unknown_xho
YOU'RE NOT FUNNY
- Location
- South Carolina
Waiting four months gives me time to reread this quest a bajillion times. Why the fuck not.
A Dragon of the North X: Night Gathers
- Thread starter Droman
- Start date
- Crossover
Droman
𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍
Update 099 of ADOTN. I think it's in contention for one of the better moments of the Quest, don't you?
Also, a lovely exchange in a subsequent thread:
Me said:
Last edited:
- Location
- Lithuania
Alright, @Droman - here's your review.
I'm not sure how long this is gonna be.
Edit:
It's longer than it should have been, but I'm too tired to fix it, so have it like it is, sorry
I caught up with the quest, again. Meaning I sat down, and reread it from the start to it's current state, where it's waiting for a couple epilogue updates.
It's rather difficult to review it as a whole, and not only because you can evaluate this as a game and a story. I suppose I could write one and a half reviews, one focusing on the story, and the other touching on the game. And Hash, this is only because you asked for a review nicely.
I liked the quest, and I'd like to like it more, but there are things that kept getting in the way of my fun.
Let's talk about Gameplay and Story Integration, before carrying on, because some of the major issues stem from it.
I touched upon this in my old review.
Can be one such example of the story making allowances for the gameplay.
Another is that people had perhaps too much Destiny Points for the ride, even when you changed rules mid way to accomodate for that, or had certain events caused by restructuring.
The way a quest was played stripped bits and pieces of meaning and danger away from some encounters, with the steady reserve of Destiny keeping Jon afloat.
Succeding at everything is what quest runners want, but when you start viewing the quest's story as a story, it makes for a weaker impact. It strips meaning away from the fights and battles.
As I've told you over at Rolz, I'd have had people fail for choosing to discard their previous work and go face the threat alone. If Nights Watch would have been taken, it might have redeemed it a bit, but otherwise that might have been the worst thematically choice of them all. This choice is where the Gameplay has punched the Story in the guts.
I say this, because I felt your Quest has some themes that ran counter to this choice, but what can you do.
Let me talk about them for a bit - and these are probably what I love the most about your storytelling.
Your protagonist is born of a different breed than the world he lives in. He's a Superman living in a regular world, and he seems to be above the rules of intrigue and bad luck that seem to rule this realm. He's a main character of a game, he's not just the prince who was promised, he's just different.
And that difference is ever so jarring when he becomes a plaything of the setting. When he realizes that the problems of this world cannot be solved by force alone, by pure alien presence that lives inside him.
Yes, he's a child of Rhaegar and Lyanna, but that is not an official union. Yes, he could say that he's the prince, but it was not a fairy tale. Rhaegar had forced himself upon Lyanna, and that makes it all the difference. He's a bastard, and bastards have it difficult to ascend to the throne.
We have Jon going on a squire's path (I'm not gonna talk about the earlier things here), and while he grows in strength and ability, he can make things happen just with raw power, he shows his strength, he overpowers a leader of wilder men, and wins their allegiance.
Yet he finds enemies, is kidnapped, and the world starts showing the colors that are true. In the end, beating an opponent means nothing. He has to be better, he has to be smarter, perhaps.
Yet, I see no real "smarter" Jon. What I see is a quick to react, strong, stronger than anyone protagonist, who demolishes the opposition. He once again solves the problems with the hammer of force, and has enough to escape via the trial by combat.
I love how Blackfish dies, seemingly out of control. I feel that very same pull of interest here. Westeros remains cruel and things are out of control, and Jon decides to solve this by force.
He could have defeated Ungren, but that doesn't help as his revenge goes unsatisfied. Ungren is a wonderful character, for these themes. He is an antagonist that Jon doesn't want to kill. This is especially true when he returns, seemingly from the dead, in the body of Black Walder.
Then, we have Arthur Dayne, and the famous reveal, and at this point, I feel like your story is brilliant. I am among the cheering fans, I want to get T-shirts with Jon hacking at Arthur Dayne.
I'm not gonna go event by event, but everything bad that happens to Jon is through the people he loves. Through the realm he cares about. Through loss that is not under his control.
I love the powerful character who is struggling to cope, because the world, even as it recognizes his strength, resists. This is why I disliked the growth in power, and this is why I feel like solving problems through raw power diminishes the payoff of the whole.
Speaking about trouble and quest style changes...
I disliked that the trouble for Harrenhal felt a bit impersonal, and some of the choices seemed too easy. Then again, the whole segments of management seem to have appealed to people, and I cannot argue that they helped the quest solidify.
With this, the years passed more believably, and their impact was felt, more than a single line "two years later" could achieve. Impact is important, and for the Quest players to slowly build up a ruined fortress, to prepare forges for weapons, and to get dragonglass as weapons for the long night - it felt that it would come of importance, later.
Needless to say, I was disappointed in the direction the Quest turned towards the very end, proving the influx of Night's Watch recruits, weapons and dragonglass pointless, or near pointless.
Yet, the Harrenhal strategy bits at least had good choices for the intrigue, favoring some houses over the others, even if there were a few bumps along the road (cough, custody over fostering Bran, cough), it helped shape the landscape.
...
I'm still writing this review, and I've realized that structuring it proper is gonna be a nightmare. I'm not gonna do it. I'm just moving some bits to around and keeping some of the thoughts for DLP only, but since it's way late, I'm never gonna finish if I try to tidy them up more. There's still loads to talk about.
Take the Antagonists:
I've mentioned Ungren. He's great.
Joffrey is a nice arc. Even when Joff loses, he does so in character, with a duel that he cannot win. I liked it.
Cersei was fine. Same as Jamie.
Tywin was my most liked character in the quest. I always imagined him as an entinty that played by much the same rules like Jon, just reverse. He had the influence. He had the smarts. He made choices that were unexpected, shrewed and brought disbalance. He already had it all, and was playing to keep it. Yet, Jon and Jon outmaneuvered him and won against him with brute force.
Arthur Dayne was perfect. 5/5. Why did he have to die so young.
Bran was great. He took out characters we care about, and he spun it so Jon's Thu'um was revealed. That was wonderful.
Euron Greyjoy looked promising, but I didn't like him. I liked all the bits of his non-direct confrontation, of him inciting a continued fight and reaving. The moment he started a fight against Jon, I lost faith in him as a proper antagonist.
Dorne could have been handled better. Especially since some of the plots with Dragonswron came from here.
Tyrion. He was an enemy that was a friend, or a friend that worked for the enemy, and that worked wonders. He was wonderful. The dwarf's story is all about tragedy, and how he made a friend, but a betrayal at the last moment ruins everything. Jon tried to make amends, but killing Tyrion before they could reconcile even a bit was a stroke of genius, or the luckiest roll that has been rolled. Love it. Every single scene Tyrion was in, he owned it. 5/5.
I think I'll refrain from repeating myself too much, and stop with pointing out the disconnect of the themes going forward and the ending arc.
I can say a few more good words, though.
I liked Robb Stark. He behaved very much like a glory craving bastard (joke very much intended), him and Theon both. He proved a disbalancing force while Ned was alive, and he believably mellowed out when Ned was killed.
The only thing about Ned's death that I regret, is that I haven't seen his reaction to Roberts' choice to legitimize Jon. That was stupid, but I'll allow a bitter drunk man his last joke against Rhaegar.
Margaery Tyrell vs Cerenna Lannister was a fun choice, and all the bad rep it gets is from the players getting to choose. Players are always terrible with things like this.
I feel like Tyrells will be quite important to this new world order that Jon is going to bring. If they'll have to tread carefully to not step on sleeping Dovah.
For all my long talk, this review boils down to one simple matter.
As it is, I feel a certain disconnect between the themes that build and shaped Jon and the confrontations that he is currently fighting in. I don't care much for his combat prowess being enough to beat all Others and their servants. I want to feel that the damage to the Westeros during play was real. I want to see the final battle bleed Westeros and perhaps even Planethos for each misstep, for each inside war. I want to see the choices matter in that confrontation.
I want to see Others scaling the Harrenhal walls and Jon screaming in frustration that he tore parts of them down to make place for Harrentown. I want to see the dead breathing down the living. I want to see the burning of corpses that Jon ordered in the North, and I want to know that that did something to halt the advance.
I wanted Jon to see that Others aren't a threat, but a tide of a disaster, and that his hammer, for once, doesn't exactly fit the nail.
Yet, if you gift me the regretful and bitter ruler that rules on a realm that is all but shattered to pieces. If you give me Jon who returns only to find that his months of absence Beyond the wall had once again bit him in the ways that he cannot force into order instantly, I might forgive you.
You have a way with words, even though we, the players, both helped and hindered your advance, this is still a good quest, and one that I have enjoyed quite a bit.
7/10.
Sorry, but I'm not gonna tidy this up. I didn't plan to take this long with this one. I've put a few more words over at DLP, if you want to look, @Droman, cheers.
In the end, if nothing else, this story has made me have an opinion about it, and I could talk for hours about it.
I'm not sure how long this is gonna be.
Edit:
It's longer than it should have been, but I'm too tired to fix it, so have it like it is, sorry
I caught up with the quest, again. Meaning I sat down, and reread it from the start to it's current state, where it's waiting for a couple epilogue updates.
It's rather difficult to review it as a whole, and not only because you can evaluate this as a game and a story. I suppose I could write one and a half reviews, one focusing on the story, and the other touching on the game. And Hash, this is only because you asked for a review nicely.
I liked the quest, and I'd like to like it more, but there are things that kept getting in the way of my fun.
Let's talk about Gameplay and Story Integration, before carrying on, because some of the major issues stem from it.
I touched upon this in my old review.
NaurosOldeReview said:
Can be one such example of the story making allowances for the gameplay.
Another is that people had perhaps too much Destiny Points for the ride, even when you changed rules mid way to accomodate for that, or had certain events caused by restructuring.
The way a quest was played stripped bits and pieces of meaning and danger away from some encounters, with the steady reserve of Destiny keeping Jon afloat.
Succeding at everything is what quest runners want, but when you start viewing the quest's story as a story, it makes for a weaker impact. It strips meaning away from the fights and battles.
As I've told you over at Rolz, I'd have had people fail for choosing to discard their previous work and go face the threat alone. If Nights Watch would have been taken, it might have redeemed it a bit, but otherwise that might have been the worst thematically choice of them all. This choice is where the Gameplay has punched the Story in the guts.
I say this, because I felt your Quest has some themes that ran counter to this choice, but what can you do.
Let me talk about them for a bit - and these are probably what I love the most about your storytelling.
Your protagonist is born of a different breed than the world he lives in. He's a Superman living in a regular world, and he seems to be above the rules of intrigue and bad luck that seem to rule this realm. He's a main character of a game, he's not just the prince who was promised, he's just different.
And that difference is ever so jarring when he becomes a plaything of the setting. When he realizes that the problems of this world cannot be solved by force alone, by pure alien presence that lives inside him.
Yes, he's a child of Rhaegar and Lyanna, but that is not an official union. Yes, he could say that he's the prince, but it was not a fairy tale. Rhaegar had forced himself upon Lyanna, and that makes it all the difference. He's a bastard, and bastards have it difficult to ascend to the throne.
We have Jon going on a squire's path (I'm not gonna talk about the earlier things here), and while he grows in strength and ability, he can make things happen just with raw power, he shows his strength, he overpowers a leader of wilder men, and wins their allegiance.
Yet he finds enemies, is kidnapped, and the world starts showing the colors that are true. In the end, beating an opponent means nothing. He has to be better, he has to be smarter, perhaps.
Yet, I see no real "smarter" Jon. What I see is a quick to react, strong, stronger than anyone protagonist, who demolishes the opposition. He once again solves the problems with the hammer of force, and has enough to escape via the trial by combat.
I love how Blackfish dies, seemingly out of control. I feel that very same pull of interest here. Westeros remains cruel and things are out of control, and Jon decides to solve this by force.
He could have defeated Ungren, but that doesn't help as his revenge goes unsatisfied. Ungren is a wonderful character, for these themes. He is an antagonist that Jon doesn't want to kill. This is especially true when he returns, seemingly from the dead, in the body of Black Walder.
Then, we have Arthur Dayne, and the famous reveal, and at this point, I feel like your story is brilliant. I am among the cheering fans, I want to get T-shirts with Jon hacking at Arthur Dayne.
I'm not gonna go event by event, but everything bad that happens to Jon is through the people he loves. Through the realm he cares about. Through loss that is not under his control.
I love the powerful character who is struggling to cope, because the world, even as it recognizes his strength, resists. This is why I disliked the growth in power, and this is why I feel like solving problems through raw power diminishes the payoff of the whole.
Speaking about trouble and quest style changes...
I disliked that the trouble for Harrenhal felt a bit impersonal, and some of the choices seemed too easy. Then again, the whole segments of management seem to have appealed to people, and I cannot argue that they helped the quest solidify.
With this, the years passed more believably, and their impact was felt, more than a single line "two years later" could achieve. Impact is important, and for the Quest players to slowly build up a ruined fortress, to prepare forges for weapons, and to get dragonglass as weapons for the long night - it felt that it would come of importance, later.
Needless to say, I was disappointed in the direction the Quest turned towards the very end, proving the influx of Night's Watch recruits, weapons and dragonglass pointless, or near pointless.
Yet, the Harrenhal strategy bits at least had good choices for the intrigue, favoring some houses over the others, even if there were a few bumps along the road (cough, custody over fostering Bran, cough), it helped shape the landscape.
...
I'm still writing this review, and I've realized that structuring it proper is gonna be a nightmare. I'm not gonna do it. I'm just moving some bits to around and keeping some of the thoughts for DLP only, but since it's way late, I'm never gonna finish if I try to tidy them up more. There's still loads to talk about.
Take the Antagonists:
I've mentioned Ungren. He's great.
Joffrey is a nice arc. Even when Joff loses, he does so in character, with a duel that he cannot win. I liked it.
Cersei was fine. Same as Jamie.
Tywin was my most liked character in the quest. I always imagined him as an entinty that played by much the same rules like Jon, just reverse. He had the influence. He had the smarts. He made choices that were unexpected, shrewed and brought disbalance. He already had it all, and was playing to keep it. Yet, Jon and Jon outmaneuvered him and won against him with brute force.
Arthur Dayne was perfect. 5/5. Why did he have to die so young.
Bran was great. He took out characters we care about, and he spun it so Jon's Thu'um was revealed. That was wonderful.
Euron Greyjoy looked promising, but I didn't like him. I liked all the bits of his non-direct confrontation, of him inciting a continued fight and reaving. The moment he started a fight against Jon, I lost faith in him as a proper antagonist.
Dorne could have been handled better. Especially since some of the plots with Dragonswron came from here.
Tyrion. He was an enemy that was a friend, or a friend that worked for the enemy, and that worked wonders. He was wonderful. The dwarf's story is all about tragedy, and how he made a friend, but a betrayal at the last moment ruins everything. Jon tried to make amends, but killing Tyrion before they could reconcile even a bit was a stroke of genius, or the luckiest roll that has been rolled. Love it. Every single scene Tyrion was in, he owned it. 5/5.
I think I'll refrain from repeating myself too much, and stop with pointing out the disconnect of the themes going forward and the ending arc.
I can say a few more good words, though.
I liked Robb Stark. He behaved very much like a glory craving bastard (joke very much intended), him and Theon both. He proved a disbalancing force while Ned was alive, and he believably mellowed out when Ned was killed.
The only thing about Ned's death that I regret, is that I haven't seen his reaction to Roberts' choice to legitimize Jon. That was stupid, but I'll allow a bitter drunk man his last joke against Rhaegar.
Margaery Tyrell vs Cerenna Lannister was a fun choice, and all the bad rep it gets is from the players getting to choose. Players are always terrible with things like this.
I feel like Tyrells will be quite important to this new world order that Jon is going to bring. If they'll have to tread carefully to not step on sleeping Dovah.
For all my long talk, this review boils down to one simple matter.
As it is, I feel a certain disconnect between the themes that build and shaped Jon and the confrontations that he is currently fighting in. I don't care much for his combat prowess being enough to beat all Others and their servants. I want to feel that the damage to the Westeros during play was real. I want to see the final battle bleed Westeros and perhaps even Planethos for each misstep, for each inside war. I want to see the choices matter in that confrontation.
I want to see Others scaling the Harrenhal walls and Jon screaming in frustration that he tore parts of them down to make place for Harrentown. I want to see the dead breathing down the living. I want to see the burning of corpses that Jon ordered in the North, and I want to know that that did something to halt the advance.
I wanted Jon to see that Others aren't a threat, but a tide of a disaster, and that his hammer, for once, doesn't exactly fit the nail.
Yet, if you gift me the regretful and bitter ruler that rules on a realm that is all but shattered to pieces. If you give me Jon who returns only to find that his months of absence Beyond the wall had once again bit him in the ways that he cannot force into order instantly, I might forgive you.
You have a way with words, even though we, the players, both helped and hindered your advance, this is still a good quest, and one that I have enjoyed quite a bit.
7/10.
Sorry, but I'm not gonna tidy this up. I didn't plan to take this long with this one. I've put a few more words over at DLP, if you want to look, @Droman, cheers.
In the end, if nothing else, this story has made me have an opinion about it, and I could talk for hours about it.
Droman
𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍
Sweet, thanks Nauro.
I think I already know a lot of what you're going to talk about, and I don't disagree.
True, true. As a quest, the themes are at the mercy of the players, though I think I myself erred into allowing for too many possibilities. I think two of my biggest regrets are allowing Arlan to have his power restored to him (not existing, simply being able to cast the Thu'um), and adhering to the existence of the Others as an existential threat. I've certainly talked about the latter at length, at least.
I think the mistake you make is that you think by killing his enemies that Jon solved his problems. For many of them, it only inherited future problems or scars on himself and his person. The man who rules Westeros would pity the tribulations awaiting the boy who went to the Eyrie, and the innocence he would lose.
It was meant to, certainly. But events changed and as the years passed (both IRL and in-universe), things would up changing. I might have saved this for the Q&A, but before Valonqar and Arlan came a siege of Harrenhal was very much in the cards at least once. But things quickly moved away from the Others, and in retrospect I would have excluded them entirely from the Quest.
I think the Night's Watch turning pointless in the end was actually one of the more measured changes to the Quest that worked. While I might have preferred thematically a far longer Long Night with the Night's Watch playing a larger role, their self-destruction by way of Jon's exiles neatly undercut his efforts to help and I think helped built on the theme that everything Jon touches corrodes or withers or falls away.
I think humanizing the antagonists is perhaps one of the better bits of writing I've managed in-quest, and perhaps one of the better ways I've made it feel like actual ASOIAF. I won't disagree on Euron or Dorne. As it was there were whole branches of the charts and graphs that never really got their due and got truncated. Some might appear in Valyria in larger details, others not at all. I tried to use Euron as a pseudo-final boss to up the ante, and while I think I managed to get across some great visuals he just wasn't the man for the job.
I think the Tyrells will be somewhat insidious, at least insomuch that like a canon Tommen might Jon will see them more as leal vassals than schemers. In a way he's quite straightforward politically, which lets others work around him as they might need to. Certainly his court will be dominated by them.
Mhm. I like to think I managed to convey that somewhat in recent chapters, but as it is I couldn't justify them getting stronger than I made them to challenge Jon that much further. At a certain point, the Dovah peaks and all around him fall away. A lonely god, in a sense.
As we spoke earlier, I think you'll find that Jon's kingship will not be a naturally easy one. As of right now, that's all I can promise.
You cheeky little shit. 7.5 or I get a refund.
- Location
- Lithuania
This here is why I "accidentally" posted on the wrong thread.You cheeky little shit. 7.5 or I get a refund.
Ah, I figured out why. The Untold tab in Chrome begins "A Dragon of the..." and this one is "Crossover- A D..." which is obviously a wrong tab to choose at 7 am. When I wake up properly, I might pm a mod to ask for a move, I suppose.
Here's your Refund, er... Reply. I'll be short, but I might elaborate later, as I don't want to get too wordy on this one.
I suppose there's a whole argument to be had about power levels here. Should Jon have gotten this strong? Should he have wielded this much power? Alran, Valonquar, all the powerful shouts that are game-breakers, are literally that for me. Game-breakers. Story-breakers, in some way, but not as much. By having this power, I lost interest in the Game aspect of the Quest, and turned to the Story side for entertainment, and that got in the way of my experience some. This having the power to take everything on is akin to levels of Superman, where any physical challenge is but an excise in futility for the opponent.
I understand the tropes and effects of Superman-level character and how such can work, but I don't think the Elder Scrolls Universe sold me on that concept enough, that with Dovah dying rather easily without the ability to stop time and eat half a barn of cheese, or something. I expected both Jon and Arlan to be a little more down to earth, and with every epic tale and shout of Arlan that vision proved wrong on my part.
In the end, it's your choices what to allow and how to handle it, and my opinions running counter to it, nothing more.
Ah, I suppose. I still believe that making forts surrender, breaking up Pike, and using Valonquar and Thu'um to strongarm Dorne into submission counts as solving problems. Yes, the way Jon solves them leaves consequences and trouble, but they are solved. It's something of an issue in semantics, I suppose.
I'd say here, that an equivalent example would be Napoleon's era Spain. Spain was "solved" in that it was an ally, and all was good, except when the consequences arrived, he had to keep sinking troops there to maintain order. He still got to say he conquered Spain. There's a reason it's called Guerilla Warfare, and not "The-Occupation-That-Was-Never-Completed".
Good point there. You get that one. Like. Hugs. Cat. All of the reaction things.
Cool. I'll hold you to that one.
p.s. I mentioned Napoleon's Spain for a reason, and I might expand on DLP, just not this very second.
Droman
𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍
If you could.
Your opinions are always valued, Nauro. In regards to Arlan, I did take the step beyond Skyrim of setting him on the mantling Talos path, which was part of why he may have seemed far stronger. The other part is basically based on my perception of the Dovah, and the power they'd possess in a lore/story category and not a game-based one, just like you might with the Telvanni mages or the Redguard Swordsmiths.
Mhm. I suppose everything looks settled given he's beaten his enemies, but the scars will linger as they did in Spain.
- Location
- United States
I actually would have loved to see a post-game summary on how Jon's dynasty operated three generations after him. To be honest when I read the Quest all I could get was flashbacks to China's Qin Dynasty which lasted two generations and was held together almost completely based on fear and raw power.
-When it comes down to it I didn't really see any reason for the common smallfolk to buy into Jon's reign and upon his death, unless his heirs found a way to produce a new era of dragon-might, it seemed a remarkably unstable throne.
-Theon Greyjoy as Lord Paramount of the Westerlands seemed particularly implausible and untenable in the long-run (I give House Greyjoy two generations at best of holding the Westerlands and Theon himself, at least from the books, lacks the competence to make it work or assimilate himself into the region).
Then again, you were limited in that we were playing a question for this generation and not some multi-generational CK2 game but I would have considered it somewhat poetic if Jon managed to save the world but his actions almost certainly doomed his heirs in the future. I've very rarely heard of a dynasty surviving when the founder doesn't even do the bare minimum of cloaking his bloodshed under the banner of chivalry or some other type of morality (which legitimizes the throne's monopoly of violence more than the simple fact that it has more violence).
Still, I enjoyed the game quite a bit!
mrmiffmiff
The Honest Cop
- Location
- San Francisco or Atlanta
The same as the life expectancy for their race. They're still mortals.
If you were asking ironically, then idk forever I guess.
It's hard to tell; most true Dragonborn die violently or cheat. Wulfharth Ash-King died by violence before reincarnating after reigning 53 years and Miraak lived for thousands of years before he dies in Dragonborn, but he had help. Aside from that, none of the Dragonblooded descendants of Saint Alessia, Reman Cyrodiil or Talos appeared to show any unnatural longevity beyond what could reasonably be expected of their race. Talos himself was the only Dragonborn known to have died of old age at 108.
Most likely answer is that Dragonborn die as expected of a member of their mortal race.
Droman
𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍
Arlan managed around a hundred and fifty, though he obviously had extenuating circumstances. Typically a Dovahkiin might live to around a hundred and ten, though Jon won't live that long.
- Location
- Mists of Albion
Paranoia Intensifies...
Tassadar
The Overlord of Cakes & Toucans!
Jon did have accelerated growth for while.
Or he could die, those hopefully for a good reason.
Pandemonious Ivy
Panties, Revolution. Big Drawers. Parachute.
His use of Time shouts probably cut down his "normal" life expectancy.
Regular accelerated healing may not have done him any favors either.
Update 260a: The Battle for the Dawn
Droman
𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍
260a: The Battle for the Dawn
In the Lands of Always Winter, the Court of Others was restless.
Things had not come to pass as they were meant to.
Their princes had fallen anew on the fields of battle, and their king's return stillborn before it ever could truly be.
Their great armies had thinned and weakened, driven northwards for safety rather than see them dashed as if dolls against a wall. To see them as they had been, cracked and rattled as children's toys…
So many thousands of years spent unto themselves, and with nothing to show for it save their tally list of felled champions.
And thus the Lords of Night and Winter were restless, enough so that only by the state of their mourning queen were they shamed enough to hide their displease and disquiet. Things had not come to pass as they were meant to, but perhaps there was yet a chance to make matters right and return to their rightful place astride the world.
All that was needed was to slay the demons three raging rampant in their midst.
And perhaps the little squirrels thereafter, if there were any of them yet lingering in their dens.
----
At a distance not so far away, a young dragon roared in challenge to the elements as it continued its skyward voyage through the night skies. Once, twice and then thrice it did so, defiant against the heavy hails that fell upon it without end.
"How much more can the great beast endure?" asked a squirrely little thing of you, holding as tight as it could onto a portion of your saddle "I do not think his conditioning will stand up to the punishment, regardless of his pride. And you and your revenant companion cannot expend your magics so continually."
"Pride is a dragon's strength as much as a weakness;" you responded quietly "It'll drive him on as long as necessary… and we'll carry him forward the rest of it."
"But your magic-"
"Will prove sufficient come the time, fret not. Truth be told, I am more concerned for your kin than mine. The Children have never ventured so far north, have they?"
The Child hesitated, it's cat-like eyes flickering and widening as it tried not to look past the great draconic wings of its burden-bearer to the unending skies beneath.
"… Only on occasion, I must confess. Our hollow hills once ringed around Haunted Forest, but the Others understood our travels better than we did theirs and the hills fell one by one. Beyond the Forest, the ground beneath is more ice than earth, and has long been filled a plenty with their creatures."
"Their wights, you mean?
"Among other creatures. There are great worms that linger beneath their lands."
"Wyrms you say? Like those of Valyria"
"Worms, oh human king. Not Wyrms. Blind, limbless, writhing cannibals of dizzying sizes, one and all scions of an older age."
You nod slowly to that.
"Are they hierarchical, these beasts?"
"They are worms, human." Retorted the Child "Beyond obedience to and fear of their feeders, they have no identity or social structure that we have discerned. At best, they gather in small groups so as to better prey on others of their like."
"Hm. I don't suppose you have strategies on fighting them?"
"Typically? We used lures to bring them to friendlier territory, where we could entrap them and starve them. But the lands we fly above now were historically too barren for such tactics."
"Historically?"
"Your battle in the Thenns has wreaked havoc on the natural order, enough so that their heartlands will have been badly disturbed. Enough that we might bring our stronger magics to bear. It will be interesting, to say the least. The ecological reverberations from your magics will linger for a while."
"... Mm. Dare I ask if your magics have anything to do with why your kin stayed in the Haunted Forest?"
The Child smiled broadly, its teeth shining in the murky light.
"The Others have their army Jon Stormcrown, so it is only fitting we bring one of our own."
"Oh?"
"Tell me: Have you ever wondered why your heart trees bear faces?"
"I imagine I'll soon find out. Your brethren will not be tardy?"
"We can be a quick people, when the need arises. And there is no greater need than now."
"Hm," you mull with a slow nod "Arlan? You have the go ahead."
With a grunt, your elder shifts his weight and slides off Valonqar's back into the cloudy skies beneath.
----
At a distance unseeable by mortal eyes, a black speck began it's descent to the icy ground. The skies themselves seemed to part with a blinding speed as it fell, clouds parting as it came despite their thickness and reach. As the speck neared ever closer to it's terran destination, further detailing began to be realized.
Blackened spiky armour, once the possession of an Ironborn king and sorcerer. It's colouring was of a pure ebony, seemingly of metal yet not. Around said armour faint flickers of flame and light seemed to dance, so white and wispy as if to be of the clouds. And yet they seemed purer, cleaner certainly than that to which it aspired, which seemed almost entirely darkened and greyed…. All before it collided onto the surface of the world, cracking it as it sunk straight through into the hardened snow and ice beneath.
A breath passes, then another.
Then the broken surface of the earth collapsed into itself, rumbling with such loudness as to deafen any living soul who might have stood witness. Both inwards and outwards the earth fell, great slabs of ice bursting forth only to melt away into water, then vaporize into steam. The world seemed to buckle and crackle with every passing moment, forming into being a great cauldron of a crater. At the cauldron's bottom stewed the charred ashes of a quarter of a million corpses, quickly turning to sludge as the lingering steam hung low.
"Thus my Speech is spent," grumbled Arlan Stormcrown to himself as he raised up a foot in distaste "For the sake of chaff and chattel, no less. I might have preferred facing them on the surface, Zeymah."
He sighed slightly at the sight of his soles, before shrugging once as he turned to walk to the nearer edge of the crater. As he crossed he sunk deeper into the sludge, his feet splattering it about. Soon his crossing began to slow, almost imperceptibly at first before growing more and more difficult. The sludge seemed to solidify with every step he took, working to hold him in place and pull him down.
As he looked up from his frustrations, it had seemed that five of the Others surrounded him, of the ones he and the boy had taken to calling "knights" for their more complex armours and sterner bearings. The five quietly began to spread around him in a circle, each slowly drawing closer as icy blades began to crystalize in their hands.
"Trespasser..." said the one directly before him, it's voice drawing out the word to a scratchy halt.
"Yes?"
"Unwelcome…" the Other spoke, an uncertain pain upon it's fair face as it struggled to speak.
"Your people trouble my brother's lands, demon. What you desire therefore is irrelevant."
"Demon…" the creature repeated, the word crawling out by the syllable "Demon…"
His fellows took up the word, their speech echoing it all around the crater.
"Demon…"
"Demon…"
"Demon…"
Arlan smiled.
"I've been called worse."
FUS RO DAH
And suddenly the Other that had stood before him flew backwards into the air, his form tumbling against the edge of the crater then fracturing, as if a great force had ground it underfoot.
As it passed however it's comrades struck, each launching it's own sword-strike.
Arlan turned and weaved, earning little more than nicks for their trouble. His right arm caught one of the Four as he moved, and he pulled him close enough to see the inhuman crystal blue of his eyes before his left arm punched through the creature's chest. He reached in and grasped, feeling for any sort of familiarity in it's innards. An organ pulsed as he grazed it with his thumb, and his hand twisted about and tore it forth.
For a moment, he beheld a yellowish heart in his grasp, one pumping milk-pale blood into the open air as all the while it's former owner collapsed to the disturbed grounds. The creature's face seemed locked in shock as more of the milk-water blood bled out onto the rough terrain, blood that soon enough turned to hoarfrost upon the rocks.
"So you can bleed," noted the former student of Hermaeus Mora "How very interesting-"
His musing cut away into an half-strangled grunt of pain as an ice-blade slammed outwards through the back of his belly, even as another cut into his helm. Hoarfrost began to spread from both open wounds across his form, and even from within he could feel an unearthly chill work to chain his spirit.
"Dead…"
"Yes," growled the revenant's from within the pierced armour "You are."
Dumping the quickly rotting heart to the ground, he reached to his helm to grab the lodged sword-blade. Grasping about its middle he clenched and shattered, breaking the blade from it's now stubby hilt. With his other arm he worked it out from the back of his head, slowly drawing it out even as the frosts began to thicken upon him.
Tossing it to the side, he slammed his forearm down the front of his chest, breaking the second blade as well. This time however the Other draw his blade out quicker, and saw to reworking it even as he and his fellow pulled away. The third of them charged forward, his speed almost impossible as he danced between his brothers and aimed high for a decapitating blow-
Only for Arlan to catch his blade in one hand, and his throat in the other. His crimson eyes matched the creature's own, and the Other shuddered wordlessly as he gored it with his spiked helm. The now familiar milkwater blood poured freely from it's ruined eyes, and it's resulting scream seemed like nothing so much as a fierce winter wind to the once Nord. Tearing away the sword from his grasp entirely, he took it up with both hands and decapitated it's master.
Only two were left now, and both of them kept their distance as Arlan absently looked over the quickly withering corpse at his feet.
"Winter's beauty ought to be less fleeting," mulled the revenant as he tested the weight of the ice-blade in his hand "Less impermanent."
Arlan looked up at his enemies, fixing his gaze firmly upon them both. As he stared them down he took the ice-blade in both hands and shattered it upon his knee. The crystalline weapon exploded into a fine powder, small flecks of spectrum colouring floating in the sky.
"Come then," he said coldly to his prey "Try and delay the end of your existence."
----
As the world beneath turned upon itself, the young dragon in the sky began it's own descent. Gracefully sinking closer and closer to the earth, it found itself gliding straight into a slowly expanding fog.
"Valonqar!" it heard it's older brother speak "Are you still of a mind to go on alone?"
The dragon snorted, before rolling over to present its belly to the sky. As it did so, it's two remaining passengers slid off, the smaller squirrel-like being latching tightly onto his brother for fear of the heights.
What a silly creature, the dragon thought as it righted itself again and passed into the fogs. It should have stayed with its siblings, rather than dare to climb so high to the sun. Dare to deign to sit upon his back. Were it not for his flightless brothers, Valonqar would have taken offense. But he understood better now the uniqueness of himself, and so took less offense as the unfortunate persons who could not feel the high winds without his succour-
The dragon's reverie cut short as an icy spear grazed his shoulder and flew past. He roared in outrage, before breathing forth a lance of fire that cut downwards through the mist and incinerated a giant moving too slowly. Closing his wings, he crashed down upon the burning titan and tore it's head clear off with his jaws. Mauling it roughly; he threw it to the side as the corpse collapsed backwards, before shifting in place and unleashing a semi-circle of crimson-orange flames all about him.
The fogs cleared away with the heat, and as they did Valonqar sighted yet more giants in the distance, joined in large numbers of Wights at their feets. He roared again in challenge and rushed forth, his last steps the base for a short glide as he fell upon his chosen targets. Two ice spears struck him and shattered rather than pierce, and another wave of crimson-orange was paid in kind, burning the multitudes of undead that had gathered around him.
The giants made to close, but Valonqar's claws proved sharper and stronger and their undoing was swift. One was rent from shoulder to hip while the other found his bulging belly of rotting innards torn open, before his draconic foe saw him off with a bite around the neck that crushed it completely.
Spitting out the rotten flesh and diving his maw into the plentiful snow, the dragon gargled as best he could before expelling fire once more, boiling the taste clear away. As he looked again for more enemies, he found more Wights rushing up before him.
Less than insects, Valonqar thought as he took flight again for a better vantage point, but at least insect meat wasn't rotten.
----
The Child's shrill chittering rang in your ears as you fell from the skies, though quickly muffled by the copious amounts of snow you dropped into. Standing up awkwardly, you catch yourself from growling at the Child as it climbs up your frame to sit atop your shoulders.
"It is cold," it said as if to excuse it's uncomfortable nesting on your head "And you three will make enough a mess of this place that I would soon be quite useless. Better to stick with one of you, and well-"
"You didn't care for Valonqar?" you said teasingly.
"… Not so much, no. I've never been one for flight."
"Mm. Well, as long as you're not a distraction."
"I will be useful. Though you may have to carry my body should I manage to warg into one of the worms."
"Into the worms?"
"Communal wisdom believes it impossible, but you seem to have a knack of making dreams a reality. It would not be a long term skin, but to wear one would be lengthen my name."
"Lengthen your name?" you asked slowly as you drew out Blackfyre from its sheath "I haven't heard that one before."
The Child chittered in amusement.
"Our names are like roots, human: They lengthen with the passing of time, by merit of things done and seen. The longer one's own name is, the more esteemed their thoughts. Currently mine would require a minute of your speech to fully translate."
"I suppose Arlan could relate," you mull a little casually as you begin to trudge through the relatively soft snow "Given the Dovah names seem to reflect their person-"
Suddenly you were sent hurtling back into the air as a great pale worm erupted from the snow beneath you, a great aching screech emanating from its teeth-brimming maw. You roll away and to your feet as the creature snaps at you only to taste snow, Blackfyre tight in your grip as you stare down the eyeless creature.
"As the expert here, any plans?"
"It exudes a viscous liquid to ease its passage beneath the rocks," chittered the Child into your right ear "Thus, it cares little for flames."
You feel it ruffle through a leathery rucksack on it's back, before looking up to see it throw a small scattering of wrinkled seeds over your head. They fly in the direction of the limbless monster before you, bursting into blue fires as they slam into its bulk and burning holes into it's body.
The creature screams, and as it does you charge in with Blackfyre in both hands. It writhes above you and around you, taking nicks even as it tries to pull away. Every cut you make quickly chars it's immediate surrounding flesh, the kiss of your Valyrian steel sword too much for it. As you do this, your squirelly partner works in tandem with you, throwing more of it's mysterious projectiles with an unerring aim that seems impossible, laying blisters and scars with every throw that only serve to make the creature more monstrous.
"Quickly before it flees," chittered the Child "Your Speech-"
YOL TOOR SHUL
And the creature erupts in a great blazing inferno, it's entire form catching alight and quickly blackening from the flames. It writhes wordlessly across the open snows, seeking an impossible relief from your attack.
It finds none, and dies a blackened, charred, shrunken corpse.
"One down!" cheered the otherwordly being perched atop your head with a fist pump "Only dozens more to go!"
The earth began to rumble beneath your feet.
"...Great," you mutter as you take up Blackfyre again with both hands "Just great."
----
GM Note: Had pnuemonia, was hospitalized, still recovering. Remainder of final update and epilogue currently under review. Sincerely sorry for delays.
Last edited:
The Magician
Yeet
- Location
- The Basement
Don't be sorry. It happens all the time. Trust me.
No, thank you for writing.
- Location
- Tel'aran'rhiod
Well it's good to see you yet live
Chojomeka
Behold! QUEEN MONKE!
Recovery is more important than we are Droman, remember that.
Tassadar
The Overlord of Cakes & Toucans!
Your health is more important than this story.
Those it still a good story, happy to see this quest make it to the end.
SnorlaxMotive
Fear the Lax! Praise the Snor!
- Location
- Narnia, down the tree from Bag's End
Don't be sorry for things outside your control. Your life matters more than a quest.
