Ella Farman

Ella Farman is the eldest daughter of the Lord of Fair Isle. Born in 417AC, she has lived a fairly sheltered life as the daughter of a wealthy and doting elderly father. She has five younger sisters, all of whom still live at home, with no brothers to carry on her fathers name. This is a point of angst for Lord Farman, who is trying to make steps to continue his line.

Appearance and Characters
Ella is blonde haired and blue eyed, with a petite build, though well toned and active. She is a passionate archer and likes to ride, often spending an entire afternoon devoted to either or both hobbies. She enjoys the ocean and spent vast amounts of time at sea with her father in her youth. While still feminine, she mostly dresses to suit her outdoor activities in riding leathers and boots. Ella is well educated and well spoken, is stubborn and willful, charming but also speaks her mind. She is prone to flares of temper that are quickly cooled, sometimes to her regret.

Family
Lord Endrew of Fair Isle came to his lordship fairly late in his life, at the age of 38. He was the third son of the current lord and did not think he would inherit ever. His life was spent as a squire and then as a travelling knight and sailor, exploring the world, earning acclaim at tourneys, and traveling widely on the seas until he was summoned home by his lord father when he was seven and thirty. His brothers had perished in a sickness and his father was on his deathbed. By his next nameday, his father was dead and Endrew became the lord. For the next two years he worked on his holdings, before beginning to look forward, to his legacy and name. He was the last living male Farman, and must marry soon, as all and sundry encouraged. Being a travelling knight for most of his life, he had not taken a wife, knowing that it was no life for a woman, especially one of standing. Looking to the Westerlands houses, a match was made with Jeyne Marbrand, a charming and intelligent girl who was twenty two years his junior. Endrew was one and forty when he married, and his wife conceived shortly after their wedding night.

Childhood
Ella was born to the Lord of Fair Isle in 417AC, a pretty and robust baby girl, to the consternation of her father. Lord Endrew spent much of his time in a worrisome state over his lack of male heir to continue the Farman line. A year later, Ella's sister Lysa was born, and over the next three years, Jeyne bore Endrew two more girls, Melara and Jocelyn, but no sons. Jeyne passed away from a fever when their youngest was just one year old, leaving Endrew with four daughters under the age of five, and still no son to continue the name of his house. Knowing that he was now nearing half a century in age, he sought a new mother for his girls, and a wife to bear him more offspring. A match was made with the Iron Islands, following the example that Lannister and Greyjoy had set in place. Lord Endrew saw the pragmatism in marrying into the seafearing people just north of his own island, and wed Gwynesse Goodbrother, who was nineteen years his junior and still of childbearing age. Again, Lord Farman was fertile, with his new wife conceiving within a year of his marriage, and again the gods laughed at him, with Gwynesse bearing him twin daughters. The birth was hard on Gwynesse, and she did not recover, passing away from the internal injuries within the week and leaving Endrew twice widowed, with six young daughters and the aching realization that he would not have any sons.

Despite Endrew's disappointment in what the Seven had allotted him, he did not ever express this to his children or take it out on them. Ella grew up with her sisters in a happy and loving atmosphere. All of them had been too young to comprehend the demise of their mothers' passings, and so were well adjusted and instead doted on by a bevvy of nursemaids and septas, household staff, and their aging father. All of the Farman girls grew up beautiful and intelligent in varying ways, and Endrew loved his daughters and ensured all of them were well educated, not just in accounts and literacy, but also the skills needed for court and the life of a lady - embroidery, singing, instruments, dancing, reading the histories, learning to ride at least adequately, running a household - and insisted, as soon as they were old enough, that they read a book per week and discuss it with him over supper. He would do this with one of his daughters for every night, to ensure that they were keeping up with their studies and that they would be good matches for marriage. Over the years the lack of heirs weighed on him, and Ella began to notice this as she grew older.

Adolescence
By the time Ella reached age twelve, she was aware that something was wrong with her father. He was almost five and fifty, and had begun to forget things. It was subtle at first, and he would laugh and pat her head fondly when she reminded him, saying he had taken one too many knocks to the head in his youth as a knight, and to ignore the quirks of an old man. This would reassure Ella, and it worked for her for several years, ignoring as it became slowly more prominent. Still, for the most part he was still her energetic and active father, and Ella was closest to him of all her sisters, being the oldest. They would spend days together, riding throughout Fair Isle or sailing its coast. He allowed her to be taught archery, and insisted she learn the mechanics of sailing, even if she would never sail herself. He did draw the line at swordsmanship, sternly telling her as she had her tantrum that a highborn woman does not need to learn to wield a blade in close combat. She had shouted and argued, then sulked for days when it did not work, but her father won out and she did not learn the sword. He would always chastise her for her temper, reprimanding her for her lack of self control, but Ella knew he was reminded of her mother. He told her so, when he was in one of his states.

On her sixteenth nameday, Ella's father had a fall. They were gathered for her celebration supper, all of her sisters and Ella sitting with their father when his mouth went slack and his eyes began to stare vacantly before he fell out of his chair and began to shake. The shrieking of the sisters brought servants and guards running, and Lord Farman was put to his bed, where he stayed in a catatonic state for two days. When he came to, it was like nothing had happened; he had no recollection of his fit and his mind had returned to him as normal. The household maester had no answers, and from that day Lord Farman reduced his activities. Over the next few years, Ella would care for him as the fits became more frequent and for longer periods of time, until her father was almost entirely bedridden. His mind would return to him for moments of clarity, often for days, and Ella would sit with him on the good days, talking to him and telling him the state of his holdings, that she had now taken up with the assistance of the Castellan, and taking his advice when he offered it. When he was in his vacant state, Ella would still sit with him. She would read to him, entire books of varying kinds, and discuss her opinions on them as though he were still aware of himself, and wait for the moments when his mind would return.

Lord Farman had several months of clarity when Ella was twenty; enough that he arranged a marriage with his late wife Gwynessa's family. He wished to keep the Ironborn connection, and so the Farmans sailed north to attend the wedding of Greydon Goodbrother - Gwynessa's nephew - and Ella's younger sister Lysa. The trip to Great Wyk would be the final time Lord Farman would sail, or leave his castle at all. Ella attended the wedding with her sisters, and the twelve year old twins Myrcella and Cyrenna stayed in the Iron Islands for a year after Lysa's wedding, to learn to know their mother's people and customs. Lord Farman's state worsened when he returned to Fair Isle, and has been worsening ever since. Ella is now the lady of Fair Isle in all but name, and works closely with her fathers steward and castellan, with assistance from the maester, to maintain Fair Isle as the prosperous and wealthy island that it is.

Family
m. Jeyne Marbrand - Mother (deceased) m. Gwynesse Goodbrother (deceased)
 * Endrew Farman - Father
 * Ella Farman - 22 years
 * Lysa Farman - 21 years
 * m. Greydon Goodbrother
 * Melara Farman - 19 years
 * Jocelyn Farman - 18 years
 * Myrcella Farman - 14 years
 * Cyrenna Farman - 14 years