Rosamund Hewett

Rosamund is the third child and second daughter of Lord Victor Hewett and his consort, Elinor Oakheart. Of her siblings, she was one of two to survive to adulthood. She officially succeeded her father as Lady of Oakenshield upon his death in 378 AC.

Rosamund has ruled Oakenshield and the Shield Isles for forty years and is the undisputed matriarch of the Hewett family. Aside from her sharp tongue and abrasive nature, she is a renown builder and shipwright, having weathered and recovered from countless storms and challenges over the years.

She is also known for being a penny-pinching old hag, and having a handsome husband twenty years her junior.

Appearance and Character
Rosamund is unrecognizable from the feckless, plain girl of her youth—the girl that used to avert her eyes when spoken to, and whose cheeks used to burn pink at the slightest hint of flattery. Her once rich chestnut colored hair has faded to silver and her skin sags from her bones, but there is strength in her sharp blue gaze—a certain pride that comes only after a lifetime of hardship.

Rosamund, called "Rose" in her youth, has never been classically beautiful. Up until her teens, she was plain, stick thin, and awkward. She is tall for a woman, five feet and nine inches to be exact, and as a young girl she would shy away from any shoe or dress that elongated her waifish body or showed too much skin.

At her current age, she is no longer a rose but a thorn in people's sides when displeased. She has long stopped caring for people's feelings and what they think, so long as they fall in line and do as they're told. She bullies her sons and controls her gooddaughters, and her grandchildren know not to anger their grandmama when she's in a foul mood. And while this can be forgiven, even understood, in a family dynamic, she is known far and wide as an abrasive and oft times domineering old bat who isn't afraid to butt heads when she doesn't get her way.

At her best, Rosamund can be gregarious, and she is good to those who prove their usefulness.

Early Life
Rosamund was born in early 356 AC, the last year of the Mead Summer, filling a void left by the death of another baby girl just two years earlier. With fair skin and bright blue eyes, she was the mirror image of her paternal grandmother, a lauded beauty. It was after this grandmother that Rosamund was named, and her parents doted on her, believing that she would follow in her grandmother's footsteps.

As the years went by it became clear, however, that Rosamund was no great beauty. Even at her best she was no beauty at all, but a plain and unremarkable child. She was stick thin, tall for her age, and had all the grace of a three-legged dog--sometimes less.

When her youngest siblings, twins Petyr and Perianne, were born in 359 AC, Rosamund was immediately forgotten. Lord and Lady Hewett focused their attention on not only the twins, but also their heir Lorent. Unlike Rosamund, Lorent was a handsome and confident child. They doubled their efforts when Petyr died at only a year old, putting all their hopes on their remaining son.

At six she was betrothed to Jarmon Redwyne and she accompanied her father to the Arbor where she remained as a ward. Only two years later, she returned home, her brother dead of a terrible sickness that ate away at his stomach. Her betrothal to Jarmon was called off and she was promised instead to Runcel Grimm, the third son of a banner house.

Late Childhood
The years she spent practicing her needlework and learning how to dance were behind her. A martinet, her father wasted no time in introducing his daughter to her new life. She had a tutor to teach her her numbers and letters, a teacher to help her with geography and the basic sciences, and various instructors for topics such as language, culture, law, and religion. She learned to sail before she had ever ridden atop a horse, and knew the name of every ship and cog moored at Lord Hewett's Town before she memorized the sigil and words of every Reach house. Fortunately for Lord Hewett, Rosamund was a curious child and took to her studies like a bird to the sky and she learned quickly.

At eleven she spent her days shadowing her father and his men as they went about their duties in Lord Hewett's Town. It was during this time that she got her first taste of mercantilism. She learned how to trade--how to set prices, how to barter, how to act and what to say to get the best prices. She learned how to cheat men and how not to be cheated. She became less shy, less afraid of consequences. As her experience and successes grew, she became more confident in herself but less satisfied with her current state. She wanted to learn more, be capable of more, and she turned toward the sea and the many ships in Oakenshield's harbor--toward the very source of her family's power and wealth.

Already initiated in the art of sailing and aware that she would never enjoy a life out at sea, she focused her attention on the ships instead. She studied their design, their construction, the materials and tools involved in their creation. She quizzed her teachers for everything they knew, and picked the brains of master shipwrights. She observed builders from afar, scrutinizing the process in excruciating detail so that she understood and learned all there was to know. She drew diagrams, blueprints, hoping that one day she could explore her interest in earnest, but her mother's death in 368 AC made her focus on spending time with her father.

By fourteen she had become a fixture at her father's court, attentive and alert during all proceedings. Her father's men--her men--knew to defer to her when Lord Hewett was preoccupied or otherwise indisposed. She was a member of his council and was privy to all business concerning Oakenshield and the Shield Isles.

Before long, she was an active member of his council--leading meetings nearly as often as she was ending them, though it was apparent that her father's men did not fully trust--or even approve of her due to her age, lack of experience, and gender. She was a child they merely tolerated.

First Marriage, Early 370-Late 371 AC
At four and ten, she was wed to Runcel Grimm, a third son of a vassal to her house. Though it was not her wish to marry, she hoped that the marriage would gain her the approval of the men at court. It did, but not quite in the way she planned. Six years her senior, her husband already had experience at court. Vocal about his thoughts and an articulate but competent man, people flocked to him and it wasn't long before he attended private meetings with her father and his councilors.

The situation worsened when Rosamund learned she was with child. As the months passed and her stomach grew, her sickness became intolerable, and she spent months in isolation. Her husband did not sit idly by during this time and remained active in her father's employ, eager to climb the ladder and assert his influence.

Beony was born in 370 AC, a healthy but needy baby girl that required Rosamund's constant attention. Soon Rosamund was with child again.

In 372 AC, Gawen was born two months after Runcel succumbed to a sudden fever. His birth restored Rosamund to her father's favor, but it wasn't long before she was to wed again.

Second Marriage, Late 373-379
She married Ser Polliver Fossoway in what is remembered as a lavish affair in which hundreds of nobles from all over the kingdom were invited to see the couple wed. Unlike her first husband, Polliver was from a powerful family and cared little for politics or for wealth. In the beginning, she was optimistic about the match, hoping he would be content to let her rule when the time came.

Unfortunately, the two did not get along. He resented her for a marriage he believed beneath him from the very beginning, and he spent coin without a second thought--something that went against her nature. Much of his time was spent away from the Shield Isles. And though he hated his wife and marriage, he could not deny that the wealth her family offered him financed his various activities and allowed him to upkeep his horses and equipment. Besides whoring, he loved the thrill of a fight more than anything. Nothing could keep him from a tourney.

It was a surprise to everyone, Rosamund most of all, when a year into their marriage she discovered herself with child. The two shared a bed only when he was drunk, the only state that he would have her.

Loras Hewett was born in the last month of 374 AC, the first and only child in an otherwise uneventful six year marriage.

Her marriage to Polliver would prove to be the unhappiest time of her life. His lack of interest in politics did not serve her at all, and actually worsened her position at court. Her father blamed her for being unable to control her husband and believed that she had made a mockery of their house, and the men snickered behind her back at his whoring. Worse, the two never exchanged words except when they argued about his frivolous lifestyle.

She was relegated to the Lady of the House, running her father's household and keeping his books as a glorified clerk or steward might. She was worse than stagnant--she felt herself sinking further and further into depression.

Polliver was not by his wife's side when her father died in 378 AC and she became Lady of Oakenshield.

She received a letter from King's Landing notifying her of her husband's death at the Kingswood Tourney just a year later.

Third Marriage, Late 379-390
Rosamund spent only six months 'mourning' the death of her late husband when she wed Ser Lyonel Norcross. A third son of yet another third son, he had no land or wealth to his name but sought to make a life for himself. He had come to Lord Hewett's Town seeking employment three years earlier, which he found as Oakenshield's Master-at-Arms; then after a short stint, its Castellan. The two saw each other regularly at her father's court and had become close friends over the years, a friendship that deepened into mutual love after Lord Hewett's death. It came as a shock to no one when the two wed before the new year.

Rosamund gave birth to yet another healthy babe in 381 AC, a boy named Harlan.

Opposite her second marriage, this eleven year period would prove to be the happiest and most prosperous of her life--a period that would come to an end when Lyonel was slain in 390 AC during the Hammer's Uprising.

Fourth and Current Marriage, 393 AC-Present Day
Thrice widowed at thirty-four and with four children (three of which sons), Rosamund had no interest or need to marry again. She grieved for her loss, but had no tears left to shed for her favorite husband. She had no choice but to accept his death and move on with life. After all, she had a duty--countless duties--that required her time and attention. Life would not wait for her to grieve.

Rosamund's eldest child and only daughter, Beony, wed [Insert Reachlord] in 392 AC in [Insert Reachlord's keep], during which a Reach-wide tourney was held. It was at this tourney a young and devilishly handsome knight by the name of Peremore Beesbury won the joust. Much to the surprise of everyone present, it wasn't the bride he honored, but the bride's mother.

Peremore, or "Percy" as he is called by his mother (also in attendance) and women in his life, was eighteen years old and therefore eighteen years Rosamund's junior. It remains a mystery to this day why even after the celebration, he continued to pursue his aged Queen of Love and Beauty from afar, sending love letter after love letter that went ignored until he was forced to come in person to serenade her and profess his love.

The bigger mystery, however, is how he eventually managed to win her heart.

Rosamund and Peremore married in 393 AC. In 394 AC, at the very end of her fertile years and during the Great Famine, she overcame overwhelming odds and became pregnant--then gave birth--to a final child: a healthy girl, Alayne.

Family & Retainers
[|Family Tree: http://www.familyecho.com/?p=MAMVI&c=k70v0n1a4b&f=665583982500118593]

Children and Grandchildren

 * Beony Hewett - died age 35 in 405 AC of the Scarlet Fever. Married to [ ??? ] with children.
 * Gawen Hewett - died age 21 (same age his father died) in 393, two months after Rosamund married Percy. He was killed quelling a city riot during the Great Famine.  Married to Roslin Chester, no issue.
 * Loras Hewett - current heir of Oakenshield. Married to Bethany Ashford.  Three children:
 * Helena & Paxter Hewett - grandchildren, boy and girl (twins).
 * Perianne Hewett - grandchild, newborn.
 * Harlan Hewett - knight of Oakenshield. Married to Alys Inchfield.  Two children:
 * Addam Hewett - grandchild.
 * Alerie Hewett - grandchild.
 * Alayne Hewett - youngest daughter, age 24.

Household
Various knights and councilors. (will add more later)