Your lands are a meagre shadow of what they once were. Where they used to stretch across the whole north coast of the Westerland, you are now left with but a small portion of land, hardly large enough for your home of Brachenhall and a dozen or so villages scattered across the countryside.

Raids from the insidious Ironborn have shattered your strength, and bandits roam the roads and mountains south of your hall. Though you might have gained personal glory in your work for the Lannisters, you have left your own lands to go to rot, an error you wish to rectify.

Other houses have sprouted in the lands that you once owned. House Payne now resides further up the coast, and Houses Marbrand and Estren now own the rich lands along the Tumblestone River, that your house used to call its own.

You bitter enemies, the Ironborn, sit off the coast on the Iron Islands, waiting for their time to strike. House Banefort, another family with ties to the First Men, sit in their holds, watching as they always do.

You have decided to change your fortunes, and lift your House to greatness once more.

"Still We Stand!"

NPCs and Stats for Lord Garrette and House Brachen - http://pastebin.com/PjZppEmz

Archive - http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=House%20Brachen

>>41750405
Good to see you Squire

It was midday, and the ringing sound of swords on armour still echoed outside as your son and a few of your soldiers continued to train your new infantry, recruited from the grateful smallfolk following your crushing of the outlaw bands the day before.

You had been preparing for leaving your lands once more, though this time was not for war, but for diplomacy. House Marbrand of Ashemark invited you to visit their lands to be feasted, where you would be able to discuss the local situation with the Castamere Company, a band of rebels and traitors rallying behind a Bastard of House Reyne, who have been raiding the nearby lands of those Houses that stood with Lannister during the rebellion.

A few dozen rangers have been sent to the western border of your lands, to spread the tales of the fall of the outlaws, in order to try to have the rebellious smallfolk in that region come back into your fold, leaving you just the Bastard of Castamere to deal with.

>anything further you guys want to do before leaving?

>also, who are you taking with you? Any sworn swords or troops?

>>41750451
Glad to be back, Ser Lann. Looking forward to seeing how you guys deal with diplomacy, rather than fighting!

>>41750563
Take our honor guard with us.

>>41750563
We need to take our two younger sworn swords, leave our more experienced men behind to defend the Keep in our absence. Also bring the honor guard.

I've been looking forward to this Squire let's rock

>>41750563
Take our honor guard, also what was our decision with getting a shipwright or glassmaking, depending on the answer have the maester look into doing that

>>41750635
So would that be Ser Devin and Ser Lambert, or are you suggesting taking Ser Devin and your bastard son?

>>41750659
Sorry without the names up I couldn't remember who they were, leave Trystan here don't bring the bastard to negotiations

>>41750563
Personal guard, and I'd suppose a third of our sailors since we're taking the ship I assume.

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>>41750647
The maester is looking into finding a shipwright willing to work for you currently. He's awaiting word back from his contacts in Oldtown.

>>41750590
>>41750635
>>41750647

You wave over Ser Lambert and Ser Devin, who you see are watching your bastard son and his men training with interest.

"My lord, Trystan seems to have an aptitude for taking the initiative and leadership," Ser Devin said as he approached, to which Ser Lambert nodded in agreement. "Indeed, my lord, he will make quite a suitable knight, in time. It was quite clever of you to test him by giving him command over a new unit - it will allow his men to bond with him, and will allow him to see his own weaknesses and strengths," Lambert added.

"Indeed, we shall see how he fairs. However, I need you both to prepare to leave, and to assemble my personal guard. You shall accompany me on our visit to Ashemark, and provide counsel during my discussions with Lord Marbrand. Inform Ser Tommos and my uncle that they are in charge of Brachenhall in my absence. I imagine we should only be gone for a week or so at the most," you inform them, having already had your servants pack your luggage for your trip.

"Aye my lord, right away. We will have them ready within the hour," Ser Devin replied, before he and Lambert headed off to carry out their tasks.

>Do you want to travel straight to Ashemark, or visit anywhere else on the way?

>>41750748
Good point - do you want to travel by sea around the coast, then march inland to Ashemark, or march the whole way?

So the end of last thread left it a bit ambiguous but can we assume the peasant rebels are no longer an issue? I'm guessing when we get back we'll have the leaders of that in custody and deal with them then.

>>41750837
Straight there.

>>41750837
Just travel straight there, by ship. Still voting we do a bit of sport fishing on the way though.

>>41750837
Straight there

>>41750856
We had decided last thread to go by ship since it would be faster.
Every moment those traitorous dogs draw breath is an affront to our liege and our honor.

>>41750890
This, maybe not the fishing though, I'd rather not waste thread time

>>41750909
It's a throw away line and we get to bring a trophy as a gift. Unless Squire wants to make that some sort of challenge.

>>41750837
>Straight there

You bastard, I'm off to bed now. Will try to catch up when I awake.

>>41750971
>be Lord Marbrand of Ashemark
>bandit troubles lately
>neighboring lord wants to treat with me, discuss strategy
>sick.jpeg
>wait patiently for his arrival
>one morning, the heralds announce his approach
>put on my finest coat and doublet, family colors of course
>"I present to you, Lord Garrette Brachen of Brachenhall!"
>this motherfucker shows up holding a shark over his head
>"I HAVE COME TO TREAT WITH THEE"

Around an hour later, your men were assembled, the caravan assembled, and yourself and Sers Lambert and Devin were mounted and leading the column towards your docks, where one of your ships waited to transport you around the Westerland coast, passing close by the Iron Islands, to get you to your destination quicker, as you would just have to march your men inland once you had reached the west coast near Castamere itself.

Captain Symon Waters, commander of your small fleet, awaited you at the edge of the dock, bowing as you approached. He was an older man, his hair windswept and silvery-blonde, his skin weathered and hard from the salt spray of the sea. "Good afternoon, m'lord Brachen. We're ready to leave as soon as the men and gear are aboard, it's a decent day, so the weather should be fine. I'd imagine we would be around the coast in a day or two at most."

"Good, thank you Captain Waters. Have your men help everyone aboard, and set sail as soon as we're able," you replied, climbing the board onto the deck, and being directed by the first mate towards your cabin, which had been lavishly prepared for you, with a fine selection of wines alongside a selection of books.

>>41751030
We're passing near the saltborn? We brought the Sailors and a Warships escort, right?

It only took a couple of hours to have all of your men board the ship, along with bringing all of your luggage, and that of your sworn swords, aboard, and for it all to be lashed down in the hold, ready for the journey. "Alright, you salt scum, you have your lord onboard today, so no mucking around or ill discipline, or it'll be the lash for you. Now, men to their oars, and get us underway!" Waters shouted out from the bridge, followed by a cheer from his men, and the boat slowly began to pull away from the dock, underway on your journey.

You noticed, on climbing up on deck a short while later, that the two other ships of your fleet were bracketing your own. Captain Waters must have noticed your confusion, "Don't worry sir, they're just seeing us safe along the coast, and will head back once we're rounding the Banefort. Just in case the Ironborn try something, you understand," he explained with a smile.

>Do you guys want to try to fish for some sort of trophy ala >>41750890
>>41750971 >>41751008 ? Or not bother with it?
>Anything else you wish to do while on the ship, or just jump straight to getting to your destination?

>>41751163
Yeah sure try some fishing, that should be funny.

>>41751163
>>Do you guys want to try to fish for some sort of trophy ala

Why not?

>>41751163
Why not, fish away

>>41751163
There's no harm in doing some fishing, and we might even catch ourselves that shark!

>>41751163
Eh sure fish.

>>41751163
Let's do some sport fishing!

I have no idea what sort of rolls we'd do for this. But it makes me laugh.

>>41751260
Probably Survival
Rollan 2d6

Rolled 2, 2 = 4 (2d6)

>>41751331
or not?

During the evening, after eating with Captain Waters, Ser Devin and Ser Lambert, and sharing a cask of Arbor Gold between the four of you, you manage to wander up to the deck, where you watch a few of the sailors fishing from the stern of the ship, throwing out their long lines in hope for a catch. One of them seemed to be having some luck, pulling in a large cod about ten minutes after you began watching. He noticed you as he looked up, and bowed. "Good evening, m'lord. We're just supplementing our rations, as it were - nothing like fresh food on a voyage, after all!"

"Nought to worry, man, I was just watching," you replied. "Perhaps you would let me have a try?"

>roll Survival (so 2d6) for your fishing attempt, +3 modifier for help by the sailors.
>Also state how long you plan to try to fish, as the length of time you spend dictates the chances of you eventually catching something.

Rolled 5, 2 = 7 (2d6)

>>41751367

Rolled 2, 5 + 3 = 10 (2d6 + 3)

>>41751367
Don't know how long's a good time really so yeah.

Rolled 2, 5 + 3 = 10 (2d6 + 3)

>>41751367
Rolling.

We don't have anything particularly important to get to before we make landfall.

Rolled 3, 3, 6 + 3 = 15 (3d6 + 3)

>>41751367
A short while, say 2-3 hours

>>41751378
>>41751381
>>41751385
>those rolls
What the fuck.

>>41751367
Fish for a few hours I'd suppose. We do need our sleep afterall.

>>41751378
After a few hours of attempts, you finally get a bite. You can feel the line tugging quite hard, though you manage to keep your footing and pull the line up the rear of the ship, finally ending with a large, long, fearsome looking fish flopping onto the deck, its eyes darting around as it tried to breath.

"Well done, m'lord," one of the sailors said, looking over your catch. "That's a barracuda, that is. Vicious things they are, you can see by the teeth," he added, pointing to the snout, which was filled with razor-sharp teeth. "You probably caught a smaller fish, and this monster decided to try to eat it himself."

You felt vaguely proud of yourself for your catch - the thing was around 6 and a half feet long, taller than you, and nearly a foot in width. It'd make a damn decent meal, if you wanted to do that, or a fearsome trophy on a wall.

After the exhaustion of the catch, and the effects of the Arbor Gold wearing on you, you picked up your prize and made your way back to your cabin for a decent night's rest.

>>41751590
It's not a shark but I'll take it.

>>41751590
Pretty good catch. Will make a fine gift.

>>41751590
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4nWy8pmIM4

>>41751678
Glad I'm not the only one.

You woke to the soft rocking of the ship, the sun shining through the small gaps in the hull. After getting yourself dressed, you joined the captain for breakfast, a simple meal of freshly caught haddock and a glass of wine, which filled you enough to see you through the morning.

On deck, you could see the bright sun, barely a cloud in the sky, the open sea to starboard, where you knew the Iron Islands sat in the distance, and the Westerland coast to your port, the craggy cliffs suggesting that you were rounding the north-west coast, the lands of Banefort. Indeed, through the haze of the morning, you could see their imposing castle sitting on the clifftops, the black granite walls making it look all the more sinister.

Ser Devin seemed to be dealing with the voyage in a fine manner, japing with some of the crew and your men, likely comparing the view to the sea of sand from his homeland of Dorne. Ser Lambert was dealing with it less well, however, staying in his cabin unless he needed to go to the railing to vomit over the side.

Captain Waters walked up to you, inclining his head. "My lord, I've checked the maps and this weather, and with a bit of luck, we should have reached our destination, the town of Fairview, just on the Fair Isle Strait, by this evening. From there, it is down to you and your men how long it takes to march to Ashemark. We will be there waiting for you for when you return - just send a raven to tell us when we should expect you."

Hot damn! That's 78 inches! For reference, a trophy-sized Barracuda is a mere 55 inches.

And for a total newbie as well. That thing is the thing visiting lords see on the wall and go "wow what a badass"

Do we give it as a gift or keep it for ourselves?

>>41751812
Gift it obviously.

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>>41751812
>mfw

Christ almighty now that's a fish. Gift that sucker, Marbrand will remember us well for that.

>>41751656
>>41751648
I am pretty sure the fish will have rotten by the time we have gotten there

>>41751883

You know, my vote depends on a piece of information from Squire.

Have we met Marbrand before? If not, this will be one HELL of a first impression.

>Check out this barracuda
>No biggie, just caught in on my way to your place
>Take it as a gift.

As Waters had said, it was early evening by the time your ship began to slide into port at Fairview, as the weather had held and the oarsmen had put their utmost into their toil, ensuring you were there when you expected to be.

Looking at the maps of the roads through to Ashemark, you could see that it would take you a full day's march to reach the seat of House Marbrand. You could either get a head start and head out as soon as your men and luggage were disembarked from the ship, and camp on the road, in order to reach Ashemark for mid-afternoon the following day, or stay in one of the several inns dotted around Fairview, and head out at first light the next day, getting you to your destination the next night.

>what is your choice?

>>41751911
Not if we preserve it ya numnuts/

>>41751911
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6As7YDwIz4o

We can have it stuffed when we reached the town. It's coastal so they are going to have someone capable of it.

>>41751926
Head out now and camp on the way

>>41751916
You have briefly met him once before, during the Reyne-Tarbeck Rebellion. You aren't on personal terms, however - you just remember him as a decent warrior at the time, though that was twenty years ago now.

>>41751926
Normally I'd vote we move ahead, but this gives us a chance to get our prize fish stuffed.

>Stay

>>41751926
Stay in an inn. Preferably one closer to the coast, march in the morning.

>>41751961
Second

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>I HAVE COME TO TREAT WITH THEE

>>41751926
Go, now.

You send Ser Devin to acquire rooms for himself, Ser Lambert and you at one of the more respectable inns in the town, while having Ser Lambert inform the men that they will be sleeping on the ship tonight, and then heading for Ashemark on the morn. You also gave one of the sailors a silver stag to take your prize catch to an artisan to have stuffed and mounted, a gift for Lord Marbrand.

About an hour later, Ser Devin returns, having hired rooms for the three of you at the Golden Shore, an inn most often acquainted by traders and captains of passing ships, and so bereft of the kind of riff-raff you preferred to avoid. He also advised that they had quite an impressive selection of drinks - you get the impression that he stopped for a couple before returning.

With your men informed, and the rooms booked, you and your sworn swords made their way to the Golden Shore, where a few drinks were had to bless the coming day and your discussions with Lord Marbrand, before heading to bed to get a good night's sleep for the day's march ahead.

The next day, you and your men were awake at dawn, grabbing a small breakfast, as well as some food for the road, from the innkeeper, before heading back to the dock to assemble your men and begin your trek. Most of your guards' gear and your luggage had been dealt with the night before, so it wasn't long before you were all on the road, making your way from the coast towards the mountains of the Tumblestones, where Ashemark lay in wait.

The roads were fairly clear, you had obviously caught a couple of hours on the traders that would ply their trade along these roads, allowing you and your men to relax as you winded you way inland, the peaks of the Tumblestones slowly growing in front of you as you approached them.

During the afternoon, you noticed a half-dozen men hanging from the trees, signs of 'rapist', 'murderer', 'thief' hanging around their necks, marking them as grisly reminders to those who wished to break the King's Laws, though you felt that the Castamere Company likely cared little for the laws of Targaryen or Lannister alike.

It was late evening, with the sun slowly setting, as you and your men approached the walls of Ashemark, which lay in a small valley, otherwise surrounded by insurmountable peaks. bar for the few roads through those mountains. A number of men rose their pikes to you as they saw your column with their lanterns. "Who goes there, at the gate of Ashemark?"

>how do you respond? Pissed off at being questioned by guards, respectfully, etc

>>41752249
>Stare them down and then declare who we are in a stern voice.
Time to make some guards piss there pants.

>>41752273
I like this

>>41752249
>Respectfully
I am Lord Garrette Brachen of Brachenhall, and I have come to speak with Lord Marbrand

>>41752249
Defer to one of our knights with a small gesture and proceed to stare them down during the introduction.

>>41752273
>>41752297
That's good. Stare him down as one of our knights introduces us.

>>41752297

This

>>41752273
Second

You glance to Ser Lambert, before returning your stern gaze to the guards, feeling almost insulted that they had not been told to expect you, or if they had, that they hadn't recognised your banner, which was being held high by Ser Devin.

"This is Garrette, Lord of Brachenhall, Scourge of the Ironborn, Warden of the Tumblestone Coast, and friend of House Marbrand," Ser Lambert announced, his voice gruff from the long march. "Your lord and master invited my liege here to parley with him, not to be questioned by common guardsmen. I suggest you find whoever commands here, and see my lord through to yours, soldier."

The guardsman visibly gulped, taken aback a little, glancing to his colleagues before kneeling. "I am sorry, my lord, I meant no insult. M'lord informed us he was expecting your arrival, but we did not think you would be here for another day or two. Please, come in, m'lord, ser knights, and we will inform Lord Marbrand of your arrival. Are your men packed for camping by the walls?"

"They are, of course. Any troops not prepared to camp are ones that would not be found in service to House Brachen. Lead the way, guardsman," Ser Lambert replied, obviously irritated by this man.

"As you say, ser. Please, m'lord, follow me," the guard replied, now regretting losing his bet at dice and getting the night watch for his trouble.

Ser Lambert glanced to you and flashed a grin, enjoying putting the man on the back foot. You nodded in appreciation, and went through the gates.

Ashemark was a fairly large castle, dating from the time of the Andal invasion, when House Marbrand was formed. Dozens of men patrolled the walls, though it was fairly quiet, with it being late. The large banner of House Marbrand, the flaming tree on smokey grey, hung from the main keep, above the door, through which one of the soldiers from the gate ran, obviously alerting his lord to your arrival.

It took around ten minutes before Lord Damon Marbrand, his white hair long and hanging over his shoulders, a large white beard covering part of his face, though his bright blue eyes were visible even in what little light was still in the sky. His weathered face broke into a smile as he approached you.

"My lord Brachen, a pleasure to see you," he said, extending his hand to you after one of his men helped you from your steed. "Please, forgive my men, they were not expecting you before the morrow. I take it you came by sea, rather than the roads? A wise plan, given our shared troubles. You probably saw the warnings to those rebels on your approach to my gate, no doubt. Still, please, come in, have some wine and food, I will have the kitchens ensure you are not hungry before you are shown to your rooms," he said, before waving you and your men through the doors to his keep, and towards the main hall.

>how are you going to greet him in return?
>give suggestions on what you want to say

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>>41752018

>>41752739
>Gift Time

>>41752739
Greet him politely, then ask when we can get to talking about the castamere company

>>41752739
Return the handshake and proceed with the same respect. We're both Lords here.

>>41752790
This, great him cordially and say that I wish we could've met under better circumstances.

>>41752739
>wine and food.
It's Frey Time?

>>41752739
In regards to the hanged men, has he had direct conflict with the Company? Anything of note to report on that.

"Every breath that these bandits and traitors draw is an insult to our honor, soon we will cut them down. But first, I've brought a gift for you. We caught him on our journey here."

>>41752790
>>41752804

These two things.

You shake Lord Damon's hand, and wave over Ser Lambert, who had your gift strapped to the back of his saddle. "Every breath that these bandits and traitors draw is an insult to our honour, though we will soon cut them down," you reply, hinting at what you wish from him. "But first, I have brought a gift for you, to thank you for your goodwill. I caught him on our journey here," you add, before taking the trophy from Ser Lambert, and presenting it to Lord Damon, who looked it over with an impressed look.

"That is quite some catch, Lord Garrette. I see your skills extend beyond being a superb warrior. I thank you for this gift, I will have it mounted on my wall tonight," he replied, smiling, before handing it to a servant with the order to have it put up in the main hall.

"So, I trust your journey was uneventful? That is the best way, and lucky, given the increase in bandit attacks, and the ever-present risk of pirates, as you no doubt know all to well, being so close to those dread Islands. Still, please, relax, drink, you are my guests here, and on the morrow, we shall talk more of our mutual problems," Lord Damon said, indicating the seats at the main table of the hall, where servants were already bringing out wine and ale, and you spied the kitchen staff running around to assemble something resembling a meal.

It would appear we have the whole keep on the back foot. I'd say this bodes well for our negotiations.

>>41753076

Doesn't look like this is Damon's first rodeo, and aren't we lacking on intrigue skills with the exception of intimidate?

>>41753076
It's good to be scary. Let's just hope he doesn't figure out we've got a skeleton army and shit for lands. Our men may be badasses and we may be Creed himself, but we don't have the raw numbers of warm bodies.

>>41753109
>Persuasion: 4 (Convince 1B)

I thought we had Intimidate too, but I don't see it on the character sheet.

>>41753134

I thought so too. But hey, convince is going to serve us a hell of a lot better in this scenario.

"That is why I am here, obviously," you reply to Lord Damon's mention of your mutual problems, "but I thank you for your generosity and welcome, and look forward to spending a short time here before returning home. But yes, the journey was quiet, though I have no doubt the Ironborn are just biding their time. They haven't raided in a couple of years, since we taught their kind what comes of crossing the borders of the Westerland, but they are a tenacious foe, they will be back."

Lord Damon nodded solemnly, though quickly tried to change the subject, obviously attempting to move to more pleasant topics.

During the evening, you learnt a fair amount about what had come of Lord Damon since you last met, twenty years ago. He had returned home to take his place as lord, following his father's death eighteen years ago, and had settled down, marrying a lovely girl from the Lannisport branch of the Lannisters, Elsa Lannister, a second daughter, but helped with trade links through the Westerlands, and had a son, Addam, who was currently serving as a squire at Casterly Rock.

>what do you want to bring up for discussion tonight?

>>41753185
Shoot the breeze with him, tell old stories and the like. We can plan for the bandits tomorrow.

>>41753185
Discuss more topics pertaining to the local politics and news of the Westerlands anything of note we might take advantage of. I don't doubt he has his thumb on such news more so than we do.

>>41753109
From all appearances he's in the exact same boat we are, with lands full of shit-tier bandits he outclasses, but can't stamp out. Teaming up will probably be a simple matter.

Also, I think we're being too quick to dismiss Banefort as a potential ally. We should bring up
the subject of both of us heading over to get his cooperation and double-teaming him. After all- these men are Reyne survivors and it's his duty to his liege to stamp them out. What would Tywin think if he learned that Banefort was harboring Castamere refugees and not allowing his neighbors to help get rid of them?

>>41753185
Just shoot the shit for now I guess, he seems reluctant to talk business and it's late. Just make it clear that we are going to get down to details first thing tomorrow.

>>41753249
I suppose it depends on whether or not we get a reply from them, and if the Company moves to his lands and his reaction to it.

I've no issue with working with the Baneforts, but they need to play ball too.

>>41753324
The Company was hanging out near the border, right? So it doesn't actually matter if they are in his lands as well, we can just pull a Karban and say that they are using the border to try and dance around retribution.

>>41753232
If you want to try to shoot the shit in order to get information about the local political situation and news out of him, make a Persuasion roll (4d6), +1 modifier because he is amiable to you - not friends, but pleasant acquaintances.

Rolled 2, 1, 4, 5 + 1 = 13 (4d6 + 1)

>>41753378
Sure why not

Rolled 2, 1, 4, 1 + 1 = 9 (4d6 + 1)

>>41753249
>From all appearances he's in the exact same boat we are, with lands full of shit-tier bandits he outclasses, but can't stamp out. Teaming up will probably be a simple matter.

Let's talk trade with him, then. Maybe once we stamp out the bandits we can work toward some sort of mutually profitable arrangement.

>>41753378

>>41753401
But of what though? We don't exactly have much in the way of products currently. Once we get the fisheries going I'm sure the landlocked Marbrand will be interested in such a trade.

Rolled 4, 2, 1, 3 + 1 = 11 (4d6 + 1)

>>41753378
K

>>41753431
And by that I mean the processing addition, as we do currently have a fishery. But limited processing means.

>>41753397

After having a few drinks with him, you get onto the topic of local gossip and politics. From what Lord Damon then explained, it seems as if the Westerlands, bar bandits and the occasional raid from pirates, has been fairly uneventful. Ser Arthur Payne, heir to Solitude, has recently married the second daughter of Lord Regenard Estren, further up the Tumblestone River. His first daughter is a widow, her husband Ser Leo Lannister killed in a tourney some months back - they had just been married, and had yet to consummate it.

Apparently, Jaime Lannister, son of your friend Tywin Lannister, and eventual heir to Casterly Rock, has been fighting against bandits himself alongside Lord Crakehall, a group called the Kingswood Brotherhood. Tywin has seemed quite worried in recent days, no doubt worrying for his heir's safety.

House Westerling has started putting out feelers for the marriage of one of their daughters, Maya Westerling, who has just reached 16 years of age.

As for trade, Lord Damon agreed that more trade might be good, and that his lands, being mostly mountains, are in dire need of decent lumber to build, especially to expand his mining operations.

Otherwise, you just relax for the night, having drinks and talking about old war stories, before Lord Damon excuses himself and retires for the night, followed by yourself and your men, who are all shown to well kept guest rooms for the night, where your luggage already waits.

>>41753719
We'll want to be careful with our lumber trade seeing as we only have "light forests" currently and the intention is to use it to build ships as well. Though trading for mined resources may benefit us to a greater degree.

>>41753882

Does Marbrand have a lot of woodland in his possession? We could import from him should our forests prove too thin.

The next day, the smell of cooking food wakes you, an assortment of flavours and smells that makes you hungrier than you normally are when you first get up in the morning.

After putting on a relatively good looking outfit, though all of your outfits tend towards being more practical than ostentatious, you made your way downstairs to the hall, to find a huge breakfast selection awaiting you - fresh bread, hot buns drizzled with honey, pastries, sausages, eggs, bacon, enough for a dozen men, easily. Lord Damon sat at the head of the table, his wife, who was as attractive as he'd alleged last night, sitting by his side. She smiled and introduced herself as Elsa Lannister, who looked at least several years younger than her husband, and still had the Lannister good looks.

Your sworn swords made their way downstairs a few minutes later, both of them greeting you all before digging into the food, as you did, unused to having quite this much to eat.

"My lord Garrette," Damon said, as he took a sip of watered down wine, "I was thinking that, perhaps, rather than sitting in this musty castle and talking about all our woes, perhaps a hunt for a few days in the lower mountains may be more entertaining, and we can perhaps discuss things over a jaunt with your men and mine - what say you?"

>How do you respond?

>>41754029
The Jaunt doesn't sound like a bad idea, we need to keep good relations up

>>41754029
>That seems to be an interesting idea, I'd certainly be up for hunting.

>>41754029
Sounds like a good idea, However we both should be prepared in case of a bandit attack and take both of our honor guard.

>>41754029
>How do you respond?

"A wonderful plan, my lord. I look forward to it."

If we roll as well on the hunt as we do fishing we'll come home with a full cart of stag horns.

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Also, picture of Damon Marbrand, Lord of Ashemark.

An interesting idea. I'd imagine we wouldn't be ranging too far afield as to alert the Company? They could very well get ballsy.

>>41754187
There are also other bandits as well that apparently quite a few of the people here are forgetting about.

>>41754187

If they get ballsy we remove their balls.

>>41754253
With only a few men? Good luck with that.

>>41754253
They've too much power at their disposable to counter attack them in the field if they should bring a healthy amount of force down upon us. 2 lords and maybe 50 men cannot hold off a small army of professionals.

Are barracuda traditionally edible?

>>41754283
I don't think we're even bringing 50 men buddy.

>>41754291
You can make soup out of them. I'm not sure what else.

>>41754291

They won't kill you but they don't taste great.

"A wonderful plan, my lord, it has been far too long since I have had the time to go on a decent hunt," you reply, glad to have the chance to get to know Damon Marbrand better, and how better to do so than on the back of a horse, rather than stuck inside around a table? "I would suggest we each take a group of our men, however, Lord Damon, for we would make a decent hunt for the Bastard of Castamere, if he decided to take the risk."

"Oh, of course, my lord, I would expect nothing else," Lord Damon replied, smiling, happy that his suggestion had been to your liking. "That scoundrel would like nothing better than to hurt our houses, so why take the risk? Say, thirty men each? That should be enough, I feel, to make that rebel think twice than to have the audacity to strike at us while we ride my lands."

You were dubious about that, given the size of the Company that you had been told of, but it might harm your image if you looked to be too cautious, lest it be taken for cowardice instead.

"Aye," you reply, "thirty men each, and we will see what bounty your lands have in store for us. Allow me time to collect my men, and meet in an hours time?"

"An hour then, Lord Garrette. I look forward to seeing your skill at the hunt, given the trophy you brought me. If you are as good in the woods as you are at sea, we shall have food aplenty for a feast on our return."

>who do you want to take with you? Both sworn swords? Just one? What armour do you plan to wear?

>>41754291
They're sport fish, the meat is alright but they get really big and fish taste worse the older and bigger they are.

>>41754296
You brought 100 men, not including your sworn swords - you brought the whole of your personal guard with you, leaving your new infantry, cavalry and rangers to look after your lands while you were gone.

>>41754340
Both sworn swords and some lighter armor.

>>41754340
All sworn swords, And our chainmail.

>>41754340
Take Ser Devin with us and leave Ser Lambert
Wear our chainmail

>>41754352
Personal Guard are 20 men.

>>41754340

>Both
>Chainmail

Good for bandits AND boars.

>>41754388
Only if you're having them as cavalry - these guys are infantry, your veteran unit you took with you in all your fights alongside Tywin Lannister. There are 100 of them.

>>41754340

Take the one with higher survival skill, leave one behind with the men. Have him carouse with the local garrison. I suspect Damon might be having more trouble than he is letting on, and having him gather local information on what is going on and report back to us could be useful in further negotiations.

Also, we need to know the skill level and quality of the troops we could be fighting alongside with.

tl:dr Have the sworn sword left behind do some fact finding and report back to us after the hunt. Local situation, trade, raids, bandits, etc. It would be easier to find and press Marbrand on stuff if he is trying to pull a fast on one us.

You pull on your ringmail armour and take your boar spear, and taking Sers Devin and Lambert to one side, advise them to get together the thirty best men you have, and to bring them to the main courtyard, ready for a long trek. They are also cautious about the possibility of the rebels attacking during the hunt, but pledge that no man will touch you while they are at your side. You appreciate their loyalty, and send them on their way to get things organised.

An hour later, your men were lined up in ranks of five in the courtyard, as impressive a group of men as you had ever seen, their spears and shields shining in the sun, their swords at their sides. Ser Devin just wore his hard leather armour, and Ser Lambert his ringmail armour, similar to yours, though of lesser quality. Lord Damon just wore leather armour, as did most of his men - he obviously thought less of the potential threat than you did.

"I see you are ready, my lord. Are you prepared for the mountain trails?" he asked, likely commenting on your armour.

"I am, my lord, I've climbed my share of mountains before," you reply, brusquely but respectfully, as you wave for your men to move out, as you, your sworn swords and Lord Damon begin your ride into the mountain passes.

After leaving the castle, you pull Ser Devin to one side, knowing that he was the more sociable with the common soldiers, which was what you needed for this task. You asked him to slip away back to the castle, and to talk with the local garrison, see what he could find out about the situation in the area, as you had suspicions that Lord Damon might be having more issues than he was letting you know of, and you needed to know what you were getting into if you were to ally with House Marbrand.

Ser Devin nodded solemnly, understanding what you were asking of him, and as you began to enter the mountain paths, he allowed himself to slip to the back of the column, before riding back to the castle when out of sight.

Lord Damon did not seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't mention Ser Devin's absence. You talked of the land, the deer that lived in the small wooded areas in the hills, as well as a few families of boars in the area - plenty of prey for the hunt. The view was amazing from up here too, looking out over the hilly valley that Ashemark sat in.

>try to bring up the Company and bandits yet? Or talk about other things?

>>41754796
Talk about how the hunt goes and ask Lord Damon of the animals in the surrounding area.
We should wait until we've killed an animal or two until we bring up the Company

>>41754796
Talk to him about maybe in the future planning a trade agreement since we're going to make a fishery,This >>41754843 as well.

>>41754843

Agreeing with the namefag. We bag a boar as a display of strength, then broach the subject of bandit-slaying.

>>41754796
We've indulged him long enough. It's time to start talking business.

We want every single remnant of the Reyne scum wiped off the Earth.

You decide to leave talk of the Company for the moment, instead focusing on his lands and the possibility of a trade agreement in future.

From his reply, you understood that most of his resources are imported, as the mountains and hills don't make exceptionally good land for growing crops, and his land has relatively few woods. Instead, most of his wealth comes from the mining and quarrying, allowing him to access to stone to build with and gold and silver to trade.

As his population expands, however, he is running out of wood and food for his people, and so when you mention the fishery, and your plans to expand it in future, as well as the lumber yard you are having built, he is intrigued.

He'd be happy to trade some of the gold from his mountains in exchange for food and lumber, though that might slow down your plans to expand your port to build ships, but in turn could provide the coin needed to get it underway.

You're sure you can persuade him to give you a better deal, however - he doesn't seem to be especially good with figures, at least not as good as you.

>roll 4d6+1 for Persuasion, to see what bargain can be struck.

Rolled 3, 4, 5, 4 + 1 = 17 (4d6 + 1)

>>41755023

Rolled 3, 4, 3, 6 + 1 = 17 (4d6 + 1)

>>41755023
gotta get that

Rolled 3, 6, 3, 2 + 1 = 15 (4d6 + 1)

>>41755023

Rolled 1, 1, 1, 1 + 1 = 5 (4d6 + 1)

>>41755023

Rolled 6, 2, 6, 4 + 1 = 19 (4d6 + 1)

>>41755023

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>>41755045

>>41755045
Christ alive man who did you piss off?

>>41755045
How?
Also glad it is the first three

>>41755045

>We trade Brachenhall, all of it, including the castle staff, all of our fighting men, and our future HDW for one bag of gold.

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>>41755045
How? HOW?
The fuck did you piss off?

>>41755045
Dear fucking lord man, that's horrific. You've pissed off the Dice Gods something rotten.

>>41755037
After discussing how him trading with House Brachen would benefit you both, with him giving you the gold that allows you to expand your lumber and fishing industries, which in turn gives him better products, you manage to persuade him to give you a favourable offer - he'll pay you a 10% mark-up on your usual price, as his neighbours have usually been asking for 15% more than your normal prices, so he is still saving gold, but also investing in your House for his own trading benefit.

You agree to this, and sign it with a handshake.

>+2 WEALTH FOR HOUSE BRACHEN

After a few hours, you are fairly high in the mountains, and the pine woods stretch over what level areas it can. It is around here that you'll find the deer and boars, and here that you'll be camping for the next few days.

>roll 3d6 (keeping highest 2 dice) for tracking and hunting - you get 3d6 rather than 2d6 because of your hunting dog Rufus.

Rolled 4, 1, 5 = 10 (3d6)

>>41755297

Rolled 2, 5, 1 = 8 (3d6)

>>41755297

Rolled 6, 3, 2 = 11 (3d6)

>>41755297

Rolled 3, 2, 6 = 11 (3d6)

>>41755297
>Rufus.

I love you, Rufus.

You know we've had an unusually good amount of good rolls. I'm waiting for it all to come crashing down.

>>41755336

It's only the third thread, anon. Surely we have a few spectacular failures in our future.

That said, we did just dodge a bullet. Or a nuclear warhead.>>41755045

>>41755336
That's coming now, I think, as we're rolling on stats that aren't particularly high.

>>41755324
>>41755307
>>41755326

Yourself, Ser Lambert and Lord Damon take to trying to hunt down some prey. Lord Damon has little luck, not managing to find any tracks. Rufus, however, after a few hours, manages to catch a scent, giving a quiet 'woof', before following after the trail, which quickly then starts showing hoof prints. From what you can tell, it is an adult male boar - a perfect prize. You and Rufus spend the next few hours following the trail, winding through the woods, before finally spotting the boar, a big tusked bastard, eating berries from a bush.

You manage to approach him into the wind, so the boar didn't smell you before you charged forward on your steed and lunged forward with your spear. Your boar spear was true to its name, skewering the beast through the back, squealing loudly before realising that it couldn't move its legs, your weapon having gone through its spine. The squealing only stopped when Rufus padded forward and bit down on the boar's throat, ripping it open and killing it in seconds.

It took quite a lot of effort to pull the beast onto the back of your horse, you walking next to it as you went back towards Lord Damon, who was about 200 metres away, still not having found anything.

"Impressive, my lord," Damon replied, seeing your catch, a quick flash of jealousy in his eyes before he covered it up with a smile. "Time to return to camp?"

>>41755497
TALK ABOUT CASTAMERE COMPANY OH MY GOD HOW LONG ARE WE GONNA GET THE RUNAROUND?

>>41755585
Jesus anon quit being an ass blasted faggot, You obviously can't do politics.

>>41755585

Hey.

Anon.

Hey.

ANON.

Politics can wait. We're kicking it with Rufus right now.

Your priorities are shit and so are you.

>>41755497
Not yet, let's let Lord Damon bag the next kill. We only did as well as we did because Rufus did the leg work.

>>41755585
gib alliance plz

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>>41755585
>He doesn't understand that we need to subtly flaunt our superiority over Lord Damon
>Not enjoying the thrill of the hunt

>>41755497

I currently am imagining Garrette like a high powered attorney subtly dominating everybody in a courtroom and subconciously making everyone his bitch.

Not in a loud, bombastic kind of way, but in a way that speaks power and control. Like pressure behind a damn, slowly causing cracks.

>>41755585
It's a game anon, posturing back and forth trying to get a feel for one another. Our Lord is known for being a military genius but is an unknown to many of the locals because of how far from home he usually is. Marbrand is weighing his position when it comes to negotiations. That said, the fish, our winning of the lumber/gold deal, and now the boar has put us strongly in the lead for who holds the cards when it comes to actually talking about the Company. If anything Marbrand has been putting us off so much attempting to regain some lost footing.

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>>41755585

LETS JUST CALL THE BANNERS, MARCH ON KING'S LANDING AND DEPOSE KING AERYS OURSELVES!

"And let you return empty-handed, my lord? Of course not, we shall bag another boar or deer, and return together as hunters of equal standing," you reply, an earnest look of respect on your face, though you know that offering to do so just puts you further ahead of Damon in terms of later negotiating a bargain to deal with the Castamere Company. Lord Damon is aware enough to realise this, but also diplomatic enough not to say so, merely smiling and nodding in reply.

"My thanks, Lord Brachen. It also means our men eat well tonight, and as we both know, men follow their stomachs as much as they follow their lords," he answered, lifting his spear up and heading slightly deeper into the woods.

With your assistance and that of Rufus, Lord Damon managed to track down a boar a couple of hours later, a small sow, obviously young, and not nearly as impressive as the boar you had speared, but it allowed Damon to return with something at least, which was better than returning with nothing.

Still, it meant it was you that received the lion's share of the congratulations from the men when you returned, as one of them helped to skin and gut the creatures, allowing the men, as well as the lords, to eat well that night.

>Sorry, forgot to say - roll 3d6 again for hunting (over the next couple of days), and also roll 5d6+1 (Persuasion, plus 1d6 for convince) for discussions about the Castamere Company

Rolled 5, 1, 1 = 7 (3d6)

>>41755820

Rolled 1, 6, 1 = 8 (3d6)

>>41756043

Rolled 4, 3, 2 = 9 (3d6)

>>41756043

Rolled 1, 2, 1, 1, 2 + 1 = 8 (5d6 + 1)

>>41756043
Persuasion

Rolled 3, 5, 5, 3, 1 + 1 = 18 (5d6 + 1)

>>41756043

Rolled 5, 2, 2 = 9 (3d6)

>>41756043

Rolled 4, 2, 2, 2, 6 + 1 = 17 (5d6 + 1)

>>41756043

>>41756086
And there it is. God damn son.

>>41756113
At least it's not all ones. Right?

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>>41756086
I told you! I told you we shouldn't have modeled our house after the unluckiest man in Westeros!

Rolled 4, 2, 5, 1, 3 + 1 = 16 (5d6 + 1)

>>41756043

>>41756086
Get out and remove your name, You don't deserve it.

>>41756213

Ah, the sweet sound of pitchforks being sharpened. Namefagging is dangerous around these parts.

Does Squire use crits?

>>41756068
>>41756087

Over the next couple of days, you go out hunting alongside Lord Damon a few times, and though on the day after your great catch, he manages to bring down a larger deer than your own, the next two days, you manage to once again bring down some large adult male boars, much larger than anything he is able to hunt down. Much of your luck comes down to the skills of Rufus on the hunt, but this just shows that you were more prepared for a hunt than he. Still, Damon doesn't let on his disappointment or jealousy at your trophies, and each night you, Lord Damon and your men eat well, earning you wellbeing with Lord Marbrand's troops.

During one of the hunts, you broach the topic you came here for. "So, my lord, have you had time to think of my offer in regards to the Castamere Company? These men not only bring trouble to our lands, but are a reminder of the treachery of House Reyne, and are a stain on our honour until such time as they are removed from our lands."

"Indeed, Lord Brachen, indeed... and bringing them to justice not only removes that stain, but will bring us honour when we present the Bastard's head to our Lord Lannister," Damon replied, his tone of voice suggesting that, following his failings during the hunt, that he planned for it to be him to be the one to behead Ser Hill. "I'll supply some troops for a joint strike against the Company, once you have returned home and prepared. Will two-hundred men, infantry and archers, suffice?"

>reaction?

>>41756256
When all else fails, invoke wrenloft.

>>41756256
He ain't done nothing for this quest, Therefore he doesn't get the right to use a name in here.

>>41756282
ahaha.

Be cordial. but imply that if it is our men that kill or capture him, we will present the head.

Make it like a minor friendly competition. Of course we intend to fucking win, but lets not damage relations.

>>41756282
Don't give anything away, say that's a gracious offer and that you accept. I'd say push for fifty more men but eh. Tell him you've enjoyed his patronage

>>41756282

Two hundred? That's pretty paltry. Maybe the bandits really have been wrecking him. Let's agree, and then check with Devin when we get back regarding his estimated strength of Marbrand's fighting force.

>>41756324
Second

>>41756282
Bring up the idea of forcing Banefort's hand by reminding him that allowing traitors to the Lannisters to live is an affront to his liege.

And two hundred men isn't enough to split the glory if we will be the only ones actually leading them. We are doing the work, at least provide men if you want a cut of the credit.

Do we have a pastebin with our stats and troop numbers? Or do I have to skim the archives?

>>41756450
>http://pastebin.com/PjZppEmz
top of the page

>>41756450
Stats: not that good, but nice influence, troops: bloody few.

>>41756473
Couldn't find it. Cheers mate.

>>41756396
"Then you will take to the field yourself then? You will need to if you wish to slay the Bastard yourself, my men aren't the most adept at taking live prisoners."

I say we try to finangle more troops if he wants to split the credit fifty-fifty. He's sending 200 men of dubious quality, we have the same number of Veteran and Elite units and the efforts of one of the most skilled generals this side of the continent. We can call his troops even to ours in contribution, but he'll need to sweeten the pot with SOMETHING to offset our personal presence.

"Two hundred men, plus yourself and your personal guard, I assume, my lord? If you are to try to claim the Bastard's head, how else to do it than with your own blade?" you reply, pushing a little for a few extra men, which might make all the difference in a pitched battle, and also tempting Lord Damon to attend himself, as well as implying that he might fail in claiming the Bastard in battle.

Damon turned to you, his eyes narrowing for a moment, before relaxing. "Of course, my lord Brachen, I would not expect to claim his head other than in personal combat, and no one leads my troops better than I. We will come down upon him from two fronts, and crush his men between us. There will be glory in it for all of us," he replied, the subtle competition between the two of you increasing.

Still, it meant a few extra men, and you'd be able to say that Lord Damon helped you bring the Bastard low, when you presented his head to Lord Lannister yourself.

"It is agreed then," you said, extending your hand, which Damon then took and shook hard. "When I return to Brachenhall, we shall send ravens to organise when we will attack, and by then, Banefort may have responded as well."

"Banefort?" Lord Damon chuckled, "I wouldn't expect much from them, they have stayed in their black castle walls for years, I've not heard anything from them in that time, isolationists that they are. They prefer to plot in shadows, not fight on the battlefield."

>AGREMENT REACHED!
>anything more to discuss?

>>41756658

"Then I will have to remind the honorable lords of the Banefort that to allow banditry to flourish in the lands of their liege lord of Lannister is tantamount to treason. Perhaps you'd care to assist me in, say, sending a message?

>>41756658
Nah that seems like everything to me.
What amount of experience do we have

>>41756658
To offer safe harbor to Reyne soldiers is the height of treason against our liege, perhaps they should be reminded of such."

We also might want to tone down the competitiveness now that we've shook hands, we want him to be our friend after all. Portain was a bro and we never had to dick-measure. Throw in a (truthful) comment on how your greatest concern is wiping them off the earth, not in showing off to Lord Tywin.

>>41756721
Maybe write to Tywin about the poor conduct of his vassals? Or is that going too far?

>>41756777

We can be friendly and competitive at the same time, anon. Healthy competition. Plus, we're working towards a mutually beneficial goal.

He obviously has a competitive streak. We can play ball with that.

I just don't think the Baneforts give a fuck, because the soldiers aren't in his lands. If they were they have the strength to ride out and smash them with ease.

>>41756810

That's taddling. We deal with the Banefort ourselves.

>>41756817
I agree, it just seemed we were pushing it a little hard.

>>41756810
>>41756845
The plan is to threaten to write Tywin first, if they go on allowing traitors to find refuge within their borders against the forces of Brachen and Marbrand who seek to exterminate them.

>>41756879
We have a good relationship with Tywin, but as a General. Why would we write to him essentially saying, hey we can't handle this problem in our lands on our own and the Baneforts won't help.

Gents i think it might be fitting to send the Banefort's a certain song don't you agree?
>>41756917
Because anon is being stupid?

>>41756917
Don't the rebels occasionally cross over into their lands to raid as well?

>>41756879
We're not a coward that has to run to our Leige-Lord when people don't do what we want.
If Banefort doesn't aid us in this, when we go to Tywin with the Bastard's head we'll make it obvious why they aren't with us.

>>41756917
A: That's why we *threaten* to send a letter first before doing it. Everyone know that we are buds with Tywin
B: What we would actually tell Tywin is that they are dancing over the border and Banefort refuses to allow us to do our jobs and kill traitors. Just writing ahead to ask permission to go ahead and cross the border, my lord.

"In that case, my lord, perhaps they should be reminded by us both that, given their participation in the destruction of House Reyne, allowing rebels and traitors to roam, especially in their lands, is tantamount to treason to our Lord Lannister. They will either join us, or their honour and loyalty will forever be tarnished, unlike loyal Houses such as yours" you reply, incensed at the idea that a House could sit on their vows and not fight for their liege when called, but also trying to regain the friendship of Damon after the competitive discussion.

Lord Marbrand nodded, "I thank you for saying so, and both of those outcomes favour our Houses, either through extra fighting men, or status..." he mused, realising the benefit he would gain if he helped. "I will send a raven to the Banefort also, as ignoring two appeals for assistance is more difficult than ignoring one, especially as it would impact their relations with multiple Houses. Either they help us, or they hurt themselves."

"Indeed, and I thank you for your assistance. I trust Houses Brachen and Marbrand will soon, once again, become firm allies and friends, fighting side by side on the battlefield," you reply, turning once more to cooperation, rather than competition.

"I hope so too, my friend," Lord Damon replied, shaking your hand.

With that concluded, and a further day of hunting ending in two large boars for you all to feast on that night, you returned to Ashemark.

>find Devin straight away, or feast?

>>41756953

Oh my god, yes.

If they don't respond to ravens, we hire a bard. Then we send him to the Banefort, instruct him to present himself as a present to its lord, have him play that one song, and then leave.

No ceremony, no bullshit, just a clear warning.

>>41756974
From your understanding, no, the Company haven't raided Banefort lands, despite the Baneforts being part of the alliance that destroyed the Reynes and Tarbecks 20 years past.

>>41757054
Find Devin straight away

Guys, threatening Banefort to help us will do nothing. It is not their problem. Doing so will only piss them off and make us appear weak and incompetent that we cant handle our own shit. We can get away with it with Ashenmark because they are suffering from the same problem as us.

>>41757138
We aren't threatening them, They participated in the eradication of the Reynes also, Therefore it is their duty to make sure every last trace of them is destroyed, Just as it is ours.

>>41757138

That's fine. It will only be that much sweeter when we lay siege to their castle, break down their walls, and fuck their bitches

>>41757138
Remember, the fact that we don't know if the Company is in Banefort land doesn't stop of from *saying* that they were using it for safe harbor.

And if they don't agree to help even in response to us double teaming him, we will obviously wait until AFTER we crushed the Company to tell Tywin what a little shit Banefort was.

>>41757180
You want to destroy their house because they wouldnt help us with our little bandit problem ?

The fuck ?

>>41757174
>>41757066
>>41757036

>>41757188
Tywin is not going to care that much. The Banefort is in charge of Banefort land. They wont suffer anything for not helping out Branchen or Ashenmark land

>>41757215
You forgot that they now are ruling over lands our house used to have control over? Our houses have been at odds for a while.

>>41757274
That has nothing to do with this case. They are under no obligation to help us clean our own mess and running to Tywin will only make is the laughingstock of the Westerlands.

>>41757321
>>41757321

>>41757321
>to help us clean our own mess
They participated in the Reyne rebellion, Therefore it's also their mess! How many tims does this need to be stated?

>>41757321
we are not running to tywin, just threatening.

The fact of the matter is it looks bad for them if we do, damn the consequences for us, if we send the message off itll be because we failed, and they will expect that.

Think ahead, not the i immediate. What ever the situation, they benefit helping us, and suffer by not. We can expect a token force at most.

>>41757406

>We aren't taddling, we're only threatening to taddle.

You didn't have a lot of friends growing up did you anon? We'll deal with them ourselves.

>>41757406
We're not saying 'help us with a problem that's not impacting you or we'll go to our liege lord like a child.'
Why would we want a 'token force'?
If they're not going to help us, when we bring the head of the Bastard to Tywin it'll be painfully obvious that Banefort isn't with us, which he'll ask about and we'll tell him that they refused to help us, not once, but twice.
Then they'll have lost respect, honour and the trust of the Lannisters, without it being our fault.

>>41757485
The act is different from a threat anon. Pretty basic. I am not arguing the point its not going to be good for relations.

>>41757517

This sounds good to me.

Let's go back home, check on Trystan, and see if any ravens have come bringing happy tidings of Dornish bachelorettes.

>>41757485
This is basically how that's reading to me. And nothing is stopping the Baneforts from sending that letter to Tywin.

>>41757369
It's a Hill. He has claimed blood. For all we know he could be lying. With no one else around to prove he's actually a Reyne he could just be using the name for whatever purpose. The Baneforts could easily get out using that technicality.

On arriving back at Ashemark, you look out for Ser Devin, wishing to get a report from him about the state of Marbrand's lands, troops, any number of things.

You found him returning to the keep from one of the inns, having heard that you had returned. His face showed all it needed to, that he had a number of things to discuss with you.

After explaining to Lord Damon that you needed time to refresh yourself before the feast, you retired to your room, inviting Sers Devin and Lambert to attend you also.

The information that Devin had found out was illuminating. Apparently, House Marbrand, currently, only had around 420 men at arms, two units of infantry, one of rangers, one of archers, and Lord Damon's personal cavalry. They had previously been plagued with weekly raids from the mountains, but since Lord Damon had begun hiring some mercenaries, which none of the guards were yet to meet (apparently they were doing patrolling in the mountains), they had not suffered any raids at all. From one serjeant's word, Lord Damon was paying them 100 gold dragons a month for their service.

Also, after getting the maester blind drunk one night, apparently Lord Damon had been trying to arrange a marriage between his eldest son, Addam, and first daughter of Banefort, Belladonna Banefort. The maester knew nothing of what response had been had, if any, and Devin had made sure to ply him with enough drink that he'd never remember having spoken to the knight.

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>>41757485
No. We offer them the chance to contribute troops to what is already a winning battle, and if they don't we will kill the Company ourselves and THEN tell Tywin what a traitor-loving shit Banefort is. We aren't threatening to ask Tywin to make him help us, we are threatening to show Tywin how loyal we are and that Banefort funds Al-Qaeda .

He is either with us, or with the terrorists.

>>41757610
Bloody well done, commend Devin on his performance in finding these things out

>>41757610
Bloody fucking backstabber!

>>41757610
Damn Devin you're one hell of a spy.

So he's paying tribute rather than stand and fight. Oh well. We'll give him a better offer. "Join your army with mine, and we will go on a campaign to scour your lands and mine off all who would defy the King's Law"

It doesn't actually change much of anything, except we can maybe leverage this into getting his whole army under our command in exchange for wiping up some extra trash, which we probably would have done for free.

>>41757617
It is setting us up for a conflict with bane fort, one we will have an ally for, since we brought another house name into this, and would end up with us taking custody of the bane fort lands if we were to win. Being on our family's lands.

Note: now utterly irrelevant. He is going to use this campaign to show his dicksize to banefort for the marriage proposal. We need to make sure WE are the ones to take the bastards head and maybe turn on Lord Damon when it comes to future conquest?

Last thing we need is allied neighbors.

>>41757610
So he's obviously paying off the rebels, right?

>>41757610

Holy shit Devin you deserve a prize my swarthy comrade.

>>41757675

What the fuck are you talking about? Marriages are how you turn enemies into allies, anon. Marbrand isn't plotting for war, he's plotting for peace. Marrying into the Baneforts would be a wise move.

>>41757617

Not a good idea to go full 'Murica without the guns to back it up. And we definitely lack said guns.

>>41757752
Not really: from what is seems he is desperate as we are for a friend to help out. We just came to him with a better offer than the Baneforts would have. This is good news for us.

>>41757763
Seems so. Mysterious mercs is basically the rebels. If we find a ledger of transactions we could use it to userp his land. Since we have an ancient claim to it, the info would be fucking gold to us.

>>41757798
Takes a bit more than that to upsurp someones land.

>>41757785

This is exactly the situation. Marbrand is paying these bandit fucks off and was getting so desperate he was going to auction off his son to the Baneforts. We just saved his House.

>>41757798
Marbrand is playing ball with us though, and he seems eager to wipe out the bandits. I don't think this will end up being relevant unless shit goes really sideways.

>>41757843
While nomminally true, he is currently funding rebels under the rule of a man who wiped out an entire house. Our lord would eat his fucking balls on a platter if he found out.

>>41757752

What the hell.

None of this makes any sense. How does Damon's son marrying into the Banefort compromise us in any way whatsoever?

You're trying to play the game, but you're just shooting at shadows, anon.

>>41757752
>Last thing we need is allied neighbors.

What.

Just what.

How do our neighbors having a peaceable, prosperous relationship damn us? Your line of reasoning makes less and less sense the more times I read over it.

You seem to think they're going to gang up on us and take our stuff. Because reasons. Even though we are a fast friend of the lord all three of us are sworn to, who would definitely fucking NOTICE if two lesser lords were literally mugging his war-buddy.

>>41757843
We depose him using the 'rebel' claim while temporarily taking over the land. Then we hand it over to our liege and he will possibly reward us with the land.

>>41757882
The problem that plagues every GoT quest is people trying to be Roose Bolton and not understanding how to actually play the game. Jumping at every chance to backstab people for little to no gain isn't how it works.

We play this the same way Harrock played Egar.

"A damn fine job, Ser Devin, damn fine," you reply, patting him firmly on the back. You'd have to think of some way to reward him for his diligence.

"So he's paying the traitors tribute then?" Ser Lambert said, obviously angry. "That is as good as being a traitor himself. Plus he said he hadn't heard from the Baneforts, which is obviously a lie. This man is trying to use us for his own ends," he added.

Ser Devin shook his head. "It isn't as simple as that, brother. There are plenty of mercenary units plying their trade in Westeros, it's entirely possible he is using them for the dangerous job of patrolling the mountains rather than using his own troops - his smallfolk don't care if mercenaries die, but do if their brothers, fathers and sons do," he explained, "and it is entirely possible, if he said to our lord that he had not heard from them, that they never received a response from the Banefort. We cannot make snap decisions based on only half the story."

"Indeed... we need to be cautious, sers, for all these lords are using this time of relative peace to use politics and subterfuge to gain status, rather than winning it on the battlefield. Unless we can find out more, we must proceed as planned, and just keep one eye open as we sleep, in case there is a knife in the dark."

>What do you guys want to do now before the feast? Have Devin try to find a ledger or the like? Leave things as they are? Or option of your own choice.

>>41757906
We do not have the legal rights nor the manpower and neither the wealth to do such a thing. Right now all he is doing is bribing bandits because he is unable to handle them otherwise. You cannot upsurp someones land just for that.

>>41757882

Don't worry anon, I at least get what you are saying.

Trying to wage war on other Lannister liege lords is totally fucking dumb.

What we need to do is show Tywin that we can run this area WAY better than our neighbors - he will obviously demand the shit Houses to cede wealth and power to us over time.

>>41757935
Go to the feast normally, don't let on to anything.

>>41757978
Second

>>41757935
Devin has proven himself adept in being James Bond, we can give him leave to snoop. Tell him to prioritize not being caught over finding info though.

>>41757936
Did you not read my first sentance. We aren't usurping his land as a claim. But deposing him from his current title due to him supporting rebels and possibly being a rebel himself. None of that is actually usurping his land as we are handing it over to our liege as we are simply taking down a rebel.

>>41757930
>>41757936
>>41757945

The easiest way of empowering our house is through our old lands and claims. The weaker the holders of said lands are, the easier for us it is. How we eventually go about it is no real concern to me, but its a good idea to make them have to lean on us, and keep them isolated from potential allies in case something really does go tits fucking up. At no point did i advocate fighting the lannisters, because thats just stupid. As for being bolton, yeah, rather not hunt women through the woods with dogs thanks. Cackling evil will bite you in the ass in the end.

>>41757935

>Have Devin do spy stuff

He is obviously amazing at this. Dornish sworn sword is pretty much the most valuable pickup we could have made, damn.

>>41757945

Literally this. All of this. All of it.

>>41758050
>keep them isolated from potential allies

>>41758050
>At no point did i advocate fighting the lannisters,

Except you literally just did. Sowing division and discord amongst Tywin's sworn Houses weakens his holdings and actively works against his interests. And he's our bro, apparently. We have no reason to do this.

>>41758100

Let's not browbeat anon, he clearly gets what we're after. No need to overly punish him.

>>41758142

I'm not trying to browbeat, merely inform this anon that he is mentally deficient and should probably go play with his LEGOs instead of dicking up this quest with his autistic Baelish worship. You know, without any hint of tactical brilliance, obviously.

Fuck. Now I'm definitely browbeating.

>>41758100
What? If we are not depleting their manpower, usurping the local customs or fucking with relgion/unrest in the province, lannister will give a whole load of no fucks. Who is the bannerman who provides the men is of no concern to them so long as they do and are loyal. Oh, and don't accrue enough power to be a threat.

Internal inter-bannermen politics is all fair game.

Our best method of reacquiring our ancestral lands is the reverse of how we probably lost them in the first place.

We do the same thing that Harrock did to Egen, make Marbrand reliant on us to the point where he becomes a defacto bannerman.

To that end, a Marbrand-Banefort marriage is irritating to us, but not the end of the world.

>>41758242

>be mid-level manager at large company
>know CEO by a twist of fate, pretty cool guy
>decide that i want to advance my place in the world, make more money, get more bitches
>instead of doing my job as well as i can, i instead actively seek to undermine other managers in a similar position to myself
>overall, the company's value goes down, but it's cool because it can't be traced back to me
>bro CEO is pissed because his stock is dropping
>don't receive promotion because tbh the company can't afford it now
>bro CEO just keeps getting more depressed while i cripple the company's operation
>well, at least none of those other mid-level managers will fuck with me

Good plan, anon. Good plan.

>>41758302
Could probably achieve that by bumping up food production as our primary export. We can use what we don't sell to increase our own population and make up for its decline in recent years.

Then we cut down on our reliance on them by privately funding our own mines while putting them into debt with us as they keep buying our food.

>>41758365
>applying anything modern to a fucking medieval time

How about we dont act like Baelish's retarded cousin and just focus on sorting out our own shit ?

"Ser Devin, after the wine has begun to flow, and everyone at the feast is busy, find a reason to leave the table, and try to find some more evidence of the payments, who they are going to, if you can. We need to know if we can trust Lord Marbrand, and even if we can, this provides leverage over him for future use," you say, entirely serious, realising the gravity of what you are asking him. "Ensure you are not caught doing so, however. I would rather do without the evidence than have to deal with the fallout of my sworn sword being found spying. I know this isn't usually what a knight is asked to do..." you add, before Ser Devin cut you off.

"I understand, my lord, and have no worries, when I swore my sword to you, I did so while pledging to carry out any order you gave me. If this helps to protect House Brachen, my life and my honour are yours," he said.

"Still, I thank you for your loyalty. This shall not be forgotten, ser," you responded, sighing. You hated these sorts of political machinations, but in an era of peace, a general must use his skills on battlefields other than the physical.

"You should both get ready for the feast, sers," you said after a few moments of silent contemplation, "otherwise Lord Damon may begin to wonder what has come of us. I shall see you in the hall, sers."

With that, Devin and Lambert left, and you washed quickly before changing into slightly more formal attire, and headed down to the feast hall.

>>41758365
really? So you ignore the fact we would use the undermining to take control of those positions under us and then bring production up to normal or even better levels?
This is not a company. Shit works differently.

I do get your point, but its a risk your just going to have to suck it up and face if you want to expand. Unless your suggesting we sit in the lands we have now unto eternity building up. Which is a valid strategy in and of itself, if a little prone to someone else marching in with more holdings and nicking your shit in the long run.

>>41758434

Jobless anon detected.

Please find a safe, special place, and lock your autism inside of it. Then swallow the key. Not because you might, one day, open said special place and release said autism, but because eating keys just seems like something you would do.

>>41758464

Knocking down the columns of a building doesn't make the building more stable, even if it makes our particular column more noticeable.

Similarly, sowing discord amongst Tywin's banner houses will not strengthen Tywin's holdings, even if we look like a much more special snowflake.

Here's a radical idea - as a lord in the service of perhaps the most ruthlessly pragmatic man in Westeros, let's just make our little slice of the Westerlands a pristine, peaceful, and profitable place? Too wild for you?

>>41758435
Fucking agreed. It isn't the character we built. Play the character.

Besides we're going to end up with a devious little Reach/Dorne wife and they will probably take up on this sort of stuff.

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>>41758365
Tywin won't let the stock drop if he can help it, he'll find the managers that are fucking around and let them know why he's the top dog.
He's one of the greatest Lord for a reason, and it's not because he's a swell guy.

>>41758531
Knocking down and rebuilding in our image. i.e. controlling more columns.

discord to some degree is fine, its not like we are putting them knife to throat with each other. Just keeping them leaning on us as the main ally and congregation of power in our local cluster of holdings.

No, that is basically the: sit in place and build up and hope, strategy i just stated. congrats on that. I get the appeal, but if we find a lord who's lands we can nick for negligible cost and no social fallout, why would we not?

Either way, how we expand depends on how we treat the opportunities presented to us, so its rather pointless to spit fire over. Keeping the local lords isolated to some degree is still in our benefit. Its like holding the monopoly in trade, but for being friends.

The feast was already prepared, with the two boars roasting on open spits in the middle of the hall, while various other dishes, such as duck with orange sauce, quail, swan, and various vegetables and deserts, including lemon cakes and honeycomb with frozen cream.

Lord Damon waved you over, sitting you next to him at the head of the table, and a few minutes later, your sworn swords arrived also, sitting to your side. His own sworn swords, as well as men of influence in his lands, were along several of the tables, and some of your men, who had accompanied you on the hunt, attended as well.

The food was exquisite, though some of it was a little sweet for your own tastes. Obviously Damon Marbrand had money enough to spare for extravagances like oranges and fruits from the South, and it was a pleasant change from your usual fair.

The vintage wines flowed, as did the ale, and after the boars were carved and served, Lord Damon rose a glass in the air. "To House Brachen and House Marbrand, may our friendship live forever after!" A cheer went out around the room, and more wine was consumed, with everyone quite drunk. It was only then that you noticed that Ser Devin, on the other side of Ser Lambert from you, had slipped away, without even you noticing, and returned with a slight nod about ten minutes after you'd noticed, though you had no idea how long he'd been gone for.

The night wore on, and several more toasts were made, before you all retired to your rooms.

>>41758633

It was fucking sarcasm, anon. And for the record, I agree with you.

>>41758643

The way you speak makes me think you've had about as much social exposure as a home-schooled Amish priest.

You can't knock down the support columns of a structure without the entire goddamn structure coming down.

Put down your reprinted copy of Art of War, quit pretending you're intelligent, and go outside. Talk to people. Maybe then you'll get a feel for how social interaction works.

>>41758740
Basically ignoring the points presented and assuming the worst. Great. What ever.

>>41758740
Are you insulting anonymous people over the internet because of your own sense of inferiority or is it because you think that your zero ideas are better than any other ideas?

>>41758633
Jesus Christ I see him looking at me and I instinctively sit up straighter in my chair.

I don't think we should fuck around with him.

>>41758788
Seriously. Charles Dance just ooze authority and respect.

>>41758788
Man is a beast. Some might say a lion.
Agreed on do what ever he says part.
The bright side of working for the Lannisters is so long as you do as you are told, very unlikely for shit to go sour.

>>41758718
God I love Ser Devin so much.

For everyone arguing, I think we should separate the concept of "Undermining our neighbors" and "Undermine our neighbor's efforts to find allies that aren't us"

One of those plans makes us a liability in the eyes of the scariest motherfucker in Westeros. One of those is much easier and safer to carry out.

>>41758788
>>41758821
>>41758840


When Westerland lords start getting uppity, Tywin likes to send a bard to sing the Rains of Castamere. But all he really needs is a portrait of his disapproving gaze.

Come on, anons, no need for the fighting. I understand you're invested, but still, how about we chill?

>>41758718

The next day you awoke, a slight panging in your head from the drink of the night before. When you sit up, you notice a note on the bedside table, that you had obviously missed in your drunkenness of last night. Taking a moment to let your eyes focus, you see the hand of Ser Devin.

'Found that which you sought, will discuss tomorrow."

Obviously he thought it best for you to talk about whatever he found after you had left Ashemark that morning.

You pull on your clothes and head downstairs, eating breakfast with Lord Damon and his wife Elsa, where you lightheartedly chatted about the enjoyment you had had going hunting with him, and the drunken antics of some of the guests last night.

After you had finished your meal, Lord Marbrand asked you to follow him outside, which, upon doing, you saw his maester standing there, a long, thin object wrapped in velvet in his hands.

"My lord, as you are leaving, I thought to offer you a gift, a token of the friendship our houses had in times past. I hope we can regain the alliance our houses had in those times, and look forward to seeing you wield this in battle."

Damon pulled open the cloth. Before you was a spear whose head and top-most half was made of rippling steel, the remainder of dark brown varnished wood, with elegant carvings all down the shaft. On the head was the Crab of Brachenhall, carved into the steel.

>>41759157
He's stealing Bordain's moves! That was totally what we did for Tollet!

>>41759157

"This weapon was once wielded by the lords of your house, Garrette, and from what my maester was able to find, was lost many, many centuries ago, likely during the wars with the Andals. During one of my rangers' patrols, they found an ancient tomb, and that spear was within. I thought that this might be the best time for me to return it to its rightful owner."

>>41759157

Damn. DAMN.

"Damon - wonderful. This is a wonderful gift."

You know, maybe we were wrong about this guy. Maybe he's just in over his head a little?

I don't even care if that story is true, it's awesome.


And it implicitly reinforces our ancestral claim

Personally, I think that the people arguing so far have a common goal, which is solidifying power in our immediate region but disagree on how to go about it.

The first way is to incentivize neighboring lords in our area to work with us as a lead, or a first among equals, where each lord increases his holds and his status while we increase ours several times more with their help. This method basically is tying your rope to a rising star and getting the benefits without the risk. This method reminds me of how a confederacy might work.

The second way seems to be more Underwood-esque. Burning everything to the ground and becoming king of a pile of ashes so you can rebuild according to your image. This includes lying, blackmail, cheating, underhanded tactics, etc.

I suggest we use both, but put a focus on incentives. Show the benefits of working with our house while we continue to solidify our powerbase in our holdings and expand our holdings. I firmly believe this leads to longer term stability (this is the Harrock method i know). Make them reliant on us and we make them ours.

An ancient Brachen tomb found on Marbrand land? How odd he would find such a thing. It's almost as if... No, another Lord would never do such a thing.

>>41759333
Underwood tactics are an absolute no. It's a one way ticket to >>41758633

>>41759214

God damn, what a fucking gift. That's fucking amazing. We need to pay a visit to our ancestral tomb and give a token of our deep respect.

>>41759359
The land used to be ours a long time ago. The Marbrands were probably our banner house once upon a time but became our equals due to our house's decline.

>>41759364

Seconding. We don't have a fucking prayer of out-Tywining Tywin, even if we did have Baelish's statline.

Furthermore, it's not really our character.

>>41759364
It is also against our character, But people want to be WAY OOC apparently.

>>41759364
>>41759399

Look at that disapproving gaze anons and ask yourself, "Do I want this man to have a reason to remove me?"


>>41759407
Every single GoT quest has a chorus of those who want to be Petyr Baelish's retarded cousin. We kind of halfway embraced it with Harrock. With Karban our prom-queen popularity was too valuable to us to risk so we stayed squeaky clean.

"Damon... this is a wonderful gift. I have no words, but to thank you," you respond, caught entirely off guard, not expecting anything close to something of this level.

"My pleasure, Garrette, if only to see you speechless," Damon replied, chuckling to himself. "Just promise you'll use it when we strike down our mutual enemies, and I'll consider that thanks enough," he added.

"Of course, Damon, of course... do you know if it had a name?" you ask, given that Damon had obviously had his maester research this in depth.

"If it did, it has been lost to time, as we could find no written record of its name. I'm curious as to what you plan to call it, personally," he replied, patting you on the shoulder, and handing you the spear. It was light, strangely so, given how much of it seemed to be made of the Valyrian steel, though you had always heard that it was light.

"I wish you a pleasant journey home, Garrette, and just remember to send a raven once you return, so we might plan our attack on the Bastard of Castamere." With that, it seemed everything you could have wished of Marbrand had been dealt with, and it was only a couple of hours later when he waved you and your men off, a small honour guard of his troops escorting you to his border, before leaving you on your way back to Fairview.

>>41759516
Wait WHAT? A Valyrian Steel Spear? And he just GAVE it to us? Marbrand is the bro-est of bros.

I saw the rippling steel line and it must have been unintentional. No wonder we were struck speechless.

>>41759457
At least Harrock was mildly built for it, and at the very least kept it to small time local politics as he wasn't very important himself.

Our Lord has a degree of respect and could very well end up being a top dog in the Westerlands with the right moves. But it would be built on strength, not so much political machinations. He's a god damn military genius with solid ties to the Lannisters, hell we could probably squire a first cousin if it came up. But a political beast he is not.

>>41759516

Valyrian steel spear.

Motherfuck. Just motherfuck. Depending on what ser Devin finds, this right here makes a goddamn ally.

Once you had left Marbrand's lands, Ser Devin approached you, taking you to one side along with Ser Lambert.

"My lord, as my note said, I found that which you sought," he said quietly, not wishing to be overheard, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper, handing it to you. It seemed to be part of a ledger of some kind, though written in Ser Devin's hand. "I thought it better to copy it, rather than steal the page, as a missing page might be spotted, where as a copy can't be," he explained, pointing to one set of figures. "My understanding of figures isn't as good as yours or your uncle's, my lord, but I believe this shows payments of 50 gold dragons, two being made at the same time each month. I believe myself and Ser Lambert were each right - Lord Damon has been hiring mercenaries to patrol the mountains, so that he did not have to deal with the morale of the smallfolk should he lose men, but he has also been paying someone else, perhaps the Bastard, perhaps someone else, at the same time, and the payments began, from what I can see, just a week or two before the garrison said the raids stopped. From the dates, a payment was due to be made while you were away hunting, and it wasn't made."

>>41759626
>response to this information?

We can forgive him his crime. It was made in desperation and he obviously wishes to exterminate the rebel scum.

File it away for later, in case of emergency. But we'll probably never use it again.

>>41759675
Second

Marbrand's gift to us is worth more than a daughter. The fucking Lannisters don't even have a V-Steel sword, and he just gifted us a heavy lance? That's a excessive even for a Lord you want to be BFF's with.

>>41759648
Hold onto it for now. If we ever get the sense he's not being honest bring up that we might have heard a strange rumor of him funding something strange. Of course we didn't believe it just thought he should know while calmly staring at him. Kinda like Tywin.

Oh and don't forget to congratulate Devin on his top-tier spy work.

>>41759675
This

It is a point of interest but we've no way to learn of the second party.

Unless of course his moves to destroy the Company are more aimed at their base camp and any possible evidence that may support such a claim could be made. We absolutely need to make sure we keep our eye on his men and his Rangers in particular. Sacks of gold prove nothing, documents however do. And I wouldn't mind outing a traitor.

>>41759755
Dorne Knights > All others

If we ever get to the point where we can land a Knight, Devin is my first pick.

>>41759787
Fuck that. He's made it abundantly clear through his actions that he wants to be our BFF. So he paid of the bandits to hold off on him? It gave him time to rebuild and prepare a strike with us, big whoop.

We treat our friends well. Our ruthlessness is saved for enemies.

"Thank you, ser Devin. Once again, your service in my name is exemplary. Once we return to Brachenhall, ask me of a boon, and you shall have it. You have done my House proud," you said, riding alongside him. You'd never expected much other than a fine ranger from the knight, but it seemed his talent for stealth and scouting had many other uses.

"All I wish is to be allowed to serve my lord faithfully, that is thanks enough," he replied, though he was no doubt being modest, not wishing to push his luck with Ser Lambert nearby.

"Still, my lord, we must remain cautious. Though the gift of a Valyrian steel weapon is worth more than a castle, we cannot know Lord Marbrand's true intentions," Ser Lambert interjected, his voice gruff.

"Indeed, ser, indeed. Still, it is a princely gift, and we shall have to wait and see to find what comes of all this. Either way, we can discuss it more once we are home in the warmth of Brachenhall," you reply, still turning your new weapon over in your hands.

>>41759828
Alternatively. He's paying us off with lavish gifts, wine and food to keep our mouths shut should such a document present itself.

Those are men that are in clear violation of the King's Law and our own liege lord's sworn enemy. Bribery is not an acceptable answer to traitors of the realm. Nor would it be tolerated if we accepted the same to keep our mouths shut about the entire ordeal.

This reads to me like a man backed into a corner trying to cover all of his bases. Not one that wants to be "BFFs".

>>41759954
You dont give people Valyrian weaponry on the off-chance that they may discover that you have been bribing bandits.

>>41759954
I don't think you understand that he gifted us a V-Steel weapon. His crime was relatively minor, you don't give someone something worth more than a castle over something that minor.

That gift is worth an order of magnitude more than a marriage alliance would. That's the sort of gift that is recorded in history books.

And there we go, the quest is over for another thread!

Thank you all for taking part, today was fucking brilliant, I love you guys.

The archive has been made, please find it here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=House%20Brachen

Also, as always, the quest's twitter feed is here: https://twitter.com/HouseBrachen
I'll always post on the Twitter feed to tell you when to expect the next thread, and I'm happy to discuss the quest, events, etc, on Twitter too.

For now, you're free to discuss what you guys want to plan for the next thread, and what you think of the information you've gathered during this thread.

I'm also interested in suggestions for what to name your new Valyrian Steel Spear!

>>41760007
I say we hold off on naming it for now, and make our own efforts at uncovering its true name.

Also, given I'm off work currently, I'm going to try to run 2/3 sessions each week, to get the ball moving.

I'm planning on trying to run the next thread on Tuesday or Wednesday, at the same time (7-8pm), though I'll post on Twitter to confirm closer to the time.

>>41759978
Reducing them to mere bandits? No.

Understanding the breadth of their crimes to the fullest, from treason, banditry, and etc. And, though this has been brought up many times, being Reyne's which are not mere bandits in the Westerlands but those who are our liege lord's sworn enemies. That is the absolute key part of this entire thing. Even if he's a bastard. Supplying them with money, even in the form of bribery, is not going to fly in the face of Tywin Lannister.

>>41759990
High end bribes, for high end persons.

It is not minor.

I'm really not understanding how people are missing how important the detail that they are Reyne's is. They are not mere bandits, if they were then yes this is a nonissue. But that blood, the name they carry, the banners they fly and who the fight for makes all the difference in the world. There's a reason we want to present his head to Tywin Lannister and it isn't because he's "just some bandit".

>>41759828
Agreed

>>41759954
Nah, he looks like a man who was doing the best he could to stay afloat. He doesn't seem like the most skilled lord given his poor head for numbers, our ability to best him in negotiations and the lax security of his household. He's been hiring mercenaries and paying off the bandits because he can't fend them off alone. This would also be why he's trying to wed our rivals, because he knows he needs some help to properly deal with the threat.

Now we're around he's clearly realised we are the best possible ally he can have in the circumstances. Our goals are aligned, the resources of our lands complement each other, we're known to be an excellent general, we've got a reputation for honour and we want to be friends. No wonder he's jumped at the chance. That's why he's given us a valyrian steel blade, that's an INCREDIBLE gift that you really wouldn't give to someone you weren't genuinely willing to ally with.
Not only are there many reasons for him to ally with us, there are three big reasons not to fuck with us
>>Reputation for being a brilliant tactician and fighter
>>Good relationship with Tywin fucking Lannister, a man no one wants to fucking upset
>>Stabbing us in the back leaves him vulnerable to the bandit threat. He might be avoiding attacks by paying them off but that will be a permanent drain on his coffers, much better to deal with them once and for all.

>>41760197
It's bad, but a V-Steel War Lance is at LEAST an two orders of magnitude overkill for 50 dragons a month to hold off attacks while he provably worked on rallying his forces and establishing an alliance to wipe them out.


Just get it into your head. It's not a bribe to make us ignore a crime he did he doesn't even know we know about. It's a bribe for an alliance that he REALLY wants.

I must admit, given I hadn't planned most of this (I'll admit, a fair amount of the quest after the first several posts is coming off the top of my head - I thank years of being Forever GM to some unpredictable people), I'm pleased with how well this seems to be going, and how involved you guys are getting.

You guys are awesome, honestly.

How are you guys finding the quest, by the way? Enjoying it? Think there are things that need tweaking? I value the feedback, helps me make it better for you guys!

>>41760373
Like it, Only problem is the people trying to play the game yet are idiots who think they're sun Tzu, they aren't btw.

>>41760373
Don't randomly drop Epic tier loot on the player?

>>41760420
Perhaps, but people seem to be buzzed about it, and it leads to some interesting issues, such as you having a claim to Marbrand land.

Plus, it isn't mechanically all that much better than the superior boar spear you had, it just adds to your status a bit, which was already high.

But yea, I don't plan to make a habit of it. Most things you're gonna have to work hard for.

>>41760373
The spear gave me a boner

>>41760007

Squire if I could make a critique of your writing. I appreciate the length of your posts, but too often you break them up over long spans or leave updates with a clear book end that does not lend itself to our responses very well.

I'd say try to be a bit more concise, or if things are going to be multiple posts, do it all at once. Not over the span of ten minutes where we all just sort of sit around and twiddle our thumbs waiting for you to write the rest. Try to make your posts have a clearer ending that isn't so book ended that we have no way to really respond other then, "Yeah do the thing that makes sense."

I like that you allow for creative responses most of the time, but storytelling sometimes requires you to go a bit beyond dice rolls and open ended questions of, "How do you respond?" Creative options can be born of multiple choice options from you. And if it's telling the story you want to tell, then all the better. You don't need to railroad us, but give us a clearer road. Most of the votes this thread seemed to boil down to general consensus very quickly. And it was likely for lack of other options.

Again, I enjoy the threads. And I'll keep playing, but just tighten up a bit and it'll make things a lot cleaner and easier to run and maintain.

>>41760288
I think we support him genuinely, for now at least.
>>Our goals align for now and I expect that over the short to medium term prosperity for one of us will flow to the other. that means we have pragmatic reasons to trust him and expect him to help us.
>>His resources complement our own so we both profit
>>He seems like moderately weak lord so we can clearly become the dominant one in our partnership
>>He's a bannerman of Lord Tywin someone we genuinely like and admire, and also someone we do not want to annoy by appearing to get involved in petty struggles that impede the prosperity of his realm
>>IC I feel we're an honourable sort who would lean towards a making sincere effort to work with someone for mutual benefit rather than sneakily working against them.
>>IC I also think we'd hold a lot of goodwill and offer him the benefit of the doubt as a result of the valyrian spear, someone like that carries a lot of weight.

There are hints that he might not be someone we can trust completely. One day he might betray us or work against us but they're soft reasons.
>>Jealousy at our skill in the hunt. If he was jealous there then it's possible envy will strike again when he realises how well we outclass him as a general, a fighter and a steward.
>>He's shown a dishonourable side by paying off the bandits. I can understand the reasons for it but it's not something we would stoop to and if he's willing to dishonour himself in this way (even if he doesn't see it as dishonoouring himself) he might be more willing to countenance the dishonour of betraying an ally.
>>We were the historical lords of his lands. This might make him feel afraid to trust us if he thinks we're gunning to recover our lands, or it might make him feel inadequate like he has something to prove.
>>Our lands have resources he lacks. Sure, we both profit from trade but if he thinks he can seize our forests and fisheries then he might think that is more profitable.

>>41760373

Squire, you're rad. Just keep doing what you're doing and everything will turn out great.

>>41760504
>Plus, it isn't mechanically all that much better than the superior boar spear you had
But it's a fucking Valeryn made weapon! That doesn't make any fucking sense! That shit is alot better than even superior made stuff!

>>41760504
Its mechanical use in combat is far secondary to what it means. He doesn't give that to us for a mere alliance. We gave one to him on a silver platter already, and he could have gotten an alliance from the Lannisters with half the metal that lance was made of.

The only possible conclusion is that since it was found in a Brachen tomb on Marbrand's land, his giving it to us is a sign that he wants our houses to be one. Our houses must become a single de-facto entity like Harrock did with Egen.despite the lack of marriage

>>41760373
Feels like you end your updates mid-update. Need to give us some prompt to know that it is time to vote. I also think you should give us something to work with. An idea or anything instead of just finishing with a "what do?" at the end when you do leave prompts.

>>41760598
>He's shown a dishonourable side by paying off the bandits.

Anon, I understand your point. But I disagree entirely. Doing something that undermines your personal sense of pride in exchange for protecting people who depend upon you is not cowardly or dishonorable. It has to be extremely painful for a competitive person such as himself, and he bares that pain, in secret, to ensure his people's safety.

I like this guy, honestly. He does things that reflect poorly upon himself as a person to make sure the people under his rule live happy and peaceful lives. That's the truest form of chivalry, to me.

>>41760619
Valyrian steel offers +1 base damage, the same as an extra 30 xp in Athletics would. It's low to fair amount of increase to personal combat prowess, but it's not a huge gamechanger. It isn't in canon either - it's main thing is its use as a status symbol.

>>41760416
>>41760302
>>41760420
Agreed with all of y'all. Especially the lance, in general I want us to have to struggle to succeed.


>>41760598
Like I said though, these are soft reasons for a betrayal. None of those clues firmly imply that he will betray us. As a result I think we should be alert to the possibility of betray but sincere in our own efforts to work together.