a widow for the first time. It was tragic, how Jaesin and his paramour were both bitten by the adder in their sheets.
Ashara took her daughter back to Sunspear, where they could both be comfortable and her mother could offer both her sympathy and her help with the baby. While she was there, though, she caught the eye of old Lord Neryn Uller. There was some debate at court as to whether or not he was half mad or worse, but after he helped put down an uprising of bandits, Queen Amarei offered him the chance to name his reward. There was some surprise when he asked for Ashara's hand, and even more when she accepted the offer. She was nineteen, and Lord Neryn was old, over seventy, and had heirs of his own already. There was little enough to be gained from the marriage, though he did have some merchant interests to be left to any issue of the marriage.
Hellholt was not to Ashara's liking. Despite her dark eyes and hair, she was far too fair-skinned to be entirely at home in the desert, and though she had a gift with people, even that was strained trying to keep the peace between the members of the Uller clan. She might have eventually come to terms with it, except that her daughter became the next victim of their infighting.
Two of the Uller siblings had been at each others' throats, each vying to prove themselves to their father. While the family was out for a picnic at a nearby oasis, one spooked the horse of the other, hoping there would be an injury in the ensuing chaos. There was; unfortunately, it was Elaina, trampled before Ashara could get her to safety. When Lord Neryn declared it likely meant the girl had been too soft for the Hellholt, Ashara quietly agreed that it must be so.
Three weeks later, Lord Neryn died in his sleep, his heart stopped cold.
Once again, Ashara returned to Sunspear to mourn. Now twenty, she was more somber than she had been just five years ago, a serious young woman who had decided to learn something of the healing arts. Out of pity, she was indulged, studying with the keep's Maester. She had a sharp mind for it, taking readily to the lessons. For two years, she stayed at Sunspear, studying and lending a hand with the maintenance of the keep where she might. Slowly, she seemed to become the girl she had once been.
Eventually, her aunt suggested that she might consider courting once more. No one expected that she would take to it. And, to be fair, with two husbands dead, there wasn't exactly a long line at the moment. Ser Berion Dayne was the exception. He was, in the ways that most men count, not exceptional. Only moderately intelligent, capable with a blade but no great warrior. What he was, though, was good-hearted, and willing to take his time. Over a year's time, he courted Ashara with gentle humor and small gifts, and when he asked for her hand shortly after her twenty-third birthday, the residents of Sunspear were pleased to hear that she had accepted his proposal. He brought her back to Starfall with him, and it seemed Ashara might have her happy ending.
Barely ten months later, Ashara gave birth to their son, Jaremy. All was well in their world. Until the plague arrived in Starfall. It took Jaremy first, hardly six months old. And before Ashara could mourn the loss of their son, Berion started to show symptoms. Ashara threw herself into the effort to save her husband, assisting the maester when he couldn't be at Berion's side, hardly sleeping, determined to do what she could to save him. But the gods were not on her side. In October of 120, Lord Berion Dayne passed, leaving Ashara thrice widowed, and once again alone.
For the third time she returned to Sunspear, but this time she could only be reminded of everything she had lost. Nothing seemed to bring her peace. Gone was the sweet girl who had once been Ashara Martell. In her place was a woman both darker and brighter, much more her father's daughter, seeking to forget in parties, risk, and daring, and too tired of being fate's plaything to let anyone else make decisions for her.
Some whispered that perhaps, with so many dead husbands, she had had a hand in their deaths. No one hears the whole story, after all. Within three months, it was too much for Ashara to bear. Berion had left her some shipping and trading interests after his death, some of which operated out of Oldtown. Searching for something else to distract her from grief, Ashara boarded a ship and left Dorne, presumably to see to those interests herself.
RP Hooks
<These are some things that can give others cause to know about me or RP with me.>
Quirks
- Black Widow
- Velvet Glove
- Adventurous Spirit
- Wealth: Opulent
IC Events
| Ashara Logs |
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Relationships
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Gallery
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