Maron Manderly

Maron Manderly is the firstborn and only son of the Lord of White Harbour, Davos Manderly. He is the regent of his family, watching over his home for his sickly father. A mon of many ambitions, Maron is driven, energetic and motivated.

Appearance and Character
Maron is notable for his dark, red hair and beard and his expressive eyes. The Manderly heir inherited many of those traits from his father, who supposedly got them from nowhere, which led to many jokes about him being a bastard- not all of which were, in fact, jokes.

Nonetheless Maron never really cared about what all of those people thought of his father. Instead, he mostly cared about how he was viewed himself. An established trade mogul in the north, leading his House's economic strategy, Maron was able to gather a lot of experience by working with merchants from Essos from a very young age, mostly due to being commanded to do so by his father.

But the Heir to White Harbour also appreciated reading, where he learned timeless truths from many fields, but mostly economy and stewardship. He also studied the secrets of shipbuilding, since he believed that knowing how all of those crafts that entered his ports function would help.

Early Life
Maron, the heir to White Harbour, was born from the union of Lord Davos Manderly and his wife from House Sunderland. A few years after him, his sisters, twins, were born. Unfortunately, that was too much for their mother, who died in the few following days. Lord Manderly didn't decide to ever marry again, partly due to his constant health issues, something that made him bedridden for most of his life.

While the loss of his mother at an early age was a tragedy for the young Manderly, he never used it against either of his sisters. Instead, he got along with them very well, trusting them and seeing the girls as his closest friends, even though they were younger than him by six years. Priscilla often joined him on his trips to the ports, while Melissa read many stories together with him; he was the one to teach her how to read. The siblings had only themselves, since their father mostly focused on his deals with traders.

In an effort to reconnect with him, Maron studied old books about trade and economy, he examined maps of lands far and close, while also trying to learn many foreign languages, which never really worked, though he did memorize singular words in different languages, from Dothraki to High Valyrian. He also to help Davos in his dealings, often being more active in many discourses than his father. He studied ships, trying to better grasp their nature, how fast they travelled and how much he had to spend on different repairs. It also made him appreciate the variety of builds that came with different customs from other countries.

Soon, the youth became more succesful than the Lord. The Heir felt rewarded seeing the income and hearing the numerous words of trade from his father, something that he never had in his earliest years. But he also became a fan of trading, economics and stewardship just because he enjoyed working his ass off, just to be able to sit down in front of a fire, with some wine in one hand and reports in another and look at them with joy and a sense of actual fulfillment.

First Wedding
One day, during a mundane visit to the port, the Heir to White Harbour noticed a fascinating ship. He first watched it from a distance, before approaching it due to his fascination. He wanted to learn where it came from, what the people that boarded it had to offer and why they decided to dock in White Harbour. Maron gathered that the merchant was from Yi Ti, a land which he heard a lot about. Distant and mysterious yet abundant in gold, the country was a mystery of sorts. Maron decided to see what there was to buy. During his pursuit, he found somebody else. The merchant's daughter was of beauty unseen to him. Her facial feautures were unique, they spoke loud of her foreign heritage. Her long, raven hair, her perplexing smile, her delicate, pale skin, and her elegant figure all charmed him. The girl's giggle was still on his mind for the rest of the day after he met with her father and bought some expensive, tropical fabrics. Maron had to see her again, and early next morning, he headed to see with the Yi Tish merchant.

He understood that there was no way to go around approaching her if he wished for anything more than just a glance, so he decided to to buy some more silks, hoping to see her once more. Noticing how the Manderly looked at her, her father instantly came out with an offer to "sell" her to him. Maron didn't exactly understand what he meant so he declined, but he noticed that she just chuckled after that, which left him uncertain. The Manderly was able to talk to, or rather try to talk to the girl. While they both knew some words in their respective languages which they were able to supplement with other phrases, mostly from the high valyrian. Maron claims that she was a great lover, the best he ever had. Rumors has it that when he learned that she was leaving White Harbour with her father, he pushed a septon to arrange a marriage between them. They haven't seen since, Maron didn't even learn her name, which he regrets since.

The Living Fire
Priscilla wanted to embark on a trip to distant lands for a long time. She never had the guts to, hearing all the stories about the krakens, which Maron nonetheless always told her to ignore, since there was no documented evidence of Krakens or any other monsters existing this close to Westeros. Priscilla always ignored him, and instead lived in that constant state of uncertainty. Not being able to stand watching as his sister was consumed by fake tales made up by drunk sailors, Maron decided to sail out together with her. She reluctantly agreed, and so they travelled... to Qarth. Their father didn't allow them to go any further, but it wasn't like Priscilla wanted to go further. It left Maron somewhat underwhelmed.

Maron did have to acknowledge that he was somewhat mistaken. Weeks after they started sailing south, they were moving closer and closer towards the Stepstones. That was a part of their journey that his sister was especially afraid of, and for a good reason. Just after they passed the first of the islands in the chain, they were ambushed by pirates. Unfortunately, their crew wasn't in any way skilled in fighting. They had to give up, seeing no real escape. While the rest panicked, Maron tried to negotiate with the captain, barely avoiding mutilation. Hopeless, locked away, without a visible chance of escaping, the siblings had no idea what to do. But in an effort to buy spare time, Maron tried to joke around with the pirates, often telling them stories about different women from his past or singing about all the mysterious places he learned about. It granted him a sense of safety, since the few pirates would rather keep him around for entertainment than kill him off for no particular reason. At the right time, he even told them that he was from a very rich noble House, and that they could demand very high ransom for him and his sister, if they would return in good shape. The captain didn't know how to respond, since he couldn't dock in any port, because that would most likely end in their death. But Priscella had an idea. She decided to trick the pirates, promising that the port of Dreadfort of the Boltons, rumoured to be allied with pirates would be a safe destination.

Having heard that family name before, the captain agreed. Instead of arriving anywhere near the seat of the extinct family, he arrived at White Harbour, which Priscella correctly predicted the pirates wouldn't know. Once they docked, the Manderly woman knocked over a candle, causing the ship to set on flames. The siblings were able to escape the vessel, breaking a hole within it, and escaping into the freezing water. They fleed.

Recent Events
The Heir and Regent of House Manderly headed to the South to represent his during the Grand Council. He tried to stay silent most of the time, unless it was necessary. While he knew that publicity was always good, he noticed that most of the houses that he was trying to deal with where on the opposite side, so he decided to stay silent. After everything came to a close, Maron was ready to head home, with all the new goods that he bought and deals he had struck.

Family
Artos Manderly (380-429)

m. Serena Mooton (382-433)
 * Davos Manderly (403-present)
 * m. Anya Sunderland (402-427)
 * Maron Manderly (423-present)
 * Priscella Manderly (429-present)
 * Melissa Manderly (429-present)
 * Beren Manderly (406-present)
 * m. Meera Ryswell (409-present)
 * Jonos Manderly (426-present)
 * Wyman Manderly (427-427)
 * Serena Manderly (430-present)
 * Norbert Manderly (432-present)
 * Humfrey Manderly (434-436)
 * Darla Manderly (437-present)
 * Jennis Manderly (439-present)

Household/NPCs
Priscella Manderly - The elder of the twin sisters, Priscella is someone that Maron always respected. He found her energy charming, and her slightly manboyish nature was often something that he looked up to, appreciating that he could treat her as a partner, which was at least partly also due to her intelligence and creativity, while staying protective of her at times. While following her brother to the docks, she often overheard many myths that the sailors passed from one another. During her trips there, she became a big fan of different ships, learning about them from the documents and books left behind by her brother. She helps the captain overlook the House's ships.

Melissa Manderly - The youngest of the three siblings, Melissa was always the daughter that fit more into most archetypes of a classic lady; though maybe without a lord by her side, yet or ever, if she were to decide... Maron found that a notable part of their family spending was on dresses for her, which he tried to cut at first, but he later discovered that he could make up for it with her knowledge of economy, which she got from reading the books that her brother left for her. She is often regarded as the second-in-command for financial issues in the House after her brother.

Davos Manderly - The sickly Lord of House Manderly, Davos hasn't ever paid much attention to his family, or to himself. A part of it were the words that the maester spoke when he was young; "you have to be ready to die, because it may happen every morning or evening." He tried to, mostly focusing on developing his House's economic strength, trying to bring over merchants from Essos and their expensive good, presenting White Harbour as a better destionation than King's Landing or Oldtown; some were foolish enough to believe him.

Beren Manderly - Somewhat of a mysterious figure, Beren is in charge of the House's army. A trained soldier, formerly training to join the Night's Watch, Beren is mostly an archer. He often visited many different tourneys to present his skills, which got him some lovers, one of the few things in his life that Maron looked up to.