♛ → THE REACH presents TION PEAKE, the RULING LORD of STARPIKE* & MASTER OF COIN. when the dragons danced in the sky they thought THE GREENS would still fly, but in the blink of an eye, they would all die. the THIRTY-TWO year old MALE who was AMBITIOUS & COMPOSED before they saw the first of the flames, is now GREEDY & CONTROLLING after seeing the last. they’re often associated with lush grassy plains as far as the eye can see, the sound of drums in the distance, the scent of perfumed oils ( kofi siriboe. )
*as a side note, though starpike is his main home, the peakes have three keeps to their name at this time - starpike, whitegrove, and dunstonbury
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history.
part one
gold was ever a sore point for the peakes, whose own house was land poor, rich in stone and soil and pride, yet chronically short of coin, so say the writings of maester gyldayn. this much was true under the lordship of tion’s father, a martial-minded marcher lord, but the father was not the son. the lands of house peake were plentiful and fertile, and yet, the coffers were always empty.
tion’s upbringing was marked by his family’s relative poverty. his house was an ancient one, existing in the reach’s earliest days and said to be descended from florys the fox. many have wondered since the age of heroes if there was summer islander blood in the people of the peake’s lands, but none could say for certain - the husbands of florys were not recorded to history. in his youth, his father had visited the summer isles, curious to see if his origins could be traced. he did not return with answers, but he did return with a bride - tion’s mother.
and yet, despite their three castles they could barely afford to maintain, and an abundance of fertile lands in the marches, the peakes had never found permanent fortune and security. there have been times in their history, such as when the manderlys were driven from the reach, when they had temporarily flourished, but the temporary boosts never lasted more than a few generations.
and so, tion was raised with very little in comparison to the other reach lords, his armour never knew, his family’s keeps always in a state of near disrepair. it was a source of wounded pride for tion, who made it his mission very early on to not only make money, but to make so much of it that it would last for years to come, shattering the peake’s reputation for being poor.
on his sixteenth nameday, his father granted tion dunstonbury, one of the peake’s three castles that were emblazoned on their arms. though young, the lord quickly went to work, a sign of what was to come when he would one day take his father’s own seat. ever-diligent, that tion peake is a hardworking man could never be doubted. his goal, at first, was simple - amass enough money to repair the crumbling keep he was to live in.
the peakes had land to spare, and so, tion practically gave it away to the local small folk. the population of dunstonbury swelled, and agriculture began to flourish, and alongside it, other trade began to spring up. his efforts would bear fruit when the dance broke out, allowing the peakes to continue to make coin while their lords went to war.
the dance would see his father fall, and tion rise to become the lord of the peakes’ three keeps.
part 2
during the dance, he was a fierce supporter of the green faction. it was not just a matter of duty - he genuinely believed in the principles of it, and that aegon ii was the one with the right to rule. this belief only grew the longer the war continued.
he was a fair soldier - better than most, but by no means exceptional. perhaps he could have been, if he had more of a passion for it, but despite his martial upbringing, he was never overjoyed by the feeling of a sword in his hand. no matter where he went or what he was doing, his mind was often on something else, his plans for his home, and what he would do when he returned.Â
over time, though, his loyalties began to shift. he did not support the greens, but one particular green - and he began to think that perhaps daeron the daring, a man he came to greatly respect, would be the best choice for westeros’ king, and gathered a contingent of supporters who felt similarly.Â
when daeron disappeared, presumed dead, he lost faith in the targaryen dynasty as a whole. as such, tion was a very happy man when the dance ended, and the realm split. he returned to the reach, accepting the decision wholeheartedly, and once again turned his mind to his long-term goals.Â
part 3
the next few years were marked by the culmination of tion’s plans for his home, so rudely interrupted by the dance. under his guidance, the peake lands have seen prosperity like no other, booming in trade born from the attention tion put into their agriculture in his youth that became something more in the years since. The castles have been restored, new towns and villages springing up where before there were only grassy plains.Â
this should have signalled a time to rest - but not for tion. instead, he simply reassessed what he wanted out of life, and set his new goal - a voice in the reach, a seat on the small council.Â
he bided his time, but the death of garland hightower presented an opportunity. tion put his name forward as master of coin - after all, who better to handle the treasury than the man who had spun straw into gold?Â
personality.
basics
for tion, nothing is ever good enough. even when he achieves the goal he has set out for himself, he is always chasing the next achievement, looking for his next victory. he’s always looking for more, to be and have better. over time, he has become greedy in his efforts. Â
in every incident, every interaction, every conversation, tion looks for opportunity. he’s a chancer at heart - and thus far, that has worked out for him.Â
he’s a patient man. he knows that success comes not simply from action, but when the action is deployed. even when he has a fully formed, concrete plan in mind, he has no issues holding back from making the first move until the most opportune time.Â
in terms of personal interactions, tion is a very calm presence. he’s an incredibly difficult man to rile up, whether than be anger or any other sort of passion. he sees this as a source of pride, his cool demeanour and composure something that he maintains at all times.Â
tion is a man who cares about his appearance. he is never seen publicly with a hair out of place, and never caught unawares. there’s more than hubris behind this, a strategy he lives by : he goes to extreme efforts to make it known that the peakes no longer lack for coin, and to make it plain that he is a lord, not a glorified farmer.Â
rumours
under tion’s lordship, the lands of house peake have gone from the brink of ruin to incredibly prosperous in a very short amount of time. there are some who think he has accomplished this through dubious means.Â
his mother was a summer islander, and so it would be natural to assume he has sympathies there.
goals
he’s got the land and the money, and now tion seeks to make a name for himself. it is not necessarily about amassing power - tion is a very goal oriented person, never satisfied with what he has. there is always another step on the ladder to climb, and he wants to make sure he is in the right places, at the right times, making the right steps to get ahead for himself and his legacy.Â
his biggest challenge is the delicate balance between upholding the martial traditions of a lord of the marches, and further encouraging economic prosperity.Â
fears
he fears that everything is temporary, and all that he has worked for to improve peake lands could go away, and thus not be around for future generations to reap the benefits of.Â
he also hates not being in control of any given circumstance. he is constantly looking for the upper hand to avoid this.Â
a growing concern is that his mother’s place of birth will come back to haunt him. he works hard to put distance between himself and his heritage, and asking him about his connections to the summer isles is one of the only ways to get a rise out of him.Â
otherÂ
during the dance, he was badly burned, and carries the scars of this on his left arm.
for the lands surrounding the peake’s three castles, i am taking inspiration from haitian culture. the food, art, music, language, and community way of life there reflects this (more detailed post to come)
