Vanyel Greyjoy (The Dragonborn) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
drehnifusbahi) wrote2016-05-07 03:44 pm
drehnifusbahi) wrote2016-05-07 03:44 pm
Entry tags:
Writing Prompts: May
Three Things Vanyel Got From Thalia:
She may not have given birth to him, but in every other way that mattered Thalia Greyjoy was his mother. She raised him, cared for him, and gave him the best upbringing and education she could, despite their poor circumstances. And despite not being related by blood, he managed to inherit a few things from her all the same.
He got his love of books and learning from her; she read to him or told him stories from the time he was old enough to understand them, and indulged his curiosity once he was able to start asking questions. She kept encouraging that thirst for knowledge, even when it occasionally got him into trouble (sneaking into the old Benirus place to see whether it was really haunted) or threatened to get him hurt (experimenting with his newly-discovered affinity for fire spells).
Vanyel also got his work ethic from his mother; funds at the Chapel of Dibella were stretched thin at the best of times, and the priestesses there took whatever work they could find between holy days -enchanting, brewing potions, seamstress work, armor and or saddle repair and other assorted odd jobs (and yes, some of them did wind up finding patrons who’d make donations in exchange for a few hours of company)- in order to make ends meet. Once he was old enough and strong enough to be more help than hindrance, so did Vanyel.
And, perhaps most importantly…
Thalia gave him a name worth living up to, to replace the one given by his birth family that they had no way of knowing. Greyjoy, her family name, and one of the oldest in Wayrest (he appreciates the implied scope of family history and continuity there more and more the older he gets; and Vanyel, after a Breton folk hero whose feats she grew up hearing stories about.
(And, given the course of his life thus far, one has to wonder if she didn’t have a touch of foresight when she chose that name out of all the others she could possibly have picked.)
She may not have given birth to him, but in every other way that mattered Thalia Greyjoy was his mother. She raised him, cared for him, and gave him the best upbringing and education she could, despite their poor circumstances. And despite not being related by blood, he managed to inherit a few things from her all the same.
He got his love of books and learning from her; she read to him or told him stories from the time he was old enough to understand them, and indulged his curiosity once he was able to start asking questions. She kept encouraging that thirst for knowledge, even when it occasionally got him into trouble (sneaking into the old Benirus place to see whether it was really haunted) or threatened to get him hurt (experimenting with his newly-discovered affinity for fire spells).
Vanyel also got his work ethic from his mother; funds at the Chapel of Dibella were stretched thin at the best of times, and the priestesses there took whatever work they could find between holy days -enchanting, brewing potions, seamstress work, armor and or saddle repair and other assorted odd jobs (and yes, some of them did wind up finding patrons who’d make donations in exchange for a few hours of company)- in order to make ends meet. Once he was old enough and strong enough to be more help than hindrance, so did Vanyel.
And, perhaps most importantly…
Thalia gave him a name worth living up to, to replace the one given by his birth family that they had no way of knowing. Greyjoy, her family name, and one of the oldest in Wayrest (he appreciates the implied scope of family history and continuity there more and more the older he gets; and Vanyel, after a Breton folk hero whose feats she grew up hearing stories about.
(And, given the course of his life thus far, one has to wonder if she didn’t have a touch of foresight when she chose that name out of all the others she could possibly have picked.)