Dareon

Dareon is a singer and a brother of the Night's Watch, a man whose voice is described as "honey poured over thunder" by Maester Aemon. He came to the Wall not as a criminal or a prisoner, but as a consequence of a romantic entanglement: Lord Rowan of Goldengrove found him in bed with his daughter. Though the girl was two years older and had helped him through her window, under her father's eye she named it rape, and Dareon was sent to take the black. He is a young man, quick and skilled with a sword, but his true talent lies in his singing, which he uses to entertain the men of Castle Black during the evenings.

Life at Castle Black

Dareon is part of the group of recruits that includes Jon Snow, Samwell Tarly, Grenn, Pyp, and others. He is a competent fighter, though not as skilled as Jon, and he is known for his vanity and his sharp tongue. He is quick to mock others, as when he tells Jon that the stewards are "fine for the likes of you and me, Sam, but not for Lord Snow," revealing his own sense of social hierarchy and his resentment of Jon's noble birth. Despite this, he is also capable of camaraderie, joining in the laughter and the shared hardships of life on the Wall.

Role and Fate

Dareon is assigned to the stewards, specifically to be sent to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, where his palate and experience with high lords' tables might be of use to Cotter Pyke in trading with merchant galleys. This assignment, while not as glamorous as being a ranger, is a practical one that utilizes his skills. He is one of the eight recruits passed out of training by Ser Alliser Thorne, and he takes his vows alongside Jon and the others in the weirwood grove beyond the Wall. His story is one of a man of talent and some pride, forced into a life of service and discipline, where his greatest asset is not his sword arm but his voice and his knowledge of the finer things in life.