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Introduction: Royce Bolton, scion of House Bolton. About: Royce was born to Ramsay Bolton and Sapphire Bolton (nee Snow) in 305AC in Winterfell, shortly after the heated battle for the North with Jon Snow and his sister Sansa Stark. It was a rather harsh winter when Royce was born and quite honestly the maester wasn't sure if he was even going to survive, but he proved them wrong. A rather resilient babe much like his parents and perhaps the weather proved to be a form of good fortune and a way to show that the boy was to be resilient in his life. Growing up he was taught by both of his parents the ways of House Bolton and the meaning of their House words: Our Blades Are Sharp. Ramsay and Sapphire did not shy away from showing Royce the gruesome by means of flaying and torturing those who stood against them and their House. Despite the practice of flaying being heavily forbidden in the North, House Bolton never truly upheld the laws that House Stark put into place against them, with that and the other horrendous traditions they were known to do or practice. His grandsire, Roose never abided by these placed rules either that he was aware of. Royce at the age of six, during a trip to the Dreadfort did see some of dilapidated skins of their enemies from what appears to be from long ago. He also was able to see some freshly placed ones that were proudly displayed along the walls of the castle, all somehow preserved so they would not rot away as fast and so it didn't bring about a stench. Oddly enough given the age he was, he was absolutely not put off by it or scared, in fact he was fascinated by it more than anything. Once he had his tenth name day, he received a flaying knife as a gift, one that he still owns, it's in his ever growing collection of varying knives and swords. At the age of eight and onward Royce was brought along to the little hunts Ramsay would put on just to test his mettle in such situations, especially when he was younger. Royce’s opinion on such was that if people behaved stupidly or did something that required applicable punishment, therefore they deserved the fate they were dealt. That same opinion was reinforced by him that if they had pissed off or slighted his father or mother then they truly had deserved a horrible death by his father's hounds or be tortured for days. Royce has never shown any sort of strong disdain for his parents for everything he was exposed to, any other person not born to House Bolton would probably feel that way he was certain. He knows that they love him and wanted him to learn first hand. Yes deep down in that cold murderous heart of Ramsay’s he can love, as proven by his very existence and the love he shows Sapphire. Ramsay’s girls also called Bastard’s Girls (hounds); Grey Jeyne, Helicent, Jez, Alison, Kyra, Maude, Red Jeyne, Sara and Willow is quite familiar with Royce and absolutely adores him despite their typical cruel nature and thus wouldn't dare to harm him. In fact two of the girls had protected him when he decided to venture out into the woods alone when he was eight. Sara and Grey Jeyne managed to get out of their kennels and found him being approached by a pack of wolves. Since that time he has personally gone down to the kennels to feed them all and care for them. Just because they're kind to him doesn't mean they are with anyone else aside from Ramsay or Sapphire. Sometimes the kennelmaster is even afraid of them. Royce is absolutely close with both of his parents but was always attached to his mother. When he could walk, he would stumble around and try to follow her a lot when he was a child. Back at that tender age frame, he was easily scared of the things around him but outgrew that scaredy temperament by the age of five. Royce was also schooled by the maester in Winterfell since he resided there instead of the Dreadfort, and to the old man's (maesters) surprise they'd report back to Sapphire and Ramsay that he was a quick learner and quite clever for his age. That quick learning and cleverness had quickly formed into the fondness to learn things and continue educating himself in any which way he possibly could. Therefore he would often be found at the libraries at his homes (Dreadfort or Winterfell). Being the first male heir, after Ramsay dies, Royce becomes the new Warden of the North, Lord of Winterfell and Lord of the Dreadfort, until he has a son(s) who will inherit the titles and lands after him. Personality: Royce’s personality is pretty mild mannered given his father's wild and unhinged temperament and perhaps he takes after his grandsire, Roose in that aspect. He also may come off as standoffish at first but will quickly build up to sarcasm easily or being a smartass depending on how you come off to him or how he may perceive you. For the most part he is mostly quiet, observant, witty and charming. However, when he's pissed off, slighted in any way shape or form, that's when you see his father's side come out and it's not pretty. He is also very protective of his betrothed/wife, Rhaella and if anyone does anything to offend or touch her, he will also lose his shit. Royce doesn't play around when it comes to those he loves. He's also not ashamed of anything (much like Ramsay) and he has grown up in an open house, in terms of communication. No secrets to be had with him and he likes to keep with that aspect. Besides, lying to him is offensive and he doesn't take kindly to being lied to. Skills: Skilled with bow and arrow, knives, daggers and swords he was ensured to be trained in everything possible. He's also a skilled rider and has a pure black horse that was gifted to him by his parents that he aptly named Raven. Religion: Royce worships the Old Gods (aka the trees; inside joke) as it's pretty traditional for Northern Houses. Other: Royce has a peregrine falcon back at home that he named Orion. He found Orion as a baby when he was out hunting with his father. Realizing that she was injured, he took it back to Winterfell with him to help care for it. Later he tried to release her but she always came back to him so he decided to keep the falcon. He found that he quite enjoys falconry as a hobby, a rare thing in the North to do but he found a place for his hobby. ❗This will be constantly updated so check back periodically.