♛ STEFFON BARATHEON
↳ details; male, 30, 475 AC. ↳ status; heterosexual, married, no children. ↳ faceclaim; adam driver. ↳ hails from; storm’s end. ↳ loyalty; the stormlands, house baratheon.
↳ title; king of the stormlands, the storm king. ↳ religion; faith of the seven. ↳ spoken languages; common tongue. ↳ reason for being in sunspear; looking to reach some diplomacy with the other kingdoms.
♛ PERSONALITY
↳ type; estj – the executive. ↳ alignment; neutral good. ↳ star sign; aries. ↳ positives; strong, determined, intelligent, passionate. ↳ negatives; emotional, blunt, hot-headed, perfectionist, abrasive.
♛ BIOGRAPHY
↳ family lineage.
steffon’s childhood was complicated. he did not grow up in a particularly difficult home, however his father–lord robert baratheon ii– was emotionally distant and by no means an affectionate man. he wanted his sons to be strong and felt that showing any softness would make them weak. from the moment he was able, his father was training him in the art of swordsmanship, horseback riding, hunting and politics. between all his lessons, steffon could hardly catch a moment to breathe. as his eldest son, he trained steffon to be a strong and competent lord who would one day take his place as ruler.
his mother, on the other hand, did her best to balance that out by being a kind and loving woman. when steffon was injured in one of his various lessons, his mother would comfort him and tend to his wounds rather than simply have a maester do it. she would remind him that it was okay for him to cry as he sat there stone-faced as his father had commanded. after her encouraging, he would at times break down and express the immense pressure that plagued him. lady ellyn would assure him that however hard his father pushed him, he meant well. he only wanted the best for his son. she did her best to make her son a well rounded man– a strong man with a gentle heart. unfortunately, the complete opposite parenting styles from his parents would only lead to what felt like lifelong inner turmoil.
when it comes to steffon’s relationship with his siblings, that sense of conflict and confusion does not exist. being the firstborn he always felt like a protector and role model. this, of course, lead to more pressure but he was happy to bare the burden for the sake of his siblings. when it came to the secondborn, his younger brother, he aided in the lessons he had been taught by their father. lord robert had decided that steffon was old enough to take on the responsibility of training his brother the way that he had. the ruling lord had, well, ruling to do. it was tough, but steffon did the best that he could. during this time, the two grew close– best friends, even. they had their fights and disagreements but at the end of the day, there wasn’t a thing in the world that steffon would not do for his brother. some years later came the final baratheon child, this time a baby girl. with her birth, both steffon and his brother had become protectors. while they could not spend a great deal of time with her, they were fierce protectors. when suitors came knocking at their doors, steffon was quick to intimidate those he found to be inferior– which was many of them.
steffon was just 19 when his father died and the responsibility of ruling lord became his. lord robert had not shown any obvious signs of ailing as far as steffon knew so he was left in shock when his father clutched his chest at the dinner table and fell unconscious. lady ellyn spent 3 days at his side, begging the maesters to save her husband but he never again opened his eyes. on the morning of the 4th day, she would find that he no longer had a heartbeat. the next day steffon was declared ruling lord and was thrown right into all the responsibilities that came with it. of course he knew it would come some day.. he just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. the first few months and, honestly, years were very hard on him. he would not let his stress and weakness show, though, for fear of disappointing his father. he wanted to hold up to the legacy of baratheon greatness. so, he did his best in the position for 11 years when a trip to king’s landing for the birth of the lannister prince goes awry.
when word reached steffon that his brother was kidnapped and eventually returned in less than perfect shape, he was understandably furious. the soon to be storm king had been on the front lines, fighting a small battle along the dornish border as the stormlands so often did. he no longer felt like he could trust the iron throne to keep his people safe. after he had heard of emeric tyrell declaring himself independent, he soon followed suit. the title of storm king would be restored and the territory of the stormlands would no longer answer to the lannister king. when the news reached storm’s end, lady ellyn nearly collapsed with fear. first, she was upset at the danger her younger son had been put in but to learn that they could possibly go to war of their declaration of independence.. she was overrun with worry. when he returned home, steffon assured his mother that he had made the best decision given the position they’d been put in. she had proposed that he reconsider but he outright refused. he reminded her that his father would be ashamed to see him make such a bold decision only to cave a short time later.
then came the issue of the necessity of a queen. steffon had many suitable young ladies brought to him over the years but now that he was a king, the stakes were entirely different. it was soon realized that there was only one obvious choice: the eldest daughter of evenfall hall, kyra tarth. not only had house tarth been fiercely loyal to house baratheon for many years but lady kyra was a strong and capable woman, the kind of woman steffon needed at his side. the two were wed quickly and while there was no love between them, steffon had a great deal of respect for her. he saw her as an ally, someone he could depend on now with the heavy weight of a crown upon his head.
↳ personality.
steffon is strong-willed and an overachiever. he refuses to appear weak in any sense which then means that he is not very good at expressing his more vulnerable feelings. this fear of weakness had been instilled in him by his father and while his mother tried her best to counter it, her opposing efforts of softness only lead to a deeply conflicted man.
much like a storm, his moods can at times be turbulent. in these times, he does his best to not let it show in front of and instead go somewhere more private to blow off steam. however, he has been known to snap at subordinates in the past. he will not tolerate disrespect and is unafraid to let others know that.
↳ the splitting of the kingdoms.
steffon is dealing with a lot. he was forced to make the decision to break away from the iron throne after what happened to his younger sibling during the king’s landing kidnappings. though he was initially somewhat unsure, he found that he was unable to trust the judgement of the iron throne after his sibling’s near death. as he watched others rescind, he felt it was the best choice for him and his people. this coupled with the fact that he wanted to restore house baratheon to its former royal greatness, he is now more confident in his decision than ever.
that being said, the responsibility is weighing heavy on his shoulders. he does his best to keep his composure but is known to snap at others at times. he doesn’t mean to but is often too prideful to apologize, at least to those of lower standing than himself. he does not wish to start a war and so he will remain cordial with other royals but if he feels disrespected, he won’t be afraid to speak on it. he especially does not appreciate being branded a traitor.
in regards to the summit, steffon has been to dorne before. in the past, he found that is a lovely place but clearly, his focus is not on that now. he is very much focused on the task at hand which is establishing some sort of agreement amongst the kingdoms. he is absolutely not willing to discuss the idea of bending the knee. in truth, he would rather die than return to the iron throne with his tail between his legs. he hopes instead that they will come to some sort of understanding– set borders, lines of trade and communication, all of that. he wants to prove himself a ruler capable of making the best decisions for the people but will absolutely stand his ground– even at a high cost.
♛ STATUS: TAKEN.
