Anyways, for the choice, I will say [Apologize to Axel]. There are a few different reasons on why he should do this. It is not good to have the tension between them continue to fester. Things may eventually escalate out of control between them. Also, many in the Thunder Crew might possibly take Axel's side since they have known him longer. Verro should try and maintain good relations with them, since they are the only warrior allies he has among Efran's followers. Not to mention, an attempt in trying to fix the situation would look good to Efran. Verro doesn't necessarily have to mean the apology to make it. Axel might not initially accept the apology, but it might change his view toward Verro for making an effort. Anyways, these are some of the many reasons that I think attempting to apologize to Axel would be the wise thing to do.
Verro
Verro looked at the old woman clutching tightly on the trident, while Axel pushed her daughter against the wall. Verro could've sto… morepped the woman, but he didn't, he let her make her move. With a desperate scream the woman charged and thrusted the trident on Axel's back. It hardly pierced the leather, but Verro could see the blood, and he could hear Axel screaming in pain as he let go of the daughter and turned towards the mother. His face was red from pain and anger, and he immediately slammed the trident off from the woman's hands. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Axel screamed as he sent the woman to the floor with a hard punch.
"RUN!" The woman screamed frantically, blood draining from her nose, and after a small moment of hesitation, the daughter followed her mother's advice. Her dress was torn apart, and she had to held it together with her hands as she ran. Again, Verro could've easily stopped the girl, but he let her run right past him… [view original content]
The Lysene woman
I believe you meant Myrish woman.
Anyways, for the choice, I will say [Apologize to Axel]. There are a few diffe… morerent reasons on why he should do this. It is not good to have the tension between them continue to fester. Things may eventually escalate out of control between them. Also, many in the Thunder Crew might possibly take Axel's side since they have known him longer. Verro should try and maintain good relations with them, since they are the only warrior allies he has among Efran's followers. Not to mention, an attempt in trying to fix the situation would look good to Efran. Verro doesn't necessarily have to mean the apology to make it. Axel might not initially accept the apology, but it might change his view toward Verro for making an effort. Anyways, these are some of the many reasons that I think attempting to apologize to Axel would be the wise thing to do.
Verro
Verro looked at the old woman clutching tightly on the trident, while Axel pushed her daughter against the wall. Verro could've sto… morepped the woman, but he didn't, he let her make her move. With a desperate scream the woman charged and thrusted the trident on Axel's back. It hardly pierced the leather, but Verro could see the blood, and he could hear Axel screaming in pain as he let go of the daughter and turned towards the mother. His face was red from pain and anger, and he immediately slammed the trident off from the woman's hands. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Axel screamed as he sent the woman to the floor with a hard punch.
"RUN!" The woman screamed frantically, blood draining from her nose, and after a small moment of hesitation, the daughter followed her mother's advice. Her dress was torn apart, and she had to held it together with her hands as she ran. Again, Verro could've easily stopped the girl, but he let her run right past him… [view original content]
[Apologize to Axel] While quite honestly, I would prefer Verro to not apologize to Axel, Tales brought up some good points. Verro has so few allies that it would not be a good thing for him to risk losing them. Verro doesn't have to mean the apology but he needs to try to stay in the Thunder Crew's good graces as much as possible.
Edit: [Don't apologize] Well I typically don't like changing my vote too often but in this case I feel it is warranted. I am just not sure I can bring my self to have Verro apologize to someone as horrible as Axel especially when Verro was nowhere near being in the wrong. Liquid also brought up a solid point as well with that being that apologizing could even be seen as a sign of weakness to others that Verro is apologizing for this. I believe Verro has made an enemy in Axel for good and no apology will change that. Verro seems like someone who is very strong in his morals and I don't believe I want to compromise that. With that said, Tales did bring up excellent arguments and I still see the apologize choice winning and I have no problem with that but I myself don't want Verri to compromise who he is for someone as despicable as Axel. Sorry for creating a tie Wildling
Verro
Verro looked at the old woman clutching tightly on the trident, while Axel pushed her daughter against the wall. Verro could've sto… morepped the woman, but he didn't, he let her make her move. With a desperate scream the woman charged and thrusted the trident on Axel's back. It hardly pierced the leather, but Verro could see the blood, and he could hear Axel screaming in pain as he let go of the daughter and turned towards the mother. His face was red from pain and anger, and he immediately slammed the trident off from the woman's hands. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Axel screamed as he sent the woman to the floor with a hard punch.
"RUN!" The woman screamed frantically, blood draining from her nose, and after a small moment of hesitation, the daughter followed her mother's advice. Her dress was torn apart, and she had to held it together with her hands as she ran. Again, Verro could've easily stopped the girl, but he let her run right past him… [view original content]
Verro
Verro looked at the old woman clutching tightly on the trident, while Axel pushed her daughter against the wall. Verro could've sto… morepped the woman, but he didn't, he let her make her move. With a desperate scream the woman charged and thrusted the trident on Axel's back. It hardly pierced the leather, but Verro could see the blood, and he could hear Axel screaming in pain as he let go of the daughter and turned towards the mother. His face was red from pain and anger, and he immediately slammed the trident off from the woman's hands. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Axel screamed as he sent the woman to the floor with a hard punch.
"RUN!" The woman screamed frantically, blood draining from her nose, and after a small moment of hesitation, the daughter followed her mother's advice. Her dress was torn apart, and she had to held it together with her hands as she ran. Again, Verro could've easily stopped the girl, but he let her run right past him… [view original content]
Verro
Verro looked at the old woman clutching tightly on the trident, while Axel pushed her daughter against the wall. Verro could've sto… morepped the woman, but he didn't, he let her make her move. With a desperate scream the woman charged and thrusted the trident on Axel's back. It hardly pierced the leather, but Verro could see the blood, and he could hear Axel screaming in pain as he let go of the daughter and turned towards the mother. His face was red from pain and anger, and he immediately slammed the trident off from the woman's hands. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Axel screamed as he sent the woman to the floor with a hard punch.
"RUN!" The woman screamed frantically, blood draining from her nose, and after a small moment of hesitation, the daughter followed her mother's advice. Her dress was torn apart, and she had to held it together with her hands as she ran. Again, Verro could've easily stopped the girl, but he let her run right past him… [view original content]
No, absolutely no, I'm not going to pick the other option! I know, apologizing will be the better option and hell, I don't disapprove of this option clearly winning, but I'm not going to compromise my morals, not for Axel, that fucking piece of dirt. That's right, he's not even good enough for shit, which is at least useful as a fertilizer, he's just dirt. Bah, I hate him. I know, Tales is absolutely right with his argument and I fully agree with him, but since the choice to apologize is going to win either way, I figure I can choose this without risking any negative consequences for Verro. I just don't want to choose to apologize to that fucker, especially since Verro was absolutely in the right. Speaking of, I am happy his actions at least somewhat ruined Axel's day, by allowing the girl to escape.. On top of that, I don't think he will accept the apology and if Verro does apologize, he's probably going to be seen as weak by the others. That way, he might not pick the smart option, which I believe to be apologizing, but he's going to stand by his morals, which has to be worth something. But well, as I said, I don't disapprove of the other option winning, as it leaves me free to pick this option without having to fear for bad consequences for Verro. Unless of course apologizing will somehow lead to bad consequences, in which case I can also be happy to know that I have chosen correctly. It's sort of a win-win situation for me, as I have just realized
Verro
Verro looked at the old woman clutching tightly on the trident, while Axel pushed her daughter against the wall. Verro could've sto… morepped the woman, but he didn't, he let her make her move. With a desperate scream the woman charged and thrusted the trident on Axel's back. It hardly pierced the leather, but Verro could see the blood, and he could hear Axel screaming in pain as he let go of the daughter and turned towards the mother. His face was red from pain and anger, and he immediately slammed the trident off from the woman's hands. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Axel screamed as he sent the woman to the floor with a hard punch.
"RUN!" The woman screamed frantically, blood draining from her nose, and after a small moment of hesitation, the daughter followed her mother's advice. Her dress was torn apart, and she had to held it together with her hands as she ran. Again, Verro could've easily stopped the girl, but he let her run right past him… [view original content]
Oh well, hopefully someone will still vote Anyway, this time we have a vote from the PoVs creator, so if there's a tie that will solve it. So, no problem
[Apologize to Axel] While quite honestly, I would prefer Verro to not apologize to Axel, Tales brought up some good points. Verro has so few… more allies that it would not be a good thing for him to risk losing them. Verro doesn't have to mean the apology but he needs to try to stay in the Thunder Crew's good graces as much as possible.
Edit: [Don't apologize] Well I typically don't like changing my vote too often but in this case I feel it is warranted. I am just not sure I can bring my self to have Verro apologize to someone as horrible as Axel especially when Verro was nowhere near being in the wrong. Liquid also brought up a solid point as well with that being that apologizing could even be seen as a sign of weakness to others that Verro is apologizing for this. I believe Verro has made an enemy in Axel for good and no apology will change that. Verro seems like someone who is very strong in his morals and I don't believe I want to compromise… [view original content]
Another tie Well, determined by the vote of Verro's creator, Verro will apologize to Axel. Axel certainly isn't a pleasant man, anything but, so I understand why some of you were against this choice. Also, it's definitely questionable how will Axel even take an apology. On the other hand, as some of you brought up, making enemies at Verro's situation isn't something you want to do, and this might be a way to avoid making Axel one.
Anyway, the next part is almost ready, and it is a Nymeria PoV! While there isn't any earth-shattering twists in this part, it's one I really enjoyed writing, and I hope it reflects into the quality As a reminder, lately on Nymeria's storyline, she has been planning to march to Redclif with an army, to confront Lord Ormond Bloodspill who is an alleged leader of a conspiracy against Nymeria. She has also decided to send Tomas Toland to Ghost Hill with Forovos Norvoshi, to negotiate peace with King Donovar's heir. Nymeria also hired a sellsword company called the Fallen Dragons (led by a Valyrian named Valor Veltaris), and plans to use them to assault Salt Shore from the sea.
Nymeria, Mors, Jaran and Maester Olivar were at the gates of Sandship, seeing off Tomas Toland and Forovos Norvoshi, as well as Olyvar Forrester. Tomas and Forovos would make their way to Ghost Hill, whereas Olyvar would sail back to Essos, to bring the message from Nymeria to Valor Veltaris – the Fallen Dragons were hired, and they would attack Salt Shore. Nymeria was also sending one of her captains, Firanisa, to travel with Olyvar. Nymeria shifted his gaze to Tomas Toland again, narrowing her eyes.
"You owe your life to me, Toland, I hope you remember that." The Princess said strictly, and the man answered with a small and stern nod.
"Do not worry, my Princess, all will be well." Forovos spoke smoothly, his lips forming a cold smirk. Nymeria nodded to the Braavosi, feeling slightly nervous as she looked into those blue eyes. Forovos had been a big help for them, she couldn't deny that, but she still had a hard time trusting him.
Nymeria turned her gaze at Olyvar Forrester and Captain Firanisa. "I expect Valor Veltaris to honor the contract, as well as my orders." She said calmly and sternly. "Give me Salt Shore, and you will be well rewarded." Olyvar nodded to her words with a smirk. "As you command, my Princess." He said with a deep bow. Nymeria looked at Firanisa, who looked dutiful, but also slightly uncomfortable. She felt bad sending this woman to meet a Valyrian, but at the same time she trusted her to do it with honor.
"Safe travels, my friends." Prince Mors said with a soft and friendly tone. They all gave one more bow for their Prince and Princess, before walking through those gates, and out of Sandship. With a sigh Nymeria turned around, just to see Eraehra Galnaris, the young Valyrian lady, standing a dozen feet away from her, the two bodyguards around her.
"How is the repairing of your ship going?" Nymeria asked with cold tone as she approached the girl. "Slowly, I'm afraid." Eraehra answered with her innocent voice, and Nymeria raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps I should lend some of my men to aid with the work." She suggested nonchalantly, but the Valyrian girl shook her head. "It won't be necessary." She said.
"How have you been?" Mors asked with a smile. "Have there been any problems?"
"No, my Prince, everyone has been very nice." Eraehra answered. "It is such an interesting place... This castle, I imagine it is very old." Mors nodded with a chuckle. "Yes, I'm afraid it is – and way too small as well. We are constructing a new palace currently, but it will take years and years before it is ready."
"I didn't mean to belittle it, my Prince." Eraehra replied with a smile. "I only meant that this place holds a lot of history, hundreds of stories, no, thousands." Mors' lips formed a wide smile, and he nodded. "Indeed, sadly much of that history has been lost to time." He said with a wistful sigh. "However, there are still a lot to read about it in our library. Perhaps you would like to learn about the adventurer Morgan, who was the first Martell to set foot in Dorne. Or perhaps you'd be more interested in the adventures of Lord Melvan Martell, who defeated the Spotted King of Spottswood in single combat, survived a venomous snake's bite on the neck, and sailed six years on the Stepstones, just to find and kill a pirate who had mocked him."
"Sounds like quite a man." Eraehra chirped, and Mors nodded with a little laugh. "I expect most of it to be exaggeration, if not flat out lies that Melvan or his sons demanded to be written as the truth." He said cheerfully, and Eraehra raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you take more pride in the history of your house?" She asked with genuine curiosity.
"Maybe I should, but I've never been the most traditional man." With these words Mors turned to look at Nymeria. "I will rather take pride in the future that we are going to build for this house."
"First you need to build that future." Eraehra remarked softly, and Mors nodded to her. "Indeed, first we must build it." He confirmed. Nymeria was thinking if she should say something as well, but just then General Varyn interrupted them.
"My Princess, my Prince," He started with his humorless voice, "I have something to announce to you." Nymeria furrowed her eyebrows. "Announce?" She asked with confused tone, and Varyn nodded.
"If you could follow me to the Throne Room, please." He proposed. Nymeria glanced quickly at Mors, who looked just as confused as her, but finally she nodded in agreement to the General. And so, the Prince and Princess followed General Varyn to the Throne Room.
As the doors opened, a glorious sight unfolded in front of them. Seven warriors in gilded steel armors, wine red capes hanging from their shoulders, and on their chest plates engraved a sun pierced by a spear. Three of the warriors were men, and the rest were women – one standing in front of the other six. Some of them were armed with spears, others with swords. "Splendid." Nymeria heard Mors muttering in awe.
"Some time ago you instructed me to find the seven best warriors from the Martell guard and the Rhoynish army, to establish a Royal Guard." Varyn spoke with dry and dutiful tone. "These are the ones I deemed fit for the job."
Nymeria took a couple steps closer, and all seven warriors fell on their knees. Nymeria recognized the woman leading the Royal Guard – she was Farrah of Ghoyan Drohe, daughter of the late Prince Javed. Farrah had already served in Prince Garin's army, and Nymeria knew that she had lost almost her whole family in the Second Spice War, but there she was, ready to serve her and protect her.
"My Princess and Prince," Farrah started with a firm and official tone, "As the Commander of the Royal Guard, I, Farrah of Ghoyan Drone, pledge my sword and my life to you. I vow to always serve you, protect you, advice you, and to fight for you, to the best of my ability. This I vow, in the name of Mother Rhoyne, and the Seven Gods."
"You may stand up." Nymeria said, noticing that her voice was wavering slightly. Farrah stood up, and Nymeria looked straight into her beautiful brown eyes.
"Behind me are six of the greatest warriors in your service, who would also like to pledge their life to protecting you." Farrah explained, gesturing towards the six warriors that were still kneeling, and so Nymeria and Mors walked closer to them. "On the left is Ser Boran Sargen, veteran of many battles, and an honorable knight. Next to him is Ser Arnol of Greenblood, young and talented knight, ready to fight and die for House Martell if needs be. Next comes Ser Landar the Brave, loyal and stalwart knight, excellent with the sword. Next to him is Anaba of Volon Therys, determined and merciless warrior, whose father served Prince Garin in the war against the Dragonlords. Then, we have Jadisha of Ny Sar, who would like to offer her spear to your service, just like she offered her spear to serve Prince Garin against the Valyrians. Lastly, here is Nesea, youngest member of the guard at the age of seventeen, but already a skilled and dangerous warrior."
One by one, all six of them spoke their vows to Nymeria and Mors, and they listened in silent awe. As all seven guards were standing in front of them, Nymeria turned her eyes to Varyn. "You have done good work, Varyn. Thank you." She said with utmost respect, and the General answered with a small nod.
"We thank you all," Mors said with calm and proud tone, "And we vow that you will always have a place by our hearth, and meat and mead at our table. We pledge to ask no service of you that might bring you into dishonor, this we swear by the Seven Gods and Mother Rhoyne."
"What would be your first command?" Farrah asked, and Nymeria smiled. "My first command is for each of you to take rest of the day off, and relax." She said softly, seeing surprised expression's on the faces of the guards. "Soon we will march to war, so make it count." She added with a smirk.
-
Nymeria woke up at the first beams of sun shining in from the window, laying naked on their soft and large bed. Her head was resting on Mors' chest, and the Prince's left arm was wrapped firmly around her. She raised her head, hearing Mors snorting softly in his sleep.
Nymeria put her hand on Mors' chest, stroking him softly, feeling the skin and hair on her fingers. Slowly she moved her hand from the chest to the neck, and from the neck to the face. The Prince opened his eyes with a blink, and Nymeria gave him a seductive smile. "Good morning, my Prince." She purred, and a smile was formed on Mors' face.
"How long have you been awake?" He asked tiredly, and Nymeria chuckled softly. "Not long." She chirped, moving on top of her prince, and pushing her lips against his. Mors' eyes widened slightly in surprise as Nymeria pulled her head away.
"What?" Nymeria asked in a teasing tone. "This is the last chance we have before I march to Redclif, don't tell me you already had enough."
"Never." Mors whispered with lust and pulled Nymeria back into a passionate kiss.
-
It was still early in the morning, but the council was already gathered. Even if he kept on a sharp and observant face, Nymeria knew Mors was tired. And he has a good reason to be, she thought with a subtle smirk, slowly shifting her gaze from Mors to his brother Jaran. Jaran Martell looked always bored, but this time he had truly outdone himself, as he lazily leaned his head against his palm and stared into nothingness with half-closed eyes.
Maester Olivar looked meek as always, and Varyn had his usual dry and humorless expression on. At the end of the table was the newest addition to the council – Commander Farrah, who looked sharp and dutiful, even if slightly uncomfortable.
"My Princess, the army will be ready to begin the march towards Redclif within an hour." Varyn informed, and Nymeria nodded calmly. She was already clad in her new shiny armor, which was clearly made for the purpose of display rather than actual fighting. They need to see me as a warrior.
"Maester Olivar, have any urgent news arrived?" The Princess asked with formal tone. "There was a raven from Desertstone, House Granit, my Princess." The maester answered. "Lord Byrant informs that Captain Dianna had visited there with Ser Dallin Dalt, and they are planning to attack an outpost held by Efran Sand." This sounded concerning, but at least it seemed that Captain Dianna was being very effective on her mission.
"Nothing else?" Nymeria asked calmly. "Nothing else." Olivar confirmed, and the Princess turned her gaze to Farrah. "Commander Farrah, I asked you to choose two members of the Royal Guard, in addition to yourself, to join me on the march to Redclif. Who have you chosen?"
"My Princess, I have chosen Ser Boran Sargen and Anaba of Volon Therys." She answered softly, and Nymeria nodded with a smile. Then, Mors suddenly cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention.
"There is something I have been thinking recently." He started, a touch of uncertainty to his words. "You march to Redclif with an army, but ideally the situation will resolve itself without a bloodshed."
"Yes, that would be the desirable scenario." Nymeria confirmed, looking at her husband with questioning eyes. However, Mors now turned his eyes to Varyn. "Perhaps it would be for the best if General Varyn would stay here in Sandship." He said with uneasy tone. The look on Varyn's face turned to something between angered and amused.
"I march with the army." He simply stated, not even raising his voice, but still sounding powerful. Mors nodded with an awkward chuckle. "I don't mean to prevent you from doing your duties, but you did kill Lord Ormond's nephew... You going there might be taken as a provocation."
"A provocation?" Now the anger had completely taken over the General's voice. "Ormond Bloodspill is a traitor, his fucker of a nephew was a traitor. And you say we should care about his feelings?"
Mors sighed in frustration, turning to look at Nymeria now. "You understand what I'm saying, right?" He asked. As Nymeria didn't give an answer, he continued. "All I want is that this situation can be resolved as swiftly and cleanly as possible, so we can concentrate on the real war ahead of us. And to do that, I think General Varyn should not march to Redclif."
Nymeria glanced at them both, feeling their stares on her. Mors had a point, but so did Varyn.
Perhaps you would like to learn about the adventurer Morgan, who was the first Martell to set foot in Dorne.
What an interesting reference, I do look forward to elaborating a little on this one Ah, I see my beauty has been introduced, and how excited I am to see her in so soon. Farrah is already bringing back old memories that arose when I first thought her up, and I am super excited to see more of her! Coming to the choice...
[Don't take Varyn with you]
I'm very conflicted with this one, and there's of course some strong reasons for that, one having to do with Farrah. However, as Mors has pointed out, Varyn could possibly provoke Lord Redclif with his appearance. While they will have to confront each other soon enough, I think it would be best to not be when trying to engage in forceful negotiations, even if that's what Varyn does best Leaving a skilled General at Sandship might not be best in Varyn's eyes, but it does leave a capable military strategist at the HQ, and his mission to track down the conspirators is not over yet. I'm of course being biased here, but Farrah is a more than capable leader as well, especially being placed as the Commander of the Royal Guard. Nymeria would be in safe hands, and she would personally have full control over those following her, which could arguably be more inspiring than the men and women taking orders from Varyn. Anyway, there are many arguments to counter my opinion, but an opinion it is at that
Nymeria
Nymeria, Mors, Jaran and Maester Olivar were at the gates of Sandship, seeing off Tomas Toland and Forovos Norvoshi, as well as O… morelyvar Forrester. Tomas and Forovos would make their way to Ghost Hill, whereas Olyvar would sail back to Essos, to bring the message from Nymeria to Valor Veltaris – the Fallen Dragons were hired, and they would attack Salt Shore. Nymeria was also sending one of her captains, Firanisa, to travel with Olyvar. Nymeria shifted his gaze to Tomas Toland again, narrowing her eyes.
"You owe your life to me, Toland, I hope you remember that." The Princess said strictly, and the man answered with a small and stern nod.
"Do not worry, my Princess, all will be well." Forovos spoke smoothly, his lips forming a cold smirk. Nymeria nodded to the Braavosi, feeling slightly nervous as she looked into those blue eyes. Forovos had been a big help for them, she couldn't deny that, but she still had a hard time trustin… [view original content]
Just spent the last few days reading from the beginning of NW and gotta say I love your writing. I'm not sure what it is but it just really makes it real for me.
Anyhoo... [Don't take Varyn with you]
I think despite the positives of having another military leader there it's better for him to not antagonise them. It's not like Nymeria can't lead the troops anyway.
Nymeria
Nymeria, Mors, Jaran and Maester Olivar were at the gates of Sandship, seeing off Tomas Toland and Forovos Norvoshi, as well as O… morelyvar Forrester. Tomas and Forovos would make their way to Ghost Hill, whereas Olyvar would sail back to Essos, to bring the message from Nymeria to Valor Veltaris – the Fallen Dragons were hired, and they would attack Salt Shore. Nymeria was also sending one of her captains, Firanisa, to travel with Olyvar. Nymeria shifted his gaze to Tomas Toland again, narrowing her eyes.
"You owe your life to me, Toland, I hope you remember that." The Princess said strictly, and the man answered with a small and stern nod.
"Do not worry, my Princess, all will be well." Forovos spoke smoothly, his lips forming a cold smirk. Nymeria nodded to the Braavosi, feeling slightly nervous as she looked into those blue eyes. Forovos had been a big help for them, she couldn't deny that, but she still had a hard time trustin… [view original content]
Nymeria
Nymeria, Mors, Jaran and Maester Olivar were at the gates of Sandship, seeing off Tomas Toland and Forovos Norvoshi, as well as O… morelyvar Forrester. Tomas and Forovos would make their way to Ghost Hill, whereas Olyvar would sail back to Essos, to bring the message from Nymeria to Valor Veltaris – the Fallen Dragons were hired, and they would attack Salt Shore. Nymeria was also sending one of her captains, Firanisa, to travel with Olyvar. Nymeria shifted his gaze to Tomas Toland again, narrowing her eyes.
"You owe your life to me, Toland, I hope you remember that." The Princess said strictly, and the man answered with a small and stern nod.
"Do not worry, my Princess, all will be well." Forovos spoke smoothly, his lips forming a cold smirk. Nymeria nodded to the Braavosi, feeling slightly nervous as she looked into those blue eyes. Forovos had been a big help for them, she couldn't deny that, but she still had a hard time trustin… [view original content]
What an interesting reference, I do look forward to elaborating a little on this one
Indeed, I kept it super vague for a reason
Ah, I see my beauty has been introduced, and how excited I am to see her in so soon. Farrah is already bringing back old memories that arose when I first thought her up, and I am super excited to see more of her!
I'm glad you enjoyed her introduction! I didn't really have the chance to show off much of her personality yet here, since she had to act so formal and professional, but we'll get less formal scenes with her pretty soon.
Perhaps you would like to learn about the adventurer Morgan, who was the first Martell to set foot in Dorne.
What an interesting ref… moreerence, I do look forward to elaborating a little on this one Ah, I see my beauty has been introduced, and how excited I am to see her in so soon. Farrah is already bringing back old memories that arose when I first thought her up, and I am super excited to see more of her! Coming to the choice...
[Don't take Varyn with you]
I'm very conflicted with this one, and there's of course some strong reasons for that, one having to do with Farrah. However, as Mors has pointed out, Varyn could possibly provoke Lord Redclif with his appearance. While they will have to confront each other soon enough, I think it would be best to not be when trying to engage in forceful negotiations, even if that's what Varyn does best Leaving a skilled General at Sandship might not be best in Varyn's eyes, but it does leave … [view original content]
Just spent the last few days reading from the beginning of NW and gotta say I love your writing. I'm not sure what it is but it just really … moremakes it real for me.
Anyhoo... [Don't take Varyn with you]
I think despite the positives of having another military leader there it's better for him to not antagonise them. It's not like Nymeria can't lead the troops anyway.
Argh, I probably should have voted yesterday in the night instead of waiting till the next day, because now it seems most have already voted for what I see as a severe mistake. Of course I will vote for [Take Varyn with you], but hear me out on this one.
I'm going to pick the contrary to what most seem to think, as I think that taking Varyn is by far the better option. While I am not sure which option is better for the general himself, I think this is really better for Nymeria and her negotiations. First of all, those aren't negotiations. Bloodspills' nephew was a confirmed traitor and Bloodspill himself is as good as confirmed to have aided him. There is nothing to negotiate but the terms of his survival. This is not a friendly chatter between two parties on equal footing, who both want something from each other can can reach a mutually beneficial agreement. This is an investigation, where Bloodspill has to bring up some very good reasons just to be left alive. He's a traitor and I fully agree with Varyn that his feelings on the matter are absolutely irrelevant. In fact, taking Varyn, the man that already killed one Bloodspill, is not a provocation, its a sign of strength. The time for provocations is over, because for what it's worth, Nym and Ormond are already enemies and all that matters now is to intimidate him through a display of brute force. Varyn's presence could serve as a reminder to whats going to happen to the lord of he refuses to cooperate, to show that Nymeria is absolutely willing to go that far if he won't work with her. On top of that, you can't get more experienced than Varyn. He knows how to deal with people like Lord Bloodspill and he knows what to expect of them, so if Bloodspill plans anything bad, he can likely discover it first. Leaving him behind would be leaving a valuable asset behind, just for the sake keeping up a facade of diplomacy that has basically been ruined the moment Bloodspill's involvement in the conspiracy has been discovered. This sort of negotiation we have chosen earlier lives through force and not through kindness and sweet words. We already decided to confront Bloodspill directly and by leading an army to his castle, so why exactly should we take his feelings into consideration now? On top of that, I know that Varyn is likely to take this as something highly personal and I am sure he'll be highly angered by such a decision, especially as there's not a single truly good reason to leave him, not with the way this situation has already developed. I'm sorry, but leaving him behind is absolutely not worth it.
Nymeria
Nymeria, Mors, Jaran and Maester Olivar were at the gates of Sandship, seeing off Tomas Toland and Forovos Norvoshi, as well as O… morelyvar Forrester. Tomas and Forovos would make their way to Ghost Hill, whereas Olyvar would sail back to Essos, to bring the message from Nymeria to Valor Veltaris – the Fallen Dragons were hired, and they would attack Salt Shore. Nymeria was also sending one of her captains, Firanisa, to travel with Olyvar. Nymeria shifted his gaze to Tomas Toland again, narrowing her eyes.
"You owe your life to me, Toland, I hope you remember that." The Princess said strictly, and the man answered with a small and stern nod.
"Do not worry, my Princess, all will be well." Forovos spoke smoothly, his lips forming a cold smirk. Nymeria nodded to the Braavosi, feeling slightly nervous as she looked into those blue eyes. Forovos had been a big help for them, she couldn't deny that, but she still had a hard time trustin… [view original content]
Nymeria
Nymeria, Mors, Jaran and Maester Olivar were at the gates of Sandship, seeing off Tomas Toland and Forovos Norvoshi, as well as O… morelyvar Forrester. Tomas and Forovos would make their way to Ghost Hill, whereas Olyvar would sail back to Essos, to bring the message from Nymeria to Valor Veltaris – the Fallen Dragons were hired, and they would attack Salt Shore. Nymeria was also sending one of her captains, Firanisa, to travel with Olyvar. Nymeria shifted his gaze to Tomas Toland again, narrowing her eyes.
"You owe your life to me, Toland, I hope you remember that." The Princess said strictly, and the man answered with a small and stern nod.
"Do not worry, my Princess, all will be well." Forovos spoke smoothly, his lips forming a cold smirk. Nymeria nodded to the Braavosi, feeling slightly nervous as she looked into those blue eyes. Forovos had been a big help for them, she couldn't deny that, but she still had a hard time trustin… [view original content]
It was nice to see Eraehra again. I really liked the conversation she had with Mors; it really showed off her personality and her interest in history. I bet she will be spending a lot of time in that library of theirs. Anyways, for the choice, I will say..... [Take Varyn with you] I mean Nymeria is already taking an army with her to Lord Bloodspill's doorsteps. Bringing her general with her will remind him that crossing her has proven to be a futile effort. Sorry, for creating a tie.
Nymeria
Nymeria, Mors, Jaran and Maester Olivar were at the gates of Sandship, seeing off Tomas Toland and Forovos Norvoshi, as well as O… morelyvar Forrester. Tomas and Forovos would make their way to Ghost Hill, whereas Olyvar would sail back to Essos, to bring the message from Nymeria to Valor Veltaris – the Fallen Dragons were hired, and they would attack Salt Shore. Nymeria was also sending one of her captains, Firanisa, to travel with Olyvar. Nymeria shifted his gaze to Tomas Toland again, narrowing her eyes.
"You owe your life to me, Toland, I hope you remember that." The Princess said strictly, and the man answered with a small and stern nod.
"Do not worry, my Princess, all will be well." Forovos spoke smoothly, his lips forming a cold smirk. Nymeria nodded to the Braavosi, feeling slightly nervous as she looked into those blue eyes. Forovos had been a big help for them, she couldn't deny that, but she still had a hard time trustin… [view original content]
[Take Varyn with you] This is a very tough choice for me since good points have been brought up from both sides and I generally try to have Nymeria agree with Mors when I can but taking Varyn does seem like a solid option here. Marching to Redclif with an army pretty much throws diplomacy out the window, now is the time for Nymeria and House Martell to show strength. If I remember correctly, this is the first potential combat situation in the story where Nymeria is involved and she definitely needs to have a loyal general in Varyn by her side here.
Nymeria
Nymeria, Mors, Jaran and Maester Olivar were at the gates of Sandship, seeing off Tomas Toland and Forovos Norvoshi, as well as O… morelyvar Forrester. Tomas and Forovos would make their way to Ghost Hill, whereas Olyvar would sail back to Essos, to bring the message from Nymeria to Valor Veltaris – the Fallen Dragons were hired, and they would attack Salt Shore. Nymeria was also sending one of her captains, Firanisa, to travel with Olyvar. Nymeria shifted his gaze to Tomas Toland again, narrowing her eyes.
"You owe your life to me, Toland, I hope you remember that." The Princess said strictly, and the man answered with a small and stern nod.
"Do not worry, my Princess, all will be well." Forovos spoke smoothly, his lips forming a cold smirk. Nymeria nodded to the Braavosi, feeling slightly nervous as she looked into those blue eyes. Forovos had been a big help for them, she couldn't deny that, but she still had a hard time trustin… [view original content]
While we still don't have a tie, Nymeria will take Varyn with her. I definitely see the point you brought up (and Varyn did as well), about Nymeria needing to show power to the Bloodspill's, and not caring about the feelings of a traitor. That said, it's always a bit sad to have Nymeria disagree with Mors Well, it's nothing they can't get over
And next we will have a Dianna part. It probably won't be ready today though. And as mentioned in the earlier part, Dianna, Javor, Ser Dallin Dalt, and their soldiers are on their way to attacking an outpost called Griefhill on the lands of House Granit, which is supposedly garrisoned by the Bandit Lord's men.
I also have a new portrait - a character who was just introduced, Commander of the Royal Guard, Farrah of Ghoyan Drone:
Farr! She looks as beautiful as I imagined her, and her armour is great! This is a very nice drawing, and I thank you for it I'm eager to see more of this Commander very soon, and while I was always hyped for her, her first appearance was a great reveal, and this portrait is the icing on the cake really. Just great, I love it!
Voting is closed!
While we still don't have a tie, Nymeria will take Varyn with her. I definitely see the point you brought up (and Varyn… more did as well), about Nymeria needing to show power to the Bloodspill's, and not caring about the feelings of a traitor. That said, it's always a bit sad to have Nymeria disagree with Mors Well, it's nothing they can't get over
And next we will have a Dianna part. It probably won't be ready today though. And as mentioned in the earlier part, Dianna, Javor, Ser Dallin Dalt, and their soldiers are on their way to attacking an outpost called Griefhill on the lands of House Granit, which is supposedly garrisoned by the Bandit Lord's men.
I also have a new portrait - a character who was just introduced, Commander of the Royal Guard, Farrah of Ghoyan Drone:
An old and ruined grey tower stood on the hill, watching over the barren fields around it. Griefhill. Even from down here, Dianna could see the men gathered around the tower. There were roughly thirty of them out there, and if those would be all the troops they had to face, victory would be certain. However, it was clear that they would have reinforcements inside the tower. And to make things harder for Dianna and her troops, the barricades that the Bandit Lord's men had built made a direct cavalry charge impossible. They would have to advance on foot, and climb over the barricades.
"Do you think we have enough troops to take them on?" Javor asked, nervous tone on his voice. Dianna sighed, considering her answer for a moment. "Yes, this is our only chance." She finally said sternly. "If we retreat now, they will either bring more men here, or escape. And so we will lose our chance to imprison Efran Sand, or one of his officers." As Dianna finished speaking, Ser Dallin cleared his throat.
"We should first send men by foot, to bring down the barricades, and after that is done we can make a charge with the horses." He suggested calmly. Dianna nodded, letting out a dry chuckle. "Indeed, and I suppose we are the ones leading the attack on foot, and you will charge in with the horses?" She asked coldly, making the Dalt knight gulp.
"I am the anointed knight here." He stated awkwardly, and Dianna nodded sternly. "Sure." She replied nonchalantly, and turned towards her soldiers. She approached them with calm steps, seeing in some of their eyes courage, and in others fear. She saw Lysera and Gerrar standing side by side, ready to protect each other from anything coming their way.
"Soldiers of Sandship and Lemonwood!" She yelled, drawing her arakh and raising it towards the sky. "We are here to put an end to the atrocities carried out by the Bandit Lord Efran Sand and his men! We fight here today, so that no more innocents would be put to the sword by these criminals, so that law and order can be restored to these lands once again!" The soldiers gave her a restrained cheer, and she glanced towards Javor, who gave her a nod.
"Suns and Spears, we will march up the hill, climb over the barricades and tear them down, so Ser Dallin can ride in with his forces to crush these bandits." Dianna explained. "NOW, FOLLOW ME!" She shouted, as she turned around, and started the charge.
As they ran up the hill, some arrows flew towards them, though not many. Dianna heard a couple painful screams behind her, but kept running without looking back. She trusted that her sisters and brothers in arms would follow her into the battle. Dianna was the first to reach the barricades, which were made of wooden carts, barrels, sacks filled with rocks, and so on. As she started climbing over, she noticed something interesting. None of these men are from Dorne.
The warriors defending the tower were pale skinned men, with messy beards and greasy hair, most of them clad in chainmails and leather, and armed with axes and round wooden shields. One of them attacked Dianna with a scream that made her ears ring. She deflect his swing with her shield, and stroke back with her arakh. It hit the man, but his chainmail saved him, and he only had to stagger away from the fight.
Dianna's fellow soldiers made it over the barricades, though some of them were taken down by the defenders. "Push!" Dianna yelled, and they made the enemy back away from the barricades. However, just then the first wave of reinforcements poured out of the tower. "Push!" Dianna shouted again, and so the frontline charged, as the ones behind them started to tear down the barricades.
Dianna took down a young boy with wide green eyes, and then a large beast of a man with bushy brown beard and blue eyes. Steel was hitting against steel all around her, soldiers were falling, but so far everything was going as planned. She saw Javor struggling with a tall man armed with a double edged axe close to her, and decided to help. Her first strike hit the man on his ribs, piercing his armor. Groaning in pain, the man turned towards Dianna. He was about swing his axe, but Javor's sword was plunged under his right arm.
"Good work!" Dianna yelled, before turning to face the next opponent. After she took down a skinny man armed with short sword, she saw more warriors coming out of the tower again. How many of them are there?
"Die, you fucking greenlander!" Dianna heard hoarse voice screaming near her, and when she turned her gaze to left, she saw a shocking sight. A muscular pale man, with gaunt face and dirty blonde hair, had embedded his axe deep into Javor's skull. For a small moment Dianna froze, looking at the dead eyes of Javor. Then, with the rage of a wild animal, she rushed towards the man who had killed her friend. She tackled the man, though she didn't have enough power to knock him down. However, he lost the grip to his axe, and without a second of hesitation, Dianna slashed the man's throat open with her arakh.
Breathing heavily, Dianna turned to look towards the barricades. Her soldiers had managed to tear a small portion of it down, but now they were being harrased by the reinforcements, and some of them were already retreating down the hill.
Dianna turned her eyes to the door of the tower again, now seeing a huge man walking out. The man was clad in black chainmail and leather, he had a black horned helmet in his head, and just a bushy black beard could be seen from under it. In his right hand was a bastard sword, which he wielded effortlessly with a shield. This one must be their leader.
Dianna saw the big man advancing through the crowd, plowing down several of her soldiers. She decided to go after him. Dianna killed one man who tried to stop her, and kept going. As she got closer, she saw the man with the horned helmet plunge his sword right into Gerrar's guts. Immediately Dianna heard Lysera's screams of horror, but these men just laughed, and knocked the young girl down. Dianna clenched her teeth in rage, and charged towards this man.
She swung her arakh, but the man had good reflexes, and he parried the swing with his shield. "And who might you be?" He asked with a booming voice, a twisted grin on his face. Dianna didn't answer, but instead unleashed a series of strikes on him. However, this large man was a very talented fighter, and parried all her strikes with ease. He is just playing with me, Dianna soon realized to her horror. And just then, the man with the horned helmet made his move. With one strike he unarmed Dianna, and proceeded to punch her in the face. The punch sent Dianna to the dusty ground, and the man pressed his foot on her chest.
"I ask again, who the fuck are you?" The man's voice was more serious now, and he pointed his sword at Dianna's throat. Now she could see this man's dark eyes inside his helmet, and the look on them was murderous.
"I'm Captain Dianna." She muttered weakly, and the man moved his sword away from her throat. He grabbed her from the collar, and pulled her up. "Dianna, huh? And who do you fight for?"
"The Martell's." She answered quietly, glancing on her right, seeing all her soldiers either dead, or retreating. The only exception was Lysera, who laid on the feet of the enemies unconscious. The man with the horned helmet chuckled coldly. "Martell bitch." He said bluntly, studying Dianna's face. "Well, Dianna, I am Captain Bjorn Harlaw." He introduced himself with crude tone, tossing Dianna back to the ground.
Dianna looked down the hill, seeing Ser Dallin Dalt riding away with his soldiers. Fucking coward, she thought bitterly. Bjorn clearly noticed the same, as he let out a mocking laugh. "Looks like your friend doesn't want to help you." He said, and his men burst into laugh as well. "You Greenlanders are pathetic." With these words Bjorn stepped closer to Dianna, and threw one hard punch straight to her face. She hit her head to the ground, and slowly the world around her blurred, and finally turned into darkness.
Oh my! Well safe to say that this battle did not go to plan. This battle defintely showed one huge thing and that is Efran and his rebellion will not be taken down easily and certainly not without the direct involvement of the bulk of House Martell's army. At this point, it very much seems like the Martell's are over their head with the Tolands potentially regrouping themselves, Efran's rebellion, Lord Bloodspill causing trouble and it seems they will be taking the bulk of their army along with their newly acquired sellsword army to invade Salt Shore not to mention Lucifer Dryland's army is coming for them sooner rather then later. At this point, it seems Nymeria and House Martell are biting off more then they can chew and it will be interesting to see how they will overcome it all.
When it comes to Dianna, they is very worrying. Dianna's army has been basically killed off including Javor and the Dalt knights seemingly abandoned them. On top of that, an Ironborn man has captured her and she is alone with a bunch of ruthless and bloodthirsty men which is certainly a sign of trouble for her. Overall it is going to be interesting to see where things go from here for Dianna.
Dianna
An old and ruined grey tower stood on the hill, watching over the barren fields around it. Griefhill. Even from down here, Dianna … morecould see the men gathered around the tower. There were roughly thirty of them out there, and if those would be all the troops they had to face, victory would be certain. However, it was clear that they would have reinforcements inside the tower. And to make things harder for Dianna and her troops, the barricades that the Bandit Lord's men had built made a direct cavalry charge impossible. They would have to advance on foot, and climb over the barricades.
"Do you think we have enough troops to take them on?" Javor asked, nervous tone on his voice. Dianna sighed, considering her answer for a moment. "Yes, this is our only chance." She finally said sternly. "If we retreat now, they will either bring more men here, or escape. And so we will lose our chance to imprison Efran Sand, or one of his officers." … [view original content]
Oh man, this was awesome! The battle has to be one of my favourite fighting scenes in the entire story so far and it really makes me excited for the future fighting scenes that will come once the war truly starts. This already felt epic and it was only a skirmish of sorts, compared to the wars between kingdoms that will follow so soon. And it is interesting to see Bjorn Harlaw here, after he was quite the subject of my speculation for a short while. Though save to say, my speculation has developed into a different direction, especially after this part.
Another thing I am interested in is what is going to happen to Dianna now. She's not dead, which is good, but she's now in the hands of an Ironborn, which is bad, very bad. I could see him bringing her to Efran though, especially if he's more smart than cruel, so that the bandit lord himself can decide on what to do. Maybe Efran would even like to take this opportunity to make peace with Nymeria, even if he is currently seemingly the stronger side, with the Dryland's supporting him and him winning this battle without a doubt. I bet Nym has underestimated Efran, Dianna has understimated him and well, I have underestimated him, as I have never expected of him to be strong enough to beat Dianna's force in open combat. I could see Dianna's future parts showing more of Efran and it should be interesting to see where this will end up at for her and for him.
Dianna
An old and ruined grey tower stood on the hill, watching over the barren fields around it. Griefhill. Even from down here, Dianna … morecould see the men gathered around the tower. There were roughly thirty of them out there, and if those would be all the troops they had to face, victory would be certain. However, it was clear that they would have reinforcements inside the tower. And to make things harder for Dianna and her troops, the barricades that the Bandit Lord's men had built made a direct cavalry charge impossible. They would have to advance on foot, and climb over the barricades.
"Do you think we have enough troops to take them on?" Javor asked, nervous tone on his voice. Dianna sighed, considering her answer for a moment. "Yes, this is our only chance." She finally said sternly. "If we retreat now, they will either bring more men here, or escape. And so we will lose our chance to imprison Efran Sand, or one of his officers." … [view original content]
Oh my! Well safe to say that this battle did not go to plan. This battle defintely showed one huge thing and that is Efran and his rebellion will not be taken down easily and certainly not without the direct involvement of the bulk of House Martell's army.
Indeed, it definitely did not go as planned. Dianna made a mistake in severly underestimating her enemy here. First of all there were more of them here than she thought, and secondly they were battle-hardened Ironborn warriors (with a captain who keeps them well disciplined), instead of the untrained bandits that Dianna expected to be facing. And you're right, Efran's rebellion won't go down easily. It's big, and it's well spread out - definitely one of these cases where you just have to cut off the snake's head.
At this point, it very much seems like the Martell's are over their head with the Tolands potentially regrouping themselves, Efran's rebellion, Lord Bloodspill causing trouble and it seems they will be taking the bulk of their army along with their newly acquired sellsword army to invade Salt Shore not to mention Lucifer Dryland's army is coming for them sooner rather then later. At this point, it seems Nymeria and House Martell are biting off more then they can chew and it will be interesting to see how they will overcome it all.
Yeah, right now the situation does seem very hard to overcome for them. When it comes to the Tolands, Nymeria is putting her trust in Forovos and Tomas being succesful in their peace negotiations with Levor Toland. Efran on the other hand is not currently a direct threat to Nymeria herself, but since the Dalt's are vassals to the Martell's, she can't really ignore him either. Bloodspill himself is a small annoyance, but comes in a bad time, as the threat of the Drylands comes more real every day. And Martell's can't just sit and wait either, they have to move out and win the war on Central Dorne, because if they have to retreat back to Sandship they are fucked, since it is way too weak stronghold to withstand a siege from the Drylands.
When it comes to Dianna, they is very worrying. Dianna's army has been basically killed off including Javor and the Dalt knights seemingly abandoned them. On top of that, an Ironborn man has captured her and she is alone with a bunch of ruthless and bloodthirsty men which is certainly a sign of trouble for her. Overall it is going to be interesting to see where things go from here for Dianna.
Indeed, it's an interesting turn for Dianna's storyline, for once She has been basically just traveling around so far, so it was really refreshing to finally write this part for her, and I'm glad you seemed to enjoy it!
Oh my! Well safe to say that this battle did not go to plan. This battle defintely showed one huge thing and that is Efran and his rebellion… more will not be taken down easily and certainly not without the direct involvement of the bulk of House Martell's army. At this point, it very much seems like the Martell's are over their head with the Tolands potentially regrouping themselves, Efran's rebellion, Lord Bloodspill causing trouble and it seems they will be taking the bulk of their army along with their newly acquired sellsword army to invade Salt Shore not to mention Lucifer Dryland's army is coming for them sooner rather then later. At this point, it seems Nymeria and House Martell are biting off more then they can chew and it will be interesting to see how they will overcome it all.
When it comes to Dianna, they is very worrying. Dianna's army has been basically killed off including Javor and the Dalt knights seemingly abandoned them. … [view original content]
Oh man, this was awesome! The battle has to be one of my favourite fighting scenes in the entire story so far and it really makes me excited for the future fighting scenes that will come once the war truly starts. This already felt epic and it was only a skirmish of sorts, compared to the wars between kingdoms that will follow so soon.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! There hasn't been that many fighting scenes in the story yet, so while I love writing them, I'm also still a bit uncertain with the quality. That said, I was pretty satisfied with this one, and I'm happy to hear you like it as well. Indeed, this was a mere skirmish, the real battles are coming later in this chapter
Another thing I am interested in is what is going to happen to Dianna now. She's not dead, which is good, but she's now in the hands of an Ironborn, which is bad, very bad. I could see him bringing her to Efran though, especially if he's more smart than cruel, so that the bandit lord himself can decide on what to do. Maybe Efran would even like to take this opportunity to make peace with Nymeria, even if he is currently seemingly the stronger side, with the Dryland's supporting him and him winning this battle without a doubt. I bet Nym has underestimated Efran, Dianna has understimated him and well, I have underestimated him, as I have never expected of him to be strong enough to beat Dianna's force in open combat. I could see Dianna's future parts showing more of Efran and it should be interesting to see where this will end up at for her and for him.
Well, I think I can at least say that Dianna's parts will be more interesting from now on. She direly needed a twist to her storyline to keep it interesting, and I've been looking forward to writing this part for a while now It certainly was my personal favorite of all Dianna's parts so far, but there could be parts coming for her that I'll enjoy even more. And on top of that, I'll certainly enjoy writing Bjorn and his Ironborn crew more than I enjoyed writing Dianna's earlier supporting cast
Oh man, this was awesome! The battle has to be one of my favourite fighting scenes in the entire story so far and it really makes me excited… more for the future fighting scenes that will come once the war truly starts. This already felt epic and it was only a skirmish of sorts, compared to the wars between kingdoms that will follow so soon. And it is interesting to see Bjorn Harlaw here, after he was quite the subject of my speculation for a short while. Though save to say, my speculation has developed into a different direction, especially after this part.
Another thing I am interested in is what is going to happen to Dianna now. She's not dead, which is good, but she's now in the hands of an Ironborn, which is bad, very bad. I could see him bringing her to Efran though, especially if he's more smart than cruel, so that the bandit lord himself can decide on what to do. Maybe Efran would even like to take this opportunity to make peace with Nym… [view original content]
This was definitely an interesting twist in Dianna's storyline. It seems that the rumor Verro heard about some Ironborn working for Efran was the truth. I think I know one of the reasons why the Ironborn are not stationed with Efran's main army.
Dianna
An old and ruined grey tower stood on the hill, watching over the barren fields around it. Griefhill. Even from down here, Dianna … morecould see the men gathered around the tower. There were roughly thirty of them out there, and if those would be all the troops they had to face, victory would be certain. However, it was clear that they would have reinforcements inside the tower. And to make things harder for Dianna and her troops, the barricades that the Bandit Lord's men had built made a direct cavalry charge impossible. They would have to advance on foot, and climb over the barricades.
"Do you think we have enough troops to take them on?" Javor asked, nervous tone on his voice. Dianna sighed, considering her answer for a moment. "Yes, this is our only chance." She finally said sternly. "If we retreat now, they will either bring more men here, or escape. And so we will lose our chance to imprison Efran Sand, or one of his officers." … [view original content]
Alright, so, there is no voting going on atm, but check out the new Dianna part above if you haven't yet^^ Anyway, that isn't what this post is about. I'd like to inform that the story will have a short break soon, not longer than about a week though. Why? Because I'm having a little vacation with my cousin, we're going to Barcelona, and I won't be taking my laptop with me. (I will have my phone though, so I'll still be somewhat active in the forums). Anyway, I'm going there on Monday, and I'll be back by the next weekend. So, why am I informing about this already? Because I have loads of stuff to do for this weekend, so I'm not 100% sure if I'll get the next part out before the vacation. Btw, that next part will bring Myke back to the story after a pretty long absence. So yeah, hopefully I'll get the part done by Sunday, but if not, then it'll be next weekend.
However, next we should have a new H&L from CM3434, and it should be a good one
-
Even before that though, here's a portrait of our newest character, Captain Bjorn Harlaw:
I hope you enjoy your vacation. A whole week without the awesomeness that is Nymeria's War will be hard for us, but I think we'll manage For now, have a great stay in Barcelona. Wonderful city, I've been there some years ago and I loved it, so I hope you'r also going to enjoy it there. As much as I hope to read the new Myke part before your leave, don't worry if it doesn't work out, that at least gives us something to look forward for next weekend
And man that Bjorn portrait is great! So badass and intimidating. I was already curious for the guy for a while now, but now I'm even more excited to learn more about him. His description has already been cool as hell, but actually seeing him drawn is something else entirely. A really great portrait and, as I would say, one of my Top 5 of the NW portraits, at least from memory.
Announcement!
Alright, so, there is no voting going on atm, but check out the new Dianna part above if you haven't yet^^ Anyway, that isn… more't what this post is about. I'd like to inform that the story will have a short break soon, not longer than about a week though. Why? Because I'm having a little vacation with my cousin, we're going to Barcelona, and I won't be taking my laptop with me. (I will have my phone though, so I'll still be somewhat active in the forums). Anyway, I'm going there on Monday, and I'll be back by the next weekend. So, why am I informing about this already? Because I have loads of stuff to do for this weekend, so I'm not 100% sure if I'll get the next part out before the vacation. Btw, that next part will bring Myke back to the story after a pretty long absence. So yeah, hopefully I'll get the part done by Sunday, but if not, then it'll be next weekend.
However, next we should have a new H&L from CM3434, and it… [view original content]
Have fun on your vacation Wildling! Barcelona will no doubt be a pretty awesome time I am sure. As for the story, you deserve a break man! We will all be here when you get back to writing it and as Liquid said, if the Myke part is not done before you leave then we have something to look forward to next weekend!
As for the H&L, I suppose this is my cue Sometime last year, I wrote a Jamison H&L on knighthood and it was alot of fun. However after seeing all of the phenomenal H&L's written in a short story form by many of the readers here, safe to say I had to write a short story version of that H&L so consider it a continuation of the original one I suppose As for if it is good or not, I like to think it is at the very least readable I had tons of fun writing it and hopefully you guys enjoy reading it as well! I should have it posted in just a few. Also, thanks to Wildling for helping polish it up!
Announcement!
Alright, so, there is no voting going on atm, but check out the new Dianna part above if you haven't yet^^ Anyway, that isn… more't what this post is about. I'd like to inform that the story will have a short break soon, not longer than about a week though. Why? Because I'm having a little vacation with my cousin, we're going to Barcelona, and I won't be taking my laptop with me. (I will have my phone though, so I'll still be somewhat active in the forums). Anyway, I'm going there on Monday, and I'll be back by the next weekend. So, why am I informing about this already? Because I have loads of stuff to do for this weekend, so I'm not 100% sure if I'll get the next part out before the vacation. Btw, that next part will bring Myke back to the story after a pretty long absence. So yeah, hopefully I'll get the part done by Sunday, but if not, then it'll be next weekend.
However, next we should have a new H&L from CM3434, and it… [view original content]
Without honor, knights can’t be called knights. The vows we speak are to be held and never forsaken, for without our vows, we are no different than any back alley thug who live and die by their blades every single day. Jamison had been told this in some shape or form countless times throughout his life by his own father, as well as by the knight he squired for, Ser Laroy Ladybright. They both held knighthood to a high standard, from which they believed no one was worthy of it until they earned it. However, from all the tourneys, duels and various fights Jamison had been involved in, he believed what they said was far from the truth. Jamison had seen the true colors of many a knights and he knew most of them certainly would not live up to his father’s expectations. Most knights were knights for the prestige it brought, the gold and lands it earned them, or simply they just liked killing and with a Ser in front of your name, killing is far easier to get away with. That is not to say that there aren’t knights who try to live up to the code of knighthood, but those men are few and far between.
On this day the knights of honor and knights without honor were all in the same place. The tourney of Griffin’s Roost was truly quite the sight to behold. It was held in the countryside surrounding the griffin’s castle and on this day the stormy waters of Shipbreaker Bay were unusually calm with the tides offering more of a soothing whisper rather than the very loud whipping roar that was oh so prevalent. The sky had been clear, sun shining through the trees with great intensity, and there were no dark clouds in sight. It was almost the perfect day to end a tourney, and if there was any tourney similar to the ones in the songs, this one could be it. However, there was one fatal flaw – Jamison Dayne was about to ruin the plans of Lord Davith Connington. It was said that this tourney was specifically set up for his son and heir Ser Robert Connington to win. The lists were filled with mediocrity and conveniently enough, Ser Robert was lucky enough to face the worst knights in the whole tourney on his way to the finals, with the hope that all of the talented knights would knock each other out and the one that would make it to the finals would be too tired to compete with Ser Robert, who was quite the jouster in his own right. Ser Robert would win, and then officially declare his betrothed Princess Marleina Durrandon the Queen of Love and Beauty. And everything went as planned, until Ser Robert faced Prince Jamison in the finals. When Jamison decisively unhorsed the young griffin and won the tourney however, nothing truly changed, and it certainly showed at the feast held directly after the joust was finished.
Leaning back in his chair with an annoyed look on his face, Jamison watched disappointedly as Ser Robert danced with Princess Marleina as the music played softly in the background of the great hall of Griffin’s Roost. Ser Robert had a smug and satisfied look on his face as if he were on top of the world, but Jamison did notice that the Storm Princess looked a bit less enamored with Ser Robert. In truth, Marleina looked almost annoyed in having to be dancing with the red haired knight. After the dance finished Ser Robert’s eyes briefly met with Jamison’s, which led to the young Connington giving Jamison an arrogant smirk, as if to say that he had truly won in the end. Meanwhile Princess Marleina quickly walked out of the great hall, but not before giving a quick glance toward Jamison, as he had noticed her doing several times throughout the tourney. This amused Jamison for a moment, but quickly he went back to being annoyed. Rolling his eyes, he turned to look at Ser Alester Upton, who sat right next to him. “Only in this world of ours can losers actually win. I embarrassed him… defeated him right at his family’s ancestral home and yet here he is looking so proud as if he actually accomplished something," the Prince spoke with bitter tone. Alester who was devouring his plate of food looked up at Jamison and shrugged his shoulders lazily. “It seems he is doing better than either of us, Jamison. He has the best looking girl in here on his arm, and soon she will be in his bed every night. Ah, how I wish I could get a piece of her” said Alester with an arrogant smirk on his face.
Jamison, even though still aggravated, could not help but laugh at Alester’s bluntness. “You do have a point Alester, she is certainly not hard on the eyes. But she is no Isabella” He said with genuine tone. Hearing that, Alester’s smirk got even wider “Oh gods, not her again. Here you are, Prince Jamison Dayne, the Sword of the Night and the best knight in Dorne. Your foes fear and respect you, and you can get nearly any woman you want, but yet all I have heard you do since we have left Starfall is sit around and complain because King Vorian would not let you marry some girl who I have never heard speak more than five words. Do you honestly believe you would be happy with her?” Right when Jamison was about to answer Alester continued “She is far too boring for you Jamison, you can do far better than Isabella Fowler. Ashara Nightfall on the other hand? Now that is a lady. She has thrown herself at you for years, and you can tell by looking at her that she knows her way around the bedroom, unlike your Princess who probably doesn’t even know that men have cocks." With that Alester busted out laughing, but Jamison had heard enough and quickly silenced Alester. “You are one of my closest friends Alester, and for that I will forgive you, but if you say another cruel thing of Isabella I'll have no problem knocking some sense into you." He spoke with cold tone. Alester’s eyes widened in surprise and he immediately apologized. “Calm down, there’s no need to be like that. You know it is just a jest. All I am saying is, you can’t just wait around on your father to change his mind about it. For all we know, King Garrison could've set up a betrothal for her already. I want to see my friend back, not this brooding man that has replaced him. Something did not go your way for once, so what? Just get back up on the horse and find someone else. Gods know it won’t be hard for you" said Alester with a slight chuckle.
Clearly surprised by the motivational speech that Alester had just given, Jamison somewhat agreed with him. “I suppose you are right, Alester," He said with a small smirk. "I won’t forget Isabella, and I won’t stop trying to make it happen, but I can’t just wait around for something that might never happen. It has been a little while since I've been with a girl, I believe it is time to change that and I know just who to start with.” Said Jamison with an arrogant smirk, and Alester replicated it. “Now that is the Jamison I know, but please don’t let it be the girl I think you are speaking of.” Jamison chuckled arrogantly, and ignoring Alester’s words, he left the great hall.
Jamison briefly walked through the castle of Griffin’s Roost, and soon he saw Princess Marleina Durrandon standing on a balcony, watching the sunset overlooking the unusually calm waters of Shipbreaker Bay. The Storm Princess was even more enchanting up close with her long black hair elegantly curled and blue eyes so blue it was as if you were looking into the Sapphire waters surrounding the Island of Tarth. She wore a strikingly beautiful red and white gown in the colors of her betrothed’s house, and had a slightly sad look on her face. While the Storm Princess was very attractive, she was no Princess of Stone and Sky, but for this evening she would have to do.
Princess Marleina turned around to see Jamison walking up to her and with a slight smile, she was the first to speak. “Good evening, Ser Jamison, and congratulations on winning the tournament. You fought valiantly and defeated my betrothed, it was quite the performance.” The princess spoke with a kind and almost seductive tone. Jamison gave the Princess a charming smile and proceeded to correct her. “Actually it is Prince Jamison, my Princess, but yes I am a knight, as I am sure that you know.”
“Indeed I do, and you seem to be quite the talented knight as well.” said the Princess with a blush, but now with curiosity clearly showing in her tone, she continued, “I have heard a great many things about you Prince Jamison. I have heard many say you are the best knight down in Dorne. Obviously I can’t say whether that is true or not, but I have heard Robert complain for weeks once he heard you were entering this tournament. I actually saw what looked to almost be fear in his eyes when you were first mentioned, and I have to wonder why that is? I mean you are just a knight like any other, what makes you so different?" She asked inquisitively, biting her lip. Jamison could sense already that she was attracted to him, and it seemed she was intrigued by his reputation, so he decided to pour it on. With confidence brimming from his words Jamison smoothly told her “I have to disagree with you on one thing, I am far from just being any other knight. There isn’t anyone like me, most knights are content wearing their shiny armor and taking part in tourney after tourney where they are unhorsed in the joust and defeated in the melee by better men. Most knights are weak, they want the title but not the burden that comes with it. They speak the vows about how knights are protectors, brave and just, but they don’t truly mean them and they deny what is right in front of them. Knights are meant to battle and defeat their foes, by any means necessary."
Jamison could sense how excited Marleina was, and the look in her eyes just exuded that excitement. The Storm Princess now softly grazed Jamison’s arm, looking him in his eyes. “So you have been in battle and you have….. killed a man before?” Her voice was seductive as she asked this. Jamison, now with his face within inches of hers, answered. “I have. I am not saying that I am proud of it, but fighting another man for real is unlike any experience that can possibly be imagined. It is a test as much mental as it is physical. Most knights and men in general fear battle and pray to whichever gods they pray to avoid it. They may hide on the edge of the battlefield, or hide in their liege’s castle saying that they are protecting it. This is where I am different. When in battle with swords, axes, warhammers, lances and armor clashing all around me… with death surrounding me, I can’t say that there is another time that I feel more alive." The Sword of the Night said this with a charming smile on his face. At this point, Jamison could clearly see that his words had worked with Marleina, who was now inching even closer to him. Softly the Storm Princess purred, “Oh you are so brave, all knights wish they were like you."
“You are right, they do wish they could be like me, but I'm the only one like me.” Jamison spoke with arrogant passion, and picked the Storm Princess up. With her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, Jamison pushed her against the wall. He kissed her passionately, and Princess Marleina did not resist. Then he kissed her neck and started to pull up her gown but the Storm Princess nervously stopped him. "Wait!" She hissed, "We can’t do this here, not out in the open... if Robert or worse my father finds out… they would kill the both of us."
“I am not Ser Bryen the one eyed hedge knight and as for the Storm King, I am not scared of him either, I would like to see them try." Jamison replied with a smirk, but as Marleina still looked unconvinced, he continued. "My Princess, the Maid charges me to protect all women, and to me it seems you need protected. However, if you wish, we don’t have to do this here." With those words, the Storm Princess’ eyes lit up and she took Jamison by the hand. Sneakily she lead him to her chambers, and on the way up, a plethora of thoughts entered Jamison’s mind. Jamison thought of his father’s lectures about not dishonoring himself, he thought of Nealia and mother always telling him to stay out of trouble, and he also regretted listening to Alester’s “motivational” words, and most importantly, he thought of Princess Isabella, and how much he missed her. He wished Vorian would have accepted the betrothal proposal, so he would not even be in this situation right now, and he and Isabella could be traveling north to visit the Wall together, just like they had planned. He wondered if Isabella still thought of him, and of how she would undoubtedly not be proud of his behavior tonight. He wondered if they would get to see each other again, let alone get married. Jamison knew he only wanted her, and the thought of Isabella not being with him and her being disappointed in him was enough to nearly turn around and go back to the great hall.
However, they had already reached Princess Marleina’s room. Elegantly the Storm Princess undressed her gown, and stood naked before him. Brief passion took over Jamison’s feelings, and as he watched the Storm Princess walk toward him, his knightly vows entered his mind, and how absurd they truly were. Specifically he thought about the swearing to the Maid again. He realized that in a way he was fulfilling his vows by protecting Princess Marleina from a life of boredom, well, for one night anyway. With these thoughts in mind, Jamison pulled the Storm Princess into him and smirked, thinking, Who says I am not a true knight?
Jamison Dayne - Knightly Vows
Without honor, knights can’t be called knights. The vows we speak are to be held and never forsaken, for wi… morethout our vows, we are no different than any back alley thug who live and die by their blades every single day. Jamison had been told this in some shape or form countless times throughout his life by his own father, as well as by the knight he squired for, Ser Laroy Ladybright. They both held knighthood to a high standard, from which they believed no one was worthy of it until they earned it. However, from all the tourneys, duels and various fights Jamison had been involved in, he believed what they said was far from the truth. Jamison had seen the true colors of many a knights and he knew most of them certainly would not live up to his father’s expectations. Most knights were knights for the prestige it brought, the gold and lands it earned them, or simply they just liked killing and with a Ser in front … [view original content]
Jamison Dayne - Knightly Vows
Without honor, knights can’t be called knights. The vows we speak are to be held and never forsaken, for wi… morethout our vows, we are no different than any back alley thug who live and die by their blades every single day. Jamison had been told this in some shape or form countless times throughout his life by his own father, as well as by the knight he squired for, Ser Laroy Ladybright. They both held knighthood to a high standard, from which they believed no one was worthy of it until they earned it. However, from all the tourneys, duels and various fights Jamison had been involved in, he believed what they said was far from the truth. Jamison had seen the true colors of many a knights and he knew most of them certainly would not live up to his father’s expectations. Most knights were knights for the prestige it brought, the gold and lands it earned them, or simply they just liked killing and with a Ser in front … [view original content]
It's a Histories & Lore -part There is a link in the OP where you can find more of them (I'd put the link here too but it's too much trouble with phone )
It's a Histories & Lore -part There is a link in the OP where you can find more of them (I'd put the link here too but it's too much trouble with phone )
Oh man, that was really a great H&L! Actually, I think it was one of my favourite H&L's, maybe even my favourite. So many great ones, it's hard to tell, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one You know I always liked Jamison as a character and this H&L did a sweet job with summarizing just why exactly I like him. It's this swagger, his jerkishness, paired with him just undeniably being incredibly cool. And man, that guy has balls the size of Dorne for seducing the Storm Princess so shortly before her wedding, in the castle of her betrothed on top of that, after already humiliating him. I liked that, I liked it a lot Another thing I liked were the similarities to Naemon's H&L, while focussing on their differences as characters, this truly was a great idea. The contrast between them is something I like a lot and hearing about Jamison's views on knighthood was really interesting. I think it's these views that give him a certain edge as a character, even on top of all the style, the confidence, it gives him something that truly makes him unique and paired with the Isabella stuff that got hinted at here, it makes him into one hell of a complex character. So, all in all, absolutely fantastic job, thank you for sharing this H&L with us!
Now, I think it's my turn with the H&L's... Might be something I can do in the next week, among other things, I surely feel inspired now
Jamison Dayne - Knightly Vows
Without honor, knights can’t be called knights. The vows we speak are to be held and never forsaken, for wi… morethout our vows, we are no different than any back alley thug who live and die by their blades every single day. Jamison had been told this in some shape or form countless times throughout his life by his own father, as well as by the knight he squired for, Ser Laroy Ladybright. They both held knighthood to a high standard, from which they believed no one was worthy of it until they earned it. However, from all the tourneys, duels and various fights Jamison had been involved in, he believed what they said was far from the truth. Jamison had seen the true colors of many a knights and he knew most of them certainly would not live up to his father’s expectations. Most knights were knights for the prestige it brought, the gold and lands it earned them, or simply they just liked killing and with a Ser in front … [view original content]
Dianna
An old and ruined grey tower stood on the hill, watching over the barren fields around it. Griefhill. Even from down here, Dianna … morecould see the men gathered around the tower. There were roughly thirty of them out there, and if those would be all the troops they had to face, victory would be certain. However, it was clear that they would have reinforcements inside the tower. And to make things harder for Dianna and her troops, the barricades that the Bandit Lord's men had built made a direct cavalry charge impossible. They would have to advance on foot, and climb over the barricades.
"Do you think we have enough troops to take them on?" Javor asked, nervous tone on his voice. Dianna sighed, considering her answer for a moment. "Yes, this is our only chance." She finally said sternly. "If we retreat now, they will either bring more men here, or escape. And so we will lose our chance to imprison Efran Sand, or one of his officers." … [view original content]
Jamison Dayne - Knightly Vows
Without honor, knights can’t be called knights. The vows we speak are to be held and never forsaken, for wi… morethout our vows, we are no different than any back alley thug who live and die by their blades every single day. Jamison had been told this in some shape or form countless times throughout his life by his own father, as well as by the knight he squired for, Ser Laroy Ladybright. They both held knighthood to a high standard, from which they believed no one was worthy of it until they earned it. However, from all the tourneys, duels and various fights Jamison had been involved in, he believed what they said was far from the truth. Jamison had seen the true colors of many a knights and he knew most of them certainly would not live up to his father’s expectations. Most knights were knights for the prestige it brought, the gold and lands it earned them, or simply they just liked killing and with a Ser in front … [view original content]
Thanks, I am glad that you enjoyed it! Like Wildling said, this is a History and Lore part. They are short stories written by readers of the story with a character that they created. They are all awesome and I definitely recommend them
Well I am glad to hear that this H&L lived up to expectations This topic seemed like a fine way to showcase Jamison's character in many facets and it is cool that you agree.
Another thing I liked were the similarities to Naemon's H&L, while focussing on their differences as characters, this truly was a great idea. The contrast between them is something I like a lot and hearing about Jamison's views on knighthood was really interesting.
This was something I definitely tried to do here and I am glad you caught this. It really is so neat just how we made Jamison and Naemon so similar yet very very different. They are the same age,talented knights, and even cousins. It really is wild how we pulled this off considering neither of us knew about the other person's character in advance and yet it worked out perfectly. They really are super different with myself seeing Naemon as someone who takes his knighthood very seriously and wants to live it as well as he possibly can while Jamison does not think much of the concept of Knighthood and is pretty cynical about it. He believed in Knighthood pretty strongly as a young child though and I will probably delve into that and what lead to the change in heart a little bit in a future H&L.
I think it's these views that give him a certain edge as a character, even on top of all the style, the confidence, it gives him something that truly makes him unique and paired with the Isabella stuff that got hinted at here, it makes him into one hell of a complex character.
Indeed, there have been a few twists and turns to make Jamison into who he is now as the complex character that he is. As you can tell, he does put Isabella on a pretty high pedestal especially compared to how he treats basically everyone else. They are kind of an odd combo with their contrasting personalities but in a way it does fit with how Jamison is as well
So, all in all, absolutely fantastic job, thank you for sharing this H&L with us!
Now, I think it's my turn with the H&L's... Might be something I can do in the next week, among other things, I surely feel inspired now
No problem! It is pretty awesome to me that others enjoy these H&L's that I have written and it definitely motivates me to make more! As for your H&L's, the topics you mentioned were no doubt epic and whichever one comes first, I will no doubt be happy to read it and am already hyped for it
Oh man, that was really a great H&L! Actually, I think it was one of my favourite H&L's, maybe even my favourite. So many great ones… more, it's hard to tell, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one You know I always liked Jamison as a character and this H&L did a sweet job with summarizing just why exactly I like him. It's this swagger, his jerkishness, paired with him just undeniably being incredibly cool. And man, that guy has balls the size of Dorne for seducing the Storm Princess so shortly before her wedding, in the castle of her betrothed on top of that, after already humiliating him. I liked that, I liked it a lot Another thing I liked were the similarities to Naemon's H&L, while focussing on their differences as characters, this truly was a great idea. The contrast between them is something I like a lot and hearing about Jamison's views on knighthood was really interesting. I think it's these views that give him a certain edge … [view original content]
Comments
I believe you meant Myrish woman.
Anyways, for the choice, I will say [Apologize to Axel]. There are a few different reasons on why he should do this. It is not good to have the tension between them continue to fester. Things may eventually escalate out of control between them. Also, many in the Thunder Crew might possibly take Axel's side since they have known him longer. Verro should try and maintain good relations with them, since they are the only warrior allies he has among Efran's followers. Not to mention, an attempt in trying to fix the situation would look good to Efran. Verro doesn't necessarily have to mean the apology to make it. Axel might not initially accept the apology, but it might change his view toward Verro for making an effort. Anyways, these are some of the many reasons that I think attempting to apologize to Axel would be the wise thing to do.
Fixed, thanks for pointing it out
[Apologize to Axel] better not to make enemies from the very beginning. Better friends than opposite.
[Apologize to Axel] While quite honestly, I would prefer Verro to not apologize to Axel, Tales brought up some good points. Verro has so few allies that it would not be a good thing for him to risk losing them. Verro doesn't have to mean the apology but he needs to try to stay in the Thunder Crew's good graces as much as possible.
Edit: [Don't apologize] Well I typically don't like changing my vote too often but in this case I feel it is warranted. I am just not sure I can bring my self to have Verro apologize to someone as horrible as Axel especially when Verro was nowhere near being in the wrong. Liquid also brought up a solid point as well with that being that apologizing could even be seen as a sign of weakness to others that Verro is apologizing for this. I believe Verro has made an enemy in Axel for good and no apology will change that. Verro seems like someone who is very strong in his morals and I don't believe I want to compromise that. With that said, Tales did bring up excellent arguments and I still see the apologize choice winning and I have no problem with that but I myself don't want Verri to compromise who he is for someone as despicable as Axel. Sorry for creating a tie Wildling
[Don't apologize] Nah, let's just keep it proffesional with him from now on.
[Apologize to Axel]
[Don't apologize]
No, absolutely no, I'm not going to pick the other option! I know, apologizing will be the better option and hell, I don't disapprove of this option clearly winning, but I'm not going to compromise my morals, not for Axel, that fucking piece of dirt. That's right, he's not even good enough for shit, which is at least useful as a fertilizer, he's just dirt. Bah, I hate him. I know, Tales is absolutely right with his argument and I fully agree with him, but since the choice to apologize is going to win either way, I figure I can choose this without risking any negative consequences for Verro. I just don't want to choose to apologize to that fucker, especially since Verro was absolutely in the right. Speaking of, I am happy his actions at least somewhat ruined Axel's day, by allowing the girl to escape.. On top of that, I don't think he will accept the apology and if Verro does apologize, he's probably going to be seen as weak by the others. That way, he might not pick the smart option, which I believe to be apologizing, but he's going to stand by his morals, which has to be worth something. But well, as I said, I don't disapprove of the other option winning, as it leaves me free to pick this option without having to fear for bad consequences for Verro. Unless of course apologizing will somehow lead to bad consequences, in which case I can also be happy to know that I have chosen correctly. It's sort of a win-win situation for me, as I have just realized
Oh well, hopefully someone will still vote
Anyway, this time we have a vote from the PoVs creator, so if there's a tie that will solve it. So, no problem 
Voting is closed!
Another tie
Well, determined by the vote of Verro's creator, Verro will apologize to Axel. Axel certainly isn't a pleasant man, anything but, so I understand why some of you were against this choice. Also, it's definitely questionable how will Axel even take an apology. On the other hand, as some of you brought up, making enemies at Verro's situation isn't something you want to do, and this might be a way to avoid making Axel one.
Anyway, the next part is almost ready, and it is a Nymeria PoV! While there isn't any earth-shattering twists in this part, it's one I really enjoyed writing, and I hope it reflects into the quality
As a reminder, lately on Nymeria's storyline, she has been planning to march to Redclif with an army, to confront Lord Ormond Bloodspill who is an alleged leader of a conspiracy against Nymeria. She has also decided to send Tomas Toland to Ghost Hill with Forovos Norvoshi, to negotiate peace with King Donovar's heir. Nymeria also hired a sellsword company called the Fallen Dragons (led by a Valyrian named Valor Veltaris), and plans to use them to assault Salt Shore from the sea.
Nymeria
Nymeria, Mors, Jaran and Maester Olivar were at the gates of Sandship, seeing off Tomas Toland and Forovos Norvoshi, as well as Olyvar Forrester. Tomas and Forovos would make their way to Ghost Hill, whereas Olyvar would sail back to Essos, to bring the message from Nymeria to Valor Veltaris – the Fallen Dragons were hired, and they would attack Salt Shore. Nymeria was also sending one of her captains, Firanisa, to travel with Olyvar. Nymeria shifted his gaze to Tomas Toland again, narrowing her eyes.
"You owe your life to me, Toland, I hope you remember that." The Princess said strictly, and the man answered with a small and stern nod.
"Do not worry, my Princess, all will be well." Forovos spoke smoothly, his lips forming a cold smirk. Nymeria nodded to the Braavosi, feeling slightly nervous as she looked into those blue eyes. Forovos had been a big help for them, she couldn't deny that, but she still had a hard time trusting him.
Nymeria turned her gaze at Olyvar Forrester and Captain Firanisa. "I expect Valor Veltaris to honor the contract, as well as my orders." She said calmly and sternly. "Give me Salt Shore, and you will be well rewarded." Olyvar nodded to her words with a smirk. "As you command, my Princess." He said with a deep bow. Nymeria looked at Firanisa, who looked dutiful, but also slightly uncomfortable. She felt bad sending this woman to meet a Valyrian, but at the same time she trusted her to do it with honor.
"Safe travels, my friends." Prince Mors said with a soft and friendly tone. They all gave one more bow for their Prince and Princess, before walking through those gates, and out of Sandship. With a sigh Nymeria turned around, just to see Eraehra Galnaris, the young Valyrian lady, standing a dozen feet away from her, the two bodyguards around her.
"How is the repairing of your ship going?" Nymeria asked with cold tone as she approached the girl. "Slowly, I'm afraid." Eraehra answered with her innocent voice, and Nymeria raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps I should lend some of my men to aid with the work." She suggested nonchalantly, but the Valyrian girl shook her head. "It won't be necessary." She said.
"How have you been?" Mors asked with a smile. "Have there been any problems?"
"No, my Prince, everyone has been very nice." Eraehra answered. "It is such an interesting place... This castle, I imagine it is very old." Mors nodded with a chuckle. "Yes, I'm afraid it is – and way too small as well. We are constructing a new palace currently, but it will take years and years before it is ready."
"I didn't mean to belittle it, my Prince." Eraehra replied with a smile. "I only meant that this place holds a lot of history, hundreds of stories, no, thousands." Mors' lips formed a wide smile, and he nodded. "Indeed, sadly much of that history has been lost to time." He said with a wistful sigh. "However, there are still a lot to read about it in our library. Perhaps you would like to learn about the adventurer Morgan, who was the first Martell to set foot in Dorne. Or perhaps you'd be more interested in the adventures of Lord Melvan Martell, who defeated the Spotted King of Spottswood in single combat, survived a venomous snake's bite on the neck, and sailed six years on the Stepstones, just to find and kill a pirate who had mocked him."
"Sounds like quite a man." Eraehra chirped, and Mors nodded with a little laugh. "I expect most of it to be exaggeration, if not flat out lies that Melvan or his sons demanded to be written as the truth." He said cheerfully, and Eraehra raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you take more pride in the history of your house?" She asked with genuine curiosity.
"Maybe I should, but I've never been the most traditional man." With these words Mors turned to look at Nymeria. "I will rather take pride in the future that we are going to build for this house."
"First you need to build that future." Eraehra remarked softly, and Mors nodded to her. "Indeed, first we must build it." He confirmed. Nymeria was thinking if she should say something as well, but just then General Varyn interrupted them.
"My Princess, my Prince," He started with his humorless voice, "I have something to announce to you." Nymeria furrowed her eyebrows. "Announce?" She asked with confused tone, and Varyn nodded.
"If you could follow me to the Throne Room, please." He proposed. Nymeria glanced quickly at Mors, who looked just as confused as her, but finally she nodded in agreement to the General. And so, the Prince and Princess followed General Varyn to the Throne Room.
As the doors opened, a glorious sight unfolded in front of them. Seven warriors in gilded steel armors, wine red capes hanging from their shoulders, and on their chest plates engraved a sun pierced by a spear. Three of the warriors were men, and the rest were women – one standing in front of the other six. Some of them were armed with spears, others with swords. "Splendid." Nymeria heard Mors muttering in awe.
"Some time ago you instructed me to find the seven best warriors from the Martell guard and the Rhoynish army, to establish a Royal Guard." Varyn spoke with dry and dutiful tone. "These are the ones I deemed fit for the job."
Nymeria took a couple steps closer, and all seven warriors fell on their knees. Nymeria recognized the woman leading the Royal Guard – she was Farrah of Ghoyan Drohe, daughter of the late Prince Javed. Farrah had already served in Prince Garin's army, and Nymeria knew that she had lost almost her whole family in the Second Spice War, but there she was, ready to serve her and protect her.
"My Princess and Prince," Farrah started with a firm and official tone, "As the Commander of the Royal Guard, I, Farrah of Ghoyan Drone, pledge my sword and my life to you. I vow to always serve you, protect you, advice you, and to fight for you, to the best of my ability. This I vow, in the name of Mother Rhoyne, and the Seven Gods."
"You may stand up." Nymeria said, noticing that her voice was wavering slightly. Farrah stood up, and Nymeria looked straight into her beautiful brown eyes.
"Behind me are six of the greatest warriors in your service, who would also like to pledge their life to protecting you." Farrah explained, gesturing towards the six warriors that were still kneeling, and so Nymeria and Mors walked closer to them. "On the left is Ser Boran Sargen, veteran of many battles, and an honorable knight. Next to him is Ser Arnol of Greenblood, young and talented knight, ready to fight and die for House Martell if needs be. Next comes Ser Landar the Brave, loyal and stalwart knight, excellent with the sword. Next to him is Anaba of Volon Therys, determined and merciless warrior, whose father served Prince Garin in the war against the Dragonlords. Then, we have Jadisha of Ny Sar, who would like to offer her spear to your service, just like she offered her spear to serve Prince Garin against the Valyrians. Lastly, here is Nesea, youngest member of the guard at the age of seventeen, but already a skilled and dangerous warrior."
One by one, all six of them spoke their vows to Nymeria and Mors, and they listened in silent awe. As all seven guards were standing in front of them, Nymeria turned her eyes to Varyn. "You have done good work, Varyn. Thank you." She said with utmost respect, and the General answered with a small nod.
"We thank you all," Mors said with calm and proud tone, "And we vow that you will always have a place by our hearth, and meat and mead at our table. We pledge to ask no service of you that might bring you into dishonor, this we swear by the Seven Gods and Mother Rhoyne."
"What would be your first command?" Farrah asked, and Nymeria smiled. "My first command is for each of you to take rest of the day off, and relax." She said softly, seeing surprised expression's on the faces of the guards. "Soon we will march to war, so make it count." She added with a smirk.
-
Nymeria woke up at the first beams of sun shining in from the window, laying naked on their soft and large bed. Her head was resting on Mors' chest, and the Prince's left arm was wrapped firmly around her. She raised her head, hearing Mors snorting softly in his sleep.
Nymeria put her hand on Mors' chest, stroking him softly, feeling the skin and hair on her fingers. Slowly she moved her hand from the chest to the neck, and from the neck to the face. The Prince opened his eyes with a blink, and Nymeria gave him a seductive smile. "Good morning, my Prince." She purred, and a smile was formed on Mors' face.
"How long have you been awake?" He asked tiredly, and Nymeria chuckled softly. "Not long." She chirped, moving on top of her prince, and pushing her lips against his. Mors' eyes widened slightly in surprise as Nymeria pulled her head away.
"What?" Nymeria asked in a teasing tone. "This is the last chance we have before I march to Redclif, don't tell me you already had enough."
"Never." Mors whispered with lust and pulled Nymeria back into a passionate kiss.
-
It was still early in the morning, but the council was already gathered. Even if he kept on a sharp and observant face, Nymeria knew Mors was tired. And he has a good reason to be, she thought with a subtle smirk, slowly shifting her gaze from Mors to his brother Jaran. Jaran Martell looked always bored, but this time he had truly outdone himself, as he lazily leaned his head against his palm and stared into nothingness with half-closed eyes.
Maester Olivar looked meek as always, and Varyn had his usual dry and humorless expression on. At the end of the table was the newest addition to the council – Commander Farrah, who looked sharp and dutiful, even if slightly uncomfortable.
"My Princess, the army will be ready to begin the march towards Redclif within an hour." Varyn informed, and Nymeria nodded calmly. She was already clad in her new shiny armor, which was clearly made for the purpose of display rather than actual fighting. They need to see me as a warrior.
"Maester Olivar, have any urgent news arrived?" The Princess asked with formal tone. "There was a raven from Desertstone, House Granit, my Princess." The maester answered. "Lord Byrant informs that Captain Dianna had visited there with Ser Dallin Dalt, and they are planning to attack an outpost held by Efran Sand." This sounded concerning, but at least it seemed that Captain Dianna was being very effective on her mission.
"Nothing else?" Nymeria asked calmly. "Nothing else." Olivar confirmed, and the Princess turned her gaze to Farrah. "Commander Farrah, I asked you to choose two members of the Royal Guard, in addition to yourself, to join me on the march to Redclif. Who have you chosen?"
"My Princess, I have chosen Ser Boran Sargen and Anaba of Volon Therys." She answered softly, and Nymeria nodded with a smile. Then, Mors suddenly cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention.
"There is something I have been thinking recently." He started, a touch of uncertainty to his words. "You march to Redclif with an army, but ideally the situation will resolve itself without a bloodshed."
"Yes, that would be the desirable scenario." Nymeria confirmed, looking at her husband with questioning eyes. However, Mors now turned his eyes to Varyn. "Perhaps it would be for the best if General Varyn would stay here in Sandship." He said with uneasy tone. The look on Varyn's face turned to something between angered and amused.
"I march with the army." He simply stated, not even raising his voice, but still sounding powerful. Mors nodded with an awkward chuckle. "I don't mean to prevent you from doing your duties, but you did kill Lord Ormond's nephew... You going there might be taken as a provocation."
"A provocation?" Now the anger had completely taken over the General's voice. "Ormond Bloodspill is a traitor, his fucker of a nephew was a traitor. And you say we should care about his feelings?"
Mors sighed in frustration, turning to look at Nymeria now. "You understand what I'm saying, right?" He asked. As Nymeria didn't give an answer, he continued. "All I want is that this situation can be resolved as swiftly and cleanly as possible, so we can concentrate on the real war ahead of us. And to do that, I think General Varyn should not march to Redclif."
Nymeria glanced at them both, feeling their stares on her. Mors had a point, but so did Varyn.
[Take Varyn with you] [Don't take Varyn with you]
What an interesting reference, I do look forward to elaborating a little on this one
Ah, I see my beauty has been introduced, and how excited I am to see her in so soon. Farrah is already bringing back old memories that arose when I first thought her up, and I am super excited to see more of her! Coming to the choice...
[Don't take Varyn with you]
I'm very conflicted with this one, and there's of course some strong reasons for that, one having to do with Farrah. However, as Mors has pointed out, Varyn could possibly provoke Lord Redclif with his appearance. While they will have to confront each other soon enough, I think it would be best to not be when trying to engage in forceful negotiations, even if that's what Varyn does best
Leaving a skilled General at Sandship might not be best in Varyn's eyes, but it does leave a capable military strategist at the HQ, and his mission to track down the conspirators is not over yet. I'm of course being biased here, but Farrah is a more than capable leader as well, especially being placed as the Commander of the Royal Guard. Nymeria would be in safe hands, and she would personally have full control over those following her, which could arguably be more inspiring than the men and women taking orders from Varyn. Anyway, there are many arguments to counter my opinion, but an opinion it is at that 
Just spent the last few days reading from the beginning of NW and gotta say I love your writing. I'm not sure what it is but it just really makes it real for me.
Anyhoo... [Don't take Varyn with you]
I think despite the positives of having another military leader there it's better for him to not antagonise them. It's not like Nymeria can't lead the troops anyway.
[Don't take Varyn with you]
Indeed, I kept it super vague for a reason
I'm glad you enjoyed her introduction!
I didn't really have the chance to show off much of her personality yet here, since she had to act so formal and professional, but we'll get less formal scenes with her pretty soon.
Awesome!
Welcome onboard, it's always nice to have new readers. And I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far, hopefully I can keep delivering.
PS. In case you caught up with the Google Docs, the two latest parts (Nealia and Verro) weren't there yet. I did add them there now though.
Argh, I probably should have voted yesterday in the night instead of waiting till the next day, because now it seems most have already voted for what I see as a severe mistake. Of course I will vote for [Take Varyn with you], but hear me out on this one.
I'm going to pick the contrary to what most seem to think, as I think that taking Varyn is by far the better option. While I am not sure which option is better for the general himself, I think this is really better for Nymeria and her negotiations. First of all, those aren't negotiations. Bloodspills' nephew was a confirmed traitor and Bloodspill himself is as good as confirmed to have aided him. There is nothing to negotiate but the terms of his survival. This is not a friendly chatter between two parties on equal footing, who both want something from each other can can reach a mutually beneficial agreement. This is an investigation, where Bloodspill has to bring up some very good reasons just to be left alive. He's a traitor and I fully agree with Varyn that his feelings on the matter are absolutely irrelevant. In fact, taking Varyn, the man that already killed one Bloodspill, is not a provocation, its a sign of strength. The time for provocations is over, because for what it's worth, Nym and Ormond are already enemies and all that matters now is to intimidate him through a display of brute force. Varyn's presence could serve as a reminder to whats going to happen to the lord of he refuses to cooperate, to show that Nymeria is absolutely willing to go that far if he won't work with her. On top of that, you can't get more experienced than Varyn. He knows how to deal with people like Lord Bloodspill and he knows what to expect of them, so if Bloodspill plans anything bad, he can likely discover it first. Leaving him behind would be leaving a valuable asset behind, just for the sake keeping up a facade of diplomacy that has basically been ruined the moment Bloodspill's involvement in the conspiracy has been discovered. This sort of negotiation we have chosen earlier lives through force and not through kindness and sweet words. We already decided to confront Bloodspill directly and by leading an army to his castle, so why exactly should we take his feelings into consideration now? On top of that, I know that Varyn is likely to take this as something highly personal and I am sure he'll be highly angered by such a decision, especially as there's not a single truly good reason to leave him, not with the way this situation has already developed. I'm sorry, but leaving him behind is absolutely not worth it.
[Take Varyn with you]
It was nice to see Eraehra again. I really liked the conversation she had with Mors; it really showed off her personality and her interest in history. I bet she will be spending a lot of time in that library of theirs. Anyways, for the choice, I will say..... [Take Varyn with you] I mean Nymeria is already taking an army with her to Lord Bloodspill's doorsteps. Bringing her general with her will remind him that crossing her has proven to be a futile effort. Sorry, for creating a tie.
[Take Varyn with you] This is a very tough choice for me since good points have been brought up from both sides and I generally try to have Nymeria agree with Mors when I can but taking Varyn does seem like a solid option here. Marching to Redclif with an army pretty much throws diplomacy out the window, now is the time for Nymeria and House Martell to show strength. If I remember correctly, this is the first potential combat situation in the story where Nymeria is involved and she definitely needs to have a loyal general in Varyn by her side here.
Voting is closed!
While we still don't have a tie, Nymeria will take Varyn with her. I definitely see the point you brought up (and Varyn did as well), about Nymeria needing to show power to the Bloodspill's, and not caring about the feelings of a traitor. That said, it's always a bit sad to have Nymeria disagree with Mors
Well, it's nothing they can't get over 
And next we will have a Dianna part. It probably won't be ready today though. And as mentioned in the earlier part, Dianna, Javor, Ser Dallin Dalt, and their soldiers are on their way to attacking an outpost called Griefhill on the lands of House Granit, which is supposedly garrisoned by the Bandit Lord's men.
I also have a new portrait - a character who was just introduced, Commander of the Royal Guard, Farrah of Ghoyan Drone:
Farr! She looks as beautiful as I imagined her, and her armour is great! This is a very nice drawing, and I thank you for it
I'm eager to see more of this Commander very soon, and while I was always hyped for her, her first appearance was a great reveal, and this portrait is the icing on the cake really. Just great, I love it! 
Dianna
An old and ruined grey tower stood on the hill, watching over the barren fields around it. Griefhill. Even from down here, Dianna could see the men gathered around the tower. There were roughly thirty of them out there, and if those would be all the troops they had to face, victory would be certain. However, it was clear that they would have reinforcements inside the tower. And to make things harder for Dianna and her troops, the barricades that the Bandit Lord's men had built made a direct cavalry charge impossible. They would have to advance on foot, and climb over the barricades.
"Do you think we have enough troops to take them on?" Javor asked, nervous tone on his voice. Dianna sighed, considering her answer for a moment. "Yes, this is our only chance." She finally said sternly. "If we retreat now, they will either bring more men here, or escape. And so we will lose our chance to imprison Efran Sand, or one of his officers." As Dianna finished speaking, Ser Dallin cleared his throat.
"We should first send men by foot, to bring down the barricades, and after that is done we can make a charge with the horses." He suggested calmly. Dianna nodded, letting out a dry chuckle. "Indeed, and I suppose we are the ones leading the attack on foot, and you will charge in with the horses?" She asked coldly, making the Dalt knight gulp.
"I am the anointed knight here." He stated awkwardly, and Dianna nodded sternly. "Sure." She replied nonchalantly, and turned towards her soldiers. She approached them with calm steps, seeing in some of their eyes courage, and in others fear. She saw Lysera and Gerrar standing side by side, ready to protect each other from anything coming their way.
"Soldiers of Sandship and Lemonwood!" She yelled, drawing her arakh and raising it towards the sky. "We are here to put an end to the atrocities carried out by the Bandit Lord Efran Sand and his men! We fight here today, so that no more innocents would be put to the sword by these criminals, so that law and order can be restored to these lands once again!" The soldiers gave her a restrained cheer, and she glanced towards Javor, who gave her a nod.
"Suns and Spears, we will march up the hill, climb over the barricades and tear them down, so Ser Dallin can ride in with his forces to crush these bandits." Dianna explained. "NOW, FOLLOW ME!" She shouted, as she turned around, and started the charge.
As they ran up the hill, some arrows flew towards them, though not many. Dianna heard a couple painful screams behind her, but kept running without looking back. She trusted that her sisters and brothers in arms would follow her into the battle. Dianna was the first to reach the barricades, which were made of wooden carts, barrels, sacks filled with rocks, and so on. As she started climbing over, she noticed something interesting. None of these men are from Dorne.
The warriors defending the tower were pale skinned men, with messy beards and greasy hair, most of them clad in chainmails and leather, and armed with axes and round wooden shields. One of them attacked Dianna with a scream that made her ears ring. She deflect his swing with her shield, and stroke back with her arakh. It hit the man, but his chainmail saved him, and he only had to stagger away from the fight.
Dianna's fellow soldiers made it over the barricades, though some of them were taken down by the defenders. "Push!" Dianna yelled, and they made the enemy back away from the barricades. However, just then the first wave of reinforcements poured out of the tower. "Push!" Dianna shouted again, and so the frontline charged, as the ones behind them started to tear down the barricades.
Dianna took down a young boy with wide green eyes, and then a large beast of a man with bushy brown beard and blue eyes. Steel was hitting against steel all around her, soldiers were falling, but so far everything was going as planned. She saw Javor struggling with a tall man armed with a double edged axe close to her, and decided to help. Her first strike hit the man on his ribs, piercing his armor. Groaning in pain, the man turned towards Dianna. He was about swing his axe, but Javor's sword was plunged under his right arm.
"Good work!" Dianna yelled, before turning to face the next opponent. After she took down a skinny man armed with short sword, she saw more warriors coming out of the tower again. How many of them are there?
"Die, you fucking greenlander!" Dianna heard hoarse voice screaming near her, and when she turned her gaze to left, she saw a shocking sight. A muscular pale man, with gaunt face and dirty blonde hair, had embedded his axe deep into Javor's skull. For a small moment Dianna froze, looking at the dead eyes of Javor. Then, with the rage of a wild animal, she rushed towards the man who had killed her friend. She tackled the man, though she didn't have enough power to knock him down. However, he lost the grip to his axe, and without a second of hesitation, Dianna slashed the man's throat open with her arakh.
Breathing heavily, Dianna turned to look towards the barricades. Her soldiers had managed to tear a small portion of it down, but now they were being harrased by the reinforcements, and some of them were already retreating down the hill.
Dianna turned her eyes to the door of the tower again, now seeing a huge man walking out. The man was clad in black chainmail and leather, he had a black horned helmet in his head, and just a bushy black beard could be seen from under it. In his right hand was a bastard sword, which he wielded effortlessly with a shield. This one must be their leader.
Dianna saw the big man advancing through the crowd, plowing down several of her soldiers. She decided to go after him. Dianna killed one man who tried to stop her, and kept going. As she got closer, she saw the man with the horned helmet plunge his sword right into Gerrar's guts. Immediately Dianna heard Lysera's screams of horror, but these men just laughed, and knocked the young girl down. Dianna clenched her teeth in rage, and charged towards this man.
She swung her arakh, but the man had good reflexes, and he parried the swing with his shield. "And who might you be?" He asked with a booming voice, a twisted grin on his face. Dianna didn't answer, but instead unleashed a series of strikes on him. However, this large man was a very talented fighter, and parried all her strikes with ease. He is just playing with me, Dianna soon realized to her horror. And just then, the man with the horned helmet made his move. With one strike he unarmed Dianna, and proceeded to punch her in the face. The punch sent Dianna to the dusty ground, and the man pressed his foot on her chest.
"I ask again, who the fuck are you?" The man's voice was more serious now, and he pointed his sword at Dianna's throat. Now she could see this man's dark eyes inside his helmet, and the look on them was murderous.
"I'm Captain Dianna." She muttered weakly, and the man moved his sword away from her throat. He grabbed her from the collar, and pulled her up. "Dianna, huh? And who do you fight for?"
"The Martell's." She answered quietly, glancing on her right, seeing all her soldiers either dead, or retreating. The only exception was Lysera, who laid on the feet of the enemies unconscious. The man with the horned helmet chuckled coldly. "Martell bitch." He said bluntly, studying Dianna's face. "Well, Dianna, I am Captain Bjorn Harlaw." He introduced himself with crude tone, tossing Dianna back to the ground.
Dianna looked down the hill, seeing Ser Dallin Dalt riding away with his soldiers. Fucking coward, she thought bitterly. Bjorn clearly noticed the same, as he let out a mocking laugh. "Looks like your friend doesn't want to help you." He said, and his men burst into laugh as well. "You Greenlanders are pathetic." With these words Bjorn stepped closer to Dianna, and threw one hard punch straight to her face. She hit her head to the ground, and slowly the world around her blurred, and finally turned into darkness.
No decision.
Oh my! Well safe to say that this battle did not go to plan. This battle defintely showed one huge thing and that is Efran and his rebellion will not be taken down easily and certainly not without the direct involvement of the bulk of House Martell's army. At this point, it very much seems like the Martell's are over their head with the Tolands potentially regrouping themselves, Efran's rebellion, Lord Bloodspill causing trouble and it seems they will be taking the bulk of their army along with their newly acquired sellsword army to invade Salt Shore not to mention Lucifer Dryland's army is coming for them sooner rather then later. At this point, it seems Nymeria and House Martell are biting off more then they can chew and it will be interesting to see how they will overcome it all.
When it comes to Dianna, they is very worrying. Dianna's army has been basically killed off including Javor and the Dalt knights seemingly abandoned them. On top of that, an Ironborn man has captured her and she is alone with a bunch of ruthless and bloodthirsty men which is certainly a sign of trouble for her. Overall it is going to be interesting to see where things go from here for Dianna.
Oh man, this was awesome! The battle has to be one of my favourite fighting scenes in the entire story so far and it really makes me excited for the future fighting scenes that will come once the war truly starts. This already felt epic and it was only a skirmish of sorts, compared to the wars between kingdoms that will follow so soon. And it is interesting to see Bjorn Harlaw here, after he was quite the subject of my speculation for a short while. Though save to say, my speculation has developed into a different direction, especially after this part.
Another thing I am interested in is what is going to happen to Dianna now. She's not dead, which is good, but she's now in the hands of an Ironborn, which is bad, very bad. I could see him bringing her to Efran though, especially if he's more smart than cruel, so that the bandit lord himself can decide on what to do. Maybe Efran would even like to take this opportunity to make peace with Nymeria, even if he is currently seemingly the stronger side, with the Dryland's supporting him and him winning this battle without a doubt. I bet Nym has underestimated Efran, Dianna has understimated him and well, I have underestimated him, as I have never expected of him to be strong enough to beat Dianna's force in open combat. I could see Dianna's future parts showing more of Efran and it should be interesting to see where this will end up at for her and for him.
Indeed, it definitely did not go as planned. Dianna made a mistake in severly underestimating her enemy here. First of all there were more of them here than she thought, and secondly they were battle-hardened Ironborn warriors (with a captain who keeps them well disciplined), instead of the untrained bandits that Dianna expected to be facing. And you're right, Efran's rebellion won't go down easily. It's big, and it's well spread out - definitely one of these cases where you just have to cut off the snake's head.
Yeah, right now the situation does seem very hard to overcome for them. When it comes to the Tolands, Nymeria is putting her trust in Forovos and Tomas being succesful in their peace negotiations with Levor Toland. Efran on the other hand is not currently a direct threat to Nymeria herself, but since the Dalt's are vassals to the Martell's, she can't really ignore him either. Bloodspill himself is a small annoyance, but comes in a bad time, as the threat of the Drylands comes more real every day. And Martell's can't just sit and wait either, they have to move out and win the war on Central Dorne, because if they have to retreat back to Sandship they are fucked, since it is way too weak stronghold to withstand a siege from the Drylands.
Indeed, it's an interesting turn for Dianna's storyline, for once
She has been basically just traveling around so far, so it was really refreshing to finally write this part for her, and I'm glad you seemed to enjoy it! 
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
There hasn't been that many fighting scenes in the story yet, so while I love writing them, I'm also still a bit uncertain with the quality. That said, I was pretty satisfied with this one, and I'm happy to hear you like it as well. Indeed, this was a mere skirmish, the real battles are coming later in this chapter 
Well, I think I can at least say that Dianna's parts will be more interesting from now on. She direly needed a twist to her storyline to keep it interesting, and I've been looking forward to writing this part for a while now
It certainly was my personal favorite of all Dianna's parts so far, but there could be parts coming for her that I'll enjoy even more. And on top of that, I'll certainly enjoy writing Bjorn and his Ironborn crew more than I enjoyed writing Dianna's earlier supporting cast 
This was definitely an interesting twist in Dianna's storyline. It seems that the rumor Verro heard about some Ironborn working for Efran was the truth. I think I know one of the reasons why the Ironborn are not stationed with Efran's main army.
PS: I sent you a question with a pm.
Announcement!
Alright, so, there is no voting going on atm, but check out the new Dianna part above if you haven't yet^^ Anyway, that isn't what this post is about. I'd like to inform that the story will have a short break soon, not longer than about a week though. Why? Because I'm having a little vacation with my cousin, we're going to Barcelona, and I won't be taking my laptop with me. (I will have my phone though, so I'll still be somewhat active in the forums). Anyway, I'm going there on Monday, and I'll be back by the next weekend. So, why am I informing about this already? Because I have loads of stuff to do for this weekend, so I'm not 100% sure if I'll get the next part out before the vacation. Btw, that next part will bring Myke back to the story after a pretty long absence. So yeah, hopefully I'll get the part done by Sunday, but if not, then it'll be next weekend.
However, next we should have a new H&L from CM3434, and it should be a good one
-
Even before that though, here's a portrait of our newest character, Captain Bjorn Harlaw:
I hope you enjoy your vacation. A whole week without the awesomeness that is Nymeria's War will be hard for us, but I think we'll manage
For now, have a great stay in Barcelona. Wonderful city, I've been there some years ago and I loved it, so I hope you'r also going to enjoy it there. As much as I hope to read the new Myke part before your leave, don't worry if it doesn't work out, that at least gives us something to look forward for next weekend 
And man that Bjorn portrait is great! So badass and intimidating. I was already curious for the guy for a while now, but now I'm even more excited to learn more about him. His description has already been cool as hell, but actually seeing him drawn is something else entirely. A really great portrait and, as I would say, one of my Top 5 of the NW portraits, at least from memory.
Have fun on your vacation Wildling! Barcelona will no doubt be a pretty awesome time I am sure. As for the story, you deserve a break man! We will all be here when you get back to writing it and as Liquid said, if the Myke part is not done before you leave then we have something to look forward to next weekend!
As for the H&L, I suppose this is my cue
Sometime last year, I wrote a Jamison H&L on knighthood and it was alot of fun. However after seeing all of the phenomenal H&L's written in a short story form by many of the readers here, safe to say I had to write a short story version of that H&L so consider it a continuation of the original one I suppose 
As for if it is good or not, I like to think it is at the very least readable 
I had tons of fun writing it and hopefully you guys enjoy reading it as well! I should have it posted in just a few. Also, thanks to Wildling for helping polish it up!
Jamison Dayne - Knightly Vows
Without honor, knights can’t be called knights. The vows we speak are to be held and never forsaken, for without our vows, we are no different than any back alley thug who live and die by their blades every single day. Jamison had been told this in some shape or form countless times throughout his life by his own father, as well as by the knight he squired for, Ser Laroy Ladybright. They both held knighthood to a high standard, from which they believed no one was worthy of it until they earned it. However, from all the tourneys, duels and various fights Jamison had been involved in, he believed what they said was far from the truth. Jamison had seen the true colors of many a knights and he knew most of them certainly would not live up to his father’s expectations. Most knights were knights for the prestige it brought, the gold and lands it earned them, or simply they just liked killing and with a Ser in front of your name, killing is far easier to get away with. That is not to say that there aren’t knights who try to live up to the code of knighthood, but those men are few and far between.
On this day the knights of honor and knights without honor were all in the same place. The tourney of Griffin’s Roost was truly quite the sight to behold. It was held in the countryside surrounding the griffin’s castle and on this day the stormy waters of Shipbreaker Bay were unusually calm with the tides offering more of a soothing whisper rather than the very loud whipping roar that was oh so prevalent. The sky had been clear, sun shining through the trees with great intensity, and there were no dark clouds in sight. It was almost the perfect day to end a tourney, and if there was any tourney similar to the ones in the songs, this one could be it. However, there was one fatal flaw – Jamison Dayne was about to ruin the plans of Lord Davith Connington. It was said that this tourney was specifically set up for his son and heir Ser Robert Connington to win. The lists were filled with mediocrity and conveniently enough, Ser Robert was lucky enough to face the worst knights in the whole tourney on his way to the finals, with the hope that all of the talented knights would knock each other out and the one that would make it to the finals would be too tired to compete with Ser Robert, who was quite the jouster in his own right. Ser Robert would win, and then officially declare his betrothed Princess Marleina Durrandon the Queen of Love and Beauty. And everything went as planned, until Ser Robert faced Prince Jamison in the finals. When Jamison decisively unhorsed the young griffin and won the tourney however, nothing truly changed, and it certainly showed at the feast held directly after the joust was finished.
Leaning back in his chair with an annoyed look on his face, Jamison watched disappointedly as Ser Robert danced with Princess Marleina as the music played softly in the background of the great hall of Griffin’s Roost. Ser Robert had a smug and satisfied look on his face as if he were on top of the world, but Jamison did notice that the Storm Princess looked a bit less enamored with Ser Robert. In truth, Marleina looked almost annoyed in having to be dancing with the red haired knight. After the dance finished Ser Robert’s eyes briefly met with Jamison’s, which led to the young Connington giving Jamison an arrogant smirk, as if to say that he had truly won in the end. Meanwhile Princess Marleina quickly walked out of the great hall, but not before giving a quick glance toward Jamison, as he had noticed her doing several times throughout the tourney. This amused Jamison for a moment, but quickly he went back to being annoyed. Rolling his eyes, he turned to look at Ser Alester Upton, who sat right next to him. “Only in this world of ours can losers actually win. I embarrassed him… defeated him right at his family’s ancestral home and yet here he is looking so proud as if he actually accomplished something," the Prince spoke with bitter tone. Alester who was devouring his plate of food looked up at Jamison and shrugged his shoulders lazily. “It seems he is doing better than either of us, Jamison. He has the best looking girl in here on his arm, and soon she will be in his bed every night. Ah, how I wish I could get a piece of her” said Alester with an arrogant smirk on his face.
Jamison, even though still aggravated, could not help but laugh at Alester’s bluntness. “You do have a point Alester, she is certainly not hard on the eyes. But she is no Isabella” He said with genuine tone. Hearing that, Alester’s smirk got even wider “Oh gods, not her again. Here you are, Prince Jamison Dayne, the Sword of the Night and the best knight in Dorne. Your foes fear and respect you, and you can get nearly any woman you want, but yet all I have heard you do since we have left Starfall is sit around and complain because King Vorian would not let you marry some girl who I have never heard speak more than five words. Do you honestly believe you would be happy with her?” Right when Jamison was about to answer Alester continued “She is far too boring for you Jamison, you can do far better than Isabella Fowler. Ashara Nightfall on the other hand? Now that is a lady. She has thrown herself at you for years, and you can tell by looking at her that she knows her way around the bedroom, unlike your Princess who probably doesn’t even know that men have cocks." With that Alester busted out laughing, but Jamison had heard enough and quickly silenced Alester. “You are one of my closest friends Alester, and for that I will forgive you, but if you say another cruel thing of Isabella I'll have no problem knocking some sense into you." He spoke with cold tone. Alester’s eyes widened in surprise and he immediately apologized. “Calm down, there’s no need to be like that. You know it is just a jest. All I am saying is, you can’t just wait around on your father to change his mind about it. For all we know, King Garrison could've set up a betrothal for her already. I want to see my friend back, not this brooding man that has replaced him. Something did not go your way for once, so what? Just get back up on the horse and find someone else. Gods know it won’t be hard for you" said Alester with a slight chuckle.
Clearly surprised by the motivational speech that Alester had just given, Jamison somewhat agreed with him. “I suppose you are right, Alester," He said with a small smirk. "I won’t forget Isabella, and I won’t stop trying to make it happen, but I can’t just wait around for something that might never happen. It has been a little while since I've been with a girl, I believe it is time to change that and I know just who to start with.” Said Jamison with an arrogant smirk, and Alester replicated it. “Now that is the Jamison I know, but please don’t let it be the girl I think you are speaking of.” Jamison chuckled arrogantly, and ignoring Alester’s words, he left the great hall.
Jamison briefly walked through the castle of Griffin’s Roost, and soon he saw Princess Marleina Durrandon standing on a balcony, watching the sunset overlooking the unusually calm waters of Shipbreaker Bay. The Storm Princess was even more enchanting up close with her long black hair elegantly curled and blue eyes so blue it was as if you were looking into the Sapphire waters surrounding the Island of Tarth. She wore a strikingly beautiful red and white gown in the colors of her betrothed’s house, and had a slightly sad look on her face. While the Storm Princess was very attractive, she was no Princess of Stone and Sky, but for this evening she would have to do.
Princess Marleina turned around to see Jamison walking up to her and with a slight smile, she was the first to speak. “Good evening, Ser Jamison, and congratulations on winning the tournament. You fought valiantly and defeated my betrothed, it was quite the performance.” The princess spoke with a kind and almost seductive tone. Jamison gave the Princess a charming smile and proceeded to correct her. “Actually it is Prince Jamison, my Princess, but yes I am a knight, as I am sure that you know.”
“Indeed I do, and you seem to be quite the talented knight as well.” said the Princess with a blush, but now with curiosity clearly showing in her tone, she continued, “I have heard a great many things about you Prince Jamison. I have heard many say you are the best knight down in Dorne. Obviously I can’t say whether that is true or not, but I have heard Robert complain for weeks once he heard you were entering this tournament. I actually saw what looked to almost be fear in his eyes when you were first mentioned, and I have to wonder why that is? I mean you are just a knight like any other, what makes you so different?" She asked inquisitively, biting her lip. Jamison could sense already that she was attracted to him, and it seemed she was intrigued by his reputation, so he decided to pour it on. With confidence brimming from his words Jamison smoothly told her “I have to disagree with you on one thing, I am far from just being any other knight. There isn’t anyone like me, most knights are content wearing their shiny armor and taking part in tourney after tourney where they are unhorsed in the joust and defeated in the melee by better men. Most knights are weak, they want the title but not the burden that comes with it. They speak the vows about how knights are protectors, brave and just, but they don’t truly mean them and they deny what is right in front of them. Knights are meant to battle and defeat their foes, by any means necessary."
Jamison could sense how excited Marleina was, and the look in her eyes just exuded that excitement. The Storm Princess now softly grazed Jamison’s arm, looking him in his eyes. “So you have been in battle and you have….. killed a man before?” Her voice was seductive as she asked this. Jamison, now with his face within inches of hers, answered. “I have. I am not saying that I am proud of it, but fighting another man for real is unlike any experience that can possibly be imagined. It is a test as much mental as it is physical. Most knights and men in general fear battle and pray to whichever gods they pray to avoid it. They may hide on the edge of the battlefield, or hide in their liege’s castle saying that they are protecting it. This is where I am different. When in battle with swords, axes, warhammers, lances and armor clashing all around me… with death surrounding me, I can’t say that there is another time that I feel more alive." The Sword of the Night said this with a charming smile on his face. At this point, Jamison could clearly see that his words had worked with Marleina, who was now inching even closer to him. Softly the Storm Princess purred, “Oh you are so brave, all knights wish they were like you."
“You are right, they do wish they could be like me, but I'm the only one like me.” Jamison spoke with arrogant passion, and picked the Storm Princess up. With her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, Jamison pushed her against the wall. He kissed her passionately, and Princess Marleina did not resist. Then he kissed her neck and started to pull up her gown but the Storm Princess nervously stopped him. "Wait!" She hissed, "We can’t do this here, not out in the open... if Robert or worse my father finds out… they would kill the both of us."
“I am not Ser Bryen the one eyed hedge knight and as for the Storm King, I am not scared of him either, I would like to see them try." Jamison replied with a smirk, but as Marleina still looked unconvinced, he continued. "My Princess, the Maid charges me to protect all women, and to me it seems you need protected. However, if you wish, we don’t have to do this here." With those words, the Storm Princess’ eyes lit up and she took Jamison by the hand. Sneakily she lead him to her chambers, and on the way up, a plethora of thoughts entered Jamison’s mind. Jamison thought of his father’s lectures about not dishonoring himself, he thought of Nealia and mother always telling him to stay out of trouble, and he also regretted listening to Alester’s “motivational” words, and most importantly, he thought of Princess Isabella, and how much he missed her. He wished Vorian would have accepted the betrothal proposal, so he would not even be in this situation right now, and he and Isabella could be traveling north to visit the Wall together, just like they had planned. He wondered if Isabella still thought of him, and of how she would undoubtedly not be proud of his behavior tonight. He wondered if they would get to see each other again, let alone get married. Jamison knew he only wanted her, and the thought of Isabella not being with him and her being disappointed in him was enough to nearly turn around and go back to the great hall.
However, they had already reached Princess Marleina’s room. Elegantly the Storm Princess undressed her gown, and stood naked before him. Brief passion took over Jamison’s feelings, and as he watched the Storm Princess walk toward him, his knightly vows entered his mind, and how absurd they truly were. Specifically he thought about the swearing to the Maid again. He realized that in a way he was fulfilling his vows by protecting Princess Marleina from a life of boredom, well, for one night anyway. With these thoughts in mind, Jamison pulled the Storm Princess into him and smirked, thinking, Who says I am not a true knight?
Wow that was great I love you writing style. Is this a mini series or something?
As said, this is a great H&L, showing off Jamison's personality just perfectly. Great job!
It's a Histories & Lore -part
There is a link in the OP where you can find more of them (I'd put the link here too but it's too much trouble with phone 
)
Ok cool
Oh man, that was really a great H&L! Actually, I think it was one of my favourite H&L's, maybe even my favourite. So many great ones, it's hard to tell, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one
You know I always liked Jamison as a character and this H&L did a sweet job with summarizing just why exactly I like him. It's this swagger, his jerkishness, paired with him just undeniably being incredibly cool. And man, that guy has balls the size of Dorne for seducing the Storm Princess so shortly before her wedding, in the castle of her betrothed on top of that, after already humiliating him. I liked that, I liked it a lot 
Another thing I liked were the similarities to Naemon's H&L, while focussing on their differences as characters, this truly was a great idea. The contrast between them is something I like a lot and hearing about Jamison's views on knighthood was really interesting. I think it's these views that give him a certain edge as a character, even on top of all the style, the confidence, it gives him something that truly makes him unique and paired with the Isabella stuff that got hinted at here, it makes him into one hell of a complex character. So, all in all, absolutely fantastic job, thank you for sharing this H&L with us!
Now, I think it's my turn with the H&L's... Might be something I can do in the next week, among other things, I surely feel inspired now
Ouch.. I hope she is okay.
Nicely written anyway, even if PoV is now in unknown state.
That was nice.. I wonder if he was thinking about Isabella during that passionate moment in the Princess Chambers? :-)
Thanks, I am glad that you enjoyed it! Like Wildling said, this is a History and Lore part. They are short stories written by readers of the story with a character that they created. They are all awesome and I definitely recommend them
Well I am glad to hear that this H&L lived up to expectations
This topic seemed like a fine way to showcase Jamison's character in many facets and it is cool that you agree.
This was something I definitely tried to do here and I am glad you caught this. It really is so neat just how we made Jamison and Naemon so similar yet very very different. They are the same age,talented knights, and even cousins. It really is wild how we pulled this off considering neither of us knew about the other person's character in advance and yet it worked out perfectly. They really are super different with myself seeing Naemon as someone who takes his knighthood very seriously and wants to live it as well as he possibly can while Jamison does not think much of the concept of Knighthood and is pretty cynical about it. He believed in Knighthood pretty strongly as a young child though and I will probably delve into that and what lead to the change in heart a little bit in a future H&L.
Indeed, there have been a few twists and turns to make Jamison into who he is now as the complex character that he is. As you can tell, he does put Isabella on a pretty high pedestal especially compared to how he treats basically everyone else. They are kind of an odd combo with their contrasting personalities but in a way it does fit with how Jamison is as well
No problem! It is pretty awesome to me that others enjoy these H&L's that I have written and it definitely motivates me to make more! As for your H&L's, the topics you mentioned were no doubt epic and whichever one comes first, I will no doubt be happy to read it and am already hyped for it