Torrhen Manderly

Lord Torrhen Manderly is the current Lord of White Harbor and head of House Manderly. He was born to the previous Lord of White Harbor, Marlon Manderly. Torrhen is a widower, having lost his wife shortly after she gave birth to his second child.

Appearance and Character
Torrhen is not so fat as some of his ancestors who lived during the War of the Five Kings, he can still ride a horse, but he is overweight. Due to this, Torrhen is not a very skilled fighter, and he prefers to stick to more political means of getting his way. He always wears a black wool cloak with a merman sewed onto the breast. He is overall an amiable man, who has a strong sense of loyalty to his family.

History
Torrhen Manderly was born in the summer of the year 371 AC to the Lord at the time Marlon Manderly and his wife Robyn Stark. Torrhen was the first child of Marlon, who was happy to see a healthy son at his first attempt at sireing an heir. Marlon’s father, Beric Manderly, had told his son to father as many children as he possibly could, to prevent the fall of House Manderly, like some Houses had fallen due to a lack of heirs. Unfortunately for Marlon, Torrhen would be the only child he saw born as the second, and last, child Lady Robyn mothered would die a miscarriage. This tragedy changed something in Marlon, making him overprotective of his son and extremely paranoid, as he and his wife were unable to sire any backup heirs.

Heir to White Harbor
As the heir to White Harbor, Torrhen received a noble-quality education and combat training. He also interacted with other nobles when his father hosted guests in White Harbor, but as time went on Marlon kept his son away from any potential enemies as much as he could.

Only Child
As the only child of a lord, Torrhen was considered by his father to be precious. Should Torrhen die, the lordship would pass to Marlon’s brother, Rodrik Manderly. While most lords might not have a problem with this, Marlon was increasingly paranoid of specifically his brother. To this day, it is unknown why Marlon was so afraid of what Rodrik might do, but what is known is that Marlon was also not willing to exile Rodrik, despite fearing him.

Betrothal Troubles
Marlon worked tirelessly to convince other lords to allow for a betrothal between Torrhen and one of their daughters, but this did not come without opposition. First from Torrhen himself. Torrhen, as a young boy, felt there was no need to rush a marriage. He felt the need for love deciding who one marries, as long as there was no immediate need for siring an heir. Torrhen felt that even if he died, Marlon had two brothers who could be the heir to White Harbor.

While Marlon was willing to force Torrhen to marry at the time, he found it difficult to trust any lord who were willing to a betrothal. He felt that there was a chance they would try to harm Torrhen so their own blood could take White Harbor. Due to this, Marlon earned a reputation throughout the Seven Kingdoms as so paranoid he cannot get anything done, which only further drove his paranoia. Due to these troubles, Torrhen went unmarried well into the age by which many scions are at least unofficially betrothed.

Politics in White Harbor
Torrhen wanted Marlon to be less paranoid, but despite his best efforts his father only further descended into fear of those around him. In the late 380s, Marlon’s health began to deteriorate. The exact circumstance of his failing health is unknown, but regardless it greatly weakened Marlon’s resolve against his brother, Rodrik, who took the opportunity to join in on his brother’s councils. By this point, Torrhen and Rodrik, while on relatively good personal terms, fought politically for control over important decisions Marlon had to ultimately approve of. It boiled down to whoever could get Marlon’s signature first.

The one area which Torrhen maintained total control over was his own marriage life. Marlon still insisted Torrhen marry, but the sickening lord was every day easier to convince against his own decisions. Furthermore, Rodrik himself was willing to not attempt to get Marlon to sign off on a marriage deal. In one of his better days, Marlon told Torrhen: “Please, my son. Marry some lord’s daughter for your father,” but Torrhen did not relent.

The Hammer Uprising
Trouble came to a relatively peaceful White Harbor with the Hammer Uprising, which affected many parts of the Seven Kingdoms. While White Harbor did not see the more chaotic of the kingdom-wide conflict, it did see small upset which, if not dealt with, could lead to something bigger.

The Harbor has a large population if Silversmiths, which makes up a decent portion of its economy. These smiths; however, began to feel crushed by high taxation and a failure of city guard to catch robbers, some feeling as if this failure was intentional, perhaps due to guards taking bribes from thieves.

Groups of silversmiths began to gather in hotspots in the city and began to speak out against House Manderly as not caring to help the people who drove the economy of the city. Eventually, other groups, made up of mostly artisans, began to join these gatherings in increasingly larger groups. This caught the attention of a young adult Torrhen and an increasingly involved Rodrik Manderly who both realized that something had to be done to prevent a possible revolt, like some other places in the Kingdom had seen.

Torrhen and Rodrik met and, for once, agreed to work together on a solution for their sickening lord to approve of. They decided to hold a private meeting between them and representatives of the Silversmiths and other workers involved in these gatherings. These representatives demanded an effort be put in to catch robbers and to ensure that they are not abused by city guard. While hesitant to give too many rights to them, the pair agreed to get Marlon to grant stricter rules regarding city guard who don’t work to catch the thieves. This largely pacified the discontent.

The Lord of White Harbor
On the second day of 391 AC, Maester Halen, the old maester of White Harbor, woke Torrhen up to tell him of his father’s condition. It was worsening every day, but on this particular morning Lord Marlon was nearly unresponsive entirety. Torrhen, Alyn Manderly, and Robyn Stark, Marlon’s wife, stayed with the lord for hours until he finally expired late in the day. At this moment, Torrhen Manderly became Lord Torrhen Manderly.

For the funeral, Torrhen sent invitations to House Stark, for his mother’s sake, and his vassal lords. When going through his father’s things, Torrhen discovered an unsigned and unsent letter to House Ryswell, offering a marriage between Torrhen and someone from House Ryswell. This made Torrhen tear up as his father secretly attempted, as his last act before he died, to get Torrhen married. Due to this, Torrhen decided finally to follow his father’s wishes and sent the letter out.

He married Erena Ryswell in mid 391, which helped him move past his father’s death. The two seemingly grew close and had their first child, Wyman Manderly, in 392. Unlike Marlon, Torrhen fathered his second child, Donella Manderly, on the last month of 393 AC.

Rodrik “The Black”
As the heir of White Harbor, Torrhen did not share his father’s paranoia. However, he became more paranoid of his eldest uncle, Rodrik, upon becoming lord. Rodrik quickly tried to undermine many of Torrhen’s decisions.

Luck struck in 394 AC when Rodrik was accused of assaulting a smallfolk woman. While typically this would not have mattered, Torrhen actually arrested Rodrik. Rodrik, reluctantly, chose to take the black so he would not be castrated. This ridded Torrhen of Rodrik completely and it is unknown if Torrhen planned to do this.

The War of the Three Thieves
Torrhen saw his first war about a year after the death of his wife, Erena Ryswell, in the War of the Three Thieves, when he, along with other houses, raised his fleet to the aid of King Aenar I. The White Harbor fleet primarily assisted the royal fleet and didn't have any major victories that can be attributed to them. Torrhen wanted to keep his people safe, while still assisting the king in his time of need.

Torrhen never personally led men into battle, as he was never particularly good at warfare. He rather opted to rule his men away from the battlefield, leading some to name him craven.

The Scarlet Winter
During the Scarlet Winter, Torrhen Manderly wanted to keep smallfolk and noble tensions as low as possible, as there was no guarantee the winter wouldn't be very long, so he held tourneys and feasts at White Harbor.

At the greatest of such tournaments, Torrhen saw houses from the North, the Vale, and the Riverlands come to what became known as The Hundred Years Tournament. Here, some games consisted of horse races on a frozen White Knife as well as typical tourney sports.

Guards of House Frey and Manderly both got into a brawl over petty disputes over the old War of the Five Kings. This forced Torrhen to disqualify both sides from the joust. The rest of the tournament was fun, but not specifically notable for any major events.

The Tourney of the Red Comet
In 407 AC, Torrhen Manderly holds court at the Merman's Court. Afterwards, Maester Halen advises him to take a new wife, since his first wife, Erena Ryswell, is twelve years dead. Torrhen disagrees and says he has no need to wed. Halen's assistant, Will, comes into the Merman's Court with a scroll sent from King's Landing inviting Lord Manderly to attend a tourney at Harrenhal. Lord Jon Stark of Winterfell sent word to the northern lords, including Torrhen Manderly, that he would be departing for Harrenhal from White Harbor.

Upon Lord Stark's arrival at White Harbor, Lord Manderly greets him outside of the New Castle. Torrhen Manderly holds a feast in the honor of Lord Stark and the other Northern lords, of which he is particularly proud. Lord Manderly then travels with Lord Jon Stark on their way to Harrenhal for the King's grand feast, he leaves Ser Alyn Manderly, his uncle, as castellan of White Harbor. At the feast, Lord Manderly sits with his family.

During the tourney, Lord Manderly watches and cheers along with most of the crowd. His son, Wyman Manderly participates in the Squire's Melee and is knocked out in the first round. After the tourney, Manderly traveled by sea with Lord Stark as well as other northern lords. They arrived at White Harbor on the 16th day of the seventh moon, where Ser Alyn Manderly yielded the home of House Manderly back to the lord

After arriving at his home, Torrhen met with various lords and spoke about the matters of the tourney, journey home, and the north. Most notably, Lord Stark and Torrhen discussed the death of Lord Torrhen Stark, former lord of the Dreadfort. Later, Torrhen met with Lord Stark at the Godswood in the Wolf's Den and discussed the recent death of King Aenar I Targaryen. Jon commanded Torrhen to raise his fleets in defense, which Torrhen did, albeit a bit delayed. After Jon had left White Harbor, Torrhen received a mistaken letter for a man in Jon's captivity, Jory, a servant of Prince Jacaerys Targaryen. Torrhen pondered disposing of the letter, but ultimately sent it to Winterfell. In an effort to strengthen his fleet, Torrhen issued the building of seven new ships.

The War
On his son's nameday, the 9th Day of the 10th Moon, Torrhen met with Wyman and informed him that as a man grown he must take a more active role in the politics and governing of White Harbor, to prepare him for the day he would become lord. Furthermore, Torrhen informed Wyman that he would be attending weekly meetings on important matters with his sister, Donella Manderly. Not long after this, Torrhen received an order from Lord Jon Stark to come to Winterfell and to raise half of his fighting moon. Ready to convince the lord of Winterfell that he is a loyal servant of him, Torrhen quickly made an effort to prepare a small party of 29 men, including himself, his heir, his deceased wife's relatives who live in White Harbor, and his Maester's assistant Will, and to order the raising of his troops. He left Ser Alyn in command of White Harbor until he returns home.

He arrived in Winterfell on the 25th Day of the Tenth Moon, where he spoke with Maester Didion. Here, he spoke with various norther lords, such as Jason Forrester, Eyron Stark, Harkan Umber, and more. On the 22nd Day of the Eleventh Moon, Torrhen speaks with Lord Eyron Stark and offers a betrothal between his daughter, Donella Manderly, and Eyron's son, Benjen Stark. The Lord of the Dreadfort considers it, but tells Torrhen to speak with his son on the matter, as he will not force his son to marry someone he does not wish to marry. On the first day of the Twelfth moon, Torrhen finds and speaks with Benjen about this very matter. Benjen is open to the idea, but wishes to meet Donella before he agrees to the betrothal, so he and Torrhen seek out Lord Eyron to discuss a potential meeting after the war is done and Lord Jon permits them to go home.

Family
See House Manderly
 * Alyn Manderly (Uncle, alive) m. Lysa Manderly née Woolfield.
 * Jeyne Manderly, his daughter and eldest child. b. 381.
 * Wylla Manderly, his daughter and middle child. b. 385.
 * Jon Manderly, his son, in-training to be a guard. b. 389.
 * Rodrik Manderly (Uncle, alive)
 * Lord Marlon Manderly (Father, deceased)
 * m. Lady Robyn Stark (Mother, alive)
 * Lord Torrhen Manderly
 * m. Lady Erena Ryswell (Wife, deceased)
 * Wyman Manderly (Son, alive), a boy of fifteen. b. 9th Day of the Tenth Moon of 392 AC.
 * Donella Manderly (Daughter, alive), a girl of thirteen. b. 10th Day of the Twelfth Moon of 393 AC.

Household

 * Maester Halen (White Harbor Maester, educator, healer, counselor)
 * Will, his assistant.
 * Wyman Manderly (Son, Squire)
 * Brandon Ryswell (Master-at-arms, brother to the late Lady Erena Ryswell)
 * Jon Ryswell (Squire, nephew to the late Lady Erena Ryswell)
 * Alyn Manderly (Head of Household guard, uncle)
 * Ryman Woolfield (Guard)
 * Eddard Woolfield (Guard)
 * Hoster Locke (Guard)

Quotes by Torrhen Manderly
"I live for my children, and I will ensure they have the best lives."

- Torrhen Manderly speaking to Maester Halen