Application for Exsilium

[brienne_the_blue]

» PLAYER INFORMATION
Player NAME:
Shannon

Current AGE:
Personal JOURNAL:
shantastic
IM & SERVICE:
My yahoo ID is illandaria. On AIM I am magichealingrain.
Player PLURK:
shantasticCurrent CHARACTERS:

» CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character NAME:
Brienne of Tarth.
Canon & MEDIUM:
George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels. (The books, not the TV show.)
Canon PULL-POINT:
The end of book 4.
Character AGE:
24
Character ABILITIES:
Brienne is a highly skilled fighter, and is considerably taller and stronger than even most men in her world. She is skilled with a sword in particular, and has won at least one tournament of note.
.
Character HISTORY:

Here is a wiki article about Brienne
I am taking her from the end of the fourth book. She has been captured by the Brotherhood Without Banners, and Lady Stoneheart, the leader, does not believe Brienne's story, so she's forced to hang. At the last moment, Brienne shouts a single word, which appears to spare her life. At this point, presumably, she will find herself suddenly whisked out of her world.

Character PERSONALITY:
Brienne embodies the chivalric values of honor, loyalty and duty. The problem, of course, is that she is a woman, and in Westeros, where she comes from, being a knight is not a suitable career path for women. She is also, conversely, naive and somewhat of an idealist. She expects better of people than they generally prove themselves to be.

Honor and oaths are important to her. Once she swears an oath, she will carry it out to the best of her ability, or die in the attempt. She successfully returned Jaime Lannister to King's Landing because she swore to Catelyn Stark that she would, even though that journey coincided with an attack that got them captured by cruel mercenaries who insisted that Brienne and Jaime ride tied together, facing each other, while he was suffering from sickness brought on by infection and also the loss of his hand. She tended to him as best she could, even though prior to that time, they both had a strong mutual dislike for each other. After all, she needed to keep Jaime alive to return to King's Landing, and someone had to tend to him, because clearly the Bloody Mummers weren't going to do it.

When she left King's Landing to look for Sansa Stark, she also did so because she had sworn an oath. Sansa could have been anywhere, and Brienne really didn't have any inkling of a good place to start, but it was a task she had chosen to undertake, and so, even though it amounted to looking for a needle in a haystack, because she said she would find and protect Sansa Stark, that's what she intended to do. Which was why, when she was captured at the end of the fourth book and brought to Lady Stoneheart, who, in her former life as Catelyn Stark, she had sworn allegiance to, she was devastated when she wasn't believed. She'd always tried to be honest with everyone, and she would have no reason to lie to her Lady. And yet, Catelyn didn't believe her words and intended to have her killed. She was also willing to kill Brienne's companion, Podric Payne, who was innocent of all crimes except for being Tyrion Lannister's squire. When Brienne realized this, she also knew she had to save both of them. After all, it wasn't her companion's fault that Brienne hadn't been able to convince Catelyn she was sincere. We don't get any real Brienne POV in the fifth book, but I see her as feeling like she's in between a rock and a hard place. Jaime Lannister has been good to her, treated her with respect and kindness, and they've been through a lot together. Killing him on the orders of her former liege lady is possibly the worst thing that anyone could have asked of Brienne. If she kills him, it will break her heart. If she breaks her oath to Lady Catelyn in order to save his life, she'll be breaking her own spirit, becoming a person she does not want to be.


She has known a great deal of cruelty in her life, so she tends to be surprised by kindness. The biggest reason that she pledged herself to Renly Baratheon and later fell for him was that he was kind to her, and didn't treat her like the freak that most others saw. She also felt safe with him. He didn't feel the need to prove his superiority to her by virtue of the fact that he had apenis, and, after all, he was not interested in her sexually, though that is something she didn't realize. She is generally suspicious of flattery, because she knows what she looks like. A magical makeover will not suddenly make her comely and feminine, nor would it erase her general social awkwardness, so anyone who praises her beauty is likely to receive a bad reaction. She would rather accept praise for something she feels she does excel at, such as her fighting abilities.

At this time, Brienne doesn't have any canon mates in play. However, if she did, there would be a good deal of tension between herself and Jaime Lannister. She grew to love him as they journeyed from Riverrun to King's Landing. Yet, if he showed up, she would be reminded of the fact that she has to kill him eventually. She would be overjoyed to see any of Catelyn Stark's children. She's never met them, but once she did figure out who they were, she would probably stick to them like glue, since one of her oaths was to protect Lady Catelyn's children. It would mess with her head to see either Catelyn or Eddard Stark, considering the fact that at the point she's taken from, Eddard is dead and Catelyn just tried to kill her. Present day Catelyn taken from Game of Thrones would probably bring back some pleasant memories, but she'd be wary of her, since she knows what is in store for them in the future and I think she would probably assume that TV!Catelyn would just be messing with her head at this point. Further, it would be traumatizing in the extreme for her to encounter Renly again, considering the fact that she watched him die and was accused of his murder.

I think she would be confused about what she is doing in the setting of the game. She's never heard of any of these people, and she does come from a place where lying comes as second nature to many of its people. She would likely keep her misgivings to herself, and would feel duty-bound to participate in any missions she was assigned. She's not likely to be forming any kind of group bent on sedition, nor would she likely find herself in a leadership capacity. She certainly won't be swearing any kind of allegiance to the Initiative anytime soon.

» EXSILIUM INFORMATION
Chosen WEAPON:
She already carries a sword, Oathkeeper.
Chosen SKILLSET:
She's definitely a fighter. Put her where you need dumb muscle.
» SAMPLES
First PERSON:

Good evening. I am Brienne of Tarth, and I am newly arrived in this place. I received this strange machine on my arrival, and was told I should... post something to the network? I do not know if I am doing this correctly, but I am making the attempt anyway.

I have a few questions. Firstly, is it really safe to speak so openly using this device? We have nothing like it where I come from, but I do know that there are eyes and ears everywhere in the Seven Kingdoms and I do not wish to say anything that would give spies a chance to find information I would rather they not have. I suppose that people must talk in person to discuss this place and what we are meant to do, and if such meetings do happen, and if it please people who host them to invite another, I would attend.

Lastly, I am a good swordsman. I understand that we will be fighting for this Initiative. I would ask how frequent these missions are, and how many fatalities there have been. I do not fear dying, any more than any other person who takes up a sword, but I would like to know what sort of situation I would be walking into.

Thank you. I am sure I will have more questions, but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment.
b>Third PERSON:

Oathkeeper feels comfortable in Brienne's hands. As she enters the training center, she feels a sense of calm settle over her. She knows nothing about this place, nothing about why she was really here or what she will be expected to do, but the sword? This, she knows.

She moves through some preliminary exercises. It's nice to feel that she is doing this for only the pure pleasure of the activity. She's not killing anyone. No one is trying to kill her.

But for how long? That thought sobers her. How does she know that these people truly mean her no harm? She wishes there were someone she could talk to about her niggling worries. What she really wants is for Jaime to be there. He would no doubt have something pithy and cutting to say that would put the whole thing in perspective.

Well, he isn't here, she thinks, and then she sets her jaw grimly. And in the meantime, the training will do her some good, so she keeps at it, doggedly putting in the time until her allotted session ends. By the end of her training session, she is sweaty and exhausted, but she feels alive. Not happy, precisely, but content in a way that surprises her.
» ADDITIONAL NOTES
Gazebo is in my living room. I actually own some Jeremiah Weed sweet tea flavored vodka. We both think this whole concept is entirely too hilarious. I apologize that the hilarity is probably lost on you, as you are not also in my living room.

ETA: Made some revisions to the personality section. Added AIM info though the screen name is embarrassing. Added my Plurk info since I now have it. Did a whole other first-person post not written at 4 A.M. when everything was funny.