Victor Greyjoy

King Victor Greyjoy is the current leader of the Iron Islands, and grandson of the former Queen Yara Greyjoy. He leads one side of the Salt War against the perceived usurper, Siegfried Harlaw.

Background
Victor is the middle child, and oldest son of Lord Theon and his wife Lady Karoline of House Merlyn. He is the head of House Greyjoy, King of the Iron Islands, King of Salt and Rock, Son of the Sea Wind, and Lord Reaper of Pyke.

He was born somewhat sickly, and was coddled quite a bit by his mother. His older sister, Lirria, often teased him for being a mother's boy and for spending more time inside than outside learning to swing a sword or shoot a bow. Victor did, however, read all of the books available to him, and became learned in several languages -- not that this gained him any points with his fellow ironborn.

When the midwife took ill, Victor volunteered to help pull Gerron into the world. Some say that it was this act that bonded them for life, and they became nigh inseparable. Others also say that Gerron's death from the Summer Plague, while Victor -- ever the sickly one -- did not catch ill proved that Gerron gave his life to save Victor's in some way.

With Gerron -- and his entire family, save his grandparents -- dead, the strength he never had as a child grew tenfold. Under the tutelage of his grandmother, Queen Yara Greyjoy, Victor learned how to fight, shoot a bow, and wield an axe. However, he heard the whispers of those wishing that they could once again pillage and raid the mainland rather than smaller settlements in Essos, a right they had given up to honor Queen Daenerys Targaryen, and one that had to be upheld when they were allowed sovereignty from The Five Kingdoms under King Bran the Broken.

Yara passed away as the longest-reigning monarch in the history of the Iron Islands, and so when the kingsmoot was called in 365 AC, no one was quite sure who to pick. While the meeting had historically been more an empty ceremony -- with the Greyjoys ruling for the past several centuries -- only Victor remained of the house. After a seven-hour deliberation, Victor stood up and left. Since the kingsmoot cannot continue without the candidates, they had to wait to reconvene. When he returned, he had an entire ship of thralls and loot from a village near Old Oak -- enough to get the through the winter -- and a salt wife. The vote was unanimous.

After seven years of rule, however, lords began to notice subtle differences in their King. He would sometimes wear grand clothing, clothing of the mainland, and forbade the raising of banners in their raids. People whispered that he was cowardly, that he had no pride in the culture of the ironborn, that he wanted to take for a rock wife a lady of the mainland and bear the wrong children. They further worried that his salt children would end up rising to the head of House Greyjoy, lowering the worth of the house. But Victor stood strong, believing that he was strengthening the Islands by keeping up a good relationship with the mainland while at the same time preserving traditions of the Islands.

Then, in 372 AC, without any warning, he found himself disgraced by his men, several Houses forming under the banner of the "true Salt King", Siegfried Harlaw. Soon after, the entire Iron Islands were embroiled in civil war. Victor lost the island of Harlaw immediately, and Orkmont and Blacktyde in the three years after. He managed to seize control of Saltcliffe and forced House Saltcliffe to surrender. He took Derran Saltcliffe, the eldest son of Tyril Saltcliffe hostage, but in a bitter exchange between the two former friends, Victor put Derran to the sword. The ensuing riot on the island helped the rest of the family escape, and while they secured the island, they lost the ships and arms they had seized. It was the biggest blunder in the war, and caused Victor to lose support from House Sunderly on the same island, who also fled to join Siegfried's cause.

Part I - PLACEHOLDER
Victor has hired the Essosi mercenary group, the Company of the Flame, to help execute a siege against the island of Harlaw.

Personality
As an ironborn lord of the most well-known family on the islands, Victor was expected to be much like his father before him, and his grandmother -- strong, fearsome, and brave. Unfortunately, he was born sickly and continued to be this way for half of his life. As such, Victor learned what some would consider more "women-oriented" studies. Some joked that he would make a fine maester on the mainland, and many figured that he might do something foolish like choose to take the black and leave House Greyjoy to his younger brother, and best friend, Gerron.

Gerron and Victor were nearly inseparable during their time together, to the point that Gerron would eschew his own sword and ship training to spend time with Victor in the library, reading. Their older sister, Lirria, took after their grandmother Yara the most, and for a time it seemed like she might make the most suitable heir to Pyke. Victor never held much love for Lirria, though her death from the Summer Plague did devastate him. Gerron's death, however, hit him hardest, and when he went to live with Yara, his sickness seemed to vanish, and he gathered all of the strength within he had left stagnant to become a proud ironborn warrior and shipmaster.

Victor, however, does hold some fascination for the mainland and their ways, and questions the purpose of the ironborn and the iron price in a world that seems to be moving farther and farther away from accepted barbarism. His taste for fine silks and delicate women grew from reading books and visiting the mainland, and they have not ceased with him taking the Salt Throne.

Victor never participated in a large, dangerous siege like other ironborn have. When the Salt War broke out in 372 AC, his choice to helm the first attack against Saltcliffe was foolish, and he only won the island through sheer luck. He fights to show his strength, to maintain his throne, and to prove his worth to the people that he is quite sure if he even wants to rule in the traditional sense.