Jocelyn Rowan

Jocelyn Rowan is the youngest child of the late Lord Morgath Rowan and his lady wife, Bethany Fossoway, the younger sister of the late Lord Reynard Rowan, the former wife of the deceased Ser Thaddeus Oakheart, and the lover of her nephew, Baelor Rowan, the current Lord of Goldengrove and Marshall of the Northmarch. She is mother to his six bastard children, Jaehaerys, Arwyn, Rhaegar, Selyse, Aegon, and Rhaenys Flowers.

Appearance and Personality
Jocelyn is broad chested and wide-hipped, with long shoulders and legs, and strong, hard muscle lining her appendages. She is stouter than she was in her youth, the result of childbearing that has not quite left her over the years. She has long, thick hair of a pale gold, streaked with silver and grey from age, making it look even lighter than it really is, as well as blue-green eyes that appear to chance colors in the sunlight. Alongside a strong jawline, defined cheekbones, and a long, straight nose, she has a look of perpetual disdain on her face, which is only increased by the slight marks of age around her mouth and eyes. Her menacing gaze is topped off with a long, jagged scar that runs the course of her left cheekbone, across her lips, ending off near the center of her chin, the reward of her efforts in the War of the Three Banners, when Jocelyn was dragged from her horse during the cavalry charge by a Serrett pikeman.

She prefers flowy, flashy clothes, and mostly dresses in the golds and whites that comprise her family's heraldry. In court, she wears long, revealing gowns, with plunging necklines and exposed shoulders, accompanied by a cloak of smoke grey wool. In the battlefield, she wears the same cloak, over a suit of gilded bronze and iron plate, with leather scale beneath. Jocelyn nearly always wears a circlet of gilded steel, a wedding gift to her from her former husband, Thaddeus Oakheart.

Jocelyn is hot tempered and rash, with little moral compass to guide her. She follows her heart and her emotions above all else, which leads to a tempestuousness quite unlike how she was as a girl. Her relationship with her nephew Baelor has brought her to a new level of confidence in self, and as such, where she might've stayed silent when a question is asked, she is now the first to voice her opinion, whether it's welcome or not.

She is fundamentally quite selfish, and territorial, both traits that have only strengthened with time, and as she continued to have more bastard children with her lover, she grew more obstinate and combative. Age has not tempered her fury, but only enhanced it, and her temper tantrums are the stuff of local legend.

History
Born the youngest of two, Jocelyn was a good twenty years younger than her brother when she was born, a miracle by all accounts, as Bethany had grown quite old by the time she was born, the youngest of five children. She was a fussy baby, constantly trying to bite at the wet nurse's breasts, only calming when Bethany herself fed her, though these occasions were few and far between as the final pregnancy had taken a great toll on her body, and she seldom left bed anymore.

Youth
Jocelyn had always been quiet and demur as a child. She was courteous, sweet, and obedient, rarely daring to disobey her parent's rules, or attempting anything that would raise eyebrows. She was not a particularly notable child, as she did very little of true importance. Jocelyn lived as her parents told her to, read the Seven Pointed Sta

r and prayed daily, sewed and played with the other girls of Goldengrove, and left little worry in anyone's mind that she might become a wanton or other undesirable personage (oh how woefully incorrect they would be proved later on). Though she had a great interest in warfare and swordsmanship as a child, the lack of permission was a great deterrent for her, and she ceased talking about her interest in such pursuits for years, until well after she was married to Thaddeus.

At the age of sixteen, she was betrothed to Ser Thaddeus Oakheart, a cousin of the Lord of Old Oak. A young, handsome knight, he was just as quiet and amiable as her, and their fathers agreed it was a good match. After two years of betrothal, a fortnight after she turned eight and ten, she was wed to Thaddeus at Goldengrove, where they stayed for one year before returning to Old Oak, leaving just after witnessing the birth of her brother Reynard's youngest son, and his only child by his second wife Jaehaera, Baelor.

Marriage to Thaddeus Oakheart
Jocelyn's marriage to Thaddeus Oakheart was just as uneventful as her childhood, though her own personality began to bloom outside of the supervision of her own parents. Now the object of her husband, who was a meek, mousy man, much like she was before, she began to undergo small changes in her behavior, testing the waters to see what she could get away with. And before long, the infamous temper that now plagues the halls of Goldengrove was born, as she grew more and more entitled, and more and more self centered, finding she cared little for her Lord Husband.

The Squirehood of Baelor
After nearly ten years of marriage, Thaddeus and Jocelyn were still without children, and had become the laughingstock of Old Oak, which only served to enrage her even more and more often, at that. Thaddeus had become more and more despairing, taking to drinking more and more to alleviate his sorrows. Until, that is, Baelor Rowan, youngest son of her brother Lord Reynard, came to squire under Thaddeus, staying with them at Old Oak. Their dynamic shifted almost immediately. Whereas their apartments were once cold and quiet, they now had the laughter of a child warming them beside the hearth, and as a result, the two were driven closer together once more, for a time. The two came to see Baelor as a son of their own, with time. They were closer as a unit than any of them had been with their own family, and the time that he spent there as Thaddeus' squire is a point in her life she still remembers quite fondly. During the day, Thaddeus and Baelor would train, or go out riding, or hunting, and he would teach Baelor the secrets of manhood, while Jocelyn would ensure they were fed and comfortable when they returned, making sure that the servants had supper ready, and spent time listening to them regale her with their miniature adventures upon their return.

Baelor too spent time with Jocelyn, in turns. Whenever Thaddeus was otherwise occupied, and had not need of a squire, Jocelyn sat in the courtyard with him, and the two would practice reading, as though he was a boy of ten, he was barely literate, unable to read most things put in front of him. After a time, his literacy improved drastically, though he still cannot read without whispering the words beneath his breathe. On rainy days, he would read to her as they sat by the fireplace, drinking wine and relaxing for the days of harder work that would come as soon as the storms relented.

At the age of six and ten, Baelor was knighted by Thaddeus for his skill at arms, and for his bravery and courage as befitted a young knight more than a squire. The three of them celebrated for a week, before Baelor returned to his regular regiment of training and studying warfare, as, much to Jocelyn and Thaddeus' delight, Baelor felt no urgency to return to his family at Goldengrove, having grown far more attatched to the two of them.

Marital Strains
Just over three years after Baelor's knighting marked a sudden and slow decline in the civility of Thaddeus' and Jocelyn's relationship. While they had grown even closer, something close to loving, when Baelor was their own adoptive child, he was now a man grown, and a knight, at that, and would often spend long stretches of time away from Old Oak, following the tourney circuit as he sought glory and fame as a tourney knight. And though he would make small returns to them from time to time, his absence caused an immense amount of marital strain on the both of them. They grew just as cold and distant as they had been before Baelor had come to them as a squire, and Jocelyn in particular would explode at even the smallest of slights, blowing it into a row of epic proportions. Everything changed with the coming of Baelor's twentieth nameday. A man grown, he was young and strong and handsome, and every bit as gentle as he was as a boy, still the kindhearted little man that Thaddeus and Jocelyn had taken in all those years ago. He had returned to winter at Old Oak, and suddenly the warmth of their adoptive family had returned with him. Thaddeus had grown occupied with serving as his cousin's counselor, and found he had little and less time to devote to the both of them, leaving Baelor and Jocelyn to grow ever closer, closer than any man had right to be to a married lady, many thought, let alone his aunt.

On the eve of his nine and tenth nameday, during the early morning hours, a servant spied Lady Jocelyn entering his chambers in naught but a sleeping shift, with a small candle in hand to light her way. What went on between them is hardly difficult to guess, as they had grown great affection for each other over the years, where people would come to question precisely how appropriate it was for a boy to be just so close to his aunt, a lawfully wedded woman, at that. Neither of these things seemed to stop the two of them, however, and thus began the worst kept secret in all of the Reach; the ongoing affair of Lady Jocelyn Rowan and her nephew, Ser Baelor Rowan.

Affair with Ser Baelor Rowan
There are a myriad of rumors surrounding what exactly drove them towards each other; some say that Baelor had proclivities similar to those of his maternal family's, and as a result, tended towards those of his own blood; some say that after years of marriage, Lady Jocelyn was disappointed with her lack of children, and wanted to ensure her husband had an heir, one way or another; some say it was just lust or love, for the nature of man can be unknowable when thoughts of carnal pleasures come into view. But a year later, she gave birth to a lavander eyed, lusty little boy, with hair of silver gold on his head, whom Jocelyn named Jaehaerys, for Baelor's own mother.

In spite of the rumors of the unborn child's parentage, Thaddeus stalwartly defended his wife's honor for the course of her pregnancy, until the babe itself was born. With one look at the boy, silver haired and violet eyed, a black rage overtook the knight, a betrayal of uncanny proportions. For Thaddeus had come to look at Baelor as a son of his own, for he had no children by his wife until this day. And indeed, they were close as any father and son ought to be, Thaddeus had taught Baelor how to be a man, how to fight, and how to live up to the virtues of chivalry. He had defended him from the rumors, and his wife too, for he had never imagined that the two people he loved most in the world would betray him in such a disastrous way, but when Jaehaerys was born, and named such by Jocelyn, Thaddeus was overtaken by a wroth so fierce, that none would ever call him the Sleepy Oak again.

Baelor's Trial By Combat
Waking Baelor immediately, Thaddeus dragged the naked youth out of bed, and threw him in the cells beneath Old Oak, without the consent of his lord cousin, and accused him of adultery, perjury, and heresy, all punishable by death according to the Seven Pointed Star. Though Thaddeus wanted him and the boy executed immediately, Lord Oakheart had other plans, being more levelheaded than Ser Thaddeus; he allowed Baelor a chance to prove his innocence in a fair trial, as befits all high lords and lordlings. Of course, with little else choice, Baelor instead defaulted, by lack of evidence, to calling a Trial by Combat, which Lord Oakheart obliged. Thaddeus was chosen as Lord Oakheart's Champion, and Baelor decided he himself would act in his favor.

When the rumors reached the ears of Reynard, he had word sent to Old Oak at once, demanding his son be released immediately or else incur the wrath of Goldengrove. While Reynard intended instead to take the matter before their lieges of House Tyrell, Lord Oakheart denied his request, and the trial took place before Baelor's father could further intervene.

As the day broke, Baelor was let out of his cell, and armored himself in glittering white plate armor chased with redgold and black, while Thaddeus donned his own colors of House Oakheart. Baelor chose a greatsword, while Thaddeus brought a morningstar and shield, a combination with which he was infamously deadly, having accidentally killed several men in a melee years past.

It was over in an instant. Though Thaddeus fought valiantly, his rage had kept him up all through the night, and he was haggard and unprepared for the duel. Baelor immediately shattered his oaken shield with a single blow of his blade, and after parrying a wild, uncoordinated swing of Thaddeus' morningstar, he split Thaddeus in half with one swing of his greatsword, rending through his helm and gearing down through his torso in one clean strike. Thus having been exonerated according to the King's Law, Lord Oakheart was forced to let him and the child go. Casting the two out, as well as Lady Jocelyn, he forbade them to return to his lands, or he would have their heads. All too happy to leave, they made for Goldengrove later that evening.

Return to Goldengrove
Utterly furious with his disgraceful son, Reynard reportedly struck his son for the first and only time upon his return, knocking him from his horse, causing him to fall on his hip and shatter his upper leg, a wound that would take years to fully heal, and still causes phantom aches from time to time. He forbade Baelor and Jocelyn from seeing each other, and so it was for a moon's turn, until later on she was found to be with child again. After nearly three years of clandestine liaisons resulting in new bastard children, Reynard relented, and allowed the two to continue as they had before, thoroughly sickened and entirely disappointed in his son. As recompense for all of the damage wrought by Baelor, Reynard married both his children from his first marriage to someone from House Oakheart, hoping to smooth over the wounds. Lord Oakheart called the debt paid, but still forbade Baelor from returning to his lands, which Reynard accepted without quarrel.

Three Banners War
Jocelyn accompanied Baelor on the warpath, as they went to see to the defense of the Reach from the dissident forces of the Westerlands that had cut a bloody swath through the western country. She was wounded at the Battle of the Ocean Road. The battle was little more than a slaughter, as they had outnumbered their enemies five to one, but Baelor's own acumen and tactical prowess was proved that day when only two men died on the field of battle. Taking advantage of the flat fields they had camped in, he ordered a shield wall to bridge the gap between the two large hills overlooking their camp. Leading the cavalry charge himself, Baelor directed them around the hills quickly, and they descended from behind, the hammer smashing the Serrett Van against the shield anvil. Jocelyn, who had ridden with him in the charge, was wounded, a pike slashing her cheek deep, so deep that the bone beneath was visible when she was taken to the maesters after the battle. They managed to patch her up well enough, however, and Baelor was able to call it a near perfect victory.

The Northmarch Plague
In the year 435 AC, a great plague swept through the Northmarches, decimating the smallfolk population. Death, being impartial as it is, found itself at the doorstep of many a lord and landed knight, high and small, rich and poor, weak and strong. The plague carried off many, including Lord Reynard Rowan, his heir, Gerald Rowan and his wife, and one of Baelor's own bastard daughters, a newborn babe named Selyse. Stricken with grief at the loss of so much family, Baelor sequestered himself in Goldengrove, scarcely leaving his chambers for nearly a year, only permitting Jocelyn to enter and attempt to raise his spirits, which she sorely failed at.