Game of Thrones:Against the Band of Nine PART II

[max_vale]

Keep of Stonehelm and 'tent-city' in its environs; The Stormlands, Westeros; third week of the second month of the year 259 AL


The first day of the tournament had opened to a beautiful sunny day with scattered white clouds and a light breeze. The various members of the Valmont party each looked forward to/were nervous about various events and each was largely in their own world as they prepared for them….

For master of the hunt Darryn Drinkwater; it was a day spent largely as a spectator as the archery competition wasn't until the following day; so he first attended the joust between Gannis and Ser Bryick Hasty. Young Hasty was all of nineteen; with barely any facial hair to speak of and looking like a man not done growing quite yet. Still, though was rather gangly and awkward looking; there was no question he seemed to ride a horse and wield a lance like a seasoned pro. The talented archer thought that this would make for quite a decent competition….

Ser Gannis prepared for the joust in his usual fashion; eagerly awaiting the moment when he could spur his horse forward and level his lance at his opponent. He mentally ran down what he knew of Bryick Hasty; which wasn't much. He was a second son of House Hasty; he had been to a couple of tournaments that Gannis knew about and while he hadn't won them; neither had he embarrassed himself. Gannis saluted his opponent as they stood facing one another across the tilt-yard and was pleased to see the young Knight do the same in return. The starting flag dropped and both men spurred their steeds and began to rush at each other at high speed; lowering their lances and aiming their lances in an attempt to unhorse their opponent…

On a different field; a very wide field with a hastily erected four foot high fence enclosing it; Asher Valmont and his Dothraki companion Voqarro stood ready with their wooden weapons; eyeing the fourteen other teams of two men each; and awaiting the signal to being the grand melee. With a shout and the ringing of a bell; the melee began and the two men advanced towards the center of the field, instinctively moving back to back to protect each other and both grinning as a team advanced towards them; four men in total; two towards each….

Eduard and Keyth momentarily put aside their awkward, love-hate relationship and attempted to figure out how and why exactly both of their parties had been brought here and both agreed that it MUST have something to do with the Master of Whisperers 'Lord' Layton Longshot; his summoning of them both to a meeting that night pretty much ensured he played some part in all of this. They discussed what they knew of the man; which consisted of the following:

-He was 74 years old but rumored to still stand tall and strong and certainly possessing all of his faculties
-He had been 11 years old when he accompianed his elder brother to serve as an arrow-bearer at the Battle of the Redgrass Field in the First Blackfyre Rebellion. His brother had died that day protecting Lord Brynden Rivers; and in return Lord Bloodraven had made him one of his 'Raven's Teeth' to take the place of his fallen kin.
-He became a legendary archer, like Bloodraven and the rest of the Ravens Teeth; earning the name 'Longshot' during the Third Blackfyre Rebellion when he killed a member of the Golden Company with an arrow between the eyes at over 200 yards
-When Brynden Rivers was exiled to the Wall in 233; virtually to a man the surviving Ravens Teeth members joined him in his exile; with the notable exception of Layton Longshot. Five years later, he was the Master of Whisperers to King Aegon V.
-He was known to be an advocate of swiftly dealing with the so called 'Band of Nine'; one of the members being a Blackfyre pretender; this is not particularly surprising.

Both Father and son strongly suspect the fact that Keyth had been living in a city recently taken over by the forces of the Band of the Nine was a compelling reason for Layton's summons….

[Marullus]

Learning of his son's summons by the court (where he had intended to merely attend a tournament with his nephew), Ser Eduard seems molified, or at least expresses no dissatisfaction towards his son. Enough of a name for himself to be called upon... Perhaps he has come to have some steel after all.

Still concerned about the attacks on the road, not just on himself but on the now-dead Maester, he focuses his attention on the notable banners throughout the day. If it was through a gold cloak that the bounty was paid, and it was Lord Layton who summoned us, it would seem that there are competing interests from Kings Landing present. His mind clicks through all options and permutations, trying to find the angles at play, here.

(Cunning/logic test to find the anomalies in the country tournament caused by the big players' presence, bonus die for upcoming conflict?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Darryn found the tent-cities of tournaments much more bearable than the stone-walled crowds found in actual cities. He could see the trees and sky yet still find all the ale, women and partying he enjoyed. Sitting in the stands he found himself gambling away his money on different knights. He turned to the two men he had been gambling with for the past half-hour. Two stags that the Valmont will knock that Hasty lad on his arse on the first pass. One stag if it is in the second pass. What says you!?

[max_vale]

Keep of Stonehelm and 'tent-city' in its environs; The Stormlands, Westeros; third week into last week of the second month of the year 259 AL


The next few days of the tournament went by in a blur of activity as the third week ended and the fourth and last week of the month began.

Asher Valmont and his Dothraki companion Vaqarro did very well in the grand melee; rapidly defeating several of the fifteen other two-man teams in the event; with the horse-warrior in particular making a spectacle of himself with his high-pitched yells and lightning fast, rapid strikes with his wooden weapon. Asher's mastery of the sword extended to wooden blades as well, as he adroitly disarmed and defeated several opponents while making it look easy. The fact that the two men seemed to be having so much fun doing it is undoubtedly what led to several of the remaining teams teaming up to work against them. Asher amazed the crowd by managing to fend off three opponents at once; but he couldn't help being flanked by big Malavin Beesbury, who defeated the youngest Valmont son with a blow to the head from a wooden mace that dropped him to the ground, unconscious and bleeding. His screaming Dothraki companion turned on Malavin with a fury and there was little doubt that Beesbury suffered several broken ribs from the attack; but Vaqarro left himself open to retaliation by focusing soley on Malavin and with a painful sounding blow to the shin; the Horse-warrior was felled to the ground and Hollis Graceford quickly fell on top of the Dothraki and held him down until he was declared 'out' by the Melee officials. The final victors of the melee was a complete but welcome surprise to the inhabitants of Stonehelm; young Nebbin Swann, the nephew of the Lord of Stonehelm and his veteran guard companion, 'Badger' Badgewick.

In the joust; young Gannis Valmont looked excellent in his first round; unhorsing Bryick Hasty on their second tilt and then defeating a known tournament champion, Ser Wylick Beesbury 3 to 1 in his second round match. In his third match however, the Heir to the Valmont lands was the victim of an unfortunate accident while facing young Elomeer Foote. Elomeer lost his balance right before impact and he unintentionally lowered his lance at the last moment and it struck Gannis in the upper thigh with enough force to drag Ganis to the ground where his leg broke underneath him. The fans were immediately impressed with Ser Gannis' self-control as he managed to raise up his lance at the last moment to avoid hitting Elomeer in the head and were even more impressed by the young man's ability to maintain his composure despite his obvious pain and distress and his public forgiving of young Foote, who was in tears and profusely apologizing in the immediate aftermath of the accident. Elomeer bowed out of the tournament and the most notable moment through the rest of the matches was the possibly underhanded moment when the notorious Ser Erevan Trant killed the horse old but popular Ser Jonathor Swann was riding and Ser Jonathor went flying off his steed to land in a clatter. The crowd gasped in dismay, but were quickly roaring applause as the plucky, tough but smiling old Knight popped back up on his feet and declared that he was fine. The eventual champion was the very capable Ser Kallin Penrose, who drew much applause when he handily defeated Ser Trant in the final tilt of the tournament.

Despite being slightly nervous at the sight of the crowd watching him; Darryn Drinkwater managed to overcome his nerves during the archery contest and he soon was shooting as well as he ever had and his scores quickly saw him through to the finals where he would face noted archer, Sergeant Yaroly 'True Aim' and young Ser Sebastion Foller*....

Lord Quintus Swann had his best healers attend to young Gannis; and it was quickly determined he was likely to be okay after a month or so of being forced to wear a splint. Eduard determined it would be best to send his nephew home, with extra guards provided by Lord Quintus Swann and several of Eduard's personal guard as well. Asher and Vaqarro spent the rest of the day resting and recuperating, but their injuries were minor and would leave nothing more serious than some bruises and aches for a few days.

Eduard and Keyth were both quite interested as to why they had been summoned to a meeting with Lord Layton 'Longshot' and Ormund Baratheon. They were conducted to the meeting place where they were politely, but carefully checked for weapons and were asked to leave their weapons at the door where they were carefully looked after by the elite guards of Lord Ormund Baratheon. Shortly after they entered the room, the doors were shut and locked behind them and father and son found themselves in a well-furnished room with three men in the room, along with comfortable chairs, a table with several goblets and a pitcher of fine arbor-gold wine. The three men were Lord Quintus Swann, lord of Stonehelm; Lord Ormund Baratheon and of course, Lord Layton 'Longshot', the Lord of Whisperers.

Lord Quintus welcomed them and told them to help themselves to some wine and inquired after Ser Gannis; lamenting the accident. Lord Ormund greeted them politely, but said little while Lord Layton said nothing, but stared intently at them. After a few minutes of pleasantries; the old man spoke up with a quiet, but strong voice.

"Enough. I am sure you are both wondering why you have been summoned here. The answer is simple; you are here because of the threat posed to Westeros by the Band of Nine. The King seems to have little concern for anything other than dragons eggs these days, but his son and heir Jaeherys shares my concerns. Quite simply, the Lords in this room, the heir to the Iron Throne and I all feel that they represent the greatest threat to Westeros since the first Blackfyre Rebellion."

Lord Layton pauses and looks sharply at both Eduard and Keyth before continuing; "You are both quite intelligent men and I am sure you have a good idea of who I am and what I have been through in my life. Obviously the fact that I have fought in several Blackfyre Rebellions and was served closely under Lord Brynden Rivers would suggest that I hate and fear all Blackfyres and while that is most assuredly true; the fact that the last Blackfyre, Maelys the Monstrous is one of the Band of Nine; is NOT the compelling reason for my fear of this group and the threat I feel they possess to all Westerosi. Maelys, while by all accounts a terrifying warrior and the undisputed leader of the largest and most feared mercenary band in Essos, the Golden Company; could also probably be outsmarted by a clever dog. While he and the ten thousand swords he commands are a formidable force; with him in charge; they can easily be defeated by any reasonably intelligent battle commander, such as Lord Ormund here. No, I fear the OTHER members of the Band of Nine and the fact that they seem to have tremendous influence over Maelys and his swords; not to mention the resources and forces they themselves possess."

'Longshot' pauses as he sips his wine and then continues; "I have numerous sources of information; many in Essos, and here is what I have come to know about the Band of Nine. First, they consist of four sellsword company leaders; Maelys, Liomund Lashare, Xhobar Qhoqua and Spotted Tom. While Spotted Tom is also Westerosi, a commoner from Gull Town; my sources don't believe he particularly cares about carving out a slice of his former home to rule; but he is happy to fight and pillage anywhere. All together, these four command about twenty five thousand men. The Band of Nine also consists of three pirate leaders; Sammarro Saan, Nine Eyes and an old woman who calls herself 'The Old Mother'. Between them, they control about a hundred ships, enough to transport about half their men at any one time; as well as obviously a threat to any Navy in the Free Cities OR in Westeros. Finally; the band consists of the Tyroshi Merchant Prince Alequo Adarys, whom young Keyth is already familiar with as he is now the defacto ruler of Tyrosh after killing the former leader and sacking the city; and Ser Derrick Fossoway of the Reach, the so-called 'Bad Apple'. It is this last member I am MOST concerned with."

"Derrick Fossoway is intelligent, a deadly swordsman, a known rapist and murderer and a man with numerous connections here in Westeros. Seven years ago he raped a minor Bannerman's sister and then killed the Bannerman in a duel; he fled the Seven Kingdoms and would forever after be known as 'The Bad Apple' in the Reach. Fossoway though is a master of being able to take on the mannerisms and accents of various people from different regions of Westeros and he spent the next several years traveling throughout the Seven Kingdoms and making all manner of important contacts with both high-born and low. It's said he wanted to be a mummer when he was young and when his noble father denied such a life to him in no uncertain terms; he lived the life of a Knight by day, but learned the life of a mummer by night. I don't know how true that is; but there's little question that he's very, VERY capable of blending in almost anywhere. He turned up in Essos some three years back and he quickly made money and a name for himself as a noted duelist and noted information gatherer to several powerful figures; some of whom are now dead and some of whom, like Alequo Adarys, are now members of the Band of Nine. He has personally discovered two of my agents and returned their heads, separated from their bodies, to me."

Layton paused again and looked off in the distance with a tired and pained look in his eye and then he returned to looking intently at the two Storms in front of him. "How do we fight such a man? How do we fight such a group?" 'Longshot' looked over at Ormund Baratheon and with nod in his direction he continued; "The Band of Nine have recently conquered several of the islands in the Stepstones. Despite his preoccupation with dragons eggs, it's almost a certainly that King Aegon will soon give permission to rally the realm for an Army to assemble to deal with this invasion. Lord Ormund is the most logical choice to command such a force and with the strong support the heir Jaeherys has for us; we think this is quite likely to happen. However, both of you undoubtedly realize by now that wars are not just won in the grand battles, but also in the subtle moves that never make the history books. While the Band of Nine have each pledged to support each members' quest for a throne; I think only Maelys and Derrick are particularly interested in looking for one here on Westeros. If they are removed; I doubt the rest would seek war here when it would be far easier and more profitable to continue pursuing it on Essos. This is where you two come in to play".

"It has come to my attention that both of you are very capable men in different areas and both of you have serious obstacles blocking the paths towards your desired goals. First, there's the fact that both of you are Bastards. I can promise you that if you successfully undertake several missions against the Band of Nine for me; Lord Ormund and I will do everything we can to see that you are legitimized by the Crown. This would certainly pave the way for you to become Lord of your own domain Ser Eduard. Also; I am aware of the incident staining your time at the Citadel young Keyth. I can safely say that all such records of the incident are destroyed and you would be welcomed back to Oldtown if you so choose, or even if not; I can see that you are transported to any locale in Westeros or even the Free Cities; save perhaps for Tyrosh at the moment; with a legitimized name and a hundred gold dragons to invest in whatever future you see fit."

"I would also suggest that if you agree to enter into my service; you bring along your Master Archer Darryn and very capable warrior Asher Valmont and his Dothraki bodyguard. The combined fighting abilities and knowledge of Essos that your group possess makes you all an EXCELLENT force to be used to help ensure Westeros remains unconquered. I can also provide a few other specialists and resources to help in these missions. What say you?"



*Rusty: I leave it to you to decide how the archery match goes......I can make rolls if you like, you can make them, you can just tell the story you want to tell....let me know.

[Rusty Tincanne]

As always, Darryn found the two dimensional, still targets difficulty to get used to at first. He had never been one to practice his gift on such targets, preferring dummies for archery practice with the Valmont garrison, even. But cup of wine had settled his nerves and he found himself in the top three for the archery contest the next day against at least one archer of regional renown. Though he had not intended it, Darryn found himself celebrating heavily that night and woke the intertwined with no less than three comely women.

The room was dim with the shutters drawn, so with a fuzzy head and aching crotch he took to lacing up his britches. As he opened the shutters he realized it was late in the afternoon. Moments later he was racing down the street, still donning his shirt. He was sure he had not run as fast since the last time Yarrow Flinch's husband, the miller, came home unexpectedly.

Sadly, he was an hour too late to compete in the competition. Blushing, he headed back to the Valmont tents to check in and explain what had happened. Along the way he crossed paths with people that were either angry with him or happy. It did not take much to realize which people had placed money on him or against. At least this would give everyone a good story to tell, and he would be sure it was four women when it was retold.

[Marullus]

Ser Eduard quietly watches his son, his handsome face a careful mask as he lets Keyth answer first. Good offers, indeed, for a task that any man might undertake for the crown proudly. What is it my son will make of it? What talents is it that he will offer? He thinks quietly. He asks our commitment, but we still know too little of what it is he wishes us to undertake, what skills might be required, how we'd proceed...