Stannis is a large man - tall, broad shouldered and sinewy. While he is not described as being particularly unattractive, he is also not considered as handsome as Renly or Robert was in his youth. Stannis has dark blue eyes. His head has only a fringe of black hair like the shadow of a crown, and a close-cropped beard across his large jaw. His face has a tightness to it like cured leather, and he has hollow cheeks. He has thin, pale lips. Stannis is a serious, stubborn, unforgiving man with an inflexible sense of duty and justice. He neither dissembles nor flatters. Stannis is obsessed with slights both real and imagined causing him to grind his teeth regularly. He is an accomplished commander, sailor, and warrior, although his personality hinders his ascension to being a truly great leader. While he is respected and feared, he has never been loved, or had the affection of nobles or smallfolk. Stannis has a cold relationship with his wife, Lady Selyse of House Florent. They have one daughter, Shireen, a sad and homely little girl who is disfigured as a consequence of contracting greyscale in her infancy. Davos Seaworth is one of Stanniss most loyal servants. Stannis was born the second son to Steffon Baratheon and Cassana Estermont, the younger brother of Robert Baratheon and the older brother of Renly Baratheon. His parents died when he was thirteen. He lost his faith in the Seven on that day, vowing that gods who were cruel enough to take his father and mother in sight of their children would never have his worship. Even in his youth he was said to be a serious, dour and humorless boy. Stanniss stubbornness and determination are legendary and served him well during Roberts Rebellion. He successfully held the Baratheon castle of Storms End against Mace Tyrells siege, which lasted the majority of the war, unintentionally ensuring one of the largest loyalist forces did not take the field against the rebels. His garrison held under desperate conditions, only avoiding starvation by the timely intervention of a smuggler, Davos. His cargo of onions allowed them to hold the fortress. After the siege was lifted by Lord Eddard Stark, Stannis took Davos into his service, dubbing him The Onion Knight and allowing him to choose the name Seaworth for his new house. True to Stannis inflexible sense of justice, he also punished Davos for his crimes as a smuggler by removing the first joint from each finger of Davoss left hand, as payment for his past crimes. Davos accepted the punishment provided Stannis carry it out himself. Following the Sack of Kings Landing and the surrender of the Tyrells at Storms End, the new king, Robert Baratheon, charged his brother Stannis with building a new fleet to seize Dragonstone, which was still loyal to the Targaryens.Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen were smuggled from the island before Stannis could capture Dragonstone, which upset Robert. The king blamed Stannis for letting the Targaryen heirs escape, although the two children had been spirited to safety by Targaryen loyalists shortly before Stannis set sail. After commanding the successful assault on Dragonstone, Stannis was displeased to discover that King Robert had named him Lord of Dragonstone, instead of the wealthier Storms End, which was given to their younger brother Renly, who had not done anything of true note during the war. Stannis resented this as an intentional slight, which Cersei Lannister agrees with. However, Robert needed a strong ruler to control what had been a holdout of the Mad Kings loyalists, and Stannis was much more suited for this role than Renly was. The island castle was the traditional seat of the heir of the Iron Throne, the Prince of Dragonstone, so the then-childless Robert was granting it to his heir at that time, Stannis.It had the added advantage of taking prickly Stannis away from the mainland of Westeros. True to his nature, Stannis became an effective and efficient administrator as head of House Baratheon of Dragonstone. Stannis Baratheon leading the attack on Great Wyk during Greyjoys Rebellion Stannis was appointed to the small council as well, as the master of ships. During Greyjoys Rebellion, Stannis commanded the royal fleet and trapped and destroyed much of the Iron Fleet at Fair Isle. Afterwards, he subdued Great Wyk in his brothers name. While he was at court in Kings Landing, Stannis left Ser Axell Florent as castellan of Dragonstone. During his wedding to Lady Selyse Florent, King Robert deflowered Delena Florent on Stanniss wedding bed. This coupling led to the birth of Edric Storm, the only acknowledged bastard of the king. Stannis insisted that he was a blight upon the honor of his wifes house and promptly shipped him off to his other uncle, Lord Renly, at Storms End. Despite his loyalty and service to his brother Robert, Stannis feels Robert has given him little in return. Instead of thanking him for holding Storms End against the Tyrell she thanked Eddard Stark for lifting the siege instead. Instead of thanking Stannis for capturing Dragonstone for him, Robert blamed Stannis for the escape of the Targaryen children.Stannis helped Jon Arryn, RobertsHand of the King, in ruling the kingdoms but received little or no acknowledgement or thanks from his elder brother, who spent his time, hunting, drinking and whoring. Stannis never complained publicly since service without expectation of reward was required of him in his positions, although he often did so privately to Robert and Cersei. Just prior to the events of A Game of Thrones, Stannis suspected that the children of Queen Cersei Lannister were not actually Roberts. He confided his suspicions to Lord Arryn, and they investigated the matter together. Stannis did not bring his suspicions to Robert, as he knew Robert would not believe the charges coming from him. Since Robert had no love for his brother Stannis, the younger Baratheon would be seen as making himself heir. However, Stannis felt Robert would listen if the charges came from Jon Arryn, whom Robert loved. They visited several of Roberts baseborn children in the city and Stannis pointed out that all had black hair and they looked like Robert. Jon consulted the book The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms of past marriages of noble houses and discovered the same was true: whenever a Baratheon wed, their sons and daughters would have black hair, even if the other parent was a golden-haired Lannister. After determining that Cerseis children were in fact not Roberts, Jon meant to act and planned for his son Robert Arryn to be fostered with Stannis on Dragonstone. However, Lord Arryn died before he could bring the evidence before Robert.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:20:14 +0000
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