Mallador Locke

Mallador serves as a Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, and is Lord of Oldcastle. He formerly served as Master of Laws during King Maelor's reign.

Appearance and Character
Mallador's long face features a full silver mane, hooded green eyes, and a neatly trimmed beard. Standing just under six feet tall, his stocky frame hints at the musculature he once possessed in his youth. He favors demure, solid colors of grey, black, and dark blue, and dresses warmly even on warm days in King’s Landing. Upon his cloak, he wears an entwined ribbon of purple and bronze, to indicate support for his cause.

An old bitter man best describes Mallador. There was a time when he was an idealistic ruler of his lands, and a firm, yet fair Master of Laws. But after losing two sons to wars he believed the product of Dornish meddling, he is focused on protecting the young king from the evils of Dornish ways. Outside of his prejudice, he supports proper punishment for lawbreakers, and intolerance for disorder as a whole.

History
Mallador Locke was the firstborn child to Lord Brandon Locke and his wife Catelyn in 140 AC. He proved quite a handful as a toddler, always getting underfoot, and escaping the clutches of his nursemaids. As a youth, he displayed great interest in all aspects of training in the combat yard, pleasing his father greatly. And with his studies, he showed a similar interest in history and law, pleasing his mother greatly. More significantly, his parents both instilled in him a great distrust for outsiders - essentially anyone hailing from south of the Neck.

Aegon’s Invasion
Despite this distrust, a young Mallador’s thirst for battle proved more potent, so when Aegon Targaryen invaded Westeros in 160 AC, he was among the first Northmen to journey down to Dorne, and fight for the realm. There, he experienced warfare unlike any he had ever seen. Guerilla tactics of hiding and ambush, along with abandoning hard won strongholds, seemed strange and outright dishonorable in Mal’s eyes. Even worse, many of the Dornish warriors he fought beside relished in coating their blades with poison - a weak man’s weapon. Indeed it appeared the Gods themselves disapproved, for though the Westerosi forces seemed to collect a great many victories, they struggled to turn back Aegon and his mighty dragon. It was not until the intervention of Braavos, did the war finally end in the Crown’s favor. But with that came the entrance of Dorne into the realm.

Like many veterans of the war, Mallador lingered in King’s Landing, basking in the celebrations of their momentous victory. He caroused with his fellow Northmen, as well as new Southron comrades he had bonded with in the sands, despite his prejudices. However, with the celebrations came the news of the betrothal of Prince Martell to a crown princess. It was not long before the royal court filled with the foreign Dornish and their queer ways, which did not sit well with Mal. Indeed, he watched his childhood mate, Theon Twinaxe, perish painfully from some exotic poison, after a mere tavern brawl with a foul mouthed Dornishman. But he had little time to ruminate over these grievances, for news soon arrived of his lord father’s death, rendering him the new lord of Oldcastle.

Lord Locke
Mallador assumed the lordship, trading his sword for pen and parchment, as he committed himself to ruling his lands. He formed a strong bond with his direct liege, the Manderlys, who had always treated his house with respect and generosity. At White Harbor he would form a lasting friendship with a young squire, Reynard Osgrey. From his own castle, Mal ruled with a heavy hand, having little patience for lawbreakers of any sort. In particular, Dornish and Essosi merchants were dealt with harshly.

During this time, he married Lyanna Stark, who gave him five beautiful, healthy children. The oldest, Edmund and Duncan - two strapping boys who gave him peace of mind as his heir and spare. Following the two came Lyra and Serena, opposites in every way. Finally a late arrival, a third son, Robin, would come into the world just as the greys started showing at the edges of Mal’s hairline.

Rumblings of the profligate and wasteful reign of King Monterys slowly spread through the North, but Mallador had no attention for such matters, for his lady wife had fallen ill. For two long, grueling years, the she wolf fought her ailment, but in the end, she succumbed to the will of the Gods, and passed. A despondent Mal aimlessly roamed his halls, and began neglecting his duties. When his household and lands began to suffer, Lord Stark and Manderly urged him to journey to King’s Landing, in a diplomatic mission of sorts, to investigate the constant increase in taxes coming from the capitol.

Locke the Courtier
Though reluctant at first, Mallador eventually agreed to this new purpose, and immersed himself in King Monterys’ court of sycophants. He especially noted the increase in Dornish residents and culture, both inside and outside of the Red Keep - an observation that did not sit well with him. Within the court, he was initially unwilling to engage in shameless pandering, but he did find a few old friends - veterans from Aegon’s Invasion - who inducted him into politics, and he soon came to embrace it. It was not long before Mal secured himself a cushy position as history and law tutor to the young Prince Maelor. He undertook his task with earnest, teaching the prince everything he knew of administering lands, which Maelor appreciated, for the past holders of the sinecure rarely even bothered to show up. This bond was recognized when King Monterys passed, and the new King Maelor named Mallador his Master of Laws.

Master of Laws
Not long after his appointment, Maelor led his armies against a rebellion in the Reach, leaving Mallador to handle law and order himself. Such power garnered him much attention from the courtiers remaining in the city.

One such courtier, Lady Alyse Drinkwater immediately caught Mal’s eye. Possessing golden blonde hair and striking blue eyes, she looked nothing like the other Dornish he had been accustomed to dealing with at court. With a sharp wit and delightfully contrary nature - not to mention elegant, mature beauty - Alyse charmed her way into his life. Soon she began to ask him for small favors regarding her House’s wine enterprise. It started with incremental lowering of tariffs on Dornish Red, then led to requirements the Red be served at all court functions, to more relaxing of import laws. Before long, Dornish Red grew ubiquitous in King’s Landing, and demands to curtail their export fell on deaf ears. Although Mal typically supported all anti-Dornish proposals, on matters of wine he would not budge. However, when riots broke out in the streets, he began to reconsider. Finally matters came to a head one morning, when, lying in bed with Lady Alyse, she casually japed how it would be a shame if something were to happen to the Golden Wind, a Redwyne shipping vessel. Hours later the Arbor ship would explode in the Blackwater, sparking what would become known as the Wine Wars. That was the last time he would see the Dornish woman.

Cursing himself for his utter foolishness, his hostility toward the Dornish deepened - a sentiment made worse by the death of his second son, Duncan. The young man would perish defending Locke merchant ships from the privateers preying on the Northern routes during the Wine Wars.

Two more rebellions would follow, demanding Maelor’s attention, and leaving a bitter Mallador freedom to pass anti-Dornish restrictions in the capitol. He became so busy with his vengeance, he failed to pay attention to the escalating conflict between the North and the Frey-Manderly alliance - a conflict that stemmed from the Wine Wars. When war officially broke out between the two, Mal concluded he had failed the realm twice, and resigned from his position.

Upon journeying home to the North, he reluctantly joined his house in the War of the Crossing, siding with his good friend and liege, Lord Manderly. During the siege of White Harbor, many inhabitants of the castle succumbed to Bolton’s Plague, including his son and heir, Edmund. Yet another child he would lose due to wars he could have prevented. Wars started because of the filthy Dornish.

Regency Council
Mallador would spend the next nine years cultivating his hatred for the people of Dorne. He would press upon his grandchildren, the evil, untrustworthy nature of the desert folk. But they were merely the bitter ramblings of an old man in a remote part of the North, until an interesting raven arrived from King’s Landing. Mal had been appointed to the regency council of lords, who would rule the realm in case of Maelor’s death before his son came of age.

In 199, following King Maelor’s passing, Mallador journeyed to King’s Landing to take his place as Regent. He was disgusted to find a Dornishman served as Hand of the King, and Regent. But he was pleased to find a familiar face serving as Lord Commander of the Gold Cloaks. Ser Jaremy Waters, a young knight he had saved from the noose a decade prior, who shared his distrust of the Dornish.

Family
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