Arya Stark || Game of Thrones || Scorched
Out of Character Information
player name: Thia
player livejournal: wintersong
playing here: N/A
where did you find us? app this plz!
are you 16 years of age or older?: yup
In Character Information
character name: Arya Stark
Fandom: Game of Thrones
Timeline: immediately after she boards the ship to Braavos (end of A Storm of Swords)
character's age: 11
powers, skills, pets and equipment: It appears that Arya has the ability to warg into her direwolf, Nymeria; on one occasion she dreams that she is Nymeria as the wolf kills Arya's pursuers. Though it's past the canon point I'm taking her for, she demonstrates conscious control over this power in A Dance With Dragons when she wargs into a cat. She'll arrive in Anatole still unsure of her ability, but I definitely plan on developing it in-game.
Other than that, Arya possesses no supernatural powers, but in terms of physical skill, she is quick and light on her feet, possessing fast reflexes and balance born of her 'water dancing' style of sword training. She is skilled with blades, preferring daggers, knives, and short swords to larger, heavier weapons. Her size and speed make her far more suited to stealthy surprise attacks than head-on confrontations.
She'll arrive without her direwolf, Nymeria, but like Sansa is doing with Lady, I would like to bring Nymeria in later if possible. Her current equipment consists of the clothes she's wearing, an iron coin, and her sword Needle.
canon history: Arya Stark was born the third trueborn child of Lord Eddard Stark, the head of the Stark family, one of the larger noble houses in the land of the Seven Kingdoms. Growing up in the Starks' castle of Winterfell in the far north, she preferred to spend her time riding and exploring instead of sitting and doing needlework or things expected of her as a girl. She clashed often with her older, more feminine sister Sansa, preferring the company of her bastard brother, Jon Snow, with whom she was close. When she was nine, her brothers found a litter of direwolf pups and brought them home -- there were six altogether, so each child received one. Arya named hers, a female, Nymeria, and they soon became close companions.
When the Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, was murdered, King Robert Baratheon and his entourage came north to Winterfell to ask Arya's father, Eddard, to be the next Hand. Forced to do needlework with Sansa and the Princess Myrcella, Arya rebelled and ran off, instead joining Jon to watch the princes and her trueborn brothers spar, where she witnessed an example of Prince Joffrey being a complete doucherocket. Her mother and nurse of sorts, Septa Mordane, then proceed to tell her off for running out of the needlework lesson.
Eddard then proceeded to take both Arya and Sansa south with him to King's Landing. Before Arya left, her half-brother Jon gave her a small sword named Needle, giving her the instructions to "stick them with the pointy end". Sansa was delighted to spend more time with the queen and the princess during the journey south, but Arya had no interest in doing so, instead exploring with her newfound friend Mycah, a butcher's boy, and playing with Nymeria. On one of these explorations, Sansa and Prince Joffrey came across Arya and Mycah playing. When Joffrey threatened Mycah, Arya defended him at once. When Joffrey turned on her, Nymeria attacked him, savaging his arm, and Arya threw his sword in the river.
Terrified of the consequences, Arya ran away into the woods for four days instead of returning to their traveling group, but she was eventually found and brought back to the castle of Darry, where the party was staying. She was before the king and queen to explain her crime of attacking the crown prince, where Joffrey told his own version of the story. Arya told the true version, but flew into a rage when a conflicted Sansa would not back her up. Joffrey's mother, Queen Cersei, was determined to kill Nymeria, but when she could not be found, Eddard Stark was forced to kill Sansa's wolf, Lady, instead. To protect Nymeria from Cersei's wrath, Arya threw rocks at her until she ran away, thinking that even if her direwolf hated her, she would rather have that than have her dead. Mycah ended up dead, ridden down by Sandor Clegane, Joffrey's personal bodyguard. These incidents only deepened Arya's hatred of the queen, Joffrey, and Clegane.
From then on up to their arrival at the court at King's Landing, Arya was moody and sullen, angry at Sansa and brooding over Mycah's death and having to drive off Nymeria. Her father happened across her holding Needle, the sword Jon gave her, and laments that she has the "wolf blood" of their house like his siblings, and especially like his sister Lyanna, who he said would have carried a sword if she had been allowed. Arya confessed about driving Nymeria off and blaming herself for Mycah's death, and then promised that she would be less willful after Eddard explained that the Starks must be united at court to protect themselves from their enemies. He then permitted her to study swordplay under a famed swordsmaster from Braavos, Syrio Forel.
Arya took on the difficult training eagerly, glad to have something fun to do, practicing with rather unorthodox methods such as balancing on stairs and catching cats. One day while chasing a cat, she was mistaken for a raggedy boy and fled to an unfamiliar part of the castle, where she found the dragon skulls that hung in the throne room when the Targaryen dynasty reigned. While attempting to find a way out, she overheard a strange conversation that she did not fully understand, and when she tried to explain it to her father, he dismissed it as just being some mummers.
Things progressed at the court, but Arya paid them little heed, still focusing on her sword training, though notably her father was injured in a scuffle with the queen's brother, Jaime Lannister. One day over breakfast, Sansa explained how Gregor Clegane, a rogue knight, had been raiding villages; Arya responded that she wished someone would kill Jaime and Sandor Clegane for their crimes, and they began to argue again about the situation with Mycah and Joffrey. It ended with Arya throwing an orange at Sansa and ruining her dress, and both were punished and sent to their rooms. Eddard then informed both of the girls that he was sending them back to Winterfell for their safety -- the political situation had been growing tenser.
On the day they were scheduled to leave, Arya was permitted one more lesson with Syrio Forel, where he explained the importance of truly seeing what something was versus what other people say it was. He told her he was pleased with her progress and that they might even be able to start using Needle, her real sword, when they returned to Winterfell. However, during the lesson, Eddard was betrayed, and the Lannister guards, headed by Ser Meryn Trant, burst in to seize Arya. Syrio told Arya to run, holding them off, and she fled. Realizing she must leave the castle, she managed to find Needle in the stables, and killed a stableboy who tried to stop her. Finally she managed to escape using the dark passageway she had gotten lost in earlier.
Having escaped from the castle, Arya was unable to find a way out of the city of King's Landing, where she hid in the slums and caught pigeons to trade for food, learning to defend herself after everything but the clothes on her back, her wooden practice sword, and Needle were stolen. She almost fell for a trap when she saw that the ship they had originally planned to leave on was still at port, but realized in time that the men guarding it were not her father's men. Directly after that, she headed to the Great Sept to see her father confess. She watched as Eddard confessed to his "treason"; the now-King Joffrey explained that the queen wanted Eddard to be spared, but that he would kill him.
Arya attempted to fight her way through to her father, but the crowd was too thick, and she was pulled aside by Yoren, a man of the Night's Watch, a northern organization that Jon had joined when they left Winterfell. He told her not to look, then cut her hair short and told her that her name was now "Arry", and that she would pretend to be a boy he was taking north with other prisoners to join the Night's Watch, intending to return her to her home of Winterfell.
Yoren's raggedy group began to make their way north. Two boys, Lommy and Hot Pie, taunted Arya about her sword and tried to make her give it to them, but Arya defended herself and attacked Hot Pie until Yoren dragged her off of him, punishing her and telling her to behave. At an inn, Arya heard rumors of a she-wolf who had been stalking the area known as the God's Eye, and wondered if it could be Nymeria. Two of Yoren's prisoners who are locked up threatened her, and she was about to fight back, but a boy known as the Bull pulled her aside, warning her to be wary of the three men who are so dangerous they have to be kept locked up. As they were about to fight, some of the goldcloaks, the crown's men, came up, and they hid.
The goldcloaks gave Yoren an order from the queen to turn over one of his men. Arya thought it was her and jumped out with her sword in hand, but when the Bull stepped out behind her, it was revealed that it was he they wanted. Yoren eventually drove off the officer, though he warned that he would return, and the Bull questioned Arya why they would want her. She retorted that there was no reason for them to want him either, and he revealed that his name was Gendry. Yoren warned them that the goldcloaks would return, and that they should leave immediately, and if the group is overtaken, Arya and Gendry should flee north.
The group continued to head north, this time along little-used roads to avoid another possible goldcloak encounter. Food supplies ran low, but one day Arya caught a rabbit and shared it with everyone, including the three men in the cage, one of whom, Jaqen H'ghar, thanks her. They then came across a burnt-out village and take the survivors into their group; Hot Pie confessed to Arya that he was scared and apologized for threatening her earlier. Arya saw a pack of wolves and wished she was home.
At the Blackwater River, the group was unable to find a crossing, so they made camp in a deserted keep while looking for boats. Arya was awakened by a howling wolf and realized that the camp was under attack. Ser Amory Lorch, one of the crown's men, demanded that they open the gates, but Yoren refused, and Ser Amory's group attacked the castle. Arya fought off several men until Yoren told her and Gendry to round up as many people as they could and escape through a trapdoor. Arya and Gendry managed to flee, saving Hot Pie, Lommy, and a little girl in the process. Arya also freed the three men in the cage, but did not know what happened to them after the secret tunnel collapsed and she escaped. Yoren was killed in the attack, as were many others.
A few of the surviving men led the group for a while, but eventually abandoned the younger ones -- Arya, Hot Pie, Lommy, Gendry, and the little girl Weasel. They came across a village, and Gendry and Arya decided to sneak in. Feeling that she could trust him, Arya revealed her true identity as a girl, Arya Stark of Winterfell. They split up, but Arya realized that the town was occupied by Gregor Clegane's men, and then Gendry was caught. She and Hot Pie attempted to free Gendry, but Hot Pie made noise and the men discovered them, capturing them and killing Lommy; the little girl Weasel fled.
Arya, Gendry, and Hot Pie are kept imprisoned at the town for eight days under Gregor Clegane, who questioned prisoners with a torturer called the Tickler. They then marched to the castle of Harrenhal, currently under the command of Tywin Lannister (Cersei's father), and Arya got to know Gregor Clegane's men, including the ones who killed Lommy and took her sword Needle from her. She began to repeat a list of the people she hated every night -- Ser Gregor, Dunsen, Polliver, Chiswyck, Raff the Sweetling, the Tickler, the Hound, Ser Amory, Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, King Joffrey, Queen Cersei.
At Harrenhal, Arya, no longer hiding her gender and now going under the name Weasel, is assigned to work as a servant under a man named Weese. She continued to repeat the list of names every night, soon adding the cruel Weese to it, and vowed to kill all of them. She learned that there were northern captives there, but their lord eventually died, and she abandoned hope that they could help her. Ser Amory soon arrived, and though he did not recognize her, he brought the three men from the cage that Arya had saved -- the fearsome Rorge, Biter, and the kinder Jaqen H'ghar. That night, Jaqen told Arya that she had saved three lives and that he would take three lives for her in return. Though at first unsure, Arya eventually whispered to him the name of Chiswyck, a man who had told a story of a girl being gang raped with amusement, and sure enough, Chiswyck ended up dead, apparently fallen off the wall and broke his neck. There was one less name to recite in her list.
The army was preparing to move, and Arya worried that the men on her list would leave before she could have a chance to kill them. One day, Weese was especially cruel to her, and she whispered his name to Jaqen. The next day, Lord Tywin rode out in the morning, along with Gregor Clegane. Arya realized that she should have whispered Tywin's name and attempted to find Jaqen to see if it was not too late, but while she is looking, she came across Weese, dead. She looked up and saw Jaqen, who laid two fingers against his cheek.
Later, Tywin's mercenary Brave Companions returned to Harrenhal with more northerner prisoners. Arya tried to convince Gendry to help her free them and escape, but Gendry did not want to leave. Frustrated, Arya ran to the godswood, where she practiced her swordplay angrily. There, Jaqen came upon her, wanting a third name, and revealed that he knew who she was. When he refused to help her free the northerners, she said his name, and to avoid killing himself, he agreed to help her. Together, they turned over Harrenhal's control to the northmen. Jaqen then departed, but not before magically changing his appearance, a feat Arya was amazed and intrigued by, and gave her an iron coin, which he told her could be used to find him again, along with the words valar morghulis, 'all men must die'. Arya began to add the words "valar morghulis" to the end of her death list every night.
Roose Bolton, a man of the North, then took control of Harrenhal. Arya, now calling herself "Nymeria", or "Nan" for short, was made his cupbearer after he heard of her role in the escape of the northern prisoners, and served as she watched Ser Amory be fed to a bear. Her hope to return home rose, but when she learned that Bolton meant to leave her behind when he returned north, she decided to take matters into her own hands. After praying in the godswood and remembering her father's words about wolf blood and the pack surviving, she broke her wood practice sword, deciding she was done with it. She, Gendry, and Hot Pie then proceeded to escape from Harrenhal after Arya tricked and murdered a guard, planning to make for Riverrun, the castle of Arya's mother's family, the Tullys.
They were pursued by a group of men from Harrenhal, but one night, Arya dreamed that she transformed into her direwolf, Nymeria, who was leading a pack of wolves, and killed their pursuers. When she awoke in the morning, she found out that her dream had been true and that their pursuers had really been killed by wolves. She, Gendry, and Hot Pie then banded together with a group called the Brotherhood Without Banners, and when they stopped at an in, Arya encountered one of her father's guardsmen, now an outlaw, and revealed her true identity to him.
The Brotherhood rode south with Arya and Gendry, leaving Hot Pie behind, and Arya believed they were making for Riverrun. However, she realized that they were planning to take her to Lord Beric Dondarrion, and frustrated, Arya ran away from their camp one night, but was brought back by Harwin and promised not to run away anymore. The group continued to search for Lord Beric; they encountered an old dwarf woman who recanted a cryptic prophecy, passed off as nonsense by the men, but she did help them in their search. They stayed briefly at Acorn Hall, the castle of the Smallwoods, where Lord Beric had passed a week earlier. There, Arya was clothed in fancy dresses upon being recognized as a noble girl and forced to take several baths as well.
They then made their way to Stoney Sept, where Harwin told Arya the story of a major battle during Robert's Rebellion that had happened there. They stayed at an inn for the night, where Gendry became angry at Arya for their status difference before stalking off. Arya then dreamt that she was Nymeria again, but is awakened by the arrival of a captive -- Sandor Clegane. The group took Sandor to go face justice in front of Lord Beric and Thoros of Myr, a priest of the Lord of Light. The outlaw men began to recite a list of people killed by the Lannisters during the war. Sandor protested that he was not directly responsible for any of those deaths, but Arya spoke up, telling how he killed Mycah, and Thoros and Beric finally decide to let Sandor have a trial by battle. Beric's sword burst into flames, but Sandor killed him, and Beric's body was taken away. Furious, Arya sprang towards Sandor, telling him to go to hell, but a very much alive Beric reemerges, saying that he already has.
Much to Arya's dismay, Sandor was set free, and she stayed with the Brotherhood as they fought against more of Tywin's Brave Companions. Beric revealed to Arya that the Lord of Light, Thoros's god, has brought him back to life six times, though at the cost of losing many of his memories. Later, Gendry was knighted by Beric after pledging to serve the Brotherhood. Sandor Clegane appeared and confronted their group briefly, wanting his gold back, but Beric denied his request and they drove him off.
The group returned to High Heart, where they had previously encountered the dwarf woman. Thoros spoke of his childhood, and the dwarf woman returned, telling them of the latest news in the realm and relaying more cryptic messages; she told Arya that she smelled of death and bid her to leave, but Beric interrupted, saying that they were taking Arya to her mother at Riverrun. The dwarf woman responded that Catelyn, Arya's mother, was not at Riverrun, but at the Twins for the wedding of Arya's brother Robb. However, the group delayed to wait out a storm. Arya briefly spoke to Edric Dayne, Beric's squire, who believes that his aunt Ashara was Jon Snow's mother. Thoros then had a vision of Riverrun under attack, and when Beric decided to wait some more, Arya grew too impatient, ran off, and ended up getting kidnapped by Sandor Clegane.
After threatening a ferryman to let them cross, Sandor and Arya made for the Twins, where he planned to ransom Arya back to her family and enter her brother's service. They disguised themselves as farmers to get close to the castle, arriving just in time for the massacre known as the Red Wedding, in which Arya's brother and mother were murdered. Arya fought to get to her family's side, but Sandor overpowered her by hitting her in the head with an axe and took her away.
Feeling hollow now that her parents and brothers were dead, all Arya had left was her wolf dreams, where she dreamt she was Nymeria presiding over a pack of wolves. She could have escaped from Sandor if she wanted to, but had nowhere to go and so did not. They rode for days without Arya knowing where they were going, but he finally revealed that he was taking her to her aunt Lysa Tully Arryn at the Eyrie. That night, Arya dreamt she was Nymeria and pulled her mother's corpse out of the river, and the next morning, accepted that Robb and Catelyn were dead. At an inn, they learned that due to weather it would be impossible to make for the Eyrie, and Sandor decided to head back to Riverrun, ignoring Arya's suggestion of making for the North.
At another inn along the way, they encountered two of the men on Arya's hit list, Polliver and the Tickler, and learned that Riverrun was under siege. Polliver and the Tickler attacked Arya and Sandor, who managed to kill them, but Sandor was fatally wounded in the process. He decided they should take a ship to the Vale of Arryn and try to take Arya to Lysa again. The next day, Sandor was too weak to go on and had to stop. While he slept, Arya took out Needle, planning to kill him, but when he awoke and asked for mercy -- a quick death -- she decided he did not deserve it, and left him to die.
Six days later, she arrived at the nearby town of Saltpans, looking for a ship to take her north. The one ship she found was bound for Braavos, and the captain told her she did not have enough money for passage, but she pulled out the iron coin Jaqen H'ghar gave her and said 'valar morghulis', and he replied with the words 'valar dohaeris', saying of course she would have a cabin.
personality: First and foremost, Arya is intensely stubborn. She knows how to stand up for herself, and possesses a very strong resolve - once she sets her mind to do something, she won't give up or be dissuaded. She does get angry easily, and can be defiant or even flat-out mean, especially to others her age. While experience has generally taught her to realize when a situation is bad enough that she should shut up, that doesn't mean she'll abandon her goals -- rather, she'll simply reorganize her plan of attack, and wait for an opportunity that she can seize. She's a brave girl, or at least, one who's good at forcing herself to overcome fear, and assumes a leadership role well, such as when she enlists Hot Pie and Gendry to help her escape Harrenhal. In general, she seems to have an ability to adapt well to new environments and situations.
However, she's still only ten; sometimes, things are just too much for her, and her first instinct is usually to run. This tendency is shown in the first book especially -- she storms out of her sewing lesson, flees into the woods following the clash with Joffrey at the Trident, and runs away when she innocuously encounters Tommen while chasing cats at King's Landing. While her journey after her flight from the Red Keep forces her to confront things head-on considerably more, she still becomes overwhelmed and runs away from camp on the road to Riverrun, which leads to her kidnap by the Hound. Additionally, when they reach Riverrun, she can't be dissuaded from running towards the castle in hopes of finding her mother, even though it would mean her death or capture, and the Hound is forced to ride her down to stop her.
She's fairly smart and logical; it's mentioned that she has a "head for figures" and managing a household. The traditionally feminine areas of her world such as needlework and fancy gowns have never interested her, though; she's always been more of a tomboy. Even if she is harsh on the outside and doesn't tend towards obvious displays of affection, she cares very strongly for her family and friends, and it's her desire to avenge the people she loves that carries her through much of her story. Although she holds intense grudges and does not forget those who have wronged her, if she considers someone to be a true friend of hers, she will defend them until the end, as seen in her friendship with Lommy Greenhands and Hot Pie.
It's hard for one to attain that status of true friend, though; she's wary of strangers and doesn't trust others easily, using fake names to protect her identity. She retains a strong grasp on her identity as Arya Stark of Winterfell, even as she masquerades skillfully as her other names. She's a good liar and can come up with a new name and history for herself remarkably fast.
Arya has seen a lot of death and violence and war, and as a result these things don't affect her as much as they would the average person. For example, she has no qualms about picking an apple off a tree hanging with dead men and eating it. This desensitization isn't necessarily a positive attribute, but it does allow her to focus on her survival above all else.
Importantly, although she doesn't realize it, her experiences -- the deaths of her family members, along with the violence and effects of war she's witnessed firsthand -- have transformed her into something different than the sheltered noble girl she used to be. There's an "empty place" inside of her now that her family is (believed) dead, and although she holds onto her identity as Arya Stark of Winterfell, noble girl, she doesn't see that Arya Stark has become a bitter, vengeful person who has no qualms about killing others. It doesn't take much for her to hate someone, and add them to her 'list' -- she does not forgive, and holds strong grudges to the point where she recites the names of those she wants to kill every night. At this point, she has two major goals -- one, to survive, and two, to exact revenge on those who she views as her enemies.
why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting? Though Arya is only eleven, she's been through far more than the average child of that age. The characters in Game of Thrones come from a grim, harsh world, where one is forced to adapt, and Arya is a prime example of that. Having been on the run for so long, Arya is adept at taking care of herself, adopting fake names and fending off or escaping from would-be attackers; surviving in Anatole would simply be a matter of yet another adaptation to a change in her surroundings. She is very determined to survive, no matter what the place, and I think her reaction to such a different place as Anatole would be very interesting. As a major, multifaceted character in her own canon, she would not only strengthen character relations with her own castmates, but would be able to reach out to many others -- her canonical friendships span a diverse range of people, and so I don't believe that her age would be a limitation on her interaction in the game.
Writing Samples
Network Post Sample:
sample number one → here
sample number two → here
Third Person Sample:
[ ooc note; this is a third-person sample from a previous game - while not the exact setting of anatole, it gives an idea of arya's reaction to a new environment/setting. i also have an additional third-person sample here"> if necessary. ]
Arya crept out of her barracks and outside, grey eyes darting around, taking her surroundings in. The grassy expanse of the commons ground lay before her, benches dotted here and there. It was late afternoon, and the light was just beginning to fade. It was probably too late to go out, she reflected, but kept going anyway. She needed some fresh air.
Her footsteps made barely audible sounds as she stuck close to the wall of the building, staying in the shadows. It wasn’t like she was trying to hide, she told herself mentally. But that was what it looked like, wasn’t it? And as much as she didn’t want to be noticed, she thought that looking suspicious was perhaps even worse in this strange place.
Better to fit in. In ten quick steps, she had crossed the common grounds to the nearest bench, and sat, her small frame occupying only a small corner of the wooden seat. Again, she looked around, always on the alert. Her hand went instinctively to her belt, grasping the smooth metal of Needle’s pommel. Even if she couldn’t use it properly here - she rubbed her cuffed wrist gingerly, as she’d found out what happened when she tried - it was still comforting to know that at least she had something remaining of her world. It seemed like the only thing.
Unless… She rummaged quickly in her pocket, and her fingers closed around something small and hard. She drew it out, and opened her palm, and an iron coin gleamed dully in the fading light.
“Valar morghulis,” she murmured, a tiny smile spreading across her face, and closed her hand, drawing her knees up onto the bench and wrapping her arms around them with renewed reassurance.
Anything else? I apologize - I really wanted to do a third-person sample in an in-game setting, but I was super busy at New York Comic-Con this weekend and had absolutely no time to work on the app as I'd originally planned to. I would be more than willing to provide one if you guys would like, but my biggest concern at this point was just getting a complete application in on time. Either way, thanks so much for looking it over!