I can reveal however that Jenna now knows about Sherryl's interest in Leonard's death and it is unlikely that she will not reveal at least this information towards him. Even if she will give the documents to Saerya, the least she can do is to warn Leonard about Sherryl.
And then Leonard can make like a tree and leave. Or instead confront her and lead to an inevitable bad time for someone.
Federico is 19, while Saerya is 23. So, while he is indeed young, as well as a bit younger than her, the age difference between them is not very noticeable. Federico is totally fine with this situation.
I mean let's be honest if you or I were in the situation I think we'd both be, so I totally understand that.
The "right people" include a wide variety, but are limited to Ser Lucas Flowers (although his actions recently make him sketchy), Lord Donne… morel Selwyn, William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton, Blind Sniper, and Commander Shepard. Yikes, getting him killed a possibility? I don't know man. Sketchy.
I can confirm, Bill Clinton and Blind Sniper are both among the people who would get access to this document. Lord Donnel Selwyn is another likely possibility, no one can read documents like him. Although they would look huge in his tiny hands. Lucas meanwhile is unlikely to ever see the documents if Saerya would get them, since he is now sworn to House Durrandon, a declared enemy of House Targaryen. Other right people in Saerya's eyes will include her contacts in Dragonstone and you know nothing about them or what they might have in mind for Leonard. And yes, if the wrong people gain knowledge about the death warrant, then Leonard will be in severe d… [view original content]
Jenna is going to hand the death warrant over to Saerya
This one was important, I believe that much should be obvious. Now, Saerya holds important evidence against Sherryl, but this evidence might also cause trouble for Leonard, either intentional or unintentional on Saerya's part. That said, it is also possible that giving Leonard the evidence would have led to different trouble and that this is actually going to be good for him. You'll get the answer in future parts.
The next part is going to feature PoV's from Richard and Marak. Especially Marak is going to get a lot of spotlight in the remaining chapter, because I realized that I can't continue Raenna's storyline before I have finished his. That means, you'll see him again pretty soon. As for Richard, this part is his last one in this chapter. The last time we saw him, he and Vaasrand followed the beast deeper into the woods, where they found their heavily wounded friend Than. As it turned out, the beast was merely playing with them, making them nervous and anxious and it obviously followed them in safe distance when they brought Than back to the group. Soon afterwards, during a heated argument between Roman and Vaasrand, they got attacked by wolves. During this attack, Than got killed and Hal got wounded, while Ed panicked and fled up a tree. Finally, Richard found himself face to face with the beast, which was revealed to be an enormous and frighteningly intelligent direwolf. Only Roman's intervention saved Richard's life, who was left with three choices. He could either help Roman in fighting the beast itself, he could help Vaasrand, who was cornered by plenty of wolves, or he could help Axell and Hal, who were attacked by relatively few wolves. He decided for the latter and his next part will decide who lives and who dies.
Meanwhile, in Marak's last part, he successfully managed to enter the small farmhouse of the strange Otis Shiff, who had previously agreed to hide Ellena. Marak also managed to find her and after a short struggle, he knocked her unconscious. A bit later, Noelle arrived at the house, after she dealt with Archmaester Wulvren. In exchange for shelter for the night, she agreed to treat the wounds of Otis' daughter, whose name seems to be either Rachel or Sara. Otis himself claimed she got attacked by wolves, but Noelle immediately realized that her wounds have been inflicted with a sharp weapon and that Otis had lied to her. Marak decided to press him into revealing the truth.
Anyways, I hope to finish this part today! I had some new troubles with my PC lately and that slowed down my writing, but I am confident that I will have a lot of time today and I will do my best to finish the part.
And now I have a brand new shout-out for you! This time, it is a very special shout-out and I hope you're going to check it out. You all know @AgentZ46. What you probably don't know is that he recently started his own story here in the Game of Thrones section. It is named The Cost of Loyalty and it is set during the time of Robert's Rebellion. More precisely, the story deals with the last days of House Branfield and it is told from the point of views of Gregor Forrester and Malcolm Branfield during a time where both of them have been young men. It also features younger versions of canon characters, like Royland Degore, Duncan Tuttle or Ludd Whitehill and, of course, your own submitted characters. The story has started very recently and so far, Agent has released the prologue and the beginning of the first chapter, so you can be part of the story from the very beginning if you join now. I can guarantee, you're in for a good time, because Agent is a great writer. As always with these shout-outs, I believe the story could use more readers and I hope you might be able to help out. Check the story out here!
The Voting is closed!
Jenna is going to hand the death warrant over to Saerya
This one was important, I believe that much should be ob… morevious. Now, Saerya holds important evidence against Sherryl, but this evidence might also cause trouble for Leonard, either intentional or unintentional on Saerya's part. That said, it is also possible that giving Leonard the evidence would have led to different trouble and that this is actually going to be good for him. You'll get the answer in future parts.
The next part is going to feature PoV's from Richard and Marak. Especially Marak is going to get a lot of spotlight in the remaining chapter, because I realized that I can't continue Raenna's storyline before I have finished his. That means, you'll see him again pretty soon. As for Richard, this part is his last one in this chapter. The last time we saw him, he and Vaasrand followed the beast deeper into the woods, where they found their heavily w… [view original content]
The Voting is closed!
Jenna is going to hand the death warrant over to Saerya
This one was important, I believe that much should be ob… morevious. Now, Saerya holds important evidence against Sherryl, but this evidence might also cause trouble for Leonard, either intentional or unintentional on Saerya's part. That said, it is also possible that giving Leonard the evidence would have led to different trouble and that this is actually going to be good for him. You'll get the answer in future parts.
The next part is going to feature PoV's from Richard and Marak. Especially Marak is going to get a lot of spotlight in the remaining chapter, because I realized that I can't continue Raenna's storyline before I have finished his. That means, you'll see him again pretty soon. As for Richard, this part is his last one in this chapter. The last time we saw him, he and Vaasrand followed the beast deeper into the woods, where they found their heavily w… [view original content]
The Voting is closed!
Jenna is going to hand the death warrant over to Saerya
This one was important, I believe that much should be ob… morevious. Now, Saerya holds important evidence against Sherryl, but this evidence might also cause trouble for Leonard, either intentional or unintentional on Saerya's part. That said, it is also possible that giving Leonard the evidence would have led to different trouble and that this is actually going to be good for him. You'll get the answer in future parts.
The next part is going to feature PoV's from Richard and Marak. Especially Marak is going to get a lot of spotlight in the remaining chapter, because I realized that I can't continue Raenna's storyline before I have finished his. That means, you'll see him again pretty soon. As for Richard, this part is his last one in this chapter. The last time we saw him, he and Vaasrand followed the beast deeper into the woods, where they found their heavily w… [view original content]
I would like to name a second recommendation for @FluidStickyBen who began A New Age, and it is happening in the future of Westeros, as such you are free of many canon story burdens (and plot armor) and your House may win big or lose terribly. No one is ensured to survive, to fail, or to prosper.
The Voting is closed!
Jenna is going to hand the death warrant over to Saerya
This one was important, I believe that much should be ob… morevious. Now, Saerya holds important evidence against Sherryl, but this evidence might also cause trouble for Leonard, either intentional or unintentional on Saerya's part. That said, it is also possible that giving Leonard the evidence would have led to different trouble and that this is actually going to be good for him. You'll get the answer in future parts.
The next part is going to feature PoV's from Richard and Marak. Especially Marak is going to get a lot of spotlight in the remaining chapter, because I realized that I can't continue Raenna's storyline before I have finished his. That means, you'll see him again pretty soon. As for Richard, this part is his last one in this chapter. The last time we saw him, he and Vaasrand followed the beast deeper into the woods, where they found their heavily w… [view original content]
I would like to name a second recommendation for @FluidStickyBen who began A New Age, and it is happening in the future of Westeros, as such… more you are free of many canon story burdens (and plot armor) and your House may win big or lose terribly. No one is ensured to survive, to fail, or to prosper.
What you said is true, absolutely. A New Age is another new GoT story here and on my list of stories that need a shout-out. It is a great story set in the years after the original story of Game of Thrones has ended and I'm very excited about it and the possibilities it holds. However, I only give one shout-out a time for a good reason. The shout-outs already have much less success than I hope and giving more than one shout-out a time could easily be too much to be of any use, since I can't possibly ask of my readers to check out two new stories at once, that would honestly be a bit much. As a matter of fact, it is my plan to give A New Age a proper shout-out very soon, but not directly together with The Cost of Loyalty as I think that could end up being less successful for both stories if potentially interested readers may end up choosing between the two instead of checking out both. And well, I absolutely want new readers for both, so I can only urge the others to give these stories a chance to get really big
I would like to name a second recommendation for @FluidStickyBen who began A New Age, and it is happening in the future of Westeros, as such… more you are free of many canon story burdens (and plot armor) and your House may win big or lose terribly. No one is ensured to survive, to fail, or to prosper.
What you said is true, absolutely. A New Age is another new GoT story here and on my list of stories that need a shout-out. It is a great st… moreory set in the years after the original story of Game of Thrones has ended and I'm very excited about it and the possibilities it holds. However, I only give one shout-out a time for a good reason. The shout-outs already have much less success than I hope and giving more than one shout-out a time could easily be too much to be of any use, since I can't possibly ask of my readers to check out two new stories at once, that would honestly be a bit much. As a matter of fact, it is my plan to give A New Age a proper shout-out very soon, but not directly together with The Cost of Loyalty as I think that could end up being less successful for both stories if potentially interested readers may end up choosing between the two instead of checking out both. And well, I absolutely want new readers for both, so I can only urge the others to give these stories a chance to get really big
My bad! It is not the first time I make that mistake, but the first time I don't see it before posting. I believe I have heard that title before, probably in a Walking Dead fanfiction and it kind of stuck with me ever since and since the two words sound so similar, I always end up mixing them up. Thank you for correcting me on this, I really need to get that into my head XD
FluidStickyBen and LiquidChicagoTed have awfully similar names. Has anyone ever seen them in the same room? Is it possible we have a multiple personality situation going on here?!?!?!
What you said is true, absolutely. A New Age is another new GoT story here and on my list of stories that need a shout-out. It is a great st… moreory set in the years after the original story of Game of Thrones has ended and I'm very excited about it and the possibilities it holds. However, I only give one shout-out a time for a good reason. The shout-outs already have much less success than I hope and giving more than one shout-out a time could easily be too much to be of any use, since I can't possibly ask of my readers to check out two new stories at once, that would honestly be a bit much. As a matter of fact, it is my plan to give A New Age a proper shout-out very soon, but not directly together with The Cost of Loyalty as I think that could end up being less successful for both stories if potentially interested readers may end up choosing between the two instead of checking out both. And well, I absolutely want new readers for both, so I can only urge the others to give these stories a chance to get really big
Oh my god My secret has been uncovered! How have you... how can you know that?
Wait, no, no, I'm totally playing it cool. I am definitely not the same person... uh, I mean, we are definitely not the same person. I, and with that I mean Ben, is a completely different person and definitely not me at all. Certainly, I... I mean, we... Certainly, we don't have to silence anyone that uncovers the truth, that would be ridiculous, because there is no truth to uncover. I mean, of course there is a truth to uncover and it is the truth that FluidStickyBen and LiquidChicagoTed are not the same person. We swear!
FluidStickyBen and LiquidChicagoTed have awfully similar names. Has anyone ever seen them in the same room? Is it possible we have a multiple personality situation going on here?!?!?!
Oh my god My secret has been uncovered! How have you... how can you know that?
Wait, no, no, I'm totally playing it cool. I am definitel… morey not the same person... uh, I mean, we are definitely not the same person. I, and with that I mean Ben, is a completely different person and definitely not me at all. Certainly, I... I mean, we... Certainly, we don't have to silence anyone that uncovers the truth, that would be ridiculous, because there is no truth to uncover. I mean, of course there is a truth to uncover and it is the truth that FluidStickyBen and LiquidChicagoTed are not the same person. We swear!
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The latter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting into Hal’s face, as it attacked Axell’s now unguarded back. It rammed its entire body into his back, biting down into his side in the process and sending him falling forwards, right into the other wolves.
That was the moment where Richard arrived. Swinging his sword more like a sickle he cut into the neck of the wolf that just tried to plunge its teeth into Axell’s neck. He did not decapitate it, though the blow was heavy enough to cause a lethal wound. Whimpering, the animal staggered backwards and quickly fell down.
The remaining three wolves that had surrounded the farmers now focused on Richard. The one that had previously attacked Axell let go of the farmhand, growled viciously and approached Richard from the left, while the other two circled around him from the right.
Richard gulped and pointed his sword at the single wolf to his left. While he left himself open for an attack by the other two wolves, this move gave Hal exactly the opportunity he had hoped for. With his wounded leg, the young farmer was unable to stand, though he managed to get to his knees in considerable speed, as his rammed his spear into the hind leg of the wolf. “This one’s for Than!”, he screamed, as he held the snapping animal down with one hand, repeatedly ramming his spear into its body with the other.
A second wolf started to charge at Richard. Just as it jumped into the air, Axell was between them, his pitchfork raised. Unable to stop at the speed it already had, the animal cleanly jumped into the makeshift weapon, impaling itself on the sharp metal, although its weight was enough to drag Axell to the ground with it.
Richard himself just barely managed to raise his sword towards the attacking third wolf, although he did not manage to get it into the right position to impale it. In turn, the weight of the wolf onto his injured leg was enough for him to fall to the ground in pain. Just barely did he manage to keep his sword pointed into the general direction of the wolf.
The animal heavily bit down on the steel, as it lay on top of Richard, with an uncharacteristic cruelty in its yellow eyes. For a moment, they stared at each other, before Richard grabbed the head of the beast with one hand and used his other hand to cut deep into its jaw with the sword. A gust of warm, stinking blood splattered over his face, as the wolf let out a pained howl that quickly turned into a whimpering, as its heavily distorted jaw nearly got separated from the rest of the head. With a disgusted look on his face, Richard finished the animal off by piercing the side of its head.
For a moment, Richard just lay on the ground, his eyes widely opened in panic, clinging to his sword, as the wolf on top of him did its last breath. Next to him, Axell sluggishly lifted his own dead wolf up, before his eyes widened. “Roman!”, he yelled.
Immediately, Richard glanced to the right, while he frantically tried to stand up, no easy feat with the dead animal on his chest and his leg thumping in pain. Roman stood in front of the beast, clinging to his long knife and pointing it right at the creature. The huge wolf opened its mouth, but it did not growl. It just grinned, revealing its long, pointy teeth, while saliva ran out between them. Then, it attacked.
Roman raised his knife above the head of the best, while its strong jaw heavily bit down into his chest. The eyes of Richard’s neighbor widened, while the beast lifted him up into the air. He tried to strike down at it with the knife in his hands, but only managed to deliver a weak scratch at the top of the beast’s snout. Then, his screams of rage turned into gasps, as his chest gave in.
For a second, the beast violently shook Roman around, audibly breaking a major part of his ribcage in the process. Then, it let go of the dying man, as Roman flew through the air and landed heavily on the ground. He was wheezing, unable to breath properly, but in a final act of defiance, he pointed his knife at the beast. “Fuck you…”, he gasped, as the direwolf attacked once again. This time, it bit down into his arm holding the knife, tearing it off at the shoulder, before immediately biting down at his head. It tore at it for a short moment, before removing it from the shoulders and hurling it through the air.
At this moment, Richard managed to remove the corpse of the wolf from his chest. Looking down at Roman’s mutilated, decapitated body, he felt a feeling of pure horror. This beast was a force of nature, stronger than anything he had ever seen. Unstoppable, viciously cruel and angry. How could they ever hope to even slow it down?
The beast fully focused on him, glaring out of yellow eyes. It opened its mouth to show its unsettling teeth, now stained with Roman’s blood. A deep growl came out of its throat, echoing from the surrounding trees. Then it lowered its head and charged.
It was Axell who saved Richard’s life. The farmhand heavily jumped against him while Richard was frozen in place, knocking him to the ground again, though the upper jaw of the beast hit him in the process, hurling him through the air and causing him to land on the ground a few feet away. Noticing that it hadn’t managed to harm Richard, the beast stopped and turned around, while he tried to crawl away from it. It was only then that Richard realized that he was screaming in terror. He did not want to die here, he wanted to live, for his children, for Jenna, for Arvin, Dylar and Dramin.
Desperately, he crawled towards Vaasrand, who had managed to reach a small knife strapped to his chest and who just now rammed it into the wolf that tried to gnaw through the thick leather that protected his neck.
“Hey!”, a voice sounded. The beast momentarily stopped, when something heavy hit its head. In mild, humanlike confusion, it glance over its shoulder, just as Richard did. “Yeah, that’s right!”, Ed yelled, raising his second boot. “And there’s more where that came from!”
The beast narrowed its eyes, but focused back on Richard, who was getting back to his feet in the very moment. He raised his sword. “Let’s get it over with…”, he muttered. Once again, the beast lowered its head, ready to charge, when suddenly a dagger flew past Richard through the air, piercing the direwolf’s thigh.
As Richard glanced over his shoulder in surprise, he saw Vaasrand, standing on his own. Over half a dozen dead wolves lay around him and he was covered in so much blood that Richard was unable to see how much of it was his own and how much belonged to the wolves. His sword, fine valyrian steel, was pointing right at the beast.
It was a wordless threat. Despite his wounds, the monster hunter stood there firmly, his gaze unbroken and glaring at the beast. In turn, the beast stopped. A low growl came out of its throat, as suddenly, something about its behavior changed. Only Richard was able to see it, standing almost eye to eye with the creature, but the look in its eyes suddenly shifted from rage to surprise, as the beast glanced towards the way they came from, towards the farmlands and the city beyond. It raised its head again, for a long, haunting howl and out of the forest, it was answered dozens of times. Speechless out of exhaustion, sorrow and pain, Richard saw how the beast turned around and charged down the way they came from, leaving them alone on the blood-soaked clearing.
The first to break the silence was Axell, though not with a word, but with a grunt. It was this noise that caused Richard to snap out of his shock-induced trance. He rushed towards the farmhand and knelt down next to him, ignoring the pain in his leg. “Axell”, he gasped. “Are you alright?” The farmhand gave him a nod. “Yeah…”, he mumbled. “A few cuts and bruises, but other than that, I’m good”
“Did… did we make it?”, Ed asked as he slowly climbed down his tree. He had lost both of his boots during the fight, though he did not seem to mind. “Not all of us”, Hal remarked glumly. The young farmer was bleeding out of the deep bite wounds on his leg but he was already able to sit again, as he was glancing at Than’s corpse, just as Richard’s gaze fell upon Roman’s mangled body.
“Gods…”, Axell gasped, as Richard helped him back to his feet. The farmhand did a majority of the work by himself. “Roman, he’s… he’s just…” His voice shivered, as he shook his head and a decisive look appeared in his eyes. “We can mourn the dead later. Now we have to get out of here. The beast, it’ll come back. I… I can’t believe it just ran away”
“It didn’t”, Vaasrand remarked and as Richard glance towards him, their gazes met. Then, the hunter fell forwards onto the ground, groaning in pain. “Damn it…”, he muttered. “Those beasts got me badly” He tried to get back to his feet on his own, but didn’t even manage to get on his knees without help. Only with help from Axell and Ed did he manage to rise from the ground and even then he still required them to hold him up.
“It did not run away”, he said with a weak voice, just as Richard approached Hal, to help him up as well. “The way it looked… It had something else to do. Something more important than mere game” He said the last word with a shivering voice. “This was no ordinary direwolf. This was no ordinary animal at all”, he whispered, before his eyes widened. “We have to get out of here, back to the city. I need to clean my wounds, have to rest and recover” He gulped and it was unsettling to see the stoic hunter shaken so deeply. “This hunt just got a lot more dangerous”
No Choices for this part
Marak
Decisively, Marak shook his head. “Eh, you’re not getting away that easily”, he snarled. “Tell the lady the truth” Otis gulped and Marak noticed how sweaty the man had gotten. “But… this… this is the truth”, he stuttered and Marak grinned at him. “This is bullshit”, he said as he reached forward, grabbing the man by the shoulder, which was enough for Otis to shriek. “Now tell her the truth!”, he ordered.
Otis clenched his fists, before he glared at Marak, with a sharpness he had not expected. “Then what do you want to hear?”, he hissed. “Do you want to hear how they took my Sara? What they did to her?” Marak raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “Not really, no”, he said and suppressed a yawn. “But I’d really like to know why you call your Rachel ‘Sara’”
Otis’ eyes widened and once again, he clenched his fists. “Rachel…”, he mumbled. “I saved her! They sliced and slashed and cut her, like beasts, like wolves!” He shivered and Marak finally let go of him. The farmer almost seemed to shrink for a second. “So, humans did this to her?”, he asked and Otis gave him a nod.
“Yes”, he mumbled. “Humans. She suffered just like my little Sara had to suffer” Marak shrugged. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s all very fascinating towards anyone who actually cares”, he said with all of his empathy, as he exchanged a glance with the Red Priestess. “And now let the lady do her creepy miracles”
Otis hissed something, but he also gave him a nod, as he quickly rushed out of the room. Probably, he’d continue to eat his watery soup and Marak had to shiver at the thought of the disgusting piece of food. He put a hand onto his stomach, cursing himself for having taken a few sips of it before.
Only then did he notice Noelle’s alarmed stare. “What?”, he asked. “I swear, I was hungry. You don’t think he poisoned it, do you?” Noelle furrowed her brows. “What?”, she asked in return. “No, no, that’s not it…” She sighed. “Marak, this man was still lying to us”
Marak raised an eyebrow. “Still? Man, he’s got guts”, he chuckled. “And lice. I bet that stinking fucker has all kinds of lice” He shrugged. “So, what do you suggest? I beat him until he tells us the truth?”
Noelle’s eyes widened. “No!”, she said decisively. “You’re not going to beat this man until I know what game he’s playing” She sighed. “He was lying, but I don’t know why”, she mumbled as she looked down at the unconscious girl. “If he saved this girl, then why would he lie?”
“Perhaps he didn’t”, Marak remarked. “Wouldn’t be the first sick fuck I’d meet in my life. Some like to slice and slash at children, others like to burn them alive” Noelle glared at him, but this time, in this reeking hut, kneeling above the bed, while she had to focus on treating the young girl’s wounds, Marak did not cringe back. Something changed about her, something that should frighten him, but he was tired and angry and simply did not care.
“I do not like it”, she protested. “I do what I have to do” With a glance at the girl they had abducted, Marak shook his head. “You have to do only one thing in this life, Noelle”, he growled. “And that is surviving. Everything else you do because you want to. Somewhere, deep down, you want to”
Noelle narrowed her eyes. “You never killed children, huh?”, she spat and Marak shook his head. “Killed plenty of them. Sometimes because they wanted to kill me, sometimes because it was business”, he answered nonchalantly. “In both cases, I did it to survive. It’s nothing I’m proud of, but nothing I’m ashamed of either”
“This here is something else entirely!”, Noelle snarled. “I do not expect you to understand it. You’re never going to be a follower of R’hllor” Marak smirked. “You say that as if it is something bad”, he remarked. “I’m telling you, the only reason why you still have your head is because you’re paying me enough that I’m willing to ignore the shit-show you’re planning to do. But please, please Noelle, do me a favour and stop lying to yourself”
Noelle’s vicious glare got slightly softer. “What do you mean?”, she asked and Marak sighed. He remembered how different she had seemed back at the campfire, just a few hours ago. And now she had killed the Archmaester and seemed like an entirely different person. “You have to start asking yourself if this is the person you truly am, or just the person you want to be”, he answered and put a hand onto her shoulder. She was almost burning hot, but he did not care. “Or maybe this is just the person you think you have to be”
With these words, he turned towards the door, but with satisfaction, he noticed how Noelle was speechless for once. “I… did not expect you to… Where are you going, Marak?”, she stuttered and Marak glanced at her. “Outside”, he said. “Need to get some fresh air. It’s reeking in here, with blood and sweat and disease… and fucking rollmop”
He turned around, walking out of the door and into the tiny main room of the house. Otis was sitting on his chair, milky white soup running down his poor excuse of a beard. “What?”, he barked. “What do you want?”
Marak grinned and raised his hands. “Easy, you fucking creep”, he diplomatically tried to calm him down. “I need a break from this. Get some fresh air” He gave him a wink, trying to ease the tension for once. “Maybe I’ll discover where you’re hiding the bodies”
Instead of humouring him, it did the exact opposite, as Otis narrowed his eyes. “What?”, he barked. “Why would you say that?” He almost jumped up from his chair, though Marak did not care. With a yawn, he started to walk towards the door. Gods, he would literally kill a man for a mug of mead right now. “Take it easy”, he said, as he stepped outside and into the cold night.
The first Marak did was taking a deep breath. The air was fresh and clean, far better than the stale, stinking room he had just spent his time in. He sighed. On good days, Marak got along with Noelle just perfectly. He hated to admit it, but she could be charming if she wanted to. And just when he thought he had finally gotten a connection to her, he had to remember what exactly they were doing here.
Killing a child… Marak had no problem with it, for the right price. He had killed children before and he was okay with it, he had told her that much, back when they had been in Raylansfair. But it was business. Just because he had no problem with it didn’t mean he was proud of it. Noelle meanwhile… she was a fanatic and Marak knew, the moment she’d muster the smouldering corpse of that girl she was going to burn alive, she’d feel close to her sodding god. She’d feel proud and Marak was not sure if he wanted to have anything to do with such a person.
Slowly, his walk led him around the house. Through the small, stained window, he saw Otis, sitting on his table, his head buried in his hands. Even through the tiny window, Marak was able to see that the farmer was crying. He shook his head. Whatever happened to that man, it had made him pathetic. It had made him weak.
Next, he spotted Noelle herself, carefully, almost gently bandaging Rachel’s belly, softly treating the cuts on her ribs and the bruises that covered her abdominal region. To his surprise, Marak saw just how hard it was for Noelle to hold her own tears back. In moments like this, he was unsure just how lost she truly was. Probably not more than he himself was. Noelle gasped, as she looked up, right through the window and at him, standing outside in the night. Marak sighed, before he continued his walk.
The house was small and it did not take Marak long to reach its back. From there, he had a shitty view over the nightly fields of Otis Shiff’s crappy lands. Marak had no idea how a man was actually able to live that way, in all of this filth, without any sort of perspective in live, living from day to day and never even daring to hope that things would get better one day. Or maybe at least more interesting.
Just as Marak had to think how Otis would even pass the time, he noticed something unusual. He smelled something, a stench even worse than the disease-ridden air from inside of the hut. It came out of the same direction as the hut, but as Marak approached it, he saw something else in the darkness. There was a small hatch in the ground, only barely big enough for him to fit through. Probably, it was leading to some sort of cellar below Otis’ house. And from there came a stench Marak immediately recognized. It was sweet, in a way that would have made a weaker stomach puke. It was the stench of rotten meat.
Marak narrowed his eyes as he approached the hatch. Why would someone keep rotten meat down in a cellar? Of course, considering that this was Otis, the most messy and dirty farmer he had ever encountered, Marak actually wasn’t too surprised, but still, he was disgusted. And more importantly, he was suspicious. Something was not right about that man… Perhaps down there, Marak could find some answers. Or perhaps he’d waste his time. After all, he did go outside to get some fresh air and that was something he definitely wouldn’t get down there. Still… Marak cringed at the smell, but he couldn’t deny that he was curious…
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar][Leave the hatch and stay outside]
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] something smells fishy in here and it seems Otis may have something in common with the murderer mentioned in Arthur's part if he is not him himself.
And gosh, Roman... would he survive if Richard would support him? Maybe he was an ass, but he helped Richard, taking beasts attention on himself previously.
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] I agree with Sensus, this guy is fucking sick and I reckon he's probably a cannibal. Either that, or he's keeping meat to feed something...
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] He might be keeping the body of one of the murders who killed his "daughter" or maybe he is keeping food for the beast, who I'm pretty sure is Wolfius as a warg. I do not feel as bad as everyone else does for Roman. He was an ass and was always picking a fight. Sure he lost his mother but he was still an ass. Plus I'd rather save two people than one who is an ass. The only downside I saw with our choice is that the Witcher is now injured and won't be able to help with the epic boss fight that is going to happen at the execution.
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] He might be keeping the body of one of the murders who killed his "daughter" or maybe he is keeping … morefood for the beast, who I'm pretty sure is Wolfius as a warg. I do not feel as bad as everyone else does for Roman. He was an ass and was always picking a fight. Sure he lost his mother but he was still an ass. Plus I'd rather save two people than one who is an ass. The only downside I saw with our choice is that the Witcher is now injured and won't be able to help with the epic boss fight that is going to happen at the execution.
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
I absolutely do swear to everyone that I am not not Liquid. I might know a little german, but absolutely not as much as Liquid... absolutely not.
Maybe I have a secret identity, though... No, I'm just kidding, I think. We're absolutely not the same person, I mean, I'm Swedish, as you can see on this sentence: Guten morg... Gomörra. Which would be my dialect for good morning. And that is truth!
FluidStickyBen and LiquidChicagoTed have awfully similar names. Has anyone ever seen them in the same room? Is it possible we have a multiple personality situation going on here?!?!?!
Yes, if Richard would have supported Roman, then he would have survived, only receiving some superficial wounds. However, this would have come at the cost of Hal's life, who would have died to protect Axell. Also, Axell himself would have gotten severe wounds. In both cases, Vaasrand would have survived, but if you would have decided to help him, he wouldn't have been wounded as badly, although Roman and Hal would have both died.
That said, helping Axell and Hal has been the option I've been expecting you to make, so it'll fit the best with my plans for the future.
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] something smells fishy in here and it seems Otis may have something in common with the murderer ment… moreioned in Arthur's part if he is not him himself.
And gosh, Roman... would he survive if Richard would support him? Maybe he was an ass, but he helped Richard, taking beasts attention on himself previously.
So Axel, Richard and Vaasrand were safe, I assume? But Axell could have received worse wounds. I am extremely happy that we chose to help Axell now. I was not sure if it was the best choice, but now I know it was, with only two fatalities instead of a maximum of three.
Yes, if Richard would have supported Roman, then he would have survived, only receiving some superficial wounds. However, this would have co… moreme at the cost of Hal's life, who would have died to protect Axell. Also, Axell himself would have gotten severe wounds. In both cases, Vaasrand would have survived, but if you would have decided to help him, he wouldn't have been wounded as badly, although Roman and Hal would have both died.
That said, helping Axell and Hal has been the option I've been expecting you to make, so it'll fit the best with my plans for the future.
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
Indeed, Axell, Richard and Vaasrand (and Ed) were all safe, although Axell and Vaasrand had the possibility to receive really bad wounds. If Axell would have gotten wounded, he would have basically taken over the role I have in mind for Hal in the next chapter. Ironically, helping Vaasrand and therefore causing the deaths of Roman and Hal, would have been the best choice for Ed, because he would have finally gotten something to do in Chapter 8 then XD
So Axel, Richard and Vaasrand were safe, I assume? But Axell could have received worse wounds. I am extremely happy that we chose to help Ax… moreell now. I was not sure if it was the best choice, but now I know it was, with only two fatalities instead of a maximum of three.
I for one, as Marak, believe whatever the funky smell is not important.
I mean, every time we have a choice like this, we always choose the explore, don't we?
A low growl came out of its throat, as suddenly, something about its behavior changed. Only Richard was able to see it, standing almost eye to eye with the creature, but the look in its eyes suddenly shifted from rage to surprise, as the beast glanced towards the way they came from, towards the farmlands and the city beyond.
“It did not run away”, he said with a weak voice, just as Richard approached Hal, to help him up as well. “The way it looked… It had something else to do. Something more important than mere game” He said the last word with a shivering voice. “This was no ordinary direwolf. This was no ordinary animal at all”, he whispered, before his eyes widened. “We have to get out of here, back to the city. I need to clean my wounds, have to rest and recover” He gulped and it was unsettling to see the stoic hunter shaken so deeply. “This hunt just got a lot more dangerous”
Definitely something related to the execution of ol' Woodbark buddy ol' pal. Maybe they are moving him and he didn't expect that since he was preponed.
Maybe it doesn't like that Lucas swore allegiance to Argella and is going to teach him a lesson.
Maybe it's Ser Ian Shortwood for some reason.
Maybe it's Creepy Kreep, who wants to be like his papa.
Maybe it's Irnas mo Akk, who has a funky name.
Maybe it realizes that the chapter finale is going to be a cluster and wants to join in. Who doesn't love it when a ton of people, all on different sides, are in a brawl.
Maybe it is none of these things, and just a wolf. Or it is not. Those are literally the one two possibilities.
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] Because I'm curious to discover Otis darkest secret (a cellar filled with My Little Pony stuff)
RT:
Roman's death (RIP)don't really surprise me (even if was expecting a longer fight between him and the beast ) but his death is still a sad one to add to the fallen list.
We are lucky that the beast has to do something more important to devour half beaten farmers (and a witcher) like..ehm,go to the bathroom?XD (obviously I'm joking,the reason is probably to rescue Wolfius)
Sorry if I forget it but where is Ellena inside the Marak part (if I remember correctly the big guy succeed to capture her again)?
While Otis still don' want to admit his darkest secret (buu to him) I really like how the interaction between Noelle and Marak continue
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
I mean, every time we have a choice like this, we always choose the explore, don't we?
Yes indeed. I think I should really let something terrible happen as a result of these explorations sooner or later, to make these choices a bit harder in the future.
Definitely something related to the execution of ol' Woodbark buddy ol' pal. Maybe they are moving him and he didn't expect that since he was preponed.
We'll see, we'll see. The execution will take place in one of the remaining parts of this chapter, so if you're right, then the beast is going to crash it. I can confirm that at least Wolfius did not expect to be hanged earlier than announced.
Maybe it doesn't like that Lucas swore allegiance to Argella and is going to teach him a lesson.
I'd say the beast is unpolitical and holds no opinion on Lucas' new allegiance. It has no real preference for the future of Raylansfair as long as they taste good.
Maybe it's Ser Ian Shortwood for some reason.
Well, that would certainly be a reason for him to act so shady, wouldn't it? He left the room around the same time the beast left Richard and the others alone.
Maybe it's Creepy Kreep, who wants to be like his papa.
Ah yes, Kreep. His current whereabouts are not fully known and we haven't seen him for a while, so it'll be interesting to see what he has been up to in the meantime. I can reveal, there will be an update about him before Book 1 ends.
Maybe it's Irnas mo Akk, who has a funky name.
That is an interesting choice. Remember that Irnas is known for taming dangerous wild beasts and his show at the fair has been the place where Roman and the others discussed their plans. So... it is certainly in the realm of possible.
Maybe it realizes that the chapter finale is going to be a cluster and wants to join in. Who doesn't love it when a ton of people, all on different sides, are in a brawl.
Oh yes, the chapter finale is going to be crowded. In fact, I have currently planned for it to feature three PoV's, which makes it the most crowded finale ever. It's probably going to be way shorter than the Chapter 6 finale though. Still, the beast might fit in.
Maybe it is none of these things, and just a wolf. Or it is not. Those are literally the one two possibilities.
You are right, you are absolutely right with this. I can confirm that this is correct. There are indeed only two possibilites. Either the beast is just a simple direwolf, or not.
[Leave the hatch and stay outside]
I for one, as Marak, believe whatever the funky smell is not important.
I mean, every time we have … morea choice like this, we always choose the explore, don't we?
A low growl came out of its throat, as suddenly, something about its behavior changed. Only Richard was able to see it, standing almost eye to eye with the creature, but the look in its eyes suddenly shifted from rage to surprise, as the beast glanced towards the way they came from, towards the farmlands and the city beyond.
“It did not run away”, he said with a weak voice, just as Richard approached Hal, to help him up as well. “The way it looked… It had something else to do. Something more important than mere game” He said the last word with a shivering voice. “This was no ordinary direwolf. This was no ordinary animal at all”, he whispered, before his eyes widened. “We have to get out of here, back to the city. I need to clean my … [view original content]
Because I'm curious to discover Otis darkest secret (a cellar filled with My Little Pony stuff)
Yes indeed, that is Otis' darkest secret. He is, in fact, secretly a brony. I leave it up to everyone to decide for themselves how this changes their opinion on him.
Roman's death (RIP)don't really surprise me (even if was expecting a longer fight between him and the beast ) but his death is still a sad one to add to the fallen list.
Yeah, after the choice not to help him, his fate has been sealed. A longer fight between him and the beast might have worked, but in the end I felt I really had to show just how quickly it can kill a man, especially an untrained farmer such as Roman. The beast is by far one of the most dangerous things in the story. It could easily kill most people in a fight, because there's really not much they can do against something that is faster, stronger and smarter than them. Poor Roman really stood no chance.
We are lucky that the beast has to do something more important to devour half beaten farmers (and a witcher) like..ehm,go to the bathroom?XD (obviously I'm joking,the reason is probably to rescue Wolfius)
Remember, the execution is going to take place in the centre of the town. We'll see how the beast manages to get through the walls. Of course, there is also the possibility that it has plans to do something else. The execution is going to be featured in this chapter, so you'll see your theory either confirmed or rebutted by then.
Sorry if I forget it but where is Ellena inside the Marak part (if I remember correctly the big guy succeed to capture her again)?
Ellena is currently unconscious, after Marak gave her a serious punch and she is lying on the ground in the same room as Noelle. She's been mentioned in passing in this part, when Marak glanced "at the girl they abducted"
While Otis still don' want to admit his darkest secret (buu to him) I really like how the interaction between Noelle and Marak continue
Yes, that was something I wanted to show in this part. The relationship between Marak and Noelle has evolved beyond a simple master-servant relationship. After seeing a more human side of Noelle at the beginning of this chapter, Marak has lost this slight feeling of discomfort around her and he's no longer afraid to speak his mind, which honestly baffled her.
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] Because I'm curious to discover Otis darkest secret (a cellar filled with My Little Pony stuff)
R… moreT:
* Roman's death (RIP)don't really surprise me (even if was expecting a longer fight between him and the beast ) but his death is still a sad one to add to the fallen list.
* We are lucky that the beast has to do something more important to devour half beaten farmers (and a witcher) like..ehm,go to the bathroom?XD (obviously I'm joking,the reason is probably to rescue Wolfius)
* Sorry if I forget it but where is Ellena inside the Marak part (if I remember correctly the big guy succeed to capture her again)?
* While Otis still don' want to admit his darkest secret (buu to him) I really like how the interaction between Noelle and Marak continue
Because I'm curious to discover Otis darkest secret (a cellar filled with My Little Pony stuff)
Yes indeed, that is Otis' darkest se… morecret. He is, in fact, secretly a brony. I leave it up to everyone to decide for themselves how this changes their opinion on him.
Roman's death (RIP)don't really surprise me (even if was expecting a longer fight between him and the beast ) but his death is still a sad one to add to the fallen list.
Yeah, after the choice not to help him, his fate has been sealed. A longer fight between him and the beast might have worked, but in the end I felt I really had to show just how quickly it can kill a man, especially an untrained farmer such as Roman. The beast is by far one of the most dangerous things in the story. It could easily kill most people in a fight, because there's really not much they can do against something that is faster, stronger and smarter than them. Poor Roman really stood no ch… [view original content]
Yes indeed, that is Otis' darkest secret. He is, in fact, secretly a brony. I leave it up to everyone to decide for themselves how this changes their opinion on him
Because I'm curious to discover Otis darkest secret (a cellar filled with My Little Pony stuff)
Yes indeed, that is Otis' darkest se… morecret. He is, in fact, secretly a brony. I leave it up to everyone to decide for themselves how this changes their opinion on him.
Roman's death (RIP)don't really surprise me (even if was expecting a longer fight between him and the beast ) but his death is still a sad one to add to the fallen list.
Yeah, after the choice not to help him, his fate has been sealed. A longer fight between him and the beast might have worked, but in the end I felt I really had to show just how quickly it can kill a man, especially an untrained farmer such as Roman. The beast is by far one of the most dangerous things in the story. It could easily kill most people in a fight, because there's really not much they can do against something that is faster, stronger and smarter than them. Poor Roman really stood no ch… [view original content]
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The la… moretter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting… [view original content]
Comments
And then Leonard can make like a tree and leave. Or instead confront her and lead to an inevitable bad time for someone.
I mean let's be honest if you or I were in the situation I think we'd both be, so I totally understand that.
The Voting is closed!
Jenna is going to hand the death warrant over to Saerya
This one was important, I believe that much should be obvious. Now, Saerya holds important evidence against Sherryl, but this evidence might also cause trouble for Leonard, either intentional or unintentional on Saerya's part. That said, it is also possible that giving Leonard the evidence would have led to different trouble and that this is actually going to be good for him. You'll get the answer in future parts.
The next part is going to feature PoV's from Richard and Marak. Especially Marak is going to get a lot of spotlight in the remaining chapter, because I realized that I can't continue Raenna's storyline before I have finished his. That means, you'll see him again pretty soon. As for Richard, this part is his last one in this chapter. The last time we saw him, he and Vaasrand followed the beast deeper into the woods, where they found their heavily wounded friend Than. As it turned out, the beast was merely playing with them, making them nervous and anxious and it obviously followed them in safe distance when they brought Than back to the group. Soon afterwards, during a heated argument between Roman and Vaasrand, they got attacked by wolves. During this attack, Than got killed and Hal got wounded, while Ed panicked and fled up a tree. Finally, Richard found himself face to face with the beast, which was revealed to be an enormous and frighteningly intelligent direwolf. Only Roman's intervention saved Richard's life, who was left with three choices. He could either help Roman in fighting the beast itself, he could help Vaasrand, who was cornered by plenty of wolves, or he could help Axell and Hal, who were attacked by relatively few wolves. He decided for the latter and his next part will decide who lives and who dies.
Meanwhile, in Marak's last part, he successfully managed to enter the small farmhouse of the strange Otis Shiff, who had previously agreed to hide Ellena. Marak also managed to find her and after a short struggle, he knocked her unconscious. A bit later, Noelle arrived at the house, after she dealt with Archmaester Wulvren. In exchange for shelter for the night, she agreed to treat the wounds of Otis' daughter, whose name seems to be either Rachel or Sara. Otis himself claimed she got attacked by wolves, but Noelle immediately realized that her wounds have been inflicted with a sharp weapon and that Otis had lied to her. Marak decided to press him into revealing the truth.
Anyways, I hope to finish this part today! I had some new troubles with my PC lately and that slowed down my writing, but I am confident that I will have a lot of time today and I will do my best to finish the part.
And now I have a brand new shout-out for you! This time, it is a very special shout-out and I hope you're going to check it out. You all know @AgentZ46. What you probably don't know is that he recently started his own story here in the Game of Thrones section. It is named The Cost of Loyalty and it is set during the time of Robert's Rebellion. More precisely, the story deals with the last days of House Branfield and it is told from the point of views of Gregor Forrester and Malcolm Branfield during a time where both of them have been young men. It also features younger versions of canon characters, like Royland Degore, Duncan Tuttle or Ludd Whitehill and, of course, your own submitted characters. The story has started very recently and so far, Agent has released the prologue and the beginning of the first chapter, so you can be part of the story from the very beginning if you join now. I can guarantee, you're in for a good time, because Agent is a great writer. As always with these shout-outs, I believe the story could use more readers and I hope you might be able to help out. Check the story out here!
I'd like to double the recommendation. Agent is awesome and I have no doubt he can pull off a great story
.
The pressure is on. You know when Liquid gives you a shout-out you'll be ridiculed forever if you fail.
I'm just kidding, I appreciate the shout-out.
YES! A Richard part. I can't wait for it, and also a Marak part at that.
I would like to name a second recommendation for @FluidStickyBen who began A New Age, and it is happening in the future of Westeros, as such you are free of many canon story burdens (and plot armor) and your House may win big or lose terribly. No one is ensured to survive, to fail, or to prosper.
Aaaw, thank you!
What you said is true, absolutely. A New Age is another new GoT story here and on my list of stories that need a shout-out. It is a great story set in the years after the original story of Game of Thrones has ended and I'm very excited about it and the possibilities it holds. However, I only give one shout-out a time for a good reason. The shout-outs already have much less success than I hope and giving more than one shout-out a time could easily be too much to be of any use, since I can't possibly ask of my readers to check out two new stories at once, that would honestly be a bit much. As a matter of fact, it is my plan to give A New Age a proper shout-out very soon, but not directly together with The Cost of Loyalty as I think that could end up being less successful for both stories if potentially interested readers may end up choosing between the two instead of checking out both. And well, I absolutely want new readers for both, so I can only urge the others to give these stories a chance to get really big
Ehm, the cost of loyalty actually, not of living.
lol
A new story in Westeros about paying your rent
My bad! It is not the first time I make that mistake, but the first time I don't see it before posting. I believe I have heard that title before, probably in a Walking Dead fanfiction and it kind of stuck with me ever since and since the two words sound so similar, I always end up mixing them up. Thank you for correcting me on this, I really need to get that into my head XD
FluidStickyBen and LiquidChicagoTed have awfully similar names. Has anyone ever seen them in the same room? Is it possible we have a multiple personality situation going on here?!?!?!
It's the same guy, I'm convinced!
Oh my god
My secret has been uncovered! How have you... how can you know that?
Wait, no, no, I'm totally playing it cool. I am definitely not the same person... uh, I mean, we are definitely not the same person. I, and with that I mean Ben, is a completely different person and definitely not me at all. Certainly, I... I mean, we... Certainly, we don't have to silence anyone that uncovers the truth, that would be ridiculous, because there is no truth to uncover. I mean, of course there is a truth to uncover and it is the truth that FluidStickyBen and LiquidChicagoTed are not the same person. We swear!
(There is a note on Bounden's desktop only having four words, "Gone to the farm")
Richard
In a single, fleeting moment, Richard had made his decision. Gripping his sword tightly, he charged towards Axell and Hal. The latter was still lying on the ground, clutching his spear and desperately using it to hold off any wolf that tried to attack Axell’s back, while the former stood firmly, swinging his pitchfork like a torch.
The wolves meanwhile were dangerously and shockingly smart. They snapped, snarled, growled and howled and slowly, they drove Axell back, his swings getting slower, as he grew more tired and more panicked at the same time. It wasn’t him who made the first mistake though, it was Hal.
One of the wolves attacked the downed farmer, jumping on top of Than’s corpse first and instead of stabbing it, Hal made a quicker, but less effective move, as he slammed the side of the spear against the wolf’s head, trying to knock it off the dead body of his friend. The animal jumped at him instead, its claws cutting into Hal’s face, as it attacked Axell’s now unguarded back. It rammed its entire body into his back, biting down into his side in the process and sending him falling forwards, right into the other wolves.
That was the moment where Richard arrived. Swinging his sword more like a sickle he cut into the neck of the wolf that just tried to plunge its teeth into Axell’s neck. He did not decapitate it, though the blow was heavy enough to cause a lethal wound. Whimpering, the animal staggered backwards and quickly fell down.
The remaining three wolves that had surrounded the farmers now focused on Richard. The one that had previously attacked Axell let go of the farmhand, growled viciously and approached Richard from the left, while the other two circled around him from the right.
Richard gulped and pointed his sword at the single wolf to his left. While he left himself open for an attack by the other two wolves, this move gave Hal exactly the opportunity he had hoped for. With his wounded leg, the young farmer was unable to stand, though he managed to get to his knees in considerable speed, as his rammed his spear into the hind leg of the wolf. “This one’s for Than!”, he screamed, as he held the snapping animal down with one hand, repeatedly ramming his spear into its body with the other.
A second wolf started to charge at Richard. Just as it jumped into the air, Axell was between them, his pitchfork raised. Unable to stop at the speed it already had, the animal cleanly jumped into the makeshift weapon, impaling itself on the sharp metal, although its weight was enough to drag Axell to the ground with it.
Richard himself just barely managed to raise his sword towards the attacking third wolf, although he did not manage to get it into the right position to impale it. In turn, the weight of the wolf onto his injured leg was enough for him to fall to the ground in pain. Just barely did he manage to keep his sword pointed into the general direction of the wolf.
The animal heavily bit down on the steel, as it lay on top of Richard, with an uncharacteristic cruelty in its yellow eyes. For a moment, they stared at each other, before Richard grabbed the head of the beast with one hand and used his other hand to cut deep into its jaw with the sword. A gust of warm, stinking blood splattered over his face, as the wolf let out a pained howl that quickly turned into a whimpering, as its heavily distorted jaw nearly got separated from the rest of the head. With a disgusted look on his face, Richard finished the animal off by piercing the side of its head.
For a moment, Richard just lay on the ground, his eyes widely opened in panic, clinging to his sword, as the wolf on top of him did its last breath. Next to him, Axell sluggishly lifted his own dead wolf up, before his eyes widened. “Roman!”, he yelled.
Immediately, Richard glanced to the right, while he frantically tried to stand up, no easy feat with the dead animal on his chest and his leg thumping in pain. Roman stood in front of the beast, clinging to his long knife and pointing it right at the creature. The huge wolf opened its mouth, but it did not growl. It just grinned, revealing its long, pointy teeth, while saliva ran out between them. Then, it attacked.
Roman raised his knife above the head of the best, while its strong jaw heavily bit down into his chest. The eyes of Richard’s neighbor widened, while the beast lifted him up into the air. He tried to strike down at it with the knife in his hands, but only managed to deliver a weak scratch at the top of the beast’s snout. Then, his screams of rage turned into gasps, as his chest gave in.
For a second, the beast violently shook Roman around, audibly breaking a major part of his ribcage in the process. Then, it let go of the dying man, as Roman flew through the air and landed heavily on the ground. He was wheezing, unable to breath properly, but in a final act of defiance, he pointed his knife at the beast. “Fuck you…”, he gasped, as the direwolf attacked once again. This time, it bit down into his arm holding the knife, tearing it off at the shoulder, before immediately biting down at his head. It tore at it for a short moment, before removing it from the shoulders and hurling it through the air.
At this moment, Richard managed to remove the corpse of the wolf from his chest. Looking down at Roman’s mutilated, decapitated body, he felt a feeling of pure horror. This beast was a force of nature, stronger than anything he had ever seen. Unstoppable, viciously cruel and angry. How could they ever hope to even slow it down?
The beast fully focused on him, glaring out of yellow eyes. It opened its mouth to show its unsettling teeth, now stained with Roman’s blood. A deep growl came out of its throat, echoing from the surrounding trees. Then it lowered its head and charged.
It was Axell who saved Richard’s life. The farmhand heavily jumped against him while Richard was frozen in place, knocking him to the ground again, though the upper jaw of the beast hit him in the process, hurling him through the air and causing him to land on the ground a few feet away. Noticing that it hadn’t managed to harm Richard, the beast stopped and turned around, while he tried to crawl away from it. It was only then that Richard realized that he was screaming in terror. He did not want to die here, he wanted to live, for his children, for Jenna, for Arvin, Dylar and Dramin.
Desperately, he crawled towards Vaasrand, who had managed to reach a small knife strapped to his chest and who just now rammed it into the wolf that tried to gnaw through the thick leather that protected his neck.
“Hey!”, a voice sounded. The beast momentarily stopped, when something heavy hit its head. In mild, humanlike confusion, it glance over its shoulder, just as Richard did. “Yeah, that’s right!”, Ed yelled, raising his second boot. “And there’s more where that came from!”
The beast narrowed its eyes, but focused back on Richard, who was getting back to his feet in the very moment. He raised his sword. “Let’s get it over with…”, he muttered. Once again, the beast lowered its head, ready to charge, when suddenly a dagger flew past Richard through the air, piercing the direwolf’s thigh.
As Richard glanced over his shoulder in surprise, he saw Vaasrand, standing on his own. Over half a dozen dead wolves lay around him and he was covered in so much blood that Richard was unable to see how much of it was his own and how much belonged to the wolves. His sword, fine valyrian steel, was pointing right at the beast.
It was a wordless threat. Despite his wounds, the monster hunter stood there firmly, his gaze unbroken and glaring at the beast. In turn, the beast stopped. A low growl came out of its throat, as suddenly, something about its behavior changed. Only Richard was able to see it, standing almost eye to eye with the creature, but the look in its eyes suddenly shifted from rage to surprise, as the beast glanced towards the way they came from, towards the farmlands and the city beyond. It raised its head again, for a long, haunting howl and out of the forest, it was answered dozens of times. Speechless out of exhaustion, sorrow and pain, Richard saw how the beast turned around and charged down the way they came from, leaving them alone on the blood-soaked clearing.
The first to break the silence was Axell, though not with a word, but with a grunt. It was this noise that caused Richard to snap out of his shock-induced trance. He rushed towards the farmhand and knelt down next to him, ignoring the pain in his leg. “Axell”, he gasped. “Are you alright?” The farmhand gave him a nod. “Yeah…”, he mumbled. “A few cuts and bruises, but other than that, I’m good”
“Did… did we make it?”, Ed asked as he slowly climbed down his tree. He had lost both of his boots during the fight, though he did not seem to mind. “Not all of us”, Hal remarked glumly. The young farmer was bleeding out of the deep bite wounds on his leg but he was already able to sit again, as he was glancing at Than’s corpse, just as Richard’s gaze fell upon Roman’s mangled body.
“Gods…”, Axell gasped, as Richard helped him back to his feet. The farmhand did a majority of the work by himself. “Roman, he’s… he’s just…” His voice shivered, as he shook his head and a decisive look appeared in his eyes. “We can mourn the dead later. Now we have to get out of here. The beast, it’ll come back. I… I can’t believe it just ran away”
“It didn’t”, Vaasrand remarked and as Richard glance towards him, their gazes met. Then, the hunter fell forwards onto the ground, groaning in pain. “Damn it…”, he muttered. “Those beasts got me badly” He tried to get back to his feet on his own, but didn’t even manage to get on his knees without help. Only with help from Axell and Ed did he manage to rise from the ground and even then he still required them to hold him up.
“It did not run away”, he said with a weak voice, just as Richard approached Hal, to help him up as well. “The way it looked… It had something else to do. Something more important than mere game” He said the last word with a shivering voice. “This was no ordinary direwolf. This was no ordinary animal at all”, he whispered, before his eyes widened. “We have to get out of here, back to the city. I need to clean my wounds, have to rest and recover” He gulped and it was unsettling to see the stoic hunter shaken so deeply. “This hunt just got a lot more dangerous”
No Choices for this part
Marak
Decisively, Marak shook his head. “Eh, you’re not getting away that easily”, he snarled. “Tell the lady the truth” Otis gulped and Marak noticed how sweaty the man had gotten. “But… this… this is the truth”, he stuttered and Marak grinned at him. “This is bullshit”, he said as he reached forward, grabbing the man by the shoulder, which was enough for Otis to shriek. “Now tell her the truth!”, he ordered.
Otis clenched his fists, before he glared at Marak, with a sharpness he had not expected. “Then what do you want to hear?”, he hissed. “Do you want to hear how they took my Sara? What they did to her?” Marak raised an eyebrow, before he shook his head. “Not really, no”, he said and suppressed a yawn. “But I’d really like to know why you call your Rachel ‘Sara’”
Otis’ eyes widened and once again, he clenched his fists. “Rachel…”, he mumbled. “I saved her! They sliced and slashed and cut her, like beasts, like wolves!” He shivered and Marak finally let go of him. The farmer almost seemed to shrink for a second. “So, humans did this to her?”, he asked and Otis gave him a nod.
“Yes”, he mumbled. “Humans. She suffered just like my little Sara had to suffer” Marak shrugged. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s all very fascinating towards anyone who actually cares”, he said with all of his empathy, as he exchanged a glance with the Red Priestess. “And now let the lady do her creepy miracles”
Otis hissed something, but he also gave him a nod, as he quickly rushed out of the room. Probably, he’d continue to eat his watery soup and Marak had to shiver at the thought of the disgusting piece of food. He put a hand onto his stomach, cursing himself for having taken a few sips of it before.
Only then did he notice Noelle’s alarmed stare. “What?”, he asked. “I swear, I was hungry. You don’t think he poisoned it, do you?” Noelle furrowed her brows. “What?”, she asked in return. “No, no, that’s not it…” She sighed. “Marak, this man was still lying to us”
Marak raised an eyebrow. “Still? Man, he’s got guts”, he chuckled. “And lice. I bet that stinking fucker has all kinds of lice” He shrugged. “So, what do you suggest? I beat him until he tells us the truth?”
Noelle’s eyes widened. “No!”, she said decisively. “You’re not going to beat this man until I know what game he’s playing” She sighed. “He was lying, but I don’t know why”, she mumbled as she looked down at the unconscious girl. “If he saved this girl, then why would he lie?”
“Perhaps he didn’t”, Marak remarked. “Wouldn’t be the first sick fuck I’d meet in my life. Some like to slice and slash at children, others like to burn them alive” Noelle glared at him, but this time, in this reeking hut, kneeling above the bed, while she had to focus on treating the young girl’s wounds, Marak did not cringe back. Something changed about her, something that should frighten him, but he was tired and angry and simply did not care.
“I do not like it”, she protested. “I do what I have to do” With a glance at the girl they had abducted, Marak shook his head. “You have to do only one thing in this life, Noelle”, he growled. “And that is surviving. Everything else you do because you want to. Somewhere, deep down, you want to”
Noelle narrowed her eyes. “You never killed children, huh?”, she spat and Marak shook his head. “Killed plenty of them. Sometimes because they wanted to kill me, sometimes because it was business”, he answered nonchalantly. “In both cases, I did it to survive. It’s nothing I’m proud of, but nothing I’m ashamed of either”
“This here is something else entirely!”, Noelle snarled. “I do not expect you to understand it. You’re never going to be a follower of R’hllor” Marak smirked. “You say that as if it is something bad”, he remarked. “I’m telling you, the only reason why you still have your head is because you’re paying me enough that I’m willing to ignore the shit-show you’re planning to do. But please, please Noelle, do me a favour and stop lying to yourself”
Noelle’s vicious glare got slightly softer. “What do you mean?”, she asked and Marak sighed. He remembered how different she had seemed back at the campfire, just a few hours ago. And now she had killed the Archmaester and seemed like an entirely different person. “You have to start asking yourself if this is the person you truly am, or just the person you want to be”, he answered and put a hand onto her shoulder. She was almost burning hot, but he did not care. “Or maybe this is just the person you think you have to be”
With these words, he turned towards the door, but with satisfaction, he noticed how Noelle was speechless for once. “I… did not expect you to… Where are you going, Marak?”, she stuttered and Marak glanced at her. “Outside”, he said. “Need to get some fresh air. It’s reeking in here, with blood and sweat and disease… and fucking rollmop”
He turned around, walking out of the door and into the tiny main room of the house. Otis was sitting on his chair, milky white soup running down his poor excuse of a beard. “What?”, he barked. “What do you want?”
Marak grinned and raised his hands. “Easy, you fucking creep”, he diplomatically tried to calm him down. “I need a break from this. Get some fresh air” He gave him a wink, trying to ease the tension for once. “Maybe I’ll discover where you’re hiding the bodies”
Instead of humouring him, it did the exact opposite, as Otis narrowed his eyes. “What?”, he barked. “Why would you say that?” He almost jumped up from his chair, though Marak did not care. With a yawn, he started to walk towards the door. Gods, he would literally kill a man for a mug of mead right now. “Take it easy”, he said, as he stepped outside and into the cold night.
The first Marak did was taking a deep breath. The air was fresh and clean, far better than the stale, stinking room he had just spent his time in. He sighed. On good days, Marak got along with Noelle just perfectly. He hated to admit it, but she could be charming if she wanted to. And just when he thought he had finally gotten a connection to her, he had to remember what exactly they were doing here.
Killing a child… Marak had no problem with it, for the right price. He had killed children before and he was okay with it, he had told her that much, back when they had been in Raylansfair. But it was business. Just because he had no problem with it didn’t mean he was proud of it. Noelle meanwhile… she was a fanatic and Marak knew, the moment she’d muster the smouldering corpse of that girl she was going to burn alive, she’d feel close to her sodding god. She’d feel proud and Marak was not sure if he wanted to have anything to do with such a person.
Slowly, his walk led him around the house. Through the small, stained window, he saw Otis, sitting on his table, his head buried in his hands. Even through the tiny window, Marak was able to see that the farmer was crying. He shook his head. Whatever happened to that man, it had made him pathetic. It had made him weak.
Next, he spotted Noelle herself, carefully, almost gently bandaging Rachel’s belly, softly treating the cuts on her ribs and the bruises that covered her abdominal region. To his surprise, Marak saw just how hard it was for Noelle to hold her own tears back. In moments like this, he was unsure just how lost she truly was. Probably not more than he himself was. Noelle gasped, as she looked up, right through the window and at him, standing outside in the night. Marak sighed, before he continued his walk.
The house was small and it did not take Marak long to reach its back. From there, he had a shitty view over the nightly fields of Otis Shiff’s crappy lands. Marak had no idea how a man was actually able to live that way, in all of this filth, without any sort of perspective in live, living from day to day and never even daring to hope that things would get better one day. Or maybe at least more interesting.
Just as Marak had to think how Otis would even pass the time, he noticed something unusual. He smelled something, a stench even worse than the disease-ridden air from inside of the hut. It came out of the same direction as the hut, but as Marak approached it, he saw something else in the darkness. There was a small hatch in the ground, only barely big enough for him to fit through. Probably, it was leading to some sort of cellar below Otis’ house. And from there came a stench Marak immediately recognized. It was sweet, in a way that would have made a weaker stomach puke. It was the stench of rotten meat.
Marak narrowed his eyes as he approached the hatch. Why would someone keep rotten meat down in a cellar? Of course, considering that this was Otis, the most messy and dirty farmer he had ever encountered, Marak actually wasn’t too surprised, but still, he was disgusted. And more importantly, he was suspicious. Something was not right about that man… Perhaps down there, Marak could find some answers. Or perhaps he’d waste his time. After all, he did go outside to get some fresh air and that was something he definitely wouldn’t get down there. Still… Marak cringed at the smell, but he couldn’t deny that he was curious…
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] [Leave the hatch and stay outside]
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] He's a cannibal.
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar]
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] something smells fishy in here and it seems Otis may have something in common with the murderer mentioned in Arthur's part if he is not him himself.
And gosh, Roman... would he survive if Richard would support him? Maybe he was an ass, but he helped Richard, taking beasts attention on himself previously.
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar]
Roman...
I kinda wished we saved him now. He was an ass but he was the most interesting in Richard's group.
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] I agree with Sensus, this guy is fucking sick and I reckon he's probably a cannibal. Either that, or he's keeping meat to feed something...
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar]
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] Yeah, let's find out wtf is the deal with Otis. He is starting to feel pretty creepy o_O
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] He might be keeping the body of one of the murders who killed his "daughter" or maybe he is keeping food for the beast, who I'm pretty sure is Wolfius as a warg. I do not feel as bad as everyone else does for Roman. He was an ass and was always picking a fight. Sure he lost his mother but he was still an ass. Plus I'd rather save two people than one who is an ass. The only downside I saw with our choice is that the Witcher is now injured and won't be able to help with the epic boss fight that is going to happen at the execution.
this reminds me
blood for the Blood God
even MORE wounded for the healer
[Open the hath and explore the cellar] I'm way to curious.
I absolutely do swear to everyone that I am not not Liquid. I might know a little german, but absolutely not as much as Liquid... absolutely not.
Maybe I have a secret identity, though... No, I'm just kidding, I think. We're absolutely not the same person, I mean, I'm Swedish, as you can see on this sentence: Guten morg... Gomörra. Which would be my dialect for good morning. And that is truth!
Yes, if Richard would have supported Roman, then he would have survived, only receiving some superficial wounds. However, this would have come at the cost of Hal's life, who would have died to protect Axell. Also, Axell himself would have gotten severe wounds. In both cases, Vaasrand would have survived, but if you would have decided to help him, he wouldn't have been wounded as badly, although Roman and Hal would have both died.
That said, helping Axell and Hal has been the option I've been expecting you to make, so it'll fit the best with my plans for the future.
So Axel, Richard and Vaasrand were safe, I assume? But Axell could have received worse wounds. I am extremely happy that we chose to help Axell now. I was not sure if it was the best choice, but now I know it was, with only two fatalities instead of a maximum of three.
YES! Axell survived. It was a great part.
And now to marak, I'm so curious. This could be like the st. johns over again. So [Open the hatch and explore the cellar]
Indeed, Axell, Richard and Vaasrand (and Ed) were all safe, although Axell and Vaasrand had the possibility to receive really bad wounds. If Axell would have gotten wounded, he would have basically taken over the role I have in mind for Hal in the next chapter. Ironically, helping Vaasrand and therefore causing the deaths of Roman and Hal, would have been the best choice for Ed, because he would have finally gotten something to do in Chapter 8 then XD
[Leave the hatch and stay outside]
I for one, as Marak, believe whatever the funky smell is not important.
I mean, every time we have a choice like this, we always choose the explore, don't we?
Definitely something related to the execution of ol' Woodbark buddy ol' pal. Maybe they are moving him and he didn't expect that since he was preponed.
Maybe it doesn't like that Lucas swore allegiance to Argella and is going to teach him a lesson.
Maybe it's Ser Ian Shortwood for some reason.
Maybe it's Creepy Kreep, who wants to be like his papa.
Maybe it's Irnas mo Akk, who has a funky name.
Maybe it realizes that the chapter finale is going to be a cluster and wants to join in. Who doesn't love it when a ton of people, all on different sides, are in a brawl.
Maybe it is none of these things, and just a wolf. Or it is not. Those are literally the one two possibilities.
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar] Because I'm curious to discover Otis darkest secret (a cellar filled with My Little Pony stuff)
RT:
Yes indeed. I think I should really let something terrible happen as a result of these explorations sooner or later, to make these choices a bit harder in the future.
We'll see, we'll see. The execution will take place in one of the remaining parts of this chapter, so if you're right, then the beast is going to crash it. I can confirm that at least Wolfius did not expect to be hanged earlier than announced.
I'd say the beast is unpolitical and holds no opinion on Lucas' new allegiance. It has no real preference for the future of Raylansfair as long as they taste good.
Well, that would certainly be a reason for him to act so shady, wouldn't it? He left the room around the same time the beast left Richard and the others alone.
Ah yes, Kreep. His current whereabouts are not fully known and we haven't seen him for a while, so it'll be interesting to see what he has been up to in the meantime. I can reveal, there will be an update about him before Book 1 ends.
That is an interesting choice. Remember that Irnas is known for taming dangerous wild beasts and his show at the fair has been the place where Roman and the others discussed their plans. So... it is certainly in the realm of possible.
Oh yes, the chapter finale is going to be crowded. In fact, I have currently planned for it to feature three PoV's, which makes it the most crowded finale ever. It's probably going to be way shorter than the Chapter 6 finale though. Still, the beast might fit in.
You are right, you are absolutely right with this. I can confirm that this is correct. There are indeed only two possibilites. Either the beast is just a simple direwolf, or not.
Yes indeed, that is Otis' darkest secret. He is, in fact, secretly a brony. I leave it up to everyone to decide for themselves how this changes their opinion on him.
Yeah, after the choice not to help him, his fate has been sealed. A longer fight between him and the beast might have worked, but in the end I felt I really had to show just how quickly it can kill a man, especially an untrained farmer such as Roman. The beast is by far one of the most dangerous things in the story. It could easily kill most people in a fight, because there's really not much they can do against something that is faster, stronger and smarter than them. Poor Roman really stood no chance.
Remember, the execution is going to take place in the centre of the town. We'll see how the beast manages to get through the walls. Of course, there is also the possibility that it has plans to do something else. The execution is going to be featured in this chapter, so you'll see your theory either confirmed or rebutted by then.
Ellena is currently unconscious, after Marak gave her a serious punch and she is lying on the ground in the same room as Noelle. She's been mentioned in passing in this part, when Marak glanced "at the girl they abducted"
Yes, that was something I wanted to show in this part. The relationship between Marak and Noelle has evolved beyond a simple master-servant relationship. After seeing a more human side of Noelle at the beginning of this chapter, Marak has lost this slight feeling of discomfort around her and he's no longer afraid to speak his mind, which honestly baffled her.
Otis' dark secret is that he's actually the cow of the same name from the movie Barnyard.
Liqiud if it had been Vaasrand instead of Roman fighting the beast would he have won?
If it's true, then I'm gonna be soooo happy!
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar]
[Open the hatch and explore the cellar]