Rohanne

Mother Rohanne, born Rohanne Rhysling, is the Mother in charge of the Arbor Motherhouse, and a member of the Most Devout. Renowned for her scholarship into theology and philosophy - not only in the Faith, but the Citadel as well, and learned in the arts, Rohanne is a leading figure for more conservative figures within the Faith. Once a follower of the Starry Rites, Rohanne has accepted the restoration of the Faith as a whole... but hasn't ceased her criticism of the failures of the leadership of the Faith, an ever-vigilant watchdog.

Appearance
Rohanne is a slight woman, slim and short, barely much taller than five feet. She has the rich colouring common to the Arbor; auburn hair, green eyes that give a surprisingly strong expression to Rohanne's delicate face. Small she may be, but Rohanne carries more than enough energy to dominate a room. She is pretty in a gentle way; no great beauty, but the type of comfortable, kind, comeliness that has not diminished with the handful of slight lines that are beginning to mark her years. Rohanne's white robes are of fine quality, but not ostentatious - she wears the crystal coronet of the Most Devout only in official capacities, and elects for a stole of cloth-of-silver instead of a full robe.

A kind, charitable, woman, Rohanne exercises her the holy virtues to all - to the best of her ability, anyhow. She is still a fallible mortal, however, and an acerbic wit can arise to those who frustrate her. Intelligent and learned, Rohanne's greatest failing is her pride in that intelligence, as well as the ease in which she can use it as a weapon. Importantly, however, she is genuinely faithful in her beliefs, and wishes above all to see pious peace in the land, to the best of her ability.

Childhood
Rohanne was a surprise birth to the end of Lord Rhysling’s life. It hard been near ten years since the birth of her elder sister Olenna - and no one was entirely sure what to do with her. Olenna doted on her, but even then, after a few years Olenna was too old - uninterested in the younger, precocious, and admittedly mildly irritating, sister. Rohanne proved to be a smart child from an early age, and sufferingly aware of it. She almost seemed to take pride in lecturing people, exasperating even her own maester with her know-it-all nature. The only person who seemed to take it in their stride was her governess, an elderly Septa with decades of experience handling children. That was where her interest in the Faith first grew.

The Faith
It was on her twelfth birthday that Rohanne made the request - more a demand - that her father allowed her to join the Faith. Bemused, he was, but it was a request he was willing to make. The Faith, piety, had ever been strong in the southern portions of the Reach, and the Arbor was no exception. Uprooting herself was no large issue for Rohanne; she didn’t really have any friends anyhow, and never felt like she was truly at home. There was a large Motherhouse on the island; old, rich, a reputation that lasted centuries - and at the heart of the Starry Faith, such as it was that still existed. It had been five years since the death of Maekar, and the Faith still mourned him, tenets for a moment flaring strong; if quietly.

She slipped well into the rigour of work in the Motherhouse, proving a sharp mind and an eagerness to learn. Rohanne was the perfect student, attentive and seeming to know all she needed too. The Sisters who taught her were regularly delighted by her, and Rohanne even managed to start to find friends. Other, like-minded girls, pious and smart like her… and in preparing for a life of servitude to the Faith, willing to fall into line behind Rohanne’s demanding personality. Rohanne’s understanding of law, history, and religion drew distinction. Of the knowledge that every acolyte was to learn, she excelled. What brought her fully to the Mother of the Motherhouse’s attention was her interest in the more esoteric philosophy that marked the more scholarly echelons of the Faith - scholasticism, blending the theology of the Faith with old philosophies of the Rhoynish thinkers; the old arts of metaphysics, stoicism, ethics.

As she came into her adulthood, taking her title of ‘Sister’ when she came of age, Rohanne was taken under the wing of the Mother, personally supervising her education when she had the time, and taking her on as an assistant when needed. Rohanne did keep with her Sisters as often as she could as well; she didn’t want to appear above them. She was charming enough in her own way, and more importantly knew that making enemies of her peers would be a bad thing to gain when one lived and slept with them. Rohanne gained a reputation as an active scholar within the Faith; her theories and interpretations of not only the theology of the Faith but aligning the arts and sciences of the Citadel with the fundamental truths of the Faith earned her admiration in the Citadel as well as the Great Septs of the realm. By the age of twenty seven she had been raised to one of the Sister Superiors of the Motherhouse, and the works of Sister Rohanne (or as the Citadel came to nickname her, Maestress Rohanne), became famed through the land.

Such as it was that when the Great Synod of Lannisport came about, it was Rohanne that represented the Motherhouse of the Arbor. The Mother was growing feeble and ill with age; likely the journey to Lannisport would’ve killed her. Expected to be a firebrand for the Starry Faith, in that Rohanne disappointed. She was a quieter voice, seen discussing with Septon Bryce, the Starry Septon, the Lord Hand… and the Archmaester of Theology. Rohanne earned no great personal fame there. However, for those who had paid attention and knew her and her works, there was the matter that Rohanne had spoken to the Archmaester before his great speech, and there had certainly been references to her works. Importantly for Rohanne, she came out of the Synod with her knowledge entrenched, and a great deal more friends and contacts within the Faith from across the Kingdoms.

The Hammer Uprising
Upon her return, Rohanne realised things had started to change. The Mother was too feeble to truly hold the the influence she had achieved in her life, and her voice of peace had slowly started to be overwhelmed by those who had called for war - chief amongst them being Ser Duncan Hammer. It was a secret she would bury in the years to come, but Rohanne was a confidant to Ser Duncan - perhaps more. Not that she would ever have admitted to it, and not that she or her friends ever admitted they met elsewhere but in public, with company, or wrote letters to him. Yet, Ser Duncan would ensure that the letters sent to him were never seen by anyone… and where the ones to Rohanne are kept, she would never tell. Rohanne did her best to calm him and his adherents, as would the Motherhouse - but outside of the Arbor, words fell on deaf ears. The Reach was too furious. It was said that just before the Taking of the Tower, Ser Duncan came to visit her and Rohanne tried to persuade him to give up his plan for war - at least, it is the tale the troubadours sing.

Words were futile, however, and the Taking of the Tower commenced. When the news arrived at the Motherhouse, along with the death of the Starry Septon, the Mother promptly died of a heart attack, broken by the horror. The matter of succession was a matter settled quickly. Sister Rohanne became Mother Rohanne. Of that, there had never been doubt. It was through sheer force of will and preaching that Rohanne ensured the people of the Arbor kept out of the Bleeding as the Redwynes did. Oldtown was lost for the time being, but Rohanne did not stop trying throughout the war - the Faith Militant, those few who made it that far south, found solace in the Motherhouse, and when Arthur Hightower eventually force out the Warsmiths, with no Starry Septon it fell to Rohanne to see the reestablishment of the Faith proper. Rohanne had held the Starry Faith before, as much as anyone still did, and that gained her some suspicion - but her eagerness in aiding the High Septon helped restore that reputation. She’d never particularly liked Bryce, and his marriage of Visenya had deeply offended her. At best, he was an opportunist. At worse… But Rohanne had not let personal feeling affect how she had treated Duncan. It would not affect how she treated the new High Septon. It was unsurprising that, for her Oldtown service, she was raised to the Most Devout as soon as the fighting had settled.

The Most Devout
With the Hammer Uprising over, Mother Rohanne could settle into her new role. The Four Year Winter hit the Arbor less harshly than many other places in the realm, excluding Dorne. Rohanne exercised the contacts she had in the Faith and the Citadel across the kingdoms, helping those she could in need, gathering friends. She would also continue on with her writings, expanding past the scholarly into the true arts. When she has the time, Rohanne composes liturgical songs and hymns, encouraging worship through the purest gift that mankind has constructed in its mortal life. To her, song is pure and divine, and harmony escapes what evil can achieve. She herself is possessed of a fine singing voice, a beautiful tone that can reach the highest of notes and once drove the Starry Septon to tears.

Recent Events
For the first time in four years, Mother Rohanne has left her Motherhouse. She has travelled to King’s Landing to represent the Starry Septon of Oldtown - an ancient man, much comfortable in his Sept, it was not hard to convince him to let her go in his place, and represent those of the Faith’s heartland.