Irmyn Rivers

Irmyn Rivers is a young man who was raised in the Riverlands, trying to find a place for him in this world. He serves in a multitude different occupations, as a day-labourer, servant, hedge knight, fencing instructor, or squire. Recently, he most often adapts the position of a 16 year old squire, deceiving people not only about his age but also about his name and descent to hide his bastardry.

Physical Description
Irmyn is 5’9 feet tall and, at first sight in his usually loose, if not shabby clothes gives a rather gaunt impression. Underneath, he is of a sinewy muscular build over a normally a bit delicate frame. His ashen brown hair reaches to his chin, and is found kempt and washed on special occasions.

His eyes are the colour of a rainy sky, though with a tint of blue in them when in a bright mood. Of a pale complexion and, if nothing else, always properly shaved, with cuts from shaving more often than not, sometimes still suffering from acne, he looks more youthful than he is. Soft facial features and big eyes add to this impression. And Irmyn can easily be mistaken for a lad of 16 years.

Early Years
Irmyn’s first memories are the sight of the Mountains of the Moon. And a small farm with geese and two donkeys. And other animals. There is an elderly woman he calls grandmother, like most other children of the village near the forest where the trees are incredibly tall and of a much darker shade than normal trees. If she is his grandmother, he does not know.

His next memory is that some man in his house has been very sick, and the woman he called mother was crying very often during these days, though only when she thought nobody looked. It might have escaped most of the people, but it did not escape young Irmyn.

There also was a completely white cat Irmyn loved to play and cuddle and have at his side in his little bed. He also loved to spend time in the forest.

At this point, his personal memory fades off and becomes overlaid with things people told him. But over time, he started to not be sure anymore about how correct these added information is.

One of the things that strike him nowadays as the most unbelievable is that people later on told him that he said he were able to see spirits in the forest. And that he had asked them about the weather the following days. And that his prognoses had always been right, sometimes with a stunning degree of detail included, often also referring to the colour of the sunrise and other incidents in his village.

Hammer Uprising: Moving into the City
He has been told that during the Hammer Uprising, his family suffered greatly because his uncle had been stubborn enough to become involved in the revolts. And that afterwards, they had to flee from their local lord and settle in another city. There, he can still remember that his mother used to plait baskets and straw hats, worked as a servant and used to spin a lot and sometimes mend things. What his uncle had done, he cannot remember. Though he remembers him being drunk very often, as his mother said. The white cat is still there. And plenty of other cats. And three chickens, one of which lays an egg really every day, and once a month even two, which is considered a small local miracle. Irmyn has been told that he often helped his mother plait, and that he was very good in it. And that he would also have helped to tend the horses of his mother’s employer, and that he had loved horses ever since. And that the horses had loved him as well.

The Great Famine: Finding a New Home
Being considered a bit retarded (and told that most children of his age were at this time in comparison to the generation before), Irmyn is not sure if he remembers all of the following things correctly: Above all, he remembers that a lot of rain had kept falling for weeks and weeks. And that he had loved the rain. Though his family had been very upset by the leaking roof. But he had sensed that their pain and grief had not really come from the roof. He also remembers that his mother’s employer had been forced to dismiss his mother and that over time, more and more of the horses were gone. He remembers another kind of grandmother telling him he should dress better, and that then finally he got an old and really oversized brown tunic with rolled up sleeves. That is his most vivid memory. Some time later (though time is always a strange concept in the memories of Irmyn), he is told by his mother to return earlier from playing with his friends that day. He obediently does so, not thinking a lot about it. (In general, Irmyn has the impression, that he did not think very much during these days, but just *lived*. As if there were no tomorrow that would require planning or thinking.) In a kitchen with pretty blue walls and an old but beautiful wooden floor, his pale-looking mother gives him an elaborate document case. And she tells him that he should go to some castle for he will now be raised there. Irmyn accepts, but does not understand. He does not dare to ask, though, and does not think much about it. His mother starts to cry, very unexpectedly and he at once tries to comfort her. Under tears she tells him she were not his mother, but that he had been given to her to take care of by the one who had issued the documents. And that she had taken him because she had had no own children and because of the money. And that he would most likely never see her again. She tells him that the next day, she will give him food and new clothes and shoes and that he should go to a castle, because there, they would already be waiting for his arrival. She repeats the name of the castle several times, and makes Irmyn speak after her until he remembers the name of the castle. In recent days, however, it has escaped his memory.

When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he has the impression that somebody, or *something* is in the house. Somebody who should not have been there normally. He gets up, and with bare feet, in his shirt and a plaid wrapped around him, searches the house for the intruder. But even the dog is still asleep. He hears strange but very beautiful music from the empty stable, where just the three chickens are left, but they are awake, but seem to be very calm, staring in a certain corner of the stable. Irmyn goes there, and finds a woman-like being, dressed completely in white, radiating white and warm light. There is wonderful music in the air and fragrances and smells Irmyn only knows from the septs. And from wild flowers in the forest he once played in as a child. The woman tells him several things, speaking of the future of the Kingdom, and what Irmyn should do now. But most of all, she tells Irmyn he should not be afraid, for she would always be at his side now, she always had been, and that he just should be faithful and confident. For everything would become good one day, and that he need not worry nor be afraid. Then she tells Irmyn to go back to bed again, and Irmyn obeys.

The next day Irmyn leaves for the castle that his mother told him, with his new clothes and food and a bit of money, the document case that state his parentage and descent and a list of towns that he should search for on his way. This journey becomes a real adventure to him. So much that he never arrives where he was meant to arrive.

Confused by the recent complete change in his life, the sighting of the white woman, and life on the road, with so many new faces and strange things to be seen, Irmyn becomes so distracted that…

The next memory Irmyn has is that Ser Mortimer tells him that most of his possessions had been stolen. And from then on, things become less clear. Irmyn recalls that he fell very sick soon afterwards, and that a Septa called Morda cared for him for “a long long” time. He also recalls that Ser Mortimer has visited him very often during that time, and has always been very kind to him. And that the Septa had a completely white cat, that Irmyn, though very weak, liked to play with, when he had the strength to do so.

From that day on, people have started calling him a bastard.

It is not until more than a year later, that he has fully recovered. People considered this a miracle, though Irmyn had always known he would recover. For the white woman had said so. She had also said he would fall very sick. But that he would recover.

Irmyn lives with the Septa now, and often also is visited by other Septons and Poor Brothers. It is a good time in Irmyn’s life, and it is easy for him to follow the simple, structured life the pious people around him lead. They also tell him how to read and write and calculate – though it takes ages and the patience of a saint from the side of his teachers until Irmyn’s easily distracted, oblivious mind gets to it. In other fields, however, he learns very quickly and is very talented.

Becoming a Squire: Experiences in the Fields of War
It is at the age of 14 that, rather for fun, in Irmyn’s view, Ser Mortimer offers him some weaponry training one late sunny afternoon, while waiting for dinner. Irmyn is taken up as the hedge knight’s squire afterwards.

He starts to get a training that he considers odd, but trusts in the abilities of those around him. Several hedge knights train him, and he is taken to local tournaments and contests at the age of 16. Irmyn himself is not very much interested, always being a bit slow to understand what is going on in his life, for his mind is so easily distracted. Unless when he is fighting. He realizes about his talent with the sparring sword, but his view is too limited to make more of that. A local maester starts to look after him regularly when Irmyn in addition to this unnaturally limited perception starts having fits. The fits then turn into something that the clerics around him would describe as religious ecstasy, but are hesitant to do so.

Meanwhile, Irmyn’s training goes on, and he keeps getting better and better. He becomes quite known in his regions, and sometimes is visited by people who want to spar with him. Until one day when he is offered a rather professional education at a castle, not even close to where he lives. Irmyn himself does not want to go, but the people around him urge him to seize the opportunity. So, unwillingly, he obeys.

He is sent there and gets a very formal education now, including not only training in weaponry but also in formal warfare. He is good at it – and attracts the envy of those around him. Soon, he is bullied by his peers, all of them higher ranking than he is. It is the first time in his life that he is blamed and blamed again for being a bastard. Not being used to hostility, Irmyn finds it difficult to cope with that. He also learns to suppress the continuing ecstasies. In general, he does not even defend himself when getting beaten up. One night, he runs away for he cannot stand it any longer. However, he is seized and accused of “attempted desertion”. The accusation is, however, soon forgotten when the King calls for his banners. And Irmyn has to follow along with the one people describe as his “liege”.

War of the Three Thieves: Military Service
He is employed as a secretary and assistant in strategical planning, logistics and coordination. Somehow, war has finally woken up his mind, and he becomes much more awake on a cognitive level. From that day on, he has many vivid memories. He stays mainly in backward services, though leaves Westeros for being deployed in Dorne. Despite having never really been far away from home, having spent his whole life in a limited region of the Riverlands, he adapts to the new situation seamlessly. And soon is sent to the Stepstones to assist in quartermastery and other, now also combat-oriented services.

Return to the Riverlands: Years as a Hedge Knight and in other Professions
Irmyn quits his service on the day that all his liege’s levies have been returned to their towns and houses. It appears to him to be the first real decision he has ever taken himself, but he has to, for he cannot stand being with these people anymore – even though they reassure him that a great career is waiting for him, and it is now they offer him to knight him. Not believing them, for he knew, in their eyes, with the war over now, he will be nothing but the bastard again, he leaves them.

Upon his return to Septa Morda, he starts searching for Ser Mortimer after the war – and is able to find him again. He starts accompanying the hedge knight on his journeys and assist him, resuming his old position as his squire, though Irmyn by now is already 21 years of age. Ser Mortimer realizes that the youth has no plans as to what he intends to do with his life. Uncountable discussions are led with the old knight accusing the young man of letting his great talents lie fallow. But Irmyn  has lost his interest in fighting, and starts suffering from confused states again. Septon Harryn, Brother Edrys, Ser Mortimer and several others during the next years try to make the young man acquainted with several different ways of living: Civilian professions, clerical studies and life, military services in the town nearby. And though Irmyn does as he is told, and is actually good at nearly everthing he is told to do, amidst an unexplainable frustration and never-ending confusion Irmyn cannot settle on any idea what to do with his life. He, however, realizes he is causing grief to those around him who just want to see him happy and do so much for him.

One day they find a letter written by Irmyn – a very uncommon thing for the young man to do – apologizing for everything, and bidding farewell for a while.

And it is thus that Irmyn Rivers sets out to lead a self-reliant life, trying to find his place in this world. His tasks and little adventures are numerous. He travels some parts of the Kingdom, finds friends, abandons employments, and learns of many different trades. It is a simple faithfulness and piousness that carries him through these days and nights. And his heart grows lighter.