Gerrad Stone

Ser Gerrad Stone is the current Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, and Commander of Castle Black. Born to Celesse Pryor, an insignificant female member of House Pryor of Pebble, a minor house in the Vale and a travelling merchant who vanished after impregnating Celesse. Born as a bastard to a minor member of a minor House, Gerrad had nearly nothing to look forward to in terms of rank and prestige.

When he was seven years of age, he became a servant in Pebble, and was treated quite poorly, as he was a bastard. In his childhood, he would work on his swordplay in secret, hoping one day to be a Knight. His many years of training would end up turning him into a master swordsman.

At the age of 17, a wandering crow by the name of Kelan stopped by Pebble to scout the dungeons for prisoners. Gerrad, who didn't have anything to his name, voluntarily went along with Kelan to join the Night's Watch. He hoped he would find glory at the Wall.

Gerrad excelled through training and was assigned to the Rangers. He quickly rose through the ranks of the Watch, and soon enough was known as one of the best rangers at Castle Black. In 381, he was knighted by Ser Aden Wendwater, a fellow ranger.

In 386, Gerrad was named First Ranger by former First Ranger, and recently elected Lord Commander, Dantis Wairant. Until 394 he would serve in this role, until Dantis Wairant died of illness. Without a Lord Commander, the Night's Watch held an election, which saw ten men, Gerrad included, put in their bid to be Lord Commander. Gerrad won the election by a landslide, due to his reputation as a brilliant swordsman and commander, and was named as the 1005th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

Work-In-Progress

Appearance and Character
In his youth, Gerrad was tall, incredibly strong, and lean. Despite entering his older years, Gerrad has maintained much of his strength that he had in his youth. His body, despite showing early signs of old age, still remains vibrant, and hasn't weakened thanks to decades of intense exercise.

He keeps his wavy hair at shoulder length, and his black strands of hair have slightly greyed. His beard stays close to his face, and is much greyer than his hair is. His eyes are a piercing blue.

Gerrad is generally known as an honorable man, and always attempts to do what he believes is right. He is a humorous, charismatic, and ultimately kind man. Despite his kindness, he can be very firm when he needs to be, and he has a tendency to get frustrated at his failures due to his perfectionism. He expects his men to be nothing short of perfect, and would go as far as to personally train any man who is struggling just to ensure the Night Watch's strength.

Birth and Early Life
Gerrad Stone was born in the 7th Moon of the Year 359 AC to Celesse Pryor and a travelling merchant. His mother was a very minor member of House Pryor of Pebble, and his father, who had seduced and impregnated his mother while stopping by Pebble, disappeared after Gerrad's conception.

Early on in his life, Gerrad already felt the brunt of bastardy, as even lowborn boys in and around Pebble treated him with disdain. At seven, he was given either the option to leave Pebble on his own, or stay in Pebble as a servant. Reluctantly, he picked the latter of the option in order to stay close to his mother, and to stay protected by Pebble's walls.

As a servant, Gerrad worked from dawn until long past nightfall, only given short periods throughout the day to eat. He barely saw much of his mother, and his days of work exhausted him to the core. Yet, in what little offtime he had, he would practice his swordsmanship, hoping one day to be a valliant Knight despite his low birth.

Over the next ten years, Gerrad would grow to be very tall, strong, and handsome, and quite a few females took note. At the age of seventeen, Gerrad laid with a girl for the first time. After this experience, the woman of eighteen that he had laid with turned out to be pregnant, though Gerrad would never discover this, as it would not be long after that he would travel north to take the black.

Taking the Black
Kelan, a Night's Watch recruiter, had stopped by Pebble to scout the dungeons. Though he took the two prisoners in the dungeons, he found another willing to join the Night's Watch: Gerrad. Gerrad, who had no titles, nor any pestige, wished to take the Black to make something of himself. Kelan, who was more than happy to take any man willing to join, agreed to let Gerrad join him in the journey back to Castle Black. There were only a couple other volunteers travelling with Kelan and his men, while there were around 30 former prisoners in total.

Upon arriving at Castle Black, Gerrad underwent the same grueling training that the others did