Siegfried Harlaw

Siegfried Harlaw is the heir to Ten Towers and the leader of the True King's Men, the coalition of Houses looking to wrest control of the Iron Islands from King Victor Greyjoy and place Siegfried on the Salt Throne. He is the son of Roland and Ona Harlaw, and an accomplished captain and swordsman.

Background
House Harlaw has always been a well-respected family on the Iron Islands, and once held a deep friendship with House Greyjoy through the marriage of Alannys Harlaw and Balon Greyjoy years ago. However, Siegfried was born in a new era, where the Iron Islands were its own kingdom but still held fear for the wrath of the Five Kingdoms and their puny, insane crippled king. House Harlaw demanded a return to the true spirit of the ironborn, of raiding and pillaging the mainland rather than sailing all the way to Essos for their spoils and the mysterious lands West of Westeros. By the age of four, Siegfried had killed his first man -- a thief attempting to steal their shipment of crops, and from then, his father Roland decreed he would join a ship's crew and learn from the ground up how to be good, strong man.

By the age of fifteen, Siegfried had seen Lys, Tyrosh, and Pentos, and already taken a salt wife for his own. He took another at age eighteen. Ona would suggest that perhaps, as Yara Greyjoy grew older and older, that Siegfried himself would break the cycle of Greyjoy kings -- but Roland held much love and loyalty for the house, even with their weak heir. Siegfried, on the other hand, preferred to listen to his mother, and wondered what would be different if their house ruled the Islands.

The Summer Plague swept across the Islands the same as all other places, but House Harlaw did not suffer greatly from the sickness. Siegfried's younger sister Beryth fell ill, and Siegfried offered one sick rival daily to the Drowned God until she got better.

Siegfried married Yvette Saltcliffe shortly after the end of the Plague. They had met a few times before the betrothal, and grew fond of each other quite quickly. She bore him twin sons, Iwan and Sander, cementing a future for House Harlaw outside of salt rule from his oldest salt son.

In 365 AC, Yara Greyjoy died, and a kingsmoot was called. Siegfried wanted to lay claim to the Salt Throne, but marriage and fatherhood had tempered him somewhat. Yvette was afraid of him challenging Greyjoy rule, especially after Victor Greyjoy returned triumphant from a raid and proved himself more than the sickly boy they knew from years ago. But years after of hiding banners, and seeing their king bow more and more to the friendliness and traditions of the Five Kingdoms angered Siegfried. He rallied several loyal Houses to hold a meeting, to discuss the future of the Islands, and they unanimously elected him to overthrow Victor and become the true King of Salt and Rock.

The first betrayers of this secret meeting was House Tawney, who attempted to alert House Greyjoy of the rebellion before it could occur. Siegfried personally ordered the execution of the entire House, with the exception of Tawneys already married or betrothed to loyal Houses, and the female children, who were taken in as wards by House Saltcliffe for further marriage prospects so they could control the Nettlelands, one of the few fertile spots of land left on the Islands, located on Orkmont.

Finally, towards the end of 372 AC, Siegfried Harlaw lay siege on Pyke, signalling the beginning of the Salt War. He won campaigns during this time, and the fighting became more personal for Yvette after the slaughter of her brother Derran at Victor's hand. Though they lost the island of Saltcliffe, Siegfried gained back nearly all of the ships and arms that had been seized by the Greyjoy army in the attack.

Personality
Siegfried's mother, Ona, groomed him for leadership outside the eye of his father Roland. However, Siegfried does not believe the Salt Throne is his by any right, other than the right of the iron price. He does not sacrifice men for glory, and does not demean the lives of those who fight for him. He treats them all as valuable parts of the crew, as one would as a ship's captain.

Siegfried is worldly and experienced, having chosen to practice swordfighting both the ironborn way and the way of Lyseni sellswords and street fighters. He does not fight with honor necessarily, but Siegfried is merciful when he needs to be. His men do not see this as weakness, but as mercy that those who live must live knowing they are forever in debt to Siegfried. In a way, they have been denied salvation, as they have not died in service to the Drowned God.

Though he has a gruff, scary appearance, Siegfried actually is secretly fond of poetry, especially poetry written during the worst times of war. He also enjoys telling stories to his children, and treats his rock wife Yvette with deep affection. To his salt wives, he wants them to be welcome on their island, though he makes sure that they understand his dominance over them.

Siegfried does not have any close friends outside of his sister Beryth, but he has close allies, those who see him as someone to follow to the watery grave.