Trianna Vaedar

Trianna Mileese Vaedar arrived in Westeros a decade ago having fled to Westeros in the wake of an attempt upon the life of her father, then a Triarch of Volantis. Though her Father never survived the trip, Trianna reached King’s Landing with a sizable portion of the families fortune and established herself as a rich emigre in short order.

''' Though the Vaedar names was considered amongst the most powerful dynasties in Volantis it carried little weight on its own in the West and for her own part Trianna found the Westerosi nobility culturally backward in comparison to her own people, the Valyrians royals stood apart as redeeming feature.

With few options open to her beyond marrying some foolish Ser or Lordling, Trianna instead utilised the business savvy her family had relied upon to attain their wealth in the first place, importing goods to Kings Landing for some time before moving into other businesses, both more lucrative and more criminal in nature. 

Now she exists as a major player in the underworld of Westeros.

Childhood
Early in the second moon of 368 Trianna Mileese was born to the wealthy and powerful Vaedar family. Successful and influential traders, the Vaedars had been known and respected amongst the Elephant faction of Volantis for nearly a century, it was even said that Trianna had been named in honour of an ancestor, the renowned Triarch Trianna.

Born to wealth and power the girl (who’s her father affectionately dubbed his princess) grew up wanting for little and lived a privileged life. This entitlement, however, proved to be next to nothing in comparison to the life she and her family would lead by the time Trianna had reached her 8th name day, and her father, the renowned and beloved Vataio Vaedar was elected to the position of Triarch of Volantis - one of two Elephant faction Triarchs, as was the norm.

Youth
As a youth Trianna was indulged, her whims catered for her urges rarely if ever went unacted upon. No expense was spared in the girl's education, though for her part Trianna cared little for study in its own right. She showed a natural talent for numbers early on, a common trait amongst the family, shared by her father and her late grandfather alike - the natural talent for shrewd business, it seemed, had not passed Trianna by. Trianna, however, was far less interested in counting coppers or studying poems than she was for studying poets themselves and meeting actors, musicians and artists. Her collection of clothing and art grew extensively in the early years and despite her demands and her ill discipline her father indulged her, nothing was too good for his beloved Trianna.

Of Elephants and Tigers
Toward her 16th year, the young scion of the Vaedars found her interests more and more focussed on her own increasing appetites for sensation and satisfaction. Her Father, however, had long been preoccupied with securing his continued power and position as Triarch. As such he had long courted the idea of an alliance between himself and the long-incumbent Tiger faction Triarch Lornotho Hyspexx. A key factor in Vataio’s plans included giving his own daughter to Lornotho as a wife, and if he would not wed her then offer her as a consort. Trianna, meanwhile, had fallen madly in love with a middling sculptor named Detian Qhoades. The first Trianna heard of this planned match came with the announcement that upon her eighteenth name day she would be formally bound to the ageing Triarch as his second wife.

Betrothed and Taken
As it happened, Trianna was not to make it to her own wedding. In what was commonly considered a personal attack upon the Triarchs Lornotho and Vataio, Trianna Vaedar was apparently taken from her hathay travelling to a cloth market, her retinue of slaves killed or chased off, and no sign of whom had orchestrated the attack. Suspicion immediately fell upon the family of fellow elephant Triarch Matino Vhossani, a vocal opponent of Vataio’s manoeuvrings with his Tiger rivals. What followed was a period of hidden yet bloody violence, culminating in the death of both the Vhossani patriarch, but of Trianna’s own mother as well.

Trianna herself however had never in fact been kidnapped by anyone, with the access she had to her fathers money and the connections she had made the youth had orchestrated her own disappearance, absconding from her imminent marital bonds to run away with her lover Qhoades, together the pair had travelled to Qohor where the girls money bought them blissful safety and secrecy. Eventually, even paradise lost its lustre. Trianna fell pregnant, and eventually gave birth to a son, Qhoades had become distant and disinterested in his young prize and begun chasing other women in Qohor. One night he simply never returned home, his body was discovered a week later, stabbed to death, apparently robbed.

With little choice left but to return to her father, Trianna returned to Volantis under a false name and with what little money she had remaining, orchestrated her fake rescue and return to her father. The child, she claimed, was a bastard born of Vhossani, whom she claimed had used her at his whim whilst she was being held against her will.

Overjoyed to have her returned to him, her father lavished his Princess with gifts and attended to her difficult recovery with and aim to return to society life. The child, he explained, would need to be hidden and would be raised by servants. It was necessary - he explained - that she should appear to be a virginal bride once more if she were still to marry Lornotho.

The Slow Assassin
In consideration of her ordeal, and to assure that no lasting damage had been done to his future bride, Lornotho declared that the wedding was to be postponed and that though the families would eventually be bound in blood and marriage it would wait until Trianna’s twentieth name day. Life returned to normal for a time, Lornotho and Vataio remained Triarchs and the renowned Vhalaso Vhassar had claimed the third seat as Triarch in a recent election, the latest in a long tradition of Triarchs from his well-respected family.

Vataio had become sure that his long laid plans where to pay off, and soon his position would be secured with his marriage alliance to Lornotho. It was all going so very smoothly until Vataio fell suddenly ill, none could say from where the poison had come or how it had been administered, but Vataio suffers chronic symptoms of widow’s blood, remarkably the ageing Triarch does not succumb to his fate quickly or quietly. Outraged, Vataio in utterly convinced that the poison was an attack by his long trusted colleague Lornotho, an attempt to use his own strength and the alliance soon to follow to take back both a second seat for the Tiger faction. Vataio publicly denounced the Tigers, but the poison was soon discovered yet again in his evening meal, though thankfully only a tasting slave was slain on that occasion.

Weakened and under increasing pressure, Vataio made the impossible decision to flee Volantis and seek Asylum with his allies in the Westeros.

Flight to the West
It had not exactly gone entirely as planned for Trianna, she had returned home without even raising a suspicion of the truth of her kidnapping, but had again found herself engaged to marry the loathsome old goat Lornotho. It seemed like a fine idea at the time to poison her father, She considered the man an old fool, who had proven how little he ultimately cared for her feelings or wishes time and time again and as soon as he was dead and gone there would be no need for her marriage, in fact, she would inherit her father's fortune and his control of the businesses.

Trianna had little interest in the title of Triarch for herself in any case, who needed the top job and the target such a position painted on ones back if one could simply be stinking rich and enjoy the freedom that entailed. Stopping the wedding had been doubly urgent as Trianna had found herself yet again pregnant, this time she suspected the father was cloth merchant from Lys, but she was under no delusions that she could somehow hide this pregnancy from her husband to be.

Unfortunately, it had been her first experience as a poisoner, and she had been too circumspect in her use of the poison, worried that it might be detected in too large a dose. Her father had survived, though in unusual and unpleasant degrees of pain and discomfort, and it appeared obvious to all that he lived on borrowed time, seemingly driven only by his sheer spite toward his suspected poisoner.

A second attempt to finish the job was intercepted by tasting slave who died horrifically before either she or her father even managed to sit down at the dinner table.

In the light of his continued danger, and the danger he saw befalling his beloved daughter Vataio rapidly liquidated what he could of his business, and with a moderate fortune in tow, he took his daughter (and attempted killer) West.

Business As Usual
Their course toward Westeros led the family first to Lys, where a ship new ship was chartered toward the stepstones, from there they would meet with one of the families own trading ships that was bound for Kings Landing.

Once arrived at in Westeros, Vataio made contact with several of the noble houses with whom he regularly traded, using what good will he had built up over the years to arrange protection for himself and his daughter. Trianna’s father’s condition had only deteriorated further over the course of the long travel West. In his state of gradual decline the man’s sole preoccupation had switched from his own survival, instead focussing upon teaching his daughter all that remained to be learned about how to continue their business endeavours once he was gone, and in his remaining months Vataio organised numerous meetings and correspondences with contacts from all across the free cities, the trade ship captains and those of influence who’s ear could be bought or rented.

Trianna, on the other hand, had never been so free nor so independent, Westeros was an unknown and strange land to the young woman, and though no slaves were to be found in the West she soon came to realise that every man has his price, and once you had discovered what a certain Lord or Lady required, they could be made to be remarkably obedient.

True acceptance amongst the high society of Westeros was far more difficult a prospect. Though those of Valyrian descent were more predisposed to interacting with the mysterious violet-eyed foreigner, the Lords and Lady’s of Andal lineages remained aloof and cold. Instead the young woman found her pleasure in the lower circles of Westerosi society. Hedge Knights and Bastards were favourites of the Lady Vaedar; Soon enough she had gathered about herself a coterie of like minded or easily controlled pawns. With their support Lady Vaedar began to strengthen her own businesses position by arranging attacks upon the holdings of her rivals, or the removal of key agents from their operations - either through defection or death.

Vataio was blissfully unaware of his daughters new found interests and dangerous friends, and late in the year 389AC he passed, his constant pain ceased by a generous dose of milk of the poppy administered by his softly smiling daughter.

Killing Time
Over the course of next decade Lady Vaedar continued to consolidate her power base, her families ties to traders up and down the coast of Essos helped ensure her continued supply of goods for trade; dealing in cloth, spices, wines and jewels as well as more exotic imports, such as beasts or special attractions such as exotic dancers and servants.

Her second and third children were born during this period, both daughters sired by fathers who Trianna never cared to acknowledge, the eldest sisters features carried traits of the Rhoynar with dark hair and eyes that hinted a little to the looks of her father. The second daughters look owed more to an Andal sire.

Violence and intrigue continued between her own growing organisation and other criminal elements around Kings Landing, meanwhile, Trianna had turned her talents to money lending and extortion of businesses. As her interests grew increasingly dark and driven by her own passions Lady Vaedar grew less and less concerned with the opinions of ‘proper society’, but no less interested in learning what she could of the lords of the west. Information was as valuable as currency to the right ears, and so Trianna turned her considerable skills toward building a formidable array of contacts and whisperers beneath the eyes of her hosts.

A Thousand Eyes
Eventually the mere mention of Lady Vaedar became a threat or a promise on the lips of some; Word amongst those in the know spoke of her reputation for ruthlessness, but it was also well known that Trianna was a pragmatist in practice and it was generally accepted that the lady could be swayed if the price was right.

As a practical measure, Trianna made it her business to remain as informed as possible on the activities of as many powerful or dangerous figures as possible. She had spent nearly two decades building networks of informants and spies to carry whispers to her, an organisation that came to be known as her ‘Thousand Eyes’. In time Trianna would even boast that everyone in Kings Landing knew someone who answered to her, even if they never realised it.

Recent Events
TBA

Family
Son - Aros, age 20, though a brutish towering figure, Aros is almost harmless, a simpleton.

Daughter - Maris, age 18

Daughter - Tessisa, age 16

Household Members/NPC's
Orvhold - A failed Maester of the citadel cast out for his ill habits toward women, since gelded and bound into service of Trianna.

Ser Mervyn - A hedge knight and occasional love of Trianna, acts as an enforcer, often thought to be the father of Tessisa.

Argal Nath - A heavy set enforcer and bodyguard of Norvoshi culture.

Decima - A former slave and pit fighter, the mysterious dark-skinned warrior woman has her mistress's ear and is often sent to carry Trianna's most sensitive messages.

Deacan Waters - Messenger and dock overseer.

Seban Halfhorned - Privateer contact.