Forum of Thrones - Art Thread

And as I said before, I have more portraits for you, cross-posted from the main FoT thread. This time, the theme is Ironborn loyal to House Hoare, with the tyrant and his sons as the most prominent members of today's post, alongside our main Hoare-aligned PoV Kyra Greyjoy, her brother Damon (not so very Hoare aligned but the king doesn't know), Kyra's right-hand bro Gravven Drumm, Cleaver Clint Volmark and Durren Stallhart. Enjoy!

Harren Hoare

First, of course, there must be the Black himself, Harren of House Hoare, King of the Isles and the Rivers. He is without a doubt a shitty king and an even shittier father, a cruel ruler, neglectful parent who raised three psychopaths and as Maron Mullendore's benefactor he is chiefly behind pretty much every bad thing that happened in Book 1. So, while Maron and Petyr are arguably the main villains (and both will receive appropriately amazing portraits soon), Harren is, in trope speak, the Greater Scope Villain of this story. It also took me an ungodly amount of attempts to create a portrait with a scar that resembles Harren's glasgow grin even though the AI hates generating gore. The result made him look a bit younger than he actually is, he is around sixty years old, but since he has canonically full black hair (and at least two very handsome sons) I suppose he just has good genes.




Next, there is, of course, Crown Prince Harmund Hoare, proud owner of Westeros' most puncheable face. He is a cruel sociopath and undoubtedly the worst Hoare alive. Seriously, Harren is a brutal but relatively pragmatic monster, but Harmund is reckless, overconfident and knows no limits to his cruelty. Without his abuse, Harndon and especially Harlan would have turned out somewhat decent, so in a way you can all thank him for messing his brothers up that badly. In all seriousness, I consider Harmund the most irredeemable character in a story filled with complete monsters and that says a lot about how depraved he can get. The worst part about him? He can be charming, he can get along with others, this is not another Wolfius who comes across as creepy even when trying to act normal. Nope, Harmund can turn it off and blend in perfectly. Dude's the worst.




Coming next in our line of black-hearted Hoares is the second prince, Harlan. Harlan's entire existence can be summed up as second-place. He is a sadist, but Harmund is worse. He is crazy, but Harndon is worse. He is actually making some effort to be politically active and mend the bridges between the kingdom's two people, but Harrick is way more competent at that than him. It is easily overlooked, but there is one genuinely positive trait where Harlan outshines his entire family: He can be likeable. When removed from Harmund's toxic influence, Harlan actually has a very easy time forming bonds and getting along with others. Sure, he's messed up but we can thank Harmund for that as well. Harlan would have always been a somewhat dumb bully at his best, but in the right environment he could have been a somewhat decent person.



Fourth, the third prince, Harndon Hoare. A tragic dude, really, because Harmund and Harlan really messed him up and nearly getting his skull cracked in by Damon Greyjoy certainly did not help his sanity. Had he grown up in a stable, loving environment, he would have been a better man by far. Don't let his seemingly innocent face fool you, Harndon is an unstable madman, so bad that even Harren himself saw fit to remove him from the line of succession. There are people who support Harmund for crown prince, there are others who want Harrick to take the throne after his father and even a few who support Harlan because he is easily manipulated, but Harndon is so messed up that nobody in their right mind would ever support him. Seriously, he is one mess of a person.




Finally, Harrick Hoare, the only decent Hoare brother, a kid with whom Harren made some conscious effort to give him a stable, nurturing environment and, look at that, he turned out more than decent. Harrick is well-spoken, diplomatic, charming, perhaps a slight bit arrogant and aloof, but eh, he's basically a saint compared to his brothers. With him as king and without the conquest happening, it stands to reason that Hoare control over the Riverlands could have been stabilized. Alas, he is third in line to the throne and very unlikely to ever become king, not that he would not desire this very much. Kyra likes him, he likes her a bit more, which causes no small troubles between her and her brother. All in all, a decent guy who just so happens to be loyal to the wrong family.




Next in line, our main Ironborn PoV, Kyra Greyjoy, the Laughing Kraken in the flesh! She can be sweet, she can be charming, but that woman is dangerous as well, having led men into battle for over a decade despite her young age. She earned her nickname for enjoying battle and bloodshed a little bit too much, but all things considered she is the closest thing the Hoare-aligned characters have to a protagonist, because she's not even nearly as bad as the rest of them. Like Harrick, she's a decent person who just so happens to be loyal to the wrong people. In her case, she is torn between loyalty to the king who supported her despite her age and gender (a kindness from Harren that should not be overlooked) and loyalty to her beloved brother who has always protected her. There's also her complicated feelings towards Harrick and Garthon, the latter of whom is hiding in the keep she is currently marching against. Too much drama for a girl who would much rather spend her days killing, feasting and drinking and living the good life.




With the Laughing Kraken comes the Ghost of Pyke, Lord Captain Damon Greyjoy. A very dangerous, very enigmatic and terrifying man who nearly killed Harndon Hoare to defend his sister. Somehow, he survived the king's justice with a few years of exile and somehow he managed to worm himself into a position of power once he returned, becoming Lord Captain to replace his older brother, who had been badly injured in a freak accident. Hmmm, certainly a lucky coincidence. Damon is almost as bad as Harren Hoare, a ruthless and pragmatic killer who just so happens to direct his ambition against people who thoroughly deserve it. Genuinely loves his sister, but is not above manipulating her as well. Also, he has in my honest opinion, without a doubt the best portrait the AI has created so far (perhaps tied with Argella and Emphryus Dresfel, both of whom I will share next), because just look at that! Seriously, the two Greyjoy portraits turned out incredibly fine and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.




Coming after the Greyjoys, Kyra's loyal second-in-command Gravven Drumm. The Butcher of Old Wyk as he is called is a true ride-or-die bro. He is fun at parties, he is fun in combat and probably Kyra's best and most loyal friend. A quintessential Ironborn raider who found himself stuck in a middle management position working for a woman he greatly admires who in turn is working for a king he is, at best, indifferent towards. Has already caught up on her torn loyalties, with his own stance on the topic rather murky. As much as he dislikes the Hoares, Gravven is not a rebel and should Kyra decide to support Damon in full it remains to be seen whose side he will take. Also owns the coolest sword in the entire story, whicht he AI unfortunately failed to draw, a red Valyrian steel longsword with the crossguard shaped like finger bones. Really cool guy whom I hope to show more of in Kyra's upcoming parts.




Following Gravven is none other than good old Cleaver Clint Volmark, a character whom I created on the fly and who turned out to be stupid amounts of fun to write about, because he is so over the top evil that he got right back to being hilarious. There is really not much depth to him, he has zero redeeming qualities whatsoever, he was never meant to become a big presence in the storyline and he certainly deserved his death at the hands of Hjalgar after previously taking an ungodly amount of punishment in his fight with Garthon, but he was so crazy fun that I find myself missing that brute. Thankfully I have enough lovely characters to write about instead, but Cleaver will always have a special spot in my heart.




And last, but certainly not least, a surprising fan favourite and a character who grew on me over the years, Durren Stallhart, tied with Ser Emphryus for the title of biggest badass in Westeros and proud owner of the best facial hair in Westeros. The mighty walrus is a horrifyingly competent warrior, a brutal raider and near-unstoppable juggernaut who despite his limited appearances has surely made his presence known. Sadie lost a hand to him, he personally killed two secondary characters whom I would have loved to write more about, but all things considered Durren is not that bad of a guy. He's a surprisingly pragmatic, reasonable and decent example of an Ironborn raider who still follows the old way. Also, fun fact, the AI had incredible problems with this guy, to the point where I spent an unreasonable amount of time on this character. He has a walrus mustache and his armour has tusks on it, so of course the AI always drew him as a weird walrus-human hybrid. I eventually had to avoid using the term walrus at all. Instead, when it came to his facial hair I merely said that he looks like Friedrich Nietzsche, the Über-Mustache himself, and look at that, it immediately generated this beautiful portrait. I suppose god is dead and so is every character who decides to face Stallhart in combat.