MARON GREYJOY

disclaimer. maron is practically non-existent in canon and has long died before the books actually begin. he may not be my actual creation but for all intents and purposes I do treat him like an oc given that I have come up with basically everything regarding him except for his name and house. do not take any contents of this blog.
the beautiful characters Vicmarr the Clever and Hrafon Pyke ( members of maron's crew, mentioned in his biography ) are not my own. they are designed and written by train over on gedwimora.i am not affiliated with grr martin, hbo, d&d, or alex høgh andersen.content warning. a song of ice and fire is a triggering and often deeply disturbing setting that will be reflected on my blog. while i will never actively write non-con or rape, mentions of such may happen, as well as mentions or written depictions of slavery, incest, abuse, and sexism. while maron is no villain per se, he can be ruthless and brutal. written depictions of gore, murder, physical, verbal, and psychological abuse, torture, as well as drowning will definitely happen. triggers will be tagged accordingly. i, as the mun, condone none of this but i firmly believe that exploring dark topics in fiction, while being of sound mind, is perfectly harmless. i will not apologize for any gruesome contents of my blog.the muse. maron, canonically, is the secondborn son of balon greyjoy and alannys harlaw and thus the older brother of asha and theon. for the purpose of my portrayal, maron has survived the greyjoy rebellion and has spent almost ten years as a ward in stannis baratheon's household on dragonstone. rodrik greyjoy's death remains default, thus making maron balon's oldest living son and heir to House Greyjoy and lawful ruler of pyke. at the kingsmoot, maron loses the throne to euron and flees pyke to seek alliances both in westeros and the free cities. while maron is overall agreeable, hospitable, and even charming, he is also known to be cruel and calculating. he lives by the old way and believes the drowned god to be the only god there is. he desires ironborn independence and the salt throne, as well as the crown that comes with it. he also believes euron needs to die and that he should be the one to kill him.writing. english is not my first language and mistakes may occasionally happen. i don't appreciate being made aware of any typos etc. and would thus prefer not to get messages about it. i use icons, small font, and some mild formatting. you may, of course, do whatever you like on your posts. if you need the text to be regular sized, please let me know and I'll try and remember it.following & unfollowing. i am highly selective and private. I am also mutuals only and i would ask you not to try and get in touch with me if i am not following you. it's never personal, but there is a reason usually. due to the nature of the blog, i do not interact with minors. i also like to have an enjoyable dashboard and if i find that a certain blog i follow doesn't provide that anymore for me, i will unfollow and softblock. personal blogs get hardblocked on sight, as well as rp blogs that do not respect my boundaries.
I also will not follow back if you list topics that you do not tolerate in your rules while I actively write these topics on my blog, i.e. incest, sexism, otherwise bigoted behavior. to me, it either means you haven't read my rules or care for the content of my blog, or you're a bit of a hypocrite. neither makes interactions very appealing for me.

interactions. i am generally slow when it comes to writing and may occasionally throw replies in the queue. due to me rarely posting starter calls, sending in a meme or two is the best way to start interactions with me. if you prefer to plot beforehand, my IMs certainly are always available for that. god-modding results in an immediate softblock and drop of a thread. please keep in mind that maron is highborn and the heir to one of the five great houses of westeros.
he has the same kind of power and esteem as robb stark or arianne martell and will demand it. he is also an incredibly skilled fighter and known murderer. please don't dismiss or ignore that.mains & exclusives. i am generally open to the idea of mains but exclusives will rarely ever happen. exclusivity only happens if I have such profound chemistry with another mun and their portrayal, that I cannot see myself write with another version of the muse. mains can be people I simply write with regularly and am willing to prioritize over other mutuals. and yes, I do play favorites.__ if you'd like to become mains with me, make sure we have regular ooc chats, ic interactions, and just come hit me up about it.__exclusives
zcldrizes - Daenerys Targaryen
greyjoytm - Asha Greyjoy
starfrckled - Rodrik Greyjoyshipping. while shipping is not a priority, i am absolutely not opposed. i am open to all sorts of romantic and non-romantic connections, as well as arranged marriage plots. despite not being the friendliest character, maron is well capable of falling in love and devoting himself totally to his partner. keep in mind however that his people and the independence of the iron islands will always (!) be more important to him than any romantic relation. this is non-negotiable. your muse will not be able to "change" him, drop his ironborn ways and make him see the light. while maron is unlikely to take salt wives, he does have a couple of bastards running around westeros and the free cities already, but couldn't care less about them.drama. drama is absolutely not tolerated. I don't want any racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism or otherwise bigoted behaviour ooc on my dashboard and i hardblock anyone displaying behaviour like that. that being said, I also do not tolerate the overall tumblr trend to shit on straight white men. any kind of hatred against anybody gets hardblocked. i don't have DNI lists, nor FCs i do not interact with. i don't follow the personal lives of actors and i don't care what person xy said five years ago that can be deemed problematic. we're all adults, we can walk away from things we don't agree with. harrassment, callouts, bullying, vagueing, and anon hate thus are not tolerated either whatsoever. i don't care how justified you feel for it, it is not your job to police the content of other people's blogs. if you disagree with any content of my blog or any of my opinions, feel free to do so but keep it to yourself and unfollow or hardblock me, anything you need to do to make yourself feel safe without involving me in it. your rp experience is your responsibility - not mine.the mun. the mun goes by the name hannah and has been on and off tumblr for about seven years now. maron was previously found on tymptir, an asoiaf multimuse, but has since moved to his own blog. i am from central europe, a published writer, and currently working on my first novel. i am 30+ and busy busy outside of tumblr and thus very slow. i may occasionally drop off the face of the earth and reappear a month later or so. it just happens.

name. maron greyjoy.
titles. lord greyjoy. lord reaper of pyke. the kraken prince. scourge of the sea. the salt prince.
born. 273 ac. at pyke.
house. house greyjoy.
parents. balon greyjoy (deceased) & alannys harlaw.
siblings. rodrik (deceased), Asha, Theon.
children. a few unknown bastards.ships. the kingfisher. the iron kiss.
faith. the drowned god.
languages. common tongue, old iron, old valyrian.
accent. a hint of old iron (similar to modern scandinavian languages).
military strength. the iron fleet.
notable battles. the greyjoy rebellion. ironborn invasion of the north. surrender of moat cailin. the second siege of meereen. ( the long night. the battle of king's landing. )
allies. house targaryen. house martell. house tyrell.

eye colour. bright ocean blue.
hair colour. dark brown.
height. 6'1 (185cm).
weight. 180lbs (82kg).
physique. tanned. toned, muscular chest, back and legs. visible bicep. slender.
special features. traditional tribal ironborn tattoos covering his entire back and chest. largely depicting boats, waves, the tribal face of the drowned god on his left and the storm god on his right pec, and the greyjoy kraken between his shoulderblades.
scars. circles of dotted scars around his thighs from the nails fixing his broken legs. ( after the long night, a large scar runs from his right cheek down to his lip. ) various smaller scars stemming from various fights.zodiac. scorpio.
myer briggs. etsj-a ; the executive.
moral alignment. chaotic neutral.
major arcana. the tower.
sexual orientation. bisexual with a very strong tendency towards women.

personality. maron, like any true ironborn, is made from salt and iron. his nature overall is playful and curious, somewhat open-minded, peppered with a dash of boyish cheek. despite the awful reputation of his house, maron might surprise by being a remarkably generous host and straightforward ally. being highborn enables him to speak his mind and to do so boldly, often with a dash of sarcasm. brutish as him and his crew may appear, it takes a lot to provoke maron into physical violence. he does not, however, forget a slight and is extremely resentful.once riled up, maron is capable of dealing out immense brutality to his enemies. he believes in the old way of his people, as well as the words of his house. "we do not sow" is not simply a phrase. maron will trade and barter but not buy with coin. alliances with him will always be a little uncertain and he may change his mind with the tide. his playfulness can quickly turn into cruelty and lies.should anyone dare build a deeper connection to him however, they will find a devoted and loyal man who, behind the facade of a hardass, deeply loves his family, his islands, and his people. while he is insanely loyal and proud to be ironborn, strangers may be surprised by maron's atypical worldliness and eloquence, both stemming from having spent so many years amongst other cultures than the ironborn. maron has seen more than the average ironborn ever will, and it shows in his demeanour, the way he speaks, and his opinions.skills. from an early age maron was taught in close combat and archery. he puts little emphasis on brute strength, but uses speed and cunning instead. his weapon of choice are two battle axes that he uses simultaneously. he's an expert sailor and knows how to mend a selection of damage done to a ship. his sea-legs are impeccable, allowing him to balance on extremely narrow surfaces as well as keep his stance on slippery ground. he is an excellent swimmer, surfer and diver.
while staying with Stannis baratheon, maron learned how to read and write, as well as proper horse-riding. stannis unwittingly taught him much about the history of westeros, its houses, and battle strategy as well.habits. eye-rolling and clicking his tongue whenever he disapproves of something. cocking the head to the side when he's curious. sticking the tip of his tongue through his front teeth while grinning. crossing his arms before his chest. scrunching up his nose. starting the day with a mug of warm grog. mocking his enemies. dangling victims off the hull of his ship. feeding enemies to the sharks. audible steps due to his iron-capped boots. no metal armour, just light leather. sitting by the shore to cool his mind. watching small animals and fish in the pools left by the tide. wearing the shoulder-long hair in an array of detailed, intricate braids.weaknesses. his pride. resentment against most westerosi for constantly belittling his people. a desire for revenge. distrustful. the need to bring glory to his house once more. the joy of being feared. regaining the trust of the ironborn after having lived on dry land for ten years. beautiful women.

goal. ever since robert baratheon's forces brutally crushed the ironborn rebellion, killing maron's brother rodrik in the process, maron has craved a second chance at gaining ironborn independence. he wants to remind the world that the ironborn are true and serious players in this game of thrones as well and deserving of respect. the many slights and jokes on his and his people's expense don't sit right with him and he dreams of putting the ironborn back on the map and forcing westeros into fearing them again. if he cannot gain independence by peaceful means, he is prepared to go into battle for it and, if necessary, burn the entire coast down on the way to king's landing. he dreams of the iron islands as an independent kingdom with himself on the throne, living by the old way as their ancestors have before the targaryen invasion.allies. after the kingsmoot maron, fearing for his life, flees the iron islands. before leaving, he manages to convince some loyal captains of his quest to seek justice for what's been done to him, and disappears in the dead of night with half of the iron fleet following. from here on out, the story can develop in any given direction. he could travel to meereen to ally up with daenerys targaryen. he could offer his aid to the reach against euron's invading forces. he could travel to dorne to try and convince doran of the concept of independence. maron is cunning and ( even though he'd never admit it ) desperate. anyone capable of helping him win back his throne and gain independence for his people could potentially be an ally. alternatively, someone may be brave enough to approach him for aid, offering a seat on the small council as master of ships in return.....scars. from the young age of six maron was trained to fight, not only by his father, but his uncles victarion and euron, too. over the years, training and small squabbles with various people have led to a merry array of small scars trailing around his torso and arms. when, during the greyjoy rebellion, the wall of pyke came crashing down and maron with it, he broke both legs in the fall. stannis had his maesters put long iron nails around Maron's thighs to keep his bones in place while healing. the nails have left rings of small, dotted scars in both his thighs, some deeper, others almost faded into nothing. in show verses Maron has participated in the Long Night and was badly wounded in the battle against the dead. most notably, his right cheek was slashed from the cheekbone down to his upper lip. the wound has left a scar that is well-visible, but not disfiguring.ships. shortly after his return to pyke, maron joined a raid along the southern coast of essos where, just before great moraq, they captured a pirate vessel. maron claimed the ship for himself, naming her Kingfisher. a two-master, reworked to have an ebony-coloured deck and helm, golden trimmings along the rail, and a deep belly for treasure and other cargo. the figurehead is the torso of a nude woman, her arms replaced with birdwings spread back along the rail and her nose is a long copper beak that can be used as a spear in battle. turquoise colour detail a tiara around her forehead and a necklace over her bare breasts. she sports black sails with the golden greyjoy kraken painted on them. when sailing to battle with the iron fleet, maron leaves his pirate vessel in the bay and instead commands the massive juggernaut Iron Kiss.

maron was born on a crisp november morning with ice floating in the bay before pyke. he kept his mother in labour for almost thirty hours, but made little trouble during birth. a quiet child ; quick to laugh and giggle, with bright blue eyes. by the time he was three, his father took him down to the bay and threw him into the sea. that day, whether he wanted to or not, maron learned how to swim, the same way his older brother had learned it before him. the long, warm summers of his childhood were spent crafting rafts and sailing out to great wyk and the surrounding islands to play with other children, surf, and fish. all through his childhood, there was little that maron craved more than rodrik's attention, but his brother preferred the friendship of harras harlaw over maron's company.

one night, barely at the age of seven, maron had a strange dream for the first time. a dream in which he sat in the shallows down by the bay and below him, submerged in the water, was Harras with maron's hands around his throat. fighting, struggling for breath. maron watched the bubbles rising up to the surface, watched the splashing - until there were fewer and fewer of them, a thick stream turning into nothing eventually, and harras lay still and dead in the water below him. he never told anyone of this dream. not even his two most beloved uncles ; Aeron with his drunken quips, and Euron, always venturing out into the world and returning with the grandest stories and best gifts. Rodrik's love and attention remained unattainable to him, letting the resentment for Harras fester and grow.

the birth of asha and theon just a few years after marked an odd change in maron's life. alannys laid his sister's screaming little form into his lap and told him to take good care of her. to be an older brother now, which meant that he'd be bound to protect her for all times. "and rodrik?" he had asked. "does he have to protect her, too?" no, his mother had smiled at him. rodrik protects you. only that he didn't. sisters are special though. remember that. rodrik's indifference, on that day, shone in an entirely new light. something natural, perhaps. something that simply was and would be, because protection was for the special ones. the sisters. maron soon began to lay the world at Asha's feet, cooing and caring for her whenever she demanded it ; theon however - well, if rodrik didn't care for him, why would maron care for theon?

things changed when maron turned ten. after a drunken knife game, his uncle urrigon, a mere three, four years older than him, fell ill with rotting flesh after getting injured. he remembered the reek of pus and decay that lingered in urri's room for days and days before he eventually succubmed to the infections poisoning his blood. aeron, usually ever so chipper and gentle, ( the rock in maron's stormy sea, the voice of reason ) blaming himself for urrigon's death, became someone else. someone quiet and serious who never laughed again. instead, he wandered out into the sea and returned with seaweed in his hair, speaking nothing but the drowned god's gospel. and while maron eagerily drank up those stories, too, he dearly missed the stability, the soft care that aeron until then had provided.

summers came and childhood slipped into adolesence, much to Alannys' dismay. on his twelfth nameday maron accompanied his father on his first raid. a year later, on a journey with euron to the free cities, he killed his first man and lost his virginity to a whore from dorne his uncle had bought for him. winters were for raiding, they said, and the summers were spent in the bay, playing, swimming, and daydreaming. every now and then, if alannys could convince him, he would allow asha and even theon to join him in the surf, standing before him on the board, clinging to his legs. violent winter storms regularly chased theon into his bed, and despite his cruelties and lies he regularly fed his little brother ( just because he could, really ) he allowed theon to find safety with him, his arms wrapped around the shivering body.

maron, once a cheeky little boy with eyes gleaming with nothing but doe-eyed innocence, grew into a man. as tall as his father, broad-shouldered and strong at only fourteen, he found himself thinking he was invincible. his wits had grown sharp as a whip and he regularly lashed out at harras, often starting fights with rodrik in the process, who appeared to drink his life away without a care for his family. alannys feared for her sons and following a dream she preferred to call prophecy, in which she saw maron drown at sea, she locked him into his chambers for almost a fortnight, trapped in terror and blind panic. euron eventually found out and freed the boy, raining a shower of abuse down on alannys at the same time. a once loving relationship between balon and his brother steadly shattered, but maron loved his uncle all the more.

for all those years, balon had laboured over battle plans. countless nights spent in the company of victarion and euron, plotting, planning away. aged fourteen, maron too was invited to the great hall for the first time and, along with rodrik, listened to the plans of a grand rebellion against the crown that would guarantee independence to the iron islands. rodrik travelled to seaguard to fight the battle over there, while maron was tasked with the defense of pyke ; an honour, surely, especially for a boy of not quite fifteen, who believed the world to be his and had convinced himself to be blessed by god himself. eager to follow his father into battle, maron trained rigorously, brainwashed obviously by balon, and unaware of the undeniable fact that the plan was foolish from start to finish. after the first attacks on the coastline drew the baratheon forces to pyke, maron kissed his sister goodbye and left.

stood atop the southern wall of pyke facing the open sea, maron had eighty men in his back. archers, most of them, aiming down at the baratheon fleet approaching. blood pulsed in his ear, his heart beating so loud it almost deafened him but the young man stood his ground. arrows soon hailed down on the enemy, one soldier after the other swept away by the sea - only that arrows, as he learned that day, do painfully little against catapults. he remembered the wall shaking underneath his feet and what followed happened in a flash. stone crumbled, broke away, his men tumbled and fell, down down into their deaths. then the ground disappeared below him and maron plummeted almost seventy feet and crashed into the shallow waters of the bay, debris and rock raining on top of him.

he should have died that day. logic dictated as much. it was the sea herself however that cushioned his fall and the boulders falling atop of him left nothing but scratches and bruises to his torso and head. the world had gone black and with the first blink of light came unfamiliar faces hoisting him out of the shallow waters. amongst them was the stern, cold glare of stannis baratheon. it was then that maron realised that his legs were nothing but a useless mess dangling from his hips. the white of bone shimmered through torn leather breeches and both his thighs where broken and in shambles. rage and adrenaline coursing through his veins dulled the pain then, but still tears of frustration and hatred ran down his bloodied face when the soldiers dragged him back to the beach, screaming abuse at the top of his lungs, and lashing out in whatever way he could.

his father knelt on the ground, euron by his side. arrows and spears pointing at the both of them and above them hovered robert baratheon, already chubby in his armour, with the helmet removed. a punishment, the fat king had said. something to guarantee that balon greyjoy would hold the peace against the crown. they dragged Theon from his mother's arms first, both of them screaming in desperation, while Asha hid in Alannys' skirts. maron then found himself hoisted higher. your secondborn? he remembered the drawl in robert baratheon's voice and his father's weak nod. he's a handful that one, eh? surely the bleak, rough rocks of dragonstone can beat that out of him. huh, stannis? stannis baratheon had stood like a sentinel, unmovingly watching the scenery before he had turned on his heel and walked to the boats. maron, still held by baratheon guards, was dragged away behind them. all whilst watching his father kneel in the sand, doing . . . nothing.

the journey to dragonstone was agony. with adrenaline fading and fatigue setting in, the pain came rushing in. for weeks maron either slept, dulled by as much milk of the poppy as he could drink without killing him, or screaming in anguish. he cried for his family, his home, his shattered legs, and his wounded pride. stannis regularly sent the maester to care for him, but never came to see him himself. upon landing on dragonstone ( truly nothing but a bland rock in the middle of the sea, half connected to the greenlands ) maron was heaved onto the back of a horse and carried up the wide steps leading to the castle. staring up at the dragonheads looming above him, so lifelike he almost believed them to spit fire upon him any second, true and actual fear gripped him for the first time in his life. it was in that moment that the what if's began. what if I had been stronger. smarter. braver. what if none of this had happened and what if he would never see his siblings again.

the first few weeks he spent on his own, locked away in the sea dragon tower, spitting venom at anyone who dared come near. stannis' maester cressen dared more than anyone else and for reasons unknown to maron, stannis had them apply the best medical treatment they could think of. to stabilize his bones and set them right, they hammered nails into his thighs ( torture, no more or less ) and the weeks following went by in a daze inflicted by milk of the poppy and the howling of the wind around the castle towers. with stannis often absent in king's landing, it was ser axell florent, castellan of the castle, who had to face maron's wrath in those few clear moments in between. strength slowly returned, as did the ironborn stubbornness and after an almost tumble-down the many stairs after fleeing his bed, maron, much to his own surprise, encountered a boy almost the same age as him, looking down at him with plain surprise on his face.

Allard Seaworth, unafraid of the Ironborn hellion, called for his younger brother, Matthos, and together they heaved Maron up and helped him hobble back up the stairs. it was the beginning of an unlikely friendship. while Maron continued to hail insults at everyone in Stannis’ household, the Seaworth children quickly captured his attention and, soon enough, affection, too. they were the same age, all of them a little rowdy and very much drawn to the sea. Dale, Allard, and Matthos, some more patient than others, became Maron’s legs, helping him recover bit by bit, step by step. Stannis, though sceptical at first, allowed for a companionship to bloom between the boys, hoping that a friendly influence on Maron would turn him a little more mellow in time. the plan worked. Maron was Ironborn and strong, recovering quickly from his injuries, and fortunately he was entirely unafraid to train day after day, daring more and more each time he left his rooms.

while there was absolutely no fondness between Stannis and Maron, something akin to mutual respect at some point began to grow.. there was no trusting the boy, Stannis knew, but Maron proved a lot more approachable than previously thought. and for an Ironborn, the boy was remarkably clever, too. Stannis had Maester Cressen set aside previous differences ( largely stemming from neverending discussions about true gods and impostor deities ) and ordered Maron to learn how to read and write. as part of a largely illiterate folk, Maron was strangely curious about it, and quick to learn. two years into his stay, Maron was allowed to move freely about the castle. he spent the warm summer days building rafts and sailing with the Seaworth boys, and in his downtime wandered to explore every part of the island until he knew every cave, crevice, tower, and bay like the back of his hand. during the long, dark winter storms, he sat with matthos through the nights, playing chess.

while the relationship between Maron and Ser Axell had warmed over the years, with Maron only occasionally defying the knight on purpose, and the sons of Ser Davos having grown into brothers to the young Ironborn, the one obstacle within the castle forever was the Lady Selyse. since the boy’s involuntary arrival, she had made no secret of her hatred and mistrust of him. he was forbidden from various rooms in the castle, particularly her own quarters and later, after Shireen’s birth, the baby’s chambers, too. the height of their dispute happened shortly after Shireen’s birth, when Maron mocked her inability to bear sons, reminding her painfully of her inferiority to his own mother who bore Balon three strong, healthy sons. Selyse publicly had him whipped for it; a faux pas that Maron has never forgiven.

out of spite, he spent the following years trying to get close to Shireen whenever possible, only to unsettle her mother. he soon, however, began to feel pity for the girl, even going so far as to make a sacrifice to the Drowned God to help her survive the greyscale. the fact that the illness merely left her disfigured but had indeed not killed her, served as more proof for Maron that his god was the one, true god. soon every look upon her turned into a painful reminder of asha, his own beloved little sister, however, and maron eventually dropped his attempts to hurt selyse any further. to Shireen, Maron was but another shadow in a castle she was largely forbidden to see. until this day, he isn’t entirely sure whether or not the girl was actively aware of his presence at all.

hateful to the bone still, however, selyse dealt one final blow in a battle that determined maron as the loser. she approached him one day, holding a single letter with the wax seal of his house broken already. one of many his mother had written, she told him. one of many she had burned in the hearth without ever handing them over to him to read. years had passed without a word from his family, and his throat tightened uncomfortably. that one letter she handed to him, a thin smile on her lips. in it, in his mother's faint handwriting, he found the news that rodrik had been killed at seaguard. years he had spent believing his family to be fine, telling himself it was so, if only to save his own mind from going crazy . . . and something within in him shattered that day.

whenever Stannis was home, Maron was allowed sit in council meetings and watch while Stannis tended to his duties as Master of Ships. thrice, Stannis took Maron back to King’s Landing with him, not, mind you, to teach him even more, but because either Selyse or Ser Axell begged him to take the boy off their hands. unknowlingly, Stannis taught Maron a lot about the workings of the realm, the most prominent houses, and the art of war. it was Maron, too, working the rookery for a rapidly ageing Maester Cressen at the time, who first read a letter to Ser Axell, in which Stannis told of his suspicion that the boy Joffrey and his siblings may, in fact, not be Robert’s children, and he was present when Stannis arrived in the dead of the night after Jon Arryn’s death.

with the arrival of the Lady Melisandre everything changed. while the Seven went largely ignored by Maron, the Lord of Light posed a personal offense that he couldn't quite explain to this day. perhaps it was Melisandre’s insistence that R’hllor was the only god, perhaps it was Selyse’s love for that faux deity, nobody knew for sure, but something in Maron compelled him to rebel against Melisandre at every given opportunity. her mockery of the Drowned God didn'tt sit well with him, and it lead to the two of them openly fighting whenever they were left in each other's presence long enough. whenever Melisandre brought up the superiority of the Lord of Light, Maron proceeded to dip a candle into a cup of water while looking her straight in the eye.

it was this tension, amongst other things, that gave Stannis reason to send Maron back home shortly after Robert’s death. with his own plans of taking the Iron Throne slowly building up and no loyalty left to Robert's old plans, he believed Maron had witnessed enough already. the tension in his household and the ongoing feuds between Maron, Melisandre, and Selyse, were too high a risk for Stannis, as well as a distraction he did not need. with Matthos Seaworth, Maron’s closest companion at the time, and much more a brother to him than Rodrik or Theon ever were, now believing in the Lord of Light as well, Maron felt utterly betrayed and abandoned by a person he had previously loved. after almost ten years, he left Dragonstone with a mixture of hatred, disappointment, and sadness in his heart.

his arrival on pyke was celebrated like a victory feast. a prince returned ; the heir back where he belonged. the heir. with rodrik dead maron now stood as balon greyjoy's oldest living son, the future lord of the iron islands. the slip into the role came so seamless to him that first voices began to whisper that perhaps maron had hoped for all of this - the loudest whisper, no doubt, stemming from harras harlaw who still grieved his fallen friend. asha, now a woman grown and ever too honest with her brother, pulled him aside a fortnight after his arrival on pyke. there were rumours, she said. people calling maron green behind his back, doubting whether or not he was still ironborn at all. a sense of dread settled in his gut, mixed with unabashed rage. a bruised ego rarely did good to a proud young man.

his father's simple solution was to behead anyone who dared speak such filth. flattering to maron, but ultimately no way to prove his true nature to anyone. a once rough youngling, a child ready to pull a knife at any time, had grown up into an intelligent young man. more clever perhaps than most of the brood living on these damp rocks and maron, fortunately or unfortunately, knew it. with euron gone, exiled from the iron islands, he turned to aeron, now a wandering priest on the islands and more ghost than man. it's not the people you need to prove yourself to. a simple reply, yet one that made sense. not the people decided on who was true iron or not. only a god had such power.

a month after his arrival maron, dressed in his leathern armor, ready to pass into the halls a warrior, wandered barefoot into the sea. a spectacle, a celebration on the day when balon greyjoy's son would either die or be reborn, blessed by the drowned god himself. aeron's drowned men pushed his body underneath the water, his uncle's low voice still ringing in his ears. have courage. we came from the sea and to the sea we must return. open your mouth and drink deep of our god's blessing. and he did. salt water filled his lungs, eyes closed, and the explosions of pain as his chest threatened to burst soon faded into nothing. and then all that remained was clarity. a vision of a large fleet, snow and ice. of a burning keep and a woman with silvern hair walking through the fire.

he came to, violently coughing up saltwater and bile. his lungs burned, his head spun, but when Aeron's drowned men pulled him back up, he was alive. in the stunned silence around them, Aeron's words rang loud and clear. rise. you have been returned to us. what is dead may never die. and the prince reborn grinned at him, feral almost. "but rises again, harder and stronger." from that day onward, few still doubted that Maron was and always would be true iron. a dispute arising once with a son of House Farwynd drunkenly calling Maron fawn ended in the boy's face being repeatedly slammed into the nearest stone wall. a display of cruelty, no doubt, but more importantly all the proof the ironborn needed that maron greyjoy, as much as them, was forged from salt and iron, born from the sea herself, and very much set on ruling these islands one day.

maron gathered his own crew, largely consisting of old childhood friends and distant members of his family, and set out to sea. rowdy and ready to prove their worth as ironmen, they sailed for essos, raiding and burning down whatever they encountered along the way. while travelling the southern coast, just before great moraq, they captured a pirate vessel, a sturdy two-master with a beautiful nude woman sitting as the figurehead. maron claimed the ship for himself and brought her back to pyke, along with a ship's belly full of treasure and neverending glory for himself and his new crew. back at pyke, he ordered the ship to be reworked and equipped and named her kingfisher. balon, proud and too lazy to care, let his oldest son do however he pleased, unwittingly allowing maron to grow quite legendary amongst ironborn and greenlanders alike.

when both Renly and Stannis Baratheon declared for the Iron Throne and word spread about the bastards bread by Cersei Lannister, Balon once more gathered his people. the failure of the rebellion still sat deeply in their bones ( more so in maron's than most others, the scars around his thighs a daily reminder of it ) but the divide in the kingdoms and the overall chaos might prove to just be the chance the ironborn had waited for. with maron and asha now both joining their father in the long hours of war talk, plans quickly emerged and talks of an invasion spread rapidly across the islands. then, one day, a single boat from the greenlands arrived and with it, theon returned home. dressed like a lordling, decked in the fabrics and colours of house stark. where balon's disdain couldn't be more obvious, maron fell back into old habits of mockery - but something about him had lost it's bite.

the notion of seeking an alliance with the starks soon poofed to ashes and dust, leaving theon distraught. the same wave of mistrust and arrogance greeted him that had, too, greeted maron months before and something close to fear and pity for his little brother stirred in his chest. not wishing to seem weak before the others, maron continued to bully theon through what essentially was good advice. come home. stay home. forget the north. remember where your loyalties are. much was broken between the unlikely pair of brothers and maron, crude and hardened, failed to find healthy expressions of his concerns, but asha saw through him. together they convinced balon to involve theon in their plans for the invasion. soon after theon's arrival, asha set out for deepwood motte, while maron left with his own host to take moat cailin. theon, without his siblings' aid, was to terrorize the stone shore.

with kingfisher left behind on pyke, maron commanded the massive juggernaut iron kiss on the journey north. with twelve ships in tow, they made for blazewater bay, raiding along the shores of the rills as they went. at the mouth of saltspear, near the border to the barrowlands, they left the large vessels behind, guarded by enough men to defend them from bravely stupid northmen, and took skiffs up saltspear and further up the fever river, steadily moving inland. with the lands around the moat almost uninhabitable, the sole resistance they faced travelling through the shallow waters of the bogs were a few scattered crannogmen fighting for robb stark under the banner of howland reed. most of the dead were left for the wild lizard-lions to feast on, but some maron had hung from whatever meagre trees grew from the swamp, the vague form of a kraken etched into their foreheads.

they took the barely defended moat cailin with unnatural ease. whatever guard they found behind the deep moat surrounding the three remaining towers was butchered, the remains kept as bait for the lizard-lions creeping in the deep waters. balon's orders were clear. keep the moat, hold it, kill anyone not ironborn daring to come near. for months, maron and his men idled in the ruined stronghold, feeding on whatever vegetation they found in the bog, crab and fish, and the roasted flesh of the lizard-lions. maron took his quarters in the gatehouse tower, regularly holding meetings around the great stone table at the center of the hall. hardened from the harsh climate of the iron islands, neither draft nor damp seemed to bother the ironborn much. every now and then raiding parties swarmed out into the swamp and returned with food, alcohol, oil, warm clothes, and a few living crannogmen they employed as thralls.

time passed by, dragging on for weeks without a single word from neither balon nor anybody else. maron, growing restless and impatient, felt a familiar concern bubbling up. a painful reminder to the days, years ago, when the half-assed plan to rebel had first hatched in his father's head. the dreadful notion that, once again, balon didn't know what he was doing. that once again they had rushed into a war without a single clue how to continue once they had started. ravens sent back to pyke went partially ignored; merely his mother replied occasionally, rambling about how she had seen rodrik's ghost on pyke and how harlaw felt safer, the shadows of her dead children no longer lingering around. shadows. plural. as if maron and theon, too, had died when the baratheon forces had dragged them away. unhappy to the core, maron and his men began to study the maps they had fashioned in the past months; their curiosity shifting further north towards winterfell.

an unguarded keep with its prince riding south to take the battle to the queen herself. rarely, they wagered, could they get another chance like that. none of them at this point knew of Theon's change of plans. none knew of the failed takeover of winterfell and ramsay snow's betrayal. already prepared to face his father's wrath and apologize later, maron prepped for the march on winterfell, when a raven from pyke arrived. the letter carried the news of his father's death; a fall from one of the bridges during a storm, it said. though he never admitted it out loud, grief mingled with relief that day. set on taking command, maron was prepared to push for winterfell even more, had it not been for the news of euron's strangely timely arrival on pyke as well. an exiled liar, returned just in time for his brother's death. suspicion grew in maron, fed by his first mate and others close to him. he left a small force of ironborn behind to keep moat cailin and set sail to return back home to pyke and claim what was rightfully his.

what greeted him upon arrival was nothing but unabashed betrayal. with his father's body only just washed away into the sea, euron had laid down his claim to the seastone chair. drawn in by the claim, his uncle victarion, too, returned to pyke, as did asha. overwhelmed with disbelief, maron rained abuse and insults down on both his uncles, spitting venom especially at euron; the man he once had admired more than anybody else. aeron, ever the voice of reason, took him aside and, with clarity and no emotion whatsoever, explained that the many years maron had spent on green lands made him unfit to rule in the eyes of many. even the drowned god's blessing, he said, changed little about the people's mistrust. perhaps the iron islands fare better under the rule of one who has never been anything but ironborn. victarion, most likely, would be a suitable candidate.

asha, though confessing she loved maron still, too laid down a claim to the seastone chair as balon's true heir as she said. maron's return to pyke had never been anticipated and it was her balon had groomed and raised over the years to eventually be his heir. it wasn't until her older brother had come back that mood and order had shifted once more, much to her dismay and joy alike. though heartbroken, maron found it easier to deal with asha's betrayal, than he did victarion and euron's. encouraged by the overall chaos, a few other lords of ironborn houses made their own claims. a farce, maron believed, mocking anyone not called greyjoy who believed to have a chance for the seastone chair. his attitude didn't sit well with most. arrogance and cockiness soon were attributed to him and maron fed the foul mood by eagerly belittling anyone who would dare try and stand up to him. he cared little for the consequences.

with no better solution in sight, aeron eventually called for a kingsmoot; an ancient rite to determine the next king of the iron islands. though taken as an offense by most, aeron's goal was to prevent a civil war from breaking out between the ironborn. and he, too, feared for euron taking the throne by force. at nagga's cradle, maron gathered his crew to make his claim; the three champions supporting him being Vicmarr the Clever, his First Mate upon the Kingfisher, Joron II Blacktyde, son of Lord Blacktyde of Blacktyde Castle, and Hrafon Pyke, a bastard son of Euron. like his uncle victarion, maron offered gems and gold along with the promise to restore the iron islands to their former prowess. passionate and true did he talk of glory, of seeing his father's vision fulfilled and the old way restored, offering an oath to once more turn the ironborn into what they had been before the days of aegon the conqueror.

much like his sister, maron too was well received. votes previously in favour of victarion shifted towards him, and maron, cocky as ever, already saw himself as the next king of the iron islands. that was until euron stepped up and laid down his claim. his uncle, ever gifted with endless lies, promised fairytales and castles in the cloud and the dumb rabble clung to his lips. with each new promise of glory and powers surpassin all the ironborn had ever achieved before, maron felt panic rise in his chest. it was the display of dragonbinder and the tales of a princess with living dragons in the east, however, that convinced. while maron knew of the dragonqueen, he had never paid much mind to her. a girl at the other end of the world with no living supporters in westeros anymore. he dismissed the notion of her in an instant, and when euron was enthusiastically voted king, had to be dragged away by his champions to prevent him from murdering his uncle then and there.

at euron's victory feast, he called for his family to stand united behind him; a faux display of loyalty, no doubt. looking euron into the one good eye he still had, maron poured the contents of his cup out and with it the promise that, given the chance, he would come for euron. the threat was met in kind, and a once loving, trusting relationship was forever destroyed. heartbroken and enraged, maron left the feast and, in the dead of the night, gathered whatever provisions and supporters he could find. with euron's murder of lord blacktyde for refusing to accept him as king, joron, now head of his house, joined maron's host, and with a few hundred loyal ironborn at his side, maron managed to steal twenty-four ships and disappear. the chance of being imprisoned and killed at euron's command was a risk he was unwilling to take.

aware of euron's plan to find the dragonqueen and either kill or wed her to gain control of her dragons, maron pondered his next steps. with the small fleet in kingfisher's tow, they headed south, rounding the coast of dorne, and further on east. euron's plans, no doubt, would be thwarted if someone else reached the dragonqueen before him. all of his promises, after all, relied on the dragons and the dragons only. ever cunning and filled with hatred, maron ordered to set sail for meereen. if the seastone chair ever was to be his with a crown upon his head, he needed stronger allies than euron would find. and with the young wolf murdered and the stags and lions already at each other's throats, the one who might just be able to help him for the promise of ships in return was daenerys targaryen . . .

a song of ice and fire after fleeing pyke, maron sets sail for meereen to find daenerys targaryen before euron and victarion can. with twenty-four stolen ships in tow and more ships joining as he and a host of ironborn raid their way to essos, he hopes to enter into an alliance with the dragonqueen in exchange for ships to bring her to westeros. while he has heard rumours of daenerys, he remains doubtful; thinking her to be nothing but a clueless young girl for a long time. upon the Ironborn's arrival in Meereen however, the city is besieged and Daenerys rumored to be dead. Ser Barristan, spotting the kraken sails, sends Unsullied to guide the Ironborn through the chaos with Maron's men helping slaughter whomever dares attack. within the Great Pyramid, Barristan Selmy, desperate for aid, tasks Maron with accompanying a small number of Daenerys's bloodriders to go find the missing queen. reluctantly, but with too much at stake to turn back now, Maron agrees and takes some of his men up the Skahazadhan and, discarding the boats, onwards into the Dothraki Sea to find the mother of dragons . . .main verse follows the plot- and timeline of the books exclusively. post maron's flight from pyke, other directions for him to take ofc are possible and can be plotted anytime. by default, maron and his ironborn join forces with daenerys in essos and, most likely, will eventually bring her to westeros. note that in both this main verse, as well as the got based main verse, maron will fall heads over heels in love with daenerys. i do not accept any other ships for this particular main verse other than the one with zcldrizes other ships in AU verses of course are always welcome.salt water filled the castle whilst besieging Moat Cailin, news from a northern envoy arrive, informing maron that Ned Stark has survived and fled king's landing. now crowned king in the north, Ned calls for a truce between the Northmen and the Ironborn, as well as an alliance to bring down the Lannisters. knowing that balon would never agree but rather have their heads for it, maron is reluctant to agree, but eventually, after pushing from asha, agrees to meet the king in the north. if a united north and ironborn stood against cersei, they both faced a more realistic chance of winning and eventually gaining independence for both their kingdoms. added to that, and to strengthen the alliance on both parts, the prospect of marriage is brought up - a union between maron and ned stark's oldest daughter lyarra . . .northern alliance au this au has been designed with gedwimora. while the main plot follows the story of Train's eddard and the ensuing rebellion against the iron throne, I am happy to plot with other characters for this particular au. note however that this au is ship-exclusive with Train's oc lyarra stark.

a game of thrones. Maron, accompanied by Yara and Theon, flees Pyke with twenty-four stolen ships and the quiet promise to kill euron for murdering his father and usurping his throne. in meereen, he steps before daenerys targaryen and offers ships to take her to westeros in return for her support in reclaiming the iron islands and granting ironborn independence. while she refuses to simply hand out independence, he refuses to bend the knee before her, but a rocky alliance, nontheless, is agreed upon. with house martell and tyrell soon joining the alliance, a melting pot of opinionated leaders clash and at the same time strangely gets along. soon enough the allies set sail for dragonstone under ironborn and dornish sails. while yara and theon agree to take ellaria sand back to dorne, maron stays at dragonstone with daenerys and, over time, realises that he is falling for the dragonqueen. jon snow's arrival stirs his romance up however, and while daenerys leaves in a hurry for eastwatch after a distress call from jon, maron stays behind to guard dragonstone in her absence. when theon returns without yara, telling about euron's ambush, maron declares him no longer his brother and calls for his ironborn to abandon the post. he later re-joins daenerys in the dragon pit, coming face to face with his uncle once again. in front of witnesses, he vows to kill euron personally for what he's done.despite his newfound wrath for theon, he joins his brother's attempt to save yara and together, the brothers are successful. while yara takes a part of the iron fleet back to pyke to claim lordship while euron is gone, maron and theon travel to winterfell to support daenerys in the war against the dead . . .second main verse season 8 is only selectively acknowledged on this blog and definitely requires plotting. again, post maron's flight from pyke, any other direction for him naturally is possible too after some plotting. note that in both this main verse, as well as the got based main verse, maron will fall heads over heels in love with daenerys. i do not accept any other ships for this particular main verse other than the one with zcldrizes other ships in AU verses of course are always welcome.lord reaper of pyke. the kingsmoot never happens. after balon's death, the ironborn follow the natural order and maron is declared the rightful new lord reaper of pyke. with ironborn independence still standing as his primary goal, maron continues the ironborn invasion of the north, but soon realises that his father's tactics may not necessarily bring the advantages they need. more clever and cunning than balon ever was, he is willing to enter into alliances to eventually get what he wants. and should his demand for independence remain ignored, the notion of a second greyjoy rebellion already looms on the horizon.rightful lord AU this au is pretty much open to any sort of alliance or outcome. maron is the rightful lord of the iron islands and, granted, a valuable ally to have in the ensuing war. whomever can offer a good deal stands a good chance of gaining the ironborn as allies. plotting is definitely required for this verse.