Game of Tomes

[eveglass]

Harrenhal is finally over, and canon has been thrown firmly and finally out the window. House Bracken is now Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, House Reidell of the Crossroads is Lord Paramount of the Reach, Rickard Reidell is Hand of the King, and Eddard Stark has taken the white of the Kingsguard.

So, what I mean to say, is no one has a clue as to what's gonna happen next. We're in uncharted waters now, for sure.


[Jeyne has just discovered that Hoster Tully is dying of his wounds. Naturally, there are certain questions that must be asked.]
Julie: "Next question: How do I use this to my advantage?"

[Jeyne tries to figure out whether Hoster Tully's wound was poisoned. Usually, she would turn to Lukas, but Kyn showed up late and I was forced to resort to a Gather Information roll.]
Christian (to Kyn): "You've been replaced by a d20."

[Janus Reidell seems remarkably spry for a man who was supposed to have just had a serious shoulder wound.]
Lukas: "Shouldn't you be resting?"
Janus Reidell: (mock-innocently) "Shouldn't I?"

[Raegon Reidell has also noticed that Janus is doing much better than anticipated.]
Raegon Reidell: "Why is my brother well?"
Lukas: "Obviously, because Lyra's done her demonic work on him."
Raegon Reidell: (to Lyra) "Oh. Thank you. I think."

[Lukas has been toying with the idea of annulling his marriage to Lysa Tully in order to marry Deedlit Reidell.]
Lyra: "This is a horrible idea! What are you thinking?!"
Christian: "I know what he's thinking with."

[Finally, after many days of anticipation, Lukas and his entourage ride to the field of the archery tournament.]
Ian the GM: "Okay... is everyone ready for the ridiculous?"

[Facing Our Heroes (tm) is an army, led by the king, who is riding a hippopotamus. Yes, really.]
Lukas: "Why am I facing the king and his army?"

[Lukas must think very fast. Some people are helping. Others, not so much.]
Lukas: "Anyone, any ideas?"
Vlad Gaunt: "Could we eat hippo?"
Lukas: "Vlad, from now on, you don't talk."

[Lukas and his uncle Bryndyn Bracken approach the king.]
Lukas: "I've never heard of anyone taming a hippopotamus before, but for a family that tames dragons, a hippo must be insignificant."

[The Mad King is being, well, mad.]
Kyn: "What's the answer he wants to hear from me?"
Christian: "From the guy riding the hippo?"

[The conversation between Lukas and King Aerys comes around to Hoster Tully's wound.]
Ian the GM: "You can tell the king had the wound poisoned."
Julie: "You said he didn't! Damn you, he rolled better than me!"

[Kyn was having a little trouble disassociating from his character. It was very funny.]
Kyn: "My hands are shaking."
Julie: "Oh, please. It's just war. We're all expecting it."

[Kyn tries to salvage the situation.]
Kyn: "I had this whole thing planned. You know what's in my bag? A severed head!"
Christian: "You're trying to match wits with the Mad King? He's riding a hippo!"

[Lyra passes out just at the climactic moment of the parley.]
Ian the GM: (to Eri) "Now you need to roll Knowledge: Arcana."
Christian: "No good can come of this."

[In actuality, Lyra has passed out because she's warg-riding her bear companion Rody. The only problem is that Jeyne doesn't believe in warg-riding.]
Julie: "I'm about to make entirely the wrong decision!"

[Jeyne has sent Kyran off to the Tully camp to ensure that nothing bad happens to Hoster Tully's daughters. He finds them mourning their recently-deceased father.]
Ian the GM: "Tears stain their beautiful dresses."
Christian: "So. Hot."
Julie: "...You are such a Targaryen!"

[Kyran tries to figure out whether Hoster Tully's maester poisoned him. Sadly, the maester is not helping things by being extraordinarily stubborn.]
Christian: "I really want to hit him, but I shouldn't. He's just guilty of being arrogant. It'd be like beating the crap out of Lukas. [beat] Wait, I want to beat the crap out of Lukas!"

[Lyra, warg-riding her bear Rody, has arrived at the Reidell camp just in time to see four of the king's men come to escort Rickard Reidell onto the battlefield.]
Eri: "I'm gonna try to knock them out before they know what hit them."
Christian: "Big shiny bear distraction!"

[Between the bear, Raegon Reidell, and Deedlit Reidell, the four soldiers are neutralized pretty quickly. Only one is still conscious. The poor man.]
Targaryen Soldier: "Lord Reidell, if you resist, we're to take you by force. But you have not yet resisted... yourself."

[Lyra is shunted out of her warg-riding to find herself in the maesters' tents, being tended by Jeyne's father, Maester Copeland.]
Lyra: "Maester Copeland..."
Maester Copeland: "Lyra! You're awake! I must be good at what I do!"

[Meanwhile, back on the battlefield, the King has made House Bracken the Lords Paramount of the Riverlands, and the heirs to the Vale if Jon Arryn does not sire any natural-born sons.]
Christian: "You're on the shit-list of everyone in Westeros."
Kyn: (sarcastically) "No, really?"
Christian: "Just making sure you knew."

[Rickard Reidell, meanwhile, has been named Hand of the King in place of Tywin Lannister. He'll be staying at Stone Hedge with House Bracken, new Lords Paramount of the Riverlands and Heirs Apparent to the Vale. Sometimes you get the tiniest sense of what the King's true motivations are.]
King Aerys: "There, Rickard, now you have a sufficient place to stay until you take the black."

[Kyran has followed Lyra onto the battlefield. King Aeyrs notices him. This is Not A Good Thing. Lukas tries to figure out a way to get him to leave.]
Lukas: "Did you have a message for me, Kyran?"
Ian the GM: "His eyes are so hopeful!"

[The Brackens have been catapulted to power in place of the much-beloved Tullys.]
Kyn: "I'm gonna remind people: the Brackens didn't want this."
Julie: "Some Brackens didn't want this."

[But wait, there's more!]
Lukas: "More surprises, Your Grace?"
King Aeyrs: "Surprises, no! Don't you have good spies?"
Lukas: "They... need to be better trained."

[King Aerys offers Janus Reidell to take the white of the Kingsguard. And this is where all the PCs thought the war would start.]
Janus Reidell: "No offense to my brothers in the Kingsguard, but I love Lyra more than I love my king."

[The realm does not immediately go to war. Instead, the Mad King decides to challenge Lyra by having her tame the still-feral hippo.]
Eri: "Is there anything else I can add to that roll?"
Kyn: "Do you have influence: hippo?"

[King Aerys toys with the idea of offering the last open Kingsguard position to Soren, before realizing he's not yet knighted or fully trained.]
King Aeyrs: "Big does not necessarily mean dangerous. But it helps! That's why I have a hippo!"

[Rickard Reidell still sides with his son in his wishes to marry Lyra Mormont and not Cersei Lannister.]
King Aeyrs: "Rickard, I sicken of your defiance."
Julie: "Oh, well. Too bad. I liked him."

[With all the excitement of politicking done, the archery tournament commences. House Bracken is fielding three men, except we only have two established archers that have been instrumental in the story so far.]
Kyn: "It's Soren, Benjen, and... Mo."

[Lukas, Jeyne, and Bryndyn take stock of the situation in the aftermath of the king's decrees.]
Lukas: "Were we just made Lords Paramount of the Riverlands?"
Jeyne: "Yes."
Lukas: "Were we expecting this?"
Jeyne: "Not quite so soon."

[Kyran joins the conversation.]
Kyran: "The Hand of the King will be in your keep."
Lukas: "And what am I supposed to do about that?"
Kyran: "Whatever he says. He's the Hand."

[Rhaegar Targaryen is declared the champion of the tournament, and as in canon, he names Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty. Recall that in the books, this was one of the turning points in causing Robert's Rebellion. Robert truly loved Lyanna. Soren, her new betrothed, does not have nearly such deep feelings.]
Soren: "I feel as though Robert would be angry..."


And that's it for this time! Next time, we time jump two months (theoretically) and start ever more politicking! It must be time to write more behind-the-scenes stories!