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.
His eyelids opened and with them came the pain. The feeling of warm bedsheets around his body only accentuating the itch and marks on his legs. Why should I? . His eyes glanced at the opened window the smell of shit, piss and sex making itself noticed in the room, this was King's Landing after all.
THUMP THUMP THUMP!
"Alright! Give me a fucking minute!" he yelled out in annoyance to the person at his door. With care and struggle he raised up on his arse, his hand tapping at the side of the bed for the wooden stick that helps him do his work daily. These days i think it's better to cut my legs off, they barely work as it is. Pain surged trough them as Arri pushed himself up, the arm holding the cane straining to maintain his weight. Give the man a rest, his muscles are sore in the morning, and the afternoon, and at night...
THUMP THUMP THUMP!
"Coming! Coming!" with small steps he limped to the door and opened it's hinges muttering some swear words under his breath as he did so. The door opened and before him stood a masked man, his bald head shinning with the light coming from the room. The dragon's mask seemed to stare angrly at him but the man's eyes held no secrets or hidden desires. They seemed dead, always did ever since Arri met the man. "Your presence is needed in the dungeons sir".Ah, the fucking dungeons, why am i surprised. "Give me a second to bathe myself and dress". Arri meant to close the door but the man's foot stepped in "This is urgent, do hurry up". He held the bald-man's stare , a murderous glint hidden at the sides. Never tell a cripple to hurry up, it's disrespectful.
The streets of King's Landing looked as dirty and full of shit however. The peasants and famous citizens taking care of their business as Arri limped towards the dungeons with the masked man following him "So you wake me up for a monkey-fucking merchant? What you couldn't deal with him yourself?". Arri moved fast for a cripple, after all he was in a hurry. The faster he takes care of this business the bigger the chances to end up in a hot bath at the end of the day. "We have a confession from him" . Arri eyed him suspiciously, licking the gums of his teeth before his eyes stared back at the road ahead "Then why am i here?" and the answer to that question was only silence. Arri could feel the masked man's eyes piercing him from behind however but he only let out a sigh and walked on. This was interesting, no point on whining about it.
"Where'd you grab him from?" the stairs to the dungeons were the worst. Each step felt like a spear forced into the back of his legs, everytime his weight dropped a little bit of his patience dropped as well. "The port. He was ready to leave for Bravos. Bastard gave a fight, he's been down here one hour."Huh, so you worked him this fast in one hour"What did he confess to? Smuggling? Not paying taxes?" again silence from the man, luckily for him Arri was too happy to have finished with the staircase to lash out at him. He followed the man on a dark corridor towards one of the interview rooms and all along the way Arri could swear he heard footsteps behind him. Nowdays however he can barely trust his mind to make sense, the painkillers and substances he takes everyday had forced him to hallucinate on more than one occasion and rats could simply be turned into sneaky assassins in the old man's mind. The door clicked and Arri stared forward at the man covered in blood at the other end of the table. Before stepping in he took a moment , so that his eyes would get used to the lighting in the room. Why do i do this?
Tap, Tap, Tap. He used his cane to grab the man's attention but his eyes wouldn't shift from the wooden, scared table before him. Seems the boys were in a hurry, sloppy work on this one. The room smelled like fire. The old fire under the chair trick huh? That didn't work though, so they started working on his face. He's hiding his fingers. Nail-pulling or finger-cutting? Or maybe needles straight into the nerves? Arri sighed, it didn't matter really, they already got their confessions. He dragged the chair on the other side and let himself fall on it, even then his entire body letting out a harmony of pain hormones. The masked man closed the door and stood guard outside, leaving the tortured men to their talk. Arri looked down and pulled the confession document closer to him, holding his curiousity in check and deciding not to read the man's crime for now. "Out of all the sins of this world, greed is the one i hate most" his voice rough and gurgling seemed to boom in the silence of the room "Everybody thinks they are special, they deserve it all cause the gods or god or whatever kind of stellar being made them." he started to fiddle with the top of his cane, not even glancing at the man who was still staring traumatized at the table. Arri was used to having monologues like this, he took pride in them and victims were good listeners never once interrupting. "Priest you see... they encourage the creation of illussion in one's mind. They think that just because they are alive, they are a being, a person different from all the others and then they have the fucking courage to call it a virtue." His free hand moved for the confession sheet and he peered at the name "Allenor Dan Vessos" Huh, a merchant's name from a merchant's whore i reckon. "It makes people greedy and proud. Me! Me! I! I!" Arri's eyes raised in the air waving at the ceilling, shivering with pain as he did so "I'm here, i'm so fucking special. I'm so special" his voice turned down, almost sad , proud. Tears fell down his eyes but not from a sudden find of religion, it was just the pain which really helped him with his act "Fuck you!" he ended it abruptly staring at the man once more and that seemed to get his attention cause Arri won himself a glance. He smirked at that and licked the gums of his teeth just as curiosity got the better of him and he checked the confession. "Let's see what your sin is Mr. Allenor".
Ah so the trip down here was worth it after all. Arri couldn't help but stare in awe at the piece of paper, his jaw dropping down as his eyes widdened still wet from earlier. "You've done a bad bad thing..." he whispered mostly to himself. From outside the room some chattering started at the door and Arri was too busy on the bussiness at hand to wonder who made time to visit the dungeons. Usually nobody does. "Who are your partners?" he asked and just like the masked man from outside the door chattering with some unknown person the prisoner answered with silence. Arri spat on the table and struggled to get up from the chair, heading for the torturing utensils "And i thought we had something" The prisoner started to panic, his mouth closing and opening as his throat shivered to say something "W-wait. They told me if i sign the paper they'll stop". Arri browsed trough the knives and items covered in a dirty rag without a care for the man's words "They Mr Allenor. They. They made their promises. I tend to stay away from them if i can't keep them"
"W-wait! Wait! I don't know what to tell you! I just contributed with money!"
"Names Mr Allenor, i need names" Arri turned over to him with a small sharp knife used to cut fingers and other... personal belongings that hang from the crotch. The prisoner tried to yell, raise his voice but before he could do so he chocked on a little bit of blood, spitting it on the table "I-i don't know any names. Never met them. I dealt with a sellsword, he's the one i made payments to." Arri got closer to him, limping and keeping his eyes fixed on him, no emotion visible in the man's visage. "You're full of shit and not giving me anything here." The merchant struggled in his chair, trying to slide away from the cripple with the knife and finally decided to yell out a name but just as he did so, the door to the room bashed open and Arri's neck almost burst as he turned to see what this interruption was "ZONNAFEL ZUHARIS!"
Post by DAELLA BARATHEON on Jun 26, 2015 11:00:13 GMT
'cause i'm just starting to learn
i've always been chasing ghosts
The descent into darkness was not one she was used to. Indeed, Saerysa Targaryen did not fancy anything related to the underground, not even the wine basements. It was dank, dirty, musty, and in this particular one was a peculiar metallic smell as well as splatters of dried, cracked fluids that could be anything from blood to vomit to piss. She carried her blue dress carefully off the ground and tried not to look around her as she walked, lead ahead by her courier and guard. She had a sinking feeling she knew what this place was, though she kept on hoping it was only a prison. But every stone she stepped by dwindled that hope little by little until she was standing outside a certain door, forlorn as her escort introduced her.
There was some confusion, some protesting, but a seal and some documents later and she was lead inside to the sight of one table, two men, and uncountable human misery flung about the walls and floor and furniture. One man had yelled something out of fear while the other was clearly the torturer. It had only been a few days since she had resolved to harden so as to be stronger than another, and this was just a test, after all. But that didn't mean she had to like it, not at all.
"Stop what you're doing," she would tell the torturer quietly. Then: "Please."
Two guards would enter with her into the room, standing silently by the side. Sae stared at the interrogator. Old, crippled, and to put simply rather sad-looking. She immediately felt a distate for him - for anyone who would do what he did. In fact, prior to the order to venture here from her father himself, Sae had not even thought about people of such a profession existing, especially not within the Red Keep. But things have been seeming more real to her of late, not helped by her recent conversation with the daughter of the Vale.
"I am the Princess Saerysa Targaryen, first of her name. I was told there was something pertinent to me here."
Excitement. Thats what you feel when the dragon's eyes are upon you
Waking up in the morning as an old man, i never figured things could be so eventful for me anymore. Seems i was wrong. "My princess!" Arri managed to say shocked by her presence here. He attempted to perform a curtsy bow but with every inch he descended, his knees were seemingly detaching themselves. He threw a sharp glance at the man who was supposed to guard the door and he just shrugged, those dead eyes behind the mask staring Arri down. Bah, i can't blame him. She was the princess after all, even attempting to stop someone from the royal family in doing something might get your throat cut in due time. However, that right there was the problem. Saerysa Targaryen, not the person Arri ever hoped to meet. The King he can deal with, the queen less so but still possible. How was he going to deal with both of them when they find out that their dear innocent girl stood a spectator to such horrors. Arri looked back at his prisoner as he straightened himself and he seemed to avoid eye contact with Saerysa. Ah, the sinful watcher finds shame all of a sudden.
"I am the Princess Saerysa Targaryen, first of her name. I was told there was something pertinent to me here."
She was told?I can't help but wonder what. "I revel in the light of your mercy your grace but this is no man to which you should offer it" Arri always kept a casual tone to his voice when speaking to lords and ladies, though the elegance and superiority-assurance in his words always evened that out. He took a step forward towards the princess watching her two guards carefully as his cane hit the stone floor hard. "This man is a traitor and a con-man. Whatever you think we are doing here princess... is for the good of the realm." that's what he wanted to say at least, but instead he just looked into her eyes. Arri knew her, not personally but stories always get around especially with the level of gossiping in the Red Keep and now as he seemed to peer into her soul he proved most of what he heard true. She was a pure bird, trapped into a cage so wide and freeing that she couldn't see the bars... unless she grew. It would be safe to assume that her parents would want her to stay that way as much as she could so what exactly was the right move here? Keep her in the shadows... or risk it and set in motion events that poke at the man's curiosity. He's only got his miserable life to lose So fuck it. "My princess, given the situation and laws that bind me in my profession i suggest we speak alone, away from..." he eyed the guards and the man behind him "... unnecessary attention" The words got out and now Arri could only guess the days before his head is hanged up on a spike if this goes horribly wrong.
- SAERYSA TARGARYEN - Follow the cripple dear, he'll give you the candy you deserve :3 -
Post by DAELLA BARATHEON on Jun 27, 2015 6:47:57 GMT
'cause i'm just starting to learn
i've always been chasing ghosts
The sight of the torturer pushing his broken body to accomodate her made her brow furrow. She motioned with one hand for him to do no such thing and to remain standing, because even men who broke the bones of others suffered themselves. Though she wasn't sure how long she would hold that opinion on him. Needless to say, her impression was poor.
She looked sadly at the two men in the room as she listened to Arri's interjections. "Do not all men deserve mercy? If but for some circumstances, could your places not have been swapped?" She found it hard to judge someone so simply. To her, the body and life was a product of all the forces and imprints of the environment upon it. Had she been not so fortunate in her birth and upbringing, perhaps she would have been forced to hatch some plot as well. Perhaps she would have done it to survive. And perhaps she would have ended the same way as the beaten man, or rather men, before her.
What was her father thinking? It had all happened so suddenly. He had gotten some kind of information, surely, because before Sae knew what was going on she had been ordered to venture down into the dungeons for herself. She could only believe her father was trying to teach her something, lest he would do it himself.
Saerysa would nod at his request and gestured for the guard behind her to exit so as they could return to the hallway; Saerysa did not want to talk in a room of so many dark echoes, and instead would prefer to find a different one. "Do you need help?" she would ask the cripple, not unkindly. And after they had left the room she would mutter a few words to the original man posted outside of the door with the unusual mask, who would be still for a moment before entering the cell they had just left, leaving them alone for a moment.
We all bleed at one point. That's when we stop being children
"Do you need help?"
That question rang like arrows to his ears even sugarcoated with the good-will and innocence of the girl. He hated when people took pity on him, sure he helped at times, but he never needed it. All the pissing lords and ladies looking down on him from that toilet up in the keep and suddenly feeling bad. Where were you to take pity when they were cutting my legs piece by piece and i was praying to all the gods in the world for mercy. The man straightened himself, trying to look as descent as he could muster and walked past the guards and his man gesturing at the princess to follow. "You honor me with the offer princess but this stick is the only pillar i need" even as he raised it to show it to her he leaned dangerously to the side as if he was about to fall and as he regained balance pain shook down his spine and made his face twitch. Before he left Arri made sure to tell the masked men to send people looking for this new name that has arisen. They are probably going to find him in some bar smelling like piss , pussy and alcohol. That's what most sellswords smell like anyway.
"Do not all men deserve mercy?" he repeated the girls word's from earlier, blanking out the sounds of rats and prisoners. He stopped abruptly by a door and knocked on it. It took the man inside a few seconds to unhinge it and open it all the while Arri stared blankly at Saerysa. When the door opened another masked man just like the bald one creeped his head outside , some spots of blood visible on his mask. "Hmmm?" he said annoyed at the disturbance but then he realized who he was adressing "Oh, boss. I didn't know you were coming" He then peered over at the princess her white hair not so visible in the darkness "And you brought a... guest?". Arri just poked at him with the stick and limped inside the room past him gesturing at the princess to follow in. "Just get of the way" his gaze would instantly shift towards the prisoner "What's your name and sin?". It seems the torturer just started, a simple beating, sloppy at that. The prisoner was smiling , probably a lord of some smaller house thinking of ways of punishing both Arri and his men when he gets bailed out by his family. "How dare you, you insolent buffoons. I'll get you all hanged after i get out." Arri showed no emotion as he sat down on the only other chair in the room looking back at the princess with weary eyes. "Alright old man. Let's make this fast so that i can get out of here and get back to my wife. I am Andreos Villante of House Villante loyal to the Targaryens and friends to the king. As for my sin, i fecked a whore i picked up in the slums and killed her and her child when they fought back." Flashing a smile at Arri he continued "I reckon i was doing them an honor. So can i go now?". People are disgusting. When i was a "knightly" man i was so oblivious, just like the girl. I didn't want to believe, i didn't even care. I should be thankful to the Boltons for opening my eyes.
"You see princess what we have to deal with?" that made the prisoner snort but his smug visage suddenly got green and terrified when he took a better look at Saerysa "What do you think we should do with him. Killing him is out of the question. Trying to imprison him or send him to trial would just result in his family getting him bailed. Does he deserve mercy?"
Post by DAELLA BARATHEON on Jun 30, 2015 12:53:35 GMT
'cause i'm just starting to learn
i've always been chasing ghosts
She would watch him rather placidly as he refused her offer and promptly showed his ineptitude in the basics of walking. Why pretend to be strong when you are not, she wondered? It would be a different case if it could be hidden, but revealed in all its discrepancy made it seem like the man was being stubborn solely for the purpose of being stubborn - which was baffling. Saerysa had no such reservations about asking others for help. What a world to live in: one where you solely relied on yourself. Yourself would never be enough, case in point. And she almost opened her mouth to retort otherwise, or to ask her guards to do something about it, but then she stopped. Perhaps one must chose their own exile, but in actuality Saerysa simply was not comfortable with arguing further. He seemed, well, he seemed a rather scary and busy man. In fact, he had outright ignored her and did not divulge his name. How rude! And intimidating.
She complied with him as he stumbled and as he issued orders to his man. Then she would follow him to another room and watch, rather impressed with his gruffness and cynicism as he hobbled past other men and inside the cell, though she only raised her eyebrows at him when he stared at her. What? She made her way after him, trying very hard not to step in shit or blood or things worse, or even think about stepping in it, really. She was quiet as the exchange went on, severely out of her element and growing more uncomfortable with each passing second as threats and insults flew across the room. Before she knew it, she was being quizzed.
The man would gawk at her name while Saerysa's pupils dilated and her eyes became pale. "It... it would be impudent of me to decide his fate on just that," she protested, crossing her chest. Saerysa did not like being put on the spot, and preferred to lean on indignation rather than trepidation.
"Smiling when you admit such a deed is appalling and horrific," she told the man quietly. "And neither do I like to be called an insolent buffoon. But I know House Villante. And I wonder if your own wife and child know you did such a thing.
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