Amerei Darry

Amerei Darry is Lady of Darry and ruler of her house for the past twenty-eight years. Her rule has been extraordinarily effective at increasing Darry power and wealth, though since her collapse much of the less critical tasks have been passed to her eldest two children, Rowena and Desmond. She is fifty years of age and married to Clement Hayford, with whom she has five children, as well as a dozen grandchildren. She is the former wielder of House Darry's weirwood bow, now passed onto her oldest daughter Rowena.

Appearance and Character
Amerei Darry might have once had a faint beauty, but at fifty it is long gone. She is still polite, kind and graceful, but none would call her  beautiful. Her long hair is tinted grey, her thin frame lined with wrinkles and lines from head to foot. She looks nearly sixty but her eyes still shine bright and brown as they have for half a century, and her mind remains as strong as it was when she was but a youth.

As ever she looks to not draw attention; her house colours of brown and black are often used for this purpose more than heraldry, though Amerei has a secret love of green and purple that she exhibits on special occasions. Her face is usually unadorned by makeup, a timepiece and occasionally simple earrings or a plowman-shaped pendant being her only jewelry.

Amerei cares for her family deeply, even if she has trouble manifesting that into normal love. She attempts to see her children and her husband whenever possible, though she often holds them to the same impossible standards that she gives herself. Her obsession with inventions has largely been supplanted by one with politics, which she cares about deeply and has used rather successfully to become a more significant player in the regions around her than her father was. Despite these successes, she sees herself as imperfect and flawed and strives to do better even if such a thing is impossible.

Prior to 407
(copied from her original wiki page which she shared with Alyssa and Mina)

Lady Amerei Darry was born on the final day of 387 AC, on a day of tragedy. It is said that at the moment she was born, a tower collapsed on Lord Raymun Darry, killing her great-grandfather instantly. While she was truly born a few hours after the event, there is no doubt that Amerei has a somber, quiet nature befitting one born on such a day.

She was never a strong child; born three weeks early and small besides, it was feared that she might die. She spent her early childhood in turmoil; her father Harrold and grandfather Lord Davos often fought, on one occasion resulting in the baby Amerei being kicked out with the rest of her family.

Her closest confidant became her sister Alyssa; though they were completely different, their flaws and strengths matched each other well; when Amerei was too shy or stayed hidden in her room Alyssa was able to get her out and active, while Amerei was able to prevent the worst of Alyssa's debauchery and help her grow into a far more competent adult.

As the years wore on it became increasingly obvious that Lady Rhea would have no male children, and by 400 AC it was clear that Amerei would need to be educated as befitted a head of house. She followed her father around dutifully, doing as much as she physically could to learn how to rule.

Her mother figure was her aunt Shiera, a woman whose terrible visage scared most, but not Amerei. She gave her niece a love of learning and invention, though after her death in 408 Amerei shied away from her more magical experiments, preferring to focus more on those that would benefit the peasantry. Despite pursuing more political aims in the last few years, her extensive education has left her with a high level of knowledge in healing and history, as well as a reasonable knowledge of warfare.

407-418
Following her father's death in 409, Amerei became Lady of Darry, a position for which she had been trained for her whole life. Her goals were similar to her father's; to successfully increase her house's standing both in the Riverlands and abroad. To that end she betrothed her sister Mina to Lord Hunter, as well as sending Alyssa to Riverrun. She also met with Aemon Dayne during his trip around the Seven Kingdoms. However in her usual fashion she wishes to do better and better, aiming to help her house and her people to become ever more successful. She is popular with the smallfolk, successfully preventing deaths during the winter of 411 and giving them far more consideration than her father.

In this she has been largely successful; Darry now has stronger connections to the Crownlands and Vale than before and outwardly she appears the perfect ruler. However it has taken a great toll on her body and mind, one which is unsustainable. Her body grew extraordinarily thick after five children and following her near death during the delivery of her final child Amerei has slowly grown thinner, though she still remains a thick-bodied woman. In addition the stress of ruling combined with a massive perfectionist streak have left her barely sleeping, often working sixteen hours a day. She is often exhausted, her brilliant mind contained in a body that is barely able to function under the strain she places on it.

All the Stuff Between 3.1 and 3.2
For nearly a decade little would change in the life of Amerei, and indeed of most of the family at Darry. Her children would grow into competent adults, none without flaws but none without virtues. Her parenting would be largely successful, if suffering from the same lack of emotion that has plagued her existence. She would gradually get thinner and thinner, returning to the waif-like form she had had as a teen and then some, until her skin was gaunt and tight upon a wrinkled face.

Yet all was outwardly well, as Darry prospered more than ever. Her sister Eleyna married the heir to Starpike, the concept of sending an unmarried child to King's Landing ostensibly as a handmaid but in reality to find a marriage proving fruitful, despite the fury her younger sister still held for Amerei.

Not a month after her eldest sons' wedding to Rosalind Tully she would collapse, despite having no physical malady that the maester could diagnose. According to medical theory she was completely sound in body; far older than a woman of thirty-eight should look, but otherwise thin, healthy and sharp of mind. Some said it was hysteria, but she simply sat there, barely responding to the world around. Some said it was tiredness, but the woman was awake enough, simply unresponsive.

In the end, the maesters concluded that it was simply overwork that had left her in such a state, with a reduction in work being the only potential cure. Slowly, agonizingly, they convinced Amerei to enter a sort of retirement, delegating more and more instead of micro-managing to the point of madness. As her daughter Rowena matured she would become almost an assistant, the raven-haired woman a familiar sight upon the wooden chair that sat above the main hall.

In time her children would grow, becoming more and more independent as they aged. Her second son Symond would wed Vaella Velaryon, the silver haired and purple eyed daughter of Lord Aurane, in a ceremony with far more opulence and far more genuine affection than that of his older brother two years prior. The two would grow fabulously wealthy, the rather plain looking couple dressing in finery that was anything but, including a marble-clad manse on the deep blue waters of the Blackwater.

Recent History
It hasn't started yet

Stats
(this is because I normally pin my characters, and I don't want to have to pin both Step 1 and Step 2)

Attribute: Brilliant

Allotted Points: 14

Social Status: Principal Bannerman (+3)

Skills: Economics, Healing, History/Law, Counter-Intelligence

- 7 Statecraft

- 10 Education

- 3 Reputation