for vapourdays
north, a game of thrones roleplay

✧ name ✧
alys manderly of white harbor
the songbird

✧ age ✧
seventeen

✧ gender ✧
female

✧ sexuality ✧
straight

✧ appearance ✧
alys has fair hair that curls gently; she often wears it loose and long, in typical northern fashions. her skin is pale and dotted with a wealth of little freckles, and her round, doe-like eyes are a blue-grey—though they can often shift in the light, looking more like a shade of green.
freya mavor.

✧ personality ✧
alys is demure and soft-spoken. well-mannered and polite, she is not the type to draw attention to herself. but behind her refined behavior is a woman who misses nothing.
the tiniest detail can rattle alys and turn in her mind for weeks in end—she notices and analyzes everything. she is quite good at reading people, and at understanding the intricacies of westerosi and northern politics (they are, of course, very different entities). her hidden, wicked cunning is a force to be reckoned with—when she chooses to act on it.
alys is very in touch with her identity—her emotions, flaws, and strengths are all very clear to her, and she has a distinct, refreshing clarity of mind. despite that clarity, alys often leaves problems and arguments unresolved, choosing to forget about them instead of face them. it makes her feel like a coward. she is a passive woman, and she does not enjoy conflict.
but, of course, conflict is everywhere. and, despite her timid ness, when alys is truly upset by something, she can be frightening, all raging fury or bitter coldness. she is absolutely capable and willing to hold grudges, and she never forget when somebody had wronged her.
her urge to please and seek approval in others, along with her willingness to forget all that is bad in her world, make her particularly naive. she sees the good in everyone and everything, for better or for worse.

✧ background ✧
alys had a peaceful childhood, well removed from war and hardship. during the summers, when even the northern air was pleasant and warm, alys traveled. usually, she was sent to winterfell to serve the princesses—more in friendship than anything else. those summers taught her very much about winterfell and it's denizens, and allowed her to steadily befriend the stark children.
over the years, she developed a fierce loyalty for the royal family. when she turned thirteen, she became rather abruptly infatuated with torrhen. that infatuation did not fade as the years passed, but grew into something more mature and inveterate. it didn't help that she became quite enthralled by the idea of being queen and holding power—particularly at torrhen's side.
when the skagosi uprising began soon after she turned fifteen, alys was no longer able to visit winterfell. she stayed at white harbor, sequestered away in the new castle with her mother while the men spilled blood on the coast. as the war raged, she grew into a woman in both mind and body, furthering her education by spending hours reading (and arguing with) the maester. alys wouldn't admit it, of course, but sneaking out of the new keep became a habit of hers.
now, her ambitions are simple: she intends to marry torrhen and become his queen.

✧ other ✧
alys has a lovely voice, and people claimed that her singing could be heard in the streets during the long years of the skagosi uprising, earning her the name 'the songbird.'