Eister Farwynd
(Es-stair Far-wind)
Second Daughter of House Farwynd of the Lonely Light || Wife of the Handof the Queen || 14
History: Eister was born during a rather inauspicious year. The Endless Winter had already been two years begun. Her young mother nearly died during the childbirth, and worst of all, she arrived on the day the Greyjoy Uprising began to go terribly wrong - the day the assault at Lannisport failed. That same day, her brother Derrin was mortally wounded, wounds which they were told he died from after another two days of agony. She was the first and last child of her father's second wife, who was never able to bear another child, much less another son, and she was not in possession of the striking beauty that had drawn her father to her mother so late in his age. Young, useless, and without any special wit or extraordinary talent, Eister grew up being reminded of the ill-omens that had surrounded her. The only one who really seemed to care about her was her father, and the only one who talked to her often was her mother.
Her mother, Oletha Weaver, came from a House so small and young that even in the Iron Islands few had heard its name. She had her beauty, though, and that was just enough to secure her a place in a better-known noble house. To her unfortunate only child, she taught relentlessly three key lessons. The first: there should be nothing beneath her in the pursuit of her own self-interest. The second: as a girl, her only value was in getting married and the power should could then exert on her husband. And the third: that she, Eister, possessed nothing of value to offer. Eister took these lessons to heart, probably in more ways than her mother could've anticipated. One thing she never lost, though, was the pride she had in being a strong Ironborn, capable of defending herself and unwilling to submit without a fight on her hands or a plan up her sleeve. When she was 12, she discovered that her childhood playmate was actually her dead brother's son, and to preserve the line of inheritance, she pushed him off a cliff.
When the news arrived that there was a young new Lord of House Stark and Hand of the Queen, she saw it as her chance to marry well. He was not another Ironborn, but his rank was one of the highest in Westeros and he was younger than most of the others looking for wives. Not only did this make him closer in age to her and less likely to overpower her in the course of their marriage, it also meant, she hoped, that her chances were a little better. His House had long supported the Queen, who had endorsed the Lannisters' subjugation of Eister's people, and she provided him with no useful alliance or other skills. All she had was her charm to recommend her, and little enough of that as her father had not seen fit to insist perfect comportment from her. Perhaps, as a younger man, he could more easily excuse these objections, somehow. It was almost to her surprise that she succeeded in securing the marriage (for make no mistake, it was she who had secured it). Now, she only had to ensure that the power of her husband, and subsequently herself, was not damaged by whatever the strange Queen thought up next.
Appearance: Eister has coarse, dark hair that's kept short, but relatively well-maintained. Her skin has a slightly burnished, sun-weathered look, but not as noticeably as her parents and siblings, because she is still fairly young. Though not ugly, it would be a long stretch to call Eister a beauty by any accounts. Her narrow face has a nose just a little too big to fit quite right with it, and the tan of her skin contrasts with her thin, pale lips. The most striking of her features are her wide, intense grey eyes that seem to look right through you. She has a lean form, and is relatively short, standing only a little over 5'.
On the Beyond
Members of the House
Ygran Farwynd - father, 67
Drysell Harlaw - father's 1st wife, died in childbirth at age 26
Oletha Weaver - mother, 30
Stern Farwynd - half-brother, died at 4 months of unknown causes
Levina Farwynd - half-sister, 42
Derrin Farwynd - half-brother, killed in Greyjoy Uprising age 24 (24 years older)
Aldus Farwynd - half-brother, 37