Torwyn

Torwyn is a priest of the Drowned God, a man who has dedicated much of his adult life to spreading what he sees to be the holy word.

Appearance and Character
Torwyn is an aging man, something which his features does not do good to hide. He has long brown hair and an unkept beard. His face is sunken and wrinkled. His eyes are dark and sometimes make him appear as if he is always asleep.

He considers himself to be a mortal voice of the Drowned God and thinks greatly of his preachings. He is relatively kind to those who do not cause him trouble, but he can be aggressive to those who are unwilling to believe what he preaches. He is often silent for many hours at a time, claiming to receive visions from the Drowned God himself.

History
Torwyn's young childhood is a mystery to everyone, including himself. He knows that he had smallfolk parents, but beyond that he knows little of his raising.

Before Priesthood
When Torwyn was six-and-ten, even then he was alone, save for his best friend, Goren. He originally longed to become a great reaver and captain a ship in the Iron Fleet, but he showed no skill in the realm of combat besides being able to fight off against untrained commoners. Goren tried to train him to become a warrior, but even his friend could not do so. This fact made Torwyn extremely depressed and in one of his worst depressive episodes, he threw himself into the sea surrounding Lordsport, hoping to be done with it. He only recalls laying on the coast of Lordsport with Goren in view running towards him as he tried to stand up. He recalls very little of his life before this event because of the drowning and does not even fully recall being saved from the waves. He attributed his rescue to the Drowned God and believed he had a purpose in service to the ancient ironborn religion, so he became a priest. Goren was concerned for him at first, but decided to protect Torwyn as he preached in the name of the Old Way.

Early Priesthood
Torwyn had great ambitions for his priesthood. He wanted to have a huge following of loyal priests who would help him sway the lords of the Iron Islands to follow what he preached. His friend; however, advised him against making enemies with lords, so Torwyn agreed to mostly preach to smallfolk about their lives. He was able to gather various followers at different points, but most did not stay long. By 400 AC, four years after becoming a priest, Torwyn again felt defeated and as a failure. Goren encouraged him to continue preaching.

Small Success
Torwyn continued to preach for the beginning of the fifth century. Over this time he gained a small permanent following of smallfolk who wished to train to be priests. As Torwyn had taught himself how to read, he was much more educated than any smallfolk.

He began to hit his stride during the decade following the Mummer's War where he was able to attract more followers. As he focused on how smallfolk could better serve the Drowned God, he caught the attention of Lord Greyjoy and other nobles as he did not criticize them in his preachings, and he showed skill at connecting with smallfolk.

Court
In the second moon of 418 AC, Torwyn was discovered by Lord Dagon Greyjoy and was invited to attend court. While not in any official position, Torwyn is given an opportunity to speak his mind on religious matters at the court of Pyke and to advise Lord Greyjoy on some matters, although he is still new to this newfound position of influence.

Beginning of a Movement
Torwyn traveled from Pyke to Lordsport where he gave a speech suggesting that the Ironborn need to better show their faith and devotion to the Drowned God. He invited any Ironborn to come forward and dedicate themselves to his cause, either as a priest or as a generic follower. A total of forty-eight men came forth. Thirty-three willing to follow him and his Drowned Priests, fifteen willing to actually becoming Drowned Priests.

Torwyn then spoke to Lord Dagon Greyjoy about protecting the smallfolk during winter and not relying on the green land lords for assistance. After the lords of the Iron Islands departed for Summerhall, Torwyn preached in Lordsport to attempt to convince some captains to take him and his followers across the sea to Great and Old Wyk. Two captains agreed to split the followers in between them.

Journey to Great and Old Wyk
Torwyn and his followers sailed to Old Wyk where most of them were dropped off as Torwyn sailed to Great Wyk near Hammerhorn. There he preached in the name of the Drowned God and received some more followers. Torwyn then had a mass drowning ceremony on Old Wyk where he ordained his acolytes as priests. He drowned twenty-two men on this day and lost five.

Family

 * Unknown mother and father. 

Household

 * Followers (94)
 * Goren, close friend and protector.
 * Drowned God Priests (Nineteen priests)
 * Beron, a priest.
 * Urrik, a priest.
 * Yoren, a priest.
 * {Alon}, a deceased acolyte.
 * Followers (Sixty-nine)
 * Erik.

Collections

 * Various books on the Ironborn
 * History of the Ironborn
 * The writings of Archmaester Hake
 * Other books