Eh, we could always rotate out Maelor after a few months. Give him a week off now and then as him going on a business trip to get goods for the store. Just have to have either Mselor or Malarys there at any one time afterall. Like shore leave.
Shouldn't be any more than four months, I think.Eeeeh, 5 to 6 months more in that hellhole before Djinn/Shaitan make their move doesn't really sound nice, and it'll likely mean increasing pressure on him as time will go on.
But sure, whatever.
Like I said, it's not like we have a choice on whom to send there, objectively.
At least he has least problem keeping his morals to himself in that place, unlike many other Companions who otherwize would be fine social-stats-wise.
And what were the specifications of our mission there, again..?
We finish politicking bullshit, we hold a council on the matter of Hellven with our Governors and Companions, we have reports from scholarum (mages), inquisition (Maenads and Drunken God's faith), and other strategic stuff - and we are basically done.
While I'm writing an omake idea popped into my head. ASWAH Bronn landing in canon ASOIAF, but not alone, that would just make him sell his skills to the highest bidder now with magic, no he lands in canon with Sarel, ancient spirit of vengeance still sworn to House Targaryen. She means to keep that oath, so you would get a mercenary/paladin dynamic... only in this case they are both evil.
Made a few edits to the chapter, @DragonParadox.A Tale of Apples and Peculiar Happenings
Thirty-First Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC
The road winding from the village up to Farring Keep was built with an eye more for defense than a traveler's comfort, making it a longer way than one might think just looking up at the looming black marble towers. And so you find Ser Godry still riding his graceful courser at a determined canter along it. As the horse tosses its head at passing an apple cart, silvered steel inlaid with niello sparkles in the morning sun. The knight draws his reigns expertly and calls out to the driver for the cost of his fruit, passing a few coppers for a treat.
"At least he is kind to his horse," you note quietly to Ser Aegalon. "Of course, one could say the same for the Dothraki riders and most of them are not the most sensible of people."
The elder knight's lips twitch into an almost unwilling smile. "'Twould be an interesting spectacle to hear the boy answer to that, though probably best not to say so on a public road."
Before he can answer Ser Godry catches sight of the two of you on the side of the road, impossibly ahead of him, his eyes widen in shock as he asks a little too loudly: "How did you get here?"
"Magic," you whisper upon a spell-forged wind even as Ser Aegalon opens his mouth to tell off the young man. Thankfully, he has the good sense to follow you off the road rather than keep asking questions where any passing traveler might hear.
Thus on the slopes of a wooded hill some half a league away, likely left so to collect firewood, you gather your companions and new found allies to plan your next step. Alas, once you had gotten past the younger knight's surprise at your identity things grow a good bit graver.
***
There was, as you soon discover, a very good reason a loaded apple cart was traveling down the road from the keep. Rumor in the village has it that Lord Goddar has grown ever more peculiar about his food and drink in recent days, convinced that someone is plotting his death from afar as they did Jon Arryn's. As a result, food is ordered in quantities too large to be poisoned and then picked out by trusted servants, and that is not the half of the strange news filtering down from the keep. Not only did Lord Goddar banish his former maester, but he also burned the man's entire collection of healing herbs giving rise to a cloud of strangely scented smoke that had lingered for hours afterwards.
Yet surprisingly, no one is willing to even hint that their lord may have taken leave of his senses, not from fear, but loyalty. It seems the Plum Knight, so named for the color of his banner, is quite well known for being not only fair with his taxes and quick to have his knights deal with brigands, but generous in lean years and not too greedy in prosperous ones. Thus the people here are far more likely to believe that the maester was treacherous, even if no two stories seem to agree on how. Some say he stole coin from the lord's treasury, others that he failed in training young Bryen, the heir apparent, there is even one rumor that the banished maester was practicing 'foul sorcery', though you are glad to hear it described in terms you recognize from the Imperial Times and not just left to stand for all magic.
"I beg pardon Your... er, milord," Ser Godry corrects himself quickly. "But I don't see the point in listening to smallfolk gossip. It's clear they don't know anything."
"The fact that whatever is happening with their lord is not harming them is itself a useful thing to know," your mother corrects. "Cruelty is most often first felt by those with no recourse against it."
The young knight blinks at her, not following in the slightest, but not wanting to let on. The other two Crownlanders look on grimly, knowing all too well what experience she speaks from.
For your part, you do not correct him that most of the gossip was gathered by magic, from the fickle wind and the memories of stone. Among those memories, one had stood out in particular, a stablehand who claimed to have briefly seen Lady Farring with the now banished maester around the stables, late at night the day before he was banished. Sadly, he had not been able to hear much of what they were saying save that the lady had clearly been upset, leaving the witness with nothing but the trite suspicion of an affair that a simple divination had already ruled out.
What do you do next?
[] Speak to Lord Goddar Farring directly, disinclined as he might be to accept guests you can get to him, by charm or stealth
-[] Write in
[] Speak to Lady Farring, she might have some answers about both the odd conversation and her husband's behavior
-[] Write in
[] Find the maester, distance is no barrier to you
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: I hope this flows well, I did not want to do too many scenes of the knights reacting to Viserys' magic, Rhaella's resurrection, etc... since those can get repetitive so I glossed over them.
We have several hundred of the Lesser Ravens and 32 of the Elemental Wyrmlings. I'm planning to build more, but we've had more pressing concerns lately.So how long do we have till the next turn vote anyway? Wanna see the rolls for new Mage assets and see how many more crafters and Alchemical Factories we will get to play with.
Are we not making any Three eyed ravens or Elemental Wyrms anymore? You'd think the Lesser Ravens would be stuff artificer livel 3s and 4s would start out making.
"Of course, one could say the same for the Dothraki riders and most of them are not the most sensible of people."
Interestingly, one of the clearest paths to success for Daenerys in Mereen was becoming Lawful Evil. Assuming she could guard herself from poisoning (which definitely is possible for her considering her position and the drastic measures she can take) a sufficiently Evil and ruthless Daenerys could do well.I was imagining them in Mereen, or earlier when the dragons hatched.
Basically, don't half ass you methods. If you use the beatstick keep using it when it's necessary even if distasteful, and if you plan to talk it out make sure you can actually talk them out.And sanity. The right balance of Lawful to Evil actually requires some sort of code of ethics that keeps you from veering up into straight up Chaotic mess of instability. Dany was never one to possess the mental fortitude to make the hard decisions for the right reasons, more that she keeps making the wrong decisions for what she perceives to be the "right reasons". She's basically delusional, in order to make her dream come true and put an end to slavery she doesn't want to accept that the world needs to slot into certain behaviors and that they need to be forced into them in the first place, and that if she is willing to apply force to get her foot in the door, because she used force, she needed to be ready to apply it again whenever people relapsed.
That's the problem about using force to implement societal changes, you are pretty much there to act as the stick from then onwards, supplying the carrots when people do what you want. If you wanted to stop having to resort to force to keep the wheels spinning, you should have talked it out.
And yes, it wouldn't have been fast or easy "talking it out", that would have implied a long-term strategy to gather the resources to put you in a position where you could apply your force strategically and only when necessary, "talking softly and carrying the biggest stick" if you will, a strategy that only works when you are already an entrenched power who can project force from the safety and comfort of a location that your enemies can't attack meaningfully.
Edit: Basically yes, I'm implying hur dur she should have just gone to Westeros as soon as it was possible, THEN come back after securing her banners' loyalty, perhaps even with a "glorious war against enemies we can all agree we hate". She could have been Aegon the Conqueror reborn if she had just been a little more patient.
I was looking for your vote so I could follow suit, but when I needed you most, you vanished.@TalonofAnathrax @Nickan @spiritualatheist I'm highly disappointed in you for not voting for casting a gigantic acidic shadow on a goblin town.
And then she can take things even further : what exactly is stopping her from torching any cities that sends armies against her?
Nothing, that's what. Nothing except her morals...
She lucked out on her bloodline then .