Bound By Oath And Honor - An ASOIAF Hedge Knight Quest

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You'd been in the stables for a while, thanks to the stable hands of Riverrun slacking once again. Or maybe the arrival of ever more horses to take care of was becoming too much for them. But no. It was slacking. Because if they were slacking, you could blame them, at least in the privacy of your thoughts. And you really needed someone to blame right now.

Mucking a stable was unpleasant, smelly, hard work at the best of times and with half your body aching constantly from training, it was twice as bad. Most of the time you were spared the duty, but you weren't going to wait for Ser Orton to reprimand you for it when Barley's box had been passed over by Riverrun's servants for too long.

You were nearly done though and then it was just brushing Barley down, getting him some oats and blessed unconsciousness would await you in your room.

Until Ser Orton walked in with another horse.

There was a small voice in the back of your mind that was trying to cheer, stubbornly insisting that this horse was meant for you. Mostly though, you were despairing. They had cleared out the box next to Barley today, moving the horse and baggage that had occupied it somewhere else. But they hadn't mucked it out.

None the less, you put on a bright smile when the knight approached you, though you were not sure how well you succeeded.

"Arlan? May I introduce you to Tench," he affectionately rubbed the muddy brown horses neck as he said it's name. "She's an old draft mare and will be our new pack horse."

You eyed her critically, trying to figure out what made her different from Barley. The name 'rounsey' had been thrown around in reference to Ser Ortons steed a few times, which was apparently not a good horse, but you had no idea what made for a good or bad horse. "She's really in need of a good brushing," you said after a while, nodding towards he slightly tangled mane.

"Lucky for her to be in good hands," he said with a light chuckle, leading her to the empty box and tying her to a railing. "And it's good that we meet here. There's a few things I wanted to talk about before you the night."

His suddenly serious tone put you a bit on the edge. "Is everything alright?"

"About was well as they can in this time," he said in a weary tone. "Lord Tully is going to hold court tomorrow. His bannermen had time until today to send their men and obligations, so they will present themselves to him tomorrow."

"Haven't there been nobles coming and talking with him all the time?" While you talked, you were starting to muck the other box, though thankfully Ser Orton joined in without a word.

"There's a difference," he explained in the tone that he always took when imparting something he deemed very important for you to learn. "The highborn have many talks and negotiations behind closed doors, but in the end, it's important what is said and done in public when holding court."

"Tomorrow," he went on, "they'll be formally presenting themselves and what they brought, reaffirm their oaths and maybe some other things that had been talked over with Lord Tully already. It's not for the sake of talking between the holding court and the person presenting themselves, but for everyone else in attendance to hear what has been agreed."

You nodded along as he spoke. "So, it's like the Mallisters sending the town crier around in Seagard to make announcements."

"More or less," the knight replied. "Though you missed the important part. We will be there too."

The pitchfork scraped over the flagstone, making a rather unpleasant noise, as you got startled by that announcement. "Why?" was the only thing you got out in return.

Ser Orton looked over to you and began to chuckle lightly. "I'm a hedge knight. I have to swear to follow Lord Tully too. And my trusty page will have to be there as well so that everyone knows whom you serve. Don't worry though. You will just kneel when I kneel and otherwise stay quiet. Nothing big."

You just blinked owlishly at him, unsure what to say. It's been barely over two months since you were mulling over if bread that a rat had gnawed on was safe to eat or if you'd be risking the shits if you tried it. And now you were supposed to present yourself to a Lord Paramount? You had been talking about this for a while in Harroway Town, yet you were always expecting to be vaguely in the same army camp as the kings and lords, not... doing court things.

The knight clasping his hand on your shoulder brought you back to the present and the smell of partially mucked horse stable. It somehow was a reassuring contrast. "Don't worry," he said again. "It's going to be a good few years before anyone will expect you to say anything except 'yes, my lord' or 'no, my lord' to anyone of high birth. You'll know what to do by the time it matters."

Would you? There was a healthy amount of fear of the highborn among the people you grew up with. Nothing could save you from their wrath if you gave offense or just happened upon a particularly capricious one. But a knight was supposed to serve a lord, you guessed. And Ser Orton was there.

"I'll do as you show me," you replied, giving him a still slightly nervous smile.

"Good," he replied simply, then took the pitchfork from you. "I can't have you dead on your feet on the morrow though. Grab a brush and take care of Tench's mane while I finish this. We can talk about the rest after the court."

It did not take that long to finish between the two of you, and you could turn in quite early as a result, but you did not sleep all that well.

---

The throne room of Riverrun was already packed tight by the time you entered. The keep had been filling up over the last few weeks, most new arrivals instead opting to camp in the fields, but it was still surprising just how many people had come to the Tully's court.

It was hard to hear much over the din of the crowd without half shouting, so Ser Orton put his hand on your shoulder and gently guided you through the mass of people and towards a slightly less packed area. From there, you had a decent view of much of the nobles and their retainers gathered here.

Most of them were wearing clothes signifying their allegiance. There were tabbards, cloaks and doublets emblazoned with the arms of dozens of houses wherever you looked. Many of them you recognized thanks to Ser Ortons tutoring. Vance, Blackwood, Bracken, Piper, Harlton, Whent, Lychester and Roote were the most important that you recognized.

There was also other knights. Dozens of them. If this was just the people who had come to serve House Tully, you wondered what it had to be like in the camp of the king himself. It was no wonder that Ser Orton had been worried it would be hard to be noticed in this crowd. There was a even a knight clad all in white among them, though the pale and gaunt face of the Kingsguard made him almost appear to be a ghost.

You also spotted a familiar face. Richard has apparently decided to take up the colors of the dead knight, wearing a tabbard with his colors, though the two arrows were now snapped. Was he a knight now or did he intend to fight to earn that title? Catching your gaze, he briefly smiled and gave you a quick nod, which you returned likewise.

At that moment, the crowd went silent and you turned your eyes back to the raised dais at the center of the far wall, where a portly man with grey streaked brown hair was walking to the throne. He did not wear any obvious colors himself, though the young, red-haired man beside him made up for that with a bright tabbard in Tully colors.

As the older man sat down, the younger called into the room. "His grace, Hoster Tully, Lord Paramount of the Riverlands has called you here today to hold court on the matter of the invasion of our lands. The banners were called against the rebellious Lord Balon Greyjoy and his brother Euron Greyjoy, who is ravaging the Riverlands on his orders. Step forth, loyal bannermen of Riverrun and present yourself!"

And so, one by one, they did. The branches of House Vance went first, the two lords introducing themselves, swearing loyalty to Riverrun and stating how many men, horses and supplies they had brought. The second they were done, the crowd began to murmur about what they heard, commenting on both that they had gone first and how much they brought.

You had no context for any of what was said, but you distinctly felt reminded of the gossiping at the fish market of Seagard. There was all the sneering and whispering and little chuckles you'd had expected after there had been a festival or some other event that got people wagging their tongues extra fast for a few days, and you were suddenly feeling much more at ease in this room.

Next came Brynden Blackwood, the heir of House Blackwood, excusing his father who was fending off Ironborn raids. You barely heard any of it though, since everyone got rather excited the moment he stepped up and there was already whispers going around before he had even said his name.

It got even worse when a knight was stepping up right after to speak for House Bracken, which was apparently a great insult to House Tully in the opinion of the ladies standing closest to you. He likewise excused his lord for being in the field, but also noted that a woman called Barbara Bracken was unable to attend court for health reasons. That too got plenty of comments in the crowd.

Meanwhile, next to you, Ser Orton was watching it all with a stony mien. He was not saying anything, though gesturing for you to pay attention to what happened before the throne. You got the feeling he did not enjoy courtly matters very much, or at the very least not the gossiping happening all around.

On and on it went. House Piper. House Harlton. House Wode. One of the armsmen who had traveled with you represented House Roote and told the room that his lord was in Harrenhal with King Robert, but had sent supplies to Riverrun. Unfortunately, he went, only a small amount of the arms and armors they had promised arrived since the Ironborn had ambushed his group. The Lord Paramount briefly acknowledged this and then went on to the next person, one Lord Smallwood.

You did not quite know how to feel about this. While you had slept better lately, you still occasionally woke up in a nervous sweat, expecting someone to be hovering over your bed with an axe in hand. Hearing it all reduced to just a few sentences and waved off like it was of no great concern was... strange.

While events went on, you remembered the statements of the Blackwoods and Brackens. Raided villages and traders. That too was a small matter not really commented on. If your ordeal was so unoteworthy, what was going on there? How many people were dying, how many homes burned, and none of it more than a footnote to the lords and ladies in this room?

In your youth, you had always been told not to concern yourself with the matters of the highborn, and it seemed that they were thinking likewise about the smallfolk.

The matter was still occupying your mind by the time the lords were done and the knights began to swear their oaths. The first to go was Ser Mandon Moore, the Kingsguard, who stated that he had been sent by King Robert to aid House Tully and swore to do so until the end of this war to the best of his ability.

After him came knights born of noble houses and then the household knights, again ordered by some rules that eluded you, but which were greatly commented on by everyone in attendance. And then it was your turn. Ser Orton put his hand on your should as the hedge knights began to swear and then guided you to the middle of the room where they were waiting.

The nervousness returned in force, you heart beating ever faster with every person gone before you. Most of the other hedge knights had a page or squire too, some even both, and they all kneeled one by one, swearing to serve House Tully for this campaign.

You could feel your heart in your throat when the last knight before you, a rather rough looking man barely taller than you, but nearly twice as broad, stepped up. You could not help but fidget next to Ser Orton while staring at Lord Tully. It took a small push by the knight to get your feet moving and you felt rather awkward as you knelt.

"I am Ser Orton of Oak Ridge, called The Oak sometimes, and this is my page Arlan," the knight said while gesturing to you. Then he lowered his head and put his hand on his heart, which you did likewise. "By my honor and the grace of the Seven, I swear to serve House Tully faithfully until peace is restored to the Riverlands."

"I hear and accept your oath, Ser Orton of Oak Ridge," the graying lord replied. "The Seven be with you in the battles to come."

And then you got up and disappeared back into the crowd. For all the tensions before, it felt really underwhelming an event when it was done.

While you walked back to the quieter part of the room, you spotted Richard still waiting to swear his oath and nodded at him again, though he seemed likewise rather nervous. By the time it was finally his turn, you had already been back to your spot and had trouble hearing what was said over the crowd that barely paid attention anymore.

Apparently he was not a knight yet, instead introducing himself as the squire of the late Ser Derrick like he did to you, swearing to serve House Tully in his name. There was no comment on this though and Lord Tully took his oath the same way as he did every other before and after.

When all the knights had sworn their oaths, the young man called the room to order once more and then called for specific people to step up. This time, it was an eclectic mix of armsmen, knights and lords with no clear ordering, who all were asked to report about the happenings in the Riverlands.

Much of it you once again lacked the context for as raids on specific villages and towns you had never heard about were reported. The rivers were unsafe with the Ironborn having brought longboats and raiding everything that they could reach. There had been attacks all the way to Harroway's Town and bandits were roaming the countryside. The town of Fairmaket at the Blue Fork had been sacked entirely and now Ironborn were raiding the lands of House Bracken from the ruins.

Further north, things were even worse. The stories of abductions and vile magics being worked in Seagard were nothing new to you, but now the Ironborn apparently started to keep slaves by the hundreds in the city to shore up its defenses and work on improving the portage between Seagard and the Blue Fork.

The Twins had fallen too, which elicited gasps from most of the room and even surprised you. You had talked with people who had been there a few times and you knew that it was deemed very difficult to siege the double keep as one had to do so from both sides of the river.

However, Euron Greyjoy had allegedly used sorcery to badly damage one of those keeps and killing a number of people from the household, including the heir. Lord Frey surrendered after threats to have the keep razed entirely and his entire family clasped in irons to toil in the mines of the Iron Isles.

"It seems the reinforcements from the North will be too late for Lord Frey," Lord Tully commented sardonically to this, drawing a few chuckles from the crowd, though even the Lord Paramount seemed to find the comment in bad taste right after uttering it.

There had been a bit of speculation from a maester called upon next on what the Ironborn had done in truth, Lord Hoster Tully evidently not inclined to believe in magic being involved, though it seemed to be mostly wild guessing. After a bit of back and forth, the lord and the maester more or less agreed that the Greyjoy likely had learned of some weakness in the Twins and used traitors or infiltrators to exploit it. The order to all his bannermen be wary of refugees and to keep them away from the keeps left a bad taste in your mouth.

Lastly, a few envoys were heard. King Robert had gathered his host in Harrenhal, though was still waiting on supplies and men from the Crownlands that were trickling in. In Saltpans, the lords of the Vale and the eastern Riverlands were still debating who should lead the host, with the candidates being Lord Lyonel Corbray, Ser Brynden Tully and Lord Yohn Royce.

After hearing this, all eyes were once more on Lord Hoster. You had heard the past few days that people were speculating when the host would begin moving and there was the expectation that it would so very soon. It was not to be though. Lord Tully told the envoys to report back that his host would wait one more month for them to be ready before setting out and that only a few outriders would be dispatched to aid the Blackwoods and Brackens for now.

There was quite some discontent at this announcement, first and foremost from those two houses, but Lord Tully would not hear any of it. The sessions of the court was closed right after, leaving a grumbling crowd slowly marching out of the hall.

---

That same evening, Ser Orton announced quite happily that he had been chose to be part of the outriders. Unfortunately, you would not be accompanying him. Even if you could ride, the old mare Tench was hardly fit to serve in the field, so you would be on your own for the coming month. It was not great for you, since it also meant you could not train with the knight, but it probably was decent step towards a good reward when this was all over.

For now though, you had to consider what to do with your free time.


Since you have fewer duties and training in Ser Ortons absence, you have 4 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 is in the field and unavailable this turn.

[] Speak with Richard.
While you haven't spoken with the squire since your meeting in the sept, he seems to be in better spirits once more. Maybe you should seek him out and talk a bit. He might have some useful advice 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 socialize 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.

[] Train 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.

[] Speak with Begging Brothers.
While the septon of Riverrun was of little help, the camp in the fields has attracted a number of Begging Brothers preaching to the armsmen. Since they are used to preaching to smallfolk, maybe they are more willing to teach you something.

[] Join a patrol.
Even if Ser Orton feels you are not ready, you are of a different opinion. The area around Riverrun is fairly safe, so you could join one of the patrols sent out to the surrounding settlements to get some experience in what it means to be a soldier.

[] Try to learn to ride.
Though it likely would be easier with a teacher, you do know enough about riding to try and learn yourself. You could just saddle Tench and give it a try. The old mare is calm enough that it feels worth an attempt.

[] Try to find a tutor to learn reading.
A number of wandering maesters, healers and scholars have arrived in the camp and plying their trades. Even though you don't have much coin, maybe you can find someone willing to teach you how to.

[] Try to find a tutor to learn how to dress wounds.
A number of wandering maesters, healers and scholars have arrived in the camp and plying their trades. Maybe you can convince one of them with word or coin to teach you the basics of how to tend to wounds.

[] 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 least leave a good impression and get you to learn more about life in a keep.

[] Acquire some money illegally.
While the armor you bought might save your life one day, you are still broke right now. However, with the camp filling up and your master away, it's much less risky now to fill your coin pouch in a way that would be frowned upon by Ser Orton.

[] 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.

[] Gather rumors.
The camp has filled up greatly and traders have begun arriving in Riverrun with supplies from all over the Riverlands. Maybe you can learn something interesting by keeping your eyes and ears open, or find an opportunity that you'd otherwise miss.

[] Rest.
Things have gotten better again, but you still have the odd night terror now and then. Maybe some rest would be a good idea, especially since you are unlikely to get another opportunity for it any time soon.

---

AN: This turned out way longer than I originally thought.

Do note that some actions will have synergy with each other, though there's no exhaustive list of that prepared, so I'll leave that for the players to argue about what should and shouldn't work well together.