The Clever One

The Clever One, previously known as Septon Bryce, is the current High Septon, having surrendered his name and assumed the office in 433 AC. He is best known for reforming the Faith Militant with the blessing of Rhaegar II, and for wedding Visenya Silvermoon and Aegon VII. Prior to becoming High Septon, he served as Rhaegar II's Master of Laws from 430 AC to 433 AC.

Appearance & Character
The flaxen locks that once earned him his epithet have faded to grey, and his youthful features have melted away. The crown of his head has long since gone bare, though that often goes unnoticed due to the crystal crown that often rests upon it. He wears the regalia of his station well, carrying himself with the dignity and pride that only one who has come from nothing can have.

Early Life
If one were to tell anyone present in the room where Bryce was born that he would one day tutor Kings and be the mouthpiece of the Gods, you would hear nothing but laughter. That room--a ramshackle fisherman's hutch just outside the walls of Lannisport--is one that no noble has ever set foot in. In fact, it's likely gone entirely unnoticed, or was only mentioned in passing as an unfortunate eyesore, or a testament to inferiority of the smallfolk.

Nevertheless, it was in that room that Bryce was born. The seventh son of a poor fisherman and his wife, Bryce did not seem destined for much. His first memories are of gutting fish, sweeping floors, and accompanying his mother to the fishmonger's square to try and hawk the day's meager catch. Many nights, he went hungry. And when winter came, he often went cold.

His life was only to get harder before it got better. When the Hammer Uprising took Westeros by storm in 388 AC, his father was swept up in the riots that erupted in Lannisport. It was easy for a man like him to fall into such a movement: when his life offered no room for advancement, and when he lived so close to a literal mountain of gold, the way the Warsmiths railed against corruption and fought for the interests of the poor was very appealing. Whatever his political beliefs, the results were the same: his father met the Lannisport city guard, and was left in a pool of his own blood, along with many others.

Bryce's brothers had to fill the void left behind. His eldest two brothers took up their father's trade, sailing out into the bay to cast their nets, while the others sold their wares in the square. Bryce, on the other hand, was largely able to continue his life uninterrupted--just with a few more hungry nights.

Then came the Great Famine. His mother, her health having declined since the death of his father, was the first to die. Three brothers followed her--their bodies little more than withered husks. Two more died when rogue Ironborn raiders came ashore. The last went much like his father had: after taking up banditry in an attempt to feed the both of them, he met his end dangling from a Lannister's noose.

And then Bryce was alone.

Orphans have three options available to them. First, they can starve. Second, they can beg. Third, if they're lucky, they can enter one of the orphanages run by the Faith.

Bryce was lucky. Days after his brother's death, he crawled up the marble steps of the Golden Sept, thin as a rail, his cheeks sunken in. A Septa pitied him enough to care for him despite the orphanage already being far over-capacity.

And so Bryce lived. He spent the next two years of the famine sheltered away in the Faith's orphanage. He became the favorite of the lay brothers and sisters there, and whenever time and resources permitted, they would shower him with affection and teach him what they knew. It was from Brother Jaime that he learned to read and write, from Sister Rebekah that he learned his numbers, from Brother Robb that he learned the finer points of the Seven Pointed Star. By the time the Famine finally came to an end in 394 AC, Bryce had found a new home. When the Septons began searching for new acolytes later that year, Bryce was among the first to apply. Despite his youth, a good word from the lay brothers and sisters saw him through.

The Faith
A Septon's studies is not for the faint of heart. While the Citadel of Oldtown is arguably the largest center of learning on the continent, Septs in large cities are a close second. He learned about the stars and the seasons, the old texts of the Andals, and the secrets of mathematics, though he did not have much of a mind for any of them. What did soon become clear was the mind he had for oratory. As the young man slowly grew into adulthood, he perfected the art, giving stirring (practice) sermons to rooms full of instructors. When his compatriots, third and fourth sons of nobility, unwanted daughters, and the children of wealthy merchants, came to question their place in the Faith, he comforted them, too, and in so doing earned a loyal following.

That is not to say that Bryce did not get into his fair share of trouble when his teenage years came. Though the lay brothers and the clergy alike did their best to keep a close eye on the boys and girls in their care, they were not omnipresent. There were several nights where Bryce and others sneaked from the cloister, making their way through the taverns of Lannisport and otherwise finding themselves in unsavory situations. Bryce himself was never caught.

He spent the War of the Three Thieves in the seclusion of the Golden Sept, studying the sacred texts of the Faith and the histories of the Kingdoms and the Faithful. By the time the war ended in 402 AC, Bryce was a full Septon at last, blessed with the seven sacred oils and sworn to celibacy. With the Seven Pointed Star in hand and his rough-spun robes clinging to his form, he began his life as a wandering Septon, traveling up and down the coast of the Westerlands.

The Scarlet Winter arrived a few weeks later. He spent the next three years doing all he could to mitigate the crisis, arranging for shipments of food from those few villages that had excess to those villages that had none, blessing the newborn babes unfortunate to be born in that cursed season, and preparing for burial those who did not survive. He mostly did the latter.

When the winter finally abated in 405 AC, he stayed on the road, but his wanderings began to take him farther than the borders of the Westerlands. Over the next five years, he traveled as far north as the Neck and as far south as Yronwood, covering most of the ground in between. When the Mummer's War erupted in 407 AC, he was there, too, always just a day behind the Lannister host to treat the sick and offer last rites to the fallen. Even though the war was brief, with the rebels defeated decisively at the Battle of the Fords, Bryce still had his work cut out for him.

While wandering Septons do not occupy the most prestigious post in the Faith's hierarchy, Bryce earned a reputation for himself through his stirring speeches. He often found his name preceded him, with travelers from the village before always seeming to speak of him in the next village. By 410 AC, word of his travels had reached even the Most Devout. Septon Joffrey, one of the more senior members of the council, summoned him to King's Landing in the closing days of that year. When Bryce arrived, Joffrey took him under his tutelage, intending to groom him for a position in one of the many Septs throughout the Crownlands.

Bryce had different ideas. Upon arriving in King's Landing, he was struck by the city's ''backwardness. ''Though it was two or three times larger than Lannisport (or at least, it felt that way), many of its denizens lived in destitution cordoned in Flea Bottom. Worse, the Faith did little to help them. It did not surprise him, then, that the followers of the Red God were growing in the city; they at least did something to help the city's poorest citizens.

Bryce dedicated himself to bettering their lot. Every hour he did not spend studying or working in the Great Sept, he spent organizing charitable works and preaching to the poor. He became famous among the city's poor, revitalizing the faith of many who had began to waver. He posed a direct challenge to the inactive leadership of the Most Devout, using his influence among the lesser clergy and the lay brothers to siphon off resources towards charity.

The Most Devout did not look favorably upon Septon Joffrey's new protege, though he was able to defend Bryce for a while. When he finally died in 418 AC, though, the Most Devout was quick to take advantage of the situation and move Bryce to run the newly-vacant Golden Sept in Lannisport. Unable to deny that the ability to run his own Sept would greatly improve his ability to help the less fortunate, Bryce was convinced, and accepted the appointment.

Lannisport
It had been a good many years since Bryce has set foot in his hometown, and not much had changed. Bryce immediately set about improving the conditions of the Faithful in Lannisport. Though much of the Faith's resources had been diverted into the construction and maintenance of the newly-built Sept of the Faithful, the much older, much smaller Golden Sept still had a considerable amount of resources at its disposal.

It was also at this time that Bryce realized that his actions were inherently limited in their effectiveness. His time in King's Landing had made him acutely aware of the amount of politics involved within the Faith. Those with friends in high places or the right relatives received promotions and favorable placements much more than those with the actual capacity to fill those positions. As long as he refused to play that game--as long as he dedicated the entirety of his energy to combating the status quo and helping the poor--his resources would remain limited.

And so he put the lessons of Septon Joffrey to use. He immediately began cultivating a web of supporters in Lannisport. By the end of 420 AC, there was hardly a single noble or wealthy merchant that he had not met with--and even fewer that his carefully cultivated web of agents did not have information on. That web, and the donor base of his Sept, only grew over time. When the Septon of the Sept of the Faithful finally died in 425 AC, few could deny Bryce was his logical successor. The support of the city's nobility guaranteed his promotion.

The Blue Winter hit a few months after. For once in his life, Bryce had the power to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those affected by the crisis. With the entirety of the Faith's resources in the Westerlands at his disposal, he arranged protection for those few relief caravans heading in and out of the Westerlands. When the weather warmed in 428 AC, Bryce's name was well-known throughout the Westerlands.

The Great Synod of Lannisport
When Bryce first heard of the Synod in 429 AC when the High and Starry Septons wrote to him seeking a neutral venue, it was extremely unexpected. Nevertheless, Bryce saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for advancement. He agreed to use the Sept of the Faithful as the site for the Synod, and set the date for 430 AC.

The next year was spent doing three things. First, Bryce had to ready the city for what would be the largest gathering in the Faith's long history. This, he delegated to one of his subordinates, Septon Steffon. A (relatively) young member of the Faith from a minor noble family in the Vale, Steffon had a mind for numbers and event-planning that made him perfect for this task. Second, Bryce dedicated himself to digging up information on the most important individuals in attendance. It would not be enough to only know the Septons and Septas of the Most Devout. He kept detailed files of all the information, good and bad, he could find on the attendees. Finally, Bryce had to make sure that the planning for the event gave him some sort of home field advantage. The more important individuals were therefore housed in rooms more vulnerable to covert observation by his agents.

When the attendees began to arrive, the stage had already been set. While Bryce was well-read on the matters of Faith and Law, he was far from the best-read on any topic--that honor, no doubt, went to one of the frail Septons whose lives had been spent locked away in dark rooms reading dusty tomes. In order to emerge with his goals achieved, then, he would have to be clever. He had to use his comparative advantage in information to bribe, coerce, cajole, or otherwise convince those who were not swayed by his rhetorical flairs on the debate floor.

He was greatly successful. His stirring arguments and his political maneuvering earned him the attention of Aerys Velaryon, the sole representative of the Crown sent to the Synod. The two finally met halfway through the events, discussing the politics of the moment and the importance of the Synod.

Bryce realized the magnitude of that opportunity almost immediately. The very next day, when the topic of incest came to the floor and fragile peace being crafted by the Synod threatened to fall apart, Bryce sprung into action. Coming to the floor near the end of the day, he delivered a compromise: incest was a sin... for Andals.

Had he not sewn the seeds of this idea the night before, it likely would have been shot down immediately. Fortunately, he had had the foresight to arrange for the support of several key attendees before ever coming to the floor. Almost as soon as Bryce yielded his time, they sprang into action, praising the proposal and bringing their own allies over to their side. By the end of the day, the Synod had agreed on the proposal.

Aerys was sure to take note of Bryce's role in the compromise. When the Synod ended a few days later and he departed for King's Landing, he personally recommended that Rhaegar appoint Bryce to fill the newly-vacant position of Master of Laws. When Bryce received the missive, he accepted, and departed for King's Landing.

The Small Council
For the members of the Most Devout that had sent him away (though admittedly few of them were still alive--the Most Devout, given the age of its members, has a notoriously high turnover rate), seeing Bryce return as the Master of Laws was a slap in the face. For the people of Flea Bottom who remembered him, it was a cause for celebration. And for the worshipers of the Red Faith, whose influence had continued to grow in his absence, it was a poor omen.

Bryce wasted no time in cementing his position at Court. Only a few months after his arrival, he became one of the King's most trusted advisers. There was not a single nook or cranny of the Red Keep that his influence did not touch, the royal family included. Rhaegar's son and heir Aegon, finally growing interested in the affairs of governance and the Law after reaching adulthood, became particularly close to him. Visenya, too, sought his counsel often. The loss of her husband and son was hard on her, and the wise words of a man of the Faith helped navigate her through those trying times.

Bryce himself is not quite sure of the degree to which he is responsible for the rekindling of their relationship, but it is certainly something that he helped put in motion. A trusted confidant of both, he reaffirmed the feelings they confessed to him. When Aegon at last came to him seeking some way to fulfill his desire to marry her, he helped him there, too. And when the Gregarious One condemned the proposal and refused to marry them, Bryce reminded the Kingdom of the different laws by which the Valyrians were bound, and married them regardless. The pair were ecstatic. Rhaenyra was not.

The Second Hammer Uprising came not long after. Some even claim it was a direct result of the Silver Wedding, but Bryce himself denies these claims, believing instead that it would have occurred regardless. When news of Oldtown's capture reached King's Landing, Bryce took the side of his sometimes ally, Hand of the King Perceon Vance, cautioning Rhaegar against violent suppression of the uprising. Ostensibly, it was due to his own memories of the First Hammer Uprising, in which his father died. After all, he had seen peasant uprisings up close and personal in a way that no one else in the council had. His detractors would later claim that his pacifistic stance was a deliberate ploy to weaken the Realm.

Whatever the case, the King was swayed by his argument. House Targaryen kept its dragons at bay, instead attempting to crush the uprising with the sword.

Bryce acquired many enemies at court during this time. Chief among them was Grandmaester Godwyn. Perhaps the Grandmaester could see through Bryce's honeyed words in a way no one else at court could. Perhaps he simply inherited the disdain of zealots his former master Visaera had espoused. Or maybe he just loathed Bryce's penchant for equivocation. Whatever the case, when Bryce took a position on an issue at court, Godwyn would surely be found on the other side of it. Unfortunately for him, Bryce held the King's favor, and always seemed to come out ahead in their spats.

Perhaps his strangest relationship was that with Perceon Vance. On some issues, the pair spoke with a unified voice. On others, they were utterly opposed to one another. With the outbreak of the Hammer Uprising, Rhaegar came to lean upon the advice of Bryce almost more than his own Hand, finding the former's insight to the mind of the smallfolk of great benefit. Even after Bryce left the Small Council to take up the Crystal Crown, there were rumors that Perceon would soon be removed in favor of the Septon.

His final rival was the High Septon himself. A cordial relationship fell to pieces when Bryce went behind the Gregarious One's back to wed Aegon and Visenya. From then on, the two quarreled with some frequency: Bryce accusing the one of being ruled by avarice and cowardice, and of being content to watch the Red Faith take over the city, the High Septon accusing the other of being a lowborn charlatan fueled only by ambition.

The High Septon
His quarrel with the High Septon continued right up until 433 AC, when the Gods finally saw fit to rid the world of him. Not long after his death, murmurs spread through the capital regarding the cause of his demise. Some pointed to rivals within the Most Devout. Others to the Warsmiths, who in part were rallying against the corruption of the Gregarious One. More still to the worshipers of the Red God.

Almost no one pointed to Bryce. He preferred it that way. Better that no one ask too many questions.

For three weeks, the Most Devout bickered and quarreled over who would replace the Gregarious One. The rumors that he had been murdered by one of their own, coupled with the deep-set divides still present despite the Synod and exacerbated by certain factions within the Most Devout that seemed content to play the part of obstructionist, prevented them from coming to a consensus on who would don the Crystal Crown.

Then came Bryce. Since he was not a member of the Most Devout, he never set foot inside the proceedings, but his presence was felt all the same. When his name was mentioned, those debates and disagreements seemed to melt away. It had gone on too long, some said, and it was time to come together so the Faith could combat the Bleeding and the Red God.

And so it was that Bryce, an fisherman's orphan from Lannisport, became the Avatar of the Gods. The crystal crown lowered onto his head washed away the name he had once borne.

The Bleeding
Even though his promotion meant his residence was now much farther from the King than it had once been, Rhaegar was still keen to seek his help.