Tansy Rivers

Tansy Rivers is the apparent bastard of Ser Paxter Vance of Harrenhal and a serving wench in Maidenpool. Unrecognized and not knowing of her potential parentage until her late teens, Tansy journeyed to Harrenhal and met her apparent cousin in 437 AC. Since then, she has been at Harrenhal, and at Cassanna’s side at virtually every occasion.

Appearance and Personality
The beauty of Riverlander girls is not unknown to those in Westeros, and born the daughter of a pretty bar maid named Willow, Tansy, or Tansy Rivers, bears all the striking features of her mother, with narrow eyes and flushed red cheeks, vibrant lips and coiling strawberry blonde hair that falls almost to her waist. Her skin is a pale white, her prominent nose resting between two strong cheekbones.

Tansy has always carried herself with a skip. In her youth, Tansy wasn’t pretty, and freckles covered most of her face. Since then, a considerable amount of those freckles have faded, but many are still present on her cheeks, collar and neck.

Despite her lowborn status, she has always carried herself with an air of importance, which has served her ill more oft than not. She chooses light colors, and wears them well. Her height isn’t something to make particular note of – most men dominate over her, and most women have almost a head on her; she stands no taller than five feet.

History
Born in 420 AC to a bar maid named Willow and supposedly Preston Vance, Tansy – or Tansy Rivers, as she calls herself – was raised to be a capable child, without aspirations for greatness, without a nobleborn woman’s quality, nor without even basic literacy. In truth, her mother expected little of her, and though she frequently boasted of the child’s parentage, Willow had an especially loose tongue for a barmaid, and just before Tansy’s fourth year, had her tongue out for slander.

She watched the affair. Brutal, efficient, without as much as a whimper, even as her mother was pushed to the ground, sobbing and bleeding wildly through the mouth.

She gave Willow three more half-siblings in the next five years, but by then had distanced herself from her mother. Willow was nothing if not smart, nothing if not productive, and she had learned from a young age thrift, and so much more. She was small enough to hide and easy enough to believe. Her manipulation was particularly uncanny – she was a convincing voice, and earned the attention of Lord Mooton soon enough.

One man in particular took note of her – a man Tansy called The Giver, for his generosity. She had learned his name, but would call him only by the name she had given him. He was a clerk, and taught her her letters, numbers and more – Tansy was quick to take to them, and spent an amount of time as an assistant, coming to learn the intricacies of finance among others.

Tansy had a particular gift for charm and manipulation, and learned others as well – once she had a steady flow of cash in pocket, she would spend the evenings down at the alchemists, learning from them. She was a hard worker, and it showed, even by her fourteenth year.

The Giver left the world in her fifteenth year, and she was at his bedside when he died. A servant of Lord Mooton, he was put to rest in a grave just outside the city’s walls. Tansy’s time under Lord Mooton continued, and he favored her well enough – but her attention had turned to the likes of botany and poisons, the like of which to further her growing ambition.

The name Rivers would never grow beyond self-importance, she knew, but Tansy was smart and adaptable – she had learned that when her empathy was put on hold, even after one of her half-brothers died of starvation. She cared little for it, and less for her mother; Willow had never been a particularly supportive mother anyways.

It wasn’t until her eighteenth year that Tansy left Maidenpool. With her service under Lord Mooton complete, she contacted Harrenhal, and after a brief visit to the alchemists, she made her way there – to be greeted by Cassanna Vance, the last of her line.

Theres was an easy friendship at first, and grew as time progressed. By the time she there for only a few moons, she was attending Cassanna as a servant, and then more: she grew to appreciate the elder woman, and provided an ear – and a strong voice – both within and without Harrenhal.

438 AC
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Family

 * Preston Vance, d. ?
 * Cassanna Vance, b. 418


 * Paxter Vance d.?
 * Tansy Rivers, her uncle's alleged bastard with a common woman from Maidenpool, b. 420