You guys can click my spoilers btw, I just posted like this to keep the thread a bit cleaner. You don't really get much spoiled anyway, and Liquid knows far far more.
The ruler's House may just become ruler, the person may start a Cadet branch dynasty, If the new ruler is a lowly noble, or not a noble at all it may 'take/inherit' the CoA and motto (words) of the house as in case of House Durrandon VS House Baratheon, real historical cases exist where the 'negative' of a Coat of Arms is used for a brand new ruling dynasty of a territory (as example, if a castle was ruled by a family with a black eagle on white background, then the new dynasty would take a white eagle on black background as CoA), the easiest would be of course for nearby dynasties claiming Raylansfair to unite the territories. Nearby dynasties include House Tyrell & House Florent. If the King of the Reach from House Gardener gives his blessing to it, then a new ruler could also just take the family name Raylan even if unrelated to the dynasty by blood.
Thank you very much for creating these! I love the Raylan sigil in particular, it's awesome and will make for a nice favicon for the wiki And the other ones, they look amazing as well, especially that Gardener sigil you made. Again, thanks a lot!
You guys can click my spoilers btw, I just posted like this to keep the thread a bit cleaner. You don't really get much spoiled anyway, and Liquid knows far far more.
As far as I know, the new lord of Raylansfair would simply get the title 'Lord of Raylansfair', but would not become part of House Raylan. At most, members of a preexisting noble house that gain control over Raylansfair could start a cadet branch (Like House Lannister of Lannisport for example), which could include parts of the Raylan heraldry. Other than that, now that the line of House Raylan is gone, only their title can be passed on.
You're welcome. Glad you like them. As promised, I will try to make a CoA for all. Although in some cases like Dothraki they are either personal symbols or similar.
Thank you very much for creating these! I love the Raylan sigil in particular, it's awesome and will make for a nice favicon for the wiki And the other ones, they look amazing as well, especially that Gardener sigil you made. Again, thanks a lot!
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said. Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her head mounted on a pike in front of your Hightower! She was innocent!” Samuel gave him a look that was almost apologetic. “My condolences for your loss, but she got into a war”, he explained. “In war, innocents die the moment they get involved. If anything, you should blame the ones that dragged her into this. The Burned Man and his people knew the danger better than she did and they got her involved regardless” He sighed. “And yet you're putting the blame solely on my people. That's way too simple, isn't it?”
His words seemed to concern Lanford and Jaron saw that the tip of the crossbow began to shake. The hint of uncertainty was enough for Samuel. Even though he still pointed his dagger at Lanford, he focussed back towards Jaron. “I have orders not to kill you”, he revealed. “But make no mistake. I won't go easy on you”
“And I won't step aside”, Jaron answered and momentarily glanced over his shoulders. Harpy stood behind him, a worried look on her face. “Jaron, don't...”, she started to urge him, though she glanced past him and her eyes widened. “Watch out!”
Jaron just managed to spin around fast enough to parry Samuel's strike. It was a hard one, nearly enough to knock the sword out of his hand, a reminder that the Fang of Shadows wasn't playing games. Behind him, he saw Lanford, his crossbow lowered and unsure what to do. Then, Samuel moved and Jaron had to focus on him again. Both men glared at each other, focussed on their swords, carefully awaiting each other's next move.
This time, Jaron attacked. He knew that Samuel was without a doubt the better fighter. Even at his best, he wouldn't stand a chance for long. And after the events of the past two days, Jaron was far from his best. He was tired, he was crabby and he knew it was only a matter of time until he would make a mistake. He had to end this fast.
Without effort, Samuel parried the strike. They pressed their blades against each, until the Fang of Shadows made his next move. He attacked high, though as Jaron moved his blade upwards to parry the strike, he realized it had been a feint. The dull side of Samuel's blade smashed into his ribs with the force of a cudgel.
Staggering to the side, Jaron failed to protect his head, as the hilt of Samuel's dagger hit him above the eye. This caused him to cringe back, which gave Samuel an opportunity to brutally kick him against the upper leg. With a groan, Jaron went down on his knees, while his sight got blurry. He saw Samuel getting into position to strike him again.
“Jaron!”, Harpy yelled, as she rushed past him, trying to tackle Samuel. The sellsword didn't even allow her to reach him. Instead of clashing against her, or wounding her with his blades, he took a swift step to the side and gave her a brutal hit with the hilt of his sword, which was enough to heavily send her to the ground, where she landed on her already damaged ribs.
The sight of her gasping in pain was enough to cause Jaron to snap back from his dizzy state. Growling in anger, he staggered back to his feet and charged at Samuel, his sword in front of him, as he tried to impale his opponent. Once again, Samuel took a step to the side, but this time, Jaron had foreseen this move. His sword cut to the side and Samuel was forced to jump back to evade the blade.
His mind still clouded with rage, Jaron immediately continued to attack. He had no intention of dying here, or of getting captured, so he had to end this quickly. He attacked in a high arch, forcing Samuel to parry quickly. Without hesitating, he attacked again, this time he tried to hit Samuel's side. The dagger his opponent held in his left hand hit against the steel of Jaron's longsword, which then cut upwards, forcing Samuel to parry with his own sword as well.
And then, as he had feared, he made a mistake. As Samuel parried his strike, it took Jaron a moment too long to attack again. His opponent used this opening and made his counterattack. Jaron tried to parry high and realized too late that it had been a feint. ' sword made a graceful turn and instead attacked from below. Once more, the hilt heavily hit Jaron, this time in the stomach area.
Instinctively, Jaron pressed a hand onto his stomach and cringed in pain. He looked up, as he weakly raised his sword to parry the next strike. It did not come. Instead of attacking him again and using his momentary weakness, Samuel positioned himself slightly to his side, still half-focussed on Jaron, but also looking past him.
As Jaron glanced towards the direction his opponent was looking into, he saw Erik Inchfield approaching them. He had his thick, wooden shield raised and his sword pointed at Samuel, a cocky smile on his face, nervousness in his eyes. “I reconsidered my options”, he said. “If I help you taking him out, I want my payment to be doubled. Also, I want his swords”
“Nothing special with my swords”, Samuel growled, though Jaron noticed a shift in his stance. Fighting against two opponents, one of them with a shield, it would take more of his skill. Perhaps even all of it. Erik shrugged. “They belong to you, which gives them quite some value”, he explained. “People say you're the best swordsman in the city”
“People love to exaggerate”, Samuel corrected him. “Though I'm still way better than you” With these words, he attacked. Erik raised his shield, parrying the first strike. It was a brutal hit and Jaron could see him grimace as he parried, his arm still taking most of the force of the blow. Immediately, Samuel attacked again, smashing his dagger against the shield as well and forcing Erik to take a step back. He immediately pursued him and landed another strike against the shield. Jaron knew what he was attempting. His strikes were strong, parrying them with a shield had to hurt, it had to be exhausting quickly.
Not going to leave Erik alone now, Jaron staggered back to his feet, circling around Samuel in the attempt to attack him from behind. Erik used the same moment to bash his shield against Samuel's left arm. The sellsword saw it coming and instead of evading the blow, he attacked as well, by thrusting his dagger forwards, against the shield. Jaron heard a cracking sound as the combined force of the two strikes was enough to deeply embed the weapon in the wood, nearly splintering the shield in the process.
With the hint of a pleased smirk, Samuel let go of his dagger, leaving it in the almost broken shield, as he grabbed his longsword with both hands, holding it low, with the tip of the blade nearly touching the ground. He glanced from Erik to Jaron, who had flanked him by now. Once again, he attacked first, striking upwards against Jaron.
Erik used the same moment to attack and Samuel quickly spun around, just as Jaron had parried his strike. His sword clashed against Erik's, though Jaron did not give him the opportunity to attack again. Targeting Samuel's unguarded back, he tried to kill his opponent. This time, Samuel spun around, parrying the strike while holding his sword with one hand. The other hand, now free, found the hilt of the dagger, still embedded in Erik's shield. When he pulled it out, the shield cracked once again.
Using both, sword and dagger, Samuel parried Jaron's strike, before forcing him to jump back, to evade the counterattack. He turned around and parried Erik's sword with his dagger. His own sword hit the damaged shield. It cracked loudly and the shield broke into two, large pieces of wood, which dangled on Erik's arm, impeding him more than they protected him.
Quickly, Samuel started to unleash a hurricane of blows against Erik. The first one was parried, though the second one hit and so did the third. Both times, Samuel made good on his promise not to kill them and instead slammed the hilt of his dagger and the blunt side of his sword into Erik's face. The force was enough to send the man to his knees, though Samuel did not let go of him. With a quick strike of his longsword, he forced Jaron to parry, while he rammed the pommel of his dagger onto Erik's forehead, again and again.
Finally, after the fourth, swift strike, Erik sunk to the ground, barely conscious. During this time, Samuel had pointed his sword and his glare towards Jaron. He glanced past him, his eyes narrowed, and then he attacked. It was a foreseeable strike and Jaron parried with ease. Instead of backing off though, Samuel continued to rush towards him, pressing their blades at each other. The dagger in his left hand quickly reached Jaron's throat, touching it without cutting into it.
The feeling of having a sharp blade pressed at his throat was still enough to cause Jaron to gasp. Their blades were still locked, trapped between the combatants, as Samuel slowly pushed him around, so that Jaron could see what happened behind him. Harpy stood next to Lanford and she held his crossbow, pointing it directly at Samuel. Her aim was steady and even though she was breathing heavily, the weapon did not move.
“You gave her your crossbow?”, Samuel asked, his voice showing neither anger, nor fear. Lanford slightly moved his head, almost nodding at him. “You told me Keira made a choice”, he snarled with a bitter tone in his voice. “Seems only fair to me that Harpy gets to make a choice as well” Now, he smiled coldly. “You told me I'd start a war if I'd shoot you”, he said. “Well, I won't shoot you” He glanced at Harpy. “Can't make any promises for her though”
“Drop your weapon”, Harpy ordered. “Drop your weapon or I will shoot” Jaron did not see Samuel's smirk, though standing so close to him, he felt the amused chuckle in his chest. “We both know I can't do that”, he told her. “Why don't you drop your weapon, before I cut his throat?” The uncomfortable pressure on Jaron's throat got stronger. “And make no mistake”, Samuel growled. “I'm ready to do what it takes. Drop the weapon, or his blood will be on your hands”
“Harpy...”, Jaron whispered, because he did not dare to speak any louder with the sharp steel at his throat. “Don't listen to him” He tried to say something else, but gasped when the tip of the dagger dug into his flesh, just enough to draw warm blood, which slowly ran down his throat. Harpy's eyes widened, filled with anger and worry. Then, she turned to Lanford and silently handed him the crossbow. The older man gave her an almost regretful look, though he took the weapon back and stayed silent.
Now, she turned back to Samuel and Jaron. With clenched fists, she started to approach them. “Let him go”, she demanded. While Samuel slightly lessened the painful touch of his dagger on Jaron's throat, he did not let go of him, as expected. “Let him go, he knows nothing”, Harpy said, still fierce, but now with a faint plea. “Let him go, please”
“I can't do that”, Samuel stated. “I'm very sorry, but the Tom has asked for him in particular” Harpy shot him a glare full of hatred. “You're following the Tom's orders now?”, she hissed. “It's complicated”, Samuel explained. “The whole situation I find myself in is very complicated at the moment, you made sure of that when you butchered Butterfly”
“So he is dead...”, Harpy mumbled. Samuel shook his head. “I don't know it. No one knows, aside from the Tom and some of his closest associates” The dagger moved back to Jaron's throat. “But enough talking. The sellsword, the one with the shield, help him up. You go first, back into the hallway”
“You won't get far, Harrington”, Lanford growled. “I have a dozen men out there” Samuel started to move towards the door, applying pressure onto the dagger, to force Jaron to come with him. “Your men have bigger problems than just me”, he answered and Lanford sharply inhaled. “What have you done to them?”, he growled.
“They are alive”, Samuel explained, without even looking at the man. With a handwave, he gave Harpy the order to help Erik up. The sellsword was roughed up, certainly in a dizzy state and bleeding, but he managed to stand by his own accord. “I have brought my own men with me, though I gave them strict orders not to kill anyone” With another, impatiend handwave, he gave Harpy the order to approach the door. “We have no intentions of entering conflict with Hishi, as long as he obeys the law. Tell him to pay his taxes and to continue following the rules and there will be no problem with the Solvers”
With these words, he followed after Harpy and Erik, who had already passed through the door and were standing in the hallway now. Jaron, still with Samuel's dagger at his throat, followed reluctantly and entered the hallway.
He counted roughly half a dozen men standing there, wearing black coats and holding short swords in their hands. Below them, on the ground, lay Lanford's men, each of them unconscious and tied up. Samuel finally pulled the dagger away from Jaron's throat. Then, he pushed him forwards. “You better start moving”, he ordered. “The Tom wishes to speak to you”
“Seven Hells...”, the voice of Lanford sounded behind them and as Jaron glanced over his shoulder, he saw him standing in the doorframe, staring at his defeated men. “How have you done that without me noticing it?”
Many other men would have smirked at these words, though Harrington remained calm and distanced. “These are the best men I have”, he explained, as he put his dagger away. “We've already been in the building when you arrived. After your guests started talking to you, my men made their move” He gave Lanford a nod, before he turned around again. “Give Hishi my regards. Tell him, Butterfly apologizes for the death of his little flower and will try to find a way to make amends”
“Amends...”, Lanford growled and Jaron saw that his facial expression started to grow dark. “Do you think there can be amends for taking a life as precious as hers?” He shook his head in frustration, while Samuel tensed up. “You shouldn't have mentioned her, you cold-blooded whoreson”
“Don't do that, Lanford”, Samuel warned him calmly and turned around, just as Lanford raised his crossbow. “You're starting a war you can't win. This city belongs to Butterfly and if you provoke him, he will burn Hishi's brothel to the ground, he will kill you and your men and all of the girls. You know he does not forgive”
“Neither do I”, Lanford answered. Samuel shook his head. “If you shoot me, my men will cut you down”, he warned him and Lanford shrugged. “Might be the last chance I get to spit into Butterfly's face. And taking the Fang of Shadows with me...”, he mumbled. “There are worse ways to go” With these words, he pulled the trigger.
In the blink of an eye, Samuel Harrington did something that was not only remarkable, but entirely unexpected. He jumped to the side and out of the way of the bolt, though while he moved, his arm reached out for Harpy, who stood directly behind him, to pull her out of the way with him. Instead of him or her, the bolt hit one of his men, entering his skull and piercing the back of his head. The man sank to the ground, dead before he even knew what happened.
For a moment, the air around Jaron exploded with the loud curses of Samuel's men, while he and Harpy could only stare in shock at the man himself. Samuel let go of Harpy, who looked at him with widely opened eyes, filled with disbelief. “You...”, she mumbled, looking at the man that had stood behind her. He had saved her life. Samuel Harrington had saved her life, at the cost of one of his own men.
“That was a mistake”, Samuel said calmly, as he looked at Lanford. The older man closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, before he dropped his crossbow. Then, he pulled out his sword, a short, broad blade with a single edge. As he opened his eyes again, the glare in them was murderous. “Let's end this then”, he growled. “You can tell Butterfly that Hishi will never make peace with him”
Samuel gave him a nod. “I'm sorry, Lanford”, he said and he sounded honest. “You had your chance to stay out of this” With these words, he slowly approached his opponent. Lanford did not wait for him to arrive. Instead, with a scream of anger, he made the first move. His strike came in a high arch, nearly cutting across the narrow wall next to him and it hit Samuel's blade with a howling sound. Just as the two swords clashed against each other, Samuel's closed fist hit Lanford in the face. He stumbled backwards and Samuel hit him again and then once more, before he grabbed him at the collar of his shirt.
“I'm very, very sorry”, he said again, as he started to slam the pommel of his sword into the man's face, until Lanford let go of his sword. Immediately, Samuel stopped, much to the displeasure of his men. “What are you waiting for, Harrington?”, one of the Solvers yelled. “He killed one of ours! End that fucker!”
Harrington shook his head and let go of Lanford, who sank to the ground. “He's not going to die today”, he proclaimed. “My decision in this matter is final. He's going to be our hostage, if Hishi causes any trouble. Tie him and the others up”
He looked at Jaron and Harpy, who stood closely to each other, still baffled by what he had just done. Jaron had put an arm around her belly and noticed that she was shaking. She would have been dead without Samuel. For some reason, he had just saved her life and Jaron felt a conflicting wave of emotions, ranging from anger, to confused gratitude. For a moment, he saw a smirk on Samuel's face. “We take them to the labyrinth”, he proclaimed. “The Sphynx would love to have a word with them”
No choices for this part
So, this part did not work as intended. While I have hoped to finish a part of twice the usual length by now, a lot of stuff came up and kept me busy. Therefore, this is only half of the planned part. It also doesn't include a choice. However, I will continue to be busy over the weekend and don't think I will be able to finish the second half of the Jaron part until late on Sunday, or even Monday. Since I really don't want to keep you waiting for so long, I have decided to publish what I have written by now, as it makes for a decent cut in my opinion. I'm sorry for leaving you with this shorter part, but I think it's better than to keep you waiting for another weekend. Hopefully you still enjoy this part!
I'm not going to leave you entirely without a choice though, so I want to give you the one-time opportunity to choose the PoV for the next part, since I am a bit unsure about which of these two I want to write next. One possibility would be that I immediately continue writing Jaron's storyline, with what was originally planned to be the second half to his part. The alternative would be a continuation of Marak's storyline. At this point in the chapter, both would make sense. The one that won't be chosen will get the part after the next. So, here are your choices:
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
I loved this part! Even if many characters have left Oldtown it still remains a very interesting place with its intriguing political machinations and great characters. Though I must say one thing, DAMN PEOPLE FOR VOTING TO HELP HARRINGTON WITH RAENNA! Ahh, good to have it out of my system
[Marak] I think a small break between the Jaron parts would be good pacing.
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
As much as I want to know how Jaron will fare, with the fucking Sphynx, I think I need to read something else to get my mind off of it. Great part, really had me on the edge of my seat!
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
Great part! I noticed that Samuel had multiple opportunitys to kill Jaron but he didn't take a single one. And then he saved Harpy. I really like him. Such an epic character. I'm really excited to see how things go with his brother. Speaking of which, do you know how you're going to write that specific storyline? By that mean will it be from one of the Harringtons perspective or someone else?
[Marak] I'm not into the idea of the same POV twice in a row.
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
[Marak] As the others already have said let's change PoV for now
RT:
Cool fighting scene!I really like the role that Erik and Lanford have inside it
Who are the men that Samuel take with him for this mission? The Double Fanged Squad?XD
For what I've read I'm curious to discover when Samuel will backstab Butterfly (since he save Harpy I'm almost sure that he is waiting the right time)
As the Tom kill Keira only because she put herself between the target of the cat (and is the kill that as a consequence make this meeting possible) Lanford kill RandomSolver#137 only because Samuel has dodged his attack...ah,the irony.
I'm the only one curious to discover the backstory of the Alley Cats?I mean,you can't create a group of psychos wearing cats mask from nowhere!XD
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
[Marak] As the others already have said let's change PoV for now
RT:
* Cool fighting scene!I really like the role that Erik and Lanf… moreord have inside it
* Who are the men that Samuel take with him for this mission? The Double Fanged Squad?XD
* For what I've read I'm curious to discover when Samuel will backstab Butterfly (since he save Harpy I'm almost sure that he is waiting the right time)
* As the Tom kill Keira only because she put herself between the target of the cat (and is the kill that as a consequence make this meeting possible) Lanford kill RandomSolver#137 only because Samuel has dodged his attack...ah,the irony.
* I'm the only one curious to discover the backstory of the Alley Cats?I mean,you can't create a group of psychos wearing cats mask from nowhere!XD
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
InGen I have a question, my PM feed made an important discussion disappear, how can I find it again? I got spammed with some stuff so it got pushed down. Can I somehow delete feed notifications?
InGen I have a question, my PM feed made an important discussion disappear, how can I find it again? I got spammed with some stuff so it got pushed down. Can I somehow delete feed notifications?
As the Tom kill Keira only because she put herself between the target of the cat (and is the kill that as a consequence make this meeting possible) Lanford kill RandomSolver#137 only because Samuel has dodged his attack...ah,the irony.
That is a nice find! It was not really intended (though Keira's death certainly was quite present in this part), but I'm liking this interpretation.
I'm the only one curious to discover the backstory of the Alley Cats?I mean,you can't create a group of psychos wearing cats mask from nowhere!XD
The Alley Cats certainly didn't come out of nowhere. They have a backstory, a pretty detailed one actually, which will gradually be revealed over time.
[Marak] As the others already have said let's change PoV for now
RT:
* Cool fighting scene!I really like the role that Erik and Lanf… moreord have inside it
* Who are the men that Samuel take with him for this mission? The Double Fanged Squad?XD
* For what I've read I'm curious to discover when Samuel will backstab Butterfly (since he save Harpy I'm almost sure that he is waiting the right time)
* As the Tom kill Keira only because she put herself between the target of the cat (and is the kill that as a consequence make this meeting possible) Lanford kill RandomSolver#137 only because Samuel has dodged his attack...ah,the irony.
* I'm the only one curious to discover the backstory of the Alley Cats?I mean,you can't create a group of psychos wearing cats mask from nowhere!XD
I have a couple of ideas on how this storyline about the Harrington brothers is going to play out, though I still have to plan some details. One thing I'm already pretty sure about is that a potential confrontation between them is going to be witnessed from the PoV of another character.
And yes, you saw that correctly. Samuel went out of his way to keep everyone alive here. He even made things way harder for him by only hitting his opponents with the pommels and blunt sides of his weapons. It remains to be seen how this is going to matter for his own plans, which he almost certainly pursues. Though I can confirm that he certainly did not do it out of the kindness of his heart.
Great part! I noticed that Samuel had multiple opportunitys to kill Jaron but he didn't take a single one. And then he saved Harpy. I really… more like him. Such an epic character. I'm really excited to see how things go with his brother. Speaking of which, do you know how you're going to write that specific storyline? By that mean will it be from one of the Harringtons perspective or someone else?
[Marak] I'm not into the idea of the same POV twice in a row.
Hah, yes, if Raenna wouldn't have helped him in the last chapter, things would have been way harder for Samuel. He still would have succeeded with capturing the grouo, though it is likely he would have been forced to approach the situation in a highly different way.
I loved this part! Even if many characters have left Oldtown it still remains a very interesting place with its intriguing political machina… moretions and great characters. Though I must say one thing, DAMN PEOPLE FOR VOTING TO HELP HARRINGTON WITH RAENNA! Ahh, good to have it out of my system
[Marak] I think a small break between the Jaron parts would be good pacing.
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said.… more Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her … [view original content]
Well, here I have to take back my earlier statement. The next part will include a Marak part, but not only. I have realized I want to show the next scene in this storyline from Ellena's PoV. However, I have also promised a Marak part, so the next part will include PoV's for both of them. As I have announced before, I have been very busy over the weekend, so I had absolutely no time to start the next part until today. This in turn means I might not be able to finish it until going to sleep. I'll try my best though, as always. Anyways, here is a small recap for Ellena and Marak. The last time we saw them, Ellena just convinced Archmaester Wulvren to free her. He did so, just as Marak and Noelle had a serious talk about her doubts about the rightfulness of her mission. Ellena ran away, Marak noticed it and nearly killed Wulvren in anger. While Noelle stayed back, to take care of the Archmaester, Marak rushed after Ellena, who ran through the forest with a considerable headstart. She reached a small farmhouse and entered it, seeking shelter. There, she met the owner of the house, a gruff and slightly odd man by the name of Otis Shiff, who nonetheless agreed to hide her. He brought her into a room, where his sick daughter was sleeping and told her to hide. Meanwhile, Marak entered the house. Being left with a couple of choices on how to enter the building, he decided to try his best at knocking politely.
Also, good lord, the new design of the site looks beyond terrible! So bland and white and empty and boring. I can only hope that this is not the final design, because the brightness honestly hurts my eyes. The old design was a bit darker, but looked way more finished. Here, it looks like some textures are missing. Also, and this is really bad, I seem to be unable to edit the main post of the story. Hopefully this is only a temporary bug, because not being able to update the main post anymore would seriously ruin a lot about the story. Hopefully this is going to be fixed very soon. So, all in all, I am quite disappointed in this update, it looks and feels absolutely unfinished. At the same time, I have faith in the staff that these are only launch problems and that it will be fixed soon. The previous update had some launch problems as well, so I'll try to keep calm and
On another note and related to this site "update", I noticed that I have to manually check the little box below, where I can choose to follow this discussion or not. That was the same the last time the forum got a new look, so I guess it will only be temporary, but for now make sure that you still follow the story whenever you post a comment here.
The Voting is closed!
The next part will be from Marak's PoV
Well, here I have to take back my earlier statement. The next part will i… morenclude a Marak part, but not only. I have realized I want to show the next scene in this storyline from Ellena's PoV. However, I have also promised a Marak part, so the next part will include PoV's for both of them. As I have announced before, I have been very busy over the weekend, so I had absolutely no time to start the next part until today. This in turn means I might not be able to finish it until going to sleep. I'll try my best though, as always. Anyways, here is a small recap for Ellena and Marak. The last time we saw them, Ellena just convinced Archmaester Wulvren to free her. He did so, just as Marak and Noelle had a serious talk about her doubts about the rightfulness of her mission. Ellena ran away, Marak noticed it and nearly killed Wulvren in anger. While Noelle stayed back, to take care of … [view original content]
Also, good lord, the new design of the site looks beyond terrible! So bland and white and empty and boring. I can only hope that this is not the final design, because the brightness honestly hurts my eyes.
I know right, it is outright terrible. This is the problem I have when big sites are changing designs. I don't know what my account thing is doing anymore. And I for one loved the darkness this site had. And now Batman is coming, he is dark, likes shadows and stuff. This isn't even design!
Also, on another note: I don't know if you have answered my PM, because that is fucked as well.
One thing I do like though is that you can see everyone's choices if you check their profiles out. At least it is supposed to be like that, I can't see choices at the very least.
The Voting is closed!
The next part will be from Marak's PoV
Well, here I have to take back my earlier statement. The next part will i… morenclude a Marak part, but not only. I have realized I want to show the next scene in this storyline from Ellena's PoV. However, I have also promised a Marak part, so the next part will include PoV's for both of them. As I have announced before, I have been very busy over the weekend, so I had absolutely no time to start the next part until today. This in turn means I might not be able to finish it until going to sleep. I'll try my best though, as always. Anyways, here is a small recap for Ellena and Marak. The last time we saw them, Ellena just convinced Archmaester Wulvren to free her. He did so, just as Marak and Noelle had a serious talk about her doubts about the rightfulness of her mission. Ellena ran away, Marak noticed it and nearly killed Wulvren in anger. While Noelle stayed back, to take care of … [view original content]
Comments
Cultivate & Prosper – Endure and Grow – Our Flood Devours – We Know – Death Over Dishonor – Growing Strong
History of the Reach
So when someone is named lord of Raylainsfair, do they become part of House Raylain or does their house come Lords of Raylainsfair?
House Galenrys
Love and Duty
The Golden Dragons
Lord of Raylansfair, that's my logic anyhow. For example, Roose Bolton was lord of Winterfell, but he wasn't really a part of house Stark.
You guys can click my spoilers btw, I just posted like this to keep the thread a bit cleaner. You don't really get much spoiled anyway, and Liquid knows far far more.
It could turn out in a varied ways.
The ruler's House may just become ruler, the person may start a Cadet branch dynasty, If the new ruler is a lowly noble, or not a noble at all it may 'take/inherit' the CoA and motto (words) of the house as in case of House Durrandon VS House Baratheon, real historical cases exist where the 'negative' of a Coat of Arms is used for a brand new ruling dynasty of a territory (as example, if a castle was ruled by a family with a black eagle on white background, then the new dynasty would take a white eagle on black background as CoA), the easiest would be of course for nearby dynasties claiming Raylansfair to unite the territories. Nearby dynasties include House Tyrell & House Florent. If the King of the Reach from House Gardener gives his blessing to it, then a new ruler could also just take the family name Raylan even if unrelated to the dynasty by blood.
Thank you very much for creating these! I love the Raylan sigil in particular, it's awesome and will make for a nice favicon for the wiki
And the other ones, they look amazing as well, especially that Gardener sigil you made. Again, thanks a lot!
As far as I know, the new lord of Raylansfair would simply get the title 'Lord of Raylansfair', but would not become part of House Raylan. At most, members of a preexisting noble house that gain control over Raylansfair could start a cadet branch (Like House Lannister of Lannisport for example), which could include parts of the Raylan heraldry. Other than that, now that the line of House Raylan is gone, only their title can be passed on.
You're welcome. Glad you like them. As promised, I will try to make a CoA for all. Although in some cases like Dothraki they are either personal symbols or similar.
Rhavarro – Khal of Khals
Dorho Qoy Kisha Dothrak
The Witch Khal
Jaron
Carefully eyeing Samuel Harrington, Jaron tried his best to control the slight shaking of his sword. "You can't have her”, he said. Samuel narrowed his eyes, before he shrugged. It was an expression of utter indifference, as subtle as everything he did. “If you insist, we will fight”, he agreed, though he glanced at Lanford, who still pointed the crossbow at him. “You better don't even think about shooting. We have no quarrel with Hishi and I take it you want things to remain that way”
Lanford showed no intention of actually lowering his weapon. “You lot killed Keira”, he growled. “The way I see it, that's a declaration of war” Samuel raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “It was never intended as one. Your girl, she got into the crossfire. It's tragic, but she knew the risk and she chose it regardless”
“She chose?”, Lanford snapped at him, anger flaring up in his eyes. “She didn't choose to die on that day, to have her head mounted on a pike in front of your Hightower! She was innocent!” Samuel gave him a look that was almost apologetic. “My condolences for your loss, but she got into a war”, he explained. “In war, innocents die the moment they get involved. If anything, you should blame the ones that dragged her into this. The Burned Man and his people knew the danger better than she did and they got her involved regardless” He sighed. “And yet you're putting the blame solely on my people. That's way too simple, isn't it?”
His words seemed to concern Lanford and Jaron saw that the tip of the crossbow began to shake. The hint of uncertainty was enough for Samuel. Even though he still pointed his dagger at Lanford, he focussed back towards Jaron. “I have orders not to kill you”, he revealed. “But make no mistake. I won't go easy on you”
“And I won't step aside”, Jaron answered and momentarily glanced over his shoulders. Harpy stood behind him, a worried look on her face. “Jaron, don't...”, she started to urge him, though she glanced past him and her eyes widened. “Watch out!”
Jaron just managed to spin around fast enough to parry Samuel's strike. It was a hard one, nearly enough to knock the sword out of his hand, a reminder that the Fang of Shadows wasn't playing games. Behind him, he saw Lanford, his crossbow lowered and unsure what to do. Then, Samuel moved and Jaron had to focus on him again. Both men glared at each other, focussed on their swords, carefully awaiting each other's next move.
This time, Jaron attacked. He knew that Samuel was without a doubt the better fighter. Even at his best, he wouldn't stand a chance for long. And after the events of the past two days, Jaron was far from his best. He was tired, he was crabby and he knew it was only a matter of time until he would make a mistake. He had to end this fast.
Without effort, Samuel parried the strike. They pressed their blades against each, until the Fang of Shadows made his next move. He attacked high, though as Jaron moved his blade upwards to parry the strike, he realized it had been a feint. The dull side of Samuel's blade smashed into his ribs with the force of a cudgel.
Staggering to the side, Jaron failed to protect his head, as the hilt of Samuel's dagger hit him above the eye. This caused him to cringe back, which gave Samuel an opportunity to brutally kick him against the upper leg. With a groan, Jaron went down on his knees, while his sight got blurry. He saw Samuel getting into position to strike him again.
“Jaron!”, Harpy yelled, as she rushed past him, trying to tackle Samuel. The sellsword didn't even allow her to reach him. Instead of clashing against her, or wounding her with his blades, he took a swift step to the side and gave her a brutal hit with the hilt of his sword, which was enough to heavily send her to the ground, where she landed on her already damaged ribs.
The sight of her gasping in pain was enough to cause Jaron to snap back from his dizzy state. Growling in anger, he staggered back to his feet and charged at Samuel, his sword in front of him, as he tried to impale his opponent. Once again, Samuel took a step to the side, but this time, Jaron had foreseen this move. His sword cut to the side and Samuel was forced to jump back to evade the blade.
His mind still clouded with rage, Jaron immediately continued to attack. He had no intention of dying here, or of getting captured, so he had to end this quickly. He attacked in a high arch, forcing Samuel to parry quickly. Without hesitating, he attacked again, this time he tried to hit Samuel's side. The dagger his opponent held in his left hand hit against the steel of Jaron's longsword, which then cut upwards, forcing Samuel to parry with his own sword as well.
And then, as he had feared, he made a mistake. As Samuel parried his strike, it took Jaron a moment too long to attack again. His opponent used this opening and made his counterattack. Jaron tried to parry high and realized too late that it had been a feint. ' sword made a graceful turn and instead attacked from below. Once more, the hilt heavily hit Jaron, this time in the stomach area.
Instinctively, Jaron pressed a hand onto his stomach and cringed in pain. He looked up, as he weakly raised his sword to parry the next strike. It did not come. Instead of attacking him again and using his momentary weakness, Samuel positioned himself slightly to his side, still half-focussed on Jaron, but also looking past him.
As Jaron glanced towards the direction his opponent was looking into, he saw Erik Inchfield approaching them. He had his thick, wooden shield raised and his sword pointed at Samuel, a cocky smile on his face, nervousness in his eyes. “I reconsidered my options”, he said. “If I help you taking him out, I want my payment to be doubled. Also, I want his swords”
“Nothing special with my swords”, Samuel growled, though Jaron noticed a shift in his stance. Fighting against two opponents, one of them with a shield, it would take more of his skill. Perhaps even all of it. Erik shrugged. “They belong to you, which gives them quite some value”, he explained. “People say you're the best swordsman in the city”
“People love to exaggerate”, Samuel corrected him. “Though I'm still way better than you” With these words, he attacked. Erik raised his shield, parrying the first strike. It was a brutal hit and Jaron could see him grimace as he parried, his arm still taking most of the force of the blow. Immediately, Samuel attacked again, smashing his dagger against the shield as well and forcing Erik to take a step back. He immediately pursued him and landed another strike against the shield. Jaron knew what he was attempting. His strikes were strong, parrying them with a shield had to hurt, it had to be exhausting quickly.
Not going to leave Erik alone now, Jaron staggered back to his feet, circling around Samuel in the attempt to attack him from behind. Erik used the same moment to bash his shield against Samuel's left arm. The sellsword saw it coming and instead of evading the blow, he attacked as well, by thrusting his dagger forwards, against the shield. Jaron heard a cracking sound as the combined force of the two strikes was enough to deeply embed the weapon in the wood, nearly splintering the shield in the process.
With the hint of a pleased smirk, Samuel let go of his dagger, leaving it in the almost broken shield, as he grabbed his longsword with both hands, holding it low, with the tip of the blade nearly touching the ground. He glanced from Erik to Jaron, who had flanked him by now. Once again, he attacked first, striking upwards against Jaron.
Erik used the same moment to attack and Samuel quickly spun around, just as Jaron had parried his strike. His sword clashed against Erik's, though Jaron did not give him the opportunity to attack again. Targeting Samuel's unguarded back, he tried to kill his opponent. This time, Samuel spun around, parrying the strike while holding his sword with one hand. The other hand, now free, found the hilt of the dagger, still embedded in Erik's shield. When he pulled it out, the shield cracked once again.
Using both, sword and dagger, Samuel parried Jaron's strike, before forcing him to jump back, to evade the counterattack. He turned around and parried Erik's sword with his dagger. His own sword hit the damaged shield. It cracked loudly and the shield broke into two, large pieces of wood, which dangled on Erik's arm, impeding him more than they protected him.
Quickly, Samuel started to unleash a hurricane of blows against Erik. The first one was parried, though the second one hit and so did the third. Both times, Samuel made good on his promise not to kill them and instead slammed the hilt of his dagger and the blunt side of his sword into Erik's face. The force was enough to send the man to his knees, though Samuel did not let go of him. With a quick strike of his longsword, he forced Jaron to parry, while he rammed the pommel of his dagger onto Erik's forehead, again and again.
Finally, after the fourth, swift strike, Erik sunk to the ground, barely conscious. During this time, Samuel had pointed his sword and his glare towards Jaron. He glanced past him, his eyes narrowed, and then he attacked. It was a foreseeable strike and Jaron parried with ease. Instead of backing off though, Samuel continued to rush towards him, pressing their blades at each other. The dagger in his left hand quickly reached Jaron's throat, touching it without cutting into it.
The feeling of having a sharp blade pressed at his throat was still enough to cause Jaron to gasp. Their blades were still locked, trapped between the combatants, as Samuel slowly pushed him around, so that Jaron could see what happened behind him. Harpy stood next to Lanford and she held his crossbow, pointing it directly at Samuel. Her aim was steady and even though she was breathing heavily, the weapon did not move.
“You gave her your crossbow?”, Samuel asked, his voice showing neither anger, nor fear. Lanford slightly moved his head, almost nodding at him. “You told me Keira made a choice”, he snarled with a bitter tone in his voice. “Seems only fair to me that Harpy gets to make a choice as well” Now, he smiled coldly. “You told me I'd start a war if I'd shoot you”, he said. “Well, I won't shoot you” He glanced at Harpy. “Can't make any promises for her though”
“Drop your weapon”, Harpy ordered. “Drop your weapon or I will shoot” Jaron did not see Samuel's smirk, though standing so close to him, he felt the amused chuckle in his chest. “We both know I can't do that”, he told her. “Why don't you drop your weapon, before I cut his throat?” The uncomfortable pressure on Jaron's throat got stronger. “And make no mistake”, Samuel growled. “I'm ready to do what it takes. Drop the weapon, or his blood will be on your hands”
“Harpy...”, Jaron whispered, because he did not dare to speak any louder with the sharp steel at his throat. “Don't listen to him” He tried to say something else, but gasped when the tip of the dagger dug into his flesh, just enough to draw warm blood, which slowly ran down his throat. Harpy's eyes widened, filled with anger and worry. Then, she turned to Lanford and silently handed him the crossbow. The older man gave her an almost regretful look, though he took the weapon back and stayed silent.
Now, she turned back to Samuel and Jaron. With clenched fists, she started to approach them. “Let him go”, she demanded. While Samuel slightly lessened the painful touch of his dagger on Jaron's throat, he did not let go of him, as expected. “Let him go, he knows nothing”, Harpy said, still fierce, but now with a faint plea. “Let him go, please”
“I can't do that”, Samuel stated. “I'm very sorry, but the Tom has asked for him in particular” Harpy shot him a glare full of hatred. “You're following the Tom's orders now?”, she hissed. “It's complicated”, Samuel explained. “The whole situation I find myself in is very complicated at the moment, you made sure of that when you butchered Butterfly”
“So he is dead...”, Harpy mumbled. Samuel shook his head. “I don't know it. No one knows, aside from the Tom and some of his closest associates” The dagger moved back to Jaron's throat. “But enough talking. The sellsword, the one with the shield, help him up. You go first, back into the hallway”
“You won't get far, Harrington”, Lanford growled. “I have a dozen men out there” Samuel started to move towards the door, applying pressure onto the dagger, to force Jaron to come with him. “Your men have bigger problems than just me”, he answered and Lanford sharply inhaled. “What have you done to them?”, he growled.
“They are alive”, Samuel explained, without even looking at the man. With a handwave, he gave Harpy the order to help Erik up. The sellsword was roughed up, certainly in a dizzy state and bleeding, but he managed to stand by his own accord. “I have brought my own men with me, though I gave them strict orders not to kill anyone” With another, impatiend handwave, he gave Harpy the order to approach the door. “We have no intentions of entering conflict with Hishi, as long as he obeys the law. Tell him to pay his taxes and to continue following the rules and there will be no problem with the Solvers”
With these words, he followed after Harpy and Erik, who had already passed through the door and were standing in the hallway now. Jaron, still with Samuel's dagger at his throat, followed reluctantly and entered the hallway.
He counted roughly half a dozen men standing there, wearing black coats and holding short swords in their hands. Below them, on the ground, lay Lanford's men, each of them unconscious and tied up. Samuel finally pulled the dagger away from Jaron's throat. Then, he pushed him forwards. “You better start moving”, he ordered. “The Tom wishes to speak to you”
“Seven Hells...”, the voice of Lanford sounded behind them and as Jaron glanced over his shoulder, he saw him standing in the doorframe, staring at his defeated men. “How have you done that without me noticing it?”
Many other men would have smirked at these words, though Harrington remained calm and distanced. “These are the best men I have”, he explained, as he put his dagger away. “We've already been in the building when you arrived. After your guests started talking to you, my men made their move” He gave Lanford a nod, before he turned around again. “Give Hishi my regards. Tell him, Butterfly apologizes for the death of his little flower and will try to find a way to make amends”
“Amends...”, Lanford growled and Jaron saw that his facial expression started to grow dark. “Do you think there can be amends for taking a life as precious as hers?” He shook his head in frustration, while Samuel tensed up. “You shouldn't have mentioned her, you cold-blooded whoreson”
“Don't do that, Lanford”, Samuel warned him calmly and turned around, just as Lanford raised his crossbow. “You're starting a war you can't win. This city belongs to Butterfly and if you provoke him, he will burn Hishi's brothel to the ground, he will kill you and your men and all of the girls. You know he does not forgive”
“Neither do I”, Lanford answered. Samuel shook his head. “If you shoot me, my men will cut you down”, he warned him and Lanford shrugged. “Might be the last chance I get to spit into Butterfly's face. And taking the Fang of Shadows with me...”, he mumbled. “There are worse ways to go” With these words, he pulled the trigger.
In the blink of an eye, Samuel Harrington did something that was not only remarkable, but entirely unexpected. He jumped to the side and out of the way of the bolt, though while he moved, his arm reached out for Harpy, who stood directly behind him, to pull her out of the way with him. Instead of him or her, the bolt hit one of his men, entering his skull and piercing the back of his head. The man sank to the ground, dead before he even knew what happened.
For a moment, the air around Jaron exploded with the loud curses of Samuel's men, while he and Harpy could only stare in shock at the man himself. Samuel let go of Harpy, who looked at him with widely opened eyes, filled with disbelief. “You...”, she mumbled, looking at the man that had stood behind her. He had saved her life. Samuel Harrington had saved her life, at the cost of one of his own men.
“That was a mistake”, Samuel said calmly, as he looked at Lanford. The older man closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, before he dropped his crossbow. Then, he pulled out his sword, a short, broad blade with a single edge. As he opened his eyes again, the glare in them was murderous. “Let's end this then”, he growled. “You can tell Butterfly that Hishi will never make peace with him”
Samuel gave him a nod. “I'm sorry, Lanford”, he said and he sounded honest. “You had your chance to stay out of this” With these words, he slowly approached his opponent. Lanford did not wait for him to arrive. Instead, with a scream of anger, he made the first move. His strike came in a high arch, nearly cutting across the narrow wall next to him and it hit Samuel's blade with a howling sound. Just as the two swords clashed against each other, Samuel's closed fist hit Lanford in the face. He stumbled backwards and Samuel hit him again and then once more, before he grabbed him at the collar of his shirt.
“I'm very, very sorry”, he said again, as he started to slam the pommel of his sword into the man's face, until Lanford let go of his sword. Immediately, Samuel stopped, much to the displeasure of his men. “What are you waiting for, Harrington?”, one of the Solvers yelled. “He killed one of ours! End that fucker!”
Harrington shook his head and let go of Lanford, who sank to the ground. “He's not going to die today”, he proclaimed. “My decision in this matter is final. He's going to be our hostage, if Hishi causes any trouble. Tie him and the others up”
He looked at Jaron and Harpy, who stood closely to each other, still baffled by what he had just done. Jaron had put an arm around her belly and noticed that she was shaking. She would have been dead without Samuel. For some reason, he had just saved her life and Jaron felt a conflicting wave of emotions, ranging from anger, to confused gratitude. For a moment, he saw a smirk on Samuel's face. “We take them to the labyrinth”, he proclaimed. “The Sphynx would love to have a word with them”
No choices for this part
So, this part did not work as intended. While I have hoped to finish a part of twice the usual length by now, a lot of stuff came up and kept me busy. Therefore, this is only half of the planned part. It also doesn't include a choice. However, I will continue to be busy over the weekend and don't think I will be able to finish the second half of the Jaron part until late on Sunday, or even Monday. Since I really don't want to keep you waiting for so long, I have decided to publish what I have written by now, as it makes for a decent cut in my opinion. I'm sorry for leaving you with this shorter part, but I think it's better than to keep you waiting for another weekend. Hopefully you still enjoy this part!
I'm not going to leave you entirely without a choice though, so I want to give you the one-time opportunity to choose the PoV for the next part, since I am a bit unsure about which of these two I want to write next. One possibility would be that I immediately continue writing Jaron's storyline, with what was originally planned to be the second half to his part. The alternative would be a continuation of Marak's storyline. At this point in the chapter, both would make sense. The one that won't be chosen will get the part after the next. So, here are your choices:
[Jaron] [Marak]
House Targaryen & Orys Baratheon, House Velaryon, House Qoherys, House Celtigar
Fire and Blood – The Old, the True, the Brave – Loyal Until Death – Scavenging the Seas
It will end in fire
So yeah, I read this one pretty fucking fast. But [Marak] because I love Marak.
I loved this part! Even if many characters have left Oldtown it still remains a very interesting place with its intriguing political machinations and great characters. Though I must say one thing, DAMN PEOPLE FOR VOTING TO HELP HARRINGTON WITH RAENNA! Ahh, good to have it out of my system
[Marak] I think a small break between the Jaron parts would be good pacing.
[Marak]
[Marak]
As much as I want to know how Jaron will fare, with the fucking Sphynx, I think I need to read something else to get my mind off of it. Great part, really had me on the edge of my seat!
[Marak]
[Marak]
[Marak]
[Marak]
(Jaron)
Great part! I noticed that Samuel had multiple opportunitys to kill Jaron but he didn't take a single one. And then he saved Harpy. I really like him. Such an epic character. I'm really excited to see how things go with his brother. Speaking of which, do you know how you're going to write that specific storyline? By that mean will it be from one of the Harringtons perspective or someone else?
[Marak] I'm not into the idea of the same POV twice in a row.
[Marak] As the others already have said let's change PoV for now
RT:
I could, but I only created an orphan which could be a contact for them. Neko masks are kinda anime flavor imho though, and that's a bonus for me.
[Jaron] Might as well.
So that's when the Sphynx is going reappear, huh?
InGen I have a question, my PM feed made an important discussion disappear, how can I find it again? I got spammed with some stuff so it got pushed down. Can I somehow delete feed notifications?
You would have to go down manually through the notifications, currently there is no way to delete notifications, sadly.
That is a nice find! It was not really intended (though Keira's death certainly was quite present in this part), but I'm liking this interpretation.
The Alley Cats certainly didn't come out of nowhere. They have a backstory, a pretty detailed one actually, which will gradually be revealed over time.
I have a couple of ideas on how this storyline about the Harrington brothers is going to play out, though I still have to plan some details. One thing I'm already pretty sure about is that a potential confrontation between them is going to be witnessed from the PoV of another character.
And yes, you saw that correctly. Samuel went out of his way to keep everyone alive here. He even made things way harder for him by only hitting his opponents with the pommels and blunt sides of his weapons. It remains to be seen how this is going to matter for his own plans, which he almost certainly pursues. Though I can confirm that he certainly did not do it out of the kindness of his heart.
Hah, yes, if Raenna wouldn't have helped him in the last chapter, things would have been way harder for Samuel. He still would have succeeded with capturing the grouo, though it is likely he would have been forced to approach the situation in a highly different way.
[Jaron] eh worth a shot. :P
[Jaron]
[Richard]
Heh.
Die Harking.
As long as Hal lives!
new forum design, and forum games like ours are fucked
https://telltale.com/community/discussion/comment/2543980#Comment_2543980
I'm also unable to properly use private messages now, seems it is bugged out
InGen just wrote it should be fixed, at least the editing part, hope the spoiler tag renaming too
Further possible issues: https://telltale.com/community/discussion/comment/2544050#Comment_2544050
The Voting is closed!
The next part will be from Marak's PoV
Well, here I have to take back my earlier statement. The next part will include a Marak part, but not only. I have realized I want to show the next scene in this storyline from Ellena's PoV. However, I have also promised a Marak part, so the next part will include PoV's for both of them. As I have announced before, I have been very busy over the weekend, so I had absolutely no time to start the next part until today. This in turn means I might not be able to finish it until going to sleep. I'll try my best though, as always. Anyways, here is a small recap for Ellena and Marak. The last time we saw them, Ellena just convinced Archmaester Wulvren to free her. He did so, just as Marak and Noelle had a serious talk about her doubts about the rightfulness of her mission. Ellena ran away, Marak noticed it and nearly killed Wulvren in anger. While Noelle stayed back, to take care of the Archmaester, Marak rushed after Ellena, who ran through the forest with a considerable headstart. She reached a small farmhouse and entered it, seeking shelter. There, she met the owner of the house, a gruff and slightly odd man by the name of Otis Shiff, who nonetheless agreed to hide her. He brought her into a room, where his sick daughter was sleeping and told her to hide. Meanwhile, Marak entered the house. Being left with a couple of choices on how to enter the building, he decided to try his best at knocking politely.
Also, good lord, the new design of the site looks beyond terrible! So bland and white and empty and boring. I can only hope that this is not the final design, because the brightness honestly hurts my eyes. The old design was a bit darker, but looked way more finished. Here, it looks like some textures are missing. Also, and this is really bad, I seem to be unable to edit the main post of the story. Hopefully this is only a temporary bug, because not being able to update the main post anymore would seriously ruin a lot about the story. Hopefully this is going to be fixed very soon. So, all in all, I am quite disappointed in this update, it looks and feels absolutely unfinished. At the same time, I have faith in the staff that these are only launch problems and that it will be fixed soon. The previous update had some launch problems as well, so I'll try to keep calm and
On another note and related to this site "update", I noticed that I have to manually check the little box below, where I can choose to follow this discussion or not. That was the same the last time the forum got a new look, so I guess it will only be temporary, but for now make sure that you still follow the story whenever you post a comment here.
read my comment above, can't properly use/access private messages atm, lot of other issues, I put all my work on hold for now
edit my biggest fear now is that I/we may lose Private Messages now, please quickly copy-paste and save everything we have to a txt. text file.
I know right, it is outright terrible. This is the problem I have when big sites are changing designs. I don't know what my account thing is doing anymore. And I for one loved the darkness this site had. And now Batman is coming, he is dark, likes shadows and stuff. This isn't even design!
Also, on another note: I don't know if you have answered my PM, because that is fucked as well.
One thing I do like though is that you can see everyone's choices if you check their profiles out. At least it is supposed to be like that, I can't see choices at the very least.
You uh might dislike the design, but hey, look at that!