I never thought I'd get you to enjoy a Harking PoV! Wow, I consider this a serious compliment And well, both Harrington and Inchfield will still be in Oldtown the next time we see them, but depending on your choices, they might not stay there forever.
Still don't like Richard, but he had a great storyline.
Well, if Argella leaves the city, she is definitely going to take all of her soldiers with her. But I am glad you like Montclair and Torrence, that is going to make a few scenes in the next chapter a lot more exciting, I think. They'll both be among the most important Stormlander characters in the next chapter.
Clearly Leonard is going to inspire a mutiny to save the town. Because Leonard is the hero we need but don't deserve.
At least in his mind he chose what was best for him and for the city. But well, we'll see if loyalty to Raylansfair is truly always the best thing for everyone
Leonard was pretty great. Orys was amazing. I actually enjoyed parts of Richard's POV. Marak was the All-Star. Slaver Bros were fun as alway… mores. Brandon has me excited to what happens next chapter . Harrington and Erik Inchyboi have me excited to what will happen to them if they make it out of Oldtown.
I never thought I'd get you to enjoy a Harking PoV! Wow, I consider this a serious compliment And well, both Harrington and Inchfield will still be in Oldtown the next time we see them, but depending on your choices, they might not stay there forever.
I'm glad Tariel and Storm Princess are leaving but hope they let Jax and Bernile stay. She can keep Drent.
Well, if Argella leaves the city, she is definitely going to take all of her soldiers with her. But I am glad you like Montclair and Torrence, that is going to make a few scenes in the next chapter a lot more exciting, I think. They'll both be among the most important St… [view original content]
So, I was inspired by the finale and did this:
I'm not entirely happy with it myself, but meh, decided to share anyway, since it took a couple hours to make XD
So, I was inspired by the finale and did this:
I'm not entirely happy with it myself, but meh, decided to share anyway, since it took a couple hours to make XD
So, I was inspired by the finale and did this:
I'm not entirely happy with it myself, but meh, decided to share anyway, since it took a couple hours to make XD
Wow, this one is so cool! This is really close to how the scene played out in my mind, just moments before the fight actually began. So, I certainly love this, thank you very much for drawing it
So, I was inspired by the finale and did this:
I'm not entirely happy with it myself, but meh, decided to share anyway, since it took a couple hours to make XD
Could you answer this question without spoiling: Is the winner and loser of the battle determined by our choices? That would be something...
I am sorry, but I am afraid I can't comment on the outcome of the battle without spoiling. Even fully answering your question could potentially even include a spoiler. Let's just say, your choices can definitely decide who is going to survive on both sides, which might end up playing a role in deciding who wins and who loses.
You seem to have important plans for everyone, heh.
Actually, I do! Characters like Alan will probably never have the biggest role, but even a small role can play a crucial part at some point of the storyline. In case of Alan, he will have a key role in a scene in a future scene, which is going to end up heavily influencing several PoV characters and their respective storylines, even if he himself is probably never going to rise beyond the status of a secondary character.
Tariel, you do not want to join the InGen Hate List. To be honest, if the ironborn make into the city, isn't that just going to be worse for them? I have a hard time seeing a reason why the Stormlanders shouldn't join, besides the fact that it isn't their fight (at that moment). Regardless, the place to fight an enemy is where the numbers are roughly even - this won't be the Battle of Helm's Deep, but you know, let's not make it a Battle of Hoth.
I do not know if Tariel is going to join the InGen hate list, but she's definitely not going to show her nicest side in the next chapter, that much is for sure. Though I think I can reveal a bit of her reasoning: Currently, the Stormlander army is in the castle, the safest place in the city and the one that can be the most easily defended. Leaving their men in the castle would mean that the city guard and others will be slaughtered mercilessly, but it would give the Stormlanders a very good chance to reinforce the castle and to protect Argella. Going out of the castle would mean that they give up on their advantage, for people they have no real connection to (or, in case of Tariel, a very bad connection). On top of that, if the Ironborn slaughter the citizens of Raylansfair, they will undoubtedly suffer casualties themselves, meaning they have a smaller force to attack the castle in the end. So, from a very cold, pragmatic and pro-Stormlander viewpoint, she even has a point, waiting it out can be a legitimate strategy in favour of the Stormlands. Argella knows it and Leonard knows it as well, which is going to influence his own arguments in this scene.
Ack, Hobert, Hobby, you might have no been the best, but why did you leave? Well, there is one benefit the forces of Roha---Raylansfairs has that they don't. They are the defenders. Ironborn will be rowing on the boats, exposed to arrow fire, and have to fight their way to the city, up stuff, vulnerable. I hope there is some catapult or cavalry charge action. And shield banging (please).
Indeed, the Ironborn will have to row their by boat. The problem there is, their arrival took the people of Raylansfair by surprise. By the time Daemion informed Hackor, they have already entered their boats and started rowing from their ships to the city itself. Their brutality, the fear they spread and the fact that few of the city guardsmen have any knowledge about fighting the Ironborn is going to make things a lot harder for the defenders. There also won't be catapults and Raylansfair itself doesn't have much in terms of cavalry, but I can confirm that there will be lots of shield banging (or axe banging, in case of Durren Stallhart)
The only one who can save the day is Lord Donnel Selwyn, riding with hundreds riders of Roha---House Selwyn at dawn with Dimitri the Wise to defeat ironborn.
Well, first they have to survive for five days, before Donnel the White and Dimitri the Wise can arrive with their reinforcements. That's going to be the hardest part of it
Maybe. The fate of most of the Ironborn (and many other characters) will be up for choice in the next chapter. A lot of characters can poten… moretially die or survive and only very few are set to live or set to die in any case.
Could you answer this question without spoiling: Is the winner and loser of the battle determined by our choices? That would be something...
Indeed, those are Bear's men. And Alan Harking will finally make his return, after a long absence, and in a relatively big role as well. I still have plans for him, very important plans.
You seem to have important plans for everyone, heh.
Argella herself might not be too unwilling to help out. The problem will be to convince the people around her. Tariel has a huge grudge against the citizens of Raylansfair and is finally getting to act on it in the next chapter. The problem won't be to convince Argella, the problem will be to be more convincing than Tariel,… [view original content]
I think the best fighter in Raylansfair at the moment is most likely Orys Baratheon. He has a huge amount of skill and more experience than most others, as evidenced by how easily he wiped the floor with Rodrik Stone. Daghan could probably come close to him as well and Emphryus is no pushover either. Usually, I'd include Vaasrand as well, who has hunted beasts most of them haven't even heard of, but right now, his wounds from the fight against the wolves will slow him down too much to be a match for the other characters I mentioned.
I think the best fighter in Raylansfair at the moment is most likely Orys Baratheon. He has a huge amount of skill and more experience than … moremost others, as evidenced by how easily he wiped the floor with Rodrik Stone. Daghan could probably come close to him as well and Emphryus is no pushover either. Usually, I'd include Vaasrand as well, who has hunted beasts most of them haven't even heard of, but right now, his wounds from the fight against the wolves will slow him down too much to be a match for the other characters I mentioned.
Oh, this is a very cool idea! At least one of these fights, Leonard and Clayton is practically confirmed at this point, so I won't comment on that one, but I think I can give my opinions on the others. I'm also curious to see what the others think about such a thing.
The Tom vs Harrington
Here, I'd see the Tom as the victor, albeit only by a slight margin. Samuel himself said that the Tom is better than him. Since he has a very realistic opinion when it comes to his skills, such a statement really means a lot. In the end, both would certainly avoid fighting each other, because they know how dangerous such an opponent would be.
The Moggy vs Vaasrand
Hm... this would very much be a fight similar to Gregor vs Oberyn. The Moggy has far superior strength and if he manages to land a hit on Vaasrand, he has the chance to win. Vaasrand meanwhile is fast and unlike Oberyn, he is not cocky and overconfident, so I'd say he has good chances to win. But it is still a risk, because the Moggy really only needs to land a single hit to end the fight in his favour.
Leonard vs Clayton (this one will actually happen)
As you know, this one is going to happen, so I will not say a word about it. The next chapter should be answer enough
Storm King vs Harren the Black
Well, both are long beyond their physical prime, but I'd say this one goes to the Storm King. He has been a war hero in his youth and has, at one point, been the best warrior in the Stormlands. Even now, he'd be a formidable opponent to most younger fighters. Harren meanwhile is not a weakling, but he's no match against Argilac.
Irving Todd vs Dimitri the Wise
Ah... in a fight I think Irving would win. Dimitri is not a fighter, while Irving was at least forced through some rudimentary training and actually shows talent for archery. If neither of them would have access to weapons, it probably would result on some childish brawl, complete with scratching, biting and hair-pulling. In any way, the real victors of such a fight would be the audience.
Raenna vs Samantha
Now, this one is interesting. I haven't thought about a potential fight between them, but I'd say they are a perfect match for a fight. Raenna might be the more skilled (she has been trained by Terroma after all), but Samantha is not giving up easily. I'm actually having a hard time thinking about a victor for such a fight. Chances are, it might be another Marak/Terroma situation, where both end up dead without a clear victor.
Fantasy Fights:
The Tom vs Harrington
The Moggy vs Vaasrand
Leonard vs Clayton (this one will actually happen)
Storm King vs Har… moreren the Black
Irving Todd vs Dimitri the Wise
Raenna vs Samantha
They're all uninjured and healthy.
Who wins?
Feel free to add your own.
Oh, this is a very cool idea! At least one of these fights, Leonard and Clayton is practically confirmed at this point, so I won't comment o… moren that one, but I think I can give my opinions on the others. I'm also curious to see what the others think about such a thing.
The Tom vs Harrington
Here, I'd see the Tom as the victor, albeit only by a slight margin. Samuel himself said that the Tom is better than him. Since he has a very realistic opinion when it comes to his skills, such a statement really means a lot. In the end, both would certainly avoid fighting each other, because they know how dangerous such an opponent would be.
The Moggy vs Vaasrand
Hm... this would very much be a fight similar to Gregor vs Oberyn. The Moggy has far superior strength and if he manages to land a hit on Vaasrand, he has the chance to win. Vaasrand meanwhile is fast and unlike Oberyn, he is not cocky and overconfident, so I'd say he ha… [view original content]
I have almost finished the updated recap of Chapter 7 and plan to put that one up in the next hour or so. I know there are several of you who have missed a couple of parts in the chapter, so I hope this will help you with getting up to date for the next chapter!
The next project I'm going to write will be the alternative choices. It shouldn't be too much work and I think I should be able to release them either today or tomorrow at latest.
Afterwards, I will not immediately start with the next chapter. I'm afraid I have to take a short break. The reason is that I really want to finish the wiki, which unfortunately isn't in a presentable state right now. I'm going to focus on it for the next few days, although that won't mean I will stop writing FoT entirely in the meantime. Considering how hyped I am for the next chapter, it is unlikely that I am going to be able to wait for two weeks until releasing the next part. However, since my current focus lies on the wiki and since my new studies will start next week, my writing output in the remaining October is probably going to be uncharacteristically low. Apologies for that, but I am sure the wiki is going to make up for it
As for the next part in general, I have currently planned for it to include PoV's from Garthon and most likely from Raenna. However, there are also plans to give Raenna the second part of the chapter in its entirety, which would give another PoV a chance to be in the first part of the chapter. This PoV would probably be probably Lucas.
I am afraid I also have to reveal something I have hinted at before. I'm sure some of you won't like it, but unfortunately, I can now confirm that Chapter 8 will not include PoV's from Edrick and Jaron. I'm sorry for those of you who have their characters in these storylines, but I promise they will be back in no time, with big parts of Chapter 9 reserved for them! This was, unfortunately, a necessary decision, as I plan for this chapter to feel very much like one of the penultimate episodes from the show, where it often focusses on a single location (See Blackwater, Castle Black and the Battle of the Bastards). In this case, I have originally also planned to push Sadie's Chapter 8 storyline into Chapter 9 as well, but a recently planned twist in it has convinced me that it has to happen in Chapter 8 instead. And well, I have planned for Chapter 8 to be significantly shorter than Chapter 7, so if Jaron and Edrick's storylines are among your favourites (which I have seen quite a lot in your answers), you will be happy to learn that you'll see them again very soon!
And now I'll continue writing the alternative choices. It remains to be seen if I'm truly going to be able to stay away from writing Chapter 8 until the wiki is done, but we'll see. The voting for the chapter finale is still open in any way, until I am certain that I'll be able to start the new chapter. So, if you haven't voted yet, but still want to, then you can do so for at least several more days
A little update on what's to come next:
I have almost finished the updated recap of Chapter 7 and plan to put that one up in the next hou… morer or so. I know there are several of you who have missed a couple of parts in the chapter, so I hope this will help you with getting up to date for the next chapter!
The next project I'm going to write will be the alternative choices. It shouldn't be too much work and I think I should be able to release them either today or tomorrow at latest.
Afterwards, I will not immediately start with the next chapter. I'm afraid I have to take a short break. The reason is that I really want to finish the wiki, which unfortunately isn't in a presentable state right now. I'm going to focus on it for the next few days, although that won't mean I will stop writing FoT entirely in the meantime. Considering how hyped I am for the next chapter, it is unlikely that I am going to be able to wait for two weeks until releas… [view original content]
I'm currently doing it on my own and yes, it is a shit-ton of work. There have been some who have offered their help and I really appreciated these offers, but currently, I prefer to do as much as possible on my own when it comes to the wiki. Writing the articles is the main work and since I'm a perfectionist, I eventually plan to include even articles for the most minor named characters. I have already made a lot of progress with learning how a wiki works, so that's a good thing.
The only thing I can't seem to figure out is how to create a good-looking slider for the main page, so if anyone here has knowledge on how to do that, I'd greatly appreciate if you could contact me
Hm, I think this one goes to Alysanne. She is so very dangerous because of her speed, which makes her a formidable opponent even for much stronger characters. Currently, her fresh burn wounds slow her down considerably, but at her best, I believe she'd be able to kill Marak and Terroma both. Since she is currently wounded, the most agile fighter is probably Kreep, who is extremely fast as well. Vaasrand is another runner-up and he combines speed with high physical strength, but in terms of sheer agility, he is no match for Kreep and an unwounded Alysanne.
I'm currently doing it on my own and yes, it is a shit-ton of work. There have been some who have offered their help and I really appreciate… mored these offers, but currently, I prefer to do as much as possible on my own when it comes to the wiki. Writing the articles is the main work and since I'm a perfectionist, I eventually plan to include even articles for the most minor named characters. I have already made a lot of progress with learning how a wiki works, so that's a good thing.
The only thing I can't seem to figure out is how to create a good-looking slider for the main page, so if anyone here has knowledge on how to do that, I'd greatly appreciate if you could contact me
Hm, I think this one goes to Alysanne. She is so very dangerous because of her speed, which makes her a formidable opponent even for much st… moreronger characters. Currently, her fresh burn wounds slow her down considerably, but at her best, I believe she'd be able to kill Marak and Terroma both. Since she is currently wounded, the most agile fighter is probably Kreep, who is extremely fast as well. Vaasrand is another runner-up and he combines speed with high physical strength, but in terms of sheer agility, he is no match for Kreep and an unwounded Alysanne.
Vaasrand he's like Geralt without mutations and Geralt destroyed every knight he fought against his mutations didnt make him the best swordsman he was anyway (they did help tremendously though)
Fantasy Fights:
The Tom vs Harrington
The Moggy vs Vaasrand
Leonard vs Clayton (this one will actually happen)
Storm King vs Har… moreren the Black
Irving Todd vs Dimitri the Wise
Raenna vs Samantha
They're all uninjured and healthy.
Who wins?
Feel free to add your own.
I'll add more
Vaasrand vs The Tom ( I think this would be very entertaining to read)
Daghan vs Emphyrus
Alysanne vs Maya
Lucas vs Leonard
Bear vs Marak (rip)
Kreep vs Wolfius
Hm, I think Daghan and Emphryus have good chances for that title. They are both highly experienced and famed fighters, although in terms of sheer skill, Emphryus would probably win. Vaasrand is another choice, but not at the very moment. He is also less experienced when it comes to fight against other human swordsmen, since most of his opponents have been beasts. Emphryus and Daghan meanwhile are veterans, who know how to fight a knight in armour. That said, Vaasrand has a couple of tricks, so in a fight, he could theoretically win against both.
This would be a very entertaining fight! In the end, I actually think the Tom has a slight advantage. After all, even Samuel Harrington respects his skill and Samuel is certainly one of the most dangerous fighters in the story. But Vaasrand wouldn't be without chances either, so it's not clear who would outright win in this situation
Daghan vs Emphyrus
Same here, I don't think there would be a clear victor. In the end, Emphryus is a few years younger and a bit faster, so he might have a tiny bit of an advantage, but Daghan is physically stronger, so it is another fight where I couldn't directly say who would win.
Alysanne vs Maya
Clearly Alyssane. Actually, Alysanne vs a lot of people would end with her clear victory. Poor Maya is not a bad fighter, but she would be chanceless. Even Alysanne in her current, wounded state is still better.
Lucas vs Leonard
Hehe, I think you should have given a spoiler warning here...
Bear vs Marak (rip)
Hard to say, but I'd go with Bear. His knife gloves are just too nasty. He could probably trick Marak into a brawl and then brutally rip him to pieces with his claws. In terms of strength, skill, temper and ruthlessness, both are more or less equal, but Bear is the more cunning in the end.
Kreep vs Wolfius
I'd say Wolfius. Kreep is just too loyal to his father to ever seriously wound him. He is physically stronger and faster, but Wolfius is by far the smarter one and he always has something up his sleeve.
I'll add more
Vaasrand vs The Tom ( I think this would be very entertaining to read)
Daghan vs Emphyrus
Alysanne vs Maya
Lucas vs Leonard
Bear vs Marak (rip)
Kreep vs Wolfius
Liquid I know I've said this like 4-5 but I can seriously help you. Even if you like writing I can help. Even basic linking, editing or writing I have no problem with. Please let me help you .
I'm currently doing it on my own and yes, it is a shit-ton of work. There have been some who have offered their help and I really appreciate… mored these offers, but currently, I prefer to do as much as possible on my own when it comes to the wiki. Writing the articles is the main work and since I'm a perfectionist, I eventually plan to include even articles for the most minor named characters. I have already made a lot of progress with learning how a wiki works, so that's a good thing.
The only thing I can't seem to figure out is how to create a good-looking slider for the main page, so if anyone here has knowledge on how to do that, I'd greatly appreciate if you could contact me
Fantasy Fights:
The Tom vs Harrington
The Moggy vs Vaasrand
Leonard vs Clayton (this one will actually happen)
Storm King vs Har… moreren the Black
Irving Todd vs Dimitri the Wise
Raenna vs Samantha
They're all uninjured and healthy.
Who wins?
Feel free to add your own.
That finale... that was amazing! Definitely one of, if not the best, part ever written so far. I was very excited and hyped for this and it did not disappoint one bit. I expected some death, but Terroma and Marak had been here from the start and even if I liked them or not, it will definitely be different without them now
[Help Aldus] I honestly think that this is the most reasonable thing for Arthur to do at the moment. Also, fuck Wolfius! I like him as a villain, but boy does he piss me off. I was hoping to see him finally die after all he has done, but nope. Now, he probably has worse things in store. Can't wait to see what they are...
[Spare Noelle] This might be one of the hardest choices for me. It's a risk, but I feel like she could become helpful based off of the type of person she is. I don't think she is AS bad as others think. Her being weak is, well, her weakness. I know she inadvertently caused Terroma's AND Marak's death, but she didn't perform the act which made Raenna and her gang so furious in the first place. I think the beating she got was very deserving, and I was really close to choosing to kill her, but my gut said otherwise. I just hope she doesn't backstab us or anything, but basing off of the condition that she's in right now, that's very unlikely. And I'm sure that if she's spared, Raenna will make sure to keep her restrained and make sure that she isn't capable of doing such a thing.
Noelle's smile grew more strained for a second. “I think you're mistaken”, she said calmly. “Please, I wish to talk to you. There are many t… morehings to discuss and perhaps we can reach an agreement. I'm sure you will see my point”
Her brazen smugness caused burning anger to flare up inside of Raenna and she had no doubt that Terroma felt similarly. Without hesitating, he started to approach her. “Noelle...”, Marak growled. “Screw this, just let me kill him” The priestess gave him an irritated glare. “Killing him?”, she asked. “But why? I'm sure he'll see reason, isn't that right, Old Man?”
Terroma showed no signs of slowing down and he even broke into a sprint one he had approached her up to two dozen feet. Marak spat onto the ground. “I don't think he wants to talk”, he barked and raised his axe. “Luckily, I don't want to either”
And then, he charged at Terroma, while Raenna was only able to look at him with eyes that were widely opene… [view original content]
Damn, there were a lot of characters that I liked. Out of the non-POV's and without being biased, I'd have to say Leonard, Argella and Alysanne as they has always been up there. Out of the newer characters, Orys seems awesome and I think he has the potential to be an awesome character. I am surprisingly very intrigued by Shortwood.
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 7?
Otis by far. He is a suck fuck and I am glad he is dead. Clayton, for obvious reasons. I hate him a lot. You can put Wolfius up there, he is annoying, but I do enjoy him as a villain. Doesn't change the fact that I want him dead don't know how that makes sense, lmao. He's one of those characters who I want dead but does have some cool moments when he is alive despite being a villain.
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 7?
Marak, Kersea, and Raenna are the ones that stand out. You can throw Lucas there too, as his POV's are always interesting and fun to read.
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 7?
To be honest, I really don't have a POV that I hate or dislike. I'd probably say Edrick, only because he is the newest and I am not really familiar with his story line and characters just yet. I'm sure that will change in the future, though.
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 7?
Man, there have been plenty of great moments from what I saw. But that finale fight between Marak and Terroma takes the cake. It was the most thrilling part to read of the chapter and it had one of the most difficult choices for me, so I'd say it deserves to be here.
Is there anything you disliked?
Not at all. This story is only getting better and I'm loving every bit of it. Some people might say that the lack of death is a problem, but I personally think it's great how you're keeping the characters around for a long time and getting us attached to them, thus making their eventual deaths have more of an impact. Plus, two huge deaths just happened, so I'm glad I haven't seen this comment yet.
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 8 or anything else you'd like to say?
Man, my only advice is to not change. Your current writing style is great, your stories are great, you are so committed to this story and there are so many readers here. This thread is so popular too. Just don't try to fix something that isn't broken, that's all. You probably already know that, but I don't really have any other advice other than to keep up the great writing. I have no clear idea on what is going to happen in Chapter 8, which makes me even more excited. All I know is that there will probably be more fights, more blood, and more death. So let's just say I can't wait I am also very eager to see the wiki, which I'm sure will be awesome
Goodness, that was a lot of writing, a lot more than expected. Another part, another all-nighter. Let's just say, that was not easy to write… more, as these characters have been developed over the timespan of almost two years now. I must admit, my eyes are wet and it's not only from utter exhaustion. I hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed the write. And well, stay tuned for the absolutely massive things that have been set in motion in this part. The next chapter is going to include several parts that will be even harder for me to write and which I am, at the same time, even more excited for, strange as it sounds. As always, thank you very much for reading! Your support means the world to me For now, I will leave you with the usual couple of questions:
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 7?
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 7?
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 7?
Who were your least favourite… [view original content]
Apologies for putting these out so late! I was very busy yesterday and I actually still am for a while today (so apologize if I need a bit longer to answer to other comments, or messages, or stories), but I have finally finished them! The next thing I'm going to write will be the 'What If'-part, which should be out tomorrow or on Tuesday
Alternative Choices: Chapter VII
Marak I:
[Refuse the drink]
This would have changed the relationship between Marak and Noelle in this chapter, although this wouldn't have affected how the storyline would have played out beyond . Marak would have remained a bit afraid of her, while Noelle would have been colder and more reserved. She would have also not revealed her doubts about her divine mission in that case, which would have prevented any foreshadowing of her ultimate refusal to kill Briar.
Willfred I:
[Stay in the Great Hall]
This would have given a slightly different storyline for Willfred. He wouldn't have directly learned about Harris' crimes, which would have made him more supportive of the man himself. Ultimately, he would have (half-correctly) assumed that Harris was the victim of an intrigue, but he would have wrongly assumed that it was Argella who had framed Harris, instead of Sherryl. Ultimately, this would have given him the chance to outright support Sherryl, though I doubt many of you would have picked it
Lucas I:
[Lie to her]
This was one of the most important choices of the entire chapter, hands down. If Lucas would have lied to Argella, Harris would have remained in power for the rest of the chapter and beyond. Lucas would have stuck with his original choice and Harris would have been very pleased by this, becoming a loyal ally for him and for Leonard. Similarly, the friendship between Lucas and Leonard wouldn't have been damaged. Another change would have been that Argella would have realized that Lucas wasn't telling the full truth, which would have caused her to be more distanced. Ultimately, she wouldn't have helped Lucas getting over the trauma he suffered in Oldtown and he wouldn't have had the chance to declare his loyalty for her. Depending on future decisions, this could have had incredibly huge consequences in later chapter, so it will be one of the choices I will continue to explain in the 'What If'-parts of later chapters.
Ellena I:
[Ask him for water]
This would have had huge changes for Ellena's storyline and by extension, for the storylines of Marak and Raenna. Ellena wouldn't have encountered Otis, who instead would have been an antagonist in a different storyline in a later chapter (and a far more dangerous one, since the PoV encountering him would have been someone a lot weaker than Marak). She would have had more talks with Noelle, who would have explained her motivations for her actions (with the chance for you to even sympathize with her, theoretically). Ultimately, it wouldn't have been possible to achieve a peaceful outcome to the situation, but depending on a future choice, you would have had the chance to save Terroma or Marak.
Sadie:
[Excuse yourself and go outside]
This one wouldn't have changed much, but it would have given me less of a chance to develop Blane and Leo in this chapter, as Sadie would have immediately left the table. The rest of her story in this chapter would have continued as it did in the choice that ultimately won. In the end, I am glad you chose this one, as it gave me another part to show more of Leo, who will play a major role in Sadie's storyline in the next chapter.
Richard I:
[Talk to Hal and Than]
This actually would have changed more than you currently assume. By talking to them, Richard would have been in the back of the group when the beast first attacked. This would have caused the beast to use a different tactic. Instead of grabbing Than, the weakest of the group, it would have attacked the centre of the group, taking Ed with it. Ed would have lost a leg in the process, but unlike Than, he would have survived the following ambush. Since he wouldn't have been taken, Than would have survived the attack as well, resulting in one casualty less.
John I:
This would have given Aylard more time to shine in this chapter. He and John would have patched up their relationship, even becoming sort-of friends for a short while, although Aylard's grief over the loss of his daughter would have caused him to withdraw from any other person. This choice also would have given me the chance to give more screentime to a rare creature, the elusive Federico Snow. Ultimately, John would have also had a different chance to mess up Torrence's plan to break into Shortwood's room, allowing the story to progress as it did in the winning path.
Jaron I:
[Go to the meeting unarmed]
This would have caused Jaron to meet Lanford without having any weapons with him. As a direct consequence, Lanford would have been pleased and less hostile. However, it would have also prevented Jaron from fighting Samuel Harrington after being confronted by him. Since Samuel never planned on killing Jaron, this would have changed nothing in the long run, but would have made the situation more dramatic in the short run.
Arthur I:
[Escort Helenys to Harris]
This would have given Helenys more screentime in this chapter and would have given me more of an opportunity to develop her character, although this would have come at the expense of Aren, who would have been sidelined for a majority of the chapter, not even getting a later appearance like Helenys. Ultimately, Arthur would have impressed Helenys and her favour would have come in handy in a later chapter, although his positive relationship with Aren won't be useless either.
Kersea I:
[SupportClayton's plan]
In this case, Kersea would have pleased Clayton (yes, he even disapproved of this tiny choice, the petty fuck). Later on, she would have joined in an attack on Rayden's men while simultaneously fighting off the guardsmen. Surprisingly, Clayton's plan would have worked well, just as well as Alysanne's plan. However, Alysanne herself would have been slightly disappointed that Kersea did not support her here.
Samantha I:
[Keep her tied up]
By keeping Lenrianda tied up, Samantha would have drawn the anger of Nymeria later on. She would have attacked the group more brutally and Lenrianda would have either barely managed or barely cared to talk her down. In the end, Nymeria would have still realized her misinterpretation of the situation and she would have joined up with Samantha's group in the fight against Rodrik, but neither she nor Lenrianda would have particularly trusted Samantha afterwards, even if she would have remained by their side during the fight.
Jenna I:
[Search the wardrobe] [Search the chest] [Search the cupboard]
All three of these can be explained with the same sentence. You instinctively picked the right choice here, well done! Jenna wouldn't have found much of interest in these places and would have wasted a lot of time, which would have ultimately ended up with her not finding the death warrant on Leonard. However, she would have found the finely crafted bow underneath Sherryl's bed in any of these cases, which would have been at least one important detail for the future. With that, I not-so-subtly try to remind of that weirdly crafted and super expensive bow Jenna found under Sherryl's bed
Raenna I:
[Side with Terroma]
This would have caused Raenna's group to push forward, even despite Terroma's wounds. In the end, they would have been forced to rest, when Terroma would have simply collapsed. He would have been in a much worse condition during the eventual fight with Marak. This would have given Marak an opportunity to kill Terroma, although he wouldn't have survived the vengeful Raenna afterwards, who would have killed him with rather horrifying brutality.
Edrick I:
[Keep the knife]
This would have been a more or less minor choice. Edrick would have kept the knife and he wouldn't have been in the situation to use it, but just having it around would have made him less inclined to trust the Frostborns. Alphyn would have noticed this distrust and would have acted accordingly cold, which would have soured their relationship up until Chapter 9.
Lucas II:
[Ask for more time to decide]
Another major choice in this chapter and beyond, as it decided on Lucas' loyalty. If this choice would have been taken, he would have remained sullen and broody for the rest of the chapter. The Dark Lucas you apparently find intriguing would have gotten more time to develop and grow. Leonard would have been very pleased and there wouldn't have been an argument between them. However, Argella would have given Lucas another chance to declare loyalty to her at the end of the chapter. By then, she would have already known that her claim to Raylansfair would have been faked by Tariel and her offer would have simply been a well-meant offer to help him recover from his wounds instead of a mutual alliance for the good of Raylansfair. Arguably, this would have given Lucas less reason to declare for her.
Drent I:
[Advice him to leave Torrence behind]
First of all, this choice would have given Torrence less screentime in this chapter, almost none at all. Montclair would have valued Drent's opinion enough to leave Torrence behind. It also would have given Torrence a bad opinion on Drent. On a positive side, it wouldn't have caused a fight between John and Torrence/Montclair, as Montclair would have ordered Drent to search Shortwood's room instead. Drent would have had several choices to successfully infiltrate the room without John noticing him.
Ilish I:
[Lie to him]
This choice decided over the role of Jarow in this chapter. If Ilish would have lied to him, he wouldn't have appeared in her later chapters. Admittedly, he didn't have much to do either way, but with this choice, he would have had even less screentime. He wouldn't have disappeared entirely, instead he would have become a background character in Drent's and John's parts, eventually even trying to join the fight between John and Torrence later on (although it would have remained unclear on whose side he would have been on)
Willfred I:
[Declare your support for House Durrandon]
This was one of the most important choices in Book 1, simple as that. By not supporting House Durrandon, Willfred secured victory for Sherryl and through her, Maron Mullendore and whomever he supports. At this point, after successfully taking Hobert out of the game, Argella and House Durrandon would have been the only other alternatives left. And I can reveal, no matter your opinion, you're all going to agree that they would have been the better choice after a few developments in Book 2. Unless you're actually rooting for Mullendore of course Anyways, with this choice, Willfred would have won the gratitude of Argella, who would have gone out of her way in Book 2 to uphold her end of the deal and to convince her (rather unwilling) father of sending troops to support the Rock against the Ironborn.
Sadie II:
[Enter the illuminated room]
Instead of Sanyse Gomblinger, this choice would have given more screentime to one of the whores in Gyles' employment. You may remember a certain Nilanne, who first appeared in Chapter 6, but did not reappear in this chapter. She would have had a larger role in this path, ending up as an ally to Sadie and helping her out of sympathy. Through her, Sadie would have also gotten a glimpse of her sister. In the end, there would have been a choice for Sadie to support Dan, Leo, or alternatively, to run away from the fight with her sister. Without going to spoil anything, this would have been the best choice for Sadie personally, as she... ah, you'll see. You'll see...
Jaron II:
[Surrender]
Though this was built up as a major choice, the consequences would have been minor. As you know now, Samuel had good intentions for Jaron's group and not fighting him would have spared all of them quite some pain. He would have commented on the wisdom of Jaron's decision later on and would have overall been positively surprised by Jaron's willingness to surrender if necessary.
__ Maya I:
[Keep him around]
Another big choice, as it will decide on the fate of Irving at Maya's side. Keeping him around would have seen him honestly trying his best at becoming a better, more reliable and useful person, but such a change can't come from nothing. Ultimately, Irving would have soon relapsed into his old behaviour, even though he would have been quite useful for a while. He wouldn't have learned his lesson, which would have come with all kinds of negative consequences.
Garthon I:
[Talk to Hjalgar]
Garthon would have talked to Hjalgar, simple as that. This choice wouldn't have had any surprising revelations and plot-twists, just like how Garthon's storyline in this entire chapter was merely a bit of a filler arc, to establish that they are indeed on their way to Raylansfair (and that Stallhart is on his way to Maybros). However, it would have started a friendship between Garthon and Hjalgar, which might have been useful at a later point of the story. There is also a secret surrounding Hjalgar, which would have been hinted at, before getting revealed in the next chapter (depending on your choices)
Arthur II:
[Ask Aren about Helenys' intentions]
This would have caused the conversation between Arthur an Aren to go pretty awkward and they wouldn't have gotten along so well. Aren would have interpreted this question as Arthur being paranoid and distrusting Helenys and would have fervently assured him that she has nothing to hide and no secret intentions. He would have then lost his interest in any further conversation, which would have soured their later relationship.
Richard II:
[Allow Hal to come with you]
By taking Hal with them to follow Than, Richard would have made a mistake. Hal himself would have been save, but the beast, sensing that the remaining farmers would have been even weaker than before, would have attacked brutally after Richard, Hal and Vaasrand would have left. This would have caused the deaths of Ed and eventually Roman as well, while Axell would have survived with wounds (the same wounds Hal received now)
Ellena II:
[Hide in the wardrobe]
This wouldn't have changed much. Marak knows how to search a room and he would have eventually found Ellena either way, resulting in her getting captured again.
Marak II:
[Knock down the door]
No big changes here either. Instead of politely knocking, Marak would have completely destroyed Otis' door. This would have caused Otis to reveal some terrible anger issues (an early hint at his true nature) and he would have been pissed at Marak, but would have backed off when Marak himself would have gotten pissed in return.
[Sneak around the house and look for another entrance]
This however would have had huge changes. Marak would have found another entrance into the house, a suspiciously looking and badly smelling hatch in the ground. There, Marak would have found out about Otis' true colours far earlier and it would have given him a chance to even prevent Rachel's death. He would have ended up killing Otis for sure and wouldn't have received his arm wound in return, which would have given him better chances against Terroma.
Kersea II:
[Clayton]
Rather obviously, outright telling that you wish to kill Clayton would have upset him tremendously. Rayden would have been happy with having sown a bit of chaos, while Alysanne would have been happy that Kersea would have so obviously supported her over Clayton.
[Alysanne]
Yeah... I did not expect this to win in any way, so I can't say too much about long-term consequences, but they would have clearly been disastrous for Kersea's and Alysanne's friendship. Both, Clayton and Rayden would have been very happy with this choice, but Alysanne would have felt horribly betrayed and hurt by this. And trust me, a pissed off, heartbroken Alysanne is not something you want to see.
Jenna II:
[Burn the document]
This would have caused yet unknown changes in the future. In this chapter, Jenna would have used the nearby candle to dispose of this piece of evidence, potentially saving Leonard's life, while also depriving Saerya of a chance to incriminate Sherryl. Future parts will put more emphasis on the consequences of your choice. Let's just say, nothing of the things that will happen now, involving the death warrant, would have happened if you would have destroyed it.
Drent II:
[Talk to Ian Shortwood]
This would have prevented a fight between John and Torrence. However, the presence of three soldiers would have made Shortwood even more cautious than he already is. He wouldn't have said a thing and would have tried to leave soon, which would have given you the choice to stop him or to follow him.
[Try to search Shortwood's room]
This would have also prevented a fight between Torrence and John, as Drent and Montclair would have been there immediately to calm the situation down. Eventually, depending on future choices, they would have reached an agreement with him, which would have given them access to some very interesting documents inside Shortwood's room.
Samantha II:
[Accept Rodrik's terms and surrender]
This would have been an important, but very, very bad choice. I have hinted at it earlier, there would have been two bad outcomes for the coming fight and picking this option would have been one. Lenrianda and Nymeria would have had an unknown status from there on, with Nymeria eventually resurfacing with a grudge on Samantha, while Rodrik wouldn't have kept his side of the deal (he is a dick after all). He would have attacked them from behind, forcing them to flee. In the chaos that followed, Jaro would have died and Sasha would have been lost (however, she would have survived and returned later on)
[Challenge Rodrik to single combat]
This however would have been one of the good outcomes. Arguably, it would have even been the best of the ones I offered, as almost no one would have gotten seriously wounded. Samantha would have managed to hold her own against an increasingly pissed off Rodrik until the Targaryen cavalry arrived to save the day. However, she herself would have been heavily wounded in the process, some of these wounds even permanent.
[Allow Sasha to challenge Rodrik to single combat]
This choice meanwhile would have resulted in one of the bad outcomes. Sasha would have been chanceless against Rodrik and she would have died if you would have picked this route, leaving Samantha heartbroken. Just as she would have attacked Rodrik herself to avenge Sasha's death, Team Targaryen would have arrived.
Ilish II:
[Search for Kreep at the fair]
Here comes the one choice I wish you would have taken. It would have given me a chance to introduce (and therefore remove from the waiting list) about half a dozen characters, all of them members of Taenora's group. They would have been quite colourful and fun to write, but now I will have to find a different way to introduce them next chapter. Ah, I'm sure I'll manage. Anyways, Ilish and co. would have searched the entire fair for Kreep, but wouldn't have found a lead. Ryler would have instead been introduced in Arthur's part, so there wouldn't have been much of a change for him.
Not going to lie, this would have been the smart choice and I was surprised so many of you chose the other option. By staying, John would have given Torrence a chance to find some very interesting stuff in Shortwood's room, which would have given you a general idea on wether or not you can actually trust the guy.
Raenna II:
[Choose Ando] [Choose Bakr] [Choose Davith]
All three of these choices would have had few big changes to the storyline, which would have unravelled mostly as it did in the Brandon choice. It was simply a choice for you to decide on which character would receive additional attention during Raenna's storyline. Davith would have been an especially interesting choice, as I feel he got the least to do in her parts this chapter. Well, this is going to change rather soon, I hope
Kersea III:
[Torture him]
This would have been the option to please both, Clayton and Alysanne. Kersea would have joined in on the horrible torture of Rayden, which would have caused her to lose another part of herself. She would have felt terrible about it, though a part of her would have followed Wolfius' earlier advice to embrace her more brutal actions, causing her to grow more ruthless and cold, the way Clayton wants her to be.
[Stay out of it]
Arguably, this choice would have been the best of both worlds. It would have somewhat pleased Clayton and actually would have given you one final chance to prevent the horrible near-rape scene in Kersea's latest part, while also retaining Kersea's humanity to a degree and causing her deep talk with Alysanne. However, Alysanne would have still held the hope that Kersea would be able to change eventually and to become like her.
Marak III:
[Urge Noelle to stop questioning him]
Again only a minor choice, which mostly decided on a couple of dialogue stuff. Noelle would have been slightly irritated, while Otis would have been grateful for not being pressed any further. However, Marak's distrust of him would have grown even further. With the way the chapter ended, the opinion of Otis and Noelle is not exactly of concern for Marak anymore.
Jaron IV:
[Send Erik and Ayden out of the labyrinth]
This would have meant that there would have been no chance for Ayden's wounds to mess up the entire mission. Samuel would have approved of such a thoughtful way, since he believed Erik to be useless down in the labyrinth either way. Erik and Ayden would have made it out of the labyrinth safely, although this wouldn't have been revealed until Chapter 9. Until then, their status would have been unknown.
[Leave Ayden behind]
Arguably the worst of these choices, as it would have caused Ayden's death. He would have been discovered by a patrol and would have been brought to a different room, for further torture and eventual execution. Jaron and the others would have been unable to find him during their return. His choice would have eventually been confirmed in Book 2. This is a choice with absolutely no positive consequences, so it's good that you haven't picked it.
Richard III:
[Help Roman]
This is the only choice that would have saved Roman's life. Together, Richard and Roman would have fought off the beast, at least for a short while. However, the wolves would have killed Hal and would have severely wounded Axell, so this route wouldn't have been without death either. Hal's death would have had further consequences in Richard's relationship to his sister Nora, who would have personally blamed Richard for this outcome. However, Roman would have been thankful and would have actually become an ally to Richard in future parts. In Book 3 finally, he would have led a peasant revolution and would have replaced the monarchy of Westeros with a socialist utopia
[Help Vaasrand]
This one would have been the worst of all three choices. Vaasrand was quite able to handle the wolves all on his own. However, the beast would have killed Roman and the other wolves would have killed Hal and wounded Axell, which means this route would have caused the most death among the farmers.
Arthur III:
[Go outside and speak to Aditha]
This would have had big consequences for the next chapter. Good consequences at that! By speaking with Aditha, Arthur would have known where she is during the Ironborn attack, preventing the need for Hackor to leave his men while trying to find his daughter. It also would have given additional screentime for Aditha, arguably the least developed of the Nathamer family. She and Arthur would have shared a heartwarming scene in which she would have expressed her belief that Arthur is a good and valuable man and better than Hackor is willing to admit.
Ilish III:
[Split up]
This choice would have had exactly one change, namely the fate of Philip. In the choice that won, he and Ilish climbed a ladder, which resulted in it breaking down and Philip to damage his leg in some way. If Ilish would have suggested to split up, he would have remained completely fine. Other than that, she would have still encountered Ryler and his doge. So, yes, this is perhaps the sole instance where splitting up ultimately led to the better outcome.
Sadie III:
[Lie to her]
Sadie would have tried to lie to Sanyse. Emphasis on try. The old crone is far too shrewd to fall for any such trickery and she would have called Sadie out on it, in a very pissed off tone. In the consequence, she would have been very hostile to Sadie. She would have called for the guards, which would have led to the confrontation between Sadie and Leo, but with the added bonus that Sanyse would outright try to frame Sadie for allegedly trying to steal from her.
[Try to escape]
This would have caused Sadie some additional moments of freedom. She would have run out of the window again and away from Sanyse, who would have screamed for the guards. However, she would have been stopped by Blane, the sellsword who previously had taken an interest in her. Blane would have been highly disappointed by this, which would have soured his opinion on her in the next chapter.
Lucas III:
[Apologize to Leonard] [Refuse to justify your actions]
Obviously, these choices wouldn't have made any differences for the rest of the chapter. Originally, I have planned another short part for Lucas in Chapter 7, but unfortunately, I decided to move this part a the beginning of his next, to give him more to do. In that part, it will very well make a huge difference however and it will be written very early in Chapter 8.
Kersea IV:
[Go outside and meet up with Clayton]
This would have caused Kersea's final part to be ultimately a bit shorter than the one you actually got, as the entire second half of her talk with Alysanne would have been cut out. It wouldn't have changed much about the talk with Clayton, that one was already set in stone by then. Alysanne herself wouldn't have been angry at Kersea for leaving, but arguably, their friendship has reached deeper levels now, where she has grown comfortable to admit to her weaknesses.
Drent III:
[Assist Montclair and Torrence]
Drent's intervention would have allowed the Stormlanders to dominate the fight against John and Janae, at least until Daghan would intervene, to end the fight on both sides. He would have harshly revealed their identities as Stormlander soldiers, which would have further soured the opinion of the smallfolk on the Stormlanders. This option would have also allowed Shortwood to escape without getting confronted by Drent, his whereabouts unknown until Chapter 8.
Edrick III:
[Take the letter and read it]
This would have revealed a potentially important information about Dante, which could have changed the way you and Edrick see him. Dante himself would have obviously been extremely angry at Edrick for disrespecting his privacy in such a way, although Leo would have been happy about it and would have become a more trusted ally.
Jenna III:
[Hand the death warrant over to Leonard]
Again, nothing would have changed in this chapter, but Jenna is going to make an appearance in Lucas' next part. This choice is going to influence this appearance. Obviously, Leonard would have tried his best to keep the death warrant safe and to prevent anyone from seeing it. Chances are that he would have destroyed it on spot.
Marak IV
[Leave the hatch and stay outside]
This would have had huge consequences. For starters, this would have potentially saved Rachel's life and prevented the fatal misunderstanding in the finale. It would have also meant that Otis would have survived and he would have instead appeared as an antagonist in Book 2. His secret would have remained a secret. Later on, Noelle would have tried to take Rachel with her, sensing that something is not right with Otis and you would have had the chance to support her or to force her to leave Rachel behind, so as not to provoke Otis any further. Rachel would have been reunited with her parents and in Chapter 9, she would have revealed the truth about Otis to the city guard. By the time they would have arrived to arrest him, he would have already vanished however.
Maya II:
[Try to sneak into the headquarters] [Try to sneak into the headquarters and use Aldrik as a distraction]**
Once again, this is a choice that wouldn't have changed much in this chapter, although it will affect the way Maya's storyline in the next one is going to play out. However, with the Ironborn arriving in Raylansfair, she certainly has to change her plan either way.
Sadie IV:
[Help Dan]
This is another choice that will affect the next chapter. In Sadie's case, it will even dramatically affect the next chapter. This fight against the Ironborn, that is something that can easily get out of hand. Helping Dan would have probably been the safer option for her and Dan and it would have also strengthened the friendship between them. However, having someone like Leo as a friend is not exactly a bad thing either. It's just the rest that is going to happen that is potentially going to be really bad.
Marak V:
[Spare his life]
This choice would have had really big consequences in this chapter and the next. Marak would have spared Otis' life and Noelle would have forced him to assist them. She would have made the fatal mistake of believing that his fear of them would be enough to keep him in line. It wouldn't have been. Even worse would be her mistake of trusting him with looking after Ellena. Obviously, Otis would have betrayed her trust in the finale. He would have stabbed and wounded Ando, who would have went to help Ellena, before running away with her. Ellena's next chapter would have revolved around escaping from Otis. This would have led to a twisted game of hide and seek, where Otis would have chased and searched for Ellena, while she would have cowered somewhere in the forest, armed with a knife. Ultimately, she would have managed to kill Otis in a terribly brutal and bloody way, which would have heavily affected her. She also wouldn't have joined Raenna's group at the end of Chapter 7.
Raenna III:
[Return to the camp and gather the others]
This choice would have meant that Raenna would have taken Terroma to the fire with her. By then, the fire would have largely consumed the entire house, making it impossible for Terroma to see the difference between the charred body of Rachel and the charred body of Ellena. He would have come to the conclusion that it was Ellena who had been killed there, which would have completely broken him, as it did in the part you actually got. Raenna herself would have been more sceptical, as she wouldn't have seen any evidence in favour of Terroma's theory.
Ilish IV:
[Stay away from it]
By staying away from the dog, Ilish wouldn't have made a new canine friend. She also wouldn't have encountered Ryler in this chapter, but he would have appeared in her storyline in the next, making a far less shady introduction. Also, Ilish wouldn't have had a fifth part in this chapter, as she wouldn't have to deal with Ryler jumping at her.
Jaron V:
[Let Harpy do it]
In my own opinion, this would have been the worst outcome here. Harpy would have killed the Burned Man, but it would have been a horrible burden on her. She would have felt crippling guilt, would have had nightmares, panic attacks, drastic mood swings and several signs of a serious depression for a very long time. She would have also distanced herself from Jaron, not because her own feelings for him would have changed, but because she would have distanced herself from others in general.
[Ask Samuel to do it]
And this, in my opinion, would have been the best choice. Samuel would have killed the Burned Man quickly and painlessly. Since this is far from the first time he did such a thing, he wouldn't have felt bad for it. In fact, he would have hardly felt anything aside from mild sympathy for Harpy's grief. He wouldn't have suffered any negative consequences at all. Harpy would have accepted this choice, as she secretly would have been thankful that neither she nor Jaron had to do such a thing.
Edrick IV:
[Take Darko with you]
This was a big choice for future chapters. Darko would have become a member of Edrick's group and without spoiling anything, this would have had big consequences for that storyline and for the Northern storyline in Book 2. People might die or survive because of Darko's absence in one and presence in another storyline. This option would have also allowed me to develop his relationship with Alphyn and to show some parts of his character I won't be able to show in such detail in the route you have picked.
Ilish V
[Scream for help][Stay silent]
This is another choice that will change the next chapter. You have chosen... wisely, by making Ilish say that everything is okay. Screaming for help would have greatly upset Ryler, which wouldn't have been good for Ilish, while staying silent would have been a bit awkward and would have led to further investigations by Torold. In any way, now Ilish's actions are going to please Ryler, which might come in handy for her in the near future.
This was one of the most important choices of the entire chapter, hands down. If Lucas would have lied to Argella, Harris would have remained in power for the rest of the chapter and beyond. Lucas would have stuck with his original choice and Harris would have been very pleased by this, becoming a loyal ally for him and for Leonard. Similarly, the friendship between Lucas and Leonard wouldn't have been damaged. Another change would have been that Argella would have realized that Lucas wasn't telling the full truth, which would have caused her to be more distanced. Ultimately, she wouldn't have helped Lucas getting over the trauma he suffered in Oldtown and he wouldn't have had the chance to declare his loyalty for her. Depending on future decisions, this could have had incredibly huge consequences in later chapter, so it will be one of the choices I will continue to explain in the 'What If'-parts of later chapters.
Ack, why, why must we not do this? Any friends of Leonard is a friend of mine.
Jenna I:
[Search the wardrobe] [Search the chest] [Search the cupboard]
All three of these can be explained with the same sentence. You instinctively picked the right choice here, well done! Jenna wouldn't have found much of interest in these places and would have wasted a lot of time, which would have ultimately ended up with her not finding the death warrant on Leonard. However, she would have found the finely crafted bow underneath Sherryl's bed in any of these cases, which would have been at least one important detail for the future. With that, I not-so-subtly try to remind of that weirdly crafted and super expensive bow Jenna found under Sherryl's bed
We got lucky, real lucky. Would the death warrant come to play in other ways?
Lucas II:
[Ask for more time to decide]
Another major choice in this chapter and beyond, as it decided on Lucas' loyalty. If this choice would have been taken, he would have remained sullen and broody for the rest of the chapter. The Dark Lucas you apparently find intriguing would have gotten more time to develop and grow. Leonard would have been very pleased and there wouldn't have been an argument between them. However, Argella would have given Lucas another chance to declare loyalty to her at the end of the chapter. By then, she would have already known that her claim to Raylansfair would have been faked by Tariel and her offer would have simply been a well-meant offer to help him recover from his wounds instead of a mutual alliance for the good of Raylansfair. Arguably, this would have given Lucas less reason to declare for her.
Leonard pleased...yes, yes. Interesting that Argella would offer him a chance to declare his loyalty again. I wonder how mad Leonard would be if he accepted then.
Willfred I:
[Declare your support for House Durrandon]
This was one of the most important choices in Book 1, simple as that. By not supporting House Durrandon, Willfred secured victory for Sherryl and through her, Maron Mullendore and whomever he supports. At this point, after successfully taking Hobert out of the game, Argella and House Durrandon would have been the only other alternatives left. And I can reveal, no matter your opinion, you're all going to agree that they would have been the better choice after a few developments in Book 2. Unless you're actually rooting for Mullendore of course Anyways, with this choice, Willfred would have won the gratitude of Argella, who would have gone out of her way in Book 2 to uphold her end of the deal and to convince her (rather unwilling) father of sending troops to support the Rock against the Ironborn.
Ack, this would have been interesting. I wonder if this was help make the Stormlanders fight the ironborn.
Kersea II:
[Alysanne]
Yeah... I did not expect this to win in any way, so I can't say too much about long-term consequences, but they would have clearly been disastrous for Kersea's and Alysanne's friendship. Both, Clayton and Rayden would have been very happy with this choice, but Alysanne would have felt horribly betrayed and hurt by this. And trust me, a pissed off, heartbroken Alysanne is not something you want to see.
I wish we did this. I really, really don't like Alysanne.
Jenna II:
[Burn the document]
This would have caused yet unknown changes in the future. In this chapter, Jenna would have used the nearby candle to dispose of this piece of evidence, potentially saving Leonard's life, while also depriving Saerya of a chance to incriminate Sherryl. Future parts will put more emphasis on the consequences of your choice. Let's just say, nothing of the things that will happen now, involving the death warrant, would have happened if you would have destroyed it.
Potentially saving Leonard's life? Yikes...I hope we can still get that result, but with the current things happening, I think Leonard has other problems.
Apologies for putting these out so late! I was very busy yesterday and I actually still am for a while today (so apologize if I need a bit l… moreonger to answer to other comments, or messages, or stories), but I have finally finished them! The next thing I'm going to write will be the 'What If'-part, which should be out tomorrow or on Tuesday
Alternative Choices: Chapter VII
Marak I:
[Refuse the drink]
This would have changed the relationship between Marak and Noelle in this chapter, although this wouldn't have affected how the storyline would have played out beyond . Marak would have remained a bit afraid of her, while Noelle would have been colder and more reserved. She would have also not revealed her doubts about her divine mission in that case, which would have prevented any foreshadowing of her ultimate refusal to kill Briar.
Willfred I:
[Stay in the Great Hall]
This would have given a slightly different storyline f… [view original content]
Not going to lie, this would have been the smart choice and I was surprised so many of you chose the other option. By staying, John would have given Torrence a chance to find some very interesting stuff in Shortwood's room, which would have given you a general idea on wether or not you can actually trust the guy.
It is kind of strange when we make one character do one thing and then make another character try to stop that.
Lucas III:
[Apologize to Leonard] [Refuse to justify your actions]
Obviously, these choices wouldn't have made any differences for the rest of the chapter. Originally, I have planned another short part for Lucas in Chapter 7, but unfortunately, I decided to move this part a the beginning of his next, to give him more to do. In that part, it will very well make a huge difference however and it will be written very early in Chapter 8.
Very interesting, I'll be on the lookout for the consequences.
Marak V:
[Spare his life]
This choice would have had really big consequences in this chapter and the next. Marak would have spared Otis' life and Noelle would have forced him to assist them. She would have made the fatal mistake of believing that his fear of them would be enough to keep him in line. It wouldn't have been. Even worse would be her mistake of trusting him with looking after Ellena. Obviously, Otis would have betrayed her trust in the finale. He would have stabbed and wounded Ando, who would have went to help Ellena, before running away with her. Ellena's next chapter would have revolved around escaping from Otis. This would have led to a twisted game of hide and seek, where Otis would have chased and searched for Ellena, while she would have cowered somewhere in the forest, armed with a knife. Ultimately, she would have managed to kill Otis in a terribly brutal and bloody way, which would have heavily affected her. She also wouldn't have joined Raenna's group at the end of Chapter 7.
Well, yay? Was Otis a submitted character? I'm very curious if someone actually made him like that.
Jaron V:
[Ask Samuel to do it]
And this, in my opinion, would have been the best choice. Samuel would have killed the Burned Man quickly and painlessly. Since this is far from the first time he did such a thing, he wouldn't have felt bad for it. In fact, he would have hardly felt anything aside from mild sympathy for Harpy's grief. He wouldn't have suffered any negative consequences at all. Harpy would have accepted this choice, as she secretly would have been thankful that neither she nor Jaron had to do such a thing.
I knew it, I voted for it, I did not get it.
Interesting choices! I'm excited for the 'What ifs', it's one of my favorite things for each chapter.
I know it's bothersome, but can we get a list of the chapters planned to be introduced in the next chapter? I know you wanted a break, so it's fine if you don't want to, you deserve it!
John II:
[Stay in the taproom]
Not going to lie, this would have been the smart choice and I was surprised so many of you chose the ot… moreher option. By staying, John would have given Torrence a chance to find some very interesting stuff in Shortwood's room, which would have given you a general idea on wether or not you can actually trust the guy.
Raenna II:
[Choose Ando] [Choose Bakr] [Choose Davith]
All three of these choices would have had few big changes to the storyline, which would have unravelled mostly as it did in the Brandon choice. It was simply a choice for you to decide on which character would receive additional attention during Raenna's storyline. Davith would have been an especially interesting choice, as I feel he got the least to do in her parts this chapter. Well, this is going to change rather soon, I hope
Kersea III:
[Torture him]
This would have been the option to please both, Clayton and Alysann… [view original content]
I still would have liked this outcome much more but I like that thanks to the other choice Lucas switch side
Samantha II:[Accept Rodrik's terms and surrender]
Fun fact:I still remember that many readers believed that trust Rodrick was a good choice!XD
Ilish II:[Search for Kreep at the fair]
I would have liked that this choice win but,oh well,at least I hope that you will not introduced this new characters just to let them killed inside the next chapter XD
Apologies for putting these out so late! I was very busy yesterday and I actually still am for a while today (so apologize if I need a bit l… moreonger to answer to other comments, or messages, or stories), but I have finally finished them! The next thing I'm going to write will be the 'What If'-part, which should be out tomorrow or on Tuesday
Alternative Choices: Chapter VII
Marak I:
[Refuse the drink]
This would have changed the relationship between Marak and Noelle in this chapter, although this wouldn't have affected how the storyline would have played out beyond . Marak would have remained a bit afraid of her, while Noelle would have been colder and more reserved. She would have also not revealed her doubts about her divine mission in that case, which would have prevented any foreshadowing of her ultimate refusal to kill Briar.
Willfred I:
[Stay in the Great Hall]
This would have given a slightly different storyline f… [view original content]
John II:
[Stay in the taproom]
Not going to lie, this would have been the smart choice and I was surprised so many of you chose the ot… moreher option. By staying, John would have given Torrence a chance to find some very interesting stuff in Shortwood's room, which would have given you a general idea on wether or not you can actually trust the guy.
Raenna II:
[Choose Ando] [Choose Bakr] [Choose Davith]
All three of these choices would have had few big changes to the storyline, which would have unravelled mostly as it did in the Brandon choice. It was simply a choice for you to decide on which character would receive additional attention during Raenna's storyline. Davith would have been an especially interesting choice, as I feel he got the least to do in her parts this chapter. Well, this is going to change rather soon, I hope
Kersea III:
[Torture him]
This would have been the option to please both, Clayton and Alysann… [view original content]
That finale... that was amazing! Definitely one of, if not the best, part ever written so far. I was very excited and hyped for this and it did not disappoint one bit.
Wow! This is a serious compliment, especially given the number of parts. I am very happy you enjoyed this part so much
I expected some death, but Terroma and Marak had been here from the start and even if I liked them or not, it will definitely be different without them now
Oh yes, things will certainly be very different. Marak had been one of the first PoV's even, while Terroma had been here from the beginning of Chapter 2, both of them had so long to shine, so I will definitely miss writing them. Especially Marak has grown into one of my favourite PoV's, while I always enjoyed Terroma. Unfortunately, they won't remain the only hard deaths in Book 1
Also, fuck Wolfius! I like him as a villain, but boy does he piss me off. I was hoping to see him finally die after all he has done, but nope. Now, he probably has worse things in store. Can't wait to see what they are...
Haha, yes, there will be a lot worse than what you have seen so far. Actually, you know nothing about him yet. He's getting a lot more intriguing and a lot more dangerous very soon.
And I'm sure that if she's spared, Raenna will make sure to keep her restrained and make sure that she isn't capable of doing such a thing.
I can confirm that if she spares Noelle, Raenna is definitely going to make sure that she won't stab her in the back. However, she also won't drag Noelle with her forever, she's simply going to leave her in her lonely, broken state. It's going to be a slightly cruel mercy, since Noelle herself is absolutely overwhelmed with a feeling of having utterly failed her god because of her own weakness.
That finale... that was amazing! Definitely one of, if not the best, part ever written so far. I was very excited and hyped for this and it … moredid not disappoint one bit. I expected some death, but Terroma and Marak had been here from the start and even if I liked them or not, it will definitely be different without them now
[Help Aldus] I honestly think that this is the most reasonable thing for Arthur to do at the moment. Also, fuck Wolfius! I like him as a villain, but boy does he piss me off. I was hoping to see him finally die after all he has done, but nope. Now, he probably has worse things in store. Can't wait to see what they are...
[Spare Noelle] This might be one of the hardest choices for me. It's a risk, but I feel like she could become helpful based off of the type of person she is. I don't think she is AS bad as others think. Her being weak is, well, her weakness. I know she inadvertently caused Terroma's AND Marak's death,… [view original content]
Damn, there were a lot of characters that I liked. Out of the non-POV's and without being biased, I'd have to say Leonard, Argella and Alysanne as they has always been up there. Out of the newer characters, Orys seems awesome and I think he has the potential to be an awesome character. I am surprisingly very intrigued by Shortwood.
Another reader who likes Alysanne! This is so unexpected, at least when I consider her original role and my original plans These are certainly some interesting choices in general! Orys and Shortwood as well, as I was not sure if they'd make it to anyone's list. Orys didn't have the largest role (although I guess his involvement was memorable), while I was not sure how Shortwood would be seen. To my pleasant surprise, a majority seems to tend towards liking him.
Otis by far. He is a suck fuck and I am glad he is dead. Clayton, for obvious reasons. I hate him a lot. You can put Wolfius up there, he is annoying, but I do enjoy him as a villain. Doesn't change the fact that I want him dead don't know how that makes sense, lmao. He's one of those characters who I want dead but does have some cool moments when he is alive despite being a villain.
Especially Otis and Clayton are among my own list as well, that much is for sure. It seems everyone hates them, which is so very expected. Wolfius meanwhile, I do enjoy writing him. Of course, he is a horrible person, but I hope that he is one of these 'love-to-hate' characters, who have a certain sort of intrigue with them and who do cool stuff. He actually has a big backstory, which is going to be revealed soon. Not exactly a justification for his actions, but there is more to him than just being Wolfius the travelling serial killer.
I'd probably say Edrick, only because he is the newest and I am not really familiar with his story line and characters just yet. I'm sure that will change in the future, though.
Fair enough. Edrick is indeed the newest PoV, paired with Sadie and unlike her, he had more build-up until his story gains momentum, but there is a lot of stuff coming up for him, so I am confident that you'll grow more familiar with him in time
Some people might say that the lack of death is a problem, but I personally think it's great how you're keeping the characters around for a long time and getting us attached to them, thus making their eventual deaths have more of an impact. Plus, two huge deaths just happened, so I'm glad I haven't seen this comment yet.
Well, I am afraid there will be a lot more death in the near future. I have gotten to the point where I feel more confident in killing off certain characters and some of them will definitely be super huge, even bigger than Marak and Terroma. But still, I have never been a fan of killing off the entire cast in a story, so as painful as some deaths will be, not all will be bad. I still think the incoming deaths will be very hard for some.
All I know is that there will probably be more fights, more blood, and more death. So let's just say I can't wait I am also very eager to see the wiki, which I'm sure will be awesome
Yes, this is very much what is going to happen in the next chapter. Fight, blood, gore, death. If it works according to plan, it will be an entire chapter full of highlights. As for the wiki, I certainly hope that it will be awesome, but I'll let all of you decide once I feel comfortable with sharing it.
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 7?
Damn, there were a lot of characters that I liked. Out of the non-POV's and without bein… moreg biased, I'd have to say Leonard, Argella and Alysanne as they has always been up there. Out of the newer characters, Orys seems awesome and I think he has the potential to be an awesome character. I am surprisingly very intrigued by Shortwood.
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 7?
Otis by far. He is a suck fuck and I am glad he is dead. Clayton, for obvious reasons. I hate him a lot. You can put Wolfius up there, he is annoying, but I do enjoy him as a villain. Doesn't change the fact that I want him dead don't know how that makes sense, lmao. He's one of those characters who I want dead but does have some cool moments when he is alive despite being a villain.
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 7?
Marak, Kersea, and Raenna are the ones that stand out. You can throw Lu… [view original content]
Hmmm.... I'd say Willfred has a slight advantage. Jaron is good, but he's still just a hedge knight, while Willfred has been trained by a real master-at-arms in a castle, so he obviously got the better training. As the firstborn son of the most powerful lord of the Rock, he is expected to be a very good fighter. Jaron has more of a street style when it comes to fighting and he is better than most, but I don't think he is that experienced against a trained knight.
The Sphynx vs Harmund Hoare
Unfortunately, Harmund would probably win. The Sphynx is not a fighter, while Harmund is an Ironborn raider. He's a despicable bastard and way worse than the Sphynx (as hard as it is to believe), but he has the skill to back up his dreadful reputation. The Sphynx is more cunning, but intelligence does not make up for speed and strength and skill in a fight.
Alysanne vs Vaasrand
This one is an interesting fight. I'd say Vaasrand is one of the few people whom Alysanne would have a hard time against. In the end, he could even take her down. Alysanne's biggest weakness is that she relies on killing her opponents quickly and she goes as far as to ignore her own cover for it. Vaasrand has to make sure that he is always covered during a hunt, so he could avoid getting hit by Alysanne, before using her lack of a defense against her.
Clayton vs Harrington
Well, here we have Samuel's own opinion from an earlier part in this chapter. While he mentioned that Alysanne is better than him, he basically confirmed that he considers himself better than Clayton. I'd say he is right with this assumption and in a fair fight, he would probably emerge victorious, though it would still require a lot of his skill.
Orys vs Mullendore
Hehe, this is a "fight" I'd love to write, because it would and very satisfying to write and read. To make it short Mullendore is absolutely chanceless, so chanceless that I'd almost feel pity for him. Almost. This scene from the Avengers would very much be how it would go:
Yes, this woul be the entire fight. Honourable knight or not, it is doubtful Orys would not kill Mullendore brutally if he learns about his crimes. He' probably not make him suffer, but that's about all Mullendore could expect in terms of mercy.
Baelor vs Leonard Hill
Hmmm, another hard one. Baelor is a very skilled fighter, but so is Leo. I think they'd be matched in many parts. In the end, I feel like Leo might have a tiny advantage, but it could certainly go either way. Like, there's probably a 55% chance of Leo winning, but even then, Baelor would put up one hell of a fight and a mutual kill is a good possibility here. Let's hope they will never end up fighting against each other.
More!
Wilfred vs Jaron
The Sphynx vs Harmund Hoare
Alysanne vs Vaasrand
Clayton vs Harrington
Orys vs Mullendore
Baelor vs Leonard Hill
All uninjured with all there limbs.
We got lucky, real lucky. Would the death warrant come to play in other ways?
Yes, this is likely. Sherryl obviously had plans for it and if it wouldn't have been for Jenna ruining these plans, she would have executed them sooner or later. One important thing is that Jenna would have never learned about Sherryl's intentions for Leonard. Similarly, Leonard wouldn't have known a thing about it, as he never had any real interaction with Sherryl. So, it is possible that whatever scheme Sherryl has in mind for the knights, it would have hit them without warning if Jenna wouldn't have found that death warrant.
Leonard pleased...yes, yes. Interesting that Argella would offer him a chance to declare his loyalty again. I wonder how mad Leonard would be if he accepted then.
Yes, Argella would have done so again. She would have understood that Lucas needs more time to think. Leonard meanwhile... it would depend on other choices in Lucas' storyline in this chapter, but he would have either been really pissed (far more than he is now), or he would be more understanding, seeing it as a choice Lucas has to make for himself. His opinion would have also changed if Argella would have actually succeeded with winning the city for House Durrandon, as he would have (reluctantly) seen her as the one in charge then.
Ack, this would have been interesting. I wonder if this was help make the Stormlanders fight the ironborn.
You're definitely going to get a detailed answer to this. It will be one of the choices who will continue to influence the future chapters, so it will be explained in the next What If-part.
I wish we did this. I really, really don't like Alysanne.
Hah, so I've noticed I'm not sure if this is actually going to change (because I have the feeling you like Alysanne even less than Jenna, correct me if I'm wrong), but maybe you'll warm up to her slightly. That said, while I am willing to bet that you're going to get a better opinion on some of the characters among your least favourites, I am not so confident when it comes to Alysanne. She is a very divisive character, which I am very glad about.
Potentially saving Leonard's life? Yikes...I hope we can still get that result, but with the current things happening, I think Leonard has other problems.
Let's say, the death warrant is not Leonard's most urgent problem. He will learn about it pretty soon, but other things will be more important for him by then.
Lucas I:
[Lie to her]
This was one of the most important choices of the entire chapter, hands down. If Lucas would have lied t… moreo Argella, Harris would have remained in power for the rest of the chapter and beyond. Lucas would have stuck with his original choice and Harris would have been very pleased by this, becoming a loyal ally for him and for Leonard. Similarly, the friendship between Lucas and Leonard wouldn't have been damaged. Another change would have been that Argella would have realized that Lucas wasn't telling the full truth, which would have caused her to be more distanced. Ultimately, she wouldn't have helped Lucas getting over the trauma he suffered in Oldtown and he wouldn't have had the chance to declare his loyalty for her. Depending on future decisions, this could have had incredibly huge consequences in later chapter, so it will be one of the choices I will continue to explain in the 'What If'-parts of later c… [view original content]
I still would have liked this outcome much more but I like that thanks to the other choice Lucas switch side
Unfortunately, is is impossible to get both here. Either Harris remains free and in charge, or Lucas joins the stags. Both have their set of positive and negative consequences.
Fun fact:I still remember that many readers believed that trust Rodrick was a good choice!XD
Oh yes, I remember this as well. This was like one of the far earlier choices, where almost half of the voters voted for Arthur to free Wolfius. But yeah, when an initial majority voted to trust Rodrik, I was like "Well... fuck..."
I would have liked that this choice win but,oh well,at least I hope that you will not introduced this new characters just to let them killed inside the next chapter XD
This is unlikely. I rarely kill off undeveloped characters in their introductory chapter. This only happened with Alexander and arguably, Otis and Robb as well, but the latter two had a lot of screentime in their respective chapters. I'm still not even sure if I will be able to introduce all of them in the next chapter, but I definitely hope so!
Lucas I:[Lie to her]
I still would have liked this outcome much more but I like that thanks to the other choice Lucas switch side
… more Samantha II:[Accept Rodrik's terms and surrender]
Fun fact:I still remember that many readers believed that trust Rodrick was a good choice!XD
Ilish II:[Search for Kreep at the fair]
I would have liked that this choice win but,oh well,at least I hope that you will not introduced this new characters just to let them killed inside the next chapter XD
It is kind of strange when we make one character do one thing and then make another character try to stop that.
I found that kind of strange as well, but I assume that some people either did not notice that John would try to stop Torrence, or that some sympathized with Shortwood over the Stormlanders.
Well, yay? Was Otis a submitted character? I'm very curious if someone actually made him like that.
Oh yes, Otis was a submitted character, probably the most creepy one I ever received. His appearance actually wasn't a description like the other characters have, but a link to a real-life mugshot of a guy that looked a lot like a stereotypical child molester (the link is dead now, unfortunately, but the guy on it looked a lot like Wildling's drawing of him), so that was certainly creepy. He was exactly like I have written him, a nervous, rude guy who is seriously messed up and specializes in torturing and killing children out of the misguided feeling that he will be able to avenge the similar deaths of his own children.
I know it's bothersome, but can we get a list of the chapters planned to be introduced in the next chapter?
Oh, this is not bothersome at all! Actually, it is especially easy in this case, as I don't really think I will introduce many new characters in this chapter. Originally, I have even planned not to introduce any new characters in this chapter, but moving Sadie's storyline from Chapter 9 to Chapter 8 (as well as heavily rewriting parts of it) gave me more possibilities. So, here are the few characters I might be able to introduce in the next chapter:
Edric, Erwin, Gilbar Cale, Sophey, William Gering, Rhogarn Snow, Aklen Pentas and Yusuf Hillsider
The first four of these have originally been planned to appear in Chapter 7 already, while the latter four are characters who might appear in the next chapter, but whom I am not entirely sure about yet. I might save some or all of them for Chapter 9 or Book 2. All in all, it will be the first chapter that is going to kill off more characters than it is going to introduce.
I know you wanted a break, so it's fine if you don't want to, you deserve it!
I don't really want this break, to be honest, but I really have to get some work done on the wiki. I'm also starting my next course of studies on Tuesday and am a bit nervous for this (especially as I have no idea if this is going to affect the story and my writing speed in any way). In any way, if I have the time, then it is actually unlikely I will manage to stay away from the story for this time. I'll definitely take it a bit slower over the next days though, as hard as it'll be, though I hope to eventually get faster again by the end of October. And even then, I am always happy to answer questions like this one!
John II:
[Stay in the taproom]
Not going to lie, this would have been the smart choice and I was surprised so many of you chos… moree the other option. By staying, John would have given Torrence a chance to find some very interesting stuff in Shortwood's room, which would have given you a general idea on wether or not you can actually trust the guy.
It is kind of strange when we make one character do one thing and then make another character try to stop that.
Lucas III:
[Apologize to Leonard] [Refuse to justify your actions]
Obviously, these choices wouldn't have made any differences for the rest of the chapter. Originally, I have planned another short part for Lucas in Chapter 7, but unfortunately, I decided to move this part a the beginning of his next, to give him more to do. In that part, it will very well make a huge difference however and it will be written very early in Chapter 8.
Very intere… [view original content]
I'm happy that this choice don't win,this story has already enough evil psychopaths
I am afraid to reveal that this won't be all of them. The psychopath is a well-liked character archetype and in a story with as many submitted characters as this one, there's bound to be quite a few of them. I try to make them as different as possible, but occasionally, it is not that easy.
John II:[Stay in the taproom]
You are right,however when I have to do choice I always do the one that can help more the PoV of the c… morehoice
Marak V:[Leave the hatch and stay outside]
I'm happy that this choice don't win,this story has already enough evil psychopaths
Comments
Still don't like Richard, but he had a great storyline.
Clearly Leonard is going to inspire a mutiny to save the town. Because Leonard is the hero we need but don't deserve.
That's exactly what a traitor would say.
So, I was inspired by the finale and did this:
I'm not entirely happy with it myself, but meh, decided to share anyway, since it took a couple hours to make XD
That's badass! I love it!
This looks amazing! Great Job.
That's quite cool idea and cool presentation of it. :-)
Wow, this one is so cool! This is really close to how the scene played out in my mind, just moments before the fight actually began. So, I certainly love this, thank you very much for drawing it
I am sorry, but I am afraid I can't comment on the outcome of the battle without spoiling. Even fully answering your question could potentially even include a spoiler. Let's just say, your choices can definitely decide who is going to survive on both sides, which might end up playing a role in deciding who wins and who loses.
Actually, I do! Characters like Alan will probably never have the biggest role, but even a small role can play a crucial part at some point of the storyline. In case of Alan, he will have a key role in a scene in a future scene, which is going to end up heavily influencing several PoV characters and their respective storylines, even if he himself is probably never going to rise beyond the status of a secondary character.
I do not know if Tariel is going to join the InGen hate list, but she's definitely not going to show her nicest side in the next chapter, that much is for sure. Though I think I can reveal a bit of her reasoning: Currently, the Stormlander army is in the castle, the safest place in the city and the one that can be the most easily defended. Leaving their men in the castle would mean that the city guard and others will be slaughtered mercilessly, but it would give the Stormlanders a very good chance to reinforce the castle and to protect Argella. Going out of the castle would mean that they give up on their advantage, for people they have no real connection to (or, in case of Tariel, a very bad connection). On top of that, if the Ironborn slaughter the citizens of Raylansfair, they will undoubtedly suffer casualties themselves, meaning they have a smaller force to attack the castle in the end. So, from a very cold, pragmatic and pro-Stormlander viewpoint, she even has a point, waiting it out can be a legitimate strategy in favour of the Stormlands. Argella knows it and Leonard knows it as well, which is going to influence his own arguments in this scene.
Indeed, the Ironborn will have to row their by boat. The problem there is, their arrival took the people of Raylansfair by surprise. By the time Daemion informed Hackor, they have already entered their boats and started rowing from their ships to the city itself. Their brutality, the fear they spread and the fact that few of the city guardsmen have any knowledge about fighting the Ironborn is going to make things a lot harder for the defenders. There also won't be catapults and Raylansfair itself doesn't have much in terms of cavalry, but I can confirm that there will be lots of shield banging (or axe banging, in case of Durren Stallhart)
Well, first they have to survive for five days, before Donnel the White and Dimitri the Wise can arrive with their reinforcements. That's going to be the hardest part of it
I think the best fighter in Raylansfair at the moment is most likely Orys Baratheon. He has a huge amount of skill and more experience than most others, as evidenced by how easily he wiped the floor with Rodrik Stone. Daghan could probably come close to him as well and Emphryus is no pushover either. Usually, I'd include Vaasrand as well, who has hunted beasts most of them haven't even heard of, but right now, his wounds from the fight against the wolves will slow him down too much to be a match for the other characters I mentioned.
Thankfully most of them are on the same team.
Fantasy Fights:
The Tom vs Harrington
The Moggy vs Vaasrand
Leonard vs Clayton (this one will actually happen)
Storm King vs Harren the Black
Irving Todd vs Dimitri the Wise
Raenna vs Samantha
They're all uninjured and healthy.
Who wins?
Feel free to add your own.
Oh, this is a very cool idea! At least one of these fights, Leonard and Clayton is practically confirmed at this point, so I won't comment on that one, but I think I can give my opinions on the others. I'm also curious to see what the others think about such a thing.
Here, I'd see the Tom as the victor, albeit only by a slight margin. Samuel himself said that the Tom is better than him. Since he has a very realistic opinion when it comes to his skills, such a statement really means a lot. In the end, both would certainly avoid fighting each other, because they know how dangerous such an opponent would be.
Hm... this would very much be a fight similar to Gregor vs Oberyn. The Moggy has far superior strength and if he manages to land a hit on Vaasrand, he has the chance to win. Vaasrand meanwhile is fast and unlike Oberyn, he is not cocky and overconfident, so I'd say he has good chances to win. But it is still a risk, because the Moggy really only needs to land a single hit to end the fight in his favour.
As you know, this one is going to happen, so I will not say a word about it. The next chapter should be answer enough
Well, both are long beyond their physical prime, but I'd say this one goes to the Storm King. He has been a war hero in his youth and has, at one point, been the best warrior in the Stormlands. Even now, he'd be a formidable opponent to most younger fighters. Harren meanwhile is not a weakling, but he's no match against Argilac.
Ah... in a fight I think Irving would win. Dimitri is not a fighter, while Irving was at least forced through some rudimentary training and actually shows talent for archery. If neither of them would have access to weapons, it probably would result on some childish brawl, complete with scratching, biting and hair-pulling. In any way, the real victors of such a fight would be the audience.
Now, this one is interesting. I haven't thought about a potential fight between them, but I'd say they are a perfect match for a fight. Raenna might be the more skilled (she has been trained by Terroma after all), but Samantha is not giving up easily. I'm actually having a hard time thinking about a victor for such a fight. Chances are, it might be another Marak/Terroma situation, where both end up dead without a clear victor.
Who is the most agile fighter?
A little update on what's to come next:
I have almost finished the updated recap of Chapter 7 and plan to put that one up in the next hour or so. I know there are several of you who have missed a couple of parts in the chapter, so I hope this will help you with getting up to date for the next chapter!
The next project I'm going to write will be the alternative choices. It shouldn't be too much work and I think I should be able to release them either today or tomorrow at latest.
Afterwards, I will not immediately start with the next chapter. I'm afraid I have to take a short break. The reason is that I really want to finish the wiki, which unfortunately isn't in a presentable state right now. I'm going to focus on it for the next few days, although that won't mean I will stop writing FoT entirely in the meantime. Considering how hyped I am for the next chapter, it is unlikely that I am going to be able to wait for two weeks until releasing the next part. However, since my current focus lies on the wiki and since my new studies will start next week, my writing output in the remaining October is probably going to be uncharacteristically low. Apologies for that, but I am sure the wiki is going to make up for it
As for the next part in general, I have currently planned for it to include PoV's from Garthon and most likely from Raenna. However, there are also plans to give Raenna the second part of the chapter in its entirety, which would give another PoV a chance to be in the first part of the chapter. This PoV would probably be probably Lucas.
I am afraid I also have to reveal something I have hinted at before. I'm sure some of you won't like it, but unfortunately, I can now confirm that Chapter 8 will not include PoV's from Edrick and Jaron. I'm sorry for those of you who have their characters in these storylines, but I promise they will be back in no time, with big parts of Chapter 9 reserved for them! This was, unfortunately, a necessary decision, as I plan for this chapter to feel very much like one of the penultimate episodes from the show, where it often focusses on a single location (See Blackwater, Castle Black and the Battle of the Bastards). In this case, I have originally also planned to push Sadie's Chapter 8 storyline into Chapter 9 as well, but a recently planned twist in it has convinced me that it has to happen in Chapter 8 instead. And well, I have planned for Chapter 8 to be significantly shorter than Chapter 7, so if Jaron and Edrick's storylines are among your favourites (which I have seen quite a lot in your answers), you will be happy to learn that you'll see them again very soon!
And now I'll continue writing the alternative choices. It remains to be seen if I'm truly going to be able to stay away from writing Chapter 8 until the wiki is done, but we'll see. The voting for the chapter finale is still open in any way, until I am certain that I'll be able to start the new chapter. So, if you haven't voted yet, but still want to, then you can do so for at least several more days
Are you doing the wiki on your own or is someone helping you? I'm asking because it sounds like a shit-ton of work
I'm currently doing it on my own and yes, it is a shit-ton of work. There have been some who have offered their help and I really appreciated these offers, but currently, I prefer to do as much as possible on my own when it comes to the wiki. Writing the articles is the main work and since I'm a perfectionist, I eventually plan to include even articles for the most minor named characters. I have already made a lot of progress with learning how a wiki works, so that's a good thing.
The only thing I can't seem to figure out is how to create a good-looking slider for the main page, so if anyone here has knowledge on how to do that, I'd greatly appreciate if you could contact me
Hm, I think this one goes to Alysanne. She is so very dangerous because of her speed, which makes her a formidable opponent even for much stronger characters. Currently, her fresh burn wounds slow her down considerably, but at her best, I believe she'd be able to kill Marak and Terroma both. Since she is currently wounded, the most agile fighter is probably Kreep, who is extremely fast as well. Vaasrand is another runner-up and he combines speed with high physical strength, but in terms of sheer agility, he is no match for Kreep and an unwounded Alysanne.
I'm kind of intuitive in this kind of things, even if I did not use tool before. I may try to help if you explain what you want to achieve.
Whose the best swordsman (excluding orys since that's obvious)
Vaasrand he's like Geralt without mutations and Geralt destroyed every knight he fought against his mutations didnt make him the best swordsman he was anyway (they did help tremendously though)
I'll add more
Vaasrand vs The Tom ( I think this would be very entertaining to read)
Daghan vs Emphyrus
Alysanne vs Maya
Lucas vs Leonard
Bear vs Marak (rip)
Kreep vs Wolfius
Vaasrand great fight though.
Daghan and Dresful seem similar but I'm going with Daghan.
Alysanne.
This would be the saddest fight to read I don't even want to pick a winner.
Bear he has claws for gloves.
Father vs Son. Wolfius because he just won't die.
Hm, I think Daghan and Emphryus have good chances for that title. They are both highly experienced and famed fighters, although in terms of sheer skill, Emphryus would probably win. Vaasrand is another choice, but not at the very moment. He is also less experienced when it comes to fight against other human swordsmen, since most of his opponents have been beasts. Emphryus and Daghan meanwhile are veterans, who know how to fight a knight in armour. That said, Vaasrand has a couple of tricks, so in a fight, he could theoretically win against both.
I like these a lot
This would be a very entertaining fight! In the end, I actually think the Tom has a slight advantage. After all, even Samuel Harrington respects his skill and Samuel is certainly one of the most dangerous fighters in the story. But Vaasrand wouldn't be without chances either, so it's not clear who would outright win in this situation
Same here, I don't think there would be a clear victor. In the end, Emphryus is a few years younger and a bit faster, so he might have a tiny bit of an advantage, but Daghan is physically stronger, so it is another fight where I couldn't directly say who would win.
Clearly Alyssane. Actually, Alysanne vs a lot of people would end with her clear victory. Poor Maya is not a bad fighter, but she would be chanceless. Even Alysanne in her current, wounded state is still better.
Hehe, I think you should have given a spoiler warning here...
Hard to say, but I'd go with Bear. His knife gloves are just too nasty. He could probably trick Marak into a brawl and then brutally rip him to pieces with his claws. In terms of strength, skill, temper and ruthlessness, both are more or less equal, but Bear is the more cunning in the end.
I'd say Wolfius. Kreep is just too loyal to his father to ever seriously wound him. He is physically stronger and faster, but Wolfius is by far the smarter one and he always has something up his sleeve.
Liquid I know I've said this like 4-5 but I can seriously help you. Even if you like writing I can help. Even basic linking, editing or writing I have no problem with. Please let me help you
.
More!
Wilfred vs Jaron
The Sphynx vs Harmund Hoare
Alysanne vs Vaasrand
Clayton vs Harrington
Orys vs Mullendore
Baelor vs Leonard Hill
All uninjured with all there limbs.
That finale... that was amazing! Definitely one of, if not the best, part ever written so far. I was very excited and hyped for this and it did not disappoint one bit. I expected some death, but Terroma and Marak had been here from the start and even if I liked them or not, it will definitely be different without them now
[Help Aldus] I honestly think that this is the most reasonable thing for Arthur to do at the moment. Also, fuck Wolfius! I like him as a villain, but boy does he piss me off. I was hoping to see him finally die after all he has done, but nope. Now, he probably has worse things in store. Can't wait to see what they are...
[Spare Noelle] This might be one of the hardest choices for me. It's a risk, but I feel like she could become helpful based off of the type of person she is. I don't think she is AS bad as others think. Her being weak is, well, her weakness. I know she inadvertently caused Terroma's AND Marak's death, but she didn't perform the act which made Raenna and her gang so furious in the first place. I think the beating she got was very deserving, and I was really close to choosing to kill her, but my gut said otherwise. I just hope she doesn't backstab us or anything, but basing off of the condition that she's in right now, that's very unlikely. And I'm sure that if she's spared, Raenna will make sure to keep her restrained and make sure that she isn't capable of doing such a thing.
Who were your favourite characters in Chapter 7?
Damn, there were a lot of characters that I liked. Out of the non-POV's and without being biased, I'd have to say Leonard, Argella and Alysanne as they has always been up there. Out of the newer characters, Orys seems awesome and I think he has the potential to be an awesome character. I am surprisingly very intrigued by Shortwood.
Who were your least favourite characters in Chapter 7?
Otis by far. He is a suck fuck and I am glad he is dead. Clayton, for obvious reasons. I hate him a lot. You can put Wolfius up there, he is annoying, but I do enjoy him as a villain. Doesn't change the fact that I want him dead
don't know how that makes sense, lmao. He's one of those characters who I want dead but does have some cool moments when he is alive despite being a villain.
Who were your favourite PoV's in Chapter 7?
Marak, Kersea, and Raenna are the ones that stand out. You can throw Lucas there too, as his POV's are always interesting and fun to read.
Who were your least favourite PoV's in Chapter 7?
To be honest, I really don't have a POV that I hate or dislike. I'd probably say Edrick, only because he is the newest and I am not really familiar with his story line and characters just yet. I'm sure that will change in the future, though.
What has been your favourite part and your favourite moment in Chapter 7?
Man, there have been plenty of great moments from what I saw. But that finale fight between Marak and Terroma takes the cake. It was the most thrilling part to read of the chapter and it had one of the most difficult choices for me, so I'd say it deserves to be here.
Is there anything you disliked?
Not at all. This story is only getting better and I'm loving every bit of it. Some people might say that the lack of death is a problem, but I personally think it's great how you're keeping the characters around for a long time and getting us attached to them, thus making their eventual deaths have more of an impact. Plus, two huge deaths just happened, so I'm glad I haven't seen this comment yet.
Do you have further advice, anything you'd like to see more, anything you're anticipating in Chapter 8 or anything else you'd like to say?
Man, my only advice is to not change. Your current writing style is great, your stories are great, you are so committed to this story and there are so many readers here. This thread is so popular too. Just don't try to fix something that isn't broken, that's all. You probably already know that, but I don't really have any other advice other than to keep up the great writing.
I have no clear idea on what is going to happen in Chapter 8, which makes me even more excited. All I know is that there will probably be more fights, more blood, and more death. So let's just say I can't wait 
I am also very eager to see the wiki, which I'm sure will be awesome 
Apologies for putting these out so late! I was very busy yesterday and I actually still am for a while today (so apologize if I need a bit longer to answer to other comments, or messages, or stories), but I have finally finished them! The next thing I'm going to write will be the 'What If'-part, which should be out tomorrow or on Tuesday
Alternative Choices: Chapter VII
Marak I:
[Refuse the drink]
This would have changed the relationship between Marak and Noelle in this chapter, although this wouldn't have affected how the storyline would have played out beyond . Marak would have remained a bit afraid of her, while Noelle would have been colder and more reserved. She would have also not revealed her doubts about her divine mission in that case, which would have prevented any foreshadowing of her ultimate refusal to kill Briar.
Willfred I:
[Stay in the Great Hall]
This would have given a slightly different storyline for Willfred. He wouldn't have directly learned about Harris' crimes, which would have made him more supportive of the man himself. Ultimately, he would have (half-correctly) assumed that Harris was the victim of an intrigue, but he would have wrongly assumed that it was Argella who had framed Harris, instead of Sherryl. Ultimately, this would have given him the chance to outright support Sherryl, though I doubt many of you would have picked it
Lucas I:
[Lie to her]
This was one of the most important choices of the entire chapter, hands down. If Lucas would have lied to Argella, Harris would have remained in power for the rest of the chapter and beyond. Lucas would have stuck with his original choice and Harris would have been very pleased by this, becoming a loyal ally for him and for Leonard. Similarly, the friendship between Lucas and Leonard wouldn't have been damaged. Another change would have been that Argella would have realized that Lucas wasn't telling the full truth, which would have caused her to be more distanced. Ultimately, she wouldn't have helped Lucas getting over the trauma he suffered in Oldtown and he wouldn't have had the chance to declare his loyalty for her. Depending on future decisions, this could have had incredibly huge consequences in later chapter, so it will be one of the choices I will continue to explain in the 'What If'-parts of later chapters.
Ellena I:
[Ask him for water]
This would have had huge changes for Ellena's storyline and by extension, for the storylines of Marak and Raenna. Ellena wouldn't have encountered Otis, who instead would have been an antagonist in a different storyline in a later chapter (and a far more dangerous one, since the PoV encountering him would have been someone a lot weaker than Marak). She would have had more talks with Noelle, who would have explained her motivations for her actions (with the chance for you to even sympathize with her, theoretically). Ultimately, it wouldn't have been possible to achieve a peaceful outcome to the situation, but depending on a future choice, you would have had the chance to save Terroma or Marak.
Sadie:
[Excuse yourself and go outside]
This one wouldn't have changed much, but it would have given me less of a chance to develop Blane and Leo in this chapter, as Sadie would have immediately left the table. The rest of her story in this chapter would have continued as it did in the choice that ultimately won. In the end, I am glad you chose this one, as it gave me another part to show more of Leo, who will play a major role in Sadie's storyline in the next chapter.
Richard I:
[Talk to Hal and Than]
This actually would have changed more than you currently assume. By talking to them, Richard would have been in the back of the group when the beast first attacked. This would have caused the beast to use a different tactic. Instead of grabbing Than, the weakest of the group, it would have attacked the centre of the group, taking Ed with it. Ed would have lost a leg in the process, but unlike Than, he would have survived the following ambush. Since he wouldn't have been taken, Than would have survived the attack as well, resulting in one casualty less.
John I:
This would have given Aylard more time to shine in this chapter. He and John would have patched up their relationship, even becoming sort-of friends for a short while, although Aylard's grief over the loss of his daughter would have caused him to withdraw from any other person. This choice also would have given me the chance to give more screentime to a rare creature, the elusive Federico Snow. Ultimately, John would have also had a different chance to mess up Torrence's plan to break into Shortwood's room, allowing the story to progress as it did in the winning path.
Jaron I:
[Go to the meeting unarmed]
This would have caused Jaron to meet Lanford without having any weapons with him. As a direct consequence, Lanford would have been pleased and less hostile. However, it would have also prevented Jaron from fighting Samuel Harrington after being confronted by him. Since Samuel never planned on killing Jaron, this would have changed nothing in the long run, but would have made the situation more dramatic in the short run.
Arthur I:
[Escort Helenys to Harris]
This would have given Helenys more screentime in this chapter and would have given me more of an opportunity to develop her character, although this would have come at the expense of Aren, who would have been sidelined for a majority of the chapter, not even getting a later appearance like Helenys. Ultimately, Arthur would have impressed Helenys and her favour would have come in handy in a later chapter, although his positive relationship with Aren won't be useless either.
Kersea I:
[SupportClayton's plan]
In this case, Kersea would have pleased Clayton (yes, he even disapproved of this tiny choice, the petty fuck). Later on, she would have joined in an attack on Rayden's men while simultaneously fighting off the guardsmen. Surprisingly, Clayton's plan would have worked well, just as well as Alysanne's plan. However, Alysanne herself would have been slightly disappointed that Kersea did not support her here.
Samantha I:
[Keep her tied up]
By keeping Lenrianda tied up, Samantha would have drawn the anger of Nymeria later on. She would have attacked the group more brutally and Lenrianda would have either barely managed or barely cared to talk her down. In the end, Nymeria would have still realized her misinterpretation of the situation and she would have joined up with Samantha's group in the fight against Rodrik, but neither she nor Lenrianda would have particularly trusted Samantha afterwards, even if she would have remained by their side during the fight.
Jenna I:
[Search the wardrobe] [Search the chest] [Search the cupboard]
All three of these can be explained with the same sentence. You instinctively picked the right choice here, well done! Jenna wouldn't have found much of interest in these places and would have wasted a lot of time, which would have ultimately ended up with her not finding the death warrant on Leonard. However, she would have found the finely crafted bow underneath Sherryl's bed in any of these cases, which would have been at least one important detail for the future. With that, I not-so-subtly try to remind of that weirdly crafted and super expensive bow Jenna found under Sherryl's bed
Raenna I:
[Side with Terroma]
This would have caused Raenna's group to push forward, even despite Terroma's wounds. In the end, they would have been forced to rest, when Terroma would have simply collapsed. He would have been in a much worse condition during the eventual fight with Marak. This would have given Marak an opportunity to kill Terroma, although he wouldn't have survived the vengeful Raenna afterwards, who would have killed him with rather horrifying brutality.
Edrick I:
[Keep the knife]
This would have been a more or less minor choice. Edrick would have kept the knife and he wouldn't have been in the situation to use it, but just having it around would have made him less inclined to trust the Frostborns. Alphyn would have noticed this distrust and would have acted accordingly cold, which would have soured their relationship up until Chapter 9.
Lucas II:
[Ask for more time to decide]
Another major choice in this chapter and beyond, as it decided on Lucas' loyalty. If this choice would have been taken, he would have remained sullen and broody for the rest of the chapter. The Dark Lucas you apparently find intriguing would have gotten more time to develop and grow. Leonard would have been very pleased and there wouldn't have been an argument between them. However, Argella would have given Lucas another chance to declare loyalty to her at the end of the chapter. By then, she would have already known that her claim to Raylansfair would have been faked by Tariel and her offer would have simply been a well-meant offer to help him recover from his wounds instead of a mutual alliance for the good of Raylansfair. Arguably, this would have given Lucas less reason to declare for her.
Drent I:
[Advice him to leave Torrence behind]
First of all, this choice would have given Torrence less screentime in this chapter, almost none at all. Montclair would have valued Drent's opinion enough to leave Torrence behind. It also would have given Torrence a bad opinion on Drent. On a positive side, it wouldn't have caused a fight between John and Torrence/Montclair, as Montclair would have ordered Drent to search Shortwood's room instead. Drent would have had several choices to successfully infiltrate the room without John noticing him.
Ilish I:
[Lie to him]
This choice decided over the role of Jarow in this chapter. If Ilish would have lied to him, he wouldn't have appeared in her later chapters. Admittedly, he didn't have much to do either way, but with this choice, he would have had even less screentime. He wouldn't have disappeared entirely, instead he would have become a background character in Drent's and John's parts, eventually even trying to join the fight between John and Torrence later on (although it would have remained unclear on whose side he would have been on)
Willfred I:
[Declare your support for House Durrandon]
This was one of the most important choices in Book 1, simple as that. By not supporting House Durrandon, Willfred secured victory for Sherryl and through her, Maron Mullendore and whomever he supports. At this point, after successfully taking Hobert out of the game, Argella and House Durrandon would have been the only other alternatives left. And I can reveal, no matter your opinion, you're all going to agree that they would have been the better choice after a few developments in Book 2. Unless you're actually rooting for Mullendore of course
Anyways, with this choice, Willfred would have won the gratitude of Argella, who would have gone out of her way in Book 2 to uphold her end of the deal and to convince her (rather unwilling) father of sending troops to support the Rock against the Ironborn.
Sadie II:
[Enter the illuminated room]
Instead of Sanyse Gomblinger, this choice would have given more screentime to one of the whores in Gyles' employment. You may remember a certain Nilanne, who first appeared in Chapter 6, but did not reappear in this chapter. She would have had a larger role in this path, ending up as an ally to Sadie and helping her out of sympathy. Through her, Sadie would have also gotten a glimpse of her sister. In the end, there would have been a choice for Sadie to support Dan, Leo, or alternatively, to run away from the fight with her sister. Without going to spoil anything, this would have been the best choice for Sadie personally, as she... ah, you'll see. You'll see...
Jaron II:
[Surrender]
Though this was built up as a major choice, the consequences would have been minor. As you know now, Samuel had good intentions for Jaron's group and not fighting him would have spared all of them quite some pain. He would have commented on the wisdom of Jaron's decision later on and would have overall been positively surprised by Jaron's willingness to surrender if necessary.
__
Maya I:
[Keep him around]
Another big choice, as it will decide on the fate of Irving at Maya's side. Keeping him around would have seen him honestly trying his best at becoming a better, more reliable and useful person, but such a change can't come from nothing. Ultimately, Irving would have soon relapsed into his old behaviour, even though he would have been quite useful for a while. He wouldn't have learned his lesson, which would have come with all kinds of negative consequences.
Garthon I:
[Talk to Hjalgar]
Garthon would have talked to Hjalgar, simple as that. This choice wouldn't have had any surprising revelations and plot-twists, just like how Garthon's storyline in this entire chapter was merely a bit of a filler arc, to establish that they are indeed on their way to Raylansfair (and that Stallhart is on his way to Maybros). However, it would have started a friendship between Garthon and Hjalgar, which might have been useful at a later point of the story. There is also a secret surrounding Hjalgar, which would have been hinted at, before getting revealed in the next chapter (depending on your choices)
Arthur II:
[Ask Aren about Helenys' intentions]
This would have caused the conversation between Arthur an Aren to go pretty awkward and they wouldn't have gotten along so well. Aren would have interpreted this question as Arthur being paranoid and distrusting Helenys and would have fervently assured him that she has nothing to hide and no secret intentions. He would have then lost his interest in any further conversation, which would have soured their later relationship.
Richard II:
[Allow Hal to come with you]
By taking Hal with them to follow Than, Richard would have made a mistake. Hal himself would have been save, but the beast, sensing that the remaining farmers would have been even weaker than before, would have attacked brutally after Richard, Hal and Vaasrand would have left. This would have caused the deaths of Ed and eventually Roman as well, while Axell would have survived with wounds (the same wounds Hal received now)
Ellena II:
[Hide in the wardrobe]
This wouldn't have changed much. Marak knows how to search a room and he would have eventually found Ellena either way, resulting in her getting captured again.
Marak II:
[Knock down the door]
No big changes here either. Instead of politely knocking, Marak would have completely destroyed Otis' door. This would have caused Otis to reveal some terrible anger issues (an early hint at his true nature) and he would have been pissed at Marak, but would have backed off when Marak himself would have gotten pissed in return.
[Sneak around the house and look for another entrance]
This however would have had huge changes. Marak would have found another entrance into the house, a suspiciously looking and badly smelling hatch in the ground. There, Marak would have found out about Otis' true colours far earlier and it would have given him a chance to even prevent Rachel's death. He would have ended up killing Otis for sure and wouldn't have received his arm wound in return, which would have given him better chances against Terroma.
Kersea II:
[Clayton]
Rather obviously, outright telling that you wish to kill Clayton would have upset him tremendously. Rayden would have been happy with having sown a bit of chaos, while Alysanne would have been happy that Kersea would have so obviously supported her over Clayton.
[Alysanne]
Yeah... I did not expect this to win in any way, so I can't say too much about long-term consequences, but they would have clearly been disastrous for Kersea's and Alysanne's friendship. Both, Clayton and Rayden would have been very happy with this choice, but Alysanne would have felt horribly betrayed and hurt by this. And trust me, a pissed off, heartbroken Alysanne is not something you want to see.
Jenna II:
[Burn the document]
This would have caused yet unknown changes in the future. In this chapter, Jenna would have used the nearby candle to dispose of this piece of evidence, potentially saving Leonard's life, while also depriving Saerya of a chance to incriminate Sherryl. Future parts will put more emphasis on the consequences of your choice. Let's just say, nothing of the things that will happen now, involving the death warrant, would have happened if you would have destroyed it.
Drent II:
[Talk to Ian Shortwood]
This would have prevented a fight between John and Torrence. However, the presence of three soldiers would have made Shortwood even more cautious than he already is. He wouldn't have said a thing and would have tried to leave soon, which would have given you the choice to stop him or to follow him.
[Try to search Shortwood's room]
This would have also prevented a fight between Torrence and John, as Drent and Montclair would have been there immediately to calm the situation down. Eventually, depending on future choices, they would have reached an agreement with him, which would have given them access to some very interesting documents inside Shortwood's room.
Samantha II:
[Accept Rodrik's terms and surrender]
This would have been an important, but very, very bad choice. I have hinted at it earlier, there would have been two bad outcomes for the coming fight and picking this option would have been one. Lenrianda and Nymeria would have had an unknown status from there on, with Nymeria eventually resurfacing with a grudge on Samantha, while Rodrik wouldn't have kept his side of the deal (he is a dick after all). He would have attacked them from behind, forcing them to flee. In the chaos that followed, Jaro would have died and Sasha would have been lost (however, she would have survived and returned later on)
[Challenge Rodrik to single combat]
This however would have been one of the good outcomes. Arguably, it would have even been the best of the ones I offered, as almost no one would have gotten seriously wounded. Samantha would have managed to hold her own against an increasingly pissed off Rodrik until the Targaryen cavalry arrived to save the day. However, she herself would have been heavily wounded in the process, some of these wounds even permanent.
[Allow Sasha to challenge Rodrik to single combat]
This choice meanwhile would have resulted in one of the bad outcomes. Sasha would have been chanceless against Rodrik and she would have died if you would have picked this route, leaving Samantha heartbroken. Just as she would have attacked Rodrik herself to avenge Sasha's death, Team Targaryen would have arrived.
Ilish II:
[Search for Kreep at the fair]
Here comes the one choice I wish you would have taken. It would have given me a chance to introduce (and therefore remove from the waiting list) about half a dozen characters, all of them members of Taenora's group. They would have been quite colourful and fun to write, but now I will have to find a different way to introduce them next chapter. Ah, I'm sure I'll manage. Anyways, Ilish and co. would have searched the entire fair for Kreep, but wouldn't have found a lead. Ryler would have instead been introduced in Arthur's part, so there wouldn't have been much of a change for him.
John II:
[Stay in the taproom]
Not going to lie, this would have been the smart choice and I was surprised so many of you chose the other option. By staying, John would have given Torrence a chance to find some very interesting stuff in Shortwood's room, which would have given you a general idea on wether or not you can actually trust the guy.
Raenna II:
[Choose Ando] [Choose Bakr] [Choose Davith]
All three of these choices would have had few big changes to the storyline, which would have unravelled mostly as it did in the Brandon choice. It was simply a choice for you to decide on which character would receive additional attention during Raenna's storyline. Davith would have been an especially interesting choice, as I feel he got the least to do in her parts this chapter. Well, this is going to change rather soon, I hope
Kersea III:
[Torture him]
This would have been the option to please both, Clayton and Alysanne. Kersea would have joined in on the horrible torture of Rayden, which would have caused her to lose another part of herself. She would have felt terrible about it, though a part of her would have followed Wolfius' earlier advice to embrace her more brutal actions, causing her to grow more ruthless and cold, the way Clayton wants her to be.
[Stay out of it]
Arguably, this choice would have been the best of both worlds. It would have somewhat pleased Clayton and actually would have given you one final chance to prevent the horrible near-rape scene in Kersea's latest part, while also retaining Kersea's humanity to a degree and causing her deep talk with Alysanne. However, Alysanne would have still held the hope that Kersea would be able to change eventually and to become like her.
Marak III:
[Urge Noelle to stop questioning him]
Again only a minor choice, which mostly decided on a couple of dialogue stuff. Noelle would have been slightly irritated, while Otis would have been grateful for not being pressed any further. However, Marak's distrust of him would have grown even further. With the way the chapter ended, the opinion of Otis and Noelle is not exactly of concern for Marak anymore.
Jaron IV:
[Send Erik and Ayden out of the labyrinth]
This would have meant that there would have been no chance for Ayden's wounds to mess up the entire mission. Samuel would have approved of such a thoughtful way, since he believed Erik to be useless down in the labyrinth either way. Erik and Ayden would have made it out of the labyrinth safely, although this wouldn't have been revealed until Chapter 9. Until then, their status would have been unknown.
[Leave Ayden behind]
Arguably the worst of these choices, as it would have caused Ayden's death. He would have been discovered by a patrol and would have been brought to a different room, for further torture and eventual execution. Jaron and the others would have been unable to find him during their return. His choice would have eventually been confirmed in Book 2. This is a choice with absolutely no positive consequences, so it's good that you haven't picked it.
Richard III:
[Help Roman]
This is the only choice that would have saved Roman's life. Together, Richard and Roman would have fought off the beast, at least for a short while. However, the wolves would have killed Hal and would have severely wounded Axell, so this route wouldn't have been without death either. Hal's death would have had further consequences in Richard's relationship to his sister Nora, who would have personally blamed Richard for this outcome. However, Roman would have been thankful and would have actually become an ally to Richard in future parts. In Book 3 finally, he would have led a peasant revolution and would have replaced the monarchy of Westeros with a socialist utopia
[Help Vaasrand]
This one would have been the worst of all three choices. Vaasrand was quite able to handle the wolves all on his own. However, the beast would have killed Roman and the other wolves would have killed Hal and wounded Axell, which means this route would have caused the most death among the farmers.
Arthur III:
[Go outside and speak to Aditha]
This would have had big consequences for the next chapter. Good consequences at that! By speaking with Aditha, Arthur would have known where she is during the Ironborn attack, preventing the need for Hackor to leave his men while trying to find his daughter. It also would have given additional screentime for Aditha, arguably the least developed of the Nathamer family. She and Arthur would have shared a heartwarming scene in which she would have expressed her belief that Arthur is a good and valuable man and better than Hackor is willing to admit.
Ilish III:
[Split up]
This choice would have had exactly one change, namely the fate of Philip. In the choice that won, he and Ilish climbed a ladder, which resulted in it breaking down and Philip to damage his leg in some way. If Ilish would have suggested to split up, he would have remained completely fine. Other than that, she would have still encountered Ryler and his doge. So, yes, this is perhaps the sole instance where splitting up ultimately led to the better outcome.
Sadie III:
[Lie to her]
Sadie would have tried to lie to Sanyse. Emphasis on try. The old crone is far too shrewd to fall for any such trickery and she would have called Sadie out on it, in a very pissed off tone. In the consequence, she would have been very hostile to Sadie. She would have called for the guards, which would have led to the confrontation between Sadie and Leo, but with the added bonus that Sanyse would outright try to frame Sadie for allegedly trying to steal from her.
[Try to escape]
This would have caused Sadie some additional moments of freedom. She would have run out of the window again and away from Sanyse, who would have screamed for the guards. However, she would have been stopped by Blane, the sellsword who previously had taken an interest in her. Blane would have been highly disappointed by this, which would have soured his opinion on her in the next chapter.
Lucas III:
[Apologize to Leonard] [Refuse to justify your actions]
Obviously, these choices wouldn't have made any differences for the rest of the chapter. Originally, I have planned another short part for Lucas in Chapter 7, but unfortunately, I decided to move this part a the beginning of his next, to give him more to do. In that part, it will very well make a huge difference however and it will be written very early in Chapter 8.
Kersea IV:
[Go outside and meet up with Clayton]
This would have caused Kersea's final part to be ultimately a bit shorter than the one you actually got, as the entire second half of her talk with Alysanne would have been cut out. It wouldn't have changed much about the talk with Clayton, that one was already set in stone by then. Alysanne herself wouldn't have been angry at Kersea for leaving, but arguably, their friendship has reached deeper levels now, where she has grown comfortable to admit to her weaknesses.
Drent III:
[Assist Montclair and Torrence]
Drent's intervention would have allowed the Stormlanders to dominate the fight against John and Janae, at least until Daghan would intervene, to end the fight on both sides. He would have harshly revealed their identities as Stormlander soldiers, which would have further soured the opinion of the smallfolk on the Stormlanders. This option would have also allowed Shortwood to escape without getting confronted by Drent, his whereabouts unknown until Chapter 8.
Edrick III:
[Take the letter and read it]
This would have revealed a potentially important information about Dante, which could have changed the way you and Edrick see him. Dante himself would have obviously been extremely angry at Edrick for disrespecting his privacy in such a way, although Leo would have been happy about it and would have become a more trusted ally.
Jenna III:
[Hand the death warrant over to Leonard]
Again, nothing would have changed in this chapter, but Jenna is going to make an appearance in Lucas' next part. This choice is going to influence this appearance. Obviously, Leonard would have tried his best to keep the death warrant safe and to prevent anyone from seeing it. Chances are that he would have destroyed it on spot.
Marak IV
[Leave the hatch and stay outside]
This would have had huge consequences. For starters, this would have potentially saved Rachel's life and prevented the fatal misunderstanding in the finale. It would have also meant that Otis would have survived and he would have instead appeared as an antagonist in Book 2. His secret would have remained a secret. Later on, Noelle would have tried to take Rachel with her, sensing that something is not right with Otis and you would have had the chance to support her or to force her to leave Rachel behind, so as not to provoke Otis any further. Rachel would have been reunited with her parents and in Chapter 9, she would have revealed the truth about Otis to the city guard. By the time they would have arrived to arrest him, he would have already vanished however.
Maya II:
[Try to sneak into the headquarters] [Try to sneak into the headquarters and use Aldrik as a distraction]**
Once again, this is a choice that wouldn't have changed much in this chapter, although it will affect the way Maya's storyline in the next one is going to play out. However, with the Ironborn arriving in Raylansfair, she certainly has to change her plan either way.
Sadie IV:
[Help Dan]
This is another choice that will affect the next chapter. In Sadie's case, it will even dramatically affect the next chapter. This fight against the Ironborn, that is something that can easily get out of hand. Helping Dan would have probably been the safer option for her and Dan and it would have also strengthened the friendship between them. However, having someone like Leo as a friend is not exactly a bad thing either. It's just the rest that is going to happen that is potentially going to be really bad.
Marak V:
[Spare his life]
This choice would have had really big consequences in this chapter and the next. Marak would have spared Otis' life and Noelle would have forced him to assist them. She would have made the fatal mistake of believing that his fear of them would be enough to keep him in line. It wouldn't have been. Even worse would be her mistake of trusting him with looking after Ellena. Obviously, Otis would have betrayed her trust in the finale. He would have stabbed and wounded Ando, who would have went to help Ellena, before running away with her. Ellena's next chapter would have revolved around escaping from Otis. This would have led to a twisted game of hide and seek, where Otis would have chased and searched for Ellena, while she would have cowered somewhere in the forest, armed with a knife. Ultimately, she would have managed to kill Otis in a terribly brutal and bloody way, which would have heavily affected her. She also wouldn't have joined Raenna's group at the end of Chapter 7.
Raenna III:
[Return to the camp and gather the others]
This choice would have meant that Raenna would have taken Terroma to the fire with her. By then, the fire would have largely consumed the entire house, making it impossible for Terroma to see the difference between the charred body of Rachel and the charred body of Ellena. He would have come to the conclusion that it was Ellena who had been killed there, which would have completely broken him, as it did in the part you actually got. Raenna herself would have been more sceptical, as she wouldn't have seen any evidence in favour of Terroma's theory.
Ilish IV:
[Stay away from it]
By staying away from the dog, Ilish wouldn't have made a new canine friend. She also wouldn't have encountered Ryler in this chapter, but he would have appeared in her storyline in the next, making a far less shady introduction. Also, Ilish wouldn't have had a fifth part in this chapter, as she wouldn't have to deal with Ryler jumping at her.
Jaron V:
[Let Harpy do it]
In my own opinion, this would have been the worst outcome here. Harpy would have killed the Burned Man, but it would have been a horrible burden on her. She would have felt crippling guilt, would have had nightmares, panic attacks, drastic mood swings and several signs of a serious depression for a very long time. She would have also distanced herself from Jaron, not because her own feelings for him would have changed, but because she would have distanced herself from others in general.
[Ask Samuel to do it]
And this, in my opinion, would have been the best choice. Samuel would have killed the Burned Man quickly and painlessly. Since this is far from the first time he did such a thing, he wouldn't have felt bad for it. In fact, he would have hardly felt anything aside from mild sympathy for Harpy's grief. He wouldn't have suffered any negative consequences at all. Harpy would have accepted this choice, as she secretly would have been thankful that neither she nor Jaron had to do such a thing.
Edrick IV:
[Take Darko with you]
This was a big choice for future chapters. Darko would have become a member of Edrick's group and without spoiling anything, this would have had big consequences for that storyline and for the Northern storyline in Book 2. People might die or survive because of Darko's absence in one and presence in another storyline. This option would have also allowed me to develop his relationship with Alphyn and to show some parts of his character I won't be able to show in such detail in the route you have picked.
Ilish V
[Scream for help] [Stay silent]
This is another choice that will change the next chapter. You have chosen... wisely, by making Ilish say that everything is okay. Screaming for help would have greatly upset Ryler, which wouldn't have been good for Ilish, while staying silent would have been a bit awkward and would have led to further investigations by Torold. In any way, now Ilish's actions are going to please Ryler, which might come in handy for her in the near future.
Ack, why, why must we not do this? Any friends of Leonard is a friend of mine.
We got lucky, real lucky. Would the death warrant come to play in other ways?
Leonard pleased...yes, yes. Interesting that Argella would offer him a chance to declare his loyalty again. I wonder how mad Leonard would be if he accepted then.
Ack, this would have been interesting. I wonder if this was help make the Stormlanders fight the ironborn.
I wish we did this. I really, really don't like Alysanne.
Potentially saving Leonard's life? Yikes...I hope we can still get that result, but with the current things happening, I think Leonard has other problems.
It is kind of strange when we make one character do one thing and then make another character try to stop that.
Very interesting, I'll be on the lookout for the consequences.
Well, yay? Was Otis a submitted character? I'm very curious if someone actually made him like that.
I knew it, I voted for it, I did not get it.
Interesting choices! I'm excited for the 'What ifs', it's one of my favorite things for each chapter.
I know it's bothersome, but can we get a list of the chapters planned to be introduced in the next chapter? I know you wanted a break, so it's fine if you don't want to, you deserve it!
I still would have liked this outcome much more but I like that thanks to the other choice Lucas switch side
Fun fact:I still remember that many readers believed that trust Rodrick was a good choice!XD
I would have liked that this choice win but,oh well,at least I hope that you will not introduced this new characters just to let them killed inside the next chapter XD
You are right,however when I have to do choice I always do the one that can help more the PoV of the choice
I'm happy that this choice don't win,this story has already enough evil psychopaths
Wow! This is a serious compliment, especially given the number of parts. I am very happy you enjoyed this part so much
Oh yes, things will certainly be very different. Marak had been one of the first PoV's even, while Terroma had been here from the beginning of Chapter 2, both of them had so long to shine, so I will definitely miss writing them. Especially Marak has grown into one of my favourite PoV's, while I always enjoyed Terroma. Unfortunately, they won't remain the only hard deaths in Book 1
Haha, yes, there will be a lot worse than what you have seen so far. Actually, you know nothing about him yet. He's getting a lot more intriguing and a lot more dangerous very soon.
I can confirm that if she spares Noelle, Raenna is definitely going to make sure that she won't stab her in the back. However, she also won't drag Noelle with her forever, she's simply going to leave her in her lonely, broken state. It's going to be a slightly cruel mercy, since Noelle herself is absolutely overwhelmed with a feeling of having utterly failed her god because of her own weakness.
Another reader who likes Alysanne! This is so unexpected, at least when I consider her original role and my original plans
These are certainly some interesting choices in general! Orys and Shortwood as well, as I was not sure if they'd make it to anyone's list. Orys didn't have the largest role (although I guess his involvement was memorable), while I was not sure how Shortwood would be seen. To my pleasant surprise, a majority seems to tend towards liking him.
Especially Otis and Clayton are among my own list as well, that much is for sure. It seems everyone hates them, which is so very expected. Wolfius meanwhile, I do enjoy writing him. Of course, he is a horrible person, but I hope that he is one of these 'love-to-hate' characters, who have a certain sort of intrigue with them and who do cool stuff. He actually has a big backstory, which is going to be revealed soon. Not exactly a justification for his actions, but there is more to him than just being Wolfius the travelling serial killer.
Fair enough. Edrick is indeed the newest PoV, paired with Sadie and unlike her, he had more build-up until his story gains momentum, but there is a lot of stuff coming up for him, so I am confident that you'll grow more familiar with him in time
Well, I am afraid there will be a lot more death in the near future. I have gotten to the point where I feel more confident in killing off certain characters and some of them will definitely be super huge, even bigger than Marak and Terroma. But still, I have never been a fan of killing off the entire cast in a story, so as painful as some deaths will be, not all will be bad. I still think the incoming deaths will be very hard for some.
Yes, this is very much what is going to happen in the next chapter. Fight, blood, gore, death. If it works according to plan, it will be an entire chapter full of highlights. As for the wiki, I certainly hope that it will be awesome, but I'll let all of you decide once I feel comfortable with sharing it.
Hmmm.... I'd say Willfred has a slight advantage. Jaron is good, but he's still just a hedge knight, while Willfred has been trained by a real master-at-arms in a castle, so he obviously got the better training. As the firstborn son of the most powerful lord of the Rock, he is expected to be a very good fighter. Jaron has more of a street style when it comes to fighting and he is better than most, but I don't think he is that experienced against a trained knight.
Unfortunately, Harmund would probably win. The Sphynx is not a fighter, while Harmund is an Ironborn raider. He's a despicable bastard and way worse than the Sphynx (as hard as it is to believe), but he has the skill to back up his dreadful reputation. The Sphynx is more cunning, but intelligence does not make up for speed and strength and skill in a fight.
This one is an interesting fight. I'd say Vaasrand is one of the few people whom Alysanne would have a hard time against. In the end, he could even take her down. Alysanne's biggest weakness is that she relies on killing her opponents quickly and she goes as far as to ignore her own cover for it. Vaasrand has to make sure that he is always covered during a hunt, so he could avoid getting hit by Alysanne, before using her lack of a defense against her.
Well, here we have Samuel's own opinion from an earlier part in this chapter. While he mentioned that Alysanne is better than him, he basically confirmed that he considers himself better than Clayton. I'd say he is right with this assumption and in a fair fight, he would probably emerge victorious, though it would still require a lot of his skill.
Hehe, this is a "fight" I'd love to write, because it would and very satisfying to write and read. To make it short Mullendore is absolutely chanceless, so chanceless that I'd almost feel pity for him. Almost. This scene from the Avengers would very much be how it would go:
Yes, this woul be the entire fight. Honourable knight or not, it is doubtful Orys would not kill Mullendore brutally if he learns about his crimes. He' probably not make him suffer, but that's about all Mullendore could expect in terms of mercy.
Hmmm, another hard one. Baelor is a very skilled fighter, but so is Leo. I think they'd be matched in many parts. In the end, I feel like Leo might have a tiny advantage, but it could certainly go either way. Like, there's probably a 55% chance of Leo winning, but even then, Baelor would put up one hell of a fight and a mutual kill is a good possibility here. Let's hope they will never end up fighting against each other.
Yes, this is likely. Sherryl obviously had plans for it and if it wouldn't have been for Jenna ruining these plans, she would have executed them sooner or later. One important thing is that Jenna would have never learned about Sherryl's intentions for Leonard. Similarly, Leonard wouldn't have known a thing about it, as he never had any real interaction with Sherryl. So, it is possible that whatever scheme Sherryl has in mind for the knights, it would have hit them without warning if Jenna wouldn't have found that death warrant.
Yes, Argella would have done so again. She would have understood that Lucas needs more time to think. Leonard meanwhile... it would depend on other choices in Lucas' storyline in this chapter, but he would have either been really pissed (far more than he is now), or he would be more understanding, seeing it as a choice Lucas has to make for himself. His opinion would have also changed if Argella would have actually succeeded with winning the city for House Durrandon, as he would have (reluctantly) seen her as the one in charge then.
You're definitely going to get a detailed answer to this. It will be one of the choices who will continue to influence the future chapters, so it will be explained in the next What If-part.
Hah, so I've noticed
I'm not sure if this is actually going to change (because I have the feeling you like Alysanne even less than Jenna, correct me if I'm wrong), but maybe you'll warm up to her slightly. That said, while I am willing to bet that you're going to get a better opinion on some of the characters among your least favourites, I am not so confident when it comes to Alysanne. She is a very divisive character, which I am very glad about.
Let's say, the death warrant is not Leonard's most urgent problem. He will learn about it pretty soon, but other things will be more important for him by then.
Unfortunately, is is impossible to get both here. Either Harris remains free and in charge, or Lucas joins the stags. Both have their set of positive and negative consequences.
Oh yes, I remember this as well. This was like one of the far earlier choices, where almost half of the voters voted for Arthur to free Wolfius. But yeah, when an initial majority voted to trust Rodrik, I was like "Well... fuck..."
This is unlikely. I rarely kill off undeveloped characters in their introductory chapter. This only happened with Alexander and arguably, Otis and Robb as well, but the latter two had a lot of screentime in their respective chapters. I'm still not even sure if I will be able to introduce all of them in the next chapter, but I definitely hope so!
I found that kind of strange as well, but I assume that some people either did not notice that John would try to stop Torrence, or that some sympathized with Shortwood over the Stormlanders.
Oh yes, Otis was a submitted character, probably the most creepy one I ever received. His appearance actually wasn't a description like the other characters have, but a link to a real-life mugshot of a guy that looked a lot like a stereotypical child molester (the link is dead now, unfortunately, but the guy on it looked a lot like Wildling's drawing of him), so that was certainly creepy. He was exactly like I have written him, a nervous, rude guy who is seriously messed up and specializes in torturing and killing children out of the misguided feeling that he will be able to avenge the similar deaths of his own children.
Oh, this is not bothersome at all! Actually, it is especially easy in this case, as I don't really think I will introduce many new characters in this chapter. Originally, I have even planned not to introduce any new characters in this chapter, but moving Sadie's storyline from Chapter 9 to Chapter 8 (as well as heavily rewriting parts of it) gave me more possibilities. So, here are the few characters I might be able to introduce in the next chapter:
Edric, Erwin, Gilbar Cale, Sophey, William Gering, Rhogarn Snow, Aklen Pentas and Yusuf Hillsider
The first four of these have originally been planned to appear in Chapter 7 already, while the latter four are characters who might appear in the next chapter, but whom I am not entirely sure about yet. I might save some or all of them for Chapter 9 or Book 2. All in all, it will be the first chapter that is going to kill off more characters than it is going to introduce.
I don't really want this break, to be honest, but I really have to get some work done on the wiki. I'm also starting my next course of studies on Tuesday and am a bit nervous for this (especially as I have no idea if this is going to affect the story and my writing speed in any way). In any way, if I have the time, then it is actually unlikely I will manage to stay away from the story for this time. I'll definitely take it a bit slower over the next days though, as hard as it'll be, though I hope to eventually get faster again by the end of October. And even then, I am always happy to answer questions like this one!
I am afraid to reveal that this won't be all of them. The psychopath is a well-liked character archetype and in a story with as many submitted characters as this one, there's bound to be quite a few of them. I try to make them as different as possible, but occasionally, it is not that easy.