Myrtle

Myrtle is the ninth Mistress of the Keep since Craster's death in 299 AC. After rangers in 423 AC killed her mother, Janna, during a raid on Whitetree, Myrtle was confirmed by her immediate sisters as the next mistress of the Keep. She is among the many sworn vassals of the Crippled King, to whom she sends the matured men of her clan as tribute.

Known for her astute pragmatism, she has lead her extended kin to unprecedented influence in the region. Under her purview, the Keep has been partially upgraded to stone and the palisade reinforced with a ditch. Entrusted by the Crippled King to carry out his agenda with Castle Black, she has recently reestablished ties with the Night's Watch, securing a secret arrangement with Cregard Stark, an influential ranger with a powerful name, to guarantee her leverage.

Despite her lack of progeny, for which she is partially to blame, potential heirs appear to be the least of her priorities. Emboldened by her half-sister and likely successor, Dalla, Myrtle's chiefest concern is seizing her clan's place in the coming order.

Appearance and Character
Like a large portion of her kin, Myrtle has hair kissed by fire. Her eyes are green, and among her more notable features are her aquiline nose and prominent chin. She has a somewhat slim physique deceptively bolstered by muscle.

Myrtle wears a fox skin with its head over her right shoulder, signifying her leadership over her clan. Like the fox, her mind is almost always focused on a calculated objective.

Myrtle harbours lingering resentment for the rangers of the Night's Watch, her mother's killers, though she has never allowed these feelings to manifest themselves publicly, going so far as to spare every ranger that she and her clan have come across.

Born to Lead
Myrtle was the first of eight daughters born to Janna, leader of the Spearwives of the Keep, coming into the world in the midst of the Scarlet Winter. Hardy from birth, Myrtle survived the winter without much trouble, and was afterwards named for the flower that promised summer. Though still an infant, she was nominated by her mother to become the clan's next mistress, and was groomed from the moment she could walk to inherit the mantle of leadership.

Bold in spirit, she joined her first raid at the age of nine, killed her first man when she was twelve, and killed her first crow when she was sixteen. True to the title of spearwife, she took to her spear more than any man, preferring to share her captive marks with her sisters and her kin, which endeared them to her as their future mistress. Though she enjoyed the company of an ideal specimen on occasion, and though she was at her most fertile, she never grew heavy with child.

Family

 * Janna, Mistress of the Keep (385 - 423)
 * l. Unknown Boulder Clansman
 * Myrtle, Mistress of the Keep (b. 403)
 * l. Unknown Ice-River Clansman
 * Dalla (b. 407)
 * l. Unknown Thenn
 * Torwyn (b. 426)
 * l. Unknown Whitetree Reaper
 * Hali (b. 433)
 * Ranger of the Night's Watch
 * Unnamed son (b. 438)
 * l. Unknown Shadow Sun Clansman
 * Frenya (b. 412)
 * l. Unknown Thunderfist Tribesman
 * Devyn (b. 433)
 * Thistle (b. 412)
 * l. Unknown Thenn
 * Munda (b. 431)
 * l. Unknown Crowkiller
 * Meha (b. 432)
 * Harma (b. 435)
 * l. Unknown White Mountain Clansman
 * Sage (b. 414)
 * l. Unknown Thunderfist Tribesman (duplicate)
 * Maris (b. 434)
 * l. Unknown Boulder Clansman
 * Holly (b. 416)
 * l. Unknown Thunderfist Tribesman (duplicate)
 * Morna (b. 434)
 * l. Ranger of the Night's Watch
 * Unnamed son (b. 438)
 * l. Unknown Icetooth Clansman
 * Dyah (419 - 435)
 * l. Unknown Whitetree Reaper
 * Lilly (b. 421)
 * Exiled Sister
 * Nella (b. 392)

Clan Circle

 * Nella, aunt and solicitor of wisdom to the clan
 * Dalla, half-sister and expected heir
 * Thistle, half-sister, expected heir after Dalla, and renowned beauty
 * Sage, half-sister and clan healer
 * Rose, distant cousin and the clan's fiercest spearwife
 * Torwyn, Dalla's son and the representative of the clan's boys