“ . . . My eyes are filling fast with tears and I blink and blink but the world is a mess and I want to laugh because all I can think is how horrible and beautiful it is ,that our eyes blur the truth when we can’t bear to see it . . .”

independent & semi-selective KATYA ROWAN based on the lore of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE. written by Em. 18+ only.

GENERAL✤ I’m Em, she/her pronouns, CET timezone (Sweden). 26 years old.
✤English is not my first language. Errors will occur.✤ This blog will not be spoiler free, but I will do my best to tag any potential spoilers✤ Artwork that marked with the tag ”;;my art “ is made by me.✤ This blog is semi-selective. I can’t interact with everyone, and I will primarily do so with the people I’m mutuals with. Please respect this. If you regularly interact with content I've tagged as mutuals only, you will be blocked.✤ I do interact with multiples of the same character and I don’t do mains.
⁘ This is an 18+ blog due to the mature content that is present in the ASOIAF books and will be referenced on this blog.
This includes but is not limited to:
Sexual content, graphic violence, assault, alcohol, mature language etc.
Please do not follow or interact with me if you are under the age of 18! You will be blocked.ROLEPLAYING**✤ Before interaction please read the the entirety of this doc.✤ If you do not have a Rules page and/or an about page or a doc with basic information about your OOC age, RP preferences and information on your muse, I am not likely to follow or interact with you.✤ I am multiverse, but I will not do crossovers.
I will only roleplay with you if you are a ASOIAF/GoT character (OC or canon) or have a suitable AU I can find on your blog.✤ Feel free to tag me in starters / open rp’s / memes through tagging me with my URL: “maidofgoldengrove”✤ If I have written you a starter and you intend to reply to it, please LIKE it so I know you’ve seen it. Same goes for asks, if you like it I know you’ve seen it and I’ll feel a lot calmer.✤ If you have written me a starter or replied to an ask I sent you and I do not click the like button, odds are it’s been lost in the system and I have not seen it.✤ Naturally, I am always open for plotting! If you have any questions or suggestions regarding a thread please do talk to me you are always welcome to drop into my IMs.✤ I do support the use of minor godmodding eg. moving the characters to another room, handing them an object or the like.

NSFW AND TRIGGERS✤ Exploration of dark themes in such as violence, torture, war, trauma following sexual assault etc is highly likely to occur on this blog due to the nature of the ASOIAF books. Viewer discretion is much advised.✤ I will tag possibly triggering content as appropriate ( “example tw”) and please do not hesitate to reach out to me if I should forget or if a theme I didn’t consider is making you uncomfortable.
I will do my very best to adjust accordingly.
But once again I want to make it very clear that dark and often triggering themes will be present on this blog, this is especially in the case of sexual assault, which is a canological deatail about Katya that I’ve chosen to keep.✤ Character death will only occur if the subject has been at least briefly discussed between muns. I am willing to roleplay character death for the sake of one-shots and shorts.✤ Any not safe for work content will be tagged as “NSFW;;”,✤ The mun is very afraid by spiders and spider-like insects. If I see untagged spiders on my dash I can and will unfollow the user who posted them.**FOLLOWING, ASKS AND STARTERS✤ Starter calls are always mutuals only unless clearly stated otherwise in the tags (eg;; Open for all! )✤ Unless stated that it is for mutuals only, feel free to interact with any memes I post.
But I do reserve the right not to respond to memes or opens if they break one of my other rules, if I feel I can’t justify my character’ actions in a reply, or if I am struggling to respond.✤ Only Roleplaying blogs are allowed to reply to / reblog my opens✤ I will say it again; If you do not have a Rules page and/or an about page with basic information about your OOC age, RP preferences and information on your muse, I am not likely to follow or interact with you.**OTHER✤ I suffer from chronic depression and I am diagnosed with autism, ADHD and anxiety. T have a full-time job and a partner.
Sometimes things are tough and I hope we can have a mutual understanding that health and life is a priority over roleplay.✤ I am not an expert on the ASOIAF canon, especially since I am still getting through the books my portrayal and timeline might therefore be a mix of both show and book canon (Please read the next rule).
Also, please read what I say about house Rowan further down on this document as well as read the informative page about the house, especially if you have not read the books.✤ None of the events in the show following the start of season 5 will be acknowledged here. My character will not acknowledge deaths or major events that took place in season 5, 6 or forward. This blog will be primarily book-and-headcanon-based.
this being said, I am open to interacting with people who do not strictly follow book!canon.

FULL NAME: Lady Katya Rowan
BIRTHDATE: 21st day of the sixth turn, 279 AC
BIRTHPLACE: Goldengrove, The Reach
GENDER: Female
SEXUALITY: Bisexual
SKIN: Fair, Freckled and tans with ease

EYE COLOR: Mossy green
HAIR COLOR: Honey blonde, curly, past waist-length
HEIGHT: 163 cm / 5'4"
WEIGHT: 54 kg / 120 Ibs
BUILT: Full, Curvy, Strong

PARENTS: Lord Mathis Rowan, Lady Bethany Rowan (née Redwyne)
SIBLINGS: Kevan Rowan (twin), Symon Rowan
AFFILIATIONS: House Rowan
CULTURE: Westeros, The Reach

**RECENT EVENTS **291 - Lady Katya is engaged to marry Ser Garlan Tyrell. The arrangement is broken off within a month and he instead marries Lady Leonette Fossoway.293 - Lady Rowan gives birth to Lord Rowan’s second son, Symon.296 - Lady Katya is engaged to marry Lord Steffon Cuy of Sunhouse. He dies from an illness before the wedding can take place. His younger, and already married,brother Branston Cuy inherits the title.297 - Lord Vyrwel of Darkwell suggests an engagement between his second son and Lady Katya. The negotiations lead nowhere.298 - A lowborn singer breaks into Lady Katya’s chambers in Goldengrove, and when found he is flogged and sent to serve at The Wall.
Rumors swiftly begin to circulate regarding her maidenhead, virtue and character.BIRTH AND CHILDHOODDuring a winters-day, after many hours of labor, and years of waiting and two miscarriages, Katya was born to Lady Bethany and Lord Mathis Rowan. Followed two days later by her twin brother Kevan.
The two spent their early childhood within the safety of Goldengrove’s white and gray stonewalls overlooking the Pearl River, but as the false spring of 281 AC came to an end and Robert Baratheon’s rebellion begun, Lord Mathis Rowan left to join forces with Mace Tyrell and the Targaryens against the rebels.By 284,the twins were now five years of age, the war had come to an end with the death and exile of the last Targaryens and Robert Baratheon had been crowned king. Lord Rowan wisely bent the knee to him, and returned home to The Reach and his family shortly thereafter.The twins would play and study and spend much of their time together. By the age of seven tho, their paths began to diverge as Kevan left home to serve as page to Lady Tarly, as is customary for young sons of noblemen.
Katya however, remained in Goldengrove, only briefly leaving at age 11 to serve as handmaiden to her father’s cousin, Lady Rhonda Rowan, before her marriage to Baelor Hightower.

EARLY WOMANHOODAt 15, Katya was briefly engaged to marry Garlan Tyrell, but the arrangement was broken off under confusing and embarassing cirumstances. An event that would create a crack in the relationship between House Rowan and House Tyrell.As Katya flowered into womanhood, she began attracting attention as a desirable match; a wealthy, comely girl with a good name. Vibrant and charming.But she showed vague interest any suitors that came her way, and her father didn’t seem in a rush to marry her off either, taking his time finding suitable matches but sadly also having arrangements be broken off for various reasons.She spent her early years of womanhood very happily enjoying the bounty that The Reach had to offer a young woman of her standing; socializing with interesting people, riding, sailing, reading, music and dancing, parties and more.A lady of summer, through and through.EDUCATIONAs a noblewoman of the Reach Katya was able to receive a thorough and an rather well-rounded education that would make her well suited for life as a lady of high standing, wife and mother.
The ones primarily in charge of her education was Katya’s mother, Lady Bethany Rowan, and Septa Mertha as well as Maester Norrey. They in turn would arrange for more specialized tutors when needed.She was tutored in history, arithmetic, diplomacy, ethics, household management and some general military knowledge.
She was also taught High Valyrian, but lessons grew fever after Robert Baratheon’s rebellion.Sewing, weaving and embroidery, music (the harp and lute) and singing, dance, poetry and polite conversation. How to dress and move and act courteously no matter the company.
Riding on horseback (lady’s sidesaddle, regular and, on her own accord, bareback), falconing, using the longbow, huntingbow and crossbow.
She was taught to be pious and virtuous in the sight of the gods and to honor her house and family with all her actions.
Kat didn’t necessarily excel in every subject, she particularly had some trouble with her numbers, but she still certainly did prove herself to be clever, curious and a fast learner, in particular when motivated by the promise of getting to ride or spend time outside.

PERSONALITY“Girl as a honeycomb— sickly sweet, riddled with empty spaces .”Cheerful - With a bright, contagious smile and lively disposition Katya can hardly be called poor company.
Clever, kind and cheerful, though overall courteous and optimistic, she can come across as naive or even aloof to some, but Lord Rowan’s daughter have quite enough of his smarts to get along, as well as her mother’s fair face and sweet disposition. She's well aware of the dark world they live in, she simply chooses to focus on the light, on the joy and the pleasure.“… she’s mad
but she’s magic.
there’s no lie in her fire…”Friend of beasts - Katya has two animal companions that she treasures deeply; her horse, a dapple gray mare named Perianne who rarely goes more than a day without being doted on by her mistress. And a black greyhound named Lusia, originally intended to be raised for hunting, but Katya quickly fell in love with the dog after having it gifted to her and found herself unable to entertain the idea of risking the animal’s life by using it during hunting. Katya has a deep love for animals and has no patience for those who act with unnecessary cruelty towards them, even if she also often partakes in hunting and enoys it.“There was about her a wildness that flashed in her eyes. She was spoiled and beautiful and easily bored. She was either fiercely excited or cool and detached.”Longing - Kat holds a lot of longing within herself. Longing that sits like a hole in her chest. For nature, for love, for life and delight. This longing can have her act foolishly at times, and make her seems somewhat odd in the eyes of others. She struggles to resist the temptations of the thing she is passionate about.
The longing has grown painful, after the event with Dareon. She have started to doubt it, found it foolish. It made the sense of not belonging grow, and she felt a stronger need to please, to delight and to gain love and approval.“I could not awaken my heart to joy at the same tone And all i loved, i loved alone.”Blunt - Another trait she shares with both her father and younger twin, is the frank and blunt manner they often express their thoughts to those around them. Although rarely intending offence and her otherwise bright and well-mannered nature, bluntness is perhaps a useful trait in a command tent, but perhaps not as much in the delicate social situations Katya more often finds herself in.

OTHER❋ Katya washes her hair with water infused with honey and orange. She spends a great deal of time caring for her long curls.❋ She regularly wears perfumed oils, her favorite being Honeysuckle.❋ Excellent rider❋ Capable hunter - using longbow, crossbow and falcons (not a very good tracker though)❋ Can play the harp❋ Can sing❋ An excellent dancer and will take any chance to do so.❋ Excellent visual memory❋ She has held deep affection for Willas Tyreall for years.❋ As soon as she is given the opportunity she travels with her twin-brother Ser Kevan Rowan to tournaments and other festivities.❋ The singer Dareon who was flogged and sent to the wall for being discovered in bed with Katya, claiming that she helped him into her chambers and waited for him there naked, but called it rape when caught.
Katya claims that the only thing she did was act with foolish kindness, preventing him from falling to his death when he had climbed up the wall to her window, and his actions thereafter were none that she consented to.❋Kat prefers to go by 'Kat' by the people close to her.❋ Katya and her twin brother spent a lot of time with the Tyrells as children and befriended these. Katya and her brother therefore hold a very high regard for Mace Tyrell’s children, but not so much of the man himself.

MAIN
V; daughter of Goldengrove
My standard verse that can be used for almost any thread unless they are related to the verses below.
I rarely tag this verse.PRISONER OF WAR
V; Prisoner of war
Katya is a hostage of the Northmen during the war of the five kings and currently calls the dungeons of Riverrun her home. With her family’s close ties to the Tyrell family and her fathers wealth and power in the Reach she is a valuable enough hostage.IN KING'S LANDING
V; In the red keep
After the Battle of the Blackwater, Katya’s father, Lord Mathis Rowan, was given a seat on the king’s Small Council. Katya traveled to join him in King’s Landing.
She’s present for the wedding of Joffrey and Margaery Tyrell, and the coronation of king Tommen as well as the wedding of him and Margaery.
This verse is also used for general threads set in King's landing.LADY OF GOLDENGROVE
V; Lady of Goldengrove
WIP

WHERE DRAGONS FLY
v; Where dragons fly
[WIP]
Katya was born to Lord Thaddeus Rowan and his first wife Alayne Piper and is the younger sister of Thaddeus’ heir Robert and his brother Ronnel. She is also the older half-sister to Rickard, Rickon, Roger, Dunkan and Jason Rowan, the sons by Thaddeus and his second wife Lolys Florent.
Lady Katya comes to king Viserys court, already with something of a reputation to her name. She has a line of dead lords behind her, all of which she was meant to marry, but who met untimely ends before any arrangement could be sealed. In spite of their grim fates and a longing to finally settle and have her father’s attempts to marry her off finally end, she remains a lively and bright young woman. But it is autumn, and at court the strife between the Greens and the Blacks is difficult to avoid, and unfamiliar for Kat to navigate.A CURSED BRIDE FOR THE ONE-EYED PRINCE
v; A cursed bride for the one-eyed prince
Affiliated with Musenssang
Katya Rowan is comely and nicely dowered, from an old, wealthy and respected house, and makes for an attractive bride, but the past few years have left her little more than that. A bride, with four betrothals, ending in the deaths of four lords and heirs of prominent houses. With that misfortune in her not so distant past, who knows what prompted the king to betroth his second son to her? Maybe it wasn’t even his idea? Will Aemond Targaryen live, in spite of the superstitions and expectations that the wedding will be a funeral. Will Kat at last stand bride, and become dragged into the dangerous and unstable affairs at court as King Viserys’ health continues to deteriorate, and the realm splits into Black and Green.

WORDS: “Virtue over splendor.”
SIGILL:Eradicated golden tree on a field of silver
SEAT: Goldengrove

CURRENT LORD: Mathis Rowan
HEIR: Ser Kevan Rowan

SWORN TO: House Tyrell
BANNERMEN:House Osgrey, House Webber.
OTHER TITLES:Marshalls of the Northmarch

BACKGROUNDHouse Rowan is one of the oldest, proudest and most prominent houses of the Reach. Its members can trace their descent from the legendary Garth Greenhand through his daughter Rowan Gold-tree who, according to legend, was left bereft and heartbroken when her lover left her for a richer rival.
In her grief, she cut all of her hair, wrapped an apple in the golden strands and planted it upon a hill.
From the apple grew a tree whose bark, leaves and fruit were all yellow gold, and the tree became the sigill of Rowan’s descendants.During the Dance with the Dragons, house Rowan is led by lord Thaddeus Rowan, siding with Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen during the conflict. He survived this war and got a seat on the council of the seven that served as regents for the young Ageon III Targaryen, and eventually got the position as the Hand of the King after his predecessor Unwin Peake resigned the post.
Thaddesus did not have this post for long as he was accused of treason, but he remained on his post in the Council of the seven until it was dissolved.
He was liege lord of House Osgrey, who had lost their position as Marshals of the Northmarch to house Rowan, and House Webber. His sister, Kristenne Rowan, married into house Webber.
They are both still House Rowan’s sworn bannermen.CURRENT LORD & EVENTSThe current lord of Goldengrove, head of house Rowan and Marshal of the Northmarch is Lord Mathis Rowan. He’s a proud and blunt man, but honorable, prudent and sensible who is well regarded and liked by most people, commoners and lords alike. He is close with Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden and have been considered one of his most trusted advisors, despite cracks in their relationships during more recent years.During Robert Baratheon’s rebellion Mathis Rowan sided with Aerys II Targaryen and aided Mace Tyrell in laying siege to Stannis Baratehon at Storm’s end.
But nonetheless, when Lord Eddard Stark lifted the siege following the sack of King’s landing, Mathis Rowan wisely bent the knee to Robert Baratheon.In 298, an apprentice singer Dareon mistook attention from Lord Rowan’s daughter as an invitation to scale the walls of the castle and climb into the young Lady’s bedroom.
He was captured, flogged and chose The Black over gelding.Lord Rowan is a capable leader and a skilled strategic mind. During the planning of the battle between Renly Baratheon and Stannis Barateon he was given the task of leading the center force.
Following the death of Renly Baratheon he and his son Kevan, alongside many other Lords of the Reach, joined forces with Tywin Lannister and marched on Stannis’s forces during the Battle of the Blackwater.
After the battle, Lord Rowan was among the lords presented as heroes to king Joffrey I and was granted an advisory seat on the small council.His son, Ser Kevan Rowan returns home as acting Lord of Goldengrove.
When Lord Rowan is sent to lay siege to Storm's End, Kevan rides to meet him.FAMILY TIES & RELATIONS
✤Rhonda Rowan, Mathis’s cousin, is married to Bailor Hightower, the heir to Hightower.
✤ Bethany Redwyne, Mathis’s wife, is the Half-sister of Paxer Redwyne.
✤ Bethany was once engaged to Brynden “Blackfish” Tully.
✤ House Osgrey are sworn bannermen of House Rowan.
✤ House Webber are sworn bannermen of House Rowan.

GOLDENGROVE CASTLE & TOWNHouse Rowan’s dominion stretches along almost the entire northern border of the Reach, from the west at it's seat on the river that flows from Silver Hill south to Highgarden, all along the northernmost regions of the Reach, it's lands bordering both the Westerlands, the Riverlands and the Crownlands.The fortified town of Goldengrove and the castle and seat of House Rowan is situated at the western bank of the Pearl River, north of The Reach’s capital Highgarden, with the river, 200m at it's widest, separating the Castle of Goldengrove and the town, allowing control of the passage of ships and boats traveling south from Silver Hill in the Westerlands, and north from the Mander near Highgarden.The castle of Goldengrove, while a bright sight with it’s whitewashed walls along the river, is neither the biggest nor the oldest in the Reach.
The town however is among the oldest and biggest in the region, housing within its walls approximately 30.500 civilians and the settlement predates the caste by nearly 200 years.Notable details are:- The town is enclosed in a stone wall, 40m at it’s highest, with 20 large towers and 17 smaller ones. A moat runs along its exterior, connected to the river.
- There are three gates into the town: The East gate that can only be accessed from the river and the docks, the West gate and the South gate each accessed from smaller roads connecting the Roseroad to the Oceanroad via Goldengrove and Old oak.
- Approximately 300 residential buildings, a mixture of single to three story houses.
- A stone sept with leaded windows; managed primarily by Septon Tobas
- Warehouses
- 2 taverns/inns ; The silver pheasant and The Blind Bargeman
- A number of smaller ale and cider houses and breweries
- 2 Blacksmiths
- Barracks
- Docks; managed by Dockmaster Gareth Arvel
- A town square/marketplace; of approximately 70x60m with a fountain at its centerLike most of the land in the Reach, Goldengrove is incredibly fertile and the rolling hills surrounding it produces crops and livestock that many parts of Westeros benefits from, but its northernmost seat does not allow for as much exotics like peaches and melons, unlike Highgarden and the houses further south.
The main thing of particular note that Goldengrove exports is the golden wine and ciders made from their apple orchards; the orchards have been maintained since before the creation of the House.
Some rumors claim that the seeds inside an apple from the Goldengrove orchards is made of gold and this is why the Rowans have been able to remain one of the wealthiest families in the Reach for hundreds of years.The seat next to the Pearl River is valuable for defense, travel and trade.It takes not even two days to travel by boat to Highgarden from Goldengrove and the river provides for both beast and man during both summer and winter.Military strengthAs Marshall of the Northmarch, the Lord of Goldengrove is tasked with maintaining the military integrity of the northern borders of the Reach, to serve as a regional enforcer of the King’s law and justice and to rally any sworn lords, knights and fighting men in the area under his charge in times of unrest.He answers to the High Marshall of the Reach, a title held by the Lord of Highgarden.House Rowan can rouse an approximate number of 7500 fighting men in times of war, including a number of 200 lesser lordlings and landed knights sworn to them, and maintains a garrison of 400 at Goldengrove in peacetime and 600 in times of unrest.
Parts of this garrison can be seen patrolling the general Northmarch Area.The basic livery of a soldier under the House Rowan banner is as follows:
✤ Steel helmet in the style of an open-faced burgonet, steel breastplate, steel pauldrons, padded tunic in yellow, brown boots, two belts, a pair of gloves, knee length sleeveless wool coat in yellow, a steel shield with the Rowan crest (painted).
✤ Standard weaponry the soldier under House Rowan can be trained in and supplied with includes:
Sword, dagger, hallebard or pike, the short-or longbow or crossbow.
Additional embellishments to the armor, tunic and coat may be present to note the rank of the wearer.