Rohanna Lynderly

Rohanna Lynderly is the Lady Regent of the Snakewood until her son, Edmund Lynderly, comes of age. She is the widow of Lord Jon Lynderly, former steward of the Eyrie.

Appearance and Character
Rohanna is known for nothing if not her beauty, outside of the Snakewood. She retains the beauty of her youth, her fair skin undisturbed by age and her body still shapely despite baring so many children. Her clothing is typically of a dark fabric and heavily embroidered.

Despite her nurturing exterior, Rohanna is a cruel, paranoid woman.

Early Life
Rohanna was born in 376 AC, the child of the Snakewood's castellan and a former prostitute from Essos. Despite her mother's occupation, they had fallen in love and married shortly before Rohanna's birth. By all accounts it was a loving marriage, despite having to keep his family in a small cottage in the woods. From a young age, Rohanna was adored by neighbors and all could tell that she was on the cusp of becoming a beauty. Her mother left the family in 384 AC to become a follower of R'hllor, or resume her practice as one, igniting a burning disdain for the faith that lingers to current day. As a young girl, she showed great interest in studying herbs. Rohanna became the lady of her household following her mother's departure, and took up work in the Snakewood's keep some years later. Here, she caught the eye of Lord Lynderly's second-born son, Jon. Jon, though intelligent and of otherwise decent character, was never gentle with his desire for the lowborn Rohanna. As legend has it, Rohanna's father was hunting in the Snakewood with Lord Lynderly when a snake in the grass nearly bit the Lord. His castellan was able to intercept the attack, at the cost of his own life. The poison was slow and agonizing, and Rohanna witnessed all of it. As a reward for his sacrifice, the Lord granted his dying wish: that his daughter marry the Lord's son Jon. Being that Jon wasn't his heir, the Lord agreed to his savior's whim. In truth, it had been known that Rohanna was pregnant, and the Lord wanted to spare his family the stain of a bastard. She was married in 389 AC.

The Hammer Uprising
Rohanna's goodfather and his two sons left the Snakewood immediately following the wedding to aid in quelling The Hammer Uprising. The presence of renegade peasants in the Snakewood forests had apparently threw Rohanna into such a fit that she went into labor, giving birth to a premature son she named Baelor. He died shortly after birth. A young girl's grief turned to rage and the peasants held in the Snakewood's dungeon for suspicion of treason began to disappear. Their fates were numerous yet equally unpleasant. Some were beaten, others bled, and many very, very unfortunate souls were stuck upon greased wooden poles with sharpened ends until an impaled corpse was all that remained. This sight in the Snakewood forest, while arguably barbaric, did more to vanquish the rebel forces than any previous attempt. The stakes remain to this day, while the bodies stuck onto them had long become nothing but a pile of bones.

The war left Rohanna with an intense distrust and dislike of peasants and mountain clansmen.

Motherhood and Later Life
For his service, Jon Lynderly was made the steward of the Eyrie and stayed there for a time, along with his wife as his elder brother had finally married. They were a beautiful, loving couple. While at the Eyrie, she met Lord Alaric Arryn. Jon knew of his wife's actions during the Uprising, but if he opposed them, he was never vocal about it. He namely tried distancing his wife from the act. She gave birth to her eldest daughter, Baela, in 391 AC. She remained at the Eyrie with her husband for a time, until a fight saw her return to the Snakewood in 392 AC. Here, she birthed a son, Elys, who died during infancy. The timing of this loss couldn't have been worse. While the Great Famine was beginning outside the Snakewood's gates, House Lynderly was facing tragedies of its own: both the Lord Lynderly and his heir fell ill, but Rohanna tried nursing them through her grief. In reality, it was she who made them ill, and caused the heir's wife to miscarry.

Upon both men's death, her steward husband returned home for a time. Though he was now the Lord of the Snakewood, he refused to abandon his post and ordered his wife to run the Keep, as she'd quietly been doing for some months. During this time, Rohanna began reading up on and becoming deeply involved in the occult. Servants and nearby peasant girls began disappearing around 394 AC.

Meanwhile, Baela began to suffer from intense shakes, and was confined to her room for much of her life as a result.

She gave birth to her husband's heir, Edmund, in early 399 AC when he returned home for a significant stretch of time. shortly afterwards in late 400 AC she gave birth to twins, Alys and Lysa. Her husband left for the Eyrie once more.

When he returned in 405 AC, it wasn't alone: with him was a serving girl, heavy with his bastard. Jon witnessed his wife's enraged fits for the first time. Already paranoid of her advancing age and the possibility of losing her beauty, this serving girl sent her over the edge. While initially submissive to her husband, his health began to decline as his predecessors did. He died in early 406 AC, while she was early in her pregnancy with her youngest child. His bastard was thrown from the highest room of the Snakewood keep, as was its mother, her body impaled on a spike below and left to be scavenged by snakes. She gave birth to her daughter Tyta in 406 AC. Serving girls continued to be accepted into the Snakewood keep's halls, and continued to disappear.

Recent Events
Rohanna and her brood, save for Baela, attend the Tourney at Harrenhal in 407 AC.

Family

 * Rohanna Lynderly (b. 376 AC)
 * Baela Lynderly
 * Edmund Lynderly
 * Alys Lynderly
 * Lysa Lynderly
 * Tyta Lynderly