Willum Upcliff

Willum Upcliff is the head of House Upcliff and is lord of Witch Isle and Deepwater, commander of the Shrouded Fleet and captain of the Witch’s Swell. He is the first son of the previous lord Qyle Upcliff and his lady wife Deanna, born Wydman. He has been lord since 401 at the end of The War of the Three Thieves.

Appearance and Character
The Andal blood courses through his veins and it is seen in his brown eyes and brown hair. He is of average height and proud stature. He wear his hair long and covers his chin in a coarse beard. He is often wearing furs and boiled leather to protect against the sea wind and steel weaponry. Both hair and clothes are salt sprayed from his daily life on the Narrow Sea, the Bay of Crabs and the Bite.

Though his stature is lean and strong, he has a tendency to over-indulgence in food and drink. His appetite for wealth, honor and glory also is far bigger than his station. He seems to think to think he has more importance than he has in reality and is quickly disappointed when those around him doesn’t think the same. An example of this is that though he only commands five longships he references them as the Shrouded Fleet and himself as its commander.

History
Born to Lord Qyle Upcliff and Deanna Wydman on the Witch Isle east of Gulltown and Runestone and northeast of the mouth to the Bay of Crabs, Willum’s earliest life was one of typical nobility. As the oldest son and heir, he soon began the basic education that he would one day need as a lord. He learned how to manage and administrate the holdings and some history and heraldry of the Seven Kingdoms. In this education his grandmother and great-grandaunts played a vital role. The females Upcliffs shared with him only a fraction of their knowledge that they had accumulated during their long lives.

As many other young boys, he was soon enough captured by the tales of battles and honor. Soon he would grasp the handle of training weapons and start improving his fighting abilities. The physical exercise and the improvement he could feel, even in this early of an age, kept him working harder and harder.

At the age of 10 the necessities of the Isle began to become apparent for the boy. The cliffs that gave his house its name was greatly limiting in the resources it could provide to those who called them their home. The water around it though were a source of life and presented opportunities. Not just in the food sources the sea offered but opportunities to get ahead. The policies of Oswyn Arryn of increased effort against pirates and smugglers seemed to have been slightly forgotten in the twenty years since his passing. Roland Arryn had presented a much more relaxed opposition and since the Crisis of the Crescent, the renewed venom against the mountain clans had shifted the focus inland.

And so the connections on the Three Sisters, on the Fingers, in Gulltown and in Essos had slowly been reforged. There was plenty of wares that needed transport out of the public eye. For the young boy, Willum Upcliff, it meant that he had to learn the trade. He learned how to position the sail and man the oars, to navigate the Narrow Sea, the Bay of Crabs, the Bite and the inlets in-between. He learned how to mask the longships at day and at night.

In 396 the War of the Three Thieves called the Realm to arms. As the fleets of Gulltown answered the call so too did the meagre Upcliff force. Lord Qyle Upcliff joined his few longships with the rest of the fleet from the Vale. The presented an opportunity and it might divert some suspicion of recent dealings.

Having just reached manhood at fifteen years of age Willum was not one to stay behind. He was eager to see the world and win renown for himself and his family name on foreign shores. It was an exciting time with exciting people from White Harbor to the Royal fleet, an opportunity to also learn a thing or two that the training yard, and seas of the Bay for Crabs could not teach.

He showed promise with the sword and as a commander. Following his father, listening to his knowledge of combat and seeing maneuvering at sea for this extended period of time with the added severity of the circumstances; that was lessons he would never forget. With the action and battles they saw, he learned how to lay ambushes and how to ram and how to board.

They did see battle indeed. Willum went through the war relatively unscathed, acquiring a few scars here and there. He learned to take a life and he saw some things that would change him forever. The biggest wound he took however was towards the end of the conflict when during the Scouring of the Stepstones he lost his father, slain by a stray arrow.

His first duty as the Lord was another trip to unfamiliar shores as he went to the Hundred Years Tournament with many of the Vale acquaintances he had made during the war. When he finally came back to Witch Isle it was as the lord. Here he continued some of the work of his father, ever looking to increase the standing and the riches of his house.

Tournament at Harrenhal
Like many of the nobles of the Vale, Lord Willum Upcliff attended their lord at the wedding of Harrold Arryn and on the journey to the Tournament of the Red Comet at Harrenhal. For Willum it was an opportunity to create more bonds with the mainland and its families, seeing the possibility of proving himself in the eyes of his lord Alaric. It was both to earn a sense of belonging and to distract from the shady business practices off the coast.

That opportunity presented itself in the events of the Tournament and Willum participated in Archery, Horse Racing and the Joust but performed best in the Melee where he managed to come in second, eliminating amongst others Gwayne Baratheon, lord paramount of the Stormland and Jakob ‘the Glacier’ Mormont, who had seemed unstoppable previously in the tournament, being finally eliminated in a close duel with the commander of the Golden Company at the time, Alester Steelsong. It was a combination of cunning tactics of remaining somewhat anonymous and the skill he had acquired during the hard years of training on Witch Isle, the war in the Stepstones and previous experiences at other tournaments, like The Hundred Years Tournament.

The trip back also provided some more opportunities to interact with the other lords and ladies of the Vale of Arryn. One of such interactions led to Lord Willum tailing Lord Alaric Arryn from the Quiet Isle to Gulltown at the behest of Keeper of the Gates, Osric Arryn, as a form of discreet protection. Upon return to the Witch Isle, he started one of the major building projects in building two warships, larger, sturdier and more powerful than the longships the island was used to.

The Mummer’s War
With the brewing conflict, Lord Willum called his troops at the behest of his liege. The threat of the mountain clans was a worthy adversary and when the focus shifted to excursions in the Riverlands, he followed. The news relayed to him of the brutalities and the encroachment on the freedoms of the Riverlander brethren created a worthy cause in his mind. And so he followed, like any soldier would.

The first part of the conflict the Lord of Witch Isle did not present much action for the islander, as he mostly followed the main force that rode with Alaric Arryn to the Ruby Fort and awaited whatever clash would come. During this time he mostly occupied himself with busy work that the camp required; foraging food, managing the troops and helping with preparation of defenses. Slowly the uncertainty of what to come crept into his mind as it did with many of the troops gathered there. The news from further south showed the trouble that was looming.

All this work and swirling rumors culminated with the Battle at the Ruby Ford. By this time the conflict with Willum Upcliff had reached a boiling point but it proved too little too late. The meeting of the nobles beforehand confirmed that the forces of the Vale were in the right. The word of Lucerys Velaryon was the poison of a snake and the reveal of the head of Maegor Waters proved the morality of the crown and its minions.

It renewed his fervor and the upcoming battle saw a return to form for the warrior from the rock in the Narrow Sea. He led charges and gave everything his body possessed to beat the odds of a larger force and the power of the four dragons that ultimately spelt doom for his liege. Brothers and friend fell around him and when the word of surrender from Harrold Arryn, he collapsed to his knees in despairing fatigue.

Recent events
After the defeat at the Ruby Ford, Willum Upcliff returned home with disheartening memories and it would be a long time before the formerly industrious lord found himself again. He would lock himself away in the Ladle, the tower of Deepwater, and wallowed in his failures, often blaming them on everyone but himself.

It was not until 411 AC before this changed for Lord Willum. With some cruel whim of destiny a song, like that of a siren, called him out of his tower, and the sight its source proving to be a local woman enchanted him. Within just a couple of weeks, he married the commoner Leanne of Deepwater.

The marriage proved not as happy as it was fast however. Though Leanne became pregnant soon after it only resulted in a stillborn son in the 3rd moon of 412 AC and another stillborn son in the 12th moon of 414 AC. There were growing concerns that the much younger Leanne was perhaps too wispy to provide an heir to the Lord of Witch Isle.

The whispers was quieted slightly when in the 8th Moon of 416 AC, Lady Leanne gave birth to a comely daughter of average strength. Though the baby still of young age she can be described as gentle, active and focused. However it was still said that the females of house Upcliff was stronger than the men so some of the successful birth was attributed to the gender of the child.

Household Members/NPC's
Deanna Wydman 361 AC -

Fay Upcliff 359 AC -

Symond Upcliff 383 AC -

Perra Upcliff 387 AC -

Ursula Upcliff 416 AC -