Hm, I heavily disagree with that. Becoming some sort of a twisted demon-worshipping monster is basically the last thing I want for Gwendis. Even her death would be only marginally worse than that. Thing is, and I think that much is for sure, such a thing would be truly horrible for her and can't end well. So, I am absolutely, heavily and strictly opposed to such a thing, as I actually want her to have the chance of getting a more or less good ending, no matter how much hard work this will be instead of screwing her over on purpose on account of getting a villain PoV. She can't get this good ending as a follower of the Great Other, especially as that is surely a good way of being cut down by Dalia. She (and especially Desi as the one who calls the shots there) might be merciful towards an innocent caught into this whole mess against her will, but well, if Gwendis starts to give in to the Great Other, then her fate is basically sealed if she ever has to face Aisha's enemy. There is absolutely no way such a thing could end well, she either dies or becomes a person she simply isn't. She'd become the complete opposite of how she has been so far and I honestly fail to see the appeal of that, mostly because there is a good reason for why I favour her so much in the way she currently is.
Getting her through this alive is already hard enough of a task, so the last thing I want for her it to become a villain on top of that. And to be honest, the followers of the Great Other we have seen so far are horrible beyond measure. I don't trust Aisha either, but I believe her when she implied earlier that she is actually one of the more affable followers of the Great Other. That alone is reason enough not to push Gwendis down that dark path. So, if you truly believe that giving in to this obviously evil ancient demon and this obviously evil witch that has been lying to her from the moment they met is for her best, then go ahead, although I hope for the utmost that readers such as CM3434, Nightmare1 and Tales will continue to disagree with such a route. But please, don't just screw her over for the sake of having a villain PoV with a storyline even darker than what we're already guaranteed to get with characters like Aisha and Wesley. In my opinion, there are enough PoV's with potential to become dark already and frankly, no matter how much we struggle, this will likely leave a mark on Gwendis, so all I can do is to prevent her from becoming as fully evil as a servant of the Great Other is required to be. And to be honest, I find resisting such dark urges always more interesting than having her on the route of becoming yet another Aisha. Isn't this contrast between the temptations of the Great Other and Gwendis' own high morality far more interesting than just having a generic Great Other cultist? And isn't it more interesting to see someone trying to survive the threats that are posed by Aisha and Wesley than to fully join them? In my opinion, such a villain PoV would be interesting for a total of one or two parts at most, then it would get boring really quickly. It would also absolutly deprive her of any chance for a future, because there's no way things could end well for her if she gives in to the evil that is the Great Other. I don't know, I hope you somewhat reconsider your position on this.
It's interesting, but reading this last part I came to conclusion, which is just my personal opinion, that it would be even more interesting… more if Gwendis took the dark route, one of the reasons being constant danger of Dalia and other being simply seeing something new. We don't often see followers of the great other in GoT world, and it's great to see them in this story but becoming one of them would be even more amusing for me. I don't trust Aisha, but I wouldn't have anything against Gwendis touching the altar.
Oh well, doesn't matter now since not touching the altar will win whatever my choice is.
I can assure you that I have grown oddly fond of Lyla even before the whole Great Other thing, but ever since this whole situation has really taken a turn for the worse, I have genuinely started to miss her. Since I do indeed like her a lot, I must say that I'd take her over Aisha in just about every situation imaginable. She might be a bit of a jerk, but I didn't even got the impression that she is evil or anything like that, so yeah, she is undoubtedly better than Aisha and this entire Great Other cult. And I certainly hope to see more of her soon
Like I said, I don't have anything against things going the way you hope, originally I also prefered that way, but my preferences switched, that's really it.
Hm, I heavily disagree with that. Becoming some sort of a twisted demon-worshipping monster is basically the last thing I want for Gwendis. … moreEven her death would be only marginally worse than that. Thing is, and I think that much is for sure, such a thing would be truly horrible for her and can't end well. So, I am absolutely, heavily and strictly opposed to such a thing, as I actually want her to have the chance of getting a more or less good ending, no matter how much hard work this will be instead of screwing her over on purpose on account of getting a villain PoV. She can't get this good ending as a follower of the Great Other, especially as that is surely a good way of being cut down by Dalia. She (and especially Desi as the one who calls the shots there) might be merciful towards an innocent caught into this whole mess against her will, but well, if Gwendis starts to give in to the Great Other, then her fate is basically sealed if she ev… [view original content]
I was curious to if my little attempt at humor worked, I tried to separate the paragraphs to where it wouldn't show up right after I gave my little speech but apparently that does not work in typing up comments but even still glad you found it funny
Indeed, Gwendis is in my opinion one of those characters that is hard to root against and one who I want to see succeed. Of course, I don't vote for every PoV's choices like I do for Gwendis but primarily for how i see their character to be. So I would not vote for Jamison to act the same way as I would Gwendis for example You are no doubt correct on this point, this AIsha storyline for Gwendis is very thrilling and at least at this point in time, I can say it was the correct choice for the readers. Admittedly, I wanted an Isabella and Gwendis meeting which was my primary motivator in wanting to send Gwendis to Skyreach. I also felt there would have been great potential for Gwendis to rise to prominence there but at the same time, if Gwendis is lucky enough to gain power somewhere, it should be her home in Blackmont rather then Skyreach. Also if Gwendis were to have went to Skyreach, there would have been two PoV's there which probably would not be needed so we definitely made the right choice there! Overall though, I believe this Aisha storyline could actually do some good for Gwendis with her getting to see more of the outside world as seen by her seeing the struggles that caused Trentan to turn to being a thief. But yes, I am definitely with you man, I'll try my best to help Gwendis get through this unscathed
I am ashamed to admit that you indeed got me there for a second Though I have hoped that you agree with me on this, glad to see you have a … moresimilar opinion on this whole situation. And well, obviously it is great to see that I am not the only person who enjoys Gwendis so much. And not only her character, which I must say is something I am very satisfied with in the way I wrote her personality and stuff and especially in the way Wildling brought her to live in the story. There is a good reason why I try to keep her alive so much after all and it wouldn't be if I wouldn't enjoy the way she is written in these parts. But her storyline as well. As much as I regret choosing Aisha over Skyreach (not only due to how downright terrifying this whole Great Other stuff is, but also due to the missed opportunity to see her interacting with the Fowlers), I think we can all agree that this has resulted in a very thrilling storyline that is likely keeping m… [view original content]
I get it, at least somewhat. I think. Maybe. At the same time, I hope you'll come around again. Getting Gwendis through this alive will be hard enough as it is and I am concerned that those who want to push her into this dark path could eventually succeed at it. All it takes is one choice where one or two of those who actually want her to survive to accidentally pick the wrong option and voila, we got us another Dark Priestess, Aisha 2.0. And unlike you, who seems to be okay with both paths, that is something I will fight tooth and nail, something I not only don't prefer, but heavily oppose. Perhaps the only way I could even remotely accept such a choice would be if the other path ends with her unavoidable death, unambiguous and permanent, but I believe that becoming Aisha 2.0. holds far greater threats for her life than anything else and I really can't understand why you'd risk this. So yeah, I really hope you're coming around from that again, because just getting some briefly interesting villain PoV would mean ruining the way she is right now. Even beyond my heavy personal objections, I don't think the outcome is worth the cost.
Like I said, I don't have anything against things going the way you hope, originally I also prefered that way, but my preferences switched, that's really it.
Now... after this part I can safely say that I have fully given up any remnants of hope that Aisha could be well-intentioned. This right there is the most rotten, evil character in the story and she gets less and less subtle about it. To say I am concerned for Gwendis' well-being in the company of this being of pure, unadulterated evil would be an understatement. Her reaction towards Gwendis' refusal was almost exactly as expected, though I thought of her to be less subtle about her anger. But well, if she wants Gwendis to trust her, how about she stops being such a complete cunt? How about she starts actually answering questions instead of babbling her usual utter nonsense? She has given Gwendis nothing but pain and fear, and yet she somehow expects of her to trust her? Hell no! This is by far the clearest, least ambiguous situation possible. Aisha is evil. Her god is evil. And both have reached a point where they don't even try to be subtle about it. Embracing the dark? No, Gwendis is never going to do that. I have also given up any hope of getting answers from Aisha. She has proven herself to be equal parts unwilling and too retarded to answer in a way that is not even more confusing than anything before. As long as she is not absolutely honest about what she needs Gwendis for, what she expects from her and what the consequences will be, I won't even consider toning down on the hatred I hold for her. She has shown that there is not the slightest bit of good in her. And I will try my utmost to prevent Gwendis from becoming like her. Of course I want answered, but not from the Great Other. Perhaps someone who is not an irredeemable one-sided force of evil could actually explain something to Gwendis? Meaning, fuck Aisha and fuck her demon pimp.
Well, you're certainly not going easy on Aisha Can't blame you though, she is being very secretive, and the fact that she is taking Gwendis (and Trentan) to someone like Mordekhai is already a reason to be angry. Especially since this all begun from her promising that this would be the path to save Gwen's life. It's clear that she is determined to get Gwendis to follow the Great Other, and as you said she is getting less and less subtle about her motives. Refusing to give in to her is admirable and strong move from Gwen, but as we already saw in this part, Aisha is slowly starting to lose her patience.
I have noticed one good thing though, namely Trentan. He's still an ass, but he seems to be on a good way and I slowly start to warm up to him. He doesn't have to die alongside that whore he follows. Maybe we can free him from Aisha's mind control with actions like this. He seems to have a heart after all and not all hope is lost for him. If Gwendis helps him to realize this, he could help her in return. It's strange that a lowly thief is the one I put my hopes into in this conflict between gods, but right now, if there is anyone who could save Gwendis' life, it's him. Surely it is not the Dark Bitch, nor her god, nor her enemy. Actually, Dalia and Desi could be helpful, but only if we manage to keep Gwendis clean from the Great Other taint. She is not going to embrace this darkness, oh no!
Indeed, Trentan was pretty freaked out by this cave. He does of course know that Aisha worships a dark god, but if he'd learn how dark this particular religion can go at worst, he'd probably be less inclined to be so close to the Dark Priestess. And it's indeed an interesting situation that so much could depend on Trentan, a lowly thief
I knew it! I fucking knew it! Who called it? I did! Now we know it for sure, the warrior is the only being that comes even close to Aisha on the evilness scale. And well, as you have likely noticed in the quote, I have found the perfect name for him. From now on, I shall exclusively refer to this warrior as Wesley, or Wes for short, after Ensign Wesley Crusher, the Jar-Jar Binks of Star Trek, the single most hated character in the entire fandom, the one character who is even less popular than Jar-Jar. To put it into terms for those who have never watched Star Trek: Wesley Crusher is basically the Sand Snakes, but even less positively received. It is the most severe insult I have ever bestowed upon anyone, fictional or real and given the nature of this warrior, I don't feel bad one bit. From this day forward, he will be Wesley, simply because his last name already fits so perfectly an because he is a complete piece of shit. Through this, I can humiliate him in the most hateful way possible. Wesley the Warrior... I do hope he dies almost as painful as the whore he is about to work for.
Yep, Mordekhai is indeed the warrior Aisha is looking for. I'm not really in touch with Star Trek, but after checking some YouTube videos I see Wesley seems to be a Mary Sue -type character, which is an... interesting comparison to Mordekhai Anyway, I'm pretty sure everyone hates Mordekhai, there's really no reason to like that guy. He is a warrior though, meaning he'll be fighting, so it's a big possibility that you'll indeed get to see him die a painful death at some point... or he'll just keep giving painful deaths to others
That said, I start to wonder just why Gwendis still travels with Aisha. Is there anything that forces her to stay? The whore hasn't made any threats into that direction, so is there anything that forces Gwendis to stay there and keep getting tormented and forced to spend time with Wesley?
Well, there are a couple reasons. While Gwendis' trust towards Aisha is decreasing, she knows that the Great Other is real, and she fears that if she abandons this path Aisha is leading her to, she might end up dying like Aisha said would happen. Another factor is that she fears Aisha wouldn't let her go, and she wouldn't get far if she tried to run. That said, it is possible that Gwendis might try to escape later if a chance for that comes up.
Gotta get the vote out of the way first, so that I can write down my opinion on the part later on. I guess it's not surprise that I choose t… morehis:
[Refuse to put your hands on the altar]
Absolutely not! This must not happen! Seriously, think about it, this must not happen. Gwendis resisted for so long and nothing has changed that should cause her to give in. Aisha once again failed to give any reason to trust her or her demon or to embrace the darkness. We must remain strong if we want Gwendis to have any chance at getting out of this not only alive, but physically and mentally intact. Aisha seeks to ruin her, she did so from the very beginning, but I refuse to just let her. As long as Gwendis gets the chance to refuse to give in to this evilness, we must take it. Until that utter fucking monster of a priestess fails to deliver even the most simple of answers without somehow twisting the truth or resorting to her usual trick of being as v… [view original content]
I was curious to if my little attempt at humor worked, I tried to separate the paragraphs to where it wouldn't show up right after I gave my little speech but apparently that does not work in typing up comments but even still glad you found it funny
Well, it did work for me because I was reading on my phone and I did not scroll down too far, because I haven't expected such a long comment. I saw you have voted, eagerly went to see what you picked, nearly got a heart attack and then had a good laugh out of it
Indeed, Gwendis is in my opinion one of those characters that is hard to root against and one who I want to see succeed. Of course, I don't vote for every PoV's choices like I do for Gwendis but primarily for how i see their character to be. So I would not vote for Jamison to act the same way as I would Gwendis for example
Hehe, I actually must say I'd vote for both the same. I try to make them succeed and I do so for every PoV aside from those I don't like. Arguably, Dalia and maybe Tomas are the ones I currently don't like, so with them I am not afraid to make choices that screw them over, but with all the others, I try to pick what is best for them. I see every option as somehow justifiable in-character, I think Wildling does a great job at offering us two or more options that can all be seen as fitting, but obviously there is often a choice that ends up being better than the other for the character and I try my best to find it
You are no doubt correct on this point, this AIsha storyline for Gwendis is very thrilling and at least at this point in time, I can say it was the correct choice for the readers. Admittedly, I wanted an Isabella and Gwendis meeting which was my primary motivator in wanting to send Gwendis to Skyreach. I also felt there would have been great potential for Gwendis to rise to prominence there but at the same time, if Gwendis is lucky enough to gain power somewhere, it should be her home in Blackmont rather then Skyreach.
Ah, I'm still not sure if I'd go that far. I don't know if we made the correct choice. Maybe if we actually manage to keep her alive, but I think her death is a very real danger here, likely far stronger and far earlier than it could have happened in Skyreach. And a meeting between Gwendis and the Fowler's (mostly Isabella, but also Garrison and Desmor) is something I still mourn for. That would have been quite something. I agree that if she is to get any sort of power, she would deserve it to be in Blackmont, though I'd rather take some marginal power in Skyreach, maybe as the advisor of Garrison and later Ferris, over no power at all, having her living her days as a Great Other cultist, far away from the home and family she loves, or outright dying. That's why I am still very much on the fence and will likely remain that way until this part of the storyline has resolved and I can make a more qualified guess.
Also if Gwendis were to have went to Skyreach, there would have been two PoV's there which probably would not be needed so we definitely made the right choice there!
That is something I have thought of as well! Admittedly, not in the moment I made my choice, but in retrospect, I could see this as having been better for Isabella in terms of having her own storyline. With her being far less of an active, goal-oriented player such as Gwendis, she could have even ended up being eclipsed by her new sister-in-law. Now she's getting a storyline where she is always the protagonist and that can only be good for her as well, right?
Overall though, I believe this Aisha storyline could actually do some good for Gwendis with her getting to see more of the outside world as seen by her seeing the struggles that caused Trentan to turn to being a thief. But yes, I am definitely with you man, I'll try my best to help Gwendis get through this unscathed
That is something I have not really thought of though... if she indeed manages to survive this, then she is undoubtedly going to learn quite a lot of the struggles the poor have to live through. If I remember, she had some contempt for Trentan initially, on account of him being a thief and while it has been somewhat understandable since he just tried to steal from her, she might grow more sympathetic for those. Her actions as the head of her father's council have always been well-intentioned, but she never actually got to see the struggles she has tried to deal with back then. Hm, maybe not all is bad from the Aisha part, even if the priestess herself, her warrior and her god are the most horrible. Ah, it's good to hear you're seeing things similarly. I still struggle with being more positive about this storyline, but if there is a chance for her to survive this, we might manage to find it.
I was curious to if my little attempt at humor worked, I tried to separate the paragraphs to where it wouldn't show up right after I gave my… more little speech but apparently that does not work in typing up comments but even still glad you found it funny
Indeed, Gwendis is in my opinion one of those characters that is hard to root against and one who I want to see succeed. Of course, I don't vote for every PoV's choices like I do for Gwendis but primarily for how i see their character to be. So I would not vote for Jamison to act the same way as I would Gwendis for example You are no doubt correct on this point, this AIsha storyline for Gwendis is very thrilling and at least at this point in time, I can say it was the correct choice for the readers. Admittedly, I wanted an Isabella and Gwendis meeting which was my primary motivator in wanting to send Gwendis to Skyreach. I also felt there would have been great potential for Gwendis to rise to… [view original content]
Well, you're certainly not going easy on Aisha Can't blame you though, she is being very secretive, and the fact that she is taking Gwendis (and Trentan) to someone like Wesley is already a reason to be angry. Especially since this all begun from her promising that this would be the path to save Gwen's life. It's clear that she is determined to get Gwendis to follow the Great Other, and as you said she is getting less and less subtle about her motives. Refusing to give in to her is admirable and strong move from Gwen, but as we already saw in this part, Aisha is slowly starting to lose her patience.
I can assure you, I am not even nearly going hard enough on that lying, irredeemably evil, thoroughly horrible piece of shit that has never done anything good in her life, is literally incapable of doing anything even remotely good or even just well-intentioned for anyone but herself and her demon, is never going to do anything helpful for anyone and is so devoid of positive traits or attributes that she is a complete waste of space. I can't even call her Wesley, because that would be an insult to Wesley. And yeah, that is still me going easy on her
That said, it looks like I finally get justified in the utter hatred I feel for her. Her patience is wearing thin, but honestly, she has no reason to be angry at Gwendis. She offered her nothing so far, she demands trust for no reason. Perhaps being part of such an evil cult of evilness has grinded her brain cells down to the intelligence levels of a lukewarm slice of bread, but even she should be theoretically capable of realizing that her way of dealing with the situation is perhaps, just perhaps, the worst way she could ever approach this whole situation. I mean, even with me, there was a time where I was willing to give Aisha the benefit of the doubt, before she revealed her true rotten colours. But instead of actually offering explanations, all she is doing is to do more ominously evil jabbering, where she outright demands a trust she never even tried to earn. I have hoped that even she is capable of seeing that it might be time for her to actually offer an answer instead of refusing, to actually explain what Gwendis is supposed to do and what the consequences could be, what she is dealing with and to ask her if she actually wants to be a part of it. So far, she dragged her into this with a mixture of false promises and outright lies, so she really shouldn't be surprised that Gwendis is not willing to help her in any way. And even if she says something, it all sounds like something along the lines of: "My entire cult and god is irredeemably evil and I am the worst". If she wants to be trusted, then perhaps she should actually start to earn that trust instead of demanding it. That said, considering that she doesn't earn any trust at all, I guess her frustration and anger comes from Gwendis continuing to see right through her lies. Not that it's hard. Anyone could see through that, but she herself seems to be so brain-washed that she thinks that her lies actually make any sense.
And don't even get me started on her dragging Gwendis knowingly towards Wesley! That is the first thing she did that actually justifies me hoping for her to get the most terribly painful and humiliating death in the history of terribly painful and humiliating deaths. Surely she thinks that she has means to control him, but I think she is a stupid bitch who has no idea just what kind of a monster she has just summoned. Or even if her plan to control him works out perfectly, I bet she'd allow him to have his way with Gwendis purely to spite her. Or she at the very least wouldn't object. That is the sort of person I think she is and so far, every single thing she ever did in the entire story gave me right with it and she only kept getting worse and worse.
Indeed, Trentan was pretty freaked out by this cave. He does of course know that Aisha worships a dark god, but if he'd learn how dark this particular religion can go at worst, he'd probably be less inclined to be so close to the Dark Priestess. And it's indeed an interesting situation that so much could depend on Trentan, a lowly thief
Maybe that was the beginning of the end for Trentan's loyalty to her. Aisha is not really the kind of a person anyone should trust and I think Trentan is slowly realizing it. All we have to do is to befriend him so that he might end up helping Gwendis as well. It doesn't even have to be anything too big. I mean, I don't expect of him to kill Aisha to save Gwendis' life, or to somehow even kill Wesley, but there are other ways he could help. Freeing Gwendis if Aisha decides to put her into chains, allowing her to escape instead of guarding her, distracting Aisha or preventing her from sacrificing Gwen, or maybe distracting Wesley and causing him to miss a strike that was supposed to kill her. Even small contributions could end up saving her life. Unlike Aisha and Wesley, he is not evil and I believe if he warms up to Gwendis, he could be crucial in her survival. I certainly put more hopes on him than on Aisha and Wesley and maybe even more than on Dalia and Desi, whom I am still a bit concerned about.
Yep, Wesley is indeed the warrior Aisha is looking for. I'm not really in touch with Star Trek, but after checking some YouTube videos I see Wesley seems to be a Mary Sue -type character, which is an... interesting comparison to Wesley Anyway, I'm pretty sure everyone hates Wesley, there's really no reason to like that guy. He is a warrior though, meaning he'll be fighting, so it's a big possibility that you'll indeed get to see him die a painful death at some point... or he'll just keep giving painful deaths to others
Wesley, meaning Star Trek's Wesley, is indeed an archetypical Mary Sue, one of the most famous examples of the term. Even worse is that he's a Creator' Pet, written by Gene Wesley Rodenberry, who made it painfully clear that he tried to make Wesley an idealized version of himself. I think you can see why I consider it such an insult to call this warrior by such a name That said, I must make sure that I don't consider Wesley, meaning your Wesley, to be a badly written character. Your Wesley is certainly not a Mary Sue and you do write him very well. It's just that I have such an intense hatred for him that I considered the name to be very fitting. And well, I think eventually there will be a painful death for him. I can't see him ever not being a threat to the heroes, so unlike you give him a full victory, he is likely going to be stopped eventually. It's only a concern how much damage he will do until then.
Well, there are a couple reasons. While Gwendis' trust towards Aisha is decreasing, she knows that the Great Other is real, and she fears that if she abandons this path Aisha is leading her to, she might end up dying like Aisha said would happen. Another factor is that she fears Aisha wouldn't let her go, and she wouldn't get far if she tried to run. That said, it is possible that Gwendis might try to escape later if a chance for that comes up.
Hm, I see. Yeah, I see it... argh, I hope that she sees Aisha's true nature soon enough. Thing is, perhaps Aisha will stop her from running away and it frankly seems likely that she will at least try it, but that doesn't mean that Gwendis shouldn't try to escape if given a reasonable chance. Of course, just running away in the Red Mountains, in the middle of Manwoody territory, that is a death sentence and I'd also very much like for her to sit out on that marriage contract until it became redundant, because I'd hate for her to just get married off to Skyreach after all, considering what she did to avoid it. So, if there is a choice for her to escape, she'd need some sort of plan after that, or it would have to be in a situation where it is clear that escaping will be the only thing that saves her life, such as when Wesley inadvertently snaps.
Also, if you count my comments for this part together, I have finally reached the point where my thoughts on this part are longer than the part itself. This is one of the proudest moments of my entire life
Now... after this part I can safely say that I have fully given up any remnants of hope that Aisha could be well-intentioned. This right the… morere is the most rotten, evil character in the story and she gets less and less subtle about it. To say I am concerned for Gwendis' well-being in the company of this being of pure, unadulterated evil would be an understatement. Her reaction towards Gwendis' refusal was almost exactly as expected, though I thought of her to be less subtle about her anger. But well, if she wants Gwendis to trust her, how about she stops being such a complete cunt? How about she starts actually answering questions instead of babbling her usual utter nonsense? She has given Gwendis nothing but pain and fear, and yet she somehow expects of her to trust her? Hell no! This is by far the clearest, least ambiguous situation possible. Aisha is evil. Her god is evil. And both have reached a point where they don't even try to be subtle… [view original content]
I was curious to if my little attempt at humor worked, I tried to separate the paragraphs to where it wouldn't show up right after I gave my… more little speech but apparently that does not work in typing up comments but even still glad you found it funny
Well, it did work for me because I was reading on my phone and I did not scroll down too far, because I haven't expected such a long comment. I saw you have voted, eagerly went to see what you picked, nearly got a heart attack and then had a good laugh out of it
Indeed, Gwendis is in my opinion one of those characters that is hard to root against and one who I want to see succeed. Of course, I don't vote for every PoV's choices like I do for Gwendis but primarily for how i see their character to be. So I would not vote for Jamison to act the same way as I would Gwendis for example
Hehe, I actually must say I'd vote for both the same. I try to make them succeed and I do so … [view original content]
Well, it did work for me because I was reading on my phone and I did not scroll down too far, because I haven't expected such a long comment. I saw you have voted, eagerly went to see what you picked, nearly got a heart attack and then had a good laugh out of it
Haha well, I am glad to hear you enjoyed it! I tried to be a bit over the top with my reasoning but still serious enough to be believable But yeah, Gwendis won't become a Great Other worshipper if I can help it
Hehe, I actually must say I'd vote for both the same. I try to make them succeed and I do so for every PoV aside from those I don't like. Arguably, Dalia and maybe Tomas are the ones I currently don't like, so with them I am not afraid to make choices that screw them over, but with all the others, I try to pick what is best for them. I see every option as somehow justifiable in-character, I think Wildling does a great job at offering us two or more options that can all be seen as fitting, but obviously there is often a choice that ends up being better than the other for the character and I try my best to find it
Oops, I totally worded that wrong. I definitely want to see Jamison and all of the other PoV's besides Gwendis succeed as well I mainly mean that with Gwendis, I try to lean toward keeping her a good and pure as she can possibly be in the situation that she is in while with Jamison I am more willing to bounce back and forth between the honorable and dishonorable choices since he does very much toe the line of good and bad. While Gwendis I see as more on the good side of the spectrum which of course could change depending on where this Aisha storyline goes. As you said though, Wildling does such an excellent job with the choices for our characters, all of the choices are fitting
Ah, I'm still not sure if I'd go that far. I don't know if we made the correct choice. Maybe if we actually manage to keep her alive, but I think her death is a very real danger here, likely far stronger and far earlier than it could have happened in Skyreach. And a meeting between Gwendis and the Fowler's (mostly Isabella, but also Garrison and Desmor) is something I still mourn for. That would have been quite something. I agree that if she is to get any sort of power, she would deserve it to be in Blackmont, though I'd rather take some marginal power in Skyreach, maybe as the advisor of Garrison and later Ferris, over no power at all, having her living her days as a Great Other cultist, far away from the home and family she loves, or outright dying. That's why I am still very much on the fence and will likely remain that way until this part of the storyline has resolved and I can make a more qualified guess.
Yeah, Gwendis and the Fowler's was no doubt something I was really excited to see come to form in the story. I do believe that Gwendis would be far safer in Skyreach and would have been the safer choice overall. I see Garrison as someone who would have valued her political knowledge more than Benedict did, Desmor could be someone she grew to be happy with in time plus I just think Isabella and Gwendis as friends probably would have been the cutest thing As you said though, if Gwendis going with Aisha is the right choice, we will find out in time. She is getting to experience more of the outside world which I believe is valuable but we won't find out if this storyline is good for Gwendis' overall mental and physical health until much later I imagine.
That is something I have thought of as well! Admittedly, not in the moment I made my choice, but in retrospect, I could see this as having been better for Isabella in terms of having her own storyline. With her being far less of an active, goal-oriented player such as Gwendis, she could have even ended up being eclipsed by her new sister-in-law. Now she's getting a storyline where she is always the protagonist and that can only be good for her as well, right?
I would say this route was far better for Isabella in hindsight as well. Gwendis is no doubt one of the central PoV's in Nymeria's War from what I can tell and if she went to Skyreach, there is a chance that Isabella would have lost importance as a PoV. However thinking about it though, I am sure Wildling would have came up with something epic for both of them plus as I said, a Gwendis and Isabella interaction would have been pretty cool! As it stands now though, Isabella does get to be the main PoV in Skyreach with her own storyline which is of course awesome!
That is something I have not really thought of though... if she indeed manages to survive this, then she is undoubtedly going to learn quite a lot of the struggles the poor have to live through. If I remember, she had some contempt for Trentan initially, on account of him being a thief and while it has been somewhat understandable since he just tried to steal from her, she might grow more sympathetic for those. Her actions as the head of her father's council have always been well-intentioned, but she never actually got to see the struggles she has tried to deal with back then. Hm, maybe not all is bad from the Aisha part, even if the priestess herself, her warrior and her god are the most horrible. Ah, it's good to hear you're seeing things similarly. I still struggle with being more positive about this storyline, but if there is a chance for her to survive this, we might manage to find it.
Exactly, this storyline has all of the potential to make Gwendis a even better ruler if the time comes since now rather then having an idealistic view of what the poor go through, she will see more of it firsthand. But yeah, I will admit that Mordekhai or should I say "Wesley" around does have a chance to make things more difficult for Gwendis but even still, Gwendis does seem to be more than mentally capable of figuring a way out of this and it seems Trentan may be starting to see Aisha's true colors as well so there is certainly hope for Gwendis
I was curious to if my little attempt at humor worked, I tried to separate the paragraphs to where it wouldn't show up right after I gave my… more little speech but apparently that does not work in typing up comments but even still glad you found it funny
Well, it did work for me because I was reading on my phone and I did not scroll down too far, because I haven't expected such a long comment. I saw you have voted, eagerly went to see what you picked, nearly got a heart attack and then had a good laugh out of it
Indeed, Gwendis is in my opinion one of those characters that is hard to root against and one who I want to see succeed. Of course, I don't vote for every PoV's choices like I do for Gwendis but primarily for how i see their character to be. So I would not vote for Jamison to act the same way as I would Gwendis for example
Hehe, I actually must say I'd vote for both the same. I try to make them succeed and I do so … [view original content]
Alright, Gwendis will refuse to put her hands on the altar. I could guess you'd choose this. Well, we'll see in the next part how exactly will that work for her...
Anyway, the next part will be an Emerson PoV, and I'm actually more or less done with it already. However, I'm also about 50% done with the one after that, a Nealia PoV, so I figured I'll finish that one and post them at the same time, which will be either later today, or tomorrow.
Last time we saw Emerson was in the Jamison part, where he warned him that he shouldn't leave the castle, as there are people in Godsgrace who want to kill him. And well, as we know Horidos did try to kill Jamison. Anyway, before this brief meeting with Jamison, Emerson was in the meeting held by Esperence, where he found out that Esperence and her men were planning to help the Martell's take over Godsgrace. This time, we'll get to see an Allyrion family dinner.
And what comes to Nealia, the last we saw her she was traveling along the southern coast of Dorne, with the rest of the Rose Company, as well as Corren and his bandits. She had a little chat with Illor, who encouraged her to keep going. He was also curious about Nealia's affair with Lien, but Nealia wasn't eager to talk about it. A moment later Ying wanted to talk to her about the very same issue, trying to make Nealia promise that she wouldn't pursue a romance with Lien, as Ying didn't see her as a worthy companion for her sister. You voted for her to not make such promises.
Also, before the next parts a new H&L will be posted! It comes from a character who hasn't actually been introduced yet in the story, but he has been mentioned. I thought it was great, and I'm sure you will too
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One more thing - here is a portrait of Ser Mordekhai Crusher, the Skeletal Knight, the Warrior of the Great Other:
Alright, Gwendis will refuse to put her hands on the altar. I could guess you'd choose this. Well, we'll see in the next part how exactly will that work for her...
Oh shite, I'm nervous. Sure, I prefer defiance instead of submitting to Bitsha (get it? get it? 'Cause she's a massive bitch) and her demon god, but I am nonetheless hellishly afraid as to how both will react. The Great Other likely needs Gwendis to be somewhat willing to make her his weapon, or else it would have forced her long ago, but I'm sure that both will continue to grind her resistance down in order to make her willing. And naturally, Aisha will be angry, even if there's really no reason for her to be. So far, Gwendis is the one that's making sense here, whereas the bitch-witch just keeps demanding trust and submission without ever explaining anything until it is too late. But ah, I guess intelligent actions are not what I can expect from that mouldy piece of demon shit. I put my hopes in Trentan to intervene if things go too far, but I don't know if he's all that far yet. I just hope that Aisha's reaction won't be too severe, but I have learned a lesson about expecting any decency from her.
as Ying didn't see her as a worthy companion for her sister.
Wait, I got a totally different impression as to her intention. Whoa, not cool, Ying, not cool! She certainly worded it a bit more diplomatically back when she explained the situation to Nealia, but man, that is just rude Now I think we certainly made the right decision, because Ying barely knows Nealia, so her opinion is probably clouded by overprotectiveness.
Also, before the next parts a new H&L will be posted! It comes from a character who hasn't actually been introduced yet in the story, but he has been mentioned. I thought it was great, and I'm sure you will too
Hm.... now that is very interesting. So this is the first character that actually got introduced through this H&L then, I'm very curious and excited about this
One more thing - here is a portrait of Ser Wesley Crusher, the Skeletal Knight, the Warrior of the Great Other :
Charming. Truly charming, with all the lovable dorkiness I expect from someone who is played by Wil Wheaton. Seriously though, he looks even more terrifying than I expected him to be. He looks on the outside like Aisha looks on the inside. Perhaps a bit less evil than her, but man, those eyes are nightmarish. At the same time, I never thought I'd ever say that about anything Wesley-related, but I love how intense this looks. I think Aisha is about to cross a line by just keeping him in Gwendis' general reach. With him on her team, the bitch's claims that she is the morally rightful side in this conflict are about as convincing as the head of the KKK claiming to be accepting towards people of all colours. Perhaps even less believable, because Aisha is the worst. Wesley however... well, he's the second worst, but his portrait, it's far from the second worst. I mean, not that there is a second worst, or a worst, but I actually quite like this one, as much as he terrifies me. Good job!
Voting is closed!
Alright, Gwendis will refuse to put her hands on the altar. I could guess you'd choose this. Well, we'll see in the nex… moret part how exactly will that work for her...
Anyway, the next part will be an Emerson PoV, and I'm actually more or less done with it already. However, I'm also about 50% done with the one after that, a Nealia PoV, so I figured I'll finish that one and post them at the same time, which will be either later today, or tomorrow.
Last time we saw Emerson was in the Jamison part, where he warned him that he shouldn't leave the castle, as there are people in Godsgrace who want to kill him. And well, as we know Horidos did try to kill Jamison. Anyway, before this brief meeting with Jamison, Emerson was in the meeting held by Esperence, where he found out that Esperence and her men were planning to help the Martell's take over Godsgrace. This time, we'll get to see an Allyrion family dinner.
And what com… [view original content]
H&L time again! I had not officially planned on doing this one for a pretty long while but the motivation was strong for it so I decided to give it a shot. This is an H&L for Valor Veltaris. He is the leader of the Fallen Dragons who are a sellsword company contracted by Forovos Norvoshi to aid Nymeria in her upcoming war. This H&L is set right before they depart for Dorne to start their mission and Without further ado, here it is!
Valor Veltaris - A New Beginning
Ships lined the Orange Shore nearly as far as the eye could see, the sails of them displaying a dragon flying downward, toward the unknown. Maybe the dragon was flying down to vanquish his foes, or maybe this dragon was falling into the abyss. The many sellswords among the Fallen Dragons saw this dragon as a sign of their strength rather than their weakness. However, ask anyone of the Freehold however, and they would tell the latter, they would speak harshly of “The Fallen Dragon” Valor Veltaris who tucked his tail and ran away from triumph, a victory which will never be erased. And what is the truth about what this dragon really means? Well, Valor Veltaris had heard many viewpoints on the subject, and only he could deem which one was true.
Just a few short years ago, Prince Garin and the Rhoynar were crushed by the Valyrian Freehold who sent three hundred dragons to rain fire and blood down upon them. They were punished for not knowing their place the dragonlords said. And what did they say when Prince Garin united the Rhoynar under one cause, to fight back against them, and then defeated them in Selhorys, Valysar, and finally at the great battle of Volon Therys? The dragonlords said that just like unruly dogs, it is time that they are put down. And no matter how true or untrue their statement about the Rhoynar people was, they were indeed put down just like dogs. The Rhoynar people, lands, and their culture was utterly destroyed root and stem and banished from Essos forever. So, when Valor had been approached by some keyholder from the Iron Bank of Braavos, who promised his company a great reward for helping the last remnants of the Rhoynar people conquer the foreign land of Dorne and unite it under their rule, Valor had plenty of reason to be suspicious. At one time, Valor had played a great role for the Valyrian side in the war and most notably led the Valyrian Vanguard to their defeat in the battle of Volon Therys. Valor had killed many Rhoynar and wanted to see them destroyed. However, somewhere along the way a small shred of the humanity and compassion for others that Valor thought he had lost long ago had came back, as he had witnessed young children and their mothers, who played no part in the war, being burned alive just the same as the Rhoynar rebels that Valor had encountered on the battlefield. “What the rebels faced was a result of war, what their wives and children faced was unnecessary slaughter” The thought ate at Valor, and haunted him just enough to leave it all behind.
However, Valor had a feeling that this Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar and now Sandship would not see him in that light, regardless of Forovos Norvoshi telling him otherwise. She would see a monster who was one of many who led to her people’s dynasty falling. She would see a man who slaughtered her people and she would see him as a firsthand reminder of all that she and the other Rhoynar had lost and why they had lost it. Valor also knew that Princess Nymeria could be not be so pure of heart herself. “She wants to do to the Dornish what the Valyrians did to her, what makes her so different from them?" Princess Nymeria’s hypocrisy was apparent to Valor, but in a sense, he could say the same about most of the Valyrians as well. He owed the Rhoynar for the tragedy that they had suffered, and this was the time and opportunity for a Valyrian to set things right with them. He had also heard of the Rhoynar among his ranks that Nymeria was a just ruler, so maybe her war could turn out to bring peace to this foreign land. Valor also knew that blood and steel would line the road to peace regardless of how just or unjust she would turn out to be. In reality, Valor Veltaris knew that this mission would firmly establish his legacy. After this he and his men would be set for life, but the work to get to that point was only just beginning.
Valor Veltaris sat alone at the head of the table of the Fallen Dragon’s war council room on Valor’s main ship. The Fallen Dragon’s war council meeting had just finished and much had been discussed. Primarily Valor had heard complaining from his most trusted generals and commanders, about how conquering six Dornish kingdoms would be next to impossible. They did not know the land and they simply did not have the numbers, even with the Rhoynar and Martell armies backing them. Valor had heard that most of Nymeria’s army were women, who simply couldn’t handle the rigors of war. He was also told that the deserts of the Kingdom of Brimstone carried such immense heat that it would kill every man that they had. Even if they were fortunate enough to conquer the Kingdom of Brimstone, they would still have the Dornish Kingdoms of the North and West to deal with, which most would agree is where the true powers of Dorne were. The Bloodroyal, King Yorick Yronwood, reigned over most of the north and central parts of Dorne with an iron fist, while the legendary Daynes of Starfall led by the Sword of the Evening, King Vorian Dayne, ruled the west with a keep that was literally impossible to breach. All Valor had heard was why they couldn't complete this mission, and no reasons why they could. Valor could see their arguments, and maybe this mission was just asking for death, but Valor and the Fallen Dragons had faced horrible odds before and succeeded. So, Valor would make sure that they would succeed once more.
Valor leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for the first time in what felt to be an eternity, but as soon as he closed them, he quickly opened them again hearing a familiar voice. It was Maran of Ny Sar, a young Rhoynar boy around the age of 13, who squired for one of his commanders. “Uh…. Commander Valor”, the young boy nervously began scratching his head, “Ser Rickard and his soldiers have gathered all of the men, and the ships are ready to set sail. However, he has heard of rumblings around the camp, with most of the men seeming to be unsure about our mission. Ser Rickard figures it is for the best if you talk to them and try to motivate them, if you can.” After his words, the squire looked at Valor, clearly nervous about having just interrupted his leader’s private time. Valor could sense the boy's anxiety, so he figured he should calm him down. “It is alright Maran”, Valor began calmly, “I figured the time for this would come. It is best that the men hear exactly what this mission is going to entail, and every person out there should know exactly who they are fighting and what we are up against.” After hearing these words, Maran breathed a sigh of relief as if he had just come back from a battle himself. “Yes ser, of course”, the young Rhoynar said in complete agreement. At this point, Valor stood up from his chair and walked out. Maran followed, seemingly have to take five strides for every couple that Valor took.
Climbing up the ladder and now on the deck of the ship, Valor and Maran could see the sellswords standing on the shore as far as the eye could see, and as soon as Valor came into their sight, they roared in applause and appreciation. “ Dragonheart! Dragonheart!” The Fallen Dragons chanted in what was near perfect unison. With a confident stride Valor walked forward, now standing beside his top commanders, including Olyvar Forrester who had just returned. “Welcome back Forrester, I was worried you would miss out on the fun”, said Valor with a joking tone, and the Northman just smirked. “Glad to be back, Veltaris. Now, you should probably go and try to convince these poor souls that this fight is for a good cause.” Valor gave him a nod and stepped to the front of his main commanders.
Seeing the sheer amount of men who have joined this company in such a short time, and how much respect they all have for him, was still an overwhelming feeling to Valor. He knew that most of these men probably would not make it out of this mission alive, just like countless men who had served under Valor before, but for now he tried to put those thoughts out of his mind. Looking at the Fallen Dragons who were still continuing the Dragonheart chants, Valor decided to start.
“Fallen Dragons!” Valor started with a loud and confident tone. “I know there has been some confusion about what our next mission pertains to. I have heard all of the talk around our camp, and I will confirm the truth to you all now. No, we are not marching to the capital of Valyria to confront the might of the Freehold, and we are finished with our business in the Dothraki Sea, but I am not going to lie to you, this mission could potentially be more dangerous than any mission that we have encountered yet.” Valor said this last phrase with great seriousness and now walked over to the top of the ship’s ladder, so his soldiers from a further distance could hopefully hear what he was saying.
Again he began, “Yes, some of the talk is true, we will be taking a job from a Rhoynar, and not just any Rhoynar, but the Princess Nymeria - formerly of Ny Sar and now of Sandship.” With this phrase, Valor paused and listened to the reactions of his men, which ranged from cheers to boos, and to others complete silence but not out of indifference, but rather of the shock of what they were hearing. After a moment Valor continued, “Now I know that for many of you the Rhoynar are a topic which is not preferred to be spoken of, and from both sides I understand your point of view. For the Valyrians among us, the Rhoynar remind of death and destruction, since many of you lost friends and family because of the Second Spice War. I myself am no different.” Said Commander Valor with a clearly grim and disappointed tone. “Not a moment goes by, that I don’t think about the countless brothers in arms that I lost in my many battles against them. Particularly I think about my defeat at the battle of Volon Therys to Prince Garin’s mighty army. I remember the dragons falling from the sky to their deaths, the sounds of the Valyrian soldiers screaming, crying out for help from their mothers, the gods and anyone who would listen, as they were drowned alive and brought face to face with their death. The sight of my own soldiers being drowned alive is something that I will never forget, and the fact that I could do nothing to save them makes it even worse.”
At this point, Valor’s emotions were starting to get the better of him, but he did not let it show on his face and continued on. “For the Rhoynar among us, as few of you as there are, I know of the pain my people have brought down upon you as well. Fire and blood was brought down upon your homelands, with many people who did not deserve it facing the wrath of the dragonlords and their dragons. I witnessed many of these atrocities firsthand myself, and the sight of Rhoynar burning, innocent children and women burning is a sight that is something I wish I had never seen." Clearly saddened with what he was saying himself, he decided to change the subject. "But with every struggle in life, with every horrible ending, there is a new beginning worth finding and in the face of tragedy, my life was forever changed when not far from here, is where I finally realized that the Freehold was not worthy of fighting for anymore. I left that life behind me, and the Fallen Dragons were formed.”
Mentioning the Fallen Dragons brought a cheer from his men, and Valor figured now was the time to completely change the tone of what had thus far been a grim speech. “The Fallen Dragons gave me a new purpose, and I hope it has for all of you as well. From day one, I established this company as a place where all men are equal. Valyrian, Rhoynar, Westerosi, or Dothraki – it does not matter who you are or where you come from. Now we are brothers in arms together, we shed the blood of our foes together. Our strength comes from our unity, our determination and our skill, and we have no equal.” Valor said this with confidence brimming in his words, and the Fallen Dragons roared in cheers with Valor taking a pause and letting the cheers run their course before he continued again.
“Now brothers, again I won’t lie to you, this mission is dangerous. We set sail to what is to most of us a foreign land, to take part in unseating of six long established dynasties, to make room for a new one. Dayne, Yronwood, Fowler, Dryland, Blackmont and Manwoody. Those names mean nothing to most of us, but to the people of Dorne those names mean everything. We are fighting to take their past, present, and future from them, and they certainly won’t go down without a fight. Quite frankly, we may be sailing to our deaths, since they do have the numbers, the power, and the knowledge of the terrain at their disposal. I understand completely if any of you decide not to partake in this mission, and if you decide not to join me on this voyage, I understand completely." Valor spoke with an honest and genuine tone.
At this point, Valor paused, and to his surprise, at least from what he could tell, none of his men moved. “While the odds are surely against us, that has never stopped us before.” These words brought the men closest to Valor to laughter. Now feeling it was time to wrap it up, Valor began closing his speech. “Brothers! You know as well as I do that the history won’t remember our names, and many of us will surely face our deaths on this mission. But as we always have, we will fight for a better future, for a new beginning. And with this new beginning, we either set sail to victory, or we set sail to defeat, but the only way now, gentlemen, is forward!" With those words, Valor unsheathed his sword pointing it toward the southwest toward Dorne and with arrogance in his words, Valor boastfully reminded his men: “The future is ours for the taking, and it begins NOW!" The Fallen Dragons roared in applause for their leader, and went back to chanting “Dragonheart!” in unison. Valor stood there for a moment taking in his surroundings, before turning around toward the front of his ship with his ship now setting sail and the other Fallen Dragons began lining up toward their respective ships. With a sigh, Valor thought of the battles that lied ahead and wondered if what he was doing was truly right. This was indeed a new beginning for him and the Fallen Dragons, but he could only wonder if this new beginning would be for the better. But as he already knew, only time would tell.
As said, this was a great H&L! I was already hyped and looking forward for Valor and the Fallen Dragons, but this has just increased my hype Man, can't wait until I get to write them myself
H&L time again! I had not officially planned on doing this one for a pretty long while but the motivation was strong for it so I decided… more to give it a shot. This is an H&L for Valor Veltaris. He is the leader of the Fallen Dragons who are a sellsword company contracted by Forovos Norvoshi to aid Nymeria in her upcoming war. This H&L is set right before they depart for Dorne to start their mission and Without further ado, here it is!
Valor Veltaris - A New Beginning
Ships lined the Orange Shore nearly as far as the eye could see, the sails of them displaying a dragon flying downward, toward the unknown. Maybe the dragon was flying down to vanquish his foes, or maybe this dragon was falling into the abyss. The many sellswords among the Fallen Dragons saw this dragon as a sign of their strength rather than their weakness. However, ask anyone of the Freehold however, and they would tell the latter, they would speak harshly of “Th… [view original content]
Wait, I got a totally different impression as to her intention. Whoa, not cool, Ying, not cool! She certainly worded it a bit more diplomatically back when she explained the situation to Nealia, but man, that is just rude Now I think we certainly made the right decision, because Ying barely knows Nealia, so her opinion is probably clouded by overprotectiveness.
Well, she was indeed more diplomatic with her words, but that's really what it comes down to. Ying doesn't hate Nealia or despise her, but she sees her as someone who would only break Lien's heart if they were to engage in a serious relationship. And you're absolutely right, she is being very overprotective towards her sister, and also pretty quick to judge Nealia's character, considering they haven't known each other very long. That said the standard she holds for her sister is very high, so it's not even that big of an insult
Charming. Truly charming, with all the lovable dorkiness I expect from someone who is played by Wil Wheaton. Seriously though, he looks even more terrifying than I expected him to be. He looks on the outside like Aisha looks on the inside. Perhaps a bit less evil than her, but man, those eyes are nightmarish. At the same time, I never thought I'd ever say that about anything Wesley-related, but I love how intense this looks. I think Aisha is about to cross a line by just keeping him in Gwendis' general reach. With him on her team, the bitch's claims that she is the morally rightful side in this conflict are about as convincing as the head of the KKK claiming to be accepting towards people of all colours. Perhaps even less believable, because Aisha is the worst. Wesley however... well, he's the second worst, but his portrait, it's far from the second worst. I mean, not that there is a second worst, or a worst, but I actually quite like this one, as much as he terrifies me. Good job!
Hah, well I'm glad to know you like the portrait Mordekhai is indeed very creepy guy, and I can guarantee that if Gwendis ever meets him, she will be very shocked. Whatever trust she still has for Aisha and her plan will probably drop the moment she sees those terrifying eyes.
Alright, Gwendis will refuse to put her hands on the altar. I could guess you'd choose this. Well, we'll see in the next part how exactly wi… morell that work for her...
Oh shite, I'm nervous. Sure, I prefer defiance instead of submitting to Bitsha (get it? get it? 'Cause she's a massive bitch) and her demon god, but I am nonetheless hellishly afraid as to how both will react. The Great Other likely needs Gwendis to be somewhat willing to make her his weapon, or else it would have forced her long ago, but I'm sure that both will continue to grind her resistance down in order to make her willing. And naturally, Aisha will be angry, even if there's really no reason for her to be. So far, Gwendis is the one that's making sense here, whereas the bitch-witch just keeps demanding trust and submission without ever explaining anything until it is too late. But ah, I guess intelligent actions are not what I can expect from that mouldy piece of demon… [view original content]
This was a very interesting H&L. It's one thing to learn more about an already established character, but to be introduced to a character through these means is a special treat indeed. And well, it was quite an amazing introduction for Valor, making me hyped for what we're going to see of him in the story. Sure enough you have managed to make me very interested in Valor and his men. I remember that they have been mentioned earlier one or two times, but haven't paid too much attention to that mention until now and well, that changed quite a lot. This is truly an interesting character, one I feel will be a joy to read about in the future.
I must say, there is also another thing this helped me with, something I can't yet fully comment on (I think?). Let's just say, this part helped a lot with something, so I have not only enjoyed reading it, I also gotta thank you for it
H&L time again! I had not officially planned on doing this one for a pretty long while but the motivation was strong for it so I decided… more to give it a shot. This is an H&L for Valor Veltaris. He is the leader of the Fallen Dragons who are a sellsword company contracted by Forovos Norvoshi to aid Nymeria in her upcoming war. This H&L is set right before they depart for Dorne to start their mission and Without further ado, here it is!
Valor Veltaris - A New Beginning
Ships lined the Orange Shore nearly as far as the eye could see, the sails of them displaying a dragon flying downward, toward the unknown. Maybe the dragon was flying down to vanquish his foes, or maybe this dragon was falling into the abyss. The many sellswords among the Fallen Dragons saw this dragon as a sign of their strength rather than their weakness. However, ask anyone of the Freehold however, and they would tell the latter, they would speak harshly of “Th… [view original content]
Well, she was indeed more diplomatic with her words, but that's really what it comes down to. Ying doesn't hate Nealia or despise her, but she sees her as someone who would only break Lien's heart if they were to engage in a serious relationship. And you're absolutely right, she is being very overprotective towards her sister, and also pretty quick to judge Nealia's character, considering they haven't known each other very long. That said the standard she holds for her sister is very high, so it's not even that big of an insult
Ah, I can surely understand her concern. At the same time, well, I didn't found it okay from her back when I made the choice, I don't find it okay right now. No matter how I look at it, Ying is in the wrong there, even if her reasons are unarguably sympathetic. Well, maybe she can warm up to Nealia in time, with a bit of luck
Hah, well I'm glad to know you like the portrait Mordekhai is indeed very creepy guy, and I can guarantee that if Gwendis ever meets him, she will be very shocked. Whatever trust she still has for Aisha and her plan will probably drop the moment she sees those terrifying eyes.
Good. Very, very good. I know, if we keep resisting the urge to give in to the Great Other we might succeed in allowing Gwendis to escape and ironically, I feel like Wesley could actually help, by freaking her out so much that resisting the Great Other will be a lot easier to her, now that she sees one of the most obviously negative examples of the utter dregs that worship that thing. That said, it seems this temptation to follow the Great Other is far from natural, considering how strongly it comes. I guess it's a bit like a drug addiction and a priority should be not to let her come into contact with that thing ever again, considering how this simple vision from back in the first chapter is still affecting her.
Wait, I got a totally different impression as to her intention. Whoa, not cool, Ying, not cool! She certainly worded it a bit more diplomati… morecally back when she explained the situation to Nealia, but man, that is just rude Now I think we certainly made the right decision, because Ying barely knows Nealia, so her opinion is probably clouded by overprotectiveness.
Well, she was indeed more diplomatic with her words, but that's really what it comes down to. Ying doesn't hate Nealia or despise her, but she sees her as someone who would only break Lien's heart if they were to engage in a serious relationship. And you're absolutely right, she is being very overprotective towards her sister, and also pretty quick to judge Nealia's character, considering they haven't known each other very long. That said the standard she holds for her sister is very high, so it's not even that big of an insult
Charming. Truly charming, with all the lov… [view original content]
I must say, there is also another thing this helped me with, something I can't yet fully comment on (I think?). Let's just say, this part helped a lot with something, so I have not only enjoyed reading it, I also gotta thank you for it
Ah Liquid why did you have to mention this potential spoiler of some kind? Now I am like undeniably curious so... any hints?
This was a very interesting H&L. It's one thing to learn more about an already established character, but to be introduced to a characte… morer through these means is a special treat indeed. And well, it was quite an amazing introduction for Valor, making me hyped for what we're going to see of him in the story. Sure enough you have managed to make me very interested in Valor and his men. I remember that they have been mentioned earlier one or two times, but haven't paid too much attention to that mention until now and well, that changed quite a lot. This is truly an interesting character, one I feel will be a joy to read about in the future.
I must say, there is also another thing this helped me with, something I can't yet fully comment on (I think?). Let's just say, this part helped a lot with something, so I have not only enjoyed reading it, I also gotta thank you for it
I... am not sure. Argh, now I must resist the urge to tell you I can tell you that you'll get a full answer in the near future, but anything beyond that is something I want to leave for WildlingKing to reveal. Maybe he wishes to do that himself, so I don't want to say too much without giving him the opportunity first. But what this H&L helped me with is that I got a good idea of Valor's personality and this is going to be good for a certain something
I must say, there is also another thing this helped me with, something I can't yet fully comment on (I think?). Let's just say, this part he… morelped a lot with something, so I have not only enjoyed reading it, I also gotta thank you for it
Ah Liquid why did you have to mention this potential spoiler of some kind? Now I am like undeniably curious so... any hints?
Disclaimer: Remember to check the Valor Veltaris H&L above, if you haven't yet
-
Emerson
Ser Niclas Wyne was standing in guard as Emerson arrived to the door of the dining room. "You're late." The knight stated dryly, and Emerson nodded with a stern expression on his face. "My family is waiting for me, let me through." He said with a calm tone. Niclas eyed at him for a couple seconds longer, before finally stepping aside. With a sigh Emerson walked past the knight and to the door, opening it and seeing the table full of food waiting for him.
He was indeed late, partly thanks to Jamison Dayne, and everyone else was already sitting at the table. Lord Morgan sat at the head of the table as expected, and Esperence was couple seats away from him, Emmett sitting opposed to hear. However, what truly surprised Emerson was that Lady Vita was also taking part in the dinner. She sat right next to her husband Morgan, a confused and distressed look on her hazel eyes, as the servants poured wine for her. Vita's messy and long ginger hair had been tied to a tight ponytail, which only highlighted how tired and thin she was. Emerson hadn't seen Vita in months, as she was usually concealed to her chambers due to her illness.
With a gulp Emerson approached the table, sitting between Emmett and Morgan, and opposed to Lady Vita. "Good evening, young man." She quietly greeted Emerson, and he nodded to her. "My lady." He replied quietly, glancing at Morgan, who only gave him a cold glare.
"Now that we are all here, we should talk about some important matters, regarding our family." Morgan began, taking a bite of his steak, and savoring it for a while before continuing. "As you know, I had a meeting earlier today with the Dayne prince, and some... arrangements were made."
For a moment no one said anything, so Emerson decided to speak up. "And, what exactly were these arrangements, uncle?" He asked with a humble tone. Morgan looked at him with a sneer, making Emerson feel uncomfortable with his scornful stare. "Well, you would know if you had been there." He finally said coldly. Emerson glanced quickly at Esperence, who kept on a calm face.
"Father, you should be more respectful towards Emerson, he is the son of your brother." Esperence finally said, speaking softly with a thin smile on her face. Morgan chuckled, shaking his head. "Respect is something to be earned." He stated with a touch of anger in his voice, still glaring at Emerson. "All the same, the Dayne's and Dryland's have asked me to shut my gates from the Martell's, and that's what I intend to do."
"And you think that is a wise choice?" Esperence asked with a casual tone, taking a sip of her wine. "Would I make it if it wasn't, daughter?" Morgan asked tensly, now staring at Esperence, who shrugged and flashed a fake smile to her father.
"I suppose not." She replied lazily. "So, why did you want to tell this to us? Clearly not to hear our opinions."
"I want to make it absolutely clear – I am the one who rules this city." Morgan said with a stern tone on his quiet voice, his gaze traveling from Esperence to Emerson. "Of course, you are the Lord, uncle." Emerson said calmly, giving a meaningful look at Esperence.
"But you should listen to Esperence and Emerson as well." Emmett stated bluntly, causing an awkward silence in the room. Emerson gulped subtly, because he knew Emmett had made a mistake, even if he himself didn't yet understand that. "Do not speak of things you don't understand, fool." Morgan's voice was filled with bitter anger, and the way he looked at Emmett was loaded with loathe and despise. "I am the Lord of Godsgrace, and each of you live by my mercy and goodwill! You would do good to remember that."
The look on Emmett's eyes was frightened, clearly he hadn't expected such an intense response from his father. For a moment everyone was silent, until surprisingly Lady Vita spoke up. "Uncle Edam says that we all have our strengths and weaknesses." She said with a trembling voice, clearly shaken of the tension around her. Morgan grabbed her hand gently, stroking it and hushing softly.
"My sweet wife." He whispered, now stroking her head. "My sweet, sweet wife. There's no need to be afraid, my love." He spoke in a comforting tone, and a very weak and hesitant smile was formed on Vita's face. Morgan gave meaningful and stern glares at Emerson, Esperence and Emmett, and so they continued their dinner in silence.
They all finished their meals in without anyone uttering a word, but when they were done, Lord Morgan cleared his throat. "How lovely it has been to spend this night with you... my family." His tone was clearly sarcastic, but it flew over Emmett's head, who now gave his father an uncertain but genuine smile. "Thank you, father." He said with timid tone. Before anyone could answer, the door of the room was suddenly kicked open.
Emerson turned to look towards the door, seeing Jamison Dayne pushing himself in despite Ser Niclas trying to hold him back. The Dayne prince walked closer to the table, his breathing heavy, and his left shoulder bleeding. Jamison's clothes were stained with blood, though there was so much of it that it couldn't all be his. Behind him came Ser Niclas and the old knight who had accompanied Jamison earlier when he left the castle. Then Emerson noticed what Jamison was carrying in his bloodied hands – a severed head. And not just any head, but the head of Horidos. With an excited look on his eyes, and a wide smirk on his face, Jamison dropped the head on the floor. Emerson glanced at Esperence, and though she tried to conceal it, it was easy to see that she was shocked.
"What in Seven Hells, Dayne!?" Morgan stood up from his chair as he shouted, and Jamison answered to him with a small chuckle, and pointed at the severed head.
"This son of a bitch tried to kill me, with his little gang of thugs." He said with a surprisingly calm tone. "I am not so easy to kill though, as you can see. So, if it was you who sent him, Lord Morgan, it was a poor effort. And if it wasn't you, well, then you clearly don't have a very strong hold of your own city." Emerson noticed his uncle gulping and putting his hand on his mouth, a disgusted look on his eyes.
"Take that head away from here!" He yelled, and the servants followed his order immediately. Then the Lord turned his eyes to Jamison again. "I did not send him, that I can swear by the gods."
"The gods don't mean much to me, Lord Morgan, but let's just say I believe you this time." As he spoke, Prince Jamison glanced at Ser Niclas. "However, I'd recommend you to find out who is behind this, for your own sake."
"Would've been easier if you had brought this man to me alive." Morgan replied sternly, and Jamison let out a tired chuckle. "Oh well, I just can't help myself sometimes." He quipped with a carefree tone, which was immediately followed by a small groan of pain, as the Prince put his hand on his bleeding shoulder. "Now, I'm afraid I'll have to go see your maester, before I bleed out." With these words Jamison turned around, but just before he reached the door, he turned to look at the Allyrion's once more. "Oh, and Emerson... Thanks for the warning." For once Jamison's voice seemed to be completely genuine. And then he walked out, his knight following after him.
A small moment of silence followed the exit of the Dayne prince, and Morgan took in a deep breath, closing his eyes. Emerson expected him to start ranting, but instead he just exhaled, and walked out of the room, taking Lady Vita with him. Ser Niclas followed shortly after them.
Emerson stood up from the table as well, looking Esperence into the eyes. "Did you give Horidos the order?" He asked with quiet but serious words, and his cousin shook her head. "You heard what I told him in the meeting... I didn't see him after that." She answered, her voice still shaken. "That bloody idiot." Esperence mumbled with a sigh, pushing her face against her palms.
"Oh I'm sure you'll take care of everything, since you're so good at handling things." Emerson said dryly, which made Esperence shot a glare at him. "And what about you, huh?" She shot back strictly.
"What about me?" Emerson asked, and now Esperence stood up from her chair. "Did you really warn Jamison?" She asked with anger and disbelief in her words.
"Yes." Emerson answered strongly, not feeling ashamed of what he did. "Honor might be something completely foreign to you, cousin, but it means something to me." Before Esperence could answer, Emmett also stood up and cut them off.
"Stop fighting!" He yelled, shifting both Emerson's and Esperence's attention to him. "You're right brother, we shouldn't fight." Esperence said with a sigh, a calmer look on her eyes now. "I'm just... worried, that's all. You warning Jamison tells father that you knew there was a reason to warn Jamison. Which, in turn, makes you a lot more suspicious in his eyes." She explained calmly. Emerson gulped, realizing how suspicious he indeed had to look in Morgan's eyes right now.
"You think he'll question me?" He asked nervously, and Esperence let out a dry chuckle. "Honestly, I'm pretty sure he'll question us all, which means we have to be consistent in what we will tell him. He, or one of his men, might have seen Horidos in the castle before, so we can't take the risk of lying about that – we have to admit that we knew him. However, we can tell him that our relationship with him was not a professional one. He was just a friend of a friend who visited couple times."
"Well, there are no lies required from me." Emerson replied quietly and sternly. "After all, I hardly knew Horidos – it was you who paid for that criminal."
"You wouldn't take Morgan's side on this, would you, cousin?" Esperence asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Emerson. He gulped, feeling uncertain. The question of who to side with had bothered Emerson for a while now, and both of the options felt wrong. "Emerson, you have to swear to me that you will not sell me out. Swear it, Emerson!" Esperence demanded, an intense look on her blue eyes. Emerson kept on a calm expression – he could see that Esperence was desperate. The thought about siding against his cousin brought no pleasure to Emerson, but at the same time he didn't like the idea of being Esperence's lackey either. Perhaps I should just walk away.
[Swear not to sell her out][Ignore her]
-
-
Nealia
For the last couple days the Rose Company and Corren's gang of bandits had been camped to a crumbled old building on the southern coast. Corren had sent few of his men to inform the Bandit Lord about their arrival, and Tryden had sent Broden to go with them. Nealia herself had never been in this part of Dorne, but Corren's men were saying that they were close to the lands of House Bravespear. Whoever they are.
It was a couple hours past noon, and Nealia was sitting on the shadow of a broken stone wall. It was the hottest day of the summer so far, and that could be seen in the camp. Most of the men looked exhausted, and all of them tried to cover from the sun. Manda sat next to Nealia, a calm expression on her face.
"Doesn't the heat bother you?" Nealia asked curiously, wiping sweat from her forehead and taking a sip of water. Manda gave her a small smirk and shook her head. "In Summer Isles, this is average day." She explained with her heavy accent, and Nealia nodded with a chuckle.
"Well, I wouldn't want to be there when it's a hot day." She said with a sigh, turning to look at Lien and Ying, who were sitting a couple dozen feet away from them, talking to each other. Ying noticed Nealia looking at them, and sent her a cold glare. Nealia hadn't promised her not to pursue a relationship with Lien, which she obviously didn't like. Nealia hadn't done it necessarily for the sake of actually wanting something more with Lien, but because she thought it was wrong towards Lien to make such decisions behind her back. She had tried to say that to Ying as well, but she saw it differently, thinking she was doing the right thing protecting her sister from things that would hurt her.
"I have noticed Ying is... angry with you." Manda stated quietly, looking at Nealia with questioning eyes. "Is there are a reason for that?"
"Not really, she is just being protective towards her sister." Nealia answered casually, and Manda nodded. "Well, they have lived their whole life together." She said calmly, looking at the two YiTish women with almost dreamy eyes. "I never had a sister myself, and I've often wondered what it would've been like."
"Can't say, but I did have two brothers." Nealia replied, turning her eyes down now. "You love them and you hate them at the same time... It's weird." She chuckled, and Manda's lips formed a thin smile. "Tell me more." The strong woman said with a surprisingly timid tone. Nealia gulped, glancing at Manda, whose eyes were filled with curiosity.
"When I had been a little over a year at Starfall, I decided to challenge my brother Jamison to a fight." She begun, looking at the blue sky above her, picturing the white towers of Starfall in her mind. "I was two years older than him, and back then he wasn't even bigger than me. Yet since I had arrived to Starfall all I had heard from his mouth was his bragging and boasting. Sure, I had seen it myself when he trained with King Vorian or Ser Laroy – he was skilled. But I had beat boys before, boys much bigger than him, so why not this cocky little boy?" Nealia glanced at Manda, who looked to be invested in the story.
"Did you win?" She asked with an enthusiastic tone, and Nealia shook her head, a small smirk on her face. "Nope." She admitted with a little sigh. "I thought I was doing good at first, striking him from right and left, thinking I'd wipe the arrogant smirk off his face. But he kept parrying, and when he couldn't parry, he took the hits with an unyielding endurance. And when I started to get tired, he started to move faster, and before I knew it he had unarmed me and smacked me across the face. I was so angry then, and I was sure that Jamison would never stop mocking me for losing to him."
"But he didn't mock you?" Manda asked, and Nealia nodded with a soft smile. "Well, of course he had to throw in a couple reminders now and then, but he also said I was better than Malcolm, and that I should train with Laroy to become even better." Nealia let out a little laugh after saying this. "Ser Laroy wasn't too thrilled about the idea, but Jamison said that if I couldn't train, he wouldn't train either."
"I wish I had someone like that." Manda said quietly, and Nealia gave her an empathic look. She didn't really know what could she say to make her feel better, after all, she hardly even knew her. "How did you become a warrior?" She finally asked, uncertain if Manda would be comfortable with such question. "I mean, Lien and Ying told that you met them at Volantis, but how did you end up there?"
"It is not a good story." Manda simply said, her voice quiet and stern, and the look on her eyes uncomfortable. Nealia nodded quietly, figuring it was best not to ask more questions regarding Manda's past. She was about to start a conversation about something entirely different, but just then a bunch of riders approaching the camp from the distance caught her eye.
"Are Broden and the others coming back?" She mumbled, standing up now. Manda stood up as well, focusing her eyes on the small group riding towards them. "Yes, the one in the middle is Broden." She said with nonchalant tone. "Counting Broden, five men left the camp few days ago – now there are six of them."
"I assume they found the Bandit Lord, then." Nealia stated dryly, as the group arrived to the camp, and dismounted their horses. Tryden and Corren approached the arrivals, as many others. "I'll go see what news they bring." Nealia muttered, and as she started walking towards them, Manda followed. Lien and Ying also made their way to these riders.
"Welcome back, boys!" Corren yelled with his slimy voice. The man who had came with them was a dark-skinned warrior with black and red robes, hiding the lower half of his face behind a thin scarf. "And, Jabar! How good to see you, you no-good sea rat!" Corren said to the dark-skinned man, who only answered with a stern glare.
"So, do you have a message from the Bandit Lord?" Tryden asked calmly, and Jabar turned his eyes to him. "Lord Efran is currently raiding the lands of House Bravespear." He answered tonelessly. "However, we are currently making the preparations for attacking Lemonwood. Efran will lead the attack from the sea, and Ser Byrron will lead the attack from the land."
"So, where do we come in?" Tryden asked impatiently. Jabar took a moment before answering, eyeing at all the fighters who had gathered around them. "You will be part of the army attacking from the land." He said with calm and decisive words. "Ser Byrron is gathering the men to the southern shore of Greenblood, so that is where we must head next."
"And you're sure you have enough men to take Lemonwood?" Tryden asked with skeptical tone, but Jabar only gave him a stern nod. "Don't worry about it, Reachman." Corren said with a twisted grin on his face. "We are all killers, aren't we? The Dalt's will shit their pants when they see us!" This made Corren's men laugh and cheer, but Tryden kept on a calm and cold expression.
"If you say so." He said sternly, turning to look at Jabar again. "And when shall we begin our journey?" He asked.
"As soon as you are ready – preferably today." Jabar answered, and Tryden gave him a small nod, now turning towards his own men. "You heard him! Pack up and saddle your horses, we're marching to war!" Now the Rose Company cheered, and soon they would begin their journey towards Greenblood.
-
They had moved north, away from the sea, but aside from that Nealia had no clue where exactly were they. All the same, the hot day was finally coming to its end, and the burning red sun was setting to the west. However, the Rose Company and Corren's gang were still riding forward – apparently Jabar had some precise place in mind where he wanted them to rest the coming night.
As they moved forward, Illor rode next to Nealia. He looked at her quietly for a moment, before finally speaking up. "So, how are you feeling?" He asked awkwardly, making Nealia raise her eyebrow. "Fine, I guess." She answered lazily. "A bit tired perhaps."
"Good", Illor said in turn, an uncertain smile on his face. "I was just wondering, since you seemed a bit frustrated a couple days ago." Nealia nodded quietly, keeping her focused on the road ahead. "I was... tired. I'm over it now, and determined to fight for our victory."
"Huh, never expected such words from you." Illor said in a genuinely surprised tone. "I mean, don't get me wrong, but so far I've just got the image the you are solely in it for the coin." Nealia chuckled dryly at the Bravoosi's words. "Illor, if someone tries to tell you that their only motive to fight and kill is money, that someone is a liar." She looked at him with a meaningful glance. "As much as I hate that bastard Corren, he was right about one thing – we are all killers."
"Indeed we are." Illor admitted with a sigh. "But you should not lose yourself on that thought, Nealia." Nealia furrowed her eyebrows for this, looking at Illor with questioning eyes. "What do you mean?" She asked sternly.
"It might be a good thing to admit to yourself that you enjoy the thrill of the fight, or even taking a life, but it should never be a comfortable or pleasant thought. You should feel guilty for every life you take, to a certain degree." He spoke with a lecturing tone on his deep voice, and once again Nealia was reminded of her father. "I understand." Nealia said with a sigh, feeling like she was the young girl in Starfall again, talking about the importance of honor with her father. Then, she looked ahead and saw a small tower on the dusky horizon. "Looks like we finally found our camp for tonight." Illor remarked in a lighter tone, and with those words he rode off to join with Tryden.
And indeed, this small tower was the place where Jabar had planned them to stay the night. And on top of that, there was a garrison of fifteen Bandit Lord's men already residing there. Some of the men were saying this was the border of House Granit's lands, but that meant nothing to Nealia. As the camp was finally erected, the sun had fully set, and only the stars and moon lighted the sky. Nealia looked at them, feeling odd rejoice that somewhere her father and brothers could be looking at those same moon and stars right now. As she looked at the night sky, she felt a soft touch on her shoulder. Nealia spun around reflexively, seeing Lien standing behind her.
"Oh, sorry, did I scare you?" She asked with a genuinely regretful tone, but Nealia shook her head with a relieved little laugh. "Don't worry about it," She brushed it off softly, "I was just a bit dreamy."
Lien smirked, a seductive look on her mismatched eyes, taking a step closer to Nealia. "You're so fascinating, Nealia... You're strong and willful, but there's something else about you as well." With these words Lien moved her right hand on Nealia's thigh. She gulped, remembering Ying's words. They were behind the tower, so no one could actually see them from the camp. It would still be wrong.
"We can't." Nealia said softly, and Lien raised an eyebrow. "Why couldn't we? We are free women, free to do whatever we please." She moved closer to her again, and Nealia was just lost in her eyes. She had to close her eyes to concentrate.
"Your sister..." Nealia started, but was quickly cut off by Lien, who backed away from her now.
"My sister what?" She asked, her tone noticeably more serious now. "What did she say to you?" Lien's gaze was intense and piercing, so much that Nealia had to avoid eye-contact. She let out a sigh and regained her composure, looking Lien to the eyes again.
[Tell her what Ying said][Don't tell her what Ying said]
"It might be a good thing to admit to yourself that you enjoy the thrill of the fight, or even taking a life, but it should never be a comfo… morertable or pleasant thought. You should feel guilty for every life you take, to a certain degree." He spoke with a lecturing tone on his deep voice, and once again Nealia was reminded of her father. "I understand." Nealia said with a sigh, feeling like she was the young girl in Starfall again, talking about the importance of honor with her father. Then, she looked ahead and saw a small tower on the dusky horizon. "Looks like we finally found our camp for tonight." Illor remarked in a lighter tone, and with those words he rode off to join with Tryden.
And indeed, this small tower was the place where Jabar had planned them to stay the night. And on top of that, there was a garrison of fifteen Bandit Lord's men already residing there. Some of the men were saying this was the border of House Granit's lands,… [view original content]
Two PoV's in one part? Hell yeah, take this seal of approval!
[Swear not to sell her out]
Alright... I must say Esperence surprised me here. She seemed so calm and in control all this time, so it was concerning to see her losing her cool. The thing is, I still don't trust her, especially when it comes to her plans for Emerson. If she wishes to take the seat as the Lady of Godsgrace, then he is the biggest obstacle in her way in the long run. And frankly, she seems way too ambitious to settle for anything less. Emerson should be cautious around her, yet at the same time I don't think going against her will achieve much good for now. Perhaps keeping her as a potential ally is still a good thing. So, I say he should swear it. Such a promise can be broken later on if it turns out that taking Morgan's side will be better for him. However, I sort of doubt that either side is going to be good for Emerson in the long run. I think Esperence wants the inheritance for herself, whereas Morgan doesn't seem fond of his nephew and I assume he'd rather see his son as the lord. It's a dangerous situation for him and I think it can only get more dangerous if he pisses off Esperence now, whom I still consider to be a more reliable ally than Morgan.
[Don't tell her what Ying said]
Well, d'awww these two I was a bit conflicted on this one, just like last time with Ying's choice. On the one hand, I feel like Lien deserves the truth there, but the problem is, I don't want to put a strain on the relationship of the sisters. If things don't work out between her and Nealia, Lien is always going to have her sister, but if we do something to burden that relationship and if Nealia breaks up with her on top of that, Lien wouldn't have anyone. Sure, Ying has been way out of line with what she said, but perhaps she can still warm up to Nealia eventually. I doubt such a thing would happen if we sell her out here though. She's already angry, might be better not to provoke her any further.
"It might be a good thing to admit to yourself that you enjoy the thrill of the fight, or even taking a life, but it should never be a comfo… morertable or pleasant thought. You should feel guilty for every life you take, to a certain degree." He spoke with a lecturing tone on his deep voice, and once again Nealia was reminded of her father. "I understand." Nealia said with a sigh, feeling like she was the young girl in Starfall again, talking about the importance of honor with her father. Then, she looked ahead and saw a small tower on the dusky horizon. "Looks like we finally found our camp for tonight." Illor remarked in a lighter tone, and with those words he rode off to join with Tryden.
And indeed, this small tower was the place where Jabar had planned them to stay the night. And on top of that, there was a garrison of fifteen Bandit Lord's men already residing there. Some of the men were saying this was the border of House Granit's lands,… [view original content]
"It might be a good thing to admit to yourself that you enjoy the thrill of the fight, or even taking a life, but it should never be a comfo… morertable or pleasant thought. You should feel guilty for every life you take, to a certain degree." He spoke with a lecturing tone on his deep voice, and once again Nealia was reminded of her father. "I understand." Nealia said with a sigh, feeling like she was the young girl in Starfall again, talking about the importance of honor with her father. Then, she looked ahead and saw a small tower on the dusky horizon. "Looks like we finally found our camp for tonight." Illor remarked in a lighter tone, and with those words he rode off to join with Tryden.
And indeed, this small tower was the place where Jabar had planned them to stay the night. And on top of that, there was a garrison of fifteen Bandit Lord's men already residing there. Some of the men were saying this was the border of House Granit's lands,… [view original content]
"It might be a good thing to admit to yourself that you enjoy the thrill of the fight, or even taking a life, but it should never be a comfo… morertable or pleasant thought. You should feel guilty for every life you take, to a certain degree." He spoke with a lecturing tone on his deep voice, and once again Nealia was reminded of her father. "I understand." Nealia said with a sigh, feeling like she was the young girl in Starfall again, talking about the importance of honor with her father. Then, she looked ahead and saw a small tower on the dusky horizon. "Looks like we finally found our camp for tonight." Illor remarked in a lighter tone, and with those words he rode off to join with Tryden.
And indeed, this small tower was the place where Jabar had planned them to stay the night. And on top of that, there was a garrison of fifteen Bandit Lord's men already residing there. Some of the men were saying this was the border of House Granit's lands,… [view original content]
Two PoV's in one part? Hell yeah, take this seal of approval!
Hell yeah, that's an awwwwwesome seal! Anyway, don't expect I'll be able to do this everytime, but it might actually happen more often from now on
Alright... I must say Esperence surprised me here. She seemed so calm and in control all this time, so it was concerning to see her losing her cool. The thing is, I still don't trust her, especially when it comes to her plans for Emerson. If she wishes to take the seat as the Lady of Godsgrace, then he is the biggest obstacle in her way in the long run. And frankly, she seems way too ambitious to settle for anything less. Emerson should be cautious around her, yet at the same time I don't think going against her will achieve much good for now. Perhaps keeping her as a potential ally is still a good thing. So, I say he should swear it. Such a promise can be broken later on if it turns out that taking Morgan's side will be better for him. However, I sort of doubt that either side is going to be good for Emerson in the long run. I think Esperence wants the inheritance for herself, whereas Morgan doesn't seem fond of his nephew and I assume he'd rather see his son as the lord. It's a dangerous situation for him and I think it can only get more dangerous if he pisses off Esperence now, whom I still consider to be a more reliable ally than Morgan.
Yeah, Esperence does usually seem to be on top of the situation, and more than often she is, but at the same time she is still very young and inexperienced. Horidos attacking Jamison and dying also was a setback she did not expect at all, and we could indeed see in this part that she was in bit of a panic. Otherwise the pros and cons for each side remain more or less the same after this part - only difference is that Morgan now might have a crack at exposing Esperence.
Well, d'awww these two I was a bit conflicted on this one, just like last time with Ying's choice. On the one hand, I feel like Lien deserves the truth there, but the problem is, I don't want to put a strain on the relationship of the sisters. If things don't work out between her and Nealia, Lien is always going to have her sister, but if we do something to burden that relationship and if Nealia breaks up with her on top of that, Lien wouldn't have anyone. Sure, Ying has been way out of line with what she said, but perhaps she can still warm up to Nealia eventually. I doubt such a thing would happen if we sell her out here though. She's already angry, might be better not to provoke her any further.
It seems pretty clear now that Lien is crushing on Nealia, but Nealia is still a bit unsure But yeah, it's really a choice between being honest and trying to avoid a conflict between the twins. It's another one of these choices where there really isn't one morally right option, but rather both could be seen as one, just like both could be seen as immoral.
Two PoV's in one part? Hell yeah, take this seal of approval!
[Swear not to sell her out]
Alright... I must say Esperence surprise… mored me here. She seemed so calm and in control all this time, so it was concerning to see her losing her cool. The thing is, I still don't trust her, especially when it comes to her plans for Emerson. If she wishes to take the seat as the Lady of Godsgrace, then he is the biggest obstacle in her way in the long run. And frankly, she seems way too ambitious to settle for anything less. Emerson should be cautious around her, yet at the same time I don't think going against her will achieve much good for now. Perhaps keeping her as a potential ally is still a good thing. So, I say he should swear it. Such a promise can be broken later on if it turns out that taking Morgan's side will be better for him. However, I sort of doubt that either side is going to be good for Emerson in the long run. I think Esperence … [view original content]
This choice most likely will not win but ignoring Esperence seems like a alright choice here nonetheless. I could be looking at this from the wrong perspective but this choice actually seems like one where Emerson would pretty much be neutral not siding with either Morgan or Esperence. While I like Esperence as a character, she is definitely a hard one to trust and it has pretty much been made evident that if she can usurp the lordship from Morgan that she will do it regardless of Emerson's rightful status as heir or not. I am not saying that Emerson should try to side with Morgan too much either but rather try to stay as neutral to both sides as he can and bide his time to see how things unfold and see which one is truly best for him before making a commitment. With what has just transpired, I don't believe it is best for Emerson to make promises to her since this seems like a situation where we will find out how shady Esperence truly is. There is potential that Morgan is going to find out what all she has been up to and with Emerson warning Jamison, she may try to throw Emerson under the bus. Overall though, I just am not sure if promising something to Esperence is the best route to go at this point.
On a side note though, that Jamison scene was epic I know you said that this option would have an epic scene as well but I definitely was not expecting Jamison to literally throw Horidos' head at Morgan's feet. It was awesome! Jamison certainly is not one to be crossed that is for sure and it was really cool how Emerson seemed to earn Jamison's respect as well which is obviously a hard thing to do Safe to say, I am super curious where Jamison's storyline goes from here, not that there was any doubt!
[Tell her what Ying said]
I figure that Nealia may as well be honest with Lien here, Lien deserves to know what is truly going on and while it may cause a temporary rift with the sisters, they are said to be really close so I am sure they could iron it out especially over something relatively minor like this.
"It might be a good thing to admit to yourself that you enjoy the thrill of the fight, or even taking a life, but it should never be a comfo… morertable or pleasant thought. You should feel guilty for every life you take, to a certain degree." He spoke with a lecturing tone on his deep voice, and once again Nealia was reminded of her father. "I understand." Nealia said with a sigh, feeling like she was the young girl in Starfall again, talking about the importance of honor with her father. Then, she looked ahead and saw a small tower on the dusky horizon. "Looks like we finally found our camp for tonight." Illor remarked in a lighter tone, and with those words he rode off to join with Tryden.
And indeed, this small tower was the place where Jabar had planned them to stay the night. And on top of that, there was a garrison of fifteen Bandit Lord's men already residing there. Some of the men were saying this was the border of House Granit's lands,… [view original content]
I could be looking at this from the wrong perspective but this choice actually seems like one where Emerson would pretty much be neutral not siding with either Morgan or Esperence. While I like Esperence as a character, she is definitely a hard one to trust and it has pretty much been made evident that if she can usurp the lordship from Morgan that she will do it regardless of Emerson's rightful status as heir or not. I am not saying that Emerson should try to side with Morgan too much either but rather try to stay as neutral to both sides as he can and bide his time to see how things unfold and see which one is truly best for him before making a commitment.
Well, I can confirm that you've understood the choice correctly - ignoring Esperence isn't so much siding with Morgan, but rather avoiding to make promises to Esperence. So, technically it could indeed be called a neutral option, though Esperence might not see it that way.
On a side note though, that Jamison scene was epic I know you said that this option would have an epic scene as well but I definitely was not expecting Jamison to literally throw Horidos' head at Morgan's feet. It was awesome! Jamison certainly is not one to be crossed that is for sure and it was really cool how Emerson seemed to earn Jamison's respect as well which is obviously a hard thing to do Safe to say, I am super curious where Jamison's storyline goes from here, not that there was any doubt!
Glad to hear you liked the scene! Indeed, Jamison seems to be more respectful towards Emerson in this part than before, though ironically Jamison's respectful thanks made Emerson look suspicious in Morgan's eyes Anyway, we'll get more Jamison very soon
[Ignore her]
This choice most likely will not win but ignoring Esperence seems like a alright choice here nonetheless. I could be looking… more at this from the wrong perspective but this choice actually seems like one where Emerson would pretty much be neutral not siding with either Morgan or Esperence. While I like Esperence as a character, she is definitely a hard one to trust and it has pretty much been made evident that if she can usurp the lordship from Morgan that she will do it regardless of Emerson's rightful status as heir or not. I am not saying that Emerson should try to side with Morgan too much either but rather try to stay as neutral to both sides as he can and bide his time to see how things unfold and see which one is truly best for him before making a commitment. With what has just transpired, I don't believe it is best for Emerson to make promises to her since this seems like a situation where we will find out how shady Espere… [view original content]
"It might be a good thing to admit to yourself that you enjoy the thrill of the fight, or even taking a life, but it should never be a comfo… morertable or pleasant thought. You should feel guilty for every life you take, to a certain degree." He spoke with a lecturing tone on his deep voice, and once again Nealia was reminded of her father. "I understand." Nealia said with a sigh, feeling like she was the young girl in Starfall again, talking about the importance of honor with her father. Then, she looked ahead and saw a small tower on the dusky horizon. "Looks like we finally found our camp for tonight." Illor remarked in a lighter tone, and with those words he rode off to join with Tryden.
And indeed, this small tower was the place where Jabar had planned them to stay the night. And on top of that, there was a garrison of fifteen Bandit Lord's men already residing there. Some of the men were saying this was the border of House Granit's lands,… [view original content]
Emerson will swear not to sell Esperence out to Morgan. Staying in good terms with Esperence might indeed be a good idea, and staying on her side in a moment like this could also increase her respect towards Emerson.
And Nealia will tell Lien what Ying said. It's the honest option, and Lien probably will respect Nealia for telling the truth. However, it will most likely result an argument between the twins, and also it's the second choice in a row from Nealia that pisses off Ying
Anyway, the next part will most likely be ready today, and it will be a Jamison PoV. Now, this one won't be quite as action-packed as the last one, in the contrary this will be a very calm part, taking place in the morning after Jamison's fight with Horidos' gang.
-
Also, here is a portrait of our Summer Islander warrior lady, Manda Za:
Everything was clouded, as a thick black mist hung above the city by the river. A shadow walked through its streets, whispering as it slithered from one corner to another. The drums of war were beating, the booming sounds of horns echoed through the air, soldiers screamed their war cries, and steel clashed against steel. The streets ran red with blood, and the flames burned down those who dared to oppose them. Jamison was trapped in the middle of the chaos and fire, and the heat around him was burning like the deepest of the seven hells, melting his skin away...
And then he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that the pain on his shoulder was almost gone. Milk of the poppy, Jamison realized immediately, which also explained his fever dream. Still feeling a bit lightheaded, Jamison pulled himself to a sitting position, seeing a man standing by the window. It took him a couple seconds to recognize that it was Ser Aron of Southpoint.
"Why are you here?" Jamison asked with stern and tired voice, and the knight turned around to look at him. "Oh, you're finally awake, my Prince." He said with calm and polite tone, now approaching Jamison. "I'm here to guard you... Lord Morgan order his own men to guard the door, but we can't trust these Allyrion's."
"You think one of them sent Horidos after me?" Jamison asked nonchalantly, and Ser Aron shrugged. "I have little expertise on scheming, my Prince, but you did make it quite easy for them." He replied softly. Jamison chuckled, shaking his head subtly. "Not easy enough, considering I'm still alive."
Ser Aron nodded calmly, and walked back to the window. "We should leave this place as soon as we can, and go to Vaith, where we promised to meet up with Ser Rolan." It was almost like Aron was speaking to himself rather than Jamison, but the prince let out an agreeing grunt anyway.
"Admittedly, I'm growing quite tired of this place." He muttered as he adjusted his posture. "Anyway, where's Laroy?" Jamison asked, and Ser Aron turned his gaze towards him again. "He went to his own chambers about an hour ago, said that he needed to rest."
"And I assume Aidin and Darnis are also safe and well?" Jamison asked with very little genuine interest in his voice. "They are, as well as Arthur and rest of the convoy." Aron answered firmly.
"You know, Ser Aron, we've been traveling together for a while now, but I know hardly anything about you." Jamison suddenly said, seeing Aron raising his eyebrow. "I mean, I know you're the brother of Lord Timeon..."
"Cousin of Lord Timeon, my Prince." Aron corrected, though his tone was still polite and calm. "Ah, cousin then." Jamison admitted with a nod. "All the same, before this mission I'm not sure if I had ever even heard of you." He eyed at this Southpoint knight with great interest, gazing at the long and bony face with green eyes that seemed to constantly have a dutiful and sharp look on them.
"I'm not a famous man such as yourself or your father." He simply stated, his lips forming a thin smile. "Neither am I a great lord, or even an heir to one – just a knight, serving my kingdom the best I can." Jamison nodded quietly. Jamison himself could never live without ambition, only to serve, but he did find some respect for Ser Aron, and especially for how honest and straightforward he seemed to be - even if also boring.
"And why hasn't your cousin rewarded you of your loyal service?" Jamison asked dryly. He wasn't particularly interested, but for now this boring knight was his only company to have a conversation with. "What do you mean, my Prince?" Ser Aron asked calmly, though he seemed less than keen to talk about this.
"Well, you are soon on your forties, and you have no wife, am I correct?" Jamison asked, a small smirk on his face. "I am sure the Lord of Southpoint could find someone for his dear cousin." Aron let out a little sigh, turning his gaze down. As he turned his eyes to Jamison again, a fake smile was formed on his face.
"It is my own choice." Aron responded, and Jamison could spot the frustration under his calm surface. "Alright then, Ser." Jamison said with a sigh, finally getting up from his bed. He put his hand on his bandaged shoulder, and it didn't feel painful. Still, now that he had calmed down, the thought of that thug getting even this close to killing him infuriated Jamison to no end. Killing Horidos had been a satisfying moment, seeing the life disappear from his terrified eyes – that wasn't something he could've left for Morgan, especially since that bastard of a lord could very well be the one who commanded Horidos. Of course Jamison had no time to find proof for that, so there was no point even trying.
"My Prince, are you sure you don't need any more rest?" Ser Aron asked as Jamison was pulling on his tunic. "Why would I?" He responded with a blunt question, but didn't wait for Aron's reply, instead just walking out of the room as he was all dressed up.
-
Jamison looked at the city of Godsgrace from the castle walls. The alley he had fought in last night couldn't quite be seen from here, but Jamison still glared at the general direction. For some reason, his thoughts drifted to Isabella. Had I died there, I would've never laid my eyes on her again. Jamison clenched his fists, angered by the thought. He turned to look at the castle now, a grim gaze on his eyes. Morgan was standing at the doors of the keep, two of his knights standing around him. That man was Jamison's ally now, but in truth he would rather have him as an enemy.
Jamison could see his convoy on the courtyard, getting ready for the journey. Ser Laroy was speaking with Ser Aron and Arthur Wythmail, concerned expressions on their faces. Darnis of Southpoint and Aidin Dayne were also talking to each other, and Jamison noticed them glancing at him now and then. He let out a sigh, wondering if Ser Rolan's mission in Salt Shore had been successful.
Jamison walked down from the battlements, a stern expression on his face as he walked past the Allyrion guards. He approached Laroy, Aron and Arthur, and they bowed to him as they saw him coming.
"Are we ready?" Jamison asked lazily, and Laroy nodded to him. "Very soon, my Prince." He answered with a sigh. "It's going to be a long way home."
"Mm." Jamison mumbled in agreement, gently stroking his steed. "Hopefully we'll meet Lucifer before we head to Starfall." He said quietly, seeing Laroy raise his eyebrow. "Lucifer?" He asked with confusion. "Why?"
"Well, let's just say I want to tell him what happened here." Jamison answered nonchalantly, turning his gaze, and seeing Emerson walking across the courtyard. Earlier he had considered him a weak and harmless boy, and perhaps he was just that, but he had warned him about the danger. Meaning he knows something. Jamison stroked his chin, wondering if he should question Emerson further. Then again, perhaps it would be useless, considering Jamison was about to leave this place anyway.
This dream Jamison had at the beginning of this part... I am concerned it might have been a prophetic one. I mean, sure, a dream is sometimes only a dream and there's no indicator that it's any more than that for Jamison, but ever since Gwendis got her vision and the following creepy dreams, I have grown more than just a bit cautious when it comes to those. So... this is concerning for Jamison and let's analyze it. The city by the river he saw, I am curious which one it is. According to the map, Hellgate Hall is near a river, so are Vaith and Godsgrace. Jamison could realistically go to all three. There is also a shadow moving through the streets, which would fit to Vaith, considering this dark witch that is residing there and the fire that burns those who oppose it might further hint at Vaith, given that it is about to be attacked by Dalia's Wild Suns. However, I got the feeling that we'll see the fall of Vaith in this chapter and it might be too late for Jamison to go there. But in general, this shadow could hint at a servant of the Great Other, or maybe one of these creepy R'hllor shadow babies. Maybe Jamison will cross paths with Aisha? Or maybe there is yet another GO follower we know nothing about. Or maybe I am completely in the wrong and this shadow has nothing to do with any god. But the fire part does not bode well for Jamison and just to be on the safe side, I'll try my best to keep him away from any cities near rivers if possible.
[Leave him alone]
This is another choice I am a bit conflicted about and I might change it later on, if someone makes a good argument in favour of confronting Emerson. Thing is, Jamison is going to leave this all behind pretty soon, which is good. He doesn't need to uncover this mystery, because once he's back at Starfall, it won't concern him anymore. Instead, if he helps Lucifer in uncovering this and finding out about Esperence and her plans, things could end up better for the Dryland's. Considering that none of the Dryland's are among my favourites, to say the least, I would rather favour the Martell's here. On top of that, confronting Emerson could lead to serious problems for him, on top of the ones he already has in his situation. That said, I could see good reason to confront him as well, but I'd like to wait and see what the others have to say here before I might change my vote.
Jamison
Everything was clouded, as a thick black mist hung above the city by the river. A shadow walked through its streets, whispering a… mores it slithered from one corner to another. The drums of war were beating, the booming sounds of horns echoed through the air, soldiers screamed their war cries, and steel clashed against steel. The streets ran red with blood, and the flames burned down those who dared to oppose them. Jamison was trapped in the middle of the chaos and fire, and the heat around him was burning like the deepest of the seven hells, melting his skin away...
And then he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that the pain on his shoulder was almost gone. Milk of the poppy, Jamison realized immediately, which also explained his fever dream. Still feeling a bit lightheaded, Jamison pulled himself to a sitting position, seeing a man standing by the window. It took him a couple seconds to recognize that it was Ser Aron of South… [view original content]
This dream Jamison had at the beginning of this part... I am concerned it might have been a prophetic one. I mean, sure, a dream is sometimes only a dream and there's no indicator that it's any more than that for Jamison, but ever since Gwendis got her vision and the following creepy dreams, I have grown more than just a bit cautious when it comes to those. So... this is concerning for Jamison and let's analyze it. The city by the river he saw, I am curious which one it is. According to the map, Hellgate Hall is near a river, so are Vaith and Godsgrace. Jamison could realistically go to all three. There is also a shadow moving through the streets, which would fit to Vaith, considering this dark witch that is residing there and the fire that burns those who oppose it might further hint at Vaith, given that it is about to be attacked by Dalia's Wild Suns. However, I got the feeling that we'll see the fall of Vaith in this chapter and it might be too late for Jamison to go there. But in general, this shadow could hint at a servant of the Great Other, or maybe one of these creepy R'hllor shadow babies.
I was expecting that short dream to concern the readers much more than it concerns Jamison himself. It could indeed be foreshadowing, we'll see. There's not really much I can say, but you're right, Hellgate Hall (or Tidmarsh), Vaith and Godsgrace all would fit the description. Nothing like that dream will happen to Jamison before he leaves Godsgrace though, that much I can promise, but of course it's always possible he'll come back one day. It's indeed questionable whether Jamison could reach Vaith before the attack of the Wild Suns, but then again, a small convoy does move faster than an army, and the road from Godsgrace to Vaith is easier than the one from Hellgate Hall to Vaith.
This dream Jamison had at the beginning of this part... I am concerned it might have been a prophetic one. I mean, sure, a dream is sometime… mores only a dream and there's no indicator that it's any more than that for Jamison, but ever since Gwendis got her vision and the following creepy dreams, I have grown more than just a bit cautious when it comes to those. So... this is concerning for Jamison and let's analyze it. The city by the river he saw, I am curious which one it is. According to the map, Hellgate Hall is near a river, so are Vaith and Godsgrace. Jamison could realistically go to all three. There is also a shadow moving through the streets, which would fit to Vaith, considering this dark witch that is residing there and the fire that burns those who oppose it might further hint at Vaith, given that it is about to be attacked by Dalia's Wild Suns. However, I got the feeling that we'll see the fall of Vaith in this chapter and it might b… [view original content]
Now this was a very interesting part and I am not sure what to think about Jamison's dream At this point, I am going to chalk up this dream to the Milk of the Poppy rather than it being some kind of foreshadowing but I do have to admit that dream described a situation that could happen soon. By that, I mean it sounds like the upcoming battle in Vaith with the Wild Suns and the forces of Vaith. If I remember correctly, the Lady of Vaith is said to be a witch as well so I assume that means she could serve the Great Other. Overall as said, I am still leaning on the dream just being a coincidence or maybe I am just trying to be optimistic Either way though, hopefully Jamison can get through Vaith with minimal trouble and be on his way back to Starfall before the Wild Suns get there. With that said, I know there is certainly a chance that Jamison may end up being apart of this battle as well. For such a relatively calm part, it has me a bit nervous all the same!
[Leave him alone]
As much as I want to see one last Jamison-Emerson conversation, I think that leaving Emerson alone may just be the option to go with here. We do know that Horidos was behind the attack and he is dead now. While Jamison is no doubt curious about what happened, in the long run it should not affect him any whatsoever I don't think. Besides that, Emerson just made a promise to Esperence not to sell her out so I am not sure if we can get anything out of him anyway. If Jamison were to get any lead on who was behind it whatsoever, that would probably compel him to stay in Godsgrace longer which I am not sure is the best choice of action at this point considering how close it is to Sandship and on top of that, it seems that the conflict within Godsgrace is only going to continue to pick up so it is probably best for Jamison to leave there while he is ahead so to say The action in Central and Western Dorne is picking up at a rapid pace so now it is probably best for Jamison to go back west now and hang out in Starfall where it is safe for awhile! I know that probably won't happen but that doesn't mean I can't hope nonetheless Great part!
Jamison
Everything was clouded, as a thick black mist hung above the city by the river. A shadow walked through its streets, whispering a… mores it slithered from one corner to another. The drums of war were beating, the booming sounds of horns echoed through the air, soldiers screamed their war cries, and steel clashed against steel. The streets ran red with blood, and the flames burned down those who dared to oppose them. Jamison was trapped in the middle of the chaos and fire, and the heat around him was burning like the deepest of the seven hells, melting his skin away...
And then he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that the pain on his shoulder was almost gone. Milk of the poppy, Jamison realized immediately, which also explained his fever dream. Still feeling a bit lightheaded, Jamison pulled himself to a sitting position, seeing a man standing by the window. It took him a couple seconds to recognize that it was Ser Aron of South… [view original content]
Jamison
Everything was clouded, as a thick black mist hung above the city by the river. A shadow walked through its streets, whispering a… mores it slithered from one corner to another. The drums of war were beating, the booming sounds of horns echoed through the air, soldiers screamed their war cries, and steel clashed against steel. The streets ran red with blood, and the flames burned down those who dared to oppose them. Jamison was trapped in the middle of the chaos and fire, and the heat around him was burning like the deepest of the seven hells, melting his skin away...
And then he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that the pain on his shoulder was almost gone. Milk of the poppy, Jamison realized immediately, which also explained his fever dream. Still feeling a bit lightheaded, Jamison pulled himself to a sitting position, seeing a man standing by the window. It took him a couple seconds to recognize that it was Ser Aron of South… [view original content]
Now this was a very interesting part and I am not sure what to think about Jamison's dream At this point, I am going to chalk up this dream to the Milk of the Poppy rather than it being some kind of foreshadowing but I do have to admit that dream described a situation that could happen soon. By that, I mean it sounds like the upcoming battle in Vaith with the Wild Suns and the forces of Vaith. If I remember correctly, the Lady of Vaith is said to be a witch as well so I assume that means she could serve the Great Other. Overall as said, I am still leaning on the dream just being a coincidence or maybe I am just trying to be optimistic
Mm, it could be just a meaningless nightmare that Jamison had because of the Milk of the poppy That said, since you also brought up the upcoming battle in Vaith, well, there can indeed be many connections made between this dream and that battle as well. For now we don't know if Jamison will even make it there before the battle happens, but that's where he is heading next.
The action in Central and Western Dorne is picking up at a rapid pace so now it is probably best for Jamison to go back west now and hang out in Starfall where it is safe for awhile! I know that probably won't happen but that doesn't mean I can't hope nonetheless Great part!
Heh, Starfall would probably be the safest place in Dorne right now, but like Laroy said, they've got a long way home. Whether Jamison makes it back to Starfall within Book 1 is still up in the air, but I can at least promise there will be interesting things happening on his journey
Now this was a very interesting part and I am not sure what to think about Jamison's dream At this point, I am going to chalk up this dream… more to the Milk of the Poppy rather than it being some kind of foreshadowing but I do have to admit that dream described a situation that could happen soon. By that, I mean it sounds like the upcoming battle in Vaith with the Wild Suns and the forces of Vaith. If I remember correctly, the Lady of Vaith is said to be a witch as well so I assume that means she could serve the Great Other. Overall as said, I am still leaning on the dream just being a coincidence or maybe I am just trying to be optimistic Either way though, hopefully Jamison can get through Vaith with minimal trouble and be on his way back to Starfall before the Wild Suns get there. With that said, I know there is certainly a chance that Jamison may end up being apart of this battle as well. For such a relatively calm part, it has me a bit ner… [view original content]
Jamison
Everything was clouded, as a thick black mist hung above the city by the river. A shadow walked through its streets, whispering a… mores it slithered from one corner to another. The drums of war were beating, the booming sounds of horns echoed through the air, soldiers screamed their war cries, and steel clashed against steel. The streets ran red with blood, and the flames burned down those who dared to oppose them. Jamison was trapped in the middle of the chaos and fire, and the heat around him was burning like the deepest of the seven hells, melting his skin away...
And then he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that the pain on his shoulder was almost gone. Milk of the poppy, Jamison realized immediately, which also explained his fever dream. Still feeling a bit lightheaded, Jamison pulled himself to a sitting position, seeing a man standing by the window. It took him a couple seconds to recognize that it was Ser Aron of South… [view original content]
That is very concerning, what you bring up there. If Jamison leaves Godsgrace now, he is most likely in Vaith just when the Wild Suns arrive there as well. Judging by the map, it appears Godsgrace and Hellgate Hall have about the same distance towards Vaith, just from different directions. And it would make sense for him to go over Vaith, maybe alongside the river, considering that the alternative would either be an unnecessary extra way alongside southern Dorne or travelling through the desert. Argh, this really does not sound good for him, since it fits so perfectly with Vaith, with the fire, the shadow and the city by the river. And I doubt his storyline in this chapter is anywhere close to being over, so if the Wild Suns attack Vaith in this chapter, which I am pretty sure they will, there is a concerning possibility that Jamison will be caught in the crossfire.
This dream Jamison had at the beginning of this part... I am concerned it might have been a prophetic one. I mean, sure, a dream is sometime… mores only a dream and there's no indicator that it's any more than that for Jamison, but ever since Gwendis got her vision and the following creepy dreams, I have grown more than just a bit cautious when it comes to those. So... this is concerning for Jamison and let's analyze it. The city by the river he saw, I am curious which one it is. According to the map, Hellgate Hall is near a river, so are Vaith and Godsgrace. Jamison could realistically go to all three. There is also a shadow moving through the streets, which would fit to Vaith, considering this dark witch that is residing there and the fire that burns those who oppose it might further hint at Vaith, given that it is about to be attacked by Dalia's Wild Suns. However, I got the feeling that we'll see the fall of Vaith in this chapter and it might b… [view original content]
Jamison
Everything was clouded, as a thick black mist hung above the city by the river. A shadow walked through its streets, whispering a… mores it slithered from one corner to another. The drums of war were beating, the booming sounds of horns echoed through the air, soldiers screamed their war cries, and steel clashed against steel. The streets ran red with blood, and the flames burned down those who dared to oppose them. Jamison was trapped in the middle of the chaos and fire, and the heat around him was burning like the deepest of the seven hells, melting his skin away...
And then he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that the pain on his shoulder was almost gone. Milk of the poppy, Jamison realized immediately, which also explained his fever dream. Still feeling a bit lightheaded, Jamison pulled himself to a sitting position, seeing a man standing by the window. It took him a couple seconds to recognize that it was Ser Aron of South… [view original content]
This was a clear one, Jamison will leave Emerson alone. Well, the first and most obvious consequence will be that Emerson's next part will be a bit shorter, not having a scene with Jamison. Another thing is that now Jamison will leave Godsgrace with the suspicion that Morgan had to be somehow involved in the assasination attempt, whereas a conversation with Emerson may have convinced him that perhaps that's not the case. All the same, Jamison and his convoy will now head towards Vaith, where they are supposed to reunite with Ser Rolan Nightfall and Lyreon Nightfall.
However, in the next part we'll have two PoVs, Dianna and Verro. Dianna's part is almost ready, and I've made some good progress with Verro's part as well. Hopefully I'll have them ready tomorrow. Last time we saw Dianna, she lost the skirmish at the Griefhill against Bjorn Harlaw's crew, which ended with basically all her soldiers killed, including Javor and Gerrar. Ser Dallin Dalt retreated with his men, Dianna herself was taken as prisoner, and Bjorn's half-brother Hargan took Lysera as his salt wife. In the next morning after Dianna being captured, Bjorn explained to her the situation, and that he and Efran would soon conquer Lemonwood as allies. He asked Dianna if it's true that Nymeria has no ships, and when Dianna admitted that to be the truth, Bjorn stated that then the Princess wouldn't be able to save Lemonwood. However, he went on to ask Dianna's opinion on the matter, and you chose for her to say that Nym would stop Bjorn and Efran. We'll skip ahead a bit, and continue with Bjorn's crew having returned to their ships.
On Verro's storyline, he has lately been with Efran and the Thunder Crew raiding the lands of House Bravespear (bannermen of Dalt's). You probably remember how he decided not to stop an old woman who attacked Axel from behind, and also let the daughter of said woman escape. Axel was very mad about this. Efran managed to recruit one man named Maxar from the men of the village they raided, and killed the rest. Later on, Verro had a conversation with Efran, who revealed that he had heard what happened between Verro and Axel. He forgave Verro easily, though he was surprised that a Dothraki was so anti-rape. After his conversation with Efran, Verro decided to apologize to Axel. Just like with Dianna, we'll skip ahead a bit.
Comments
Hm, I heavily disagree with that. Becoming some sort of a twisted demon-worshipping monster is basically the last thing I want for Gwendis. Even her death would be only marginally worse than that. Thing is, and I think that much is for sure, such a thing would be truly horrible for her and can't end well. So, I am absolutely, heavily and strictly opposed to such a thing, as I actually want her to have the chance of getting a more or less good ending, no matter how much hard work this will be instead of screwing her over on purpose on account of getting a villain PoV. She can't get this good ending as a follower of the Great Other, especially as that is surely a good way of being cut down by Dalia. She (and especially Desi as the one who calls the shots there) might be merciful towards an innocent caught into this whole mess against her will, but well, if Gwendis starts to give in to the Great Other, then her fate is basically sealed if she ever has to face Aisha's enemy. There is absolutely no way such a thing could end well, she either dies or becomes a person she simply isn't. She'd become the complete opposite of how she has been so far and I honestly fail to see the appeal of that, mostly because there is a good reason for why I favour her so much in the way she currently is.
Getting her through this alive is already hard enough of a task, so the last thing I want for her it to become a villain on top of that. And to be honest, the followers of the Great Other we have seen so far are horrible beyond measure. I don't trust Aisha either, but I believe her when she implied earlier that she is actually one of the more affable followers of the Great Other. That alone is reason enough not to push Gwendis down that dark path. So, if you truly believe that giving in to this obviously evil ancient demon and this obviously evil witch that has been lying to her from the moment they met is for her best, then go ahead, although I hope for the utmost that readers such as CM3434, Nightmare1 and Tales will continue to disagree with such a route. But please, don't just screw her over for the sake of having a villain PoV with a storyline even darker than what we're already guaranteed to get with characters like Aisha and Wesley. In my opinion, there are enough PoV's with potential to become dark already and frankly, no matter how much we struggle, this will likely leave a mark on Gwendis, so all I can do is to prevent her from becoming as fully evil as a servant of the Great Other is required to be. And to be honest, I find resisting such dark urges always more interesting than having her on the route of becoming yet another Aisha. Isn't this contrast between the temptations of the Great Other and Gwendis' own high morality far more interesting than just having a generic Great Other cultist? And isn't it more interesting to see someone trying to survive the threats that are posed by Aisha and Wesley than to fully join them? In my opinion, such a villain PoV would be interesting for a total of one or two parts at most, then it would get boring really quickly. It would also absolutly deprive her of any chance for a future, because there's no way things could end well for her if she gives in to the evil that is the Great Other. I don't know, I hope you somewhat reconsider your position on this.
I can assure you that I have grown oddly fond of Lyla even before the whole Great Other thing, but ever since this whole situation has really taken a turn for the worse, I have genuinely started to miss her. Since I do indeed like her a lot, I must say that I'd take her over Aisha in just about every situation imaginable. She might be a bit of a jerk, but I didn't even got the impression that she is evil or anything like that, so yeah, she is undoubtedly better than Aisha and this entire Great Other cult. And I certainly hope to see more of her soon
Like I said, I don't have anything against things going the way you hope, originally I also prefered that way, but my preferences switched, that's really it.
I was curious to if my little attempt at humor worked, I tried to separate the paragraphs to where it wouldn't show up right after I gave my little speech but apparently that does not work in typing up comments but even still glad you found it funny
Indeed, Gwendis is in my opinion one of those characters that is hard to root against and one who I want to see succeed. Of course, I don't vote for every PoV's choices like I do for Gwendis but primarily for how i see their character to be. So I would not vote for Jamison to act the same way as I would Gwendis for example
You are no doubt correct on this point, this AIsha storyline for Gwendis is very thrilling and at least at this point in time, I can say it was the correct choice for the readers. Admittedly, I wanted an Isabella and Gwendis meeting which was my primary motivator in wanting to send Gwendis to Skyreach. I also felt there would have been great potential for Gwendis to rise to prominence there but at the same time, if Gwendis is lucky enough to gain power somewhere, it should be her home in Blackmont rather then Skyreach. Also if Gwendis were to have went to Skyreach, there would have been two PoV's there which probably would not be needed so we definitely made the right choice there! Overall though, I believe this Aisha storyline could actually do some good for Gwendis with her getting to see more of the outside world as seen by her seeing the struggles that caused Trentan to turn to being a thief. But yes, I am definitely with you man, I'll try my best to help Gwendis get through this unscathed 
I get it, at least somewhat. I think. Maybe. At the same time, I hope you'll come around again. Getting Gwendis through this alive will be hard enough as it is and I am concerned that those who want to push her into this dark path could eventually succeed at it. All it takes is one choice where one or two of those who actually want her to survive to accidentally pick the wrong option and voila, we got us another Dark Priestess, Aisha 2.0. And unlike you, who seems to be okay with both paths, that is something I will fight tooth and nail, something I not only don't prefer, but heavily oppose. Perhaps the only way I could even remotely accept such a choice would be if the other path ends with her unavoidable death, unambiguous and permanent, but I believe that becoming Aisha 2.0. holds far greater threats for her life than anything else and I really can't understand why you'd risk this. So yeah, I really hope you're coming around from that again, because just getting some briefly interesting villain PoV would mean ruining the way she is right now. Even beyond my heavy personal objections, I don't think the outcome is worth the cost.
Well, you're certainly not going easy on Aisha
Can't blame you though, she is being very secretive, and the fact that she is taking Gwendis (and Trentan) to someone like Mordekhai is already a reason to be angry. Especially since this all begun from her promising that this would be the path to save Gwen's life. It's clear that she is determined to get Gwendis to follow the Great Other, and as you said she is getting less and less subtle about her motives. Refusing to give in to her is admirable and strong move from Gwen, but as we already saw in this part, Aisha is slowly starting to lose her patience.
Indeed, Trentan was pretty freaked out by this cave. He does of course know that Aisha worships a dark god, but if he'd learn how dark this particular religion can go at worst, he'd probably be less inclined to be so close to the Dark Priestess. And it's indeed an interesting situation that so much could depend on Trentan, a lowly thief
Yep, Mordekhai is indeed the warrior Aisha is looking for. I'm not really in touch with Star Trek, but after checking some YouTube videos I see Wesley seems to be a Mary Sue -type character, which is an... interesting comparison to Mordekhai
Anyway, I'm pretty sure everyone hates Mordekhai, there's really no reason to like that guy. He is a warrior though, meaning he'll be fighting, so it's a big possibility that you'll indeed get to see him die a painful death at some point... or he'll just keep giving painful deaths to others 
Well, there are a couple reasons. While Gwendis' trust towards Aisha is decreasing, she knows that the Great Other is real, and she fears that if she abandons this path Aisha is leading her to, she might end up dying like Aisha said would happen. Another factor is that she fears Aisha wouldn't let her go, and she wouldn't get far if she tried to run. That said, it is possible that Gwendis might try to escape later if a chance for that comes up.
Well, it did work for me because I was reading on my phone and I did not scroll down too far, because I haven't expected such a long comment. I saw you have voted, eagerly went to see what you picked, nearly got a heart attack and then had a good laugh out of it
Hehe, I actually must say I'd vote for both the same. I try to make them succeed and I do so for every PoV aside from those I don't like. Arguably, Dalia and maybe Tomas are the ones I currently don't like, so with them I am not afraid to make choices that screw them over, but with all the others, I try to pick what is best for them. I see every option as somehow justifiable in-character, I think Wildling does a great job at offering us two or more options that can all be seen as fitting, but obviously there is often a choice that ends up being better than the other for the character and I try my best to find it
Ah, I'm still not sure if I'd go that far. I don't know if we made the correct choice. Maybe if we actually manage to keep her alive, but I think her death is a very real danger here, likely far stronger and far earlier than it could have happened in Skyreach. And a meeting between Gwendis and the Fowler's (mostly Isabella, but also Garrison and Desmor) is something I still mourn for. That would have been quite something. I agree that if she is to get any sort of power, she would deserve it to be in Blackmont, though I'd rather take some marginal power in Skyreach, maybe as the advisor of Garrison and later Ferris, over no power at all, having her living her days as a Great Other cultist, far away from the home and family she loves, or outright dying. That's why I am still very much on the fence and will likely remain that way until this part of the storyline has resolved and I can make a more qualified guess.
That is something I have thought of as well! Admittedly, not in the moment I made my choice, but in retrospect, I could see this as having been better for Isabella in terms of having her own storyline. With her being far less of an active, goal-oriented player such as Gwendis, she could have even ended up being eclipsed by her new sister-in-law. Now she's getting a storyline where she is always the protagonist and that can only be good for her as well, right?
That is something I have not really thought of though... if she indeed manages to survive this, then she is undoubtedly going to learn quite a lot of the struggles the poor have to live through. If I remember, she had some contempt for Trentan initially, on account of him being a thief and while it has been somewhat understandable since he just tried to steal from her, she might grow more sympathetic for those. Her actions as the head of her father's council have always been well-intentioned, but she never actually got to see the struggles she has tried to deal with back then. Hm, maybe not all is bad from the Aisha part, even if the priestess herself, her warrior and her god are the most horrible. Ah, it's good to hear you're seeing things similarly. I still struggle with being more positive about this storyline, but if there is a chance for her to survive this, we might manage to find it.
I can assure you, I am not even nearly going hard enough on that lying, irredeemably evil, thoroughly horrible piece of shit that has never done anything good in her life, is literally incapable of doing anything even remotely good or even just well-intentioned for anyone but herself and her demon, is never going to do anything helpful for anyone and is so devoid of positive traits or attributes that she is a complete waste of space. I can't even call her Wesley, because that would be an insult to Wesley. And yeah, that is still me going easy on her
That said, it looks like I finally get justified in the utter hatred I feel for her. Her patience is wearing thin, but honestly, she has no reason to be angry at Gwendis. She offered her nothing so far, she demands trust for no reason. Perhaps being part of such an evil cult of evilness has grinded her brain cells down to the intelligence levels of a lukewarm slice of bread, but even she should be theoretically capable of realizing that her way of dealing with the situation is perhaps, just perhaps, the worst way she could ever approach this whole situation. I mean, even with me, there was a time where I was willing to give Aisha the benefit of the doubt, before she revealed her true rotten colours. But instead of actually offering explanations, all she is doing is to do more ominously evil jabbering, where she outright demands a trust she never even tried to earn. I have hoped that even she is capable of seeing that it might be time for her to actually offer an answer instead of refusing, to actually explain what Gwendis is supposed to do and what the consequences could be, what she is dealing with and to ask her if she actually wants to be a part of it. So far, she dragged her into this with a mixture of false promises and outright lies, so she really shouldn't be surprised that Gwendis is not willing to help her in any way. And even if she says something, it all sounds like something along the lines of: "My entire cult and god is irredeemably evil and I am the worst". If she wants to be trusted, then perhaps she should actually start to earn that trust instead of demanding it. That said, considering that she doesn't earn any trust at all, I guess her frustration and anger comes from Gwendis continuing to see right through her lies. Not that it's hard. Anyone could see through that, but she herself seems to be so brain-washed that she thinks that her lies actually make any sense.
And don't even get me started on her dragging Gwendis knowingly towards Wesley! That is the first thing she did that actually justifies me hoping for her to get the most terribly painful and humiliating death in the history of terribly painful and humiliating deaths. Surely she thinks that she has means to control him, but I think she is a stupid bitch who has no idea just what kind of a monster she has just summoned. Or even if her plan to control him works out perfectly, I bet she'd allow him to have his way with Gwendis purely to spite her. Or she at the very least wouldn't object. That is the sort of person I think she is and so far, every single thing she ever did in the entire story gave me right with it and she only kept getting worse and worse.
Maybe that was the beginning of the end for Trentan's loyalty to her. Aisha is not really the kind of a person anyone should trust and I think Trentan is slowly realizing it. All we have to do is to befriend him so that he might end up helping Gwendis as well. It doesn't even have to be anything too big. I mean, I don't expect of him to kill Aisha to save Gwendis' life, or to somehow even kill Wesley, but there are other ways he could help. Freeing Gwendis if Aisha decides to put her into chains, allowing her to escape instead of guarding her, distracting Aisha or preventing her from sacrificing Gwen, or maybe distracting Wesley and causing him to miss a strike that was supposed to kill her. Even small contributions could end up saving her life. Unlike Aisha and Wesley, he is not evil and I believe if he warms up to Gwendis, he could be crucial in her survival. I certainly put more hopes on him than on Aisha and Wesley and maybe even more than on Dalia and Desi, whom I am still a bit concerned about.
Wesley, meaning Star Trek's Wesley, is indeed an archetypical Mary Sue, one of the most famous examples of the term. Even worse is that he's a Creator' Pet, written by Gene Wesley Rodenberry, who made it painfully clear that he tried to make Wesley an idealized version of himself. I think you can see why I consider it such an insult to call this warrior by such a name
That said, I must make sure that I don't consider Wesley, meaning your Wesley, to be a badly written character. Your Wesley is certainly not a Mary Sue and you do write him very well. It's just that I have such an intense hatred for him that I considered the name to be very fitting. And well, I think eventually there will be a painful death for him. I can't see him ever not being a threat to the heroes, so unlike you give him a full victory, he is likely going to be stopped eventually. It's only a concern how much damage he will do until then.
Hm, I see. Yeah, I see it... argh, I hope that she sees Aisha's true nature soon enough. Thing is, perhaps Aisha will stop her from running away and it frankly seems likely that she will at least try it, but that doesn't mean that Gwendis shouldn't try to escape if given a reasonable chance. Of course, just running away in the Red Mountains, in the middle of Manwoody territory, that is a death sentence and I'd also very much like for her to sit out on that marriage contract until it became redundant, because I'd hate for her to just get married off to Skyreach after all, considering what she did to avoid it. So, if there is a choice for her to escape, she'd need some sort of plan after that, or it would have to be in a situation where it is clear that escaping will be the only thing that saves her life, such as when Wesley inadvertently snaps.
Also, if you count my comments for this part together, I have finally reached the point where my thoughts on this part are longer than the part itself. This is one of the proudest moments of my entire life
Ugh, I hate double posts
Haha well, I am glad to hear you enjoyed it! I tried to be a bit over the top with my reasoning but still serious enough to be believable
But yeah, Gwendis won't become a Great Other worshipper if I can help it 
Oops, I totally worded that wrong. I definitely want to see Jamison and all of the other PoV's besides Gwendis succeed as well
I mainly mean that with Gwendis, I try to lean toward keeping her a good and pure as she can possibly be in the situation that she is in while with Jamison I am more willing to bounce back and forth between the honorable and dishonorable choices since he does very much toe the line of good and bad. While Gwendis I see as more on the good side of the spectrum which of course could change depending on where this Aisha storyline goes. As you said though, Wildling does such an excellent job with the choices for our characters, all of the choices are fitting 
Yeah, Gwendis and the Fowler's was no doubt something I was really excited to see come to form in the story. I do believe that Gwendis would be far safer in Skyreach and would have been the safer choice overall. I see Garrison as someone who would have valued her political knowledge more than Benedict did, Desmor could be someone she grew to be happy with in time plus I just think Isabella and Gwendis as friends probably would have been the cutest thing
As you said though, if Gwendis going with Aisha is the right choice, we will find out in time. She is getting to experience more of the outside world which I believe is valuable but we won't find out if this storyline is good for Gwendis' overall mental and physical health until much later I imagine.
I would say this route was far better for Isabella in hindsight as well. Gwendis is no doubt one of the central PoV's in Nymeria's War from what I can tell and if she went to Skyreach, there is a chance that Isabella would have lost importance as a PoV. However thinking about it though, I am sure Wildling would have came up with something epic for both of them plus as I said, a Gwendis and Isabella interaction would have been pretty cool! As it stands now though, Isabella does get to be the main PoV in Skyreach with her own storyline which is of course awesome!
Exactly, this storyline has all of the potential to make Gwendis a even better ruler if the time comes since now rather then having an idealistic view of what the poor go through, she will see more of it firsthand. But yeah, I will admit that Mordekhai or should I say "Wesley" around does have a chance to make things more difficult for Gwendis but even still, Gwendis does seem to be more than mentally capable of figuring a way out of this and it seems Trentan may be starting to see Aisha's true colors as well so there is certainly hope for Gwendis
Voting is closed!
Alright, Gwendis will refuse to put her hands on the altar. I could guess you'd choose this. Well, we'll see in the next part how exactly will that work for her...
Anyway, the next part will be an Emerson PoV, and I'm actually more or less done with it already. However, I'm also about 50% done with the one after that, a Nealia PoV, so I figured I'll finish that one and post them at the same time, which will be either later today, or tomorrow.
Last time we saw Emerson was in the Jamison part, where he warned him that he shouldn't leave the castle, as there are people in Godsgrace who want to kill him. And well, as we know Horidos did try to kill Jamison. Anyway, before this brief meeting with Jamison, Emerson was in the meeting held by Esperence, where he found out that Esperence and her men were planning to help the Martell's take over Godsgrace. This time, we'll get to see an Allyrion family dinner.
And what comes to Nealia, the last we saw her she was traveling along the southern coast of Dorne, with the rest of the Rose Company, as well as Corren and his bandits. She had a little chat with Illor, who encouraged her to keep going. He was also curious about Nealia's affair with Lien, but Nealia wasn't eager to talk about it. A moment later Ying wanted to talk to her about the very same issue, trying to make Nealia promise that she wouldn't pursue a romance with Lien, as Ying didn't see her as a worthy companion for her sister. You voted for her to not make such promises.
Also, before the next parts a new H&L will be posted! It comes from a character who hasn't actually been introduced yet in the story, but he has been mentioned. I thought it was great, and I'm sure you will too
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One more thing - here is a portrait of Ser Mordekhai Crusher, the Skeletal Knight, the Warrior of the Great Other:
Oh shite, I'm nervous. Sure, I prefer defiance instead of submitting to Bitsha (get it? get it? 'Cause she's a massive bitch) and her demon god, but I am nonetheless hellishly afraid as to how both will react. The Great Other likely needs Gwendis to be somewhat willing to make her his weapon, or else it would have forced her long ago, but I'm sure that both will continue to grind her resistance down in order to make her willing. And naturally, Aisha will be angry, even if there's really no reason for her to be. So far, Gwendis is the one that's making sense here, whereas the bitch-witch just keeps demanding trust and submission without ever explaining anything until it is too late. But ah, I guess intelligent actions are not what I can expect from that mouldy piece of demon shit. I put my hopes in Trentan to intervene if things go too far, but I don't know if he's all that far yet. I just hope that Aisha's reaction won't be too severe, but I have learned a lesson about expecting any decency from her.
Wait, I got a totally different impression as to her intention. Whoa, not cool, Ying, not cool! She certainly worded it a bit more diplomatically back when she explained the situation to Nealia, but man, that is just rude
Now I think we certainly made the right decision, because Ying barely knows Nealia, so her opinion is probably clouded by overprotectiveness.
Hm.... now that is very interesting. So this is the first character that actually got introduced through this H&L then, I'm very curious and excited about this
Charming. Truly charming, with all the lovable dorkiness I expect from someone who is played by Wil Wheaton. Seriously though, he looks even more terrifying than I expected him to be. He looks on the outside like Aisha looks on the inside. Perhaps a bit less evil than her, but man, those eyes are nightmarish. At the same time, I never thought I'd ever say that about anything Wesley-related, but I love how intense this looks. I think Aisha is about to cross a line by just keeping him in Gwendis' general reach. With him on her team, the bitch's claims that she is the morally rightful side in this conflict are about as convincing as the head of the KKK claiming to be accepting towards people of all colours. Perhaps even less believable, because Aisha is the worst. Wesley however... well, he's the second worst, but his portrait, it's far from the second worst. I mean, not that there is a second worst, or a worst, but I actually quite like this one, as much as he terrifies me. Good job!
H&L time again! I had not officially planned on doing this one for a pretty long while but the motivation was strong for it so I decided to give it a shot. This is an H&L for Valor Veltaris. He is the leader of the Fallen Dragons who are a sellsword company contracted by Forovos Norvoshi to aid Nymeria in her upcoming war. This H&L is set right before they depart for Dorne to start their mission and Without further ado, here it is!
Valor Veltaris - A New Beginning
Ships lined the Orange Shore nearly as far as the eye could see, the sails of them displaying a dragon flying downward, toward the unknown. Maybe the dragon was flying down to vanquish his foes, or maybe this dragon was falling into the abyss. The many sellswords among the Fallen Dragons saw this dragon as a sign of their strength rather than their weakness. However, ask anyone of the Freehold however, and they would tell the latter, they would speak harshly of “The Fallen Dragon” Valor Veltaris who tucked his tail and ran away from triumph, a victory which will never be erased. And what is the truth about what this dragon really means? Well, Valor Veltaris had heard many viewpoints on the subject, and only he could deem which one was true.
Just a few short years ago, Prince Garin and the Rhoynar were crushed by the Valyrian Freehold who sent three hundred dragons to rain fire and blood down upon them. They were punished for not knowing their place the dragonlords said. And what did they say when Prince Garin united the Rhoynar under one cause, to fight back against them, and then defeated them in Selhorys, Valysar, and finally at the great battle of Volon Therys? The dragonlords said that just like unruly dogs, it is time that they are put down. And no matter how true or untrue their statement about the Rhoynar people was, they were indeed put down just like dogs. The Rhoynar people, lands, and their culture was utterly destroyed root and stem and banished from Essos forever. So, when Valor had been approached by some keyholder from the Iron Bank of Braavos, who promised his company a great reward for helping the last remnants of the Rhoynar people conquer the foreign land of Dorne and unite it under their rule, Valor had plenty of reason to be suspicious. At one time, Valor had played a great role for the Valyrian side in the war and most notably led the Valyrian Vanguard to their defeat in the battle of Volon Therys. Valor had killed many Rhoynar and wanted to see them destroyed. However, somewhere along the way a small shred of the humanity and compassion for others that Valor thought he had lost long ago had came back, as he had witnessed young children and their mothers, who played no part in the war, being burned alive just the same as the Rhoynar rebels that Valor had encountered on the battlefield. “What the rebels faced was a result of war, what their wives and children faced was unnecessary slaughter” The thought ate at Valor, and haunted him just enough to leave it all behind.
However, Valor had a feeling that this Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar and now Sandship would not see him in that light, regardless of Forovos Norvoshi telling him otherwise. She would see a monster who was one of many who led to her people’s dynasty falling. She would see a man who slaughtered her people and she would see him as a firsthand reminder of all that she and the other Rhoynar had lost and why they had lost it. Valor also knew that Princess Nymeria could be not be so pure of heart herself. “She wants to do to the Dornish what the Valyrians did to her, what makes her so different from them?" Princess Nymeria’s hypocrisy was apparent to Valor, but in a sense, he could say the same about most of the Valyrians as well. He owed the Rhoynar for the tragedy that they had suffered, and this was the time and opportunity for a Valyrian to set things right with them. He had also heard of the Rhoynar among his ranks that Nymeria was a just ruler, so maybe her war could turn out to bring peace to this foreign land. Valor also knew that blood and steel would line the road to peace regardless of how just or unjust she would turn out to be. In reality, Valor Veltaris knew that this mission would firmly establish his legacy. After this he and his men would be set for life, but the work to get to that point was only just beginning.
Valor Veltaris sat alone at the head of the table of the Fallen Dragon’s war council room on Valor’s main ship. The Fallen Dragon’s war council meeting had just finished and much had been discussed. Primarily Valor had heard complaining from his most trusted generals and commanders, about how conquering six Dornish kingdoms would be next to impossible. They did not know the land and they simply did not have the numbers, even with the Rhoynar and Martell armies backing them. Valor had heard that most of Nymeria’s army were women, who simply couldn’t handle the rigors of war. He was also told that the deserts of the Kingdom of Brimstone carried such immense heat that it would kill every man that they had. Even if they were fortunate enough to conquer the Kingdom of Brimstone, they would still have the Dornish Kingdoms of the North and West to deal with, which most would agree is where the true powers of Dorne were. The Bloodroyal, King Yorick Yronwood, reigned over most of the north and central parts of Dorne with an iron fist, while the legendary Daynes of Starfall led by the Sword of the Evening, King Vorian Dayne, ruled the west with a keep that was literally impossible to breach. All Valor had heard was why they couldn't complete this mission, and no reasons why they could. Valor could see their arguments, and maybe this mission was just asking for death, but Valor and the Fallen Dragons had faced horrible odds before and succeeded. So, Valor would make sure that they would succeed once more.
Valor leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for the first time in what felt to be an eternity, but as soon as he closed them, he quickly opened them again hearing a familiar voice. It was Maran of Ny Sar, a young Rhoynar boy around the age of 13, who squired for one of his commanders. “Uh…. Commander Valor”, the young boy nervously began scratching his head, “Ser Rickard and his soldiers have gathered all of the men, and the ships are ready to set sail. However, he has heard of rumblings around the camp, with most of the men seeming to be unsure about our mission. Ser Rickard figures it is for the best if you talk to them and try to motivate them, if you can.” After his words, the squire looked at Valor, clearly nervous about having just interrupted his leader’s private time. Valor could sense the boy's anxiety, so he figured he should calm him down. “It is alright Maran”, Valor began calmly, “I figured the time for this would come. It is best that the men hear exactly what this mission is going to entail, and every person out there should know exactly who they are fighting and what we are up against.” After hearing these words, Maran breathed a sigh of relief as if he had just come back from a battle himself. “Yes ser, of course”, the young Rhoynar said in complete agreement. At this point, Valor stood up from his chair and walked out. Maran followed, seemingly have to take five strides for every couple that Valor took.
Climbing up the ladder and now on the deck of the ship, Valor and Maran could see the sellswords standing on the shore as far as the eye could see, and as soon as Valor came into their sight, they roared in applause and appreciation. “ Dragonheart! Dragonheart!” The Fallen Dragons chanted in what was near perfect unison. With a confident stride Valor walked forward, now standing beside his top commanders, including Olyvar Forrester who had just returned. “Welcome back Forrester, I was worried you would miss out on the fun”, said Valor with a joking tone, and the Northman just smirked. “Glad to be back, Veltaris. Now, you should probably go and try to convince these poor souls that this fight is for a good cause.” Valor gave him a nod and stepped to the front of his main commanders.
Seeing the sheer amount of men who have joined this company in such a short time, and how much respect they all have for him, was still an overwhelming feeling to Valor. He knew that most of these men probably would not make it out of this mission alive, just like countless men who had served under Valor before, but for now he tried to put those thoughts out of his mind. Looking at the Fallen Dragons who were still continuing the Dragonheart chants, Valor decided to start.
“Fallen Dragons!” Valor started with a loud and confident tone. “I know there has been some confusion about what our next mission pertains to. I have heard all of the talk around our camp, and I will confirm the truth to you all now. No, we are not marching to the capital of Valyria to confront the might of the Freehold, and we are finished with our business in the Dothraki Sea, but I am not going to lie to you, this mission could potentially be more dangerous than any mission that we have encountered yet.” Valor said this last phrase with great seriousness and now walked over to the top of the ship’s ladder, so his soldiers from a further distance could hopefully hear what he was saying.
Again he began, “Yes, some of the talk is true, we will be taking a job from a Rhoynar, and not just any Rhoynar, but the Princess Nymeria - formerly of Ny Sar and now of Sandship.” With this phrase, Valor paused and listened to the reactions of his men, which ranged from cheers to boos, and to others complete silence but not out of indifference, but rather of the shock of what they were hearing. After a moment Valor continued, “Now I know that for many of you the Rhoynar are a topic which is not preferred to be spoken of, and from both sides I understand your point of view. For the Valyrians among us, the Rhoynar remind of death and destruction, since many of you lost friends and family because of the Second Spice War. I myself am no different.” Said Commander Valor with a clearly grim and disappointed tone. “Not a moment goes by, that I don’t think about the countless brothers in arms that I lost in my many battles against them. Particularly I think about my defeat at the battle of Volon Therys to Prince Garin’s mighty army. I remember the dragons falling from the sky to their deaths, the sounds of the Valyrian soldiers screaming, crying out for help from their mothers, the gods and anyone who would listen, as they were drowned alive and brought face to face with their death. The sight of my own soldiers being drowned alive is something that I will never forget, and the fact that I could do nothing to save them makes it even worse.”
At this point, Valor’s emotions were starting to get the better of him, but he did not let it show on his face and continued on. “For the Rhoynar among us, as few of you as there are, I know of the pain my people have brought down upon you as well. Fire and blood was brought down upon your homelands, with many people who did not deserve it facing the wrath of the dragonlords and their dragons. I witnessed many of these atrocities firsthand myself, and the sight of Rhoynar burning, innocent children and women burning is a sight that is something I wish I had never seen." Clearly saddened with what he was saying himself, he decided to change the subject. "But with every struggle in life, with every horrible ending, there is a new beginning worth finding and in the face of tragedy, my life was forever changed when not far from here, is where I finally realized that the Freehold was not worthy of fighting for anymore. I left that life behind me, and the Fallen Dragons were formed.”
Mentioning the Fallen Dragons brought a cheer from his men, and Valor figured now was the time to completely change the tone of what had thus far been a grim speech. “The Fallen Dragons gave me a new purpose, and I hope it has for all of you as well. From day one, I established this company as a place where all men are equal. Valyrian, Rhoynar, Westerosi, or Dothraki – it does not matter who you are or where you come from. Now we are brothers in arms together, we shed the blood of our foes together. Our strength comes from our unity, our determination and our skill, and we have no equal.” Valor said this with confidence brimming in his words, and the Fallen Dragons roared in cheers with Valor taking a pause and letting the cheers run their course before he continued again.
“Now brothers, again I won’t lie to you, this mission is dangerous. We set sail to what is to most of us a foreign land, to take part in unseating of six long established dynasties, to make room for a new one. Dayne, Yronwood, Fowler, Dryland, Blackmont and Manwoody. Those names mean nothing to most of us, but to the people of Dorne those names mean everything. We are fighting to take their past, present, and future from them, and they certainly won’t go down without a fight. Quite frankly, we may be sailing to our deaths, since they do have the numbers, the power, and the knowledge of the terrain at their disposal. I understand completely if any of you decide not to partake in this mission, and if you decide not to join me on this voyage, I understand completely." Valor spoke with an honest and genuine tone.
At this point, Valor paused, and to his surprise, at least from what he could tell, none of his men moved. “While the odds are surely against us, that has never stopped us before.” These words brought the men closest to Valor to laughter. Now feeling it was time to wrap it up, Valor began closing his speech. “Brothers! You know as well as I do that the history won’t remember our names, and many of us will surely face our deaths on this mission. But as we always have, we will fight for a better future, for a new beginning. And with this new beginning, we either set sail to victory, or we set sail to defeat, but the only way now, gentlemen, is forward!" With those words, Valor unsheathed his sword pointing it toward the southwest toward Dorne and with arrogance in his words, Valor boastfully reminded his men: “The future is ours for the taking, and it begins NOW!" The Fallen Dragons roared in applause for their leader, and went back to chanting “Dragonheart!” in unison. Valor stood there for a moment taking in his surroundings, before turning around toward the front of his ship with his ship now setting sail and the other Fallen Dragons began lining up toward their respective ships. With a sigh, Valor thought of the battles that lied ahead and wondered if what he was doing was truly right. This was indeed a new beginning for him and the Fallen Dragons, but he could only wonder if this new beginning would be for the better. But as he already knew, only time would tell.
As said, this was a great H&L! I was already hyped and looking forward for Valor and the Fallen Dragons, but this has just increased my hype
Man, can't wait until I get to write them myself 
Well, she was indeed more diplomatic with her words, but that's really what it comes down to. Ying doesn't hate Nealia or despise her, but she sees her as someone who would only break Lien's heart if they were to engage in a serious relationship. And you're absolutely right, she is being very overprotective towards her sister, and also pretty quick to judge Nealia's character, considering they haven't known each other very long. That said the standard she holds for her sister is very high, so it's not even that big of an insult
Hah, well I'm glad to know you like the portrait
Mordekhai is indeed very creepy guy, and I can guarantee that if Gwendis ever meets him, she will be very shocked. Whatever trust she still has for Aisha and her plan will probably drop the moment she sees those terrifying eyes.
This was a very interesting H&L. It's one thing to learn more about an already established character, but to be introduced to a character through these means is a special treat indeed. And well, it was quite an amazing introduction for Valor, making me hyped for what we're going to see of him in the story. Sure enough you have managed to make me very interested in Valor and his men. I remember that they have been mentioned earlier one or two times, but haven't paid too much attention to that mention until now and well, that changed quite a lot. This is truly an interesting character, one I feel will be a joy to read about in the future.
I must say, there is also another thing this helped me with, something I can't yet fully comment on (I think?). Let's just say, this part helped a lot with something, so I have not only enjoyed reading it, I also gotta thank you for it
Ah, I can surely understand her concern. At the same time, well, I didn't found it okay from her back when I made the choice, I don't find it okay right now. No matter how I look at it, Ying is in the wrong there, even if her reasons are unarguably sympathetic. Well, maybe she can warm up to Nealia in time, with a bit of luck
Good. Very, very good. I know, if we keep resisting the urge to give in to the Great Other we might succeed in allowing Gwendis to escape and ironically, I feel like Wesley could actually help, by freaking her out so much that resisting the Great Other will be a lot easier to her, now that she sees one of the most obviously negative examples of the utter dregs that worship that thing. That said, it seems this temptation to follow the Great Other is far from natural, considering how strongly it comes. I guess it's a bit like a drug addiction and a priority should be not to let her come into contact with that thing ever again, considering how this simple vision from back in the first chapter is still affecting her.
Ah Liquid why did you have to mention this potential spoiler of some kind? Now I am like undeniably curious so... any hints?
I... am not sure. Argh, now I must resist the urge to tell you
I can tell you that you'll get a full answer in the near future, but anything beyond that is something I want to leave for WildlingKing to reveal. Maybe he wishes to do that himself, so I don't want to say too much without giving him the opportunity first. But what this H&L helped me with is that I got a good idea of Valor's personality and this is going to be good for a certain something 
Disclaimer: Remember to check the Valor Veltaris H&L above, if you haven't yet
-
Emerson
Ser Niclas Wyne was standing in guard as Emerson arrived to the door of the dining room. "You're late." The knight stated dryly, and Emerson nodded with a stern expression on his face. "My family is waiting for me, let me through." He said with a calm tone. Niclas eyed at him for a couple seconds longer, before finally stepping aside. With a sigh Emerson walked past the knight and to the door, opening it and seeing the table full of food waiting for him.
He was indeed late, partly thanks to Jamison Dayne, and everyone else was already sitting at the table. Lord Morgan sat at the head of the table as expected, and Esperence was couple seats away from him, Emmett sitting opposed to hear. However, what truly surprised Emerson was that Lady Vita was also taking part in the dinner. She sat right next to her husband Morgan, a confused and distressed look on her hazel eyes, as the servants poured wine for her. Vita's messy and long ginger hair had been tied to a tight ponytail, which only highlighted how tired and thin she was. Emerson hadn't seen Vita in months, as she was usually concealed to her chambers due to her illness.
With a gulp Emerson approached the table, sitting between Emmett and Morgan, and opposed to Lady Vita. "Good evening, young man." She quietly greeted Emerson, and he nodded to her. "My lady." He replied quietly, glancing at Morgan, who only gave him a cold glare.
"Now that we are all here, we should talk about some important matters, regarding our family." Morgan began, taking a bite of his steak, and savoring it for a while before continuing. "As you know, I had a meeting earlier today with the Dayne prince, and some... arrangements were made."
For a moment no one said anything, so Emerson decided to speak up. "And, what exactly were these arrangements, uncle?" He asked with a humble tone. Morgan looked at him with a sneer, making Emerson feel uncomfortable with his scornful stare. "Well, you would know if you had been there." He finally said coldly. Emerson glanced quickly at Esperence, who kept on a calm face.
"Father, you should be more respectful towards Emerson, he is the son of your brother." Esperence finally said, speaking softly with a thin smile on her face. Morgan chuckled, shaking his head. "Respect is something to be earned." He stated with a touch of anger in his voice, still glaring at Emerson. "All the same, the Dayne's and Dryland's have asked me to shut my gates from the Martell's, and that's what I intend to do."
"And you think that is a wise choice?" Esperence asked with a casual tone, taking a sip of her wine. "Would I make it if it wasn't, daughter?" Morgan asked tensly, now staring at Esperence, who shrugged and flashed a fake smile to her father.
"I suppose not." She replied lazily. "So, why did you want to tell this to us? Clearly not to hear our opinions."
"I want to make it absolutely clear – I am the one who rules this city." Morgan said with a stern tone on his quiet voice, his gaze traveling from Esperence to Emerson. "Of course, you are the Lord, uncle." Emerson said calmly, giving a meaningful look at Esperence.
"But you should listen to Esperence and Emerson as well." Emmett stated bluntly, causing an awkward silence in the room. Emerson gulped subtly, because he knew Emmett had made a mistake, even if he himself didn't yet understand that. "Do not speak of things you don't understand, fool." Morgan's voice was filled with bitter anger, and the way he looked at Emmett was loaded with loathe and despise. "I am the Lord of Godsgrace, and each of you live by my mercy and goodwill! You would do good to remember that."
The look on Emmett's eyes was frightened, clearly he hadn't expected such an intense response from his father. For a moment everyone was silent, until surprisingly Lady Vita spoke up. "Uncle Edam says that we all have our strengths and weaknesses." She said with a trembling voice, clearly shaken of the tension around her. Morgan grabbed her hand gently, stroking it and hushing softly.
"My sweet wife." He whispered, now stroking her head. "My sweet, sweet wife. There's no need to be afraid, my love." He spoke in a comforting tone, and a very weak and hesitant smile was formed on Vita's face. Morgan gave meaningful and stern glares at Emerson, Esperence and Emmett, and so they continued their dinner in silence.
They all finished their meals in without anyone uttering a word, but when they were done, Lord Morgan cleared his throat. "How lovely it has been to spend this night with you... my family." His tone was clearly sarcastic, but it flew over Emmett's head, who now gave his father an uncertain but genuine smile. "Thank you, father." He said with timid tone. Before anyone could answer, the door of the room was suddenly kicked open.
Emerson turned to look towards the door, seeing Jamison Dayne pushing himself in despite Ser Niclas trying to hold him back. The Dayne prince walked closer to the table, his breathing heavy, and his left shoulder bleeding. Jamison's clothes were stained with blood, though there was so much of it that it couldn't all be his. Behind him came Ser Niclas and the old knight who had accompanied Jamison earlier when he left the castle. Then Emerson noticed what Jamison was carrying in his bloodied hands – a severed head. And not just any head, but the head of Horidos. With an excited look on his eyes, and a wide smirk on his face, Jamison dropped the head on the floor. Emerson glanced at Esperence, and though she tried to conceal it, it was easy to see that she was shocked.
"What in Seven Hells, Dayne!?" Morgan stood up from his chair as he shouted, and Jamison answered to him with a small chuckle, and pointed at the severed head.
"This son of a bitch tried to kill me, with his little gang of thugs." He said with a surprisingly calm tone. "I am not so easy to kill though, as you can see. So, if it was you who sent him, Lord Morgan, it was a poor effort. And if it wasn't you, well, then you clearly don't have a very strong hold of your own city." Emerson noticed his uncle gulping and putting his hand on his mouth, a disgusted look on his eyes.
"Take that head away from here!" He yelled, and the servants followed his order immediately. Then the Lord turned his eyes to Jamison again. "I did not send him, that I can swear by the gods."
"The gods don't mean much to me, Lord Morgan, but let's just say I believe you this time." As he spoke, Prince Jamison glanced at Ser Niclas. "However, I'd recommend you to find out who is behind this, for your own sake."
"Would've been easier if you had brought this man to me alive." Morgan replied sternly, and Jamison let out a tired chuckle. "Oh well, I just can't help myself sometimes." He quipped with a carefree tone, which was immediately followed by a small groan of pain, as the Prince put his hand on his bleeding shoulder. "Now, I'm afraid I'll have to go see your maester, before I bleed out." With these words Jamison turned around, but just before he reached the door, he turned to look at the Allyrion's once more. "Oh, and Emerson... Thanks for the warning." For once Jamison's voice seemed to be completely genuine. And then he walked out, his knight following after him.
A small moment of silence followed the exit of the Dayne prince, and Morgan took in a deep breath, closing his eyes. Emerson expected him to start ranting, but instead he just exhaled, and walked out of the room, taking Lady Vita with him. Ser Niclas followed shortly after them.
Emerson stood up from the table as well, looking Esperence into the eyes. "Did you give Horidos the order?" He asked with quiet but serious words, and his cousin shook her head. "You heard what I told him in the meeting... I didn't see him after that." She answered, her voice still shaken. "That bloody idiot." Esperence mumbled with a sigh, pushing her face against her palms.
"Oh I'm sure you'll take care of everything, since you're so good at handling things." Emerson said dryly, which made Esperence shot a glare at him. "And what about you, huh?" She shot back strictly.
"What about me?" Emerson asked, and now Esperence stood up from her chair. "Did you really warn Jamison?" She asked with anger and disbelief in her words.
"Yes." Emerson answered strongly, not feeling ashamed of what he did. "Honor might be something completely foreign to you, cousin, but it means something to me." Before Esperence could answer, Emmett also stood up and cut them off.
"Stop fighting!" He yelled, shifting both Emerson's and Esperence's attention to him. "You're right brother, we shouldn't fight." Esperence said with a sigh, a calmer look on her eyes now. "I'm just... worried, that's all. You warning Jamison tells father that you knew there was a reason to warn Jamison. Which, in turn, makes you a lot more suspicious in his eyes." She explained calmly. Emerson gulped, realizing how suspicious he indeed had to look in Morgan's eyes right now.
"You think he'll question me?" He asked nervously, and Esperence let out a dry chuckle. "Honestly, I'm pretty sure he'll question us all, which means we have to be consistent in what we will tell him. He, or one of his men, might have seen Horidos in the castle before, so we can't take the risk of lying about that – we have to admit that we knew him. However, we can tell him that our relationship with him was not a professional one. He was just a friend of a friend who visited couple times."
"Well, there are no lies required from me." Emerson replied quietly and sternly. "After all, I hardly knew Horidos – it was you who paid for that criminal."
"You wouldn't take Morgan's side on this, would you, cousin?" Esperence asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Emerson. He gulped, feeling uncertain. The question of who to side with had bothered Emerson for a while now, and both of the options felt wrong. "Emerson, you have to swear to me that you will not sell me out. Swear it, Emerson!" Esperence demanded, an intense look on her blue eyes. Emerson kept on a calm expression – he could see that Esperence was desperate. The thought about siding against his cousin brought no pleasure to Emerson, but at the same time he didn't like the idea of being Esperence's lackey either. Perhaps I should just walk away.
[Swear not to sell her out] [Ignore her]
-
-
Nealia
For the last couple days the Rose Company and Corren's gang of bandits had been camped to a crumbled old building on the southern coast. Corren had sent few of his men to inform the Bandit Lord about their arrival, and Tryden had sent Broden to go with them. Nealia herself had never been in this part of Dorne, but Corren's men were saying that they were close to the lands of House Bravespear. Whoever they are.
It was a couple hours past noon, and Nealia was sitting on the shadow of a broken stone wall. It was the hottest day of the summer so far, and that could be seen in the camp. Most of the men looked exhausted, and all of them tried to cover from the sun. Manda sat next to Nealia, a calm expression on her face.
"Doesn't the heat bother you?" Nealia asked curiously, wiping sweat from her forehead and taking a sip of water. Manda gave her a small smirk and shook her head. "In Summer Isles, this is average day." She explained with her heavy accent, and Nealia nodded with a chuckle.
"Well, I wouldn't want to be there when it's a hot day." She said with a sigh, turning to look at Lien and Ying, who were sitting a couple dozen feet away from them, talking to each other. Ying noticed Nealia looking at them, and sent her a cold glare. Nealia hadn't promised her not to pursue a relationship with Lien, which she obviously didn't like. Nealia hadn't done it necessarily for the sake of actually wanting something more with Lien, but because she thought it was wrong towards Lien to make such decisions behind her back. She had tried to say that to Ying as well, but she saw it differently, thinking she was doing the right thing protecting her sister from things that would hurt her.
"I have noticed Ying is... angry with you." Manda stated quietly, looking at Nealia with questioning eyes. "Is there are a reason for that?"
"Not really, she is just being protective towards her sister." Nealia answered casually, and Manda nodded. "Well, they have lived their whole life together." She said calmly, looking at the two YiTish women with almost dreamy eyes. "I never had a sister myself, and I've often wondered what it would've been like."
"Can't say, but I did have two brothers." Nealia replied, turning her eyes down now. "You love them and you hate them at the same time... It's weird." She chuckled, and Manda's lips formed a thin smile. "Tell me more." The strong woman said with a surprisingly timid tone. Nealia gulped, glancing at Manda, whose eyes were filled with curiosity.
"When I had been a little over a year at Starfall, I decided to challenge my brother Jamison to a fight." She begun, looking at the blue sky above her, picturing the white towers of Starfall in her mind. "I was two years older than him, and back then he wasn't even bigger than me. Yet since I had arrived to Starfall all I had heard from his mouth was his bragging and boasting. Sure, I had seen it myself when he trained with King Vorian or Ser Laroy – he was skilled. But I had beat boys before, boys much bigger than him, so why not this cocky little boy?" Nealia glanced at Manda, who looked to be invested in the story.
"Did you win?" She asked with an enthusiastic tone, and Nealia shook her head, a small smirk on her face. "Nope." She admitted with a little sigh. "I thought I was doing good at first, striking him from right and left, thinking I'd wipe the arrogant smirk off his face. But he kept parrying, and when he couldn't parry, he took the hits with an unyielding endurance. And when I started to get tired, he started to move faster, and before I knew it he had unarmed me and smacked me across the face. I was so angry then, and I was sure that Jamison would never stop mocking me for losing to him."
"But he didn't mock you?" Manda asked, and Nealia nodded with a soft smile. "Well, of course he had to throw in a couple reminders now and then, but he also said I was better than Malcolm, and that I should train with Laroy to become even better." Nealia let out a little laugh after saying this. "Ser Laroy wasn't too thrilled about the idea, but Jamison said that if I couldn't train, he wouldn't train either."
"I wish I had someone like that." Manda said quietly, and Nealia gave her an empathic look. She didn't really know what could she say to make her feel better, after all, she hardly even knew her. "How did you become a warrior?" She finally asked, uncertain if Manda would be comfortable with such question. "I mean, Lien and Ying told that you met them at Volantis, but how did you end up there?"
"It is not a good story." Manda simply said, her voice quiet and stern, and the look on her eyes uncomfortable. Nealia nodded quietly, figuring it was best not to ask more questions regarding Manda's past. She was about to start a conversation about something entirely different, but just then a bunch of riders approaching the camp from the distance caught her eye.
"Are Broden and the others coming back?" She mumbled, standing up now. Manda stood up as well, focusing her eyes on the small group riding towards them. "Yes, the one in the middle is Broden." She said with nonchalant tone. "Counting Broden, five men left the camp few days ago – now there are six of them."
"I assume they found the Bandit Lord, then." Nealia stated dryly, as the group arrived to the camp, and dismounted their horses. Tryden and Corren approached the arrivals, as many others. "I'll go see what news they bring." Nealia muttered, and as she started walking towards them, Manda followed. Lien and Ying also made their way to these riders.
"Welcome back, boys!" Corren yelled with his slimy voice. The man who had came with them was a dark-skinned warrior with black and red robes, hiding the lower half of his face behind a thin scarf. "And, Jabar! How good to see you, you no-good sea rat!" Corren said to the dark-skinned man, who only answered with a stern glare.
"So, do you have a message from the Bandit Lord?" Tryden asked calmly, and Jabar turned his eyes to him. "Lord Efran is currently raiding the lands of House Bravespear." He answered tonelessly. "However, we are currently making the preparations for attacking Lemonwood. Efran will lead the attack from the sea, and Ser Byrron will lead the attack from the land."
"So, where do we come in?" Tryden asked impatiently. Jabar took a moment before answering, eyeing at all the fighters who had gathered around them. "You will be part of the army attacking from the land." He said with calm and decisive words. "Ser Byrron is gathering the men to the southern shore of Greenblood, so that is where we must head next."
"And you're sure you have enough men to take Lemonwood?" Tryden asked with skeptical tone, but Jabar only gave him a stern nod. "Don't worry about it, Reachman." Corren said with a twisted grin on his face. "We are all killers, aren't we? The Dalt's will shit their pants when they see us!" This made Corren's men laugh and cheer, but Tryden kept on a calm and cold expression.
"If you say so." He said sternly, turning to look at Jabar again. "And when shall we begin our journey?" He asked.
"As soon as you are ready – preferably today." Jabar answered, and Tryden gave him a small nod, now turning towards his own men. "You heard him! Pack up and saddle your horses, we're marching to war!" Now the Rose Company cheered, and soon they would begin their journey towards Greenblood.
-
They had moved north, away from the sea, but aside from that Nealia had no clue where exactly were they. All the same, the hot day was finally coming to its end, and the burning red sun was setting to the west. However, the Rose Company and Corren's gang were still riding forward – apparently Jabar had some precise place in mind where he wanted them to rest the coming night.
As they moved forward, Illor rode next to Nealia. He looked at her quietly for a moment, before finally speaking up. "So, how are you feeling?" He asked awkwardly, making Nealia raise her eyebrow. "Fine, I guess." She answered lazily. "A bit tired perhaps."
"Good", Illor said in turn, an uncertain smile on his face. "I was just wondering, since you seemed a bit frustrated a couple days ago." Nealia nodded quietly, keeping her focused on the road ahead. "I was... tired. I'm over it now, and determined to fight for our victory."
"Huh, never expected such words from you." Illor said in a genuinely surprised tone. "I mean, don't get me wrong, but so far I've just got the image the you are solely in it for the coin." Nealia chuckled dryly at the Bravoosi's words. "Illor, if someone tries to tell you that their only motive to fight and kill is money, that someone is a liar." She looked at him with a meaningful glance. "As much as I hate that bastard Corren, he was right about one thing – we are all killers."
"Indeed we are." Illor admitted with a sigh. "But you should not lose yourself on that thought, Nealia." Nealia furrowed her eyebrows for this, looking at Illor with questioning eyes. "What do you mean?" She asked sternly.
continues in the next message
"It might be a good thing to admit to yourself that you enjoy the thrill of the fight, or even taking a life, but it should never be a comfortable or pleasant thought. You should feel guilty for every life you take, to a certain degree." He spoke with a lecturing tone on his deep voice, and once again Nealia was reminded of her father. "I understand." Nealia said with a sigh, feeling like she was the young girl in Starfall again, talking about the importance of honor with her father. Then, she looked ahead and saw a small tower on the dusky horizon. "Looks like we finally found our camp for tonight." Illor remarked in a lighter tone, and with those words he rode off to join with Tryden.
And indeed, this small tower was the place where Jabar had planned them to stay the night. And on top of that, there was a garrison of fifteen Bandit Lord's men already residing there. Some of the men were saying this was the border of House Granit's lands, but that meant nothing to Nealia. As the camp was finally erected, the sun had fully set, and only the stars and moon lighted the sky. Nealia looked at them, feeling odd rejoice that somewhere her father and brothers could be looking at those same moon and stars right now. As she looked at the night sky, she felt a soft touch on her shoulder. Nealia spun around reflexively, seeing Lien standing behind her.
"Oh, sorry, did I scare you?" She asked with a genuinely regretful tone, but Nealia shook her head with a relieved little laugh. "Don't worry about it," She brushed it off softly, "I was just a bit dreamy."
Lien smirked, a seductive look on her mismatched eyes, taking a step closer to Nealia. "You're so fascinating, Nealia... You're strong and willful, but there's something else about you as well." With these words Lien moved her right hand on Nealia's thigh. She gulped, remembering Ying's words. They were behind the tower, so no one could actually see them from the camp. It would still be wrong.
"We can't." Nealia said softly, and Lien raised an eyebrow. "Why couldn't we? We are free women, free to do whatever we please." She moved closer to her again, and Nealia was just lost in her eyes. She had to close her eyes to concentrate.
"Your sister..." Nealia started, but was quickly cut off by Lien, who backed away from her now.
"My sister what?" She asked, her tone noticeably more serious now. "What did she say to you?" Lien's gaze was intense and piercing, so much that Nealia had to avoid eye-contact. She let out a sigh and regained her composure, looking Lien to the eyes again.
[Tell her what Ying said] [Don't tell her what Ying said]
[Swear not to sell her out]
[Tell her what Ying said]
Two PoV's in one part? Hell yeah, take this seal of approval!
[Swear not to sell her out]
Alright... I must say Esperence surprised me here. She seemed so calm and in control all this time, so it was concerning to see her losing her cool. The thing is, I still don't trust her, especially when it comes to her plans for Emerson. If she wishes to take the seat as the Lady of Godsgrace, then he is the biggest obstacle in her way in the long run. And frankly, she seems way too ambitious to settle for anything less. Emerson should be cautious around her, yet at the same time I don't think going against her will achieve much good for now. Perhaps keeping her as a potential ally is still a good thing. So, I say he should swear it. Such a promise can be broken later on if it turns out that taking Morgan's side will be better for him. However, I sort of doubt that either side is going to be good for Emerson in the long run. I think Esperence wants the inheritance for herself, whereas Morgan doesn't seem fond of his nephew and I assume he'd rather see his son as the lord. It's a dangerous situation for him and I think it can only get more dangerous if he pisses off Esperence now, whom I still consider to be a more reliable ally than Morgan.
[Don't tell her what Ying said]
Well, d'awww these two
I was a bit conflicted on this one, just like last time with Ying's choice. On the one hand, I feel like Lien deserves the truth there, but the problem is, I don't want to put a strain on the relationship of the sisters. If things don't work out between her and Nealia, Lien is always going to have her sister, but if we do something to burden that relationship and if Nealia breaks up with her on top of that, Lien wouldn't have anyone. Sure, Ying has been way out of line with what she said, but perhaps she can still warm up to Nealia eventually. I doubt such a thing would happen if we sell her out here though. She's already angry, might be better not to provoke her any further.
[Swear not to sell her out]
[Tell her what Ying said]
[Swear not to sell her out]
Keeping Esperance as an ally might be good for Emerson right now.
[Tell her what Ying said]
Lien will probably find out anyway. If Nealia doesn't tell her, she will probably ask her sister. Might as well tell her now.
PS: I sent you a pm about something.
Hell yeah, that's an awwwwwesome seal!
Anyway, don't expect I'll be able to do this everytime, but it might actually happen more often from now on 
Yeah, Esperence does usually seem to be on top of the situation, and more than often she is, but at the same time she is still very young and inexperienced. Horidos attacking Jamison and dying also was a setback she did not expect at all, and we could indeed see in this part that she was in bit of a panic. Otherwise the pros and cons for each side remain more or less the same after this part - only difference is that Morgan now might have a crack at exposing Esperence.
It seems pretty clear now that Lien is crushing on Nealia, but Nealia is still a bit unsure
But yeah, it's really a choice between being honest and trying to avoid a conflict between the twins. It's another one of these choices where there really isn't one morally right option, but rather both could be seen as one, just like both could be seen as immoral.
[Ignore her]
This choice most likely will not win but ignoring Esperence seems like a alright choice here nonetheless. I could be looking at this from the wrong perspective but this choice actually seems like one where Emerson would pretty much be neutral not siding with either Morgan or Esperence. While I like Esperence as a character, she is definitely a hard one to trust and it has pretty much been made evident that if she can usurp the lordship from Morgan that she will do it regardless of Emerson's rightful status as heir or not. I am not saying that Emerson should try to side with Morgan too much either but rather try to stay as neutral to both sides as he can and bide his time to see how things unfold and see which one is truly best for him before making a commitment. With what has just transpired, I don't believe it is best for Emerson to make promises to her since this seems like a situation where we will find out how shady Esperence truly is. There is potential that Morgan is going to find out what all she has been up to and with Emerson warning Jamison, she may try to throw Emerson under the bus. Overall though, I just am not sure if promising something to Esperence is the best route to go at this point.
On a side note though, that Jamison scene was epic
I know you said that this option would have an epic scene as well but I definitely was not expecting Jamison to literally throw Horidos' head at Morgan's feet. It was awesome! Jamison certainly is not one to be crossed that is for sure and it was really cool how Emerson seemed to earn Jamison's respect as well which is obviously a hard thing to do 
Safe to say, I am super curious where Jamison's storyline goes from here, not that there was any doubt! 
[Tell her what Ying said]
I figure that Nealia may as well be honest with Lien here, Lien deserves to know what is truly going on and while it may cause a temporary rift with the sisters, they are said to be really close so I am sure they could iron it out especially over something relatively minor like this.
Well, I can confirm that you've understood the choice correctly - ignoring Esperence isn't so much siding with Morgan, but rather avoiding to make promises to Esperence. So, technically it could indeed be called a neutral option, though Esperence might not see it that way.
Glad to hear you liked the scene!
Indeed, Jamison seems to be more respectful towards Emerson in this part than before, though ironically Jamison's respectful thanks made Emerson look suspicious in Morgan's eyes 
Anyway, we'll get more Jamison very soon 
Talking big about honor and then swearing to lie ?! Not on my watch (ignore her)
Also (Tell her what ying said) she should be honest with her.
Voting is closed!
Emerson will swear not to sell Esperence out to Morgan. Staying in good terms with Esperence might indeed be a good idea, and staying on her side in a moment like this could also increase her respect towards Emerson.
And Nealia will tell Lien what Ying said. It's the honest option, and Lien probably will respect Nealia for telling the truth. However, it will most likely result an argument between the twins, and also it's the second choice in a row from Nealia that pisses off Ying
Anyway, the next part will most likely be ready today, and it will be a Jamison PoV. Now, this one won't be quite as action-packed as the last one, in the contrary this will be a very calm part, taking place in the morning after Jamison's fight with Horidos' gang.
-
Also, here is a portrait of our Summer Islander warrior lady, Manda Za:
Jamison
Everything was clouded, as a thick black mist hung above the city by the river. A shadow walked through its streets, whispering as it slithered from one corner to another. The drums of war were beating, the booming sounds of horns echoed through the air, soldiers screamed their war cries, and steel clashed against steel. The streets ran red with blood, and the flames burned down those who dared to oppose them. Jamison was trapped in the middle of the chaos and fire, and the heat around him was burning like the deepest of the seven hells, melting his skin away...
And then he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that the pain on his shoulder was almost gone. Milk of the poppy, Jamison realized immediately, which also explained his fever dream. Still feeling a bit lightheaded, Jamison pulled himself to a sitting position, seeing a man standing by the window. It took him a couple seconds to recognize that it was Ser Aron of Southpoint.
"Why are you here?" Jamison asked with stern and tired voice, and the knight turned around to look at him. "Oh, you're finally awake, my Prince." He said with calm and polite tone, now approaching Jamison. "I'm here to guard you... Lord Morgan order his own men to guard the door, but we can't trust these Allyrion's."
"You think one of them sent Horidos after me?" Jamison asked nonchalantly, and Ser Aron shrugged. "I have little expertise on scheming, my Prince, but you did make it quite easy for them." He replied softly. Jamison chuckled, shaking his head subtly. "Not easy enough, considering I'm still alive."
Ser Aron nodded calmly, and walked back to the window. "We should leave this place as soon as we can, and go to Vaith, where we promised to meet up with Ser Rolan." It was almost like Aron was speaking to himself rather than Jamison, but the prince let out an agreeing grunt anyway.
"Admittedly, I'm growing quite tired of this place." He muttered as he adjusted his posture. "Anyway, where's Laroy?" Jamison asked, and Ser Aron turned his gaze towards him again. "He went to his own chambers about an hour ago, said that he needed to rest."
"And I assume Aidin and Darnis are also safe and well?" Jamison asked with very little genuine interest in his voice. "They are, as well as Arthur and rest of the convoy." Aron answered firmly.
"You know, Ser Aron, we've been traveling together for a while now, but I know hardly anything about you." Jamison suddenly said, seeing Aron raising his eyebrow. "I mean, I know you're the brother of Lord Timeon..."
"Cousin of Lord Timeon, my Prince." Aron corrected, though his tone was still polite and calm. "Ah, cousin then." Jamison admitted with a nod. "All the same, before this mission I'm not sure if I had ever even heard of you." He eyed at this Southpoint knight with great interest, gazing at the long and bony face with green eyes that seemed to constantly have a dutiful and sharp look on them.
"I'm not a famous man such as yourself or your father." He simply stated, his lips forming a thin smile. "Neither am I a great lord, or even an heir to one – just a knight, serving my kingdom the best I can." Jamison nodded quietly. Jamison himself could never live without ambition, only to serve, but he did find some respect for Ser Aron, and especially for how honest and straightforward he seemed to be - even if also boring.
"And why hasn't your cousin rewarded you of your loyal service?" Jamison asked dryly. He wasn't particularly interested, but for now this boring knight was his only company to have a conversation with. "What do you mean, my Prince?" Ser Aron asked calmly, though he seemed less than keen to talk about this.
"Well, you are soon on your forties, and you have no wife, am I correct?" Jamison asked, a small smirk on his face. "I am sure the Lord of Southpoint could find someone for his dear cousin." Aron let out a little sigh, turning his gaze down. As he turned his eyes to Jamison again, a fake smile was formed on his face.
"It is my own choice." Aron responded, and Jamison could spot the frustration under his calm surface. "Alright then, Ser." Jamison said with a sigh, finally getting up from his bed. He put his hand on his bandaged shoulder, and it didn't feel painful. Still, now that he had calmed down, the thought of that thug getting even this close to killing him infuriated Jamison to no end. Killing Horidos had been a satisfying moment, seeing the life disappear from his terrified eyes – that wasn't something he could've left for Morgan, especially since that bastard of a lord could very well be the one who commanded Horidos. Of course Jamison had no time to find proof for that, so there was no point even trying.
"My Prince, are you sure you don't need any more rest?" Ser Aron asked as Jamison was pulling on his tunic. "Why would I?" He responded with a blunt question, but didn't wait for Aron's reply, instead just walking out of the room as he was all dressed up.
-
Jamison looked at the city of Godsgrace from the castle walls. The alley he had fought in last night couldn't quite be seen from here, but Jamison still glared at the general direction. For some reason, his thoughts drifted to Isabella. Had I died there, I would've never laid my eyes on her again. Jamison clenched his fists, angered by the thought. He turned to look at the castle now, a grim gaze on his eyes. Morgan was standing at the doors of the keep, two of his knights standing around him. That man was Jamison's ally now, but in truth he would rather have him as an enemy.
Jamison could see his convoy on the courtyard, getting ready for the journey. Ser Laroy was speaking with Ser Aron and Arthur Wythmail, concerned expressions on their faces. Darnis of Southpoint and Aidin Dayne were also talking to each other, and Jamison noticed them glancing at him now and then. He let out a sigh, wondering if Ser Rolan's mission in Salt Shore had been successful.
Jamison walked down from the battlements, a stern expression on his face as he walked past the Allyrion guards. He approached Laroy, Aron and Arthur, and they bowed to him as they saw him coming.
"Are we ready?" Jamison asked lazily, and Laroy nodded to him. "Very soon, my Prince." He answered with a sigh. "It's going to be a long way home."
"Mm." Jamison mumbled in agreement, gently stroking his steed. "Hopefully we'll meet Lucifer before we head to Starfall." He said quietly, seeing Laroy raise his eyebrow. "Lucifer?" He asked with confusion. "Why?"
"Well, let's just say I want to tell him what happened here." Jamison answered nonchalantly, turning his gaze, and seeing Emerson walking across the courtyard. Earlier he had considered him a weak and harmless boy, and perhaps he was just that, but he had warned him about the danger. Meaning he knows something. Jamison stroked his chin, wondering if he should question Emerson further. Then again, perhaps it would be useless, considering Jamison was about to leave this place anyway.
[Confront Emerson] [Leave him alone]
This dream Jamison had at the beginning of this part... I am concerned it might have been a prophetic one. I mean, sure, a dream is sometimes only a dream and there's no indicator that it's any more than that for Jamison, but ever since Gwendis got her vision and the following creepy dreams, I have grown more than just a bit cautious when it comes to those. So... this is concerning for Jamison and let's analyze it. The city by the river he saw, I am curious which one it is. According to the map, Hellgate Hall is near a river, so are Vaith and Godsgrace. Jamison could realistically go to all three. There is also a shadow moving through the streets, which would fit to Vaith, considering this dark witch that is residing there and the fire that burns those who oppose it might further hint at Vaith, given that it is about to be attacked by Dalia's Wild Suns. However, I got the feeling that we'll see the fall of Vaith in this chapter and it might be too late for Jamison to go there. But in general, this shadow could hint at a servant of the Great Other, or maybe one of these creepy R'hllor shadow babies. Maybe Jamison will cross paths with Aisha? Or maybe there is yet another GO follower we know nothing about. Or maybe I am completely in the wrong and this shadow has nothing to do with any god. But the fire part does not bode well for Jamison and just to be on the safe side, I'll try my best to keep him away from any cities near rivers if possible.
[Leave him alone]
This is another choice I am a bit conflicted about and I might change it later on, if someone makes a good argument in favour of confronting Emerson. Thing is, Jamison is going to leave this all behind pretty soon, which is good. He doesn't need to uncover this mystery, because once he's back at Starfall, it won't concern him anymore. Instead, if he helps Lucifer in uncovering this and finding out about Esperence and her plans, things could end up better for the Dryland's. Considering that none of the Dryland's are among my favourites, to say the least, I would rather favour the Martell's here. On top of that, confronting Emerson could lead to serious problems for him, on top of the ones he already has in his situation. That said, I could see good reason to confront him as well, but I'd like to wait and see what the others have to say here before I might change my vote.
I was expecting that short dream to concern the readers much more than it concerns Jamison himself. It could indeed be foreshadowing, we'll see. There's not really much I can say, but you're right, Hellgate Hall (or Tidmarsh), Vaith and Godsgrace all would fit the description. Nothing like that dream will happen to Jamison before he leaves Godsgrace though, that much I can promise, but of course it's always possible he'll come back one day. It's indeed questionable whether Jamison could reach Vaith before the attack of the Wild Suns, but then again, a small convoy does move faster than an army, and the road from Godsgrace to Vaith is easier than the one from Hellgate Hall to Vaith.
Now this was a very interesting part and I am not sure what to think about Jamison's dream
At this point, I am going to chalk up this dream to the Milk of the Poppy rather than it being some kind of foreshadowing but I do have to admit that dream described a situation that could happen soon. By that, I mean it sounds like the upcoming battle in Vaith with the Wild Suns and the forces of Vaith. If I remember correctly, the Lady of Vaith is said to be a witch as well so I assume that means she could serve the Great Other. Overall as said, I am still leaning on the dream just being a coincidence or maybe I am just trying to be optimistic 
Either way though, hopefully Jamison can get through Vaith with minimal trouble and be on his way back to Starfall before the Wild Suns get there. With that said, I know there is certainly a chance that Jamison may end up being apart of this battle as well. For such a relatively calm part, it has me a bit nervous all the same!
[Leave him alone]
As much as I want to see one last Jamison-Emerson conversation, I think that leaving Emerson alone may just be the option to go with here. We do know that Horidos was behind the attack and he is dead now. While Jamison is no doubt curious about what happened, in the long run it should not affect him any whatsoever I don't think. Besides that, Emerson just made a promise to Esperence not to sell her out so I am not sure if we can get anything out of him anyway. If Jamison were to get any lead on who was behind it whatsoever, that would probably compel him to stay in Godsgrace longer which I am not sure is the best choice of action at this point considering how close it is to Sandship and on top of that, it seems that the conflict within Godsgrace is only going to continue to pick up so it is probably best for Jamison to leave there while he is ahead so to say
The action in Central and Western Dorne is picking up at a rapid pace so now it is probably best for Jamison to go back west now and hang out in Starfall where it is safe for awhile! I know that probably won't happen but that doesn't mean I can't hope nonetheless 
Great part!
[Leave him alone]
Mm, it could be just a meaningless nightmare that Jamison had because of the Milk of the poppy
That said, since you also brought up the upcoming battle in Vaith, well, there can indeed be many connections made between this dream and that battle as well. For now we don't know if Jamison will even make it there before the battle happens, but that's where he is heading next.
Heh, Starfall would probably be the safest place in Dorne right now, but like Laroy said, they've got a long way home. Whether Jamison makes it back to Starfall within Book 1 is still up in the air, but I can at least promise there will be interesting things happening on his journey
[Leave him alone]
Confronting him might cause Emerson some trouble down the line. Plus, Jamison is about to leave anyways.
That is very concerning, what you bring up there. If Jamison leaves Godsgrace now, he is most likely in Vaith just when the Wild Suns arrive there as well. Judging by the map, it appears Godsgrace and Hellgate Hall have about the same distance towards Vaith, just from different directions. And it would make sense for him to go over Vaith, maybe alongside the river, considering that the alternative would either be an unnecessary extra way alongside southern Dorne or travelling through the desert. Argh, this really does not sound good for him, since it fits so perfectly with Vaith, with the fire, the shadow and the city by the river. And I doubt his storyline in this chapter is anywhere close to being over, so if the Wild Suns attack Vaith in this chapter, which I am pretty sure they will, there is a concerning possibility that Jamison will be caught in the crossfire.
[Leave him alone]
Voting is closed!
This was a clear one, Jamison will leave Emerson alone. Well, the first and most obvious consequence will be that Emerson's next part will be a bit shorter, not having a scene with Jamison. Another thing is that now Jamison will leave Godsgrace with the suspicion that Morgan had to be somehow involved in the assasination attempt, whereas a conversation with Emerson may have convinced him that perhaps that's not the case. All the same, Jamison and his convoy will now head towards Vaith, where they are supposed to reunite with Ser Rolan Nightfall and Lyreon Nightfall.
However, in the next part we'll have two PoVs, Dianna and Verro. Dianna's part is almost ready, and I've made some good progress with Verro's part as well. Hopefully I'll have them ready tomorrow. Last time we saw Dianna, she lost the skirmish at the Griefhill against Bjorn Harlaw's crew, which ended with basically all her soldiers killed, including Javor and Gerrar. Ser Dallin Dalt retreated with his men, Dianna herself was taken as prisoner, and Bjorn's half-brother Hargan took Lysera as his salt wife. In the next morning after Dianna being captured, Bjorn explained to her the situation, and that he and Efran would soon conquer Lemonwood as allies. He asked Dianna if it's true that Nymeria has no ships, and when Dianna admitted that to be the truth, Bjorn stated that then the Princess wouldn't be able to save Lemonwood. However, he went on to ask Dianna's opinion on the matter, and you chose for her to say that Nym would stop Bjorn and Efran. We'll skip ahead a bit, and continue with Bjorn's crew having returned to their ships.
On Verro's storyline, he has lately been with Efran and the Thunder Crew raiding the lands of House Bravespear (bannermen of Dalt's). You probably remember how he decided not to stop an old woman who attacked Axel from behind, and also let the daughter of said woman escape. Axel was very mad about this. Efran managed to recruit one man named Maxar from the men of the village they raided, and killed the rest. Later on, Verro had a conversation with Efran, who revealed that he had heard what happened between Verro and Axel. He forgave Verro easily, though he was surprised that a Dothraki was so anti-rape. After his conversation with Efran, Verro decided to apologize to Axel. Just like with Dianna, we'll skip ahead a bit.
-
Here is a portrait of Ser Byrron Granit: