Character Information

Discord Name: The Changamire #4668

Name and Clan: Duncan Gryphon

Age: 39

Cultural Group: First Men

Appearance: Can Be Found Here

Trait: Strong

Skill(s): Tactician, Footwork, One-Handed Swords, Shields, Logistician

Talent(s): General, Warrior, Bandit, Emissary

Negative Trait: None

Starting Title(s): High King of the Hill, Chieftain of Clan Gryphon

Starting Location: Mountains of the Moon, the Vale of Arryn

Alternate Characters: None

Biography

Born to the union of Ambior and Gudrid, heralded by the screech of a dying falcon, Duncan was the product of a conspiracy.

One of the many traits that the First Men of the Vale shared with their Northern kin was that they did not easily forget, not truly. Histories might fade into legends, and legends to myths, but they were never forgotten. The Mountain Clans of the Moon remembered when it was they who lived in the fertile valleys of the Vale, and the Gryphons remembered when they were ruled those valleys with a just hand. Such a memory was not one squashed easily, even when the Gryphons came close to annihilation several times through the centuries, either from rival clans or the roving bands of Andal Knights. So, when, at last, the Gryphons reached stability, they began to scheme and plot-- planning for a day that would come to fruition with the birth of the Gryphon. With relations to several of the major Mountain Clans, Duncan inherited a confederacy as his birthright, awaiting a guiding hand to mold it.

For that, however, he would need to grow, and that Duncan did. A babe turned to a boy, and a boy to a youth, all the while learning under the tutelage of his father and the wisdom of his mother. He learned the histories of his people. The dialects of the clans. The differing practices of the weir-praise. The language of the sword. All of this Duncan took in well, and he grew.

Then came the time when he was sent away from the Gryphon oppidum, to foster amongst the Redsmiths as per an agreement made long before his birth. It was there that he found the girl that would one day be his wife, Gudrid, and upon binding his hand to hers and securing the Redsmiths as allies, he returned home with his betrothed...

(Continues in the Timeline)

Timeline

• 63 AD: Duncan Fendunbroch is born to Ambior of the Gryphons and his wife Cadha, formerly of the Stone Crows.
• 63-74 AD: Duncan is raised by his loving parents, growing to learn the ways and histories of the people he will one day rule.
• 75-79 AD: As per an agreement between the Gryphons and the Redsmiths, a ten-and-one Duncan is sent to foster with them for five years to chose a prospective wife.
• 80 AD: Gudrid of the Stone Crows is betrothed to Duncan. The two return to the Gryphon hillfort and are promptly betrothed at the ages of six-and-ten.
• 81-88 AD: Duncan, when not learning how to rule the highlands under Ambior's tutelage, spends the next seven years visiting various oppidums of familial and friendly Clans, strengthening the bonds between them and slowly forming the core of what would become known within the mountains as the Kingdom of the Hill. Occasionally, he joined the raiding parties that descended into the Lowlands, taking great interest in the Knights of the Vale...
• 88 AD: Ambior of the Gryphons officially steps down as Cheiftain and elevates Duncan to his birthright. Soon after, Duncan and Gudrid are married beneath a weirwood.
• 89-90 AD: The Black Ears and the Moon Brothers, two clans with marredDUnc relations with the Stone Crows, attack a Stone Crow settlement. In retaliation, Duncan calls forth all his warriors to pursue the attackers, in the process calling all the allies at his disposal-- the remnants of the Stone Crows, the Redsmiths, the Howlers, and the Burned Men, to his side.
• 90 AD: In the early months of the year, the Gryphon coalition manages to force the Black Ears and Moon Brothers to battle. The Moonfall would end with the chieftains of both enemy Clans killed, both slain by Duncan himself, and a victory for the coalition, despite the few losses on all sides. The Black Ears and Moon Brothers were promptly dispersed and absorbed into the victorious clans.
• In a fit of drunkenness that befell many following the aftermath of the victory, the Chieftain of the Milk Snakes, Dolf, proclaimed to all that there would be no better man to lead them other than Duncan. Caught up in the revelry, many of the Chieftains present, whether having been part of the original coalition or not, proclaimed Duncan High King of the Hill, elevating the Gryphons back to kingship for the first time in centuries.
• 91 AD: Despite the sudden solidifying of the clans as a unified force, there were several that did not wish to pay homage to a High King, or desired such a title unto themselves. In response to the crowning of Duncan, the Painted Dogs, the Sons of the Mist, the Sons of the Tree, the Skagnar, and several other minor Clans formed their own confederacy with the goal of toppling the fledgling High King of the Hill.
• 92-97 AD: The to coalitions would spend the next five years preparing for battle, each very much aware that fighting in the midst of Winter would be a death sentence unto itself. It was only when the snows thawed did the two side meet in battle. In the end, however, it mattered not-- for while the Chieftain of the enemy coalition harbored great ambitions, their people did not, and their heads were presented the High King come the following Spring. With several strokes of a blade not his own, Duncan had, for the first time since the Seven Stars, united the First Men of the Vale under one banner. Henceforth would he be known as the Fendunbroch-- the Unifier.
• 98 AD: The firstborn of Duncan and Gudrid is born into the world, and she is named Brunhild.
• 102 AD: Present day. Having brought all the Mountain Clans of the Moon into his sphere of influence, the First Men of the Vale once more look to the lowlands, gazing upon their old lands with longing...

Family Tree

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