Erasmus Rykker

Introduction - Lord Erasmus Rykker, the Scythe of the Narrow Sea, is the current head of House Rykker and the Lord of Duskendale. A brilliant scholar, engineer, and commander whose life has taken him from noble-born Maester-in-training to the Master of Ships to three Targaryens and a Lord in his own right, Lord Rykker is renowned for his clinical attitude and groundbreaking work.

Appearance and Character
He is quite tall, yet thin in a wiry manner that belies his strength -- not just of his body, but especially that of his mind. His eyes are a cold, piercing blue, beginning to grow somewhat pallid and washed-out. Erasmus's hair is a dark brown-reddish color, streaked with grey at the temples and kept short. His skin was once pale from too much time in a library studying under the Maesters of House Rykker and other Houses of the Crownlands and beyond, though that changed to a deeper tan after his served duty aboard the warship  Broken Spear.

His face is that of a nobleman turned ascetic, with high, prominent cheekbones and regal features, grown grimmer-carved and more hollow as he grew older. His appearance overall is hardly unattractive, and he has grown to pay more attention to it as he pays more attention to the world of politics and the courts. He is primarily right-handed, though he is also capable in the use of his left.

Despite his hair greying from its dark reddish-brown, if anything, Lord Rykker has grown more imposing with age. Still at his impressive height of nearly six and a half foot, his careworn features from travails echoing back to the War of the Three Thieves are salt-worn and lightly tanned, though one would notice that his hands are surprisingly well-maintained, stained less with seawater and more with ink. The vibrant blue of his eyes has begun to fade, his irises paling, but his wry, intelligent gaze yet remains, even if the rest of his body is no longer so much able to take to the tasks it once did.

Timeline
370 AC -- Jasper Rykker is born to Theodor and Cathrin Rykker as their first child.

379 AC -- Erasmus Rykker is born to Theodor and Cathrin Rykker as their second child.

384 AC -- Erasmus begins his studies under the Maester of his House, quickly outpacing almost every other child his age whether noble-born or otherwise.

390 AC -- Lord Theodor Rykker is killed in a hunting accident when the boar turns upon him and his party, fatally goring the elder Lord. Jasper Rykker succeeds Theodor as Head of House Rykker.

395 AC -- Erasmus Rykker, having seemingly devoured everything the region's Maesters and the collected works of the Citadel could teach him, finally accepts a commission to serve upon the raider interceptor Broken Spear.

402 AC -- Lord Jasper Rykker is poisoned by a jealous suitor of the woman he was courting, dying a week after the initial incident. Erasmus Rykker resigns his commission to succeed Jasper as Head of House Rykker.

403 AC -- Ambitious research projects are begun under the auspices of the new Lord, including research into lightweight yet hard ceramics, precise but robust mechanical mechanisms, and other technology. During this period, Erasmus Rykker studies directly with the craftsmen and blacksmiths working on the construction of these projects.

407 AC -- The first of these grander projects is completed. The "Lance" is a weapon capable of focusing sunlight itself into a deadly beam through its mirrored array of silver mirrors, carving through sailcloth and burning flesh.

407 AC -- Erasmus commands the Royal fleet of 130 sail to Gulltown during the Mummer's War, negotiating the return of the Graftons to the bosom of the Crown.

408 AC -- Lord Rykker is appointed to the Small Council of Visaera I Targaryen as her Master of Ships, and proves to be thoroughly dedicated to the position, launching almost immediately into a program of modernization of naval craft, review of naval tactics and strategies, and a thorough analysis of naval culture to create a cohesive unit between sailors and their often more noble-born commanders.

410 AC -- Where previously the Realm appeared to have been content to tolerate them, Erasmus cracks down sharply upon the activities of House Sunderland, embarking on a number of interdiction and anti-piracy operations that had lead to some private criticism of being overly heavy-handed. However, after a series of letters and negotiations, Milanna Sunderland eventually agrees to cease her piracy -- or, as it would turn out, keep it low and out of the gaze of the Crown.

411 AC -- As a result of the negotiations the previous year, Erasmus marries Eva Sunderland, forming an alliance of sorts between House Rykker and House Sunderland. Reportedly, their relationship is remarkably cold for a good year, beginning to grow warmer in 412-413 AC. Erasmus's affection for the late Leyla Hightower remains a guarded secret.

414 AC: Erasmus and Eva's first child and male heir of the house, Asher Rykker, is born. In the same year, Erasmus's mother Cathrin Rykker passes away.

415 AC: The couple's second child, Garrick Rykker, is born.

417 AC: Lord Rykker resigns from the Small Council, reportedly to focus on his family and research after nine years of diligent service. However, it is instead to undertake an expedition that he had been performing years of research and careful preparation for. This expedition was to travel to the Lost Land of the Doom of Valyria, and once more set foot upon where even Targaryen kings and queens had never been.

Sailing from Duskendale to Pentos with a hand-picked crew, Erasmus riverboated his supplies down to Volantis, after a short road trip to Ghoyan Drohe. From Volantis, Erasmus sailed through the Summer Sea to the tip of the Doom, landing on the continent and pressing in towards Valyria.

Moons later, Lord Erasmus Rykker returned, the only man proven to return from the Doom of Valyria alive, bearing the the Valyrian steel blade he had christened the Last Word within his hands, and a cargo hold filled with priceless artifacts and tomes -- though ultimately, very few survived the perilous journey. However, the damage to his lungs that the Doom had left him with persisted until almost well into 418 AC.

418 AC: Finally, their third child and first daughter, Helaena Rykker, is born, soon after Erasmus returns from Valyria.

Erasmus Rykker's continued tenure as Master of Ships after being once again taken on by Visaera Targaryen was one of unprecedented oversight of noble Houses, carefully working with those who were willing to cooperate under Lord Rykker's "Versatility and Cooperation Doctrine". Under the Doctrine, Houses within certain regions were grouped together according to experience with various threats, assembling small task forces to quickly and efficiently handle threats varying on scale, severity, and type. Some whispered rumors that this was merely a prelude to some radical centralization of naval powers under the sole control of the Iron Queen's crown, Lord Rykker surely no stranger to radical ideas -- but if indeed that was the Master of Ships' plan, such never materialized.

Due to, in no small part, the schism of the Bleeding after Rhaegar ascended the Throne of the Seven Kingdoms.

At first, Erasmus continued his programs under the new king, ranging from allocating some portion of royal funding to handpicked maesters, carpenters, shipwrights, and smiths in order to find new means of enhancing the technology warcraft upon the waves, to continued diplomatic efforts on his part to drive cooperation in the seas. Some said this was to the detriment of Lord Rykker's ability to raise his three children -- his former privateer of a wife Eva Rykker (neé Sunderland) doing much of that task -- as well as his physical and mental health from driving himself so hard for so many years. But regardless of Erasmus's plans for the Westeros he envisioned, the Bleeding soon changed everything.

The Houses of Westeros tore themselves apart over the course of the Bleeding, and as someone whose ability was invested in the naval operations of the Crown, Erasmus was forced to stand by and watch, offering whatever assistance he could to those fighting off the Warsmiths in the form of military and strategic support -- lending a mind keen as the edge of a blade where he could not bring his blade itself. And yet soon he would be required to wield his blade in the defense of his very own city, as the thought-secular peoples of Duskendale were spurred to action by a former squire of the leader of the Warsmiths himself.

At the time, the heir Asher Rykker was eighteen, and as such, did not possess the Valyrian blade Last Word yet. Erasmus instead wielded it himself in the Defense of Duskendale for the last time, refusing to stand idly by as loyalist forces manned the walls of the Dun Fort. Under Erasmus's strategic guidance, the loyal men of House Rykker repelled incursion after incursion, but were unable to drive the rebels entirely out of the city due to the sheer pervasiveness of the rebels and their ability to mix freely with the civilian population that still stayed loyal to Lord Rykker. It was a warfare of the sort that had little been seen, and Lord Rykker was forced to finally ask for aid from King Rhaegar and the Golden Company in granting him enough men to handle the threat.

His tactics were simple, methodical, and highly thorough; the orders he gave to the officers of the Golden Company was to spare no corner and no home from the search, ensuring that every rebel was rooted out and a guard placed behind to make sure that no rebels were able to return to the area without being questioned or -- if necessary -- put down. The city was divided into sectors, with Erasmus supervising the continued defense of the Dun Fort and the overall strategic considerations of Duskendale, with Golden Company line commanders granted tactical leeway to avoid micromanagement becoming an issue.

With the additional manpower and trained subcommanders Erasmus was granted, the rebels were soon driven from Duskendale to a man, and Lord Rykker christened the sweeping tactics used as a form of "counter-surgency", referring to a remark of his at the time that the rebels had risen up like a sudden, surging tide. For the rest of the Bleeding, he was once again forced into a background role, this time as he rebuilt Duskendale back to its full former glory. At this time, the ancient Last Word was finally transferred from father to son, Asher Rykker taking up the new blade of his House.

After the Bleeding, Erasmus continued his work for a short time before finally resigning his position as Master of Ships -- in the end, under Aeryn Targaryen -- in order to spend time with the family he had been so long separated from through duty and siege. By all accounts, the transfer of power between Lord Rykker and his Greyjoy successor in the position of Master of Ships was a smooth and amicable one, with the Greyjoy continuing many of Erasmus's policies forward.

Since that point, Lord Rykker has apparently enjoyed a calm, peaceful family life.

Recent Events
N/A

Family
Lord Theodor Rykker, father, deceased

Lady Cathrin Rykker, mother, deceased

Lord Jasper Rykker, older brother, deceased

Lady Eva Rykker, neé Sunderland, wife

Asher Rykker, son

Garrick Rykker, son

Helaena Rykker, daughter

Household Members / NPC's
Shipmaster Isaiah Varan

Maester Vaenys