Beric Mertyns

Introduction
Ser Beric Mertyns is the only son of the aged couple Alyn and Robyn Mertyns, as a minor branch of the family he is not expected to inherit any holdings and as such has pledged his life and service to his elder cousin Maelor Storm and liege lord Gwayne Baratheon in the Order of the Red Antler.

Appearance
An ostentatious man who is far more concerned with his appearance than an average knight should be, Beric dresses more often in the clothes of nobility and high fashion than in the regalia of a knight. He has dark brown hair along with hazel eyes, he stands at 5'10", and has a very lithe figure that stands in stark contrast to his more muscular cousin.

Birth
Beric was born to two elder members of the Mertyns family. Cousins far off from the inheriting line, yet family the same. His aged mother died in childbirth and his father held it against him his entire life. Beric spent most of his life attempting to hide in the shadows instead of being noticed. And found he was quite good at it.

Adolescence
When his father died Beric was raised alongside his cousins and his Lord Uncle decided to have him squire for an old fat knight that lived in the castle with the rest of them. He did the duties required of him, but Beric spent most of his time listening to conversations he shouldn't have and doing things that would bring shame to his family if they were to find out about it.

Perhaps that was the reason that all attempted matches fell through far before the betrothal stage. Beric did his best to improve his family's name even when it sometimes felt that he was nothing more than a placeholder.

Knighthood
Maybe he was knighted for his courtly graces and his tenacity. Maybe he was knighted to get him out of his uncle's hair. But Beric found himself a Knight of the Seven. He decided he would move from the clutches of his family to his region's capital of Storm's End. In the year 435 he was assigned to work with a man with long silver hair. Beric remembered wondering if he'd met the first royal in his life.

Maelor revealed his identity to his distant cousin one day when they resided in the lodge of the Red Antler, and Beric decided he wouldn't leave Maelor's side since that day. Over the next two years Robar Baratheon acted as the Knight-Captain of the Order of the Red Antler while those below vied for the coveted spot.

Beric deemed his cousin the most viable member of the Order to take control and as such he fought tooth and nail to make sure that others saw his worth. This included scouring the region for any signs of anything that Maelor could handle to prove himself.

One evening a hooded man approached Beric at the tavern he sat in. The man told a story of the Warsmiths and their hidden location in the Stormlands from which they were raiding and killing smallfolk. Beric deemed this would be a worthy task, revealing this to Maelor the two of them hunted and executed all the Warsmith bandits that could be found and upon their return to Storm's End, revealed it was all Maelor's work. Thus getting his cousin elected, and securing his own position in the Order.