The Unexpected One

The High Septon, known informally as The Unexpected One owing to the peculiar circumstances that marked his ascent to the position, is the current head of the Baelorian branch of the Faith of the Seven. Elected in the 10th Moon of 407 AC following the suicide of the previous High Septon (impolitely referred to as The Spineless One), little is known about his life beforehand, though most agree he spent most of his days as a begging brother, making him a stark departure from the High Septons preceding him.

Appearance and Character
No one can say that Arthur doesn't look his age. A life on the road, with whatever meager provisions his flock could provide him, saw to that. It lends a certain mystique to him: long, white hair and a wizened face frame eyes alive with fire when he speaks on matters of justice, or of faith.

History
Arthur was born to humble beginnings, beginning his life as a screaming babe in a village in the Kingswood that almost no one has heard of. A farmer's son, like most of the men in Westeros, had he remained there, he would have become a man, inherited his father's farm, had children of his own, and died, all without ever having walked more than five miles from his village.

The Gods did not see fit for his life to be ordinary.

Arthur was never the strongest boy in his village, nor the quickest, nor the most dextrous. However, he did have the sharpest wit--though it often found itself applied to less-than-noble purposes. Life was good in those years of the Mead Summer, where the sun was always shining, and where plates were never empty.

At the age of ten, his family made the short journey up the Kingsroad to the Blackwater Tourney. It was there that he met Septon Boremund the Badger. The Septon of the Stoney Sept, the man was a little too far from the Kingswood for Arthur to really have heard of him, but when he attended one of Septon Badger's sermons, he found himself immediately enthralled. The Badger took a liking to the boy, as well, seeing in him the potential for something greater than a life in the fields.

It was with some sorrow that Arthur's parents released him into the care of Septon Badger, for even if they knew that this path would improve his lot in life, it is never an easy thing for parents to say goodbye to their children. Come the end of the tourney, the family said their goodbyes, and Arthur traveled north to the Stoney Sept.

There, he learned things he had never dreamed of learning. He was quick to learn his letters, and once he had a grasp on them, took to reading anything he could get his hands on.