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The Heir of the Dragon: A Rhaenyra Targaryen Quest

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An interesting angle with the Stark that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that Bennard Stark canonically gets into a succession crisis with Cregan. After Rickard dies Bennard is regent and is "slow" to surrender power to Cregan even after his majority. This eventually resulted in a war, which Cregan won, and the imprisonment of Bennard and his sons.

If Rhea marries Bennard's son, and this conflict happens then it makes sense for her to support Bennard. And then it might make sense for us to support Bennard, as she's our ally.

I think that could be sound politics and see no particular reason to favor Cregan, so I'm pretty fine with that. However, mentioning this because I wouldn't want us to suggest that marriage and then shoot ourselves in the foot politically by supporting Cregan because he's technically the "true heir" or whatever and we didn't see this coming.
 
@Teen Spirit I have to ask something, If we hadn't split the party would we have managed to hunt down the Elk? I am asking because our other companions were even less successful than us at finding the damned thing and it doesn't seem likely that that would have changed with us on their team...
 
[X] [Rhea] [Romantic] Tell her she should follow her heart.
Like I said the first time we gave marriage advice, I am a shipper at heart and am contractually obligated to vote for options like this.

[X] [Shadowcat] Give it to Your Father as a Gift
"If I was not the warrior I am, a good man would've died today."

Temes1066 said:
Our apology gift for stressing him out, is something that is going to stress him even more, are you crazy?
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It is a very teenager way to try and solve that problem.

Plus, Viserys is going to get stressed no matter what because Rhaenyra/SV isn't going to stop doing shit like this. Having physical evidence that we actually know what we are doing

This wasn't an unneccesary duel Rhaenyra took on. This was a hunting activity, something that basically every noble who can afford it does. And Rhaenyra's presence turned it from a tragedy to a triumph.

Imperious said:
The way I see it is that for Rhaenyra the pelt is a trophy for her prowess. For anyone else it's just an easily replaceable fashion statement. Alicent, Viserys and Rhea are all very prominent, very wealthy people who could trivially get something just as nice for themself if they wanted to, but Rhaenyra can't just buy a proof of her prowess the same way.
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Those three are also all people who have a personal connection with Rhaenyra.

When a child/partner/friend gives you a gift, it doesn't matter that/if you could've just bought, it's the thoughts and emotions behind the gift that count.
 
Omegahugger said:
Those three are also all people who have a personal connection with Rhaenyra.

When a child/partner/friend gives you a gift, it doesn't matter that/if you could've just bought, it's the thoughts and emotions behind the gift that count.
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Even in that case you could just get them the pelt of less intimidating animals which would make for as good a fashion statement but not nearly as good a hunting trophy.
 
Fanhunter696 said:
@Teen Spirit I have to ask something, If we hadn't split the party would we have managed to hunt down the Elk? I am asking because our other companions were even less successful than us at finding the damned thing and it doesn't seem likely that that would have changed with us on their team...
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So if you had stayed with Bennard you wouldn't have gotten a chance to talk with Rhea but since you weren't chasing it, the Elk would follow a different path, allowing Rhaenyra and the Hunting party to kill it. Bennard would have made a bow out of it's antler and bones and given it to Rhaenyra.
 
[X] [Rhea] [Romantic] Tell her she should follow her heart.
[X] [Shadowcat] Give it to Your Father as a Gift

I just think giving Viserys a gift would be nice.
 
Annatar said:
She wouldn't be Johanna Targaryen, she's still Johanna Westerling. You can't marry into the name of the royal family.
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I literally have never heard of such a special exception. In literally every case of noble houses we have heard, if a woman marries a member of that house, she takes on his name (outside of Dorne, but hey they aren't even part of the realm yet).

The only real exception is that your house name isn't used very often when you are crowned and enumerated monarch. I.e., people are far more likely to speak of "King Viserys" rather than "Viserys Targaryen" and that would have been so for his wife as well. Nonetheless, after her marriage, Aemma was a member of House Targaryen.
 
[X] [Rhea] The Stark
[X] [Shadowcat] Give it to Your Father as a Gift
It is the thought that counts, and I don't think Rhaenyra has done in a while or ever.
 
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[X] [Rhea] The Stark
Telling her to follow her heart, right now, seems like a bad idea. This could damage her position, allow her enemies or rivals opportunities to hurt her in many ways, and we currently do not have the power to do much to directly help her with the consequences.

[X] [Shadowcat] Keep for yourself.
Let's work on repairing our relationship with our dear old dad, yes? Building up trust. Not scaring the poor fool. Giving it to the king seems...counterproductive to that.

This is useful for reputation, which is what we need the most at this juncture. Why give it to someone else? We are the heir to the throne. We can buy or otherwise acquire nearly any gifts our people want or need, perfectly tailored to their tastes as we understand them.
 
[X] [Rhea] [Romantic] Tell her she should follow her heart.
[X] [Shadowcat] Keep for yourself.

I don't see the need for gifting the pelt to anyone, i am not sure Alicent would even like the pelt as a cloak, dosen't seem her style.

But the Shadowcat Cloak would be a very cool addition to Rhaenyra outfits, and help boost her personal prestige and reputation.

Also, its incredibly badass.
 
To expand a bit on the above - having a Warden of the North that we personally put there with marriage ties to the our allies seems like good realpolitik to me. And a fun divergence from canon.

Just want to make sure everyone voting for Benjen Stark is thinking that through and we're okay with committing to ousting Cregan and installing Bennard (or making Bennard and his line perpetual regents-for-life or however they want to play it) and we're not going to get cold feet and go "oh but Cregan's the Real Heir (tm) and maybe ousting him would be bad precedent or whatever" and like trying to convince Bennard to back off or backstab him.

Because if we're not okay with backing Bennard's play, we should be voting somewhere else IMO.
 
[X] [Rhea] The Stark

She said he was a nice guy, sweet even. Being a bit thick is hardly the worst flaw in a potential husband. If he's nice, they can get on and be happy with each other, that's far more important for a match.

His status and the prestige that comes with a Stark certainly don't hurt too. And him being dumb probably won't hurt with her retaining control of her own house and lands.

[X] [Shadowcat] Give it to Your Father as a Gift

It'll be nice to bring him back a souvenir. Also, if he didn't already have silver hair, Rhaenyra's shenanigans would turn him grey. He deserves something to make up for everything.
 
[X] [Rhea] The Stark
[X] [Shadowcat] Give it to Your Father as a Gift

The Stark is Inoffensive and Good for Rhea's position, and I want to see what giving King-Dad this thing will do.
 
[X] [Rhea] The Stark

[X] [Shadowcat] Keep for yourself.

[X] [Shadowcat] Give it to Your Father as a Gift

I'm fine with keeping the pelt or giving it to dear old Dad as an apology/souvenir for the shenanigans we've been pulling... Actually, will presenting a Shadowcat pelt she killed herself count as another headache for him...? Ah, well, either option works for me.
 
hailcapital said:
"oh but Cregan's the Real Heir (tm) and maybe ousting him would be bad precedent or whatever"
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That is in fact a concern. If nothing else, the North will by default back Cregan, so it would mean having to invest resources, meddling in Northern internal politics and probably making a whole lot of enemies there with our heavy-handed approach... and all while the current Lord Paramount respects us anyway.

It just isn't worth it.

Because if we're not okay with backing Bennard's play, we should be voting somewhere else IMO.
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Well, my thinking was the attempted coup was Bennard's doing, so a marriage would merely get Benjen out of the political conflict. It would literally be just about the prestigeous Stark name/lineage, without any political connections at all. Though TeenSpirit noted that the coup was the doing of Bennard and all three of his sons, so, ehhh... then again, if Benjen is that dumb here, how much could he have been doing anyway.
 
[X] [Rhea] [Romantic] Tell her she should follow her heart.
[X] [Shadowcat] Keep for yourself.
Benjen being Bennard's son is an issue, given Bennard will have a tiff with Cregan in the future and that's a succession crisis that does somewhat mirror Rhaenyra's.
 
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