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As An Eagle Flies (A House Arryn Quest)

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The economy can be left in the hands of those with better gifts in that direction. We are sitting four feet away from Tywin Lannister, the boy who saw a lent gold coin break the backs of a dozen lords in a night. Have some faith that the man that he will become will be able to work the same sort of miracle. The future has its 'Master of Coin' base thoroughly covered.

And combat is something that devours all your attention if you wish to be a peer to the Sword of the Dawn. You don't get the option to be second best. Your blade becomes your life, it becomes the hammer for a world of nails, and you keep up or you fall. Few lords can afford to put that sort of attention into martial perfection, particularly not among the Paramount, for good reason.

We can still come to excel at such things without their being our focus.

RagnvarOdinson said:
You seem forget this is a low fantasy medieval scenario. How our vassals perceive us is partially dependent on how good a fighter we are.
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Tywin wasn't feared because of his blade or his strategic ability. Eddard wasn't respected because he could cleave a dozen men apart with a single stroke of Ice. It is a factor that influences their opinions but it does not hold a position overwhelmingly dominant.
RagnvarOdinson said:
I'm tired of these diplomatic, "talk through every problem even when it's detrimental to our cause" Characters. Realistically should we go for a diplo focused character it would only end up biting us in the ass.
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I'm leaning towards outright Crusader myself. Diplomacy doesn't mean peaceful. Otto Von Bismarck was outright terrifying.
 
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Gigaplex said:
Would any of you be interested in this?
I thought that the schemer route would be the most interesting story wise. Swearing the oath will bring us in the circle of trust.

[] Plan Schemer
-[]Swear the Oath: I Arstan of House Arryn, do swear this oath. (If you do, you will have access to Nymeria's buddling spy network)
-[]The Path of the Courtier: You will study the way of court, how to spy, and counter spy, how to play the game of thrones… And win. (For the Remainder of your time in King's Landing, you will Master the Art of Intrigue and subterfuge)
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Being a Spy Master while swearing the oath is stupid due to a lack of diversity in skills.

Given our current political allies mastering any single path is silly, we should broaden our skills into multiple areas.
 
A_Somebody said:
Christ, I forgot about this trait. Seriously guys we really should take Diplomat to synergize here. We are a fuedal lord. Spending more time with the accounting books than socializing with our vassals is a huge mistake. There's a reason why you take Grey Eminance in CKII and use it to poach a good Stewardship guy. If we keep our heads on sreiaght we can delegate the serious accounting to others while having good enough social chops to determine if they really are loyal/not lying to us (no just assuming based on our wife's words or that a minor noble would be "grateful" obviously)
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Heres the thing, if you fail that, they might not want to be your friend. That is always a possibility. But if your so Charismatic that people will fall for you like your a cult leader?

That is an option.

However, not being extremely skilled at economic... or even reasonably skilled at economics may stop you from doing so many things that can make the Vale the Preeminent Powerhouse of Westeros.

RagnvarOdinson said:
You seem forget this is a low fantasy medieval scenario. How our vassals perceive us is partially dependent on how good a fighter we are.

I'm tired of these diplomatic, "talk through every problem even when it's detrimental to our cause" Characters. Realistically should we go for a diplo focused character it would only end up biting us in the ass.

This is a feudal monarchist world with few values and even fewer morals. We would be shafted the very moment we try and go for a pacifistic and "White Knight" route. Honestly the reason why I dislike 90% of the quests of this type on this site is that everyone tries to impose their modern values and morals on a fantasy and ahistorical setting even when its freaking obvious that it would never work out.

Fact is, Westerosi respect Martial might and it's a VERY important aspect of being a lord in a society like Weteros. A diplomacy focused character who from my experience and going by the route y'all seem to be trying to take this is the typical naive good guy, we probably won't survive up to our early adult years. IF we somehow miraculously do then that's probably due to lucky rolls or the world bending to fit the players.

Y'all know what became of Eddard Stark, dont be Eddard Stark.
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The problem with that is, we need to be Balanced!

You will need to be able to convince a man to surrender just as much as you need to kill him.
Modus_Tollens said:
The economy can be left in the hands of those with better gifts in that direction. We are sitting four feet away from Tywin Lannister, the boy who saw a lent gold coin break the backs of a dozen lords in a night. Have some faith that the man that he will become will be able to work the same sort of miracle. The future has its 'Master of Coin' base thoroughly covered.
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Oh you think that Tywin will settle for anything less then Hand of the King. His ego expects nothing less.
Modus_Tollens said:
Tywin wasn't feared because of his blade or his strategic ability. Eddard wasn't respected because he could cleave a dozen men apart with a single stroke of Ice. It is a factor that influences their opinions but it does not hold a position overwhelmingly dominant.
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And Bobby B wasn't called the Demon of the Trident for nothing... I always believed a balanced approach to rulership "The Philosipher King" Approach, was always the best.

Though I'm biased because I love Aurelius.
Modus_Tollens said:
I'm leaning towards outright Crusader myself. Diplomacy doesn't mean peaceful. Otto Von Bismarck was outright terrifying.
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Bismark always had the cards in his hands though. We're going to need more then just the good word and the authority of our friends and allies to be able to get away with that.
 
[X] Plan Talking Good

I'm voting this because I'm still angling towards securing the Vale a royal marriage via Rhaella, and being able to convince anyone of anything would go a long way towards that.
 
Gamerlord said:
I'm voting this because I'm still angling towards securing the Vale a royal marriage via Rhaella, and being able to convince anyone of anything would go a long way towards that.
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Considering the Arryns are the only house in the Seven Kingdoms to actually give birth to a royal family member that became king (Aegon the Second I think or Ryhereys I can't remember off the top of my head).

We could do it again although we might have to lose a child in the process to legal mumbo jumbo.
 
RagnvarOdinson said:
You seem forget this is a low fantasy medieval scenario. How our vassals perceive us is partially dependent on how good a fighter we are.

I'm tired of these diplomatic, "talk through every problem even when it's detrimental to our cause" Characters. Realistically should we go for a diplo focused character it would only end up biting us in the ass.

This is a feudal monarchist world with few values and even fewer morals. We would be shafted the very moment we try and go for a pacifistic and "White Knight" route. Honestly the reason why I dislike 90% of the quests of this type on this site is that everyone tries to impose their modern values and morals on a fantasy and ahistorical setting even when its freaking obvious that it would never work out.

Fact is, Westerosi respect Martial might and it's a VERY important aspect of being a lord in a society like Weteros. A diplomacy focused character who from my experience and going by the route y'all seem to be trying to take this is the typical naive good guy, we probably won't survive up to our early adult years. IF we somehow miraculously do then that's probably due to lucky rolls or the world bending to fit the players.

Y'all know what became of Eddard Stark, dont be Eddard Stark.
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Of course there's a bare minimum warrior ability every lord needs to be respected, but I'd say we're well on our way there from training with Duncan. It's not like this character is developing as Sam Tarly. And focusing on pure martial ability doesn't really translate to skill in war. See Jaime. Great at cutting people up, shit at actually winning battles. And I don't really see anyone in universe shitting on Jon Arryn as some sort of limp wristed loser who only uses his words. The Diplomat path explicity has us following in Jon's footsteps.

And honestly from the books Ned's legacy seems to be having a hell of a better time than Tywin's. Shit, people liked Ned enough (and hate the other parties involved enough) that they're fighting for his cause after he and Robb died! Don't you want our own Manderly?

And who says Diplomacy has to be sunshine and roses? See modern and historical politics for many many many examples of people using diplomacy to fuck others over. Also ultimately "war is the continuation of politics by other means." Not to mention that if the fighting centric path is also explicitly tied to trying to be a moral paragon, so if you wanna avoid getting pigeon-holed into a moral paragon any thing else is better.
 
[X]Plan Nothing is True
-[X]Swear the Oath: I Arstan of House Arryn, do swear this oath. (If you do, you will have access to Nymeria's buddling spy network)
-[X]The Path of the Knight: You will walk the Path of your Uncle Yohn, the Warrior, the Knight, the True Symbol of Andel Culture. You will be a warrior, a soldier, and a leader of men (For the Remainder of your time in King's Landing, you will Master the Art of Combat.)
 
Gamerlord said:
[X] Plan Talking Good

I'm voting this because I'm still angling towards securing the Vale a royal marriage via Rhaella, and being able to convince anyone of anything would go a long way towards that.
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You want to convince a Targaryen to go against Prophecy? It'll never happen, prophecy is what saved them from the Doom.
A_Somebody said:
Of course there's a bare minimum warrior ability every lord needs to be respected, but I'd say we're well on our way there from training with Duncan. It's not like this character is developing as Sam Tarly. And focusing on pure martial ability doesn't really translate to skill in war. See Jaime. Great at cutting people up, shit at actually winning battles. And I don't really see anyone in universe shitting on Jon Arryn as some sort of limp wristed loser who only uses his words. The Diplomat path explicity has us following in Jon's footsteps.

And honestly from the books Ned's legacy seems to be having a hell of a better time than Tywin's. Shit, people liked Ned enough (and hate the other parties involved enough) that they're fighting for his cause after he and Robb died! Don't you want our own Manderly?

And who says Diplomacy has to be sunshine and roses? See modern and historical politics for many many many examples of people using diplomacy to fuck others over. Also ultimately "war is the continuation of politics by other means." Not to mention that if the fighting centric path is also explicitly tied to trying to be a moral paragon, so if you wanna avoid getting pigeon-holed into a moral paragon any thing else is better.
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Following in Jon's Footsteps doesn't make any sense unless we think he's going to die. We have a Diplomat in our Father, a Spy in Nymeria, an Administrator in Tywin, a Martial Warrior in Steffon, and the life-long loyalty of the future King in Aerys. All of our bases are covered. What we need to do is build up the variety of our skills so as to cover any bases and fill in the gaps. We have little to no idea what the future holds so to pigeonhole ourselves into one Path is silly.
 
Silveraith said:
You want to convince a Targaryen to go against Prophecy? It'll never happen, prophecy is what saved them from the Doom.
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Aerys also had a prophecy that also (in his mind) saved people's lives.

Silveraith said:
Following in Jon's Footsteps doesn't make any sense unless we think he's going to die. We have a Diplomat in our Father, a Spy in Nymeria, an Administrator in Tywin, a Martial Warrior in Steffon, and the life-long loyalty of the future King in Aerys. All of our bases are covered. What we need to do is build up the variety of our skills so as to cover any bases and fill in the gaps. We have little to no idea what the future holds so to pigeonhole ourselves into one Path is silly.
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But we have a few turns before we are all grown up and are either in the Vale, Summerhall happens, or the Blackfyres and the nine penny wars start early.

So we have some wiggle room to get good son.
 
Magoose said:
And with that boom, they might be able to outlaw slavery Dany style.

(Or at least stop slavers from even thinking about coming to Westeros)
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...but slavery is already illegal? Any slavers that enter the kingdoms gets killed pretty much instantly because basically Everyone reviles slavery due to the dominant religion forbidding it.

Granted they aren't about to try and pull a "anti-slavery Crusade" but that's not necessarily a bad thing either.

Edit: good lord I've never seen so many people so willing to practice blood magic, somebody call the templars.
 
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Kufufu said:
...but slavery is already illegal? Any slavers that enter the kingdoms gets killed pretty much instantly because basically Everyone reviles slavery due to the dominant religion forbidding it.

Granted they aren't about to try and pull a "anti-slavery Crusade" but that's not necessarily a bad thing either.
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I meant starting a war to end Slavery in Essos Dany Style... Hopefully with better more lasting results.
 
Silveraith said:
Being a Spy Master while swearing the oath is stupid due to a lack of diversity in skills.

Given our current political allies mastering any single path is silly, we should broaden our skills into multiple areas.
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The specialisation in intrigue enables Arstan to make better use of Nymeria's spy network. Also, joining the group will give the intrigue focussed character more influence to play the game better. Therefore, it can be argued that the Courtier path benefits the most from agreeing to the pact.
 
Magoose said:
I meant starting a war to end Slavery in Essos Dany Style... Hopefully with better more lasting results.
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But why would we do this? No one in Westeros cares about slavery elsewhere so long as it stays elsewhere and frankly all the capable minds of our generation are going to be busy trying to unify the kingdom and kickstarting its economy.

Really, what happens on an entirely separate continent to ours just isn't our concern, especially now that we are cutting ties to the only "friendly" city there due to their attempts at espionage.
 
I was just saying typing out loud about things that could happen.

Besides, what about the other minds of Westeros? Like the second sons and lower nobility, we will never interact with?

They might see this as their chance for glory.
 
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Kufufu said:
Edit: good lord I've never seen so many people so willing to practice blood magic, somebody call the templars.
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>Glances at the "Sword Without a Hilt" quest
>Laughs in enough blood sacrifice to make the Azteca blush

You think a blood based pinky promise that modern day elementary schoolers do is anywhere near proper "blood magic" levels? No one's even as risk of dying here!
 
So I got a little announcement, I'm going to be losing power for the next few days, so expect the update later rather than sooner.
 
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