Clayton is only in this for the money Butterfly pays him, while Alysanne and Kersea follow his orders (more or less). They also have a pretty good and fast way of communicating with Butterfly and don't do much without his orders, so as soon as these orders stop coming, Clayton will probably order them to retreat, in order to find out what happened. Kersea would probably be the one most affected by Butterfly's possible death, as this would mean that she could finally get her sister out of wherever he keeps her. The only one who won't be affected by this at all will be Wolfius, as things got very personal for him already.
Oh god, I just realized this. It was completely unintentional, I swear XD
I'm watching you Liquid.
That one the other hand is absolutely intenional. Both, the Burned Man and Butterfly got a few personality traits than can also be found in the Crooked Man. The personality of Butterfly in particular was also influenced by Carver.
Well, it was a good character decision. I just wish we, (as Jaron) got to fight against the Bloody Mary of Butterfly (whoever that would be) like how Bigby went against the Tweedles and Bloody Mary.
Actually, this wouldn't have changed much about the outcome. After the chapter finale I will go into greater detail for the alternative choices, but the end result would have been the same in this option.
I guess Martin and his band would have come and fucked it all up.
Yes, I can confirm that you are right here. And even if Butterfly dies here, it is possible that Samuel won't abandon this mission, as it is unlikely that he would learn about his bosses demise in time.
Possible. What a shame.
If you think that it's complicated now, wait until you read the next part. Some things are going to be far more complicated after it, some are going to be less complicated, but nothing will be like before. And nobody is going to see it coming >:D
Well, I guess it's not Aegon, so that's good. But otherwise I got no clue.
Did you think I wouldn't see this?
Oh god, I just realized this. It was completely unintentional, I swear XD
This entire part … morereminded me of Carver's demise. And of the Crooked Man. Well, Butterfly as a whole reminds me of the Crooked Man.
That one the other hand is absolutely intenional. Both, the Burned Man and Butterfly got a few personality traits than can also be found in the Crooked Man. The personality of Butterfly in particular was also influenced by Carver.
God why did Jaron not just negotiate.
Actually, this wouldn't have changed much about the outcome. After the chapter finale I will go into greater detail for the alternative choices, but the end result would have been the same in this option.
He's going for Dairon.
Yes, I can confirm that you are right here. And even if Butterfly dies here, it is possible that Samuel won't abandon this mission, as it is unlikely that he would learn… [view original content]
[Try to convince Harpy to spare Butterfly] Not killing him. Don't be a fool.
This entire part reminded me of Carver's demise. And of the … moreCrooked Man. Well, Butterfly as a whole reminds me of the Crooked Man.
Butterfly got fucked up. God why did Jaron not just negotiate. I kind of expected a better effort from Butterfly's men.
Gather twenty good men and return here.
Did you think I wouldn't see this?
You know what I just realized? Let's examine
“The hell we're going to do!”, Harpy growled. “Get out of my way, Jaron. He has to die!” Butterfly slightly shook his head. “Proves my point. Stop her from killing me and we can end this war”, he explained. “I only need one more thing in this city, something that is not concerning you or the Burned Man. At this moment, Samuel is getting it for me and when he has it, I am willing to retreat. I will take all of my men with me”
This is from Lucas' last part:
“Yeah… [view original content]
He was cut off by the sound of the warehouses large door getting opened. Bright sunlight illuminated the building and Butterfly staggered ba… moreckwards in surprise. His men hissed, almost like animals as they raised their hands, trying to shield their eyes from the sudden sunlight. Nearly a dozen men stood in the open door, armed to the teeth. Jaron recognized none of them, until a familiar face appeared in the crowd.
“Good day, you fucking insect”, Martin said joyfully and a wide grin appeared on Jaron's face as he looked at Harpy. She had her eyes wide open in shock, in relief, her mouth opening and closing. Tears were still flowing down her face, but her mouth formed a manic grin as she was sinking to the ground. She was still holding on to her sword with her right hand, but her left found Jaron's arm and rested on it. The look she gave him meant the world to him. Butterfly on the other hand seemed to be surprisingly collected for a man wh… [view original content]
He was cut off by the sound of the warehouses large door getting opened. Bright sunlight illuminated the building and Butterfly staggered ba… moreckwards in surprise. His men hissed, almost like animals as they raised their hands, trying to shield their eyes from the sudden sunlight. Nearly a dozen men stood in the open door, armed to the teeth. Jaron recognized none of them, until a familiar face appeared in the crowd.
“Good day, you fucking insect”, Martin said joyfully and a wide grin appeared on Jaron's face as he looked at Harpy. She had her eyes wide open in shock, in relief, her mouth opening and closing. Tears were still flowing down her face, but her mouth formed a manic grin as she was sinking to the ground. She was still holding on to her sword with her right hand, but her left found Jaron's arm and rested on it. The look she gave him meant the world to him. Butterfly on the other hand seemed to be surprisingly collected for a man wh… [view original content]
He was cut off by the sound of the warehouses large door getting opened. Bright sunlight illuminated the building and Butterfly staggered ba… moreckwards in surprise. His men hissed, almost like animals as they raised their hands, trying to shield their eyes from the sudden sunlight. Nearly a dozen men stood in the open door, armed to the teeth. Jaron recognized none of them, until a familiar face appeared in the crowd.
“Good day, you fucking insect”, Martin said joyfully and a wide grin appeared on Jaron's face as he looked at Harpy. She had her eyes wide open in shock, in relief, her mouth opening and closing. Tears were still flowing down her face, but her mouth formed a manic grin as she was sinking to the ground. She was still holding on to her sword with her right hand, but her left found Jaron's arm and rested on it. The look she gave him meant the world to him. Butterfly on the other hand seemed to be surprisingly collected for a man wh… [view original content]
He was cut off by the sound of the warehouses large door getting opened. Bright sunlight illuminated the building and Butterfly staggered ba… moreckwards in surprise. His men hissed, almost like animals as they raised their hands, trying to shield their eyes from the sudden sunlight. Nearly a dozen men stood in the open door, armed to the teeth. Jaron recognized none of them, until a familiar face appeared in the crowd.
“Good day, you fucking insect”, Martin said joyfully and a wide grin appeared on Jaron's face as he looked at Harpy. She had her eyes wide open in shock, in relief, her mouth opening and closing. Tears were still flowing down her face, but her mouth formed a manic grin as she was sinking to the ground. She was still holding on to her sword with her right hand, but her left found Jaron's arm and rested on it. The look she gave him meant the world to him. Butterfly on the other hand seemed to be surprisingly collected for a man wh… [view original content]
[Try to convince Harpy to spare Butterfly] By far one of the more action packed chapters. Despite Jaron not being one of my favorite characters I still enjoyed it.
He was cut off by the sound of the warehouses large door getting opened. Bright sunlight illuminated the building and Butterfly staggered ba… moreckwards in surprise. His men hissed, almost like animals as they raised their hands, trying to shield their eyes from the sudden sunlight. Nearly a dozen men stood in the open door, armed to the teeth. Jaron recognized none of them, until a familiar face appeared in the crowd.
“Good day, you fucking insect”, Martin said joyfully and a wide grin appeared on Jaron's face as he looked at Harpy. She had her eyes wide open in shock, in relief, her mouth opening and closing. Tears were still flowing down her face, but her mouth formed a manic grin as she was sinking to the ground. She was still holding on to her sword with her right hand, but her left found Jaron's arm and rested on it. The look she gave him meant the world to him. Butterfly on the other hand seemed to be surprisingly collected for a man wh… [view original content]
He was cut off by the sound of the warehouses large door getting opened. Bright sunlight illuminated the building and Butterfly staggered ba… moreckwards in surprise. His men hissed, almost like animals as they raised their hands, trying to shield their eyes from the sudden sunlight. Nearly a dozen men stood in the open door, armed to the teeth. Jaron recognized none of them, until a familiar face appeared in the crowd.
“Good day, you fucking insect”, Martin said joyfully and a wide grin appeared on Jaron's face as he looked at Harpy. She had her eyes wide open in shock, in relief, her mouth opening and closing. Tears were still flowing down her face, but her mouth formed a manic grin as she was sinking to the ground. She was still holding on to her sword with her right hand, but her left found Jaron's arm and rested on it. The look she gave him meant the world to him. Butterfly on the other hand seemed to be surprisingly collected for a man wh… [view original content]
I'm kind of sad about this chapter because is BAD... the general plot, characters, drama are great but these decisions are completely outdated, it reminds me of Bershka and old master where you can let Bershka to kill her old master or follow Croft order and bring him to justice, but there is the 3rd choice where you can [Kill him yourself], I want to kill him especially when he said that I'm a honorable, a quick death will be for his best but I don't want harpy to do it and please don't believe that I'm some cold murder with no moral that don't know to show mercy, it just all he say and how he reacts it make me think letting him alive will be a mistake plus I'm always let and want bad people to redeem themselves.
He was cut off by the sound of the warehouses large door getting opened. Bright sunlight illuminated the building and Butterfly staggered ba… moreckwards in surprise. His men hissed, almost like animals as they raised their hands, trying to shield their eyes from the sudden sunlight. Nearly a dozen men stood in the open door, armed to the teeth. Jaron recognized none of them, until a familiar face appeared in the crowd.
“Good day, you fucking insect”, Martin said joyfully and a wide grin appeared on Jaron's face as he looked at Harpy. She had her eyes wide open in shock, in relief, her mouth opening and closing. Tears were still flowing down her face, but her mouth formed a manic grin as she was sinking to the ground. She was still holding on to her sword with her right hand, but her left found Jaron's arm and rested on it. The look she gave him meant the world to him. Butterfly on the other hand seemed to be surprisingly collected for a man wh… [view original content]
Jaron will step aside and allow Harpy to butcher Butterfly
I have already written that particular section of the next part. There is no other way to describe it, Harpy is going to butcher that guy. It's going to be the most gory and dark part ever, not only because that choice won, but also because of something else, something I feel slightly bad about. I have to take back an earlier statement, regarding one of the PoV's, whose storyline in this chapter is not over despite earlier claims. This was a pretty recent decision, but I feel it works far better not at the start of the next chapter, but at the very end of this one. That's right, the next part is the chapter finale and it's going to be a game changer. It's not all going to be sunshine and butterflies...
And here is Good Guy Ramsay with another teaser for the chapter finale:
The Voting is closed!
Jaron will step aside and allow Harpy to butcher Butterfly
I have already written that particular section of the… more next part. There is no other way to describe it, Harpy is going to butcher that guy. It's going to be the most gory and dark part ever, not only because that choice won, but also because of something else, something I feel slightly bad about. I have to take back an earlier statement, regarding one of the PoV's, whose storyline in this chapter is not over despite earlier claims. This was a pretty recent decision, but I feel it works far better not at the start of the next chapter, but at the very end of this one. That's right, the next part is the chapter finale and it's going to be a game changer. It's not all going to be sunshine and butterflies...
And here is Good Guy Ramsay with another teaser for the chapter finale:
Yeah, a third option to allow Jaron to kill Butterfly was planned at first, but I cut it as I saw it as not in line with Jaron's character. He is honourable, not as much as Lucas but still a knight. Not stepping in while a wounded and surrendering man is going to be killed is already a huge step for him regardless of how much Butterfly deserved it, but dealing the final blow himself would be even harder and even more against his moral lines. The sole reason why he is even thinking about allowing her to kill Butterfly is because of Butterfly's continuing mockery and taunting. But I understand your criticism, perhaps I should have kept that option. However, technically I had already planned this choice in greater detail before Episode 4 of the game came out, so I'm not really copying Telltale here
I'm kind of sad about this chapter because is BAD... the general plot, characters, drama are great but these decisions are completely outdat… moreed, it reminds me of Bershka and old master where you can let Bershka to kill her old master or follow Croft order and bring him to justice, but there is the 3rd choice where you can [Kill him yourself], I want to kill him especially when he said that I'm a honorable, a quick death will be for his best but I don't want harpy to do it and please don't believe that I'm some cold murder with no moral that don't know to show mercy, it just all he say and how he reacts it make me think letting him alive will be a mistake plus I'm always let and want bad people to redeem themselves.
So... NO CHOICE.
but also because of something else, something I feel slightly bad about. I have to take back an earlier statement, regarding one of the PoV's, whose storyline in this chapter is not over despite earlier claims. This was a pretty recent decision, but I feel it works far better not at the start of the next chapter, but at the very end of this one. That's right, the next part is the chapter finale and it's going to be a game changer. It's not all going to be sunshine and butterflies...
Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. I wrote each of this individually.
From page 54:
The next part is going to be the finale of Lucas' storyline in this chapter. It's as good as finished, albeit a bit of polishing is still needed here and there. Expect it to be finished in a few hours! And well, after that there will be only three parts left in this chapter until I have to write the first part of this story which I'm not looking forward to write at all...
From page 55:
No big surprise here. Mullendore is not exactly an unreasonable man after all, so seeking help from him will be the safer option for the knights. However, this also means that Lucas and Leonard will arrive at the inn slightly later, giving Butterfly's men more time to get to Dairon and Lunett, or if they already have them, to carry them to Butterfly or whatever they have planned for them. The next Lucas part is going to be intense, probably the most intense Lucas part ever and one of the most intense parts of the story in general. It's already completely planned out and will come soon. But for now I have a few parts left in this chapter. The next one will finish the storylines for Alys and Richard in this chapter and it will be out in the next few hours.
It's Lucas isn't it? What the fuck have we done? My heart is killing me right now. You said he was done, and you said his next part will be one of the most intense parts coming up. Oh God. Will it be out later today or tomorrow? Who are you going to kill? Lucas? Leonard God forbid? Dairon? Lunett? JUST NOT LEONARD DAMNIT.
The Voting is closed!
Jaron will step aside and allow Harpy to butcher Butterfly
I have already written that particular section of the… more next part. There is no other way to describe it, Harpy is going to butcher that guy. It's going to be the most gory and dark part ever, not only because that choice won, but also because of something else, something I feel slightly bad about. I have to take back an earlier statement, regarding one of the PoV's, whose storyline in this chapter is not over despite earlier claims. This was a pretty recent decision, but I feel it works far better not at the start of the next chapter, but at the very end of this one. That's right, the next part is the chapter finale and it's going to be a game changer. It's not all going to be sunshine and butterflies...
And here is Good Guy Ramsay with another teaser for the chapter finale:
Yes, it will be out today, though it will be very late. I'm making good progress, but it's going to be the longest chapter finale ever, so expect it to be out probably around 6PM in Telltale time. It's a good thing that I don't have university right now, because that equals 3AM in german time. But I really want to finish this part today, so that I won't keep you on the tenterhooks for too long.
but also because of something else, something I feel slightly bad about. I have to take back an earlier statement, regarding one of the PoV'… mores, whose storyline in this chapter is not over despite earlier claims. This was a pretty recent decision, but I feel it works far better not at the start of the next chapter, but at the very end of this one. That's right, the next part is the chapter finale and it's going to be a game changer. It's not all going to be sunshine and butterflies...
Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. I wrote each of this individually.
From page 54:
The next part is going to be the finale of Lucas' storyline in this chapter. It's as good as finished, albeit a bit of polishing is still needed here and there. Expect it to be finished in a few hours! And well, after that there will be only three parts left in this chapter until I have to write the first part of this sto… [view original content]
Man... I always get super annoyed when a choice I really disagree with wins the vote but... everyone has different opinions and that's not a bad thing... still annoyed though.
The Voting is closed!
Jaron will step aside and allow Harpy to butcher Butterfly
I have already written that particular section of the… more next part. There is no other way to describe it, Harpy is going to butcher that guy. It's going to be the most gory and dark part ever, not only because that choice won, but also because of something else, something I feel slightly bad about. I have to take back an earlier statement, regarding one of the PoV's, whose storyline in this chapter is not over despite earlier claims. This was a pretty recent decision, but I feel it works far better not at the start of the next chapter, but at the very end of this one. That's right, the next part is the chapter finale and it's going to be a game changer. It's not all going to be sunshine and butterflies...
And here is Good Guy Ramsay with another teaser for the chapter finale:
Man... I always get super annoyed when a choice I really disagree with wins the vote but... everyone has different opinions and that's not a bad thing... still annoyed though.
I have to say, I was slightly rooting for the sparing choice to win, but I knew that there was little hope for that one from the moment where I had Butterfly uttering a number of racist and sexist remarks that are disgusting even for Westerosi views.
Though the chapter finale will give his death a completely new twist and perhaps a few people are going to regret their choice. It should be out hopefully in the next fifteen minutes by the way
Man... I always get super annoyed when a choice I really disagree with wins the vote but... everyone has different opinions and that's not a bad thing... still annoyed though.
You've give me much paranoia, cause you didn't respond to the panic part of my post, which tells me you didn't want to reveal a spoiler by accident.....
Will it be out later today or tomorrow?
Yes, it will be out today, though it will be very late. I'm making good progress, but it's g… moreoing to be the longest chapter finale ever, so expect it to be out probably around 6PM in Telltale time. It's a good thing that I don't have university right now, because that equals 3AM in german time. But I really want to finish this part today, so that I won't keep you on the tenterhooks for too long.
The Voting is closed!
Jaron will step aside and allow Harpy to butcher Butterfly
I have already written that particular section of the… more next part. There is no other way to describe it, Harpy is going to butcher that guy. It's going to be the most gory and dark part ever, not only because that choice won, but also because of something else, something I feel slightly bad about. I have to take back an earlier statement, regarding one of the PoV's, whose storyline in this chapter is not over despite earlier claims. This was a pretty recent decision, but I feel it works far better not at the start of the next chapter, but at the very end of this one. That's right, the next part is the chapter finale and it's going to be a game changer. It's not all going to be sunshine and butterflies...
And here is Good Guy Ramsay with another teaser for the chapter finale:
I have to say, I was slightly rooting for the sparing choice to win, but I knew that there was little hope for that one from the moment wher… moree I had Butterfly uttering a number of racist and sexist remarks that are disgusting even for Westerosi views.
Though the chapter finale will give his death a completely new twist and perhaps a few people are going to regret their choice. It should be out hopefully in the next fifteen minutes by the way
I have to say, I was slightly rooting for the sparing choice to win, but I knew that there was little hope for that one from the moment wher… moree I had Butterfly uttering a number of racist and sexist remarks that are disgusting even for Westerosi views.
Though the chapter finale will give his death a completely new twist and perhaps a few people are going to regret their choice. It should be out hopefully in the next fifteen minutes by the way
He gave Harpy a short nod, before lowering his arm. “Do it”, he mumbled and a light smile appeared on her face. “Thank you”, she answered and her smile faded again. “Perhaps... perhaps you want to wait outside. Not sure if you want to see this...” Jaron slightly shook his head. “I won't go anywhere”, he answered and it was meant reassuring. Instead she only looked more worried. “Perhaps you're not going to like what you see...”, she warned him and Jaron shrugged. “Doesnt' matter”, he answered. “I won't leave right now” Harpy gave him a regretful nod. “Sorry for what I'm about to do”, she muttered, while looking at him.
“Oh, get a room you two!”, Butterfly snarled, but Jaron noticed that the smug grin on his bruised face was gone. Harpy shot him a glare full of hatred and the crimelord attempted to crawl backwards with his remaining hand. She slowly walked up to him and he gave her a visibly forced smile. “Come on, you foreign cunt!”, he growled and spat at the ground in front of her. “Do your worst!”
“Don't you worry, I will”, Harpy mumbled and the cold tone of her voice sent a shiver down Jaron's spine. “I'm obviously going to remove a few parts. Some of them for the better. It's going to be sad for your remaining eye, but I'm sure all will be well in the end”, she continued, mirroring Butterfly's words earlier. “For me at least. For you? Not so much”
Butterfly's grin vanished, replaced by a look that barely hid his genuine fear. “Ser Bastard...”, he mumbled. “Stop that crazy bitch...” Jaron did not answer and only gave him a cold glare. For a short moment he felt satisfaction at the dumbfounded look on Butterfly's face. “You... you were supposed to...”, the crimelord mumbled. “He told me you would...”
Harpy silenced him by violently kicking him against the jaw, causing his head to fall back on the ground, where he lied barely conscious. “Martin!”, she commanded and the mercenary walked up to her. He had a worried look on his face, clearly reluctant to follow her order this time. “Grab his left arm. Make sure he can't move”
With these words she knelt down onto his right arm, applying clearly uncomfortable pressure on his stump. Butterfly let out a groan of pain and attempted to grab her with his remaining hand. Martin was faster and grabbed his arm at the wrist, holding it down on the ground. Out of the corner of his eyes, Jaron saw Samantha folding her arms in anticipation.
Butterfly's sickening grin reappeared, albeit it was a desperate grin, the grin of a dying man. “You stinking mongrel harlot, you fucking coward, you even need help to keep me down. Even now I could kill you!”, he spat and Harpy gave him no answer. She looked at the hairpin in her hand, slowly putting it on the ground. “That's for later...”, she explained and raised a hand. “First I'm going to need a knife”
One of the mercenaries walked up to her, slowly handing a small dagger to her. She gave him a thankful nod and looked at Jaron, almost pleading. “You really want to stay?”, she asked and Jaron gave her a nod. “Not leaving you now”, he answered and Harpy closed her eyes. “Fine then...”, she muttered and Butterfly's grin got wider. “Oh, little whore is afraid her bastard won't like her anymore. Isn't that cute?”, he mocked her. “Come on, show him what you really are!” He looked at Jaron. “You think she's any better than me just because of her pretty face? Look closely, bastard, see her for what she is, this worthless fucking who...”
His speech was cut off by Harpy quickly moving the dagger downwards, ramming it into his crotch. Butterfly's eyes widened as a high-pitched groan forced it's way out of his throat. He looked downwards, to the dagger and to Harpy, who had a look of pure hatred on her face. “Four years...”, she hissed, her ghiscari accent clearly audible. The tone of her voice was enough to make Jaron shiver. “For the past four years I was almost afraid of my own shadow, fearing that you could hide in it. Every week I forced myself to look at what you did to people I considered friends, family. All these years I was afraid of one man... but you are no man, aren't you?”
She moved closer towards him, almost like a lover and whispered something in his eyes. It was completely silent in the warehouse, so Jaron was still able to hear it. “Do you remember what I promised you?”, she asked and Butterfly's eyes widened in fear. “That I would hear you scream before you die?” With these words, she started to twist the knife. And Butterfly started to scream.
“Nearly two hundred”, she spat, speaking louder than before, while Butterfly let out high-pitched, pained screams full of fear, full of agony. The crimelord tried to break free from her grip but failed to do so, which only intensified his horrifying screams. Harpy pulled the dagger out of Butterfly's crotch, before stabbing it in a violent frenzy. “I remember all of their names, remember their voices, I remember what they looked like and what you made out of them! How I had to look at them, how I held them until their pain was over! You couldn't even give them a clean death!”, she spat at him and moved the dagger upward with a squishing sound, causing Butterfly to wail in pain, before putting it on the ground, grabbing the hairpin. The crimelord tried his best to break free of Martin's grip, to no avail. He had no strength left and the terror in his remaining eye was almost satisfying, but utterly horrifying at the same time.
With a swift movement, Harpy rammed the hairpin into Butterfly's abdomen. “You raped them!”, she screamed and stabbed him again. “Mutilated them! You broke them until there was nothing left of them! You put them through pain beyond imagination!” With each word she stabbed him again. Despite her rage, Jaron saw that she was careful not to hit a vital organ and not to stab him too deeply. “How does it feel to suffer like they did? How does it feel, HOW DOES IT FEEL?”, Harpy yelled, stabbing him between the ribs, into the stomach, finally embedding it into his left lung.
Butterfly had stopped screaming now, instead he was only moaning, his mouth forming words that weren't audible anymore. “How does it feel to suffer for once in your life, you miserable son of a bitch?”, Harpy asked him, desperate tears were flowing down her face. “HOW DOES IT FEEL?”, she desperately screamed at him, but received no answer. “DO YOU LIKE IT?”
Even if he would have been able to give her an answer, Butterfly would have probably remained silent. The crimelord was dying, bleeding from over a dozen wounds. Harpy herself looked heartbreakingly horrified at her own hands, looking mortified at the mutilated crimelord and at what she just did. Her gaze hardened for one last time as she moved the hairpin down, slowly pushing it through Butterfly's throat. His moaning turned into gurgling, as bubbles of blood flew out of his mouth. “You are nothing...”, Harpy sullenly whispered into his ear as the crimelord stopped moving.
She raised from the ground, looking paler than usual, disgusted and clearly ashamed at herself. The sadness on her face nearly broke Jaron's heart. As she staggered backwards, he took a quick step towards her, grabbing her with his good arm to prevent her from falling. She was crying bitter tears and did not look even nearly as satisfied as she should have been. “It needed to be done right?”, she mumbled and Jaron gave her a tight hug. “It's over. We made it, we won, haven't we?”, she whispered, looking down onto the dead body of the man who had terrorized her for years. It was over...
Lucas
For a moment, Lucas thought that the guards would stop them as they approached the Hightower almost running. He wasn't sure what he would have done then. His mind was revolving around one thing, about what was happening to Lunett at this moment. Luckily, the guards let them pass without a word, at least into the main hall of the Hightower. The cold, large room was far less lively than it had been a few hours ago, with only a few guards looking at them.
Lucas still remembered the way to the headquarters of the city guard. It wasn't a long or complicated way, but for a moment Lucas feared that the guards of the Hightower could stop them. He did not care to explain himself to them, he had no time for that. Only one thing mattered, to get help from Mullendore.
The main room of the headquarters was far more empty than before. Only about a dozen of guardsmen were in it, looking at the newcomers with slight interest. They sat around two large tables, playing cards and showing with their whole attitude that they were on their break at the moment. For a moment, Lucas thought about approaching one of them, but his panicked legs immediately led him towards Mullendore's room, which in turn caused several guards to give him a suspicious glare. Lucas did not care. Desperately, he tried to open the room, but to no avail. The door was locked.
“Can I help you?”, a male voice asked and Lucas turned around to see one of the guardsmen who just approached him. He was a young and very ugly man, skinny, with a round and puffy face, wrinkles around his eyes and a gross-looking stubble beard. Lucas gave him a desperate nod, while trying to find the right words. “We're looking for Ser Maron Mullendore. It is important”, Leonard answered in his stead.
The man gave him an apologetic smile. “Commander Mullendore is on patrol duty. Can I give him a message from you?”, he asked, while Lucas and Leonard exchanged a desperate look. “But... he had been here a few hours ago”, Lucas stuttered dumbfounded and the guard slightly shrugged. “And now he is on patrol duty. Commander Mullendore takes his duty very seriously. I'm asking again, can I give him a message from you?”, he answered.
“Listen, we need help”, Leonard urged him. “Do you know Samuel Harrington? The Fang of Shadows?” The guard widely opened his eyes as Leonard mentioned this name and immediately gave him a serious looks. “The Fang of Shadows...”, he mumbled. “One of Butterfly's best men, perhaps his most dangerous. Killed at least half a dozen of our boys. What is it with him?”
“He's at the Blind Helmsman Inn”, Lucas explained as calm as possible. He was nearly yelling at this man, but luckily the guard seemed to be understanding of this. He put a hand on Lucas' shoulder, trying to calm him down a bit. “Please, tell me everything”, he urged him. Lucas looked at Leonard for help and thankfully, the other knight continued to talk as Lucas tried to hold back desperate tears. Every second they were loosing was a second he was hardly able to bear.
“My name is Leonard Constantine, this is Lucas Flowers. We are knights from the city of Raylansfair, currently in this city for our own business. For reasons unknown, we got the attention of this Butterfly person. And he sent Harrington to the inn we're living in. We are afraid for the safety of our friend Lunett”, Leonard explained and the guardsman gave him an understanding nod.
“I see”, he answered. “Normally I would told you to wait until Commander Mullendore or Captain Ryder would be back from their duty...” Lucas cut him off by grabbing his shoulders. “We don't have time for that!”, he yelled at him, causing the guardsman to push him off in slight irritation. “Let me finish, Ser Lucas!”, he ordered him sternly. “Normally I would do this. But it looks like this is an urgent matter. If you're lying to me, it will cost me my job”
“We're not lying”, Lucas stuttered, slightly ashamed at his panicked behaviour. The guardsman let out a sigh and clapped his hands, pointing at six of the guardsmen. “You, get ready!”, he ordered them. “The Fang of Shadows was seen nearby and someone needs to stop him!” Visibly unwilling to help, the guards raised from their comfortable chairs, starting to get ready by putting on chainmail armour and their swords. The guard who spoke to Lucas and Leonard seemed to be satisfied. “Give us a minute. They know how to do this”, he told them before reaching out his hand. Lucas did not react, but Leonard grabbed the hand, shaking it with enthusiasm. “Thank you”, he told him and the guard slightly smirked. “Don't mention it”, he answered. “By the way, my name is Jaylon. Captain Jaylon Gordus”
Jaylon kept his word. It took the guardsmen only a minute to get armed and ready. The captain himself grabbed a crossbow, quickly loading it with experienced moves. Lucas noticed that the armour these guards were wearing was different from the usual guard uniform. Instead of the red and grey of House Hightower, these men wore the black and orange of House Mullendore, their tabards showing the six butterflies of Uplands. Jaylon noticed Lucas questioning stare and gave him a light smirk. “We're part of Ser Maron's special unit, not of the regular city guard. You won't find more experienced fighters against Butterfly and the Burned Man in the whole city”, he explained. Lucas barely listened, his mind preoccupied, as he was nearly shaking in worry. Leonard seemed to be similarly stressed, but handled it far better. Small details, like his fast breathing and pressed lips revealed that he was worried sick for Lunett and Dairon, just like Lucas was.
Lucas barely remembered the next fifteen minutes, as if he was in a dream. Leonard had taken charge of the small group, consisting of Captain Jaylon and six of his special guards. Lucas was thankful for Leonard's initiative, as he was barely able to focus on the way in his current state of mind. Everything seemed to blur and it took him a while to realize that he was crying.
The sun was already downing and Leonard lead the group through the streets of Oldtown. Only a few people were still walking on the streets and all of them swiftly made way for the heavily armed group. Jaylon had a surprisingly pleased smile on his face as they finally reached the Helmsman inn. “Ah, the Blind Helmsman. Excellent taste in inns you have, Ser Lucas”, he said with a grin. Lucas did not reciprocate this grin and Jaylon gave him an apologizing look. “Sorry for that. It was inappropriate”, he apologized shortly before looking at his men. “Surround the inn. I want three of you in the backalley, should Harrington decide to retreat there. The rest with me”, he ordered, checking his crossbow and slightly looking at Lucas and Leonard. “The Fang is not an easy opponent You sure you want to do this?”, he asked. Leonard gave him a decisive nod, drawing his sword. “I'm not an easy opponent either and he's going to learn that. If he did anything to Lunett or... if he did anything to Lunett, I'm going to cut him open”, he answered.
Jaylon shrugged and looked slightly amused for a moment. “Other men tried to do it. The Fang is still here. They aren't”, he stated. “I say it's about time someone kills this asshole”, Leonard growled before moving closer towards the inn. Jaylon's face dropped for a moment. “Fuck, wait for us!”, he hissed before quickly walking after Leonard. Lucas followed closely, resisting the urge to run. They needed to be cautious, or else it would be over, for them and for Lunett.
The taproom was strangely empty, even though it was late in the evening. It was dark and Lucas was barely able to see the figure lying on the ground in a pool of dark liquid. He and Jaylon looked at each other with an alarmed look and the guardsman quickly sneaked up to the body. Under closer inspection, Lucas recognized the elderly innkeeper, clutching a small hole in his abdomen. He was badly beaten up, his face bruised up to the point where he was hardly able to look at the small group that was approaching him.
“Who... who is there? Please... please let me live. No more!”, the innkeeper pleaded, raising his hands in the rough direction of Lucas, Leonard and Jaylon. The guardsman knelt down to him, putting one of his hands onto his shoulder. “Easy, man”, he tried to calm him down. “We're from the city guard. We are here to help. Can you walk?”
The man gave him a nod and weakly tried to stand up, before falling down again with a pained moan. Jaylon slightly shook his head as he looked at Lucas. “What happened here?”, he asked and the innkeeper let out a sigh. “I was in the backroom when I heard some sort of commotion. People... fleeing the inn. I returned to the taproom and there was this man... He... he...”, the old man explained and clutched the wound in his abdomen with a pained expression. “He stabbed you, right?”, Jaylon asked and the old man gave him a nod. “The Fang of Shadows?” The innkeeper shook his head. “No... no, he told me his name. He told me not to forget it. Not the Fang of Shadows. He was here too, but he wasn't the one who stabbed me”, he answered desperately. “It was Butterfly...”
Just as he said this, even before Lucas realized the meaning of these words, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from upstairs. Lucas froze in terror as he recognized the voice. It was without a doubt Lunett! In a deep part of his mind, Lucas knew it was a foolish move to storm upstairs, but in this moment he did not care anymore. Lunett was in danger, likely hurt. He remembered what Mullendore told him, what Butterfly would do to her. This was not the time to be cautious! And then he started to run towards the stairs that lead to the second floor.
“Fuck”, Jaylon cursed and Lucas noticed that Leonard was right behind him. “Wait for me!”, the guardsman yelled and ran after them, his crossbow still resting in his hands. The three men ran up the stairs, barely catching breath and Lucas already noticed a dizzy feeling in his head. Rest... he needed to rest, but first he had to find Lunett, he had to save her!
The narrow hallway upstairs wasn't empty. Lucas noticed two things. First, the way to Lunett's room was free. Second, on the other end of the hallway sat a man on a stool, quietly sharpening his longsword. He looked frighteningly ordinary, his looks only underlining his dangerous aura. He had the pale skin and dark hair of a northerner, his blue eyes glaring at the knights. He wasn't blocking the hallway physically, but his mere presence was enough to cause Lucas to stop. This wasn't a man he could just ignore.
“Harrington”, Jaylon growled with a low voice and Lucas noticed that he showed signs of fear. The man silently raised from his chair, presenting his recently sharped longsword. “You're late”, he snarled, slowly walking closer towards them. Lucas and Leonard immediately pointed their swords at him and the man stopped for a moment. “And you're too late to save her”, he explained and Lucas felt panic rising in him. “You should have saved yourself. No one can help you now”
“What are you waiting for?”, Leonard growled and looked at Jaylon. “Shoot him!” The guardsman gave him a reluctant nod and pointed his crossbow at Harrington. His hands were shaking violently, almost as bad as Lucas', but his stare was focussed. “Give up, Harrington, or I'm going to kill you”
Harrington stopped moving closer towards them, unfurling his arms with a mocking smirk. “You have one try, Jaylon”, he said with a slight grin and pointed his sword at them. Jaylon gulped audibly, before firing his crossbow. The bolt flew at Harrington, missing him only by a few inches. The man didn't even flinch. “Wasted bolt”, he remarked with a smirk, before continuing to approach them. “Butterfly is already done with your girl, Ser Lucas. You are too late and now you will die here too”
To Lucas surprise and horror, Leonard took a step forwards. “Not so fast”, the knight growled. “And certainly not while I'm still breathing” He drew his sword, pointing it at Harrington. The other man slightly shook his head. “What are you trying to do?”, he asked and Leonard spat on the ground in front of him, causing Harrington to stop moving. “What does it look like, asshole?”, the knight answered. “Lucas, Jaylon, save Lunett and run!”
“Leonard...”, Lucas mumbled, but Jaylon cut him off. “Are you sure?”, he asked and Leonard gave him a nod, while Harrington just looked at him. Lucas knew it was a dangerous move. The hallway was narrow, hardly giving enough room to fight with a longsword. Leonard wasn't wearing his armour and he was exhausted from the quick run back to the inn. “What are you waiting for, Flowers?”, Leonard growled. “I said, get Lunett out of here!” Jaylon let out a sigh. “Very well then...”, he mumbled. “Do me a favour and kill him”
“I will”, Leonard and Harrington answered at the same time. The knight raised his sword, taking the initiative against Harrington as he attempted to strike at his head. The mercenary answered by easily parrying the strike and giving Leonard a quick riposte that took the knight a lot of skill to parry.
“Come on!”, Jaylon yelled at Lucas, grabbing him at the shoulder. “Where is your girl's room?” This caused Lucas to snap out of the almost trance-like stance he had been, watching Leonard and Harrington in their deadly fight. The mercenary swiftly struck at Leonard's abdomen and the knight was only able to save himself by taking a step backwards. Without giving him a chance at a counter-attack, Harrington immediately struck again, this time targeting Leonard's head.
Lucas finally turned around, running towards Lunett's room. He could only hope that Leonard would win this fight, but Harrington was by all means at least an evenly matched opponent. But he wouldn't let his sacrifice be in vain!
“This is it?”, Jaylon asked as Lucas stopped in front of a door. The knight gave him a light nod, before busting into the room. It was dark, a single candle illuminating the scenery. The room was thrashed, a horrifyingly fresh pool of blood visible on the ground. Lucas couldn't see Lunett, but he saw a figure standing at the sole window, slowly turning around as the knight entered. Lucas froze in terror, nearly dropping his blade as he saw the face. No... No, this could not be! How...
“Hello, boys”, Maron Mullendore said with a devilish smile on his face. “What took you so long?”
“Ser... Ser Maron?”, Lucas exclaimed weakly. “What are you... doing...” He noticed movement behind him and as he swiftly turned around, he saw Jaylon pointing the crossbow at him. The smile on the face of the ugly guard almost made him appear like a rabid wolf. “Turn around, bastard, face him or else I'm going to blow your brains out”
“Good job, Jaylon”, Mullendore complimented his underling, before giving him a questioning stare.”Where's the other boy, Constantine?”, he asked. Jaylon slightly chuckled, sounding like a hyena in the process. “Fighting Samuel”, he remarked and Mullendore let out a sigh. “Another dead man”, he mumbled.
“What in the...”, Lucas stuttered completely dumbfounded, in a clear state of shock as he was trying to understand what was happening right now. The realization hit him like a punch in the face and he nearly jumped up in terror as he looked back at Mullendore. “You... you're Butterfly!”, he exclaimed.
The man gave him a slight nod, his devilish grin getting even wider. “The one and only”, he said with pride in his voice. “Oh, don't look at me like that!” He spread his arms and any trace of honesty, politeness and kindness were gone from his green eyes. Instead, he had a steely gaze and Lucas hated what he saw in them. “I know what you must think. Who would actually use his own sigil as a code name? But that's not the question...”, Mullendore snarled. “The question is, who would actually suspect the man who's sigil is a literal Butterfly?” His grin vanished as he narrowed his eyes, giving him an almost monstrous appearance. “Only fools would do this. And do I have to fear fools?”
“But...”, Lucas stuttered. “But... you... you... lost... you lost... men...” Mullendore let out a deep, joyless chuckle, full of hatred. “Oh yes, who would suspect a man who lost his own men? Good men, loyal men, men who learned too much and weren't willing take necessary steps to save this city? Who would suspect me?”
Finally, the numbing shock started to vanish, as Lucas remembered why he came here in the first place. He pointed his sword at Mullendore, at... at Butterfly and the only thing that prevented him from attacking him immediately was the presence of Jaylon behind him. “What have you done to Lunett? Where is she?”, Lucas yelled at him and Mullendore gave him a cold smirk.
“Do you remember what I told you? What Butterfly would do to her if he ever gets her?”, he asked and Lucas hand started to shake as he suppressed the urge to burst into desperate tears. “Well, I originally wanted to wait for you to come, but you needed so long... so I decided to start already”
With these words, Mullendore raised one of his fingers. “Careful what you're going to do now, boy. She's in a... ahem... critical condition. Make a wrong move and you will regret it. Remember Jaylon behind you”
He started to walk around the bed, reaching down to the ground, where Lucas wasn't able to see. “I did not want to do this. I gave you more than one chance to be honest with me. After you left the Citadel with the boy, how could you even assume I wouldn't learn about him sooner or later?”, Mullendore spat at him with vicious hatred in his voice. “I did not want to hurt her, but your impudence... greatly angered me”
He reached down and grabbed something... no, the pained moan that sounded made it clear that he was grabbing someone, Lunett to be precise and he dragged her from behind the bed and into Lucas' field of view, holding her at the hair. She was naked and weakly looked at him with tear-stained eyes, but said no word, instead she was sobbing desperately. He looked down on her body and the sudden realization almost caused him to drop his sword in despair. “No...”, Lucas whispered as he looked at her in shock, at the place where Mullendore had severed both of her feet at the ankles. The wounds were fresh, very fresh, still heavily bleeding and horrible to look at.
“No!”, he screamed, attempting to charge at Mullendore. “Ah, ah, ah!”, Jaylon yelled behind him, causing Lucas to stop immediately. Mullendore gave him a nightmarish grin, worse than anything he had ever seen. “I told you what I would do, right?”, he growled and reached at his belt, pulling out a long dagger. He slowly moved it towards her face, slightly touching her left eyebrow with it. She shivered in fear, in pain and in humiliation, desperately looking at Lucas for help.
“When we came here, we only saw the runt climbing out of her window into the backalley. I ordered one of my men to follow him, but he just vanished in the backalleys of Oldtown without a trace”, Mullendore explained. “So I gave her a chance to tell me where I could find Dairon. I gave her a chance to prove her innocence. She spat me in the face, called me a bastard and some other things that weren't nice, so I stopped treating her like a lady”
“Please...”, Lunett mumbled weakly without even looking at Lucas. “I just want to go home” Mullendore gave her a sadistic grin and violently stomped onto her lower left leg, applying pressure onto the fresh wound and causing her to cry out in pain. “Honey, you won't go anywhere ever again”, he growled.
“Enough!”, Lucas shouted at him. “Enough! Leave her be!” He was trembling in anger, in shock, in desperation, looking from Mullendore, to Lunett to the place where her feet should have been. “What do you want? I give you everything!”, he pleaded him.
Mullendore gave him a pleased smirk. “Of course you will”, he growled, holding the dagger at Lunett's left eye. “First you're going to tell me where I can find the boy, this Dairon” Lucas closed his eyes, thinking about what Butterfly would do to the boy should he ever get his hands on him.
“Don't do it!”, Lunett yelled at him with the last bit of power left in her body, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Don't do it...”, she mumbled again and Mullendore narrowed his eyes. “Should have taken your tongue, you little bitch”, he snarled and moved the dagger downwards, cutting right through her left eye, causing a deep gash on the left side of her face. Lunett started to howl in pain, a sound that froze the blood in Lucas' veins and broke his heart.
“Next order!”, the beast yelled and small drips of saliva flew out of his mouth as he raised his voice. “Drop your sword!” Despite the pain she was in, Lunett slightly managed to shake her head. “Don't...”, she pleaded him. “He will...” She was silenced as Mullendore pointed the dagger at her remaining eye.
“Drop your weapon and I will give her mercy”, Mullendore said in a suddenly calm voice. “It does not matter if you trust me or not, because I promise you, by my honour as a knight, by the old gods and the new, keep your sword pointed at me for another second and you both will regret it”
He applied pressure on the dagger, slightly cutting Lunett's eyebrow, causing her to let out a surprised scream. Lucas was barely able to see her behind his desperate tears, as he looked down at his sword. He looked back at Lunett, at his wonderful Lunett, broken, beaten, destroyed by the monster that was holding her, that was still threatening her. And he realized that he had no options left. “Don't!”, Lunett yelled, but it wasn't clear if she was talking to Lucas or to Mullendore. And Lucas dropped his sword. The weapon almost sank to the ground, it appeared slower to him than usual. The sound of the steel hitting the wooden ground was muffled and for a moment he was only able to look at the blade lying on the ground.
Lunett's panicked screams snapped him out of his thoughts again and as he looked up, he nearly sank to the ground himself. Mullendore had embedded the dagger in her remaining eye, blinding her and causing her to helplessly flail around with her arms. She managed to hit Mullendore on the upper arm, but the false knight barely seemed to notice it. “Please...”, Lucas mumbled. “Please... mercy...”
Mullendore gave him another spine-chilling grin, the grin of a demon, before slightly shrugging. “Sure!”, he yelled over the sound of Lunett's agonizing wailing. “Small gifts preserve the friendship after all” With these words he embedded the dagger deeply into Lunett's skull, cutting off her screams and immediately causing her body to grow limp.
As the monster looked back at him, he narrowed his eyes. “What?”, Mullendore asked. “What? That was mercy!” He slightly raised his hands with a sick smile, letting go of Lunett's dead body. She sank to the ground, the dagger still deeply embedded into her eye. And Lucas realized that he had lost everything. That he had no chance. That the only thing he was still able to do was to deliver justice. “Don't do anything stupid, boy”, Mullendore growled as he realized the look on Lucas' face, the look of a good man who had been pushed too far.
In a swift movement, Lucas turned around, faster than Jaylon could fire. His fist hit the ugly man in the face, causing him to move his crossbow upwards. The bolt flew above Lucas' head, hitting the wooden ceiling of the room, while Jaylon went to the ground, more out of surprise than out of actual pain. And then, Lucas darted towards Mullendore, jumping over Lunett's dead body and grabbing her killer by the throat, sending both of them to the ground. He indeed managed to pull him down, much to Mullendore's surprise. His fist hit him in the face, once, twice, thrice and he put both hands around the man's throat, starting to choke the life out of his treacherous, lying body.
Lucas did not count, he barely realized what he was doing, but it seemed to be a long time until something heavy hit his side, pressing the air out of his lungs. Someone, Jaylon, pulled him away from Mullendore, onto the ground and a heavy boot hit him in the face, again and again, until he was barely conscious anymore.
“Enough!”, Mullendore's hoarsy voice sounded and Lucas was barely able to see him rising from the ground, painfully holding his throat. “I still need him!” He let out a cough and shivered in pain. “That was a mistake, you little bastard”, he growled, and looked up as heavy boots were heard from the door.
Lucas followed his stare and saw two men entering the room. The first was Leonard, looking pale, holding his waist. Blood flew out between his fingers and he looked as if he was about to faint. Behind him, Samuel Harrington entered the room, holding his own sword and Leonard's, slightly kicking the other knight into the ankles to cause him to continue walking.
Leonard only needed a moment to realize what was happening. His stare went from the downed Lucas, to Lunett, to Maron Mullendore and he sank to the ground. “No... no... no!”, he muttered. “No, not you! NO! NO!” His voice got louder, until he was almost yelling, lying on the ground in sheer desperation.
“I ordered you to kill him”, Jaylon snarled, and Samuel looked at Lunett's dead body with clear disgust. “You don't give me orders, you little dog”, he answered with a dangerously low voice and Mullendore slightly clapped his hands. “Good work, Samuel!”, he complimented him. “Is he going to survive this?” Samuel gave him a slight nod. “If I wanted him dead, he would be dead by now. Tough as nails, that one. Fight would have been different if he would have been wearing armour. But he is going to live, if you want to”
Mullendore gave him a nod. “For now”, he answered, as Lucas fought to stay conscious. “Why...”, Leonard mumbled from the ground with a weak, broken voice. “Why are you doing this?” Mullendore let out a cold chuckle, followed by a violent cough. “Excellent question, Ser Leonard”, he complimented him and stepped over Lucas' bruised body.
“You see, for decades I tries to save this city from the people that were oppressing it, tried to save it's citizens, the good and pleasant citizens of Oldtown. I lost more than you could imagine and made no progress at all”, he explained. “And then, one day I finally realized it. You can't defeat the sickness that holds Oldtown in it's grip without giving the criminals something to fear. And so I gave them Butterfly”
He turned around again, facing Lucas, his grin showing a sick pleasure. “I suppose I always had it in me. A love for violence... it came only natural for me, but I was also able to do a good work with it. I made progress like you can't imagine. One by one, I cured this city. The only one who proved resilient was the Burned Man” He stopped and coughed again, holding his throat for a moment. “Up until now... if my plans worked, the cripple's men have killed one of my men, assuming him to be Butterfly by now. This will cause the Burned Man to grow careless and ultimately, carelessness will get him killed. After all, the only one left to oppose him in this city is the humble, honest, Ser Maron Mullendore, a man as dumb as a horse, who can't even read his own letters...”
He burst into malicious laughter. “Priceless! But my plans go further than you can imagine and for that I need Dairon and Robert Raylan's last will”, he explained while he was still chuckling. “Samuel, Jaylon!”, he snarled and his men stood attention. “Make the knights ready for their journey to the cells. I have a few questions for them”, he ordered. “Yes, Butterfly!”, Jaylon answered, earning himself an angry glare from Mullendore.
“Butterfly is dead”, the false knight explained gleefully. “Butterfly is dead and the Burned Man will soon follow. This city will finally be at peace” His eyes looked at Lucas, who was slowly sinking into merciful unconsciousness. “And all will be well...”
End of Chapter 4: Butterfly
Your Choices
Alliance:Lucas chose to ally with neither Archmaester Quent nor Maron Mullendore
Friendship:Kersea told Alysanne that she considers her a friend
Morality:Marak told Noelle that he has no problems with killing a child
Strategy:Richard decided to support Urid's plan
Justice:Jaron decided to allow Harpy to kill 'Butterfly'
“You fucked up, boy”, Mullendore said with a sickening smile. “All of your friends are dead. Even your little girl, just because you chose to oppose me. Now you're all alone. And you will answer my questions” He looked at the knife in his hands and his smile widened. “The fuck I'm going to do!”, Lucas spat at him and Mullendore closed his eyes. “Trust me, you will, sooner or later. For your own interest, tell me what I need to know. If you hope for help, you are ridiculous. No one is looking for you. No one even knows you're here...”
“I don't like this...”, Sasha mumbled, looking down the alleyway. “What do you mean?”, Samantha asked, putting a hand on the hilt of her hatchet. Butterfly's blood was still there. For some reason it felt less satisfying than it should have. “It's too silent in here”, Sasha explained. “That's one of Oldtown's nicest taverns over there. Normally there should be music and laughter and...” She stopped, her eyes wide opened as she grabbed Samantha at the shoulders, quickly pulling her into an adjacent house entrance. “Fuck...”, she mumbled. “Stay down...”
Torvin looked up at the man who could have been a Hoare. Dark hair, dark eyes and an even darker heart, a smile like the Stranger himself, a kinslayer and aside from Harren Hoare the only man in Harrenhal who managed to genuinely scare him. “Lord Captain Greyjoy”, he said respectfully, slightly lowering his head. He was below this man, in more than one way and he was not afraid to admit it. “Captain Breaker”, Damon Greyjoy answered with his soft voice. “You're awfully late. Do you prefer to stroll around the countryside with our revered princelings?”
Ilish shivered as she took a look over her shoulder. There was nothing to be seen, nothing to be afraid of, right? She knew these streets for years now. This was Raylansfair. There was nothing to be scared about!
She turned around, nearly bumping into the man standing in front of her. Even though she tried to suppress it, a small scream found it's way out of her throat. She remembered him. It was the man from earlier, the one who hid his face under this ridiculously large hat! “What do you want?”, she yelled at him, before hearing the footsteps behind her. She nearly jumped up as she heard the voice right behind her, the deep, growling voice, oozing of violence, of a thirst for blood. “Hello, Katya”, Wolfius Woodbark said.
“Hello, Arthur”, the man in front of him said with a polite smile, while Arthur grabbed his sword. “What are you doing here?”, he demanded to know and the man raised his hands. “Easy, Arthur. We mean no trouble”, he promised and pointed at himself and then at the woman next to him, the one who still mustered Arthur with a mixture of sadness and anger. “My name is Ellyrio Terys. The lovely lady next to me is my business partner Briar”, the man introduced them and the woman gave him a cold glare. “I believe we have a similar interest in this city. From what I've heard there is a killer running on the loose, am I correct?”
The man jumped up from his chair and started to walk towards her. Jenna saw that he wasn't taller than herself and almost as skinny. His brown hair was cut short and he had a bony face. Still, his smile was extraordinarily charming and as he reached her he took an elegant bow and blew her a kiss on the hand. “It is always a pleasure to meet the servants!”, he proclaimed, looking from a surprised Jenna to a frowning Harris. “Ah, but where are my manners?” He quickly put a hand onto his forehead and chuckled. “My name is Lord Hobert of Mander's Mouth”, he introduced himself. “I am here to claim my inheritance”
“So, this is it?”, Harren Hoare asked, his dark eyes staring at Tully without moving. The Riverlord resisted the stare and gave him a determined nod. “Yes”, he answered. “This is it”
Garthon's heart started to beat faster as he looked from George to Torvin. He was holding onto his crossbow and prayed to every god he remembered that Harlan wouldn't notice the weapon. He had no doubt that Harren had seen it though. Why was he so calm? Was he accepting his death like this? Unlikely...
“There would be one more thing I'd like to talk about, Lord Tully...”, Harren growled with a cruel smile.
Forum of Thrones, Act II, Chapter II: The Iron Price; Coming Soon!
So... that just happened. Writing this part was very depressing, but I hope you liked it regardless in a certain sort of way. Let me just say, this could have been avoided by picking a few other choices. The alternative choices will be written next and should be out in two days. Until then, I have a few questions for you and I'd like you to answer them. If you want to give a reason behind your answers, I'd be glad as this would help a lot!
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 4?
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 4?
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 4?
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 4?
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 4?
Is there anything you disliked?
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 5?
Just as he said this, even before Lucas realized the meaning of these words, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from upstairs. Lucas froze in te… morerror as he recognized the voice. It was without a doubt Lunett! In a deep part of his mind, Lucas knew it was a foolish move to storm upstairs, but in this moment he did not care anymore. Lunett was in danger, likely hurt. He remembered what Mullendore told him, what Butterfly would do to her. This was not the time to be cautious! And then he started to run towards the stairs that lead to the second floor.
“Fuck”, Jaylon cursed and Lucas noticed that Leonard was right behind him. “Wait for me!”, the guardsman yelled and ran after them, his crossbow still resting in his hands. The three men ran up the stairs, barely catching breath and Lucas already noticed a dizzy feeling in his head. Rest... he needed to rest, but first he had to find Lunett, he had to save her!
The narrow hallway upstairs wasn't e… [view original content]
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 4? Leonard, of course. He had a great part when he found that Lagoon was dead. Lucas too, but you know, he basically fucked a girl and now she's fucking dead. Not that great for him. I did enjoy the Hoare hunting party team as well. Jaron was fun.
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 4? Maron fucking Mullendore. I remember seeing those Butterflies as his thing earlier too. Ugh. Samuel, that asshole should have been killed by Leonard. Oh and Jenna, definitely Jenna. Harris, Richard.....
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 4? Lucas, because well Leonard and again, I love his storylines. Jaron is enjoyable too.
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 4? Kersea. Because I don't really care about any of her or her band. Didn't Jenna have one this chapter too? If so then her. And Richard.
What has been your favourite chapter in Chapter 4? Chapterception.This last one probably, but I did like Jaron's last one too, and the whole 'share your backstory' in the tavern with Leonard and Lucas.
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 4? Probably the revelation that fucking Mullendore is the fucking Butterfly. I also liked the backstory, and the umm Jaron vs. 'Butterfly' mock. Butterfly mock. Oh shit that's one of the things Noelle said right?
Is there anything you disliked? Grrr fucking Mullendore, Jenna, and Harris. This is the greedy bastard part of me but not enough Leonard XD jk jk. I didn't really care for the assassins much.
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 5? Advice: Keep Leonard alive. Anything I'd like to see more of: Leonard. Anything I'm anticipating: Leonard. I dunno. I liked the Archmaester, want to see more of him. At least Butterfly wants Lucas and Leonard alive....
Now to my part commentary:
Well that first part was violent. Poor guy. He got fucked up and he wasn't even the man. Carver's demise. Harpy is Kenny in disguise.
Now for the main part of the thing:
The moment I didn't see Mullendore when they ran I was suspicious. I didn't see anything coming like what followed though. The special men too we're kind of weird, but I didn't question them. When I saw that the tavern was abandoned, I assumed they already found Lunett. They did and seeing Leonard go off to fight Samuel exhausted without armor was not good for me. I honestly thought you were going to kill him. I was afraid man. Deeply afraid.
Of course when fucking Maron was sitting there like a true fucker I pissed. Really I was. When he stabbed Lunett's eye....dear God. Anytime anyone's eyes are hurt my hurt. I literally have tolerance for everything except eyes being severely damaged (the Governor). Dairon ran, that smart bastard? I'm not sure. If he didn't escape, how different would it be? Would Lunett be alive? I don't know.
Seeing Leonard alive saved my heart from dying. Lucas lost so much. I kind of wanted Lucas to die rather than Lunett, cause I think that be more of a shock. Still gave me stuff though.
So... that just happened. Writing this part was very depressing, but I hope you liked it regardless in a certain sort of way. Let me just sa… morey, this could have been avoided by picking a few other choices. The alternative choices will be written next and should be out in two days. Until then, I have a few questions for you and I'd like you to answer them. If you want to give a reason behind your answers, I'd be glad as this would help a lot!
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 4?
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 4?
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 4?
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 4?
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 4?
Is there anything you disliked?
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 5?
Just as he said this, even before Lucas realized the meaning of these words, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from upstairs. Lucas froze in te… morerror as he recognized the voice. It was without a doubt Lunett! In a deep part of his mind, Lucas knew it was a foolish move to storm upstairs, but in this moment he did not care anymore. Lunett was in danger, likely hurt. He remembered what Mullendore told him, what Butterfly would do to her. This was not the time to be cautious! And then he started to run towards the stairs that lead to the second floor.
“Fuck”, Jaylon cursed and Lucas noticed that Leonard was right behind him. “Wait for me!”, the guardsman yelled and ran after them, his crossbow still resting in his hands. The three men ran up the stairs, barely catching breath and Lucas already noticed a dizzy feeling in his head. Rest... he needed to rest, but first he had to find Lunett, he had to save her!
The narrow hallway upstairs wasn't e… [view original content]
Yes, yes it was, which was the main reason why I was extremely uncomfortable with writing this part. I was thinking about toning the violence in this one down for a long while, but ultimately decided against it. Mullendore is not fucking around after all and in his character submission he has pretty much been described as the worst sadist possible with a passion for rape and mutilation, so yeah... Still, it pained me to write this one. Only hinting at it over the course of the past three chapters had been one thing, but actually writing about it proved to be very hard for me.
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 4? The whole Harking family. Obviously I loved my character's representation as well.
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 4? Butterfly or whatever he wants to be called. FUCK HIM.
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 4? Richard's.
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 4? Not as whole, mind you, but Lucas' last part was serious messed up. But let me emphasize the writing was fucking awesome. Fucked up, but awesome.
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 4? The moment in the first half of the last part when the innkeeper say it was Butterfly who did it, after we saw him supposedly get killed.
Is there anything you disliked? From a writing and story telling stand point, absolutely no. But I don't like violence. Of course, I wouldn't want to tone it down.
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 5? I have no advice, other than this: keep being awesome.
So... that just happened. Writing this part was very depressing, but I hope you liked it regardless in a certain sort of way. Let me just sa… morey, this could have been avoided by picking a few other choices. The alternative choices will be written next and should be out in two days. Until then, I have a few questions for you and I'd like you to answer them. If you want to give a reason behind your answers, I'd be glad as this would help a lot!
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 4?
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 4?
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 4?
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 4?
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 4?
Is there anything you disliked?
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 5?
Just as he said this, even before Lucas realized the meaning of these words, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from upstairs. Lucas froze in te… morerror as he recognized the voice. It was without a doubt Lunett! In a deep part of his mind, Lucas knew it was a foolish move to storm upstairs, but in this moment he did not care anymore. Lunett was in danger, likely hurt. He remembered what Mullendore told him, what Butterfly would do to her. This was not the time to be cautious! And then he started to run towards the stairs that lead to the second floor.
“Fuck”, Jaylon cursed and Lucas noticed that Leonard was right behind him. “Wait for me!”, the guardsman yelled and ran after them, his crossbow still resting in his hands. The three men ran up the stairs, barely catching breath and Lucas already noticed a dizzy feeling in his head. Rest... he needed to rest, but first he had to find Lunett, he had to save her!
The narrow hallway upstairs wasn't e… [view original content]
Comments
Clayton is only in this for the money Butterfly pays him, while Alysanne and Kersea follow his orders (more or less). They also have a pretty good and fast way of communicating with Butterfly and don't do much without his orders, so as soon as these orders stop coming, Clayton will probably order them to retreat, in order to find out what happened. Kersea would probably be the one most affected by Butterfly's possible death, as this would mean that she could finally get her sister out of wherever he keeps her. The only one who won't be affected by this at all will be Wolfius, as things got very personal for him already.
I'm watching you Liquid.
Well, it was a good character decision. I just wish we, (as Jaron) got to fight against the Bloody Mary of Butterfly (whoever that would be) like how Bigby went against the Tweedles and Bloody Mary.
I guess Martin and his band would have come and fucked it all up.
Possible. What a shame.
Well, I guess it's not Aegon, so that's good. But otherwise I got no clue.
I've considered reminding you about the poll a couple times but didn't want to be a broken record.
If you ever want to do a poll, go ahead and do so. I have a bad memory.
I feel honored! In all seriousness I might just do that we'll see what happens.
Umm Liquid, if Robb is dead, shouldn't he be in the 'Deceased' section?
I think he waits like a chapter till he updates that so no one gets spoiled.
[Step aside and allow her to kill Butterfly]
Indeed, what InGen said is correct. Sometimes I update immediately, but this time I'm going to wait until the next part.
[Step aside and allow her to kill Butterfly]
[Step aside and allow her to kill Butterfly] is her decision not ours, DO NOTHING
[Step aside and allow her to kill Butterfly] Damn the consequenses! He deserves to die.
Great part btw! I was so worried that my bastard would die
Now I can rest easy... For awhile.
[Try to convince Harpy to spare Butterfly] By far one of the more action packed chapters. Despite Jaron not being one of my favorite characters I still enjoyed it.
[Step aside and allow her to kill Butterfly]
I'm kind of sad about this chapter because is BAD... the general plot, characters, drama are great but these decisions are completely outdated, it reminds me of Bershka and old master where you can let Bershka to kill her old master or follow Croft order and bring him to justice, but there is the 3rd choice where you can [Kill him yourself], I want to kill him especially when he said that I'm a honorable, a quick death will be for his best but I don't want harpy to do it and please don't believe that I'm some cold murder with no moral that don't know to show mercy, it just all he say and how he reacts it make me think letting him alive will be a mistake plus I'm always let and want bad people to redeem themselves.
So... NO CHOICE.
The Voting is closed!
Jaron will step aside and allow Harpy to butcher Butterfly
I have already written that particular section of the next part. There is no other way to describe it, Harpy is going to butcher that guy. It's going to be the most gory and dark part ever, not only because that choice won, but also because of something else, something I feel slightly bad about. I have to take back an earlier statement, regarding one of the PoV's, whose storyline in this chapter is not over despite earlier claims. This was a pretty recent decision, but I feel it works far better not at the start of the next chapter, but at the very end of this one. That's right, the next part is the chapter finale and it's going to be a game changer. It's not all going to be sunshine and butterflies...
And here is Good Guy Ramsay with another teaser for the chapter finale:
So is the next part Jaron?
Yes, it features Jaron and a second PoV.
Yeah, a third option to allow Jaron to kill Butterfly was planned at first, but I cut it as I saw it as not in line with Jaron's character. He is honourable, not as much as Lucas but still a knight. Not stepping in while a wounded and surrendering man is going to be killed is already a huge step for him regardless of how much Butterfly deserved it, but dealing the final blow himself would be even harder and even more against his moral lines. The sole reason why he is even thinking about allowing her to kill Butterfly is because of Butterfly's continuing mockery and taunting. But I understand your criticism, perhaps I should have kept that option. However, technically I had already planned this choice in greater detail before Episode 4 of the game came out, so I'm not really copying Telltale here
Nice, looking forward to it.
Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. I wrote each of this individually.
From page 54:
From page 55:
It's Lucas isn't it? What the fuck have we done? My heart is killing me right now. You said he was done, and you said his next part will be one of the most intense parts coming up. Oh God. Will it be out later today or tomorrow? Who are you going to kill? Lucas? Leonard God forbid? Dairon? Lunett? JUST NOT LEONARD DAMNIT.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Yes, it will be out today, though it will be very late. I'm making good progress, but it's going to be the longest chapter finale ever, so expect it to be out probably around 6PM in Telltale time. It's a good thing that I don't have university right now, because that equals 3AM in german time. But I really want to finish this part today, so that I won't keep you on the tenterhooks for too long.
Man... I always get super annoyed when a choice I really disagree with wins the vote but... everyone has different opinions and that's not a bad thing... still annoyed though.
Are you filled with fear for the next part Z?
I have to say, I was slightly rooting for the sparing choice to win, but I knew that there was little hope for that one from the moment where I had Butterfly uttering a number of racist and sexist remarks that are disgusting even for Westerosi views.
Though the chapter finale will give his death a completely new twist and perhaps a few people are going to regret their choice. It should be out hopefully in the next fifteen minutes by the way
You've give me much paranoia, cause you didn't respond to the panic part of my post, which tells me you didn't want to reveal a spoiler by accident.....
terrrfied I'm convinced something bad is going to happen to someone I really like.
Goddammit, Liquid... you have me extremely anxious yet nervous at the same time.
Don't post....yet...doing...GTA....
Fifteen minutes? Oh man I'm so excited!!!
Jaron
He gave Harpy a short nod, before lowering his arm. “Do it”, he mumbled and a light smile appeared on her face. “Thank you”, she answered and her smile faded again. “Perhaps... perhaps you want to wait outside. Not sure if you want to see this...” Jaron slightly shook his head. “I won't go anywhere”, he answered and it was meant reassuring. Instead she only looked more worried. “Perhaps you're not going to like what you see...”, she warned him and Jaron shrugged. “Doesnt' matter”, he answered. “I won't leave right now” Harpy gave him a regretful nod. “Sorry for what I'm about to do”, she muttered, while looking at him.
“Oh, get a room you two!”, Butterfly snarled, but Jaron noticed that the smug grin on his bruised face was gone. Harpy shot him a glare full of hatred and the crimelord attempted to crawl backwards with his remaining hand. She slowly walked up to him and he gave her a visibly forced smile. “Come on, you foreign cunt!”, he growled and spat at the ground in front of her. “Do your worst!”
“Don't you worry, I will”, Harpy mumbled and the cold tone of her voice sent a shiver down Jaron's spine. “I'm obviously going to remove a few parts. Some of them for the better. It's going to be sad for your remaining eye, but I'm sure all will be well in the end”, she continued, mirroring Butterfly's words earlier. “For me at least. For you? Not so much”
Butterfly's grin vanished, replaced by a look that barely hid his genuine fear. “Ser Bastard...”, he mumbled. “Stop that crazy bitch...” Jaron did not answer and only gave him a cold glare. For a short moment he felt satisfaction at the dumbfounded look on Butterfly's face. “You... you were supposed to...”, the crimelord mumbled. “He told me you would...”
Harpy silenced him by violently kicking him against the jaw, causing his head to fall back on the ground, where he lied barely conscious. “Martin!”, she commanded and the mercenary walked up to her. He had a worried look on his face, clearly reluctant to follow her order this time. “Grab his left arm. Make sure he can't move”
With these words she knelt down onto his right arm, applying clearly uncomfortable pressure on his stump. Butterfly let out a groan of pain and attempted to grab her with his remaining hand. Martin was faster and grabbed his arm at the wrist, holding it down on the ground. Out of the corner of his eyes, Jaron saw Samantha folding her arms in anticipation.
Butterfly's sickening grin reappeared, albeit it was a desperate grin, the grin of a dying man. “You stinking mongrel harlot, you fucking coward, you even need help to keep me down. Even now I could kill you!”, he spat and Harpy gave him no answer. She looked at the hairpin in her hand, slowly putting it on the ground. “That's for later...”, she explained and raised a hand. “First I'm going to need a knife”
One of the mercenaries walked up to her, slowly handing a small dagger to her. She gave him a thankful nod and looked at Jaron, almost pleading. “You really want to stay?”, she asked and Jaron gave her a nod. “Not leaving you now”, he answered and Harpy closed her eyes. “Fine then...”, she muttered and Butterfly's grin got wider. “Oh, little whore is afraid her bastard won't like her anymore. Isn't that cute?”, he mocked her. “Come on, show him what you really are!” He looked at Jaron. “You think she's any better than me just because of her pretty face? Look closely, bastard, see her for what she is, this worthless fucking who...”
His speech was cut off by Harpy quickly moving the dagger downwards, ramming it into his crotch. Butterfly's eyes widened as a high-pitched groan forced it's way out of his throat. He looked downwards, to the dagger and to Harpy, who had a look of pure hatred on her face. “Four years...”, she hissed, her ghiscari accent clearly audible. The tone of her voice was enough to make Jaron shiver. “For the past four years I was almost afraid of my own shadow, fearing that you could hide in it. Every week I forced myself to look at what you did to people I considered friends, family. All these years I was afraid of one man... but you are no man, aren't you?”
She moved closer towards him, almost like a lover and whispered something in his eyes. It was completely silent in the warehouse, so Jaron was still able to hear it. “Do you remember what I promised you?”, she asked and Butterfly's eyes widened in fear. “That I would hear you scream before you die?” With these words, she started to twist the knife. And Butterfly started to scream.
“Nearly two hundred”, she spat, speaking louder than before, while Butterfly let out high-pitched, pained screams full of fear, full of agony. The crimelord tried to break free from her grip but failed to do so, which only intensified his horrifying screams. Harpy pulled the dagger out of Butterfly's crotch, before stabbing it in a violent frenzy. “I remember all of their names, remember their voices, I remember what they looked like and what you made out of them! How I had to look at them, how I held them until their pain was over! You couldn't even give them a clean death!”, she spat at him and moved the dagger upward with a squishing sound, causing Butterfly to wail in pain, before putting it on the ground, grabbing the hairpin. The crimelord tried his best to break free of Martin's grip, to no avail. He had no strength left and the terror in his remaining eye was almost satisfying, but utterly horrifying at the same time.
With a swift movement, Harpy rammed the hairpin into Butterfly's abdomen. “You raped them!”, she screamed and stabbed him again. “Mutilated them! You broke them until there was nothing left of them! You put them through pain beyond imagination!” With each word she stabbed him again. Despite her rage, Jaron saw that she was careful not to hit a vital organ and not to stab him too deeply. “How does it feel to suffer like they did? How does it feel, HOW DOES IT FEEL?”, Harpy yelled, stabbing him between the ribs, into the stomach, finally embedding it into his left lung.
Butterfly had stopped screaming now, instead he was only moaning, his mouth forming words that weren't audible anymore. “How does it feel to suffer for once in your life, you miserable son of a bitch?”, Harpy asked him, desperate tears were flowing down her face. “HOW DOES IT FEEL?”, she desperately screamed at him, but received no answer. “DO YOU LIKE IT?”
Even if he would have been able to give her an answer, Butterfly would have probably remained silent. The crimelord was dying, bleeding from over a dozen wounds. Harpy herself looked heartbreakingly horrified at her own hands, looking mortified at the mutilated crimelord and at what she just did. Her gaze hardened for one last time as she moved the hairpin down, slowly pushing it through Butterfly's throat. His moaning turned into gurgling, as bubbles of blood flew out of his mouth. “You are nothing...”, Harpy sullenly whispered into his ear as the crimelord stopped moving.
She raised from the ground, looking paler than usual, disgusted and clearly ashamed at herself. The sadness on her face nearly broke Jaron's heart. As she staggered backwards, he took a quick step towards her, grabbing her with his good arm to prevent her from falling. She was crying bitter tears and did not look even nearly as satisfied as she should have been. “It needed to be done right?”, she mumbled and Jaron gave her a tight hug. “It's over. We made it, we won, haven't we?”, she whispered, looking down onto the dead body of the man who had terrorized her for years. It was over...
Lucas
For a moment, Lucas thought that the guards would stop them as they approached the Hightower almost running. He wasn't sure what he would have done then. His mind was revolving around one thing, about what was happening to Lunett at this moment. Luckily, the guards let them pass without a word, at least into the main hall of the Hightower. The cold, large room was far less lively than it had been a few hours ago, with only a few guards looking at them.
Lucas still remembered the way to the headquarters of the city guard. It wasn't a long or complicated way, but for a moment Lucas feared that the guards of the Hightower could stop them. He did not care to explain himself to them, he had no time for that. Only one thing mattered, to get help from Mullendore.
The main room of the headquarters was far more empty than before. Only about a dozen of guardsmen were in it, looking at the newcomers with slight interest. They sat around two large tables, playing cards and showing with their whole attitude that they were on their break at the moment. For a moment, Lucas thought about approaching one of them, but his panicked legs immediately led him towards Mullendore's room, which in turn caused several guards to give him a suspicious glare. Lucas did not care. Desperately, he tried to open the room, but to no avail. The door was locked.
“Can I help you?”, a male voice asked and Lucas turned around to see one of the guardsmen who just approached him. He was a young and very ugly man, skinny, with a round and puffy face, wrinkles around his eyes and a gross-looking stubble beard. Lucas gave him a desperate nod, while trying to find the right words. “We're looking for Ser Maron Mullendore. It is important”, Leonard answered in his stead.
The man gave him an apologetic smile. “Commander Mullendore is on patrol duty. Can I give him a message from you?”, he asked, while Lucas and Leonard exchanged a desperate look. “But... he had been here a few hours ago”, Lucas stuttered dumbfounded and the guard slightly shrugged. “And now he is on patrol duty. Commander Mullendore takes his duty very seriously. I'm asking again, can I give him a message from you?”, he answered.
“Listen, we need help”, Leonard urged him. “Do you know Samuel Harrington? The Fang of Shadows?” The guard widely opened his eyes as Leonard mentioned this name and immediately gave him a serious looks. “The Fang of Shadows...”, he mumbled. “One of Butterfly's best men, perhaps his most dangerous. Killed at least half a dozen of our boys. What is it with him?”
“He's at the Blind Helmsman Inn”, Lucas explained as calm as possible. He was nearly yelling at this man, but luckily the guard seemed to be understanding of this. He put a hand on Lucas' shoulder, trying to calm him down a bit. “Please, tell me everything”, he urged him. Lucas looked at Leonard for help and thankfully, the other knight continued to talk as Lucas tried to hold back desperate tears. Every second they were loosing was a second he was hardly able to bear.
“My name is Leonard Constantine, this is Lucas Flowers. We are knights from the city of Raylansfair, currently in this city for our own business. For reasons unknown, we got the attention of this Butterfly person. And he sent Harrington to the inn we're living in. We are afraid for the safety of our friend Lunett”, Leonard explained and the guardsman gave him an understanding nod.
“I see”, he answered. “Normally I would told you to wait until Commander Mullendore or Captain Ryder would be back from their duty...” Lucas cut him off by grabbing his shoulders. “We don't have time for that!”, he yelled at him, causing the guardsman to push him off in slight irritation. “Let me finish, Ser Lucas!”, he ordered him sternly. “Normally I would do this. But it looks like this is an urgent matter. If you're lying to me, it will cost me my job”
“We're not lying”, Lucas stuttered, slightly ashamed at his panicked behaviour. The guardsman let out a sigh and clapped his hands, pointing at six of the guardsmen. “You, get ready!”, he ordered them. “The Fang of Shadows was seen nearby and someone needs to stop him!” Visibly unwilling to help, the guards raised from their comfortable chairs, starting to get ready by putting on chainmail armour and their swords. The guard who spoke to Lucas and Leonard seemed to be satisfied. “Give us a minute. They know how to do this”, he told them before reaching out his hand. Lucas did not react, but Leonard grabbed the hand, shaking it with enthusiasm. “Thank you”, he told him and the guard slightly smirked. “Don't mention it”, he answered. “By the way, my name is Jaylon. Captain Jaylon Gordus”
Jaylon kept his word. It took the guardsmen only a minute to get armed and ready. The captain himself grabbed a crossbow, quickly loading it with experienced moves. Lucas noticed that the armour these guards were wearing was different from the usual guard uniform. Instead of the red and grey of House Hightower, these men wore the black and orange of House Mullendore, their tabards showing the six butterflies of Uplands. Jaylon noticed Lucas questioning stare and gave him a light smirk. “We're part of Ser Maron's special unit, not of the regular city guard. You won't find more experienced fighters against Butterfly and the Burned Man in the whole city”, he explained. Lucas barely listened, his mind preoccupied, as he was nearly shaking in worry. Leonard seemed to be similarly stressed, but handled it far better. Small details, like his fast breathing and pressed lips revealed that he was worried sick for Lunett and Dairon, just like Lucas was.
Lucas barely remembered the next fifteen minutes, as if he was in a dream. Leonard had taken charge of the small group, consisting of Captain Jaylon and six of his special guards. Lucas was thankful for Leonard's initiative, as he was barely able to focus on the way in his current state of mind. Everything seemed to blur and it took him a while to realize that he was crying.
The sun was already downing and Leonard lead the group through the streets of Oldtown. Only a few people were still walking on the streets and all of them swiftly made way for the heavily armed group. Jaylon had a surprisingly pleased smile on his face as they finally reached the Helmsman inn. “Ah, the Blind Helmsman. Excellent taste in inns you have, Ser Lucas”, he said with a grin. Lucas did not reciprocate this grin and Jaylon gave him an apologizing look. “Sorry for that. It was inappropriate”, he apologized shortly before looking at his men. “Surround the inn. I want three of you in the backalley, should Harrington decide to retreat there. The rest with me”, he ordered, checking his crossbow and slightly looking at Lucas and Leonard. “The Fang is not an easy opponent You sure you want to do this?”, he asked. Leonard gave him a decisive nod, drawing his sword. “I'm not an easy opponent either and he's going to learn that. If he did anything to Lunett or... if he did anything to Lunett, I'm going to cut him open”, he answered.
Jaylon shrugged and looked slightly amused for a moment. “Other men tried to do it. The Fang is still here. They aren't”, he stated. “I say it's about time someone kills this asshole”, Leonard growled before moving closer towards the inn. Jaylon's face dropped for a moment. “Fuck, wait for us!”, he hissed before quickly walking after Leonard. Lucas followed closely, resisting the urge to run. They needed to be cautious, or else it would be over, for them and for Lunett.
The taproom was strangely empty, even though it was late in the evening. It was dark and Lucas was barely able to see the figure lying on the ground in a pool of dark liquid. He and Jaylon looked at each other with an alarmed look and the guardsman quickly sneaked up to the body. Under closer inspection, Lucas recognized the elderly innkeeper, clutching a small hole in his abdomen. He was badly beaten up, his face bruised up to the point where he was hardly able to look at the small group that was approaching him.
“Who... who is there? Please... please let me live. No more!”, the innkeeper pleaded, raising his hands in the rough direction of Lucas, Leonard and Jaylon. The guardsman knelt down to him, putting one of his hands onto his shoulder. “Easy, man”, he tried to calm him down. “We're from the city guard. We are here to help. Can you walk?”
The man gave him a nod and weakly tried to stand up, before falling down again with a pained moan. Jaylon slightly shook his head as he looked at Lucas. “What happened here?”, he asked and the innkeeper let out a sigh. “I was in the backroom when I heard some sort of commotion. People... fleeing the inn. I returned to the taproom and there was this man... He... he...”, the old man explained and clutched the wound in his abdomen with a pained expression. “He stabbed you, right?”, Jaylon asked and the old man gave him a nod. “The Fang of Shadows?” The innkeeper shook his head. “No... no, he told me his name. He told me not to forget it. Not the Fang of Shadows. He was here too, but he wasn't the one who stabbed me”, he answered desperately. “It was Butterfly...”
Just as he said this, even before Lucas realized the meaning of these words, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from upstairs. Lucas froze in terror as he recognized the voice. It was without a doubt Lunett! In a deep part of his mind, Lucas knew it was a foolish move to storm upstairs, but in this moment he did not care anymore. Lunett was in danger, likely hurt. He remembered what Mullendore told him, what Butterfly would do to her. This was not the time to be cautious! And then he started to run towards the stairs that lead to the second floor.
“Fuck”, Jaylon cursed and Lucas noticed that Leonard was right behind him. “Wait for me!”, the guardsman yelled and ran after them, his crossbow still resting in his hands. The three men ran up the stairs, barely catching breath and Lucas already noticed a dizzy feeling in his head. Rest... he needed to rest, but first he had to find Lunett, he had to save her!
The narrow hallway upstairs wasn't empty. Lucas noticed two things. First, the way to Lunett's room was free. Second, on the other end of the hallway sat a man on a stool, quietly sharpening his longsword. He looked frighteningly ordinary, his looks only underlining his dangerous aura. He had the pale skin and dark hair of a northerner, his blue eyes glaring at the knights. He wasn't blocking the hallway physically, but his mere presence was enough to cause Lucas to stop. This wasn't a man he could just ignore.
“Harrington”, Jaylon growled with a low voice and Lucas noticed that he showed signs of fear. The man silently raised from his chair, presenting his recently sharped longsword. “You're late”, he snarled, slowly walking closer towards them. Lucas and Leonard immediately pointed their swords at him and the man stopped for a moment. “And you're too late to save her”, he explained and Lucas felt panic rising in him. “You should have saved yourself. No one can help you now”
“What are you waiting for?”, Leonard growled and looked at Jaylon. “Shoot him!” The guardsman gave him a reluctant nod and pointed his crossbow at Harrington. His hands were shaking violently, almost as bad as Lucas', but his stare was focussed. “Give up, Harrington, or I'm going to kill you”
Harrington stopped moving closer towards them, unfurling his arms with a mocking smirk. “You have one try, Jaylon”, he said with a slight grin and pointed his sword at them. Jaylon gulped audibly, before firing his crossbow. The bolt flew at Harrington, missing him only by a few inches. The man didn't even flinch. “Wasted bolt”, he remarked with a smirk, before continuing to approach them. “Butterfly is already done with your girl, Ser Lucas. You are too late and now you will die here too”
To Lucas surprise and horror, Leonard took a step forwards. “Not so fast”, the knight growled. “And certainly not while I'm still breathing” He drew his sword, pointing it at Harrington. The other man slightly shook his head. “What are you trying to do?”, he asked and Leonard spat on the ground in front of him, causing Harrington to stop moving. “What does it look like, asshole?”, the knight answered. “Lucas, Jaylon, save Lunett and run!”
“Leonard...”, Lucas mumbled, but Jaylon cut him off. “Are you sure?”, he asked and Leonard gave him a nod, while Harrington just looked at him. Lucas knew it was a dangerous move. The hallway was narrow, hardly giving enough room to fight with a longsword. Leonard wasn't wearing his armour and he was exhausted from the quick run back to the inn. “What are you waiting for, Flowers?”, Leonard growled. “I said, get Lunett out of here!” Jaylon let out a sigh. “Very well then...”, he mumbled. “Do me a favour and kill him”
“I will”, Leonard and Harrington answered at the same time. The knight raised his sword, taking the initiative against Harrington as he attempted to strike at his head. The mercenary answered by easily parrying the strike and giving Leonard a quick riposte that took the knight a lot of skill to parry.
“Come on!”, Jaylon yelled at Lucas, grabbing him at the shoulder. “Where is your girl's room?” This caused Lucas to snap out of the almost trance-like stance he had been, watching Leonard and Harrington in their deadly fight. The mercenary swiftly struck at Leonard's abdomen and the knight was only able to save himself by taking a step backwards. Without giving him a chance at a counter-attack, Harrington immediately struck again, this time targeting Leonard's head.
Lucas finally turned around, running towards Lunett's room. He could only hope that Leonard would win this fight, but Harrington was by all means at least an evenly matched opponent. But he wouldn't let his sacrifice be in vain!
“This is it?”, Jaylon asked as Lucas stopped in front of a door. The knight gave him a light nod, before busting into the room. It was dark, a single candle illuminating the scenery. The room was thrashed, a horrifyingly fresh pool of blood visible on the ground. Lucas couldn't see Lunett, but he saw a figure standing at the sole window, slowly turning around as the knight entered. Lucas froze in terror, nearly dropping his blade as he saw the face. No... No, this could not be! How...
“Hello, boys”, Maron Mullendore said with a devilish smile on his face. “What took you so long?”
“Ser... Ser Maron?”, Lucas exclaimed weakly. “What are you... doing...” He noticed movement behind him and as he swiftly turned around, he saw Jaylon pointing the crossbow at him. The smile on the face of the ugly guard almost made him appear like a rabid wolf. “Turn around, bastard, face him or else I'm going to blow your brains out”
“Good job, Jaylon”, Mullendore complimented his underling, before giving him a questioning stare.”Where's the other boy, Constantine?”, he asked. Jaylon slightly chuckled, sounding like a hyena in the process. “Fighting Samuel”, he remarked and Mullendore let out a sigh. “Another dead man”, he mumbled.
“What in the...”, Lucas stuttered completely dumbfounded, in a clear state of shock as he was trying to understand what was happening right now. The realization hit him like a punch in the face and he nearly jumped up in terror as he looked back at Mullendore. “You... you're Butterfly!”, he exclaimed.
The man gave him a slight nod, his devilish grin getting even wider. “The one and only”, he said with pride in his voice. “Oh, don't look at me like that!” He spread his arms and any trace of honesty, politeness and kindness were gone from his green eyes. Instead, he had a steely gaze and Lucas hated what he saw in them. “I know what you must think. Who would actually use his own sigil as a code name? But that's not the question...”, Mullendore snarled. “The question is, who would actually suspect the man who's sigil is a literal Butterfly?” His grin vanished as he narrowed his eyes, giving him an almost monstrous appearance. “Only fools would do this. And do I have to fear fools?”
“But...”, Lucas stuttered. “But... you... you... lost... you lost... men...” Mullendore let out a deep, joyless chuckle, full of hatred. “Oh yes, who would suspect a man who lost his own men? Good men, loyal men, men who learned too much and weren't willing take necessary steps to save this city? Who would suspect me?”
Finally, the numbing shock started to vanish, as Lucas remembered why he came here in the first place. He pointed his sword at Mullendore, at... at Butterfly and the only thing that prevented him from attacking him immediately was the presence of Jaylon behind him. “What have you done to Lunett? Where is she?”, Lucas yelled at him and Mullendore gave him a cold smirk.
“Do you remember what I told you? What Butterfly would do to her if he ever gets her?”, he asked and Lucas hand started to shake as he suppressed the urge to burst into desperate tears. “Well, I originally wanted to wait for you to come, but you needed so long... so I decided to start already”
With these words, Mullendore raised one of his fingers. “Careful what you're going to do now, boy. She's in a... ahem... critical condition. Make a wrong move and you will regret it. Remember Jaylon behind you”
He started to walk around the bed, reaching down to the ground, where Lucas wasn't able to see. “I did not want to do this. I gave you more than one chance to be honest with me. After you left the Citadel with the boy, how could you even assume I wouldn't learn about him sooner or later?”, Mullendore spat at him with vicious hatred in his voice. “I did not want to hurt her, but your impudence... greatly angered me”
He reached down and grabbed something... no, the pained moan that sounded made it clear that he was grabbing someone, Lunett to be precise and he dragged her from behind the bed and into Lucas' field of view, holding her at the hair. She was naked and weakly looked at him with tear-stained eyes, but said no word, instead she was sobbing desperately. He looked down on her body and the sudden realization almost caused him to drop his sword in despair. “No...”, Lucas whispered as he looked at her in shock, at the place where Mullendore had severed both of her feet at the ankles. The wounds were fresh, very fresh, still heavily bleeding and horrible to look at.
“No!”, he screamed, attempting to charge at Mullendore. “Ah, ah, ah!”, Jaylon yelled behind him, causing Lucas to stop immediately. Mullendore gave him a nightmarish grin, worse than anything he had ever seen. “I told you what I would do, right?”, he growled and reached at his belt, pulling out a long dagger. He slowly moved it towards her face, slightly touching her left eyebrow with it. She shivered in fear, in pain and in humiliation, desperately looking at Lucas for help.
“When we came here, we only saw the runt climbing out of her window into the backalley. I ordered one of my men to follow him, but he just vanished in the backalleys of Oldtown without a trace”, Mullendore explained. “So I gave her a chance to tell me where I could find Dairon. I gave her a chance to prove her innocence. She spat me in the face, called me a bastard and some other things that weren't nice, so I stopped treating her like a lady”
“Please...”, Lunett mumbled weakly without even looking at Lucas. “I just want to go home” Mullendore gave her a sadistic grin and violently stomped onto her lower left leg, applying pressure onto the fresh wound and causing her to cry out in pain. “Honey, you won't go anywhere ever again”, he growled.
“Enough!”, Lucas shouted at him. “Enough! Leave her be!” He was trembling in anger, in shock, in desperation, looking from Mullendore, to Lunett to the place where her feet should have been. “What do you want? I give you everything!”, he pleaded him.
Mullendore gave him a pleased smirk. “Of course you will”, he growled, holding the dagger at Lunett's left eye. “First you're going to tell me where I can find the boy, this Dairon” Lucas closed his eyes, thinking about what Butterfly would do to the boy should he ever get his hands on him.
“Don't do it!”, Lunett yelled at him with the last bit of power left in her body, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Don't do it...”, she mumbled again and Mullendore narrowed his eyes. “Should have taken your tongue, you little bitch”, he snarled and moved the dagger downwards, cutting right through her left eye, causing a deep gash on the left side of her face. Lunett started to howl in pain, a sound that froze the blood in Lucas' veins and broke his heart.
“Next order!”, the beast yelled and small drips of saliva flew out of his mouth as he raised his voice. “Drop your sword!” Despite the pain she was in, Lunett slightly managed to shake her head. “Don't...”, she pleaded him. “He will...” She was silenced as Mullendore pointed the dagger at her remaining eye.
“Drop your weapon and I will give her mercy”, Mullendore said in a suddenly calm voice. “It does not matter if you trust me or not, because I promise you, by my honour as a knight, by the old gods and the new, keep your sword pointed at me for another second and you both will regret it”
He applied pressure on the dagger, slightly cutting Lunett's eyebrow, causing her to let out a surprised scream. Lucas was barely able to see her behind his desperate tears, as he looked down at his sword. He looked back at Lunett, at his wonderful Lunett, broken, beaten, destroyed by the monster that was holding her, that was still threatening her. And he realized that he had no options left. “Don't!”, Lunett yelled, but it wasn't clear if she was talking to Lucas or to Mullendore. And Lucas dropped his sword. The weapon almost sank to the ground, it appeared slower to him than usual. The sound of the steel hitting the wooden ground was muffled and for a moment he was only able to look at the blade lying on the ground.
Lunett's panicked screams snapped him out of his thoughts again and as he looked up, he nearly sank to the ground himself. Mullendore had embedded the dagger in her remaining eye, blinding her and causing her to helplessly flail around with her arms. She managed to hit Mullendore on the upper arm, but the false knight barely seemed to notice it. “Please...”, Lucas mumbled. “Please... mercy...”
Mullendore gave him another spine-chilling grin, the grin of a demon, before slightly shrugging. “Sure!”, he yelled over the sound of Lunett's agonizing wailing. “Small gifts preserve the friendship after all” With these words he embedded the dagger deeply into Lunett's skull, cutting off her screams and immediately causing her body to grow limp.
As the monster looked back at him, he narrowed his eyes. “What?”, Mullendore asked. “What? That was mercy!” He slightly raised his hands with a sick smile, letting go of Lunett's dead body. She sank to the ground, the dagger still deeply embedded into her eye. And Lucas realized that he had lost everything. That he had no chance. That the only thing he was still able to do was to deliver justice. “Don't do anything stupid, boy”, Mullendore growled as he realized the look on Lucas' face, the look of a good man who had been pushed too far.
In a swift movement, Lucas turned around, faster than Jaylon could fire. His fist hit the ugly man in the face, causing him to move his crossbow upwards. The bolt flew above Lucas' head, hitting the wooden ceiling of the room, while Jaylon went to the ground, more out of surprise than out of actual pain. And then, Lucas darted towards Mullendore, jumping over Lunett's dead body and grabbing her killer by the throat, sending both of them to the ground. He indeed managed to pull him down, much to Mullendore's surprise. His fist hit him in the face, once, twice, thrice and he put both hands around the man's throat, starting to choke the life out of his treacherous, lying body.
Lucas did not count, he barely realized what he was doing, but it seemed to be a long time until something heavy hit his side, pressing the air out of his lungs. Someone, Jaylon, pulled him away from Mullendore, onto the ground and a heavy boot hit him in the face, again and again, until he was barely conscious anymore.
“Enough!”, Mullendore's hoarsy voice sounded and Lucas was barely able to see him rising from the ground, painfully holding his throat. “I still need him!” He let out a cough and shivered in pain. “That was a mistake, you little bastard”, he growled, and looked up as heavy boots were heard from the door.
Lucas followed his stare and saw two men entering the room. The first was Leonard, looking pale, holding his waist. Blood flew out between his fingers and he looked as if he was about to faint. Behind him, Samuel Harrington entered the room, holding his own sword and Leonard's, slightly kicking the other knight into the ankles to cause him to continue walking.
Leonard only needed a moment to realize what was happening. His stare went from the downed Lucas, to Lunett, to Maron Mullendore and he sank to the ground. “No... no... no!”, he muttered. “No, not you! NO! NO!” His voice got louder, until he was almost yelling, lying on the ground in sheer desperation.
“I ordered you to kill him”, Jaylon snarled, and Samuel looked at Lunett's dead body with clear disgust. “You don't give me orders, you little dog”, he answered with a dangerously low voice and Mullendore slightly clapped his hands. “Good work, Samuel!”, he complimented him. “Is he going to survive this?” Samuel gave him a slight nod. “If I wanted him dead, he would be dead by now. Tough as nails, that one. Fight would have been different if he would have been wearing armour. But he is going to live, if you want to”
Mullendore gave him a nod. “For now”, he answered, as Lucas fought to stay conscious. “Why...”, Leonard mumbled from the ground with a weak, broken voice. “Why are you doing this?” Mullendore let out a cold chuckle, followed by a violent cough. “Excellent question, Ser Leonard”, he complimented him and stepped over Lucas' bruised body.
“You see, for decades I tries to save this city from the people that were oppressing it, tried to save it's citizens, the good and pleasant citizens of Oldtown. I lost more than you could imagine and made no progress at all”, he explained. “And then, one day I finally realized it. You can't defeat the sickness that holds Oldtown in it's grip without giving the criminals something to fear. And so I gave them Butterfly”
He turned around again, facing Lucas, his grin showing a sick pleasure. “I suppose I always had it in me. A love for violence... it came only natural for me, but I was also able to do a good work with it. I made progress like you can't imagine. One by one, I cured this city. The only one who proved resilient was the Burned Man” He stopped and coughed again, holding his throat for a moment. “Up until now... if my plans worked, the cripple's men have killed one of my men, assuming him to be Butterfly by now. This will cause the Burned Man to grow careless and ultimately, carelessness will get him killed. After all, the only one left to oppose him in this city is the humble, honest, Ser Maron Mullendore, a man as dumb as a horse, who can't even read his own letters...”
He burst into malicious laughter. “Priceless! But my plans go further than you can imagine and for that I need Dairon and Robert Raylan's last will”, he explained while he was still chuckling. “Samuel, Jaylon!”, he snarled and his men stood attention. “Make the knights ready for their journey to the cells. I have a few questions for them”, he ordered. “Yes, Butterfly!”, Jaylon answered, earning himself an angry glare from Mullendore.
“Butterfly is dead”, the false knight explained gleefully. “Butterfly is dead and the Burned Man will soon follow. This city will finally be at peace” His eyes looked at Lucas, who was slowly sinking into merciful unconsciousness. “And all will be well...”
End of Chapter 4: Butterfly
Your Choices
Alliance: Lucas chose to ally with neither Archmaester Quent nor Maron Mullendore
Friendship: Kersea told Alysanne that she considers her a friend
Morality: Marak told Noelle that he has no problems with killing a child
Strategy: Richard decided to support Urid's plan
Justice: Jaron decided to allow Harpy to kill 'Butterfly'
Next time on Forum of Thrones:
“You fucked up, boy”, Mullendore said with a sickening smile. “All of your friends are dead. Even your little girl, just because you chose to oppose me. Now you're all alone. And you will answer my questions” He looked at the knife in his hands and his smile widened. “The fuck I'm going to do!”, Lucas spat at him and Mullendore closed his eyes. “Trust me, you will, sooner or later. For your own interest, tell me what I need to know. If you hope for help, you are ridiculous. No one is looking for you. No one even knows you're here...”
“I don't like this...”, Sasha mumbled, looking down the alleyway. “What do you mean?”, Samantha asked, putting a hand on the hilt of her hatchet. Butterfly's blood was still there. For some reason it felt less satisfying than it should have. “It's too silent in here”, Sasha explained. “That's one of Oldtown's nicest taverns over there. Normally there should be music and laughter and...” She stopped, her eyes wide opened as she grabbed Samantha at the shoulders, quickly pulling her into an adjacent house entrance. “Fuck...”, she mumbled. “Stay down...”
Torvin looked up at the man who could have been a Hoare. Dark hair, dark eyes and an even darker heart, a smile like the Stranger himself, a kinslayer and aside from Harren Hoare the only man in Harrenhal who managed to genuinely scare him. “Lord Captain Greyjoy”, he said respectfully, slightly lowering his head. He was below this man, in more than one way and he was not afraid to admit it. “Captain Breaker”, Damon Greyjoy answered with his soft voice. “You're awfully late. Do you prefer to stroll around the countryside with our revered princelings?”
Ilish shivered as she took a look over her shoulder. There was nothing to be seen, nothing to be afraid of, right? She knew these streets for years now. This was Raylansfair. There was nothing to be scared about!
She turned around, nearly bumping into the man standing in front of her. Even though she tried to suppress it, a small scream found it's way out of her throat. She remembered him. It was the man from earlier, the one who hid his face under this ridiculously large hat! “What do you want?”, she yelled at him, before hearing the footsteps behind her. She nearly jumped up as she heard the voice right behind her, the deep, growling voice, oozing of violence, of a thirst for blood. “Hello, Katya”, Wolfius Woodbark said.
“Hello, Arthur”, the man in front of him said with a polite smile, while Arthur grabbed his sword. “What are you doing here?”, he demanded to know and the man raised his hands. “Easy, Arthur. We mean no trouble”, he promised and pointed at himself and then at the woman next to him, the one who still mustered Arthur with a mixture of sadness and anger. “My name is Ellyrio Terys. The lovely lady next to me is my business partner Briar”, the man introduced them and the woman gave him a cold glare. “I believe we have a similar interest in this city. From what I've heard there is a killer running on the loose, am I correct?”
The man jumped up from his chair and started to walk towards her. Jenna saw that he wasn't taller than herself and almost as skinny. His brown hair was cut short and he had a bony face. Still, his smile was extraordinarily charming and as he reached her he took an elegant bow and blew her a kiss on the hand. “It is always a pleasure to meet the servants!”, he proclaimed, looking from a surprised Jenna to a frowning Harris. “Ah, but where are my manners?” He quickly put a hand onto his forehead and chuckled. “My name is Lord Hobert of Mander's Mouth”, he introduced himself. “I am here to claim my inheritance”
“So, this is it?”, Harren Hoare asked, his dark eyes staring at Tully without moving. The Riverlord resisted the stare and gave him a determined nod. “Yes”, he answered. “This is it”
Garthon's heart started to beat faster as he looked from George to Torvin. He was holding onto his crossbow and prayed to every god he remembered that Harlan wouldn't notice the weapon. He had no doubt that Harren had seen it though. Why was he so calm? Was he accepting his death like this? Unlikely...
“There would be one more thing I'd like to talk about, Lord Tully...”, Harren growled with a cruel smile.
Forum of Thrones, Act II, Chapter II: The Iron Price; Coming Soon!
So... that just happened. Writing this part was very depressing, but I hope you liked it regardless in a certain sort of way. Let me just say, this could have been avoided by picking a few other choices. The alternative choices will be written next and should be out in two days. Until then, I have a few questions for you and I'd like you to answer them. If you want to give a reason behind your answers, I'd be glad as this would help a lot!
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 4?
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 4?
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 4?
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 4?
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 4?
Is there anything you disliked?
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 5?
WHAT THE FUCK
At least Leonard is alive.
GODD
I'll explain my thoughts on this part when I do the other thing.
That fucking archmaester. We could have allied with him........
Poll
http://strawpoll.me/4837447
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 4? Leonard, of course. He had a great part when he found that Lagoon was dead. Lucas too, but you know, he basically fucked a girl and now she's fucking dead. Not that great for him. I did enjoy the Hoare hunting party team as well. Jaron was fun.
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 4? Maron fucking Mullendore. I remember seeing those Butterflies as his thing earlier too. Ugh. Samuel, that asshole should have been killed by Leonard. Oh and Jenna, definitely Jenna. Harris, Richard.....
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 4? Lucas, because well Leonard and again, I love his storylines. Jaron is enjoyable too.
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 4? Kersea. Because I don't really care about any of her or her band. Didn't Jenna have one this chapter too? If so then her. And Richard.
What has been your favourite chapter in Chapter 4? Chapterception.This last one probably, but I did like Jaron's last one too, and the whole 'share your backstory' in the tavern with Leonard and Lucas.
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 4? Probably the revelation that fucking Mullendore is the fucking Butterfly. I also liked the backstory, and the umm Jaron vs. 'Butterfly' mock. Butterfly mock. Oh shit that's one of the things Noelle said right?
Is there anything you disliked? Grrr fucking Mullendore, Jenna, and Harris. This is the greedy bastard part of me but not enough Leonard XD jk jk. I didn't really care for the assassins much.
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 5? Advice: Keep Leonard alive. Anything I'd like to see more of: Leonard. Anything I'm anticipating: Leonard. I dunno. I liked the Archmaester, want to see more of him. At least Butterfly wants Lucas and Leonard alive....
Now to my part commentary:
Well that first part was violent. Poor guy. He got fucked up and he wasn't even the man. Carver's demise. Harpy is Kenny in disguise.
Now for the main part of the thing:
The moment I didn't see Mullendore when they ran I was suspicious. I didn't see anything coming like what followed though. The special men too we're kind of weird, but I didn't question them. When I saw that the tavern was abandoned, I assumed they already found Lunett. They did and seeing Leonard go off to fight Samuel exhausted without armor was not good for me. I honestly thought you were going to kill him. I was afraid man. Deeply afraid.
Of course when fucking Maron was sitting there like a true fucker I pissed. Really I was. When he stabbed Lunett's eye....dear God. Anytime anyone's eyes are hurt my hurt. I literally have tolerance for everything except eyes being severely damaged (the Governor). Dairon ran, that smart bastard? I'm not sure. If he didn't escape, how different would it be? Would Lunett be alive? I don't know.
Seeing Leonard alive saved my heart from dying. Lucas lost so much. I kind of wanted Lucas to die rather than Lunett, cause I think that be more of a shock. Still gave me stuff though.
Anyway, my heart did take some heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOxhH8N3Bo
Great and amazing writing. But... that was seriously fucked up, man.
Yes, yes it was, which was the main reason why I was extremely uncomfortable with writing this part. I was thinking about toning the violence in this one down for a long while, but ultimately decided against it. Mullendore is not fucking around after all and in his character submission he has pretty much been described as the worst sadist possible with a passion for rape and mutilation, so yeah... Still, it pained me to write this one. Only hinting at it over the course of the past three chapters had been one thing, but actually writing about it proved to be very hard for me.
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 4? The whole Harking family. Obviously I loved my character's representation as well.
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 4? Butterfly or whatever he wants to be called. FUCK HIM.
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 4? Richard's.
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 4? Not as whole, mind you, but Lucas' last part was serious messed up. But let me emphasize the writing was fucking awesome. Fucked up, but awesome.
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 4? The moment in the first half of the last part when the innkeeper say it was Butterfly who did it, after we saw him supposedly get killed.
Is there anything you disliked? From a writing and story telling stand point, absolutely no. But I don't like violence. Of course, I wouldn't want to tone it down.
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 5? I have no advice, other than this: keep being awesome.
Ramsay Bolton approves this story