Name: Aly
DW username: novelties
E-Mail: somenovelties (at) gmail (dot) com
IM: ~greenbayonet
Plurk: ~novelties

Other Characters: N/A

Character Name: Lyanna Stark
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire
Timeline: Just following the Tourney at Harrenhal -- after the Knight of the Laughing Tree has disappeared and after she’s been crowned the Queen of Love and Beauty. 281AC
Canon Resource Link: Lyanna + Westeros + Winterfell @ wiki of ice and fire.

Character History:

Let's start with just a quick word about the setting: A Song of Ice and Fire comprises of a complex fantasy-medieval society. At the time of Lyanna's existence its still being ruled by the old Targaryen dynasty, and its their reign that she would recognize as the rightful claim to the Iron Throne. The events which ostensibly ignite Robert's Rebellion have not yet happened, and so she was raised in a time of relative peace. Her life has therefore had a comfortable slant -- though there is growing discord among the Lords Paramount of Westeros as they find themselves dissatisfied with King Aerys II. This discord drives some of these same Lords Paramount to arrange careful alliances in the hopes of one day forcing the Mad King's hand. The world is not yet in the open civil unrest of later canon, but it's teetering on the edge. Lyanna's particular piece of the setting is the vast wild North, with the faces of its old gods carved into trees, its summer snows, and its harsh realities. Therefore -- in spite of peaceful times and even as the daughter of a high born lord -- she's accustomed to harsh natural conditions, to dreadful winters, and to an austere northern aesthetic. Additionally, the north of Westeros practices a distinct faith separate from the Faith of the Seven in the south. As such, Lyanna was raised to respect the old gods and to perform her worship in the context of Winterfell's godswood, which houses the weirwood tree carved eons ago with the representative face of the old gods. The old gods are nameless (and ultimately countless) and they place an emphasis on the natural world: beasts and trees and earth and birds. When compared to the Faith of the Seven, the old religion has much more emphasis on independent worship. It preferences honesty and oath-keeping above ritual and spectacle. Incest, kinslaying, and slavery are seen as great sins in the eyes of the old gods; in contrast, the guest right (or the laws of hospitality, protecting guests who have eaten under your roof) are sacred. She's the only daughter of Lord Paramount Rickard Stark who is described as having distinctly "southron ambitions", and so her value to him and in this society is one of a peace-weaver, a potential wife, and a future mother. This is a value that throughout her life she both understands and resists. All of these things: her home, her family, her father's ambitions, and her own place in the setting must be deeply constructive to Lyanna's identity. They inform the way in which she views the world, and how the world views her in turn: hard enduring and wild, she's a northern prize for a southern marriage -- provided she can be made to submit to such a marriage.

House Stark is an old and storied family -- tracing its lineage back to great heroes such as Bran the Builder, said to have constructed the Wall and Winterfell (the hereditary Stark seat) itself. Generally, the members of House Stark claim to have the blood of the First Men in their veins -- painting themselves as nearer to those ancient traditions than to the Andal culture in the south. More relevant to this app (and in more recent history for the Stark family), Lord Rickard Stark has four children: three of them sons named Brandon, Eddard, and Benjen. But he also has a daughter named Lyanna, third in age but last in inheritance. While her older brothers were fostered out to other lords, she stayed home and was raised in Winterfell with the education attendant to a young lady. In spite of the expectations put upon her as the sole daughter of a Great House (to eventually marry and to enter motherhood), she leads a very active and playful childhood. An early moment from Lyanna's life is a vision witnessed by her future nephew, Bran Stark. He sees a young Lyanna and an even younger Benjen playing with wooden swords in Winterfell's godswood. This moment reveals some of the pressures put upon her as the daughter of the family for when her brother falls into a pool of water and shouts out, Lyanna helps him but only after cautioning him not to shout so loudly. She’s anxious of their father finding out about her extra-curricular activities. But that anxiety does not crowd out her desire to be like her brothers -- to carry a sword, to ride like a northman, and to defend their father's bannermen. She is a precocious child, eager to best Benjen at something that ought to be solely her brothers' domain -- and while she might never hope to defeat her older brothers in the same fashion, she can derive pride from the attempt.

Lyanna had a happy childhood. Adoring horses, she liked Winterfell's stables best. Like her nieces Arya and Sansa after her, she would have been taught everything a young high-born lady was expected to know: needlework, letters, poetry, song, dance, and music. She would know her manners, though she did not always use them. And she was taught not only how to ride, but how to ride well. Roose Bolton declared that she was "half a horse herself", and her love for riding was one consolation when her older brothers were fostered away from Winterfell. Brandon, the eldest, was only so far as Barrowton and so she could still find opportunity to ride with him. Barbary Dustin described Lyanna and her eldest brother as centaurs -- forever frolicking and riding together. And so even after her older brothers left, her life was not bereft of excitement or of development. She became an accomplished rider in her own right, as Harwin later tells Arya: "You ride like a northman, milady," Harwin said when he’d drawn them to a halt. "Your aunt was the same. Lady Lyanna." But she had time for more than horses, developing a deep affection and preference for the pretty blue winter roses that grow in Winterfell as well as a sentimental appreciation for music and songs. This mosaic of preferences shows that she’s not simply a tomboy and not simply a young lady, but a blend of the two.

So we understand that Lyanna had a productive and comfortable childhood. It might be said that her fortunes alter when -- still in Winterfell -- her father tells her that she is betrothed to Lord Robert Baratheon. On that same evening, she voices her concerns to the second oldest Stark brother. She tells Eddard that she knows Lord Robert has one bastard daughter already, and she questions whether he will ever make a good husband. Ned attempts to soothe her concerns, promising her that what a man does before he's married should not be held against him. By all accounts, Ned's attempt fails and Lyanna remains doubtful of the arrangement. The wry combination of both a sentimental heart and a pragmatic mind leads her to question her brother’s claims: "Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man’s nature." Her specific concerns are not that Robert will be cruel to her, nor that he won't love her. Her concern is that he will never be able to keep to one bed, that he has already fathered at least one bastard daughter, and that she cannot believe Ned's claims that his best friend will settle down into marriage. The whole basis of her objection actually includes the assumption that Robert's love exists, but that love alone is not enough for a happy marriage. And so it's shown that Lyanna is able to both believe in love while also not allowing herself to suffer under its illusions. Certainly, not for Robert's sake.

At first glance, her upbringing resembles that of her future niece -- Arya Stark. Ned even tells his own daughter how alike she is to his sister. But Lyanna shows much in common with her other niece, as well. Even her rejection of Robert Baratheon holds some hint of belief in love (even if it’s tempered by pragmatism). Like Sansa does, she has a mind for beauty and art. She loves flowers -- and she's known to have wept at the beauty of Rhaegar Targaryen's slow sad song played at the feast in Harrenhal (although she promptly dumps a glass of wine on Benjen's head for mocking her tears). Indeed, with the evidence provided by the texts themselves we can imagine Lyanna as a kind of blend of both younger Stark girls. She possesses their strengths and their faults, being a stubborn creature eager to resist the inconvenient expectations put upon her while still capable of falling prey to the fantasies and promises of royalty. She wants to carry a sword, though Lord Rickard wouldn't let her. And when at the tourney in Harrenhal, she sees Rhaegar Targaryen at a distance and reacts very sentimentally to his skills as a harp-player -- something for which Benjen teases her and she responds to this teasing with a show of temper. While living, Lyanna is described in canon as a young maid who is not easily refused -- she wields charm and confidence in a mostly equal measure. At least until her temper gains the better of her, at which point she responds wolfishly and thoughtlessly. Indeed, in Meera's story about Lyanna she is referred to as the she-wolf.

We see some of that temper when Lyanna actually leaves the north and has the opportunity to experience other parts of Westeros. In 281AC she attends the Tourney at Harrenhall with her brothers. This is her first taste of southron life, and such a taste turns out to be mixed with blessings and curses. She meets Prince Rhaegar, witnesses his talent, enjoys the company of varied southern lords, and is treated to a spectacle of a tourney. However, a less savoury opinion is developed when she happens across three young squires mercilessly bullying Howland Reed, the crannogman and one of her father's loyal bannermen. She howls at the squires, shoos them away, and ushers Reed back to her family's pavilion where she dotes on him and tends to his wounds. This whole event demonstrates how Lyanna possesses a firm notion of justice and fairness (though only within the existing confines of Westerosi culture), and it's demonstrated best when she insists that Howland Reed must accompany her and her brothers to the Harrenhal feast. Her argument is that he is highborn like the rest of them, and therefore could not be barred from attendance even if smug southron squires had bullied him earlier in the day. Notably, her argument is one for equality but only amongst the already higher echelons of society. Lyanna's opinion of the smallfolk is never tackled; as she is young and lives in a time of relative peace and with castle walls between her and the peasantry, it can be easily assumed that she has (at best) a clumsy understanding of their lives and an almost patronizingly pastoral appreciation for all they must do to keep the noble houses well stocked and well fed. In short, she does not despise them, likely romanticizes their plights, and it will take considerable growth on her part before she can treat them as whole equals. We have no reason to believe she would be especially anachronistic in her view of the small folk.

At this point during the Tourney at Harrenhal, a mystery knight enters the lists. The Knight of the Laughing Tree’s identity is unknown, but his or her shield shows a laughing heart tree -- an unmistakable symbol of the north. The Knight of the Laughing Tree was short of stature, his or her armour was a hodgepodge of pieces collected together, and the knight specifically challenges and wins against the knights whose squires Lyanna chastised earlier in tourney. There’s no evidence that these knights were particularly skilled opponents, so even a novice jouster could have beaten them -- and tellingly, the mystery knight’s only request when it comes time to ransom the defeated men’s horses and armour is that they must teach their unmannerly squires how to behave with honour. There are three main contenders for who might have played the Knight of the Laughing Tree -- Howland Reed, one of the Stark brothers, or Lyanna Stark herself. A more detailed description of the arguments can be found here. However, Lyanna’s claim to the mystery knight is strong and although I would love to be able to include it as headcanon for this application (as ultimately its assumption does not have any serious ripple-effects for the rest of canon, unlike later canon points). That said, I will gladly defer to the mod decision whether it can be used in play, whether the topic should simply be avoided as an ic secret, or whether Lyanna’s canonpoint should perhaps be nudged back a few days so that the question can never arise. But Lyanna’s strong equestrian skills, her focus on the rude squires, and the fact that being the mystery knight gives her ample opportunity to meet Rhaegar Targaryen before the end of the tournament are strong points in favour of her assuming the secret identity in order to prove herself to her family as a capable Stark prepared to fight for the honour of their father's bannermen.

Aside from these incidents, there is one other moment of import at the tourney. Rhaegar Targaryen, upon winning the jousts, crowns Lyanna as his Queen of Love and Beauty -- crowning her with her favourite blue roses. This is an act that not only snubs his own wife (Elia of Dorne) but also provides considerable insult to Lord Robert Baratheon, to whom Lyanna is already promised (in spite of her misgivings). In recollection, Barristan Selmy cannot fathom why Rhaegar would have snubbed his wife so: "The northern girl had a wild beauty, as he recalled, though however bright a torch might burn it could never match the rising sun." And yet Rhaegar must have seen something promising in the she-wolf, because his interest in her would later spark a whole rebellion.

Lyanna's brother describes her as possessing a touch of wolf's blood -- a Stark-specific shorthand for wildness, rashness, and strength of will. Potentially entering the lists as a mystery knight certainly follows suit with this characteristic. Indeed, nearly every window into Lyanna's life displays for us that wolf-bloodedness. From her play-fighting with Benjen in the godswood all the way up to her vocal defence of Howland Reed, Lyanna displays a headstrong impetus that often remains unchecked by those around her. Her spirit is often spoke of with fondness -- although Ned does not always paint it in a positive light. He claims both Lyanna and Brandon's wild ways brought them to early graves, and goes so far as to try an shake King Robert of his romantic notions about Lyanna's personality: "You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath. She would have told you that you have no business in the melee." And so Lyanna's wild ways are not simply recklessness, but they are iron-like. She possesses a northern stalwartness and capacity for endurance, often shared between the Starks, and at least one of her blood-relatives trusts that this unyielding nature brought her to her death.

Although Lyanna's death is well beyond her canon point for this application, it bears some discussion because it shows how other characters believed a Stark’s wolf’s blood ruled their actions: the fact that Ned specifically claims Lyanna’s boldness brought about her death has led many to believe that when Prince Rhaegar eventually absconds with Lyanna (thus kicking off Robert’s Rebellion), that she goes willingly. Ned’s claim implies that some act on Lyanna’s part -- such as perhaps running off and abandoning a perfectly conventional marriage proposal -- was too bold and too headstrong, and it’s what brought her to an early grave. And yet on that deathbed she is reunited with her brother, and she extracts as unknown promise from him.

Like so many characters in the A Song of Ice and Fire universe, Lyanna is not a creature of black and white traits. She is a spectrum of silk and iron; of smiles and glares; of flowers and wooden swords. She indulges in all kinds of diversions equally, whether they be a love of songs or of innocent swordplay. And she does so stubbornly, feeling entitled to each diversion regardless of her father's dismay. The tension between these two elements of her personality are seen even after her death as King Robert and Eddard Stark are seen arguing over whether a dark crypt is really where she deserved to be buried:

"Ah, damn it, Ned, did you have to bury her in a place like this?" His voice was hoarse with remembered grief. "She deserved more than darkness..."
"She was a Stark of Winterfell," Ned said quietly. "This is her place."
"She should be on a hill somewhere, under a fruit tree, with the sun and clouds above her and the rain to wash her clean."
"I was with her when she died," Ned reminded the king. "She wanted to come home, to rest beside Brandon and Father [...] I bring her flowers when I can," he said. "Lyanna was...fond of flowers."

And so we understand that Lyanna shows loyalty for her family -- wanting to be buried in Winterfell, defending Howland Reed (her father's bannerman), and respecting her brothers enough to speak honestly and feelingly with them (such as when she confronts Ned about Robert's behaviour). Whatever reasons take her from Winterfell and her kin, she inevitably circles back to them.

Abilities/Special Powers:

Lyanna has no superhuman abilities. That said, I would like to use this section to reiterate her superb equestrian skills, considering they are such a notable element of her character. She tries and wishes to wield a sword (and quite possibly has practiced with jousting rings) but certainly does not possess enough martial training or prowess to challenge any actual warriors. On top of that, she would be passably skilled with needlework, dance, poetry, her letters, and other feminine graces.

Third-Person Sample:

Lady Lyanna did not like the mountains. She could not fault their majesty, nor the way in which they drew the eyes up and up and up until peaks faded sharply into clouds. But their girth and hulking shapes made her feel small, and she did not enjoy such a feeling. Better to be riding wild across the northern moors, she thought, where the wide expanse and short thickets make you feel a giant. For that reason alone, she was grateful that they would not make the whole journey up to the Eyrie's spires. Winter still had its last few claws dug deep into the soil and stone, so Winterfell's small party of riders would put in at the Gates of the Moon -- where a party of a different sort awaited them. All her brief life, she had wondered at the place where her older brother Ned had learned to become so solemn and thoughtful. So tame and carefully spoken. Surely, she thought, he did not learn it at their father's court. And when he had come home he'd dubbed her and the other brothers wolf-blooded; Lyanna would have mistaken it for an insult, except he had said it so sweetly as he'd kissed her on the forehead and promised to tell her all about the castle in the mountains.

But now that she was here, she was satisfied to see Eyrie only at a great distance. Snows made the mountain path impassable, and she found the Arryn seat's impregnability almost daunting to consider. It did not look like safe refuge. It looked like a cornered trap. But she and her brothers and her father were not come here to inspect the tactical advantages of anything -- unless ale and Arbor wine and cakes and roast suckling pig had anything to do with fortifications. She thought not, reined in her horse with a gentle expert touch, and dismounted without anyone's help at all. She would show the south that a northern girl could look after her own mount, even if it meant getting mud and straw on the fringes of her travelling cloak. The fact that there was any mud at all in the south was surprising. Spring is coming, she observed with a wry humour she kept to herself -- not for propriety's sake, but because the stable boy looked exceptionally witless. He would not appreciate the joke.

In the days to come, there would be a proper feast. Big and boisterous and celebratory, though she hardly yet knew the reason why. For now, supper would be a muted affair -- though only for as long as it took the men to get well into their cups and start reciting tales and boast of gallantry. Lyanna loved all of it, and was permitted to soak in a great deal of even the more informal chatter by virtue of her escort: three northern brothers and a northern father. Four chaperones! She felt like both the most fortunate and the least fortunate soul in the hall.

First-Person Sample:

Dear friends. [ she speaks with a warm voice: vivacious and welcoming, for nothing today has turned her mood to melancholy. nor to anger. ]

Your gardens are so fine. Beautiful, truly. But I wonder if anyone has seen a certain flower blooming: a rose -- blue like ice is blue, just before the sun sets. It's a winter rose. Only they smell nothing like winter. [ an indulgent smile. ] I want one. Whosoever manages to find it for me, I'll repay him or her kindly. Most kindly. [ a playful pause. ] In return, I'll tell the finder of a thrilling legend: the tale of Bael the Bard, and how he plucked the most beautiful flower from Winterfell -- much to her father's ire. [ lyanna laughs. ]

Go! Find it. I beg of you.