Victaria Drumm

Victaria Drumm is the middle child of Lord Meldred Drumm and his wife, Lady Gysela. Amidst the civil war now coined the Black Prophet's Rebellion, Victaria mutinied and usurped her elder brother to take the seat of Old Wyk. Since 434 A.C she has ruled as its Lady.

Hailing from controversy even before the outbreak of war, House Drumm were the foremost critics of the reformist Dagon Greyjoy. Initially driven by the zeal of an ardently religious father, the paradigm of the Bone Hand as a defender of the Drowned God’s exacting importance in society persisted into the rule of his son and heir, Harren. This precedent was ended only with Victaria's ascent to the seat of Old Wyk.

For four years after deposing her brother,  Victaria has served loyally beneath the new Lord Reaper, distinguishing herself as a talented tactician and a resolute - if occasionally reckless - commander. In Old Wyk her policies have reflected the need for recovery following wartime, with copious efforts poured into economic and martial restoration. Thus far, she has governed with a stern hand, employing a fervor befitting the ruler of the most holy island. She wields her house’s ancestral steel, Red Rain.

Appearance & Character
Brash and often lacking in tact, Victaria inherited an above average height and the typical wild looks of the Ironborn. Dark features dominate a sharp, angular face - tawny eyes and burnished tresses. Hallmarks of the true salt running fast through her veins, reflected in the uncompromising wit of her demeanour. Too easily however does wit turn humour to derision, and the Lady of Old Wyk is well noted for her hot-headed tendencies.

Carrying herself with no small measure of self esteem, her presence is dogmatic in both nature and delivery. Where many would wrap iron salt in silk, diminishing its acidity, Victaria embraces the rigours to be found in a society dominated by men.

Defined by an unscrupulous dedication to maintaining a physique fit for combat, lean muscle has left her absent the softness of matrons and mothers. A trained swordsman, the sturdiness of her build reflects life in the islands; a frame marred already by the toils of war, blemished by those that sought her blood to pay the iron price. Rarely is she seen bereft of Red Rain, the hilt never far from her fingers.

Born Amidst Bones
At Castle Wyk, Victaria was the second trueborn child - and only daughter - in a line of three. Brought into the world on the back of duty, she was raised with a similarly obligatory outlook. Rearing the Drumm children was a demand upon their mother Gysela, a burden imposed by virtue of her position. Though not an unwelcome one, nor was it a role the woman had ever sought with any great gusto. The eldest boy, Harren, and Victaria were her natural product; but in her care was also placed a younger bastard boy, Urek.

The sister all boys surely needed, Victaria proved to possess a naturally domineering personality. Bossy, true, and undeniably controlling - but indisputably loving where the affection of parents was found wanting.

While never invested in a thorough education, all three were forced to undergo a standardised tenure beneath the house maester. They would be literate, though none could ever stand in the shadow of any great scholar.

Inevitably clashes of personality surfaced, but only with the onset of burgeoning maturity. Where Urek adopted a mannered disposition befitting the tarnished name of a bastard, Victaria and Harren were headstrong and vied for dominance in near all things. Schisms between the siblings became more serious with age, and as Victaria grew only more pragmatic, Harren proved to be his father's son; deeply spiritual, and devoted to the Drowned God.

The Iron Way
Friction persisted in the family far beyond the children's early years of adolescence. Their relationship grew to be shaped by ideological differences; and while Victaria would gladly break anything which refused to bend as she pleased, Harren was rigid in adhering to the strict codes and doctrines of their father. Practicality had no bearing upon his decisions, an oversight that irked Victaria as much as it ingrained Harren as the favoured child.

Determined to prove herself as no less than her brothers, from an early age the sole Drumm daughter participated in all the same activities. When Harren lifted a sword at twelve, despite being four years younger she insisted on being allowed to try the same. When the boy began sailing, she demanded to be allowed to go alongside.

Through the years, Gysela in particular entertained little reception to such demands. Solace came from an unlikely source. In later juvenescence Emmon Greyjoy came to Old Wyk with his mainland wife, Arianne Costayne. By his auspices the family were encouraged to turn idealistic notion into actuality, and few could deny even an errant Sevenist son of the kraken. Friendship between Victaria and Emmon was as unlikely as it was frowned upon; but by his will and patience she learned to brandish steel.

At the court of Pyke, Meldred Drumm was a vocal opponent of the unlikely Lord Reaper, Dagon Greyjoy, since his assumption of the Seastone Chair. Though divided by the gulf of principle, Victaria grew to appreciate his effective seizure of power from an initially weak position. Tales of how the Lord of the Iron Islands had secured both lasting change and the favour of his principal banners were many, but at Castle Wyk they were stories spoken of only to condemn the volatility of reform and the emerging new way.

When in 428 A.C. Lord Meldred became fevered, Harren took over many of his duties. While only fifteen at the time, Victaria knew his tenure during their father's illness would be muddy with ineptitude. In no small part was this the bitter culmination of their longstanding rivalry, the final realisation of their difference in stature.

To be free of her brother's oppressive tendencies, she sought to be far from Wyk. Electing to join the few remaining reaving parties that still plagued the Summer Islands beneath Dagon's rule, Victaria returned changed from every incursion. In time, voyages saw her body bearing scars written for the glory of the Drowned God. Her sword shed blood upon salt in His name; steel that was tainted early, and of the Drumm children, none could deny her deliverance to He Who Dwells Beneath the Waves was the most substantial.

False Prophets
When Victaria returned in 432 A.C, Dagon Greyjoy was dead. From the rebel stronghold at Old Wyk she joined the tide of rebellion; with little choice. Meldred had declared House Drumm to be for Loren Greyjoy from the outset of defection, when the Drowned Priest Torwyn called for a Kingsmoot. By the time she returned already did the driftwood crown rest upon King Loren's head, her father a commander in the new regime of the islands.

While Great Wyk was already secured, in a series of skirmishes across the iron shores they spread like plague. Gripping the kingdom tight in the vice of insurrection, Victaria participated in several notable battles. When, during the Scouring, Lord Meldred Drumm was felled his son and heir rose to the mantle of lord. It seemed ill fortune that he died as the tide began to shift, and defeat soon hung like a shadow heavy on the ever-closing horizon. His daughter's participation died largely with him, and her involvement culminated with the Battle of Lordsport.

A critical turning point in the Black Prophet's Rebellion, the encounter signalled a shift. The first real rebel defeat since the death of Alannys Harlaw, the involvement of Prince Baelor Targaryen and his dragon brought a new face to the die.

Disillusioned with Harren, with war and with Loren Greyjoy himself - Victaria feared the dragon that darkened their skies. Where one Prince of the blood came, more would surely follow without a swift resolution. Aeron Greyjoy had proven himself a worthy tactician in repulsing what should have been an easy victory. At Lordsport, Lord Ronnel had succeeded in pressing the Iron Fleet; pressing until they landed upon the shores, and steel spilled blood upon the sands. That they were ultimately repelled is perhaps what solidified her course more than anything. Had they taken Pyke that day, the war would have been long done.

The last of Loren's followers amassed at Sealskin Point, but the Drumm fleet was held back long enough for Victaria to put an end to the madness of ineptitude. Her strategy was simple, if a huge gambit. With the aid of Urek, men who had no desire to be branded traitors when Theon Harlaw eventually overran them upon the open sea, and several reavers from the years passed, Victaria secured control. While Harren slept a mortal end was brought to the most loyal of his retainers, and any who remained partisan to the true lord did not see another dawn. From his chambers she took Red Rain, and personally put any stragglers who would oppose turn-coating to the sword on the deck of the Drumm flagship.

With Harren clapped in irons as the convenient arrival of the Blacktydes sealed resolution to the civil war, Victaria delivered her brother to the new Lord Reaper as a lamb before the lions. An end was brought, but the bitter tang in the hearts of many did not die with the seastone usurper. Many were doubly betrayed by the Drumm daughter that day, but undeniably was her hide and that of her house saved by the single renegade act.

Rising Tide
In the years that followed Victaria's ascent to title it became apparent she cared for coin in a way many did not. Perhaps owing to an early association with the informal steward of Pyke, the Lady of Old Wyk took full advantage of eased tax burdens during the four year winter. She made rights first to the degradation of coffers, in what little way she could given the severity of winter's onset.

Owing, perhaps, to the crooked way in which she shoved House Drumm back into threadbare allegiance with the new Lord Reaper's regime, Victaria has not often been a frequent face at the kraken's court.

Family

 * Lord Meldred Drumm b. 372 A.C. d. 433 A.C.
 * m. Lady Gysela Drumm nee Wynch b. 365 A.C. d. 424 A.C.
 * Harren Drumm, b. 409 A.C.
 * Victaria Drumm, Lady of Old Wyk, b. 413 A.C.
 * m. Nesgred of Greyhearth
 * Urek Pyke, b. 416 A.C.