Jabroni
Senior Member
Name: Bannen
Gender: Male
Age: 35
Nicknames / Titles: None
Marital Status: Married to Tilda, a milkmaid from Cornfield.
Personality:
To say he has a drinking problem is an understatement. There's rarely a waking moment when Bannen isn't red-nosed and cloudy-eyed. The very thought of wine can test his wits to the point of making ungainly decisions. He has his reasons of course - herding pigs makes for dirty, thankless work. And would it be shameful to say he dislikes that wife of his, who was once comely but now seems only haggard and scornful?
Bannen also acts cravenly by habit. He's never faced true danger before, having spent most of his life in the comfort of nature's grace. He runs away from his responsibilities whenever possible, so in a general sense his drinking offers an escape from the harsh truth of his existence. He'd certainly prove a terrible soldier; maybe they'd have the sense to put him in the kitchens.
Biography:
Bannen was born in Cornfield, on a modest pig farm well outside the holdfast of House Swyft. His father was a swineherd and his father before him. Sure enough, the family put Bannen to work as soon as he could lift a pail. The hours were long and everything smelled of dirt, piss and pig flesh. It proved an honest yet meager living.
When he was seventeen he coupled with Tilda, a milkmaid from a few farms over. She bore three daughters with ash blond hair. Why, he did not know, but he thanked the gods all the same.
Years later, a stroke of fate seized Bannen's livelihood. Half his pigs died from disease in a single month, and for a swineherd this spelled a man's ruin. Having naught the coin to save the farm, Bannen ventured to Crakehall and secured a loan from some particularly uncouth fellows in black hoods, the sum being a hundred silver stags. He aimed to buy four piglets but soon found himself in a tavern. Having been drawn by the smell of Arbor reds and Dornish sweetwine, he had a lovely old time as a lowborn man would. Forgetting himself, he bought rounds for anyone who cared and tipped the serving wenches generously.
Bannen drank himself into a stupor by the time he left. He noticed the coin purse felt a little light but he figured he'd spent a few stags. It's what happened afterward that did him in - as disoriented as he was, a few locals easily overpowered Bannen and dragged the poor sod down an ally, beating him bloody and snatching his purse.
There was no turning back. As he lay beaten and drunk, he knew he could never return to Cornfield empty-handed. The shame would be absolutely unbearable, so he chose not to return until he had those piglets...
Other:
- A severe alcoholic, he's built up a tolerance for it but also requires a flagon or two every few hours just to keep the shakes at bay.
- People are actively trying to find Bannen in the Westerlands so they can collect on an oustanding loan...or kill him.
- His three daughters were born with blonde hair despite his being black.
- While nothing compared to a maester's knowledge, he does have command over cutting fleshly bits off animals. If push comes to shove, he could amputate or perhaps remove fletchings from wounds.