Mabel Harte

Mabel Harte is the heir to House Harte, the only child of Lord Duncan Harte and his deceased wife Anara. Raised alone at Deer's Hall for most of her life, Mabel is known within her circles for being strong-willed and practical. The past few years have seen her assume a stewardship role, and the young woman is increasingly relied upon as her father's debilitating health only worsens.

Appearance and Character
Tall and lithe, Mabel demonstrates common southerner features, possessing a traditionally pale complexion and light blonde hair. Youth washes rosiness over her cheeks and lips, often the only giveaway for her age, and the only thing that dilutes her cold-cut, stoic public demeanour with a less assertive air.

Image is paramount; Mabel keeps her hair near permanently styled, matched accordingly with in-woven jewellery, the tones chosen to compliment her blue eyes. Wardrobe selections are ever appropriate, with Mabel dressing for whatever the occasion demands, careful never to make a choice too controversial.

Equal parts charming and cunning, Mabel deftly balances warm personal receptions with lofty public appearances. At Deer's Hall, matters of home and hearth are known to be attended to with a fair logic. Whilst sometimes insensitive, Mabel is reputed as a strict enforcer for order and justice. Visiting courtiers might be struck with the notion Mabel is studious to the letter, but more permanent faces know her to be more socially adept - forever keeping her cards close to her chest, and an extra hand hidden up her sleeve.

Early Life
Mabel was the first, and only, child born to Lord Duncan Harte. Her strenuous birth nearly claimed the life of Lady Anara Harte, and thus Mabel lived under the uncertain shadow of being a female heir.

Though she was raised with all the perks that came with being a child of the nobility, Mabel’s mother originated from a considerably poorer background, and instilled personally in her young daughter the importance of self-reliance. Rigorous study was mandatory, demanding an understanding of both academic and social spheres.

Adolescence
Growing up through successive periods of war, Mabel was no stranger to stretches of solitude. Isolated within the forests of House Harte’s lands, often with intolerable winter weather, a love for outdoor pursuits never blossomed. Still the sole heir to Deer’s Hall, Mabel was inundated by lessons of statecraft, oftentimes set to managing smaller castle tasks as a gauge. Increasingly moody and temperamental, wild juvenile behaviour was tempered in the young teenager only by the observation of her mother’s failing health.

It was during this period that Lady Anara and the family’s closest confidant, Alester Waters, were left with no choice but to expand upon Mabel's training earlier than they anticipated. With no other potential heir, and the eminent possibility of her mother's death, legacy became an ever more critical burden upon Mabel. From twelve, their young prodigy was instructed carefully and where required vaguely in the art of intrigue. Games of strategy and risk were dressed up, suited as more child-friendly equivalents that instilled core concepts of the intricacies of court. The purpose and meaning of such skills were expanded upon as she grew, and by fifteen Mabel was an adept student.

A few weeks prior to Mabel’s sixteenth name day, Lady Anara met her untimely fate. Lord Harte, though caring, was often distant; Alester, instead, served as a pillar of support and comfort through the turbulent grief that followed. Years of preparation had steeled Mabel, yet melancholy tainted her outgoing nature for many moons. Unbeknownst to many, including the young heir, such painstaking efforts had been taken for the sake of more than just common care. Lord Harte, whilst a popular and effective statesman, was known by close circles to be a man who struggled with self-sufficiency. The support of key individuals such as his bastard brother, Alester, and his wife, solidified his grasp. However, this oft gullible trait awarded others an opportunity toward influence. Chief amongst them being Duncan’s legitimate younger brother, Harrold. Intent on having his own son inherit Deer’s Hall, the restless uncle was often a thorn, one Anara and Alester feared could one day prick too harshly at his soft-skinned brother.

In the year that followed, Mabel absorbed and executed duties previously assigned to her late mother. The list was ever expanding, as her lord father willed, and stewardship became Mabel’s priority. Alester remained a constant, continuing to tutor Mabel where Lady Anara no longer could. Courtly manoeuvres became staple, and soon after Mabel was introduced to her mother’s true legacy - the intelligence networks she left behind.

Whilst Lord Harte had little taste for such things, his wife was well-chosen to compensate for his lack of aptitude. In her time as the Lady of Deer’s Hall, Anara cultivated a diverse portfolio of informants. A system of proxies was used to ensure absolute anonymity. Only Duncan’s bastard brother, Alester, reported directly in face-to-face reports. Under his guidance Mabel assumed indirect control, managing the ebb and flow of information, however irrelevant it may have been to the greater game.

Adulthood
Quiet yet prosperous years followed. Mabel grew comfortable exercising her delegated power, and in time assumed direct control of regional information rings. Utilising what she learned to fuel her father’s belief in her, Duncan was solidified in a position of renewed stability in the region.

The first challenge posed to the heir of Deer’s Hall came in the disguise of friend, not foe. An increasingly involved uncle Harrold posed a threat to Mabel’s autonomy, and the respect she had earned. No longer oblivious to her uncle’s intent, Mabel found herself at a crossroads. Direct interference could break a carefully forged façade of bookish understudy, whilst idling could result in a rupture of influence. Many years after her mother’s passing, the appeal of a male heir could still be renewed. By now, Mabel understood herself never to be safe until she had truly inherited title. A new wife, a new son? In the young woman’s mind, her undoing could be all too easy. Though her closest adviser cautioned care, Mabel had been shaped for nineteen years under the hard light of cold logic and pragmatism. She committed to eliminating the threat posed to her budding sphere of influence, and in one fell swoop prevent any future risk of a similar situation arising.

For the first time, regional intelligence networks were called to true action under Mabel’s banner. Within a week there was no choice but for Harrold Harte to return home, his reputation having undergone a worrisome swathe of defamation at Deer’s Hall. Commoners and courtiers alike whispered of his back-street deals with smugglers, whilst Mabel and Alester privately presented her father with prominent members of the household harbouring fears the Lord’s brother may have siphoned funds from house coffers.

A quick, but efficient, end to Mabel’s immediate familial problems allowed a turn of attention to the longevity of her solution. With both Alester and Mabel believing Duncan to be a gullible and forgiving soul, a favoured uncle could yet return with more untoward notions. Viewing young Mabel as nothing short of his own daughter, Alester’s support for a move that was both decisive and defining for her future solidified their loyalties beyond reproach.

By the next moon, Lord Duncan began to show the first signs of sickness. Increasingly tired and forgetful, reliance on Mabel reached new heights. By her twentieth name day, she ruled as proxy under his command.

Stewardship of Deer's Hall
Now the effective ruler of Deer’s Hall, any key members of the household deemed to be untrustworthy were replaced. Visiting her father daily, Lord Harte rarely spoke on matters of state, so tightly tucked was his addled mind beneath Mabel’s thumb.

To the greater public, Lord Harte may have been unwell, but he was fully in control of Mabel. Expanding her influence, she worked tirelessly with Alester to develop her reputation. By the time she was twenty-one, Mabel was well-known by courtiers and commoners alike at Deer’s Hall for her judicious stewardship of House Harte lands.

Family

 * Eustace Harte, Lord of Deer's Hall b. 351 AC d. 398 AC
 * Alester Waters b. 380 AC
 * m. Meredyth Gaunt b. 354 AC
 * Duncan Harte, Lord of Deer's Hall b. 372 AC
 * m. Anara Pyne b. 378 AC d. 413 AC
 * Mabel Harte, Heir to Deer's Hall b. 397 AC
 * Harrold Harte b. 375 AC
 * m. Bethany Rambton b. 383 AC
 * Triston Harte b. 400 AC
 * Myrila Harte b. 401 AC

Household Members/NPC's

 * Jeyne - Servant
 * Durwin - Steward
 * Gerold Mallery - Castellan
 * Maester Aldwin
 * Septon Byris
 * Septa Brienne