Lord Martyn Westerling was the previous head of House Westerling, the Lord of the Crag, and the Master of Whisperers for the Kingdom of the Iron Throne. He had a reputation as both a schemer and a self-made man, who's rose from bastardy to a seat on the Small Council.
Early Life[]
Lord Martyn Westerling, Master of Whispers, was born into a much lower status. He was born as Martyn Hill in the year 337 AC to Lord Rupert Westerling and a whore in Lannisport. Though in his early years his father did support him and his mother, Joy, Martyn grew up in Lannisport with her rather than at the Crag. Only occasionally would Martyn visit his father, but he always did so feeling like a pariah, and was seldom treated as anything even resembling a son. He grew to resent his father for rejecting him, though he did grow fond of his younger sisters, Sylese and Viola. The person he got along with least in his family though, was his father’s wife, a Lannister. Ella Lannister was bitter and cruel to Martyn whenever he would come to Crag, scorning him and directing her hatred of Rupert’s betrayal towards him.
Most of the time, however, Martyn wasn’t at the Crag. He spent most of his early years living in Lannisport. His mother continued to work as a prostitute, but even though he was born from one of her jobs, Joy loved Martyn. Love wasn’t enough for Martyn though, who felt he needed to gain the affection of his father as well. To do that, he needed to prove his worth. At the age of twelve, Martyn began to work as a fisherman on a fishing boat based out of Lannisport. He didn’t enjoy the work, but it was enough to provide for him and his mother. Eventually as he grew older and more experienced and the fisherman he worked under got older, Martyn began to help with selling the fish too. By sixteen he was running their stand at the marketplace himself, acting as a fishmonger. Listening to the various customers and watching people go about their business, Martyn Hill got his first taste of espionage.
This life of simple business wasn’t enough for Martyn, though. He wanted to achieve more respect and do more with his life than sell fish. So when his mother died of disease, Martyn tried to join the Red Cloaks to raise his social status. He knew he couldn’t fight well at all, so he tried to practice as much as he could. Unfortunately this also meant he was so poor at practicing that it became dangerous. One of the things Martyn tried to do was to get a friend to duel with him using live steel, the idea being that if the stakes were higher than he would be more motivated to do well. This proved to be an awful decision, and Martyn’s arm was permanently maimed for his foolishness.
Disheartened, yet yearning to reach new heights, he asked his father when he next went to the Crag if he could stay there permanently. Lord Rupert was reluctant, but he knew he was getting old and was unlikely to sire another son, so deciding that Martyn should succeed him he agreed. Martyn and his father still didn’t get along well, but he was at least he was taught about rulership and how to act in a proper, noble manner. He was also introduced to the Tyrells, as his father was friends with them, a connection that would prove valuable later.
Lord of the Crag[]
After two years of being trained in the ways of rulership, Lord Rupert decided that Martyn would have to do for an heir, though he still thought little of him. Rupert was a friend, albeit not a close one, of King Steffon and asked for Martyn to be legitimized. The King agreed, and in 361 Martyn Hill became Martyn Westerling. The very next year, his father died of old age and Martyn became the new Lord Westerling. His father’s wife despised him and made this fact very clear to everyone in the court, yet she stayed to be with her two daughters. Martyn quickly realized that he’d need a child himself to inherit the Crag, and if he was to continue to climb the social ladder, he would need to marry someone from one of the Great Houses.
Martyn Westerling's personal sigil.
Using his connection to the Tyrells through his father, Martyn requested to marry one of Lord Tyrell’s relatives. He agreed to the proposal, and soon Bethany Tyrell became Lady Westerling. There was no real love between Bethany and Martyn, yet they both realized the roles they needed to play, that of Lord and Lady rather than of husband and wife. They were not hostile to each other, but mere acceptance of each other was the closest they ever got. In 363 they had a son named Peter, and after that they stopped having children. Bethany did get along with Selyse Westerling though, and she made friends with a few other members of court, leaving her to find her position as Lady Westerling to not be so bad after all. Martyn, however, grew lonely and distant.
Believing that his problems and depression would be solved if he were only able to achieve more power and status, Martyn began building a network of spies across the Westerlands over the two years following his ascension to lordship. He kept meticulous notes of all the secrets he had learned, stowed away in the Crag’s vault. His reputation for keeping an eye and ear out for any bit of interesting information earned him a reputation, and soon people started coming to him for secrets about their business rivals, family members, or more. His ability to organize such an interconnected network of spies even reached the King’s ears.
Master of Whisperers[]
When King Steffon I was looking for a new spymaster, Lord Westerling caught word of this and went to King’s Landing to request the position himself. The King had heard of Martyn’s skills as a spymaster and accepted the request, allowing Martyn to join the Small Council. Over the next couple years, the King and Lord Westerling grew a trusting and respectful relationship, enough for the King to entrust Martyn with his first real task as Master of Whispers. In 367, Steffon approached him with a problem regarding his son, Orys. Orys got into some trouble, but seeing as he was the heir Steffon and Martyn agreed that the issue couldn’t be made public. With the help of Lord Westerling, his friend Edric Storm was framed from the incident instead. Though this act was kept secret, to those that knew about it Lord Westerling was proven to be a schemer and a loyalist to the royal family.
When King Steffon died, his son Orys decided to keep Martyn on the Small Council due to his close connections with the Baratheons and his effectiveness in executing his duties. This good relationship with the new King made it reasonable that Martyn would travel with him when the Second War of Reclamation broke out, acting as a political advisor. He proved to be not excessively helpful when it came to warfare tactics, and he had to remain in the camps due to his maimed arm and not knowing the right way to hold a sword, but towards the end Lord Westerling filled a unique and important role. When King Orys was offered a peace deal in 372, many wanted to keep fighting, yet Martyn Westerling convinced the crown that it would be a better move politically to pull out when they had the chance, even if it cost them Celtigar and Martyn’s own niece, the Tyrell girl.
During King Orys's wedding feast in 375, Martyn had arranged with the King's consent to have a song played to the tune of Rains of Castamere mocking Aubrey Lannister. In a fit of rage Lord Aubrey maimed Martyn's last working arm. Martyn fell into a deep depression, feeling incapable, and when Orys fired him from the Small Council he planned to commit suicide. With no plans to live any more, the former Master of Whispers dared to call the King a 'treacherous cunt', earning him an execution at the hands of Lord Aubrey.
Timeline[]
- 337 - Born as Martyn Hill to Lord Rupert Westerling and a prostitute named Joy
- 349 - Begins working as a fisherman
- 354 - Assumes position as fishmonger
- 358 - Maimed in a training accident
- 359 - Moves to live in the Crag permanently
- 361 - Legitimized by King Steffon I
- 362 - Becomes Lord of the Crag
- 362 - Marries Bethany Tyrell
- 363 - Has a son named Peter
- 364 - Appointed to the position of Master of Whispers
- 367 - Helps to frame Edric Storm for a crime
- 370 - Travels with King Orys in the Second War of Reclamation
- 372 - Advises the King to accept the peace deal ending the war
- 375 - Martyn is fired from the council and executed