Garth

Garth has gone North to take The Black.

Character Details
Jack Huston
Jack Huston as Garth
Name: Garth
Aliases: {$nicknames}
Faction: The Citadel
Organization: None
Occupation: Maester
Rank: Maester
Age: Sep 16 98 (22)

Description

This man is not especially tall and whilst he is not especially broad it's clear that he Is not a complete stranger to the rigors of exercise or the kiss of the sun upon his skin. His broad face has a certain kind of honesty to it, the kind that would not be out of place on a farm-hand or fisherman, and his sea-grey eye hints at a keen intelligence. He might once have been considered to have a rustic-charm to his appearance but no longer - fire has ravaged the left side of his face and stolen away that eye to leave behind a mass of puckers and ripples. More often than not he conceals the sightless eye with his deep brown hair and sometimes an eyepatch.

The scar-tissue slides down the left of his neck and snakes below the links of metal that he wears around his throat; the man, in the midst of his twenties, is a Maester of the Citadel. Amongst the links he wears are ones of black iron and silver. His robe is made of brown wool, most likely its natural hue, and cinched in at the waist with a simple cord. There are many pockets within this garment, some of them visible and some that are only hinted at. The hands that emerge from the voluminous sleeves are as broad as shovels and callused as well.

Background

Garth is a bastard from the Crownlands. His father is Alfric Staunton, and his Uncle the Lord of Rooks Rest. His mother, Jeniver, a milkmaid on the Houses lands she died of a flux when Garth was just a small infant, and with no immediate kin willing to raise him his father arranged for the boy to be taken into Rooks Rest to be raised amongst the serving-folk there.

From an early age it was quite apparent that the lad had a keen intelligence; he soon learned things that other children around him struggled to comprehend, he had an uncanny knack for retaining even the smallest scraps of information presented to him, and seemed possessed of a way with animals that had both kennel-masters and the master-of-horse aghast.

Though Alfric had originally arranged for his bastards housing and maintenance he had not yet acknowledged him; it was reports from his brothers serving-folk and from Maester Tomas at Rooks Rest that finally persuaded him of the merit of doing so. Alaric would not be swayed into sending the lad, Garth, to squire or even entertain the notion of training him to arms, but he did take a step to cultivate the little lads intellect in the same way that the Maester cultivated medicinal plants.

Garth began studying with Maester Tomas, an earthy man whose talents were never inclined towards the higher and noblest of the Citadels arts and mysteries. Of course reading, writing and numbers were covered but when the weather allowed the lessons were held outside in the herb-garden and surrounding landscape, where many medicinal ingredients could be found. The boy seemed to have green-fingers and loved these studies much more than any that meant he must spend his hours hunched over a scroll with a quill in hand.

As he approached his ninth year of age he was a big lad, he might still have had the makings of a knight (had it been permitted) and he certainly had the way with horses to back it up. Alfric still would not consider the idea of having his bastard put upon the knights pathafter all he had his own true-born heir nowbut Maester Tomas wisdom was enough to convince him of the sense of sending Garth to the Citadel to learn.

All arrangements were made, the boy would go to Oldtown and to the Citadel there as soon as there was a ship ready to sail. This was when calamity fell Garth was caught up in a fire; the weather had been warm, for this reason (amongst others) he had been sleeping in a loft above the stables. From somewhere, no one could say exactly where, a spark caught the straw used to bed down the horses. Chaos ensued, one of the stable-lads was trapped when a beam came down, and another suffered a serious kick to the head from a panicked horse. It took some time before anyone realised that the bastard had been in there, that no one had seen him come out. It was Maester Tomas who tied damp cloths across his face and hands and went looking. It was feared that the boy was dead when they found him, he was unconscious and the left side of his body was as blackened as the timbers of the stables. The eye at that side was a melted ruin amongst the mess that had been made of his flesh. The fire must have been an accident, mustnt it? There were some who thought otherwise but had the sense to keep the notion to themselves those who thought in such a way suspected Alfrics agents of his wife. No proof has ever been had.

After many hours' care by Maester Tomas, Garth came through the worst of his injuries but his eye was beyond saving. As soon as he was strong enough to travel he was put aboard a ship and made the journey to Oldtown. He was further treated by the experienced Maesters of the Citadel itself and settled into his studies, or tried to.

Despite his intelligence, Garth always longed to be outdoors and relished any time where this was possible. Whilst he excelled in healing, both people and animals when he had the chance, he showed much less interest in the high arts of astronomy or linguistics (though he is competent now in High Valyrian) and the likes. He made some friends whilst at the Citadel but made more amongst the small-folk of Old Town than most of the high-born lads he came across — some people will never warm to the idea of a bastard in their midst.

Of course, upon becoming a Maester, Garth has no allegiance to the man who fathered him, the House to which he belongs and the like but he has never had much love for them - he respects that his father did at least provide for him, after the death of his mother, but that is all. Garth has a close relationship, somewhat like that of an affectionate son for a father, with Maester Tomas at Rook's Rest than with anyone else.

Garth is an honest and forthright man - he still has something of the farm-hand or fisherman about him in that respect - who seldom (if ever) complains about the loss of his sight and the scarring to his body. However, there are scars on his mind as well - he is phobic about fires and must see them used with care in every situation. Sometimes, even now, he wakes in the night in sweats and terrors as he relieves that night when he was trapped and burned. Having recently donned his Maester's chain he is looking for a place to serve.

RP Hooks

<These are some things that can give others cause to know about me or RP with me.>

Quirks

  • Wealth: Hard Times
  • Maimed
  • honest
  • Bastard Born
  • Nightmares

IC Events

Garth Logs

Related Logs

Logs featuring Garth.

Logs that refer to Garth.

Relationships

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Mysterious Stranger - Replace Name with the actual Mush Name and then 'Mysterious Stranger' with the actual relationship type. Example: Brother or Sister. Then use this space to further define the sort of relationship your character has to this person.

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Gallery

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