Runa Volmark

Runa Volmark is the lady of Volmark, the commander of its fleets and captain of the Witch’s Swell. She is the third daughter and fifth child of Lord Steffon Volmark and his lady wife Karin. She has been the lady of her ancestral seat since 435, two years after the conclusion of the Black Prophet’s Rebellion.

Appearance and Character
She is slightly taller than average women of the isle but it is seldom shown as she often surrounded by men. There is visible muscle on her but she is leaner and more agile than many of the larger warriors in her entourage and crew.

Her eyes are a darker grey with a hint of blue like the sea crashing with the storm to mist and foam on a cloudy day.

To keep it out of her face and eyes her light brown, dirty brown hair, though longer, is worn in tight braids that run along the sides of her head and down her back until just past her shoulder blades.

She is at her most comfortable in salt-stained leathers and fur and is often seen wearing these even in warmer weather. Often these furs are of a large variety of land and sea creatures and are not limited to the native animals of the islands. She also is adorned with different trinkets that hold importance to her.

Though she owns some of that untamed warrior spirit that some women of the Iron Islands have been known for, she is also known as someone who is hard to anger. Even in battle or in otherwise harsh confrontations little seems to phase her. This is not to say she is hesitant, rather the opposite is true. Striking first is just done with a calmness. The calm demeanour as she gives as good as she’s takes, is a persistent characteristic she displays, as though she has not yet realised the weight of the world or the bleak circumstances that have shaped her life so far.

History
Runa Volmark was born as the third daughter and fifth child to Lord Steffon Volmark and his lady wife, Karin, in the 411th year after Aegon’s Conquest. Being one of many children Runa’s upbringing was a bit looser than that of her older siblings. Her older sisters were raised to be proper wives of the lords of the islands and her brothers were raised as warriors and captains. With the death of her mother just two years after her own birth, her childhood was void of a real mother figure. She had wet-nurses and aunts but none really showed her the love that she might have craved. They were stricter than what she imagined her mother might have been, but the bonds they laid on her only prove to awaken her desire to break free.

Instead of etiquette she gravitated more towards that martial activities of the training yard at Volmark. The figures she looked up to was her father and the other leviathan warriors. From an early age she would spend time there, watching their movements and techniques before she could join herself, practicing in the secret of dark corridors and beyond the walls of the keep. Perhaps it was her similarity to her mother, features that echoed his lost wife, which hindered Lord Steffon in disciplining her or even refusing her wishes to join in the scraps.

In the beginning she felt she could catch up to the boys in the yard and keep up with them. Perhaps there were even a short period where she surpassed their skills with weapons. But it wasn’t long before her growth spurt had subsided and that of the boys began. Their physicality overmatches hers so she had to find other ways. She had to rely on her precision, her swiftness and her endurance to keep… dancing… around them.

At the beginning of the Scarlet Winter in 425 AC was when she first experience with life aboard a ship. Though she was still young the lord of Volmark had begun loosening his grip on her leash. Perhaps it was a sort of preparation of what was to come, the first steps in a plan to build a foundation he might later rely upon. It was a trial by fire too. The winter storms had gathered strength and came rushing down and surrounded the isles. She learned more than just the way of the sea, she learned the character of the men of the Iron Islands and of her own strengths and her own character. By the time the ice closed in around the Islands she had learned a lot and when it broke again she was on the seas once more.

The next years were spent mostly away from land, travelling and learning all that she could. When the rumblings of conflict began to stir, she understood her father, seeing his actions as an echo of words that had been repeated numerous times by the crews she had sailed with. They yearned for honor and riches and most of all security from future harsh winters. The Old Way would be a grant them their rightful gifts with the blessings of the Drowned God. Her family and her got caught up in the rebellion and lord Steffon Volmark saw the opportunity expand his grasp on power.

Runa Volmark did not have much to say in the decisions of her father in the Rebellion. If she had had his ear she would have cautioned more patience. Consolidate their forces and make sure that they had the support of more captains, the people. From a distance she became a witness to the recklessness that cost her father and her oldest brother their lives but also to the failures of her second brother in the defence of Volmark itself.

After that it seemed she had lost a deal of faith in her people and her family. Instead of trying to help them back on their feet, she soon after took the longship she captained and two others and fled south and east to the Summer Isles, the Stepstones and the Free Cites to find her fortune.

It was not until 435 that she found her way back. At this time she might not have gained much in riches but she had gained experience and knowledge in Naval Warfare and Privateering. More than that her belly had grown in pregnancy. The Iron Islands were a starker contrast to what her life had become than she had expected.

Waldon Volmark had become a dutiful lord, a part of him trying to make up for that first failure when the castle seat had passed to him and undermanned castle had to be defended. He did not enjoy the chaotic, laidback attitude of his sister, perhaps blaming her partly for leaving him in the aftermath the Rebellion had created.

It is safe to say the two Volmarks clashed in style. Their confrontations after Runa’s return consisted mostly of angry tirades from Waldon, trying to get his sister to take some responsibility and mature, and Runa letting all his attacks fall past her in silence. It was her fashion to let such things pass in relaxed fashion and it only proved to anger Lord Waldon further.

After only a few moons of this, misfortune played an unexpected role in the tension that had built. Lord Waldon passed while renewing his vows to the Drowned God in the cold waters beneath the keep. It is said by the people who witnessed the event that as he dipped below the waves, snow began to fall onto the waters and as the priest tried to revive him, nothing could bring breath back to his lungs.

So it came to pass that Runa took the responsibility that she had never truly rejected and proved that she was mature enough to take the seat of Volmark. No other sons remained and the only surviving sister was an invalid and a simpleton not fit to rule. Runa consolidated her power and with the council of her aunts and others, she has ruled Volmark until she is invited to attend the wedding in Oldtown.

Household members / NPCs

 * Gorold Volmark, her son of 3 years and the heir to Volmark
 * Cadwyl Volmark, her son of 2 years
 * Dagmar Volmark, her older sister, who by many is considered a simpleton, an invalid and is known for her quick mood swings.
 * Una Volmark, her aunt
 * Ulfhild Volmark, her aunt and the steward of Volmark