House Among Chaotic Kingdoms

Votes for this Turn:

A1 - Commons - 2

A2 - Reputation - 10

A3 - Medcorps - 3

A4 - Marshal - 36

A5 - Non-Coms - 0

S1 - Wikipedia - 37

S2 - Steam - 0

S3 - Wookiepedia - 10

S4 - World - 4

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Rolls for this Turn:

Personal: Wikipedia

Thanks to Radagast the Brown, Viserys Targaryen gains the shown powers of the Maiar “Radagast the Brown.”

Along with having the shade of Radagast appear to him to offer advice and teach and train him in the use of these powers.

Note: Viserys specifically gets the abilities he’s shown to have, not his theoretical maximum powers, since the Maiar are basically lesser gods.

However, that shade of Radagast is a link to the real deal and could theoretically do more if absolutely necessary.

That said, Tolkien’s more powerful beings seem to prefer subtlety when possible, so it’s unlikely that Radagast will do more than advise.

Still, thanks to this roll, a third God has begun taking an interest in Planetos: Joining Arceus and Nurgle is Eru Ilúvatar!

For those curious, the actual powers Viserys is gaining access to are:

(Keep in mind, he needs to master the powers to use them at this level.)

1 - The ability to speak to and give commands to animals.

This includes things said animals should not have the intelligence to do, such as spy on a person and report back their doings.

This does not seem to extend to controlling animals or seeing through them like a warg, so he still needs to wait for them to return and talk to them to find out any results of a task he gives them.

2 - The ability to make localised illusions.

Theoretically, this could be shapeshifting, but it’s only actually stated that Radagast is “master of shapes and changes of hue.”

Plus this is already a fairly huge roll, so he’s getting the localised illusions interpretation of that quote instead.

The sky is the limit here, but this one will require a lot of practice to make best use of.

3 - Prodigious Skill at Herblore and Animal Husbandry.

World: Runescape Wiki

Thanks to the Master Sharpshooter Aura, Everyone in the Princes Pass Loyalist Army goes up two ranks in their Archery Skill.

Note: This includes the entirety of the force we brought down from Long Lake.

(Reminder, skills go: Knack → Skilled → Talented→ Gifted→ Prodigious)

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Story:

You decided to capitalize on your recent success with the other lords for as long as the siege of Ashford allowed.

Once the army resumed marching, the Infantry would demand most of your attention again.

A few weeks of good company now might make the lords more understanding when you returned to spending most days among the common soldiers.

Spending more time with them wasn’t entirely a political chore.

After months of teaching raw levies how to stand in formation and use weapons safely, you’d missed training against men who already understood what they were doing.

The lords had proper armor, experienced instructors, and years of practice behind them.

They could punish mistakes rather than learning those mistakes from you.

True prodigies were rare in any kingdom.

Even castle-raised men often wasted much of the training available to them, while very few possessed Jon’s patience or willingness to work at the same skill until his body gave out.

The younger Reach lords still took their fighting more seriously than most groups you’d trained beside.

Martial skill appeared to be fashionable among them.

A young lord who couldn’t ride, joust, and handle himself in plate risked becoming a joke among his peers, so most had made certain they were at least competent.

Several were considerably better than competent.

You remained among the strongest men training at Ashford, though you weren’t beyond challenge.

Some of the Reachmen could nearly match you across most skills, while several surpassed you with particular weapons.

There was always somebody who could exploit a lazy step or force you to reconsider how you’d approached a match.

You’d forgotten how enjoyable that could be.

Training recruits provided more practical value, though there were only so many times you could correct the same shield angle before wishing someone would try to strike you properly.

The yard improved further when Barristan, Beric, and the other lords returned from enforcing the King’s decree.

Beric Dondarrion fought exactly as his reputation suggested, quickly and with enough aggression that every mistake became dangerous.

Barristan Selmy was operating on an entirely different level.

You’d expected him to crush you.

There wasn’t any shame in losing badly to the Lord Commander, especially when most of the watching lords expected the same result.

Your private ambition had been to remain standing long enough that the match didn’t become a story told at your expense.

The first exchange went better than expected, followed by another and then several more.

Barristan controlled the pace and never gave you a clean opening, though he also didn’t put you down.

You kept Hart Weard between you, gave ground carefully, and ignored every tempting gap that looked too convenient to be real.

The match lasted long enough for the watching lords to stop treating it as entertainment.

Barristan remained clearly better, but he was working for the victory now.

You were also breathing more easily than he was.

You’d spent nearly your whole life learning how to move in heavy armor.

Long Lake produced more heavy cavalry than most Northern holdings, and its heir had always been expected to serve among them.

Nobody had considered whether you’d prefer lighter armor or a different sort of fighting.

Years of that training had taught you to conserve strength without thinking about it.

Your steps stayed short when they needed to be, Hart Weard carried much of the work, and you rarely threw your full weight into an attack unless the opening justified it.

Barristan was faster and more skilled, though he was spending more energy proving those advantages.

For several minutes, you began wondering whether you might actually outlast him.

You likely wouldn’t have managed it, even if he’d continued fighting the same way.

But the possibility was real enough that Barristan noticed.

His approach changed almost immediately.

He stopped giving you time to settle behind Hart Weard and drove forward before you could recover between attacks.

The pressure came too quickly for you to maintain your pace, and within a short while he’d knocked the shield aside and put you on the ground.

The match ended with you staring upward while the Lord Commander stood over you.

You’d lost exactly as everyone had expected.

It had merely taken much longer than expected.

Every later match ended faster.

Barristan attacked hard from the beginning and refused to let you establish the rhythm that had troubled him during the first bout.

He’d identified the one advantage you possessed and removed it from every match afterward.

That was probably more impressive than anything you’d done.

The man was far too experienced to keep using a method once it stopped serving him.

Still, you’d forced Barristan Selmy to change that method, and most men in the army couldn’t claim anything similar.

The story began improving almost as soon as the match ended.

By supper, you’d nearly exhausted Barristan the Bold.

Several days later, you’d apparently come within moments of defeating him before his experience saved him at the last possible instant.

You remembered the fight rather differently.

Barristan had controlled almost all of it, recognized a developing problem, and dealt with that problem before it became serious.

Correcting everyone would’ve gained you nothing.

You’d finally learned enough politics to leave a useful story alone.

The lords wanted to believe they’d witnessed the sudden discovery of a hidden talent.

Telling them you’d merely been raised for heavy cavalry would’ve ruined their enjoyment and weakened your own position.

The accepted explanation soon connected the match to your command.

Joffrey had placed you over the Infantry because he’d recognized your gift for endurance before anyone else.

You were supposedly built to absorb pressure, outlast an enemy, and hold ground after more dazzling fighters had exhausted themselves.

None of that had entered Joffrey’s decision.

You’d received the position because you were his friend, had volunteered for work other lords considered beneath them, and eventually became difficult to replace.

Your skill in heavy armor had been a fortunate accident.

You hadn’t even understood its full value before the match with Barristan.

Moving comfortably in plate had always been an ordinary expectation for a Lord of Long Lake.

The fact that many armored fighters exhausted themselves much faster hadn’t seemed particularly important until you nearly outlasted the finest swordsman in Westeros.

You wisely kept that realization private.

The army now thought Joffrey had studied your abilities and placed you exactly where they’d matter most.

Nobody benefited from hearing that the decision had mostly grown from friendship and months of circumstances.

Barristan appeared to be helping the story along.

You heard him describe you as steady under pressure on several occasions, usually while speaking to lords who’d previously questioned your appointment.

He also remarked that Infantry required patience more often than brilliance.

He never said anything false.

Barristan merely selected the facts most helpful to your authority and allowed other men to arrange them into a grander story.

You hadn’t expected the Lord Commander to be so skilled at encouraging gossip without appearing to take part in it.

His support worked.

The other lords stopped viewing you as an overpromoted boy who enjoyed playing sergeant among the smallfolk.

They began treating you as a solid commander placed over the soldiers who most needed solidity.

That reputation fit your duties almost perfectly.

Infantry usually needed to hold its ground, maintain formation, and keep fighting after the excitement had worn off.

A commander famous for remaining steady sounded like a reasonable choice.

You’d lost a spar and somehow gained exactly the reputation your command required.

Joffrey also came away looking unusually perceptive for recognizing your supposed specialty before the rest of the army.

You couldn’t have arranged the outcome more neatly if you’d tried.

The timing made it particularly valuable.

You now commanded the whole Infantry arm of the army, which placed several older and richer lords beneath you whenever their troops fought on foot.

They still disliked receiving orders from someone your age, though the new story gave them a respectable reason to accept it.

Serving beneath the King’s young favorite sounded humiliating.

Serving beneath a defensive specialist selected for a particular purpose sounded like ordinary military sense.

The practical difference was nonexistent, though the second version preserved considerably more pride.

The expectations attached to your reputation were also manageable.

Nobody waited for you to produce some brilliant maneuver or win battles through clever tricks.

They wanted you to hold the line and keep the Infantry organized.

You could do that.

Every ordinary success would strengthen the story without requiring you to become someone else.

You only needed to avoid vanishing into the Infantry camp so completely that the lords returned to inventing less flattering explanations for your behavior.

Barristan gave you a chance to prove yourself sooner than expected.

Reports from the other loyalist armies had become increasingly difficult to ignore.

Willas Tyrell’s force had entered Dorne and begun besieging Sandstone, while Joffrey’s army had broken through the Boneway and started preparing its siege of Vulture’s Roost.

Even the smaller army left behind in the Stormlands was making progress.

It had retaken Haystack Hall after Stannis’s forces captured it and begun operations against Griffin’s Roost.

That force had mostly been expected to contain Stannis and prevent further losses.

Your army had accomplished necessary work of its own.

Blackhaven, Harvest Hall, and Ashford all needed to be secured before any advance through the Prince’s Pass.

Unfortunately, a map didn’t show the arguments, divided loyalties, or religious problems behind each delay.

It showed two armies pushing into Dorne while yours remained outside Ashford.

Barristan had no desire to fall farther behind.

Once enough Reach reinforcements had arrived, he ordered the army to prepare for an assault.

The defenders hadn’t shown any interest in surrendering, and waiting several more weeks would only leave the other campaigns farther ahead.

The Reach lords competed fiercely for places in the attack.

Ashford belonged to their kingdom, and many still felt a need to prove the sincerity of their return to Joffrey.

Leading the assault gave them a chance to demonstrate that loyalty in front of the entire army.

Barristan allowed them to take that chance.

Their men knew the region, several lords had visited Ashford before the war, and their eagerness saved him from having to force reluctant troops toward the walls.

Your assignment matched the reputation now following you.

The Reachmen would lead the attack, while you held the rest of the Infantry together behind them.

You were to send support wherever it became necessary and prevent a failed push from spreading panic through the wider line.

Several lords nodded when the order was announced.

Apparently Joffrey’s wisdom had been proven once again.

The Reachmen handled most of the celebrated fighting.

They attacked the breaches, forced their way over the walls, and competed over which banner reached the inner yard first.

Their familiarity with Ashford became increasingly useful once the battle moved inside.

You remained behind the leading assault with the larger Infantry formations.

When one group was thrown back, you sent fresh men forward before the defenders could follow.

When too many units crowded one breach, you pulled several aside and cleared enough room for the wounded to come through.

Most of your work involved messengers, formation changes, and frightened officers who needed orders repeated more plainly.

Nothing happened that would sound impressive when retold at supper.

The line remained intact throughout the assault.

Ashford fell before the end of the day.

The Reach lords received most of the praise and had earned a good deal of it.

Your smaller share came from keeping the assault supplied with men and preventing several setbacks from spreading.

Every account described you as steady.

The word was already becoming attached to your name whether you liked it or not.

You couldn’t complain when the reputation made your orders easier to enforce.

It also reminded you that the lords needed occasional attention.

Returning to your old habits would allow the same complaints to grow again.

You’d have to keep appearing at meals, hunts, and sparring sessions often enough that nobody decided your absence concealed contempt.

The Infantry would still receive most of your time.

Its officers needed training, its units needed inspection, and its ordinary problems killed men when ignored.

Yet you could still spare the time without abandoning all of that work.

Barristan gave the army little time to enjoy its victory.

He wanted to recover as much lost ground as possible before the other loyalist forces advanced beyond support.

The men rested briefly, supplies were gathered, and the march resumed toward the Red Mountains.

The pace wore quickly on soldiers who’d spent weeks sleeping in the same camp.

They marched for long days and built temporary camps they abandoned the following morning.

Fresh Reach forces continued arriving along the route, forcing officers to find places for new units while everyone was already moving.

The Red Mountains eventually rose ahead of the host.

Nightsong guarded the approach to the Prince’s Pass, and nobody expected it to fall as readily as Ashford.

House Caron had spent generations preparing the castle to withstand attacks from Dorne.

Its defenders also had more reason to resist.

Lord Caron had supported Renly, then joined Stannis after Renly’s defeat rather than returning to Joffrey.

The loyalists now considered his house guilty of treason twice over.

At Blackhaven and Harvest Hall, the army had restored castles taken by foreign occupiers.

Nightsong belonged to the men holding it.

Your army was coming to remove them.

The remaining Carons would know what surrender might cost.

Their lands and titles were almost certainly lost already, while the lives of the house’s leading members depended entirely on how much mercy Joffrey felt like offering.

They had little reason to trust that opening the gates would save them.

Some men still hoped Barristan’s name might divide the garrison.

He was the most famous living knight produced by the Dornish Marches, and many soldiers inside Nightsong would’ve grown up hearing stories about him.

Perhaps they would decide House Caron’s cause wasn’t worth dying against Barristan Selmy.

The Lord Commander didn’t appear to expect such luck.

Before the army had finished arranging its camps, your Infantry received orders to begin digging siege lines and preparing the ground for engines.

Whatever happened inside Nightsong, Barristan intended to be ready for a long siege.

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Skills:

Combat:

(12) Form/Bewegungsgestalt - 30/400 (+50)

(10) Westerosi Swordsmanship - 190/200 (+50)

(11) Archery - 300/300 (+70) (Gifted)

(11) Equestrianism - 205/300 (+50) (Talented)

(12) Heavy Armour - 360/400 (+50) (Prodigious)

Diplomacy:

(11) Interpersonal Communication - 275/300 (+50) (Skilled)

(8) Public Speaking - 35/100 (+15) (Skilled)

(13) Management - 350/500 (+50) (Prodigious)

(8) Stewardship - 15/100 (+15) (Knack)

(7) Northern Law - 45/100 (+5) (Knack)

(7) General Westerosi Law - 35/100 (+5) (Knack)

Language:

(10) Common Speaking - 190/200 (+25) (Knack)

(11) Old Tongue Speaking - 165/300 (+5) (Knack)

(7) Valyrian Speaking - 90/100 (+5) (Knack)

(7) Common Reading - 25/100 (+0)

(6) Valyrian Reading - 30/100 (+0)

Scholarly:

(9) Pure Math(s) - 50/100 (+5)

(12) Accounts/Ledgers - 135/400 (+25) (Prodigious)

(10) Northern History - 165/200 (+5) (Knack)

(8) General Westerosi History - 20/100 (+5)

(8) Northern Peoples - 80/100 (+0)

(6) General Westerosi Peoples - 100/100 (+5)

Leisure:

(10) Hunting - 20/200 (+5)

(7) Fishing - 59/100 (+0)

(6) Swimming - 39/100 (+0)

(6) Seacraft - 6/100 (+0)

(6) Climbing - 60/100 (+0)

(5) Acting (Lying) - 30/100 (+10)

War:

(11) Strategy - 250/300 (+50) (Prodigious +)

(6) Castrametation - 100/100 (+30) (Knack)

(3) Poliorcetics - 10/100 (+25)

(3) Fleetcraft - 100/100 (+5) (Knack)

(3) Battlewise - 50/100 (+25)

Magic:

(12) The Green - 300/400 (+25) (Prodigious)

(6) Warging - 50/100 (+30) (Gifted)

(5) Westerosi Runes - 90/100 (+50)

(1) The Force - 35/100 (+5) (Knack)

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Earning: 6

Spending: 0

Banked: 90

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Rolls for Next Turn:

T2 = Person/Event at Home

L3 = Slightly Inconvenient

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Voting:

Main Actions: Who should we focus on during the march South?

A1 - Focus on the needs and training of the Common men.

A2 - Focus on your reputation with the Lords by training with them.

A3 - Work with the Medcorps and other Support Staff.

A4 - Focus on your Marshal Skill by Training with Jon and the Knights.

A5 - Focus on the Organisation and Non-Coms of the Army.

Personal Rolls Sources:

S1 - Wikipedia (On Cooldown 1/2)

S2 - Steam Games

S3 - Wookiepedia

S4 - World Rolls List

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Information/Maps:

1 - War-Map: In Zones mode for easier understanding.

Imgur - File Garden - Catbox

2 - New World Map

Note: Not accurate to Westeros or Western Essos/the Free Cities.

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Write-In/Questions:

1 - Is there anything you think should be renamed?

You might have noticed some minor name changes, with “Westerosi CQC” becoming “Form/Bewegungsgestalt” being the big one.

In that case, I realised that CQC implies some kind of martial art, when what I meant by that was things like your stance or body control while fighting or doing other activities.

The closest word in English I could find was Form, but since that's kind of vague, the German Bewegungsgestalt, which means something like: “a bodily action understood as one organized, recognizable whole.”

So that skill represents how well we can use our body in combat and other activities, not necessarily our ability to fight hand-to-hand.

So is there anything else in this quest that's weirdly worded that you’d like a clarification on?