Valerion Wylde

Valerion "Val" Brandon Wylde is the Lord of Rainhouse and House Wylde and a former Lyseni pillow slave. He assumed the position of the lord in 417 AC, after his father's passing.

He is married to Jocelyn Baratheon and has three children by her.

Appearance and character
Youth, as always, is present on Valerion, who hasn't changed much since his twenties. His face, and overall appearance mostly remain the same, though matured, a lovingly inviting beauty now stands where a boyish one once was.

He still keeps his hair long, wavy, a chestnut brown, and in his light green eyes shines a warm charisma drawing people in. His face is still a diluted Lysene-Stormlander mix, rougher features to a light skin, though a few rare wrinkles appear from stress.

A friendly and charismatic aura shines from Valerion, warm and welcoming to friends and strangers alike. A curious and intelligent man, he spends most of his time learning, with a special accent on a passion of his - languages. Quiet in his movements and quiet when speaking, he is always paying attention, observing the new surroundings, though lacking in typical Westerosi class-conscious demeanor. The quietness hides a deeply rooted fear of talking back and confrontation, installed in him by his masters from Lys.

He speaks with an accent, even after 12 years in Westeros.

Not all of us start off miserable
The joy of young parents was immesurable when their first child, a healthy baby boy was born in Rhaena Vhassyl's family's mansion in Lys, in 379 AC. The baby's father, heir to Rainhouse in the Stormlands and a famous sailor, Cedric Wylde, named his child Brandon, a name he associated with power, strenght and honour.

Tragedy would strike as soon as the baby Brandon was one moon old. His father was called back home, alongside his wife and son. Yet, the night before the couple was off to sail to Westeros, a few of thieves, dressed as Vhassyl servants, kidnapped the boy and led him out of the mansion, into the streets of Lys, without being noticed. Cedric and Rhaena postponed their journey to look for the boy, but no sign came even in the coming weeks and the broken couple was forced to leave without their only child.

Brandon was quickly translated into the local religion of the Goddess of Love, and given a Valyrian name - Valerion. His history and childhood were fabricated as the orphaned baby of unknown parents, and given to a pair of wealthier traders who couldn't have children.

As the boy grew up, his "parents" noticed that he was a pretty boy, even with his diluted Andal features, and when they lost all money they had on gambling, they sold their "son", affectionately called Val, to a pillowhouse called "The Golden Coin of Love."

At the tender age of just 6, in 385, little Val was set to contribute to the best of the city's income sources. He would do that for the next 20 years of his life.

Used & Abused
The owner of "The Golden Coin" was a fat, middle-aged nobleman named Moredo. To him, the boys and girls he bought were just slaves, subhuman ; especially young, comely boys, such as Val, who oft found not a touch of sympathy in their master. Moredo barely checked who asked for the services, only if they had a disease or not, and many of the male prostitutes found themselves in a miserable, bad position they didn't have a chance of getting out of.

Val was routinely subjected to forceful colourings of his naturally dark, disobedient hair, into a white gold he later wore as a sign of victory. Due to his odd features for a Lyseni, he collected many customers, and was the most desirable slut in the pillowhouse not long after, bringing most profit to Moredo. In an effort to get away from all that, Val snuck out at night often and traded kisses and bodily pleasures for skills with the blade, especially a dagger, in order to keep himself safe, as well as lessons in Common tongue if he served a Westerosi person and all topics that interested him.

The sneakings didn't sit well with the boy's owner. And neither did his growing education, his increasing ability to read and write. Moredo knew he couldn't hit or beat the boy. But, before he could do anything, he fell victim to financial weakness, and in 395 AC, the masters changed. For the better.

Slave prince of the Golden Coin and the oddest of relationships
Their new mistress, Lady Selenya, was of the highest of Lyseni nobility, a Targaryen even. Yet, she treated her pillow-slaves with care and attention, something 16-year-old Valerion relished in. The allowance let him buy books he wanted, and many of his clients would bring him books and quils and paper. Soon enough, all of his colleagues of the Golden Coin gathered around him for their classes, something Val gave freely when he had the time. It earned him respect and deep friendship of others, especially a pair of siblings, Trianna and Viserys, born and bred into slavery especially for the purposes of pillow houses.

Other slaves, attracted to Valerion's inborn charisma and pleasant persona, started calling him The Prince of the Golden Coin. In his district, he became known by that name, and many men came for his services. One of them was Lysandro Ormollen, a rich nobleman who had taken a big liking to Val. The pair developed what could be described as a relationship, albeit a strange one, that lasted even after Val had been given his freedom.

Beneath the surface lies a lordling
In 399 AC, a Westerosi man called Ser Eddard Storm requested services in the Golden Coin. He was paired with Valerion, and from the first look, given the fact that Val had chosen to leave part of his hair a natural dark brown at that time, he told Val the story of the missing son of Lord Cedric Wylde, how he was kidnapped in Lys. It all confused the 20-year old Valerion. He was not a Wylde, as Eddard had suggested. He was Valerion Nahyr, the Slave Prince and a pillow slave.

However, in the years afterward, he started questioning his own life. Intrigued by the notion of being the lost son, he spoke with as many Westerosi as he possibly could, notably a sailing ship from House Wylde who confirmed his doubts.

Thus, in 405 AC, Valerion Nahyr, now Valerion Wylde, petitioned Lady Selenya for his freedom, and it was granted to him. Alongside Lysandro, Trianna and Viserys (who also petitioned for their own freedom), he sailed to Westeros, to meet his true parents.

Homecoming
In Rainhouse, Valerion was met with tears of happiness from his biological parents, Cedric and Rhaena, who instantly recognized the boy as their own. He found out that he had siblings - four of them, wealth, title. Freedom.

He was translated into the Faith of the Seven, as Valerion Brandon Wylde, and declared the heir to Rainhouse. He also got a fiancee, a young Lady named Jocelyn Baratheon, but before being allowed to meet her, he had to master the Westerosi way of living.

And that is what he has been doing for the past two years.

Due to not knowing the ways of Westeros, he missed the grand feast and stayed at Rainhouse.

407-408 AC - the beginnings
In the 9th Moon of 407 AC, after many moons of preparing to meet the outside world, he sailed to Storm's End for the first time, to meet his future wife, Jocelyn Baratheon, alongside his lover and his brother. There, he met with his future cousin-by-law, Gwayne Baratheon, who had given his approval to go forward with the marriage. First interactions went well, and Jocelyn would later give her own consent to marry Valerion. That same moon, another person he met at Storm's End was a Kingsguard in disguise, Morgan Dayne. The two would later spend a night together.

Next moon, he tried his chances with bonding with his younger brother, Rhaegar, though the attempt, like so many others, would fail, on their way back to Rainhouse.

Eleventh moon brought him the title of acting lord of Rainhouse, as his father and brother would have left for war. Yet, before the war, he would travel to Storm's End once more, this time to marry his long-awaited bethroted. The couple had a rough start, as Jocelyn soon learned of her new husband's preferences, but they somehow managed to find a compromise, with a ménage à trois.

Twelveth moon carried with it another surprise, with the arrival of his former master from Lys, Moredo. Moredo would invoke the wrath of his host, with a mention of a deceased lover, a slave named Jon, which earned him a subtle revenge from his former property. Moredo was made to stay in Rainhouse, and then imprisoned, all with the help of Lysandro.

408-418 AC - start of the "Lysene court"
In 408 AC Cedric and Rhaegar returned from war ; Alessander Wylde, Valerion’s first child, was born at Rainhouse.

Life went on, as usual. Valerion took on a more important role in governing his House, under the strict eye of his father, piece by piece. What he was most interested in, however, was furthering trading alliances with other Houses and Essosi cities, as to stay true to his Essosi origins. After detailed negotiations, Rhaena’s father Moredo and Lysandro, who often acted as an envoy, and a translator, made an agreement to sell products from rainwoods in Lys in exchange of Lysene parfumes and silks. That allowed him to also set free a very small number of slaves and homeless youth, usually from whorehouses, much like himself, converting them and teaching them the Common Tongue once they arrived in Westeros, giving them tasks and duties as servants and what some refer to as „favourites“ of his, though in reality, none of them has ever occupied Val’s bed. Val himself had made sure that he was not seen to be overly personal or intimate with any male slaves he rescued.

410 AC saw the birth of Val’s second son, Erryk, as well as building humane  orphanages for children to stay in instead of the street. The orphanages operate on his own expense, with very little luxuries, but the money is returned through manpower, as boys and girls raised at said orphanages often either make knights and footsoldiers of Wylde army in case of boys and in case of girls, septas and wives of said knights.

413 AC saw the birth of Val’s only daughter, Serra, as well as Lysandro’s marriage to Doreah, one of the rescued slave girls, as to not cast any doubt to his and Valerion’s relationship. Around this time, Cedric started getting ill, and due to it, left most of the rulling to his son and heir, and by 414 AC, Valerion was the lord of Rainhouse in everything but name. Lysandro was also appointed as his advisor on matters of economy,a  duty he does to this day.

Following Gwayne Baratheon's example of funding mummers, Rainhouse did the same ; however, one incident would not only add to that, but also expand it. Upon the feast for the birth of Erryk Wylde, in 410 AC, Lord Cedric gave out information that any reasonable wish of the people of Rainhouse and Wylde lands would be granted. One such man, a literate youth in his early 20s, called Donnel, requested that if Lord Cedric liked his poems, as he was a poet, that he officially fund him and at least try to make his name known. Lady Rhaena loved them, and soon enough, Donnel became the official poet of Rainhouse, whose works were shared, sponsored and distributed. Notable poems include The Noble Sailor's Pass, written in honour of Cedric after his death, The beautiful stag, a poem dedicated to Lady Jocelyn, though it's not a love poem, and it's sister poem, The powerful stag, one in honour of House Baratheon as a whole, and a series of love poems to a mysterious lady collectively known as the White Rose. Many more followed suit, but not all garnered the support for a long time ; however, one who did was a novelist-trader, Ronnet, a personal favourite of Lord Valerion's, whose only book ,The Knight of the Fall, is a story based on the mummer's tale Last Storm. Ronnet also prepared a collection of stories and songs from the common, illiterate folk, though that has yet to go through the approval process.

In 417 AC, Cedric Wylde passed away, leaving his son as the new lord of Rainhouse.

NPCs
Lysandro Ormollen, secret boyfriend and former client.

Trianna, former pillow slave and friend.

Viserys, Trianna's brother, former pillow slave and friend.

Family

Quotes by and about Valerion
"It possibly was the Dornish side in him that was so amused by seeing such a slender, delicate and dainty Stormlord." - thoughts of Morgan Dayne