Great Lords' Greeting
Fifteenth Day of the Eighth Month 294 AC
When last there was cause for celebration in Sorcerer's Deep, many came furtively and by stealth, be it by galley or by the winds of magic, eager to avoid the eye of the Stag King still looking blearily east from atop his throne of iron. Now the manner of one's arrival said far more for status than ever it had done for secrecy. Did one merit a Pegasus gravjammer, arching graceful as its namesake through the sky? Had one's coffers been deep enough to simply buy a spell of teleportation and a mage to carefully sound out the incantation, which in most cases was still beyond their ken? Or best of all, had one been escorted by one of the Companions aligned with by kinship or alliance.
All in all, as shows of precedence and prestige go, it made quite an interesting one, particularly the parts which were unscripted. For instance, as a ducal family in their own rights, the Freys are more then welcome to a diplomatic transport and you would not have said no if the new lord of the Twins had asked for something more magical and grandiose, within reason at least. Your own days of ferrying lords to the Deep to show them the sights are thankfully over and you do not miss them in the least.
Duke Stevron Frey chose none of them. Instead, he availed himself of the services of his kinswoman Walda, already called by some the Fair, and he made of her presence in the capital long before your coronation something of a show, gratifying to the girl's pride of course, but more importantly a subtle reminder that House Frey's loyalty to the new order is rooted in far more than 'old Walder wanting to get it up again' as unkind voices mutter with a whiff of sour grapes.
Roose Bolten by contrast comes by air and lets his political statement show in the manner of his guard. There is always a black knight near to his side, a pledge for where he wishes to take the North made manifest in steel and unliving flesh. The dead will toil, in mines and on roads, in all those dull and painful tasks for which the backs of men have so long been bent.
"Just you wait, they'll call him a champion of the smallfolk in no time," Waymar snorts as he watches the Bolton banner wave by, somehow more stark and cruel against the pure blue sky.
"Why shouldn't they?" you ask. "He
does genuinely want to spare them a great deal of pain and labor in favor of more complex and fulfilling craft. That is worth a good bit more than smiles in the mirror."
"I know," Waymar replies. "It is just weird to think of him as one of the most... What are they calling it now? One of the more forward-looking dukes. I mean, you have to admit his House does not have a reputation for the milk of human kindness..."
You give him a droll look. "Have you met Zherys? Perhaps I should introduce you so he can regale you with how he violently purged the reactionary elements of his own city that he might lead it into a new era of prosperity and glory, and, not incidentally, his own. In fact, I am pretty sure there is a mirror around there that could make that point even better."
Before you have the chance to motion with your cloak for the scrying mirror you keep there in order to show something closer to home, your friend laughs and waves the matter off. "Ow... I give, I give. No need to skewer me with the point, Your Majesty. Say, did you know little Brienne might be participating in the tourney. It is still strange to think of her as not just blessed by the Warrior, but his Chosen." At your raised eyebrow, he adds, "Oh nothing to do with her being a girl, it's just I can see the blessings on her and they are not that strong are they?"
"She has yet to grow into them," you note.
The matter of how she had come by those blessing, the last in a long line, hangs unspoken between you before Waymar speaks again. "Even as light as those blessings still hang, they do raise something of an issue on the tourney-ground. How much magic is acceptable? I mean some of it is mortared into the souls of the knights and woud be hard to suppress while others are bought with coin and easily taken away. Yet is it fair to say the former is more earned than the latter? That would imply there is something wrong with trying to use magic to your advantage, which I do not think is the message we are trying to get across is it?"
"It is not," you agree. "Yet a free for all presents its own issues. It may engender resentment from those less wealthy and able to buy such sorceries."
"If you just say no magic for anyone it would at least be an even playing field, but it would not be easy to manage on a practical level. You are going to need a hell of an arcane eye and hand on the proceedings."
How do you decide on magic on non-magical events?
[] No magic is allowed
[] Intrinsic blessings only
[] Intrinsic blessings and self cast spells only
[] All magic is allowed
OOC: I am still considering how much of the various events to show, thoughts on that as well would be welcome. Not yet edited.
