Because I have already seen the other option in.....basically everything. I really wonder what happens if you do the rational thing despite it supposedly being 'dangerous'. Its like getting backup in an action movie or calling the cops in a slasher flic. What happens when you do the thing the protagonist either never thinks of, is unable to do or according to them is apparently too dangerous to even attempt? I'm curious to find out.
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] I'm choosing this because I have a feeling that if Kersea goes to Raylansfair now, she is never coming back. It's just too big of a risk, with thugs of Mullendore even in the clinic itself. Nah, I'll go with the safe route and trust Mathea can do at least a decent job even without all her supplies and whatnot.
It's certainly interesting to see the changes is Raylansfair, and how at least in short term Petyr and Maron are actually making the city thrive. This only makes things more complicated for our heroes, since it's not going to be easy to convince the town folk of Raylansfair that their new lord is a bad man. Well, I'm glad Mathea at least is smart enough to see through the thin veil of charm that the Sphynx is concealing his malice with.
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] The Sphynx is no fool, and bringing someone who clearly wasn't in an accident to the clinic will bring Mullendore and Vyrwel's attention. While its obvious to me he suspected something, he probably dismissed it for now, which gives the good guys a chance to help Kersea.
So The Sphynx original name was probably Rodrik eh, a name more common in the North (and Iron Islands) than the Reach, gives some serious implications of were Mullendore got this people.
The Dog and the Cat meet, wonder if The Sphynx recognized him, or Ryler was merely one of the many prisoners of the Alley Cats.
Mathea is right to distrust Mullendore's thugs, and noticed The Sphynx is a butcher more than a healer. Kind words don't mask his true darkness.
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
Because I have already seen the other option in.....basically everything. I really wonder what happens if you do the rational thing despite it supposedly being 'dangerous'. Its like getting backup in an action movie or calling the cops in a slasher flic. What happens when you do the thing the protagonist either never thinks of, is unable to do or according to them is apparently too dangerous to even attempt? I'm curious to find out.
Ah, but is it the reasonable thing to do? That is very much the question here. Kersea would get the best medical care there is, though at the risk of being caught by someone who might know her. If she does get caught, nobody can help her. At the same time, keeping her at the farm will be equally risky for her, as she'd remain safely hidden, yet potentially not as well treated. I mean, at best she gets completely healed and recovers nicely and quickly. At worst, she is caught and interrogated. It remains up to you if you wish to take the risk, though both options hold their respective risks.
[Allow her to take Kersea to the clinic]
Because I have already seen the other option in.....basically everything. I really wonder what h… moreappens if you do the rational thing despite it supposedly being 'dangerous'. Its like getting backup in an action movie or calling the cops in a slasher flic. What happens when you do the thing the protagonist either never thinks of, is unable to do or according to them is apparently too dangerous to even attempt? I'm curious to find out.
It's certainly interesting to see the changes is Raylansfair, and how at least in short term Petyr and Maron are actually making the city thrive. This only makes things more complicated for our heroes, since it's not going to be easy to convince the town folk of Raylansfair that their new lord is a bad man. Well, I'm glad Mathea at least is smart enough to see through the thin veil of charm that the Sphynx is concealing his malice with.
Ah, indeed, Petyr and Maron aren't doing a bad job. Petyr is very intelligent and Maron has experience with the inner workings of a much larger and much richer city. They have an interest in seeing Raylansfair thrive, so naturally they put their respective skills to good use. Villains they might be, but for Raylansfair they are an improvement over Robert Raylan, who was largely neglecting the finer workings of his city (and is mostly considered a just, good, but ultimately weak lord) especially in his final years, or the capable, but overly paranoid Harris. Petyr already caused the trade to recover by closely working with his rich home at Darkdell, now Raylansfair's first and only vassal, he invests in the infrastructure, Maron's men uphold law and order even in a time where chaos and looting should have been quite common and for that, the people are actually quite fond of their new ruler and his right hand man. Of course, not everyone is convinced and some, like Mathea, even bring up reasonable concerns beyond simple mistrust, but that does not change the fact that the city has not only recovered, it actually starts to become stronger and richer than ever before.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] I'm choosing this because I have a feeling that if Kersea goes to Raylansfair now, she is never comin… moreg back. It's just too big of a risk, with thugs of Mullendore even in the clinic itself. Nah, I'll go with the safe route and trust Mathea can do at least a decent job even without all her supplies and whatnot.
It's certainly interesting to see the changes is Raylansfair, and how at least in short term Petyr and Maron are actually making the city thrive. This only makes things more complicated for our heroes, since it's not going to be easy to convince the town folk of Raylansfair that their new lord is a bad man. Well, I'm glad Mathea at least is smart enough to see through the thin veil of charm that the Sphynx is concealing his malice with.
So The Sphynx original name was probably Rodrik eh, a name more common in the North (and Iron Islands) than the Reach, gives some serious implications of were Mullendore got this people.
Indeed, the Sphynx' real name is Rodrik, it has been established several chapters ago, in Chapter 7, in the same part where the Tom's first name, Erik, was revealed. It's a very common name, so until more information about his family is revealed, you can't make too much with this one alone. But well, he has Erik Mogfield, minor northern nobility, by his side, as well as (formerly) the Northerner Samuel and others from far away. It's an Oldtown thing, it's easy to recruit people who are equal parts colourful and capable, whose talents might be a bit wasted in places such as the North.
The Dog and the Cat meet, wonder if The Sphynx recognized him, or Ryler was merely one of the many prisoners of the Alley Cats.
Hm, that remains to be seen. One thing I can reveal though is, the Sphynx hasn't actually been the Sphynx when Ryler was their prisoner. The Sphynx is not quite his name, it's his title and while the Tom is still the original Tom and founder of the Alley Cats, the roles of the Sphynx and the Moggy have since passed on to others. One previous Sphynx was Lupin Frostborn and his assistant was a certain Wolfius Woodbark, who served in a similar role as Connor does for the current Sphynx. Ryler has mentioned having been tortured by Wolfius and the Sphynx, which likely means that the one mainly in charge of him has been Lupin and not Rodrik. However, it is still very likely that Rodrik has already been a member of the group back then, so it is still possible that he recognizes him, or recognizes Lupin's work at least.
Mathea is right to distrust Mullendore's thugs, and noticed The Sphynx is a butcher more than a healer. Kind words don't mask his true darkness.
Yes, while Mathea genuinely admires the Sphynx' impressive knowledge, she is not fooled by his act. She knows that knowledge alone makes no healer and while he has helped people in her presence, she is experienced enough to see through him. She has trained under a real healer and knows that the profession pretty much requires a certain mindset, which the Sphynx is utterly lacking.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] The Sphynx is no fool, and bringing someone who clearly wasn't in an accident to the clinic will brin… moreg Mullendore and Vyrwel's attention. While its obvious to me he suspected something, he probably dismissed it for now, which gives the good guys a chance to help Kersea.
So The Sphynx original name was probably Rodrik eh, a name more common in the North (and Iron Islands) than the Reach, gives some serious implications of were Mullendore got this people.
The Dog and the Cat meet, wonder if The Sphynx recognized him, or Ryler was merely one of the many prisoners of the Alley Cats.
Mathea is right to distrust Mullendore's thugs, and noticed The Sphynx is a butcher more than a healer. Kind words don't mask his true darkness.
Ah, but is it the reasonable thing to do? That is very much the question here. Kersea would get the best medical care there is, though at the risk of being caught by someone who might know her. If she does get caught, nobody can help her. At the same time, keeping her at the farm will be equally risky for her, as she'd remain safely hidden, yet potentially not as well treated. I mean, at best she gets completely healed and recovers nicely and quickly. At worst, she is caught and interrogated. It remains up to you if you wish to take the risk, though both options hold their respective risks.
To be honest....yes in three different ways.
It is the most rational. Lets look at the situation: And individual is severely injured in a most probably unclean location. A medical professional present states that treatment should be performed in a clinic specifically designed to be a healthy and safe environment. The only thing prohibiting this very clear and logical option is the possibility that the individual may be located by unscrupulous individuals. The alternative is to perform a dangerous medical procedure in an unhealthy, unprepared environment which will inevitably lead to some experimenting to attempt a successful outcome. My philosophy has always been "Most Must Live", this is the clearest option for Kersea to survive this.
It is the most entertaining. Again and again I see this happen in stories. I couldn't even list half of the ones that have this plot device. Character is in intense danger which can be avoided by a simple, logical action, but because the situation seems risky, they do an even more dangerous thing. All of this is to create tension. I'm mostly trope lover, but this is an exception. I actually want to see what happens when the crisis is avoided. What happens when the character wakes up and no real risk was taken in healing them?
And three and the best argument in this situation. Its so good that it might destroy this entire debate immediately. Are you ready Liquid? Ok, here we go:....................................................................Mathea suggested it!! Cue Sunglasses, Cue music, Cue Explosion.
Because I have already seen the other option in.....basically everything. I really wonder what happens if you do the rational thing despite … moreit supposedly being 'dangerous'. Its like getting backup in an action movie or calling the cops in a slasher flic. What happens when you do the thing the protagonist either never thinks of, is unable to do or according to them is apparently too dangerous to even attempt? I'm curious to find out.
Ah, but is it the reasonable thing to do? That is very much the question here. Kersea would get the best medical care there is, though at the risk of being caught by someone who might know her. If she does get caught, nobody can help her. At the same time, keeping her at the farm will be equally risky for her, as she'd remain safely hidden, yet potentially not as well treated. I mean, at best she gets completely healed and recovers nicely and quickly. At worst, she is caught and interrogated. It remains up… [view original content]
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] Actually I think the farm will be visited by Vyrwel men soon enough, but let's do this anyway. Leonard can just sit and wait, maybe write a children's novel or something.
Mathea probably is someone we can trust, but I don't trust her. I don't trust anyone.
Argh! Clinic! Clinic! Argh! Call it the healing whatever, but not clinic! Argh! Such a modern word. So argh! Clinic!
Claw marks were seen on the right side of his face and as he frantically looked around, he spotted Richard with unsettling eyes, one normal and of a blue colour, the other with an oddly small pupil that was coloured in a yellowish brown.
Oh boy what a mystery. What could possibly do that? Nice to see you Ryler. Now where's your doggy?
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
This is obviously the safe option since with the other choice there is a good chance that someone recognize Kersea (like Mullendore or Nora Recton) or can discover who she is (like The Sphynx)
RT:
Like in the previous Arthur part we read more of how Raylainsfair is changing and Mathea has not only an adequate building for her profession but even two assistants (+ I suppose some coworkers like The Sphynx)
Speaking of the assistants we have the classic optimistic girl and...Rosalie? I understand that Mathea decide to have her as assistant to check on her all the time but I don't think that assist the healer will be helpful for the blacksmith daughter
It seems that Ryler decide to start this book with the wrong foot!Good for him that The Sphynx is here to help him!
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
Mathea probably is someone we can trust, but I don't trust her. I don't trust anyone.
That might not always be the wisest approach, but it is a consequential, as well as a very understandable one. Mathea might not be Sphynx levels of untrustworthiness, but she would probably agree that being cautious is not a bad thing.
Argh! Clinic! Clinic! Argh! Call it the healing whatever, but not clinic! Argh! Such a modern word. So argh! Clinic!
Isn't clinic a medieval word? I admit, this is something I am not entirely familiar with, but as far as I know, the word has been in use for hundreds of years. Infirmary might have been a better word now that i think about it, to be fair, though I assumed clinic would be fine as well.
Oh boy what a mystery. What could possibly do that? Nice to see you Ryler. Now where's your doggy?
As well as his sword and his helmet, all of which are currently missing. The claw marks however, they are old, I probably should have mentioned that, they are the same he already had back when Ilish first met him in Chapter 7.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] Actually I think the farm will be visited by Vyrwel men soon enough, but let's do this anyway. Leonar… mored can just sit and wait, maybe write a children's novel or something.
Mathea probably is someone we can trust, but I don't trust her. I don't trust anyone.
Argh! Clinic! Clinic! Argh! Call it the healing whatever, but not clinic! Argh! Such a modern word. So argh! Clinic!
Claw marks were seen on the right side of his face and as he frantically looked around, he spotted Richard with unsettling eyes, one normal and of a blue colour, the other with an oddly small pupil that was coloured in a yellowish brown.
Oh boy what a mystery. What could possibly do that? Nice to see you Ryler. Now where's your doggy?
Like in the previous Arthur part we read more of how Raylainsfair is changing and Mathea has not only an adequate building for her profession but even two assistants (+ I suppose some coworkers like The Sphynx)
Yeah, Mathea is actually one of the big beneficiaries of the recent changes. She's the official main healer now, a prestigious position, she has her assistants and though the Sphynx is not an official co-worker, he is helping out occasionally and due to his knowledge, she is actually not even all that reluctant to accept his help, as much as she is wary of the man himself.
Speaking of the assistants we have the classic optimistic girl and...Rosalie? I understand that Mathea decide to have her as assistant to check on her all the time but I don't think that assist the healer will be helpful for the blacksmith daughter
Well, here's a little secret: Mathea doesn't actually need assistants. We have previously seen her somehow juggling twice the amount of work all on her own, so the current situation is already like heaven for her. On top of that, Malien has been an apprentice midwife before the raid happened, meaning, she also knows the basics and is indeed helpful. Rosalie... not so much, but she has nowhere else to go. We're going to learn more about it later on, but she has quite an understandable fear of being alone and with no one else caring to take her in, Mathea has stepped forth and offered her a position by her side, to keep an eye on her at all times. And trust me, compared to her two months ago, she has even somewhat improved. Just to be clear, Mathea doesn't actually expect anything of her, she just keeps her around to give her some company.
It seems that Ryler decide to start this book with the wrong foot!Good for him that The Sphynx is here to help him!
Hehe, I see what you did there And yeah, the Sphynx has shown some unusual interest in Ryler. We will actually not have to wait for too long to see how much, if any, is behind this, I don't plan on making this a mystery to stretch over the entirety of Book 2, unlike certain others. Remember when I said that the Sphynx is going to have an interesting role in Book 2? Well, it has already started.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm]
This is obviously the safe option since with the other choice there is a good chance that someone … morerecognize Kersea (like Mullendore or Nora Recton) or can discover who she is (like The Sphynx)
RT:
* Like in the previous Arthur part we read more of how Raylainsfair is changing and Mathea has not only an adequate building for her profession but even two assistants (+ I suppose some coworkers like The Sphynx)
* Speaking of the assistants we have the classic optimistic girl and...Rosalie? I understand that Mathea decide to have her as assistant to check on her all the time but I don't think that assist the healer will be helpful for the blacksmith daughter
* It seems that Ryler decide to start this book with the wrong foot!Good for him that The Sphynx is here to help him!
That wound is not getting fixed if they stay at the farm, take her to the clinic. I doubt the Sphynx knows Kersea, they didn't run with the same group after all. The only real threat is Mullendore, but he doesn't seem like the type of guy that would take a stroll to a peasant's clinic.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] I want Kersea to get the best help possible, I really do but I just don't think it's wise to take her to the city. Especially since the Spynx has taken over in Mathea's absence and I really don't like the idea of him being anywhere near Kersea. Though to my knowledge there isn't anyone in the city who's even met Kersea, not entirely sure, but I still think it's too risky.
It makes me so uneasy that the Spynx can just walk into the clinic with no problems. Fuck that guy. I really don't like him with Rosalie either. I feel so bad for her. I hope she can come back from this.
EDIT: I kinda feel bad about not trusting Mathea with Leonard. She's certainly earned it and I feel we may have been over cautious
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
I want Kersea to get the best help possible, I really do but I just don't think it's wise to take her to the city. Especially since the Spynx has taken over in Mathea's absence and I really don't like the idea of him being anywhere near Kersea. Though to my knowledge there isn't anyone in the city who's even met Kersea, not entirely sure, but I still think it's too risky.
When it comes to people who know Kersea, there are Ilish and Lawsen, whom she has saved from Wolfius and Kreep in Chapter 5. Arthur and Aditha have also met her in the same chapter, when she and Clayton brought the captured Wolfius to the Nathamer residence to trade him as a fall guy. Out of these, the former two have gotten a good impression on her, obviously, while the latter two only know her as Clayton's assistant. Mullendore very likely knows her as well, even if they have never interacted.
It makes me so uneasy that the Spynx can just walk into the clinic with no problems. Fuck that guy. I really don't like him with Rosalie either. I feel so bad for her. I hope she can come back from this.
Hm, yeah, the Sphynx might not work there, but he is nonetheless a regular guest, helping out where necessary and basically coming and going whenever he likes. Of course, knowing the Sphynx it's pretty clear he has some ulterior motive to his actions and it is right to be concerned about him spending time alone with Rosalie. Or, anyone, really. Rosalie herself, well, she has improved a little bit over the last two months, trust me that things have been way worse in the very beginning. But this will need a lot of time and having Wolfius still around, knowing that he is still around, that won't make things any easier for her.
EDIT: I kinda feel bad about not trusting Mathea with Leonard. She's certainly earned it and I feel we may have been over cautious
Hehe, Mathea herself is definitely not the least trustworthy person. Wether or not she truly earned being let in on this secret (or if it is truly the best for her to even know), that is entirely up to you of course. At least for now, this part of the current situation will remain a secret and all she suspects is that Richard is hiding something. The alternative choices will shine a bit of light on this.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] I want Kersea to get the best help possible, I really do but I just don't think it's wise to take her… more to the city. Especially since the Spynx has taken over in Mathea's absence and I really don't like the idea of him being anywhere near Kersea. Though to my knowledge there isn't anyone in the city who's even met Kersea, not entirely sure, but I still think it's too risky.
It makes me so uneasy that the Spynx can just walk into the clinic with no problems. Fuck that guy. I really don't like him with Rosalie either. I feel so bad for her. I hope she can come back from this.
EDIT: I kinda feel bad about not trusting Mathea with Leonard. She's certainly earned it and I feel we may have been over cautious
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] Not the Gold and Green! Why the Gold and Green?? Raylainsfair you to have the coolest colors, and now they have the overused black and red. Now that Petyr is in charge, did the city guard have to change their tabards? Is poor Arthur strutting the black and red? That is going to clash with his green armor if it is. He would be a fashion disaster!
Mathea is rocking out with her own clinic now. She is doing pretty good for herself. I wonder how some of the other well visited areas of the city are doing, like the tavern, the castle gates, and the docks. And where did all the bodies go? Is there some new graveyard outside of town where they placed all of the recently deceased citizens? Was there a big bonfire for all the Ironborn? I am really curious where they found the space to place all the dead.
Ryler is back! I wonder what he's been up to recently, besides running into some doggy problems. Speaking of Doggies, where the heck is his pupper? Doggo must be hanging out somewhere nearby. Has Ryler been in contact with Arthur in the two past months? He said that he would be in contact, but I wonder whether or not he has. I curious what his next plan of action is. Has he found any leads towards Wolfius, or is his new problem with the Alley Cats as a whole? They have both done wrong by him, but who he is going after first is my question. Really well done part by the way! I can't wait to see what the rest of the town is up to. This is going to be hecking exciting!
Still can't post or like on Firefox, so I am stuck using Chrome until the site fixes its shit. That darn capcha always call me a darn robot.
Richard
It had been a few weeks since he had last been to the city itself and Richard was surprised how quickly the new lord had brought … moreback some sense of order. Gone were the corpses, the smoking ruins, the general feeling of loss and despair. The people had started to rebuild, with resources carried from Darkdell and Vyrwel men were patrolling on the streets. Gone was the green and golden, gone was House Raylan. It was all black and red now.
The clinic was one of the changes made in the town. Vyrwel coin had allowed for the construction of the large building atop the ruins of an old city block. Two stories dedicated entirely for healing purposes, the largest, most well equipped building of its kind in the northwestern Reach. It even had a small fence surrounding it, more for decorative purposes than to keep anyone out.
Mathea was living there now, this Richard knew. After what had happened, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to… [view original content]
Not the Gold and Green! Why the Gold and Green?? Raylainsfair you to have the coolest colors, and now they have the overused black and red. Now that Petyr is in charge, did the city guard have to change their tabards? Is poor Arthur strutting the black and red? That is going to clash with his green armor if it is. He would be a fashion disaster!
I am ashamed to admit, I have never even thought of this reasonable thought. I'd say, to keep it simple for now, the city guard still has their old tabards for now, but Petyr seeks to replace them with the Vyrwel colours eventually. For now, they serve to distinguish between his men, whom he trust far more, and the city guard. Once the time comes, the green of the armour will indeed clash with the upcoming new tabards of the city guard. At worst, Arthur has to paint it in Vyrwel colours
Mathea is rocking out with her own clinic now. She is doing pretty good for herself. I wonder how some of the other well visited areas of the city are doing, like the tavern, the castle gates, and the docks. And where did all the bodies go? Is there some new graveyard outside of town where they placed all of the recently deceased citizens? Was there a big bonfire for all the Ironborn? I am really curious where they found the space to place all the dead.
Oh yes, Mathea's situation has improved massively, from just some random healer to the town's foremost authority on everything medicine-related. Of course, there is a new Maester on his way, who will have some knowledge as well, but Mathea remains the only full-time healer Raylansfair has and Petyr saw and rewarded this. Now, the city itself is obviously in the process of being rebuilt. The castle gates are fixed already and with plenty of manpower in form of the Vyrwel-Mullendore army, the city itself is recovering as well. The Ironborn, they have been burried in a mass grave a couple miles away from the city. The fallen citizens of Raylansfair though, they have been buried near the city, on the area where the lighthouse was formerly located. This has taken some time, so I actually still have something planned for this later in this chapter.
Ryler is back! I wonder what he's been up to recently, besides running into some doggy problems. Speaking of Doggies, where the heck is his pupper? Doggo must be hanging out somewhere nearby. Has Ryler been in contact with Arthur in the two past months? He said that he would be in contact, but I wonder whether or not he has. I curious what his next plan of action is. Has he found any leads towards Wolfius, or is his new problem with the Alley Cats as a whole? They have both done wrong by him, but who he is going after first is my question. Really well done part by the way! I can't wait to see what the rest of the town is up to. This is going to be hecking exciting!
Ah, his dog's fate is indeed currently not known, but at the same time, keep in mind his dog is a war hound, the type that could rip any man to pieces, certainly not what you'd like to see in a place where plenty wounded people are located. Though that being said, he clearly ran into some sort of trouble. When it comes to th Alley Cats and Wolfius, his main goal is definitely Wolfius. Wolfius and Lupin have been the ones to torment him and while he would not mind taking vengeance on the other Alley Cats, that is secondary to him at the moment. Finding Wolfius, stopping him from harming anyone else and possibly getting to Lupin through his only known associate, that is his main goal.
Still can't post or like on Firefox, so I am stuck using Chrome until the site fixes its shit. That darn capcha always call me a darn robot.
Huh, I really wouldn't count on anytime soon. To put it mildly, the Telltale web team is not exactly known for their speed or efficiency, as evidenced by the current state of the site. I hope it will be fixed eventually, but well, until then it is good that switching browsers works for you, even if Chrome considers you a robot. That brings up the question though, are you a robot?
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] Not the Gold and Green! Why the Gold and Green?? Raylainsfair you to have the coolest colors, and now… more they have the overused black and red. Now that Petyr is in charge, did the city guard have to change their tabards? Is poor Arthur strutting the black and red? That is going to clash with his green armor if it is. He would be a fashion disaster!
Mathea is rocking out with her own clinic now. She is doing pretty good for herself. I wonder how some of the other well visited areas of the city are doing, like the tavern, the castle gates, and the docks. And where did all the bodies go? Is there some new graveyard outside of town where they placed all of the recently deceased citizens? Was there a big bonfire for all the Ironborn? I am really curious where they found the space to place all the dead.
Ryler is back! I wonder what he's been up to recently, besides running into some doggy problems. Speakin… [view original content]
Richard is going to urge Mathea to try her best for Kersea at the farm
Major choice right there, the first truly major choice of Book 2. Depending on which option chosen and a follow-up choice if Kersea would have been sent to the city, there could have been serious changes to the way things are going to play out. One thing I can already say is, this means Kersea won't have any PoV parts of her own in this chapter, as she will be constantly in the presence of another PoV, namely Richard. The other choice would have given her one or maybe two parts of her own in this chapter. But well, more about that in the alternative choices. Just keep in mind, major choice you made right there. You also picked the option I expected you to pick, so well, that ain't necessarily a bad thing
The next part should be out today. It will be the first part for Sadie in Book 2. Like most PoV's, she had a little time skip. In her case, I can say she recovered enough to leave Maybros, alongside several familiar faces, though this does not mean she's feeling all great again, certainly far from it. This part was originally planned to be out yesterday, but I got a bit busy and still need some time. To make matters worse, I made the severe mistake of picking up The Elder Scrolls Online again and ah, what can I say, I missed being addicted to it But yeah, I am still making progress and should be able to finish the part reasonably soon today.
Heey! Hopefully I'm early enough to post this before the next part Anyway, here is the newest set of drawings, including characters from the different courts of Westeros:
Heey! Hopefully I'm early enough to post this before the next part Anyway, here is the newest set of drawings, including characters from the different courts of Westeros:
Hope you like 'em!
Oh yes, I am so happy to see this new set. And given that I need at least two more hours until I finish the part, you posted them at a perfect moment. There have been a couple of characters among these I've been very excited to see. Actually, all of them, every single one and you nailed it! Let's start on the top, we got our newest and most mysterious antagonist, Lord Oakheart. Devrin is quite an interesting guy, one I hope to flesh out more in the coming parts. One thing you really did perfectly is this deceptive friendliness about him. He looks like a great fellow to be around, not like the kind of guy that plots with Maron and Petyr and that is what makes him so dangerous. You captured that aura about him and knowing what people he is willing to work with, he actually becomes quite unsettling, come to think of it. Onwards to a character that even looks creepy, Rhonda, the possible witch of Sharra's court. She's an eery one, for sure, but at the same time, that dress is gorgeous. In terms of dresses alone, she's my favourite of this set by far. Even not counting the dress, she is great. That witch woman might be the one of this set that has the longest wait until I can show her again, since there's no PoV at the Eyrie right now, but I am already excited Next we got our newest PoV. PoV drawings are always something special and Ysilla is no different there. I was really excited to see her and she almost managed to become my favourite drawing out of an entire set full of great drawings. She and Rhonda both are definitely the ones that are the closest to my own mental image of them. And is that a woman engraved on her spearblade? Damn that girl She has quite an adventure ahead and that drawing made me only more excited to write her future parts. Now, next we got Qoherys, the most unusual maester in Westeros. This duality between being a warrior and being a scholar is what makes him so intriguing to me and both sides shine in this drawing. He has the expression of a scholar and the chain of course, but the stance and dress of a warrior. Quite a badass as well, a fitting maester for Storm's End even if his origin might make him a choice most unusual. And finally, my favourite, because how could I name anyone else my favourite drawing of this set than Mace and his goat-murder-horse. Animals are always an unusual treat, so having Wildhorn here makes this drawing truly stand out. Even beyond it, Mace is a visually unique character on his own, but it's this shaggy beast that really makes him my favourite of this set. This is exactly the type of unicorn I had in mind while writing the latest Raenna part. I guess we all know now why Raenna was not so amazed by seeing it. That's not the sort of thing you pet, that's the sort you back away from very slowly and hope it's too lazy to chase and kill you Anyways, a wonderful set. It's always a wonderful set, thank you very much for drawing it!
Heey! Hopefully I'm early enough to post this before the next part Anyway, here is the newest set of drawings, including characters from the different courts of Westeros:
Hope you like 'em!
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, though she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have you done, mother?”, Sadie asked thinly and her mother rose from the ground. Instinctively, she took a step back, right onto a bottle. It crunched underneath her and she gasped in pain, as the broken glass scratched across her naked foot.
“What... I have done?”, her mother asked in return, her voice a slur. “You did this! You killed him with your... indifference towards your sister” Now, a new wave of tears shot into Sadie's eyes, as she still backed away from her own mother, feeling fear for the woman that gave birth to her and fear for what she herself would do if a fight would break out.
“I tried to speak to him, but he wouldn't listen!”, her mother spat, staggering forwards, her steps as shaky as her voice. “This is your fault! Your fault alone! If you would have stayed, none of this would have happened!”
Sadie shook her head. “Mother, you are drunken. You don't think clearly”, she said, almost in a begging tone. “Put it down. Let us talk about this, please” Her mother only tensed up. “There is nothing to talk about”, she growled. “You killed your father. You killed your sister. You killed them by leaving us when we needed you. I will not be the next!” With a howl, she raised the hatchet and crossed the distance between her and her daughter in a second.
Sadie had prepared herself for the attack. Her mother didn't immediately strike at her, it was more that she slammed into her. Putting too much weight on her wounded foot caused Sadie's legs to give in underneath her. While she fell, she managed to grab her mother's right arm, to keep the hatchet away from her as they landed, the older woman on top of her.
“Your fault!”, her mother spat, sending drops of saliva flying into Sadie's face. She was a small woman, but stocky from countless hours of hard work and the strength with which she tried to push the hatchet into Sadie's chest was terrifying. “Mother, don't...”, she gasped, as she continued to hold the weapon away from her.
With her free hand, she reached around, trying to find something, anything to protect herself, as the hatchet came slowly closer, as she was unable to overpower her mother unarmed. Deep down, Sadie knew this scene, knew how it would play out and yet, something was different. This time, she felt nothing as she reached around, nothing at all.
Reluctantly, knowing how little time she had left, she looked around and suddenly, her eyes widened in horror as she spotted her right arm. Ending not with a hand, but with a bandaged stump, soaked red with her blood, she only managed to open her mouth to scream, though before any noise could come out of her throat, she felt the cold iron of the hatchet pressed against her flesh.
“Mother, please, no...!”, she managed to yell, as the makeshift weapon dug into her neck, slitting her entire throat with ease. She moved her head to her mother above her and in what would be her final moments, she realized that the figure that pressed her to the ground was not her mother at all.
Towering there, he was at least ten feet tall. His eyes were glowing orbs of fire, his face a grimace of rage. Horns came out of his jaw, long, jagged tusks. With a roar of hatred, Durren Stallhart pulled the axe out of her torn throat. Sadie tried to scream, yet only more blood came gushing out of her mouth. And then, he brought the weapon down onto her head once more, as she was powerless to stop him...
Sadie woke up with a gasp, taking in the precious breaths of air, panting as if she had ran for miles without a pause. Her head was thumping, as she had found little rest from this night, as usual. Yet more unusual was the pain in her fingers, the fingers of her missing right hand. It came in flares, ranging from uncomfortable to outright painful, as she began to shiver.
Almost reluctantly, she glanced down and let out a sigh as she saw what she expected. Her hand was gone and yet she felt it, felt the pain in her fingers, as she clenched a fist that was no longer there. By now, the pain was intense and breathing heavily and with fear, she looked to the bed next to hers, where her sister was sleeping.
“Melanie...”, she hissed, though the other woman did not hear her. Through the gaps in the tent, Sadie already spotted the sun and she rolled her eyes at having slept in again. They let her sleep, both of them actually and she hated it. It was pity, what Leo showed her, but it wasn't good for her.
She extended her hand, grabbing her sister by the shoulder. “Melly!”, she said, now a bit louder and the other woman let out a groan. “What is it?”, she asked, opening her eyes to spot Sadie, almost sitting in her bed, shivering in a sort of pain that shouldn't be there. Instantly, her eyes widened a bit, until they were almost fully opened. “What's wrong?”
“I don't know”, Sadie admitted. “But this is bad, this is really bad. I need you to get Wylie!” Now, Melanie sighed. “Always that old man...”, she complained. “He smells funny, you know” Sadie narrowed her eyes. “You're supposed to get him, not smell him!”, she hissed, as she let go of her sisters shoulder to clutch the still bandaged stump of her right arm. The wound had healed nicely, as Wylie had assured her, but if that was truly the case, how could it still hurt so much?
Melanie let out a groan as she pushed herself up. “Fine”, she said, pushing away the blankets. Below, she was wearing only a thin nightgown, though as Sadie had noticed, a sense of modesty was not exactly something she cared about anymore. There wasn't much she cared about anymore, to be honest. Her sister had... changed. The lively young woman of once had turned into someone else, a bitter person, constantly tired, moody, easy to annoy and anger. It had gotten worse the longer he was without Gyles' mixture, so Sadie still harboured the hope that it would fade, that she would return back to normal once that stuff was gone from her life, once her every thought stopped revolving around it.
To protect herself from the cold, her sister put on a thick cloak, wrapping herself in it, as she opened the tent. Bright sunlight flooded the room and Sadie had to shield her eyes, which however meant that she had to let go of the stump, causing the pain to grow more intense in an instant. “Hurry!”, she barked and for once, Melanie was moving quickly.
She didn't let her wait for long, though still, for Sadie it felt like hours. Finally, it had likely been only minutes, the tent was opened again and she sighed in relief as she spotted Wylie. The old man had rushed to her tent first, Melanie following a bit slower behind him. There was concern on his face.
“Where is the pain?”, he asked, as she frowned. “My hand”, she replied. “I can feel it. It...” She cut herself off to groan in pain as it returned in a brief wave. Wylie sighed, kneeling down next to her. “I was afraid this would happen sooner or later”, he said, grabbing her forearm and eyeing the bandages. “This is far from the first amputation I have treated and three out of four show the very same symptoms”
Sadie clenched her teeth. “Do something about it”, she hissed, half a demand and half a plea. Wylie moved a hand over the bandage and she shivered. “Please”, she added and to her horror, he shook his head. “I'm afraid this is beyond my skills”, he told her. “The problem is not a physical one”
“What do you mean?”, Sadie asked and the old man put a hand onto her shoulder. “What I mean is, there is no physical way you can feel your hand. The pain is very much real, I believe you, but it does not come from anything I can treat” Sadie narrowed her eyes. “Then what can I do?”, she asked.
This time Wylie looked at her with compassion. This was the thing she liked about him the most. Honest compassion, not pity. He made her feel a little less useless than she was, though he wasn't leaving her alone either. “This will need time”, he said. “I once treated a man, a soldier, who lost half of his shield arm in battle when he was in his thirties. He had the same pain and it came, again and again, sometimes every day, sometimes with weeks inbetween, sometimes it brought him to tears, sometimes he barely noticed it” A soft smile formed on his bearded face. “The pain gradually grew less and when he was forty, it was gone entirely”
“So, I have to live with that for years?”, Sadie asked, her tone being disheartened. Once again, Wylie did not hold back. “Decades at worst”, he replied and she gulped. He gave her a smile, likely one that was supposed to be encouraging. “I'll be there for you”, he promised and she actually smiled at this, even if it was a bitter, sad smile. “Of course you'll be, old man”, she replied. “Is there truly nothing you can do?”
Wylie sighed, reaching into the bag he was wielding over his shoulder. “This is going to help a little bit”, he admitted, as he pulled out a small vial. “It won't dull your senses all that much though. I don't dare to give you more, nor do I think you want to be all dizzy for as long as it'll take”
Sadie groaned, as she reached for the vial, though Wylie held it away once more. “This won't help forever”, he warned her. “It will only change when you accept your situation” Sadie narrowed her eyes. “Accept?”, she hissed. “So, what's there not to accept?”
“That's not what I mean”, Wylie told her. “You have to stop... pitying yourself and have to accept life as it is now” He gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Trust me, you're not useless”, he assured her. “There's plenty in this camp who feel this way” Sadie sighed at his words, though as he removed his hand from her shoulder, she quickly grabbed it. “Thank you”, she mumbled, looking past him at the bleak walls of her tent.
“Always”, he replied, as he handed her the vial. It was small, though the taste was bitter and intense and yet, she downed it in a single take. Instantly, slight relief overcame her, though the pain remained, a muffled thumping in her entire right arm. It was... something, at least.
“So, what do you say?”, Wylie asked. “Ready to face the world?” Sadie frowned, though reluctantly, she gave him a nod. “For a little bit, at least”, she told him, which seemed to please him. “So be it”, he said, as he turned to the exit of the tent. “Ah, before I forget it, I believe Edward has asked for your presence a couple hours ago”
“Always an early bird”, Sadie muttered, to which Wylie raised an eyebrow. “It's almost noon”, he spoke. “So get up already, you can sleep when you're dead. A life is preciously short as it is” With these ominous words, he turned around, leaving the tent, leaving Sadie and Melanie behind.
“That old man has a way with words”, her sister admitted, before momentary concern appeared on her face. “How are you feeling, Sades?” Sadie pressed her lips together. “How do you think I feel?”, she asked, a question she received no answer for. Things hadn't been easy between them ever since they actually spent time with each other again. Maybe it was Sadie, she had to admit her temper wasn't the best right now. Maybe it was Melanie, barely thinking of anything but that stuff Gyles got her hooked on. Maybe it was a mixture of both and Sadie could only imagine how much worse it will become once she would gather the strength to tell Melanie about their mother. She died, that was all the younger woman knew. Not how, not why, not by whom... and she hadn't asked, almost as if she barely cared.
“Right...”, Melanie muttered. “Well, I'm going to leave this tent now. Nilanne wants me to do washing duty today” She rolled her eyes, making it almost an audible expression. “Those people are dirty as shit” Now, Sadie shot her a brief glare. “Those people are all that protect us on the way”, she said, as her sister quickly got dressed, putting on a simple, blue dress, before covering herself with a coat.
“Doesn't make them any less dirty”, Melanie replied. “Besides, it was hardly my choice that we are all here right now. Your Leo, he forced Gyles to do this” She turned to the exit of the tent, though before she left, she looked over her shoulder. “I didn't want to leave”, she spoke, as Sadie made a fist. “Things haven't been perfect in Maybros, but they worked” And with that, she was gone.
With a sigh, Sadie turned to her own clothes. Before losing one, she had never thought about the tasks where two hands were useful, or even outright required. Wylie had shown her a few tricks, as did Leo, but neither of them was in her situation and the last thing she wanted was to rely on someone else just to get dressed every morning.
It still took her some time. Pants were easy, a shirt a given, a vest considerably less so. Tying her hair up with one hand wasn't easy either and she settled for a loose ponytail, before splashing some water into her face to refresh herself. The true chore came with the boots, even if she had switched her old ones out for new ones, a gift from Leo before they had left Maybros.
After several minutes of trying, she was finally done. She knew, she was a pitiful sight. Never one to care much for her looks, Sadie took most of it for granted. There was a lot she had taken for granted. Not anymore, though it was too late to go back now. Now, she had to settle for whatever mediocre look she could still pull off without making a fool of herself.
Clumsily, she staggered outside of the tent, as Wylie's medicine, while already wearing off a bit, caused her to notice the effects of her lack of any healthy sleep quite a bit. She decided to ask him for more later the day. Worst thing that could happen was him refusing, leaving her in the same pained state as she would be in either way.
They had made quite a lot of ground in the past month, though a caravan of people was still moving slowly. A third of the population of Maybros had chosen to accept Two-Face's offer, taking refuge near Castamere while their city was to be rebuilt, better than ever before. Gyles Gomblinger was one of them, though in his case, Sadie knew what Leo had threatened to do to him if he'd stay. Melanie came with him, a fact Sadie would forever be thankful for. She knew, she wouldn't have managed to help her all on her own, not without a friend of some sort in Leo, not since Dan died.
And so, a group of four hundred, many of them women, children, or old people, quite a number wounded, some of them even worse than Sadie herself, was making their way through the plains of the northern Rock. Leo and his sellswords were leading them, protecting them and she had to admit, he was doing a better job than she had ever thought. And it seemed that there was finally an end to their long journey in sight.
Right now, they were camping in a small valley, entire devoid of trees, covered in soft, green grass. The winds were cold already, signs of the harsh winter that would follow and in here, there was little protection but the tents they had built up. Most were helping in some way, cooking, cleaning, building, preparing to spend months in the red lion's shadow.
Remembering Wylie's words, Sadie began to look around. She knew where to find Edward Lancaster at this time of the day and sure enough, she didn't have to look for too long. He stood at the makeshift training ground as always, cleaning his sword. Wearing only a vest, he had his arms exposed, seemingly not minding the cold that was causing several of his companions to wrap themselves into warm coats.
“Are you not freezing?”, she asked and he looked up, smiling as he spotted her. “Look who's here!”, he said, greeting her by extending a hand. Things had been awkward just a few weeks ago, when he instinctively presented his right, but he had adjusted to her situation better than many of the others and she shook it gladly. “Is it truly that late already?”
Sadie raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”, she asked and he chuckled. “Well, you're up”, he jested and she sighed. “Yeah”, she replied with a thin, crooked smile. “I'm up. The old man told me you wanted to see me?” Edward gave her a nod. “Aye, but that was hours ago”, he spoke, pushing a finger against her forehead. “Sleepyhead”
“Well, I don't have much to do but sleeping these days”, Sadie defended herself, even if her light-hearted answer left her with a bitter taste. What she did not speak out loudly was that there was simply not much she could do. Most tasks she'd technically be able to were things she never had an ounce of talent for. Cooking, cleaning, those had been Dan's tasks during their journey. “Whereas you're busy?”
Edward glanced down at his sword. “Can't be polished enough”, he replied. “A clean sword is a reliable one. A dirty blade gets rusty and brittle” He flashed her a grin. “And to answer your earlier question, I'm not freezing. You southron folk don't know a true winter” With this, he put a hand onto his chest. “When I was born, the winds around Deepwood Motte could freeze a man in minutes without protection. This here, it's a mere chill at worst”
“Show off”, Sadie said and her smile was nothing but superficial. Her eyes glanced at the two sparring swords in the grass “You're training?”, she asked and he nodded. “Aye”, he spoke. “Just looking for the right partner” To this, Sadie looked over her shoulder. “I can get Rhogarn for you”, she offered. “Or maybe Leo himself. He could use some distraction”
To this, Edward shook his head. “Rhogarn doesn't need practice”, he spoke. “And Leo would probably break me in half” He gave her a wink. “In fact, that was what I wanted to speak about with you. I could use a sparring partner indeed” Slowly, Sadie's eyes widened. “Me?”, she asked, as a look of disbelief formed on her face. “I can hardly get myself dressed and you want me to fight?”
Edward's nod was one of enthusiasm. “Well, getting dressed is harder than fighting”, he spoke and gave her a wink. “Besides, if you're having trouble with getting dressed, I'm sure someone like you wouldn't have any trouble finding some, uh, help. Surely Blane would volunteer”
At last, she was laughing. It was a brief one, more a chuckle, but it was relieving in how genuine it felt to her. Playfully, she gave him a punch at the shoulder. “Jerk”, she hissed with a smile. “If I fight you, will you hold back?” Instantly, Edward shook his head. “No”, he said straightforwardly. “I'll beat you like it is your first day of training all over again”
Sadie gulped. She still remembered her commanding officer and how badly he had beaten her down back then. A part of her was reluctant to accept Edward's offer, not only out of this. She'd make a fool out of herself, a laughingstock maybe. Her fighting days were over after all. Maybe it would be better to ignore the temptation, the thrill. Acceptance, Wylie had called it. Was that what he meant?
[Accept Edward's offer] In the same way Jaime needed to be brought down to get back up, maybe a beating can motivate her to accept her limitations and try to improve her situation in the best way she can.
Edward is right in one thing, despite their reputation, the Westerlands are full of small hills and low forests, with relatively mild plains. The hills are also full of mineral deposits, which we all know is their source of wealth. In comparison to their neighbors from the Reach and the Riverlands, the Rock is a relatively nice place to live.
Sadie
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, … morethough she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have yo… [view original content]
Great part, but perhaps the most unintentionally confusing for me. You know, GRR Martin always gets a bad wrap for similar names that confuse people and I while I understood I never felt it that much. But for some reason the second Edward shows up in this part my reaction was "How did you get here? Weren't you going to meet with Blacksails? Where is Alys? and.....oh its not Edward, it's actually Edward." And that whole thing was really weird since never before I had I had that Edward mix up. Maybe I just have the Anturion's on the head a lot recently. No offence to Lancaster though, he's a great guy to share the name with.
Sadie
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, … morethough she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have yo… [view original content]
[Accept Edward's offer] Yeah, I'd say it's better to get back into training, even if she'll most likely never reach the level she was at with two hands. Hopefully the experience won't be too humiliating though, because I could see that making it only harder for Sadie to accept her new circumstances. Well, I guess we'll see.
So, Sadie is accompanying Leo's company and the citizens of Maybros to Castamere, but I wonder what exactly will be her destination after that. I mean, I imagine Melanie is her no. 1 priority right now, but I doubt they'll just stay in the refugee camp with these people.
Sadie
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, … morethough she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have yo… [view original content]
Sadie
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, … morethough she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have yo… [view original content]
Sadie
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, … morethough she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have yo… [view original content]
No particular reason for doing this, just for the sake of making things awkward. I don't think I've ever read any story where the main character declines a choice like this.
Sadie first part for this book start with a dream sequence about the two most shocking events of her life..nice!
The relationship between the Wade sisters is,like I expected,quite unstable and it seems to me that sooner or later it will break,btw I'm curious to read when it will happen and the consequences of it
I found a good read Sadie's struggling to learn how live without a hand and I believe her character arc will continue to be interesting thanks to that
Ah ah,like we learn in the Lannister interlude many citizien of Maybros (aka all the named characters) is going to seek refuge at Castamere!I'm curious to see again that location and what kind of storyline you plan for that place
It seems that Edward is a lucky guy and he is finally going to be more than "The guy that work for Leo"! (And let me be honest,I already like him much more than Blane)
Sadie
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, … morethough she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have yo… [view original content]
[Accept Edward's offer] While I highly doubt she'll ever get back to the same level as she once was, the only thing she can do right now is at least try.
Man, I'm having serious issues with the forums lately, and even missed votings on FoT and NW because of it. The situation is so bad that I've sent you a PM the other day but I have no way of knowing if the damn thing was actually sent or not, because even when I use the direct link to our pm discussion, I simply get redirected to my feed now (which doesn't even load, btw). I just hope this comment gets posted, it would be a real shame to miss two votings in a row. I'll try to re-install firefox and see what happens, maybe that will get things back to normal.
Sadie
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, … morethough she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have yo… [view original content]
Sadie
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, … morethough she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have yo… [view original content]
Edward is right in one thing, despite their reputation, the Westerlands are full of small hills and low forests, with relatively mild plains. The hills are also full of mineral deposits, which we all know is their source of wealth. In comparison to their neighbors from the Reach and the Riverlands, the Rock is a relatively nice place to live.
It's true, the Westerlands are actually a very decent place to live in. Their biggest problem is, however, that they share three fourth of their borders with the Ironborn (if you count the coastlines to the west and north), so for anyone not living in the centre, live probably isn't all too nice. I'd say the Reach fares better. Though in terms of climate and landscape, the Rock is very nice. Though people from the Rock are, as a result, used to far different temperatures. What is unusually cold for them is merely a slight chill for a Northerner such as Edward. In return, he's having some trouble in summer, as he far prefers the mild summers of the North.
[Accept Edward's offer] In the same way Jaime needed to be brought down to get back up, maybe a beating can motivate her to accept her limit… moreations and try to improve her situation in the best way she can.
Edward is right in one thing, despite their reputation, the Westerlands are full of small hills and low forests, with relatively mild plains. The hills are also full of mineral deposits, which we all know is their source of wealth. In comparison to their neighbors from the Reach and the Riverlands, the Rock is a relatively nice place to live.
Great part, but perhaps the most unintentionally confusing for me. You know, GRR Martin always gets a bad wrap for similar names that confuse people and I while I understood I never felt it that much. But for some reason the second Edward shows up in this part my reaction was "How did you get here? Weren't you going to meet with Blacksails? Where is Alys? and.....oh its not Edward, it's actually Edward." And that whole thing was really weird since never before I had I had that Edward mix up. Maybe I just have the Anturion's on the head a lot recently. No offence to Lancaster though, he's a great guy to share the name with.
Haha, I knew it would eventually be inevitable. To be honest, FoT is actually pretty light on shared names, which is surprising for such a massive cast. Y'all still surprise me with the names you come up with The only shared names in the story so far are Darren Reyne and Tallwood, Leonard Constantine and Hill, Samuel Harrington and Puffer and, of course, Edward Anturion and Lancaster. However, when it comes to similarly sounding names, I bet things can get rather confusing in the future. Just have a look at that one: We got Jaron, who has the honour of being the first of his name. Then there is Joran, Juran, Jorid, Jaro, Jarow, Jarek, Jared, Jarrod and Jaylon, as well as Jorn, Jors and Jorario. There are moments where I get confused with that In comparison, I actually found the Edward name sharing relatively easy to memorize, especially as these two are currently not planned to share a scene. Things have been way worse when I had the Samuels in the same storyline in Chapter 6.
[Accept Edward's offer]
Great part, but perhaps the most unintentionally confusing for me. You know, GRR Martin always gets a bad wrap fo… morer similar names that confuse people and I while I understood I never felt it that much. But for some reason the second Edward shows up in this part my reaction was "How did you get here? Weren't you going to meet with Blacksails? Where is Alys? and.....oh its not Edward, it's actually Edward." And that whole thing was really weird since never before I had I had that Edward mix up. Maybe I just have the Anturion's on the head a lot recently. No offence to Lancaster though, he's a great guy to share the name with.
Yeah, I'd say it's better to get back into training, even if she'll most likely never reach the level she was at with two hands. Hopefully the experience won't be too humiliating though, because I could see that making it only harder for Sadie to accept her new circumstances. Well, I guess we'll see.
That is the danger here. On paper, getting back into training is not a bad thing. Jaime regaining a bit of his former skill was very important for him to cope, at least in the show. At the same time, he lost quite severely at first and Sadie is no Jaime. Who knows how she'd react to the realization that she indeed has to learn everything from the scratch again.
So, Sadie is accompanying Leo's company and the citizens of Maybros to Castamere, but I wonder what exactly will be her destination after that. I mean, I imagine Melanie is her no. 1 priority right now, but I doubt they'll just stay in the refugee camp with these people.
Hm, she will likely stay with Leo for the time being. She really has nowhere else to go. Leo meanwhile, he does not intend to stay with these people forever, even if the Forgotten will remain at Castamere for a certain amount of time, while they themselves plan their next move. Perhaps the biggest problem for Sadie will be to manage that Melanie accepts going with them, meaning she's kinda running against time to fully get her sister to abandon any loyalty she might still have for Gyles.
[Accept Edward's offer] Yeah, I'd say it's better to get back into training, even if she'll most likely never reach the level she was at wit… moreh two hands. Hopefully the experience won't be too humiliating though, because I could see that making it only harder for Sadie to accept her new circumstances. Well, I guess we'll see.
So, Sadie is accompanying Leo's company and the citizens of Maybros to Castamere, but I wonder what exactly will be her destination after that. I mean, I imagine Melanie is her no. 1 priority right now, but I doubt they'll just stay in the refugee camp with these people.
Sadie first part for this book start with a dream sequence about the two most shocking events of her life..nice!
Aye, the first part of that dream sequence has actually been a direct copy of her previous dream sequence from Chapter 9. It is sort of a recurring nightmare, but it just got a bit more terrifying, with Durren around to pretty much ruin this nightmare even more for her.
The relationship between the Wade sisters is,like I expected,quite unstable and it seems to me that sooner or later it will break,btw I'm curious to read when it will happen and the consequences of it
Oh yes, it is a very unstable relationship between the two and so far, you haven't seen anything yet, really. Melanie does not know what really happened to her parents, that Sadie was involved in their mother's death and that she herself was the reason their mother killed their father. This is a pretty explosive combination the Wade sisters are in right now.
Ah ah,like we learn in the Lannister interlude many citizien of Maybros (aka all the named characters) is going to seek refuge at Castamere!I'm curious to see again that location and what kind of storyline you plan for that place
Castamere will be a huge location in Book 2. After all, the Reynes have gotten the book cover, so their castle will be featured heavily. Actually, we won't have to wait for long anymore, I plan on showing castle and family in this chapter already.
It seems that Edward is a lucky guy and he is finally going to be more than "The guy that work for Leo"! (And let me be honest,I already like him much more than Blane)
Yeah, I hope to flash out Edward a bit more in Book 2. Same goes for almost every character that was only having a minor role in Book 1, there will be a number that really step up in terms of importance. Blane, well, he'll be having an interesting role as well, just like every member of Leo's sellswords.
[Accept Edward's offer] Why not?
RT:
* Sadie first part for this book start with a dream sequence about the two most shocking events… more of her life..nice!
* The relationship between the Wade sisters is,like I expected,quite unstable and it seems to me that sooner or later it will break,btw I'm curious to read when it will happen and the consequences of it
* I found a good read Sadie's struggling to learn how live without a hand and I believe her character arc will continue to be interesting thanks to that
* Ah ah,like we learn in the Lannister interlude many citizien of Maybros (aka all the named characters) is going to seek refuge at Castamere!I'm curious to see again that location and what kind of storyline you plan for that place
* It seems that Edward is a lucky guy and he is finally going to be more than "The guy that work for Leo"! (And let me be honest,I already like him much more than Blane)
In comparison, I actually found the Edward name sharing relatively easy to memorize, especially as these two are currently not planned to share a scene. Things have been way worse when I had the Samuels in the same storyline in Chapter 6.
Oh yeah, the Samuels. That did confuse some times, but they were pretty distinct. I just hope we don't have a 'go with' or 'side with' choice with two people of the same name anywhere in the future.
We got Jaron, who has the honour of being the first of his name. Then there is Joran, Juran, Jorid, Jaro, Jarow, Jarek, Jared, Jarrod and Jaylon, as well as Jorn, Jors and Jorario.
I actually had to re-read that twice. A few more of those and it would have been a full blown headache.
Great part, but perhaps the most unintentionally confusing for me. You know, GRR Martin always gets a bad wrap for similar names that confus… moree people and I while I understood I never felt it that much. But for some reason the second Edward shows up in this part my reaction was "How did you get here? Weren't you going to meet with Blacksails? Where is Alys? and.....oh its not Edward, it's actually Edward." And that whole thing was really weird since never before I had I had that Edward mix up. Maybe I just have the Anturion's on the head a lot recently. No offence to Lancaster though, he's a great guy to share the name with.
Haha, I knew it would eventually be inevitable. To be honest, FoT is actually pretty light on shared names, which is surprising for such a massive cast. Y'all still surprise me with the names you come up with The only shared names in the story so far are Darren Reyne and Tallwood, Leonard Constantine and Hill, Samu… [view original content]
[Accept Edward's offer] While I highly doubt she'll ever get back to the same level as she once was, the only thing she can do right now is … moreat least try.
Man, I'm having serious issues with the forums lately, and even missed votings on FoT and NW because of it. The situation is so bad that I've sent you a PM the other day but I have no way of knowing if the damn thing was actually sent or not, because even when I use the direct link to our pm discussion, I simply get redirected to my feed now (which doesn't even load, btw). I just hope this comment gets posted, it would be a real shame to miss two votings in a row. I'll try to re-install firefox and see what happens, maybe that will get things back to normal.
Comments
[Allow her to take Kersea to the clinic]
Because I have already seen the other option in.....basically everything. I really wonder what happens if you do the rational thing despite it supposedly being 'dangerous'. Its like getting backup in an action movie or calling the cops in a slasher flic. What happens when you do the thing the protagonist either never thinks of, is unable to do or according to them is apparently too dangerous to even attempt? I'm curious to find out.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] I'm choosing this because I have a feeling that if Kersea goes to Raylansfair now, she is never coming back. It's just too big of a risk, with thugs of Mullendore even in the clinic itself. Nah, I'll go with the safe route and trust Mathea can do at least a decent job even without all her supplies and whatnot.
It's certainly interesting to see the changes is Raylansfair, and how at least in short term Petyr and Maron are actually making the city thrive. This only makes things more complicated for our heroes, since it's not going to be easy to convince the town folk of Raylansfair that their new lord is a bad man. Well, I'm glad Mathea at least is smart enough to see through the thin veil of charm that the Sphynx is concealing his malice with.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] The Sphynx is no fool, and bringing someone who clearly wasn't in an accident to the clinic will bring Mullendore and Vyrwel's attention. While its obvious to me he suspected something, he probably dismissed it for now, which gives the good guys a chance to help Kersea.
So The Sphynx original name was probably Rodrik eh, a name more common in the North (and Iron Islands) than the Reach, gives some serious implications of were Mullendore got this people.
The Dog and the Cat meet, wonder if The Sphynx recognized him, or Ryler was merely one of the many prisoners of the Alley Cats.
Mathea is right to distrust Mullendore's thugs, and noticed The Sphynx is a butcher more than a healer. Kind words don't mask his true darkness.
Ah, but is it the reasonable thing to do? That is very much the question here. Kersea would get the best medical care there is, though at the risk of being caught by someone who might know her. If she does get caught, nobody can help her. At the same time, keeping her at the farm will be equally risky for her, as she'd remain safely hidden, yet potentially not as well treated. I mean, at best she gets completely healed and recovers nicely and quickly. At worst, she is caught and interrogated. It remains up to you if you wish to take the risk, though both options hold their respective risks.
Ah, indeed, Petyr and Maron aren't doing a bad job. Petyr is very intelligent and Maron has experience with the inner workings of a much larger and much richer city. They have an interest in seeing Raylansfair thrive, so naturally they put their respective skills to good use. Villains they might be, but for Raylansfair they are an improvement over Robert Raylan, who was largely neglecting the finer workings of his city (and is mostly considered a just, good, but ultimately weak lord) especially in his final years, or the capable, but overly paranoid Harris. Petyr already caused the trade to recover by closely working with his rich home at Darkdell, now Raylansfair's first and only vassal, he invests in the infrastructure, Maron's men uphold law and order even in a time where chaos and looting should have been quite common and for that, the people are actually quite fond of their new ruler and his right hand man. Of course, not everyone is convinced and some, like Mathea, even bring up reasonable concerns beyond simple mistrust, but that does not change the fact that the city has not only recovered, it actually starts to become stronger and richer than ever before.
Indeed, the Sphynx' real name is Rodrik, it has been established several chapters ago, in Chapter 7, in the same part where the Tom's first name, Erik, was revealed. It's a very common name, so until more information about his family is revealed, you can't make too much with this one alone. But well, he has Erik Mogfield, minor northern nobility, by his side, as well as (formerly) the Northerner Samuel and others from far away. It's an Oldtown thing, it's easy to recruit people who are equal parts colourful and capable, whose talents might be a bit wasted in places such as the North.
Hm, that remains to be seen. One thing I can reveal though is, the Sphynx hasn't actually been the Sphynx when Ryler was their prisoner. The Sphynx is not quite his name, it's his title and while the Tom is still the original Tom and founder of the Alley Cats, the roles of the Sphynx and the Moggy have since passed on to others. One previous Sphynx was Lupin Frostborn and his assistant was a certain Wolfius Woodbark, who served in a similar role as Connor does for the current Sphynx. Ryler has mentioned having been tortured by Wolfius and the Sphynx, which likely means that the one mainly in charge of him has been Lupin and not Rodrik. However, it is still very likely that Rodrik has already been a member of the group back then, so it is still possible that he recognizes him, or recognizes Lupin's work at least.
Yes, while Mathea genuinely admires the Sphynx' impressive knowledge, she is not fooled by his act. She knows that knowledge alone makes no healer and while he has helped people in her presence, she is experienced enough to see through him. She has trained under a real healer and knows that the profession pretty much requires a certain mindset, which the Sphynx is utterly lacking.
Ah, but is it the reasonable thing to do? That is very much the question here. Kersea would get the best medical care there is, though at the risk of being caught by someone who might know her. If she does get caught, nobody can help her. At the same time, keeping her at the farm will be equally risky for her, as she'd remain safely hidden, yet potentially not as well treated. I mean, at best she gets completely healed and recovers nicely and quickly. At worst, she is caught and interrogated. It remains up to you if you wish to take the risk, though both options hold their respective risks.
To be honest....yes in three different ways.
It is the most rational. Lets look at the situation: And individual is severely injured in a most probably unclean location. A medical professional present states that treatment should be performed in a clinic specifically designed to be a healthy and safe environment. The only thing prohibiting this very clear and logical option is the possibility that the individual may be located by unscrupulous individuals. The alternative is to perform a dangerous medical procedure in an unhealthy, unprepared environment which will inevitably lead to some experimenting to attempt a successful outcome. My philosophy has always been "Most Must Live", this is the clearest option for Kersea to survive this.
It is the most entertaining. Again and again I see this happen in stories. I couldn't even list half of the ones that have this plot device. Character is in intense danger which can be avoided by a simple, logical action, but because the situation seems risky, they do an even more dangerous thing. All of this is to create tension. I'm mostly trope lover, but this is an exception. I actually want to see what happens when the crisis is avoided. What happens when the character wakes up and no real risk was taken in healing them?
And three and the best argument in this situation. Its so good that it might destroy this entire debate immediately. Are you ready Liquid? Ok, here we go:....................................................................Mathea suggested it!! Cue Sunglasses, Cue music, Cue Explosion.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] Actually I think the farm will be visited by Vyrwel men soon enough, but let's do this anyway. Leonard can just sit and wait, maybe write a children's novel or something.
Mathea probably is someone we can trust, but I don't trust her. I don't trust anyone.
Argh! Clinic! Clinic! Argh! Call it the healing whatever, but not clinic! Argh! Such a modern word. So argh! Clinic!
Oh boy what a mystery. What could possibly do that? Nice to see you Ryler. Now where's your doggy?
[Urge her to try her best at the farm]
This is obviously the safe option since with the other choice there is a good chance that someone recognize Kersea (like Mullendore or Nora Recton) or can discover who she is (like The Sphynx)
RT:
[Urge her to try her best at the farm]
[Allow her to take Kersea to the clinic]
That might not always be the wisest approach, but it is a consequential, as well as a very understandable one. Mathea might not be Sphynx levels of untrustworthiness, but she would probably agree that being cautious is not a bad thing.
Isn't clinic a medieval word? I admit, this is something I am not entirely familiar with, but as far as I know, the word has been in use for hundreds of years. Infirmary might have been a better word now that i think about it, to be fair, though I assumed clinic would be fine as well.
As well as his sword and his helmet, all of which are currently missing. The claw marks however, they are old, I probably should have mentioned that, they are the same he already had back when Ilish first met him in Chapter 7.
Yeah, Mathea is actually one of the big beneficiaries of the recent changes. She's the official main healer now, a prestigious position, she has her assistants and though the Sphynx is not an official co-worker, he is helping out occasionally and due to his knowledge, she is actually not even all that reluctant to accept his help, as much as she is wary of the man himself.
Well, here's a little secret: Mathea doesn't actually need assistants. We have previously seen her somehow juggling twice the amount of work all on her own, so the current situation is already like heaven for her. On top of that, Malien has been an apprentice midwife before the raid happened, meaning, she also knows the basics and is indeed helpful. Rosalie... not so much, but she has nowhere else to go. We're going to learn more about it later on, but she has quite an understandable fear of being alone and with no one else caring to take her in, Mathea has stepped forth and offered her a position by her side, to keep an eye on her at all times. And trust me, compared to her two months ago, she has even somewhat improved. Just to be clear, Mathea doesn't actually expect anything of her, she just keeps her around to give her some company.
Hehe, I see what you did there
And yeah, the Sphynx has shown some unusual interest in Ryler. We will actually not have to wait for too long to see how much, if any, is behind this, I don't plan on making this a mystery to stretch over the entirety of Book 2, unlike certain others. Remember when I said that the Sphynx is going to have an interesting role in Book 2? Well, it has already started.
[Allow her to take Kersea to the clinic]
That wound is not getting fixed if they stay at the farm, take her to the clinic. I doubt the Sphynx knows Kersea, they didn't run with the same group after all. The only real threat is Mullendore, but he doesn't seem like the type of guy that would take a stroll to a peasant's clinic.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] I want Kersea to get the best help possible, I really do but I just don't think it's wise to take her to the city. Especially since the Spynx has taken over in Mathea's absence and I really don't like the idea of him being anywhere near Kersea. Though to my knowledge there isn't anyone in the city who's even met Kersea, not entirely sure, but I still think it's too risky.
It makes me so uneasy that the Spynx can just walk into the clinic with no problems. Fuck that guy. I really don't like him with Rosalie either. I feel so bad for her. I hope she can come back from this.
EDIT: I kinda feel bad about not trusting Mathea with Leonard. She's certainly earned it and I feel we may have been over cautious
[Allow her to take Keresea to the clinic]
When it comes to people who know Kersea, there are Ilish and Lawsen, whom she has saved from Wolfius and Kreep in Chapter 5. Arthur and Aditha have also met her in the same chapter, when she and Clayton brought the captured Wolfius to the Nathamer residence to trade him as a fall guy. Out of these, the former two have gotten a good impression on her, obviously, while the latter two only know her as Clayton's assistant. Mullendore very likely knows her as well, even if they have never interacted.
Hm, yeah, the Sphynx might not work there, but he is nonetheless a regular guest, helping out where necessary and basically coming and going whenever he likes. Of course, knowing the Sphynx it's pretty clear he has some ulterior motive to his actions and it is right to be concerned about him spending time alone with Rosalie. Or, anyone, really. Rosalie herself, well, she has improved a little bit over the last two months, trust me that things have been way worse in the very beginning. But this will need a lot of time and having Wolfius still around, knowing that he is still around, that won't make things any easier for her.
Hehe, Mathea herself is definitely not the least trustworthy person. Wether or not she truly earned being let in on this secret (or if it is truly the best for her to even know), that is entirely up to you of course. At least for now, this part of the current situation will remain a secret and all she suspects is that Richard is hiding something. The alternative choices will shine a bit of light on this.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm] Not the Gold and Green! Why the Gold and Green?? Raylainsfair you to have the coolest colors, and now they have the overused black and red. Now that Petyr is in charge, did the city guard have to change their tabards? Is poor Arthur strutting the black and red? That is going to clash with his green armor if it is. He would be a fashion disaster!
Mathea is rocking out with her own clinic now. She is doing pretty good for herself. I wonder how some of the other well visited areas of the city are doing, like the tavern, the castle gates, and the docks. And where did all the bodies go? Is there some new graveyard outside of town where they placed all of the recently deceased citizens? Was there a big bonfire for all the Ironborn? I am really curious where they found the space to place all the dead.
Ryler is back! I wonder what he's been up to recently, besides running into some doggy problems. Speaking of Doggies, where the heck is his pupper? Doggo must be hanging out somewhere nearby. Has Ryler been in contact with Arthur in the two past months? He said that he would be in contact, but I wonder whether or not he has. I curious what his next plan of action is. Has he found any leads towards Wolfius, or is his new problem with the Alley Cats as a whole? They have both done wrong by him, but who he is going after first is my question. Really well done part by the way! I can't wait to see what the rest of the town is up to. This is going to be hecking exciting!
Still can't post or like on Firefox, so I am stuck using Chrome until the site fixes its shit. That darn capcha always call me a darn robot.
[Urge her to try her best at the farm]
I am ashamed to admit, I have never even thought of this reasonable thought. I'd say, to keep it simple for now, the city guard still has their old tabards for now, but Petyr seeks to replace them with the Vyrwel colours eventually. For now, they serve to distinguish between his men, whom he trust far more, and the city guard. Once the time comes, the green of the armour will indeed clash with the upcoming new tabards of the city guard. At worst, Arthur has to paint it in Vyrwel colours
Oh yes, Mathea's situation has improved massively, from just some random healer to the town's foremost authority on everything medicine-related. Of course, there is a new Maester on his way, who will have some knowledge as well, but Mathea remains the only full-time healer Raylansfair has and Petyr saw and rewarded this. Now, the city itself is obviously in the process of being rebuilt. The castle gates are fixed already and with plenty of manpower in form of the Vyrwel-Mullendore army, the city itself is recovering as well. The Ironborn, they have been burried in a mass grave a couple miles away from the city. The fallen citizens of Raylansfair though, they have been buried near the city, on the area where the lighthouse was formerly located. This has taken some time, so I actually still have something planned for this later in this chapter.
Ah, his dog's fate is indeed currently not known, but at the same time, keep in mind his dog is a war hound, the type that could rip any man to pieces, certainly not what you'd like to see in a place where plenty wounded people are located. Though that being said, he clearly ran into some sort of trouble. When it comes to th Alley Cats and Wolfius, his main goal is definitely Wolfius. Wolfius and Lupin have been the ones to torment him and while he would not mind taking vengeance on the other Alley Cats, that is secondary to him at the moment. Finding Wolfius, stopping him from harming anyone else and possibly getting to Lupin through his only known associate, that is his main goal.
Huh, I really wouldn't count on anytime soon. To put it mildly, the Telltale web team is not exactly known for their speed or efficiency, as evidenced by the current state of the site. I hope it will be fixed eventually, but well, until then it is good that switching browsers works for you, even if Chrome considers you a robot. That brings up the question though, are you a robot?
The Voting is closed!
Richard is going to urge Mathea to try her best for Kersea at the farm
Major choice right there, the first truly major choice of Book 2. Depending on which option chosen and a follow-up choice if Kersea would have been sent to the city, there could have been serious changes to the way things are going to play out. One thing I can already say is, this means Kersea won't have any PoV parts of her own in this chapter, as she will be constantly in the presence of another PoV, namely Richard. The other choice would have given her one or maybe two parts of her own in this chapter. But well, more about that in the alternative choices. Just keep in mind, major choice you made right there. You also picked the option I expected you to pick, so well, that ain't necessarily a bad thing
The next part should be out today. It will be the first part for Sadie in Book 2. Like most PoV's, she had a little time skip. In her case, I can say she recovered enough to leave Maybros, alongside several familiar faces, though this does not mean she's feeling all great again, certainly far from it. This part was originally planned to be out yesterday, but I got a bit busy and still need some time. To make matters worse, I made the severe mistake of picking up The Elder Scrolls Online again and ah, what can I say, I missed being addicted to it
But yeah, I am still making progress and should be able to finish the part reasonably soon today.
Heey! Hopefully I'm early enough to post this before the next part
Anyway, here is the newest set of drawings, including characters from the different courts of Westeros:
Hope you like 'em!
Oh yes I like them, as creator of Rhonda and Mace, I think those are pretty good portraits.
Oh yes, I am so happy to see this new set. And given that I need at least two more hours until I finish the part, you posted them at a perfect moment. There have been a couple of characters among these I've been very excited to see. Actually, all of them, every single one and you nailed it! Let's start on the top, we got our newest and most mysterious antagonist, Lord Oakheart. Devrin is quite an interesting guy, one I hope to flesh out more in the coming parts. One thing you really did perfectly is this deceptive friendliness about him. He looks like a great fellow to be around, not like the kind of guy that plots with Maron and Petyr and that is what makes him so dangerous. You captured that aura about him and knowing what people he is willing to work with, he actually becomes quite unsettling, come to think of it. Onwards to a character that even looks creepy, Rhonda, the possible witch of Sharra's court. She's an eery one, for sure, but at the same time, that dress is gorgeous. In terms of dresses alone, she's my favourite of this set by far. Even not counting the dress, she is great. That witch woman might be the one of this set that has the longest wait until I can show her again, since there's no PoV at the Eyrie right now, but I am already excited
Next we got our newest PoV. PoV drawings are always something special and Ysilla is no different there. I was really excited to see her and she almost managed to become my favourite drawing out of an entire set full of great drawings. She and Rhonda both are definitely the ones that are the closest to my own mental image of them. And is that a woman engraved on her spearblade? Damn that girl 
She has quite an adventure ahead and that drawing made me only more excited to write her future parts. Now, next we got Qoherys, the most unusual maester in Westeros. This duality between being a warrior and being a scholar is what makes him so intriguing to me and both sides shine in this drawing. He has the expression of a scholar and the chain of course, but the stance and dress of a warrior. Quite a badass as well, a fitting maester for Storm's End even if his origin might make him a choice most unusual. And finally, my favourite, because how could I name anyone else my favourite drawing of this set than Mace and his goat-murder-horse. Animals are always an unusual treat, so having Wildhorn here makes this drawing truly stand out. Even beyond it, Mace is a visually unique character on his own, but it's this shaggy beast that really makes him my favourite of this set. This is exactly the type of unicorn I had in mind while writing the latest Raenna part. I guess we all know now why Raenna was not so amazed by seeing it. That's not the sort of thing you pet, that's the sort you back away from very slowly and hope it's too lazy to chase and kill you 
Anyways, a wonderful set. It's always a wonderful set, thank you very much for drawing it!
Sadie
“Mother?”, she asked and her voice shivered. She gasped as she looked at the corpse of her father again. Tears clouded her vision, though she forced herself to look away. She was a soldier and right now, her instincts kicked in. Focus on the threat. There was a time for mourning later.
Carefully, she took a few steps towards the woman, stepping above empty bottles in the process. Imported wine from Volantis. Her mother had wasted the money she had sent home, the money she had earned while risking her life for her kingdom. “Mother!”, she barked and finally, the woman reacted.
Glancing over her shoulder, there was a bitter look in her eyes. The eyes... they were the only thing Sadie truly had of this woman. Right now, they were filled with tears, with regret, shame, fear and anger. There was resentment in them. “You...”, she growled and Sadie stopped as she heard this voice. She gulped. “What are you doing here?”
“What have you done, mother?”, Sadie asked thinly and her mother rose from the ground. Instinctively, she took a step back, right onto a bottle. It crunched underneath her and she gasped in pain, as the broken glass scratched across her naked foot.
“What... I have done?”, her mother asked in return, her voice a slur. “You did this! You killed him with your... indifference towards your sister” Now, a new wave of tears shot into Sadie's eyes, as she still backed away from her own mother, feeling fear for the woman that gave birth to her and fear for what she herself would do if a fight would break out.
“I tried to speak to him, but he wouldn't listen!”, her mother spat, staggering forwards, her steps as shaky as her voice. “This is your fault! Your fault alone! If you would have stayed, none of this would have happened!”
Sadie shook her head. “Mother, you are drunken. You don't think clearly”, she said, almost in a begging tone. “Put it down. Let us talk about this, please” Her mother only tensed up. “There is nothing to talk about”, she growled. “You killed your father. You killed your sister. You killed them by leaving us when we needed you. I will not be the next!” With a howl, she raised the hatchet and crossed the distance between her and her daughter in a second.
Sadie had prepared herself for the attack. Her mother didn't immediately strike at her, it was more that she slammed into her. Putting too much weight on her wounded foot caused Sadie's legs to give in underneath her. While she fell, she managed to grab her mother's right arm, to keep the hatchet away from her as they landed, the older woman on top of her.
“Your fault!”, her mother spat, sending drops of saliva flying into Sadie's face. She was a small woman, but stocky from countless hours of hard work and the strength with which she tried to push the hatchet into Sadie's chest was terrifying. “Mother, don't...”, she gasped, as she continued to hold the weapon away from her.
With her free hand, she reached around, trying to find something, anything to protect herself, as the hatchet came slowly closer, as she was unable to overpower her mother unarmed. Deep down, Sadie knew this scene, knew how it would play out and yet, something was different. This time, she felt nothing as she reached around, nothing at all.
Reluctantly, knowing how little time she had left, she looked around and suddenly, her eyes widened in horror as she spotted her right arm. Ending not with a hand, but with a bandaged stump, soaked red with her blood, she only managed to open her mouth to scream, though before any noise could come out of her throat, she felt the cold iron of the hatchet pressed against her flesh.
“Mother, please, no...!”, she managed to yell, as the makeshift weapon dug into her neck, slitting her entire throat with ease. She moved her head to her mother above her and in what would be her final moments, she realized that the figure that pressed her to the ground was not her mother at all.
Towering there, he was at least ten feet tall. His eyes were glowing orbs of fire, his face a grimace of rage. Horns came out of his jaw, long, jagged tusks. With a roar of hatred, Durren Stallhart pulled the axe out of her torn throat. Sadie tried to scream, yet only more blood came gushing out of her mouth. And then, he brought the weapon down onto her head once more, as she was powerless to stop him...
Sadie woke up with a gasp, taking in the precious breaths of air, panting as if she had ran for miles without a pause. Her head was thumping, as she had found little rest from this night, as usual. Yet more unusual was the pain in her fingers, the fingers of her missing right hand. It came in flares, ranging from uncomfortable to outright painful, as she began to shiver.
Almost reluctantly, she glanced down and let out a sigh as she saw what she expected. Her hand was gone and yet she felt it, felt the pain in her fingers, as she clenched a fist that was no longer there. By now, the pain was intense and breathing heavily and with fear, she looked to the bed next to hers, where her sister was sleeping.
“Melanie...”, she hissed, though the other woman did not hear her. Through the gaps in the tent, Sadie already spotted the sun and she rolled her eyes at having slept in again. They let her sleep, both of them actually and she hated it. It was pity, what Leo showed her, but it wasn't good for her.
She extended her hand, grabbing her sister by the shoulder. “Melly!”, she said, now a bit louder and the other woman let out a groan. “What is it?”, she asked, opening her eyes to spot Sadie, almost sitting in her bed, shivering in a sort of pain that shouldn't be there. Instantly, her eyes widened a bit, until they were almost fully opened. “What's wrong?”
“I don't know”, Sadie admitted. “But this is bad, this is really bad. I need you to get Wylie!” Now, Melanie sighed. “Always that old man...”, she complained. “He smells funny, you know” Sadie narrowed her eyes. “You're supposed to get him, not smell him!”, she hissed, as she let go of her sisters shoulder to clutch the still bandaged stump of her right arm. The wound had healed nicely, as Wylie had assured her, but if that was truly the case, how could it still hurt so much?
Melanie let out a groan as she pushed herself up. “Fine”, she said, pushing away the blankets. Below, she was wearing only a thin nightgown, though as Sadie had noticed, a sense of modesty was not exactly something she cared about anymore. There wasn't much she cared about anymore, to be honest. Her sister had... changed. The lively young woman of once had turned into someone else, a bitter person, constantly tired, moody, easy to annoy and anger. It had gotten worse the longer he was without Gyles' mixture, so Sadie still harboured the hope that it would fade, that she would return back to normal once that stuff was gone from her life, once her every thought stopped revolving around it.
To protect herself from the cold, her sister put on a thick cloak, wrapping herself in it, as she opened the tent. Bright sunlight flooded the room and Sadie had to shield her eyes, which however meant that she had to let go of the stump, causing the pain to grow more intense in an instant. “Hurry!”, she barked and for once, Melanie was moving quickly.
She didn't let her wait for long, though still, for Sadie it felt like hours. Finally, it had likely been only minutes, the tent was opened again and she sighed in relief as she spotted Wylie. The old man had rushed to her tent first, Melanie following a bit slower behind him. There was concern on his face.
“Where is the pain?”, he asked, as she frowned. “My hand”, she replied. “I can feel it. It...” She cut herself off to groan in pain as it returned in a brief wave. Wylie sighed, kneeling down next to her. “I was afraid this would happen sooner or later”, he said, grabbing her forearm and eyeing the bandages. “This is far from the first amputation I have treated and three out of four show the very same symptoms”
Sadie clenched her teeth. “Do something about it”, she hissed, half a demand and half a plea. Wylie moved a hand over the bandage and she shivered. “Please”, she added and to her horror, he shook his head. “I'm afraid this is beyond my skills”, he told her. “The problem is not a physical one”
“What do you mean?”, Sadie asked and the old man put a hand onto her shoulder. “What I mean is, there is no physical way you can feel your hand. The pain is very much real, I believe you, but it does not come from anything I can treat” Sadie narrowed her eyes. “Then what can I do?”, she asked.
This time Wylie looked at her with compassion. This was the thing she liked about him the most. Honest compassion, not pity. He made her feel a little less useless than she was, though he wasn't leaving her alone either. “This will need time”, he said. “I once treated a man, a soldier, who lost half of his shield arm in battle when he was in his thirties. He had the same pain and it came, again and again, sometimes every day, sometimes with weeks inbetween, sometimes it brought him to tears, sometimes he barely noticed it” A soft smile formed on his bearded face. “The pain gradually grew less and when he was forty, it was gone entirely”
“So, I have to live with that for years?”, Sadie asked, her tone being disheartened. Once again, Wylie did not hold back. “Decades at worst”, he replied and she gulped. He gave her a smile, likely one that was supposed to be encouraging. “I'll be there for you”, he promised and she actually smiled at this, even if it was a bitter, sad smile. “Of course you'll be, old man”, she replied. “Is there truly nothing you can do?”
Wylie sighed, reaching into the bag he was wielding over his shoulder. “This is going to help a little bit”, he admitted, as he pulled out a small vial. “It won't dull your senses all that much though. I don't dare to give you more, nor do I think you want to be all dizzy for as long as it'll take”
Sadie groaned, as she reached for the vial, though Wylie held it away once more. “This won't help forever”, he warned her. “It will only change when you accept your situation” Sadie narrowed her eyes. “Accept?”, she hissed. “So, what's there not to accept?”
“That's not what I mean”, Wylie told her. “You have to stop... pitying yourself and have to accept life as it is now” He gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Trust me, you're not useless”, he assured her. “There's plenty in this camp who feel this way” Sadie sighed at his words, though as he removed his hand from her shoulder, she quickly grabbed it. “Thank you”, she mumbled, looking past him at the bleak walls of her tent.
“Always”, he replied, as he handed her the vial. It was small, though the taste was bitter and intense and yet, she downed it in a single take. Instantly, slight relief overcame her, though the pain remained, a muffled thumping in her entire right arm. It was... something, at least.
“So, what do you say?”, Wylie asked. “Ready to face the world?” Sadie frowned, though reluctantly, she gave him a nod. “For a little bit, at least”, she told him, which seemed to please him. “So be it”, he said, as he turned to the exit of the tent. “Ah, before I forget it, I believe Edward has asked for your presence a couple hours ago”
“Always an early bird”, Sadie muttered, to which Wylie raised an eyebrow. “It's almost noon”, he spoke. “So get up already, you can sleep when you're dead. A life is preciously short as it is” With these ominous words, he turned around, leaving the tent, leaving Sadie and Melanie behind.
“That old man has a way with words”, her sister admitted, before momentary concern appeared on her face. “How are you feeling, Sades?” Sadie pressed her lips together. “How do you think I feel?”, she asked, a question she received no answer for. Things hadn't been easy between them ever since they actually spent time with each other again. Maybe it was Sadie, she had to admit her temper wasn't the best right now. Maybe it was Melanie, barely thinking of anything but that stuff Gyles got her hooked on. Maybe it was a mixture of both and Sadie could only imagine how much worse it will become once she would gather the strength to tell Melanie about their mother. She died, that was all the younger woman knew. Not how, not why, not by whom... and she hadn't asked, almost as if she barely cared.
“Right...”, Melanie muttered. “Well, I'm going to leave this tent now. Nilanne wants me to do washing duty today” She rolled her eyes, making it almost an audible expression. “Those people are dirty as shit” Now, Sadie shot her a brief glare. “Those people are all that protect us on the way”, she said, as her sister quickly got dressed, putting on a simple, blue dress, before covering herself with a coat.
“Doesn't make them any less dirty”, Melanie replied. “Besides, it was hardly my choice that we are all here right now. Your Leo, he forced Gyles to do this” She turned to the exit of the tent, though before she left, she looked over her shoulder. “I didn't want to leave”, she spoke, as Sadie made a fist. “Things haven't been perfect in Maybros, but they worked” And with that, she was gone.
With a sigh, Sadie turned to her own clothes. Before losing one, she had never thought about the tasks where two hands were useful, or even outright required. Wylie had shown her a few tricks, as did Leo, but neither of them was in her situation and the last thing she wanted was to rely on someone else just to get dressed every morning.
It still took her some time. Pants were easy, a shirt a given, a vest considerably less so. Tying her hair up with one hand wasn't easy either and she settled for a loose ponytail, before splashing some water into her face to refresh herself. The true chore came with the boots, even if she had switched her old ones out for new ones, a gift from Leo before they had left Maybros.
After several minutes of trying, she was finally done. She knew, she was a pitiful sight. Never one to care much for her looks, Sadie took most of it for granted. There was a lot she had taken for granted. Not anymore, though it was too late to go back now. Now, she had to settle for whatever mediocre look she could still pull off without making a fool of herself.
Clumsily, she staggered outside of the tent, as Wylie's medicine, while already wearing off a bit, caused her to notice the effects of her lack of any healthy sleep quite a bit. She decided to ask him for more later the day. Worst thing that could happen was him refusing, leaving her in the same pained state as she would be in either way.
They had made quite a lot of ground in the past month, though a caravan of people was still moving slowly. A third of the population of Maybros had chosen to accept Two-Face's offer, taking refuge near Castamere while their city was to be rebuilt, better than ever before. Gyles Gomblinger was one of them, though in his case, Sadie knew what Leo had threatened to do to him if he'd stay. Melanie came with him, a fact Sadie would forever be thankful for. She knew, she wouldn't have managed to help her all on her own, not without a friend of some sort in Leo, not since Dan died.
And so, a group of four hundred, many of them women, children, or old people, quite a number wounded, some of them even worse than Sadie herself, was making their way through the plains of the northern Rock. Leo and his sellswords were leading them, protecting them and she had to admit, he was doing a better job than she had ever thought. And it seemed that there was finally an end to their long journey in sight.
Right now, they were camping in a small valley, entire devoid of trees, covered in soft, green grass. The winds were cold already, signs of the harsh winter that would follow and in here, there was little protection but the tents they had built up. Most were helping in some way, cooking, cleaning, building, preparing to spend months in the red lion's shadow.
Remembering Wylie's words, Sadie began to look around. She knew where to find Edward Lancaster at this time of the day and sure enough, she didn't have to look for too long. He stood at the makeshift training ground as always, cleaning his sword. Wearing only a vest, he had his arms exposed, seemingly not minding the cold that was causing several of his companions to wrap themselves into warm coats.
“Are you not freezing?”, she asked and he looked up, smiling as he spotted her. “Look who's here!”, he said, greeting her by extending a hand. Things had been awkward just a few weeks ago, when he instinctively presented his right, but he had adjusted to her situation better than many of the others and she shook it gladly. “Is it truly that late already?”
Sadie raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”, she asked and he chuckled. “Well, you're up”, he jested and she sighed. “Yeah”, she replied with a thin, crooked smile. “I'm up. The old man told me you wanted to see me?” Edward gave her a nod. “Aye, but that was hours ago”, he spoke, pushing a finger against her forehead. “Sleepyhead”
“Well, I don't have much to do but sleeping these days”, Sadie defended herself, even if her light-hearted answer left her with a bitter taste. What she did not speak out loudly was that there was simply not much she could do. Most tasks she'd technically be able to were things she never had an ounce of talent for. Cooking, cleaning, those had been Dan's tasks during their journey. “Whereas you're busy?”
Edward glanced down at his sword. “Can't be polished enough”, he replied. “A clean sword is a reliable one. A dirty blade gets rusty and brittle” He flashed her a grin. “And to answer your earlier question, I'm not freezing. You southron folk don't know a true winter” With this, he put a hand onto his chest. “When I was born, the winds around Deepwood Motte could freeze a man in minutes without protection. This here, it's a mere chill at worst”
“Show off”, Sadie said and her smile was nothing but superficial. Her eyes glanced at the two sparring swords in the grass “You're training?”, she asked and he nodded. “Aye”, he spoke. “Just looking for the right partner” To this, Sadie looked over her shoulder. “I can get Rhogarn for you”, she offered. “Or maybe Leo himself. He could use some distraction”
To this, Edward shook his head. “Rhogarn doesn't need practice”, he spoke. “And Leo would probably break me in half” He gave her a wink. “In fact, that was what I wanted to speak about with you. I could use a sparring partner indeed” Slowly, Sadie's eyes widened. “Me?”, she asked, as a look of disbelief formed on her face. “I can hardly get myself dressed and you want me to fight?”
Edward's nod was one of enthusiasm. “Well, getting dressed is harder than fighting”, he spoke and gave her a wink. “Besides, if you're having trouble with getting dressed, I'm sure someone like you wouldn't have any trouble finding some, uh, help. Surely Blane would volunteer”
At last, she was laughing. It was a brief one, more a chuckle, but it was relieving in how genuine it felt to her. Playfully, she gave him a punch at the shoulder. “Jerk”, she hissed with a smile. “If I fight you, will you hold back?” Instantly, Edward shook his head. “No”, he said straightforwardly. “I'll beat you like it is your first day of training all over again”
Sadie gulped. She still remembered her commanding officer and how badly he had beaten her down back then. A part of her was reluctant to accept Edward's offer, not only out of this. She'd make a fool out of herself, a laughingstock maybe. Her fighting days were over after all. Maybe it would be better to ignore the temptation, the thrill. Acceptance, Wylie had called it. Was that what he meant?
[Accept Edward's offer] [Decline Edward's offer]
[Accept Edward's offer] In the same way Jaime needed to be brought down to get back up, maybe a beating can motivate her to accept her limitations and try to improve her situation in the best way she can.
Edward is right in one thing, despite their reputation, the Westerlands are full of small hills and low forests, with relatively mild plains. The hills are also full of mineral deposits, which we all know is their source of wealth. In comparison to their neighbors from the Reach and the Riverlands, the Rock is a relatively nice place to live.
[Accept Edward's offer]
Great part, but perhaps the most unintentionally confusing for me. You know, GRR Martin always gets a bad wrap for similar names that confuse people and I while I understood I never felt it that much. But for some reason the second Edward shows up in this part my reaction was "How did you get here? Weren't you going to meet with Blacksails? Where is Alys? and.....oh its not Edward, it's actually Edward." And that whole thing was really weird since never before I had I had that Edward mix up. Maybe I just have the Anturion's on the head a lot recently. No offence to Lancaster though, he's a great guy to share the name with.
[Accept Edward's offer] Yeah, I'd say it's better to get back into training, even if she'll most likely never reach the level she was at with two hands. Hopefully the experience won't be too humiliating though, because I could see that making it only harder for Sadie to accept her new circumstances. Well, I guess we'll see.
So, Sadie is accompanying Leo's company and the citizens of Maybros to Castamere, but I wonder what exactly will be her destination after that. I mean, I imagine Melanie is her no. 1 priority right now, but I doubt they'll just stay in the refugee camp with these people.
[Accept Edward's offer]
[Accept Edward's offer]
[Decline Edward's offer]
No particular reason for doing this, just for the sake of making things awkward. I don't think I've ever read any story where the main character declines a choice like this.
[Accept Edward's offer] Why not?
RT:
[Accept Edward's offer] While I highly doubt she'll ever get back to the same level as she once was, the only thing she can do right now is at least try.
Man, I'm having serious issues with the forums lately, and even missed votings on FoT and NW because of it. The situation is so bad that I've sent you a PM the other day but I have no way of knowing if the damn thing was actually sent or not, because even when I use the direct link to our pm discussion, I simply get redirected to my feed now (which doesn't even load, btw). I just hope this comment gets posted, it would be a real shame to miss two votings in a row. I'll try to re-install firefox and see what happens, maybe that will get things back to normal.
[Accept Edward's offer]
It's true, the Westerlands are actually a very decent place to live in. Their biggest problem is, however, that they share three fourth of their borders with the Ironborn (if you count the coastlines to the west and north), so for anyone not living in the centre, live probably isn't all too nice. I'd say the Reach fares better. Though in terms of climate and landscape, the Rock is very nice. Though people from the Rock are, as a result, used to far different temperatures. What is unusually cold for them is merely a slight chill for a Northerner such as Edward. In return, he's having some trouble in summer, as he far prefers the mild summers of the North.
Haha, I knew it would eventually be inevitable. To be honest, FoT is actually pretty light on shared names, which is surprising for such a massive cast. Y'all still surprise me with the names you come up with
The only shared names in the story so far are Darren Reyne and Tallwood, Leonard Constantine and Hill, Samuel Harrington and Puffer and, of course, Edward Anturion and Lancaster. However, when it comes to similarly sounding names, I bet things can get rather confusing in the future. Just have a look at that one: We got Jaron, who has the honour of being the first of his name. Then there is Joran, Juran, Jorid, Jaro, Jarow, Jarek, Jared, Jarrod and Jaylon, as well as Jorn, Jors and Jorario. There are moments where I get confused with that 
In comparison, I actually found the Edward name sharing relatively easy to memorize, especially as these two are currently not planned to share a scene. Things have been way worse when I had the Samuels in the same storyline in Chapter 6.
That is the danger here. On paper, getting back into training is not a bad thing. Jaime regaining a bit of his former skill was very important for him to cope, at least in the show. At the same time, he lost quite severely at first and Sadie is no Jaime. Who knows how she'd react to the realization that she indeed has to learn everything from the scratch again.
Hm, she will likely stay with Leo for the time being. She really has nowhere else to go. Leo meanwhile, he does not intend to stay with these people forever, even if the Forgotten will remain at Castamere for a certain amount of time, while they themselves plan their next move. Perhaps the biggest problem for Sadie will be to manage that Melanie accepts going with them, meaning she's kinda running against time to fully get her sister to abandon any loyalty she might still have for Gyles.
Aye, the first part of that dream sequence has actually been a direct copy of her previous dream sequence from Chapter 9. It is sort of a recurring nightmare, but it just got a bit more terrifying, with Durren around to pretty much ruin this nightmare even more for her.
Oh yes, it is a very unstable relationship between the two and so far, you haven't seen anything yet, really. Melanie does not know what really happened to her parents, that Sadie was involved in their mother's death and that she herself was the reason their mother killed their father. This is a pretty explosive combination the Wade sisters are in right now.
Castamere will be a huge location in Book 2. After all, the Reynes have gotten the book cover, so their castle will be featured heavily. Actually, we won't have to wait for long anymore, I plan on showing castle and family in this chapter already.
Yeah, I hope to flash out Edward a bit more in Book 2. Same goes for almost every character that was only having a minor role in Book 1, there will be a number that really step up in terms of importance. Blane, well, he'll be having an interesting role as well, just like every member of Leo's sellswords.
In comparison, I actually found the Edward name sharing relatively easy to memorize, especially as these two are currently not planned to share a scene. Things have been way worse when I had the Samuels in the same storyline in Chapter 6.
Oh yeah, the Samuels. That did confuse some times, but they were pretty distinct. I just hope we don't have a 'go with' or 'side with' choice with two people of the same name anywhere in the future.
We got Jaron, who has the honour of being the first of his name. Then there is Joran, Juran, Jorid, Jaro, Jarow, Jarek, Jared, Jarrod and Jaylon, as well as Jorn, Jors and Jorario.
I actually had to re-read that twice. A few more of those and it would have been a full blown headache.
I can confirm that the comment is visible. Don't worry, Liquid should reply soon.