Cheyenne, born as Mya Grafton, the daughter of the deceased Rewan and Alysanne Grafton, is the most recent individual to adopt the title The Horned Queen. She is also the Chieftain of the Painted Dogs Clan. She was previously married to the prior Chieftain, Hragir, before his death from wounds sustained in combat.
History[]
Birth[]
Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Cheyenne places herself in the final category.
When she was born, she was born not as Cheyenne, but as Mya Grafton. She screamed loud enough that all Gulltown heard, her father liked to say. The fiery locks that topped her head betrayed the heated temper she would grow to develop. At least, that's what she was told. Her father, Rewan Grafton, and her mother, Alysanne Hersy, died of typhoid fever before her second nameday, leaving Mya an orphan.
Early Life[]
Mya was, as her Septa put it when she thought the girl was out of earshot, a "problem child." Discipline wasn't something that seemed to process for her. Over the years, harsh words turned to the hand, and the hand turned to the strap, but even that failed to tame her. Her hair was perpetually disheveled, and her blue eyes always had a hint of wildness behind them. The fancy dresses her grandfather commissioned--one after another--always ended up in tatters.
Technically, following her father's death, Mya became the legal heiress of Gulltown. She never acted like it. She spent the first decade of her life as the terror of Gulltown, running about, swinging lengths of wood like a sword, and generally being dreadfully unladylike. By the time she turned ten, her grandfather Marq had had enough, and shipped her off to foster with her other set of grandparents, House Hersy.
Maybe it was the attention that she received at Newkeep that finally tamed her. Gulltown and the keep within it was large, and easy for an orphan girl--heiress or no--to get lost in. Newkeep was different. Lord and Lady Hersy raised Mya like the daughter they'd never had. Her upbringing was a primary focus of the couple for the two years she resided there. The "untamable problem child" finally began to behave in a manner befitting her station.
When she turned thirteen, it was decided that she should return to Gulltown to visit her family, whom she had not seen since her arrival at Newkeep three years prior. She was barely recognizable to them; the wispy-haired girl had given way to a beautiful young woman who fancied braids and needlework. The change was stunning. After a few months in Gulltown, Mya was sent back to Newkeep.
Disappearance[]
She never arrived at her destination. As they traveled through the Mountains of the Moon, the party, a combination of Hersy and Grafton men, was set upon by men of the Painted Dogs. There were few survivors of the attack, but most told the same story: Mya Grafton had died during the attack. Though her body was never found at the site of the ambush, its absence was attributed to the perverse practices of the Clansmen. That was an easier lie to stomach than the reality. In the eyes of her family, Mya Grafton was dead.
There was a time when wished she were so fortunate.
Mya was taken captive by the Painted Dogs. She was spared the worst of it; the Chieftain, Hragir the Ruthless, took an immediate liking to her. She was made his bedwarmer. Regardless, she does not like to discuss her first months among the Clansmen.
A New Life[]
Months turned into years, and still her moon's blood did not come. By the time she turned fifteen, and it became apparent that she was infertile, the Clan began pushing for her to be set aside, or for Hragir to at least take other women into his bed. He refused. A few days later, Hragir's camp was attacked by a patrol of Arryn men. It was Mya's swift hand--armed with spear she had secured from a fallen warrior--that saved the Chief from certain death at the hands of a knight. It was later discovered that the location of his camp had been given to the knights by a dissatisfied party within the clan. Their deaths were swift.
From then on, her place at his side was secured. Before one of the few weirwood trees left in the mountain passes, hidden from the eyes of the Andals who had claimed the land as their own, Hragir and Mya were wed.
The marriage bought her some goodwill in the clan. Before it, she was nothing but a thrall. After it, even though many still disapproved of Hragir’s decision, she was one of them. Nominally, at least. She was taught the ways of the clan. She learned to huntand skin animals, and to build traps for both animal and man. The secrets of the mountains--ones even the most experienced of Andal hunters didn’t know, making her a skilled Navigator.
Rise to Power[]
The relative peace didn’t last. Shortly after her nineteenth nameday, Hragir was mortally wounded by men in the service of House Arryn. Given his lack of relatives, his successor was uncertain, but in his final moments, he named Mya his successor. By his word, she was fully accepted into the clan, and given the name of Cheyenne. As he died, Mya died with him. He died thinking his legacy was secure.
He was wrong. Almost as soon as he passed, those men who had been opposed to his fondness of the little Andal girl and escaped his wrath resurfaced. They called for a Gathering, where all the members of the clan would vote on who should lead them out of a pool of candidates, all of which had performed a great deed. Argrir, the strongest opposition candidate, had managed to best three Andal knights by himself.
The newly-minted Cheyenne was not one to be outdone. She vanished into the mountains before the Gathering. Most thought her dead, or at least assumed she’d disappeared to rejoin her family in the lowlands. Her opponents were disappointed when she returned the day before, bearing the pelt of a shadowcat, fashioned into a cloak, she had killed with her bare hands.
Her deed, and the subsequent death of a few lesser claimants in an avalanche, saw her earn the majority of the clan’s voices. Argrir was not pleased, and claimed that her deed was false. That she had not slain it with her bare hands, as she claimed. He and his supporters challenged her and her men to a Bloodletting. Each side would fight with twelve warriors before a weirwood, and whichever side was left standing was the side favored by the Gods.
When the sun set that day, Cheyenne was the only one still alive. From then on, her rule went unquestioned. She had proven herself worthy of respect.
The Path to Glory[]
Her scouts told her that the Andal Lords had returned from across the sea, bringing with them spoils and plunder, but more worryingly, experienced warriors. Cheyenne did not like the odds facing her people. So she did what she thought best.
One by one, the Painted Dogs, under the leadership of their new Chieftain, began to subjugate the clans of the Mountains of the Moons. Some came peacefully. Others were beaten so badly they had no choice but to submit. Others still were so broken that the survivors were forced to integrate into the Painted Dogs just to survive the winter. Her covert nature made her a force to be reckoned with in the freezing, narrow passes of the mountains. Ambushes were a favorite tool of hers.
As more clans submitted to the Painted Dogs, two things occurred. the men of the Mountains grew bolder, attacking larger and larger Andal patrols. The promises of plunder drew more and more clans to their banner. The second was more personal to Cheyenne. With each new clan that joined them, she marked it upon her body. By 379, when the Black Ears were the only clan to still fight against her, Cheyenne was so covered in ritualized scars from the neck down that an Andal might call it a deformity. For her people, it was strength. They depicted stories of her victories, of her life, and of her plans. They were her story on her flesh.
With the defeat of the Black Ears, the near-decade of warfare between the clans was over. Though many had fallen, and much blood had been spilled, they emerged from the conflict stronger than ever. They were united for the first time in a lifetime. The Horned Crown came to rest upon the brow of Cheyenne, and would remain there until her dying breath.
Present Day[]
The spring arrived, and the frozen passes began to thaw. For too long, the Mountain Clans had been barely worth mentioning. Cheyenne was determined to change that.
”...and behold a white horse! And he that sat on him had a bow, and he went forth to conquer…”
Recent Events[]
Family[]
- Marq Grafton, Lord of Gulltown (d. 362)
- Mace Grafton (d. 339)
- Rewan Grafton (d. 354)
- Mya Grafton (b. 352, d. 365)
- m. Alysanne Hersy (d. 354)
- Marq-Gerold Grafton, Lord of Gulltown (b. 324)
- Ilyana Grafton (b. 358)
- m. Suesane Estermont (b. 337)
- Clarton Grafton, heir of Gulltown (b. 351)