Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
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Post by Madcat on Feb 14, 2009 18:13:57 GMT -5
Prologue James wakes up from his bed, sweating and fatigued, despite sleeping over ten hours and despite the snow outside his chambers window, he walks from his bed, leaving his beloved wife Kathlynn Stark still sleeping with a bed sheet barely covering her naked body. How I love her... and yet I had to drag her from the warm southern river lands into this cold abyss because Robert gave me Winterfell... James looks outside the window, outside his tower, outside his castle, towards the city/stronghold known as Winterfell. today makes eight years since the war... don't need to count the winters... I can feel it in my bones. I'm old. Despite being barely above forty years old. Eight years ago, Winterfell wasn't even a Stark stronghold, infact the Stark House and their Giant Grey Wolf banner never ruled the north, the Greyjoy did, and what horrible times those were... The kingdom of Westeros was ruled by a mad Targaryen king, known as Aerys the II, and under his banner half of Westeros stood by his side. Loyalists, Cowards, Mercenaries... and the Greyjoy house with their Giant Squid banner. The Targaryen house was never evil per say, three thousand years ago they arrived to Westeros (a 7 nation Democracy and not a kingdom then) with a modest army of three thousand men... and three dragons. They conquered Westeros, they became kings, they unified it, and gave it a long lasting peace despite fights between powerful houses. But strange traditions came with these Targaryen from the East lands.. they married brother and sister so their bloodline stays pure, so the blood of the dragon lords stays pure. This tradition has slowly been dying, and it was Aerys the I that married his son, Maekar the I, with a damsel from Highgarden. But since then.. king after king became more greed and bloodlust, opressing the week, stealing, allowing bandits to go on rampage of looting and raping, House wars erupted amongst themselves.. all because the king ordered it to... for fun... Aerys the II was the last drop that spilled the glass, House Baratheon, with the leaping Elk banner, raged in rebellion after the King killed Lyanna Stark, Robert Baratheons promised wife... And my sister, thought James... The Stark from the North, the Tully from the River lands, the Tyrell and Lancel from Highgarden, the Arryn from Eagles Nest, the Baratheon from Tempest Bay and the Martel from Dorne all united to dethrone the mad king Targaryen. Five years of war.. bloody and restless... in the north we fought our way south against the Greyjoy, conquered Winterfell and the Gargalo, and joined forces with the Baratheon and the tully by the River lands, we fought on the rivers trident until we reached Dragonsport... Robert fought their entire army himself he says, and thats not far from the truth, that giant hammer of his turned anything to dust... and it was true, as the Baratheon and the Tully fought to keep the Targaryen armies out of the castle, the Stark infiltrated the castle walls, to put an end to the kings life and win the war... James Stark rushed through the corridors, slaying guards on sight, and as he enters the throne room... ...the King was already dead.. and Sor Markus Lanister, a knight who said would give his life to protect the king... set on the throne with a bloodied golden sword... -Don't worry, I'm just keeping the throne warm for your friend Robert.- Said the loyalist Lanister, who spoke as if he didn't just committed Regicide. Aerys was killed by his own guard... thats how a five year bloody war ended... Robert became king, he gave Winterfell to the Stark house as a reward, and nominated me Lord of the North... lord of snow and stones... and Winterfell. James walks over to his desk after this long glare outside the quiet night... he picks up a letter with the royal seal broken, the royal seal of a Leaping Elk, the Baratheon banner, the royal seal of the king. James was quite surprised to read that the king was heading north with great news to James, he hasn't heard from his friend in 8 years, After becoming King, Robert hardly ever left Dragonsport unless there was a party at the city gates with whores and ale... he was never known to be faithful to his wife, Veronica Lanister, with the roaring Lion banner... Lanister... never trust a Lanister... After the war, Robert forgave the Lanisters and would even place Markus Lanister, the Regicide, as part of his Royal guard if he bowed down to his new king... which they promptly did. -You're not thinking in making that a habit are you?- Said the king Robert to Markus in great displays of laughter referring to what he did to Aerys the II. And so... the Elk and the Lions are traveling their way up the kings road to visit the Wolf? I hardly doubt that any news that come come from that could possibly be "good"...
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
Posts: 457
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Post by Madcat on Feb 28, 2009 11:09:01 GMT -5
Chapter 1 Ithuriel Stark, Tamalynn Stark, Neeja Snow, Cyrus Snow James Stark walked around the throne room of Winterfell with yet another letter arriving to him written by some Meister in a city near the Gargalo. - Sor Jason Gyles was found.- Said James to no one in specific.- A once brave man to Guard the frozen wall in the north.. found mumbling nonsense, and then he fled. And then he killed. James sighed, he knew Sor Jason Gyles well for he was the man who helped defend Winterfell walls when they Greyjoy tried reconquering their stronghold. - Greyjoy...- James says the name rubbing his head tired.- Theon never posed a trouble, and was always a good friend on my children... well... except Cyrus... but everyone still dislikes him, they don't trust a Greyjoy, they never stopped be loyal to the Targaryen King. James Stark leaves his throne room, with intentions to gather his children before the execution, more to see how they react near Theon then to see anything else. James always kept Theon away from the rest of the children, always in the presence of Sor Rodrik or Sor Benjen, the last two Knights of Winterfell. He went to call every child personally, he found Brandon and Ithuriel on the training grounds, Neeja on the tower, Cyrus and Tamalynn on the Garden Temple, as usual. He spoke with them and told them about the execution, and when the time was to kill the man once known as Sor Jason Gyles, James dropped the sword without second thought that he was guilty for his crimes. He looked at all his children after the act, Theon grinned and kicked away the head, Ithuriel most of twisted a nerve at watching this, Neeja stayed quiet and happy but always observing, Cyrus was comforting Tamalynn who was a bit shocked at the gory seen, and so was Brandon. Theon gave a slight pet on the head on Brandon, messing his hair some with a smile. -My Children also don't care much for Theon, the ways of the Man of Iron are still present in him, he doesn't care for death and doesn't respect it, I'm sure Ithuriel doesn't like him, despite rarely speaking with him. The day continued quietly, awaiting for dinner before a guard came running up towards James. - M'Lord, your children went out hunting wolf tracks on the northen forest... - I fail to see the problem or the urgency of that.- Said a bored James, his children always go hunting and getting themselves in danger, wolves aren't that much of a deal, speacially when they are all together. - M'Lord... they are Giant Wolf tracks.. A slight moment of silence, they went after a GIANT wolf?!- Get Sor Benjen Sta...-His words were cut short by the guard. - He is already on his way. Besides nasty bite marks on Cyrus' face, everyone else seems fine... at least that day.
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
Posts: 457
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Post by Madcat on Feb 28, 2009 13:57:57 GMT -5
Chapter 2 Ithuriel Stark, Tamalynn Stark, Neeja Snow, Cyrus Snow Was a horrible day, raining as it often does during Fall, Lord Stark walks up to the stronghold gates with Sor Benjen, Sor Rodrik, Theon, Brandon and his wife Kathlynn Stark, before he turns to Luwin asking him to go get his children. He opens the Stronghold gates to be attacked by a huge bear like man with a crow on his head, Robert Baratheon walked up to him in heavy steps and large smiles patting his back. -Stark! Too long have you been freezing here in the North! I should treat a brother like that! - He laughs loudly, at this note the four Older brothers walk outside the doors as well. Ithuriel placed himself on the right on his father, both tall men, both dwarfed by the fat king. Tamalynn as a younger sister placed herself to the right on Ithuriel, straightening her new garments looking passionately at every detail from the Kings court. Cyrus slyly placed himself to the right/behind of Tamalynn, a wide lazy grin through his face as he looks over his father and older brother. Neeja slowly walks to the right of him, looking simple minded enough as his eyes examine everything around him. The kings welcoming was cut short when he demanded James to go see his dead sister, Lyanna Stark, next to his fallen brother Brandon and father Eddard, all victims of the Targaryen King. The King spoke to Eddard about how he wanted his old friend to come to Dragonsport with him, to replace his dead friend Jon Arryn's spot as the Kings Hand, to help control the kingdom like he helped conquer it. James was shaken by the news of his dead mentor Jon Arryn, and more even when he was given the position of Kings Hand, James was struggling 20 years ago to be Knighted, struggling as a Squire for Jon Arryn, and to serve his older brother Brandon. How quickly the tables changed. The King revealed him plan to Tame the Lions cutting off their growing source of power, Lord Tywin Lanister of the Western Shore, the Golden Lord, was striped of his chance to become the Kings Hand when the king secretly traveled north with a hidden agenda to James Stark. Then to control the throne, Robert planed on marrying Starks daughter Tamalynn with his son Joffrey, in order to keep the throne in Baratheon and Starks' control, over the Lanisters, thiswould no doubt create a great conflict with the Lanisters thought James Stark. But his duty was to the king, and there was no safe alternative. That day ended with great joy over the dinner hall, when Robert announced that he planned on making James his Hand, the party was thrilled despite a long series of unhappy faces.. unhappy faces such as Tyrion, Veronica and Markus Lanister, along with Ithuriel and Tamalynn Stark, and finally Cyrus Snow. The night was being dragged out, the moon was high, Tamalynn, Cyrus, Brandon, Luwin, Veronica, Tommen, Markus, Joffrey and Myrcella (Kings daughter) had all already left, leaving the hall with the king, the knights, and all the older brothers, the nights joy was cut sudden when a boy screamed out at the night... and then a wolf cried out lonely howls. Kathlynn was the first one outside, with Meister Luwin, spotting poor crushed Brandon in a pool of his own blood, from falling off his bed room window on the tower, the night seemed to never end for those crying over the poor boy, who died too sundely to say a word, and the night ended too soon for those who ran around the castle searching for clues or the assailant. Nothing was found to the discontent of everyone, the only conclusion that there was was in behalf of Cyrus, who found an open door on the secret tunnels... the secret tunnels that only -he- should know about.
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
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Post by Madcat on Mar 4, 2009 18:08:45 GMT -5
Funeral Two days later after Brandon fell, the funeral for the poor by was organized on the Garden Temple of Winterfell. James Stark stood there looking at the big tree facing the seven gods amongst the pillars, was the only place on Westeros were both the Old and New religion were connected. And James stood there in front of his father, Eddard Stark, of his sister, Lyanna Stark, and his older Brother and younger son, both named Brandon Stark. The Garden Temple was full, completely full of people, with the Baretheon men, the Lanister men, the Dragonsport guards, the Stark men, and all their Knights. in the middle of the pillars, infront of the huge Red Willow, were only three people though, James Stark, Kathlynn Tully Stark and Meister Luwin. Kathlynn seemed to have been crying during all this time, her eyes were red, she seemed thinner and paler, more fatigued, a thousand years old, James Stark wasn't much better, only the fact that his eyes were dry of tears even though his face was filled in pain. Directly in front of the pillars and the New gods, where the remaining children and the Man of Iron, Ithuriel Stark, Tamalynn Stark, Cyrus Snow, Neeja Snow and Theon Greyjoy, for the first time ever, all five were true blood brothers with nothing to bicker on, all had felt the pain of losing Brandon and all were silent during the speech of Meister Luwin about Brandons "new journey" Ithuriels head high above everyone else's, on full height and full armor, but no helmet, Ithuriel tried to be the symbol of discipline and strength, a shiny pillar amongst all the Stark men surrounding him, despite a few tears slipping through his eyes that he quickly shook off. Tamalynn was holding Ithuriels arm, looking beautiful in her dress, her eyes were red like her mothers due to crying, or maybe due to spending the last three days looking for the person responsible without rest, she kept her head low with her long red ruby like hair covering her face, uttering prayers for Brandon Stark. Cyrus was under the shadow of the Huge Red Willow, half sitting, half leaning against a pillar twirling a dagger in his hand, his face despite being shadowed by the tree showed his immense anger and frustration, he spent the last three days with Tamalynn running up and down the Stronghold, all of it, and all it's secret passages, they searched and searched, but nothing was to be found and that was what drove Cyrus insane in anger, the fact that he didn't know how it was possible. He looked at the funeral but kept his focus more on the Lanister men. Neeja kept his head low in respect, despite his eyes examining everything around him, he stood next to Ithuriel and often looked at everyone, trying to find the assassin, he had spoken with Cyrus and he knew that despite there being secret passages in the stronghold, there were no passages that would connect to the exterior wall, and no guards allowed anyone in or out of the Stronghold during the dinner. Neeja knew that the Assassin was in that Garden, he knew and he was trying to find who... his hand fingering his rapier distractedly, before focusing back at Meister Luwin. Theon, who never payed respect for death, actually shed a tear or two for Brandon, despite being the "foreign" brother, he had connected with Brandon more then everyone else, the boy was too young to understand the bickering between the Stark and Greyjoy, and the political wars over the North that involved Theon, so Brandon was always the only one that spoke to Theon as if he was a real brother, Theon would walk up to Ithuriel and place his hand over his shoulder, to which both nodded a mutual respect over each other in times to come. Behind these, where the knights and nobles of Winterfell, Sor Benjen Stark and Sor Rodrik Cassel amongst others, behind them where the Baratheon men, Sor Selmy Baristan, Sor Renly Baratheon, King Robert Baratheon, princess Myrcella Baratheon and prince Tommen Baratheon. And behind them where the knight and nobles of the Lanister, as far away from the funeral as the Temple allowed them to, Sor Markus Lanister, Sor Illyn Payne, the Queen Veronica Lanister Baratheon, the prince Joffey Baratheon, the princes' guard Sandor 'Bloodhound' Clegane, and the impish Lanister brother, Tyrion Lanister. James Stark listened to the Meister's words, and stayed as people started leaving the Garden Temple and on with their lives, Kathlynn stayed with him, as the Temple was nearly empty she turned to James. -If I stay in Winterfell, will you stay with me and leave this foolish idea of going with Robert? -My duty now is with the King Kathlynn, despite everything I still gave him my word that I would be his Hand, and Robert needs me for the greater good of the Kingdom. -This is insane... you are going to the Lions den James... you fought wars with swords and steel, the Lanister fought theirs with backstabbing and words, they are light years ahead of both you and Robert. -Robert ne-... -Robert is a shell of a man he once was, he sleeps around, he eats and he drinks, he drove the kingdom down so low that the Lanisters hardly need to steal it. -ENOUGH Kathlynn- James Stark was tired of this discussion, he had heard it five days ago, four days ago, three days ago...- I shall go, and I am well armed in ways that Jon Arryn wasn't, if the Lanisters are to pick a fight, we shall show the valor the Stark are known for, but mark my words Brandon's death didn't scare me off the position as hand, it motivated me, I shall get to the bottom of this you have my word M'lady, you have my word that I will make them pay. The silence filled the moment, before Stark broke it once more. -But you shall stay in Winterfell, Ithuriel will need you more then Cyrus that is for sure. -Have you spoken with him...? -Time hasn't arrived for it yet, only to hope he will eventually understand there is a reason why I'm taking my most unpredictable son unto a place where people won't be so kind to point out his birth rights... The conversation ended at that, Kathlynn and James left the Temple garden before they could see Cyrus walking into the sunlight, twirling his dagger.
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
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Post by Madcat on Mar 7, 2009 14:32:29 GMT -5
Chapter 3 Tamalynn Stark, Cyrus Snow The Day seemed dark and moist when the caravans started moving from Winterfell with all the men on them, 100 on the total, 40 Lanister, 40 Kings men and 20 from Winterfell. Tamalynn waved goodbye from her horse to her brothers Neeja, Ithuriel and Theon, while keeping up with Cyrus and the wolves, Sin and Tempest. The journey itself was boring, hard on the butt because of the horse riding, and monotonous with not much to talk to or about since the relations between Lanisters and Starks were ice cold. Sor Benjen and Lord James Stark lead the Caravan in their war stallions showing with their accusing eyes what goes on in their heads, the Lanisters were the ones who killed Brandon they think, they are sure of it. It takes one day for the caravan to stop and camp, being close to the swampy regions of the Gargalo, Cyrus and Tamalynn share a fun conversation until interrupted by Joffrey, who tries to persuade Tamalynn to go out on a stroll in the woods with him, to which she declined. Through this dialog, where Cyrus ended up being called a bastard once or twice, they found out that the king and the lord of winterfell often go out onto the woods in secret meetings, this made them curious, and quickly they went to speak with Sor Benjen about where they could be. Uncle Ben, as Cyrus calls him, told them that he too wonders about all this secrecy, and worries for his men who are blind and surrounded by Lanisters, he asks Cyrus and Tamalynn to go see what they can about what their plans are... they discovered a lot. They hear that Robert is pressuring James to make a decision about his daughter marrying Joffrey, to which James gets second doubts, and the king then questions about why the Bastard is coming along for the ride, to which James finally reveals his plans for the boy. The boy has a gift to find secrets Thought Cyrus, words said by his own father, The Queen has a Spider, Varys, and they play these games of diplomacy a lot better then we do, Cyrus will be my spider, more then a spider, he will be a wolf.. Cyrus, the Spider, against Varys the Master of Secrets of Dragonsport If only he could see that... were the final words of James about his son, words that made him chuckle coldly. As the king and the lord return to camp, Tamalynn and Cyrus stay there, discussing their plans of what to do... should they stay? should they obey? should they run? should they consider this marriage? and as Tamalynn says that she would only marry him if Cyrus stayed by her side, a flash appeared before her eyes, and for a second she saw Cyrus older, with a beard, and a crown on his head. As they speak, Tyrion Lanister, Markus Lanister and the Bloodhound Sandor Clegane walk over to a spot near them, discussing quietly about who was foolish enough to kill Brandon stark in his own castle? The Bloodhound said he didn't do it, he was too busy babysitting the Prince, Markus didn't as he was too busy babysitting the Queen, and Tyrion said he didn't do it, despite knowing the secret passages of Winterfell, the deformed man had no alibi, but his word seemed to be enough for Markus and the Bloodhound. What will we do about this? they shall use the brats death to gain advantage over us in the court. Said Markus in a calm pleasant voice. The Solution is so simple its amazing replied Tyrion, we blame it on the bastard.Cyrus and Tamalynn heard as they planned on shouting out rumors of how he hated his Stark family and how he would do anything to ruin his Lord father James' chance to achieve power. Also saying that, for the plan to go smoothly, they needed to "behave" the next few days before they reach Dragonsport, to give their story credibility. Amazingly, not long after these three returned to camp, stories were already spinning in how the goblin Tyrion Lanister killed the boy, and how he knew the secret passages, and how he wanted to scare off the Wolf from the Kings hand position previously promised to his father Tywin. The Lanisters were amazed at this rumor that started out from the mouth of Cyrus Snow and Tamalynn Stark, to Benjen Stark moments after they rushed in camp. The next day of traveling lead them to the Swaps of Gargalo, where they set up camp again. Sor Benjen and Lord James Stark were by the fireplace alone exchanging words. -It will be impossible to have Cyrus work on our behalf against the spider Varys, and even if by some miracle he does decide to help us, how can a boy outsmart the master of secrets of Dragonsport?- Said Benjen, not enjoying the talk about the kids future. -Cyrus will be brought to the reality of the situation, he is facing very dangerous people, people who killed an innocent child, people with no real love for Half-borns, he either works with us and lives, or he works against us and dies, the Lanisters would ever give him a chance to cross me. -He will chose option 'c', staying away from the mess and close to your daughter. A moment of silence between them, as James sees Tamalynn and Cyrus leave their tent, speaking about some kids ordeal and then Tamalynn takes him to a ruin away from camp. -We're using the wrong weapons brother, Cyrus won't fight for us, but he will fight for Tamalynn. -Even so... he only listens to Tamalynn, who listens to him first. -There are ways, you still have the extra armor? -Yes, but... what? -Follow me. Sor Benjen and Lord James both went to chat with Cyrus and Tamalynn, the conversation was brief, perfect to what James wanted to hear, everything was going as planned. James returns to camp with a grin, you were made to fight with swords and steel, said his wife Kathlynn, guess she was wrong. -Your Grace, a word with you?- said James towards Robert once he reached his tent. -Ahh Stark, a pleasant sight to see! You better have good news for me, or I'll swear i'll jump in to one of these open tombs surrounding us!- The King laughs loudly, calling attention to himself, the Lanisters look over curious. There is no way to do this without them knowing, better do it openly. -I accept Tamalynn marrying prince Joffrey, but I do have some conditions that can not be argued. The Lanisters all look around surprised, and worried at the same time, they gather around the king. -What is he talking about?- Inquired Markus. -What else?! I plan on marrying the lovely Tamalynn Stark with my son Joffrey Baratheon! madly in love they are, madly in love! Your conditions Stark? -She will have her own room, and I will want a knight to serve as her bodyguard at all times. -Both of those are acceptable and reasonable James, Sor Benjen will protect her? I thought Winterfell was running short on Knights. -No, not Benjen...- He looks around, a crowd forming around them, everyone was there watching the great finaly.-... I want Cyrus to be Knighted. Everyone spoke at the same time, this seemed to create a slight confusion, Sor Selmy was saying An illegitimate son should not be Knighted! Sor Renly was laughing as he said Another Bloodhound? Markus' voice was the loudest, as he unsheathed his sword along with half the Lanister guard, This is a trick he said. -ENOUGH!- The king belched, as he placed silence on everyone, and keeping the weapons away from blood, he approved everything, the wedding and the Knighting ceremony, only under the condition to keep this as far from him as possible, he had enough bickering. The Following moments were strange to say the least, in a short period of time Sor Benjen was knighting Sor Cyrus as the Royal Guard of the Future Queen, Lady Tamalynn Stark. The oddest moment was without a doubt, seeing Cyrus wear armor. Lord James Stark fled to his tent once the ceremony was over, ignoring the miserable expression on Cyrus' face, as he enters the comfort of his bed he looks outside through the open tent flap, towards Cyrus. Does he know he has just been tricked?, he thinks, Or does he plan on tricking us in the future?. The next few days of traveling were colder then the first, leaving Winterfell seemed like it was done two thousand years ago and not four nights ago, the Lanisters leading the caravans, Tyrion not to be seen, and the Starks on the end, keeping the Lanisters at bay. On the last day of camping, James and Benjen Stark were delightfully placing bets on an awkward situation. Two escorts were sent from Dragonsport to welcome the King and all his men back to the castle, these two escorts were the two monsters Sor Amory Loch, the Poison Blade and Sor Gregor Clegane, the Walking Mountain, older brother of the Bloodhound, and the same person who burned half of his brothers face off with a torch for stealing an apple. -20 gold he kills him.- Says Benjen. -Don't be foolish...- replied James -... 30 gold and he just maims him. To this, Tamalynn and Sor Cyrus popped out of their tent, looking at what was going on, once they were introduced to the two knights, the Bloodhound pops out of his tent. -Motherfucker...- Maybe were the words he said, before he charged at his brother Gregor. They fought, both over sized brothers fought and would of killed each other if not for Markus and Selmy pushing them apart. During all this commotion, Lord James turns to Sor Benjen to say a witty expression, only to find out he disappeared. Once James asked for a party to search for him, Markus was the first one to turn to him, in bitter words. -Your guard is your problem, this does not concern the king, and thus it does not concern his guard, Lanisters, brothers, place down your weapons, do not get in the Starks way of finding their lost Knight, the seven gods know they already have few. With that, everyone except Selmy Baristan placed down their weapons and went back to patrolling the camp. -Fine... anyone seen him leave the tent? or anyone joining the tent?- Inquired James. -I did, I saw him moments ago by the forest, he got bored of this fight like me and decided to go out for a walk. - Said Sor Renly, who appeared out of nowhere casually walking. -Sor Cyrus, Sor Selmy and Sor Renly, you shall join me, we shall go look for him, Tamalynn, gather Sin and Tempest, you're coming with us. All seven of them hurried up int a woods clearing north of the encampment, to find Sor Benjen laying down in a pool of blood in the center, hardly breathing from the open blade would on his chest. Tamalynn waited for no one, she rushed in and placed a hand over his chest, and after uttering a small prayer, his chest wound closed and the bleeding stopped, despite Sor Benjen remaining unconscious. -The hells?- Both Selmy and Renly shared their confusion on what happened, looking at Tamalynn. -She saved his life, for now, Sor Renly you shall join me and Sor Selmy on transporting Sor Benjen the remaining distance to Dragonsport to see your Meister. -I will come with you- Said Tamalynn, determined. -YOU shall stay with the rest of the caravan, do not give the Lanisters any more reasons to mistrust us, the word is final. As Renly and Selmy went to get some horses, and as Tamalynn sees what else she can do for Benjen, Cyrus approaches his father, whispering Don't trust Renly, don't let him near uncle Ben. to which is father nodded. -You shall be the remaining Sor of Wintefell, and like so, you shall lead the Caravan the remaining way tomorrow.- Finished off James, placing a hand on Cyrus' shoulder, as Tamalynn looks up at both of them she receives one final flash as she for a brief moment sees an older Cyrus, once again with beard and a crown, with an open throat, and holding his shoulder wasn't his father, it was woman with the same hair as him, she looked kind towards him with one hand on his shoulder, and one hand on a bloodied knife. This flash confused Tamalynn for a moment, preferring to remain silent before she may say something wrong. ((wanted to give her the flash yesterday, but forgot... so here it is now!))
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
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Post by Madcat on Mar 9, 2009 4:49:04 GMT -5
Chapter 4 Ithuriel Stark, Neeja Snow Five days had passed since the funeral of Brandon Stark, five days of Winterfell getting used to its new Lord, Ithuriel Stark. In a short few days, it seemed Ithuriel grew twenty years, outgrowing his 18 years of age, Neeja had noticed it so, and he served as Ithuriels guidance and adviser, trying to help lift the burden of running a city, and the North, by himself. It had been 2 days after the funeral that Ithuriel wasted no time and sent forth a letter to all the five lesser houses of the North, he called upon Lord Balon Greyjoy, 'Little' Jon Ulm, Reed Teluvian, Richard Karstark and ofcourse the man of stone, Lord Roose Bolton, for a meeting inside the Winterfell walls. They all agreed on appearing to this formality which could be nothing more then the introduction of the new Lord of the North, now that James Stark left to Dragonsport, to serve as the Kings Hand. It was on the fifth day that the meeting occurred, Four of the five lesser Lords had arrived and tension was being built as the Ulm men provoked all the other Lords, including Ithuriel. Not only him but Roose also seemed to be content to prove that Ithuriel was unworthy of his task, and that it was given to him too soon. By the time the fifth and final lord(, Balon Greyjoy,) arrived, there was already a fair amount of bickering and badmouthing going on about everyone else. when Ithuriel walked in the chamber with Neeja to meet with them, they all seemed angry and bitter, and not even Neejas magic tricks seem to ease them the slightest. Once Balon arrived, everyone took their seat to begin the the council. Lord Ithuriel kept the topic direct, he stood and asked who amongst the present still presented fealty to the Stark men, and who would stand together in case of an attack by the Lanisters, the answers however, were slightly disappointing at first. The Ulm men stood first, saying they pledged Fealty to the great James Stark, and no one else. The Karstark and the Teluvian both bowed down to Ithuriel as an equal. The Bolton also pledge fealty to James Stark, and not Ithuriel, not giving him their armies. The Greyjoy spoke last, saying no word besides demanding to see their son, Theon Greyjoy, and that he would decide the fealty of their house. 2 out of 5 grimly thought Ithuriel, butI'll at least get two more. The Ulm men started babbling about how the kingdom should be divided in seven, like the times before Targaryen ruled the land, and how the North was given to a wolf pup. Ithuriel, to gain their trust, did pretty much the same thing his father did eight years before, he decided to fight them for their fealty. 'Big' Jon Ulm, the older son of 'Little' Jon Ulm, moved forward, all muscle and beard the size of a bear, while Neeja discreetly placed himself in front of him, in between all of the lords. As 'Big' Jon charged, Neeja charged up a lightning bolt from his fingers, that smashed against 'Big' Jon's chest, sending him flying back, this display of magic intrigued all of the men in the room, looking at Neeja oddly and curiously, as 'Big' Jon looks at his unique adversary. The fight continued, a display of swordsmanship by both as 'Big' Jon tried to slash Neeja in Half, and he dodged and countered with an attack to his leg, and after which 'Big' Jon replied with a double stab on Neeja's chest. This Stab hit Neeja badly, but he was fortunate to cast an invisibility spell on himself, disappearing from 'Big' Jons sight, and giving him a fake feeling of victory. As 'Big' Jon gloated towards Ithuriel, showing off his superiority, Neeja appeared from behind blasting his chest once again with magical projectiles (to avoid using the word "missiles") that likely scarred his hairy chest. The battles end would be felt after a powerful acid arrow was shot from Neeja's hand, hitting 'Big' Jon's hurt leg, the arrow would eat away off his leg, leaving him incapacitated to continue the fight. His reaction, as was 'Little' Jon's reaction as well, was of laughter and congratulating the Boy who defeated him, oddly ignoring the magic that was used, despite some Lords around looked at Neeja with deep curiosity. The Ulm men quickly joined the Stark after this. As the fight finishes, Theon Greyjoy walked in the meeting looking over the men, and his father Balon Greyjoy, walking towards the center of the hall, after being told that he was the one to decide the fealty of the Greyjoy, he turned to Lord Ithuriel Stark, and said that the Greyjoy navy was his to control and protect the Summer Sea shore. This lead to a vast discussion, between Balon Greyjoy and his son, saying that he had given up, and that he had surrendered to the Starks, it ended up as being deserted as the heir of the isle of Pyke. And when Ithuriel asked Theon and/or his father for a blood oath to which the houses would remain at peace, or be cast out, both Theon and Balon refused. The Greyjoy (except Theon) would soon leave Winterfell, without waiting for the meeting to end, angrily, the same way he did 6 years back to Lord James Stark. The last topic of the night was reserved to the Bolton men, Ithuriel tried to reason with him an alliance towards a common enemy, to which Roose Bolton was not so keen on the subject, and conversationally declined, the words between Ithuriel and Roose seemed polite and purely political, but Ithuriel was calling him a coward who would hide behind his walls and let the world run by, as he was calling Ithuriel a kid wanting power to avenge the death of his brother for whatever means, both men disliked each other. After the meeting, and the dinner, every Lord returned to their domains, Kathlynn Stark followed Roose Bolton after a heated conversation with her Son Ithuriel, she crosses with Roose on the corridor, wishing to speak a few words with him, Roose motioned his guards away as he and Kathlynn had a moment to speak. -You know full well that Ithuriel is a loyal and good hearted person, like his father, your claims on his behalf were unfair and harsh. - Said Kathlynn with a soft tone, River Folk never knew how to play tough. -What I said needed to be said, even if denied a part of it is true, Ithuriel would act differently if his brother was still alive, it took Brandon and Eddard to die by Aerys hands for James Stark to join Robert Baratheon to war, perhaps all it took this time was one Brandon for Ithuriel to join his father on this crusade against the Lanisters.- Roose speaks so calmly and honorably that quite honestly irritated Kathlynn. -And what does it take for Roose Bolton to join the war? Who needs to die so that Pavor keep sets its armies to motion? There was a brief silence amongst the two, Roose was considering her words carefully before saying: -That person is already dead, it's when he returns that we will move our armies. Lord Roose Bolton bowed down sternly, before turning into his room and closing the door on Kathlynn, who was left on the halls to think over that. The following three days were dull until Neeja brought up a letter to Ithuriel, a letter claiming the Wall of Ice was being attacked by monstrosities and that it needed immediate reenforcement, as Ithuriel considered this Meister Luwin walked in with another letter, saying that the Cailin moat would be attacked by the Greyjoy soon, and that they did not posses the necessary men power to repel the attack, both news forced Ithuriel to stretch his armies thin across the land, without weakening the towns too much, he decided to send the Ulm and the Karstark men south to defend the Gargalo, while he and two thousand men traveled north with Neeja and Theon to defend the wall, these plans were final and set in motion the following day. Three days of traveling north with two thousand men, Ithuriel, Neeja and Theon place themselves on the Ice Wall looking north, the trees grew wild and made it hard to see for archers, but the urgency of time made it impossible for them to do anything about it now. They arrived placing four hundred archers on the walls and one thousand men along the line, the remaining six hundred were kept within the wall in case the first line broke. Ithuriel and Neeja walked beside their men, hearing reports of Night Stalkers (Undead abomination of the God of Darkness, used to fight the God of Fire Az'hai) traveling south after they devastated a barbarian village. Things that feared no steel, and with inhuman strength, on the company of mammoths and wargs. Suddenly two thousand men seemed too few to face them. The Battle was quick, two waves struck the wall and were repelled with flames and oil, Neenja and Ithuriel running between the ranks aiding as they could while Theon stayed on the wall firring flaming arrows, the monsters numbers were only high enough to wreck a barbarian village, but not enough to do major harm to the men of Winterfell on the wall. Nearly a hundred and fifty lost their lives that day. As Ithuriel and Neeja return to the wall, having the incredible cold sink in their bones again after the heat of battle passed, they approached Theon to discuss strategies and to better organize the next attack, until a scout hands out two letters to Neeja from the south. ((on the event it was one, but it makes more sense if its two, so shush)) On one letter it read that Ulm and Karstark didn't arrive at Cailin soon enough, facing a loss, the Teluvian men fled the incomplete stronghold and waited for reenforcement, all three houses attacked, but so far have not managed to repel, the Greyjoy from Cailin. The other letter proved to be more problematic for Ithuriel as Neeja read it out, the Bolton men had left Pavor keep, and heading north with an army of ten thousand, to fight the young wolf. There was a moment of silence as people looked up to Ithuriel to know the next step, that and the fact that Bolton's words on the council were hanging like a shadow. What if, instead of staying inside our walls, we went out and attacked your fathers army from behind? That would probably of changed the outcome of the war, and there he was, six years later, attacking Lord James Stark's son from the back. Crows were sent flying, and men were set to motion, to Winterfell Sor Rodrik would travel north with five thousand men to flank the rear of Roose Bolton, to Cailin they had instructions to continue their pressure on the Greyjoy, and to Dragonsport Ithuriel would call on his father to attack Cailin from the south, finishing the Greyjoy for good. The men on the wall of Ice were told to cut down the trees, and to make a wood palisade, and to use rotating shifts to stay fresh. As the last order was sent out, Ithuriel turns to Neeja in what seemed the oddest moment... -Also, send a letter to Cyrus. -Cyrus?- Both Neeja and Theon were slightly surprised, what could the self centered prick do there? -Tell him to keep Tamalynn safe, and to use his skill to find out if the Lanisters had anything to do with what was going on in the North. Theon turns to the cold cold north, watching it from the wall, Ithuriel looks towards the south, and the upcoming war, while Neeja's eyes flash for a moment as he saw Ithuriel older and with a pertinent scar on his left eye, slashing downwards reaching his mouth, wearing a crown, with Theon Greyjoy behind him aiming an arrow to his head. -Ithuriel... a word with you?- Neeja whispers. ((didn't want both visions of the kids older to be the same, so I added a scar on Ithuriel))
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
Posts: 457
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Post by Madcat on Mar 15, 2009 14:02:22 GMT -5
Chapter 5 Tamalynn Stark, Sor Cyrus Snow Tamalynn walked around her room, in Dragonsport, nervously as Cyrus read to her the letter Ithuriel had sent, the letter suspecting the Lanisters as the cause for the Bolton betraying the Stark on the north, and how they were in quite a bad spot. In between a monster hoard, and the Bolton men, on the frozen wasteland. -Who'd a think we're the ones in the safe spot? Said Sor Cyrus, they discussed briefly of what they planed, to keep an eye on Varys the Spider, on Sor Renly Baratheon, and on Sor Amory Loch. It wasn't long before the Grand Meister Pycelle knocked on their door, calling them to a war council deciding Dragonsports stand against the Cailin struggle. As they walked down the stairs towards the council, they crossed the Master of secrets and the Master of the coin chatting with the Goblin, this was the first time they saw Varys, and he was without a doubt a figure not commonly seen in Westeros, a very tall thin man, nearly bold except for the three patches of hair that reach his neck, his face covered in piercings and his eyes were white around the pupil, giving him a ghostly appearance. With him, was Petyr Baelish, master of the Coin, and Tyrion Lanister, as Sor Cyrus and lady Tamalynn walked by with Meister Pycelle, they entered a brief conversation, to which they learned the Masters had no place for the war council, only the Knights of Dragonsport (Selmy Baristan, Illyn Payne), the Knights of Tempest Bay (Renly Baratheon), the Knights of Lanisport (Amory Loch, Markus Lanister, Gregor Clegane) and the Knights of Winterfell (Cyrus Snow). The council was basically 8 man voting on a subject, with the king giving his final voice in case of a tie, on this council it was James Stark that started explaining to all the letter he got from his son Ithuriel, in how Cailin was under Greyjoy control and that their help was needed to remove the threat on the Gargalo before heading north to face the Bolton, after this explanation, it was Markus Lanister who spoke, saying that it was not the concern of the King who governs the North, as long as they pledge fealty to the king, if they don't, then they would be crushed. He also stated that dividing Dragonsport army before the time calls for it, would make the city vulnerable for any outside attacks, and how that was the way Aerys lost the throne. This divided the council a bit, and after a sly set of remarks between Cyrus and Markus, nothing was added to the topic. As the voting started, Renly, Selmy, James and Cyrus voted for the moving of the armies to Aid Cailin. Gregor,Illyn, Markus and Amory voted against. The King gave the final vote saying the armies would move to Cailin, and that since Markus was so worried about the kings safety, that only a small fraction of the Dragonsport army would leave the castle, with only Markus as their general, if they wanted number, then the king underlined how their father Tywin Lanister should supply Markus with his armies from Lanisport and Casterly Mount. After the Queen showed her concern for this, the King changed his mind, giving Markus the company of Gregor Clegane and Amory Loch, as well as a more comforting number of men. The war council was decided and the men would leave as soon as the festival would end, and on that subject, Master Pycelle and Master Varys were summoned to the Council to discuss the matter of the festival and when the King asked for the recipes on the Festival, Petyr Baelish approached with a big smile, despite the less comforting news. -The Festival will cost the vault two hundred and fifty thousand gold in total, including prizes. -And the gain?- Asked the king. -Well.. since your grace decided this to be a free fee for the people to watch.. and with the complications from the north not many Knights have showed... we will have the gains of five thousand gold. The King seemed undisturbed by this fact. -You're the Master of the Coin, make the gold appear. -So we are to ask for more loans? May I underline we already owe Lord Tywin an amount of three million gold? James Stark tripped on his chair after he heard that, not even Robert would be so reckless... -3 million.. we owe 3 million to Tywin Lanister?- Said James to Robert. -The king has a big apetite. - Answered Master Baelish, sparing the King his words, in a moment the king sent Petyr off to his job of collecting the gold, before he turned his attention to Varys, and asked him what does he know about the Festival fights. -I know that Sor Loras Tyrell, from Highgarden, will be present once again, people wish to see him fight Sor Markus again after last years explosive final. -...you lose once, and suddenly anyone can beat you.- Said Markus Lanister calmly, yet annoyed. -Without wishing to provoke you Sor Markus, but you haven't won in three years now. Cyrus snickered a bit too loudly here during the awkward moment of silence. -Besides the usual knights from Dorne, Eagles Nest, Highgarden and the Western shore, only two Knights arrived from the North, and only one from Riverrun. -Sor Brynden Tully again?- Said the heavy and uneducated voice of Gregor 'Mountain' Clegane. A year before the Mountain had nearly removed the leg of Bryden with one heavy chop. -How do you know these things Varys? The application list is supposed to be secret. - Selmy gave his voice, doubtful of Varys. -Oh I have birds that tell me things here and there. Spiders more likely thought Cyrus. -So besides Markus against Loras Tyrell, no good fights? - Said the king. -Seems like you wont be missing anything during that boar hunt with Lord Stark, your grace. Another moment of silence, apparently no one knew of that except the king and James... and Varys. -You really have a way of finding things out that sometimes nerves me. -It is my job Your Grace.- He bowed. -Then go do your job. - King Belched. After Varys was dismissed, the council ended, everyone left the chamber except James who called Cyrus and Tamalynn to his side, they spoke in whispers. James was livid from the fact the king gave away three million of the kingdom to the Lanisters.. and from the fact that half of the council was under the queens favor... and lastly from the fact that Varys knew more then he was supposed to, sharing his troubles, he turned to Tamalynn and Cyrus. -But Varys is right, me and the King are going to the Northen woods to hunt boar, I trust you both to do an important task for me while I'm away, I want you to find out as much on Jon Arryn as you can, whatever he was doing before he got killed, is the reason why he died, I'm sure of it. James left his children like that, and they went off getting ready to the man on man tournament that would start briefly, Cyrus Snow (as the only knight of Winterfell at the moment) joined, and Tamalynn secretly joined as well, under the alias of "the Purple Knight" due to the color of the armor Sor Renly gave her the night before. As Cyrus and Tamalynn scouted for answers, and went on fighting the arenas, James Stark accompanied Robert Baratheon and 50 royal guards on a horse ride north of town, on the ancient Northen Woods, filled with Boars like Robert liked it. -I do not see how keeping a huge debt on the Lanisters and how keeping the council completely full of loyal monsters to the Queen will make us win this war Robert... I have not seen such a freak show since I was with you and Jon watching the circus thirty years ago... Gregor Clegane a Knight?! Amory Loch is a poison master... Markus is a regicide and yet serving as one of the highest prized knights in your court... Varys, a Tyroshi man with no morals or honor.. and lastly Illyn, who isn't a man anymore after killing man after man the Lanisters told him to execute, he is a cold shell of a man... all monsters.... all in power. -You sound like the good nagging version of my Wife Stark, but still nagging. -How can you joke, hells... how can you sleep at night with the company of so many killers, murderers and assassins? The King did not answer, for a long time they said nothing else, as they approach the hunting spot, the king and James separated themselves from their men, the king armed himself with a bottle of rum and a spear, James carried his two handed sword, Frostbite. -I'm sorry old friend to have dragged you into this. - The king said in a very very deep and sentimental voice. -You were the last person I wanted to drag in this, I believe we have no choice though. -What are you talking about Robert? - James looks at his King troubled, and suspicious. -A few months back I had a... a hell of a dream... the war we're fighting isn't with the Lanisters... hell.. it's not a war amongst houses James... I saw a war of Gods in my dream... -What have you been drinking Robert?- He looks at the Rum. -This? - He flips the bottle upside down, poring it on the grass. - This is a cheap trick by the Lanisters, poisoned Rum, a damn shame.. I sure do love Rum.. -You're scaring me Robert.. explain yourself. -The Gods, the world of magic and dragons... its real... and over five thousand years the gods are going to fight again... I had to bring you and your children here... I had to set the things in motion.. Westeros needs to unite before the final war.. and you and me need to die for that to happen. James unsheathed his sword, looking at the King suspiciously. -Stand back. -Watch James... see what I see, understand. The king lifted his hand, and suddenly Everything went dark for James, around him he saw nothing... then he saw visions.. of things passed... He saw the Regicide kill Aerys the II, on his own throne, he saw Aerys burst out of his grave again, with a crown of bones around his skull, he saw Robert place a vial of poison on Jon Arryn's glass as they laughed together over some sort of joke, he then saw Jon Arryn die and the great face of grief and shame of Robert, he saw himself speaking with Robert, and accepting the new roll as Kings Hand, and going to Dragonsport with his son and daughter Cyrus and Tamalynn, he saw the regicide placing a poison on the same bottle of Rum the king had on his hand moments ago, he saw the king dying on his bed with an open gut wound, and he saw himself confronting the queen of her sins, he saw himself dying in front of all of Dragonsport, and he saw on the future... he saw a thousand diferent banners crushing the Lanisters due to their sins, he saw his four children... Ithuriel with a scar on his left eye, and a crown, facing an older and bearded Cyrus with another crown, with Tamalynn in a magnificent dress and a crown on her head and a long red hair, he saw these three children facing each other, in what seems a fight, until Neeja exploded in flames in between the three, with a flaming sword on his hand as he kept all three away from each other, he did not have a crown, but he also had no hair, and over his head a crown of flames could be seen. On this vision, Behind each and every single one of them all of Westeros stood, every single house with them, every man and weapon, in a unity that has never been seen in history, and then to the West, to the sea, a huge black wave approaches the shore... a black wave of death. The Four champions looked between themselves... the vision ended there, and James was once again in front of Robert, who seemed sad and conflicted. -You see now what we must do? -But... how will our deaths bring the people together...? -That is a question only destiny can answer James... and Destiny is cruel for you and me... I am to be killed by a pig, you are to die from treason... but it's the only way James... the only way. -James was unsure of anything, the vision was clear.. but... he couldn't see it, he couldn't see the logic behind it... The rest of the hunt was a premonition of what James saw on the visions, a huge boar appeared and Robert tried to kill it with his spear, he was too slow, maybe on purpose, he got hit on the gut by the boars tusks, the boar then shredded open a huge wound on the King, to which they needed to quickly return to Dragonsport. As they arrived, news had been heard that on the tournament the Bloodhound was unstoppable and won the man on man tournament, after a tough fight with Cyrus, he proceeded to fight Markus, Bryndon and Selmy on the final, Markus and Cyrus were injured seriously but both recovered. Cyrus got a heal from Tamalynn, but Markus had to recover from a huge axe chop on the shoulder through normal methods, and he was still unconscious by the time James returned to Dragonsport. Tamalynn and Cyrus saw the king arrive through the halls with a bloodied gut, and James carrying him, Tamalynn insinuated how she could help the king, but James sternly denied her, and they both disappeared unto the kings room with meister Pycelle following. Tamalynn and Cyrus were stunned by the moment, until Varys appeared out of nowhere, inviting them to come along to learn of a few secrets that were set in motion, and after Tamalynn got a bottle of vodka for Cyrus they did. Varys walked them through the corridors and secret tunnels of Dragonsport, speaking in his dark odd accent as they walked. -It was Markus Lanister who killed Jon Arryn,- He said. - Jon Arryn found out that Joffrey Baratheon isn't Roberts son, but the incestuous byproduct of the relations between Markus and Veronica. -I knew it. - Replied Cyrus, a bit too excited, as Tamalynn was in shock. -He found this book on Dynasties, he realized that the Baratheon black hair has always gone from father to child, and all of Robert Baratheon's children are blond, Tommen, Myrcella and Joffrey are all Markus' childs.- He gave the book to Tamalynn, as they ears dropped behind the wall of the kings chamber, they heard how Robert titled James as ruling king until is son came to age, and how a document was written to prove that. -Quickly, you must be there when they leave the room, you must show these documents and explain to your father what I have told you. - Said Varys, to a confused Tamalynn and Cyrus... they were sure that Varys was a bad guy, why was he helping them? Once again Varys drove them through secret corridors, to bring the two kids to the kings chamber, while Varys disappeared into a dark corridor, like he always did. Tamalynn and Cyrus told what they knew to their father, about the queen and the Regicide, about the heir to the throne, and about the murder of Jon Arryn, and as they spoke, James once again had this feeling of a horrible deja vu, because he knew that if all of that was right... then what he had to do next was obvious... He insisted that he needed to confront the Queen despite Cryus' wise remarks of how foolish it would be, and of course Cyrus was, but it had to be done, there is no other way to unify Westeros.After James wrote two letters, one for each child, both explaining and proving who the true heir of Westeros is, he gave his children a farewell, quite obvious that he would never see them again, yet he didn't know what to say... being from the North... the cold temperatures made cold men, and James Stark was no exception, he just turned his back and begun walking down the corridor, crossing by Varys on the way, who gave him a slick smile. How much does he know about this I wonder... Thought James as he left Varys on the dark corridors behind him, leaning against a wall. Varys himself turned around as soon as James left, pressing against a stone statue to activate the mechanism that would open the secret passage, to meet with the Bloodhound on the other side. -Ain't I a big ass skeleton to have in a closet?- Said the Bloodhound, underneath his horned dog helmet. -Well, you should get yourself in place, matter of time before the Hand gets chopped off, stay by the children, keep them safe long enough until I get the arrangements ready. -I'll buy you enough time, whats up with you once we're gone? They will suspect you most of all. -They always do, my only weapon is my knowledge, they won't kill me when I'm the only thing that can keep them from getting destroyed. -Weren't we supposed to destroy them? - The Bloodhound was slightly confused, supposedly everything done that night was to destroy the Lanisters. -Oh no, we just have to take those two to Riverrun, after that, who knows what the gods have planned for us? Now hurry, I can already hear the Stark arguing. The rest of the night was a blur of things that happened too fast to pay attention... specially for Cyrus and Tamalynn who now share the same horse, riding next to Sor Benjen and the 'Bloodhound', outside of Dragonsport. They were aided by the Bloodhound and by Varys to escape Dragonsport during the fight between Winterfell and Lanister guards, during the confusing, even sick Benjen was rescued, but not before the Bloodhound allowed Tamalynn and Cyrus to see their father being executed untop of the Dragonsport wall by Sor Illyn Payne. Executed byy the two handed sword, the Frostbite, James Stark's own sword. Everything seemed to slow down around them after that.. as if a dream...
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
Posts: 457
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Post by Madcat on Mar 17, 2009 18:21:40 GMT -5
Chapter 6 Lord Ithuriel Stark, Neeja Snow It was a cold night of patrolling the wall of ice, as always, as Theon Ithuriel and Neeja walked side by side on top of the huge wall, looking far unto the southern horizon, waiting for the Bolton army to strike. The task wouldn't be so hard if they had to occasionally look at the northern horizon as well, they had been attacked twice more by these undead monsters known as night stalkers after the initial encounter, and each man lost, would be one less sword to fight the Bolton's ten thousand. Theon, Ithuriel and Neeja discussed of their letters, of how Cailin was proving to be a huge trouble for the Ulm, Karstark and Teluvian, who still didn't manage to breach its walls, of how Winterfell had sent Sor Rodrik Cassel and five thousand men to aid them on the wall, and how far they were, and of how Dragonsport had sent no reply to their messages. They spoke of all of this while watching camp fires on the snowy plains, miles away, a warning by the Bolton saying "we're coming" that was making the Stark men nervous and anxious. The scout returned to the Wall, and the news confirmed their fears, the Bolton had lifted their camp and were marching towards them the fires were all that remained on the camp. Horns were heard around the wall, men picking up weapons and positioning themselves in formation as Ithuriel and Neeja gave Theon their final instructions before the coming fight, and they ran out towards the wall courtyard, ready for the bash. No sleeping tonight said Theon as they heard the scout, Ithuriel couldn't remember the last time he had a decent night of sleep. If only I was more powerful was the words on Neejas mind, being stuck between two swords and it seems like magic, the one thing that he counted on all his life, couldn't save him that night. Moments of Silence, before the horns of war announced the Boltons charge. The first attack was an initial charge of two thousand men, in a V formation, trying to thin out the number of men protecting the brief amount of wall protecting the Castle of Ice, the worlds largest (and growing) castle. The Bolton attempted to attack the east and west at the same time, focusing the high tower that made arrows rain over them, and also focusing the armory, who held the easiest entry point for the army to enter the wall and spread like a plague, if both failed, they still had enough men to charge in the middle and make a breach with ladders. This initial assault proved difficult for the Stark men, Ithuriel and Neeja ran from end to end compensating the lack of men with charges with their wolves and men, flanking the invading army as they could with spells, arrows and the majestic longsword Ithuriel found named Frostbite. The fight lasted all night, but by sun rise the damage was heavier for the Bolton testing army, they started to retreat when their numbers began to sink too fast, they did not breach the Armory, the Tower had taken severe damage, and the Center was barely scratched by their ladders, they had won the battle that night, exhaustion would fall over them, the Stark and Snow returned to the wall to discuss follow up tactics with the Greyjoy on the upcoming fight. On the meanwhile nearly five hundred returned of the once two thousand men to the Bolton camp, the original assault on the wall proved difficult, the leading commander of that unit walked in Roose Bolton's tent with the news of the war, to which barely sparked an emotion on the cold Lord. -Did we do anything at all besides lose a great number of good men on this frozen hell? -Yes M'lord, we stroke down heavy damage on the tower, and cut down their numbers, our army is still vast even if Sor Rodrik brings reinforcements.- Replied the Knight, his voice was harsh and gravely. -Yes, but without us controlling the wall, the only thing that will happen is us being crushed against a shield by a sword... We attack tonight will all the men, we need to do this now. -Defeating the Young Wolf is harder then one would think... it's in their blood... they come from a long generation of fighters that not even the Man of Iron could stop, Ithuriel is like his father, already a war veteran on his first battle. -Then may the seven have mercy on my soul for selling his head short Sor Jason Gyles. The man removed his helmet, revealing a cadaver of a man with his head sown back to its neck and completely white eyes, his hair was fading. -I'm sure the gods have better things on their mind M'Lord. -I need to go address my men... they are not here to coldly die in vain. -Wise words often win wars M'lord.- Said Sor Jason as he placed the helmet back on. Roose Bolton walks outside again, tired and fatigued, it had been too long since last he needed to motivate his men. He stood on a small cliff edge, and his voice echoed throughout the camp, words of encouragement that healed the wounds of the first lost battle. As the Bolton Roared in confidence, a beacon quietly exploded on the north, behind the wall, a blue beacon that did nothing besides lighting the dim morning. On the Wall, they also saw this beacon and they knew of what it was about, not long ago Neeja was speaking to Ithuriel about the Nigh stalkers, undead abominations that were created by an undead Lord, a harbinger of doom of the god of Darkness Krur, and that beacon was nothing less but the demonstration of power of the current Undead Lord that sent monsters to attack the wall days before. The beacon would then shift into a red dragon light show, burning the forest around it with spectral flames, the dragon and the flames would vanish leaving the forest untouched. Neeja and Ithuriel left the wall heading North to investigate, passing by a deserted Barbarian village. In fact... not just the barbarian village but the whole forest seemed deserted. They traveled North until they reached a small abandoned frozen tower amongst the wilderness, as they approached someone spoke and made an appearance before them. The golden crown and the dragon insignia on the armor was all that could help Ithuriel and Neeja identify the Skeleton walking in front of them, Aerys the II of house Targaryen walked slowly towards them the Undead Lord controlling the monsters on the Uncharted North. The meeting was unusual, Neeja and Ithuriel quickly armed themselves, before Aerys informed them that they could not harm him, as he could not harm them, they were all champions of the Gods to fight a war that will decide the future of Westeros, he had set up this monster display North so he could call attention of the Stark children and speak of them of what was to come. He told them that five thousand years ago, the gods had fought the same war to see who would rule over the others, the Seven Gods of men had won that fight and since then, five thousand years of men prosperity had marked the pages of history of Westeros, but not the gods stirred again, chosing champions of each side. Aerys told them that Ithuriel was the Champion of Grundah, father of the children of the Forest, that Neeja was the Champion of Azhai, god of Fire and Magic and that Tamalynn was the Champion of the Seven god of men, all idealizations of the ways of men, and that he Aerys, was the Champion of Krur, the god of Darkness and eternal winter, Aerys also said that they were all destined to become gods if they left these petty fights amongst Houses, and focused their fighting to the greater good of men. Despite all of this Neeja and Ithuriel were drawn to the world of men, to those they had to protect and to those that had trusted them with their lives, they refused to back away, and as a demonstration of what the power of gods truly was, he tried to kill Ithuriel with a powerful blast of magic on his face, a blast that should of killed, but didn't even hurt Ithuriel, only scarred his left eye for his amazement. Grundah kept him safe of harm until the time was right, Aerys would also say that Cyrus Snow was the other Champion of Krur, the God of Darkness. To further dissuade Ithuriel and Neeja of their objectives, he explained how shallow and cold the world of men was, of how king Robert and his Hand James Stark died by the Queens orders, of how a 16 year old snob was King, of how Markus Lanister was the real reason behind the death of Brandon Stark, of the poisoning of Benjen Stark, and of the Kings death on his hunt, all of this drove both the Wolf boys into a silent shock.. wondering if the dead king was saying the truth. The meeting ended at that, Aerys returned to the tower saying that they no longer had to look north, that when his army marched, it would come from the sea. Ithuriel and Neeja returned to the wall, placing orders to keep all the men looking at the south, the rest of the day would be of them resting up for another sleepless night. A trap had been set on the armory for the Bolton men who would once again rush in it, broken weapons such as swords and other blades had been set over the vast open field to freeze over and serve as metal mines for the Boltons men. and water cauldrons had been set around the wall line with lumber underneath to heat the cold Bolton of the cold temperatures, all they needed to do was wait now, wait for night time. It felt like the hours would never pass, but once the sun set, everything seemed to have passed in a flash, the feeling of deja vu overwhelmed the heroes as they once again stood amongst the wall of ice, staring at the cold night, before staring at the vast Bolton army in front of them. No sleeping tonight, the words spoken by Theon the night before, before a hoard four time larger then the first, Ithuriel wondered if after this he would fall to a never ending sleep. If only I was more powerful became Neejas way of life, the first battle went airy for him as he got near death more then he would of liked, he was used to duels and singular combat, but in the panic of a vast army, he felt powerless often. He was determined to prove himself wrong though. The horns were heard, the ground started to shake as the army began to move, Ithuriel and Neeja stayed on the front line with their modest two thousand men, staring at the face of eight thousand. The battle was going well for such overwhelming odds, the frozen steel mixed with Neejas continual fireballs over the field made the Bolton's life hard to just reach the wall, once they finally got there the fight got intense, with a false retreat on the armory, they thought they had the terrain won, before a vast explosion landed hundreds dead, towards the tower, where they focused the most with ladders, they were wasted with fireballs and boiling water while being showered upon with arrows. Amongst all this confusion, Ithuriel and Neeja runned around with their wolves Barachiel and Bobo, cutting the man short in numbers as best they could. Often separating themselves to aid where aid was needed. The battle was going favorable for them, but the vast numbers of the Bolton smashing against the wall proved to be too much as they started to lose terrain bit by bit and needed to fall back up to the wall, things seemed lost with the arrival of Sor Rodrik Cassel foreseen only for Morning, and with reduced numbers Ithuriel shouted out from the wall as hard he could, demanding that enough blood would be spilled, and that he should face Roose Bolton in singular combat 'till the death. His shouts echoed and triumphed above all war noise, the message crossed the field and the armies backed off just a slight, before a familiar war horn was heard... and it was not Bolton. It blew again, the Winterfell army with Sor Rodrik Cassel had arrived earlier, charging in from the rear at the Bolton unsuspecting army, despite the initial blow, it would still take a march from the remaining men from the wall combined with Sor Rodriks' men to capture Roose Bolton, and end the conflict. The Lord of Pavor Keep was brought to Ithuriel, his face stern as ever, one would never guess he just lost a war from his noble expression. Ithuriel demanded to know the reason behind his actions, to which Bolton replied a dream of the future, a dark future in which Pavor Keep would be spared if he would bring the head of Ithuriel and Neeja to a man named Aerys the II, of House Targaryen. The news made everyone think Roose was mad, but Ithuriel and Neeja knew the truth behind his words, and only asked for Roose to pledge fealty to Winterfell, to add his men to theirs and unite against the dark future, the Lord accepted, and knelled before Ithuriel, in honor. After the armies dispersed, and Bolton left, Ithuriel and Neeha spoke with Theon and Sor Rodrik in private, explaining them of what they knew from the events on the South (without ever mentioning Aerys revival, or the fact they were champions of Ancient Gods), from this reaction, Theon worked out that the North should be a kingdom again, like ancient times, and that Ithuriel should be king! The Ulm, Karstark and Teluvian would have no problems with agreeing with the idea after they get rid of the Greyjoy, so the idea of Ithuriel becoming a king was actually plausible now that Robert was dead and that a bastard child set on the throne. The Morning would start after Ithuriel promised to Give the Isle of Pyke to Theon Greyjoy after the ordeal in Cailin was solved, and after Ithuriel decided out of nowhere to Knight Neeja after his brave actions during the battles. The only slight oddity, was that instead of a normal Knighting, pledging fealty in honor of the New gods or the Old gods, he pledged fealty to the God of Fire and Magic Azhai, something that has never been done before, and so Neeja became Asor Neeja Snow, Knight of Azhai. In the meanwhile, as Roose Bolton returns to his camp, Sor Jason Gyles was already there, once again with his full armor and helmet on. -M'Lord pledged fealty to the Stark boy? -Yes, no way to avoid the dark war, but we're going to fight and not run. -Did M'lord forget of the promise to Aerys Targaryen? Roose sternly turns towards the walking dead Knight. -No... I didn't, but it wont matter, either we beat him and the promise is broken, or he beats us and the promise doesn't matter. -What of me? -You are dismissed to disappear, as far the Bolton are concerned, you never existed. A moment of silence, as Jason Gyles moved slowly walks towards the tent exit, he stops mid way and turns to face Bolton. -Aerys will come for you long before he comes for me. He leaves the Tent, disapearing in the snow.
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
Posts: 457
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Post by Madcat on Mar 24, 2009 13:08:05 GMT -5
Chapter 7 Lord Ithuriel Stark, Lady Tamalynn Stark, Asor Neeja Snow, Sor Cyrus Snow The days after the escaped seemed to never end for Tamalynn and Cyrus, who traveled next to a unconscious Benjen a hateful Bloodhound, and the wolves, the days seemed bitter and exhausting, to no real point for anything, they just kept riding north, to Riverrun, go to Riverrun and be safe, Riverrun will help, Riverrun this and Riverrun that... Since they had to stay away from the main road to avoid being seen or captured by the Lanister guards (despite the Bloodhound being more then enough to take care of them), their travel was slow and full of stops due to Benjen, Tamalynn kept treating him using all her powers but it seemed that no ordinary poison was used on him... At the middle of the second day of running, Benjen opened his eyes. The news was refreshing for everyone, finally someone didn't die, and good old uncle Ben always knew what to do, but even he seemed lost when he saw he was out of Dragonsport, with the Bloodhound by his side, and after he heard of everything that he missed the last week by the mouths of Cyrus and Tamalynn. A few things were discussed, of the Lanisters next move, of how Westeros would shift and fight, of how a new war of the thrones would occur, they concluded that Riverrun, despite being a territory loyal to the king, would help them no matter what, even with the power of Casterly Mount, Lanisport and Dragonsport on them, with no Help from the Eagles Nest, nor the North as long as the Greyjoy controlled Cailin. Once they arrived in Riverrun, they were sent to Sor Brynden 'the Blackfish' Tully, the only knight and son of Holster Tully, who at the time was ill in bed. Tamalynn did all the speaking, trying to convince the Sor-Lord about aiding them against the Greyjoy from the south, taking Cailin and opening a road between the North and the River Lands once again. And despite the initial reluctance by Brynden, Tamalynn referred how his good friend and her father James Stark would of wished for his help, amongst so much Brynden spared a few men to travel north and knighted Benjen (with Tamalynns permission) as a temporary Knight-captain of Riverrun, as they lacked knights and Sor Brynden couldn't leave the castle while his father was ill. Brynden also plead at Tamalynn, that after he helps the North, that the North would help him, as the Lanisters would no doubt see his actions as helping traitors, and Riverrun was conveniently placed between the Lanister Armies of Casterly Mount, and Dragonsport. When the halls emptied, Benjen was left alone with Cyrus and Tamalynn, saying that they should travel north to meet with their brothers (they had received word that they won the battle on the wall of Ice, and that they were heading South to Cailin with a small Winterfell army), he said that the Bloodhound was to go with them, and the wolves. They would leave during the night. In the meanwhile, on the North Ithuriel and Neeja travel south in record time, speeding past Winterfell with a quick resupply and to organize his men, 2 thousand were sent north to the Wall, two thousand were left in Winterfell with Sor Rodrik Cassel, and five thousand followed him south towards Cailin, along with four thousand Bolton men. They marched south barely without resting, once actually marching for two nights in a row, and only after Theon plead for the man to rest enough to not sleep during the fight, did Ithuriel budge in the slightest in allowing half a nights rest. During that Night, Ithuriel just stared at the top of his tent, troubled in his thoughts, it had felt like the last time he had slept was weeks ago, and it probably was... Traveling North to the Wall was devoid of any rest, during the siege on the wall he was the one always there during the fights, and then after the battle ended he immediately turned south with no rest. He wondered again if he was just preparing himself.. wondering if he ever closes his eyes, he'd never wake up again. Theon walked in his tent, "waking up" Ithuriel saying messages arrive from Riverrun, and one being from his uncle Sor Benjen Stark. They both walked outside, Lord Roose Bolton and Asor Neeja Snow were already by the fire, both shadows and scary looking men at night by the fire, if Ithuriel didn't know any better, he'd say that was a statue of Roose standing by the fire, made of pure stone, and Neeja figured seemed to suck in the fire itself, glowing slightly in a slightly dark aura. Ithuriel looked over Neeja a bit, noticing his hair fading slightly along with his face turning more stern and with markings, like tattoos, appearing from both sides of his neck. Ithuriel thought of his magic being the main reason for this, but only Neeja knew that it wasn't his magic that was marking him that way. Neeja himself looked over as Ithuriel and Theon joined the fire, like the vision Ithuriel already had a marking scar on the left side of his face, a scar made by Aerys, and behind him walked Theon with his longbow, he is a master at it with a perfect aim despite his age, many times has Neeja seen Theon launch an arrow ten times faster then a soldier pulling a sword, much less giving a soldier enough time to charge, Neeja himself new that the split second it took him to cast spells, would be enough for Theon to place two arrows on his chest, and five more below, making a smiley face. Yet Ithuriel trusted Theon despite the dream, and Theon so far has done nothing but prove his loyalty, Neeja thought he could be wrong. As they gathered around the fire, all four men discussed the first letter, from Sor Brynden Tully, current ruler of Riverrun, explaining his situation after he decided to send four thousand men (lead by Benjen) towards Cailin, and how Riverrun was in between nearly fifty thousand Lanister loyal soldiers, and all their knights, along the most powerful naval force of Westeros, a force larger then all of the North put together. All four men discussed about the three Lanisters Strongholds of Dragonsport and Casterly Mount, then by the weaker stronghold Lanisport that served as a tower to defend the south of the Western Shore, all of them came to the conclusion that they would need all the help they could get, and thus letters were sent to the Arryn, defenders of Eagles Nest, to the Baratheon, true heirs and Defendenders of Tempest Bay and to the Tyrell, Defenders of Highgarden, Ithuriel knew that if just one of them joined their cause, the Lanisters would have no chance. The second letter was more personal, and only Ithuriel and Neeja read it, was from Benjen explaining everything that had happened to them in the south, and how he sent Cyrus, Tamalynn and the Bloodhound towards them, and how Varys the Spider was so keen in helping them. Benjen ended his letter by saying that the Spider knows too much, and he has a grasp on everything, including the Bloodhound, and that he (Benjen) didn't trust either of them. All four of them traveled to the same camp north of Cailin, Ithuriel and Neeja we're doing battle plans with the lords Bolton, Karstark, Ulm, Teluvian and Theon Greyjoy, as Tamalynn, Cyrus and the Bloodhound were being guided to the camp by 'Big' Jon Ulm. Neeja and Ithuriel knew they were coming, but the rest of the Lords did a small celebration to the safe return of all of the Stark children, even Cyrus. Ithuriel remained in his role as ruler of the North, and kept a stern face, only sparing enough time for a quick welcome, Neeja raised his arms in laughter heartwarmingly welcoming them, Cyrus walked slowly to the war camp with a tired grin on his face, actually glad to see them, and Tamalynn tried to sound as over joyous as Neeja, but the words could barely tumble out of her mouth, like Cyrus, she gave a tired smile and a few nice words in re encountering them again in what seems like years. After the short interruption, everyone joined in the battle plans for taking over Cailin, even the Bloodhound, and with the North so full of men, and the south with the Tully marching, it was only a matter of time before Cailin fell... they just needed to do it as fast as possible before the Lanisters group themselves around Riverrun. After a series of words, it had been organized that both armies should attack the North and the south at the same time, thinning the armies of the Greyjoy, while a small group of well trained men go through the river banks, inside the Cailin Vally, and to try and over throne Balon Greyjoy to quickly finish the war with as little blood loss as possible, the team had been organized and it was set that the Bloodhound, Theon Greyjoy, 'Big' Jon Ulm along with the all the wolves were to go with Tamalynn Stark, Ithuriel Stark, Neeja Snow and Cyrus Snow, 10 of them were in charge of infiltrating Cailin like James Stark infiltrated Dragonsport eight years ago. The Night was spent amongst the brothers, discussing what they had been through, the visions of Tamalynn and Neeja, that imagined the death of Ithuriel and Cyrus by the hands of Theon and a mysterious woman. They spoke of Aerys the II coming from the dead, and hoisting an army of death to fight them, and of his conversation about all of them being champions, and how Aerys didn't plan to be following Krur with Cyrus. They Spoke of Varys, the Spider who hand his hand on every piece of information at Dragonsport, how they suspected him being responsible for the death of the King and James, of how he is planning something big for helping them escape Dragonsport, and how the Bloodhound is his lackey. They Spoke of Benjen, of James, of the tournament, of the serious injury of the Regicide during the tournament ((you didn't... forgot to lead you on that, but lets assume you did)) and of the wars to come. They were interrupted by a harshly drunk Bloodhound who overheard their conversation on Varys, he stumbled in saying he hadn't killed the king, but he knew that the King had killed Jon Arryn, and James, and himself due to dreams, and the Spider was helping so that the Kings' dreams wouldn't turn reality. Cyrus turned to the Bloodhound after his short speech, demanding to know why he, of all people, was helping Varys and them escape, to which he replied that Varys told him that if he kept the four of them safe, he'd give his life purpose and make him actually useful once Grundah took over, and then he passed out. No one expected Varys to be allied of Grundah... and Ithuriel wondered for a moment.. if Aerys was the other champion of Krur... could Varys be the other Champion of Grundah? The next day the plan gained motion, and all armies smashed against Cailin while the small group infiltrated it's walls. Far from the battle, in the Throne room of Dragonsport, stood a young king with a large crown, next to his mother and all of his Knights, stood the King Joffrey Baratheon and the Queen Veronica Lanister Baratheon. They were in a war council, again, in front of the King stood the Mountain Gregor Clegane, the Poison Master Amory Loch, the Executioner Illyn Payne and the unpleased Selmy Baristan, there was one knight missing in the chamber though, the most important one of all, the Regicide still rested after nearly having his arm chopped off by the Bloodhound, they discussed of what they were going to do about Riverruns actions in helping the Stark. -How come we're afraid to conquer the whole North and turn it into my private prison camp when we have the largest army in Westeros? - Demanded to know the inpatient King, who despite everyone's words, still wanted to march fifty thousand men into Riverrun. -Your Grace, We have not heard word from Tempest Bay, before we do any act of war we need to know if we still have the same allies, we need to know if the Baratheon and the Tyrell still stand by our side.- Replied Selmy Baristan, very annoyed to be bowing down to such a young king, he seems to have been constantly demoted since the death of Aerys the I. -Then GET them to bow their knees to us... I mean... who would dare face the Lanisters when we control the East and the West? -Da North, an' da North made lot o' freinds in many years yer Grace, afta da death o' James... many don' look at us well yer Grace. - replied Amory Loch. -Then Let them! I'm tired of this constant talking and alliances, everyone is a turn coat if you ask me, and we march on Riverrun with all our men, I am the King, I order it, either our allies join us, or join them in death. -We don't even have a Kings Hand your grace...- Replied Gregor Clegane. -Actualy, we do... -This time the Queen answered, and she seemed to have been waiting for this topic, she lifted from our throne and pointed at the door- ... Gentleman, the new Hand of Westeros, Lord Tywin Lanister from Casterly Mount. A man reaching his 50 years of age walked in, in full armor, all made of gold, he was bold and his eyes also had a certain golden glow to them, he walked rigidly and frowning, and his pure presence scared many of the people in the chamber, only Selmy Baristan and the Queen remained indifferent to Tywin. -Your Grace, I'm honored. - He said, as he bowed. - the West is under your control. -Then all is settled, we march north as soon as we get our armies and our navy ready. - concluded the King. -Perhaps we shouldn't. - Vayrs walked in from a dark corner, his white eyes looking over the 'new' Hand. - Welcome back Lord Tywin. -Then Perhaps you should excuse yourself and explain your reasons Spider, before I pull out your legs. You weren't even summoned to the council. -Well, sometimes a Master of Secrets should be summoned to a war council, afterall you have more to learn from me then I from you, and I happen to know you lost two allies. -Stark and Tully, we all know that. -Said the King. -Baratheon and Arryn, -I- know. -Replied Varys. -...Why did we lose the Baratheon? We did nothing to them... -Oh I'm not worried about the Baratheon, one of them accused the Queen of Incest and claimed the crown for himself, he calls himself King of Westeros. The Queen rages from her chair. -HOW DARE HE? Stannis shall pay for such accusations. -Oh see thats the thing, it wasn't Stannis... it was Renly, Tempest Bay is now divided as Renly claimed the Crown and the armies, and left his brother to rot in Drakeston, Renlys opportunism cost him half the armies of Tempest Bay and his brothers wrath. -And the Tyrell won't have anyone to join to, as the Baratheon are fighting themselves... the South is a mess... then we SHOULD travel north with our men! - Said Gregor Clegane. -See... this is why you need to wait for me to finish talking... the Arryn from Eagles Nest also declined your grace as their king, and their mountain range protect Riverrun whilst they stat close to our borders, the Arryn have easy access to both territories, and they accuse Lanisters of killing Jon Arryn. -Has everyone gone mad with accusations? -Replied the Queen. -That leaves us...-continued Varys-... in between a lot of shit, pardon the expression. -...But the West is free of wars, I'll move Casterly Mount force over Riverrun, and you keep the Arryn away from me, the Stark are bloodthirsty for revenge, if we dont stop them at Riverrun, our forces would be divided, and we couldn't connect the East from the West. -Added Tywin Lanister, in a cold, sharp, low voice. The meeting continued, unaware that Varys had disappeared once again into the shadows. On the North, after the fight were Balon Greyjoy was killed, Theon stood amongst his men, amongst all the Greyjoy, and claimed to be their Lord while holding the brooch emblem of Balon Greyjoy. The Greyjoy bowed down to him with the Karstark, the Ulm, the Teluvian, the Bolton and the Tully all under the same castle. Benjen Stark walked in heavy steps towards his nephews, laughing loudly as only he could, hugging Ithuriel and Neeja before doing the same to Tamalynn and Cyrus, he takes a few steps back, facing them all. -Congratulations, you unified the whole North to fight under our banner boys! - He said, he never cared much for titles... "sor", "lord", were all formalities. - What now? -Now... -replied Ithuriel Stark, almost like a reflex -... Now we go to Riverrun.
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Madcat
Dungeon Masters ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_blue.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_blue.png)
The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
Posts: 457
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Post by Madcat on Mar 31, 2009 13:16:16 GMT -5
Chapter 8 Lord Ithuriel Stark, Lady Tamalynn Stark, Asor Neeja Snow, Sor Cyrus Snow The armies moved south, into Riverrun, and never before has the city been so full of Lords and men in history. The Karstark, the Ulm, the Bolton and the Stark all camped themselves in the city, or by the city walls, whilst the Teluvian men stayed back in Cailin fortifying the ancient Keep, and whilst the Greyjoy returned to Pyke to get their naval forces ready to set sail towards the Riverrun bay, all armies were positioned in the great city, nearly twenty five thousand men all in one place ready for the assault the Lanisters would surely try on them. Ithuriel walked down the steps of the tower that was his domain, to meet with Neeja, Cyrus and Tamalynn, the four siblings had been summoned to a war council to inform themselves of the latest reports, and to decide what actions to take. In the council, they had the presence of Lord Richard Karstark from Karhold, Lord Roose Bolton from Pavor, 'Little' Jonas Ulm and his son 'Big' Jonas Ulm from Karrhen, Sor-Lord Brynden Tully from Riverrun, who was temporarily replacing his father Holster Tully due to an illness, Sor Benjen Stark from Winterfell and finaly the Bloodhound Sandor Clegane also gloomed around the great meeting hall of Riverrun. A lot was discussed, as a lot had changed during a short period of time, they came to know that the Lady Lysa Tully Arryn, ruler of Eagles Nest, had declared the Lanisters AND the Stark as enemies, and thus a new enemy was gained, the motive behind this was that Lady Lysa believed that the Lanisters, Baratheon and Stark were responsible for the death of Jon Arryn, former Kings Hand and ruler of Eagles Nest. Also it was discover that Renly Baratheon, and not Stannis, claimed the throne and declared himself King of Westeros under the accusation that Joffrey Baratheon was a child of incest between Markus and Veronica Lanister, this news caused a small civil war amongst the Baratheon and the division of their armies, Stanis with the naval fleet at Drakeston and Renly with the footman and cavalry armies ar Tempest Keep. This of course meant that Dragonsport would not dare move it's armies with two wars threatening it from the North and the South, but the Vast hoard of Casterly Mount would be enough to reduce Riverrun to ashes, or so the Lanisters believed. The council in Riverrun discussed and compared their armies, in how Casterly Mount held more then thirty thousand men and Westeros most powerful Navy, as well as a legion of the infamous "Lanista" siege weapons, a Balista modified for higher impact at higher firing rate, range and accuracy, whilst the armies in Riverrun reached around twenty two thousand men, and the brave Greyjoy fleet, that despite renown sailors and pirates, could not compare to the Lanisters. Cyrus was keen on listening to and about as much as he could from the Lanister armies, and their knights, and the Lord Tywin Lanister, he heard and he spoke, too many times had he failed before the Lanisters and he wasn't used to being outplayed or outsmarted, he saw the coming battles as a perfect chance for Revenge, and he planned on making the most of it. Ithuriel on the other hand was being pressured into making the right decision, amongst so many tricky choices that would cause him to immediately lose the war, the Lords we're looking at him to replace his father and to win that which seemed to get grimmer and grimmer, he decided the Arryn's alliance was needed above all else, and that with the Riders of Eagles Nest (also known as the Pegasus army) he would certainly gain a desperately needed edge against the Lanisters, who controled the East and the West of the Kingdom. They came to the conclusion that the only way to gain the Arryns favor was to prove to them that the Stark had nothing to do with it, and that they we're fighting the same foe, the conclusion was that the Spider Varys had to have something on the subject, he would know, as he always did, the right answer. For this Neeja already had a plan on how to get to Dragonsport and find Varys without taking more then a day. ((it was Oni, but fuckit, I R DM!)) Before the meeting would end, 'Little' Jon Ulm felt the need to shout out his thought that if the South had two kings, then the North should have a King as well, like the old times when Westeros was Seven Kingdoms and not one, 'Little' Jonas Ulm said that Ithuriel should be King of the North, and to this idea, the Karstark and the Bolton knelled before their new King, just as Rodrik Cassel and Theon Greyjoy already did before. Ithuriel, was the King of the North. As soon as the meeting ended, the Stark family joined and discussed of a plan that involved teleporting towards Dragonsport, and then speaking to Varys using the secret tunnels the group had used to escape, the plan made Sor Benjen nervous, as it risked the life of the newly acclaimed King and his royal family too much.. but under the protection of the Bloodhound, they decided to continue on with the adventure. The group would teleport towards Dragonsport, and used the secret sewer exit to once again get in the castle, and with the Bloodhound, Cyrus and Tamalynn guiding the way, it would be only a matter of time before they found Varys waiting for them. The conversation was brief and confusing, as Ithuriel and Cyrus explained what they needed, Varys explained to them that if they were to use these documents proving that Robert was the one who killed Jon Arryn, and that the Stark had nothing to do with it, that this would cause the Baratheon to see the Stark joining the cause of the Arryn, which on the Long run would cause them to lose a very powerful ally, in favor of a weak one. The choice Varys gave them, was that either they had the favor of Arryn, or the favor of the Baratheon. The meeting continued, as the group had plans to kill the Regicide who was kept on his room alone with two guards by the entrance, but before Varys left them to that, he grabbed on to Ithuriels blade and made it flash before everyones eyes as Ithuriels Frostbite literally turned into an ice blade, it glowed blue as the cold edge froze any who touched it, and yet the blade was unbreakable by normal means. Varys said that the blade had been awakened, and that was the Blade of Frederic Grundah, the father of the Children of the Forest. Amongst the confusion, Varys left them to find the Regicide Markus Lanister, who still laid injured in his bed with a wound on his shoulder caused by the Bloodhound. As they stormed in his room, they would all have a brief moment to kill him, before the queen paid her daily visit to her twin brother, Cyrus decided to move in and remove a blade from his hidden scabbard, and on a quick motion to cut the mans throat, the blade bounced off his throat, leaving him unharmed, but slightly burning Cyrus' hand, he would attempt it several more times until the burns started to actually hurt, and then be pushed back behind a curtain as the queen walked in the room. The group (except for Bloodhound, who remained in the secret tunnel) was still in the room, hidden with spells or through other means, they were too scared to move a muscle just waiting for the queen to leave, the moment arrived when Sor Amory Loch walked in the room saying that the young King demanded her attention, she would leave but only after ordering the Poison Blade to stay in the room until she returned. The group saw the opportunity, everything happened in a flash, Neeja appeared from nowhere along with Ithuriel and Cyrus to cut down Amory, who died while during his shout for guards, not even able to finish the word he started speaking, everyone knew that the guards would be walking in, Ithuriel rushed Cyrus, Tamalynn and Neeja back to the secret passage as the Bloodhound made his way in, with his axe ready, Ithuriel knew that only he could kill Markus and the Bloodhound obeyed without question, the group watched from the secret tunnel as the Sandor 'the Bloodhound' Clegane lifted his huge axe to end Markus' life, only to be blasted against a wall by Varys who stood by the door in a sad expression. -Sorry good friend, can't let you do that. - He said, the group had no time, in guilt feeling for leaving the Bloodhound behind, they closed the secret passage and teleported back away to the room they had left moment passed. Neeja collapsed on the bed, exhausted, as the group looked around for any signs of the Bloodhound... they feared the worst for him. The rest of the evening was a brief talk with Sor Benjen, saying that they did speak with Varys, and that they weren't going to use the documents they had acquired from Varys, and that the Bloodhound stayed behind giving them time to escape, Neeja would then call for Meistress Kelly Rivers to help him rest, while concealing the fact he intended to hypnotize her into staying away from Cyrus, as far as he could see, everything went as planned. The night was coming to an end, as the group was ready to depart into their sleep (except Ithuriel), before Cyrus had a vision with Aerys. Aerys appeared before him, trying to reason with Cyrus to help him win the war and become indisputable gods of Westeros, he showed him of what was to come, and that Cyrus was on the losing side. Cyrus, on other hand, used a good selection of witty remarks to shun the lord of death and to make his offer seem like a weak attempt to call for help, Cyrus took advantage of the fact that they could not harm each other, and kept insulting Aerys, until the vision ended, and he returned to the room with his brothers. In the meanwhile the Bloodhound didn't give up, he had lost his Axe in someones chest and was now currently fighting with two swords, the faces seemed a blur to him, all he could do was kill, the only thing he was truly good at. He had made his way into a corner, and quickly used a secret passage to rid himself of reinforcements, he was hurt and limping, as well as exhausted after killing wave after wave of soldiers, he stumbled down the hallway trying to look for the exit and a jug of ale before Varys blocked his way. -Sandor, sorry for that. -Get the fuck away from me you freak. - He wanted to sound intimidating, but in his exhaustion, the phrase was rather monosyllabic and simple. -Still need your help, your job isn't done. -...Yeah... still got one more tall pale sheep shagger to kill before I hit my early grave with whores and ale. - He leaped from the wall he was leaning on, with both swords armed, trying to impale Varys. The tall Tyroshi man dodged to the side, kicking the Bloodhounds shins and making him fall on his knees, all that Sandor could see was an axe by his neck once he hit the floor.... HIS axe... -You dropped this. -You son of a .... -Take it, it's yours. The Bloodhound got up to face Varys, confused, as he picked up his axe again. -What do you want from me... freak? -Riverrun will fall if you do not aid, you shall travel to the River Lands and form a Bandit group with Berric Dondarrion, during the final assault Tywin will grow desperate, you will be there to kill him and to stop his army. A moment of silence, as the Bloodhound looks at Varys confused. -Gonna need a LOT of bandits to face his army... and last time I saw Berric I cut off his leg, not sure we will be the best of friends. -Berric controls the River Pirates, with you by their side you can save Riverrun. -Let me guess, if I do this, I will have a place of peace and honor in the perfect world you're creating? -also you're brother will be dead. Sandor's small eyes go wide as he gets closer to Varys. -Who? -The Stark girl, Tamalynn. -...How? -Easily. The Bloodhound lifted his axe, looking down on his body realizing that he had no wounds, as he looked back up, Varys was gone. -Berric Dondarrion... I owe you a leg.
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
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Post by Madcat on Apr 6, 2009 13:08:50 GMT -5
Chapter 9 King Ithuriel Stark, Lady Tamalynn Stark, Asor Neeja Snow, Sor Cyrus Snow The next days would be of constant war councils, always with mundane reports of the army from Casterly Mount positioning itself and with the Arryn doing nothing besides threats to everything nearby. On this day, different news made things complicated for the Stark boys and girl, house Mallister from Ortan Castle was attacked by Tywin Lanister, and his heir was killed, survivors fled back to the near Twin Towers of the Frey, this attack made the Frey worried they would be next, and thus called aid from Riverrun. This of course was an attempt by Tywin Lanister to get the Riverrun armies to leave the walls and to face them in open field, where they would have no chance or walls to hide. This news would be bad enough, if it wasn't for the fact that Casterly mounts powerful navy was nowhere in sight, and believed to be moving upwards to trap the Greyjoy fleet. More news would be the Lanister siege units, the modified Balista with a powerful damage and reload output were being used, and where the main reason the Ortan castle fell. Other fascinating news would be that the Baratheon started their fight, Stannis was seen attacking Tempest Keep with his Naval armada as Renly get his men ready, also from Dragonsport Selmy Baristan was locked away for conspiracy against the Lanisters, also accused of Murdering Amory Loch, and attempting to murder Markus Lanister, his Squire Francis 'the Bull' Hightower was knighted in his place. The group focused first on the Twin Towers issue, it was clear that they would be attacked, so they organized a strategy that would keep the Frey safe and do serious damage to the Lanisters, the mission was to try and destroy all the "Lanista" siege weapons the Lanisters had and severely cripple them on the assault, then with the aid of Ulm, Stark, Bolton and Karstark forces, they would try and repel the Lanisters away quick enough. After getting the blueprints studied, the group was ready and on the next day traveled south towards the Twin Towers, ready to face the Lanisters... In the meanwhile East of them, in Dragonsport, due to the lack of Knights, certain measures were being taken. The Queen and the young King stood in the Throne Room, next to Sor Illyn Payne and Sor Markus Lanister, the only two knights after the Mountain, the Goblin (and he isn't even a knight), and the Bull were all sent to aid Tywin. The Queen and the King, along with the two Sors, stood in front of a fully armored figure. -You pledge your fealty to us now, but once have you served the Stark, and once have you served the Bolton, it seems that you are as fast to give your fealty as your sword. - Said the Queen. -I was dismissed by the Stark, and after the Bolton joined the Stark I was dismissed again, I am a worthy Knight who has never fallen in combat, skill like mine is unmatched in Westeros, and I heard the Lanisters need a Knight, and I need a house. -You speak highly of yourself. - The Regicide was getting tired of being second best to everyone else. -I am unlike other men. -We need a City Guard Captain, Illyn Payne is unable to speak, and Markus will be needed elsewhere, and we have seen your skill Sor Jason Gyles, we just hope that while others dismiss you, we won't have to kill you. The Armored man lifts from one knee, removing the helmet, revealing his decomposing flesh and horrid white eyes. -Your wish is my command, Your Grace. The war on the Twin Towers was going well for the Stark men, the Lanistas were all destroyed and even used once by Cyrus to Impale the giant Sor Gregor 'the Mountain' with a Balista bolt. the armies would clash against one of the Towers walls, and when all seemed lost, the small group managed to drive back the Lanisters and win the war with favorable numbers. Sor Gregor Clegane would then be found, near death, and delivered to them by Sor Benjen, Lord Bolton and Lord Ulm, with an intent to make him a prisoner of war, the Mountain was mortally wounded, unable to move, with a large gap on his large stomach, Tamalynn approached him, and killed him, thus killing another Knight of the Lanisters. The Night was of celebration, the Greyjoy had arrived at Riverrun escaping the naval fleet of the Lanisters who tried to ambush them, all the men returned to Riverrun with minimal losses, and the Lanisters had lost a Knight, their Siege gear, and a good chunk of their army. The Ulm men started the party first, to which the Karstark joined moments after. The Stark men with Ithuriels permission joined in with Sor Benjen, Sor Cyrus, Asor Neeja and Lady Tamalynn briefly appearing during the festivities, Theon Greyjoy was there with 'Big' Jonas Ulm and Richard Karstark, and for one night there was no war. Ithuriel was the only one not seen at these festivities. As the Night hours were passing, all the four brothers slowly fell into sleep, even Ithuriel, into dreams that would change their lives even more. Tamalynn walked in the dark room, lost and confused, a feeling she had felt before too often, she walks towards a light, as she does she hears the voices of the Seven Gods around her, introducing themselves. The initial stages of confusion passed as Tamalynn understood they were sent to bring her hope, like ages passed once she first started to study the Seven under the guidance of Meister Luwin, The Seven Gods explained her what she was, what she needed to be and what she had become. Showed her that after Darkness would come a better life, and that death was not the end. Then they Showed her her father and baby brother. They all asked the same of her, for her to be happy, and for her to be strong, for her to be caring, as she would be the one that would unite her brother, and that if she distances herself from what makes her human, then hope would be lost for all humans. The Seven said that she had a task ahead, that she needed to let one suffer in order for the realm to be safe, she knew this meant Cyrus... and she couldn't possibly understand the logic behind it... but she promised to everything, she would follow the Path of the Seven, she would care for her brothers, she would Pass the Task they had prepared her... then everything went dark as her night continued into innocent dreams. Ithuriel walked alone in the dark, lost and confused, was he sleeping? he hadn't slept in weeks... since before he traveled north towards the Wall of Ice... that felt like it happened centuries ago.. he was still in the darkness... something was around him.. trees? too dark to see. "I told you we'd meet again" Said a voice from nowhere as Ithuriel is hit by light, his eyes focus on the Light as a tall pale odd looking figure walks towards him in green robes. Frederic Grundah, it is obvious now... Ithuriel looks over him in a curious disbelief, it was so obvious.... "Varys"... said Ithuriel, as the figure in front of him was none other then Varys himself, with all the piercings and odd hair/eye color. Grundah is Varys. The Conversation was enlightening for Ithuriel, despite annoyingly vague as they always tend to be, Varys explained to him how the Sword was his, and how he gave it to Ithuriel, how he had awaken it's powers, in how Ithuriel was transforming into an elf, the ancient magical beings that dwelled in the forest, the once known "Children of the Forest". Varys explained Ithuriel how they both were elves, and they both shared the same path, to awaken the Land. Varys explained to him that Neeja and Cyrus were going through simiular transformations, as he may have noticed, and that Ithuriel needed to let a town be destroyed, in order to leave a more important town survive. Varys told Ithuriel that they all had tasks and burdens to carry, and that what Ithuriel needed to do above all else, was to find the sleeping army of the Land, an army that had been sleeping for nearly five thousand years, waiting for him. Finaly, Varys told Ithuriel that he was an elf now, he wouldn't need sleep, his ears and eye sight were improved, and that he was able to speak with the animals and the land. Ithuriel understood all of this, he agreed to all of it, and with that, the darkness of the dream returned... and Ithuriel would wake up unto of open maps on his desk, curiously checking his ears to see if they were as pointy as Varys'. Neeja floated in his dream more powerful then ever, flames sparked from his hand and he laughed, before the flames spread throughout his whole body out of control, consuming him. The pain was horrible, Neeja was falling, he couldn't think, he couldn't focus, he could only feel pain. "Consume the Magic Neeja! You are it's owner, do not fear it!" Spoke a voice... who was it from? doesn't matter... so much pain. "You are not weak Neeja, either Control the fire, or become its ash!" The voice was loud, powerful, with an odd accent, Neeja tried to focus, he saw a man in front of him falling with him, with a burning glare on his eyes. "CONSUME THE FIRE!" Neeja Screamed out in pain as he clenched his fists and did his best to dominate the magic over him, in a matter of time, after an extremely struggle, the flames were sucked in into Neeja, and the pain was gone. He laid n the floor, no idea how he got there, he was naked, bald, shivering, as he stood the clothes appeared and covered his body from nowhere, a crown of flames circled his head, and before him, stood the power hungry Kil'erryhen Azhai, the God of Magic. "You've done well Neeja... very well." Azhai looked over him with a stern expression, his odd robes now glowed red, as this his fire like hair, everything on the man was strange, he seemed more animal then human, and his features seemed to barely move while he talked, yet his voice was clear and powerful. Azhai explained Neeja of things to come, that he would need to look after Cyrus and keep him safe no matter what, he also said that Neeja was shifting further away from his human form, into a creature of Magic, into an elemental, the more magic he consumed, the more distance from his human emotions would he become, and that on the great final battle, Neeja needed to be stronger then Azhai, he needed to sacrifice himself in order to feed the world with beauty and magic again. Azhai ordered Neeja to die. Neeja agreed to it, he understood everything as only he could and he accepted his fate, Azhai for the first time ever actually showed a smile, before the dream burned away into nothingness. Cyrus walked on a long corridor, he knew he was looking for Tamalynn, where could she be? Crazy girl always getting herself lost... what would she be without him? Cyrus walked over the corridor, his quick eye catching a glimpse of Tamalynn on the end of it, he laughed, he heard her laugh too, he ran towards her. He reached the end of the corridor and no one was there, Cyrus felt suspicious, but suddenly a familiar pat on the shoulder made him turn around to face Tamalynn and her smile, they both laughed again before a Sword bursted from her chest and her eyes go wide, her laugh goes silent, Cyrus looks in shock at what happened. Tamalynn is tossed away like a rag doll, only to reveal the Regicide Markus Lanister holding a bloodied blade with a sly grin, as he gets ready for Cyrus' charge. He didn't need to wait too long as Cyrus removed both his daggers and moved in at the Regicide, the fight was a furious clash of swords, too fast to be seen, Cyrus fought with everything he had, the Regicide parried and countered as he could, but Cyrus was getting tired, his arms were getting weak, the Regicide was too strong, too fast, too skilled. A slight feint tricked Cyrus, and he was kicked unto the floor, feeling lost... the blade would then fall on him, cleaving his chest, hitting his heart, ending his life, Cyrus fell back with a blade still stuck on his chest, he closed his eyes after a brief glance at Tamalynn's fallen body, everything seemed lost, he couldn't give up, he re gripped his Last Word, a prized Dagger with an extra long edge, his eyes burst open as he stares the Regicide in the face, his dagger cuts his throat and the Regicide stumbles back with his hand on his throat, gasping for air... then everything goes dark. In front of him, a pure light and an odd beauty walked towards him, the light showed that he was uninjured, and Cyrus knew that he was looking at Elaisa Krur, the goddess of Chaos and Darkness, a mirror figure of the Meistress of Riverrun.. Kelly Rivers.. She explained Cyrus that what he had just experienced was what was going to happen in the future, that he would fail to win a fight against the Regicide, and that would cost his and Tamalynn's life, she explained him how he was to weak and how Killing the regicide was the Task she has chosen for him as a sign of overcoming the odds, a sign that she had chosen her champion well. Cyrus was confused at this, he was desperate to find out how to defeat the regicide and save Tamalynn, to which Krur replied that all that was needed, was for her to cut his throat, and awaken his powers. After saying this Krur herself shifted from a beautiful female figure, into a large monstrous creature, her true form, this was what Cyrus would turn into if he wanted to save Tamalynn. He accepted, not because of her goal to cover the realm in Darkness, or her quest for power, but to save Tamalynn. Krur laughed as she shifted back, knowing that no matter what, either he or Aerys would give her the Realm, it didn't really matter what Cyrus thought as long as he became one of them. She walked closer to him, with a dagger on her hand, and on one swift move she cut Cyrus' throat like Cyrus did to the Regicide, he stumbled back and fell on one knee, black blood falling from his wound, things fade to darkness as Cyrus wakes up on his bed next to Tamalynn grasping his neck... wondering what he had done.
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
Posts: 457
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Post by Madcat on Apr 10, 2009 16:51:04 GMT -5
Chapter 10 King Ithuriel Stark, Lady Tamalynn Stark, Asor Neeja Snow, Sor Cyrus Snow The morning after the dreams was puzzling for everyone, but after discussing it with each other in the morning meal, they soon realize that they were more then dreams. They argued about possible meanings of their 'tasks', where Tamalynn would have to let Cyrus suffer, and Cyrus would have to go through extraordinary lengths to stay alive, where Ithuriel would have to let a town burn in favor of a better one, and where Neeja would have to sacrifice himself in hopes of a better future. The rest of the day would be passing by without many issue; Ithuriel has ordered the armies to be set to march soon on a new target, but on the next day, Lord Holster Tully gathered an emergency War council over recent news that favored the Lads from the North. Apparently on the West, the armies of Tywin from Casterly Mount were forced to leave Ortan Hold and head north towards their naval force for supplies, as Bandits have been raiding their supply caravans from Casterly Mount, it was obvious that the bandits were being lead by the infamous Berric Dondarrion, the Tyroshi man from Dorne who control the River Pirates, but the reason why he was helping was a mystery to all. As if the exposure of the Casterly Mount army wasn't enough, there was also news from the East, the young foolish king sent an army to take Eagles Nest over Night, in an attempt to gather position over Riverrun and to eliminate a threat in one move, the armies of Dragonsport failed to capture Eagles Nest, but were laying siege on it's walls, this ofcourse meant that Dragonsport was without its main army, and better yet, their star Knight Markus 'the Regicide' Lanister was said to be commanding the troops on Eagles Nest, meaning that Dragonsport was basically empty. The group saw the chance to end the war on the next few days, but they would need to move now. It was Ordered that the Tully, the Stark, the Ulm and the Bolton would charge on the open Casterly Mount army by land, as the Greyjoy and Karstark would travel by sea, whilst this happens, the Mallister and the Frey would charge with whichever men they could spare unto the Ortan hold south of them, and then flank Tywin Lanister, placing an end on the threat from the West. On the meanwhile the four brothers travel to Dragonsport via Neeja's magic, and with it, they would find and rescue Selmy Baristan, and kill the King Joffrey, taking control of Dragonsport, and placing an end on the threat from the East. As things were gaining motion in Riverrun, in the West the Bloodhound stood in a camouflaged tent with Berric Dondarrion. -...boy squealed so loud, you'd think I was killing him and not the pig he calls a mother. - Said the Bloodhound laughing coldly, ending a story, Berric would join in his laughter, as would the five men and three women who shared the tent, everyone in the tent except the Bloodhound, was dark skinned and with eccentric colors. -Aaah Blod'ound, ye craszy son of'a bitch... 'ow a ragin' lunatic managed ta be in da favor o' da Starks an' da Lanisters will be a mystary only da gods will know. - Berric leaned back on many pillows, drinking from a bottle, as he placed his wooden leg on the table in front of the Bloodhound, the leg that he had chopped off years back. -But trust me boy... despite ye idea on makin' me a lord bein' a good one... ye'n'me still got debts ta pay ya'know?... - As Berric finished speaking, five men flanked the Bloodhound, grabbing him by each arm and pushing his burned face against the table, a table with two empty bottles that the Bloodhound had the pleasure of drinking. -Me ain't a murderar boy, but ye cut me favorite leg ya'know? tha' jus' ain't spiffy boy. - He Signaled the men holding down the Bloodhound to end his life, a blade appeared out of nowhere, curved and sharp, Sandor laughed and broke free from the two man grabbing his arms, picking up the two bottles and smashing one on the person that was pulling him against the table and forcing the armed man to swallow the other bottle. After the man only being able to place the bottle neck on his mouth, the Bloodhound was kind enough to smash his face bottle first against the table, killing the man instantly. Sandor would lean forward, still laughing. -If I had cut your favorite leg... you wouldn't be needing those girls behind you. Now listen to me you fucking Tyroshi bastard... I know you plan on cutting your way into greatness, but your pathetic and annoying plans are so pointless that it gives me a hangover just thinkin' in them, keep your hands off whoever gets nominated Lord of Casterly Mount after Tywin is gone, and I'll keep my axe away from your favorite leg, and your favorite foot, and your favorite spleen, and your fucking favorite head. The Bloodhound would leave the tent, kicking the dead man on his way out, no one was laughing anymore. In the Meanwhile, the group had already arrived in Dragonsport, using the secret passage they could walk to any point of the castle without being seen, on arrival though... Neeja felt a strong magical presence in the vicinity.. something very unusual for him. They focused first on rescuing Selmy Baristan, the knight wrongly accused of plotting against the Kingdom, and with Cyrus' memory of the place, he could pin point where the dungeon was. They arrived and killed the guards, reaching Selmy who was beat up and hurt, as well as tied to a chair with a hood over his head. Once the hood was pulled back Selmy in a feint voice said that they were in a trap.. and as he did, Tamalynn got back stabbed by a large sword, as the Regicide cut her life short. Atleast that was what Cyrus saw as he opens his eyes to see Ithuriel once again kill the guard who was protecting Selmy's cell, once they were in, they saw Selmy once again beat up and tied with a hood over his head, and as they were pulling it back Cyrus ran towards Tamalynn pushing her away as a large sword appeared out of nowhere stabbing air this time. It's a trap, called Selmy... and it truly was, Illyn Payne and Jason Gyles appeared from one side as the Regicide cover the other exit of the dungeon, Cyrus was re-living the dream as he began entering a fierce fight with the Regicide, a fight he was losing badly. On the other hand, Ithuriel Neeja and Tamalynn joined forces to fight Illyn and Jason, Illyn was the first to strike and attempting to harm Ithuriel, the fight left both men in a deadlock stance, but Tamalynn made short work of him using her divine spells, she crushed him and blasted him with what seemed like a waterfall of holy light, rendering Illyn near death. As Ithuriel was about to do the final blow he looked down at him and actually felt pity for the Knight of Dragonsport... Illyn was a good man before tortured by Aerys and before eight years of servitude as an executioner for the Lanisters turned him more into machine then man, and it was Ithuriel's own father James Stark that told him that. Instead of killing Illyn, Ithuriel whispered to the cold stone floor, spoke to the stone itself.. and as he did, the blocks that made the floor moved themselves and cautiously swallowed Illyn into the ground, as the focus shifted back to the fight he only had enough time to parry the agressive attacks that the undead Jason Gyles was unleashing on him. Neeja knew he was a Knight of Aerys, a Knight of Darkness, and thus he empowered a flame spell that was supposed to consume and destroy Sor Jason, but to his despair, his spell did no effect as his flames died off on touching the knight's armor, Aerys had protected Sor Jason well against Neeja. The fight between Cyrus and Markus was intense for Cyrus, the Regicide was always on him, pushing him, slashing him, taunting him, and he made it seem easy as he was toying with him, Cyrus kept on pushing the fight, attempting to fight on, to try and best him without needing to transform... Ithuriel and Tamy fought Jason best they could with their spells, as Neeja did all he could to drain his power, the combined effort of the three made the match even for both sides, during this Cyrus was being pushed back, and once or twice did he see the Regicide nearly ending his life... feeling the horrible taste of defeat nearby, Cyrus had no choice but to give in to the power of Krur. Everything else happened in a flash... due to how sudden it was. Cyrus was a large demonic being, with claws and wings as well as horns, he turned the table on the Regicide -easily- as he started playing and torturing him, Cyrus gained little control of his emotions, but he was enjoying it. He killed the Regicide, he wanted more, more to kill, revenge had not yet been paid, he blasted through small corridors and puny guards who kept getting in his way for some reason. He could smell them, the puny kid for a king Joffrey and the whore for a Queen Veronica... he trashed in the Throne Room and he saw the little girl Myrcella and the brat Tommen.. both sons of incest.. both needing to die, in a matter of seconds their screams would be silenced and the crown would be over his head... only then did Cyrus gain control of what he was doing, as he shifted into the human he was. After killing Jason Gyles, and watching his body turn to dust, Tamalynn healed Selmy and all four of them rushed in after Cyrus, finding a trail of dead bodies leading to a broken throne room with more dead. Selmy Baristan would be in shock at looking over Tommen and Myrcella dead... in fact... everyone was. The Guards filled the room, so did the grand Meister Pycelle and the Master of the Coin Petyr... and all kneeled before Cyrus. Cyrus was King of Dragonsport.
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
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Post by Madcat on Apr 10, 2009 20:56:57 GMT -5
Chapter 11 King Ithuriel Stark, Lady Tamalynn Stark, Asor Neeja Snow, King Cyrus Snow The Battle was nearly over, they had fled to the sea the cowards, well the Greyjoy vessels are faster, smaller, and powerful, you can not escape us Tywin. Theon Greyjoy and Richard Karstark were in the "Iron Whale" traveling fast next to three other light battleships in pursuit of the huge and slow Casterly Mount Galleons, the war in land had ended fast after the Mallister and the Frey had appeared from behind and cut off the Casterly Mount retreat, adding insult to Injury the River Pirates joined in the battle, taking over two Galleons and using them against Tywin, the men in land had surrendered as Tywin started to flee. -Get the damn ships further apart gods damnit... if one of them get hit they could likely crash against us... this is the last time I warn them of that before I shoot them myself. - Theon always had to act tough near his people, the Men of Iron were warriors first, humans second. -Get them near enough, we can still take another one down before Tywin gets away - Richard Karstark laughed as he got his bow ready. Little time they had to react when a war vessel flanked them and was in cannon range, Theon didn't even see that ship there moments before and now they were side to side with it. -Damnit! because of our ships being so damn close I didn't even see us being flanked! Prepare for evasive maneuvers! - Theon shouted out, but it was too late, the Dark Ship had gained position on them, Theon could only see clouds of smoke from its side announcing the cannons had been shot. -WE'RE UNDER FIRE! TAKE COVER!- Theon ran to find shelter as a rain of cannonballs hit them hard. -Theon, Get this ship closer, we need backup or we'll sink... this ship has no flag, it is not from Cas...- Richard never ended his phrase, as a cannonball exploded into the wood where he was, making him vanish in a cloud of dust right in front of Theons eyes. -RICHARD!- The ship was sinking already... the vessel had such an immense fire power.. they could barely move out of it's sight. -ABANDON SHIP! - Theon tried to run away but his legs failed him as the ship got hit again.. he tripped and fell, a wave crashed on him, he sinks with his ship... -Run back! Into the Woods! We can make our way back from there, split up! - the small crippled man was shouting orders to his men, the war was over, they had lost... panic and chaos everywhere... he had to survive, Tyrion had to find a way out... he ran into the woods and ran as much as his deformed legs allowed him too, alone he could escape, disappear. Tyrion you fool... you're the most recognizable face in Westeros... how many cripples are born and kept alive... only one.. only a Lanister he thought to himself, he was scared and alone in the dark... before he hit against a very large black rock. -Going somewhere goblin? - The Bloodhound towered above him. -Stay still.. don't fight! - He decided to add while beating Tyrion up, Tyrion didn't even move so much as fight back against a man who was five times his size, he just lifted his arms hopelessly as the Bloodhound gave him a beating, Tyrion could see nothing... only taste his own blood.. and smell the ale in his laughter. -There ya go.. now you look like you've just been in a war fighting instead of cowering behind your men, c'mon... got stuff to do and a Tyroshi to scare. Tyrion was nothing if not smart... only thing he could do to keep alive... -W-wait... don't... just say you found me dead.. I still could get you access to the gold in Casterly Mount, you'd be rich Sandor...-Tyrion would never call him Bloodhound while trying to negotiate with him-... You'd have more gold then all of Westeros combined! The Bloodhound stopped, and lifted him by his hair. -Do you value gold more then your life? - The Bloodhounds breath was all that could be seen from his gruesome helmet -You can't place a price on ones life Sandor. -Then you're worthless to me Goblin.- One final powerful punch on his face was all that Tyrion remembers before waking up in a cell next to his father Tywin. Theon was drowning, pulling off his chain shirt and what other metal he had keeping him down, placing three arrows by his belt and keeping his long bow, but it seemed like a lost cause, the force of the boat sinking was pulling him down with it he pushed up as hard as he could, he grabbed on to a rope and by miracle the rope pulled him up and not down... he was being pulled up unto a boat, he had completely ran out of breath, he wanted to breathe in but all he could do was drink water each time he opened his mouth, as he reached the surface he was passing out.. but a long skeleton hand dived in the water and grabbed his arm, pushing him up, Theon would panic... and he would pass out from lack of oxygen. The Bloodhound walked around Riverrun, and people greeted him as some sort of hero due to his actions in the Battle of the Bay, he had appeared from nowhere and added a large number of Casterly Mount soldiers to his list of kills, as well as helping in the capture of a battle ship and single handedly destroying Tyrions guards and capturing Tyrion himself, the Sandor Clegane was respected. He walked away the party celebrating the amazing win against the Lanisters, not even drinking a single drop of ale, he walked towards the Dungeons not seen by anyone, he walked down the dark narrow stairway and nearly tripped on Varys. -What are you thinking in doing?- Varys asked, as if he was in Riverrun for many days. -None of your fucking business freak. - The Bloodhound pushed his way passed him. -Then you should know Bloodhound, Berric beat you to it, you're still in time to make things right though... - With that Varys walked up the stairs, disappearing in the darkness. The Bloodhound looked over, sweat covering his face... he continued to walk down the stairs, this time in a quicken step, he slammed open the door in the dungeons looking over Berric Dondarrion speaking with Tyrion Lanister, it was obvious that Tyrion was giving a bribe for his release, the Bloodhound removed his vastly wide axe and walked towards Berric. -Disappear. Berric's look of fear and confusion took over him, barely able to move an inch... but as soon as the Bloodhound started lifting his axe the Tyroshi man ran away up the stairs as fast as a man with a wooden leg could. Sandor looked at Tyrion. -You don't give up do you? - Sandor asked. -I have lost everything Bloodhound, and it wasn't even my fault.. question is why have you suddenly turned into the knight of shinning armor that went from looking over himself, unto looking over everyone else. -Got reasons Goblin. -You know very well that each time you ever cared about someone else, they ended up dead. -This the part you make me cry and repent for my sins, midget? -Yes, but I calculated one curious fact that you should know before you kill me. -Don't want your damn gold you limping oversized horse shit. -Figured that out long ago when you punched me... But you should know that the person that killed your brother... the girl Tamalynn... the girl who ruined your chance for revenge... is the same person who is going to take over Casterly Mount, and the same person that Berric will try to over throne. -And how the fuck do you know that? -I'm smart Bloodhound, it's up to you now if you wish to save the girl... or kill her first. The Bloodhound stayed silent a bit, looking over the tiny crippled in front of him. -I've decided... that when the time comes... I'm going to torture until you start thanking the gods you were born short so that I wont have more parts of you to cut. The Bloodhound walks up the stairs, slowly, looking for the nearest distraction he could find. Theon is dazed... waking up in confusion... what happened? he was on a ship with Richard moments ago... he looks up he sees a small crowd of people around him... Tamalynn is saying something... is that Tamalynn even?... he feels a warm light hit his skin and sinking in his bones, filling his lungs with the air he couldn't breathe moments ago... he wakes up to see Ithuriel, Neeja, Cyrus, Illyn, Selmy and of course Tamalynn around him, they were all concerned over something, they didn't seem to care over him, he looked at the same direction to find a skeleton is Targaryen armor, Aerys he thought.. had to be Aerys... The confrontation dragged on, Theon was confused.. he attacked Illyn but Ithuriel and Neeja saved him... then Cyrus disappeared after Aerys said he was bored of him, Aerys then was going to do something to Selmy, Illyn and himself that didn't seem good, he picked up three arrows that were on his belt... he had no idea where they came from... he loaded his bow and fired them straight unto the skeletons head, Aerys dodged it, but the distraction seemed to allow Neeja to do some sort of spell... they vanished in flames.. teleported? Had to be... Theon was having a hard time thinking, in acting, in moving... but he could see himself move and act mechanically... something wasn't right... he screamed as hard as he could but no sound would come from his mouth, people spoke with him words he didn't understand and he answered things he wasn't sure of... He felt lost in himself. In the Meanwhile, the group had managed to leave Dragonsport via teleport and saved Theon before Aerys got to him, they then teleported to Riverrun under the company of Sor Selmy Baristan, who had pledged himself as a knight of Winterfell, and Sor Illyn Payne, who had pledged himself to Cyrus after he became king, Illyn was restored to his former self after Ithuriel had allowed the earth to heal him slowly, and not only did it heal him, but had regenerated all the previous wounds caused by Aerys when he was king, Illyn could now speak again. In Riverrun, they joined in the celebration that Casterly Mount had been taken, that had condemned Tyrion and Tywin Lanister to death, and nominated Berric Dondarrion as Lord of Lanisport after heroic actions in the Battle of the Bay. In the same day the Bloodhound was knighted as a guardian of Dragonsport, as well as 'Big' Jonas Ulm, also Tamalynn Stark was to be named Lord'ess of Casterly Mount and Queen of the West, with house Clegane, house Payne and house Dondarrion at her disposal, Cyrus had changed his last name to Blake, and was to be no longer referred to as a bastard, but yes as Royal Blood, and the situation of Eagles Nest was discussed and was to be the next priority of the group. After so many weeks of warring and battling, it had felt like the group had finally reached a moment they could pause and rest enough time to think over their next action carefully, nothing besides Aerys could stress them. Unfortunately, they would be stressed again very soon...
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Madcat
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The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
Posts: 457
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Post by Madcat on Apr 13, 2009 17:25:28 GMT -5
Chapter 12 King Ithuriel Stark, Queen Tamalynn Stark, Asor Neeja Snow, King Cyrus Blake Neeja was worried about their previous encounter with Aerys, mainly because the Undead Lord showed a lot of interest on possessing Selmy, Illyn and Theon as his Knights, to replace Jason Gyles. Neeja shared his concerns with his brothers and the three men, saying that he would think up a spell to protect them from Aerys influence. It would be only a matter of time before it was done, with the help of Tamalynn and Cyrus, the three men were mentally and physically warded against the dead king, something that placed Neeja's mind at ease... mainly because fighting another Jason Gyles was something he couldn't risk. In Addition to the spell, rings were crafted with the same purpose and spread out across the four brothers, as a precaution to Aerys teleportation spells. On the following day they had received an invitation from Eagles Nest by lady Lysa Tully Arryn, so they could discuss terms of peace between the Stark-Arryn and Blake-Arryn, they saw this as some sort of trap because lady Lysa wanted them to go without the presence of their armies, but despite all, they would agree and leave on the next day with a small group of men, and all the knights of Dragonsport and Winterfell with them. The journey up the mountains of Eagles Nest was a long and boring one, now that the relations between the North East and West had been smoothen, so a small group of a hundred'ish men was all the protection needed. Theon was left in Riverrun as the group traveled East, still confused in a state he couldn't quite control, he had received the ring and the mental glyph of protection and he seemed to have gained control over some of his actions, struggling as hard as he could to move his body that refused to obey, the Ring was what was helping the most as he almost shouted out for help using all his breath, but then his body started removing the ring... he fought it, he tried to keep it on, but it was a battle he had no training in, Theon's body through the ring discreetly out the window, into the many rivers that flow nearby Riverrun. The group spent a hard time reaching Eagles Nest, the mountainous narrow and cold paths left little room for maneuver as they climbed their way to the castle on the peak of the mountain, how could Eagles Nest ever be taken is something that no one could think of. The harsh terrain makes it impossible for siege, footman would have to travel narrow pathways or risk falling into their doom, and the narrow paths would get them killed as the many towers of Eagles Nest had direct visibility over them, the only big guns would be in the walls, catapults that could destroy whole pathways and render armies helpless. Cavalry was not recommended, unless expertly trained as the slippery slopes and high altitudes would scare the horses and cause a panic, only a steady stream of footman and archers could ever reach the walls of Eagles Nest, and even then, they would be bombarded with arrows, rocks, projectiles and other things even before they could reach the vast gates. It was said that Eagles Nest was unconquerable, but twenty thousand men from Dragonsport made them fear for their lives... Jon Arryn would turn in his grave if he ever knew that his once brave city now cowers behind its walls. The group entered Eagles Nest to meet an overly joyous lady Lysa Tully Arryn, well... at least for Ithuriel and Tamalynn she was joyous, she showed cold resentment for Cyrus and Neeja... the bastard children. Speaking with her was something awkward, as she seemed to have a unrealistic and distorted way of seeing things even after Cyrus and Ithuriel tried reasoning with her, she kept accusing them of past sins, of justice and of retaliation, and demanding steep compensations in order to bow before Cyrus. All of which were happily denied. Neeja on the meanwhile was sensing magical auras around the castle, unseen forces and figures on the shadow... then he felt the recognizable force of Aerys Targaryen paying them a visit, Neeja opened his mouth to warn those around them but as soonas he did the trumpet of Eagles Nest was already announcing that the city was under attack, lady Arryn accused the four brothers of the attack, but only they knew it could only be Night Stalkers. They left Tamalynn in charge of the Knights in the Throne Room, as the three brothers ran outside to fight the invaders, they could hear Aerys looking for Selmy and Illyn, he roared it across the castle, but they wouldn't just hand him over. The fights mixed Winterfell soldiers with Eagles Nest guards, all in a mix fighting gigantic undead Monsters that climbed the walls and the sides of the mountain, they also fought shadows that gained form and attacked them, as well as undead warriors and other abominations, they fought and fought, Ithuriels sword froze and shined like never before as he cut down wave after wave, Neeja was behind him blasting in a wave of fire anything that dared get near, whilst Cyrus looked over both of their back, keeping them safe from any unwanted backstabbing, the group moved as one but on a glimpse outside the window, they could see the swarms of undead minions climbing over the walls, jumping on everything and killing all that stood in their way, none of them have ever seen such a fast and powerful force. Ithuriel closed his eyes, concentrating as hard as he could on communicating with the land, as he did so Cyrus and Neeja looked in amazement as his trance made him glow green, while his whispers would echo throughout the whole city.... and soon... Gigantic Stone Elementals raised from the Mountain sides and from the fallen towers and started fighting the Night Stalkers. They could count around fifty of them, but they were so massive in size they could easily destroy vast numbers in simple swings with their large arms. Neeja Ithuriel and Cyrus looked in amazement as these ancient carefully (to not brake the Castle of course) destroyed the enemies, Aerys was seen flying about, in anger, as he searched for the brothers. Even with the help of the Stone Giants, the battle seemed lost, the vast numbers of Night Stalkers swarmed anything, and despite the groups help in keeping the numbers down.. they still where everywhere... the three brothers discussed an idea as they began to run outside into the courtyard before an army of white spirits bursted out of the Throne room and joined the battle, a small army of five hundred heads at least just seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and opened space in the courtyard of the castle for the three brothers to run in, and to be sure they were safe and alone, Cyrus closed his eyes and focused on his demonic form... not achieving it... but achieving a wave of fear that blasted from himself and unto every moving Night Stalker around them, they ran in panic. Neeja had thought up an idea, and he knew exactly what he could and needed to do, and thus with Ithuriels help the ground of the courtyard begin lifting them high in the sky, above everyone and everything else, they could see the gigantic stone Giants fighting and slowly starting to fall, they could see the spirits fight and keep them back, they could see everything as they were the highest point of the mountain... they could even see Aerys who flied up to meet them. Neeja had his eyes closed, focused, he remembered seeing Azhai as he did on the dream, the dream where he was flying, the dream where he was burning, Azhai walked up to him in darkness. -Your power keeps growing boy... good. Neeja nodded. -Do you remember our previous lesson? Neeja nodded, Azhai's hands flared as they burned. -Do you know what you have to do boy? Neeja nodded for the last time, and then Azhai blasted Neeja with a massive fireball that torched everything in its path and lit the dark place Neeja was, and suddenly.. he opened his eyes. He saw Aerys turn around in fear, disappearing in a teleport spell to somewhere far far away, he saw himself burn up and he saw clouds of fire circle around him faster, the night glowed red as Cyrus and Ithuriel looked for cover before Neeja aimed at the skies and set the Night ablaze, even the moon seemed on fire, and after a while it began to rain fire over Eagles Nest in a blinding light, every Night Stalker was being burned alive and shivering into dust as the flames hit the ground as a powerful winter rain, the fire burned everything though, man and tree alike, Neeja had little control over the targets he hit, Ithuriel and Cyrus struggled to not be consumed by the fire as Neeja was still busy setting the skies on fire.... the rain was too strong... they could barely see, they were all blinded, everything fades into white. They feel, sense, and see nothing else....
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Madcat
Dungeon Masters ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_blue.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_blue.png)
The Azurite Construct
[Crazy, isn't it?]
Posts: 457
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Post by Madcat on Apr 24, 2009 6:39:46 GMT -5
Chapter 13 King Ithuriel Stark, Queen Tamalynn Stark, Asor Neeja Snow, King Cyrus Blake The light faded, and the group found themselves together in a dark hollow plane of existence, and in front of them, the dark unknown mysterious figure known as "the Stranger" in the Religion of the Seven... and Kil'errhyen Azhai from the Red Religion... and Frederik Grundah, Father of the children of the forest Religion. They would speak of what the future held for them, and that Krur was being more reckless and uncaring, and as such, a threat. They would speak nearly all night debating plots, and facing realities, but at the end, they all left the realm of the gods as allies, all the remaining gods had decided that the future would be better if they all stuck together. In the meanwhile, during the groups absence, Eagles Nest was still under a rain of fire as soldiers ran for shelter while still fighting the Night Stalkers, amongst these men stood the Bloodhound. -I'm gettin' our men in the castle, keep an eye on the crazed bitch. -Lady Lysa? - Selmy Baristan asked, despite his old age he was in charge of the guard in the throne room. -Yeah... what you said... 'Big' Jon you're coming with me. -Bringin' the portable ale keg? A moment of silence amongst the two men, as the Bloodhound just seemed to stare at 'Big' Jon. -...better not... may get damaged, place it under Lysa' dress, sure theres plenty of room there to keep the keg safe. They two Sors ran out of the throne room, into the main halls fighting the Night Stalkers that we're still in the castle, and as they reach the front gates a giant undead monster brakes through the wood in flames and collapses right in front of them... slowly turning to ash... the Bloodhound looked at the flames with a certain horror as he got a flashback of the time his brother Gregor Clegane placed his face inside a fireplace after he stole his apple. The Bloodhound shrugged off the feeling and charged through the flames to the burning courtyard with Big Jon, gathering their men to enter the castle. -Please... save me....- Said an unknown Eagles Nest guard who was half boiling in his armor that caught on fire, the Bloodhound booted his head and snapping his neck, it wasn't the first dead beat asking for his help... and he couldn't afford to care about anyone who wouldn't be fighting by his side in the future. Jon and Bloodhound managed to find a good number of their guard still alive, nearly all of them, the Winterfell guard stayed mostly by the Gates, still fighting flaming Night Stalkers that quickly died off, they quickly escorted them back to the castle, the giants corpse that blocked the doorway was now reduced to just ashes. Selmy walked up to them. -Clegane, Lady Arryn ran off into the court chamber on the other side of the castle, we're keeping the monsters from going to the back... we need you to go get her. -Fuck am I? Her babysitter? -As of now, I officially name you her Babysitter, the ugliest nanny I've ever seen too. -...I'd tell ya of a place to suck on Selmy, but I got a wrench to save. The Bloodhound turned to face some of the guards they saved, James and Fred were two soldiers that belonged in Neejas guard... they actually volunteered to help the Bloodhound. They ran to the back of the castle, shadows would burst from the walls to be cut down by the enormous axe that the Bloodhound wielded, they walk in the court chamber of Eagles Nest, it was basically a long tall and wide corridor that lead to two Vast doors, the Eagles Doors in which criminals were tossed out in final judgment, if they were innocent despite everyone else saying guilty, they would fly, if they were indeed guilty then they would crush on jagged rock nearly two thousand feet bellow. Lady Arryn stood by the end of the hall, hunching over, crying that she had lost it all, her husband, her child, her city, her house... she stayed on the floor as the three men approached. -Let me be.... I wish to die in flames with my city... join my husband in death. -I wish you'd shut up, but you'know... got a feeling none of us will get what we want, come'on. The Lady looked at the Bloodhound outraged. -I'm surprised you didn't kill me and violated my corpse yet dog, your new owners keeping you on a tight leash? You're a monster. -Thank...- the Bloodhounds thoughts were cut short, as a group of monsters ran in the hallway, charging at them. -Draw steel, fight'em!- Fred and James charged bravely, but the bloodhound stayed behind, he looked at Lady Arryn coldly. -You know... you do make a point...- He picks her up by her hair, her screaming covered by the shrieking on the Night Stalkers. He kicks the Eagles Doors open with his enormous boot and amongst the cold wind the Bloodhound pulled lady Arryn to the abyss edge, holding her by her hair while her feet were touching nothing but air, her screams of pain echoed the night as she struggled to brake free. -Wha'? Don't want to die anymore? Well you got to convince me to spare your life before my arm or your hair gets tired... She just screamed, the pain too intense to add any words... her scalp was tearing apart despite her efforts... she falls... with the bloodhound still holding on a bunch of he hair and scalp. -...Psh... she killed herself... poor thing... The Bloodhound would rush after the other two, finishing the last of the Night Stalker army. By the time the group reappeared on the Castles Courtyard, morning was rising, and the survivors were already gathering around the Knights of Winterfell and Dragonsport, would be just a matter of persuading the remaining houses of Eagles Nest to avoid being destroyed like the Arryn, and Cyrus Blake would hold reigns over the Mountainous regions as well. The Bloodhound was left to gather the alliance of the remaining two Eagles Nest Houses, while the group and many of the former Arryn army, traveled south to Dragonsport to decide their next action. News was waiting for them on Dragonsport, as Meister Pycelle explained that Stannis Baratheon won the battle against his brother, as the Tempest Keep army was laid to waste by Stannis' naval armada, declaring himself king of Westeros, Stannis was moving his armada North to face Cyrus, he had sent word that he wanted his crown back. Highgarden has always been an ally to the Baratheon, so it would be a matter of time before the Rose family joined Stannis. An idea was quickly organized... that Stannis was a stern but honest man, if they could gain his alliance then there was no need for more bloodshed. Neeja would seek him out and teleport him to Dragonsport, and they would bring Myrcella and Tommen from the dead.
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