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[lambencies]

PLAYER

Player Name: Franni
Pronouns: she/her
Are you over 18? y
Contact: juanferrari
Current Characters: Felipe ludomania & Asta silverqueen
Triggers: -

STATISTICS

Character Name: Alicent Hightower
Character Canon: House of the Dragon (tv)
Character Age: 30s/early 40s
Canon Point: episode 8
Link to History: Link
Skills: political scheming, ruling a kingdom, sewing, history of Westeros
Abilities: -
Curse Mark: Skala

CHARACTERIZATION

FORMATIVE EXPERIENCES:

• FIRST EVENT: - Alicent was 18 years old when she became the second wife of king Viserys Targaryen, a man much older than herself. Her father plotted the marriage by urging his daughter to spend time with the king when he was lonely and heartbroken. She did as she was told and married the king even though she had no feelings for him and she knew that the arrangement would upset her best friend, princess Rhaenyra. It wasn't her goal to become a queen, she simply followed orders.


• SECOND EVENT: - Her first son, Aegon, was born soon after the wedding. It affected Alicent's position in the court because now she was not only the queen, but also the mother to the crown prince – even if the king had earlier named his daughter from the first marriage as his true heir. Many believed that it was only a matter of time before the king would name Aegon as the new heir. Alicent's father also wanted this and ordered his daughter to ensure it happens. Personally, she didn't want the king to disinherit Rhaenyra because she thought she'd make a good ruler and it'd be for the best of the realm, but she continued to act as her father wished.


• THIRD EVENT: - Rhaenyra and Alicent's friendship ended when Alicent discovered that she had lied to her about losing her maidenhood. First Alicent tried to help her because she believed her, but it put her father in danger and he was sent away from the court. Before his departure he told Alicent that Rhaenyra would eventually try to kill her children or they'd have to bend the knee to her. For the first time she realized that she couldn't trust Rhaenyra anymore and that she had to start playing the game of thrones ruthlessly if she wanted her children to survive.


• FOURTH EVENT: - While Alicent accepted her role as the obedient queen, her childhood friend, princess Rhaenyra put her own desires first. She bore children who were not fathered by her husband, which Alicent couldn't stand. It angered her to see the bastards placed above her own legitimate children in the line of succession, but she could never speak out because that would have been treason. There was one event where she almost did so, at the funeral of Laena Velaryon, where Rhaenyra's son injured Alicent's son. The king did nothing, which caused Alicent lash out. She attacked Rhaenyra and cut her arm, accusing her of neglecting her duties. It was the first time she publicly lost her composure and displayed the fury that had been hidden under the surface for years and years. After the conflict Rhaenyra had to move out of the castle, which left the old king under Alicent's influence.


PHILOSOPHY: The kingdom, the family, the law. These are the values that Alicent places above all else, the most important of them being family. She's lived an unhappy life serving her father and her husband because she felt it was her duty. She cares deeply for her children even if her own background has made it near impossible to love them gently. She treats them harshly and pushes them too far, but she tells herself there's no alternative. If her children are weak, they'll be in danger because they pose a threat to the succession. Her relationship with them is difficult and she often feels alone, so she's turned to the Faith of the Seven to look for solace and guidance.

DESIRES: Alicent wants a righteous world. She wants her sacrifices to have meant something. When she was younger, she blindly believed that doing the right thing would be the way to happiness, but after many years of loneliness in an unhappy marriage, surrounded by people who want to use her, she's lost some of that faith and grown bitter, even cruel. She still clings to the belief that she should be kind and obedient, but she's been corrupted by her upbringing and her suffering. Her morals are very ambiguous, sometimes conflicting. She's learned that rewards don't come to those who wait, but to those who act. She plots to put her son on the throne against the king's wishes and in order to accomplish that she takes over the court while he's sick (Rhaenyra refers to her as a viper) and twists his words, committing treason, but she draws the line at murdering Rhaenyra and even turns against her own father when he suggests it.

FEARS: Alicent fears that her children will be replaced in the line of succession or killed when Rhaenyra becomes the queen. She will do anything to protect them. She has an arrangement with a spy who asks her to show him her bare feet while he masturbates and she repeatedly agrees to it even though she's clearly uncomfortable. Her own knight is violent and has killed people for her, but she looks past it because he keeps her and her children safe. Her son is a monster who abuses female servants at the castle, but she wipes his crimes under a rug. When a dragon is about to attack her son, Alicent throws herself in the way, ready to sacrifice herself for him.

GAMEPLAY

SUITABILITY: Alicent has never been free. She's never even had a lover. All the scheming in the court has taught her plenty of survival tactics and the capability to do awful things even if she was never suited for such a cruel life. I want to explore that new dark side in her and see how she'll survive in Rubi where she's by herself and where she'll probably have to push her limits if she wants to survive and find a way home.

SAMPLE: TDM (cw: incest because this is game of thrones)

MONSTER: A bright green, venomous basilisk. First her skin changes color to pale green and then it becomes scaly, shiny and hard. Then she will slowly develop a craving for blood and raw flesh, intense enough to make her want to hurt those around her. Her nails will grow into talons and her eyes will become lizard like before she changes form into a big snake. The basilisk is cunning and territorial. It might hurt those Alicent cares about, but it will not kill them. Instead it will try to feed on people who've wronged her or her friends and kin.

I've chosen Skala for Alicent's curse mark because even if she's a fiercely loyal protector like a Wilk, circumstances have turned her into a cold leader who'd even harm her own children in order to get what she wants (which is, ironically, their survival).