Just go to my profile, and there should be an option for "private discussion". I can send you one first though, which should then appear on your feed, and you can then answer to it.
Nealia
"Ying... well, she doesn't like the idea of you and me together", Nealia said with an awkward tone, and she could see the disappoi… morentment in Lien's eyes. "So, she forbid you to be close to me?" She asked, and while her voice was emotionless, her eyes were filled with anger and sadness.
"She did try to make me promise that I wouldn't... pursue anything further with you", Nealia explained quietly, and Lien turned her gaze down. "And did you promise that to her?" She asked with a frustrated sigh.
"No, I didn't," Nealia answered quickly, "because I thought making such promises behind your back... it would've been disrespectful towards you." Lien nodded to her words, staying quiet for a moment. "I'm glad you didn't", she finally said, now looking Nealia to the eyes again. "I understand Ying just wants to protect me, but she can't decide what I do with my life." Nealia nodded in agreement, and for a moment they stood there in silence… [view original content]
And Nealia will spend the evening with Illor. This choice was actually a very last minute inclusion, but I felt like there needed to be a sort of neutral choice here. Of course, this means we won't get as much screentime for our new characters in the next Nealia part, but there will be plenty of material coming for all of them in the future. This choice is really just about who does Nealia want to spend the last evening with, before marching to the battle that could well end up being the end for some of these character's lives. Or maybe they all survive, who knows While I wasn't really expecting this option to win, I am surely going to enjoy writing a moment between Nealia and Illor, who have developed a nice friendship in the story so far.
So, I just came back from a three days trip to a nearby town, which was a part of one of my uni courses. So, obviously I haven't worked much on the next part yet, but it will be Emerson PoV. I also have my last exam of the semester tomorrow, and I still have to do some revising for it, so I'm not too hopeful about getting the part out today. However, tomorrow after the exam is very likely Same goes for all the PMs I haven't answered yet!
Anyway, I suppose a small recap for Emerson's storyline is in place. Last time we were on Godsgrace, it was the morning when Jamison and his convoy left the city. Emerson was once again visiting the crypts, ans specifically the tomb of his father, Lord Mason Allyrion. And he also saw the Dayne's leaving the castle. After this, Lord Morgan invited Emerson for a little chat. On this little chat Morgan stressed that survival is the only real object House Allyrion has in the coflict between Lucifer and Nymeria. He also made clear that Emerson was the only real heir he had, and thus he needed to prove his worth to him in the coming war, by staying loyal to him. After this Morgan brought up his suspicion that Esperence was behind the assassination attempt on Jamison. Then he revealed that last night Esperence had left the castle with Emmett, and commanded Emerson to find them. Emerson accepted the mission, and Morgan told him to go to Ser Niclas who was waiting for him on the courtyard. However, on his way there Emerson was approached by Lia, one of Esperence's mysterious allies, who asked him to follow her, promising to take him to Esperence. Emerson was a bit uncertain of this, but ultimately decided to follow Lia. In the next part we should have a very interesting meeting between Emerson and Esperence.
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Lastly, before I left, I made two new portraits last weekend They are some of the newest additions to the cast, the intriguing and mysterious sellsword called the White Elephant, and the only Lengii character of the story so far, Jinora Ling:
Hehe, the neutral choice wins almost always. I sort of regret missing the opportunity to learn more of the White Elephant and maybe make amends with Ying, but Illor really needs some company as well and it wouldn't feel right to just leave him. Ah, I guess it won't be the last time we see these in this chapter.
I also like these portraits! The White Elephant is surely no Purple Swag-a-Lot, but he is quite something, alright. A shame you haven't drawn that magnificent helmet, I imagine it to look genuinely glorious. I also enjoy Jinora's portrait. Always had to ask myself how people from Leng look? Are they, like, tall asians or different? The answer is, I still don't really know, but apparently they are gorgeous Great drawings and I look forward for the next part!
Voting is closed!
And Nealia will spend the evening with Illor. This choice was actually a very last minute inclusion, but I felt like th… moreere needed to be a sort of neutral choice here. Of course, this means we won't get as much screentime for our new characters in the next Nealia part, but there will be plenty of material coming for all of them in the future. This choice is really just about who does Nealia want to spend the last evening with, before marching to the battle that could well end up being the end for some of these character's lives. Or maybe they all survive, who knows While I wasn't really expecting this option to win, I am surely going to enjoy writing a moment between Nealia and Illor, who have developed a nice friendship in the story so far.
So, I just came back from a three days trip to a nearby town, which was a part of one of my uni courses. So, obviously I haven't worked much on the next part yet, but it will be Em… [view original content]
Well, according to The World of Ice and Fire, Lengii, especially women, are an average of 7-8ft tall, mostly matriarchal and very beautiful. They were conquered by the YiTi but regained their independence during the Century of Blood
Because of the distance, like Lien and Ying, most Westerosi have never seen a Lengii before.
Cant wait to see the portrait of the other characters, and I hope the Elephant's crew survives the upcoming battle, since the five of them are a closely knit group. I would also love to see the helmet (since I didn't draw it or anything)
Hehe, the neutral choice wins almost always. I sort of regret missing the opportunity to learn more of the White Elephant and maybe make ame… morends with Ying, but Illor really needs some company as well and it wouldn't feel right to just leave him. Ah, I guess it won't be the last time we see these in this chapter.
I also like these portraits! The White Elephant is surely no Purple Swag-a-Lot, but he is quite something, alright. A shame you haven't drawn that magnificent helmet, I imagine it to look genuinely glorious. I also enjoy Jinora's portrait. Always had to ask myself how people from Leng look? Are they, like, tall asians or different? The answer is, I still don't really know, but apparently they are gorgeous Great drawings and I look forward for the next part!
Hmm, I might actually draw the helmet at some point, because it certainly is a interesting one. In this portait I just wanted to show his face though. But I'll do some more thinking on how exactly would such helmet be designed, and make a drawing of it later
And what comes to the Elephant's crew, well, purely from storytelling pov they are safer than many other characters attacking Lemonwood, because I'd hate to kill any of them off right after introducing them.
Well, according to The World of Ice and Fire, Lengii, especially women, are an average of 7-8ft tall, mostly matriarchal and very beautiful.… more They were conquered by the YiTi but regained their independence during the Century of Blood
Because of the distance, like Lien and Ying, most Westerosi have never seen a Lengii before.
Cant wait to see the portrait of the other characters, and I hope the Elephant's crew survives the upcoming battle, since the five of them are a closely knit group. I would also love to see the helmet (since I didn't draw it or anything)
Emerson followed Lia down the main street of Godsgrace. They had slipped out of the castle in guard outfits, so that Ser Niclas or anyone else wouldn't pay attention to them. Emerson looked at the sigil of House Allyrion on the chest of his tabard – a golden hand on red and black field. It made him think, what was the right thing to do for this house? Technically Emerson had not chosen any sides yet, but he knew about Esperence's plans to let the Martell's take over. There was something fundamentally wrong about that. No Foe May Pass, said the words of House Allyrion, yet Esperence wanted to help foreign invaders take over Godsgrace.
They walked through the town square, and towards the eastern parts of Godsgrace – the poor part. They passed the taverns and brothels, and arrived to the area next to the eastern gate, also called the Spear Gate. The houses here were simple huts, made of mud and clay. Rats ran around the dry and dusty streets, and people walked quickly inside their huts as they saw two people in guard outfits approaching. "Esperence is here?" Emerson asked quietly, and Lia nodded to him.
"Just follow me", she hissed, as they turned to a small alley close to the city walls. Lia took them to the door of a brown hut with one small window to the street. The wooden door looked to be in bad shape, and there was a marking carved into it – some kind of bird standing on an anvil. Before Emerson could ask what it was, Lia knocked lightly on the door, and almost immediately her twin brother Edric opened the door.
"Takes us to the Lady, Eddie", Lia said with a thin smirk, and her brother nodded obediently, stepping out of the way so they could see inside. There wasn't much to see really – the hut had only one room, and Emerson could immediately see Esperence and Emmett sitting by the small table in the middle of the room. They stepped in, and Edric closed the door behind them.
Tense silence filled the room, as Emerson eyed at his cousins. Esperence had a calm but serious look on her face, whereas Emmett was visibly nervous. Emerson sat down opposed to them, while Lia and Edric stayed back to guard the door.
Esperence wasn't in her usual noble attire, but rather dressed like a commoner, in simple and dirty clothes. She also had her hair open, which was quite an unusual sight. "You invited me", Emerson said calmly, and Esperence nodded. "I did", she replied with a sigh. "As you can see, I am keeping a low profile for now. However, my plan still continues. A messenger has been sent to Sandship, now it's only a question of time when Princess Nymeria arrives with her army."
"And you will help her take over", Emerson said with a stern tone, and his cousin nodded. "I will, and there are many in this city who are with me. Besides, letting them in peacefully could save hundreds of lives that would be lost if did this Morgan's way", Esperence spoke with confidence and determination in her voice, which made clear there was no way of speaking her out of this.
"Morgan wants House Allyrion to survive, Esperence", Emerson remarked quietly, but his cousin just let out a cynical chuckle. "Perhaps he does, but his way is wrong and will only lead to our destruction", she responded dismissingly. Emerson shook his head in disbelief. "You really want to go to war with your own father?" He asked strictly. Esperence hesitated for a moment, but finally she shook her head.
"No, I want to dethrone him without violence", she replied calmly. Now it was Emerson's turn to let out a chuckle. "And you really think he will just stand down and let you take over?" He asked skeptically, and surprisingly Esperence shook her head, a thin smile forming on her face.
"Not me, you", she said quietly, and Emerson raised an eyebrow. "Me?" He asked, and Esperence nodded. "Yes, you are the rightful Lord of Godsgrace, and it is time for Morgan to step aside and let you rule", Esperence said with a sharp look on her eyes. Emerson was quiet for a moment, surprised by his cousin's words.
"I... I'm glad to hear you are supporting my claim, cousin", he finally said, and then Emmett spoke up. "We both are supporting you, brother", he said with a warm smile on his puffy face, and Esperence nodded in agreement.
"It's just... I am not sure if this is a wise thing to do", Emerson said, feeling anxious about the idea of openly rebelling against Morgan. "Morgan's support is smaller than he thinks, as soon as the Martell's arrive we are sure to overthrow him", Esperence replied calmly. "And you... It's time for you to embrace your role as a leader."
"What does that mean?" Emerson asked quietly, and a confident smirk was formed on Esperence's face again. "I have been gathering a force that will help the Martell's take over quickly and effectively once the time comes. Part of these forces will be inside the walls, making sure the Martells get in without resistance. However, the other part of these forces will be escorting the Martell army, marching beside them when they arrive. That way, the gates will be opened for the new Lord of Godsgrace, and not just for Nymeria."
"So, you are saying I should lead this force that will march with the Martell's?" Emerson asked, and his cousin nodded. "Who are these troops then? Sellswords?"
"Some of them, yes. There are over hundred warriors, and the bulk of them come from my newest ally – a desert tribe called the Hyenas", Esperence explained, and Emerson let out a sigh. "Desert tribe?" He asked with a touch of frustration.
"They may be savages, but they know how to fight... if it comes to that", Esperence answered. "Lead these forces, enter the city as a hero, and I promise you the people of Godsgrace will make songs of the day that Emerson the Brave casted Morgan the Unworthy aside, and took his rightful place at the head of House Allyrion."
Emerson turned his eyes down, feeling uncertain. Esperence made it all sound so easy, and so desirable. But I would still be betraying my own blood. "And what would your role be then?" Emerson asked quietly, because he knew Esperence wanted power.
"I would help you, sit in your council and give you all the advice I can to make you succeed", she answered. "So, Emerson, what will you do?"
Emerson
Emerson followed Lia down the main street of Godsgrace. They had slipped out of the castle in guard outfits, so that Ser Niclas o… morer anyone else wouldn't pay attention to them. Emerson looked at the sigil of House Allyrion on the chest of his tabard – a golden hand on red and black field. It made him think, what was the right thing to do for this house? Technically Emerson had not chosen any sides yet, but he knew about Esperence's plans to let the Martell's take over. There was something fundamentally wrong about that. No Foe May Pass, said the words of House Allyrion, yet Esperence wanted to help foreign invaders take over Godsgrace.
They walked through the town square, and towards the eastern parts of Godsgrace – the poor part. They passed the taverns and brothels, and arrived to the area next to the eastern gate, also called the Spear Gate. The houses here were simple huts, made of mud and clay. Rats ran around the dry and dus… [view original content]
Gaah damn it, why must these choices be so hard? I am seriously conflicted and it is likely I will change my vote at least once in the next few days. Seriously, that is a hard one and likely a breaking point fir Emerson's storyline. Here is the thing, I like Esperence, I don't like Morgan. I trust Morgan, I don't trust Esperence. Come to think of it, Morgsn is a terrible person, but Emerson is the only lord ge can hope for, with Emmett's condition. Esperence however wants to rule herself. Here's what I think is going to happen: Emerson leads these desert bandits to Godsgrace, he takes the city, Morgan dies, Esperence rallies the people against the savage invaders, overthrows the seemingly power-hungry usurper Emerson who fought against his own family, allies with the Martelk's, installs herself as Lady Allyrion and voila, she got everything she wants. Well, that might not be all that happens, but it sounds likely that Esperence is using her cousin as a pawn here. I cannot fully explain it, but I got some major red flags from her little speech. She us trying to convince him with pretty honeyed words here and I don't trust her benevolence.
Emerson
Emerson followed Lia down the main street of Godsgrace. They had slipped out of the castle in guard outfits, so that Ser Niclas o… morer anyone else wouldn't pay attention to them. Emerson looked at the sigil of House Allyrion on the chest of his tabard – a golden hand on red and black field. It made him think, what was the right thing to do for this house? Technically Emerson had not chosen any sides yet, but he knew about Esperence's plans to let the Martell's take over. There was something fundamentally wrong about that. No Foe May Pass, said the words of House Allyrion, yet Esperence wanted to help foreign invaders take over Godsgrace.
They walked through the town square, and towards the eastern parts of Godsgrace – the poor part. They passed the taverns and brothels, and arrived to the area next to the eastern gate, also called the Spear Gate. The houses here were simple huts, made of mud and clay. Rats ran around the dry and dus… [view original content]
This is a very difficult choice. This is probably the choice that will definitively choose which side Emerson will be on. There is no going back after this. There are a few things to consider when making this choice. We know that the Martell's will win, and Esperence's way may lead to a more peaceful transition than siding with Morgan. However, does Esperence's really want Emerson to become the new Lord of the house, or is she just saying that for him to join her cause. Remember, she had been planning this for a while before she ever got him involved, and earlier she had expressed doubts about him leading. Also, if she knows about the Rhoynish succession laws, than she knows that after Morgan that she would technically be the next in line to rule House Allyrion. Why else would she want to give her house over to the Martell's. I doubt it would be just to sit on Emerson's council. Morgan did say that he would support the Drylands in their war, but he told Emerson that his main concern was the survival of the house. If he sees the Martell's winning, he may switch sides to save House Allyrion. This is a tough choice, but I hesitantly choose to [Return to Morgan]. I might change my vote later. I'll have to see how Stigz votes and see his opinion on the matter since, if I'm not mistaken, these are his characters.
Emerson
Emerson followed Lia down the main street of Godsgrace. They had slipped out of the castle in guard outfits, so that Ser Niclas o… morer anyone else wouldn't pay attention to them. Emerson looked at the sigil of House Allyrion on the chest of his tabard – a golden hand on red and black field. It made him think, what was the right thing to do for this house? Technically Emerson had not chosen any sides yet, but he knew about Esperence's plans to let the Martell's take over. There was something fundamentally wrong about that. No Foe May Pass, said the words of House Allyrion, yet Esperence wanted to help foreign invaders take over Godsgrace.
They walked through the town square, and towards the eastern parts of Godsgrace – the poor part. They passed the taverns and brothels, and arrived to the area next to the eastern gate, also called the Spear Gate. The houses here were simple huts, made of mud and clay. Rats ran around the dry and dus… [view original content]
No Foe May Pass. The time has come to choose a side, and you haven't made it easy. There really is no honourable way out for Emerson here, whether he sticks with the uncle that has beaten him and treated him a bastard all of his life, or with the cousin that clearly has more going than she is ready to reveal. I suppose we've been lucky to be sitting on the fence with these two for so long, but then again, it only makes this choice just as difficult. What is clear, is that if we stick with Morgan, Emerson will be assured heirdom to Godsgrace, considering Emmett is both unable and supportive of his sister. Yet I fear there will be little left to inherit if there is a siege at Godsgrace, but then again, I don't think Emerson could live with himself if he took side with Esperence.
Say Esperence was true to her words, which is doubtful, it would require that Emerson ride in with savages and foreigners, storm his own home and terrify the whole city. Worse, he would terrify his aunt, which we haven't really learnt all that well yet, but they do have a strong connection, and after that his uncle. Morgan, he's a complete jerk, but after all this I believe he is seeing the importance to their survival by acknowledging Emerson as his heir. There was a time when Morgan said that respect was something that must be earned, and now it would seem that Emerson is earning it, as well as his trust. Going against him, I fear it would be as shattering as Jarl Balgruf's reaction to the dragonborn with the Stormcloaks, and I'd hate to see that.
Though it's clear to see that canon will overrule hopes and fantasies. So what do we know? Well firstly, we know that House Allyrion is not extinct, that's a big one! Very important, they do survive! So that has to mean that there is a male heir to continue the lineage right? Well possibly with Rhoynar policies, Esperence will pick up the head of the house through absolute primogeniture, but given that both Emerson and Esperence are both 16, it would probably be hard to determine. Though the genetic inheritances in the family now and later and pretty similar, in terms of hair and eye colour. So presumably, Emerson can come out on top of this if he sides with Esperence, the only issue is, he has no allies on her end.
We know that siding with Morgan is really a guaranteed loss, the Dryland's will lose the war, and with the Allyrion's on their side, they will fall to Nymeria's conquest too. Nymeria respects woman-power, so when looking at Esperence and Emerson, and also what they've done to help Godsgrace and Nym's rising kingdom, I have little doubt that her hand will point to Esperence. That would leave Emerson entirely powerless, and with no influence on anyone. Esperence has formed allies on Nym's side, Emerson has merely heard the parts of Esperence's plans that she is ready to reveal, there is nothing there for him if things hit the fan for his hopeful plans. Sticking with Morgan, there may be...
The way I can see it, it will end up in one of two ways, which will define Emerson. Staying, or running (there is of course a lot more detail to this). Staying, meaning sticking by Morgan's side as the city is attacked, and being known for the heir that stuck by his people despite the odds being against him. Even sticking with a man he has hated (and vice versa) all his life. This would likely result in Emerson either being killed, or imprisoned, in which case Esperence would get what she wants anyway. Otherwise, Morgan could likely see the odds upon them, and see that his only heir being in the city would endanger him, and look to send him to safety. There are some allies which through Morgan, Emerson does have. Firstly the Dryland's, though I wouldn't recommend it given their current situation. There's also another kingdom we've seen little of, and the Jordayne's through Vita. Emerson has also proved himself through Jamison's eyes, and while I hate to say it, it's a possibility to seek refuge with him. While it is a coward choice, and only postponing the inevitability, it's a chance, and less of a risk of Emerson becoming a pawn for Esperence to play with Nym's favour. I wish this could end out well for Emerson if he chose to side with Nym, but I can't see it happening. I think that may have been possible if we sided with Esperence 100%, but there are too many variables now. We can really only pray with what we've got, and I think Emerson's best hopes are to [Return to Morgan]. Here's hoping I didn't just kill the boy
Emerson
Emerson followed Lia down the main street of Godsgrace. They had slipped out of the castle in guard outfits, so that Ser Niclas o… morer anyone else wouldn't pay attention to them. Emerson looked at the sigil of House Allyrion on the chest of his tabard – a golden hand on red and black field. It made him think, what was the right thing to do for this house? Technically Emerson had not chosen any sides yet, but he knew about Esperence's plans to let the Martell's take over. There was something fundamentally wrong about that. No Foe May Pass, said the words of House Allyrion, yet Esperence wanted to help foreign invaders take over Godsgrace.
They walked through the town square, and towards the eastern parts of Godsgrace – the poor part. They passed the taverns and brothels, and arrived to the area next to the eastern gate, also called the Spear Gate. The houses here were simple huts, made of mud and clay. Rats ran around the dry and dus… [view original content]
Man, this is a hard choice, since poor Emerson has basically no power, Nymeria's victory its inevitable, so either he takes some unlikely chances with Esperance, or goes to a much safer, but still guaranteed to lose side with his uncle. Hopefully Morgan will see reason and open the gates to the Martell before things get too ugly, otherwise Emerson will find himself with a blade (or something fatal) on his back.
I agree Morgan is an ass, but Emerson has a better chance of surviving (whenever unlikely) by helping him. [Return to Morgan]
Emerson
Emerson followed Lia down the main street of Godsgrace. They had slipped out of the castle in guard outfits, so that Ser Niclas o… morer anyone else wouldn't pay attention to them. Emerson looked at the sigil of House Allyrion on the chest of his tabard – a golden hand on red and black field. It made him think, what was the right thing to do for this house? Technically Emerson had not chosen any sides yet, but he knew about Esperence's plans to let the Martell's take over. There was something fundamentally wrong about that. No Foe May Pass, said the words of House Allyrion, yet Esperence wanted to help foreign invaders take over Godsgrace.
They walked through the town square, and towards the eastern parts of Godsgrace – the poor part. They passed the taverns and brothels, and arrived to the area next to the eastern gate, also called the Spear Gate. The houses here were simple huts, made of mud and clay. Rats ran around the dry and dus… [view original content]
There is not much that I can say that hasn't already been said but I believe that Esperence is definitely setting Emerson up here. If she is so willing to betray her own father, than I can definitely see her betraying Emerson. I am also relying on a theory here that is a bit of a long shot but I believe that it will work. By all rights, Emerson should be the rightful lord of House Allyrion right now and at some point, the Martell's will be coming to take Godsgrace and I am thinking that Nymeria or Mors may grant the lordship to Emerson based off of the fact that it is rightfully is to begin with. From what we have seen of Nymeria so far, I believe she may be able to respect Emerson for being loyal to Morgan and as long as Emerson bends the knee, she will forgive him. I know Esperence is the one trying to gain the support of the Martell's but I believe Nymeria and Mors would realize that Emerson would be a better choice to oversee Godsgrace since he would be nowhere near the schemer that Esperence clearly is along with the fact that the lordship belongs to Emerson by right. This is a big risk but I believe that it has a decent chance of paying off.
Emerson
Emerson followed Lia down the main street of Godsgrace. They had slipped out of the castle in guard outfits, so that Ser Niclas o… morer anyone else wouldn't pay attention to them. Emerson looked at the sigil of House Allyrion on the chest of his tabard – a golden hand on red and black field. It made him think, what was the right thing to do for this house? Technically Emerson had not chosen any sides yet, but he knew about Esperence's plans to let the Martell's take over. There was something fundamentally wrong about that. No Foe May Pass, said the words of House Allyrion, yet Esperence wanted to help foreign invaders take over Godsgrace.
They walked through the town square, and towards the eastern parts of Godsgrace – the poor part. They passed the taverns and brothels, and arrived to the area next to the eastern gate, also called the Spear Gate. The houses here were simple huts, made of mud and clay. Rats ran around the dry and dus… [view original content]
While I doubt it would come off that way, my optimistic side agrees with you completely. I do not trust Nymeria, but there may be hope that Mors can allow Emerson lordship of Godsgrace. That's if we can convince Nymeria to listen to his opinions, as we've been poorly letting him down as of late
[Return to Morgan]
There is not much that I can say that hasn't already been said but I believe that Esperence is definitely setting Emer… moreson up here. If she is so willing to betray her own father, than I can definitely see her betraying Emerson. I am also relying on a theory here that is a bit of a long shot but I believe that it will work. By all rights, Emerson should be the rightful lord of House Allyrion right now and at some point, the Martell's will be coming to take Godsgrace and I am thinking that Nymeria or Mors may grant the lordship to Emerson based off of the fact that it is rightfully is to begin with. From what we have seen of Nymeria so far, I believe she may be able to respect Emerson for being loyal to Morgan and as long as Emerson bends the knee, she will forgive him. I know Esperence is the one trying to gain the support of the Martell's but I believe Nymeria and Mors would realize that Emerson would be a better choice t… [view original content]
Yeah, I am very much trying to be optimistic with this choice here Admittedly, it is a long shot but when it comes to Nymeria, I have a feeling that if such a situation appears in her PoV that we would potentially get to choose the fate of the Allyrion's. But as unsure as I am about what is happening, I do have a feeling that this is a better choice for Emerson since Esperence's plan working out like she said seems almost too good to be true so it probably is.
While I doubt it would come off that way, my optimistic side agrees with you completely. I do not trust Nymeria, but there may be hope that … moreMors can allow Emerson lordship of Godsgrace. That's if we can convince Nymeria to listen to his opinions, as we've been poorly letting him down as of late
And Emerson will return to Morgan. I have to say, I am a bit surprised by the outcome of this voting! I definitely understand the reasoning you gave though, and you all had some really interesting thoughts regarding this choice. As you all probably realized though, this was basically the definite choice on who does Emerson want to side with, which is what his whole storyline so far has revolved around. Now he has chosen his side, and will have to concentrate on making the best outcome of the path he has taken.
Anyway, the next part, which I hope to get ready within this weekend, will be a Dianna PoV. Now, the last time we saw Dianna, she, as well as Lysera, had been taken by Bjorn Harlaw's Ironborn crew to the eastern coast, where was the combined fleet of Bjorn and Efran. Bjorn had two longships, other one of them captained by a man named Arfast Stonetree, and Efran had five ships of his own. Dianna had a conversation on the beach with Bjorn, about Bjorn's past, the gods they worshiped, about Nymeria, etc. Dianna also asked if she could go see Lysera, but Bjorn denied it from her, saying that Lysera was now Hargan's wife, and Dianna had no reason to see her. Later Zhobho arrived to the camp with the news that they were getting ready to assault Lemonwood. This started a celebration among the crew, and soon the whole camp was drunk. This offered Dianna a chance to go check on Lysera in Hargan's tent, and you voted for her to take that chance.
Dianna stormed into the tent of Hargan Harlaw while no one was looking. Inside she saw Lysera sitting quietly on Hargan's bed. The girl had a slightly nervous look on her eyes, as she turned her gaze to Dianna.
"C- captain Dianna, what are you doing here?" Lysera asked with shaky words, and Dianna walked closer to her. She couldn't see bruises or any marks of violence on Lysera, but she did look very anxious. "Has he hurt you?" Dianna asked quietly, kneeling next to Lysera.
"No, not like that", she answered timidly. "He hasn't been violent, but..."
"But what?" Dianna urged Lysera to continue, glancing quickly at the door of the tent behind her. "He... he says I'm his wife now, and that he'll take me to his home, s-somewhere far away. When I start to cry he just laughs, and the way that he looks at me...", Lysera couldn't finish her sentence, as she broke down to tears. Dianna closed her into a tight hug, and she pushed her face against Dianna's shoulder.
"It's alright, you have to stay strong now, Lysera", Dianna said quietly, stroking the girl's hair. "I will get us out of this mess... somehow we'll survive, I promise you." After saying this, Dianna heard someone stepping into the tent. She turned around to see clearly drunken Hargan standing at the entrance of the tent, a bottle of rum on his hands.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" The Ironborn warrior asked with an aggressive and slightly slurring voice. Dianna let go of Lysera and stood up, defiantly staring Hargan to the eyes. "Get out of here, bitch", Hargan said with quiet but threatening voice. Dianna took a couple steps closer to Hargan, who pulled out a dagger.
"Do not hurt that girl", Dianna hissed, ignoring the dagger. "If you do, I promise will make you suffer." An arrogant and mocking smirk was formed on Hargan's face, and he moved his dagger closer to Dianna. "Fuck. Off." He said with a murderous look on his eyes. Dianna let out a sigh, and gave one more look at Lysera, before walking out of the tent.
The drinking and celebrating was still going on at the beach, and Dianna could see and hear Bjorn singing something with his men. She turned towards Hargan's tent once more, but she couldn't hear any voices coming from there. Oh Mother Rhoyne, please keep Lysera safe, she prayed silently in her mind, even if she doubted anyone was listening.
-
Next morning the Bandit Lord Efran Sand arrived with his companions. Dianna had expected to see a fearsome leader, but what he saw was a young man with eyepatch and blue hair, and a constant smirk on his face. He didn't look like much to Dianna, but it was evident that he was very respected among his forces – just listening how everyone talked to him, even men like Bjorn Harlaw, told you that this young man was indeed a leader.
With Efran came a colorful group of warriors, ranging from a man who was clearly from the Summer Isles, to a young man who Dianna could tell had Dothraki blood in him. There was also a beautiful blonde woman next to Efran, who looked to be a bit nervous. Now the full force that would attack Lemonwood from the sea was here, and they all gathered to the beach to listen Efran gave his speech.
"Brothers and sisters!" Efran started his speech with his charismatic voice. The Bandit Lord eyed at the crowd with enthusiastic eyes for a moment before continuing. "We are all gathered here to begin the final stage of our campaign. I see in front of me hundreds of warriors, ready to get dirty and risk their lives to reach our goal. Some of you are doing it out of loyalty for me, some just to get your pay once we are done – it does not matter, in the battlefield we are all equal!" The men cheered for Efran's words, even some of the Ironborn. "Today we set sail, to launch our assault against the false lord who stole the lordship from my father long ago. We attack Lemonwood, to end the borrowed time he has been living on! There will be blood, there will be suffering, there will be death! But in the end, there will be GLORY!" Now almost the whole crowd erupted into cheering. Watching Efran Sand raising his shining sword towards the sky, Dianna had to admit the boy knew how to rally his troops.
For her surprise Bjorn didn't take Dianna to Efran yet, and soon the forces started to make their ways into the ships. Bjorn, Hargan, Dianna and Lysera all went to the bigger longship. "She is called the Sea Reaper", Bjorn said with a wide grin on his face as they stepped up to the deck. "The one that is captained by Arfast is Lady Vengeance", he continued, while Hargan dragged Lysera to the stern of the ship, and the crew started to take their places by the oars.
Bjorn seemed to be on good mood, and Dianna didn't want to antagonize him, so she listened quietly his stories about the storms these ships had seen in the past. He even told how a kraken had once tried to pull the Sea Reaper under the waves, but Bjorn himself had cut the creature's limbs with his sword to free the ship from its grasp. Dianna didn't know whether to believe these stories or not, but they certainly were interesting. Soon the small fleet had found its way out of the cove, and they sailed towards north, the coast a few hundred feet to the left of them. The sun was shining, and while the wind was fairly mild, the rowers kept the ships moving on a steady speed.
As the day passed, and the sun was starting to move towards the horizon in the west, Bjorn approached Dianna at the bow of the ship. "Enjoying yourself?" He asked sarcastically, and Dianna just shot him a glare, which made him chuckle. "Well, tonight we will arrive to Lemonwood... That should be enjoyable", he said with a sigh.
"If your reason to spare me was that Efran might have a use for me, why didn't you inform him about me?" Dianna asked strictly, and Bjorn raised an eyebrow. "He has no use for you yet", he stated calmly. "Besides, if we fail to conquer Lemonwood, or if Efran dies in the process, then I would've given you away for no reason."
Dianna rolled her eyes for these words. "Great, I'm feeling like a goat, or a sheep – your property", she said dryly, which looked to amuse Bjorn. "I have no interest for goats or sheeps, Dianna", he said calmly. "However, you are much more than that, aren't you?" He asked, and Dianna gave him a confused look. "Once we arrive to Lemonwood, Hargan, Maron and Qhored Three-Finger will stay behind to guard the ship and Lysera", the Ironborn captain explained, his piercing stare falling now on Dianna. "And you, Dianna, you have a choice to make. You can either stay behind with them, or I can give you back your arakh and shield, and you can storm Lemonwood with us."
Dianna gulped, uncertain about this choice. Staying behind would give her a chance to look after Lysera, to make sure nothing bad would happen to her. On the other hand, taking back her weapons and storming the city with the Ironborn could be a chance to escape, and make it back to Sandship to inform Nymeria about what had happened.
What is it with all these hard, super consequential choices lately Can't we just get simple character building choices like in Nealia's latest part? These always make me feel far less concerned that I am going to pick the wrong one. But ah, don't listen to me, this is thrilling and I wouldn't want it any other way. I guess we're getting to the really hot parts of the chapter, where many situations are about to get super serious. This one's no difference and I considered it the hardest Dianna choice to date.
Ultimately though, I consider this to be a chance. Dianna can't remain a prisoner forever. She cannot help Lysera, she surely can't keep her safe from Hargan and his men, not as long as she is merely Bjorn's prisoner. In her current situation, all she can do is to threaten Hargan and I have the bad feeling that his patience is very limited, that he might be relatively civil if unprovoked, but that neither Dianna nor Lysera will be safe if Dianna is going to threaten him like she did in the tent once again. That was pretty badass, but unfortunately not very smart. Here's the thing, while Hargan is obviously a pretty huge asshole, he's not worse than other Ironborn. I wouldn't call him a decent human being, but he could easily be much, much worse. In fact, he seems to treat Lysera relatively good, considering the circumstances. She has just confirmed that he is not harming her, which is basically the best she can hope for. And I think she is both, too smart and too scared to provoke him into harming her. So, as long as Dianna does not provoke him, I am actually pretty sure that Lysera is not in as much danger as I feared before. So, the chance Bjorn offers is too valuable to pass up on, given that Dianna can't really do much in the alternative. If she wins Bjorn's trust, her own standing will improve massively. In time, she might be able to escape. At the absolute best, she is even going to be able to take Lysera with her, or to lead an army of Nymeria's forces against the Ironborn to free her friend. By improving her own standing with the Ironborn, I see it as far more likely in the long run that she is able to help Lysera as well. On top of that, she is going to fight against the Dalt's. The Dalt's seen so far have all been, in some capacity, kinda jerkish, so I don't feel sorry for giving their enemies one more soldier for this fight. After they abandoned her and basically caused this situation, this is even somewhat karmic. And if it helps Dianna, then I say we should do it.
By the way, while thinking about Dianna's storyline here, there is one question I have. What exactly happened to Wylie? I see he is unknown, but was it mentioned if he participated in the fight against Bjorn's men, or was he not present for that?
Dianna
Dianna stormed into the tent of Hargan Harlaw while no one was looking. Inside she saw Lysera sitting quietly on Hargan's bed. The… more girl had a slightly nervous look on her eyes, as she turned her gaze to Dianna.
"C- captain Dianna, what are you doing here?" Lysera asked with shaky words, and Dianna walked closer to her. She couldn't see bruises or any marks of violence on Lysera, but she did look very anxious. "Has he hurt you?" Dianna asked quietly, kneeling next to Lysera.
"No, not like that", she answered timidly. "He hasn't been violent, but..."
"But what?" Dianna urged Lysera to continue, glancing quickly at the door of the tent behind her. "He... he says I'm his wife now, and that he'll take me to his home, s-somewhere far away. When I start to cry he just laughs, and the way that he looks at me...", Lysera couldn't finish her sentence, as she broke down to tears. Dianna closed her into a tight hug, and she pushed her … [view original content]
What is it with all these hard, super consequential choices lately Can't we just get simple character building choices like in Nealia's latest part? These always make me feel far less concerned that I am going to pick the wrong one. But ah, don't listen to me, this is thrilling and I wouldn't want it any other way. I guess we're getting to the really hot parts of the chapter, where many situations are about to get super serious. This one's no difference and I considered it the hardest Dianna choice to date.
Heh, I guess we are just in the phase of the chapter where choices get extra meaningful And Nealia has indeed had it pretty easy lately when it comes to choices, but there could be some harder ones coming for her as well pretty soon
Ultimately though, I consider this to be a chance. Dianna can't remain a prisoner forever. She cannot help Lysera, she surely can't keep her safe from Hargan and his men, not as long as she is merely Bjorn's prisoner. In her current situation, all she can do is to threaten Hargan and I have the bad feeling that his patience is very limited, that he might be relatively civil if unprovoked, but that neither Dianna nor Lysera will be safe if Dianna is going to threaten him like she did in the tent once again. That was pretty badass, but unfortunately not very smart.
Those are good points. And I'd say Dianna's thoughts on the matter are pretty similar, but what keeps her doubting is that she would feel a bit guilty of taking this chance and leaving Lysera behind. And you're right, while badass, it was not the smartes move from Dianna to threaten Hargan. However, Hargan is fairly patient person, so for now she hasn't pissed him off too much.
Here's the thing, while Hargan is obviously a pretty huge asshole, he's not worse than other Ironborn. I wouldn't call him a decent human being, but he could easily be much, much worse. In fact, he seems to treat Lysera relatively good, considering the circumstances. She has just confirmed that he is not harming her, which is basically the best she can hope for. And I think she is both, too smart and too scared to provoke him into harming her. So, as long as Dianna does not provoke him, I am actually pretty sure that Lysera is not in as much danger as I feared before.
Yeah, like Bjorn said back at Griefhill, Lysera could've got it much worse, as Hargan is actually somewhat decent for an Ironborn raider. That said, for him it's obvious that Lysera belongs to him now, which you can't blame him too much, as that is the culture he has been groomed into. His own mother was a salt wife, and he doesn't really see anything wrong with the practice. You're right when it comes to Lysera as well, she definitely isn't going to provoke Hargan if she can avoid it.
By the way, while thinking about Dianna's storyline here, there is one question I have. What exactly happened to Wylie? I see he is unknown, but was it mentioned if he participated in the fight against Bjorn's men, or was he not present for that?
Wylie actually separated from Dianna's crew at Desertstone (the seat of House Granit), saying he had a long journey to west ahead of him. He'll be back later, but in a completely different storyline
[Storm the city]
What is it with all these hard, super consequential choices lately Can't we just get simple character building choices … morelike in Nealia's latest part? These always make me feel far less concerned that I am going to pick the wrong one. But ah, don't listen to me, this is thrilling and I wouldn't want it any other way. I guess we're getting to the really hot parts of the chapter, where many situations are about to get super serious. This one's no difference and I considered it the hardest Dianna choice to date.
Ultimately though, I consider this to be a chance. Dianna can't remain a prisoner forever. She cannot help Lysera, she surely can't keep her safe from Hargan and his men, not as long as she is merely Bjorn's prisoner. In her current situation, all she can do is to threaten Hargan and I have the bad feeling that his patience is very limited, that he might be relatively civil if unprovoked, but that neither Dianna nor… [view original content]
Dianna
Dianna stormed into the tent of Hargan Harlaw while no one was looking. Inside she saw Lysera sitting quietly on Hargan's bed. The… more girl had a slightly nervous look on her eyes, as she turned her gaze to Dianna.
"C- captain Dianna, what are you doing here?" Lysera asked with shaky words, and Dianna walked closer to her. She couldn't see bruises or any marks of violence on Lysera, but she did look very anxious. "Has he hurt you?" Dianna asked quietly, kneeling next to Lysera.
"No, not like that", she answered timidly. "He hasn't been violent, but..."
"But what?" Dianna urged Lysera to continue, glancing quickly at the door of the tent behind her. "He... he says I'm his wife now, and that he'll take me to his home, s-somewhere far away. When I start to cry he just laughs, and the way that he looks at me...", Lysera couldn't finish her sentence, as she broke down to tears. Dianna closed her into a tight hug, and she pushed her … [view original content]
Dianna
Dianna stormed into the tent of Hargan Harlaw while no one was looking. Inside she saw Lysera sitting quietly on Hargan's bed. The… more girl had a slightly nervous look on her eyes, as she turned her gaze to Dianna.
"C- captain Dianna, what are you doing here?" Lysera asked with shaky words, and Dianna walked closer to her. She couldn't see bruises or any marks of violence on Lysera, but she did look very anxious. "Has he hurt you?" Dianna asked quietly, kneeling next to Lysera.
"No, not like that", she answered timidly. "He hasn't been violent, but..."
"But what?" Dianna urged Lysera to continue, glancing quickly at the door of the tent behind her. "He... he says I'm his wife now, and that he'll take me to his home, s-somewhere far away. When I start to cry he just laughs, and the way that he looks at me...", Lysera couldn't finish her sentence, as she broke down to tears. Dianna closed her into a tight hug, and she pushed her … [view original content]
Dianna
Dianna stormed into the tent of Hargan Harlaw while no one was looking. Inside she saw Lysera sitting quietly on Hargan's bed. The… more girl had a slightly nervous look on her eyes, as she turned her gaze to Dianna.
"C- captain Dianna, what are you doing here?" Lysera asked with shaky words, and Dianna walked closer to her. She couldn't see bruises or any marks of violence on Lysera, but she did look very anxious. "Has he hurt you?" Dianna asked quietly, kneeling next to Lysera.
"No, not like that", she answered timidly. "He hasn't been violent, but..."
"But what?" Dianna urged Lysera to continue, glancing quickly at the door of the tent behind her. "He... he says I'm his wife now, and that he'll take me to his home, s-somewhere far away. When I start to cry he just laughs, and the way that he looks at me...", Lysera couldn't finish her sentence, as she broke down to tears. Dianna closed her into a tight hug, and she pushed her … [view original content]
Heh, I guess we are just in the phase of the chapter where choices get extra meaningful And Nealia has indeed had it pretty easy lately when it comes to choices, but there could be some harder ones coming for her as well pretty soon
I am actually surprised we got such a string of easy choices for Nealia lately. I mean, not that the whole Ying/Lien situation was all that easy, but the stakes surely haven't been as high as, say, Emerson or Gwendis, or Kortney. Though to be fair, no one had choices as hard as Kortney so far, because there hasn't been a single moment in Kingsgrave where I felt that she was out of any danger. With Nealia, I could see her getting a lot harder choices in the future, though I don't know how soon. It all feels like build-up right now, where you focus on the relationships between the sellswords, but there's really no saying how much build-up you consider necessary for the things you have planned for her. But I really enjoy these parts as well, as they are essential with making the later choices feel so meaningful.
Those are good points. And I'd say Dianna's thoughts on the matter are pretty similar, but what keeps her doubting is that she would feel a bit guilty of taking this chance and leaving Lysera behind. And you're right, while badass, it was not the smartes move from Dianna to threaten Hargan. However, Hargan is fairly patient person, so for now she hasn't pissed him off too much.
Hm, it is either leaving Lysera behind or both of them staying behind. The moment she meets Efran and reveals her knowledge, she won't have any use to him anymore, so she has to make sure that she has gotten useful in Bjorn's eyes until then. Though I just realized something... He hasn't given her to Efran, so this means that Efran's plans might not end at Lemonwood. If his ambition would truly end there, then Bjorn could give her to him now. But he implied that there might be a use for her later on, which gives me the bad impression he might plan on fighting against the Martell's as well.
Yeah, like Bjorn said back at Griefhill, Lysera could've got it much worse, as Hargan is actually somewhat decent for an Ironborn raider. That said, for him it's obvious that Lysera belongs to him now, which you can't blame him too much, as that is the culture he has been groomed into. His own mother was a salt wife, and he doesn't really see anything wrong with the practice. You're right when it comes to Lysera as well, she definitely isn't going to provoke Hargan if she can avoid it.
Yeah, that's the same impression I got. I mean, the words "decent" and "Ironborn raider" are pretty hard to work in the same sentence, but he indeed doesn't seem all that bad, compared to what could have been. Still, the sooner Lysera gets away from him, the better. But that only reassures me in my feeling that she is relatively safe for the time being, which means that Dianna can focus on her own position, which is really the best shot she has at not only keeping Lysera safe for the time being, but forever.
Wylie actually separated from Dianna's crew at Desertstone (the seat of House Granit), saying he had a long journey to west ahead of him. He'll be back later, but in a completely different storyline
Ah, so it's more a case where his location is unknown and not his physical condition. This is interesting to know. And I guess he will be seen in western Dorne then, though I don't know where to expect him. With Gwen, Naemon, Myke, Kortney and Isabella, we have five PoV's in western Dorne (Albeit Kortney, Gwendis and Isabella might already be closer to central Dorne) and I guess he could reasonably stumble upon either of them on his travels. Hm, I have the feeling we might see more of him before the end of Book 1 already.
What is it with all these hard, super consequential choices lately Can't we just get simple character building choices like in Nealia's lat… moreest part? These always make me feel far less concerned that I am going to pick the wrong one. But ah, don't listen to me, this is thrilling and I wouldn't want it any other way. I guess we're getting to the really hot parts of the chapter, where many situations are about to get super serious. This one's no difference and I considered it the hardest Dianna choice to date.
Heh, I guess we are just in the phase of the chapter where choices get extra meaningful And Nealia has indeed had it pretty easy lately when it comes to choices, but there could be some harder ones coming for her as well pretty soon
Ultimately though, I consider this to be a chance. Dianna can't remain a prisoner forever. She cannot help Lysera, she surely can't keep her safe from Hargan and his men, not as long as she is … [view original content]
The result is clear, Dianna will storm the city with Bjorn's crew. An assault on a city is bound to get chaotic, which might offer Dianna a chance to escape. Another tactic of course would be to try to win the respect of the Ironborn by fighting by their side. Both could work, but either way Dianna will definitely feel bad for leaving Lysera at the hands of Hargan. Of course, this doesn't mean there couldn't be a chance to save her later.
And the next part should come in a day or two. There will be at least a Jamison PoV, but potentially also an Isabella PoV, if I manage to get them both done quickly enough. Last time we saw Jamison he was leaving Godsgrace with Ser Laroy and the rest of the convoy, to head towards Vaith where they had agreed to meet with Ser Rolan. In this part we will see Jamison arrive to Vaith. What comes to Isabella, in her latest part Ser Russal returned from the Battle of the Wide Way, and news from the northern valleys of the Kingdom of Stone and Sky arrived, with reports of a large manwoody force raiding those lands. Prince Desmor wanted to lead the mission to drive out these forces, but King Garrison was hesitant of the idea, fearful of the prospect of losing both of his remaining sons. However, Isabella later decided to try and convince Garrison to send Desmor.
EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention, we might be getting a new H&L before the next part!
-
And here comes another portrait, the captain of Lady Vengeance, Arfast Stonetree:
Decided to leave the Isabella part for the next time, but here is a very interesting Jamison part:
-
Jamison
After days of traveling, they finally saw the city of Vaith in front of them, standing next to the River Vaith. The town was even smaller than Godsgrace, hardly large enough to really be called a city. Nonetheless, Jamison felt relieved that they would get some rest here. As they approached the eastern gate of the city, Jamison noticed how small the city walls were – merely a little more than a dozen feet high.
The guards at the gates stopped the convoy. They were dressed in orange tabards, decorated with the sigil of House Vaith, three black leopards. "Who are you, and what's your business in Vaith?" One of the guardsmen asked strictly, eyeing at Jamison and Laroy who were leading the convoy.
"We are Dayne ambassadors, on our way back from a diplomatic mission in Godsgrace", Jamison answered calmly. "We just want to rest one night here", he added, and the guardsman looked at him for a moment with narrowed eyes.
"Fine then", he finally said, stepping aside and letting them ride into the city. As they walked through the streets, a strange feeling took over Jamison – there was something wrong with this place. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was like one could feel fear and anger lingering in the air while walking through these streets. Jamison turned to look at Ser Laroy, who had a tense expression on his face. "You think Ser Rolan is already here?" Jamison asked casually, and Laroy shifted his attention to him.
"Who knows", he replied quietly, glancing around as they arrived to the town square. "But there is something wrong with this place... and I don't like it."
Without any further conversation they made their way to the tavern that looked the most decent. They walked inside to the smoky taproom, filled with chatter and murmur. While the tavern was quite crowded, the atmosphere wasn't at all cheerful. The people were muttering and whispering at their tables, some of them glancing nervously at the Dayne's as they walked past them. And as Ser Rolan was nowhere to be found, Jamison sent Arthur Wythmail and few of the soldiers to look for him in the city.
Jamison, Laroy and Aron found a free table next to a window and sat down. Soon they were delivered ales, as well as some fish soup. For minutes they sat silently around the table, eating and drinking without a word.
"We should leave in the morning", Ser Laroy finally muttered, and Jamison raised his eyebrow. "And what about Ser Rolan?" He asked calmly, which made Laroy let out a sigh. "Perhaps he was wiser than us, and didn't come here at all", he answered with grim tone.
"What do you think is going on here?" Ser Aron joined the conversation, and Laroy gave him a shrug. "I don't know, but King Lucifer was doubting the loyalty of the Vaith's", he said quietly.
"But he also said the Vaith's would fall in line once they'd hear that the Allyrion's have chosen to side with the Dryland's", Jamison remarked, and Laroy nodded in agreement. "You're right, my Prince, but still... I have a feeling blood will be shed soon in this city."
Jamison had to agree that the atmosphere here was tense, but he wasn't quite as pessimistic about it as Laroy. The Prince downed the rest of his ale, and made his way to the bar counter, to order another mug of ale. However, before he could order anything, he saw someone walk into the tavern – a beautiful and tall lady with dark ebony skin, wide brown eyes, and lean build. She was dressed in black and orange dress, which complimented her body perfectly. With catlike steps the young lady made her way right next to Jamison. She towered Jamison, which was rare – in fact, Jamison didn't remember ever before, as a grown man, meeting a woman taller than himself. This exotic girl was no Isabella Fowler, but the look on her eyes was... enchanting.
"You must be the Sword of the Night", the girl purred, her voice shy but still seducing. "I am", Jamison answered smoothly, his lips now forming a small smirk. "And who might you be, my beauty?"
"My name is Valerie Sand", the girl answered softly, now grabbing gently Jamison's right hand. Jamison was a bit surprised by how quickly the girl was proceeding, but it certainly didn't bother him. After all, I never made it to the brothel in Godsgrace. He embraced Valerie's touch, pulling her slightly closer, and looking at her full lips.
"How do you know me, Valerie Sand?" He asked quietly, and now Valerie gave him a thin smirk. "Who wouldn't have heard of Jamison Dayne, the greatest knight in Dorne?" She replied softly, coming closer and closer to Jamison. They looked at each other in the eyes for a moment, before finally proceeding to kiss that lasted for almost ten seconds.
"Looks like the tales are true, you are not just a great warrior, but also a great lover", Valerie chirped, which made Jamison's smirk grow wider. "You have seen nothing yet", he replied with a whisper.
"Perhaps you should show me then", Valerie said, glancing at the door of the tavern. Jamison gave her a nod, and so she started to guide him out of the tavern. Jamison glanced quickly towards his table, seeing Ser Laroy frowning, but he decided to ignore him. Time to have some enjoyment.
They walked out of the tavern, and Valerie led Jamison through the streets of Vaith, until they arrived to a small house at the end of a narrow alley. Valerie opened the door and walked in, and Jamison followed. The house had few windows, and was dimly lit with candles, but Valerie held Jamison's hand, leading him straight to the bed. She pushed him softly to the bed, and started to undress.
The naked body of Valerie was a majestic sight, instantly stimulating Jamison's body. Without any words, Valerie got down on her knees, and started to unbutton Jamison's trousers. Jamison let out a pleased sigh, feeling the blood rushing through his body. Soon Valerie climbed on top of him, filling him with excitement and enjoyment. Then Jamison noticed that Valerie was holding something in her hands – a necklace. In the necklace was a dark stone, perhaps obsidian.
"Put this on", Valerie moaned with pleasure, handing the necklace to Jamison. Weird, Jamison thought, but didn't question it any further. With the aid of Valerie, he put the necklace around his neck. And then something happened. The dark stone weighed against Jamison's chest with the weight of an anvil, freezing his skin. He tried to scream, but no voice came out of his throat. In panic he looked Valerie to the eyes, and what he saw was piercing bright blue eyes staring at him. And then he lost his consciousness.
Oh dear. I didn't ever like Jamison but, man I didn't expect this to happen to him. It seems my Valerie has some interesting plans here... You've got me both excited and frightened for what we might see, fortunately it's on Jamison rather than Emerson right? Oh and, epic introduction. Love my gal entering a pash for 10 seconds before luring the most gullible knight into her bed
Decided to leave the Isabella part for the next time, but here is a very interesting Jamison part:
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Jamison
After days of travelin… moreg, they finally saw the city of Vaith in front of them, standing next to the River Vaith. The town was even smaller than Godsgrace, hardly large enough to really be called a city. Nonetheless, Jamison felt relieved that they would get some rest here. As they approached the eastern gate of the city, Jamison noticed how small the city walls were – merely a little more than a dozen feet high.
The guards at the gates stopped the convoy. They were dressed in orange tabards, decorated with the sigil of House Vaith, three black leopards. "Who are you, and what's your business in Vaith?" One of the guardsmen asked strictly, eyeing at Jamison and Laroy who were leading the convoy.
"We are Dayne ambassadors, on our way back from a diplomatic mission in Godsgrace", Jamison answered calmly. "We just want to res… [view original content]
Hehe, Jamison definitely has a weakness for beautiful ladies That said, there might've been some magic involved with this seduction... not that it would necessarily even be needed, Valerie is attractive and Jamison is horny
Oh dear. I didn't ever like Jamison but, man I didn't expect this to happen to him. It seems my Valerie has some interesting plans here... Y… moreou've got me both excited and frightened for what we might see, fortunately it's on Jamison rather than Emerson right? Oh and, epic introduction. Love my gal entering a pash for 10 seconds before luring the most gullible knight into her bed
Oh man, I knew it! We should have voted to keep Jamison in Starfall where he could have been safe and probably mouthing off to Vorian right now or leading an army to Skyreach to save Isabella or something else Jamison like Or I totally did not know but wish I would have voted for that now I have to say though, this was the best way to take Jamison down and it fits with Jamison's character that he would think with the wrong head in this situation It also seems now that Liquid's theory is at least partially right about the witch of Vaith trying to take Jamison's mind since Valerie is most likely her daughter which admittedly was the most realistic way for this to happen. I seen Jamison is not dead in the main post which is great but even still I am worried for him here and hope that whatever just happened does not change him permanently. I have also learned a lesson though, vote for Jamison to avoid any characters that Stigz creates since Jamison has bad luck with his characters This was a well written part though and it clearly has me anxious for Jamison's next part which I am definitely looking forward to to say the least!
Decided to leave the Isabella part for the next time, but here is a very interesting Jamison part:
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Jamison
After days of travelin… moreg, they finally saw the city of Vaith in front of them, standing next to the River Vaith. The town was even smaller than Godsgrace, hardly large enough to really be called a city. Nonetheless, Jamison felt relieved that they would get some rest here. As they approached the eastern gate of the city, Jamison noticed how small the city walls were – merely a little more than a dozen feet high.
The guards at the gates stopped the convoy. They were dressed in orange tabards, decorated with the sigil of House Vaith, three black leopards. "Who are you, and what's your business in Vaith?" One of the guardsmen asked strictly, eyeing at Jamison and Laroy who were leading the convoy.
"We are Dayne ambassadors, on our way back from a diplomatic mission in Godsgrace", Jamison answered calmly. "We just want to res… [view original content]
Oh man, I knew it! We should have voted to keep Jamison in Starfall where he could have been safe and probably mouthing off to Vorian right now or leading an army to Skyreach to save Isabella or something else Jamison like Or I totally did not know but wish I would have voted for that now
Indeed, staying in Starfall should've at least kept Jamison away from any witches who want to control his mind That said, going to Salt Shore instead of Godsgrace would've also avoided this situation... though I must say I'm glad you didn't choose that, as I very much preferred the Godsgrace route, where he got to interact with the Allyrion's, as well as got some action. The best thing in going to Salt Shore would've been that Jamison would've briefly met with Nealia, but aside from that it would've been much more boring than his visit to Godsgrace.
I have to say though, this was the best way to take Jamison down and it fits with Jamison's character that he would think with the wrong head in this situation It also seems now that Liquid's theory is at least partially right about the witch of Vaith trying to take Jamison's mind since Valerie is most likely her daughter which admittedly was the most realistic way for this to happen.
Yeah, Valerie certainly knew how to handle a man like Jamison... Poor guy, this experience, if he survives it, should teach him to be a bit more careful around sexy women he doesn't know And we don't really know anything about Lady Myra yet, but it seems that if she really is a Great Other worshiper, then her daughter is certainly doing the dirty work for her.
I seen Jamison is not dead in the main post which is great but even still I am worried for him here and hope that whatever just happened does not change him permanently. I have also learned a lesson though, vote for Jamison to avoid any characters that Stigz creates since Jamison has bad luck with his characters This was a well written part though and it clearly has me anxious for Jamison's next part which I am definitely looking forward to to say the least!
Indeed, Jamison is not dead, though his situation certainly is dangerous. And we will see Jamison again in this chapter, though it might not be through his own PoV...
Oh man, I knew it! We should have voted to keep Jamison in Starfall where he could have been safe and probably mouthing off to Vorian right … morenow or leading an army to Skyreach to save Isabella or something else Jamison like Or I totally did not know but wish I would have voted for that now I have to say though, this was the best way to take Jamison down and it fits with Jamison's character that he would think with the wrong head in this situation It also seems now that Liquid's theory is at least partially right about the witch of Vaith trying to take Jamison's mind since Valerie is most likely her daughter which admittedly was the most realistic way for this to happen. I seen Jamison is not dead in the main post which is great but even still I am worried for him here and hope that whatever just happened does not change him permanently. I have also learned a lesson though, vote for Jamison to avoid any characters that Stigz creates since J… [view original content]
I have also learned a lesson though, vote for Jamison to avoid any characters that Stigz creates since Jamison has bad luck with his characters
OUCH! Though perhaps that's not a bad strategy A shame we've sent Myke to Kortney's way, though... Myke is also my character but hey, Emerson wasn't that bad
Oh man, I knew it! We should have voted to keep Jamison in Starfall where he could have been safe and probably mouthing off to Vorian right … morenow or leading an army to Skyreach to save Isabella or something else Jamison like Or I totally did not know but wish I would have voted for that now I have to say though, this was the best way to take Jamison down and it fits with Jamison's character that he would think with the wrong head in this situation It also seems now that Liquid's theory is at least partially right about the witch of Vaith trying to take Jamison's mind since Valerie is most likely her daughter which admittedly was the most realistic way for this to happen. I seen Jamison is not dead in the main post which is great but even still I am worried for him here and hope that whatever just happened does not change him permanently. I have also learned a lesson though, vote for Jamison to avoid any characters that Stigz creates since J… [view original content]
Here is a portrait of our newest character, Valerie Sand:
Also, as there is no voting going on, I'll try to get the next Isabella part done as quickly as possible - hopefully I'll be able to post it later today
Well, or at least I heavily suspected this As always when I correctly predict a plotline, you still managed to surprise me though. I mean, I suspected Jamison to fall under the spell of the witch of Vaith, but I was mistaken when it comes to the identity of this witch. Valerie, I see... I remember that she is Myra's bastard daughter and that she was, according to Kris, corrupted by her mother's influence. I could very much see her using Jamison as a means to get out of this city when Dalia and her sellswords attack. I still expect Jamison to survive this though, I think he will be brought under Valerie's control in a way not unlike Kris was under Myra's control.
However, her actions in this part gave me another theory. What if Myra is actually not all that bad? I mean, she might be an evil witch who brought Kris under her spell for a while, but maybe she is not the big evil that Desi sensed in Vaith. Maybe this is, in fact, Valerie. We haven't yet met Myra, but it could be very much in the realms of possible that her daughter is even more corrupted by the Great Other than she herself is and that she is merely a small-time villain in comparison. Maybe Valerie is the shadow that Jamison and Gwendis saw in their dreams/visions and this makes her a possible candidate for this mysterious person that apparently plans on destroying Gwendis later on. I still consider Aisha to be the too obvious possibility and while Myra herself is also a candidate, now I have to look out for Valerie as well. Being a young, likely overly ambitious GO worshipper, she could be envious of Gwendis' close connection to her god and seek to either kill her or somehow extract this connection to use it for herself. And I somehow doubt that this can be settled without any danger for Gwendis, even if she is more than likely perfectly willing to just give it to her if she would just ask. Such a procedure, if this is what Valerie is after in the future, could likely cause tremendous harm, so I already got a personal interest in stopping her. Ironically, this will probably nicely align with the goals of Desi, who could potentially know about safer ways of getting GO-bro out of Gwendis' head again. But ah, I realized that she and Dalia are both very convinced that Myra is the cultist they seek to kill, which makes them likely to pay less attention to Valerie and, unless R'hllor gives Desi another vision, is likely to make them feel like they finished their mission once taking care of Myra, whereas the true witch of Vaith might escape this whole chaos, maybe to meet up with Aisha.
Decided to leave the Isabella part for the next time, but here is a very interesting Jamison part:
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Jamison
After days of travelin… moreg, they finally saw the city of Vaith in front of them, standing next to the River Vaith. The town was even smaller than Godsgrace, hardly large enough to really be called a city. Nonetheless, Jamison felt relieved that they would get some rest here. As they approached the eastern gate of the city, Jamison noticed how small the city walls were – merely a little more than a dozen feet high.
The guards at the gates stopped the convoy. They were dressed in orange tabards, decorated with the sigil of House Vaith, three black leopards. "Who are you, and what's your business in Vaith?" One of the guardsmen asked strictly, eyeing at Jamison and Laroy who were leading the convoy.
"We are Dayne ambassadors, on our way back from a diplomatic mission in Godsgrace", Jamison answered calmly. "We just want to res… [view original content]
Well, or at least I heavily suspected this As always when I correctly predict a plotline, you still managed to surprise me though. I mean, I suspected Jamison to fall under the spell of the witch of Vaith, but I was mistaken when it comes to the identity of this witch. Valerie, I see... I remember that she is Myra's bastard daughter and that she was, according to Kris, corrupted by her mother's influence. I could very much see her using Jamison as a means to get out of this city when Dalia and her sellswords attack. I still expect Jamison to survive this though, I think he will be brought under Valerie's control in a way not unlike Kris was under Myra's control.
Indeed, an excellent prediction from you, I was really impressed when you gave it after Gwen's vision! Even if, as you said, you got the wrong lady. To be fair though, I believe Valerie had been namedropped like once or twice at that point, so having you guess that correctly as well would've been just too much, even for you And yeah, it remains to be seen still if Valerie is doing this to serve her mother, or if she is actually working independently.
However, her actions in this part gave me another theory. What if Myra is actually not all that bad? I mean, she might be an evil witch who brought Kris under her spell for a while, but maybe she is not the big evil that Desi sensed in Vaith. Maybe this is, in fact, Valerie. We haven't yet met Myra, but it could be very much in the realms of possible that her daughter is even more corrupted by the Great Other than she herself is and that she is merely a small-time villain in comparison. Maybe Valerie is the shadow that Jamison and Gwendis saw in their dreams/visions and this makes her a possible candidate for this mysterious person that apparently plans on destroying Gwendis later on. I still consider Aisha to be the too obvious possibility and while Myra herself is also a candidate, now I have to look out for Valerie as well.
Indeed, Valerie being the big bad here is certainly a possibility. For now, all we have on Myra is Kris' word that she was the one who controlled him, some rumors about her being a witch, and to contrast that, Esperence's statement that Myra is no witch. Anyway, we'll certainly get answers as the story unfolds.
Well, or at least I heavily suspected this As always when I correctly predict a plotline, you still managed to surprise me though. I mean, … moreI suspected Jamison to fall under the spell of the witch of Vaith, but I was mistaken when it comes to the identity of this witch. Valerie, I see... I remember that she is Myra's bastard daughter and that she was, according to Kris, corrupted by her mother's influence. I could very much see her using Jamison as a means to get out of this city when Dalia and her sellswords attack. I still expect Jamison to survive this though, I think he will be brought under Valerie's control in a way not unlike Kris was under Myra's control.
However, her actions in this part gave me another theory. What if Myra is actually not all that bad? I mean, she might be an evil witch who brought Kris under her spell for a while, but maybe she is not the big evil that Desi sensed in Vaith. Maybe this is, in fact, Valerie. We ha… [view original content]
Indeed, an excellent prediction from you, I was really impressed when you gave it after Gwen's vision! Even if, as you said, you got the wrong lady. To be fair though, I believe Valerie had been namedropped like once or twice at that point, so having you guess that correctly as well would've been just too much, even for you And yeah, it remains to be seen still if Valerie is doing this to serve her mother, or if she is actually working independently.
She has been name-dropped exactly once, I just checked it today, as I was not sure if she was Kris' daughter or only Myra's Myra has gotten a lot more build-up before, so obviously I expected her to be the one to bewitch Jamison. However, it does make sense here and I could have suspected something, as Kris said that Myra is using her daughter for her schemes, implying that Valerie is very much part of this. The moment she appeared here, I had it figured out though, even before she gave him this necklace. Speaking of, I could see this as the key to whatever spell she has just casted over Jamison. If it gets damaged, maybe during a potential duel with Dalia, then this might be the moment the spell breaks. I don't expect this control to be irreversible. However, I am indeed not sure if she works for her mother here, or if she already plans to abandon Myra and has now bewitched Jamison to secure her own escape from Vaith once the siege starts.
Indeed, Valerie being the big bad here is certainly a possibility. For now, all we have on Myra is Kris' word that she was the one who controlled him, some rumors about her being a witch, and to contrast that, Esperence's statement that Myra is no witch. Anyway, we'll certainly get answers as the story unfolds.
Well, even then, being a witch doesn't necessarily mean that she is the big bad. To paint a more sympathtic picture of her, maybe she genuinely loved Kris, but knew that she had no chance with him, so she used a spell to put him under her control. Or maybe she wanted power, but is otherwise not exactly a cruel and evil person, merely a power-hungry one. That would combine Kris' view with Esperence's more benign opinion. Or perhaps it has been Valerie from the very beginning, controlling Kris into loving Myra and manipulating Myra into thinking that this love is genuine. I guess more can be said once we actually get to see Myra, but right now, there are more things that speak in favour of Valerie being the big bad here, on account of us having undoubtable evidence that she just did something very bad, whereas with Myra it's only rumours and speculation for the time being.
Well, or at least I heavily suspected this As always when I correctly predict a plotline, you still managed to surprise me though. I mean, … moreI suspected Jamison to fall under the spell of the witch of Vaith, but I was mistaken when it comes to the identity of this witch. Valerie, I see... I remember that she is Myra's bastard daughter and that she was, according to Kris, corrupted by her mother's influence. I could very much see her using Jamison as a means to get out of this city when Dalia and her sellswords attack. I still expect Jamison to survive this though, I think he will be brought under Valerie's control in a way not unlike Kris was under Myra's control.
Indeed, an excellent prediction from you, I was really impressed when you gave it after Gwen's vision! Even if, as you said, you got the wrong lady. To be fair though, I believe Valerie had been namedropped like once or twice at that point, so having you guess that correctly… [view original content]
This one is very short, but it concludes Isabella's storyline for Chapter 2:
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Isabella
The court of Skyreach was gathered at the courtyard, to send off Prince Desmor and Ser Soren Ashford on their mission to drive out the Manwoody forces from the northern valleys of the Kingdom of Stone and Sky. While Ser Soren had already mounted his horse, like most of the troops, Desmor was still standing in front of his father and sister, as well as Princess Dana and little Prince Matthos.
"I have the utmost trust that you will succeed, my son", King Garrison said with a calm and regal tone, and Desmor nodded with a gulp. "Thank you, father", he said quietly, and a thin smile was formed on Garrison's old and wrinkled face.
"I trust in you too, brother", Isabella said with a kind tone, and Desmor turned to look at her, a smile on his face. "Do your duty for this kingdom, and then come back home, safely", she continued, a meaningful look on her eyes.
"Do not worry about me, sister", Desmor said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I promise I will come back, as a victor."
"I believe in you", Isabella replied, and Desmor gave her a friendly hug, before departing from them, and making his way to his horse. As he mounted his majestic black war horse, he turned to once more look at his family. For a second his eyes met with Isabella's again, before he turned around, and led his forces out of the gate, while the court applauded.
"Where is Uncle Desmor going?" Matthos asked with confusion in his innocent voice, and his mother lowered herself down to the level of the young prince. "I told you already, my dear, Uncle Desmor is going to do some heroic things", Princess Dana said softly.
"Just like father?" Matthos asked, Dana nodded to him. "They will both return to Skyreach as heroes", Garrison said with a weak smile on his face. "Isabella, would you come to my office, there is something important we should talk about", he continued, his smile now more genuine.
"Of course, father", Isabella answered with a humble tone, and so they started to make their way to Garrison's office, escorted by Ser Dustran Drinkwater. Soon, they arrived to the office, and while Ser Dustran stayed to guard the door, Isabella and Garrison made their way in. With slow and tired steps, the Blind King found his way behind his desk, and sat down to his chair, while Isabella sat down to the chair in front of the desk. Garrison let out a tired sigh, opening his drawer to take out some kind of letter, which had already been sealed with the sigil of House Fowler imprinted to the wax.
Garrison put the scroll on the desk, and took in a deep breath. "What is it?" Isabella inquired, but her father took a moment to answer.
"It is a very important letter, my dear daughter", Garrison finally said with a heavy voice, twiddling the scroll in his hands. "So very important... And sending it, well, it might very well be the end of a certain phase in both of our lives."
"Tell me, what is it?" Isabella urged her father, who nodded calmly. "It is a letter that is meant to fly to Starfall, if you so wish", Garrison answered, which made Isabella's eyes lit up. "You... you mean... it's a marriage proposal?" She asked, hardly able to restrain her joy. Garrison nodded, a thin smile on his face.
"I can hear you are happy about this", he said softly. "I thought about it for some time, and I came to the conclusion that I don't want to stand in the way of your happiness. Besides, first son or second son, a marriage between us and Dayne's should be enough to form a strong alliance between me and King Vorian."
"Thank you father", Isabella said with utmost happiness, tears of joy coming to her eyes. It would finally become reality, she would marry Jamison, something they had both dreamed of for so long. "I owe you this much, dear Bella", Garrison replied with a gentle tone. "However, I cannot promise you how will King Vorian respond to this. And... I also wanted to ask, are you sure about this?"
"This is what I have dreamed of for so long, father, of course I'm sure", Isabella replied, and her father nodded. "Of course, but there is no rush... If you feel like you are not ready yet, if you want to stay here in Skyreach for a bit longer. I can send this letter today, if you so wish, but it's all up to you."
Isabella gulped, this was all she had hoped for, but at the same time it would mean she'd have to leave Skyreach behind – her home. Perhaps even before Ferris or Desmor come back. On the other hand, Isabella wasn't sure if she could wait any longer, when she could already start her new life with Jamison.
Here's the thing, I don't think there is any need to rush this. Isabella has the letter, she knows she can marry Jamison now and well, this basically means that her dreams are about to become real. I believe that now, especially with Jamison not being in Starfall (as well as being kinda busy with being bewitched), she can slow down a little, take a deep breath, wait for her brothers to return and then say her goodbyes to them as well before leaving her home for Starfall. I really doubt anything in her control will come up that could harm her marriage to Jamison. The biggest danger to that is the situation in Vaith right now, which most likely won't be influenced by her decision here. And well, worst case scenario here, if anything happens to one of her brothers, she is probably going to have huge regrets over not being there for her family for at least a bit of time. Best case scenario, she gets a chance to say her goodbyes to Ferris and Desmor. In any way, I don't see many advantages from sending the letter now, particularly because I doubt that Jamison is in any danger of being married off by his father anytime soon. Vorian doesn't seem to hold any plans on that end and even then, it would be totally in character for Jamison to just ignore it now that Garrison gave his okay for the marriage. The way I see it, nothing Isabella does holds any risk of ruining this marriage, whose future lies entirely in the hands of Jamison and the other characters at Vaith.
At the same time, I have a slightly bad feeling about this. Not because I don't want it, I mean, I surely want her to be happy, but it is exactly the same feeling I had when Lyla came to free Gwendis. This all happens a bit too quickly for me and that is kind of a red flag. I might just be too paranoid, especially as I doubt Jamison will die in Vaith, but I have this slight feeling that something will come up that will keep them apart for a bit longer. I don't know what it is yet and I hope it can be prevented, but I surely won't relax just yet.
This one is very short, but it concludes Isabella's storyline for Chapter 2:
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Isabella
The court of Skyreach was gathered at the c… moreourtyard, to send off Prince Desmor and Ser Soren Ashford on their mission to drive out the Manwoody forces from the northern valleys of the Kingdom of Stone and Sky. While Ser Soren had already mounted his horse, like most of the troops, Desmor was still standing in front of his father and sister, as well as Princess Dana and little Prince Matthos.
"I have the utmost trust that you will succeed, my son", King Garrison said with a calm and regal tone, and Desmor nodded with a gulp. "Thank you, father", he said quietly, and a thin smile was formed on Garrison's old and wrinkled face.
"I trust in you too, brother", Isabella said with a kind tone, and Desmor turned to look at her, a smile on his face. "Do your duty for this kingdom, and then come back home, safely", she continued, a meaningful look on … [view original content]
Well now it seems I have now seen my new least favorite character in the flesh She is the biggest threat to Jamison at this point so I am not a fan of her but as always this is another great portrait!
Here is a portrait of our newest character, Valerie Sand:
Also, as there is no voting going on, I'll try to get the next Isabella part done as quickly as possible - hopefully I'll be able to post it later today
[Send the letter now] Ah Liquid does have a good point here but from what I gather, when Isabella leaves Skyreach is pretty much determined by when Jamison gets back to Starfall. At this point, Desmor is way closer to Isabella than Jamison is right now, so Desmor will probably be back in Skyreach before Jamison is back in Starfall i imagine. My biggest worry though is that something may happen that causes Garrison not to send the raven to Starfall and since I currently only have my phone for internet, I won't even bother typing that long theory in The main point is that I feel Starfall is a safer place to be than Skyreach at this point so the sooner Isabella goes to Starfall the better since once the raven flies, Isabella's dream comes true and the alliance will be basically be guranteed at that point.
This one is very short, but it concludes Isabella's storyline for Chapter 2:
-
Isabella
The court of Skyreach was gathered at the c… moreourtyard, to send off Prince Desmor and Ser Soren Ashford on their mission to drive out the Manwoody forces from the northern valleys of the Kingdom of Stone and Sky. While Ser Soren had already mounted his horse, like most of the troops, Desmor was still standing in front of his father and sister, as well as Princess Dana and little Prince Matthos.
"I have the utmost trust that you will succeed, my son", King Garrison said with a calm and regal tone, and Desmor nodded with a gulp. "Thank you, father", he said quietly, and a thin smile was formed on Garrison's old and wrinkled face.
"I trust in you too, brother", Isabella said with a kind tone, and Desmor turned to look at her, a smile on his face. "Do your duty for this kingdom, and then come back home, safely", she continued, a meaningful look on … [view original content]
Comments
Have you received the biography of my character?, I already posted it in the private discussion.
I got it
It might take me a couple days before I can send you a proper answer for it though, because I'll be away from home until Wednesday.
No problem
[Spend the evening with Illor]
Voting is closed!
And Nealia will spend the evening with Illor. This choice was actually a very last minute inclusion, but I felt like there needed to be a sort of neutral choice here. Of course, this means we won't get as much screentime for our new characters in the next Nealia part, but there will be plenty of material coming for all of them in the future. This choice is really just about who does Nealia want to spend the last evening with, before marching to the battle that could well end up being the end for some of these character's lives. Or maybe they all survive, who knows
While I wasn't really expecting this option to win, I am surely going to enjoy writing a moment between Nealia and Illor, who have developed a nice friendship in the story so far.
So, I just came back from a three days trip to a nearby town, which was a part of one of my uni courses. So, obviously I haven't worked much on the next part yet, but it will be Emerson PoV. I also have my last exam of the semester tomorrow, and I still have to do some revising for it, so I'm not too hopeful about getting the part out today. However, tomorrow after the exam is very likely
Same goes for all the PMs I haven't answered yet!
Anyway, I suppose a small recap for Emerson's storyline is in place. Last time we were on Godsgrace, it was the morning when Jamison and his convoy left the city. Emerson was once again visiting the crypts, ans specifically the tomb of his father, Lord Mason Allyrion. And he also saw the Dayne's leaving the castle. After this, Lord Morgan invited Emerson for a little chat. On this little chat Morgan stressed that survival is the only real object House Allyrion has in the coflict between Lucifer and Nymeria. He also made clear that Emerson was the only real heir he had, and thus he needed to prove his worth to him in the coming war, by staying loyal to him. After this Morgan brought up his suspicion that Esperence was behind the assassination attempt on Jamison. Then he revealed that last night Esperence had left the castle with Emmett, and commanded Emerson to find them. Emerson accepted the mission, and Morgan told him to go to Ser Niclas who was waiting for him on the courtyard. However, on his way there Emerson was approached by Lia, one of Esperence's mysterious allies, who asked him to follow her, promising to take him to Esperence. Emerson was a bit uncertain of this, but ultimately decided to follow Lia. In the next part we should have a very interesting meeting between Emerson and Esperence.
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Lastly, before I left, I made two new portraits last weekend
They are some of the newest additions to the cast, the intriguing and mysterious sellsword called the White Elephant, and the only Lengii character of the story so far, Jinora Ling:
Hehe, the neutral choice wins almost always. I sort of regret missing the opportunity to learn more of the White Elephant and maybe make amends with Ying, but Illor really needs some company as well and it wouldn't feel right to just leave him. Ah, I guess it won't be the last time we see these in this chapter.
I also like these portraits! The White Elephant is surely no Purple Swag-a-Lot, but he is quite something, alright. A shame you haven't drawn that magnificent helmet, I imagine it to look genuinely glorious. I also enjoy Jinora's portrait. Always had to ask myself how people from Leng look? Are they, like, tall asians or different? The answer is, I still don't really know, but apparently they are gorgeous
Great drawings and I look forward for the next part!
Well, according to The World of Ice and Fire, Lengii, especially women, are an average of 7-8ft tall, mostly matriarchal and very beautiful. They were conquered by the YiTi but regained their independence during the Century of Blood
Because of the distance, like Lien and Ying, most Westerosi have never seen a Lengii before.
Cant wait to see the portrait of the other characters, and I hope the Elephant's crew survives the upcoming battle, since the five of them are a closely knit group. I would also love to see the helmet (since I didn't draw it or anything)
Hmm, I might actually draw the helmet at some point, because it certainly is a interesting one. In this portait I just wanted to show his face though. But I'll do some more thinking on how exactly would such helmet be designed, and make a drawing of it later
And what comes to the Elephant's crew, well, purely from storytelling pov they are safer than many other characters attacking Lemonwood, because I'd hate to kill any of them off right after introducing them.
Emerson
Emerson followed Lia down the main street of Godsgrace. They had slipped out of the castle in guard outfits, so that Ser Niclas or anyone else wouldn't pay attention to them. Emerson looked at the sigil of House Allyrion on the chest of his tabard – a golden hand on red and black field. It made him think, what was the right thing to do for this house? Technically Emerson had not chosen any sides yet, but he knew about Esperence's plans to let the Martell's take over. There was something fundamentally wrong about that. No Foe May Pass, said the words of House Allyrion, yet Esperence wanted to help foreign invaders take over Godsgrace.
They walked through the town square, and towards the eastern parts of Godsgrace – the poor part. They passed the taverns and brothels, and arrived to the area next to the eastern gate, also called the Spear Gate. The houses here were simple huts, made of mud and clay. Rats ran around the dry and dusty streets, and people walked quickly inside their huts as they saw two people in guard outfits approaching. "Esperence is here?" Emerson asked quietly, and Lia nodded to him.
"Just follow me", she hissed, as they turned to a small alley close to the city walls. Lia took them to the door of a brown hut with one small window to the street. The wooden door looked to be in bad shape, and there was a marking carved into it – some kind of bird standing on an anvil. Before Emerson could ask what it was, Lia knocked lightly on the door, and almost immediately her twin brother Edric opened the door.
"Takes us to the Lady, Eddie", Lia said with a thin smirk, and her brother nodded obediently, stepping out of the way so they could see inside. There wasn't much to see really – the hut had only one room, and Emerson could immediately see Esperence and Emmett sitting by the small table in the middle of the room. They stepped in, and Edric closed the door behind them.
Tense silence filled the room, as Emerson eyed at his cousins. Esperence had a calm but serious look on her face, whereas Emmett was visibly nervous. Emerson sat down opposed to them, while Lia and Edric stayed back to guard the door.
Esperence wasn't in her usual noble attire, but rather dressed like a commoner, in simple and dirty clothes. She also had her hair open, which was quite an unusual sight. "You invited me", Emerson said calmly, and Esperence nodded. "I did", she replied with a sigh. "As you can see, I am keeping a low profile for now. However, my plan still continues. A messenger has been sent to Sandship, now it's only a question of time when Princess Nymeria arrives with her army."
"And you will help her take over", Emerson said with a stern tone, and his cousin nodded. "I will, and there are many in this city who are with me. Besides, letting them in peacefully could save hundreds of lives that would be lost if did this Morgan's way", Esperence spoke with confidence and determination in her voice, which made clear there was no way of speaking her out of this.
"Morgan wants House Allyrion to survive, Esperence", Emerson remarked quietly, but his cousin just let out a cynical chuckle. "Perhaps he does, but his way is wrong and will only lead to our destruction", she responded dismissingly. Emerson shook his head in disbelief. "You really want to go to war with your own father?" He asked strictly. Esperence hesitated for a moment, but finally she shook her head.
"No, I want to dethrone him without violence", she replied calmly. Now it was Emerson's turn to let out a chuckle. "And you really think he will just stand down and let you take over?" He asked skeptically, and surprisingly Esperence shook her head, a thin smile forming on her face.
"Not me, you", she said quietly, and Emerson raised an eyebrow. "Me?" He asked, and Esperence nodded. "Yes, you are the rightful Lord of Godsgrace, and it is time for Morgan to step aside and let you rule", Esperence said with a sharp look on her eyes. Emerson was quiet for a moment, surprised by his cousin's words.
"I... I'm glad to hear you are supporting my claim, cousin", he finally said, and then Emmett spoke up. "We both are supporting you, brother", he said with a warm smile on his puffy face, and Esperence nodded in agreement.
"It's just... I am not sure if this is a wise thing to do", Emerson said, feeling anxious about the idea of openly rebelling against Morgan. "Morgan's support is smaller than he thinks, as soon as the Martell's arrive we are sure to overthrow him", Esperence replied calmly. "And you... It's time for you to embrace your role as a leader."
"What does that mean?" Emerson asked quietly, and a confident smirk was formed on Esperence's face again. "I have been gathering a force that will help the Martell's take over quickly and effectively once the time comes. Part of these forces will be inside the walls, making sure the Martells get in without resistance. However, the other part of these forces will be escorting the Martell army, marching beside them when they arrive. That way, the gates will be opened for the new Lord of Godsgrace, and not just for Nymeria."
"So, you are saying I should lead this force that will march with the Martell's?" Emerson asked, and his cousin nodded. "Who are these troops then? Sellswords?"
"Some of them, yes. There are over hundred warriors, and the bulk of them come from my newest ally – a desert tribe called the Hyenas", Esperence explained, and Emerson let out a sigh. "Desert tribe?" He asked with a touch of frustration.
"They may be savages, but they know how to fight... if it comes to that", Esperence answered. "Lead these forces, enter the city as a hero, and I promise you the people of Godsgrace will make songs of the day that Emerson the Brave casted Morgan the Unworthy aside, and took his rightful place at the head of House Allyrion."
Emerson turned his eyes down, feeling uncertain. Esperence made it all sound so easy, and so desirable. But I would still be betraying my own blood. "And what would your role be then?" Emerson asked quietly, because he knew Esperence wanted power.
"I would help you, sit in your council and give you all the advice I can to make you succeed", she answered. "So, Emerson, what will you do?"
[Lead Esperence's forces] [Return to Morgan]
[Lead Esperence's forces]
[Return to Morgan]
Gaah damn it, why must these choices be so hard? I am seriously conflicted and it is likely I will change my vote at least once in the next few days. Seriously, that is a hard one and likely a breaking point fir Emerson's storyline. Here is the thing, I like Esperence, I don't like Morgan. I trust Morgan, I don't trust Esperence. Come to think of it, Morgsn is a terrible person, but Emerson is the only lord ge can hope for, with Emmett's condition. Esperence however wants to rule herself. Here's what I think is going to happen: Emerson leads these desert bandits to Godsgrace, he takes the city, Morgan dies, Esperence rallies the people against the savage invaders, overthrows the seemingly power-hungry usurper Emerson who fought against his own family, allies with the Martelk's, installs herself as Lady Allyrion and voila, she got everything she wants. Well, that might not be all that happens, but it sounds likely that Esperence is using her cousin as a pawn here. I cannot fully explain it, but I got some major red flags from her little speech. She us trying to convince him with pretty honeyed words here and I don't trust her benevolence.
This is a very difficult choice. This is probably the choice that will definitively choose which side Emerson will be on. There is no going back after this. There are a few things to consider when making this choice. We know that the Martell's will win, and Esperence's way may lead to a more peaceful transition than siding with Morgan. However, does Esperence's really want Emerson to become the new Lord of the house, or is she just saying that for him to join her cause. Remember, she had been planning this for a while before she ever got him involved, and earlier she had expressed doubts about him leading. Also, if she knows about the Rhoynish succession laws, than she knows that after Morgan that she would technically be the next in line to rule House Allyrion. Why else would she want to give her house over to the Martell's. I doubt it would be just to sit on Emerson's council. Morgan did say that he would support the Drylands in their war, but he told Emerson that his main concern was the survival of the house. If he sees the Martell's winning, he may switch sides to save House Allyrion. This is a tough choice, but I hesitantly choose to [Return to Morgan]. I might change my vote later. I'll have to see how Stigz votes and see his opinion on the matter since, if I'm not mistaken, these are his characters.
No Foe May Pass. The time has come to choose a side, and you haven't made it easy. There really is no honourable way out for Emerson here, whether he sticks with the uncle that has beaten him and treated him a bastard all of his life, or with the cousin that clearly has more going than she is ready to reveal. I suppose we've been lucky to be sitting on the fence with these two for so long, but then again, it only makes this choice just as difficult. What is clear, is that if we stick with Morgan, Emerson will be assured heirdom to Godsgrace, considering Emmett is both unable and supportive of his sister. Yet I fear there will be little left to inherit if there is a siege at Godsgrace, but then again, I don't think Emerson could live with himself if he took side with Esperence.
Say Esperence was true to her words, which is doubtful, it would require that Emerson ride in with savages and foreigners, storm his own home and terrify the whole city. Worse, he would terrify his aunt, which we haven't really learnt all that well yet, but they do have a strong connection, and after that his uncle. Morgan, he's a complete jerk, but after all this I believe he is seeing the importance to their survival by acknowledging Emerson as his heir. There was a time when Morgan said that respect was something that must be earned, and now it would seem that Emerson is earning it, as well as his trust. Going against him, I fear it would be as shattering as Jarl Balgruf's reaction to the dragonborn with the Stormcloaks, and I'd hate to see that.
Though it's clear to see that canon will overrule hopes and fantasies. So what do we know? Well firstly, we know that House Allyrion is not extinct, that's a big one! Very important, they do survive!
So that has to mean that there is a male heir to continue the lineage right? Well possibly with Rhoynar policies, Esperence will pick up the head of the house through absolute primogeniture, but given that both Emerson and Esperence are both 16, it would probably be hard to determine. Though the genetic inheritances in the family now and later and pretty similar, in terms of hair and eye colour. So presumably, Emerson can come out on top of this if he sides with Esperence, the only issue is, he has no allies on her end.
We know that siding with Morgan is really a guaranteed loss, the Dryland's will lose the war, and with the Allyrion's on their side, they will fall to Nymeria's conquest too. Nymeria respects woman-power, so when looking at Esperence and Emerson, and also what they've done to help Godsgrace and Nym's rising kingdom, I have little doubt that her hand will point to Esperence. That would leave Emerson entirely powerless, and with no influence on anyone. Esperence has formed allies on Nym's side, Emerson has merely heard the parts of Esperence's plans that she is ready to reveal, there is nothing there for him if things hit the fan for his hopeful plans. Sticking with Morgan, there may be...
The way I can see it, it will end up in one of two ways, which will define Emerson. Staying, or running (there is of course a lot more detail to this). Staying, meaning sticking by Morgan's side as the city is attacked, and being known for the heir that stuck by his people despite the odds being against him. Even sticking with a man he has hated (and vice versa) all his life. This would likely result in Emerson either being killed, or imprisoned, in which case Esperence would get what she wants anyway. Otherwise, Morgan could likely see the odds upon them, and see that his only heir being in the city would endanger him, and look to send him to safety. There are some allies which through Morgan, Emerson does have. Firstly the Dryland's, though I wouldn't recommend it given their current situation. There's also another kingdom we've seen little of, and the Jordayne's through Vita. Emerson has also proved himself through Jamison's eyes, and while I hate to say it, it's a possibility to seek refuge with him. While it is a coward choice, and only postponing the inevitability, it's a chance, and less of a risk of Emerson becoming a pawn for Esperence to play with Nym's favour. I wish this could end out well for Emerson if he chose to side with Nym, but I can't see it happening. I think that may have been possible if we sided with Esperence 100%, but there are too many variables now. We can really only pray with what we've got, and I think Emerson's best hopes are to [Return to Morgan]. Here's hoping I didn't just kill the boy
Man, this is a hard choice, since poor Emerson has basically no power, Nymeria's victory its inevitable, so either he takes some unlikely chances with Esperance, or goes to a much safer, but still guaranteed to lose side with his uncle. Hopefully Morgan will see reason and open the gates to the Martell before things get too ugly, otherwise Emerson will find himself with a blade (or something fatal) on his back.
I agree Morgan is an ass, but Emerson has a better chance of surviving (whenever unlikely) by helping him.
[Return to Morgan]
[Return to Morgan]
There is not much that I can say that hasn't already been said but I believe that Esperence is definitely setting Emerson up here. If she is so willing to betray her own father, than I can definitely see her betraying Emerson. I am also relying on a theory here that is a bit of a long shot but I believe that it will work. By all rights, Emerson should be the rightful lord of House Allyrion right now and at some point, the Martell's will be coming to take Godsgrace and I am thinking that Nymeria or Mors may grant the lordship to Emerson based off of the fact that it is rightfully is to begin with. From what we have seen of Nymeria so far, I believe she may be able to respect Emerson for being loyal to Morgan and as long as Emerson bends the knee, she will forgive him. I know Esperence is the one trying to gain the support of the Martell's but I believe Nymeria and Mors would realize that Emerson would be a better choice to oversee Godsgrace since he would be nowhere near the schemer that Esperence clearly is along with the fact that the lordship belongs to Emerson by right. This is a big risk but I believe that it has a decent chance of paying off.
While I doubt it would come off that way, my optimistic side agrees with you completely. I do not trust Nymeria, but there may be hope that Mors can allow Emerson lordship of Godsgrace. That's if we can convince Nymeria to listen to his opinions, as we've been poorly letting him down as of late
Yeah, I am very much trying to be optimistic with this choice here
Admittedly, it is a long shot but when it comes to Nymeria, I have a feeling that if such a situation appears in her PoV that we would potentially get to choose the fate of the Allyrion's. But as unsure as I am about what is happening, I do have a feeling that this is a better choice for Emerson since Esperence's plan working out like she said seems almost too good to be true so it probably is.
Voting is closed!
And Emerson will return to Morgan. I have to say, I am a bit surprised by the outcome of this voting!
I definitely understand the reasoning you gave though, and you all had some really interesting thoughts regarding this choice. As you all probably realized though, this was basically the definite choice on who does Emerson want to side with, which is what his whole storyline so far has revolved around. Now he has chosen his side, and will have to concentrate on making the best outcome of the path he has taken.
Anyway, the next part, which I hope to get ready within this weekend, will be a Dianna PoV. Now, the last time we saw Dianna, she, as well as Lysera, had been taken by Bjorn Harlaw's Ironborn crew to the eastern coast, where was the combined fleet of Bjorn and Efran. Bjorn had two longships, other one of them captained by a man named Arfast Stonetree, and Efran had five ships of his own. Dianna had a conversation on the beach with Bjorn, about Bjorn's past, the gods they worshiped, about Nymeria, etc. Dianna also asked if she could go see Lysera, but Bjorn denied it from her, saying that Lysera was now Hargan's wife, and Dianna had no reason to see her. Later Zhobho arrived to the camp with the news that they were getting ready to assault Lemonwood. This started a celebration among the crew, and soon the whole camp was drunk. This offered Dianna a chance to go check on Lysera in Hargan's tent, and you voted for her to take that chance.
Dianna
Dianna stormed into the tent of Hargan Harlaw while no one was looking. Inside she saw Lysera sitting quietly on Hargan's bed. The girl had a slightly nervous look on her eyes, as she turned her gaze to Dianna.
"C- captain Dianna, what are you doing here?" Lysera asked with shaky words, and Dianna walked closer to her. She couldn't see bruises or any marks of violence on Lysera, but she did look very anxious. "Has he hurt you?" Dianna asked quietly, kneeling next to Lysera.
"No, not like that", she answered timidly. "He hasn't been violent, but..."
"But what?" Dianna urged Lysera to continue, glancing quickly at the door of the tent behind her. "He... he says I'm his wife now, and that he'll take me to his home, s-somewhere far away. When I start to cry he just laughs, and the way that he looks at me...", Lysera couldn't finish her sentence, as she broke down to tears. Dianna closed her into a tight hug, and she pushed her face against Dianna's shoulder.
"It's alright, you have to stay strong now, Lysera", Dianna said quietly, stroking the girl's hair. "I will get us out of this mess... somehow we'll survive, I promise you." After saying this, Dianna heard someone stepping into the tent. She turned around to see clearly drunken Hargan standing at the entrance of the tent, a bottle of rum on his hands.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" The Ironborn warrior asked with an aggressive and slightly slurring voice. Dianna let go of Lysera and stood up, defiantly staring Hargan to the eyes. "Get out of here, bitch", Hargan said with quiet but threatening voice. Dianna took a couple steps closer to Hargan, who pulled out a dagger.
"Do not hurt that girl", Dianna hissed, ignoring the dagger. "If you do, I promise will make you suffer." An arrogant and mocking smirk was formed on Hargan's face, and he moved his dagger closer to Dianna. "Fuck. Off." He said with a murderous look on his eyes. Dianna let out a sigh, and gave one more look at Lysera, before walking out of the tent.
The drinking and celebrating was still going on at the beach, and Dianna could see and hear Bjorn singing something with his men. She turned towards Hargan's tent once more, but she couldn't hear any voices coming from there. Oh Mother Rhoyne, please keep Lysera safe, she prayed silently in her mind, even if she doubted anyone was listening.
-
Next morning the Bandit Lord Efran Sand arrived with his companions. Dianna had expected to see a fearsome leader, but what he saw was a young man with eyepatch and blue hair, and a constant smirk on his face. He didn't look like much to Dianna, but it was evident that he was very respected among his forces – just listening how everyone talked to him, even men like Bjorn Harlaw, told you that this young man was indeed a leader.
With Efran came a colorful group of warriors, ranging from a man who was clearly from the Summer Isles, to a young man who Dianna could tell had Dothraki blood in him. There was also a beautiful blonde woman next to Efran, who looked to be a bit nervous. Now the full force that would attack Lemonwood from the sea was here, and they all gathered to the beach to listen Efran gave his speech.
"Brothers and sisters!" Efran started his speech with his charismatic voice. The Bandit Lord eyed at the crowd with enthusiastic eyes for a moment before continuing. "We are all gathered here to begin the final stage of our campaign. I see in front of me hundreds of warriors, ready to get dirty and risk their lives to reach our goal. Some of you are doing it out of loyalty for me, some just to get your pay once we are done – it does not matter, in the battlefield we are all equal!" The men cheered for Efran's words, even some of the Ironborn. "Today we set sail, to launch our assault against the false lord who stole the lordship from my father long ago. We attack Lemonwood, to end the borrowed time he has been living on! There will be blood, there will be suffering, there will be death! But in the end, there will be GLORY!" Now almost the whole crowd erupted into cheering. Watching Efran Sand raising his shining sword towards the sky, Dianna had to admit the boy knew how to rally his troops.
For her surprise Bjorn didn't take Dianna to Efran yet, and soon the forces started to make their ways into the ships. Bjorn, Hargan, Dianna and Lysera all went to the bigger longship. "She is called the Sea Reaper", Bjorn said with a wide grin on his face as they stepped up to the deck. "The one that is captained by Arfast is Lady Vengeance", he continued, while Hargan dragged Lysera to the stern of the ship, and the crew started to take their places by the oars.
Bjorn seemed to be on good mood, and Dianna didn't want to antagonize him, so she listened quietly his stories about the storms these ships had seen in the past. He even told how a kraken had once tried to pull the Sea Reaper under the waves, but Bjorn himself had cut the creature's limbs with his sword to free the ship from its grasp. Dianna didn't know whether to believe these stories or not, but they certainly were interesting. Soon the small fleet had found its way out of the cove, and they sailed towards north, the coast a few hundred feet to the left of them. The sun was shining, and while the wind was fairly mild, the rowers kept the ships moving on a steady speed.
As the day passed, and the sun was starting to move towards the horizon in the west, Bjorn approached Dianna at the bow of the ship. "Enjoying yourself?" He asked sarcastically, and Dianna just shot him a glare, which made him chuckle. "Well, tonight we will arrive to Lemonwood... That should be enjoyable", he said with a sigh.
"If your reason to spare me was that Efran might have a use for me, why didn't you inform him about me?" Dianna asked strictly, and Bjorn raised an eyebrow. "He has no use for you yet", he stated calmly. "Besides, if we fail to conquer Lemonwood, or if Efran dies in the process, then I would've given you away for no reason."
Dianna rolled her eyes for these words. "Great, I'm feeling like a goat, or a sheep – your property", she said dryly, which looked to amuse Bjorn. "I have no interest for goats or sheeps, Dianna", he said calmly. "However, you are much more than that, aren't you?" He asked, and Dianna gave him a confused look. "Once we arrive to Lemonwood, Hargan, Maron and Qhored Three-Finger will stay behind to guard the ship and Lysera", the Ironborn captain explained, his piercing stare falling now on Dianna. "And you, Dianna, you have a choice to make. You can either stay behind with them, or I can give you back your arakh and shield, and you can storm Lemonwood with us."
Dianna gulped, uncertain about this choice. Staying behind would give her a chance to look after Lysera, to make sure nothing bad would happen to her. On the other hand, taking back her weapons and storming the city with the Ironborn could be a chance to escape, and make it back to Sandship to inform Nymeria about what had happened.
[Stay at the ship] [Storm the city]
[Storm the city]
What is it with all these hard, super consequential choices lately
Can't we just get simple character building choices like in Nealia's latest part? These always make me feel far less concerned that I am going to pick the wrong one. But ah, don't listen to me, this is thrilling and I wouldn't want it any other way. I guess we're getting to the really hot parts of the chapter, where many situations are about to get super serious. This one's no difference and I considered it the hardest Dianna choice to date.
Ultimately though, I consider this to be a chance. Dianna can't remain a prisoner forever. She cannot help Lysera, she surely can't keep her safe from Hargan and his men, not as long as she is merely Bjorn's prisoner. In her current situation, all she can do is to threaten Hargan and I have the bad feeling that his patience is very limited, that he might be relatively civil if unprovoked, but that neither Dianna nor Lysera will be safe if Dianna is going to threaten him like she did in the tent once again. That was pretty badass, but unfortunately not very smart. Here's the thing, while Hargan is obviously a pretty huge asshole, he's not worse than other Ironborn. I wouldn't call him a decent human being, but he could easily be much, much worse. In fact, he seems to treat Lysera relatively good, considering the circumstances. She has just confirmed that he is not harming her, which is basically the best she can hope for. And I think she is both, too smart and too scared to provoke him into harming her. So, as long as Dianna does not provoke him, I am actually pretty sure that Lysera is not in as much danger as I feared before. So, the chance Bjorn offers is too valuable to pass up on, given that Dianna can't really do much in the alternative. If she wins Bjorn's trust, her own standing will improve massively. In time, she might be able to escape. At the absolute best, she is even going to be able to take Lysera with her, or to lead an army of Nymeria's forces against the Ironborn to free her friend. By improving her own standing with the Ironborn, I see it as far more likely in the long run that she is able to help Lysera as well. On top of that, she is going to fight against the Dalt's. The Dalt's seen so far have all been, in some capacity, kinda jerkish, so I don't feel sorry for giving their enemies one more soldier for this fight. After they abandoned her and basically caused this situation, this is even somewhat karmic. And if it helps Dianna, then I say we should do it.
By the way, while thinking about Dianna's storyline here, there is one question I have. What exactly happened to Wylie? I see he is unknown, but was it mentioned if he participated in the fight against Bjorn's men, or was he not present for that?
Heh, I guess we are just in the phase of the chapter where choices get extra meaningful
And Nealia has indeed had it pretty easy lately when it comes to choices, but there could be some harder ones coming for her as well pretty soon 
Those are good points. And I'd say Dianna's thoughts on the matter are pretty similar, but what keeps her doubting is that she would feel a bit guilty of taking this chance and leaving Lysera behind. And you're right, while badass, it was not the smartes move from Dianna to threaten Hargan. However, Hargan is fairly patient person, so for now she hasn't pissed him off too much.
Yeah, like Bjorn said back at Griefhill, Lysera could've got it much worse, as Hargan is actually somewhat decent for an Ironborn raider. That said, for him it's obvious that Lysera belongs to him now, which you can't blame him too much, as that is the culture he has been groomed into. His own mother was a salt wife, and he doesn't really see anything wrong with the practice. You're right when it comes to Lysera as well, she definitely isn't going to provoke Hargan if she can avoid it.
Wylie actually separated from Dianna's crew at Desertstone (the seat of House Granit), saying he had a long journey to west ahead of him. He'll be back later, but in a completely different storyline
[Storm the city]
[Storm the city] This seems like the best and maybe only opportunity to secure Dianna's freedom.
[Storm the city]
I am actually surprised we got such a string of easy choices for Nealia lately. I mean, not that the whole Ying/Lien situation was all that easy, but the stakes surely haven't been as high as, say, Emerson or Gwendis, or Kortney. Though to be fair, no one had choices as hard as Kortney so far, because there hasn't been a single moment in Kingsgrave where I felt that she was out of any danger. With Nealia, I could see her getting a lot harder choices in the future, though I don't know how soon. It all feels like build-up right now, where you focus on the relationships between the sellswords, but there's really no saying how much build-up you consider necessary for the things you have planned for her. But I really enjoy these parts as well, as they are essential with making the later choices feel so meaningful.
Hm, it is either leaving Lysera behind or both of them staying behind. The moment she meets Efran and reveals her knowledge, she won't have any use to him anymore, so she has to make sure that she has gotten useful in Bjorn's eyes until then. Though I just realized something... He hasn't given her to Efran, so this means that Efran's plans might not end at Lemonwood. If his ambition would truly end there, then Bjorn could give her to him now. But he implied that there might be a use for her later on, which gives me the bad impression he might plan on fighting against the Martell's as well.
Yeah, that's the same impression I got. I mean, the words "decent" and "Ironborn raider" are pretty hard to work in the same sentence, but he indeed doesn't seem all that bad, compared to what could have been. Still, the sooner Lysera gets away from him, the better. But that only reassures me in my feeling that she is relatively safe for the time being, which means that Dianna can focus on her own position, which is really the best shot she has at not only keeping Lysera safe for the time being, but forever.
Ah, so it's more a case where his location is unknown and not his physical condition. This is interesting to know. And I guess he will be seen in western Dorne then, though I don't know where to expect him. With Gwen, Naemon, Myke, Kortney and Isabella, we have five PoV's in western Dorne (Albeit Kortney, Gwendis and Isabella might already be closer to central Dorne) and I guess he could reasonably stumble upon either of them on his travels. Hm, I have the feeling we might see more of him before the end of Book 1 already.
Voting is closed!
The result is clear, Dianna will storm the city with Bjorn's crew. An assault on a city is bound to get chaotic, which might offer Dianna a chance to escape. Another tactic of course would be to try to win the respect of the Ironborn by fighting by their side. Both could work, but either way Dianna will definitely feel bad for leaving Lysera at the hands of Hargan. Of course, this doesn't mean there couldn't be a chance to save her later.
And the next part should come in a day or two. There will be at least a Jamison PoV, but potentially also an Isabella PoV, if I manage to get them both done quickly enough. Last time we saw Jamison he was leaving Godsgrace with Ser Laroy and the rest of the convoy, to head towards Vaith where they had agreed to meet with Ser Rolan. In this part we will see Jamison arrive to Vaith. What comes to Isabella, in her latest part Ser Russal returned from the Battle of the Wide Way, and news from the northern valleys of the Kingdom of Stone and Sky arrived, with reports of a large manwoody force raiding those lands. Prince Desmor wanted to lead the mission to drive out these forces, but King Garrison was hesitant of the idea, fearful of the prospect of losing both of his remaining sons. However, Isabella later decided to try and convince Garrison to send Desmor.
EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention, we might be getting a new H&L before the next part!
-
And here comes another portrait, the captain of Lady Vengeance, Arfast Stonetree:
Decided to leave the Isabella part for the next time, but here is a very interesting Jamison part:
-
Jamison
After days of traveling, they finally saw the city of Vaith in front of them, standing next to the River Vaith. The town was even smaller than Godsgrace, hardly large enough to really be called a city. Nonetheless, Jamison felt relieved that they would get some rest here. As they approached the eastern gate of the city, Jamison noticed how small the city walls were – merely a little more than a dozen feet high.
The guards at the gates stopped the convoy. They were dressed in orange tabards, decorated with the sigil of House Vaith, three black leopards. "Who are you, and what's your business in Vaith?" One of the guardsmen asked strictly, eyeing at Jamison and Laroy who were leading the convoy.
"We are Dayne ambassadors, on our way back from a diplomatic mission in Godsgrace", Jamison answered calmly. "We just want to rest one night here", he added, and the guardsman looked at him for a moment with narrowed eyes.
"Fine then", he finally said, stepping aside and letting them ride into the city. As they walked through the streets, a strange feeling took over Jamison – there was something wrong with this place. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was like one could feel fear and anger lingering in the air while walking through these streets. Jamison turned to look at Ser Laroy, who had a tense expression on his face. "You think Ser Rolan is already here?" Jamison asked casually, and Laroy shifted his attention to him.
"Who knows", he replied quietly, glancing around as they arrived to the town square. "But there is something wrong with this place... and I don't like it."
Without any further conversation they made their way to the tavern that looked the most decent. They walked inside to the smoky taproom, filled with chatter and murmur. While the tavern was quite crowded, the atmosphere wasn't at all cheerful. The people were muttering and whispering at their tables, some of them glancing nervously at the Dayne's as they walked past them. And as Ser Rolan was nowhere to be found, Jamison sent Arthur Wythmail and few of the soldiers to look for him in the city.
Jamison, Laroy and Aron found a free table next to a window and sat down. Soon they were delivered ales, as well as some fish soup. For minutes they sat silently around the table, eating and drinking without a word.
"We should leave in the morning", Ser Laroy finally muttered, and Jamison raised his eyebrow. "And what about Ser Rolan?" He asked calmly, which made Laroy let out a sigh. "Perhaps he was wiser than us, and didn't come here at all", he answered with grim tone.
"What do you think is going on here?" Ser Aron joined the conversation, and Laroy gave him a shrug. "I don't know, but King Lucifer was doubting the loyalty of the Vaith's", he said quietly.
"But he also said the Vaith's would fall in line once they'd hear that the Allyrion's have chosen to side with the Dryland's", Jamison remarked, and Laroy nodded in agreement. "You're right, my Prince, but still... I have a feeling blood will be shed soon in this city."
Jamison had to agree that the atmosphere here was tense, but he wasn't quite as pessimistic about it as Laroy. The Prince downed the rest of his ale, and made his way to the bar counter, to order another mug of ale. However, before he could order anything, he saw someone walk into the tavern – a beautiful and tall lady with dark ebony skin, wide brown eyes, and lean build. She was dressed in black and orange dress, which complimented her body perfectly. With catlike steps the young lady made her way right next to Jamison. She towered Jamison, which was rare – in fact, Jamison didn't remember ever before, as a grown man, meeting a woman taller than himself. This exotic girl was no Isabella Fowler, but the look on her eyes was... enchanting.
"You must be the Sword of the Night", the girl purred, her voice shy but still seducing. "I am", Jamison answered smoothly, his lips now forming a small smirk. "And who might you be, my beauty?"
"My name is Valerie Sand", the girl answered softly, now grabbing gently Jamison's right hand. Jamison was a bit surprised by how quickly the girl was proceeding, but it certainly didn't bother him. After all, I never made it to the brothel in Godsgrace. He embraced Valerie's touch, pulling her slightly closer, and looking at her full lips.
"How do you know me, Valerie Sand?" He asked quietly, and now Valerie gave him a thin smirk. "Who wouldn't have heard of Jamison Dayne, the greatest knight in Dorne?" She replied softly, coming closer and closer to Jamison. They looked at each other in the eyes for a moment, before finally proceeding to kiss that lasted for almost ten seconds.
"Looks like the tales are true, you are not just a great warrior, but also a great lover", Valerie chirped, which made Jamison's smirk grow wider. "You have seen nothing yet", he replied with a whisper.
"Perhaps you should show me then", Valerie said, glancing at the door of the tavern. Jamison gave her a nod, and so she started to guide him out of the tavern. Jamison glanced quickly towards his table, seeing Ser Laroy frowning, but he decided to ignore him. Time to have some enjoyment.
They walked out of the tavern, and Valerie led Jamison through the streets of Vaith, until they arrived to a small house at the end of a narrow alley. Valerie opened the door and walked in, and Jamison followed. The house had few windows, and was dimly lit with candles, but Valerie held Jamison's hand, leading him straight to the bed. She pushed him softly to the bed, and started to undress.
The naked body of Valerie was a majestic sight, instantly stimulating Jamison's body. Without any words, Valerie got down on her knees, and started to unbutton Jamison's trousers. Jamison let out a pleased sigh, feeling the blood rushing through his body. Soon Valerie climbed on top of him, filling him with excitement and enjoyment. Then Jamison noticed that Valerie was holding something in her hands – a necklace. In the necklace was a dark stone, perhaps obsidian.
"Put this on", Valerie moaned with pleasure, handing the necklace to Jamison. Weird, Jamison thought, but didn't question it any further. With the aid of Valerie, he put the necklace around his neck. And then something happened. The dark stone weighed against Jamison's chest with the weight of an anvil, freezing his skin. He tried to scream, but no voice came out of his throat. In panic he looked Valerie to the eyes, and what he saw was piercing bright blue eyes staring at him. And then he lost his consciousness.
No decision.
Oh dear. I didn't ever like Jamison but, man I didn't expect this to happen to him. It seems my Valerie has some interesting plans here... You've got me both excited and frightened for what we might see, fortunately it's on Jamison rather than Emerson right?
Oh and, epic introduction. Love my gal entering a pash for 10 seconds before luring the most gullible knight into her bed 
Hehe, Jamison definitely has a weakness for beautiful ladies
That said, there might've been some magic involved with this seduction... not that it would necessarily even be needed, Valerie is attractive and Jamison is horny 
Oh man, I knew it! We should have voted to keep Jamison in Starfall where he could have been safe and probably mouthing off to Vorian right now or leading an army to Skyreach to save Isabella or something else Jamison like
Or I totally did not know but wish I would have voted for that now 
I have to say though, this was the best way to take Jamison down and it fits with Jamison's character that he would think with the wrong head in this situation 
It also seems now that Liquid's theory is at least partially right about the witch of Vaith trying to take Jamison's mind since Valerie is most likely her daughter which admittedly was the most realistic way for this to happen. I seen Jamison is not dead in the main post which is great but even still I am worried for him here and hope that whatever just happened does not change him permanently. I have also learned a lesson though, vote for Jamison to avoid any characters that Stigz creates since Jamison has bad luck with his characters 
This was a well written part though and it clearly has me anxious for Jamison's next part which I am definitely looking forward to to say the least!
Indeed, staying in Starfall should've at least kept Jamison away from any witches who want to control his mind
That said, going to Salt Shore instead of Godsgrace would've also avoided this situation... though I must say I'm glad you didn't choose that, as I very much preferred the Godsgrace route, where he got to interact with the Allyrion's, as well as got some action. The best thing in going to Salt Shore would've been that Jamison would've briefly met with Nealia, but aside from that it would've been much more boring than his visit to Godsgrace.
Yeah, Valerie certainly knew how to handle a man like Jamison... Poor guy, this experience, if he survives it, should teach him to be a bit more careful around sexy women he doesn't know
And we don't really know anything about Lady Myra yet, but it seems that if she really is a Great Other worshiper, then her daughter is certainly doing the dirty work for her.
Indeed, Jamison is not dead, though his situation certainly is dangerous. And we will see Jamison again in this chapter, though it might not be through his own PoV...
OUCH! Though perhaps that's not a bad strategy
A shame we've sent Myke to Kortney's way, though... Myke is also my character 
but hey, Emerson wasn't that bad 
Here is a portrait of our newest character, Valerie Sand:
Also, as there is no voting going on, I'll try to get the next Isabella part done as quickly as possible - hopefully I'll be able to post it later today
Well, or at least I heavily suspected this
As always when I correctly predict a plotline, you still managed to surprise me though. I mean, I suspected Jamison to fall under the spell of the witch of Vaith, but I was mistaken when it comes to the identity of this witch. Valerie, I see... I remember that she is Myra's bastard daughter and that she was, according to Kris, corrupted by her mother's influence. I could very much see her using Jamison as a means to get out of this city when Dalia and her sellswords attack. I still expect Jamison to survive this though, I think he will be brought under Valerie's control in a way not unlike Kris was under Myra's control.
However, her actions in this part gave me another theory. What if Myra is actually not all that bad? I mean, she might be an evil witch who brought Kris under her spell for a while, but maybe she is not the big evil that Desi sensed in Vaith. Maybe this is, in fact, Valerie. We haven't yet met Myra, but it could be very much in the realms of possible that her daughter is even more corrupted by the Great Other than she herself is and that she is merely a small-time villain in comparison. Maybe Valerie is the shadow that Jamison and Gwendis saw in their dreams/visions and this makes her a possible candidate for this mysterious person that apparently plans on destroying Gwendis later on. I still consider Aisha to be the too obvious possibility and while Myra herself is also a candidate, now I have to look out for Valerie as well. Being a young, likely overly ambitious GO worshipper, she could be envious of Gwendis' close connection to her god and seek to either kill her or somehow extract this connection to use it for herself. And I somehow doubt that this can be settled without any danger for Gwendis, even if she is more than likely perfectly willing to just give it to her if she would just ask. Such a procedure, if this is what Valerie is after in the future, could likely cause tremendous harm, so I already got a personal interest in stopping her. Ironically, this will probably nicely align with the goals of Desi, who could potentially know about safer ways of getting GO-bro out of Gwendis' head again. But ah, I realized that she and Dalia are both very convinced that Myra is the cultist they seek to kill, which makes them likely to pay less attention to Valerie and, unless R'hllor gives Desi another vision, is likely to make them feel like they finished their mission once taking care of Myra, whereas the true witch of Vaith might escape this whole chaos, maybe to meet up with Aisha.
Indeed, an excellent prediction from you, I was really impressed when you gave it after Gwen's vision!
Even if, as you said, you got the wrong lady. To be fair though, I believe Valerie had been namedropped like once or twice at that point, so having you guess that correctly as well would've been just too much, even for you 
And yeah, it remains to be seen still if Valerie is doing this to serve her mother, or if she is actually working independently.
Indeed, Valerie being the big bad here is certainly a possibility. For now, all we have on Myra is Kris' word that she was the one who controlled him, some rumors about her being a witch, and to contrast that, Esperence's statement that Myra is no witch. Anyway, we'll certainly get answers as the story unfolds.
She has been name-dropped exactly once, I just checked it today, as I was not sure if she was Kris' daughter or only Myra's
Myra has gotten a lot more build-up before, so obviously I expected her to be the one to bewitch Jamison. However, it does make sense here and I could have suspected something, as Kris said that Myra is using her daughter for her schemes, implying that Valerie is very much part of this. The moment she appeared here, I had it figured out though, even before she gave him this necklace. Speaking of, I could see this as the key to whatever spell she has just casted over Jamison. If it gets damaged, maybe during a potential duel with Dalia, then this might be the moment the spell breaks. I don't expect this control to be irreversible. However, I am indeed not sure if she works for her mother here, or if she already plans to abandon Myra and has now bewitched Jamison to secure her own escape from Vaith once the siege starts.
Well, even then, being a witch doesn't necessarily mean that she is the big bad. To paint a more sympathtic picture of her, maybe she genuinely loved Kris, but knew that she had no chance with him, so she used a spell to put him under her control. Or maybe she wanted power, but is otherwise not exactly a cruel and evil person, merely a power-hungry one. That would combine Kris' view with Esperence's more benign opinion. Or perhaps it has been Valerie from the very beginning, controlling Kris into loving Myra and manipulating Myra into thinking that this love is genuine. I guess more can be said once we actually get to see Myra, but right now, there are more things that speak in favour of Valerie being the big bad here, on account of us having undoubtable evidence that she just did something very bad, whereas with Myra it's only rumours and speculation for the time being.
This one is very short, but it concludes Isabella's storyline for Chapter 2:
-
Isabella
The court of Skyreach was gathered at the courtyard, to send off Prince Desmor and Ser Soren Ashford on their mission to drive out the Manwoody forces from the northern valleys of the Kingdom of Stone and Sky. While Ser Soren had already mounted his horse, like most of the troops, Desmor was still standing in front of his father and sister, as well as Princess Dana and little Prince Matthos.
"I have the utmost trust that you will succeed, my son", King Garrison said with a calm and regal tone, and Desmor nodded with a gulp. "Thank you, father", he said quietly, and a thin smile was formed on Garrison's old and wrinkled face.
"I trust in you too, brother", Isabella said with a kind tone, and Desmor turned to look at her, a smile on his face. "Do your duty for this kingdom, and then come back home, safely", she continued, a meaningful look on her eyes.
"Do not worry about me, sister", Desmor said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I promise I will come back, as a victor."
"I believe in you", Isabella replied, and Desmor gave her a friendly hug, before departing from them, and making his way to his horse. As he mounted his majestic black war horse, he turned to once more look at his family. For a second his eyes met with Isabella's again, before he turned around, and led his forces out of the gate, while the court applauded.
"Where is Uncle Desmor going?" Matthos asked with confusion in his innocent voice, and his mother lowered herself down to the level of the young prince. "I told you already, my dear, Uncle Desmor is going to do some heroic things", Princess Dana said softly.
"Just like father?" Matthos asked, Dana nodded to him. "They will both return to Skyreach as heroes", Garrison said with a weak smile on his face. "Isabella, would you come to my office, there is something important we should talk about", he continued, his smile now more genuine.
"Of course, father", Isabella answered with a humble tone, and so they started to make their way to Garrison's office, escorted by Ser Dustran Drinkwater. Soon, they arrived to the office, and while Ser Dustran stayed to guard the door, Isabella and Garrison made their way in. With slow and tired steps, the Blind King found his way behind his desk, and sat down to his chair, while Isabella sat down to the chair in front of the desk. Garrison let out a tired sigh, opening his drawer to take out some kind of letter, which had already been sealed with the sigil of House Fowler imprinted to the wax.
Garrison put the scroll on the desk, and took in a deep breath. "What is it?" Isabella inquired, but her father took a moment to answer.
"It is a very important letter, my dear daughter", Garrison finally said with a heavy voice, twiddling the scroll in his hands. "So very important... And sending it, well, it might very well be the end of a certain phase in both of our lives."
"Tell me, what is it?" Isabella urged her father, who nodded calmly. "It is a letter that is meant to fly to Starfall, if you so wish", Garrison answered, which made Isabella's eyes lit up. "You... you mean... it's a marriage proposal?" She asked, hardly able to restrain her joy. Garrison nodded, a thin smile on his face.
"I can hear you are happy about this", he said softly. "I thought about it for some time, and I came to the conclusion that I don't want to stand in the way of your happiness. Besides, first son or second son, a marriage between us and Dayne's should be enough to form a strong alliance between me and King Vorian."
"Thank you father", Isabella said with utmost happiness, tears of joy coming to her eyes. It would finally become reality, she would marry Jamison, something they had both dreamed of for so long. "I owe you this much, dear Bella", Garrison replied with a gentle tone. "However, I cannot promise you how will King Vorian respond to this. And... I also wanted to ask, are you sure about this?"
"This is what I have dreamed of for so long, father, of course I'm sure", Isabella replied, and her father nodded. "Of course, but there is no rush... If you feel like you are not ready yet, if you want to stay here in Skyreach for a bit longer. I can send this letter today, if you so wish, but it's all up to you."
Isabella gulped, this was all she had hoped for, but at the same time it would mean she'd have to leave Skyreach behind – her home. Perhaps even before Ferris or Desmor come back. On the other hand, Isabella wasn't sure if she could wait any longer, when she could already start her new life with Jamison.
[Send the letter now] [Hold it]
[Hold it]
Here's the thing, I don't think there is any need to rush this. Isabella has the letter, she knows she can marry Jamison now and well, this basically means that her dreams are about to become real. I believe that now, especially with Jamison not being in Starfall (as well as being kinda busy with being bewitched), she can slow down a little, take a deep breath, wait for her brothers to return and then say her goodbyes to them as well before leaving her home for Starfall. I really doubt anything in her control will come up that could harm her marriage to Jamison. The biggest danger to that is the situation in Vaith right now, which most likely won't be influenced by her decision here. And well, worst case scenario here, if anything happens to one of her brothers, she is probably going to have huge regrets over not being there for her family for at least a bit of time. Best case scenario, she gets a chance to say her goodbyes to Ferris and Desmor. In any way, I don't see many advantages from sending the letter now, particularly because I doubt that Jamison is in any danger of being married off by his father anytime soon. Vorian doesn't seem to hold any plans on that end and even then, it would be totally in character for Jamison to just ignore it now that Garrison gave his okay for the marriage. The way I see it, nothing Isabella does holds any risk of ruining this marriage, whose future lies entirely in the hands of Jamison and the other characters at Vaith.
At the same time, I have a slightly bad feeling about this. Not because I don't want it, I mean, I surely want her to be happy, but it is exactly the same feeling I had when Lyla came to free Gwendis. This all happens a bit too quickly for me and that is kind of a red flag. I might just be too paranoid, especially as I doubt Jamison will die in Vaith, but I have this slight feeling that something will come up that will keep them apart for a bit longer. I don't know what it is yet and I hope it can be prevented, but I surely won't relax just yet.
Well now it seems I have now seen my new least favorite character in the flesh
She is the biggest threat to Jamison at this point so I am not a fan of her but as always this is another great portrait!
[Send the letter now] Ah Liquid does have a good point here but from what I gather, when Isabella leaves Skyreach is pretty much determined by when Jamison gets back to Starfall. At this point, Desmor is way closer to Isabella than Jamison is right now, so Desmor will probably be back in Skyreach before Jamison is back in Starfall i imagine. My biggest worry though is that something may happen that causes Garrison not to send the raven to Starfall and since I currently only have my phone for internet, I won't even bother typing that long theory in
The main point is that I feel Starfall is a safer place to be than Skyreach at this point so the sooner Isabella goes to Starfall the better since once the raven flies, Isabella's dream comes true and the alliance will be basically be guranteed at that point.