[X] [Royce] Write-in (Subject to QM Approval) Agree to write Jeyne, but only to ask what she plans to do with Eldric. In the letter to Jeyne, mention that Eldric is her closest present relation and that you are not worried about him inheriting, provided he is raised right, but that you would be equally unopposed to him being raised to be sent to the Citadel, as long as the matter is sorted.
[X] [Feast] Talk to
-[X] Alicent Hightower
-[X] Isembard Arryn
Adhoc vote count started by Teen Spirit on Dec 12, 2024 at 12:51 PM, finished with 70 posts and 48 votes.
[X] [Royce] Write-in (Subject to QM Approval) Agree to write Jeyne, but only to ask what she plans to do with Eldric. In the letter to Jeyne, mention that Eldric is her closest present relation and that you are not worried about him inheriting, provided he is raised right, but that you would be equally unopposed to him being raised to be sent to the Citadel, as long as the matter is sorted.
[X] [Royce] Decline, Write to Jeyne and suggest having Eldric sent to the Citadel or some other means of removing him from succession when he comes of age.
[x] [Royce] send a letter about your talk with Royce, to Jeyne. Say that the success of the vale is her right and that we will support her, but half joke about your future children and their supposed technical line of succession, out of curiosity?
Same reason we dueled the Water Dancer, which seems to have been a good choice, haven't seen Nyra get demolished like that since we dueled Criston and Raylon over which would be our sworn shield
Thank you for mentioning that. Some of the conversation did come across like people where thinking the progress ended at White Harbor. And don't get me wrong, if you want to do things earlier do them, be bold if you want.
[X] [Royce] Write-in (Subject to QM Approval) Agree to write Jeyne, but only to ask what she plans to do with Eldric. In the letter to Jeyne, mention that Eldric is her closest present relation and that you are not worried about him inheriting, provided he is raised right, but that you would be equally unopposed to him being raised to be sent to the Citadel, as long as the matter is sorted.
[X] [Royce] Decline, Write to Jeyne and suggest having Eldric sent to the Citadel or some other means of removing him from succession when he comes of age.
[x] [Royce] send a letter about your talk with Royce, to Jeyne. Say that the success of the vale is her right and that we will support her, but half joke about your future children and their supposed technical line of succession, out of curiosity?
You agreed to write to Jeyne but remained non-committal on what exactly you were going to say. This was enough to at least appease Lord Royce and give his leave.
In truth you were barely certain yourself what you were going to write. You were not the most deft with words and while Jeyne was an ally, you didn't want to offend her and seem to be presuming too much. Eventually you decide to simply inquire as to what Jeyne intended to with Eldric. He was after all her closest relation at this point. You made it clear you think he would make a good heir given the right education, but also mention the merits of simply sending him off to the Citadel. You tried your best to avoid pushing for one option or another but instead to impress the idea that something had to be done with Eldric one way or another.
Hopefully Jeyne would understand this was just concern for an ally, a friend, and not the dictates of a princess to a vassal.
With the letter given to a Raven and sent to the Eyrie, you could be content that for the time being, your involvement in the Vale's political affairs was at an end.
Jenye's Reaction Will Be Revealed Next Turn
You realized the Gulltown Arryn's heir being at the feast provided you a chance that you had missed out on earlier. If nothing else you were curious, what could a scion of a minor branch of the Arryn family want with you? You expected a marriage offer but even he had to realize that was an unlikely prospect.
Isembard Arryn was sitting fairly far away from Lord Grafton's table, though still within your line of sight. You noticed him early as he arrived. He looked about Jeyne's age, perhaps a bit older, with red hair he cut short. His attire was largely light blue and trimmed with gold, he even had a half cloak held with a golden pin in the shape of the Arryn falcon.
When you made your excuses to Lord Grafton and stood up, Isembard had been surrounded by numerous men dressed in Pentosi attire, some of them even having dyed beards and the like. By the time you arrived near Isembard's seat, almost all of them had left or were taking their leave.
"Ahh, Princess Rhaenyra," Isembard said cheerfully as you approached, raising a cup of smokeberry wine in greeting, "I am honored by your presence, come, sit if you please."
"I believe I owe you an apology, ser" you sat down as Isembard finished off a poached fish and pushed what was left of his meal to his side, "I know you wanted to speak with me earlier but I was detained on other matters."
"I understand entirely," Isembard nodded, "affairs of the realm have kept you rather busy, princess. I am honored you even made time to speak to me now."
"So, what did you wish to discuss, Ser Isembard?" You asked neutrally, prepared for the man to try and win you over some farcical marriage proposal or a less than subtle effort to get you to push Jeyne to make him heir.
"I admit my affairs will likely seem dreadfully boring compared to cousin Arnold's grand act of stupidity," Isembard wore a bemused smile as he spoke, "but there is a matter of coin I think you and I may find some common ground on."
"A matter of coin?" Now that was rather curious indeed. Outside of Lord Beesbury, your tutors, and rarely your father, people generally didn't talk about matters of coin with you. Beyond troubles in the Stepstones, trade was good, the realm was prosperous and the royal treasury was quite well off.
"King's landing has a problem, not the King, nor the Small Council though," he explained through the clatter of dishes and drunken stories being told around the two of you, "The city itself has a problem, its trade is in a stranglehold."
"That's news to me," you raised an eyebrow, "From what I've seen of the small council, besides the impact the war in the Stepstones has had, Trade is fine."
"One can be in a stranglehold and still breath," Isembard replied, "until the hand at your throat begins to squeeze."
"And who's hand is at King's Landing throat?" Your voice a mix of bemusement and curiosity.
"The Sea Snake's of course," Isembard remarked casually, "Are you aware that since Lord Corlys built up Spicetown and Hull, Driftmark has controlled the vast majority of King's Landing's trade."
"That doesn't sound right," you remarked, recalling the few times you've been to the docks, you've seen goods from all over Essos being bought and sold.
"Gulltown does trade across Westeros and with Braavos and Pentos, were it not for the Three Daughters, we would be getting ships from Volantis," he explained as he idly spun around his fork in his hand, "White Harbor would tell you much the same, As would Lannisport, maybe, I don't deal much with Lannisters truth be told. Regardless, the same is not true for King's Landing. See most of the ships that would have gone to King's Landing and Duskendale. Because the ships that would have come in from Pentos or Volantis or Lannisports first go to Driftmark and dock in Spicetown. Then Driftmark sends its ships filled with those goods to King's Landing."
"But the goods still get to King's Landing," you argued.
"Yes but this means the majority of ships coming in and out of King's landing fly the Sea Snakes flag or get the majority of their coin from Velayron sources in one way or another," Isembard's words were calm but distinctly energetic all the same, "For now things are fine because the Sea Snake doesn't want to risk anyone realizing how favorable the situation has become for him. Duskendale complains sure but who really cares about them.But the hand is still there, holding all of Blackwater Bay in its grip. And what happens when the Sea Snake dies and his heirs take over, will they be as careful on trade as he is?"
You could see some of his points, and it was rather frightening how much power Lord Corlys had. He had a fortune in trade, three dragons in his family, and was at this moment aiding your uncle's war of conquest without any help from the Iron Throne.
"So where do you come into this?" You asked flatly. It was clear the man wasn't just voicing concerns about Driftmark's trade dominance, he wanted something out of this conversation.
"Simple, I wish to expand my family's operation into King's Landing, give Driftmark some real competition," Isembard explained, "The Sea Snake may bring goods from Slaver's Bay but the magisters of Pentos have known my family for generations, I could easily undercut House Velyaron when it comes to trade with northern Essos"
There are a number of captains in my employment and guilds that I act as patron for, mainly silver smiths and fine leather workers," he explained with eager confidence, "If you could write a letter to your father, asking for my ships to have docking rights in King's Landing and guilds to have permission to establish themselves in King's Landing that should be enough to get his approval, particularly with the Sea Snake far away from the Small Council chambers. I would split the profits my ships make with you of course, along with giving you equal control over the guilds, seems only fair."
"Why?" you asked, more bluntly this time, "I'm no Master of Coins but this seems all like a big risk, you're challenging a man who basically built his house into a rival of any of the great houses. It seems like your plans could easily fail."
"True, " Isembard shrugged dismissively, "But family is so entrenched here in Gulltown it hardly matters, we could hire an army of sellswords and clad them all in gold armor if we wanted."
"So why bother?" you were struggling to see what Isembard's game in this was, "why bother with a venture that won't matter all that much to your family win or lose?"
"The coins is not what I'm after here," Isembard's tone was still casual but there was a spark in his eyes now, "My family makes more coins then our cousins in the Eyrie do, then any house in the Vale for that matter. But because we measure our power in gold dragons and ships instead of land and sheep, we will never be more than a Cadet Branch here. The only way I could change that is with that gold army I was talking about. But in King's Landing, with the Princess of Dragonstone as an ally, things could be very different."
"So it's power you're after," you realized, "And you think I'm the best way to achieve it"
"Well, yes," you had to admit you didn't think he would be quite so blunt, "a normal prince wouldn't give me the time of day, they wouldn't need to in truth, but you have a better understanding of what I'm going through, of being powerful but getting the respect you deserve because the lords don't like how your power looks."
That was an interesting comparison, you weren't sure you entirely agreed with it, but neither did you disagree with it either. You'd seen plenty of examples of Gulltown Arryn wealth since you arrived, and Royce had all but dismissed them and other distant Arryns for having merchant's daughters for mothers instead of proper ladies.
"Think about it," he said pointedly, "When you one day ascend the throne, who do you want at your side that day? Lords from ancient and will respect families who's castles have stood since before the Andals arrived, Lords who don't respect and think they can rule in your name simply because you're a woman? Or someone who's been a trusted ally of yours for years, who knows they were only able to build their power with your support?"
Having more allies in King's Landing itself would be good, but Isembard's plans hinged on his success in King's Landing, if he failed he wouldn't be very much use to you as an ally but then again you would lose little from the whole affair if that happened. It was clear the man was nakedly ambitious, he wanted power and simply decided you were the best way for him to achieve some sort of power. No doubt when you became Queen he would expect to become Master of Coin. A man like that could be useful, or more trouble than he's worth depending on just how ambitious they were.
And there was the Question of how Lord Corlys would react, Isembard did want to challenge him in matters of trade. Not a direct insult by any means, and one that likely would not be noticed for some time, but you knew first hand how overly proud and presumptuous of his position the Sea Snake was.
Do You Accept Isembard's Offer?
[] Agree to the deal.
[] Decline
[] Write-in (Subject to QM's Approval)
After your conversation with Isembard you made your way over to your darling lady, Alicent Hightower. She was dining with her brother, the table largely empty save for the two of them. At your arrival, Gwayne made some excuses about wanting to speak with some Waynwood knight and took his leave.
"So how did the conversation with Isembard Arryn go?" Alicent asked as she stirred her food, "did he think you could make him heir?"
Someone had clearly been paying attention.
"No, nothing of the sort," you remarked, "just matters of coin."
Alicent nodded.
You found yourself messing with one of your rings for a moment, there's something you've been wanting to say to Alicent for a while now but you've struggled to find the right time. A quick glance revealed that no one was giving you very much attention at this point. Six rounds of food and a lot of wine would do that to anyone.
Well, perhaps now was the best, last chance you had to say something.
"I've been meaning to thank you," you said softly, "For your support at the Eyrie, I was rather doubting myself after....after all that happened, your words helped me a lot at a very bad moment."
"I admit, what you did wasn't proper," Alicent's expression twisted with uncertainty, "But the way that man spoke to you, to Lady Jeyne, and how those people, those lords and knights behaved, I just couldn't" she was all but spitting her words at that point, her hands balling into fists.
"Can we talk somewhere privately?" she breathed, "I will not make a scene in front of all these people."
"Of course," you nodded, "Met me in the Grafton's guest chambers.
Alicent sighed, "I'll tell Lord Grafton that you have tired from today's events and will be retiring early, with apologies of course."
You made your excuses and left, retiring to the bedroom Lord Grafton had gifted you for your visit. The room was richly decorated to the point of feeling overstuffed. Filled with so many couches and chairs, statues and tapestries from all across Essos, that it honestly lost real meaning. It was hard to be impressed with a model of the Titan of Braavos when right next to it was a fainting couch carved out of ironwood and decorated with rich purple fabric.
Alicent arrived shortly after you did.
"All my life, all my life, I have been told the importance of duty!" She began the moment the door was closed, her anger catching you off guard, "Obey your father, obey your lord, obey the king, obey the gods. It's what is expected of all of us. Duty and sacrifice. We are not beasts who can do whatever they want."
You listened, nodding in agreement.
"I've lived up to that my entire life, and you," she looked at you hesitantly, "what you do is different but you still take duty seriously, that's why you were there in the first place. Ser Arnold Arryn made mockery of his duties as a knight and a cousin, spat on every oath he ever swore, committed vile treason and insulted you and the king! And yet I stood there and watched as many lords, men who call themselves honorable, agreed with his deluded fantasies and vile insults."
She was all but shaking as she paced around the room.
"He had no right to speak to his rightful liege and you in such a manner," she declared angrily, "He debased himself and acted like some common bigrand but instead of shunning him as any proper lord should, many of them all but cheered him on as vile filth spewed from his lips and he made mockery of the King's justice!"
You grabbed Alicent's arm gently, in part to temper her anger, but largely because she was beginning to pick at your fingers and you worried she would draw blood before she even realized what she was doing.
She looked at you for a moment, half surprised by the gesture, half embarrassed.
"There are rules for all of us," Alicent said, her voice a bit calmer now, "you can't just break them and expect to be rewarded. Jeyne was his liege by every law in Westeros and he had sworn oaths to that effect. Yet he acted like he had been the wounded party, that it was his rights that had somehow been dishonored. And so many just stood there, agreeing with him."
"Men like him are all too common in my experience," you said wearily, "I mean you've seen my uncle."
There was a lot about Ser Arnold that reminded you of Daemon, the overconfidence, casually throwing out insults without fear, breaking the rules with the expectation that things would just work out for them. Hopefully your uncle wouldn't try something similar to Ser Arnold. The man was little loved in the Red Keep but that didn't mean he wouldn't have supporters.
"I always believed your uncle was an annoying exception, he got away with it because he was the King's brother and he had a dragon," Alicent explained, "But no, now I see men like Daemon Targaryen are all too common."
"Ouch," you couldn't help but smirk, "That's probably the biggest insult someone has thrown at Daemon in a long while."
Alicent laughed weakly in agreement.
"I can't help but wonder what does it all matter, if men can just set aside their duty and honor and still be rewarded for it. What's the point?" Alicent questioned.
"I mean he didn't, he's dead," you pointed out, "I made sure of that."
"True enough, but if you hadn't been there," she began to wonder, "If you hadn't stepped in and settled things, would he have risen again in time?"
"I don't know," you admitted, "Jeyne wanted to keep in the Sky Cells but it's possible someone could have freed him."
Alicent took a seat on the couch, still looking tired and weary but far less angry then she had been.
"I do think that it should have been Ser Raylon who handled the trial by combat," Alicent confessed, "But it is not a mistake worth troubling yourself over. Either way he had thrown away his life the moment he began to speak that day."
"I know," you replied
"Just remember to stay true to yourself Rhaenyra," she assured you, "Do that and you'll be able to handle every misstep you face."
"You make it sound easy," you said, trying not to sound dismissive.
"It's served you well so far," Alicent observed, "You would not be the woman you are now had you faltered in your virtues or lied to yourself."
There was undeniable truth in her words, you aspired to the sword because you knew being a knight was part of who you were. You defied the rules like your uncle but you didn't act the fool, you've tried your best to stick to a code, even if that code didn't always match the rules society laid out.
"Again, I must thank you my lady," you said as you knelt before her, "Your words have brought much comfort and certainty since that fateful day."
"You defended the honor of a lady, a noble deed by any right" Alicent replied, her voice gently and warm, "kind words are the least I could do for an aspiring knight such as yourself."
She held out her hand, you carefully grabbed it and kissed it gently. Looking up you saw there was no doubt in her eyes this time, no misgivings, simply warm acceptance of, if not right downright eagerness for, your affections.
Alicent Hightower's Views Have Begun to Change
Relationship with Alicent Hightower Improved
New Status: A Steady Relationship QM's Notes: People change, or at least their views can. Alicent believes quite strongly in the importance of duty in part out of a belief that those who shirk their duty will be punished in time while those who stick to it will be rewarded. In the show, this is a major point of anger between Rhaenyra and Alicent because Rhaenyra is clearly unfaithful as a wife and yet she never faces punishment for it. Here she's realizing that a man can just toss away all his honor and sense of duty, do all sorts of horrible things, and as long as he says the right things, he will still have some support among otherwise respectable men. This combined with Rhaenyra convincing her that her taking the path of a knight is not her throwing away her duties, has begun to change Alicent's opinions on things.
In canon Isembard Arryn made a bit to claim the Vale after Jeyne died, his arguement being basically "I'm enough of an Arryn" and "Fuck you I have money". While only House Grafton supported him he did have an army of sellswords. He lost but ultimately became Master of Coin for a while. Here, since Arnold is dead and the Rhaenyra took an active role in affairs, his ambitions have changed.
[] Write in: we will think about it can give you an answer as soon as possible.
Taking the deal is a middle finger to Driftmark. So are we ready for that yet? That would really harm and almost certainly kill reconciliation between the two dragon riding families.
[X] Agree to the deal.
Rather conflicted, kind of feels like we're raising our own Littlefinger, but Isembard is also kin and would likely need us to survive if he wants to go up against the Sea Snake.
I think we should decline. I don't think pushing the Velayrons closer to Daemon is in our long term interests at all. We've already annoyed them somewhat by our involvement in the Laena betrothal (even if Viserys would have rejected anyway) [X] Decline
[] Write in: we will think about it can give you an answer as soon as possible.
Taking the deal is a middle finger to Driftmark. So are we ready for that yet? That would really harm and almost certainly kill reconciliation between the two dragon riding families.
And potentially use up another action later down the line for it? Also Corlys wants his family on the throne, I think he'll stomach some of loss of coin if he gains the whole realm by us potentially marrying Laenor, if we go down that route of course.
Also Corlys wants his family on the throne, I think he'll stomach some of loss of coin if he gains the whole realm by us potentially marrying Laenor, if we go down that route of course.
Alternatively he marries Laena to Daemon and helps put Daemon on the throne. If our long term plan is a loveless marriage to Laenor (something that this Rhaenyra doesn't seem super happy about either) we want to at least keep the Velayrons not pissed with us even if they don't like us.
Alternatively he marries Laena to Daemon and helps put Daemon on the throne. If our long term plan is a loveless marriage to Laenor (something that this Rhaenyra doesn't seem super happy about either) we want to at least keep the Velayrons not pissed with us even if they don't like us.
You might be overestimating how badly Corlys would take this, I doubt it will make him declare a blood fued, on top of that there's a chance that the plan fails on it's own, along with the fact that Corlys might just marry Laena to Daemon anyways even if we don't take Isembard's deal or maybe Daemon marries Laena on his own like he did in canon, and if either of those does happen, I would rather we gained an ally in the meantime instead of losing said ally over fear of insulting Corlys.
