The year is 286 AC. King Jaehaerys II has just passed, leaving the throne without a rightful ruler. While his three children fight for the crown, Winter creeps closer, and unimaginable darkness looms.
Not all alliances will be so typical this time. In fact, many people have a crucial effect on the way this story is told. As for the ending, we only hope there are enough people left alive to tell it after its passed.
Events
Join us for our first event, the wake of recently deceased King Jaehaerys II.
Updates
AUG. 19: So we are now officially open to the public. We have a mini-event flashback thread going on, and our main event just began. Feel free to make a second canon if you can keep both of them active enough.
Don't hesitate in pestering staff with questions; it's what we're here for! Let's raise a glass and make a cheer toward a successful launch of Winds of Winter.
After spending the past few days avoiding her father in silent protest for marrying her off to a man she'd never met, Ashe finally found herself walking down the keep in search of her mother. She'd been too upset to talk much up until recently, after someone finally convinced her to come out of her room.
She wasn't too sure she did the right thing by agreeing to it without question. She wasn't even sure she was fit to be a wife. She'd just begun to bleed almost a fortnight prior to the news. Lost and unsure, she went to seek some advice from the best person she could think of at the moment- her mother.
Waiting for the right opportunity to approach the woman alone, Ashe finally found herself approaching her, the look upon her face betraying her attempts to sound composed. "Mother? Can we speak? I... I wanted to ask you about... She paused, letting the word linger on her tongue before finally spitting it out. "...marriage..."
Alira is the Lady of Winterfell, although her southern roots leave her with a bad attitude and sharp tongue. She cares for her children more than anything, and some people even suspect she may care for her husband.
Alira had one daughter, and because of that, she treasured her immensely. Ashe was innocent and kind, not meant for such a cold world like this. Alira had wished they could have lead the simple life, away from all the politics and killing. When Cassius had decided to marry Ashe off to the woman-killer Tully, Alira cried. She did not show anyone her tears, but she cried for hours. It was the one thing Cassius had ever done to actually hurt her. Not only was Ashe being sent off to the Riverlands, but she was marrying a man who drove his former wife to suicide.
As her daughter approached her in the privacy of Alira and Cassius's chambers, the mother smiled a kind smile only ever shown to the daughter. "Of course, my love." As the word 'marriage' slipped her lips, Alira's smile shrunk and twisted downward. "Come sit." Alira sat on the bed and patted the space next to her. She would face the young woman and place her hands on her shoulders, staring her deeply in the eyes. "Before we have this talk, I want you to understand something." She paused for a second, but she never once lacked conviction. "If he hurts you, you kill him. You get him drunk and kill him with anything you can. And then you take a horse and run for Winterfell as fast as you can." She felt she had to add an addendum. "And if you are too scared to do it, you run away and come home. You come tell me, and I will kill him." She grabbed her daughter's chin. "Do you understand me, Ashe?"
Her mother's smile was enough to put the girl at ease, though not for long as it faded quickly. Ashe moved to next to her mother, her hands feeling cold as she prepared herself to bombard the woman with her questions. Before she could however, Ashe found herself listening in horror at her mother's words.
How horrible was the man that her mother would say such words to her face? She discreetly gulped back some words as all she could do as nod in response, keeping to heart what she'd just said, feeling even more anxious with the arrangement as she'll ever be. "I... I understand." Pursed lips followed as she took deep breaths before continuing. "It... It won't have to come to that would it?" By no means was Ashe incapable of hurting another. Not when she had a penchant for stabbing others with her sewing needle when angered back when she knew no better, but killing was out of question. "Father.. he would not send me there to marry if Lord Tully would hurt me would he?"
She asked, only hoping to hear kind words from the woman who raised her. Anything to ease her heart. She really did not leave Winterfell. Yes, she felt miserable here, but at the very least she had her family. Out there? She had nobody. It was a new land, new faces. She didn't like new faces. She leaned into the older woman's chest, seeking comfort, whispering words she wanted no one to hear. "I'm scared mother.."
Alira is the Lady of Winterfell, although her southern roots leave her with a bad attitude and sharp tongue. She cares for her children more than anything, and some people even suspect she may care for her husband.
"This is only the worst case scenario, my darling," she reassured the young girl. Alira stroked the girl's alabaster hair. From afar, the girl looked to be pure Targaryen. But her face was a pure blend of Cassius and Alira. There was no mistaking her parentage. "From what I hear, Lord Tully respects women. But a man cannot be trusted just from the words of others. You will have to learn to adapt and read him for who he really is." A second marriage. How pitiful. Lord Tully already had multiple children, meaning Ashe would never bore an actual heir to the house. The marriage made no sense in Alira's mind, as the Tullies were already allied.
As Ashe continued about her fears, Alira empathized. She had feared Cassius at first. And by every right, she should have. Cassius towered over her, and to anyone looking, he seemed a monster. It took years for Alira to learn otherwise. "You will be expected to consummate the marriage. Drink two glasses of wine before this happens. The more relaxed you are, the less it will hurt. If he does his job correctly, his seed will quicken inside of you, and you will carry his child." Alira would become a grandmother. The thought of holding an infant again did entice her. But she sighed. She was not ready to let Ashe go just yet. "I will come stay with you when your belly becomes large. I won't leave your side, and I will help you through it." Alira had never had a mother who offered such a courtesy.
"You're becoming a woman. You're going to have to stop being so timid and learn that you are powerful. Half Lannister means you are courageous and cunning. Half Stark means you are resilient and level-headed. You are the product of two of the strongest houses in Westeros. A lion and a wolf."
It was words like these that made Ashe fear Alira- in a respectful manner. She was not one to be trifled with, and Ashe knew this. Lucky for her, the woman was her mother, and Ashe loved her and sought her comfort, especially right now.
The girl nodded listening intently. Even at her age, Ashe fancied herself a good judge of character. privy to the small changes on one's expression, their body languages and their spoken tone... it was something she prided herself in, though she mainly used the skill in discerning who not to trust and avoid at all costs, rather than take advantage of it for her own benefit.
Ashe looked at her mother in confusion, Hurt? She at least knew what her mother meant, especially as she'd heard it from the fowl mouths of young men in the past, even more so that she was older, but all she'd here was how it would feel good. How they'd make her feel good. How...
She felt dirty remembering the words but as always, she only nodded to her mother's instructions, elated to hear that she would be there as she carried her first child. "Mother... how did it feel carrying a child? How did it feel carrying Jeren for the first time?" How did it feel carrying a life you will need to love and be responsible for? It felt a little too much for her to even fathom.
"Those qualities seem better suited for my brothers. But for you mother, I will try." Her mothers words felt heavy on her shoulders. To Ashe, she was neither courageous nor resilient. She was stubborn. Astute rather than cunning. Wary, rather than level-headed.
A thought came to her mind as she thought about her mother's words. "Mother?" She looked at Alira with curious eyes. "How was... the first days of your marriage with father? I don't seem to recall ever asking you this before." Nor did she recall ever hearing of it from either parent.
Alira is the Lady of Winterfell, although her southern roots leave her with a bad attitude and sharp tongue. She cares for her children more than anything, and some people even suspect she may care for her husband.
The girl had so much to learn, and yet Alira felt there was not enough time. She would forever hate Cassius for agreeing to such a stupid marriage. Although Ashe was of age, Alira did not see it as necessary when the Tullies were already bound to House Stark. Something else was at play here. "Hm?" She dropped her thoughts of foul play at the thought of pregnancy. "Your brother Jeren scared me the most. He rarely ever kicked. He rarely moved. I was sure he would be born without life." But he had come out just fine, and just like his father. "Pregnancy feels like the worst thing imaginable during the first few months. You're sick, you're tired, you're angry and sad all at once. But when you see your belly grow and feel the child in you move, you feel magical. There's no other word to explain it."
"This is why as a woman, you will always be superior. You house and grow an entire baby inside of you. Their entire survival depends on you." It was a thought and value Alira had held for decades. Ashe had so many questions, but her next one did catch Alira off guard. "My first days with your father..." Lady Stark smiled emptily and glanced to the side. "I hated your father. He was quiet and brooded. The North was always so cold. I treated your father very poorly in those first days." She returned her eyes to Ashe. "But your father saved me. It just took me a while to see that."
What her mother described felt like the many days Ashe spent alone in her room. When snow fell on the ground or when the chill brought a fever. She was used to being sick, tired, lonely... She was glad her mother promised she'd be there when it happens, reaching out for the older woman's hand as she continued to listen, eyes upon her, her chest feeling lighter as Alira continued.
Her mother's words on her relationship with Cassius did take the girl by surprise. Whatever bickering or roughness the two had, or the cold bite to Alira's words when speaking to her father was passed off as nothing more as endearment to the girl's young mind. Though when she thought about how she felt now, she couldn't help but sympathize. The warden of the north indeed hold such a dark and brooding presence but it was because of that that the young Ashe could better appreciate the days he'd allow himself to be her father.
There was- one thing she said that made Ashe very, very curious however. "Save you from what?" What could possibly exist in this world that would be a threat to the Lady of Winterfell that she would need any sort of saving from? "Mother are you trying to pull my leg and making me believe it's not the other way around?" Ashe added in jest as she took both the woman's hands in her own to squeeze them, mostly for her own comfort.
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