Bound By Oath And Honor - An ASOIAF Hedge Knight Quest

Closing the vote here.

May the trout be with you on your journey.

Thinking about the matter where to go for a while, you quickly leaned towards going to Riverrun. You still talked about it for a while, taking another beer to wash down the pie, but it was more to talk through the details. With how the Ironborn behaved, the Riverlands would be wanting for many a landed knight by the time this was all over and despite his words, you knew quite well by now that Ser Orton wished to settle down somewhere.

The only issue was getting there.

While the Blue Fork had it the worst with Ironborn raiders so far, you had heard some stories about them already ambushing travelers on the Red Fork too, having spread throughout the entire Riverlands at frightening speeds. However, Ser Orton was prepared for that.

Even though Lord Roote personally wanted to join the host of King Robert, he had been putting together a few boats worth of supplies and armsmen to fulfill his obligations towards House Tully. They had even increased the numbers and sent a few more hedge knights along after the reports of the ambushes had reached the lord of Harroway Town. You would simply join them as part of the guards, making it a much safer journey than if you traveled alone.

None the less, a lower risk meant not no risk and Ser Orton cautioned you that there was plenty of reason to believe the Ironborn would try to keep your group from joining up with the Tully host. This time though, he did not prod and gauge what you thought of the danger, instead simply announcing that you'd get to take his mace for the journey and to keep it ready at all times. While he did not want you to fight, he wanted to make sure you could do so when there was no choice.

The next day, you packed your belongings and boarded the boats, setting off to join the war. And you could not deny that now that the time had come, you were feeling some nervousness.

Gained: sturdy travel clothes, flanged steel mace

---

Like the last time you took a boat, you were still making camp at night, tying the boats to the shore and posting a few sentries to keep watch. Unlike last time, there was no cooking fires though. It was all hard tack and some pickles. Not even torches were lit to make it harder to spot you.

You had always been a light sleeper. It was a necessity. When roughing it, you had to keep yourself safe after all and even at home, you did not want to get bitten by a particularly bold rat. Now though, it was a bit taxing.

Sleeping on one of the barges meant the boat kept moving, occasionally bumping into things and jostling you half awake. The steps of the sentries patrolling now and then didn't help and put you on edge every time. The first night already left you only half awake for most of the following day and now the second time in a row? You were lucky that you could rest most of the day at least.

When you woke up that night though, something was different. There were strange noises on the shore. Someone moving. And then the cries started.

A strangled scream. Someone calling out 'Ironborn'. Then the whole boat shook. Someone had jumped onto it, axe and shield in hand. Nearly right on top of you.

Without thought, you gripped the mace and swung for the persons knee. Knock him down so that you had time to stand up. But a mace was no makeshift cudgel. There was a sickening sound and the man screamed as he fell.

You scampered away from him and where his axe swung wildly, getting up. The boat was rocking from his thrashing, nearly sending both of you into the water. When he stopped swinging to get back up, you rushed towards him. He swung his shield at your feet, trying to bring you down, but he was too slow. You stepped aside and swung the mace again, this time towards his head. He went still after that.

Turning around, you saw only chaos. In the night, it was impossible to make out who was friend and who was foe. The axes and billhooks gave away Ironborn, but you could not tell from a spear who the wielder might be. Only the knights stood our, polished armor gleaming in the faint light of the moon.

Ser Orton was in the thick of it, fighting off half a dozen Ironborn with sword and shield, while around him, armsmen were rallying. Two other knights you did not recognize also held their own near the boats, trying to keep the raiders away from the traders and sailors, while a third was laying on the ground near them unmoving.

Another man rushed at you, billhook swinging wildly. You squared your shoulders as if you wanted to stand your ground and only at the last moment, you threw yourself to the side and away from his blade. The boat wobbled as he stumbled onto it and with a wild swing towards his back, you made him fall forward and into the water.

Should you help them? Stay on the boat? Flee? Nervously, you looked around for anyone else coming for you, unable to decide one way or another.

The choice was taken from you a moment later. All of the sudden, one of the boats was on fire and in the shine of the flames, you saw two Ironborn hurl burning clay jars at other boats.

Someone yelled to get the boats away, but by then you already were trying to loosen the knot of the rope. It didn't move at all. Seeing more jars being hurled, you fumbled for a knife that laid in the boat, just cutting it. Luckily, no one seemed to have the time to attack you and with a push of the oar, your boat drifted out into the river and away from the flames.

There you stood then and watched, together with the merchants, as the fight continued for a brief while. With their surprise spent, the Ironborn seemed not eager to keep fighting and soon ran into the night. A few arsmen tried to follow them, but most instead tried to extinguish the flames or tend to the wounded.

And just like that, the fight had been over. It all happened so fast that you were still not sure if you weren't dreaming. But the screams of the wounded and the warm blood dripping from your mace were no imagination.

---

The remainder of that night and the following morning were a hazy blur to you, making you wonder if you had been hit in the head again without noticing. The Strangers due was heavy, although much lighter than it seemed possible after the chaotic fight. Ten and six men were dead, of those a knight, two merchants and an armsmen. How the Ironborn had managed to sneak up on the watch, no one could tell, for the knight who had led them and all three arsmen with him had been among the dead. Given that two of them had slit throats, it was clear though that they too had been surprised.

There were many wounded though. Half your party was nursing injuries, ranging from sprained joints and mild cuts to broken bones and one man who had lost an arm at the elbow. Luckily, the fire had not been hurled at anyone, the Ironborn aiming only for the boats. Those however were all but lost. Two boats had burned through their ropes and drifted off before you could extinguish them, while four others had taken heavy damage. Most of the cargo was either burned or now drenched in water, which did not do hardtack any favors.

Barely anyone spoke more than the most necessary things. Right after the fight, Ser Orton had checked that you were well and took a moment to praise you for how you handled yourself. You thought that you should have been happy about this, but you did feel much of anything at the time and not later on either.

The oddest thing to see though was the looting. Seeing a bunch of poor men rifling through the pockets of a corpse was something you had seen plenty of times, and even particiapted in, but seeing knights and armsmen do the same was strange. They did not even seem to make much of a difference between their own and the Ironborn in this, only the dead knight being sparred on order of the other knights.

Instead of everything taking what they could and making a run for it, the men gathered everything to be doled out fairly, or at least in whatever fashion the knights deemed fair. A few of the armsmen were not quite honest about this, pocketing a few silver here and there, though you knew quite well to keep your mouth shut and just quietly did the same.

When all was done, you had your own coin pouch and for perhaps the first time in your life enough money to make it necessary. It wasn't even just copper. It was quite a sum actually. You had made far less than that in a month of hard work. Ser Orton also insisted on a shield for you, having found a decent one without any colors or other designs that would make people assume you were an Ironborn or in the service of some lord.

Gained: 9 Silver Moons, 36 Silver Stags, iron-banded wooden shield

You had expected that you would bury the dead after everything was done, but instead you simply left them there. The merchants and armsmen were covered with their own cloaks, tarps or whatever was handy, while the Ironborn were just piled on top of each other. Only the knight you took along, the younger boy serving as his squire standing vigil over him. When you passed the next village, you briefly stopped to let the mayor know that he should call some Silent Sisters to take care of the dead and where they could be found.

It all felt so surreal to you. While you had never spared much thought on what it was like to be in a war, it was still quite different from what you expected.

And it slowly began to sink in why Ser Orton had tried to discourage you from it all. You slept barely the next night, jostling awake at the slightest noise around you and clutching the mace close. Even though you tried to ignore it, you had nearly died on that boat. Again. And while you had plenty of warning in Seagard, now you could have ended like the unlucky fellows that had their throats slit without even knowing what was happening.

Ser Orton tried some halting conversation a few times, but you were too tired to answer him all that much. It didn't help that the boats still smelled of old blood and soot, which kept reminding you of that night. Luckily though, there were no other surprises until you reached Riverrun.

The red sandstone keep seeming to rise fro the river was visible from quite a while out. On the battlements flew the banner of House Tully, but there were a few others too. Bracken and Blackwood you recognized easily and other black and white ones had to be the branches of House Vance, but the rest eluded you.

It took a good while longer to see more than the cooking fires of the castle town of Riverrun and when you finally did, you were surprised by how small it was. Smaller than Harroway Town even and scarcely bigger than some of the villages you had passed on the way here. A few tents had sprung up around it, mostly in drab colors, though there were a few more colorful ones and the occasional banner. Most of them were of House Tully and you suspected that much of the host was still gathering.

For now though, you could only think of a bed that didn't sway in the water. While Ser Orton said that there was a chance that you could get a room in the keep itself, you would have gladly taken a damp tent and it showed. Instead of taking you along to present himself before Lord Tully, your master had you help unpacking the boats and by the time you had finished, he returned and ushered you into the keep.

The bed was soft, warm and dry.

But you still could not sleep well.

---

You have 3 actions. Some activities may cost more than one action, or cost none at all. This will be noted on the action in question.
Ser Orton has his own matters to attend to, so you can only do one action involving him.

[] [Ser Orton] Ask for combat training.
While you think you did well in the fight considering the circumstances, it still showed that you are in danger even when travelling with Ser Orton. He too would likely sleep better knowing you can defend yourself well.

[] Traing for combat with the armsmen.
There are daily drills for the armsmen under House Tully's banner and while they fight not like knights, it would still likely help you a lot to attend that training.

[] [Ser Orton] Ask for riding lessons.
While you already sat on his horse for a while, Ser Orton led it around the entire time. It would certainly be useful if you knew how to ride on your own, even if you own horse is a faraway dream right now.

[] [Ser Orton] Ask for lessons on nobility.
You have gotten the basics down and Ser Orton said he is confident that you could be left to your own devices near the highborn, but there is still a lot to learn about the Great Houses and social customs around their members if you wish to become a noble yourself one day.

[] Try to get some armor.
All the armsmen have to get their armor from somewhere and while you likely won't get it on Lord Tully's silver, you have some of your own. See if you can find someone who can and is willing to make some padded armor for you.

[] Speak with other knights.
There are quite a few hedge knights and household knights present in Riverrun and while they are all busy with their duties, you could still try to socialice with some of them.

[] Speak with other squires.
Where there are knights, there are squires and pages and Riverrun has many of them. Meet with a few of them and see if you can find a few friends among them or learn something.

[] Try to find some work in the keep.
Since you are now a page, you can not really expect to be paid for working in the keep of Riverrun, but making yourself useful might at leat leave a good impression and get you to learn more about life in a keep.

[] Attend services in the sept.
You never were the most pious, though Ser Orton noted that a knight should be, and Riverrun has a fairly lavish sept in the keep. Visit it a few times and see if you can figure out what you are supposed to learn there.

[] Visit the godswood.
While you vaguely know that the Northmen pray before trees, you had never seen one of those in person. Riverrun has a godswood though, so you could have a look. While Ser Orton only ever speaks of the Seven, you are sure you can also learn something about knighthood from whatever the septon of a godswood is called.

[] Rest.
You are not feeling well. At all. Sleep keeps eluding you. Maybe you should take some time to properly rest, since this might be one of the few chances to do so in the coming months.

---

AN: The ambush didn't go particularly well in general, but you personally came out decently at least. Enjoy your first plunder.