Ned Bracken, Knight of the Kingsguard

Reddit Account: u/broncobracken

Discord Tag: Jackun

Name and House: Benedict 'Ned' Bracken

Age: 24

Cultural Group: Riverman

Appearance: Ned is young, spindly. He keeps himself thin so that he makes little noise as he walks in the halls of great keeps. He looms not so large when he is not in armor and his eyes betray a weariness in recent years. Still he grooms himself, almost religiously. Bracken shaves his beard and shapes his mustache in the manner his father does. Most notably about him is his talking, or lack thereof. Ned speaks hardly above a whisper, leaving many to regard him as a mute.

Trait: Hale

Skill(s): 2HW (e), First Man Warrior (e), Andal Knight

Talent(s): Horsemanship, animal handling, language: High Valyrian

Negative Trait(s): N/A

Starting Title(s): Knight of the Kingsguard, Sworn Sword of Prince Aenar Targaryen, Scion of Bracken

Starting Location: Opening

Alternate Characters: N/A

Family Tree: Bracken Family Tree

Biography:

Benedict was born in the year of Aegon's second crowning, to Steffon Bracken and Aglantine Bushy. The only son of the thirdborn Steffon, Ned was never seriously considered nor prepared for rule. He was counted among the many boys growing up in the ancient castle. But for whatever reason, he was slow to speak. Words were rarely said, if that. Though the maester deemed him not to be a mute, his work did little to improve Ned's speech. His uncle Wyl, the master-at-arms of Stone Hedge, deemed it to be an issue of the body and declared that he would not stand idle while his kin suffered. Soon after Ned began serving him as a page, following his uncle in the man's routines. The master-at-arms' constant training did not improve Benedict's soft spoken nature, but it did make the boy hale and healthy.

As a squire in a rather peaceful time in the Seven Kingdoms, Benedict spent many of his days in drills, working beside his favorite cousin, Walton. Among the things he struggled with was the shield. To swing with one hand and block with the other always felt unnatural to him. When Ned was large enough, Walton recommended to his father that he teach him to use two-handed weapons. He took to it like a duck on water, becoming very handy with greatswords as time went on.

Fortunes turned suddenly in 18 AC. Walton, a knight with freshly earned spurs, was directed to deliver a message to King's Landing. It was there he was killed brutally, in a duel of honor against the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Malwyn Blackwood. An old blood feud once again wettened by red. When word of this reached Stone Hedge, Lord Bracken raised Ned's father and his grieving uncle Wyl and crossed the Red Fork with a force of two hundred men. In the midst of night, they arrived at the hall of the Blackwoods and brought retaliation by burning the castle's manor. Though the guards of the keep fought back, they were surprised and on the back foot. It was Ned's first battle, in which he saved his lord uncle from injury by running down a crossbowman who drew his sights on Lord Bracken. The morning after, their cloaks reeking of woodsmoke and their steel bloodied, the lord knighted his nephew.

This was not the end to the conflict between Blackwood and Bracken. It was only the first of a series of raids conducted between the two houses; as villages were razed and riders bushwhacked. Benedict took part in a number of these skirmishes. His skill at fighting afoot was further honed in these, fighting in the way the First Men must had surely done in that same wilderness a thousand years prior. The eventual culmination in these raids was thousands of men being rallied to each side; an all out war imminent. As quick as the conflict had began, however, it ended suddenly at the urging of the Lord of Aegon's Rest, whose massive dragon forced both sides to abscond from the battlefield before a result could be had.

Ned Bracken returned to a family and keep that was forever changed by what had occurred. Difficult as it was, they tread into another peaceful, albeit tense, era. He was now the eldest of the Bracken's youngest generation, and found himself often acting as a protector and confidante for them. In particular, he rode beside the heir of Stone Hedge, Dickon, to a number of tourneys and celebrations throughout the Kingdoms. Though only an adequate rider, he learned quite a bit from the older knights at these tourneys, particularly as they battered their lances against him constantly. He came out smarter, somehow.

When rumor came from King's Landing that a member of the Kingsguard was on death's door, Lord Beck dispatched his nephew to the city; ostensibly to deliver a small missive to to a minor office holder. In reality, Bracken was sent to the capital to await the death of the sickly Kingsguard. After the man passed, Benedict was among the shortlist of candidates. Beck's gambit paid off when his nephew was sworn into the Kingsguard in 23 AC.

Shortly thereafter was Ned sent to Dorne, one of the three whitecloaks attached to the Targaryens of Summerhall. Queen Rhaenys then assigned him primarily to guard her son, Aenar. Two years have past since. As Aenar draws near to his eighteenth birthday, time will tell what else Ned will face.

Timeline:

• 1 AC: Benedict is born to Steffon and Aglantine Bracken.

• 7 AC: Benedict is made a page of his uncle, Ser Wyl Bracken.

• 9 AC: He is made a squire of Ser Wyl, alongside his cousin, Walton.

• 18 AC: The Riverwar. Walton is killed, Ned is knighted.

• 19 AC: Ned travels to various tourneys beside his kin.

• 23 AC: Ned joins the Kingsguard at his uncle's behest. He is sent to Highwatch.

• 25 AC: Present Day.