WTFBT Expanded: Rayleen Wayward

Rayleen Wayward was the first Queen of the Snowlands. She ruled peacefully for fifty years and was regarded as one of the best sovereigns ever. She is known as Rayleen the Righteous, Ice Saint of the Snowlands, and the Priestess to the Chapel of the Sun.

Appearance and Personality

Rayleen was a tall and stunningly beautiful woman with the bright golden eyes of House Wayward. She was fierce, quick-tempered, and unforgiving. She had long silver-tinted blonde hair and bright golden eyes. She had soft facial features and small pointed ears. She was a skilled fighter and mastered both the sword and bow. She was well-respected and commanded her people better than any ruler before. After becoming a Saint, it is said that Rayleen’s eye color briefly turned red.

History

Rayleen was born in Maryere in 75 SM. She was the firstborn child of King Fane Wayward and Queen Lyra River. She had seven siblings: Obediah, Deidre, Seren, Soran, Clove, Autumn, and Irene.

Childhood

Rayleen was a rebellious child who refused to live up to the feminine standards set in the Snowlands. In 87 SM, Lord Timothy Myster proposed that Rayleen marry his eldest son, Elliot. King Fane agreed to the marriage without speaking to Rayleen first. Upset with her father’s decision, Rayleen ran away from Maryere and traveled north to the Northwoods.

From 88 SM to 92 SM, Rayleen lived happily with the Mountain tribes, who accepted her rebelliousness. She gained their respect by defeating their chief in hand-to-hand combat during her time with them. Not wanting to become the next chief, she instead accepted the position of a priestess, beginning her ascension to Sainthood.

In 92 SM, she learned that her brother, Soran, had died from the Plague of the Arts. She rushed back to Maryere to find her sisters, Seren and Autumn, on their deathbeds. She stayed with her sisters until they died. Being the eldest son, Obediah was locked away in the Bloody Tower in 93 SM to prevent the possibility of getting sick, and in 94 SM, her grandmother, Taylia, died from the plague. Her siblings, Clove and Irene, died in 95 SM. In 97, Obediah died of the plague, although he had been locked away. In 98 SM, her mother and her sister, Deidre, died within a few hours of each other, leaving only Rayleen and her father. In 99 SM, King Fane Wayward committed suicide. This chain of deaths brought the darkest era in Rayleen’s life.  

The Great Queen Reigns

As the last member of House Wayward, in 100 SM, Rayleen was declared Queen of the Snowlands, becoming the first woman to obtain queen status, not through marriage nor a marriage pact with another highborn house. Around the time she was proclaimed queen, rumors arose that Rayleen had murdered her entire family and not the plague that had ravaged the Snowlands. These rumors almost made Rayleen commit suicide, but her advisor, Gill, helped her.

The Tales of Unmos’ Mistress

Rayleen was called Unmos' Mistress by many highborns during the first five years of her reign.

In 100 SM, Lord Florian River, her cousin, created an army and marched to Maryere to depose Rayleen. As the army approached Maryere, Rayleen’s mental health spiraled. Rayleen’s best friend and handmaiden, Haueis, who was dying from the plague, helped Rayleen create a plan to defeat Lord Florian. On the Pink Moon's third day, Haueis died; the next day, Lord Florian arrived to sack Maryere. Grief and anger filled Rayleen, unleashing the plan she had created with Haueis. As the army attempted to break down the city’s walls, Rayleen had her men pour molten sap from the lumberyard trees over the walls. The parts of Lord Florian’s army that made it through the walls were met with fire arrows. By the next day, Lord Florian’s army surrendered.

The famous painting Rayleen and Foxtail depicted the moment Rayleen rode her horse, Foxtail, into the battle that had lasted deep into the night.

After the Siege of Maryere, Rayleen arrested Lord Florian River and forced him to watch the rest of his army’s executions. She then had the rest of House River arrested. For the rest of the year, Rayleen executed each House River member, including the children, with Lord Florian being the only person in the audience. She executed Lord Florian on the first day of the New Moon in 101 SM.

During the Harvest Moon in 101 SM, her advisor, Gill, succumbed to the plague. Rayleen knew that Elliot Myster, the person she was supposed to marry, was deeply in love with her, So she decided to make him her new advisor. Elliot left Bear’s Creek, leaving his wife Jinx and his younger brother Marth in charge.  

Elliot proved a good advisor, creating alliances between the houses and Queen Rayleen. From 102 to 105 SM, Rayleen went on several excursions to eradicate the Valiant Warriors, who refused to stop attacking settlements and towns and did not recognize her as queen.  

Rayleen the Righteous

In 106 SM, Alaric was born. Alaric’s father is unknown, but it was rumored that her father was Elliot Myster, who publicly adored Alaric. Rayleen relaxed on expeditions as a mother and mostly stayed in the newly built Sun Keep. Although she loved all her children, it was apparent that she loved Alaric the most and groomed the girl to one day become queen.

In 108 SM, Rayleen decided to visit the Mountain tribe she lived with when she was younger. The trip was initially supposed to be a one moon stay; however, Rayleen became pregnant with her second child, Leander. In 109 SM, Leander was born. His father was Drynad, the son of the tribe chief, whom Rayleen had beaten when she was younger. When Leander was born, Drynad was named chief of the tribe and decided to stay instead of traveling to Maryere to be with Rayleen.

In 111 SM, Rayleen invited a strange, unknown man to Maryere. It was rumored that the strange man was an Arc. In 112 SM, Rayleen gave birth to her third child, Rihannon. Rihannon’s father is unknown, but many believed that her father was the strange man who visited Maryere a year prior.

In 112 SM, Rayleen created a new decree allowing the firstborn child to control the throne instead of the firstborn son. Rayleen’s final child, Caera, was born in 113 SM. Caera’s father is unknown. After giving birth to Caera, Rayleen became very sick and lost her ability to have children. Elliot Myster died in 116 SM. Rayleen replaced Elliot with her ten-year-old daughter, Alaric, as advisor.

Ice Saint of the Snowlands

In 118 SM, Rayleen decided to regain her old status as a priestess. This expanded her title to Rayleen Wayward, Queen of the Snowlands and Priestess of the Chapel of the Sun. Although she was a priestess, she never really participated in the chapels; she only studied religious texts.

After reading about oubliettes, Rayleen became obsessed with them. She dug underneath Maryere, but there was no oubliette. In 120 SM, Rayleen traveled to Shadow’s Peak, where she believed the oubliette was located. When the oubliette was found, she followed what the Arcs did and built a city on the island. Rayleen made the ruling family on SShadow’sPeak an official house, creating House Tudor.

In 123 SM, Rayleen and her children traveled to Lismure and stayed for two years. What they did in Lismure was never recorded. When the family returned, it was noted that Leander acted out to get Rayleen’s attention. The acting out quickly became violent, and in 127 SM, Rayleen sent Leander to the Chapel of the Sun to become a priest.

Leander returned to Maryere, reformed, in 130 SM. He then convinced Rayleen to pursue the coveted title of Saint. From 131-135 SM, Rayleen, Alaric, and Leander traveled to Blackwater, where the main Chapel of the Sun was. In 136 SM, she was approved for the Ice Saint of the Snowlands title. After ascending to Sainthood, Rayleen’s reign was peaceful and enlightening to the masses.

In 150 SM, after 50 years of reigning, Queen Rayleen gave the crown to her eldest child, Alaric.

The Retired Queen

When she retired, Rayleen became a quiet and charitable person who happily advised her children. In 154 SM, Rayleen advised Alaric to build a holdfast where she had killed Silas Myster a year prior. Doing this earned Alaric the name Alaric of the Trident, a name Rayleen prided herself on.  

In 155 SM, Leander murdered Alaric. This broke Rayleen, and it saddened her that Rihannon didn’t want the throne. Two moons after Alaric’s death, Caera took the throne. Rayleen advised her that Caera should execute Leander, not an executioner. In 156 SM, Caera beheaded Leander. It is believed that Leander only told his mother why he murdered Queen Alaric.

Rayleen stayed in the shadows during Caera’s reign, allowing Caera to create a name on her own. This proved to be helpful in the way Caera governed. Caera only went to her mother for advice when there was a problem she could not solve. In a letter written to her lover, Selah, she quoted: I adored Alaric and crushed her under my strength. I ignored Caera, and she shone brighter than the sun. I constantly question why I am here, but when Caera is kneeling, asking for my input, I feel greater than Axone.”

In 177 SM, Caera died after falling from a horse. At 102 years old, Rayleen knew she would soon die too and worried for the Snowlands’ future. Rayleen fell out with Rihannon when she refused to take the throne. She believed that if Rihannon’sson Rickard became king, he would destroy the Snowlands. Rihannon still refused. In 178 SM, when Rickard became king, Rayleen left Maryere and moved to Alaric’s Holdfast along with Selah. She refused to accept that Rickard became king of her kingdom and constantly plotted his demise.

In 180 SM, Rayleen invited Nodin and Orist Wayward, the bastard sons of Alaric, to AAlaric’sHoldfast. Nodin and Orist idolized Rayleen and did everything his elderly grandmother asked of them. In 181 SM, Rayleen sent Orist to kill Rickard, who was supposedly traveling to Gatekeeper’s Watch. Being careless, Orist’s mercenaries set the wheelhouse on fire, never checking who was inside. Inside was Rihannon and her grandchildren, not Rickard. Three moons later, Orist mysteriously died.  

In 182, Nodin Wayward, the bastard son of Alaric, murdered King Rickard. The other houses voted to make Nodin Wayward the new king even though he was a bastard. Rayleen approved the assassination and Nodin’s ascent to power.

Queen Rayleen Wayward of the Snowlands died in 183 SM at 112 years old.