“I’m sure you have many questions, my lord,” you break the silence permeating the solar. Lord Lewys Lydden says nothing, only looking between you and his daughter with clenched jaw.

You go to continue, but he chooses this moment to speak at last. “Questions. I thought my only daughter cut down by the Dragon’s men. Instead I am stopped at the end of a war council by a Stormlander of all people to be told she is waiting in the last place she should be after gallivanting about with a glorified pirate. If you were not keeping track, this was but minutes ago,” he grinds out.

“Neither of us intended to cause any slight, my lord,” you say carefully. “I left my own battle preparations at Duskendale to ensure you could be reunited with Lady Cerelle. This couldn’t have been accomplished faster than it had.”

He takes a breath, pointedly ignoring Cerelle now. “I suppose you will be wanting a reward then. Worry not, sellsword, you will have your coin. You may leave.”

You look to Cerelle. She stares straight ahead at the far wall with tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I don’t seek coin, my lord. I seek your daughter’s hand,” you try.

He looks to you as if you were one of his smallfolk tilling his fields. “For one of your birth, you impressed today. You did not sully my daughter’s honor with crudity and instead credited her beyond expectation in front of mine own liege. You went further and backed our position from council in front of our new allies who tolerate you for whatever reason. I know not how you knew, but it was useful all the same. Do not squander your favor on insulting requests,” he says with cold fury.

Cerelle reels back as if struck. “Father---”

“You will be silent, daughter. I care not for whatever you’ve read in some filth novel. You will wed a suitable man of proper birth, not an upjumped sellsword. He has nothing to offer,” Lord Lewys says to her.

“I have another two regiments as well-equipped as the men you’ve seen. I have even more upon my island. And I have ships,” you point out.

“Ships, you say? Do you need a map, boy? Deep Den is landlocked. I know not of the quality of your men, but I would rather trust in mine own knights. You also have nothing I could care to trade for at such a distance. I’ve humored you enough. Be on your way back to your rock. I will send along the coin,” he dismisses you.

You stand, unsure of just how far you are willing to go. Men have dueled over far less insult than offered here. The urge to humble him is strong… but a glance to Cerelle is enough to quell your urge to throw your relationship with her in the man’s face. The vacant look of defeat upon her is crushing and you see no reason to make this worse. There is nothing more to be said here without making matters worse for her. And so, you turn and walk away…

>>4100031
The tavern isn’t overly crowded. A good chunk of the remaining smallfolk of the city have been keeping to their homes rather than venturing out to the places where soldiers may frequent. Lucky for them, someone saw fit to evict the vast majority of the Westermen to the tourney grounds outside the walls and many of the men from other regions less responsible for the Sack would be deep in the Stormlands by now. You and your men took the long table of the common room. A look your party of seven armed and armored men led by two angry dragonseeds was enough to allow for a wide berth.

To the mixed gratitude and nervousness of the barkeep, your group has been drinking enough to make up for the sparse patronage. Not for the first time, you wish for the rum stored in your flagship’s cabin over the diluted ale provided.

“What do you want to do, brother?” Vaeron asks as a serving girl comes by with another round.

“Nothing I can do right now without ruining her life,” you respond.

He sighs. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Aurion, but why fucking care what these highborn think? Serious question, I just don’t get it,” he adds to your glower.

“They make the rules here, not us. This isn’t Essos,” you point out.

“What rules? I’m just not seeing it, brother. What do you gain from lowering yourself for them? A trade deal, a wedding? You don’t need it. It’s not as if they can take Stormgrave from you. Worst that I can see happen is you don’t get invited to some shit feast. My advice? Make your own rules, your own fate. Just as we have the last ten years,” he says. “We could treat with whoever we wanted in Essos and it should be no different here. No need for lowering ourselves beneath our supposed betters who can’t fight worth a shit anyway.”

>>4100040
“I have a House of my own to concern with now. I can’t speak to trade and the like, but I do know I need an heir of my own,” you point out.

“Just so. But does it have to be her? This Cerelle? Is she worth your pride? To be disrespected by a lord of rapists and looters? She’s fine enough to look at, but so’s the wench who brought the ale.” He’s still not over the business with the Sack.

“Beneath and Above know there are others,” he continues. “You’ve the Celtigar girl moping about for one. If she brings too little or’s not your type then look elsewhere. The turtle lord, Estermont is it? From what you’ve said, I’d say he owes you a fucking apology if nothing else. Have him sweeten the deal with someone worth looking at. If not him then why not your fat friend Manderly? Any girl he knows must have big teets. That’s worth something, yeah? That’s just what I can think of on this side of the sea. Well, other than ---”

You shoot him a warning look. He sighs. “Just saying you’ve options is all. Up to you what you want to do next. If you love this girl already, then far be it from me to stop you. If you’ve any doubts, then you’ve other options to consider. Hells we’ve not even been home yet.”

>You’re tired of dealing with these highborn and their contempt. Link up with Eddison in the morning and sail for Duskendale. You’ve more important concerns.
>Seek out Estermont first. You have words for him.
>Try to gain another audience with Lord Lydden.
>Something else.

>>4100044
Nothing to do for it. Pick up Eddison, and head on to Duskendale. We are done here, like it or not.

>>4100044
>>Try to gain another audience with Lord Lydden.
Whatever

>>4100044
>>You’re tired of dealing with these highborn and their contempt. Link up with Eddison in the morning and sail for Duskendale. You’ve more important concerns.

We'll give it another shot after we've proven ourselves yet again in Dragonstone

>>4100055
I agree with the sentiment, and if the opportunity presents itself, then yes, take it. But Lydden is probably going to go the Westerlands, and he is going to stay there. Indefinitely. You heard him, he doesn't have any ships; he probably isn't going to be taking part in the capture of Dragonstone. While I wouldn't count on it, this could be the last time we see either of them. Counting or hoping otherwise is foolish, considering how far away our respective seats are.

>>4100044
>You’re tired of dealing with these highborn and their contempt. Link up with Eddison in the morning and sail for Duskendale. You’ve more important concerns.
It's time to go better ourselves.

>>4100044
>You’re tired of dealing with these highborn and their contempt. Link up with Eddison in the morning and sail for Duskendale. You’ve more important concerns.

>>4100052
Not that I am opposed to it, but I wonder if we can pester him so much that he challenges us to a duel or something. Still, my vote is for leave.

After home our next priority should be the deserters

>>4100061
That's all true enough but I didn't mean to prove it directly in front of his eyes. I was more referring to getting our name out there in front of more important people. If we start earning glory and praise in front of the top dogs by going into battle for them again, we may be in with more of a chance.

Maybe not, but it's worth a shot

>>4100044
>>Seek out Estermont first. You have words for him.
We should have a council with the future king if we can get the chance before he takes the throne to talk about our house and make an impression. There will likely be MUCH fewer chances of doing so in the future.

>>4100078
Oh, okay, that is reasonable. Probably the best course of action is just that; do as well as we can for ourselves, and take everything we can get.

>>4100066
+1 to this.

>>4100084
+1

Before we get going with everything do we got any xp

Writing for Duskendale.

>>4100124
I'll save that for the end of the night.

>>4100084
This

You could press on for another audience with Lydden or Estermont, but you won’t lower yourself any further by seeming to wait on their beck and call. In any case, any sort of audience with this new Baratheon King will have to wait in any case. Rumor has it he had a falling out with the Stark lord over a woman and takes no visitors. No doubt there’s a good story there, but it’ll need to wait for another day.

“We are done here. Drink your fill lads. We sail for Duskendale on the morrow. It’s been too long since we’ve been home. We sort things there and then find our old Yunkish friend,” you announce to a chorus of banging cups.

Your men need little encouragement to drink their fill and enjoy the chance to cut loose. Veterans all, not one present hasn’t boarded a ship hungover before and past experience is hardly a deterrent to such men. You wake up with head still spinning near the hearth of the tavern in the early hours of the morning and stumble outside to piss upon the wall. The others groggily find their feet and you make way back to the waiting ship. Eddison is already waiting upon the docks.

“You look how I feel,” you call out in greeting to the pallid lordling.

He shakes his head. “Half the manse is burned out. The corpses have been carted off, but the Westermen took their price out upon the grounds. It will take me quite some time to rebuild. How fared your meeting?”

You motion to your disheveled state as if that explains it all. “Apparently I’m a ‘glorified pirate’ among other things.”

“I am sorry to hear that, Captain,” he says with a sympathetic wince.

“I’ve heard worse. We’re off to Duskendale if you are joining us,” you shrug.

He shakes his head. “I will remain here. There is too much to be done. I only ask that you pass on my regards to my mother and sister.”

“Done,” you clasp his arm and slap him on the back to his surprise, jostling the beleaguered lordling before boarding your ship.

>>4100167
The ride back quickly turns into a shift between jesting and puking for you and your men both. The combination of hours of imbibing pisswater ale and choppy seas makes for a rough journey yet it is also inexplicably cathartic. Thankfully, your trip is mercifully short given the currents’ tendency to trend seaward from bay to gullet.

Janesa, your ever-harried seneschal and company paymaster, meets you upon the dock with a disapproving look mostly towards her husband. She’s seen him in such a state before and while normally fairly indulgent to his whims, she has been bearing the brunt of dealing with the recruitment drive that he suggested. Upon a brief telling of your troubles, she actually wraps you in a sympathetic hug while Vaeron looks on in abject disbelief. The shit-eating grin you give him over her shoulder only adds to your sense of satisfaction. She would normally blame you over him, but you’ve been handed a rare chance to avoid a lecture.

You’ve little to do personally aside from walk around your commandeered partition of the town and boost the morale of your men while preparations are made towards departure for Stormgrave. If you so desired, you could try to speak further with your few allies. There is admittedly little to discuss with Lord Manderly other than Vaeron’s comments on a possible bride, but it may be too soon to get into such dealings with him yet, especially with your lingering feelings towards Cerelle. Other than him, the two Celtigar women are still residing at the inn. Lady Constance is a friend of sorts, you think. Perhaps she may be able to offer some advice if nothing else, though it may be a touch awkward to speak too plainly of your relationship troubles.

>Try to meet with Lord Manderly.
>Meet with Lady Constance.
>Sail on for home. You don’t want to discuss the inevitable topics with either.

>>4100171
Pass on the news to Lady Constance, but don't involve her any further in our affairs. Once that is done; >Sail on for home.

>>4100200
This

Don't know if you answer this but what other stats will you buff/grant special perks if we get the high enough

>>4100171
>Meet with Lady Constance.
We need to at least tell her that her brother remained in King's Landing. See what her family's next move is. I would assume they would go back there to join him

>>4100171
>>Try to meet with Lord Manderly.

>>4100233
Really? The manse is burnt out. There is no one in the city to offer protection to the Celtigars (and the single survivor of their household, the nearly-raped serving girl). Here they are safe, fed, comfortable. If they have any sense, and they seem to, they will stay here, until either their manse has been rebuilt, or the situation in Duskendale becomes otherwise untenable to them.

>>4100171
>>Meet with Lady Constance.

>>4100200
>>4100208
>>4100233
>>4100243
>>4100254

So if I'm getting this right, we have 2 for meeting with Constance as per the prompt (meaning Cerelle would be mentioned) and 2 for only passing on news of her brother.

Unless I'm wrong (please correct me if so) then I need a tiebreaker.

>>4100171
>Meet with Lady Constance.

>>4100264
>>4100276
Cool, thanks. Writing!

>>4100250
But if we leave, who is here to sponsor their stay? They are basically here on our dime. The only male left of this branch of the family is now in King's Landing.

So their options are really
1. Come with us
2. Go to constance's Uncle
3. Go to Eddison

>>4100317
Taking them with us isn't a bad idea, but unless I misunderstood, we aren't paying for lodging, we took it, by right of conquest. So long as Manderly occupies the town, no one is going to question any of the occupants, at least, it seems to me. After the occupation leaves, then there will be some call for payment probably, but Manderly will probably sit in Duskendale until the Dragonstone campaign is being planned out in Kings Landing, which is going to be a while. I'm sure they have options.

We can tell our Paymistress to leave something for them, if they are unwilling to come with us right now.

The uncle is in Dragonstone, surrounded by an enemy fleet. I don't think they are going to see him. Incidentally, I just realized that if we were to make a point of "accidentally" killing Lord Celtigar during the taking of Dragonstone, it would be a perfect way to resolve all of the issues that the family is facing. And place a friendly head on a local family.

You repack your sea bag from your room in the inn and make ready to depart. The room has been left untouched since you last used it and you can still catch Cerelle’s linger scent along with a stray strand of golden hair upon the pillow. It’s enough to harden your heart. There is little reason to remain here longer than necessary. Your homecoming is long overdue. Just one last courtesy to pay…

You knock upon a door down the hall and are greet by Lady Constance after a few moments’ wait. Her violet eyes are red-rimmed, from crying or lack of sleep you don’t know. “Captain Aurion, I did not expect you back so soon,” she says with a mustered smile.

“I’m afraid King’s Landing isn’t a place I’d like to linger in, my lady. Nor is Duskendale, as it happens. I sail with my fleet for Stormgrave. It has been too long. I merely wished to pass on some news as your brother has asked me to pass on his regards. He plans to remain in the city to begin work on repairing your family manse. It seems to have suffered some damage since our departure,” you say.

“Ah. It troubles me to hear he must bear such a burden alone. I cannot be certain, but I believe my mother will wish to remain here in Duskendale for now. It is close enough to both Eddison and Claw Isle if we so wish to journey towards either,” she explains.

“Fair enough, my lady. Though I’d say Eddison doesn’t seem to want you to return to Claw Isle. He spoke of striking out on his own and we’ve discussed partnership of a sort. I’m sure we will meet again. Until then, best of luck,” you say with a slight smile as you make to leave.

>>4100355
“Ser Aurion? Are you well?” she asks with concern.

“It’s nothing concerning, my lady. My plans in King’s Landing simply did not go as expected. These things happen,” you answer.

“Is this because of Lady Cerelle?” she asks before realizing herself. “My apologies, I do not mean to pry. It is only that I have seen the way you both have looked to each other.”

“You would be right, my lady. I met her father by chance and asked for her hand. It went poorly to say the least,” you acknowledge.

“Oh,” she covers her mouth in surprise. “I had no idea… I am truly sorry. This may seem strange to you, but in truth I never quite understood why she was a handmaiden to Queen Rhaella. If you did not know, there is a sort of tradition for the Queen to attempt to make favorable matches for her handmaidens. For myself and my companions of the Riverlands, this was a great boon to our families as we were not amongst the highest in status. Then there was Lady Desmera Gargalen who was present only as a sort of favor to Princess Elia… a complicated story… and Lady Cerelle herself. She was always so distant that I had honestly expected her to have been betrothed already. It is quite possible that her lord father may already have some sort of designs in mind.”

“Hmm. He mentioned little in that respect, but it’s possible. I hadn’t known of this tradition though it all does sort of put the Queen’s words to me in perspective,” you say.

“Queen Rhaella’s words?” Constance asks in surprise.

“Aye, we spoke upon the voyage and she said she wanted to introduce me to her handmaidens. That would be you and your friends then. Said some would make fine matches but that I shouldn’t reach too far. Seems like I only listened to the half of it,” you say with a grin.

She blinks, unsure of what to do with the implications of your words.

>Bid her a good day and be on to the ships
>Invite her and her mother to join you as your guests on Stormgrave.

>>4100358
>>Bid her a good day and be on to the ships

>>4100358
>Bid her a good day and be on to the ships

>>4100358
>>Bid her a good day and be on to the ships

>>4100358
>>Bid her a good day and be on to the ships

>>4100358
>Bid her a good day and be on to the ships.

File: Blackwater and Narrow Sea Map.png (2.2 MB, 1197x858)

2.2 MB PNG

>>4100363
>>4100375
>>4100376
>>4100390
>>4100405
You opt to bid her a good day and make for the ships before things with her can be complicated any further. You’ve more pressing concerns right now.

The journey to Stormgrave, your new and old home, is tense. Your small fleet sails dead east after breaking past the rocky southern cape of Duskendale’s bay. Given the near-complete naval dominance of Dragon loyalists in the bay, your safest route is over the open water of the Gullet. This takes you past the island of Driftmark, even larger than Dragonstone itself. Its masters, House Velaryon, are well-known as the naval power in the region, so the potential for conflict is high. You do spot ships in the distance on a few occasions, but they make no attempt to engage. Four warships make a less inviting target than the occasional merchant or supply cog. You would do the same as them under ordinary circumstances.

You switch watch with Malaq at nightfall and tell him to break southwards in the waters just past the tip of Sharp Point. Sure enough, the rocky peaks of Stormgrave’s northern tip raise up in the distance by midmorning. Knowing the castle to be upon the eastern face, you signal for the fleet to sail in that direction. There is a nice enough cove on the opposite side, but it would be best to tend to the castle first as they were supposed to have received a raven heralding your dominion over the island. That, and the hamlet on the cove is a reckoning all of its own for both you and Vaeron. You didn’t leave on the finest of terms…

File: Stormgrave.png (1.61 MB, 1374x796)

1.61 MB PNG

>>4100423
Okay, that's it for tonight! Gonna push back the exp stuff another day to tally things up better. We will dive into Stormgrave tomorrow too. It's the island shown to the east of Sharp Point on the map above, though I picture it as being slightly bigger than the scale shown. Here's a rough map of the island itself. You will essentially have control over the eastern half of it with the castle and farmland to begin with. As for the rest, well, we will get to that...

Now, there is one more thing I wanted to put to a vote. There was some sporadic discussion last thread over the possibility of Aurion having fathered a child. IC he would not be aware of this one way or another yet as such a thing would've occurred just before he left, but I'd like to break from the norm a little and leave this last final background touch to you guys. Basically, if he did father a child before departing, then the child would be close to ten years old. Their legitimacy/bastardy would be vague and very dependent on what Aurion wants to do about it. The mother would still be alive, essentially a minor alteration to a character I would be introducing anyway. Again, the status there would be dependent on what Aurion wants to do about it. This is the only opportunity that I intend on offering for Aurion to potentially have an heir that could be interacted with in a meaningful way for the next several years in quest. Your choice. Child or no child.

>Yes
>No

>>4100439
>>No

>>4100439
>No

>>4100439
>Yes

Imagine choosing to play as a dragonseed sellsword captain and then picking the most boring options at every turn. I'd like at least one quest to involve grooming an heir that isn't still breastfeeding.

>>4100458

+1

>>4100458
don't agree with the first part. But I really enjoy the thought of the 2nd one.
While he may not ever be an heir, we could groom him well to be the Arms master and as strong a fighter as Vaeron and as good a leader as ourself. Military commander type that fights from the front as his dad.
>>4100439
>>Yes

>>4100439
>No

>>4100439
>>Yes

>>4100439
>No
Not really interested in grooming an heir or dealing with bastards at the moment.

>>4100439
>yes

>>4100502
It's the only opportunity to have the option to even consider having an heir. You may not want to now but what about in a few threads when we are stuck with some pregnant woman or a newborn that can't speak? Idk why people wouldn't vote yes and at least see whatever plot Boggs is working with here. Having an older heir was the best part of House Harrock and no quest has touches it since aside from Victus in Malroy which again is maybe one of the best characters.

>>4100439
>No
It's settled at character creation. Bastards are boring. If we somehow die (doubt it, we have 4 endurance) then let our bro Vaeron inherit everything.

>>4100439
>No

Boggs you might want to archive the house gen thread before its gone.

>>4100439
>>No
I would be tempted if the bastard is a daughteru to protect but anons don't like girls.

>>4100439
>No

>>4100439
>Yes

>>4100439
>No
I don't trust Anons

>>4100439
>No

>>4100439
No

>>4100439
>>No

>>4100439
>yes
Anons there's no way that girl isn't pregnant, stop being so boring and man up

>>4100860
I didn't fully read, no cerelle but a random person, still yes

>>4100860
Imagine being me and completely misreading something and being a cunt about it. Sorry mate, my bad

>>4100439
>No
Pass. Bastard(s) may exist, but there are more important and interesting plots to explore right now. Add even more shit on the pile of our ancestry to be used as arguments against us? No way.

>>4100439
>No

Ok, that's a strong lead. I'm calling it for No. Don't worry, there's always Cerelle.

>>4100927
We're going to be the first man into the breach and win her hand.

>>4100927
I would vote Yes for this bastard. Much more interesting

>>4100989
Little late champ

>>4100927
Good. That wasn't a plot line I was particularly interested in.

>>4101005
Or is it...

>>4101048
I think so yeah

>> I'm calling it for No.

After reading the discussion and justifications more closely, I think there may have been a little too much fixation on the word bastard there. The vote was for a child that could have realistically functioned as a serious heir with some mild creativity, that would only be seen as a bastard if you so choose after learning more IC. If it were simply about an ordinary bastard, then I would not put this to a vote at all. That sort of backstory stuff is and always has been at QM discretion and for good reason. Any less and we would be left with a boring story guided primarily by metagaming. I only put this particular scenario to a vote because potentially choosing an heir has more widespread ramifications than having illegitimate children and not exactly negative ones at that. I'm fine with leaving the vote open until later if this has lead to any confusion. If the results don't change, then that's fine too. I just want you all to have the right idea of what this was really about.

>>4101117
>functioned as a serious heir with some mild creativity

It literally only takes the Lord (his father) going "I legitimize my bastard and consider him my true born son". Boom, nigga is family now

>>4101123
Only kings can do that though you could try calling in a favor with the King. By mild creativity I actually meant claiming you were married to the mother at the time and then either A: are still married or B: pay her off to stay out of the heir's life, pretending she's deceased and keeping yourself functionally single. In either of these cases, the child would be regarded as trueborn. If neither of those options are palatable, then you could move on and say the child is a bastard. A neat perk of being commonborn is that there aren't exactly any records of your past life.

I Vote yes to the Heir, lets do this!

>Yes

I’m okay with a girl but not totally sold on it being an heir. A slightly older child to mentor. Maybe someone that can sail around with us in a few years.

>>4101256
>>4101333

The votes have been called. It's a no.

>>4101346
>I'm fine with leaving the vote open until later if this has lead to any confusion. If the results don't change, then that's fine too. I just want you all to have the right idea of what this was really about.

Loving the gatekeeping. How many IPs did you need to use?

>>4101409
Its a pretty large vote for no and I personally don't want to deal with a bastard problem right now maybe Boggs can write one up later down the line when we have everything we want the then gut punch us with it

>>4101415
Boggs said it wouldn't be a bastard. Still won't vote yes unless it's a girl though.

>>4101415
It's a pretty large vote for both yes and no. Suspiciously large.

>>4100439
No

If Aurion is a Dragonseed Descendant then is that worth leveraging for anything? Is it worth just slapping some random Targ on his family tree and being like "Of course, we Shrykes have an ancient past as well". Every other house in Westeros does it, and there are bastard branches of Great Houses.

>>4100439
>No

Getting an heir shouldn’t be a freebie

Just got home. I see there's still a majority for No, so I'll stick with what I originally had planned.

>>4101469
It is, and yeah I'm suspicious. This may be the first time in QMing for me in which I've really suspected tampering. I've contemplated throwing out the vote entirely and having a revote without the 1-post IDs. Then again, this is a fresh thread and I could be underestimating participation. 1270 posts last thread was pretty high. Instead of dragging this out, I'm going to move on and stick with my typical policy of assuming no one would be that shitty over a story element. If they have, I'd hope they'd just say so now. I'd respect them more for being honest. I'll be keeping track of the IDs from here on out a little more closely and may reexamine this decision in a few days if a chunk of those that voted drop off or if there is a repeat of unique ID spam. We'll see.

Anyway, I'm going to get to writing. Hopefully I'll have a post up in the next hour.

>>4101726
I know that discussion is closed now, so it is a moot point, but how is a potential heir story thread a freebie?

File: Castle Shryke.jpg (61 KB, 736x563)

61 KB JPG

Ten years…

Your emotions upon your homecoming are mixed. You took ship from your home at five and ten, and it was hardly under the best of terms. An orphan by all accounts, you were abandoned in your swaddling clothes and left to die, but the old man took you in as his own. Argus, the town smith. You weren’t much for smithing yourself, preferring to spend your time by the docks and gazing out towards the sea wishing for something more. Still, you helped out around his shop where you could, eager to prove your worth. It’s where you met Vaeron. Not of the town, but from a farming family to the east with one too many mouths to feed. His strength was evident at a young age and so he was taken on as an apprentice at the forge. The two of you were fast friends and often talked of venturing out on your own to see more than the rock of your birth. It was idle talk, mostly, but things changed when your idle flirting with Argella took a more sudden and passionate turn. These things happen, and have continued to happen, but the trouble is this was the one girl you really weren’t supposed to have: Argus’s blood daughter. Still more boy than man, you fled rather than face his wrath upon rumor of your tryst reaching his ear. Vaeron, ever loyal and also responsible for the slip up, decided to join you rather than let you get yourself killed. There’s no doubt between the two of you that any remaining of your families, blood and foster both, are going to be seeking answers when they learn you still live. But one thing at a time…

You order your fleet to slow its approach as you spot the peak of Stormgrave’s castle rearing up over the steep cliff face. The island is ringed with sheer cliffs and the occasional jagged rocks in the surrounding waters near the cliffs are known to be at their worst on the eastern facing. Your ships drop anchor near the bluff of the castle and the company rows the rest of the way to the shore of black rock in landing craft. A stony path spiraling up the cliff is the extent of the luxury made available to you here. None guard it and there is little indication that your arrival has even been noted. Strange, that. The castle should command an impressive view of the sea. There is little reason why your ships would not have been spotted the moment they crested the horizon…

>Can I get 3 rolls of 3d6 for Awareness (Notice)?

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

>>4101995

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

>>4101995

Rolled 6, 6, 2 = 14 (3d6)

>>4101995

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

>>4101995
Here is hoping for a bloodless, if not happy homecoming.

>>4101998
>>4102000
>>4102003
>2 Degrees vs DC 8

This may be the first and only time to be glad you didn't purchase scouts.

It just doesn’t make sense. There must be at least a token garrison left behind on the island. Whoever’s still in command either deserves a flogging or…

Dust? Why would there be dust kicked up? Your lands have always been stormy. The island’s namesake a reference to it assisting Massey’s Hook in breaking the capricious northerly storms that frequently roll up from the Stepstones. The one thing it is not known for are dust clouds. Someone has thrown together an ambush, albeit a sloppy one.

>Shield Wall! (Warfare test)
>Hold! We come as friends! (Persuasion test)

>>4102032
Can we do both, as in, have our men form up behind us, as we attempt to diffuse the situation?

>>4102035
I support this

>>4102032
>Hold! We come as friends!

>>4102035
Slightly higher DC on the persuasion test, but sure. I don't see why not.

>>4102040
Do you mean we'd need to do slightly better then we would otherwise need to have done?

>>4102035
Sends a bit of a mixed message, I think.
>>4102032
>Hold! We come as friends! (Persuasion test)

>>4102063
Yeah, not to mention, it puts us is immediate danger.

>>4102032
>>Hold! We come as friends!

>>4102058
On the persuasion test, yeah you'd need to do slightly better if only because getting into a battle posture while claiming to be friends is a little jarring to your current opponents. Doesn't mean it can't work though. Slightly higher =/= crazy DC here.

>>4102035
>>4102038
>>4102039
>>4102063
>>4102090

>Can I get 3 rolls of 4d6 for Persuasion (Convince)?

Rolled 3, 3, 1, 6 = 13 (4d6)

>>4102103

>>4102103

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

>>4102103
Damn it

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

>>4102103

Rolled 6, 4, 1, 5 = 16 (4d6)

>>4102103

>Rolled 17 vs DC 12, 2 Degrees

“HOLD! We come as friends!” you shout to the rocky outcroppings dotting the pathway to the castle. “I am Captain Aurion Shryke. These lands fall under my protection as does any man hailing from them. We mean no harm!”

For a brief moment, you ready to sound the call for a shield wall as the hundred men behind you start to shuffle uncomfortably at the sudden halt and exchange, but cooler heads prevail.

“You’s the new lordling then? Prove to it! Wot’s the colors?” a man shouts, confirming your suspicions. Hmm. Janesa had mentioned sending a few ravens to the island, but you’d received no reply given your recent nomad-like experiences. You were also promised by your original employers that the castle would be given notice of your newfound dominion here. You’d sketched out your sigil at a similar time.

“Two birds, white and green!” you shout in response. “Was born here myself. House Sunglass used to rule, yeah? They’d have the gold stars of the Seven.”

There’s another pause. Even the wind waits, and you can even hear some muttering over the stilled air. “We’s coming out m’lord. Don’t loose on us!” the same voice calls.

You glance back to your heavy infantrymen in bemusement. “No need to worry, my good man!”

A few score archers start creeping out from behind the rocks. You can’t help but cringe at their general disorder. It’s as if someone scrapped the farms for any who could hope to string a bow. Many of them stare openly with wide mouths agape at the sight of you with a heavily armed free company at your back. Clearly, they’d not anticipated this sort of force if they’d ever seen the like before. The branch of House Sunglass that used to hold dominion here wasn’t amongst the most militant of houses. Their presumed leader approaches at the head of the ragtag outfit.

For the first time in ages, Vaeron drops his heavy flail. “Oh, fuckin hells,” he swears.

You’re at about the same point right now, really. “That’s your father,” you point out unnecessarily.

A tall enough man for smallfolk at around six feet, Varner is his son etched upon a less heroic scale in both posture and general appearance. His own more closely cropped silver hair could just as easily be from age than the favor of exalted bloodline and his familiar sky-blue eyes widen in shock as your best friend removes his helm.

“Vaeron? That you?” he asks in complete surprise as he looks upon his long-lost son who towers above him in blackened plate.

“Aye, Da. We’ve come home,” he states, never being one for speeches. They embrace in a bear hug while the two sides begin to tentatively stand down. You don’t typically hug your enemies.

“You’d be the Aurion from the smithy then, yeah?” Varner asks you at last.

“Aye, me and Vaeron joined a free company over in Essos together. Things went better than expected, and here we are,” you summarize.

>>4102330
“Wish I could say the same here m’lord Aurion. We’ve been fightin going on two moons now. Alls we can do to hold things round the farms and even some o’ those been lost. Town’s gone to shit, Tally Hill’s more than like just as bad but can’t tell it sure,” he explains.

After the immediate shock, you feel a furious anger boiling over at his words and can see Vaeron is little different. “Who? Why?”

“Dunno the why of it. Seems to be pirates out the Stepstones from whats everyone been saying. The highborn rode off to war and left us clean pickins for any that’d try and try they did,” the older man says.

“Who commands?” you ask.

“That’d be Ser Duncan o’ the garrison. They pulled back as much they could from the town right about when the ships entered the cove. Was jus too many to fight. Town’s been sacked, but the castle’s still held,” he answers.

You nod, feeling a numbness spreading. Need to keep moving. “We’re moving. Castle first, then on from there,” you announce. The archers fall in along with your other regiments and begin marching up the pathway to the waiting castle gate while Vaeron hangs back a step to catch up with his father.

You’re hailed as you approach the gate, but it’s more of a formality given that the archers must be well-known to the garrison. After passing through the gatehouse, you’re greeted by a balding elderly man in a coat of mail. “Ser Aurion Shryke, I’m Ser Duncan. The castle’s yours,” he says with a relieved bow. Plainly a practiced speech. It’s a surreal experience for you. You’d heard tale of Ser Duncan in your youth, a commonborn man of the very streets you grew up on who rose to knighthood and a command position. Now the legend stands in front of you and contempt overwhelms any sense of childhood awe. He failed your home and stands before you a lesser man.

“Report,” you order. To his credit, he doesn’t waste time after spitting out his sourleaf. The story he tells is very much the same as that which Varner told with some additional details. Pirates or something near enough to them from the Stepstones. A handful of ships docked in the cove including at least two warships. Several hundred men all told, using the town as their den of operations. The exact numbers are confused because it’s unclear how many, if any, keep to the ships. The mines buried in Tally Hill are cut off and sporadic skirmishes are all that keep the pirates wary enough to avoid sweeping the farms away entirely.

>Can I get 3 rolls of 5d6 for Warfare (Strategy)?

Rolled 3, 6, 4, 3, 6 = 22 (5d6)

>>4102334

Rolled 2, 1, 5, 6, 2 = 16 (5d6)

>>4102334

Rolled 6, 3, 4, 3, 3 = 19 (5d6)

>>4102334

>>4102347
19 pretty solid compared to some pirates.
>>4102330
I appreciate you posting the dc and degrees. I like it personally.

>>4102347
>>4102350
>>4102357
>2 Degrees

You stride into the keep itself and make to take seat at the first available table in the main hall before realizing yourself and approaching your proper place at the high table. “Map,” you call, and a runner quickly procures one.

You gaze upon it, trying to place all of the details you’ve been provided of this latest unexpected battlefield. The positioning of your enemy makes little strategic sense. They control the town, that much is obvious, but they’ve not pressed their advantage as you would’ve. The farmlands are uniquely vulnerable and yet they’ve done little more than the occasional raiding and pillaging… unless they were busy with the mines of Talley Hill to the northwest. It’s possible there are some holdouts in that direction, but the odds aren’t great. A simpler explanation would be that the pirates are just content with their plundering of the town and have the eyes set on prizes elsewhere.

In any case, you don’t intend on suffering their presence any longer. Now, you know they have warships, but their strength is questionable. They shouldn’t be enough to overwhelm your own fleet, but the uncertainty is nagging. Still, you at least have the element of surprise in that your ships should be completely unknown. Now you have some options to consider… you could hit the town with a shock attack with your entire company over land and press the invaders out of it. They’d be forced to either flee back to the sea or back up towards Tally Hill and a dead end. If they flee towards the sea, then they could likely escape because your own warships wouldn’t have the manpower to destroy them. That would mean either hunting them down later or cutting your losses.

On the other hand, you could attempt a sort of hammer and anvil maneuver. Split your forces and sail into the cove with your fleet, strike the town or their ships by sea and use the rest of your men to ensure they’re cut off from breaking through to the farms in retreat. Riskier, but a more total victory if you succeed. If not, you may very well lose half your men or more.

Or you could bide your time and wait. Perhaps try to slip in the town and gather better information before making a decisive move. The fact that you only vaguely know who or what you’re facing mean strategizing is of dubious value, but that could be remedied if you’re willing to risk it. You could likely do so yourself if you saw fit. The words “glorified pirate” still come to mind, but the label certainly has its uses.

>Shock attack the town over land with the bulk of your forces
>Hammer and anvil: split your men and hit the town by land and sea
>Bide your time. Slip into the town and gather intel, then prepare your strike

Overnight vote. I'll also post an exp vote in a min.

>>4102365
I should get back into that habit more, yeah. Last one was also 12. I tend to favor more average DCs with more info/benefits popping up with additional degrees. Sort of incentivizes not leaving all your stats at 3 or 4 and assuming that's good enough to pull of what someone with a 5 or 6 could do.

>>4102387
>>Hammer and anvil: split your men and hit the town by land and sea

>>4102387
>>Hammer and anvil: split your men and hit the town by land and sea

>>4102387
>>Hammer and anvil: split your men and hit the town by land and sea

File: Aurion's Stats.png (19 KB, 382x610)

19 KB PNG

Okay, here's a snip of Aurion's stats at present for your convenience. It can also be found via the link in the OP. So last thread was more than I could've hoped for in so many ways. Around 37000 words of story posts alone over the nearly 3 week run, not including questions and general discussion. Aurion underwent over two dozen tests and passed all but I think 4 of them with many successes being to multiple degrees and even a crit success (6,6,6) on a cunning test. Beyond all the mechanical stuff, I'd say he grew a lot as a character through all of his new experiences. Given that, I feel confident in rounding the exp out at an even 40. You may raise one ability at 3 or higher to the next rank for 30 exp. Then you can either add a bonus die to a particular skill or raise a rank 2 ability to rank 3. Please keep in mind, Aurion is currently a well-rounded character, perhaps more than he should be, and he would be more likely to truly make a name for himself if he started working towards mastery in at least one or two abilities. What're you guys looking to raise? Please respond to this post with some sort of greentext for simplicity's sake with the following as a deliberately bad example:

>Knowledge 3 to 4
>Animal Handling (Charm animal): 1b

Thanks and have a good night!

>>4102387
>Hammer and anvil: split your men and hit the town by land and sea
Hopefully we could even capture about ship instead of just destroying them. Bolster the fleet some.

>>4102387
>Bide your time. Slip into the town and gather intel, then prepare your strike

>>4102426
>Persuasion 4 to 5
>Convince: 1b

Gib waifu.

>>4102387
>>Bide your time. Slip into the town and gather intel, then prepare your strike

>>4102426
>Persuasion 4 to 5
>Agility 2 to 3

>>4102387
>Hammer and Anvil

>>4102426
>Agilty 2 to 3
Considering his weapon I feel it makes sense. Not that its a boost to his actual fighting prowess. But it does raise our combat defense. Easy boost there.
And I'm on the fence about if we want to continue with being a better fighter at the head of our soldiers or get better at the behind the scenes kind of thing.
Awareness would help for both. Which is a strong contender
Fighting or Warfare either would specialize us.
There is lastly if you would like to take ruler into account Persuasion would be best really long term as it would help us when we deal to bargain out trades, and potentially really help us win over Cerelle's hand. And in chatting with the king, and so on.
>>4102454
>>4102455
You guys convinced me to do persuasion. I like the mix into a little agility too. Helps round him out in the way he should be going as a warrior while making him a leader too.

>>4102387
+1 for Hammer Time!

>>4102387
>>Hammer and anvil: split your men and hit the town by land and sea

>>4102426
>agility 2>3
>convince 1b

>>4102387
I also had a question about inspiring. From the sound of it seems like something our character would build upon.
But how useful is it exactly? don't get how it is beneficial mechanics-wise
an extra command in battle? having two units do two separate things? any boost to battle that way? say we could flank better? or would it simply be re-roll failed test for warfare?

>>4102463
I do think awareness should be next. We'll have Janessa for bargaining also. And going forward I would look at a mix of persuasion/warfare/awareness. I see Aurion as a leader over a fighter. I think his combat stats as they are with the bump in agility are pretty good for his proposes. Like if he is going toe to toe with someone like Ser Dontos then we messed up.

>>4102495
I agree.
Your Awareness rank applies toward your Combat Defense and Intrigue Defense. These are pretty important additions I didn't realize were included. It's a pretty strong addition to our character. If we can manage to get 40 more exp before we deal with dragon stone, I'd say 1D in awareness and + 1b in either polearm or convince. Before we meet up with Cerelle's dad again.

>>4102387
Hammer and anvil

>>4102455
+1

>>4102509
Clearing out the island and finding those deserters should get us pretty close meeting the neighbors might help a little bit too

>>4102426
>Persuasion 4 to 5
>Language 2 to 3 (or agility 2 to 3 if no one else votes for language)

Guys, we're completely illiterate. That is a poor trait in a lord and I'd rather not rely on Janessa to read/write for us for the rest of our life.

>>4102518
Anon makes a point. I don't know about this round but another point in language will be pretty necessary

>>4102526
Wait, can we learn to read by just adding points to language? If that is the case, then +1 to >>4102518 proposal.

>>4102528
I would assume some time would need to be spent learning but yes level 3 is basic reading.

>>4102515
I think we would be lucky to do all three in a timely fashion.
>>4102518
>>4102528
While I do agree with you that being illiterate is a big issue that should be fixed. I doubt it is a pressing issue. Think about it, right now what we need to do is focus on the upcoming fights and a future huge fight.

And while I guess storyline-wise OP could talk about how after we killed off the others on the island we sat down with Janessa to learn to read and write doesn't seem like that would really be the time to do it. You and the boys are going to go off to a huge battle in the upcoming months, your priority really shouldn't be learning how to read right now.
Even after the fighting, we could always get a maester. To read and write for us, and whatnot.
The fighting and all the chatting we've been doing make sense to increase our skills as of late.

>>4102537
The island and the deserters should be priority obviously the neighbors can wait till after Dragonstone. I really want our ships back so our men can be little more comfy

>>4102387
>Hammer and anvil: split your men and hit the town by land and sea

>>4102426
>Persuasion 4 to 5
>Convince: 1b

>>4102518
You make a great point anon, but it’s not a problem we need to rectify immediately.

We need to be as convincing as possible post Dragonstone in order to maximise the boons granted by the High Lords.

>>4102560
Have you met King Robert?
I think we'll have a greater result focusing on charm.

Down the track I even think we should look into Magnetic. That quality is incredible.
As it is we'd be able to bring people from Indifferent to Friendly in a single intrigue. Friendly is described as ''willing to do you favors and may take risks on your behalf. They won’t betray you, and that’s what counts most.''
If we manage to scrape together a couple more bonus die in charm then we could go even further and people would be willing to risk their lives for us after a single intrigue.

>>4102537
Agility is definitely important but personally I'm concerned that if we don't fix our illiteracy know then it's something we'll just keep forgetting about.
I definitely don't think it's the sort of flaw we should afford to leave until we've got a maester.

>>4102584
So how do you gain qualities and how many can you get? Do we automatically get it when we get the prerequisites?

Also the pole-arm pin is kinda lame

>>4102611
By the rules we'd have to save up 50 xp.
A lot of the threads on tg do it differentally and just away a destiny point after some suitably epic point in the narrative (like say, storming dragonstone).

We could also choose to invest the dp we've got currently but I like having one spare for when shtf.

>>4102426
>>Persuasion 4 to 5
>>Convince: 1b

>>4102426
>Awareness 3 to 4
>Convince 1B
Nothing comes close to the ability for acquiring new knowledge to act upon. Even persuasion would've been easier if we knew which buttons to press. Reinforce that silver tongue with a brain.

>>4102611
When you say polearm pin, you mean pinning an enemy with a polearm? Is that part of the reason that we picked the Halberd in character generation, becuase it didnt have Vicious, and could be relied on to capture enemies without accidentally killing them?

>>4102426
>Persuasion 4 to 5
>Convince: 1b

>>4102584
I think Magnetic may be one of the best benefits in the book. You already have the prerequisite too. You can accomplish in one charm attempt what would normally take two attempts. There are going to be plenty of times where you can't sit around charming someone repeatedly because they are going to want you to get to the point, so sometimes that one attempt really matters.

>>4102611
I award them separately from exp as major story/life events are completed. Dragonstone could be one of them depending on how that goes down.

>>4103017
Yeah I'm not quite understanding this either. Polearms are better for knocking people down rather than pinning anyhow. See the benefit attached. Not even sure how relevant it will be because as it has been already discussed above, Aurion is coming up to a point here where he really needs to decide whether he wants to focus on being a warrior or a general. The character creation vote was for the latter and Vaeron was created specifically to handle nastier combats for you, but there is a natural tendency to overfocus on personal combat prowess. I agree with the assessment above that Awareness/Persuasion/Warfare are what one would expect with a leader/general.

>>4102490
>Inspiring
Extra commands are underrated for a general. Right now you have 4 commands per round which means you will begin to have difficulty in effectively commanding an army if/when you pick up a fifth combat unit or expand your fleet of warships.

File: C3CA8731-BC2E-4FC2-8EE3-1(...).jpg (186 KB, 640x474)

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>>4103281
And forgot the image...

File: hammer and anvil.jpg (100 KB, 1024x615)

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>Persuasion is now rank 5, gained 1 bonus die to Convince
>Hammer and anvil: split your men and hit the town by land and sea

These pirates have sacked your lands, your home. They don’t deserve the chance to sail away. There is only one response worth giving.

“Hammer and Anvil. We will split the company. The Hammer will sail in with the warships to the cove and either capture or destroy their fleet before landing on the docks. The Anvil will push towards the town over land and hold, preventing a retreat towards the castle and farms. These scum will either stand and die or flee towards Tally Hill and a slower death. There will be no escape,” you declare.

“You have an eye for this sort of thing, ser,” Ser Duncan says approvingly. “The men will be glad for a chance at vengeance. Many lost loved ones back in town.”

A sentiment you can relate to only too well. Now that you are home at last, your thoughts are increasingly clouded with worry and regret towards the family that raised you. Their home was attached to the smithy in the occupied town and would have been a prime target for any raiders.

“Where will you be, ser? Ser Aurion?” you snap back to reality and look to the two concerned knights present. Ser Duncan likely doesn’t know the details, but Vaeron can at least relate. His father mentioned a younger brother had been sent to replace him at the smithy and there has been no word of him since the initial raids began.

>With the Hammer
>With the Anvil

Hammer and Anvil

Current forces under your command:
>Veteran Heavy Infantry
>Trained Heavy Infantry
>Trained Garrison
>Green Archers

Where would you like to place your men between the two locations? Posting an hour early so there’s some time for discussion.

>>4103485
Which is which?

>>4103485
Anyway, since it's 1AM and I want to sleep

>With the Land troops

Land:
>Veteran Heavy Infantry
>Green Archers

Sea:
>Trained Heavy Infantry
>Trained Garrison

>>4103485
Can Archers hide behind another unit?

Vet Heavy infantry+Archers-The Hammer

Trained Garrison+Trained Heavy infantry - Anvil

with the anvil

>>4103488
Hammer would be with the ships assaulting the cove and anvil would be the land troops on the outskirts of the town keeping the raiders from fleeing or counterattacking towards the castle and farms.

>>4103515
That's basically their automatic position. Either that or posted on a hill facing towards the enemy.

I'm thinking Vaeron taking the veteran heavies on the ships and Aurion leading everything else by land. The garrison forces are probably best left on dry land and under a real commander.

>>4103485

>Anvil
Trained Garrison, Trained Heavy Infantry
>Hammer
Green Archers and Veteran Heavy Infantry

Go with the Anvil, we need to show our peasants we're with them but also save our more experienced troops. I doubt all our garrison knows what it's like to be in naval assaults. Better to keep the experienced men where they can do the most damage.

>>4103485
>>With the Anvil

Land: Trained garrison and trained heavy
Sea: Green archers and veteran heavy

>>4103543
agreed.

>>4103543
+1

>>4103485
>With the Land troops
Land:
>Veteran Heavy Infantry
>Green Archers
Sea:
>Trained Heavy Infantry
>Trained Garrison

File: Ser Vaeron.jpg (39 KB, 640x853)

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I have to say, the contrast between votes on building an army and using an army is hilarious. Chaos vs consensus.

“I’ll be with your men and my Second Regiment. We will form the anvil that these raiders are broken upon. Ser Vaeron, take the First and these… archers up the cove and push them to us. Bring the galleys in for a shock assault and pile the bowmen upon our new flagship to act as a support platform. If it can be helped, try not to clog the docks with sinking ships. I would trust no other with this,” you say.

“Aye, brother. It’ll be done. Don’t get yourself killed while I’m smashing skulls,” he acknowledges with a grin.

“As much as I’d like to scout out their strengths first, we’ve the advantage of surprise at present. We will strike on the morrow before word of the fleet’s arrival can spread. With a little luck, they’ll still be slow from drink. For now, I think a small feast would be in order, no?” you announce.

“We have stores aplenty, ser. I’m sure the kitchens have already begun preparing at sight of your host,” Ser Duncan reassures.

“Good, send word to the ships. We’ve a long day ahead of us,” you dismiss the two knights.

Now that the plans have been dealt with, you sink into your high seat and ruminate over your situation. Even in your youth you had never felt this level of pressure. Perhaps it comes with having so much to lose. The burden of leadership and relationships both. The uncertainty and rejection surrounding Cerelle and your future with her is now vying with your fears over the state of past loved ones. You have the evening’s reprieve to sort yourself. Failing that, you’ll just have to take it out on more tangible threats tomorrow.

>Seek out Janesa. She’s always been good for advice when she’s not acting insane.
>Dine with Vaeron and his father. Maybe you can find out more from them.
>Just try to enjoy yourself with your men, maybe raid the kitchens and flirt with a wench or two. A fine enough distraction.
>Just go up to the battlements and be alone with your thoughts rather than risk bringing down anyone else.

>>4103681
>Just go up to the battlements and be alone with your thoughts rather than risk bringing down anyone else.
Let's survey the land, maybe we'll get some ideas

>>4103689
+1

>>4103681
>>Just go up to the battlements and be alone with your thoughts rather than risk bringing down anyone else.
Time to brood

>>4103681
Can we spend the evening going over the maps, make sure we don't miss anything.

>>4103714
>>4103681
This if possible. If not, just examine the land.

Armies can be extremely versatile or specialized for a certain purpose. Just look up any major changes to the Roman legions and how their weapons, armor, and tactics changed to deal with the threats they faced overtime.

Writing right now for the battlements. Can I get 3 rolls of 3d6 for Cunning?

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

>>4103764

>>4103766
Welp I'm not gonna roll anymore

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

>>4103764

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

>>4103764

Well that sucks

Failed. Writing. Let's see how far over your head this one goes.

>Can I get 3 more rolls of 3d6 for Awareness (Empathy)?

Rolled 4, 2, 6 = 12 (3d6)

>>4103774
Just looking to expose all our weaknesses I see.

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

>>4103774

>>4103778
Sometimes failures can be more fun than successes.

Rolled 5, 1, 5 = 11 (3d6)

>>4103774

Rolled 4, 6, 2 = 12 (3d6)

>>4103774
this sucks...

File: Aella.jpg (379 KB, 1600x2560)

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Men and women shuffle to and fro between ships and castle, offloading passengers and bringing down fresh provisions, mostly spirits, so that the oarsmen aren’t sullen before battle. You wander off as the feasting begins, preferring to be alone with your thoughts. It would do little good to brood openly in front of your men.

You find yourself upon a lonely corner of the battlements with a rolled-up map and a flagon of wine looking out upon your lands. It’s about the extent of tangible puzzles you can distract with rather than addressing the underlying worries than plague you. Examining battleplans and the like is something you’d be prone to getting caught up in even in a finer mood and the wine is more for figuring out why highborn are so obsessed with the shit rather than to dull senses.

The lands, your lands, make for a sharp contrast. You can’t quite see the town over the bluffs, but the orange glow coming from that direction is unmistakable. In comparison, the farmlands are visible only by the light of moon. You know a simple dirt road winds its way from the castle to the town itself, which is convenient in more ways than one. Any raiders seeking to move this way in an organized body will need to take it if they’d rather not go through the effort of stumbling about the grassy hills surrounding the town. You could march your men down it and challenge them openly. A disorganized and desperate force would either break upon you there or turn tail and scurry to the mines. From there, they’d be a problem for another day.

Your gulp down more wine and enjoy the fire in your chest while the cool sea breeze wafts over the crenellations before you’re interrupted by a “m’lord.”

You turn and see a serving wench with a plate of assorted food from the feast and more wine. “M’lady Janesa bid me bring you this from below,” she says.

If you didn’t know any better, and you don’t, you would say Janesa is deliberately trying to fuck with you. It’s just not right. You’ve seen enough of the world to know this one is far too beautiful to be a serving wench. Someone would’ve snatched her up. Dark hair framing a face that a painting couldn’t do justice and eyes that show just a hint of the Dragon’s favor. Her white linen blouse clinging to her chest from the exertion of her duties is the only thing competing for your attention.

>>4103806
>Cunning: Rolled 9 vs DC 12, Failed

To top it all off, she looks vaguely familiar. Probably just a trick of the eye. Your sort of look does crop up here and there throughout the islands of the Narrow Sea from the sporadic favor, or disfavor, of the dragonlords of old. This woman just got particularly lucky with hers.

>Awareness (Empathy): Rolled 12 vs DC 12, Success 1 Degree

As you make to wave her off, there is one look about her that is very familiar to you. Anger. It’s said those with the Dragon’s blood in them are a passionate people quick to the extremes of emotions such as love and anger. This one is definitely struggling to contain hers. You can see it in her eyes, the way she looks at you with head held high as no servant should. You know not what possible reasons she could have to feel such a way towards you.

>Let her be. Her reasons are her own.
>Wait. What’s wrong?

>>4103806
>>Wait. What’s wrong?
We fucked this girl, didn't we?

>>4103807
>Wait. What’s wrong?
this would have been the here's your bastard talk

>>4103807
>Wait. What’s wrong?

>>4103807
>>Wait. What’s wrong?
Is this the blacksmith's daughter?

>>4103807
>Let her be. Her reasons are her own.
Let's keep looking at that map, maybe we find something out of the ordinary

>>4103812
>>4103815
>>4103816
>>4103817
>>4103826

She sets down the plate and begins to turn even without your leave. You’ve never been one for ceremony, but now your curiosity is getting the better of you.

“A moment,” she stops. “What troubles you? Have I slighted you in some way?”

She turns with eyes ablaze with anger. “You’re such a stupid arse, Aurion or whatever you’re called now,” she fumes.

You’re taken aback and for once in your life really don’t know what to say.

She looks to you incredulously. “You don’t even know me? Truly?”

“I… did we?” you try.

“Oh, that’d be it, yeah?” she scoffs. “No. I doubt I ever caught your eye then.”

You find that hard to believe… though she’s at least a little younger than you. Yet she knows you? You can only think of maybe one or two…

“Wait… Aella? You’re Aella? Vaeron’s sister?” now it’s your turn to be surprised. She was a shy and pudgy girl by the time of your flight. Used to give you flowers and stare at you until her older brother jested of it. It would be comical if not for the raw emotion on display.

“So, you do remember,” she deadpans before turning to leave again.

“Sit,” you stop her. “Eat. I’m not going to anyhow.”

She reluctantly obliges, but only plays with the plate in her heat.

“Why are you so vexed?” you try again.

“Don’t you see what you’ve done in your leaving? What pain you’ve caused? We all thought you were dead. You and Vaeron both. No sign of either of you for ten years now,” she bursts out after a moment’s silence.

>We went our own way and made something of ourselves and everyone’s the better for it. (Convince)
>I’m sorry, truly. The last thing we wanted was to cause any pain. (Charm)
>Something else

>>4103854
>We went our own way and made something of ourselves and everyone’s the better for it. (Convince)

There had to be something more to just making nails and pots all day

>>4103854
>"It was either that or we'd end up in the place we are now: lord and man-at-arms of the shit isle we grew up on together...Sorry, things went far better than we thought they ever could. Your brother's got a wife now, a foreign noblewoman at that! I'd introduce you but your brother has enough explaining to do as is."

>>4103854
>We went our own way and made something of ourselves and everyone’s the better for it. (Convince)

>>4103861
+1

>>4103861
>>4103864
>>4103875
>>4103884
I'll use all of this.

>Can I get 3 rolls of 6d6 for Persuasion (Convince)?

Rolled 4, 6, 4, 2, 3, 6 = 25 (6d6)

>>4103890

Rolled 1, 5, 4, 2, 2, 6 = 20 (6d6)

>>4103890

Rolled 5, 2, 1, 2, 5, 4 = 19 (6d6)

>>4103890

Rolled 6, 2, 5, 4, 1, 1 = 19 (6d6)

>>4103890

>All these dice on persuasion
We may be oblivious to shit going on around us but we can at least talk our way out of it

>Rolled 23 vs DC 15. Success, 2 Degrees.

“We were both fools in our youth, aye. Could’ve left on better terms, but we wanted more out of the world than toiling in a smithy. We’ve both become more than any would have ever expected of us. All of this, everything you have ever seen, is now mine. And Hells, look at Vaeron now. You mentioned Janesa before, eh? Think to introduce yourself?” you ask.

Her look says it all. It never occurred to her, though you’re not surprised given her current occupation.

“That’s his wife, Aella. He’s done well for himself. They’ve two children of their own. You should meet them for yourself. He’s happy, I’d think. But don’t take my word on it, ask him for yourself,” you continue.

Aella barely looked to you as you had your say, but she does look mollified by your words. Or maybe just preoccupied with all the implications. She reaches out for the flagon of wine and takes a deep drink of it to the point of coughing.

“And what of you?” she asks. There’s a loaded question if you’ve ever heard one.

“Alive and well if nothing else. No wife and all that if that’s what you’re asking. Glad to be home if not pleased with the state of things. That’ll all be put to rights soon enough. Haven’t lived this long by losing battles,” you answer.

She looks ready to snap at you again before searching your face and thinking better of it. Her expression softens considerably, and she wipes her eyes. “You don’t know. No one’s told you,” she realizes.

“Told me what?” you ask with a sinking feeling.

“Argella… I know of her. Why you left. Aurion… she’s dead. Has been for years. She passed in childbirth. I’m sorry,” she says.

What do you do?

>Grieve
>Get angry
>Something else/write-ins

And that’s it for tonight! I may have something short up tomorrow, but I’ll be doing a full run with the battle and all that on Tuesday night. I want to make sure I prep for it so it all goes well.

>>4103943
>>Grieve

>>4103908
agreed.
We should really pick up magnetic. Before we meet up with Cerelle's dad again.
I didn't expect to convince to win, it is what it is.

Awareness and agility should both be increased if we have the exp for it. Awareness has been the thing we clearly lack in many cases.
And both help us with combat defense, which is a nice addition.
I personally wouldn't want itWe could also do magnetic + 1B in charm to really hammer in for our specialty.
It would leave us with many friends if we can make it past Dragonstone.

>>4103964
>We should really pick up magnetic
Agreed. It is a top-tier quality.
And the benefit with charm is that it doesn't just persuade people to go along with our plans, it leaves them friendlier and more inclined to support us in future interactions.

>Awareness and agility should both be increased if we have the exp for it
Warfare too. If our army gets any better we'll be struggling when it comes to issuing orders.

>>4103943
>Grieve

>>4103943
Setting aside the meta-game, of our outside knowledge us not having a bastard, we should probably ask when and who (if anyone) was in a relationship with her. Tie that into some grieving, as well, I suppose.

>>4103943
>>Get angry
Well, we killed her

>>4103943
>>Get angry

>>4104004
>>4103943
>>Grieve

>>4103943
>"..."

>>4103943
>Grieve
It’s too long ago to get angry

>>4103943
>Sadness/indifference
A fleeting memory of a girl we liked from over 10 years back? Well its disappointing but distantly so, the feelings have since dulled. Its a medieval society and people fucking die, get over it.

>>4104048
Killed her with your dick, that's right. Learn to pull out, train willpower.

>>4104231
>>Sadness/indifference
>A fleeting memory of a girl we liked from over 10 years back? Well its disappointing but distantly so, the feelings have since dulled. Its a medieval society and people fucking die, get over it.
This

>>4103943
>indifference

>>4103943
>>Grieve

>>4104231
> train willpower
train awareness, so you don't get into as many shit situations as you did when you were just a dicklet

>>4104231
>indifference
I think we were expecting that, I mean we left her behind didn't we? It's sad, but too late to go back

>>4104209
Changing this

>>4104231
To support this

Mild sadness / indifference

We’ve seen so much death, poverty, rape and misery since we left - this is just another slightly more personal story

If we had truly cared we wouldn’t have left after all...

>>4104231
>A fleeting memory of a girl we liked from over 10 years back?

>>4104231
>>4104234
>>4104237
>>4104292

Just a reminder that MC was raised alongside this girl for 15 years. I think it would be VERY appropriate to grief after your SISTER even if she is not blood related. Especially after MC sister died from childbirth, that there is a chance he coused...

>>4104231
>>4104234
>>4104301
Also this sad/indifferent shit. PICK ONE! Is he sad or is he indifferent? It can't be both!

>>4103943
>Grieve

>>4104043
I probably should've been more clear, she is 100% implying it was with your child.

>>4103943
>>Grieve
Ask about the child. OoC we know, but Aurion would be curious.

>>4104304
Nigga at least half the players on this board are not only autistic but emotionally and socially stunted

>Grieve

What the fuck am I reading? What sort of sociopath would be indifferent to the death of a loved one? Boggs set the whole up as being stressful and emotional BEFORE we knew she was dead and the response is to write in some edgelord shit? This is even more autistic than wanting to stare at a map all night to reveal secrets. I hope this kid is still alive so you all have to take some responsibility. Stop trying to make the MC into a boring robot.

>>4103943
Grieve

>>4104406
Cry is free

>>4104406
This. Really his mind should snap to Cerelle. He could have another child and he's not there for that either. That'll fuck a dude up

>>4104437
Yep, exactly this. Another woman most likely with his child he left alone

>>4104376
OoC mean "out of cannon", or "out of context"?

>>4104447
I think he was going with Out of Character. Like the character wouldn't know but we know because of the rolls and such.

>>4104406
A loved one? M8, it was a childhood fling and it was like 10 fucking years ago.
Did you not have any relationships when you were in school? 'cause you feel really in love at the time but it's not something you get all teary over even a couple of years down the track.

>>4104454
We lived with that girl under one roof for 15 years.

>>4104438
>most likely
We had sex what, twice?

>>4104454
It was his adopted father's daughter. They grew up together like siblings. Did you read it, M8?

>>4104456
Aurion is potent. A one shot wonder. Uterus's quiver when he walks by.

>>4104454
Nah you're right.

>grow up alongside a girl under the same roof, probably playing together and all that
>attraction develops in teenage years
>have a fling on the side
>the dad that's been letting you live with them finds out because your friend talked too much
>he swings a hammer for a living
>nope nope nope, time to go
>come back after adventuring for 10 years
>i hope they're okay
>she's dead. From birthing your child.
>oh well, people die every day
>go back to staring autistically at a map

This is just like highschool.

>>4104454
She was having his child and he wasn't on the island to say goodbye. I think it would be pretty normal to grieve about your child and his mother dying plus the situation with Cerelle is similar

>>4104464
Agree on the Cerelle situation. Where does it say the kid is dead? It sorta cuts off with nothing confirmed.

>>4104470
That's me just assuming especially since we voted no heir but there is a chance

>>4104456
I will be honest I don't remember how dice works in that case. I just took description of failed will test as there is big chance she pregnant after this. It just worked like that in my head.

>>4104476
It was a 1 in 6 chance she got pregnant and we didn't roll the second time

>>4104483
The 1 in 6 is already stupid high, desu

>>4104447
>>4104451 has the right of it.

>>4103943
>>Grieve
Changing to this because I won't let autismality make our guy have the emotional capacity of a calculator

>>4103943
>>4104043
>>4104363

Well, now that it is clear that she died with our child, then it seems that grief is probably in order.

Sadness sure but grief? I think we might be surprised to hear it first, maybe disbelief then it can evolve into sadness

No update today?

>>4104464
>>4104462
Fair point. I keep forgot we'd been raised alongside her for 15 years.

File: Heirs and Influence.png (33 KB, 380x300)

33 KB PNG

>>4104476
>>4104529
There are no set rules for that sort of thing other than whatever homebrew stuff QMs make up. I figured rolling for it would be more desirable than having me do whatever I wanted with it. I kept it simple this time with a 1 in 6 rather than making a convoluted series of charts. It's scientific merit is debatable, but it felt like a nice sweet spot between "oh shit she's definitely pregnant" and "whew, nothing to worry about with those odds." I rolled once more off screen after the failed Will test because the first roll unfortunately sparked a bunch of metagaming anyway. Dunno if there is one solid way to satisfy everyone on that front, but I don't mind suggestions and will change things accordingly if it makes sense to.

I won't say if Cerelle is pregnant or not, but I can at least say that I do intend on using the attached chart from the book for things like gender if/when Aurion does finally produce an heir. I want Influence to matter more as a resource in this quest and this is one established way to make that happen. It'll also be available to be used as a bargaining chip of sorts to get what you want in certain negotiations. More on that later.

It's safe to say I'm calling this vote for Grieve. To be honest, I'm not sure I would have written Indifference. It just doesn't make sense here. I can still understand the sentiment considering I didn't give Aurion's past romantic/family dynamics as much screen time as they deserve because a lot of it was pending on that heir vote. There will be time to explore that more later.

>>4105180
Nope. I wanted to write up the next scene and drop some votes on Goals/Motivations, but I had a busy day and only just caught up. Now it's time for me to get a few hours of sleep. I'm hoping to still have that part ready a few hours before the normal run time. Giving a heads-up now so everyone has time to think on it.

“… the child?” is all you manage.

“I… I don’t know… gone, I think. Wasn’t ever one at the smithy and Jon never mentioned seeing one,” Aella says. Jon would be the younger brother. The one that replaced Vaeron at the smithy. He’d still be in the town if he yet lives.

You slump with your back against the stone crenellations. Aella’s form is blurred but you don’t know why. She’s calling your name, but it’s muffled compared to the pounding in your ears.

“What have you done?” a sharp voice cuts through. Janesa’s. She sounds murderous.

Some conversation follows but the words are dulled. Eventually, Janesa approaches you. “Get him up. There are hundreds of men ready to follow him into battle on the morrow. They [i]cannot[/i] see him like this. Help me bring him to his chambers, wherever they are.”

You’re guided down the staircase and through a narrow passageway until you emerge next to a hearth with spacious chambers beyond. “Stay here with him. Tell no one of what transpired, not even Vaeron.”

“What do I say if I’m caught here?” Aella asks uncertainly.

“He drank too much. It would hardly be the first time and I can plainly smell the wine on him. You are his aide or his bedwarmer. I care not which you choose so long as you are convincing. I will check in at daybreak. He [i]must[/i] be ready to lead,” Janesa says before striding from the room and leaving you to the sounds of ocean winds and the crackling hearth.

“Cerelle,” you mumble after some time passes. Aella sits up with a start in her nearby chair.

“Cerelle? Who’s Cerelle? Let’s talk of it,” she says with some desperation.

“Another I’ve left to a wrathful father. Ten years and I still make the same mistakes,” you could laugh if you trusted yourself to it.

“Why? That is, if m’lord wants to say,” she tries.

“Cared too much of what people bloody think to hear Vaeron tell it. Too eager to impress these high lords,” you say distantly.

Silence falls again as she thinks on your words. “You’re one’ve them now as far’s I can see it, or close enough in any case… what do you want? What drives you? Answer that and take it. That’s what highborn do, yeah?”

What is your main goal, what motivates you?
>Excellence. You want the best of everything. The best women, the best soldiers, even the best rum. You’re a perfectionist at heart.
>Enlightenment. Seeing and experiencing all the word has to offer.
>Family/love. You want to belong more than anything. To form true lifelong connections. Thus far you’ve only relied on others.
What is your main motivation?
>Fear of failure. You don’t want to fail those you care for.
>Passion/love. You feel more intensely than others and it drives you in all things.

Write-ins are fine if they make sense, but please don’t just put “Power” or “Strength.” That’s incredibly boring to both read and write.

>>4106050
Excellence

Fear of failure

He would say it was excellence, but he truly wants a family.

And fear of being alone is what drives him.

Can we be ousted as the leader of the company? Since the men choose Aurion to lead can't they just leave us?

>>4106065
I really like this

>>4106065
I would agree if he wasn't drugged. The state he's in should bring out his inner truth. The next day when he's sober he may have a more guarded or pragmatic response.


>>4106050
>Family/love. You want to belong more than anything. To form true lifelong connections. Thus far you’ve only relied on others.

>Fear of failure. You don’t want to fail those you care for.

>>4106050
>Family/love. You want to belong more than anything. To form true lifelong connections. Thus far you’ve only relied on others.

>Fear of failure. You don’t want to fail those you care for.

>>4106090
Nah the stress just caught up with him

>>4106050
>Excellence. You want the best of everything. The best women, the best soldiers, even the best rum. You’re a perfectionist at heart.
>Fear of failure. You don’t want to fail those you care for.
Really two sides of the same coin: perfectionism.

>>4106050
>Family/love. You want to belong more than anything. To form true lifelong connections. Thus far you’ve only relied on others.

>Fear of failure. You don’t want to fail those you care for.

>>4106050
>>Family/love. You want to belong more than anything. To form true lifelong connections. Thus far you’ve only relied on others.
>>Fear of failure. You don’t want to fail those you care for.

>>4106065
Fear of being alone fits just as well as fear of failure. I could use them both together.
>>4106071
In Essos, sure. The company is more bound to him here, especially with his negotiating to keep them active under him even after hostilities cease.

>>4106147
There is something kind of poetic about a leader of men being afraid of being alone, isn't there.

>>4106050
>Family/love. You want to belong more than anything. To form true lifelong connections. Thus far you’ve only relied on others.
>Fear of failure. You don’t want to fail those you care for

>>4106050
>>Family/love. You want to belong more than anything. To form true lifelong connections. Thus far you’ve only relied on others.
>>Fear of failure. You don’t want to fail those you care for.
>>4106147
Please do!

>>4106050
>Excellence. You want the best of everything. The best women, the best soldiers, even the best rum. You’re a perfectionist at heart.
Family men are boring.
>Fear of failure. You don’t want to fail those you care for.

Also seconding adding the fear of being alone.

>>4106065
+1

>>4106065
>>4106050
I support this as well as a fear of failure

Okay, I'm gonna call it for:

>Family/love. You want to belong more than anything. To form true lifelong connections. Thus far you’ve only relied on those of others.
>Fear of being alone/failure.

Some quick news, my social engagements are going to be keeping me from being able to do the run I want to do for the campaign to retake the island. I'll still be able to drop an update with the follow-on to the vote, but otherwise the main run will be tomorrow night. The first update tomorrow will probably be pretty long to compensate. Sorry about the short notice!

>>4106050
>>Excellence. You want the best of everything. The best women, the best soldiers, even the best rum. You’re a perfectionist at heart.

>>Passion/love. You feel more intensely than others and it drives you in all things.