So, obviously there is no voting so I won't be closing it, but I'll give a small announcement about the next part (and bump the thread ).
The next part is almost ready and will (most likely) be posted tomorrow. We will make another visit to Iron Islands and get our second part for Matthias.
Matthias Verlen pushed the door of his house open, walking in with a dark grin on his face. The first thing he saw was his sister, Leona, sitting in a chair and knitting. Yeron Greyjoy and two soldiers walked in behind him. Leona looked at them with bafflement in her eyes.
“What is this, Matt?” She asked with uneasy tone on her voice. Matt saw no reason to explain, she would find out soon enough.
“Where is Seamus?” He asked with commanding tone, but his sister didn’t answer. Instead, she stood up with an angry expression on her face. Here we go again.
“No. Explain to me what is going on here!” She shouted, but Matthias just chuckled. “Who are these bastards you bring to our house?” She asked strictly, and now Yeron stepped forward with a furious look on his eyes.
“You should watch who you call bastard, you bitch! I’m Yeron Greyjoy, the neph-“ Yeron was cut off by Matthias grabbing him from the neck.
“And you should watch who you call bitch. She is my sister.” He said with threatening words and let go off Yeron, who still looked angry. After giving one more tense stare at the young Greyjoy, Matthias walked to his small room. Matt didn’t know how should he feel about this and he didn’t even care. He would go to war, he would finally get to swing his sword again, smell the blood and feel the excitement. That is what I live for. He kneeled down and pulled his sword from under the bed. He made a couple swings with it, and it felt good. It is time to leave this shit pile of a village behind, again.
As Matthias walked back to the main room he saw that Seamus had arrived with a bucket of water he had apparently been retrieving. It also looked like Yeron had explained the situation, since both Seamus and Leona were looking at Matt with anger and shock in their eyes.
“You… You fucking bastard!” Seamus yelled with his weak voice, but as Matthias took out his sword Seamus had to shut his mouth. Leona however wasn’t afraid.
“You piece of shit.” She said coldly, looking directly to Matt’s eyes. “I thought you were better than this, I hoped you were better.”
“Your husband isn’t a true Ironborn if he is afraid of a war.” Matt answered, looking at his sister sternly. Matthias understood why his sister was angry, but he also knew he was doing her a favor. Even if she doesn’t understand it. Leona walked closer to him, rage in her eyes.
“You really think killing is everything there is in this world?” She asked quietly, suppressing her rage. A smirk appeared on Matt’s face.
“Oh no, a good fuck now and then ain’t bad either.” He whispered. Leona tried to slap him in the face but Matt caught her hand before it reached its goal. And he squeezed it, making sure his sister would feel pain. He could see tears coming to Leona’s eyes as he tightened his grip.
“Don’t you ever raise your hand against me, woman.” Matt said with deep and quiet voice, and finally he let go off Leona’s arm. She backed down and fell back to her chair, tears running down her face. Matt shifted his attention to Seamus who was now held by the other one of the soldiers.
“We can go now.” Matt said with cold and calm voice. The soldiers pushed Seamus to the door. The man gave his last desperate look to Leona, but Matt stepped into his field of vision, and the soldiers pushed him out of the house.
“That man isn’t really much of a soldier, is he?” Yeron asked, and Matt let out a grim little laugh.
“Who knows, Greyjoy, none of us are before we face a real battle.” He said with a wolfish grin on his face, tapped Yeron on the shoulder, and walked out of the house. Towards battles.
-
After a couple hours travel in the rain they had arrived to the Lordsport, a harbor town near the castle Pyke. Tens of longships floated on the sea, ready to sail to the war. Matthias saw hundreds of soldiers on the streets, many of them clearly drunk. Matt, Yeron, Seamus and a dozen soldiers walked towards the docks, and suddenly Matt noticed a huge man with a Greyjoy tabard on his plate armor approaching them. The man had long black hair with touch of grey in it, a thick beard and he was carrying a huge warhammer. Looks like a true warrior.
“Father.” Yeron said dryly as the man walked to them. The man didn’t answer, but he turned his eyes on Matthias.
“So you are Matthias Verlen, I assume.” The man said with a charismatic and deep voice. Matthias had no idea how this man knew about him, but he nodded.
“Aye, I am.” He grunted, looking at the man suspiciously.
“I am Aldrich Greyjoy, Lord Captain of the Greyjoy Fleet.” The man spoke with a subtle smile on his face. “I returned from raiding the Westerlands couple days ago. I lost many good men there.” A wide grin was formed on Matt's face.
“So that’s what this is about.” He said with slightly amused tone and Aldrich nodded.
“You have a good reputation, Matthias. A warrior who has traveled around the world - I need men like you. And in this war you will fight for me.” The last words had a commanding tone on them, but Matt couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. “What is so funny?” Aldrich asked strictly.
“It’s just that I thought I would fight for the king, not his little brother.” Matt answered with snarky tone and Aldrich immediately took a step closer to him with a threatening expression on his face. He towered Matt by almost a foot, but Matthias didn’t back down. If he wants to fight, I’ll fight.
“My brother is the King, but I am your captain.” Aldrich spoke with surprisingly calm tone. Then he turned his look to Yeron. “Son, you will have half of the men you brought, the others will go to my ship. And I will have this Matthias, remember that.”
“Yes, father.” Yeron answered. “When will we set sail?”
“Dagon has summoned me to a council in the evening.” Aldrich answered, clearly annoyed. “We will have to wait until morning before we can leave.” With these words Aldrich left them and walked away. Matthias glanced at Seamus who looked pale and terrified. He hadn’t said a word to Matt after they had left the village.
“Follow me!” Yeron commanded and they continued their walk to the docks. Yeron picked his men from the group and showed them where his ship was. After that he returned to Matt, Seamus and the rest of the men.
“My father’s ship is the big one there.” He said lazily, pointing at a black ship with yellow sails. “Its name is Iron Kraken. But there is no need for you to go there, as you heard we won’t leave until tomorrow.” After saying this Yeron turned around and walked away. Matthias looked at the Iron Kraken for a while. Beautiful ship, fitting for me. Matt turned his head and saw Seamus walking away. He ran after the man quickly, and grabbed him from the shoulder.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Matt growled to Seamus, who looked at him with both fear and anger in his eyes.
“I was just going to the tavern!” He yelled and pulled himself away from Matt.
“Then I’m coming too.” Matt answered with grim tone, he didn’t want to give Seamus a chance to escape. Seamus sighed and rolled his eyes.
“I don’t want your company, asshole. If I escape they’ll come after me and take my head. So no worries, you’ve already got what you wanted. There is no running away for me.” Seamus’ words were filled with bitterness and sadness, but Matthias just chuckled. How pathetic can a man be? Matthias wasn’t sure if he even wanted to be around Seamus, surely he could find better company from here.
[Go to the tavern with Seamus][Find company elsewhere]
[Go to the tavern with Seamus]. Well haven't we all brewed up a bit of an asshole character...
I wouldn't mind seeing Matt try to make amends with Seamus, perhaps creating a neutral alliance. I figure at least him going to the tavern will maybe making things better (or worse), finding company elsewhere is just a single off pleasure in my opinion. I'm quite interested to see where this goes, and eager to see that war ahead
Matthias
Matthias Verlen pushed the door of his house open, walking in with a dark grin on his face. The first thing he saw was his siste… morer, Leona, sitting in a chair and knitting. Yeron Greyjoy and two soldiers walked in behind him. Leona looked at them with bafflement in her eyes.
“What is this, Matt?” She asked with uneasy tone on her voice. Matt saw no reason to explain, she would find out soon enough.
“Where is Seamus?” He asked with commanding tone, but his sister didn’t answer. Instead, she stood up with an angry expression on her face. Here we go again.
“No. Explain to me what is going on here!” She shouted, but Matthias just chuckled. “Who are these bastards you bring to our house?” She asked strictly, and now Yeron stepped forward with a furious look on his eyes.
“You should watch who you call bastard, you bitch! I’m Yeron Greyjoy, the neph-“ Yeron was cut off by Matthias grabbing him from the neck.
“And you should … [view original content]
Matthias
Matthias Verlen pushed the door of his house open, walking in with a dark grin on his face. The first thing he saw was his siste… morer, Leona, sitting in a chair and knitting. Yeron Greyjoy and two soldiers walked in behind him. Leona looked at them with bafflement in her eyes.
“What is this, Matt?” She asked with uneasy tone on her voice. Matt saw no reason to explain, she would find out soon enough.
“Where is Seamus?” He asked with commanding tone, but his sister didn’t answer. Instead, she stood up with an angry expression on her face. Here we go again.
“No. Explain to me what is going on here!” She shouted, but Matthias just chuckled. “Who are these bastards you bring to our house?” She asked strictly, and now Yeron stepped forward with a furious look on his eyes.
“You should watch who you call bastard, you bitch! I’m Yeron Greyjoy, the neph-“ Yeron was cut off by Matthias grabbing him from the neck.
“And you should … [view original content]
Matthias
Matthias Verlen pushed the door of his house open, walking in with a dark grin on his face. The first thing he saw was his siste… morer, Leona, sitting in a chair and knitting. Yeron Greyjoy and two soldiers walked in behind him. Leona looked at them with bafflement in her eyes.
“What is this, Matt?” She asked with uneasy tone on her voice. Matt saw no reason to explain, she would find out soon enough.
“Where is Seamus?” He asked with commanding tone, but his sister didn’t answer. Instead, she stood up with an angry expression on her face. Here we go again.
“No. Explain to me what is going on here!” She shouted, but Matthias just chuckled. “Who are these bastards you bring to our house?” She asked strictly, and now Yeron stepped forward with a furious look on his eyes.
“You should watch who you call bastard, you bitch! I’m Yeron Greyjoy, the neph-“ Yeron was cut off by Matthias grabbing him from the neck.
“And you should … [view original content]
Man, Matthias really is a Grade-A asshole. Two parts into his storyline and I already hate him on the same level I hate Fleshbearer. In any way, I think he should stay away from Seamus. Like Gnu said, maybe he finds other assholes to hang out with.
Matthias
Matthias Verlen pushed the door of his house open, walking in with a dark grin on his face. The first thing he saw was his siste… morer, Leona, sitting in a chair and knitting. Yeron Greyjoy and two soldiers walked in behind him. Leona looked at them with bafflement in her eyes.
“What is this, Matt?” She asked with uneasy tone on her voice. Matt saw no reason to explain, she would find out soon enough.
“Where is Seamus?” He asked with commanding tone, but his sister didn’t answer. Instead, she stood up with an angry expression on her face. Here we go again.
“No. Explain to me what is going on here!” She shouted, but Matthias just chuckled. “Who are these bastards you bring to our house?” She asked strictly, and now Yeron stepped forward with a furious look on his eyes.
“You should watch who you call bastard, you bitch! I’m Yeron Greyjoy, the neph-“ Yeron was cut off by Matthias grabbing him from the neck.
“And you should … [view original content]
Matthias
Matthias Verlen pushed the door of his house open, walking in with a dark grin on his face. The first thing he saw was his siste… morer, Leona, sitting in a chair and knitting. Yeron Greyjoy and two soldiers walked in behind him. Leona looked at them with bafflement in her eyes.
“What is this, Matt?” She asked with uneasy tone on her voice. Matt saw no reason to explain, she would find out soon enough.
“Where is Seamus?” He asked with commanding tone, but his sister didn’t answer. Instead, she stood up with an angry expression on her face. Here we go again.
“No. Explain to me what is going on here!” She shouted, but Matthias just chuckled. “Who are these bastards you bring to our house?” She asked strictly, and now Yeron stepped forward with a furious look on his eyes.
“You should watch who you call bastard, you bitch! I’m Yeron Greyjoy, the neph-“ Yeron was cut off by Matthias grabbing him from the neck.
“And you should … [view original content]
And Matt will go to the tavern with Seamus. I understand the reasons some may have against this option, but from the writer's perspective I'm glad this one won. It's pretty challenging to have such an asshole as a PoV - especially on interactive story where I should give you choices to make with a character that probably none of you really relates with . However, Matthias is an interesting character with great backstory so I wanted to do this anyway - and I didn't want to "soften" him because I want to respect how the characters are submitted, as much as possible. We'll see where this story takes Matt and Seamus...
The next part will come within couple days, I'm on holidays now so I should have more time. Of course holidays have their own kind of going-ons so could be that my pace won't be that much faster. Oh, and the next part will be Maya. And if you don't remember where Maya was, well she is (with Alexia and Terry) at the Frostfangs, looking for ex Lord Commander Ivan Longbeard. They found a village and its clansmen should know where Longbeard is. The last part ended with young Dakvidih Halvor asking Maya to clarify what kind of king is Raymun Redbeard. You voted for her to answer that Raymun is King of the Nightrunners and the Hornfoots.
Hello again! As you know I clearly didn't keep the promise of posting the next part "within couple days" as I said in that last post of mine (tbh I didn't even remember I promised that ;p). So, apologies of that, but now I'm finally back from my long "christmas break" when it comes to this story and started writing again today. Now, I can't promise, but it is possible that the Maya part will be posted tomorrow. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that this will continue soon!
Hello again! As you know I clearly didn't keep the promise of posting the next part "within couple days" as I said in that last post of mine… more (tbh I didn't even remember I promised that ;p). So, apologies of that, but now I'm finally back from my long "christmas break" when it comes to this story and started writing again today. Now, I can't promise, but it is possible that the Maya part will be posted tomorrow. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that this will continue soon!
Maya looked at this young boy, Dakvidih Halvor, with tired eyes. I should think carefully what to answer…
“Did you hear me?” Dakvidih asked with impatient tone. “What kind of ‘king’ is this Raymun?” Maya gave the boy an angry glare before answering.
“He is King of the Nightrunners and the Hornfoots.” She answered with decisive voice. She didn’t want to call Raymun the king of the free folk, not yet, not before it was true. Dakvidih looked surprised but still calm. Clearly these people live so deep in the mountains they never hear about anything.
“Huh, I didn’t know Nightrunners and Hornfoots had a king.” He said with a touch of suspicion in his words. Alexia put her friendly smile on, and Maya decided again that it would be best to let her do the talking.
“Raymun’s mission is to unite people and attack the south, not to enslave or make anyone kneel to him.” She spoke with gentle words and Dakvidih nodded to her, looking to be a bit more relaxed now. Maya wondered to herself if that was really the truth. Surely Raymun was a great king and he didn’t force anyone to worship him – that happened without forcing, Maya had seen it herself. But even Raymun needs to bend his enemies to become his allies.
“Alright, well, we could go to my father’s hut… You know, until the clan returns from the hunt.” Dakvidih spoke and they all mumbled in agreement.
-
Maya was laying on her back inside the silent hut, feeling once again that she was wasting her time being so far away from the war. It had been more than two hours now, and most of that time they had all been quiet. Of course Alexia was the one who tried to spark up a conversation now and then, but Terry was shy, Dak was still a little suspicious and Maya just didn’t care. Her thoughts traveled to Rumak again. That man was the closest thing to family he had and the last time they saw Maya had threatened him with her blade. I really hope that wasn’t the last time we ever saw each other.
“So…” Alexia spoke up again. “What do y’all think about the big wall of the crows?” The hut was awkwardly silent after the question and Maya looked at Alexia with a slightly confused expression, raising her eyebrows.
“What do you mean?” Terry asked with his shy and quiet voice. Alexia chuckled – once again without getting any kind of response from anyone in the hut.
“Perhaps my question was a little weird…” Alexia spoke with the usual smirk on her face. “What I meant was, why do you think it was built in the first place?”
“Because of the Others of course.” Terry answered immediately, like there was no question about it. Maya had of course heard the story about the Others and the Long Night, but she wasn’t really sure what to think about all that. More likely it was just the bastards of the south building a wall to keep the Free Folk away from them.
“I know the stories, Terry…” Alexia started, but she was cut off by Dakvidih.
“They are not just stories.” The young boy said very seriously, putting emphasis on every word. Maya wondered why he was so adamant about this. “My father has seen them with his own eyes, and I believe my father.” Terry nodded in agreement.
“Your father told me about it too, the last time I was here.” He said quietly. “About the blue eyes of the dead in snowstorm.”
“Yes.” Dak answered quietly. “It was during our clan lived on the Land of Always Winter.” The boy let out a sad sigh, but Maya thought it was ridiculous.
“And were you even alive during all that, boy?” She asked with skeptic tone, making Dak shot a glare at her. Before Dak could answer a deep and strong voice spoke from the doorway of the hut.
“He wasn’t.” The voice said calmly. They all shifted their attention to the man on the doorway. He was tall and broad shouldered, his black hair had it first hints of grey, and the look on his deep blue eyes was calm and wise, but also full of grief. “I was hardly a grown man myself then. It was my father’s clan that faced them… the Others. He was a hero, but even he could not defeat those monsters. Almost our whole clan was killed in that snowstorm. We ran away, those of us who survived. And during my life after that I’ve had my problems with Hornfoots, Nightrunners, you name it. But nothing will ever shock me like those blue eyes of the dead.”
“Well… That’s an interesting story.” Alexia said, with a little less joyful tone than usually. Interesting bedtime story.
“I guess you could see it that way.” The man said calmly and sat down. “I’m Arvid Halvor, leader of this clan. Now, I suppose my son found you trustworthy since you are sitting here, but I’d still like to hear who you are.” Maya had to admit that this man seemed strong and charismatic – there was something similar in him with Raymun.
“I’m Terry Snowflake, perhaps you remember me.” Terry was of course the first one to answer, since clearly he had a high respect for these people. “I visited eight years ago, stayed for couple weeks then.” For a moment Arvid looked at Terry, eyeing him from head to toes.
“Yes… I remember.” He said finally with a hint of a smile on his face. The smile washed away quickly as he turned his eyes to Maya and Alexia. “So who are you?”
Maya stayed silent as Alexia explained with her friendly tone who they were and told the man about Raymun Redbeard. Again Arvid stayed quiet for a while, a thoughtful look on his eyes.
“A king…” He said finally and shook his head a little. “Well, not my problem. I hope you haven’t come all the way here to try and convince me to join your king, because I won’t.” He stated and Maya let out a sarcastic little laugh, making both Arvid and Dakvidih shot a glare at her.
“No.” Terry said quickly. “We came to meet Ivan Longbeard.” Now it was Arvid’s time to let out a laugh - even if Maya had no idea why.
“I’m pretty sure he has no interest in your king.” Arvid said calmly. “But sure, I can take you to him.” Alexia and Terry nodded to the man with grateful expressions on their faces. After that they all walked out of the hut. It was getting late, sun was already starting to fall behind the mountains.
“Would you like to go to Ivan now, or would you like to wait until morning?” Arvid asked casually. “He might not be very welcoming this late on the day.”
“We should wait.” Terry said immediately. “We must be as respectful towards him as we can.” Maya let out a sigh. I should be fighting a war, not waiting to meet some old man who might end up being totally useless.
“I understand your point Terry, but we shouldn’t waste any more time. The faster we get back to Raymun the better.” Alexia spoke with friendly but serious tone and Maya really wanted to agree with her. However, if they would give a bad first impression to this Ivan then this journey would surely have been for nothing…
[Meet Ivan now][Wait until morning]
-
Not the best part ever, but I'm getting back from a break so don't hate ;D
Maya
Maya looked at this young boy, Dakvidih Halvor, with tired eyes. I should think carefully what to answer…
“Did you hear me?” Dakv… moreidih asked with impatient tone. “What kind of ‘king’ is this Raymun?” Maya gave the boy an angry glare before answering.
“He is King of the Nightrunners and the Hornfoots.” She answered with decisive voice. She didn’t want to call Raymun the king of the free folk, not yet, not before it was true. Dakvidih looked surprised but still calm. Clearly these people live so deep in the mountains they never hear about anything.
“Huh, I didn’t know Nightrunners and Hornfoots had a king.” He said with a touch of suspicion in his words. Alexia put her friendly smile on, and Maya decided again that it would be best to let her do the talking.
“Raymun’s mission is to unite people and attack the south, not to enslave or make anyone kneel to him.” She spoke with gentle words and Dakvidih nodded to her, looking to… [view original content]
One night is not that much of a wait in the grand scale of things. At the same time, it might be important for their relation with Ivan. Terry brought up a good point, that waiting until he is ready to meet them might be the more respectful thing. Ivan sounds like a proud guy, someone who might be hard to talk to if he is displeased about something, so waiting sounds like the better option by all means.
Maya
Maya looked at this young boy, Dakvidih Halvor, with tired eyes. I should think carefully what to answer…
“Did you hear me?” Dakv… moreidih asked with impatient tone. “What kind of ‘king’ is this Raymun?” Maya gave the boy an angry glare before answering.
“He is King of the Nightrunners and the Hornfoots.” She answered with decisive voice. She didn’t want to call Raymun the king of the free folk, not yet, not before it was true. Dakvidih looked surprised but still calm. Clearly these people live so deep in the mountains they never hear about anything.
“Huh, I didn’t know Nightrunners and Hornfoots had a king.” He said with a touch of suspicion in his words. Alexia put her friendly smile on, and Maya decided again that it would be best to let her do the talking.
“Raymun’s mission is to unite people and attack the south, not to enslave or make anyone kneel to him.” She spoke with gentle words and Dakvidih nodded to her, looking to… [view original content]
Mmm, I don't know. I'm so used to anything with Game of Thrones having a nice little twist. I fear if we wait then we may lose the chance, but then we may ruin it if we push things too far. I remember a girl I once fancied gave me the advice to take things slow and not to rush into things, so I'll honour her advice here. Wait until morning. Gods be good.
Maya
Maya looked at this young boy, Dakvidih Halvor, with tired eyes. I should think carefully what to answer…
“Did you hear me?” Dakv… moreidih asked with impatient tone. “What kind of ‘king’ is this Raymun?” Maya gave the boy an angry glare before answering.
“He is King of the Nightrunners and the Hornfoots.” She answered with decisive voice. She didn’t want to call Raymun the king of the free folk, not yet, not before it was true. Dakvidih looked surprised but still calm. Clearly these people live so deep in the mountains they never hear about anything.
“Huh, I didn’t know Nightrunners and Hornfoots had a king.” He said with a touch of suspicion in his words. Alexia put her friendly smile on, and Maya decided again that it would be best to let her do the talking.
“Raymun’s mission is to unite people and attack the south, not to enslave or make anyone kneel to him.” She spoke with gentle words and Dakvidih nodded to her, looking to… [view original content]
Maya
Maya looked at this young boy, Dakvidih Halvor, with tired eyes. I should think carefully what to answer…
“Did you hear me?” Dakv… moreidih asked with impatient tone. “What kind of ‘king’ is this Raymun?” Maya gave the boy an angry glare before answering.
“He is King of the Nightrunners and the Hornfoots.” She answered with decisive voice. She didn’t want to call Raymun the king of the free folk, not yet, not before it was true. Dakvidih looked surprised but still calm. Clearly these people live so deep in the mountains they never hear about anything.
“Huh, I didn’t know Nightrunners and Hornfoots had a king.” He said with a touch of suspicion in his words. Alexia put her friendly smile on, and Maya decided again that it would be best to let her do the talking.
“Raymun’s mission is to unite people and attack the south, not to enslave or make anyone kneel to him.” She spoke with gentle words and Dakvidih nodded to her, looking to… [view original content]
Vote closed! And Maya&co. will wait until morning before they go see Ivan. Probably a wise choice, since obviously Arvid knows the man and he said that he could be unwelcoming this late on the day...
Anyway, I was separated from my laptop a couple days so obviously the next part hasn't progressed much. Sorry about that, but give it a day or two, possibly three, and I'll give you a Rumak part
Sundown was coming and the army of Fleshbearer started to build their camp. Another day of moving slowly had gone by. Rumak’s injuries on his right foot were slowly starting to heal, but it would still be a while before he could move like he used to. Or maybe I will never be able to move like I used to.
It was clear that Fleshbearer wanted desperately to find Raymun. He had sent scouts in every direction and tried to make the Nightrunners – including Rumak – to tell where he had ran. Rumak knew he had to say something so he said every time that Raymun had ran to Frostfangs. That wasn’t the truth of course and Rumak sensed that the Ice-River men didn’t believe him, but so far they had not done anything to him. Rumak knew where Raymun really would go – to his family. Raymun’s wife, Melinda, was a healer and of course the King would like to see his family during such desperate times.
Rumak walked towards one of the tents that was packed with injured and chained Nightrunners and Hornfoots. During these last few days Rumak had slept in those crowded tents, they weren’t comfortable, but at least he could sleep among his own people. Before Rumak reached the tents someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. Rumak turned around and saw a young Ice-River man who gazed at him with coldness in his eyes.
“The Savage wants to meet you.” He stated with commanding tone. Rumak nodded without questions, he had no option but to follow the whims of these people. Quietly he followed the young man through the camp. As he walked by Nightrunners, Hornfoots, Thenns and Ice-River men he was once again reminded of the cold atmosphere of this army. It was quiet, cold stares could be seen everywhere, no one trusted each other, no singing or laughing could be heard from anywhere. The death hangs above this army, just waiting to fall and destroy this unstable order. Finally Rumak and the young Ice-River man arrived to the huge tent of The Savage. Rumak walked in and saw the Ice-River clan leader sitting on his comfortable chair, two guards standing around him. He was staring at Rumak with a wicked smile on his thin face that was partly covered by his greasy black hair. The Savage was a tall and menacing man, and Rumak didn’t even want to know how he had earned his name. This man had been the first one to question Rumak about Raymun after the battle. Back then the questioning had been short and The Savage had supposedly believed Rumak’s story about Raymun’s plan to escape to the mountains in a situation like this. Perhaps he doesn’t believe that anymore.
“Nice to meet you again, Rumak.” The Savage said calmly, but even behind such calm and friendly words there was something that sent shivers down Rumak’s spine.
“Is there something you want from me?” Rumak asked with determined but still calm tone. “I have already told you all I know.”
“So you say.” The Savage simply stated and let out a disturbing little chuckle. “I have heard other kind of rumors lately.” The smirk on The Savage’s face disappeared as his dark gaze fell on Rumak.
“Rumors?” Rumak asked with a hint of unease on his voice and The Savage answered with a slow nod. This isn’t good. “What do you mean by that?”
“I have heard that Raymun Redbeard would have a family somewhere in the southern Haunted Forest. I’m sure you know his family well, you were his most trusted man after all. Tell me about it.” The tone on The Savage’s last words was chilling.
“He has a family, that’s true.” Rumak stated, desperately trying to figure out what could he come up with.
“Go on.” The Savage whispered with threatening voice.
“If you think that is where you will find him you are wrong. He wouldn’t go there and risk his family. His plan was to run to the Frostfangs.” Rumak said as convincingly as he could. A small smirk appeared on The Savage’s face.
“That is what you have told us. However, let’s assume for a while that he would have indeed ran to his family. Where exactly can we find them?” The Savage looked at Rumak with all the terrifying power in his eyes, making Rumak’s heart beat faster and faster.
“The southern Haunted Forest.” Rumak answered quietly and The Savage let out a dreadful laughter. Rumak gulped as the laughing was over and The Savage’s face turned dead serious again. The Savage clapped his hands and his guards took out their blades.
“More specifically, please.” He hissed, and Rumak nodded quickly. What the fuck should I tell to this monster? I can’t reveal where Raymun is…
“Close to the coast of Shivering Sea.” Rumak said, praying in his mind that The Savage wouldn’t detect his lie. “His family lives in a village called Night Hill.” Rumak chose a village he knew to be abandoned. The Savage’s guards put their blades away and a pensive look fell on the man’s pale face.
“If that’s true we are marching to completely different direction.” He said quietly. He raised his eyes to Rumak again. Rumak could tell the man wasn’t completely convinced, but he nodded to Rumak anyway. “You can go now, Nightrunner. If I find out that you lied to me, you will suffer.” Rumak nodded quickly, and turned away from The Savage. He took a deep breath as he walked out of the tent. I have a bad feeling about this.
-
As Rumak was getting closer to the tents of the Nightrunners and Hornfoots he was once again interrupted. This time it was Ariyana and Arienne. Neither of them had suffered real injuries on the battle, but Ariyana had lost many of her close friends and Arienne had lost her clan leader Harron Crowsbane. Rumak didn’t know much about Arienne but she knew that she had been the closest advisor of Harron.
“Rumak.” Ariyana said to him in the darkness of the camp with severe tone. “There is something I’d like to tell you.”
“And what could that be?” Rumak asked with almost bored tone, he just wanted to go to sleep and try to forget his conversation with The Savage. Ariyana however looked at him with all the seriousness in her eyes.
“There will be a meeting this night.” She whispered. “A meeting between people who want to destroy Fleshbearer.”
“That sounds… Dangerous.” Rumak said in bafflement. I definitely didn’t expect something like this to happen, not so soon. Arienne chuckled and shook her head.
“I told you he would be too much of a coward.” She said with a rude tone, but Rumak just sighed lazily.
“There is a difference between being brave and being just stupid.” Rumak said, but Arienne just shook her head again and muttered something for an answer.
“Look, Rumak, we all know Fleshbearer can’t keep up this army for long. And if those who are against him unite there is a better chance that this won’t end on all of us being murdered in our sleep.” Ariyana explained, but Rumak wasn’t really convinced.
“And how is that? I think provoking Fleshbearer will only make it more certain that we will be murdered in our sleep.” Rumak said, but he could see the determination in Ariyana’s eyes. She surely won’t back down from this.
“You overestimate Fleshbearer, Rumak. That beast doesn’t know first thing about ruling, his power will collapse and when it happens we need every man and woman so we can fight for our freedom.” Ariyana spoke with passion in her words, but Rumak just let out a tired sigh. It would surely be risky, but perhaps she is right. “So, will you come to the meeting or not?”
Rumak
Sundown was coming and the army of Fleshbearer started to build their camp. Another day of moving slowly had gone by. Rumak’s injur… moreies on his right foot were slowly starting to heal, but it would still be a while before he could move like he used to. Or maybe I will never be able to move like I used to.
It was clear that Fleshbearer wanted desperately to find Raymun. He had sent scouts in every direction and tried to make the Nightrunners – including Rumak – to tell where he had ran. Rumak knew he had to say something so he said every time that Raymun had ran to Frostfangs. That wasn’t the truth of course and Rumak sensed that the Ice-River men didn’t believe him, but so far they had not done anything to him. Rumak knew where Raymun really would go – to his family. Raymun’s wife, Melinda, was a healer and of course the King would like to see his family during such desperate times.
Rumak walked towards one of the tents that was … [view original content]
Ariyana is right. They have to unite if they want to have any chance to take down Fleshbearer. Aside from that, he is indeed a pretty terrible ruler. He is a fearsome warrior, but the moment he shows any weakness, pretty much everyone will turn against him. A guy like that has to be taken down not only because I hate his guts, but also because he is a danger to pretty much everyone beyond the wall, not only to his enemies, but to his questionable allies as well.
Rumak
Sundown was coming and the army of Fleshbearer started to build their camp. Another day of moving slowly had gone by. Rumak’s injur… moreies on his right foot were slowly starting to heal, but it would still be a while before he could move like he used to. Or maybe I will never be able to move like I used to.
It was clear that Fleshbearer wanted desperately to find Raymun. He had sent scouts in every direction and tried to make the Nightrunners – including Rumak – to tell where he had ran. Rumak knew he had to say something so he said every time that Raymun had ran to Frostfangs. That wasn’t the truth of course and Rumak sensed that the Ice-River men didn’t believe him, but so far they had not done anything to him. Rumak knew where Raymun really would go – to his family. Raymun’s wife, Melinda, was a healer and of course the King would like to see his family during such desperate times.
Rumak walked towards one of the tents that was … [view original content]
I agree with Liquid, Fleshbearer needs to go. Though it is more The Savage that worries me, he seems to me to be the more intellectual and strategic man of the two. Anyway, they are Free Folk and they wish to stand for their rights. It would be dangerous for Rumak to stay in custody of the already dying army.
Rumak
Sundown was coming and the army of Fleshbearer started to build their camp. Another day of moving slowly had gone by. Rumak’s injur… moreies on his right foot were slowly starting to heal, but it would still be a while before he could move like he used to. Or maybe I will never be able to move like I used to.
It was clear that Fleshbearer wanted desperately to find Raymun. He had sent scouts in every direction and tried to make the Nightrunners – including Rumak – to tell where he had ran. Rumak knew he had to say something so he said every time that Raymun had ran to Frostfangs. That wasn’t the truth of course and Rumak sensed that the Ice-River men didn’t believe him, but so far they had not done anything to him. Rumak knew where Raymun really would go – to his family. Raymun’s wife, Melinda, was a healer and of course the King would like to see his family during such desperate times.
Rumak walked towards one of the tents that was … [view original content]
Rumak
Sundown was coming and the army of Fleshbearer started to build their camp. Another day of moving slowly had gone by. Rumak’s injur… moreies on his right foot were slowly starting to heal, but it would still be a while before he could move like he used to. Or maybe I will never be able to move like I used to.
It was clear that Fleshbearer wanted desperately to find Raymun. He had sent scouts in every direction and tried to make the Nightrunners – including Rumak – to tell where he had ran. Rumak knew he had to say something so he said every time that Raymun had ran to Frostfangs. That wasn’t the truth of course and Rumak sensed that the Ice-River men didn’t believe him, but so far they had not done anything to him. Rumak knew where Raymun really would go – to his family. Raymun’s wife, Melinda, was a healer and of course the King would like to see his family during such desperate times.
Rumak walked towards one of the tents that was … [view original content]
Vote closed. And Rumak will go to the meeting. This was pretty much expectable - even if it's clear that something like this could prove to be very dangerous for Rumak who after all is under The Savage's eyes.
And then sadly I have some bad news. I haven't been active with this story recently, I haven't even chosen yet whose PoV will be next, and the writing most likely wont start for another couple days at least. The reason is that I've been very sick lately, my temperature has been almost up to 40°C at worst and I've also had a very painful cough. So, yesterday I was diagnosed with pneumonia and I'm taking two antibiotics and pretty much staying on bed or couch for a week now. However, when I get better, I'll get back to writing.
Vote closed. And Rumak will go to the meeting. This was pretty much expectable - even if it's clear that something like this could prove to … morebe very dangerous for Rumak who after all is under The Savage's eyes.
And then sadly I have some bad news. I haven't been active with this story recently, I haven't even chosen yet whose PoV will be next, and the writing most likely wont start for another couple days at least. The reason is that I've been very sick lately, my temperature has been almost up to 40°C at worst and I've also had a very painful cough. So, yesterday I was diagnosed with pneumonia and I'm taking two antibiotics and pretty much staying on bed or couch for a week now. However, when I get better, I'll get back to writing.
Vote closed. And Rumak will go to the meeting. This was pretty much expectable - even if it's clear that something like this could prove to … morebe very dangerous for Rumak who after all is under The Savage's eyes.
And then sadly I have some bad news. I haven't been active with this story recently, I haven't even chosen yet whose PoV will be next, and the writing most likely wont start for another couple days at least. The reason is that I've been very sick lately, my temperature has been almost up to 40°C at worst and I've also had a very painful cough. So, yesterday I was diagnosed with pneumonia and I'm taking two antibiotics and pretty much staying on bed or couch for a week now. However, when I get better, I'll get back to writing.
Rumak
Sundown was coming and the army of Fleshbearer started to build their camp. Another day of moving slowly had gone by. Rumak’s injur… moreies on his right foot were slowly starting to heal, but it would still be a while before he could move like he used to. Or maybe I will never be able to move like I used to.
It was clear that Fleshbearer wanted desperately to find Raymun. He had sent scouts in every direction and tried to make the Nightrunners – including Rumak – to tell where he had ran. Rumak knew he had to say something so he said every time that Raymun had ran to Frostfangs. That wasn’t the truth of course and Rumak sensed that the Ice-River men didn’t believe him, but so far they had not done anything to him. Rumak knew where Raymun really would go – to his family. Raymun’s wife, Melinda, was a healer and of course the King would like to see his family during such desperate times.
Rumak walked towards one of the tents that was … [view original content]
So I got better during the weekend but I had my schedule pretty full Monday and Tuesday. However, I'd like to announce that I'm starting to write again now, and the next part will be a Lenlie PoV. Hard to say how long will it take to write this part, but even if I'm being very slow it should be ready by weekend. I hope I get it done faster though. Anywho, I'm back at writing now
Another post (sorry about that ), but as the part is almost ready (just needs some polishing) I feel like there is a need for a small recap. It has been awhile since the last Lenlie part after all.
So, in the Chapter 2 the most important choice for Lenlie was to return to the Vale of Thenn with Princess Sigira and Gorgar the Frozen (instead of marching to war). As they returned to the Vale and the Magnar's Hall, Sigira's cousin Skrynor was waiting for them, as well as one of his warriors, Yrma. As Sigira told that she had been sent back to look after her little brother Storg, Skrynor said that he had been given the same exact mission. After that Skyrnor turned his attention to Lenlie, asking who exactly is Lenlie loyal to. You chose for her to answer that she is loyal to Princess Sigira. After that Lenlie, Gorgar and Sigira went to look after Storg who was playing with another Thenn kid at the yard of the Magnar's Hall. Sigira however left to go meet her cousin in private, which left Lenlie with decision if she wanted to spend time with Gorgar or not. You chose for her to stay and spend time with Gorgar, and that is where we start the next part.
Here the part finally comes... I recommend reading the recap above first though ^^
-
Lenlie
Lenlie was sitting next to Gorgar in the chilling weather of the Vale of Thenn. They were at the yard of the Magnar’s Hall, watching Storg, son of Krygorn, sparring with his friend Sverik Varalaf. Lenlie was watching the boys but her thoughts were elsewhere. She remembered her home. There wasn’t much she missed from the Ice Rivers, but it was still her home and something about it kept haunting her mind. I guess this could become my new home - eventually. She glanced quickly at Gorgar who was looking at the kids with a warm smile on his face. Lenlie had to admit to herself that her opinion of this man had changed during these past weeks. Before she had seen nothing but an arrogant womanizer, but it was clear by now that there was much more to Gorgar. He seemed always so warm and friendly, someone who could always be trusted. That’s why Princess Sigira respects him so much.
“I hope Skyrnor or Yrma didn’t make you feel unwelcome.” Gorgar said finally, with gentle tone. “And even if they did, don’t care about it. It’s Sigira whose opinion matters, and she likes you.” Gorgar had a friendly smile on his face as he spoke. Lenlie nodded and gulped.
“And what about you?” She asked shyly, and as she looked at Gorgar she continued with haste. “I mean, do you think I’m welcome here… In your lands.”
“My lands?” Gorgar let out a hearty laughter. “Oh dear, even if every other Thenn would say you are not welcome in this Vale, I’d still gladly take you to my house.”
“Even if Sigira would disagree?” Lenlie asked with serious tone and looked Gorgar to the eyes.
“You heard what I said.” Gorgar answered immediately, now with calm and assured voice. “Even if every other Thenn would disagree.” He said, putting emphasis on the word every. Lenlie sighed. I’m not sure how much of his words I can believe. Suddenly Gorgar grabbed Lenlie’s hand, making her heart beat faster and warmth raise to her cheeks. Oh gods, I’m blushing.
“What is important now is that you feel safe and happy.” Gorgar said quietly, almost whispering. “You have been through a lot. If there is anything I can do to make you feel better, I’ll do it.” Part of Lenlie wanted to pull her hand away from Gorgar, but she just couldn’t, too much of her just wanted to let go and believe everything Gorgar said, surrender to him. She turned her eyes to this man, feeling unsure, but at the same time somehow confident.
“What are you two doing?” Storg’s voice surprised them both and Gorgar let out an awkward laugh as he let go of Lenlie's hand.
“What do you mean? We are watching you over of course!” Gorgar scratched his head as he spoke and Storg just rolled with his eyes.
“Then you are doing a bad job. Besides, I don’t need anyone watching me over.” Storg spoke with bored tone. “I’ll go inside now - no need to come ‘watch me over’ there.” Both Gorgar and Lenlie nodded quickly as the young boy walked away.
“Well… that was embarrassing.” Gorgar said and they both let out a laugh. “Ah… We are lucky you know, being here, away from the war.” Lenlie looked at Gorgar, being slightly surprised of what he just said.
“But don’t you feel like you should be fighting for your Magnar?” She asked, trying not to sound offensive. Gorgar let out a little chuckle.
“Oh yes, that’s what I should be saying, that I would love to be in the battlefield, that I would love to die for the Magnar. But let’s be honest… War is not a good place for anyone.” His voice was surprisingly serious with those last words. “And I’m not saying that I’m not ready to fight for what I love or respect, but in the end there are much better ways to spend your days than killing strangers on a battlefield.”
“Like what?” Lenlie asked quietly, but before Gorgar could answer Princess Sigira walked to them with a frustrated look on her face. Gorgar looked a little disappointed of this interruption, but he stayed calm and friendly.
“What is it, Princess?” Gorgar asked with a friendly tone.
“Nothing, it’s just my cousin.” Sigira answered, but she couldn’t keep the anger away from her voice.
“Skrynor?” Lenlie looked at Sigira with a bit of concern in her eyes. This could be about me. “What does he want?”
“Oh, he just wanted to make it clear that until my father comes back he is in charge here. Because obviously a princess can’t lead Thenns.” Sigira’s words were bitter and Lenlie could see the anger in her eyes.
“And who is he to say this?” Gorgar asked, a touch of frustration was now in his words too. Sigira sighed.
“He has ensured his backing here, and I have no interest in starting a war. I suppose I can bear this until my father returns.” Sigira sat next to Lenlie as she spoke. There they sat, all three of them, quietly on the yard of the Magnar’s Hall. “Why did he have to send me here?” Sigira spoke more to herself than to anyone else. “I feel so useless.” For a moment everyone was silent again, but then Lenlie cleared her throat.
“Don’t worry, my Princess.” Lenlie said as softly as she could, and put her arm around Sigira. She took a deep breath, gave a small look at Gorgar and then turned back to Sigira again. “Your father loves you, and he knows that war is not a good place for anyone. That’s why he sent you home.”
No decision
-
This obviously wasn't the most exciting part (and pretty short too), but it worked as a moment for Lenlie to bond even more with both Gorgar and Sigira. Plus it made the political situation clear at the Magnar's Hall. Much will change though when Skjorn and pals arrive with some news, but that's for the future...
Oh, and sorry for now choice this time, but this was a sort of an end before a new act begins in the story of these characters.
Glad to know you're feeling better and back at it!
I really liked this part, as you said it was the bonding and it would really seem that Lenlie and Gorgar could go somewhere. I do worry for the leadership of the Thenn's though. I do not know what would be a better choice for the new Magnar of Thenn's - Both Skyrnor and Sigira are young - and it would appear to put the Vale in danger if the Dying army of the Ice Rivers were to try anything drastic. Personally I would like to see Skyrnor be Magnar, but birthrights and what not will beat my bias wishes XD
Anyway, great parts and great news for your recovery! Looking forward to more great parts when you get the time
Here the part finally comes... I recommend reading the recap above first though ^^
-
Lenlie
Lenlie was sitting next to Gorgar in th… moree chilling weather of the Vale of Thenn. They were at the yard of the Magnar’s Hall, watching Storg, son of Krygorn, sparring with his friend Sverik Varalaf. Lenlie was watching the boys but her thoughts were elsewhere. She remembered her home. There wasn’t much she missed from the Ice Rivers, but it was still her home and something about it kept haunting her mind. I guess this could become my new home - eventually. She glanced quickly at Gorgar who was looking at the kids with a warm smile on his face. Lenlie had to admit to herself that her opinion of this man had changed during these past weeks. Before she had seen nothing but an arrogant womanizer, but it was clear by now that there was much more to Gorgar. He seemed always so warm and friendly, someone who could always be trusted. That’s why Princess… [view original content]
Thanks, was a nasty disease but antibiotics are a savior
I have also already started to write the new part, which will be Argus PoV.
What comes to leadership of Thenns, I can already say that Sigira won't be the Magnar. Not that I wouldn't make a woman Magnar, but the Thenn most likely wouldn't. Anyway, a possibility of her being a sort of regent until her little brother Storg comes of age exists. And so does the possibility of Skyrnor becoming the Magnar.
Glad to know you're feeling better and back at it!
I really liked this part, as you said it was the bonding and it would really seem that… more Lenlie and Gorgar could go somewhere. I do worry for the leadership of the Thenn's though. I do not know what would be a better choice for the new Magnar of Thenn's - Both Skyrnor and Sigira are young - and it would appear to put the Vale in danger if the Dying army of the Ice Rivers were to try anything drastic. Personally I would like to see Skyrnor be Magnar, but birthrights and what not will beat my bias wishes XD
Anyway, great parts and great news for your recovery! Looking forward to more great parts when you get the time
Oh dear, I keep forgetting that the story is still currently set before the events of Raymun passing the Wall. Now I seriously worry that Skyrnor may actually want to hold the position, leading to conflict amongst the Thenns when Storg comes of age. Anyway, just speculation.
Thanks, was a nasty disease but antibiotics are a savior
I have also already started to write the new part, which will be Argus PoV.
… moreWhat comes to leadership of Thenns, I can already say that Sigira won't be the Magnar. Not that I wouldn't make a woman Magnar, but the Thenn most likely wouldn't. Anyway, a possibility of her being a sort of regent until her little brother Storg comes of age exists. And so does the possibility of Skyrnor becoming the Magnar.
Hello! Last week I pretty much stayed off internet (at least all the fun stuff) because I was doing a project that has a deadline today. In other words, I'll now get back to that Argus pov that I started to write a while ago. So you can expect that in couple days Sorry for the break!
The beautiful purple eyes of this strange foreign girl stared at Argus, making it hard for him to think. They had just met and the girl was already trying to make Argus reveal Emilio’s plans. Not that Argus really knew much about Emilio or his plans – he had after all just met him yesterday. Argus gulped and surrendered under the magic of those beautiful eyes of Ella.
“Um, Emilio, he is marching to war with us… me and Alistair.” Argus said and Alistair nodded in agreement. For a small moment Ella’s eyes narrowed, but then the smile returned to her face – although now it was less convincing.
“To war? Are you sure about this?” She asked with a touch of confusion in her words. Argus was thinking what to answer to this, but Alistair was quicker.
“Of course.” He blurted, and took a big gulp from his ale. “What else would a sellsword be doing in Winterfell?” Now Ella’s expression turned even more confused.
“Sellsword?” She said, sounding almost amused. “I don’t know much about that skinny boy, but I know he is not a sellsword… And he isn’t going to war.”
“Well, he did say he wants to go to war and he came to the Great Hall of Winterfell with me to meet Lord Beron so that he could swear fealty.” Argus felt like he was explaining all this to himself more than to Ella – just to convince himself that there was nothing weird in this.
“So he needed you to get to the Lord.” Ella said quietly. Argus nodded, trying to think why Emilio would do that if not to get hired as a sellsword. “Thank you for answering my questions, boys.” The beautiful girl said almost coldly, and quickly turned away from them without waiting for an answer.
“I don’t like Emilio much, but maybe we shouldn’t have told anything to her… Seems like an evil bitch.” Alistair said with a grumpy look on his face.
“You are just saying that because she didn’t want to spend time with us.” Argus said with a sigh. Though there is something weird about this.
“And you are just saying that because she happens to be beautiful.” Alistair answered with sullen tone. Argus didn’t bother to answer, he had too much going in his head. Today he had vowed to fight for Starks, he was going to a war, and then there was this mystery around Emilio. And tomorrow he, and at least Alistair if not Emilio, would sign their contracts. In the future I should find a house that I can offer my sword permanently, I don’t want to be signing contracts for the rest of my life. Argus and Alistair spent the rest of the day in the tavern, without any more interruptions.
-
Argus woke up early in the morning. He stayed in the bed, there was no haste, and for a while he just silently stared at the wooden ceiling of his room. After some time he started to hear noises from outside. Argus raised from his bed and walked to the window with tired steps. As he opened the shutters he saw who was keeping the noise. The street under him was crowded with the Skagosi, Lord Lonnel Crowl leading the lot on a horseback. Lady Genna Magnar rode next to him, as did Lady Miranna Stane. Rest of the men were on foot, except for couple men on the back of the group who were clearly Stark men. Argus thought that the Skagosi looked like how he had imagined the wildlings to look like. Then again, that’s what they basically are.
“To war!” Lord Crowl yelled and the Skagosi behind him cheered. Argus was slightly jealous – these men got to march to war today whereas he would have to wait for the Boltons to arrive. On the other hand the Skagosi forces were really small and marching to Saltspear where they would most likely not even see a battle. I’m not sure if that even is a bad thing. Being a soldier – and at some point a knight – was the only career Argus could have, so he needed experience on battles. He turned away from the window, put his clothes on and walked down to the tavern.
For Argus’ surprise Alistair was already waiting for him downstairs. He looked tired and nervous and as Argus approached him he greeted him only with a small nod.
“Well good morning to you too.” Argus said quietly, but Alistair just gave him a glare and stayed silent. “I suppose we should go make our contracts.” Argus continued and Alistair nodded to him with a dead serious look on his eyes.
The Skagosi had disappeared from the streets of Winter Town, making it hauntingly silent as Argus and Alistair made their way through it to the Winterfell. The soldiers guarding the gate only gave them a bored glance as they walked past them. They arrived to the courtyard that much quieter than it had been yesterday. On the middle of the yard Tharn the Stone – a warrior they had met yesterday – was teaching two young boys with dulled training swords. They boys were at their early teens if Argus had to guess, most likely sons of Beron.
“At that age I thought I would never even get to touch a sword.” Alistair said with monotonous words and Argus turned his look to him.
“But you dreamed about it.” Argus stated – unlike Alistair he had been trained with sword, but he knew what boys at that age dreamed about. And Alistair nodded.
“Let’s just go.” He muttered, and Argus grunted in agreement. They made their way to the almost empty Great Hall of Winterfell, where a nobleman on his late thirties sat by one of the tables and opposed to him stood a warrior, who was approximately same age with the nobleman, with silver hair, thick beard and a glorious dark armor with golden ornaments. Two swords were hanging from the sides of the warrior, five daggers were strapped to his chest, and on top of all that he had a great sword hanging on is back. No shortage of weapons I see. Neither of the men paid attention to Argus or Alistair.
“This is just ridiculous.” The nobleman – who Argus expected to be Lord Brandon Icestark – said with frustrated tone. The look on the warrior’s face remained calm.
“Surely Lord Beron knew my services would be expensive when he summoned me.” The warrior said with his deep voice.
“Oh yes, of course, Marcyn of Izulepsia – the one man army!” Icestark said with mocking tone. “Yet we’ve never actually seen you on action, and you ask for thousand gold dragons!”
“It’s a reasonable price, I often ask more.” Marcyn stated as an answer, and Icestark let out a deep sigh.
“If it were for me to decide, I’d tell you to go back to wherever you came from. But Beron wants you to join our army so I guess there is no way around it.” Brandon Icestark spoke and turned his blue eyes to this warrior with an angry gaze in them. “Here, sign the contract.” He said and put a paper and quill to the table. Marcyn of Izulepsia read through the contract, and finally signed it.
“It has been pleasure, Lord Icestark. I will show my worth at the battlefield.” Marcyn spoke with polite tone and Lord Brandon nodded with displeased expression on his face.
“I sure hope so.” He said quietly as the sellsword turned away from him. Marcyn acknowledged Argus and Alistair by a small gesture as he walked past them. Then Brandon Icestark noticed them. Argus had put on his tabard that displayed the sigil of House Keding.
“You are the one from the Vale, right?” Icestark asked, still a touch of frustration on his voice.
“Yes my lord, I am Argus of House Keding.” He answered as they walked to the table that Icestark was sitting at. For a moment Icestark was silent as he looked for their contracts from the pile of papers next to him. Finally he found them, and put three papers to the table.
“You were supposed to have two companions.” Icestark stated, slightly confused.
“We haven’t seen Emilio Rivers… apparently he won’t march to the war with us.” Argus explained calmly. Lord Icestark sighed and put one of the papers away.
“Well, the payments for you are fifty gold dragons to Argus Keding, and hundred silver stags to Alistair… the Bloodsword.” Icestark read from the papers, and Argus felt slightly embarrassed about the silly nickname Alistair had gave himself.
“That will do.” Argus said but for his surprise Alistair spoke up.
“No, it won’t.” He said with decisive tone. Argus grabbed him from the shoulder.
“What in the seven hells, Alistair?” He muttered to him, but Alistair ignored him.
“It’s true that I’ve only had a brief training, but I’m putting my life on the line just as much as Argus or anyone else.” Alistair spoke with serious but still calm words. “Hundred silver stags will not do. I am a sellsword, and I know my price. I ask for five gold dragons.”
“You should be thankful that Lord Beron pays you at all.” Lord Icestrak said, clearly annoyed.
“I can share from my reward.” Argus whispered to Alistair, but he shook his head.
“That’s not it, it’s not about the money itself.” Alistair said decisively. “I know my price.” Lord Icestark shook his head and let out a chuckle full of disbelief.
“Sorry boy, but you are not worth five gold dragons.” He said coldly, making Alistair give him an angry glare. Seven hells, what to do now? If Argus would side with Alistair, they might lose their chance to work for the Starks. And if he sided with Icestark, Alistair might take it badly.
[Side with Alistair][Side with Lord Icestark][Suggest a compromise]
Sorry for taking so long with this For some reason this was hard one to write and I really had to think how to make it less boring - not sure if I succeeded. On hindsight I should have just put this part aside for awhile and write another one. But now it's ready and I can move on
Argus
The beautiful purple eyes of this strange foreign girl stared at Argus, making it hard for him to think. They had just met and the … moregirl was already trying to make Argus reveal Emilio’s plans. Not that Argus really knew much about Emilio or his plans – he had after all just met him yesterday. Argus gulped and surrendered under the magic of those beautiful eyes of Ella.
“Um, Emilio, he is marching to war with us… me and Alistair.” Argus said and Alistair nodded in agreement. For a small moment Ella’s eyes narrowed, but then the smile returned to her face – although now it was less convincing.
“To war? Are you sure about this?” She asked with a touch of confusion in her words. Argus was thinking what to answer to this, but Alistair was quicker.
“Of course.” He blurted, and took a big gulp from his ale. “What else would a sellsword be doing in Winterfell?” Now Ella’s expression turned even more confused.
“Sellsword?” She said… [view original content]
Comments
So, obviously there is no voting so I won't be closing it, but I'll give a small announcement about the next part (and bump the thread
).
The next part is almost ready and will (most likely) be posted tomorrow. We will make another visit to Iron Islands and get our second part for Matthias.
Matthias
Matthias Verlen pushed the door of his house open, walking in with a dark grin on his face. The first thing he saw was his sister, Leona, sitting in a chair and knitting. Yeron Greyjoy and two soldiers walked in behind him. Leona looked at them with bafflement in her eyes.
“What is this, Matt?” She asked with uneasy tone on her voice. Matt saw no reason to explain, she would find out soon enough.
“Where is Seamus?” He asked with commanding tone, but his sister didn’t answer. Instead, she stood up with an angry expression on her face. Here we go again.
“No. Explain to me what is going on here!” She shouted, but Matthias just chuckled. “Who are these bastards you bring to our house?” She asked strictly, and now Yeron stepped forward with a furious look on his eyes.
“You should watch who you call bastard, you bitch! I’m Yeron Greyjoy, the neph-“ Yeron was cut off by Matthias grabbing him from the neck.
“And you should watch who you call bitch. She is my sister.” He said with threatening words and let go off Yeron, who still looked angry. After giving one more tense stare at the young Greyjoy, Matthias walked to his small room. Matt didn’t know how should he feel about this and he didn’t even care. He would go to war, he would finally get to swing his sword again, smell the blood and feel the excitement. That is what I live for. He kneeled down and pulled his sword from under the bed. He made a couple swings with it, and it felt good. It is time to leave this shit pile of a village behind, again.
As Matthias walked back to the main room he saw that Seamus had arrived with a bucket of water he had apparently been retrieving. It also looked like Yeron had explained the situation, since both Seamus and Leona were looking at Matt with anger and shock in their eyes.
“You… You fucking bastard!” Seamus yelled with his weak voice, but as Matthias took out his sword Seamus had to shut his mouth. Leona however wasn’t afraid.
“You piece of shit.” She said coldly, looking directly to Matt’s eyes. “I thought you were better than this, I hoped you were better.”
“Your husband isn’t a true Ironborn if he is afraid of a war.” Matt answered, looking at his sister sternly. Matthias understood why his sister was angry, but he also knew he was doing her a favor. Even if she doesn’t understand it. Leona walked closer to him, rage in her eyes.
“You really think killing is everything there is in this world?” She asked quietly, suppressing her rage. A smirk appeared on Matt’s face.
“Oh no, a good fuck now and then ain’t bad either.” He whispered. Leona tried to slap him in the face but Matt caught her hand before it reached its goal. And he squeezed it, making sure his sister would feel pain. He could see tears coming to Leona’s eyes as he tightened his grip.
“Don’t you ever raise your hand against me, woman.” Matt said with deep and quiet voice, and finally he let go off Leona’s arm. She backed down and fell back to her chair, tears running down her face. Matt shifted his attention to Seamus who was now held by the other one of the soldiers.
“We can go now.” Matt said with cold and calm voice. The soldiers pushed Seamus to the door. The man gave his last desperate look to Leona, but Matt stepped into his field of vision, and the soldiers pushed him out of the house.
“That man isn’t really much of a soldier, is he?” Yeron asked, and Matt let out a grim little laugh.
“Who knows, Greyjoy, none of us are before we face a real battle.” He said with a wolfish grin on his face, tapped Yeron on the shoulder, and walked out of the house. Towards battles.
-
After a couple hours travel in the rain they had arrived to the Lordsport, a harbor town near the castle Pyke. Tens of longships floated on the sea, ready to sail to the war. Matthias saw hundreds of soldiers on the streets, many of them clearly drunk. Matt, Yeron, Seamus and a dozen soldiers walked towards the docks, and suddenly Matt noticed a huge man with a Greyjoy tabard on his plate armor approaching them. The man had long black hair with touch of grey in it, a thick beard and he was carrying a huge warhammer. Looks like a true warrior.
“Father.” Yeron said dryly as the man walked to them. The man didn’t answer, but he turned his eyes on Matthias.
“So you are Matthias Verlen, I assume.” The man said with a charismatic and deep voice. Matthias had no idea how this man knew about him, but he nodded.
“Aye, I am.” He grunted, looking at the man suspiciously.
“I am Aldrich Greyjoy, Lord Captain of the Greyjoy Fleet.” The man spoke with a subtle smile on his face. “I returned from raiding the Westerlands couple days ago. I lost many good men there.” A wide grin was formed on Matt's face.
“So that’s what this is about.” He said with slightly amused tone and Aldrich nodded.
“You have a good reputation, Matthias. A warrior who has traveled around the world - I need men like you. And in this war you will fight for me.” The last words had a commanding tone on them, but Matt couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. “What is so funny?” Aldrich asked strictly.
“It’s just that I thought I would fight for the king, not his little brother.” Matt answered with snarky tone and Aldrich immediately took a step closer to him with a threatening expression on his face. He towered Matt by almost a foot, but Matthias didn’t back down. If he wants to fight, I’ll fight.
“My brother is the King, but I am your captain.” Aldrich spoke with surprisingly calm tone. Then he turned his look to Yeron. “Son, you will have half of the men you brought, the others will go to my ship. And I will have this Matthias, remember that.”
“Yes, father.” Yeron answered. “When will we set sail?”
“Dagon has summoned me to a council in the evening.” Aldrich answered, clearly annoyed. “We will have to wait until morning before we can leave.” With these words Aldrich left them and walked away. Matthias glanced at Seamus who looked pale and terrified. He hadn’t said a word to Matt after they had left the village.
“Follow me!” Yeron commanded and they continued their walk to the docks. Yeron picked his men from the group and showed them where his ship was. After that he returned to Matt, Seamus and the rest of the men.
“My father’s ship is the big one there.” He said lazily, pointing at a black ship with yellow sails. “Its name is Iron Kraken. But there is no need for you to go there, as you heard we won’t leave until tomorrow.” After saying this Yeron turned around and walked away. Matthias looked at the Iron Kraken for a while. Beautiful ship, fitting for me. Matt turned his head and saw Seamus walking away. He ran after the man quickly, and grabbed him from the shoulder.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Matt growled to Seamus, who looked at him with both fear and anger in his eyes.
“I was just going to the tavern!” He yelled and pulled himself away from Matt.
“Then I’m coming too.” Matt answered with grim tone, he didn’t want to give Seamus a chance to escape. Seamus sighed and rolled his eyes.
“I don’t want your company, asshole. If I escape they’ll come after me and take my head. So no worries, you’ve already got what you wanted. There is no running away for me.” Seamus’ words were filled with bitterness and sadness, but Matthias just chuckled. How pathetic can a man be? Matthias wasn’t sure if he even wanted to be around Seamus, surely he could find better company from here.
[Go to the tavern with Seamus] [Find company elsewhere]
[Go to the tavern with Seamus]. Well haven't we all brewed up a bit of an asshole character...
I wouldn't mind seeing Matt try to make amends with Seamus, perhaps creating a neutral alliance. I figure at least him going to the tavern will maybe making things better (or worse), finding company elsewhere is just a single off pleasure in my opinion. I'm quite interested to see where this goes, and eager to see that war ahead
[Go to the tavern with Seamus]
[Go to the tavern with Seamus]
[Find company elsewhere]
I honestly don't think Matthias should annoy Seamus any further. He can go find other assholes to hang out with.
[Find company elsewhere]
Man, Matthias really is a Grade-A asshole. Two parts into his storyline and I already hate him on the same level I hate Fleshbearer. In any way, I think he should stay away from Seamus. Like Gnu said, maybe he finds other assholes to hang out with.
[Go to the tavern with Seamus]
[Go to the tavern with Seamus] I'm curious, how this option would turn out
I really can't wait for the story to continue.
Vote closed!
And Matt will go to the tavern with Seamus. I understand the reasons some may have against this option, but from the writer's perspective I'm glad this one won. It's pretty challenging to have such an asshole as a PoV - especially on interactive story where I should give you choices to make with a character that probably none of you really relates with
. However, Matthias is an interesting character with great backstory so I wanted to do this anyway - and I didn't want to "soften" him because I want to respect how the characters are submitted, as much as possible. We'll see where this story takes Matt and Seamus...
The next part will come within couple days, I'm on holidays now so I should have more time. Of course holidays have their own kind of going-ons so could be that my pace won't be that much faster. Oh, and the next part will be Maya. And if you don't remember where Maya was, well she is (with Alexia and Terry) at the Frostfangs, looking for ex Lord Commander Ivan Longbeard. They found a village and its clansmen should know where Longbeard is. The last part ended with young Dakvidih Halvor asking Maya to clarify what kind of king is Raymun Redbeard. You voted for her to answer that Raymun is King of the Nightrunners and the Hornfoots.
Hello again! As you know I clearly didn't keep the promise of posting the next part "within couple days" as I said in that last post of mine (tbh I didn't even remember I promised that ;p). So, apologies of that, but now I'm finally back from my long "christmas break" when it comes to this story and started writing again today. Now, I can't promise, but it is possible that the Maya part will be posted tomorrow. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that this will continue soon!
Excited!!!
Maya
Maya looked at this young boy, Dakvidih Halvor, with tired eyes. I should think carefully what to answer…
“Did you hear me?” Dakvidih asked with impatient tone. “What kind of ‘king’ is this Raymun?” Maya gave the boy an angry glare before answering.
“He is King of the Nightrunners and the Hornfoots.” She answered with decisive voice. She didn’t want to call Raymun the king of the free folk, not yet, not before it was true. Dakvidih looked surprised but still calm. Clearly these people live so deep in the mountains they never hear about anything.
“Huh, I didn’t know Nightrunners and Hornfoots had a king.” He said with a touch of suspicion in his words. Alexia put her friendly smile on, and Maya decided again that it would be best to let her do the talking.
“Raymun’s mission is to unite people and attack the south, not to enslave or make anyone kneel to him.” She spoke with gentle words and Dakvidih nodded to her, looking to be a bit more relaxed now. Maya wondered to herself if that was really the truth. Surely Raymun was a great king and he didn’t force anyone to worship him – that happened without forcing, Maya had seen it herself. But even Raymun needs to bend his enemies to become his allies.
“Alright, well, we could go to my father’s hut… You know, until the clan returns from the hunt.” Dakvidih spoke and they all mumbled in agreement.
-
Maya was laying on her back inside the silent hut, feeling once again that she was wasting her time being so far away from the war. It had been more than two hours now, and most of that time they had all been quiet. Of course Alexia was the one who tried to spark up a conversation now and then, but Terry was shy, Dak was still a little suspicious and Maya just didn’t care. Her thoughts traveled to Rumak again. That man was the closest thing to family he had and the last time they saw Maya had threatened him with her blade. I really hope that wasn’t the last time we ever saw each other.
“So…” Alexia spoke up again. “What do y’all think about the big wall of the crows?” The hut was awkwardly silent after the question and Maya looked at Alexia with a slightly confused expression, raising her eyebrows.
“What do you mean?” Terry asked with his shy and quiet voice. Alexia chuckled – once again without getting any kind of response from anyone in the hut.
“Perhaps my question was a little weird…” Alexia spoke with the usual smirk on her face. “What I meant was, why do you think it was built in the first place?”
“Because of the Others of course.” Terry answered immediately, like there was no question about it. Maya had of course heard the story about the Others and the Long Night, but she wasn’t really sure what to think about all that. More likely it was just the bastards of the south building a wall to keep the Free Folk away from them.
“I know the stories, Terry…” Alexia started, but she was cut off by Dakvidih.
“They are not just stories.” The young boy said very seriously, putting emphasis on every word. Maya wondered why he was so adamant about this. “My father has seen them with his own eyes, and I believe my father.” Terry nodded in agreement.
“Your father told me about it too, the last time I was here.” He said quietly. “About the blue eyes of the dead in snowstorm.”
“Yes.” Dak answered quietly. “It was during our clan lived on the Land of Always Winter.” The boy let out a sad sigh, but Maya thought it was ridiculous.
“And were you even alive during all that, boy?” She asked with skeptic tone, making Dak shot a glare at her. Before Dak could answer a deep and strong voice spoke from the doorway of the hut.
“He wasn’t.” The voice said calmly. They all shifted their attention to the man on the doorway. He was tall and broad shouldered, his black hair had it first hints of grey, and the look on his deep blue eyes was calm and wise, but also full of grief. “I was hardly a grown man myself then. It was my father’s clan that faced them… the Others. He was a hero, but even he could not defeat those monsters. Almost our whole clan was killed in that snowstorm. We ran away, those of us who survived. And during my life after that I’ve had my problems with Hornfoots, Nightrunners, you name it. But nothing will ever shock me like those blue eyes of the dead.”
“Well… That’s an interesting story.” Alexia said, with a little less joyful tone than usually. Interesting bedtime story.
“I guess you could see it that way.” The man said calmly and sat down. “I’m Arvid Halvor, leader of this clan. Now, I suppose my son found you trustworthy since you are sitting here, but I’d still like to hear who you are.” Maya had to admit that this man seemed strong and charismatic – there was something similar in him with Raymun.
“I’m Terry Snowflake, perhaps you remember me.” Terry was of course the first one to answer, since clearly he had a high respect for these people. “I visited eight years ago, stayed for couple weeks then.” For a moment Arvid looked at Terry, eyeing him from head to toes.
“Yes… I remember.” He said finally with a hint of a smile on his face. The smile washed away quickly as he turned his eyes to Maya and Alexia. “So who are you?”
Maya stayed silent as Alexia explained with her friendly tone who they were and told the man about Raymun Redbeard. Again Arvid stayed quiet for a while, a thoughtful look on his eyes.
“A king…” He said finally and shook his head a little. “Well, not my problem. I hope you haven’t come all the way here to try and convince me to join your king, because I won’t.” He stated and Maya let out a sarcastic little laugh, making both Arvid and Dakvidih shot a glare at her.
“No.” Terry said quickly. “We came to meet Ivan Longbeard.” Now it was Arvid’s time to let out a laugh - even if Maya had no idea why.
“I’m pretty sure he has no interest in your king.” Arvid said calmly. “But sure, I can take you to him.” Alexia and Terry nodded to the man with grateful expressions on their faces. After that they all walked out of the hut. It was getting late, sun was already starting to fall behind the mountains.
“Would you like to go to Ivan now, or would you like to wait until morning?” Arvid asked casually. “He might not be very welcoming this late on the day.”
“We should wait.” Terry said immediately. “We must be as respectful towards him as we can.” Maya let out a sigh. I should be fighting a war, not waiting to meet some old man who might end up being totally useless.
“I understand your point Terry, but we shouldn’t waste any more time. The faster we get back to Raymun the better.” Alexia spoke with friendly but serious tone and Maya really wanted to agree with her. However, if they would give a bad first impression to this Ivan then this journey would surely have been for nothing…
[Meet Ivan now] [Wait until morning]
-
Not the best part ever, but I'm getting back from a break so don't hate ;D
[Wait until morning] With this type of choice I usually always chose to do it now, but this time I feel like it's better to wait till the morning.
[Wait until morning]
One night is not that much of a wait in the grand scale of things. At the same time, it might be important for their relation with Ivan. Terry brought up a good point, that waiting until he is ready to meet them might be the more respectful thing. Ivan sounds like a proud guy, someone who might be hard to talk to if he is displeased about something, so waiting sounds like the better option by all means.
Mmm, I don't know. I'm so used to anything with Game of Thrones having a nice little twist. I fear if we wait then we may lose the chance, but then we may ruin it if we push things too far. I remember a girl I once fancied gave me the advice to take things slow and not to rush into things, so I'll honour her advice here. Wait until morning. Gods be good.
[Wait until morning]
[Meet Ivan now]
[Wait until morning]
[Wait until morning]
Vote closed! And Maya&co. will wait until morning before they go see Ivan. Probably a wise choice, since obviously Arvid knows the man and he said that he could be unwelcoming this late on the day...
Anyway, I was separated from my laptop a couple days so obviously the next part hasn't progressed much. Sorry about that, but give it a day or two, possibly three, and I'll give you a Rumak part
Rumak
Sundown was coming and the army of Fleshbearer started to build their camp. Another day of moving slowly had gone by. Rumak’s injuries on his right foot were slowly starting to heal, but it would still be a while before he could move like he used to. Or maybe I will never be able to move like I used to.
It was clear that Fleshbearer wanted desperately to find Raymun. He had sent scouts in every direction and tried to make the Nightrunners – including Rumak – to tell where he had ran. Rumak knew he had to say something so he said every time that Raymun had ran to Frostfangs. That wasn’t the truth of course and Rumak sensed that the Ice-River men didn’t believe him, but so far they had not done anything to him. Rumak knew where Raymun really would go – to his family. Raymun’s wife, Melinda, was a healer and of course the King would like to see his family during such desperate times.
Rumak walked towards one of the tents that was packed with injured and chained Nightrunners and Hornfoots. During these last few days Rumak had slept in those crowded tents, they weren’t comfortable, but at least he could sleep among his own people. Before Rumak reached the tents someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. Rumak turned around and saw a young Ice-River man who gazed at him with coldness in his eyes.
“The Savage wants to meet you.” He stated with commanding tone. Rumak nodded without questions, he had no option but to follow the whims of these people. Quietly he followed the young man through the camp. As he walked by Nightrunners, Hornfoots, Thenns and Ice-River men he was once again reminded of the cold atmosphere of this army. It was quiet, cold stares could be seen everywhere, no one trusted each other, no singing or laughing could be heard from anywhere. The death hangs above this army, just waiting to fall and destroy this unstable order. Finally Rumak and the young Ice-River man arrived to the huge tent of The Savage. Rumak walked in and saw the Ice-River clan leader sitting on his comfortable chair, two guards standing around him. He was staring at Rumak with a wicked smile on his thin face that was partly covered by his greasy black hair. The Savage was a tall and menacing man, and Rumak didn’t even want to know how he had earned his name. This man had been the first one to question Rumak about Raymun after the battle. Back then the questioning had been short and The Savage had supposedly believed Rumak’s story about Raymun’s plan to escape to the mountains in a situation like this. Perhaps he doesn’t believe that anymore.
“Nice to meet you again, Rumak.” The Savage said calmly, but even behind such calm and friendly words there was something that sent shivers down Rumak’s spine.
“Is there something you want from me?” Rumak asked with determined but still calm tone. “I have already told you all I know.”
“So you say.” The Savage simply stated and let out a disturbing little chuckle. “I have heard other kind of rumors lately.” The smirk on The Savage’s face disappeared as his dark gaze fell on Rumak.
“Rumors?” Rumak asked with a hint of unease on his voice and The Savage answered with a slow nod. This isn’t good. “What do you mean by that?”
“I have heard that Raymun Redbeard would have a family somewhere in the southern Haunted Forest. I’m sure you know his family well, you were his most trusted man after all. Tell me about it.” The tone on The Savage’s last words was chilling.
“He has a family, that’s true.” Rumak stated, desperately trying to figure out what could he come up with.
“Go on.” The Savage whispered with threatening voice.
“If you think that is where you will find him you are wrong. He wouldn’t go there and risk his family. His plan was to run to the Frostfangs.” Rumak said as convincingly as he could. A small smirk appeared on The Savage’s face.
“That is what you have told us. However, let’s assume for a while that he would have indeed ran to his family. Where exactly can we find them?” The Savage looked at Rumak with all the terrifying power in his eyes, making Rumak’s heart beat faster and faster.
“The southern Haunted Forest.” Rumak answered quietly and The Savage let out a dreadful laughter. Rumak gulped as the laughing was over and The Savage’s face turned dead serious again. The Savage clapped his hands and his guards took out their blades.
“More specifically, please.” He hissed, and Rumak nodded quickly. What the fuck should I tell to this monster? I can’t reveal where Raymun is…
“Close to the coast of Shivering Sea.” Rumak said, praying in his mind that The Savage wouldn’t detect his lie. “His family lives in a village called Night Hill.” Rumak chose a village he knew to be abandoned. The Savage’s guards put their blades away and a pensive look fell on the man’s pale face.
“If that’s true we are marching to completely different direction.” He said quietly. He raised his eyes to Rumak again. Rumak could tell the man wasn’t completely convinced, but he nodded to Rumak anyway. “You can go now, Nightrunner. If I find out that you lied to me, you will suffer.” Rumak nodded quickly, and turned away from The Savage. He took a deep breath as he walked out of the tent. I have a bad feeling about this.
-
As Rumak was getting closer to the tents of the Nightrunners and Hornfoots he was once again interrupted. This time it was Ariyana and Arienne. Neither of them had suffered real injuries on the battle, but Ariyana had lost many of her close friends and Arienne had lost her clan leader Harron Crowsbane. Rumak didn’t know much about Arienne but she knew that she had been the closest advisor of Harron.
“Rumak.” Ariyana said to him in the darkness of the camp with severe tone. “There is something I’d like to tell you.”
“And what could that be?” Rumak asked with almost bored tone, he just wanted to go to sleep and try to forget his conversation with The Savage. Ariyana however looked at him with all the seriousness in her eyes.
“There will be a meeting this night.” She whispered. “A meeting between people who want to destroy Fleshbearer.”
“That sounds… Dangerous.” Rumak said in bafflement. I definitely didn’t expect something like this to happen, not so soon. Arienne chuckled and shook her head.
“I told you he would be too much of a coward.” She said with a rude tone, but Rumak just sighed lazily.
“There is a difference between being brave and being just stupid.” Rumak said, but Arienne just shook her head again and muttered something for an answer.
“Look, Rumak, we all know Fleshbearer can’t keep up this army for long. And if those who are against him unite there is a better chance that this won’t end on all of us being murdered in our sleep.” Ariyana explained, but Rumak wasn’t really convinced.
“And how is that? I think provoking Fleshbearer will only make it more certain that we will be murdered in our sleep.” Rumak said, but he could see the determination in Ariyana’s eyes. She surely won’t back down from this.
“You overestimate Fleshbearer, Rumak. That beast doesn’t know first thing about ruling, his power will collapse and when it happens we need every man and woman so we can fight for our freedom.” Ariyana spoke with passion in her words, but Rumak just let out a tired sigh. It would surely be risky, but perhaps she is right. “So, will you come to the meeting or not?”
[Go to the meeting] [Don't go to the meeting]
[Go to the meeting]
[Go to the meeting]
Ariyana is right. They have to unite if they want to have any chance to take down Fleshbearer. Aside from that, he is indeed a pretty terrible ruler. He is a fearsome warrior, but the moment he shows any weakness, pretty much everyone will turn against him. A guy like that has to be taken down not only because I hate his guts, but also because he is a danger to pretty much everyone beyond the wall, not only to his enemies, but to his questionable allies as well.
[Go to the meeting]
I agree with Liquid, Fleshbearer needs to go. Though it is more The Savage that worries me, he seems to me to be the more intellectual and strategic man of the two. Anyway, they are Free Folk and they wish to stand for their rights. It would be dangerous for Rumak to stay in custody of the already dying army.
[Go to the meeting]
[Go to the meeting]
Vote closed. And Rumak will go to the meeting. This was pretty much expectable - even if it's clear that something like this could prove to be very dangerous for Rumak who after all is under The Savage's eyes.
And then sadly I have some bad news. I haven't been active with this story recently, I haven't even chosen yet whose PoV will be next, and the writing most likely wont start for another couple days at least. The reason is that I've been very sick lately, my temperature has been almost up to 40°C at worst and I've also had a very painful cough. So, yesterday I was diagnosed with pneumonia and I'm taking two antibiotics and pretty much staying on bed or couch for a week now. However, when I get better, I'll get back to writing.
Ugh, that sounds painful
I hope you get well soon!
I had pneumonia as bacterial and viral at the age of three, overlapping each other. I understand your pain, and I hope you recover soon.
[Go to the meeting]
So I got better during the weekend but I had my schedule pretty full Monday and Tuesday. However, I'd like to announce that I'm starting to write again now, and the next part will be a Lenlie PoV. Hard to say how long will it take to write this part, but even if I'm being very slow it should be ready by weekend. I hope I get it done faster though. Anywho, I'm back at writing now
Another post (sorry about that
), but as the part is almost ready (just needs some polishing) I feel like there is a need for a small recap. It has been awhile since the last Lenlie part after all.
So, in the Chapter 2 the most important choice for Lenlie was to return to the Vale of Thenn with Princess Sigira and Gorgar the Frozen (instead of marching to war). As they returned to the Vale and the Magnar's Hall, Sigira's cousin Skrynor was waiting for them, as well as one of his warriors, Yrma. As Sigira told that she had been sent back to look after her little brother Storg, Skrynor said that he had been given the same exact mission. After that Skyrnor turned his attention to Lenlie, asking who exactly is Lenlie loyal to. You chose for her to answer that she is loyal to Princess Sigira. After that Lenlie, Gorgar and Sigira went to look after Storg who was playing with another Thenn kid at the yard of the Magnar's Hall. Sigira however left to go meet her cousin in private, which left Lenlie with decision if she wanted to spend time with Gorgar or not. You chose for her to stay and spend time with Gorgar, and that is where we start the next part.
Here the part finally comes... I recommend reading the recap above first though ^^
-
Lenlie
Lenlie was sitting next to Gorgar in the chilling weather of the Vale of Thenn. They were at the yard of the Magnar’s Hall, watching Storg, son of Krygorn, sparring with his friend Sverik Varalaf. Lenlie was watching the boys but her thoughts were elsewhere. She remembered her home. There wasn’t much she missed from the Ice Rivers, but it was still her home and something about it kept haunting her mind. I guess this could become my new home - eventually. She glanced quickly at Gorgar who was looking at the kids with a warm smile on his face. Lenlie had to admit to herself that her opinion of this man had changed during these past weeks. Before she had seen nothing but an arrogant womanizer, but it was clear by now that there was much more to Gorgar. He seemed always so warm and friendly, someone who could always be trusted. That’s why Princess Sigira respects him so much.
“I hope Skyrnor or Yrma didn’t make you feel unwelcome.” Gorgar said finally, with gentle tone. “And even if they did, don’t care about it. It’s Sigira whose opinion matters, and she likes you.” Gorgar had a friendly smile on his face as he spoke. Lenlie nodded and gulped.
“And what about you?” She asked shyly, and as she looked at Gorgar she continued with haste. “I mean, do you think I’m welcome here… In your lands.”
“My lands?” Gorgar let out a hearty laughter. “Oh dear, even if every other Thenn would say you are not welcome in this Vale, I’d still gladly take you to my house.”
“Even if Sigira would disagree?” Lenlie asked with serious tone and looked Gorgar to the eyes.
“You heard what I said.” Gorgar answered immediately, now with calm and assured voice. “Even if every other Thenn would disagree.” He said, putting emphasis on the word every. Lenlie sighed. I’m not sure how much of his words I can believe. Suddenly Gorgar grabbed Lenlie’s hand, making her heart beat faster and warmth raise to her cheeks. Oh gods, I’m blushing.
“What is important now is that you feel safe and happy.” Gorgar said quietly, almost whispering. “You have been through a lot. If there is anything I can do to make you feel better, I’ll do it.” Part of Lenlie wanted to pull her hand away from Gorgar, but she just couldn’t, too much of her just wanted to let go and believe everything Gorgar said, surrender to him. She turned her eyes to this man, feeling unsure, but at the same time somehow confident.
“What are you two doing?” Storg’s voice surprised them both and Gorgar let out an awkward laugh as he let go of Lenlie's hand.
“What do you mean? We are watching you over of course!” Gorgar scratched his head as he spoke and Storg just rolled with his eyes.
“Then you are doing a bad job. Besides, I don’t need anyone watching me over.” Storg spoke with bored tone. “I’ll go inside now - no need to come ‘watch me over’ there.” Both Gorgar and Lenlie nodded quickly as the young boy walked away.
“Well… that was embarrassing.” Gorgar said and they both let out a laugh. “Ah… We are lucky you know, being here, away from the war.” Lenlie looked at Gorgar, being slightly surprised of what he just said.
“But don’t you feel like you should be fighting for your Magnar?” She asked, trying not to sound offensive. Gorgar let out a little chuckle.
“Oh yes, that’s what I should be saying, that I would love to be in the battlefield, that I would love to die for the Magnar. But let’s be honest… War is not a good place for anyone.” His voice was surprisingly serious with those last words. “And I’m not saying that I’m not ready to fight for what I love or respect, but in the end there are much better ways to spend your days than killing strangers on a battlefield.”
“Like what?” Lenlie asked quietly, but before Gorgar could answer Princess Sigira walked to them with a frustrated look on her face. Gorgar looked a little disappointed of this interruption, but he stayed calm and friendly.
“What is it, Princess?” Gorgar asked with a friendly tone.
“Nothing, it’s just my cousin.” Sigira answered, but she couldn’t keep the anger away from her voice.
“Skrynor?” Lenlie looked at Sigira with a bit of concern in her eyes. This could be about me. “What does he want?”
“Oh, he just wanted to make it clear that until my father comes back he is in charge here. Because obviously a princess can’t lead Thenns.” Sigira’s words were bitter and Lenlie could see the anger in her eyes.
“And who is he to say this?” Gorgar asked, a touch of frustration was now in his words too. Sigira sighed.
“He has ensured his backing here, and I have no interest in starting a war. I suppose I can bear this until my father returns.” Sigira sat next to Lenlie as she spoke. There they sat, all three of them, quietly on the yard of the Magnar’s Hall. “Why did he have to send me here?” Sigira spoke more to herself than to anyone else. “I feel so useless.” For a moment everyone was silent again, but then Lenlie cleared her throat.
“Don’t worry, my Princess.” Lenlie said as softly as she could, and put her arm around Sigira. She took a deep breath, gave a small look at Gorgar and then turned back to Sigira again. “Your father loves you, and he knows that war is not a good place for anyone. That’s why he sent you home.”
No decision
-
This obviously wasn't the most exciting part (and pretty short too), but it worked as a moment for Lenlie to bond even more with both Gorgar and Sigira. Plus it made the political situation clear at the Magnar's Hall. Much will change though when Skjorn and pals arrive with some news, but that's for the future...
Oh, and sorry for now choice this time, but this was a sort of an end before a new act begins in the story of these characters.
Glad to know you're feeling better and back at it!
I really liked this part, as you said it was the bonding and it would really seem that Lenlie and Gorgar could go somewhere. I do worry for the leadership of the Thenn's though. I do not know what would be a better choice for the new Magnar of Thenn's - Both Skyrnor and Sigira are young - and it would appear to put the Vale in danger if the Dying army of the Ice Rivers were to try anything drastic. Personally I would like to see Skyrnor be Magnar, but birthrights and what not will beat my bias wishes XD
Anyway, great parts and great news for your recovery! Looking forward to more great parts when you get the time
Thanks, was a nasty disease but antibiotics are a savior
I have also already started to write the new part, which will be Argus PoV.
What comes to leadership of Thenns, I can already say that Sigira won't be the Magnar. Not that I wouldn't make a woman Magnar, but the Thenn most likely wouldn't. Anyway, a possibility of her being a sort of regent until her little brother Storg comes of age exists. And so does the possibility of Skyrnor becoming the Magnar.
Oh dear, I keep forgetting that the story is still currently set before the events of Raymun passing the Wall. Now I seriously worry that Skyrnor may actually want to hold the position, leading to conflict amongst the Thenns when Storg comes of age. Anyway, just speculation.
Hello! Last week I pretty much stayed off internet (at least all the fun stuff) because I was doing a project that has a deadline today. In other words, I'll now get back to that Argus pov that I started to write a while ago. So you can expect that in couple days
Sorry for the break!
Argus
The beautiful purple eyes of this strange foreign girl stared at Argus, making it hard for him to think. They had just met and the girl was already trying to make Argus reveal Emilio’s plans. Not that Argus really knew much about Emilio or his plans – he had after all just met him yesterday. Argus gulped and surrendered under the magic of those beautiful eyes of Ella.
“Um, Emilio, he is marching to war with us… me and Alistair.” Argus said and Alistair nodded in agreement. For a small moment Ella’s eyes narrowed, but then the smile returned to her face – although now it was less convincing.
“To war? Are you sure about this?” She asked with a touch of confusion in her words. Argus was thinking what to answer to this, but Alistair was quicker.
“Of course.” He blurted, and took a big gulp from his ale. “What else would a sellsword be doing in Winterfell?” Now Ella’s expression turned even more confused.
“Sellsword?” She said, sounding almost amused. “I don’t know much about that skinny boy, but I know he is not a sellsword… And he isn’t going to war.”
“Well, he did say he wants to go to war and he came to the Great Hall of Winterfell with me to meet Lord Beron so that he could swear fealty.” Argus felt like he was explaining all this to himself more than to Ella – just to convince himself that there was nothing weird in this.
“So he needed you to get to the Lord.” Ella said quietly. Argus nodded, trying to think why Emilio would do that if not to get hired as a sellsword. “Thank you for answering my questions, boys.” The beautiful girl said almost coldly, and quickly turned away from them without waiting for an answer.
“I don’t like Emilio much, but maybe we shouldn’t have told anything to her… Seems like an evil bitch.” Alistair said with a grumpy look on his face.
“You are just saying that because she didn’t want to spend time with us.” Argus said with a sigh. Though there is something weird about this.
“And you are just saying that because she happens to be beautiful.” Alistair answered with sullen tone. Argus didn’t bother to answer, he had too much going in his head. Today he had vowed to fight for Starks, he was going to a war, and then there was this mystery around Emilio. And tomorrow he, and at least Alistair if not Emilio, would sign their contracts. In the future I should find a house that I can offer my sword permanently, I don’t want to be signing contracts for the rest of my life. Argus and Alistair spent the rest of the day in the tavern, without any more interruptions.
-
Argus woke up early in the morning. He stayed in the bed, there was no haste, and for a while he just silently stared at the wooden ceiling of his room. After some time he started to hear noises from outside. Argus raised from his bed and walked to the window with tired steps. As he opened the shutters he saw who was keeping the noise. The street under him was crowded with the Skagosi, Lord Lonnel Crowl leading the lot on a horseback. Lady Genna Magnar rode next to him, as did Lady Miranna Stane. Rest of the men were on foot, except for couple men on the back of the group who were clearly Stark men. Argus thought that the Skagosi looked like how he had imagined the wildlings to look like. Then again, that’s what they basically are.
“To war!” Lord Crowl yelled and the Skagosi behind him cheered. Argus was slightly jealous – these men got to march to war today whereas he would have to wait for the Boltons to arrive. On the other hand the Skagosi forces were really small and marching to Saltspear where they would most likely not even see a battle. I’m not sure if that even is a bad thing. Being a soldier – and at some point a knight – was the only career Argus could have, so he needed experience on battles. He turned away from the window, put his clothes on and walked down to the tavern.
For Argus’ surprise Alistair was already waiting for him downstairs. He looked tired and nervous and as Argus approached him he greeted him only with a small nod.
“Well good morning to you too.” Argus said quietly, but Alistair just gave him a glare and stayed silent. “I suppose we should go make our contracts.” Argus continued and Alistair nodded to him with a dead serious look on his eyes.
The Skagosi had disappeared from the streets of Winter Town, making it hauntingly silent as Argus and Alistair made their way through it to the Winterfell. The soldiers guarding the gate only gave them a bored glance as they walked past them. They arrived to the courtyard that much quieter than it had been yesterday. On the middle of the yard Tharn the Stone – a warrior they had met yesterday – was teaching two young boys with dulled training swords. They boys were at their early teens if Argus had to guess, most likely sons of Beron.
“At that age I thought I would never even get to touch a sword.” Alistair said with monotonous words and Argus turned his look to him.
“But you dreamed about it.” Argus stated – unlike Alistair he had been trained with sword, but he knew what boys at that age dreamed about. And Alistair nodded.
“Let’s just go.” He muttered, and Argus grunted in agreement. They made their way to the almost empty Great Hall of Winterfell, where a nobleman on his late thirties sat by one of the tables and opposed to him stood a warrior, who was approximately same age with the nobleman, with silver hair, thick beard and a glorious dark armor with golden ornaments. Two swords were hanging from the sides of the warrior, five daggers were strapped to his chest, and on top of all that he had a great sword hanging on is back. No shortage of weapons I see. Neither of the men paid attention to Argus or Alistair.
“This is just ridiculous.” The nobleman – who Argus expected to be Lord Brandon Icestark – said with frustrated tone. The look on the warrior’s face remained calm.
“Surely Lord Beron knew my services would be expensive when he summoned me.” The warrior said with his deep voice.
“Oh yes, of course, Marcyn of Izulepsia – the one man army!” Icestark said with mocking tone. “Yet we’ve never actually seen you on action, and you ask for thousand gold dragons!”
“It’s a reasonable price, I often ask more.” Marcyn stated as an answer, and Icestark let out a deep sigh.
“If it were for me to decide, I’d tell you to go back to wherever you came from. But Beron wants you to join our army so I guess there is no way around it.” Brandon Icestark spoke and turned his blue eyes to this warrior with an angry gaze in them. “Here, sign the contract.” He said and put a paper and quill to the table. Marcyn of Izulepsia read through the contract, and finally signed it.
“It has been pleasure, Lord Icestark. I will show my worth at the battlefield.” Marcyn spoke with polite tone and Lord Brandon nodded with displeased expression on his face.
“I sure hope so.” He said quietly as the sellsword turned away from him. Marcyn acknowledged Argus and Alistair by a small gesture as he walked past them. Then Brandon Icestark noticed them. Argus had put on his tabard that displayed the sigil of House Keding.
“You are the one from the Vale, right?” Icestark asked, still a touch of frustration on his voice.
“Yes my lord, I am Argus of House Keding.” He answered as they walked to the table that Icestark was sitting at. For a moment Icestark was silent as he looked for their contracts from the pile of papers next to him. Finally he found them, and put three papers to the table.
“You were supposed to have two companions.” Icestark stated, slightly confused.
“We haven’t seen Emilio Rivers… apparently he won’t march to the war with us.” Argus explained calmly. Lord Icestark sighed and put one of the papers away.
“Well, the payments for you are fifty gold dragons to Argus Keding, and hundred silver stags to Alistair… the Bloodsword.” Icestark read from the papers, and Argus felt slightly embarrassed about the silly nickname Alistair had gave himself.
“That will do.” Argus said but for his surprise Alistair spoke up.
“No, it won’t.” He said with decisive tone. Argus grabbed him from the shoulder.
“What in the seven hells, Alistair?” He muttered to him, but Alistair ignored him.
“It’s true that I’ve only had a brief training, but I’m putting my life on the line just as much as Argus or anyone else.” Alistair spoke with serious but still calm words. “Hundred silver stags will not do. I am a sellsword, and I know my price. I ask for five gold dragons.”
“You should be thankful that Lord Beron pays you at all.” Lord Icestrak said, clearly annoyed.
“I can share from my reward.” Argus whispered to Alistair, but he shook his head.
“That’s not it, it’s not about the money itself.” Alistair said decisively. “I know my price.” Lord Icestark shook his head and let out a chuckle full of disbelief.
“Sorry boy, but you are not worth five gold dragons.” He said coldly, making Alistair give him an angry glare. Seven hells, what to do now? If Argus would side with Alistair, they might lose their chance to work for the Starks. And if he sided with Icestark, Alistair might take it badly.
[Side with Alistair] [Side with Lord Icestark] [Suggest a compromise]
Sorry for taking so long with this
For some reason this was hard one to write and I really had to think how to make it less boring - not sure if I succeeded. On hindsight I should have just put this part aside for awhile and write another one. But now it's ready and I can move on 