app (asgardeventide)

[bruxisms]

OOC Information;
Name; Kalan
Personal Journal; roflskate
Contact;  roflskate @ plurk
Other Characters; n/a

IC Information;
Character Name; Stannis Baratheon
Canon; A Song of Ice and Fire (Stannis' wiki page is here)
Canon Point; A Dance with Dragons, Jon IV, as he prepares to march on the North
Age; 36 (stated to be 34 in A Clash of Kings, with A Dance with Dragons taking place roughly two years or so after those events)

House; Heimdall (because... as you will see in the personality section... there's really NO other choice)
Power; Energy Lending

Personality; Stannis Baratheon is the king that no one wanted. After all, unlike his more popular brothers, he is mostly humorless (with the exception of some extremely deadpan comments), stern and certainly not the sort of man that easily inspires love. With the exception of Davos Seaworth and the Red Priestess Melisandre, there are few who feel any deep sense of loyalty towards him. At times, it seems that even Stannis himself doesn't want the crown. But, he still pursues it with all the passion in the world for one reason alone: because he is the rightful heir, and it is his duty to fight for it. His belief in his own righteousness leads him to some strange bedfellows, and a strange new religion. Unlike his wife or Melisandre however, Stannis doesn't seem to have a deep connection to his new faith. In fact, he confides in his advisor, Davos that he doesn't worship any gods. All the same, he follows her counsel because she has proven herself to have some manner of power that will be able to deliver him to the throne that is his by rights. While she also proclaims him to the the Prince Who Was Promised, a legendary figure destined to save the world from the Long Night, Stannis doesn't particularly seem to buy into that either, growing visibly uncomfortable whenever she brings it up (a particularly obvious example is near the end of Book 3, where Samwell Tarly notes this and observes Stannis rapidly change the subject). However, he still goes north to the Wall to fight off the Wildlings (and eventually the Others), because as rightful king, it is his duty to do so. Yes, more than any god, Stannis "worships" duty.

Above even his belief in duty, Stannis's greatest defining trait is his unyielding sense of justice. While someone like Melisandre views men as being either entirely good or entirely evil, Stannis takes a different approach. For him, a man is the sum of his actions. As he discusses with his friend and advisor Davos in A Clash of Kings: "A good act does not wash out the bad, nor the bad act the good." According to Stannis, even a virtuous man should be punished accordingly if he has committed a crime, and a charlatan rewarded should he act heroic. Furthermore, he also does not particularly judge men solely based based on their birth (as evidenced by his counsel with Jon Snow and Davos Seaworth alike, whose opinions he listens to because they have proven themselves knowledgable on certain situations) something many other lords would find inconceivable. Such an attitude contributes to the reasons why he is not particularly well-liked among the highborn lords of Westeros; to him his allies should be judged for their crimes the same way as his enemies. Ultimately however, this makes little difference to Stannis. No matter what it takes, he is a man that will have justice for the realm.

However, despite his stubbornness and rigidity, Stannis not a man without any scruples. As he tells Davos, one of the hardest decisions of his life was choosing to side with his elder brother, rather than his rightful king. Also, when his younger (and usurping) brother Renly is killed (by Melisandre, with the implication that Stannis was somehow involved), he expresses nothing short of regret for the way things turned out, again confiding in Davos how much he truly loved the young man. Later, when he is confronted with the possibility in burning his bastard nephew in exchange for what might be the salvation of Westeros, he shows similar reservations (after all, Edric is his own blood and more importantly, his daughter's friend, but is one life worth the lives of millions?). Like any other man, he is faced with difficult decisions, and is conflicted when what is dutiful conflicts with his own personal morals.

To sum it up, Stannis is not the sort of man that's easy to like. After all he's the king that no one particularly wanted. But in the end, he is someone who ultimately tries to do the "right" thing, no matter the cost.

Samples; 
Network Sample; A post from scorched, and a more recent one on dear_player.

Log Sample; 
In the last few years, Stannis Baratheon has come to accept many things that should be impossible as fact. He knows full well that magic exists and is a force to be reckoned with (for he has seen it), and he knows that some can see the future in the flames (for he has also seen visions).

But this? This is impossible.

He had listened to what the woman had to say, eyes narrowed with suspicion and jaw clenched as she spoke. He reads the letter again, wanting to ask more questions, but the woman has long since gone. He is a suspicious man by nature, and does not fully trust her, or this strange new realm. But, the words within the letter echo a disturbing level of familiarity. For nearly two years now, he has listened to the Red Priestess proclaim him to be Azor Ahai reborn, the only man that could stand against the Others and save Westeros. Now, he has yet another woman proclaiming his destiny, and more Gods supposedly wishing more of him (although their requests are far more trivial than the Red God's).

Stannis Baratheon was through with Gods. The Seven had brought him little more than sorrow, and R'Hllor, for all that His priestess had aided him, seemed powerless against these new interlopers. Gods and gods, and not one of them had given him a satisfactory answer.

But even so, if there was even the slightest truth in that letter, he would have to comply, for he had an obligation to his realm. As a wise man had once told him: "A king protects his people or he is no king at all". And he would do what he must in order to ensure the safety of his realm. It was his duty, and he was not one to forsake such so easily. He clenches his jaw, moving his teeth from side to side, as he attempts to work the bracelet that he has been given.

Stannis Baratheon was through with gods. But he would do whatever it took to save Westeros.