I think it'll just be better for everyone. It's the shame the old guy has to die, he's been in the story for a while.
Hm. Lupin mentioned, Petyr, I assume it's Lord Peter Vyrwel, who if I remember correctly, the guy who threw the ball and Lucas' half-brother/relative too?
Raylansfair is in danger, still, obviously. I'm curious to see how this will play out.
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man] Damn this part was lit! I wonder if there was any chance we could have saved him and avoided his capture process. This is a very sad part
I don't want Harpy to do it, she doesn't have to carry the burden on her shoulder. Samuel can't either because he doesn't have the right, and will probably piss off the group. I'm sure Harpy will understand the decison without any sort of negatice concequence.
Question is, how do we follow up from here? Well I'm not ready to say mission success just yet, but if the group comes out okay, does that mean opeartion "Vengance" is a go for Samuel? This sounds interesting
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
[Ask Samuel to do it]It's always better to have a neutral party do the dirty deed. And I wasn't sure who was who in the conversation between The Tom and The Sphynx. Is the Tom Rodrik, as in Rodrik Frostborn?
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man]
I think its important that that Jaron does this. However 100% I do not want Harpy to do it. So to make certai… moren this does not happen I switch my vote to [Ask Samuel to do it] if it is in the majority of either of the two.
It's the shame the old guy has to die, he's been in the story for a while.
Yes indeed, he has been introduced in the very first chapter, which means he has been a part of the story for close to two years now. However, for almost as long, I have planned his eventual death, which was originally meant to be set in Chapter 6 already (with a slightly altered version of the events of Chapter 6 happening in Chapter 5 instead). Despite knowing it for such a long time, it has still been relatively hard to write this scene and his actual (inevitable) death scene is yet to come in Jaron's next part.
Hm. Lupin mentioned, Petyr, I assume it's Lord Peter Vyrwel, who if I remember correctly, the guy who threw the ball and Lucas' half-brother/relative too?
Well, you are correct with Lupin. This is the same Lupin that has been mentioned in Edrick's part, the twin brother of Alphyn Frostborn. With Petyr, you might be right. However, I can't confirm anything there, since Petyr is quite a common name. All I can say is, you will get your answer in the near future.
Raylansfair is in danger, still, obviously. I'm curious to see how this will play out.
That is undoubtedly true, Raylansfair is in a lot of danger, with the Ironborn arriving and Mullendore and his allies gathering their forces. Hopefully it'll be exciting!
[Ask Samuel to do it]
I think it'll just be better for everyone. It's the shame the old guy has to die, he's been in the story for a whil… moree.
Hm. Lupin mentioned, Petyr, I assume it's Lord Peter Vyrwel, who if I remember correctly, the guy who threw the ball and Lucas' half-brother/relative too?
Raylansfair is in danger, still, obviously. I'm curious to see how this will play out.
Damn this part was lit! I wonder if there was any chance we could have saved him and avoided his capture process. This is a very sad part
I am glad you liked this part, even if it was indeed a sad one. There was one particular route that would have caused the Burned Man to survive for a while longer, potentially way into Book 2. To be fair, I have planned with his death at this point and the chances for his death have been far higher than the chances for his survival, but I have built in a route which would have assured his survival for longer, even if that route has not been fully planned by the time I stopped putting thought into it (which would be the end of Chapter 4). One key decision was to kill the fake Butterfly in the Chapter 4 finale. If Jaron would have convinced Harpy to spare him, he would have eventually revealed Mullendore's plans, which would have opened up a couple of different options, one of which would have resulted in the Burned Man succeeding at leaving the city unharmed. The same route would have also opened possibilities for other characters to survive.
I don't want Harpy to do it, she doesn't have to carry the burden on her shoulder. Samuel can't either because he doesn't have the right, and will probably piss off the group. I'm sure Harpy will understand the decison without any sort of negatice concequence.
I think I should at least reveal that Samuel would only do this if Jaron would openly ask for it. He's ready to do this, but understands that this is not his choice to make. If Harpy disagrees with this decision, she would likely direct her anger at Jaron, who gave the order after all. That said, it isn't guaranteed that she's going to be angry at all.
Question is, how do we follow up from here? Well I'm not ready to say mission success just yet, but if the group comes out okay, does that mean opeartion "Vengance" is a go for Samuel? This sounds interesting
While the group failed at their prime goal to save the Burned Man, Samuel is still planning to demand the help he has been promised. No matter the fate of the Burned Man, he supported them tremendously and repeatedly saved their life and Jaron is certainly going to see it similarly. If they get out of there, then he is likely going to be willing to help Samuel. Harpy might be a different case, because she's not in the condition to help anyone with anything right now.
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man] Damn this part was lit! I wonder if there was any chance we could have saved him and avoided his capture process… more. This is a very sad part
I don't want Harpy to do it, she doesn't have to carry the burden on her shoulder. Samuel can't either because he doesn't have the right, and will probably piss off the group. I'm sure Harpy will understand the decison without any sort of negatice concequence.
Question is, how do we follow up from here? Well I'm not ready to say mission success just yet, but if the group comes out okay, does that mean opeartion "Vengance" is a go for Samuel? This sounds interesting
There is no Rodrik Frostborn, you probably confused him with Lupin Frostborn, who was also mentioned in their talk and who formerly was a member of the Alley Cats. However, this part indeed revealed the real first names of the Tom and the Sphynx. The Tom's first name is Erik, while Rodrik is the first name of the Sphynx. I can confirm that both of them are going to have their (pretty interesting) backstories revealed in greater detail in a later chapter.
I hope the talk between them wasn't too confusing in general! I kind of struggled with the fact that I couldn't explain any visual details during it, since Jaron was unable to actually see them from his position. If there's anything else unclear, feel free to ask!
[Ask Samuel to do it]It's always better to have a neutral party do the dirty deed. And I wasn't sure who was who in the conversation between The Tom and The Sphynx. Is the Tom Rodrik, as in Rodrik Frostborn?
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
Damn, I really did like the Burned Man But it was great to get the backstory on him and Harpy, and I'd say this is a great closure when it comes to his role in this story. What comes to the choice... It's a hard one. Well, I know I won't ask Samuel to do it, that feels just wrong. In a way I think Harpy is the one who should do it, this is her father figure, her mentor - she should be the one to give him the mercy of death. BUT, I don't think she is mentally in a state that she can handle it. She is already haunted by what she did to the "Butterfly", I don't want her to have another traumatic experience. Sure, she probably won't like Jaron stepping in, but I have a feeling she might thank him later for it. Or it might make a huge rift between them Oh well, just have to go with my gut feeling...
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
Damn... what an amazing part. We learned a lot and I am quite saddened to see the Burned Man go...
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man]
I spent some time thinking about this. While it would be more respectful and pragmatic for Harpy to do it, I don't want to put her through something like that as she clearly isn't stable and ready to do it. Therefore, I think Jaron should do it himself. However, I will not be upset if the Harpy option wins.
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man] It might just be me but I feel like we lose more of Harpy everytime she kills and I don't want to put the burden on Samuel. I'm surprised there's no choice to leave him, I'd never pick it but I thought it'd be an option.
Immediately, darkness surrounded them, with only the distant, sparsely used torches spending enough light for them to find their way and to … moremake out the silhouettes of each other. The only ones Jaron was able to see clearly were Samuel in front of him and Harpy right next to him, though he also heard Ayden's heavy panting, as he dragged himself forward and Lanford's slightly nervous breathing.
“Right”, Samuel whispered and as Jaron moved his head, he saw a tunnel, like a gaping hole in the darkness, a pit befitting to the path that would lead them to the Alley Cats. The Tom would be down there, the man who murdered Martin and Keira. He'd be accompanied by countless of his men, enough to make even Samuel Harrington feel uneasy. And maybe, just maybe, they'd find the Burned Man.
Silently, they all turned to this tunnel and entered it. Jaron had expected things to feel different, now that they approached a place Samuel had described as the… [view original content]
I'm surprised there's no choice to leave him, I'd never pick it but I thought it'd be an option.
Hm, I don't think such an option would have been in-character for Jaron. After just learning of his backstory, he actually developed quite a lot of respect for the Burned Man and I don't think he would leave him to further torture and a slow, painful death at the hands of the Sphynx. Neither would Harpy ever agree to this and even Samuel might object. Perhaps I could have included an option not to choose, though that would basically have the same results as choosing Harpy for it.
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man] It might just be me but I feel like we lose more of Harpy everytime she kills and I don't want to put the burden on Samuel. I'm surprised there's no choice to leave him, I'd never pick it but I thought it'd be an option.
This was a close choice, there have been votes for all three options and arguments that spoke in their favour. I think I can reveal that this is one choice I would have had a very hard time with. Actually, even knowing the outcomes, I'd still have a hard time choosing. I probably would have chosen for Jaron to do it himself as well, but after reading some of your comments, I wouldn't be entirely sure anymore. But well, this one will have consequences. Jaron is going to have a small part in the chapter finale, very soon, so you'll already see the direct consequences of this choice. But it is going to do more, it will affect Jaron, Harpy, their relationship, for the better or the worse.
Now, I know the voting hasn't been open for long. However, I have been hit with inspiration and on top of that, I feel that many of you have voted and I'm not sure if leaving the voting open for another day is going to result in any more votes. This makes me very happy and when I feel happy I tend to write faster, which hopefully makes you happy. And I really want to finish this chapter as soon as possible, because the next one is probably the one I have put the most thought into, the one I have been planning since I started to write the story. I can't exactly tell you how many parts this chapter is still going to have, but I can give you an overview of the PoV's that still have one part left. They will be Edrick, Ilish, Drent, Marak, Arthur, Jaron and two for Raenna. At least the parts for Ilish and Marak (as well as one for Raenna) are planned to be rather short, while Jaron's part of the chapter finale won't be that long either, so the number of remaining parts will be somewhere between three and five. Three is the most likely, actually, so prepare for the chapter finale to happen very soon
The very next part is currently featuring Edrick and I'm making good progress with it. Maybe I will manage to include a second PoV, which is going to be Raenna, but I can't promise that for sure. I'll include recaps for both, just in case. The last time we saw Edrick, he and his group listened to an offer from Lionel Frostborn, who had given shelter to Alys shortly after her escape, if only for one night. In exchange for his information, he asked of Edrick to help his eldest son, Alphyn, to find his youngest son, Connor, who had ran away from home. You know Connor from Lucas' storyline in Chapter 5 and from a very short cameo in this Jaron part and you know that he is seriously messed up, as he idolizes his older brother Lupin, who is Alphyn's twin. Still, Lionel considers him part of the family and wishes to see his return home. For this, he also offered to send Alphyn as additional help for Edrick's mission. Later on, after Alphyn led them to their rooms for the night, Edrick witnessed a huge dispute between Leo and Dante. Motivated by distrust for Dante, Leo had ended up sneaking into his room, where he found a letter. Dante caught him red-handed and did not took it kindly. Their argument almost got physical until Edrick intervened. He decided to return the letter to Dante without reading it, despite Leo's insistance that it included shocking information. We won't get to see the immediate aftermath of this, as the next part will be set during the following morning instead.
Meanwhile, Raenna's last part hasn't been that long ago. The last time we saw her, she and her companions, Abbas and Brandon, stumbled upon Noelle's camp from the beginning of the chapter, where they also encountered Archmaester Wulvren, who was still alive. They had a short fight against a few of the unusually aggressive wolves that trouble Raylansfair, though that was nothing they weren't able to deal with. Wulvren informed them of Noelle's plans and expressed regret over helping her initially. He also revealed the direction he had last seen Marak and Noelle at, before Raenna allowed him to leave. He stated that he intends to seek out Aegon Targaryen, to offer his service. Shortly after he left, Raenna noticed smoke coming from the direction Wulvren had pointed them to.
The Voting is closed!
Jaron is going to kill the Burned Man himself
This was a close choice, there have been votes for all three optio… morens and arguments that spoke in their favour. I think I can reveal that this is one choice I would have had a very hard time with. Actually, even knowing the outcomes, I'd still have a hard time choosing. I probably would have chosen for Jaron to do it himself as well, but after reading some of your comments, I wouldn't be entirely sure anymore. But well, this one will have consequences. Jaron is going to have a small part in the chapter finale, very soon, so you'll already see the direct consequences of this choice. But it is going to do more, it will affect Jaron, Harpy, their relationship, for the better or the worse.
Now, I know the voting hasn't been open for long. However, I have been hit with inspiration and on top of that, I feel that many of you have voted and I'm not sure if leaving the voting… [view original content]
Side comment, but now that I'm thinking about it, I believe Wolfius has no connection to the direwolf whatsoever.
I say this because, you know, when Richard got screwed up in Chapter 2, he was left for the wolves to die by the assassins. If Wolfius could control the direwolf or anything like that, surely he would have made sure Richard died. Sure Jarow found him, but you know, Wolfius or any of the assassins would have probably gotten him.
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abbas and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Brandon gulped, which was followed by a cough. “Just this once, I have to agree with you, Ghiscari”, he answered. Raenna barely heard them, over the increasingly louder sound of the fire consuming the house.
“It looks like they have started two fires”, she realized as she came closer. There was a hole, likely leading down to a basement and high flames came out of it, likely having consumed a majority of whatever was lying below already. On top of that, a second fire had been started behind the house's only door. Both fires were spreading, but still unconnected to each other.
“At least now we can be sure that it's been started by that priestess”, Abbas said. “Her kind, they are obsessed with fire. Use it for everything, really. Not just normal stuff, like preparing a meal, but also things like divination, or funeral pyres”
The last word caused Raenna to stop momentarily. “What?”, she asked and glanced at Abbas, who raised an eyebrow, before he noticed it as well. “Oh, hell no”, he mumbled, with widely opened eyes. Brandon threw a confused glance at both, especially as they started to run almost simultaneously.
It was Raenna who arrived first, especially as Abbas got noticeably slowed down by the smoke and the intense heat. The latter one started to get uncomfortable for Raenna, though by then, it must have been painful for Abbas already. It was perhaps the only good thing she got from her father's side of the family. Fire can't kill a dragon and even she as a halfblood was able to put up quite a good fight against it.
Still, she felt the heat, uncomfortably crawling across her skin, the smoke pressing against her eyes, creeping through her nose and through her mouth, drying her throat, making every breath painful. But what Abbas just said, it gave her a terrible thought. A pyre, yes, Red Priests were known to do that. And the stench...
Despite not being even nearly as affected as Brandon and Abbas, who had to stop at least two dozen feet away from her, Raenna barely approached to get any closer. The smoke was a thick, black cloud, making it nearly impossible to see through and now that she had almost reached the fire itself, the heat started to get intense enough to cause her to gasp for air. Still, as she saw something lying next to a half-collapsed wall, she had to go closer. Behind her, Brandon shouted something, though the noise of the flames drew it out.
It wasn't only the sight of the dead body that caused Raenna to avert her eyes. But now she knew she was right. The priestess was burning someone here. It was at least unlikely that this person had still been alive by the time Noelle had started the fire. Their neck was twisted in a horrifying way, she was able to see that much, even though the fire had started to consume them, making any further investigation impossible. All she could see was that it had been an adult, a thin person at roughly her side...
Then she saw something else. Despite the pain it caused her, she widely opened her eyes in a reflex, as she spotted a second body, gently put onto the bed. This time, the fire had just started to get there and Raenna was still able to identify the body of a young girl. The flames already started to consume the skin, but she saw dark brown hair and as far as she was able to see it, this girl couldn't have been older than twelve.
Raenna started to shiver, as dark spots started to dance in front of her eyes. Dark brown hair, a girl of twelve years... Ellena. What she saw there had to be the body of Ellena Terys. By the gods, the priestess had actually made good on her threat...
Suddenly, Raenna felt a wave of dizziness overcoming her. Air, she needed air, but all she had was smoke, all around her and heat, slowly consuming her. She went to her knees, overcome by a sudden weakness and in the last bits of her mind that were not overcome with shock over her recent discovery and panic over her inability to stop herself from suffocating, she knew she had gotten too close to the fire, to the heat and the smoke.
Gasping, choking, Raenna tried to turn around, to where she thought the others must have been. Next to her, the roof collapsed onto the bodies of Ellena and the unknown person. Blinded by smoke, she crawled into one direction, praying that it would be the right one...
And then, she felt strong hands around her waist, lifting her up, dragging her away from the fire, away from the house, away from the corpse of the girl they had been trying to rescue. Once she had left the smoke itself, she was even able to see again, even though her sight was blurry and her eyes were aching horribly, from smoke and her tears.
Harshly, she was thrown to the ground. “Fuck, I told you to stay away!”, Brandon yelled at her, with concern in his voice. “Now breathe! God damn it, breathe!” Then, he reached down, pressing both hands onto the centre of her chest and pushing down strongly. Raenna's eyes widened, as her mouth opened and she finally gasped. Air, as cold as ice, filled her lungs and then, she started to cough, as she slowly snapped back to her senses. Before she even realized it, she was lying on all fours, coughing and almost throwing up from the smoke.
Brandon was coughing as well and he looked furious. “Don't you dare doing that again!”, he barked. “Almost dying on us here! What would Terroma say?” Terroma... Raenna's eyes widened, as she spun around, falling back onto her back.
“Terroma...”, she mumbled, her voice hoarsy and weak. “Oh no... the girl... Ellena...” She paused, as Brandon narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”, he asked and she gulped, which almost felt as if she would push a dagger into her own throat. “She... she was in there... burning... they killed her... they burned her”, she gasped. “And now Terroma is going to kill both of them...”
No Choices for this part
Edrick
Though it was already close to noon, Edrick had the feeling as if it was still slightly gloomy, as if the sun wouldn't really shine this day. He sighed. “That's how you know that winter is coming”, he muttered. “At least we won't be here for the first snowfall” He reached down and gently stroke the mane of his horse.
“Are you sure about that? I plan to be back home by winter”, Darreth answered, as he moved his horse closer to Edrick's. “I wouldn't count on it”, Dante remarked, having approached from the other side. “Considering how long he needs, I wouldn't be surprised if winter is already over by the time we can start” Darreth grinned. “Or maybe we'll be frozen to death by then”, he replied. “Seriously, what is taking him so long?”
Edrick slightly rolled his eyes. “It's his son”, he answered. “You don't have any children of your own, have you?” Darreth shook his head, though he had a slightly curious streak in his eyes as he did so. “Do you?”, he asked. “No”, Edrick replied. “But I have a nephew, which is similar”
He turned to look at Alphyn Frostborn, who was standing on a porch in front of a blacksmiths workshop. His hand rested on the shoulder of a boy in his late teens, probably just a few months away from becoming a man and certainly not that much younger than Dante or Darreth. Edrick had already heard that Alphyn Frostborn had a bastard son, but he was surprised to learn just how old Jeffrey Snow already was. Alphyn must have fathered him in his early teens. Optically, the boy was undeniably a Frostborn. His hair was jet black, but his facial features resembled a younger version of his father and he had the same pale, grey eyes as his trueborn family.
Now, Edrick glanced over his shoulder, to see Leo a few feet away from them. The young man had been clearly unhappy with Edrick's decision to value Dante's privacy more than the uncovering of his secrets and he had been exceptionally quiet the whole morning. On the other hand, Dante didn't even mention the incident, though Edrick suspected it to be one reason for his good mood.
Yet behind Leo stood the other Frostborns. Neither of them seemed particularly happy. In fact, Lord Lionel looked more glum than ever and Lucien had a noticeable frown on his face. Evelyn was keeping her calm quite well, though Edrick hadn't forgotten her emotional outburst the previous evening. Finally, Lady Elizabeth, whose worried eyes were constantly focused on Alphyn.
Finally, Alphyn pulled his son into a hug. Jeffrey reciprocated the gesture, before his father turned around, to walk down the small path that led from the blacksmiths workshop back to the horses. Alphyn looked relieved, as if a great burden had been taken from him. He even smiled.
“Well, that's been taken care of”, he mumbled, once he had reached the rest of his group. He looked over his shoulder, to share a smile with his son, before the boy turned around, to enter the workshop again. “Once we're back, I have to properly introduce you to Jeffrey. The boy got wit, I'm sure you'll like him”
Politely, Dante gave him a nod. “Would you allow one question, Ser?”, he asked and Alphyn shrugged. “Sure, go ahead”, he answered. Dante glanced at the boy, who had just entered the workshop. “Your son, how old is he exactly?”
Alphyn sighed and his smile seemed forced for a second. “He just turned seventeen”, he answered. “Yes, I know what you must be thinking there. I have been very young when I fathered him, younger than he is now. I have been a fool, a child almost, lacking responsibility”
“And his mother?”, Dante asked and Alphyn's smile faded entirely. “Now we get to the ugly part. His mother, you see, has been in my age. She just blossomed into a maiden, the fairest frost flower of the North”, he explained. “In the end, she paid the price for a foolishness that we've both been guilty of. Pregnancy at such a young age doesn't always work out”
“Never”, Darreth remarked in a sober tone. Alphyn shook his head. “I know a case where the girl has been even younger and survived the birth, if barely”, he answered. “But such a wonder happens rarely. By the time Jeffrey entered this world, his mother had already left it”
Dante gulped and it was Edrick who spoke. “My condolences”, he mumbled. Now, Alphyn shrugged. “It has been over a decade ago. I feel no pain when telling this story”, he answered, though Edrick wasn't sure if he was telling the truth there. “And I made sure that Jeffrey has a good life. Frostborn gold convinced his grandfather, the blacksmith, to take him in. And once I'm Lord, I'll further reconsider his position” With a somber look towards the workshop, his lips formed a thin smile. “No matter what happens, he is my firstborn son”
For a moment, Alphyn was silent, before he looked up and saw his family approach. His smirk reappeared. “Brother!”, he said, as he pulled Lucien into a strong hug. “You'll be the man here while I'm gone. Take care of the others” He heavily patted his younger brother onto the shoulder, which caused Lucien to groan, before he was even able to respond. Still, he and Alphyn exchanged a warm glance, before the older man shifted his attention to his mother, who had tears in her eyes. And now, Alphyn's smile was gone again, as quick as it came.
“Mother”, he said softly, as he spread his arms. She took a step closer and rested her head on his shoulder. “Don't cry. I'm only heading south” Lady Elizabeth sobbed softly. “Don't let him take another son of mine”, she sighed. Alphyn shook his head. “I won't”, he answered with a decisive voice. “I'll come back and I won't come back alone” Now, he let go of his mother and glanced at his sister, who was barely keeping her composure. “I'll bring him back”, he promised.
It was in this moment, before Alphyn was able to exchange any words with his father, that the sound of a horn caused Edrick and the others to shift their attention to the gates. Lady Elizabeth looked up in particular, a hopeful look in her eyes. “Open the gates!”, the loud voice of Captain Arthries sounded and Edrick saw the captain rushing down the walls. “Open the gates for Lord Mogfield!”
The gates opened with remarkable speed and immediately, Edrick saw a group of people riding through, at least half a dozen, all of them on beautiful, nimble horses. They were clad in simple leather, blood-stained in more than one case. He also saw a massive package, wrapped in linen, lying on one of the horses.
The leader of the riders was a man swiftly approaching his fifties. Judging by the strands of grey that mixed with his naturally brown hair, he might have already passed them. He had a scruffy, full beard, which showed even more signs of grey, though as he slid down from his horse, to hand the animal over to a stable boy, Edrick noticed that he was tall and in remarkably good physical shape. What slightly disturbed him was the man's left eye. The right one had a pale blue, a colour similar to Elizabeth's, but the left one was lacking a pupil entirely, which was more unsettling than any eye the hedge knight had ever seen. That said, the smile on his face was wide and entirely genuine.
“If it isn't my family!”, he proclaimed, as he came closer, a blood-stained sack in his left hand. “I haven't expected such a pompous welcome” He walked up to Lady Frostborn, who had a smile on her face, even though tears continued to pour down her face. “Ellie!”, he said. “Now there's my baby sister” She rolled her reddened eyes and took a deep breath. “Darko, where have you been?”, she asked.
A cheeky grin formed on the man's face. Before he answered, he turned to Alphyn and gave him a friendly pat to the side. “Hey there, kiddo”, he said and Alphyn smiled. “Glad you're back, Uncle Darko”, he said. The man, apparently named Darko, quickly glanced at the rest of his family. While Evelyn seemed happy to see him, Lucien had a noticeable frown on his face and the man noticed it as well.
“Oh, what is it, Luci?”, Darko asked with a cheeky grin. “No hug for you dear old uncle?” Lucien shook his head. “We're not here for you”, he answered coldly and Darko shrugged. “Whatever then”, he said, before he put the sack onto the table.
“Successful hunt?”, Lord Lionel asked and Darko chuckled. “Very successful, brother”, he said. “Though I'm glad to be back. I could need myself a warm fire, a hot meal and an even hotter woman” Lionel chuckled at this comment. “You'll get all three”, he promised. “Though we expected you back yesterday. Have there been any problems?”
Dark gave him a nod. “Couple minor ones”, he answered, as his hands moved to the sack. “You know how we went out to hunt that bear?” As Lionel had given him a nod, Darko opened the sack, which caused Elizabeth to gasp. Even Edrick tensed up, as he saw the massive, severed head of a wolf, as large as the head of his horse. “Direwolf...”, Leo mumbled.
“Abso-fucking-lutely right, random guy! A direwolf, the first one I've seen in over a decade”, Darko said, not without pride. “And she's been a fierce one. Killed three of Kynan's hounds before we even realized that she was not a bear. Almost took Kynan's arm as well, but he got lucky and it only ended up as a flesh wound” He patted himself onto the shoulder. “But in the end, I slew the beast once again”, he proclaimed. “Which means, my family is going to benefit from it. Ellie and Evie, I think I'll soon have some fancy new coats for you. Winter is coming, right?”
Finally, he looked at Edrick, for the first time since his arrival. His smile got slightly smaller and he glanced from the hedge knight to Dante and Darreth. “So, whom do we have here?”, he asked. “I get the feeling you're somewhat important”
Edrick gave him a nod. “I'd like to think so”, he answered. “My name is Edrick of the Wolfswood and I am here on behalf of Lord Barroth Boleyn” Darko raised an eyebrow. “I've expected Boleyn to come himself. It's his daughter after all”, he mumbled, before he looked at the others. “And your companions?”
“The one you just spoke to is Leo York, a hunter from Lord Boleyn's lands. Then we have Ser Dante Karstark and his squire Darreth Kailen”, Edrick quickly introduced the rest of his group. At the mention of Dante's name, Darko's eyes momentarily widened. He fully shifted his attention towards the young man.
“Karstark...”, he mumbled. “Haven't expected one of your kind here” He straightened his back. “But ah, forgive my manners. Darko Mogfield. Technically, Lord Darko Mogfield, although I don't use that title, not after what happened to the rest of my house”, he formally introduced himself. “The times where my family knelt to yours haven't been that long ago. And from my perspective, they aren't over yet” As he said this, he took a deep, respectful bow in front of Dante. “Ser”
Dante smiled in a charming way. “It's alright, mylord”, he said. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance. In fact, you returned just in time for us to make our leave. We plan to ride south to find Lady Alys, as well as your nephew Connor”
Darko sighed. “Yeah, I've heard of my brother-in-law's plans. He's sending Alphyn with you, which is a good idea. It sounds as if you're going to hunt for a wolf down there”, he mumbled. Alphyn cleared his throat. “So far, we can't be sure that Lupin is truly involved”, he objected and Darko shook his head with a smirk.
“Of course we can, kiddo”, he insisted. “Connor has been idolizing that madman. I wouldn't be surprised if Lupin somehow found a way to manipulate him even from his exile” He glanced at Evelyn, who had noticeably tensed up as soon as her older brother got mentioned. “Besides, Lupin always loved to ruin lives”, he mumbled.
Suddenly, his eyes widened slightly. “Listen up now, that just gave me an idea!”, he proclaimed. “You're hunting the biggest, baddest wolf of them all, my degenerated nephew. I'd say, you could need all the help you can find” He glanced at the severed head of the direwolf. “And trust me, I'm not boasting when I say that I have the most experience when it comes to hunting”, he claimed. “Be it finding my youngest nephew, chasing his beast of an older brother, or tracking down some bratty girl”
At the last part of the sentence, Leo narrowed his eyes. “We don't need you”, he instantly proclaimed and Dante raised an eyebrow. “I believe this is still up for our leader to decide”, he responded, still irritated of Leo's actions from the night before. He quickly looked at Edrick. “I am familiar with House Mogfield. Up until their eventual destruction, they have served my family faithfully. I think we can trust him”
“It's not that I don't trust him”, Leo was quick to explain. “I just think we're already too many to travel unnoticed. We're already not exactly the most inconspicuous group around and a man like him is not making it any easier” After he said this, he sighed. “But who am I to complain? It's not as if you're going to listen to me”
Raenna
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abba… mores and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Bran… [view original content]
You definitely bring up something interesting here. At least for a short few hours, Richard was unconscious in the forest and yet he survived. Given the amount of hatred Wolfius has for Richard, it is definitely not unthinkable that he would try his best to make sure that he is going to die, if he would be able to control the beast or other wolves.
At the same time, it has been kind of hinted that Kersea botched that task on purpose, by not bringing him into the deep forest, where the wolves live and by putting him into a position where Jarow was eventually able to find him.
All in all, I can tease that you will get some sort of an answer to this in the next chapter.
Side comment, but now that I'm thinking about it, I believe Wolfius has no connection to the direwolf whatsoever.
I say this because, you… more know, when Richard got screwed up in Chapter 2, he was left for the wolves to die by the assassins. If Wolfius could control the direwolf or anything like that, surely he would have made sure Richard died. Sure Jarow found him, but you know, Wolfius or any of the assassins would have probably gotten him.
That's my reasoning at least.
Raenna
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abba… mores and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Bran… [view original content]
Raenna
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abba… mores and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Bran… [view original content]
Raenna
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abba… mores and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Bran… [view original content]
It's like Two-Face. We didn't bring him, and looked what happened (nothing?).
Indeed, nothing happened. At least not yet. Two-Face would have been a recurring character in Willfred's storyline, but he wouldn't have affected anything, since he is not the kind of guy to get involved in discussions. However, leaving him at Castamere is going to majorly affect a storyline in Book 2. Similarly, his absence in Castamere would have had big consequences. It is similar for Darko, he is either going to become a character in Edrick's storyline and get a chance to affect the events there, or he will remain in the North, which will affect the Northern storyline in Book 2. One of these options might be more favourable than the other.
Monty Python?
That was at least not a conscious reference, but I like it
You see, lines like this make me think that direwolf in the Reach has something to do with Lupin...but it wouldn't explain why he would know Harking.
Hm, interesting point. And it has indeed been confirmed that Lupin has been in the Reach not too long ago, where he was a member of the Alley Cats. Though that also means he spent a certain amount of time in Oldtown, which is perhaps the worst city in all of Westeros for a direwolf. And it indeed doesn't explain why he would recognize Richard. But still, a very interesting theory and one I can't possibly confirm or deny without giving away big spoilers. All I can say is, at least in the context of the scene, Darko was referring to the Frostborn sigil, which contains two wolves and he also wanted to bring up his own recent hunt of a direwolf as an argument in favour of taking him.
[Leave Darko behind] Eh, we don't need him. It's fine, totally fine. I get the feeling he'll die if we bring him.
It's like Two-Face. We … moredidn't bring him, and looked what happened (nothing?).
but he got lucky and it only ended up as a flesh wound
Monty Python?
You're hunting the biggest, baddest wolf of them all, my degenerated nephew.
You see, lines like this make me think that direwolf in the Reach has something to do with Lupin...but it wouldn't explain why he would know Harking.
Obviously we know it wasn't really Ellena who burned, but man, that is going to piss off Terroma... Interesting to see how he reacts.
[Take Darko with you] I definitely see Leo's point - they are a bit of an odd group, but Darko seems like a fun character, and I'd hate to waste him by leaving him to the North.
And like InGen pointed out, it definitely feels like Lupin has something to do with that direwolf, maybe. He could also be the ally that Wolfius referred to long ago.
Raenna
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abba… mores and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Bran… [view original content]
[Leave Darko behind] It may be better not to screw with our party members emotions. Leo is already close enough to considering betraying us possibly. Plus we don't need a third hunter, two is enough.
Raenna
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abba… mores and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Bran… [view original content]
Raenna
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abba… mores and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Bran… [view original content]
Now Terroma's gonna think Ellena's dead. You tricked us, Liquid! That ain't fair!
Muahahaha, it seems my dastardly plan to trick you all has succeeded In all seriousness though, it's true, Terroma is going to think that Ellena is dead now, which is going to have huge consequences. This could have been avoided if Rachel would have survived, or if Ellena would have never tried to run away from Noelle (therefore never encountering Otis). And certainly, this is going to be a very important detail.
Obviously we know it wasn't really Ellena who burned, but man, that is going to piss off Terroma... Interesting to see how he reacts.
I certainly hope it's going to be interesting Though it can be said that Terroma is pretty damn scary when he is pissed off. His actions in this chapter, chasing Noelle and Marak through half of the Reach, working himself to the brink of collapsing, all of these actions have been motivated by worry, so you can probably imagine how far he is willing to go now that he is really, really angry.
And like InGen pointed out, it definitely feels like Lupin has something to do with that direwolf, maybe. He could also be the ally that Wolfius referred to long ago.
This is an interesting addition to InGen's theory. Lupin and Wolfius would make for a very effective and powerful team for sure. From the little that has been revealed about Lupin so far, you know that they apparently have some similarities, so they would most likely get along well. And Lupin has last been seen in the Reach, so such a team-up is definitely not impossible.
Obviously we know it wasn't really Ellena who burned, but man, that is going to piss off Terroma... Interesting to see how he reacts.
[Ta… moreke Darko with you] I definitely see Leo's point - they are a bit of an odd group, but Darko seems like a fun character, and I'd hate to waste him by leaving him to the North.
And like InGen pointed out, it definitely feels like Lupin has something to do with that direwolf, maybe. He could also be the ally that Wolfius referred to long ago.
Hm, it's true that I have done a lot of foreshadowing there. Not necessarily all of it has been for the chapter finale though, some of it is meant to build up scenes for future chapters as well. You will see if you're correct very soon. The chapter finale is planned to be the part after the next one and I hope to be able to release it either on Sunday or on Monday at latest.
Raenna
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abba… mores and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Bran… [view original content]
This could have been avoided if Rachel would have survived, or if Ellena would have never tried to run away from Noelle (therefore never encountering Otis). And certainly, this is going to be a very important detail.
How about sparing Otis? Would they have burnt the place too?
Now Terroma's gonna think Ellena's dead. You tricked us, Liquid! That ain't fair!
Muahahaha, it seems my dastardly plan to trick you… more all has succeeded In all seriousness though, it's true, Terroma is going to think that Ellena is dead now, which is going to have huge consequences. This could have been avoided if Rachel would have survived, or if Ellena would have never tried to run away from Noelle (therefore never encountering Otis). And certainly, this is going to be a very important detail.
Unfortunately, sparing Otis wouldn't have changed much about this scene. Noelle's intention when burning down the house was, in her own mind, a positive one. She wanted to give his victims what she considers to be a proper burial, without having to build a funeral pyre for each of them. This is something she is very adamant about, so the only way you could have prevented the burning of the house (and the misunderstanding that resulted out of it), would have been not to learn about Otis' secret. If you would have spared him, the only difference in this particular scene would have been that Raenna obviously wouldn't have spotted his corpse on the floor, but she still would have spotted Rachel's body and mistaken her for Ellena's.
This could have been avoided if Rachel would have survived, or if Ellena would have never tried to run away from Noelle (therefore never enc… moreountering Otis). And certainly, this is going to be a very important detail.
How about sparing Otis? Would they have burnt the place too?
Comments
[Ask Samuel to do it]
I think it'll just be better for everyone. It's the shame the old guy has to die, he's been in the story for a while.
Hm. Lupin mentioned, Petyr, I assume it's Lord Peter Vyrwel, who if I remember correctly, the guy who threw the ball and Lucas' half-brother/relative too?
Raylansfair is in danger, still, obviously. I'm curious to see how this will play out.
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man] Damn this part was lit! I wonder if there was any chance we could have saved him and avoided his capture process. This is a very sad part
I don't want Harpy to do it, she doesn't have to carry the burden on her shoulder. Samuel can't either because he doesn't have the right, and will probably piss off the group. I'm sure Harpy will understand the decison without any sort of negatice concequence.
Question is, how do we follow up from here? Well I'm not ready to say mission success just yet, but if the group comes out okay, does that mean opeartion "Vengance" is a go for Samuel? This sounds interesting
[Ask Samuel to do it]It's always better to have a neutral party do the dirty deed. And I wasn't sure who was who in the conversation between The Tom and The Sphynx. Is the Tom Rodrik, as in Rodrik Frostborn?
Sure, that's alright! I think I should get a notification when you change your vote, so I certainly won't miss it
Yes indeed, he has been introduced in the very first chapter, which means he has been a part of the story for close to two years now. However, for almost as long, I have planned his eventual death, which was originally meant to be set in Chapter 6 already (with a slightly altered version of the events of Chapter 6 happening in Chapter 5 instead). Despite knowing it for such a long time, it has still been relatively hard to write this scene and his actual (inevitable) death scene is yet to come in Jaron's next part.
Well, you are correct with Lupin. This is the same Lupin that has been mentioned in Edrick's part, the twin brother of Alphyn Frostborn. With Petyr, you might be right. However, I can't confirm anything there, since Petyr is quite a common name. All I can say is, you will get your answer in the near future.
That is undoubtedly true, Raylansfair is in a lot of danger, with the Ironborn arriving and Mullendore and his allies gathering their forces. Hopefully it'll be exciting!
I am glad you liked this part, even if it was indeed a sad one. There was one particular route that would have caused the Burned Man to survive for a while longer, potentially way into Book 2. To be fair, I have planned with his death at this point and the chances for his death have been far higher than the chances for his survival, but I have built in a route which would have assured his survival for longer, even if that route has not been fully planned by the time I stopped putting thought into it (which would be the end of Chapter 4). One key decision was to kill the fake Butterfly in the Chapter 4 finale. If Jaron would have convinced Harpy to spare him, he would have eventually revealed Mullendore's plans, which would have opened up a couple of different options, one of which would have resulted in the Burned Man succeeding at leaving the city unharmed. The same route would have also opened possibilities for other characters to survive.
I think I should at least reveal that Samuel would only do this if Jaron would openly ask for it. He's ready to do this, but understands that this is not his choice to make. If Harpy disagrees with this decision, she would likely direct her anger at Jaron, who gave the order after all. That said, it isn't guaranteed that she's going to be angry at all.
While the group failed at their prime goal to save the Burned Man, Samuel is still planning to demand the help he has been promised. No matter the fate of the Burned Man, he supported them tremendously and repeatedly saved their life and Jaron is certainly going to see it similarly. If they get out of there, then he is likely going to be willing to help Samuel. Harpy might be a different case, because she's not in the condition to help anyone with anything right now.
There is no Rodrik Frostborn, you probably confused him with Lupin Frostborn, who was also mentioned in their talk and who formerly was a member of the Alley Cats. However, this part indeed revealed the real first names of the Tom and the Sphynx. The Tom's first name is Erik, while Rodrik is the first name of the Sphynx. I can confirm that both of them are going to have their (pretty interesting) backstories revealed in greater detail in a later chapter.
I hope the talk between them wasn't too confusing in general! I kind of struggled with the fact that I couldn't explain any visual details during it, since Jaron was unable to actually see them from his position. If there's anything else unclear, feel free to ask!
[Let Harpy do it] Best if Harpy does it she may hate Jaron or Samuel if they do it.
[Let Harpy do it]
[Let Harpy do it]
In a story sense, I think this is the most interesting choice, and would lead to some interesting development on Harpy's character.
Damn, I really did like the Burned Man
But it was great to get the backstory on him and Harpy, and I'd say this is a great closure when it comes to his role in this story. What comes to the choice... It's a hard one. Well, I know I won't ask Samuel to do it, that feels just wrong. In a way I think Harpy is the one who should do it, this is her father figure, her mentor - she should be the one to give him the mercy of death. BUT, I don't think she is mentally in a state that she can handle it. She is already haunted by what she did to the "Butterfly", I don't want her to have another traumatic experience. Sure, she probably won't like Jaron stepping in, but I have a feeling she might thank him later for it. Or it might make a huge rift between them 
Oh well, just have to go with my gut feeling...
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man]
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man]
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man]
[Let Harpy do it]
[Let Harpy do it]
(Let harpy do it)
Damn... what an amazing part. We learned a lot and I am quite saddened to see the Burned Man go...
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man]
I spent some time thinking about this. While it would be more respectful and pragmatic for Harpy to do it, I don't want to put her through something like that as she clearly isn't stable and ready to do it. Therefore, I think Jaron should do it himself. However, I will not be upset if the Harpy option wins.
[Mercy Kill the Burned Man] It might just be me but I feel like we lose more of Harpy everytime she kills and I don't want to put the burden on Samuel. I'm surprised there's no choice to leave him, I'd never pick it but I thought it'd be an option.
Hm, I don't think such an option would have been in-character for Jaron. After just learning of his backstory, he actually developed quite a lot of respect for the Burned Man and I don't think he would leave him to further torture and a slow, painful death at the hands of the Sphynx. Neither would Harpy ever agree to this and even Samuel might object. Perhaps I could have included an option not to choose, though that would basically have the same results as choosing Harpy for it.
The Voting is closed!
Jaron is going to kill the Burned Man himself
This was a close choice, there have been votes for all three options and arguments that spoke in their favour. I think I can reveal that this is one choice I would have had a very hard time with. Actually, even knowing the outcomes, I'd still have a hard time choosing. I probably would have chosen for Jaron to do it himself as well, but after reading some of your comments, I wouldn't be entirely sure anymore. But well, this one will have consequences. Jaron is going to have a small part in the chapter finale, very soon, so you'll already see the direct consequences of this choice. But it is going to do more, it will affect Jaron, Harpy, their relationship, for the better or the worse.
Now, I know the voting hasn't been open for long. However, I have been hit with inspiration and on top of that, I feel that many of you have voted and I'm not sure if leaving the voting open for another day is going to result in any more votes. This makes me very happy and when I feel happy I tend to write faster, which hopefully makes you happy. And I really want to finish this chapter as soon as possible, because the next one is probably the one I have put the most thought into, the one I have been planning since I started to write the story. I can't exactly tell you how many parts this chapter is still going to have, but I can give you an overview of the PoV's that still have one part left. They will be Edrick, Ilish, Drent, Marak, Arthur, Jaron and two for Raenna. At least the parts for Ilish and Marak (as well as one for Raenna) are planned to be rather short, while Jaron's part of the chapter finale won't be that long either, so the number of remaining parts will be somewhere between three and five. Three is the most likely, actually, so prepare for the chapter finale to happen very soon
The very next part is currently featuring Edrick and I'm making good progress with it. Maybe I will manage to include a second PoV, which is going to be Raenna, but I can't promise that for sure. I'll include recaps for both, just in case. The last time we saw Edrick, he and his group listened to an offer from Lionel Frostborn, who had given shelter to Alys shortly after her escape, if only for one night. In exchange for his information, he asked of Edrick to help his eldest son, Alphyn, to find his youngest son, Connor, who had ran away from home. You know Connor from Lucas' storyline in Chapter 5 and from a very short cameo in this Jaron part and you know that he is seriously messed up, as he idolizes his older brother Lupin, who is Alphyn's twin. Still, Lionel considers him part of the family and wishes to see his return home. For this, he also offered to send Alphyn as additional help for Edrick's mission. Later on, after Alphyn led them to their rooms for the night, Edrick witnessed a huge dispute between Leo and Dante. Motivated by distrust for Dante, Leo had ended up sneaking into his room, where he found a letter. Dante caught him red-handed and did not took it kindly. Their argument almost got physical until Edrick intervened. He decided to return the letter to Dante without reading it, despite Leo's insistance that it included shocking information. We won't get to see the immediate aftermath of this, as the next part will be set during the following morning instead.
Meanwhile, Raenna's last part hasn't been that long ago. The last time we saw her, she and her companions, Abbas and Brandon, stumbled upon Noelle's camp from the beginning of the chapter, where they also encountered Archmaester Wulvren, who was still alive. They had a short fight against a few of the unusually aggressive wolves that trouble Raylansfair, though that was nothing they weren't able to deal with. Wulvren informed them of Noelle's plans and expressed regret over helping her initially. He also revealed the direction he had last seen Marak and Noelle at, before Raenna allowed him to leave. He stated that he intends to seek out Aegon Targaryen, to offer his service. Shortly after he left, Raenna noticed smoke coming from the direction Wulvren had pointed them to.
Side comment, but now that I'm thinking about it, I believe Wolfius has no connection to the direwolf whatsoever.
I say this because, you know, when Richard got screwed up in Chapter 2, he was left for the wolves to die by the assassins. If Wolfius could control the direwolf or anything like that, surely he would have made sure Richard died. Sure Jarow found him, but you know, Wolfius or any of the assassins would have probably gotten him.
That's my reasoning at least.
Raenna
The closer Raenna came to the fire, the thicker the smoke got. By now, it already stung in her eyes, though a quick glance to Abbas and Brandon proved to her that they had it a lot worse. The Ghiscari unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes with one hand, while the Northerner stoically moved forwards, though his eyes were obviously irritated and reddened.
On top of that, there was the smell. The wind blew into their direction and as soon as Raenna was able to see the brightly burning building, a small, rundown house apparently, she also noticed the stench. While neither smoke nor heat particularly bothered her, the smell was enough to make her stomach turn. She knew the stench of burning flesh and it caused her to fasten her steps, as much as she would have preferred to stay away from it.
“Are those... burning bodies?”, Abbas asked, obviously having noticed the smell as well. “That is... gods, that smell if fucking sick!” Brandon gulped, which was followed by a cough. “Just this once, I have to agree with you, Ghiscari”, he answered. Raenna barely heard them, over the increasingly louder sound of the fire consuming the house.
“It looks like they have started two fires”, she realized as she came closer. There was a hole, likely leading down to a basement and high flames came out of it, likely having consumed a majority of whatever was lying below already. On top of that, a second fire had been started behind the house's only door. Both fires were spreading, but still unconnected to each other.
“At least now we can be sure that it's been started by that priestess”, Abbas said. “Her kind, they are obsessed with fire. Use it for everything, really. Not just normal stuff, like preparing a meal, but also things like divination, or funeral pyres”
The last word caused Raenna to stop momentarily. “What?”, she asked and glanced at Abbas, who raised an eyebrow, before he noticed it as well. “Oh, hell no”, he mumbled, with widely opened eyes. Brandon threw a confused glance at both, especially as they started to run almost simultaneously.
It was Raenna who arrived first, especially as Abbas got noticeably slowed down by the smoke and the intense heat. The latter one started to get uncomfortable for Raenna, though by then, it must have been painful for Abbas already. It was perhaps the only good thing she got from her father's side of the family. Fire can't kill a dragon and even she as a halfblood was able to put up quite a good fight against it.
Still, she felt the heat, uncomfortably crawling across her skin, the smoke pressing against her eyes, creeping through her nose and through her mouth, drying her throat, making every breath painful. But what Abbas just said, it gave her a terrible thought. A pyre, yes, Red Priests were known to do that. And the stench...
Despite not being even nearly as affected as Brandon and Abbas, who had to stop at least two dozen feet away from her, Raenna barely approached to get any closer. The smoke was a thick, black cloud, making it nearly impossible to see through and now that she had almost reached the fire itself, the heat started to get intense enough to cause her to gasp for air. Still, as she saw something lying next to a half-collapsed wall, she had to go closer. Behind her, Brandon shouted something, though the noise of the flames drew it out.
It wasn't only the sight of the dead body that caused Raenna to avert her eyes. But now she knew she was right. The priestess was burning someone here. It was at least unlikely that this person had still been alive by the time Noelle had started the fire. Their neck was twisted in a horrifying way, she was able to see that much, even though the fire had started to consume them, making any further investigation impossible. All she could see was that it had been an adult, a thin person at roughly her side...
Then she saw something else. Despite the pain it caused her, she widely opened her eyes in a reflex, as she spotted a second body, gently put onto the bed. This time, the fire had just started to get there and Raenna was still able to identify the body of a young girl. The flames already started to consume the skin, but she saw dark brown hair and as far as she was able to see it, this girl couldn't have been older than twelve.
Raenna started to shiver, as dark spots started to dance in front of her eyes. Dark brown hair, a girl of twelve years... Ellena. What she saw there had to be the body of Ellena Terys. By the gods, the priestess had actually made good on her threat...
Suddenly, Raenna felt a wave of dizziness overcoming her. Air, she needed air, but all she had was smoke, all around her and heat, slowly consuming her. She went to her knees, overcome by a sudden weakness and in the last bits of her mind that were not overcome with shock over her recent discovery and panic over her inability to stop herself from suffocating, she knew she had gotten too close to the fire, to the heat and the smoke.
Gasping, choking, Raenna tried to turn around, to where she thought the others must have been. Next to her, the roof collapsed onto the bodies of Ellena and the unknown person. Blinded by smoke, she crawled into one direction, praying that it would be the right one...
And then, she felt strong hands around her waist, lifting her up, dragging her away from the fire, away from the house, away from the corpse of the girl they had been trying to rescue. Once she had left the smoke itself, she was even able to see again, even though her sight was blurry and her eyes were aching horribly, from smoke and her tears.
Harshly, she was thrown to the ground. “Fuck, I told you to stay away!”, Brandon yelled at her, with concern in his voice. “Now breathe! God damn it, breathe!” Then, he reached down, pressing both hands onto the centre of her chest and pushing down strongly. Raenna's eyes widened, as her mouth opened and she finally gasped. Air, as cold as ice, filled her lungs and then, she started to cough, as she slowly snapped back to her senses. Before she even realized it, she was lying on all fours, coughing and almost throwing up from the smoke.
Brandon was coughing as well and he looked furious. “Don't you dare doing that again!”, he barked. “Almost dying on us here! What would Terroma say?” Terroma... Raenna's eyes widened, as she spun around, falling back onto her back.
“Terroma...”, she mumbled, her voice hoarsy and weak. “Oh no... the girl... Ellena...” She paused, as Brandon narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”, he asked and she gulped, which almost felt as if she would push a dagger into her own throat. “She... she was in there... burning... they killed her... they burned her”, she gasped. “And now Terroma is going to kill both of them...”
No Choices for this part
Edrick
Though it was already close to noon, Edrick had the feeling as if it was still slightly gloomy, as if the sun wouldn't really shine this day. He sighed. “That's how you know that winter is coming”, he muttered. “At least we won't be here for the first snowfall” He reached down and gently stroke the mane of his horse.
“Are you sure about that? I plan to be back home by winter”, Darreth answered, as he moved his horse closer to Edrick's. “I wouldn't count on it”, Dante remarked, having approached from the other side. “Considering how long he needs, I wouldn't be surprised if winter is already over by the time we can start” Darreth grinned. “Or maybe we'll be frozen to death by then”, he replied. “Seriously, what is taking him so long?”
Edrick slightly rolled his eyes. “It's his son”, he answered. “You don't have any children of your own, have you?” Darreth shook his head, though he had a slightly curious streak in his eyes as he did so. “Do you?”, he asked. “No”, Edrick replied. “But I have a nephew, which is similar”
He turned to look at Alphyn Frostborn, who was standing on a porch in front of a blacksmiths workshop. His hand rested on the shoulder of a boy in his late teens, probably just a few months away from becoming a man and certainly not that much younger than Dante or Darreth. Edrick had already heard that Alphyn Frostborn had a bastard son, but he was surprised to learn just how old Jeffrey Snow already was. Alphyn must have fathered him in his early teens. Optically, the boy was undeniably a Frostborn. His hair was jet black, but his facial features resembled a younger version of his father and he had the same pale, grey eyes as his trueborn family.
Now, Edrick glanced over his shoulder, to see Leo a few feet away from them. The young man had been clearly unhappy with Edrick's decision to value Dante's privacy more than the uncovering of his secrets and he had been exceptionally quiet the whole morning. On the other hand, Dante didn't even mention the incident, though Edrick suspected it to be one reason for his good mood.
Yet behind Leo stood the other Frostborns. Neither of them seemed particularly happy. In fact, Lord Lionel looked more glum than ever and Lucien had a noticeable frown on his face. Evelyn was keeping her calm quite well, though Edrick hadn't forgotten her emotional outburst the previous evening. Finally, Lady Elizabeth, whose worried eyes were constantly focused on Alphyn.
Finally, Alphyn pulled his son into a hug. Jeffrey reciprocated the gesture, before his father turned around, to walk down the small path that led from the blacksmiths workshop back to the horses. Alphyn looked relieved, as if a great burden had been taken from him. He even smiled.
“Well, that's been taken care of”, he mumbled, once he had reached the rest of his group. He looked over his shoulder, to share a smile with his son, before the boy turned around, to enter the workshop again. “Once we're back, I have to properly introduce you to Jeffrey. The boy got wit, I'm sure you'll like him”
Politely, Dante gave him a nod. “Would you allow one question, Ser?”, he asked and Alphyn shrugged. “Sure, go ahead”, he answered. Dante glanced at the boy, who had just entered the workshop. “Your son, how old is he exactly?”
Alphyn sighed and his smile seemed forced for a second. “He just turned seventeen”, he answered. “Yes, I know what you must be thinking there. I have been very young when I fathered him, younger than he is now. I have been a fool, a child almost, lacking responsibility”
“And his mother?”, Dante asked and Alphyn's smile faded entirely. “Now we get to the ugly part. His mother, you see, has been in my age. She just blossomed into a maiden, the fairest frost flower of the North”, he explained. “In the end, she paid the price for a foolishness that we've both been guilty of. Pregnancy at such a young age doesn't always work out”
“Never”, Darreth remarked in a sober tone. Alphyn shook his head. “I know a case where the girl has been even younger and survived the birth, if barely”, he answered. “But such a wonder happens rarely. By the time Jeffrey entered this world, his mother had already left it”
Dante gulped and it was Edrick who spoke. “My condolences”, he mumbled. Now, Alphyn shrugged. “It has been over a decade ago. I feel no pain when telling this story”, he answered, though Edrick wasn't sure if he was telling the truth there. “And I made sure that Jeffrey has a good life. Frostborn gold convinced his grandfather, the blacksmith, to take him in. And once I'm Lord, I'll further reconsider his position” With a somber look towards the workshop, his lips formed a thin smile. “No matter what happens, he is my firstborn son”
For a moment, Alphyn was silent, before he looked up and saw his family approach. His smirk reappeared. “Brother!”, he said, as he pulled Lucien into a strong hug. “You'll be the man here while I'm gone. Take care of the others” He heavily patted his younger brother onto the shoulder, which caused Lucien to groan, before he was even able to respond. Still, he and Alphyn exchanged a warm glance, before the older man shifted his attention to his mother, who had tears in her eyes. And now, Alphyn's smile was gone again, as quick as it came.
“Mother”, he said softly, as he spread his arms. She took a step closer and rested her head on his shoulder. “Don't cry. I'm only heading south” Lady Elizabeth sobbed softly. “Don't let him take another son of mine”, she sighed. Alphyn shook his head. “I won't”, he answered with a decisive voice. “I'll come back and I won't come back alone” Now, he let go of his mother and glanced at his sister, who was barely keeping her composure. “I'll bring him back”, he promised.
It was in this moment, before Alphyn was able to exchange any words with his father, that the sound of a horn caused Edrick and the others to shift their attention to the gates. Lady Elizabeth looked up in particular, a hopeful look in her eyes. “Open the gates!”, the loud voice of Captain Arthries sounded and Edrick saw the captain rushing down the walls. “Open the gates for Lord Mogfield!”
The gates opened with remarkable speed and immediately, Edrick saw a group of people riding through, at least half a dozen, all of them on beautiful, nimble horses. They were clad in simple leather, blood-stained in more than one case. He also saw a massive package, wrapped in linen, lying on one of the horses.
The leader of the riders was a man swiftly approaching his fifties. Judging by the strands of grey that mixed with his naturally brown hair, he might have already passed them. He had a scruffy, full beard, which showed even more signs of grey, though as he slid down from his horse, to hand the animal over to a stable boy, Edrick noticed that he was tall and in remarkably good physical shape. What slightly disturbed him was the man's left eye. The right one had a pale blue, a colour similar to Elizabeth's, but the left one was lacking a pupil entirely, which was more unsettling than any eye the hedge knight had ever seen. That said, the smile on his face was wide and entirely genuine.
“If it isn't my family!”, he proclaimed, as he came closer, a blood-stained sack in his left hand. “I haven't expected such a pompous welcome” He walked up to Lady Frostborn, who had a smile on her face, even though tears continued to pour down her face. “Ellie!”, he said. “Now there's my baby sister” She rolled her reddened eyes and took a deep breath. “Darko, where have you been?”, she asked.
A cheeky grin formed on the man's face. Before he answered, he turned to Alphyn and gave him a friendly pat to the side. “Hey there, kiddo”, he said and Alphyn smiled. “Glad you're back, Uncle Darko”, he said. The man, apparently named Darko, quickly glanced at the rest of his family. While Evelyn seemed happy to see him, Lucien had a noticeable frown on his face and the man noticed it as well.
“Oh, what is it, Luci?”, Darko asked with a cheeky grin. “No hug for you dear old uncle?” Lucien shook his head. “We're not here for you”, he answered coldly and Darko shrugged. “Whatever then”, he said, before he put the sack onto the table.
“Successful hunt?”, Lord Lionel asked and Darko chuckled. “Very successful, brother”, he said. “Though I'm glad to be back. I could need myself a warm fire, a hot meal and an even hotter woman” Lionel chuckled at this comment. “You'll get all three”, he promised. “Though we expected you back yesterday. Have there been any problems?”
Dark gave him a nod. “Couple minor ones”, he answered, as his hands moved to the sack. “You know how we went out to hunt that bear?” As Lionel had given him a nod, Darko opened the sack, which caused Elizabeth to gasp. Even Edrick tensed up, as he saw the massive, severed head of a wolf, as large as the head of his horse. “Direwolf...”, Leo mumbled.
“Abso-fucking-lutely right, random guy! A direwolf, the first one I've seen in over a decade”, Darko said, not without pride. “And she's been a fierce one. Killed three of Kynan's hounds before we even realized that she was not a bear. Almost took Kynan's arm as well, but he got lucky and it only ended up as a flesh wound” He patted himself onto the shoulder. “But in the end, I slew the beast once again”, he proclaimed. “Which means, my family is going to benefit from it. Ellie and Evie, I think I'll soon have some fancy new coats for you. Winter is coming, right?”
Finally, he looked at Edrick, for the first time since his arrival. His smile got slightly smaller and he glanced from the hedge knight to Dante and Darreth. “So, whom do we have here?”, he asked. “I get the feeling you're somewhat important”
Edrick gave him a nod. “I'd like to think so”, he answered. “My name is Edrick of the Wolfswood and I am here on behalf of Lord Barroth Boleyn” Darko raised an eyebrow. “I've expected Boleyn to come himself. It's his daughter after all”, he mumbled, before he looked at the others. “And your companions?”
“The one you just spoke to is Leo York, a hunter from Lord Boleyn's lands. Then we have Ser Dante Karstark and his squire Darreth Kailen”, Edrick quickly introduced the rest of his group. At the mention of Dante's name, Darko's eyes momentarily widened. He fully shifted his attention towards the young man.
“Karstark...”, he mumbled. “Haven't expected one of your kind here” He straightened his back. “But ah, forgive my manners. Darko Mogfield. Technically, Lord Darko Mogfield, although I don't use that title, not after what happened to the rest of my house”, he formally introduced himself. “The times where my family knelt to yours haven't been that long ago. And from my perspective, they aren't over yet” As he said this, he took a deep, respectful bow in front of Dante. “Ser”
Dante smiled in a charming way. “It's alright, mylord”, he said. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance. In fact, you returned just in time for us to make our leave. We plan to ride south to find Lady Alys, as well as your nephew Connor”
Darko sighed. “Yeah, I've heard of my brother-in-law's plans. He's sending Alphyn with you, which is a good idea. It sounds as if you're going to hunt for a wolf down there”, he mumbled. Alphyn cleared his throat. “So far, we can't be sure that Lupin is truly involved”, he objected and Darko shook his head with a smirk.
“Of course we can, kiddo”, he insisted. “Connor has been idolizing that madman. I wouldn't be surprised if Lupin somehow found a way to manipulate him even from his exile” He glanced at Evelyn, who had noticeably tensed up as soon as her older brother got mentioned. “Besides, Lupin always loved to ruin lives”, he mumbled.
Suddenly, his eyes widened slightly. “Listen up now, that just gave me an idea!”, he proclaimed. “You're hunting the biggest, baddest wolf of them all, my degenerated nephew. I'd say, you could need all the help you can find” He glanced at the severed head of the direwolf. “And trust me, I'm not boasting when I say that I have the most experience when it comes to hunting”, he claimed. “Be it finding my youngest nephew, chasing his beast of an older brother, or tracking down some bratty girl”
At the last part of the sentence, Leo narrowed his eyes. “We don't need you”, he instantly proclaimed and Dante raised an eyebrow. “I believe this is still up for our leader to decide”, he responded, still irritated of Leo's actions from the night before. He quickly looked at Edrick. “I am familiar with House Mogfield. Up until their eventual destruction, they have served my family faithfully. I think we can trust him”
“It's not that I don't trust him”, Leo was quick to explain. “I just think we're already too many to travel unnoticed. We're already not exactly the most inconspicuous group around and a man like him is not making it any easier” After he said this, he sighed. “But who am I to complain? It's not as if you're going to listen to me”
[Take Darko with you] [Leave Darko behind]
[Leave Darko behind] Eh, we don't need him. It's fine, totally fine. I get the feeling he'll die if we bring him.
It's like Two-Face. We didn't bring him, and looked what happened (nothing?).
Monty Python?
You see, lines like this make me think that direwolf in the Reach has something to do with Lupin...but it wouldn't explain why he would know Harking.
You definitely bring up something interesting here. At least for a short few hours, Richard was unconscious in the forest and yet he survived. Given the amount of hatred Wolfius has for Richard, it is definitely not unthinkable that he would try his best to make sure that he is going to die, if he would be able to control the beast or other wolves.
At the same time, it has been kind of hinted that Kersea botched that task on purpose, by not bringing him into the deep forest, where the wolves live and by putting him into a position where Jarow was eventually able to find him.
All in all, I can tease that you will get some sort of an answer to this in the next chapter.
[Take Darko with you] Why not?
EDIT: Now Terroma's gonna think Ellena's dead. You tricked us, Liquid! That ain't fair!
The beast definitely has something to do with the chapter finale since there is so much foreshadowing.
[Leave Darko behind]
[Take Darko with you]
Indeed, nothing happened. At least not yet. Two-Face would have been a recurring character in Willfred's storyline, but he wouldn't have affected anything, since he is not the kind of guy to get involved in discussions. However, leaving him at Castamere is going to majorly affect a storyline in Book 2. Similarly, his absence in Castamere would have had big consequences. It is similar for Darko, he is either going to become a character in Edrick's storyline and get a chance to affect the events there, or he will remain in the North, which will affect the Northern storyline in Book 2. One of these options might be more favourable than the other.
That was at least not a conscious reference, but I like it
Hm, interesting point. And it has indeed been confirmed that Lupin has been in the Reach not too long ago, where he was a member of the Alley Cats. Though that also means he spent a certain amount of time in Oldtown, which is perhaps the worst city in all of Westeros for a direwolf. And it indeed doesn't explain why he would recognize Richard. But still, a very interesting theory and one I can't possibly confirm or deny without giving away big spoilers. All I can say is, at least in the context of the scene, Darko was referring to the Frostborn sigil, which contains two wolves and he also wanted to bring up his own recent hunt of a direwolf as an argument in favour of taking him.
Obviously we know it wasn't really Ellena who burned, but man, that is going to piss off Terroma... Interesting to see how he reacts.
[Take Darko with you] I definitely see Leo's point - they are a bit of an odd group, but Darko seems like a fun character, and I'd hate to waste him by leaving him to the North.
And like InGen pointed out, it definitely feels like Lupin has something to do with that direwolf, maybe. He could also be the ally that Wolfius referred to long ago.
[Leave Darko behind]
[Leave Darko behind] It may be better not to screw with our party members emotions. Leo is already close enough to considering betraying us possibly. Plus we don't need a third hunter, two is enough.
[Leave Darko behind]
Muahahaha, it seems my dastardly plan to trick you all has succeeded
In all seriousness though, it's true, Terroma is going to think that Ellena is dead now, which is going to have huge consequences. This could have been avoided if Rachel would have survived, or if Ellena would have never tried to run away from Noelle (therefore never encountering Otis). And certainly, this is going to be a very important detail.
I certainly hope it's going to be interesting
Though it can be said that Terroma is pretty damn scary when he is pissed off. His actions in this chapter, chasing Noelle and Marak through half of the Reach, working himself to the brink of collapsing, all of these actions have been motivated by worry, so you can probably imagine how far he is willing to go now that he is really, really angry.
This is an interesting addition to InGen's theory. Lupin and Wolfius would make for a very effective and powerful team for sure. From the little that has been revealed about Lupin so far, you know that they apparently have some similarities, so they would most likely get along well. And Lupin has last been seen in the Reach, so such a team-up is definitely not impossible.
Hm, it's true that I have done a lot of foreshadowing there. Not necessarily all of it has been for the chapter finale though, some of it is meant to build up scenes for future chapters as well. You will see if you're correct very soon. The chapter finale is planned to be the part after the next one and I hope to be able to release it either on Sunday or on Monday at latest.
[Leave Darko behind]
How about sparing Otis? Would they have burnt the place too?
Unfortunately, sparing Otis wouldn't have changed much about this scene. Noelle's intention when burning down the house was, in her own mind, a positive one. She wanted to give his victims what she considers to be a proper burial, without having to build a funeral pyre for each of them. This is something she is very adamant about, so the only way you could have prevented the burning of the house (and the misunderstanding that resulted out of it), would have been not to learn about Otis' secret. If you would have spared him, the only difference in this particular scene would have been that Raenna obviously wouldn't have spotted his corpse on the floor, but she still would have spotted Rachel's body and mistaken her for Ellena's.