Maester Minuvas

Maester Minuvas (Tallhart) was eldest child in a cadet branch of the Tallhart family of the North. Minuvas is not his birth name, it was a pseudoname he was given at the Citadel after his enrollment and he was disowned as the primary claimant on some of the Tallhart lands. Records at the Citadel leave no indicator as to what happened to the eldest Tallhart son. Displeased with the thought of a Scholar as a Northern Lord, viewing it as weak, Minuvas was instead enrolled at the Citadel at the age of 14. This seemed to have pleased Lord Tallhart and Minuvas, who has never looked back - and he has considered himself a Maester first and foremost, never inquiring to the family he was sent from some 65 years ago. He has never gone by his original name, making records of his association to the Tallhart family a fiercely guarded secret. He is likely an Uncle or Great Uncle to any living Tallharts in the realm.

Biography
Minuvas was sent to the Citadel at the age of 14. Having grown up in the North he had almost no exposure to the pageantry of the Knighthood and the ornate nature of the noble houses. He abandoned his faith in the Old Gods and took up the Seven as apart of this conversion to Andal culture. This immediately gave him an interest in the history of the realm, and he dedicated much of the next 15 years studying this topic. His first link would be copper but in time he would in total forge his chain of bronze, black iron, silver and copper. After the night with his glass candle, Minuvas became avowed that the magical and the occult are nothing more than superstition. The seneschal was tough, but he took his vows and felt prepared to advise the Nobles of Westeros. This has also made him particular doubtful of Red Priests & Witches and their supposed "magic" as nothing more than tricks, and finds them to be tolerable at best and to be ignored or locked away at worst.

Minuvas strongly does not believe in magic. Claims of things like "shadows", "resurrections" and other such phenomena he easily explains away with his knowledge in medical fields, often finding such fantastical tales an attribute to the small folks lack of education in where everything they don't understand to some kind of superstitious story they heard around the tavern.

Season 6
When arriving from Hightower, Minuvas was taken in by Maester Karl until a new Grand Maester could be chosen. Until this time, he learned from the experienced Maester on how to advise and bring out the best in the people they help. In time, Grand Maester Allistaire was chosen and Minuvas was assigned to the Stormlands where he technically served the missing Lady of Storm's End for about a full day. This time was extremely tumultuous, as the Lady had gone quite mad and drove much of Storm's End into disappearance. Eventually, his first task as Maester was the supervision of the election of the new Lord - where Lord Carhillion Embergrove was named as the Lord-Paramount of the Stormlands and the Lord of Storm's End.

Season 7
Minuvas remains the Maester of Storm's End. To this end, he has seen it his duty to not only advise the Lord but the young Ser Tysinian Baratheon. Minuvas' love of history and the great houses has seen him making attempts to prevent one of the great Houses of Westeros crumble. While some Maesters choose to advise their Lord or Lady only, Minuvas has seen himself as a mentor and guide to any of the ruling class within the Storm's End, hoping to see them all one day be landed and prosperous for the stability of the realm. There is currently talk that he is working on a great library with Maester Wyndlynn to be built in The Eryie. Minuvas spent roughly ten days as a guest history lecturer for initiates at the Citadel, advancing his own studies as well the students. While there, Minuvas received a raven about the death of Tysinian Baratheon, it is said he took the letter into his breast pocket and continued his lecture without skipping a beat. Whatever emotion he had on the subject remain a mystery. When Minuvas returned from the Citadel he could only describe it as disorder, many of the children of the realm had set sail for Essos - Ser Baratheon had been deceased, two stewards had been dismissed from Storm's End and he did what he thought was best, continue to work with and advise Lord Carhillion. As winter approached, he retired to his studies on history and noble houses to occupy the time. He had also learned about the disappeared of Lord Jasper DeGrey, a patron of learning and supporter of the Maester order.

Within the minutes kept amongst the Maester's detailed minutes of their meetings, it is clear that Minuvas had a strong opposition to Melbus' desire to reforge his links and was one of the group who spoke openly against the decision of giving the man the opportunity. In the end, he deferred to the Grand Maester in this decision. Minuvas became quite vocal with the other Maesters that Melbus was allowing the Red Witches to gain too much influence in Casterly Rock.

As winter approached, he retired to his studies on history and noble houses to occupy his time. He would make numerous attempts with the Arch Maesters in the Citadel to progress his studies of history, using his chronologies of active and living noble blood lines and the rise and fall of houses in the 7th summer season as the basis for his presentation to the Citadel. He was afforded the opportunity to forge an additional copper link for his work in this field of study.

Season 8
Minuvas returns older and more tired. He, for once, shows noticeable signs of happiness at seeing many of the Children he imparted lessons in their youth having come of age and hopefully to one day rule. Though some have noticed the man has aged quicker than he should for his actual age, and there are suggestions that Minuvas' restraint in expressing his personal opinions on subjects and his desire to overwork is breaking him. His chains have grown heavier, having accumulated an additional Copper link - he also hangs his head a little lower with the weight of the chains. He still maintains his wit, though he has gotten more ornery. He served for some time early in the summer as the Maester of Storm's End, still under Lord-Paramount Carhillion Embergrove.

Early in the 8th summer, Grand Maester Allistaire passed away in his sleep. Minuvas was recalled to King's Landing and over time, came to be named the new Grand Maester. The environment proved to be exceptionally different from service in Storm's End, his position on the small council and the many powerful figures who lived in King's Landing meant that every piece of advice, every vote and decision, now served to embolden or oppress people throughout the entirety of Westeros. In King's Landing, every smile and courteous bow was often a velvet dagger waiting to strike. The Royal Family, once children in the realm, remembered Minuvas as one of the many instructors that taught them in the vale - something that allowed him to bridge their relationship. Outwardly, it appears the Old man carries some level of influence with the royal children. His service to Queen Hura Targaryen, Princes Zaldrises, Perzys and Daiz Targaryen has been enjoyable work for him.

This honeymoon in the Maester order lasted for some time until the arrival of a Maester by the name of Faustus and another named William. Faustus and Archmaester Wyndlynn, who recently re-established the Citadel, were at odds - dragging the entire order into a conflict between them that had occurred many seasons ago. Minuvas chose to remain neutral in their dispute, quietly hoping the matter would end so that they could focus on other matters. Faustus would eventually lose his chains, but rumors suggest that the relation between Faustus and Minuvas didn't end there....

Maester William, recently arrived from the Citadel himself, became a fiery antagonist at Winterfell who resisted any attempts of centralizing the Maester order - coming to heads with Minuvas, Archmaester Wyndlynn, and other Maesters. William even came to heads with the royal family, successfully resisting in his own way to take any orders. William himself has for the most part locked himself in his tower, emerging to tend to the people of Winterfell and writing a raven here and there. His moves being closely watched, and anything interpreted to be out of line left the Grand Maester with a pre-signed request for the headman's axe to the Queen - a personal, if not selfish, victory that Minuvas saw in silencing a man he felt was anathema to the order.

Season 8 - Winter
In the 8th winter season since the great storm, Grand Maester Minuvas had some respite from the politics of King’s Landing to focus on his passion within the royal court – education. He devoted considerable time leveraging the royal purse to acquire great works of literature and art, considerably expanding the royal library, he emphasized the works of Westeros to which the royal children had spent so much time away from. In the absence of their father and mother during their new-found positions of power, Minuvas labored to the royal family the importance of a host of well-rounded topics in what he thought might best serve them as rulers; History, noble houses, etiquette, titles and greetings became prominent lectures for the royal family.

For the Queen, always in the back of his mind was the worry of the Targaryen madness, to which he sought to temper by her on his visits to the rest of the realm – observing both good and poor rulers alike. He dedicated most of his time to the Queen, and he secured invitation to High Tower in Old Town to receive numerous guest lectures in ethics and law from the arch maesters for the Queen. All the time he took the opportunity to meet the young noble males of the realm, noting their power and prominence – matching them against Sirius Talas, who he currently felt was the best political arrangement for the Queen - barring any new discoveries. At the Queen's side was Vallira, a girl with a mysterious background whom Hura took in as a Lady-in-waiting of her royal court everywhere she went. Other than being a friend of the Queen, the Grand Maester held nothing but suspicion for the girl - consistently seeking to know the girl's background or research into how she arrived in the court in the first place. Regardless, since she was so often at the Queen's side except during most sensitive of political discussions, she often benefited from many of the same lessons the Queen did. To the Crown-Prince, Perzsy Targaryen and his wife Avalon Targaryen he dedicated much of his efforts in promoting fertility, and scrapping together as many children’s books he could – hoping the couple would get the hint that the old man hoped to teach one more generation of Targaryen’s before he was six feet under.

To Prince Zaldrises Targaryen and his wife Aleah Targaryen, he made no wasted effort in providing the young prince as much literature as the man could consume. He sought to round out the boy’s education in topics he thought might be unfamiliar to him; architecture, mathematics, geology and the sciences. Numerous lessons in temperance were also allotted, worried about the boy’s interest in Dornish wine. Yet perhaps the most precious of gifts the Maester obtained, was a blade with the engraving “P.A.F” on the hilt, to which the Maester chose not to reveal the meaning.

Yet his passion for teaching did not end with the royal family. For the Lady-Commander, Ilden Cerwyn, he obtained a crate of literature on the Andal invasion of Westeros. Not as a way to insult her Northern heritage, but as a way to further her understanding of the Knights she would now command. The pageantry of Andal Knighthood had its own lessons in the politics of the court she would now be exposed. He also felt it appropriate to invite the Arch Maesters of silver and iron links, healing and warfare, to give a host of training to the new lady-commander to help prepare her for her daunting task in the court. For the non-noble children of King’s Landing, he setup some form of public education – raiding the royal treasury more than Carhillion would have liked – ensuring at least some form of literacy in the capital and working to secure apprenticeships where possible.

As for himself, an attempt was made on his life that left him blind in his left eye. For once, years of exposure to toxic substances had built up a tolerance in the old man. How, when, or who poisoned him was not discovered. Yet it reminded him about the frailty of his aging life, and that illusions of neutrality would fade the longer he served in King’s Landing– even the chains around his neck could not protect him from the aura of the Iron Throne.

For Carhillion, whom Minuvas had known longer than any in King’s Landing, he spent much of his time waxing nostalgic of younger days in Storm’s End when his hair was brown and his beard was short. He spent less time teaching Carhillion, and more time capturing the lessons Carhillion learned as a Lord. Minuvas would use this information to help publish a historical account of Storm’s End for study in the Citadel. His most personal conversations of the winter he held with Carhillion, who he kept in confidence. In an odd display, a sign of his age perhaps, a brief regret was shared in what Minuvas called his “failure” in preventing Tysinian Baratheon from walking into his own execution. What other stories they shared amongst each other, would remain secret. As only a Lord and a Maester would have them.

Whether any of this had any affect, would only come to be seen once the snow began to thaw and the ice recede once again in the 9th summer season

Season 9 -Summer
Time. It was precious, and it had been running out for some time for Minuvas. He had now sat as the Grand Maester for nearly two decades. In those two decades he had the opportunity to marry Prince Zaldrises, The Crown-Prince Perzsy Targaryen and the Queen as well as Lady Kassandra DeThorre of the Vale. He had seen a historical moment in the sworn allegiance of Dorne made to the crown, their knee bent for the first time in history and a new Targaryen ruler placed on its throne. The Vallira girl who had travelled with them during the winter was later recognized as a Targaryen, perhaps through a line of bastardry. This declaration was questionable from a legal stand point, in Minuvas' mind, but it secured the allegiance of Dorne - worth far more in return. In addition, he had accumulated a significant amount of historical art and other artifacts from Aegon's conquest at the cost of the crown treasury. Yet, Minuvas had achieved much in a life that was meant to amount to little from when his father cast him off.

A War with the Iron Islands and Storm's End at seperate times had occured during his tenure, and later that winter Minuvas would go on to publish a book called "The Clash of Dragon, Stag and Sea: The Reuniting of the Seastone Chair and the House that Bran Built under the Reign of Targaryens" which would earn him another link in history - though this recognition at this point in his life was more ceremonial than anything else, as he wore the honorary chains of the grand maester. Both conflicts brought him considerable unhappiness, and although he was glad to see both kingdoms brought under the rule of the Throne - he worried always in the violent and determined manner in which the Queen wished to execute her plans. As he grow older, he saw the Queen grow more decisive in her use of force to get her way.

Often he would wonder in the dark portions of his tower, privately in his thoughts, whether this violence was oppression - abetted by his own counsel or the curse of some deeper Targaryen blood. The ends were good, for the first time there was a great deal of unified peace in the realm - the uneasiness of 'neutral' kingdoms had washed away and they could focus on the real threats of the many things beyond the wall. Yet only time would tell. The pregnancy of all three Targaryen wives meant Minuvas had to move quickly to ensure that succession was clearly outlinned, a looming repeat of the "Dance of Dragons" could be on the horizon - as each began to secure lands. They were close as a family, but always someone looking to split that bond apart.

The foul corners of the world did not seem to care for the troubles at King's Landing, however. The Night's Watch had, in his mind, failed as an organization. Cries from within the realm, to include the Maester order, talked of everything from conquering to disbanding the order. Minuvas staked his claim on non-interference, succesfully appealing to the Lord's and Lady's to protect the neutrality of the Night's Watch. Though the results of that action have left him criticized by the more practical within his own order. The Night's Watch effectiveness did not improve, the wildling problem escalated - all in the name of preservation of tradition. Yet he does not show an overwhelming need to change his opinion, worried that the Night's Watch will become another land army for use and pursuasion by the Lord's and Lady's if they have their way.

And so as the winter of the Ninth Season approaches, so too does the progress of time. The sturdy hands of many years, begins to shake with each curve of ink along the parchments...destined for ravens and the keeps of other across the realm.

Season 10
As the Grand Maester approached nearly 80 years of age, it became apparent his memory was faltering. He was caught in often embarassing moments of forgetfulness about things he should have easily recalled. He attempted to mitigate this by writing down everything as he rembembered it, filling a near library with nothing but short notes of times, dates, peoples and faces. Keeping more current events on him. He managed to keep himself rather able to see the birth of the Targaryen children through their 8th year of living, yet he knew his time would soon come. He had self-diagnosed himself with a rather lethal disease as a result of his old age that would slowly eat at his memory. He kept it together for the death of Prince Zaldrises, managing to help bring Ser Charles Mallister to justice for his crimes of treason - yet things got worse from there. He made a brief trip to the Citadel, the Arch Maesters briefing him on what was surely to be a winter that could be like none they have seen in ages.

The rotting bones of a dead creature were layed before his tower, thick with arrows and yet it flinched. Never a believer in magic, he had the creature shackled up and locked away in a secret location within the Maester tower. He spoke with Maester Marwell, the only Maester he knew of with a Valyrian steel link and who had claimed to work with higher magics. Yet the two men left in disagreement, the Grand Maester convinced that this secret must be hidden from the realm - lest they go into panic and the people rebel. Surely, there was a reasonable explanation for this all and there was no need to unneccesarily alarm the people. Marwell felt it urgent to notify the people sooner rather than later, had he ever spoken of what he saw or what the two talked about remained a mystery to the Grand Maester - he never heard the topic of white walkers brought up before his demise.

At the age of 80, the Grand Maester woke one day feeling terribly ill. His palms sweaty and his body clammy. He struggled to remember things yet knew he should know them. He became overly embarassed by the people who threw sympathy on him, confident he was still one of the sharpest minds in the realm. Yet it could not be so. As he staggered into his room, the fog had swirled about him. He remembered the first Targaryen children he had helped raised to become rulers, he had seen their pride and their shame alike. He knew what he felt about them but he could not draw on his memory well enough to elaborate. He remembered only his duty, he knelt before the Queen as she entered his room. The door was closed behind them, it is unknown what they discussed. After Maester Darius from Storm's End arrived, he assured him that all of his "work" could wait until the morning - which for once seemed to put Minuvas at ease, confident a full day's worth of duties were awaiting him. He reached out to Queen Hura and said his final words, "I remember! Your grace, the Dance of Dragon's! The Dance of Dragon's. Save some work for me!" as he faded into his bed. His breathing stopped, the chains on his chest slouched to the side, and his hat tumbled to the floor.

Appearance
Minuvas is short, scrawny, and his chains are heavy enough on him that he pull his neck down slightly. He is slightly tan, and has bad sight. He has started to put on some weight as of season 8. As of season nine, Minuvas' left eye is gray and cloudy - where it is blinded.

In season 10, Minuvas had passed away. His death is presumed to be of his advanced age.

Personality
He is an administrative guru, and puts emphasis on orthoproxy over practicality. He reads and writes profusely, and expects as much from Nobles - and will frequently admonish the Knights of Storm's End for not reading or writing enough mail.

He has developed a reputation for trying to marry together noble houses, and while he cares about lowfolk he looks down on nobles who marry lowfolk, or bring lowfolk into decision making. He is known to scoff at people who suggest breaking tradition, reminding those about him that everyone has their place in society.