wolfinthesnow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wolfinthesnow) wrote2012-05-24 10:33 pm
wolfinthesnow) wrote2012-05-24 10:33 pm
This is my winter song;
PLAYER INFORMATION
Your Name: Mici
OOC Journal:chelicerae
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: Nope!
Email + IM: presidentshinra[at]gmail, shinra brat
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Seraphim Dias |majestyofthethrone
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Jon Snow
Canon: A Song of Ice and Fire
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: End of Storm of Swords
Number: 092
Setting: A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a high fantasy world where seasons can and do last years, and the technology is very low level - they still use horses to get around, there are no steam powered anything, most people are going to be laborers, so on, so forth. It's a world that is ruled by the sword and power is usually held by those who have the biggest army or most gold instead of those who the people choose, and the lines are hereditary. Magic is rare and hardly easily controlled - it can be Warg magic, like what the Stark children have that links them to their direwolves, or it can be more mystical, but in any case it's not easily accessed by normal people.
The country of Westeros is on an island, basically - think of England and Scotland, which is basically what Westeros is supposed to represent. The North of the country is cold and hard, populated by people who are equally hard. The South is warmer, and much more fertile, and the people in power are living less by the rule of the sword and more by the game of diplomacy. Additionally, this isn't what one would call a feminist society: the women are clearly subordinate to the men - men inherit first, and are thought to be better with power. These are cultural ideas, not truth, however, as several women are shown to be clever, resourceful, strong, and more than capable of getting their ways or helping others.
In this world war and fighting is a real, immediate way of life. Being a soldier by trade is not uncommon, and noble men learn to fight from a very young age. Violence, then, is a simple fact of life.
Westeros is ruled by a King in the South at King's Landing. Traditionally, for years, this king was a member of the Targaryan family, but during a civil war fourteen ago at the beginning of the series, they were killed and the last two members exiled. Robert Baratheon took over, and he died and left his tyrant "son" Joffrey (who is not really his son but rather a product of incest between his mother and her twin) to rule. Joffrey executed Ned Stark, the Warden of the North, which led his son Robb to start a war. Meanwhile, the rumors of Joffrey's parentage cause Robert's two brothers, Stannis and Renly, to both claim the throne from themselves, and Robb is crowned by his bannermen the King in the North.
In the east, the last Targaryan exile (different from the last Targaryan in Westeros, and different still from the last fucking Targaryan that the writer sprung on us in the last book), Danaerys, is plotting her return to Westeros to claim her birthrite, but she's waylaid by horrible things. I won't go into them, but for the sake of understanding the worldbuild, it's important to know that she's there.
Finally, the North. The North is bisected by a wall that's called, of course, The Wall. It's an enormous physical presence that keeps those north of it out. Mostly those North of the Wall are Wildlings, or people who do not recognize the power of the Southern King, and they're scattered in villages and tribes. They're were united under the "banner" of yet another king, who wanted to invade the south and basically failed because of the Night's Watch.
The Wall is actually supposed to keep out the "Others" who are sort of zombie things that kill and possess people. Rumor for a long time, they've started to appear. The Wall is manned by the Night's Watch, a monastic group of soldiers who either volunteered or by criminals who, as a last-ditch effort to avoid execution, agreed to serve there. They consider themselves apart from the realm and do not participate in wars or get involved in Westerosi politics. Jon is a member of this particular group.
History: Born to an unknown mother and as the bastard son of Eddard Stark (this is debated in the fandom, but for all intents and purposes this is what Jon believes) Jon grew up under his father's care in Winterfell. While his stepmother was cold to him, his father was dutiful and raised him well, with a fine education and in the company of his brothers and sisters, with whom he developed relationships of varying degrees of closeness (like any other family, one supposes). At the opening of the series, two important things happen regarding Jon right away. The first is that the direwolf cubs that become the symbol for the Stark children are found. While only five were initially found (one for each legitimate Stark child) Jon found a sixth albino cub, the runt of the litter, a ways away, and chooses to keep him as his own. Secondly Jon decides to join the Night's Watch like his Uncle Benjen Stark, and Eddard approves as Starks have always manned the Wall - it's a position of honor even though some people come by it.
When Eddard and the girls travel south with the King, Jon goes North to become a man of the Night's Watch. He discovers it's not exactly everything he imagined it to be but doesn't balk, even though he earns the enmity of Alliser Thorne, the master-at-arms. But he also finds friends like Sam Tarly, a fellow recruit. They take the black and Jon is disappointed to find out that he has been chosen to serve with the Stewards instead of the Rangers, which is his preference. However, when a wight attacks Ser Mormont, the Lord Commander, it's Ghost who raises the alarm and Jon who kills it with fire, prompting Mormont to give Jon his family sword of Valyrian Steel, Longclaw. The pommel is changed to a wolf's head for him.
Shortly after, Ned Stark is killed, and Jon tries to ride south to the aid of his brother Robb but is brought back by his friends, who point out that he would have been killed - this is in addition to the fact that even if he had made it South, Robb would have been honor-bound to kill him. Jon agrees to go back and Mormont doesn't kill him, just points out that if they killed all the stupid boys who went for a joyride at night there wouldn't be anyone to serve on the Wall. Shortly thereafter Mormont announces that he'll be going beyond the Wall, and takes Jon with him, along with most of the men currently serving on the Wall.
During this expedition, a few things happen: they stop at the home of Craster, a wildling who marries his daughters and kills his sons, where Sam befriends one of the girls named Gilly who is pregnant with Craster's child (this is important later), and Jon finally joins a Ranger party with Qhorin Halfhand. During this time he meets a Wildling girl named Ygritte when they capture a group of wildlings. While he is ordered to kill her, instead he lets her go, which turns out to be valuable when the party is later captured by a wildling band. Qhorin tells him to join the Wildlings and find out their ways, telling Jon that he'll be tested and asked to do something and that Jon should do it no matter what. Rattleshirt, the leader of the band, commands Jon to prove himself by killing Qhorin, and Jon realizes that this is what Qhorin had meant. Jon does as he's told, but in the end it's Ghost who kills Qhorin, and the bickering over Jon begins anew. At this point, Ygritte reveals that he is Eddard Stark's bastard, and argues for him, and he is accepted into the Wildling band - at least until he is judged by Mance Rayder.
Jon is taken to meet Mance Rayder and left in a tent with a pregnant woman cooking, a minstrel, and two very dangerous looking men, but Jon isn't sure who is Mance. The men, Ygritte and Rattleshirt argue for a while, and Jon kneels before one of them, calling him 'your grace'.
They laugh in his face.
Mance Rayder, it turns out, is in fact the minstrel, and the pregnant woman is his wife. He and Jon have a conversation about Mance turning his coat (he apparently liked his cloak after a woman fixed it up with red cloth and didn't want to go back to black), and Jon tells Mance he's turning his cloak because he was an outsider always looking in.
Jon then becomes Ygritte's lover (although Ghost did put up a valiant attempt to keep them apart), making Jon doubt a lot of his sincerity and commitment to the Night's Watch. During this time, Ghost disappears, wandering off, which doesn't help Jon's personal conflict. However, Jon keeps the knowledge he learns about the Wildlings plans in mind, which include Mance Rayders plan to invade Westeros, and that the Wildlings accidentally set the Wights out into the world during their quest to find the Horn of Joramun, a legendary horn that is said would bring down the Wall.
Jon finally gets away from the wildlings because he refuses to kill an old man. During the scuffle, and while having his ass saved by his brother's wolf (Summer!) he gets shot in the leg. Despite that he manages to get on a horse and makes it back to Castle Black. Maester Aemon manages to patch Jon up and shortly thereafter the Wildlings attack. While the Wildlings raid, a few important things happen: Ygritte dies in Jon's arms, Jon manages to successfully hold together the Castle, keeping it from falling to the Wildling force with only a few men, and once Alliser shows up, Jon is accused of defection, and then told to try and kill Mance. However, he's stopped by Stannis Baratheon's appearance as Stannis' men and his priestess Melisandre finish the fight. Stannis offers Jon Winterfell and the surname Stark if he bends the knee, but Jon refuses, and shortly after this Ghost returns.
Janos Slynt (ironically the man who was mostly responsible for Ned Stark's betrayal in the south) puts his name forward for the next Lord Commander (Mormont was killed by a mutiny at Craster's keep, where Sam picked up Gilly Craster and brought her and her son back to Castle Black) but eventually it is Jon the men choose, mostly thanks to Sam's machinations. At this point Mance's wife has had a son (she died), who Melisdandre has an interest in. When Jon learns that Melisandre wants Mance's baby (for it has the blood of a king) he swaps them, giving Melisandre Gilly's baby and sending Mance's son with Gilly, Sam, and the last Targaryan in Westeros (a Maester in the Citadel, also blood of a king) to Oldtown.
Personality: The first thing that really paints Jon's view of the world is his place. Because he's a bastard, he's always felt a bit on the outside looking in. Despite having a nice home, a family, people around him who cared about him, Jon's always felt the outsider because his place is always on rocky footing. With that in mind, his decisions are usually painted by the search for a place that's his own that isn't colored by his background, and he's easily swayed by the idea of a brotherhood or a bond that doesn't take into account his birth - like his decision to take the black and go to the Wall, his willingness to go with Ygritte and even being swayed into sleeping with her are about people accepting him because of who he is rather than his birth. His choice to stay with the Night's Watch, as opposed to bending the knee to Stannis and becoming lord of Winterfell is also part of this: the fact is that the Night's Watch accepted him, and he takes that very seriously.
That said: Jon is loyal to a fault. Stubbornly, stupidly loyal, even, a trait he doubtlessly inherited from his fool of a father. It's displayed in how he follows even the creepiest, crappiest orders (like killing his superior to gain entry into the Wildling camp) and in how he basically says fuck this shit when Ned is killed and Robb is riding south to save him. It takes his best friends riding out in the middle of the night to drag him back, because if he were to keep riding he would be branded a deserter and subject to execution. Let me reiterate: he is stupidly loyal to the point where he willingly rides to a certain death if it means possibly having the slimmest chance to help his brother who, as the new Lord of Winterfell, would be obligated by law and honor to kill him. His loyalty, however, is what earns Jon the trust of his commander, Lord Mormont, and the respect of his fellow members of the Night's Watch. It is his loyalty to the cause that finally gives him the push to go back to Castle Black, and while he struggled with that decision (probably due to the fact that he had fallen in love with Ygritte) he still managed to go back ot the Night's Watch.
And while Jon is incredibly insecure all the time he's actually pretty good at hiding that particular personality flaw. In fact, he has the good old Stark pragmatism and it actually works for him: it makes him look competant and able instead of like a goofy teenager who doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. He can even fool himself, at times, and later that turns into actual competancy instead of pure unfiltered luck - while it's still pretty much Sam that gets him elected Lord Commander, Jon shows some real thought when he's leading the men to hold Castle Black and he shows some excellent forethought by getting rid of Mance Rayder's son and Aemon Targaryan, both of whom would doubtless be used by Melisandre, and by used I mean killed. He is a competent leader in a lot of respects, but he still has a great deal to learn.
Despite his newly elected post, the only people he's truly, completely comfortable with are his best friends in the Night Watch, his brothers, and with a special, notable mention, his little sister Arya, who he probably relates to most of all. Arya, like him, is a bit of an oddball because in a world that values women for their femininity she prefers boyish pursuits. They have in-jokes, private moments, and Jon really loves her. He loves her enough that he gets her a sword to take south and tells her not to tell Sansa; he knows that he will miss her the most. It's around the people he is comfortable with that he can finally relax a little, and his sense of humor comes out - it's not much but it's there, slightly wry.
Otherwise his guard is almost always up. In Jon's world someone will always judge him, and because of that he must be constantly vigilant about what he's doing and how it's percieved. This relates back to his place, and how his birth has determined so much of his life up until now. He is not a Stark, but he is Ned's, and so he has to comport himself with honor and dignity because he, more than anyone else, can shame his family by acting badly.
And because he is Ned's, his sense of honor and duty are pretty much the same as any (male) Stark's - when he realizes that he must kill Janos Slynt, for instance (an occurance that happens after his pullpoint) he knows that it his duty as the Lord Commander to do it himself. It is not a matter of showing weakness but a matter of honor, and respect for the act of killing. His lessons have been instilled in him ever since he was a boy and those lessons stuck the hardest, which resulted in a man who has only ever wavered in the honorable thing when it came to his loyalty to his family (when he ran south). It also causes him to doubt whenever he feels he is straying from an honorable path. He did not want to turncloak, and despite the fact that he never really did, his actions like breaking his vow of chastity made him question his honor.
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
Fighting skills -> Jon is excellent with a sword and a bow, and any other variety of medieval weapons. He probably shouldn't be given a gun, though.
Humanity -> He is ridiculously, painfully, and overwhelmingly human. Not only that, but he's very young (only about 16-17 years old) and while he can have a man's semblance and a man's bearing, sometimes he does things that are so incredibly stupid and naive that they can only be attributed to his youth. (You know nothing, Jon Snow is kind of a popular catchphrase.)
Warg -> I'm mentioning this because it is technically a power he kind of has - he, like his siblings, is a warg, meaning he can take over his wolf Ghost's body. However! He doesn't have any control over it and isn't like Bran, who can do it by will. At this point I don't think it will come into gameplay since Jon isn't particularly interested in the act anyway.
Inventory: Ghost, his direwolf (who is very large), Longclaw, his sword, and a black cloak lined with some thick fluffy fur.
Appearance: He's described as pale, with a long face, black hair and gray eyes, and that he more than any of his siblings save Arya looks like a Stark rather than a Tully (of course he's not at all Tully so that might be why...). He dresses exclusively in black. PBed by Kit Harington, Westerosi John Freida model, as in the adapatation Game of Thrones.
Age: 16-17. His real age isn't exactly known, since we don't know who his mother is. He's roughly the same year as Robb, and it's presumed that he's younger, but no one knows for sure since Ned just appeared one day with him.
AU Clarification: N/A
SAMPLES
Log Sample: Winter is coming.
Jon doesn't curse the saying: it is as much a part of him as his hair and his breath, but it's jarring nontheless. The Stark words, short, simple, to the point, much like the Starks themselves. They are not his words, no anymore, but he cannot remove them from the depths of his soul. He looks out into the wild of the North, the North that is so untamed that even the people are wild and he remembers the words of a family that he belongs to and yet doesn't, of a father he loved enough to almost abandon his cause to go and rescue, a brother who was for a time king but who is king of nothing, now. Of sisters who are held hostage to a hostile King. Of brothers who are dead (all of them, it is a stab to the heart, the memory Theon and imagining him, the ward, killing his littlest brothers, those poor little boys).
And you are a Watcher on the Wall, Jon thinks, reminding himself that he was always a little different. A little left out. You can't go back, he thinks, because it hurts him, this change in loyalty, even though he had been offered that chance, to go back and take what could be his if he only pledged to Stannis. To be a real Stark, his brain offers him like a traitorous jest. You are a Watcher on the Wall, he repeats to himself, because those words don't jar, those words are smoother and easier than I could be Jon Stark. He took the vow, he said the words, and they are his family now. He's not on the outside here, even at the edge of the world, even doing things he hates like killing his Brothers and playing the part of a turncloak, even then, he feels like there is something right. This is his world.
The snow is quiet, but his rooms are quieter. Even that blasted raven has put its head under its black and tattered wing, even Ghost has settled (on Jon's bed, no less, perhaps he has tired of the ground, but Jon is awake at his desk and takes no mind of the wolf on his furs).
Winter is coming. Stark words that are true, insistent, part of Jon. He pulls his coat up tighter around his shoulders as if that would really word to ward off the cold, as if that could really turn the cold away. It doesn't, but that's all right. He doesn't reject those words, the ones that are of a family he's a part of and yet always apart from. But now he's not longer sure what precisely they mean. There is a winter coming, a coldness that bites to the bone, treachery and betrayal and honor cast aside for power. There is Janos Slynt, a cold breath from the south. There is Ser Alliser, an ice that breeds discontent among his own men.
He is the Lord Commander now, he is the head of this family, and his father's words mean more than just the turning of the seasons after an endless summer. They mean the protection of his family against a chilling frost, even when that frost wears red and beckons flame. He hardens his heart to the actions he knows he will have to take as Lord Commander, because a cold heart suffers cold gladly, endures the winds of winter with less struggle. His father taught him well. If Jon cannot be a Stark because he cannot betray his father that way (leaving the Night's Watch, dishonoring himself, taking a side in a war that is not his, that would be betrayal, one his father would have never forgiven) he can be the man his father would have respected, the man he raised. A man who does not turn his coat in the face of praises and promises and a title. Jon's loyalty is more hard-earned than that, he knows that, even though he doubted it in Ygritte's warm embrace. He doubts no longer.
He knows better than anyone the value of loyalty in the face of winter. Winter is coming, and Lord Commander Snow is ready.
Comms Sample: audio;
[There is the sound of fumbling]
-ke this?
Hello?
[There's another pause]
Is anyone there? Is this even working? I'm not quite sure if this is how-
[There's a snuffle as Ghost presses his nose to it]
No, Ghost, I'm sure I've found out how this works. Hello? I'm told using this...thing, I can speak to others far away, as I would with a raven, only immediate. Can someone tell me if I've succeeded?
Your Name: Mici
OOC Journal:
cheliceraeUnder 18? If yes, what is your age?: Nope!
Email + IM: presidentshinra[at]gmail, shinra brat
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Seraphim Dias |
majestyofthethroneCHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Jon Snow
Canon: A Song of Ice and Fire
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: End of Storm of Swords
Number: 092
Setting: A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a high fantasy world where seasons can and do last years, and the technology is very low level - they still use horses to get around, there are no steam powered anything, most people are going to be laborers, so on, so forth. It's a world that is ruled by the sword and power is usually held by those who have the biggest army or most gold instead of those who the people choose, and the lines are hereditary. Magic is rare and hardly easily controlled - it can be Warg magic, like what the Stark children have that links them to their direwolves, or it can be more mystical, but in any case it's not easily accessed by normal people.
The country of Westeros is on an island, basically - think of England and Scotland, which is basically what Westeros is supposed to represent. The North of the country is cold and hard, populated by people who are equally hard. The South is warmer, and much more fertile, and the people in power are living less by the rule of the sword and more by the game of diplomacy. Additionally, this isn't what one would call a feminist society: the women are clearly subordinate to the men - men inherit first, and are thought to be better with power. These are cultural ideas, not truth, however, as several women are shown to be clever, resourceful, strong, and more than capable of getting their ways or helping others.
In this world war and fighting is a real, immediate way of life. Being a soldier by trade is not uncommon, and noble men learn to fight from a very young age. Violence, then, is a simple fact of life.
Westeros is ruled by a King in the South at King's Landing. Traditionally, for years, this king was a member of the Targaryan family, but during a civil war fourteen ago at the beginning of the series, they were killed and the last two members exiled. Robert Baratheon took over, and he died and left his tyrant "son" Joffrey (who is not really his son but rather a product of incest between his mother and her twin) to rule. Joffrey executed Ned Stark, the Warden of the North, which led his son Robb to start a war. Meanwhile, the rumors of Joffrey's parentage cause Robert's two brothers, Stannis and Renly, to both claim the throne from themselves, and Robb is crowned by his bannermen the King in the North.
In the east, the last Targaryan exile (different from the last Targaryan in Westeros, and different still from the last fucking Targaryan that the writer sprung on us in the last book), Danaerys, is plotting her return to Westeros to claim her birthrite, but she's waylaid by horrible things. I won't go into them, but for the sake of understanding the worldbuild, it's important to know that she's there.
Finally, the North. The North is bisected by a wall that's called, of course, The Wall. It's an enormous physical presence that keeps those north of it out. Mostly those North of the Wall are Wildlings, or people who do not recognize the power of the Southern King, and they're scattered in villages and tribes. They're were united under the "banner" of yet another king, who wanted to invade the south and basically failed because of the Night's Watch.
The Wall is actually supposed to keep out the "Others" who are sort of zombie things that kill and possess people. Rumor for a long time, they've started to appear. The Wall is manned by the Night's Watch, a monastic group of soldiers who either volunteered or by criminals who, as a last-ditch effort to avoid execution, agreed to serve there. They consider themselves apart from the realm and do not participate in wars or get involved in Westerosi politics. Jon is a member of this particular group.
History: Born to an unknown mother and as the bastard son of Eddard Stark (this is debated in the fandom, but for all intents and purposes this is what Jon believes) Jon grew up under his father's care in Winterfell. While his stepmother was cold to him, his father was dutiful and raised him well, with a fine education and in the company of his brothers and sisters, with whom he developed relationships of varying degrees of closeness (like any other family, one supposes). At the opening of the series, two important things happen regarding Jon right away. The first is that the direwolf cubs that become the symbol for the Stark children are found. While only five were initially found (one for each legitimate Stark child) Jon found a sixth albino cub, the runt of the litter, a ways away, and chooses to keep him as his own. Secondly Jon decides to join the Night's Watch like his Uncle Benjen Stark, and Eddard approves as Starks have always manned the Wall - it's a position of honor even though some people come by it.
When Eddard and the girls travel south with the King, Jon goes North to become a man of the Night's Watch. He discovers it's not exactly everything he imagined it to be but doesn't balk, even though he earns the enmity of Alliser Thorne, the master-at-arms. But he also finds friends like Sam Tarly, a fellow recruit. They take the black and Jon is disappointed to find out that he has been chosen to serve with the Stewards instead of the Rangers, which is his preference. However, when a wight attacks Ser Mormont, the Lord Commander, it's Ghost who raises the alarm and Jon who kills it with fire, prompting Mormont to give Jon his family sword of Valyrian Steel, Longclaw. The pommel is changed to a wolf's head for him.
Shortly after, Ned Stark is killed, and Jon tries to ride south to the aid of his brother Robb but is brought back by his friends, who point out that he would have been killed - this is in addition to the fact that even if he had made it South, Robb would have been honor-bound to kill him. Jon agrees to go back and Mormont doesn't kill him, just points out that if they killed all the stupid boys who went for a joyride at night there wouldn't be anyone to serve on the Wall. Shortly thereafter Mormont announces that he'll be going beyond the Wall, and takes Jon with him, along with most of the men currently serving on the Wall.
During this expedition, a few things happen: they stop at the home of Craster, a wildling who marries his daughters and kills his sons, where Sam befriends one of the girls named Gilly who is pregnant with Craster's child (this is important later), and Jon finally joins a Ranger party with Qhorin Halfhand. During this time he meets a Wildling girl named Ygritte when they capture a group of wildlings. While he is ordered to kill her, instead he lets her go, which turns out to be valuable when the party is later captured by a wildling band. Qhorin tells him to join the Wildlings and find out their ways, telling Jon that he'll be tested and asked to do something and that Jon should do it no matter what. Rattleshirt, the leader of the band, commands Jon to prove himself by killing Qhorin, and Jon realizes that this is what Qhorin had meant. Jon does as he's told, but in the end it's Ghost who kills Qhorin, and the bickering over Jon begins anew. At this point, Ygritte reveals that he is Eddard Stark's bastard, and argues for him, and he is accepted into the Wildling band - at least until he is judged by Mance Rayder.
Jon is taken to meet Mance Rayder and left in a tent with a pregnant woman cooking, a minstrel, and two very dangerous looking men, but Jon isn't sure who is Mance. The men, Ygritte and Rattleshirt argue for a while, and Jon kneels before one of them, calling him 'your grace'.
They laugh in his face.
Mance Rayder, it turns out, is in fact the minstrel, and the pregnant woman is his wife. He and Jon have a conversation about Mance turning his coat (he apparently liked his cloak after a woman fixed it up with red cloth and didn't want to go back to black), and Jon tells Mance he's turning his cloak because he was an outsider always looking in.
Jon then becomes Ygritte's lover (although Ghost did put up a valiant attempt to keep them apart), making Jon doubt a lot of his sincerity and commitment to the Night's Watch. During this time, Ghost disappears, wandering off, which doesn't help Jon's personal conflict. However, Jon keeps the knowledge he learns about the Wildlings plans in mind, which include Mance Rayders plan to invade Westeros, and that the Wildlings accidentally set the Wights out into the world during their quest to find the Horn of Joramun, a legendary horn that is said would bring down the Wall.
Jon finally gets away from the wildlings because he refuses to kill an old man. During the scuffle, and while having his ass saved by his brother's wolf (Summer!) he gets shot in the leg. Despite that he manages to get on a horse and makes it back to Castle Black. Maester Aemon manages to patch Jon up and shortly thereafter the Wildlings attack. While the Wildlings raid, a few important things happen: Ygritte dies in Jon's arms, Jon manages to successfully hold together the Castle, keeping it from falling to the Wildling force with only a few men, and once Alliser shows up, Jon is accused of defection, and then told to try and kill Mance. However, he's stopped by Stannis Baratheon's appearance as Stannis' men and his priestess Melisandre finish the fight. Stannis offers Jon Winterfell and the surname Stark if he bends the knee, but Jon refuses, and shortly after this Ghost returns.
Janos Slynt (ironically the man who was mostly responsible for Ned Stark's betrayal in the south) puts his name forward for the next Lord Commander (Mormont was killed by a mutiny at Craster's keep, where Sam picked up Gilly Craster and brought her and her son back to Castle Black) but eventually it is Jon the men choose, mostly thanks to Sam's machinations. At this point Mance's wife has had a son (she died), who Melisdandre has an interest in. When Jon learns that Melisandre wants Mance's baby (for it has the blood of a king) he swaps them, giving Melisandre Gilly's baby and sending Mance's son with Gilly, Sam, and the last Targaryan in Westeros (a Maester in the Citadel, also blood of a king) to Oldtown.
Personality: The first thing that really paints Jon's view of the world is his place. Because he's a bastard, he's always felt a bit on the outside looking in. Despite having a nice home, a family, people around him who cared about him, Jon's always felt the outsider because his place is always on rocky footing. With that in mind, his decisions are usually painted by the search for a place that's his own that isn't colored by his background, and he's easily swayed by the idea of a brotherhood or a bond that doesn't take into account his birth - like his decision to take the black and go to the Wall, his willingness to go with Ygritte and even being swayed into sleeping with her are about people accepting him because of who he is rather than his birth. His choice to stay with the Night's Watch, as opposed to bending the knee to Stannis and becoming lord of Winterfell is also part of this: the fact is that the Night's Watch accepted him, and he takes that very seriously.
That said: Jon is loyal to a fault. Stubbornly, stupidly loyal, even, a trait he doubtlessly inherited from his fool of a father. It's displayed in how he follows even the creepiest, crappiest orders (like killing his superior to gain entry into the Wildling camp) and in how he basically says fuck this shit when Ned is killed and Robb is riding south to save him. It takes his best friends riding out in the middle of the night to drag him back, because if he were to keep riding he would be branded a deserter and subject to execution. Let me reiterate: he is stupidly loyal to the point where he willingly rides to a certain death if it means possibly having the slimmest chance to help his brother who, as the new Lord of Winterfell, would be obligated by law and honor to kill him. His loyalty, however, is what earns Jon the trust of his commander, Lord Mormont, and the respect of his fellow members of the Night's Watch. It is his loyalty to the cause that finally gives him the push to go back to Castle Black, and while he struggled with that decision (probably due to the fact that he had fallen in love with Ygritte) he still managed to go back ot the Night's Watch.
And while Jon is incredibly insecure all the time he's actually pretty good at hiding that particular personality flaw. In fact, he has the good old Stark pragmatism and it actually works for him: it makes him look competant and able instead of like a goofy teenager who doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. He can even fool himself, at times, and later that turns into actual competancy instead of pure unfiltered luck - while it's still pretty much Sam that gets him elected Lord Commander, Jon shows some real thought when he's leading the men to hold Castle Black and he shows some excellent forethought by getting rid of Mance Rayder's son and Aemon Targaryan, both of whom would doubtless be used by Melisandre, and by used I mean killed. He is a competent leader in a lot of respects, but he still has a great deal to learn.
Despite his newly elected post, the only people he's truly, completely comfortable with are his best friends in the Night Watch, his brothers, and with a special, notable mention, his little sister Arya, who he probably relates to most of all. Arya, like him, is a bit of an oddball because in a world that values women for their femininity she prefers boyish pursuits. They have in-jokes, private moments, and Jon really loves her. He loves her enough that he gets her a sword to take south and tells her not to tell Sansa; he knows that he will miss her the most. It's around the people he is comfortable with that he can finally relax a little, and his sense of humor comes out - it's not much but it's there, slightly wry.
Otherwise his guard is almost always up. In Jon's world someone will always judge him, and because of that he must be constantly vigilant about what he's doing and how it's percieved. This relates back to his place, and how his birth has determined so much of his life up until now. He is not a Stark, but he is Ned's, and so he has to comport himself with honor and dignity because he, more than anyone else, can shame his family by acting badly.
And because he is Ned's, his sense of honor and duty are pretty much the same as any (male) Stark's - when he realizes that he must kill Janos Slynt, for instance (an occurance that happens after his pullpoint) he knows that it his duty as the Lord Commander to do it himself. It is not a matter of showing weakness but a matter of honor, and respect for the act of killing. His lessons have been instilled in him ever since he was a boy and those lessons stuck the hardest, which resulted in a man who has only ever wavered in the honorable thing when it came to his loyalty to his family (when he ran south). It also causes him to doubt whenever he feels he is straying from an honorable path. He did not want to turncloak, and despite the fact that he never really did, his actions like breaking his vow of chastity made him question his honor.
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
Fighting skills -> Jon is excellent with a sword and a bow, and any other variety of medieval weapons. He probably shouldn't be given a gun, though.
Humanity -> He is ridiculously, painfully, and overwhelmingly human. Not only that, but he's very young (only about 16-17 years old) and while he can have a man's semblance and a man's bearing, sometimes he does things that are so incredibly stupid and naive that they can only be attributed to his youth. (You know nothing, Jon Snow is kind of a popular catchphrase.)
Warg -> I'm mentioning this because it is technically a power he kind of has - he, like his siblings, is a warg, meaning he can take over his wolf Ghost's body. However! He doesn't have any control over it and isn't like Bran, who can do it by will. At this point I don't think it will come into gameplay since Jon isn't particularly interested in the act anyway.
Inventory: Ghost, his direwolf (who is very large), Longclaw, his sword, and a black cloak lined with some thick fluffy fur.
Appearance: He's described as pale, with a long face, black hair and gray eyes, and that he more than any of his siblings save Arya looks like a Stark rather than a Tully (of course he's not at all Tully so that might be why...). He dresses exclusively in black. PBed by Kit Harington, Westerosi John Freida model, as in the adapatation Game of Thrones.
Age: 16-17. His real age isn't exactly known, since we don't know who his mother is. He's roughly the same year as Robb, and it's presumed that he's younger, but no one knows for sure since Ned just appeared one day with him.
AU Clarification: N/A
SAMPLES
Log Sample: Winter is coming.
Jon doesn't curse the saying: it is as much a part of him as his hair and his breath, but it's jarring nontheless. The Stark words, short, simple, to the point, much like the Starks themselves. They are not his words, no anymore, but he cannot remove them from the depths of his soul. He looks out into the wild of the North, the North that is so untamed that even the people are wild and he remembers the words of a family that he belongs to and yet doesn't, of a father he loved enough to almost abandon his cause to go and rescue, a brother who was for a time king but who is king of nothing, now. Of sisters who are held hostage to a hostile King. Of brothers who are dead (all of them, it is a stab to the heart, the memory Theon and imagining him, the ward, killing his littlest brothers, those poor little boys).
And you are a Watcher on the Wall, Jon thinks, reminding himself that he was always a little different. A little left out. You can't go back, he thinks, because it hurts him, this change in loyalty, even though he had been offered that chance, to go back and take what could be his if he only pledged to Stannis. To be a real Stark, his brain offers him like a traitorous jest. You are a Watcher on the Wall, he repeats to himself, because those words don't jar, those words are smoother and easier than I could be Jon Stark. He took the vow, he said the words, and they are his family now. He's not on the outside here, even at the edge of the world, even doing things he hates like killing his Brothers and playing the part of a turncloak, even then, he feels like there is something right. This is his world.
The snow is quiet, but his rooms are quieter. Even that blasted raven has put its head under its black and tattered wing, even Ghost has settled (on Jon's bed, no less, perhaps he has tired of the ground, but Jon is awake at his desk and takes no mind of the wolf on his furs).
Winter is coming. Stark words that are true, insistent, part of Jon. He pulls his coat up tighter around his shoulders as if that would really word to ward off the cold, as if that could really turn the cold away. It doesn't, but that's all right. He doesn't reject those words, the ones that are of a family he's a part of and yet always apart from. But now he's not longer sure what precisely they mean. There is a winter coming, a coldness that bites to the bone, treachery and betrayal and honor cast aside for power. There is Janos Slynt, a cold breath from the south. There is Ser Alliser, an ice that breeds discontent among his own men.
He is the Lord Commander now, he is the head of this family, and his father's words mean more than just the turning of the seasons after an endless summer. They mean the protection of his family against a chilling frost, even when that frost wears red and beckons flame. He hardens his heart to the actions he knows he will have to take as Lord Commander, because a cold heart suffers cold gladly, endures the winds of winter with less struggle. His father taught him well. If Jon cannot be a Stark because he cannot betray his father that way (leaving the Night's Watch, dishonoring himself, taking a side in a war that is not his, that would be betrayal, one his father would have never forgiven) he can be the man his father would have respected, the man he raised. A man who does not turn his coat in the face of praises and promises and a title. Jon's loyalty is more hard-earned than that, he knows that, even though he doubted it in Ygritte's warm embrace. He doubts no longer.
He knows better than anyone the value of loyalty in the face of winter. Winter is coming, and Lord Commander Snow is ready.
Comms Sample: audio;
[There is the sound of fumbling]
-ke this?
Hello?
[There's another pause]
Is anyone there? Is this even working? I'm not quite sure if this is how-
[There's a snuffle as Ghost presses his nose to it]
No, Ghost, I'm sure I've found out how this works. Hello? I'm told using this...thing, I can speak to others far away, as I would with a raven, only immediate. Can someone tell me if I've succeeded?
Добрый день!
(Anonymous) 2019-01-15 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)