Éowyn (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shieldofrohan) wrote2018-09-20 07:09 pm
shieldofrohan) wrote2018-09-20 07:09 pm
{{app}} - duplicity
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Name: Éowyn Door: Right Canon: Lord of the Rings (book canon) Canon Point: The ride to Gondor (March, TA 3019, or chapter III of the Two Towers) Age: 24 Appearance: Art, play-by (Katheryn Winnick). Bonus NSFW art. History: Wiki summary can be found here. It's a little sparse on details up to the canon point I'm taking her from, though, so: Éowyn was the second child of Théodwyn, who was the sister of the king of Rohan, and Éomund, Chief Marshal of the Rohirric forces. When she was 7 and her brother Éomer 11, Éomund was killed in battle, and soon after, their mother sickened and died. Éowyn and Éomer were taken in by their uncle, King Théoden, who raised them in Meduseld alongside his own son Théodred. At some point in the following ten years, Théoden came to increasingly rely on the advice of a newcomer to the court; Gríma Wormtongue, who was sent to weaken the kingdom by infiltration. Through a mixture of Grima's skill with words and with magic, Théoden increasingly became embittered and apathetic. Éomer and Théodred, now both warriors, spent increasing time away from court, leaving Éowyn to tend to the court and to her uncle, who was increasingly weak and unwell. In February 3019, Théodred was killed in a border skirmish. Grief worsened Théoden's condition significantly, and Gríma, now holding most of the power at the court, had Éomer banished. Éowyn stayed at her uncle's side, despite her own grief and her hatred of Gríma, and despite feeling trapped by her duty to her king and her people. In early March, the Fellowship arrived in Rohan, and Gríma was cast out. It was at this time that Éowyn first met Aragorn, the lost king of Gondor, and developed an infatuation with him. Restored to health, Théoden declared his intention to ride into battle and defend another citadel, alongside the Fellowship and Éomer. Éowyn begged to fight alongside them, saying that she had the skill and the courage, and that she wanted to defend her country and her people. However - advised by one of his guards that she was a strong leader and well-loved by their people - Théoden ordered her to stay in Meduseld and guard the women and children. Éowyn did as she was told, keeping Meduseld in good order, and was glad when they returned safe and victorious. She told Aragorn of her feelings, but was rejected, as he was already betrothed to another. Soon after, the armies of Rohan were called to support Gondor in the war. Again, Éowyn begged to ride with them, and again, she was told to remain in stewardship at Meduseld. This time, frustrated and desperate for honour and glory, she disobeyed; disguising herself as a man, she hid among the army and rode with them to Gondor, taking with her Meriadoc the halfling, who had also been told to stay behind against his will. This is the point I'm taking her from: mid-March, halfway to Gondor, in disguise. Personality: Positive trait: Sense of duty and responsibility for others. Negative traits: Pride/arrogance, easy to anger and slow to forgive, stubbornness. Éowyn is a kind person, but not a soft one. Although she is extremely selfless in many ways, and values service to others above everything, she is by her own admission "ungentle". She holds herself to extremely high standards, and those around her likewise, taking responsibility for everyone who asks her help or needs it, and expecting honourable treatment in return. Honour is her watchword: she believes that it is the duty of nobility to serve and protect their people, that courage and pride are vital, and that there is nothing greater than to die nobly in battle. That is also fed, however, by a deep depression that has lasted much of her life; she feels trapped and helpless, has little hope for the future, and often falls into very dark moods. There is also a deep-seated anger in her, which has had years to fester; she resents her own inaction in the war, and the war itself, and those who would deny her a place in it. She feels that she was born to be a shieldmaiden, to fight and die in defence of her people, and feels stifled by anything that keeps her from her destiny. Honour, however, does not always mean complete honesty; Éowyn is willing to lie or dissemble to do what she feels is right, and she is willing to hurt people in the process if she has to, although never people she cares about. On the other hand, she's ferociously loyal, and anyone who wins her friendship or allegiance will have a staunch defender for life. This extends to animals as well as people, particularly horses; having grown up in a nation of horse breeders, Éowyn feels a deep attachment to the animals and is very good with them. Most of all, Éowyn is proud to the point of arrogance. It is a fairly well-founded pride - in her family, in her country, and in her not inconsiderable skills - but it leads her to be unyielding and unforgiving. She does not think less of people who are not noble, but she is very certain of her own nobility and needs it to be recognised. Similarly, she knows she is beautiful, and expects it to be seen; she knows she is strong, and expects respect for it. This can be a good thing, leading her to claim what she feels is hers by right, but it can also make her harsh and cold towards people she feels undervalue her, and she can be very judgmental of those she feels do not reach her standards of behaviour. Her pride only exacerbates her temper, and she takes offence very easily at minor slights. She also feels challenged by any suggestion that she can't do something, and will go to extreme lengths to prove someone wrong. Éowyn is at her core a romantic, and despite everything she's been through, in some ways quite sheltered. She believes implicitly in good and evil, moral absolutes, and grand narratives which are usually tragic but always poetic. (In fairness, that is quite accurate to her world, but let's not dwell on that). She also believes in love, although she doesn't necessarily think it will happen to her; her infatuation with Aragorn was the first time she'd felt like she was in love, and she immediately got her heart broken. She is extremely courageous, sometimes to the point of self-destructiveness; she holds courage to be one of the highest virtues, and takes great pride in being afraid of nothing. That isn't entirely true, of course - she is very, very afraid of uselessness and weakness, of being trapped, or of dying old and feeble having achieved nothing. The fact is that those fears outweigh any fear she has of pain or death, so she is suicidally brave when the opportunity arises. She also hates to be inactive, and finds work to do at all times, whether it be cooking and cleaning, organising other people, or training at swordsmanship. Overall, although she is a genuinely kind and generous person, Éowyn is not approachable or gentle. She is cold and distant, often angry, usually aloof, and always headstrong. She hates to show weakness or admit defeat, and tries to appear even stronger and more certain than she is. Powers and Abilities: Nothing supernatural, but she is an extremely good fighter (with sword, shield, or fists) and horse-rider, has excellent organisational skills, and is generally extremely competent at most things she sets her mind to. Inventory: A sword, a shield, and her horse, Windfola. Samples: Speaking voice Thought process/prose |
