º ✧ 。––– [ ewan mitchell , 26 , cis man , he/him ] welcome NIKOLAI ROYCE , the LORD OF RUNESTONE , to king's landing ! the ravens have carried word of their - DIFFIDENT and - TIMID nature , but we have high hopes that their + INQUISITIVE and + BENEVOLENT qualities will shine through . when you think of them , ideas of FLOWERS PRESSED BETWEEN THE PAGES OF A BOOK ; HIGH WALLS AROUND A BRUISED AND BROKEN HEART ; ECHOES OF A FATHER'S VOICE, FOREVER DECLARING YOU A DISAPPOINTMENT come to mind . they are arriving to the red keep , NEUTRAL TO house velaryon . we do hope that whatever happens , they play the game wisely .
BASICS.
FULL NAME: nikolai royce. ALSO CALLED: nik, niki ( his siblings or very close friends only ). TITLES: lord nikolai royce of runestone. AGE: twenty-six. GENDER: cis man, he / him. ORIENTATION: bisexual, biromantic.
BIRTHPLACE: runestone, the vale. RELIGION: faith of the seven. SPOKEN LANGUAGES: common tongue.
STATUS: unwed, unbetrothed. LOYALTY: house royce, house arryn.
PERSONALITY
POSITIVE: inquisitive. benevolent. sensitive. empathetic. intelligent. selfless. NEGATIVE: diffident. timid. guarded. insecure. anxious. melancholic. quiet.
APPEARANCE
FACECLAIM: ewan mitchell. HEIGHT: five feet, eleven inches. HAIR: dark blonde. EYES: blue in color. due to an accident when he was seventeen, nikolai lost his left eye. he does have a glass eye but is rarely seen not wearing an eye patch.
FAMILY
FATHER: lord andar royce ( deceased ). MOTHER: lady aelyana royce ( deceased ). SIBLINGS: ruling lord orys royce ( older brother ), lady melony royce ( older sister ), liege petra royce ( younger sibling ).
PET: luna, a medium-sized dog who nikolai has trained since she was a pup. she is constantly at his side, helping him feel calmer and easing his anxiety when in stressful situations.
HISTORY
tw: abuse, parent death
nikolai wasn't the easiest child; he cried very often, especially when left alone, and thus, lady royce hovered over her youngest son, constantly carrying him around runestone and sending away the septas. she'd also spend hours reading to him, which was the most certain way to keep him in good spirits or calm him down after a particularly bad crying spell. nikolai's close relationship with his mother only continued as he grew. wherever lady royce went, he followed. many said that lady royce coddled the boy, allowing him to skip lessons with the master-at-arms in order to spend more time hiding away in the library or wandering the small garden at runestone. however, his mother would hear none of it. it was from her that nik acquired his inquisitive nature and love for learning. he even dreamed of one day leaving runestone to study at the citadel and become a maester or a healer; his mother encouraged these dreams and told him that one day he would achieve them. those early years of his life were ones that nikolai would forever look back on fondly, viewing them as his true childhood, one that was cut painfully short.
everything changed when his mother passed. his father changed seemingly overnight from a kind man into a cruel one, and while none of the royce children were spared from their father's cruelty, nikolai undeniably bore the brunt of it. especially since, unlike his elder siblings, he didn't fight back against the abuse. there wasn't one aspect about his youngest son that lord royce didn't take an issue with. nikolai was too soft. too quiet. too sensitive. to weak. lord royce viewed it as his responsibility to eliminate those faults. from then on, there was rarely a day where nik didn't receive harsh, disapproving words from his father. his father also made it clear that no son of his would pursue a scholarly path. his sons were to be warriors. any ounce of failure was harped on, and lord royce had no qualms reminding him how great of a disappointment he was, especially when, despite insisting nikolai train for hours everyday, he failed to improve when it came to wielding any weapon.
the change in nikolai was undeniable. the once shy but happy young man retreated into himself. he would walk around runestone with his head low, hoping to avoid attention, and would hide away in the library for as long as he could before he was discovered and made to attend whatever lessons his father deemed necessary, which almost always ended in him being reprimanded, no matter how hard nikolai tried to be the son his father wanted.
nikolai was seventeen when an accident finally occurred. with both of his older siblings away from runestone, there was no one to object when lord royce insisted that he would spar with nik rather than the master-at-arms or one of the knights. the fight lasted far longer than any of his previous sparing matches, but his father wouldn't let him rest until he stopped making mistakes. fatigue, however, only made him falter more, creating a deadly cycle, especially as his father's anger worsened, which, as was typical, he took out on him. nikolai barely saw the fateful blow before it landed. then there was only pain. initially, he thought it was the blood that was blocking his vision; later he would learn that he'd lost his eye.
his father never apologized or showed any remorse. nikolai himself struggled not finding fault with himself - his father had constantly said that weakness, especially someone like nik who possessed so much, made one vulnerable. did this prove him right? the months after the incident were very difficult; nik rarely left his room, ashamed of the scar even when it was covered. however, he gradually recovered with time. his father's abuse didn't cease, but he never tried to spar with nik again, and all the knights at runestone went extremely easy on him the few times lord royce insisted his son train.
there was a brief period where happiness appeared within reach. a visit to the citadel brought about an expected meeting with a lady, one that soon made feelings blossom into love. the two years they spent together were the happiest years of his life, and he was overjoyed when she accepted his proposal. however, the minute his father learned of the betrothal, that his son had acted without his permission and partially due to how happy he realized nik was, he forbid the union. but the redwynes were a powerful family. so his father told him that he was to end it, shouldering all the blame himself, and convinced him in the process that he would only be a failure as a ruling consort. his fear of his father, along with his own self-doubt, ran too deep; nikolai did as he was told, telling lady cerenna that he'd changed his mind and no longer wanted to marry her. three years had passed since that day and his shame for his cowardice hadn't lessened. he also never spoke a word of the truth to anyone, letting everyone believe it was his decision alone.
nikolai felt like he could finally breathe again when his father passed. in the two years since his father's death, he fully resumes his studies of the art of healing, previously only done in secret due to his father's disapproval, and begins helping the maester at runestone tend to patients. all he desires is a quiet life for he possesses no grand ambitions or interest in the politics of the realm; however, the trauma his father inflicted upon him didn't perish alongside the royce patriarch. somedays nikolai fears he will never fully heal, proving his father right that he is indeed not only weak but a failure.
WANTED CONNECTIONS
FRIENDS — nikolai is in desperate need of friends. he didn't travel a lot beyond the vale but could have visited other houses in the riverlands, the north, and even the reach when he visited the citadel and was with cerenna. would especially love a fellow nerdy friend that nik feels comfortable talking about his studies with!
FAKE FRIENDS / MANIPULATOR — people who pretend to be nice to nikolai but secretly view him as a pawn that due to his quiet nature will be easy to use and manipulate.
FIRST CRUSH — he was probably too shy to say anything to them about it and could be unrequited or not.
POTENTIAL BETROTHAL — while his older brother is committed to letting his siblings choose their marriages, i think it would be interesting for a stronger house to be interested in a betrothal that nik would feel obligated to take for the sake of strengthening his family. whether the betrothal/marriage happens is something that can be plotted.
ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING ELSE ! my brain is failing me but come at me with any possible connections.
