Torric "the Blackhand" Greyjoy was the Lord of the Iron Islands and Lord Reaper of Pyke from 331AC until his death in 354AC. He was born to Asha Greyjoy and Gran Goodbrother, and inherited the Seastone Chair after the passing of his mother, who was predeceased by her eldest son Rodrik.
He was the head of House Greyjoy.
Appearance[]
A stout man in his later years, Torric was known for the wild tangle of black hair that adorned his head, and the corded arms of tanned leather-like skin he used to swing his famed battleaxe. He was known to sing uproariously, both during battles during feasts, his voice a deep and pleasant rumble. His shoulders were broad, his eyes - clear and sharp, hard as slate and glittering with a hidden cunning.
Personality[]
Torric Greyjoy was largely regarded as a hard man, but fair. To his friends he was a steady and dependable rock; to his foes, a dogged and stubborn thorn; and to his sons, both god and tormentor. Hard to please but ever eager to mete out punishment, beneath his hard gaze his two sons grew to be powerful men in their own right. Skilled with axe and sword and shield, Torric was a fierce warrior on both land and sea. He fought in a score of major engagements and countless minor ones, going into every battle with a grin and a song. He never once took a saltwife - reportedly remaining loyal to his rock wife until the day he died.
History[]
As with all of her children, Asha raised Torric to stand between the worlds of the Iron Islands and the Greenlands. His days were filled with the teachings of Maesters and Drowned Priests both, as well as practice with sword, sail, and scroll. Asha was insistent that all her children learn their letters, leading to the first generation of Greyjoy scions to abide tutors and lessons in mayhaps decades. He could run, fish, hunt, and fight as well as any other nobleman might have wished - and though his eyes glittered with the storms of the Sunset Sea, he knew of the mysteries of the Faith, and the tenants of knighthood. Torric Greyjoy was immersed in a maelstrom of competing ideas - and emerged from it harder and stronger.
As a man grown the young Kraken was popular among the captains of the Ironborn, known for both his martial skill and easy company. Though the death of his brother in the year 330AC saddened many, most agree that the Ironborn were better for it. Mere months later Torric would ascend to the Seastone Chair - and set about hunting down the Drowned Priest that slew his brother.
For the rest of his reign Torric the Blackhand would periodically be haunted by minor Sons of the Kraken, though never any as strong as the four greater sons. Instead, most of his reign was spent improving the Isles; longships were constructed, granaries were filled, and for much of Torric's rule a steady stream of loot trailed from the Summer Seas to the halls of Pyke.
Lysene, Volantene, Qaartheen or Yunkish - it mattered little what colour banners the sailors flew; so long as they were not Westerosi, the Blackhand descended upon them. He scourged the seas for decades, leaving his wife Mara Sunderly as steward in his stead. Torric would reave and reap from the Summer Isles to the edges of Valyria, breaking the fleets of those that defied him and fighting alongside those that offered enough gold. He would be gone from the Isles for months or even years at a time, only to reappear without notice and remain for just as long.
In time the name of Torric the Blackhand grew so feared in the southern Seas that merchant ships would fly his flag in order to travel unmolested by all but the most foolish of corsairs. Men in a hundred ports cursed his name, while women whispered it to their children in order to frighten them into obedience. As the writ of House Hoare once ran anywhere on the Western Coast where a man might hear the sea - so it was for large swathes of Essos, where the mere whisper of the name Blackhand was enough to draw signs of warding.
Torric died in the year 354AC - some say to storm, others to a Kraken's grasp. Whatever the case, no trace of his ship - the Blackhand - was ever found. It sails now with the Drowned God, striking fear into the hearts of the greenlander dead, and carving its maker's mark on every coast with steel and fire and song.
Family[]
- Torric "the Blackhand" Greyjoy (306-354AC)
- m. Mara Sunderly (d. 372AC)
- Roryn “Ironshod” Greyjoy (b. 327AC)
- m. Runa Volmark (b. 328AC)
- Urron Greyjoy (350-369AC)
- Victaria Greyjoy (b. 353AC)
- Torwyn Greyjoy (353-379AC)
- Urrigon Greyjoy (b. 354AC)
- Ewon Greyjoy (b. 355AC)
- Helya Greyjoy (b. 357AC)
- Sigfryd Greyjoy (b. 359AC)
- Otter Pyke (b. 360AC)
- Vickon Greyjoy (b. 361AC)
- Nute Greyjoy (b. 328AC)
- Brander Pyke (b. 352AC)
- Tristifer Pyke (b. 354AC)
- Harras, Harwyn, Hake - Triplets (b. 355AC)
- Tristifer Pyke (b. 354AC)
- Alva Greyjoy (Married, with children) - (b. 329AC)