Tommard Tully

Tommard Tully is the Lord Paramount of the Trident and Lord of Riverrun.

Biography
It was raining the night Tommard was born. Not a storm, but soft, trifling rain, the kind that had poured for three days before. The summer, a short, brief, and warm thing was breaking into autumn, and into winter a year after. Tommard was the eldest born of Lady Bella Whent and his father, Oscar Tully, who had reigned as Lord of Riverrun for five years at the time of his birth. It is hard to say Oscar had many accomplishments in his time as Lord of Riverrun, having stumbled into the position after his father and grandfather, the famed Lord Edmure Tully, died of the hideous Red Death. Oscar lived through a long, five-year regency, where his Lord Treasurer, a hedge knight's grandson by the name of Illifer Longbough, served as Lord Protector of the Trident. Oscar resented being commanded by a man of such low stature, but he was more beset by melancholy, which would follow him throughout his life. Tommard was born, screaming into that night, his mother sick from fever, barely managing to outlive that night.

From a young age, Tommard sought to make himself different from his father. Where Oscar was sad, Tom was angry. Where Oscar receded into his personal life, Tom made fast friends, turning out to be a natural leader, growing close to his cousin Jonothor and the fosterling Beck Dragonfly. Where Oscar found his only joy in tourneys and feasts, Tom preferred hunting and misliked the ostentatious nature of his father. He misliked most things about his father, preferring the study of tactics with his uncle and archery, which allowed him to show up his father, if just a hint, by winning the archery contests his father would occasionally hold. Tom would confide in his wife, Bethany, years later, that he always felt he would never be good enough, never be the paramount knight his father desired him to be.

He would never get to be. His father fell from a horse, one day, his head cracked open on the earth. Oscar Tully would never be of the right mind again. Less than a year later, Oscar would be gone from this world, and Tom was left alone. He was not alone, of course, for there were his brothers - but he certainly felt alone. Where he had once been glad-handing, if preferring his privacy, Tommard turned dourer. He withdrew from courtly life, though he did his duties as Lord Protector of the Trident and eventually Lord Paramount to the best of his ability. It would take until the Second Lysene Spring for Tommard Tully to finally return to public life, and he did it with full force. Tommard raised his banners and prepared for departure, appointing his uncle, Axel Tully, as Lord Seneschal of Riverrun and High Steward of the Trident.

It was in the Spring that the young Lord of Riverrun made a name for himself. Tully found himself a natural commander and won many honors in his time in the east, dutifully serving under Vaegon Targaryen. Here, in the war, Tom made connections that would change his life forever: he grew closer to his younger brother, Edwyn, who served at his side. He met and befriended Lord Lyonel Baratheon, his commander, and would end up arranging a betrothal between Tommard and Lyonel's daughter Bethany, tying him to the many houses to marry into House Baratheon. It was there, in the Spring that Tommard Tully would meet another man: Vorian Dayne. While their relationship initially began as cool, the resentment slowly grew and the dislike slowly became mutual. There is perhaps no reason why, truly, but it was not long for Tom to start despising Vorian Dayne. To despise the man who did not have to deal with the responsibilities of lordship, the paramount knight, the man who his father would have loved. It was a petty thing, perhaps, but most things start so pettily. It would not be long before snide comments turned to arguments. The war would end, within the year, after Tommard had served his due for the realm.

Tommard, returning from Essos, would then fulfill his marriage contract with Lord Baratheon, wedding Lyonel's daughter, Bethany. The feast was a humble thing, overshadowed by the Victory Feast and the Tourney of the Banks only a few years later. Their relationship, as many did, began as something neither good or bad, but rather simply ordinary. It would blossom into love, eventually, and Tom would be overjoyed by the news that his wife was with child less than a year later. It would be a boy, a child who they would name Lymond. In celebration, Tom took a page from his father's book - urged on by his brothers and uncle - and called for a Tourney to be held in honor of the boy's birth. This tournament, called the Tourney on the Banks, would rival the Tourney of Stoney Sept decades before, in splendor if not in size. Tom would be in a good mood, then, celebrating his son's birth and the re-emergence of his wife in public life - a mood that would immediately be squandered as soon as a knight emerged on the lists: Ser Vorian Dayne.

Tommard was furious at this improper and immensely rude upstaging, especially by the man who he had held as a rival for so long. The Lord of Riverrun would immediately attempt to remove the man from the lists and toss him from the castle, though his family urged him against such drastic action, seeing him as overreacting. Tully was settled by his kin, even Edwyn, and allowed Vorian Dayne to participate in the tourney, especially since it was unlikely that he would even win the thing. Of course, Vorian Dayne would end up victorious, which Tommard may have even been able to stomach, if he had not crowned his cousin, Lady Liane Tully, in an obvious slight to Tommard. The merriments afterward were either canceled or lacked both the Lord of Riverrun and his wife, as Prentys and Axel took authority. Life at Riverrun was a quiet one, after that, as Tommard took to raising his son and ruling his realm, occasionally visiting a tourney, though he rarely took any tilts.

That stillness would be ended with the Defiance. As news of Lady Argella's death reached Riverrun, there was no doubt in his mind that it was Vaegon Targaryen. Though cool to his goodbrother, he was well-aware of the ruthlessness of the King, as well as the two's less-than-pleasant relationship. Tommard, in vengeance for his wife's family and rising alongside Lyonel Baratheon, called for the raising of his banners, marching east towards Harrenhal. Upon hearing news of the Lannisters, who had risen for Vaegon despite their marital ties to House Baratheon, laying siege towards Riverrun and assaulting Wayfarer's Rest, Tommard knew he must act. Though without full strength and moving at speeds too fast to properly prepare his troops, the Lord Paramount marched towards High Heart and met the Lannisters in battle, which would result in a closely-fought loss. The lands of High Heart were burned, the smallfolk murdered, and its Lady Jenny kidnapped. House Tully, as well, lost one of their own: Jonothor Tully, whose death, done by the hand of Ser Tommen Lannister, would leave ripples throughout the Trident.

Meanwhile, the Ironborn, who had claimed their neutrality in the beginning, would assault his shores in the west, forcing him to rely upon the leal and effective Lords Bracken, Blackwood, Mallister, and Keath to hold off that threat, preventing them from marching to relieve the siege at Riverrun. Tommard's forces would meet once more with Lord Lannister, where he would defeat Tyrion Lannister's center, though not before his own flanks fell and the battle was ended. Tommard would lick his wounds once more - but his vassals would prove as valiant as the Ironborn were treacherous, holding Seagard from three separate incursions and preventing the Ironborn from taking a foothold on the Riverlands. The Ironmen would withdraw from his shores, freeing his western men to relieve Riverrun and then march east to him. Tommard, with the full strength of the Riverlands, would march to King's Landing. Thus began the end.

The battle of King's Landing was as bloody as it was ugly. The urban combat and the rush through the gate broke the lines of the rebels quickly, but Tom was able to lead a charge to break the loyalist lines in turn, putting his troops at advantage. The battle would not end with a rout - but rather with a single sentence of words. "Vaegon is dead," they said, "Vaegon is dead, slain by the Sword of the Morning." It is said Tommard simply stood still when those words reached his ears. The loyalists fled. The war was over. Tommard rode home, hostages released.

But there was no justice for Jonothor. For Jenny Dragonfly trapped in the Black Cells for months. Pardons were handed out like wedding gifts. Tom, though he hates to admit it, does not know what tomorrow will bring. Tom, with his family, returns to King's Landing, the place where the war was ended, to make peace. So they say.

Timeline
350 AC: Tommard is born to Lord Oscar Tully and Bella Whent.

352 AC: Edwyn Tully is born.

357 AC: Prentys Tully is born.

361 AC: Tommard begins to train as a knight, taking instruction from his uncle, and begins to train in archery.

366 AC: Tommard's father suddenly descends into a stupor, following a hideous fall from a horse, and is rendered unable to function as lord. Tommard becomes Lord Protector of the Trident.

367 AC: Oscar Tully dies, slipping into sleep once and for all.

369 AC: Tommard leads troops in the Second Lysene Spring, developing a rivalry with Vorian Dayne, based upon jealousy for Dayne's gained glory and relative freedom. He also meets his future goodfather, Lyonel Baratheon, who he became fast friends with.

372 AC: Tommard marries Lady Bethany Baratheon, uniting their two houses.

373 AC: Bethany gives Tommard a son, who he names Lymond. In celebration, Tommard holds a Tourney outside of Riverrun, which is infamously upstaged by Ser Vorian Dayne, who crowns Tommard's cousin, Liane, as Queen of Love and Beauty.

374 AC: Edwyn's wife Elyana dies in childbirth.

379 AC: The Defiance begins and Tommard, compelled by his family ties, declares for Daeron and his cause, leading the Riverlands into war. Tommard has little initial success in the war, losing his cousin Jon by the hands of Tommen Lannister, his own goodbrother, but leads a pivotal charge to break the line in the Battle of King's Landing. The war ends.

380 AC: Present Day