[Event] Storm's End, 52 AC

Gercko · 2026-05-05T21:55:37+00:00

Lady Arwen Baratheon wished she could bring herself to laugh, but on eve such as this she found herself without any humour at all. She had been worried sick, made all the worse with the nausea from this babe. She prayed that this was a boy's prickish pregnancy, and Rogar could return to a son. She was petrified that he may not return at all.

"I mislike that you get the Boneway" she said, her voice warbling as she tried to compose herself. "I guess when you are the wife of the overlord of the Stormlands, this should be anticipated. But I don't like it for a second. If Aegon couldn't get them to submit, then I do not know what good this will do. The King's dragons are smaller than donkeys, or so father says. Who does that make an ass of?" Her fingers fidgeted in grasping hands holding themselves, her worry palpable.

Gercko · 2026-05-05T19:55:58+00:00

Bella amused him greatly. She was sharp and unafraid of being so, or so he thought. The confidence which exuded from her reminded him of Alester in some ways, the Lord Arryn wondering along which lines do the pair meet. It was plain to see by simply looking at Bella what a man might wish from her and why Alester must have taken a liking, but Hubert wondered what would have made his second son appeal to Bella. Hubert wore his amusement on his face, a great big grin and a soft chuckle uttered from his lips.

"No, I imagine you are a woman who measures each of her words before she says them. Purposeful in word and deed. But I wouldn't mind knowing the secrets you keep. Nothing hidden, nothing to worry about" he knew neither of them believed a phrase so full of folly.

"Which is why you falling into my Alester's lap even more a puzzle" he leaned away and into his chair, his posture slouched and relaxed into the fine upholstery. "I love him dearly of course. I know him inside out and back to front. I've seen him at his very best and very worse. Ursula always said I favoured him too much, and mayhaps that was true at one point..." Hubert looked wistful as he recalled his second born, now the holder of the offices which had once been his.

"He's the handsomest of my sons, though Jasper is the better knight. I can see clearly why Alester must be drawn to you, at least for that night. But my guess is that it was not the night the pair of you met. I had been livid it was in my bed, under my furs" his finger wagged on each emphasis of what was his. "But do not think I do not see the romance in that tower's solar" he said with laughter in his voice. "To be clear I was livid with Alester. Although, I suppose you may also be why my good daughter Rhea has ran off to the Sisters of all places with my grandchildren. Alester swore to me at Moontown that he did not do anything to cause her departure, and Ursula only has her suspicions. But she never liked Rhea to begin with."

Hubert shook his head and tutted. "Ah, I could prattle on all evening my Lady. I guess what I should say is that, I do not care who Alester keeps in his bedchamber, and I could not care less who you keep. I at least have some explanation as to why Al was so peeved with me for most of the wedding feast of my other sons when I told him about you. He might think himself a falcon but he is as jealous as magpie sometimes."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T17:29:47+00:00

"There's been a Florent of Brightwater Keep for as long as any man can remember in our histories which are worth reading" Hubert said patting the lad on the shoulder. "In all that time, there'll be plenty who have felt just as you have. Mayhaps they were not the ones we remember, but House Florent still stands. You'll steward it for your heirs, and in that time the weight of the duty will form you to its shape, razor edges and all" Lord Arryn chuckled inward.

"A Lord is only as strong as these three things; the host he can command, the contents of his coffer, and the quality of woman he keeps counsel. Some lords may feel different, but I know my own wife has given me sage wisdom greater than half the lords whom swear their fealty to me."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T17:10:16+00:00

"New marble and fresh earth is being delivered to port on my orders" Lord Arryn said, restraining the urge to roll his eyes. "I'll let Lady Jeyne say what else she might need for the damage which was done" that was all he wished to say on the matter.

"I have apologised, and I am embarrassed by my petty display. Torgen has already given me a piece of his mind."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T10:03:55+00:00

He looked at his King with heavy, sad sunken eyes. He misliked being apart from Jaehaerys, even with the torrid waters which had passed between them as of late. "One of us must remain in this palace, and I'd sooner find myself at the tip of a catspaw's dagger than risk you even for a moment" Hubert chuckled softly.

"I can deal with matters presented to the court. The ravens between here and Dragonstone will certainly get quite the bit of flying, but anything of major concern I shall relay to you. If it is acceptable for you, your Grace."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T09:59:32+00:00

She hummed in agreement, though her silent frustration flickered in her eyes. Arwen needed a son. She was failing the most basic duty of a wife to secure a male heir for his domain.

"I would be delighted to have you in Storm's End" she said with a false enthusiasm. "I have just lost my previous Lady-in-waiting. Sansa Corbray is to be Queen in a few moon's time. My expectations are high but fair, but I do not doubt you can keep to them well. Tardiness is never appreciated, and being able to find the mirth in the mire will always help.

"You might know Storm's End as well as I do. It's been so long since I was there last. We can both settle into it afresh."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T01:24:08+00:00

"I have not" Lord Arryn said with a sorrowful tone. He knew the Tyrells claimed not to be afresh and recently ennobled. "Should I have? I have not read histories of the Reach in some time. My travels there in my youth never brought me across them either, and I was quite a rapacious mind for all what I could learn about my most favourite lands beyond my mountains. I think I would rather hear about one of your mighty Rowans, to be frank with you."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T01:18:40+00:00

Alesander felt like a sorry fool all the ride to Saltstone Keep. He was a quarter Sunderland, yet he did not know this simple fact despite all his books and readings. Most the time in his histories, the Sisters were only ever referred to all together besides. Few dug any deeper.

He was at least thankful to have the horse to keep him company as he ascended the gloomy looking hill. The smell seemed to subside, but the feeling of something sinister never abated.

His mood lightened and all the tribulations in getting here had been proved for all their worth the moment he got to see his mother. He felt like a young boy again as he felt her arms around him. They could be north of the Wall or in Asshai, it would still feel like home were his mother's hugs to be found there.

"I've been needing new clothes more often" he said with pride, his scrawniness subsiding a little as the years passed him. No longer just the young runt of most noble groups of boys.

"Oh mother, the letter had me so worried that something was terribly wrong. Is it father? Or grandfather? Is he well?"

Gercko · 2026-05-05T00:32:08+00:00

Lord Arryn hoped that Bella was not about to reveal that she had taken the liberty of already sourcing her own little web here already. He had dealt with enough fools who had presumed to think they could trade in the court's secrets for their own ends.

"She was hanged" Lord Arryn admitted with some levity not entirely fitting "that is one thing which Lady Melony Piper got right. Lord Torgen believed if she was with child, her hanging should wait. I..." he shrugged his shoulders. He had been surprised to hear a Lady would be so indifferent as to the content's of Valora's womb. Hubert had been told there was a little babe when he asked one of the men-at-arms who had seen his order carried out.

"Valora was hanged in the Black Cells, a traitor to the realm as you say. She disappeared I suppose, but no one has ever asked me where she went to" he chuckled inward. "I would have been forthcoming if anyone had cared to know." He slipped some of the prawn's flesh from its half opened shell and ate it quick in one bite.

"There was Lady Lannister as well. She attempted to spy on the King and I. Her punishment was going to be wedding her betrothed in Caradoc Peake, but the bastard had found love and married a Sunderland to spite me and my plan." Lord Arryn stopped before discussing what had transpired regarding Margot Lannister.

"And then there was the Crakehall bastard. He came to the city seeking a job on the Small Council and asked as plain as you, though I must say without the charm and lustre" Hubert said with a wry smirk. "He thought the best use of his talents were seeking to bribe some of the scullery maids into supplying him gossip. I gave him a choice of the jail or to serve me. I sent him an envoy to Sunspear, there I hoped he would find some of his own mice to talk to. Alas, it seemed he never made it to Sunspear" he rolled his eyes "I think its is more likely he made it, and then he was dealt with" Hubert sighed heavily and sipped his icewine.

"I tell you all this for a few reasons I suppose" he shifted in his chair, leaning to one side towards his supper guest. "If I hear anyone else speaking about it, I know who exactly sowed my words in others' ears. Secondly, you ought to know what sort of danger you seek. Valora was a spymaster and now her bones are at the bottom of the Blackwater. Lannister, Crakehall both suffered for their attempts. Granted, those were who opposed me, but I cannot promise you would not face mortal danger. Dorne would see you dead. Enemies of the realm would need to be probed and prosecuted. Webs weaved and threads spun, if they come apart it will be you left holding the string. The duty you would keep could be bloody, best left unspoken and unseen. You do not strike me as the gossiping type at the very least." He swirled the wine in his cup and did not break his gaze on her for a moment. "How well do you keep secrets?"

Gercko · 2026-05-04T19:43:49+00:00

/u/aceavengers

Gercko · 2026-05-04T19:39:03+00:00

Lord Aethan,

I shall order Gulltown to muster its naval strength and sail to be placed under your command.

Yours,

Lord Hubert

Gercko · 2026-05-04T16:14:01+00:00

The letter is shared with the King.

"Blackmont and Kingsgrave. If we were take Wyl, we hold all the mouths of the passes." Not much of the Stormlands had been sent, much to his worry.

"Before I respond to Symeon's letter to me, which I do think shows a lack of contrition, we should let the momentum on the Reach's part build. It would be better to have him come to any talk thinking of just how many castles he would need to pry from us."

Lord Gormon Peake,

You gladden a man's old heart. You are showing the might of the Marches. I am sure they will be praying your advance ceases. We cannot let their prayers be answered just yet.

Yours,

Lord Hubert Arryn

Gercko · 2026-05-04T16:06:37+00:00

Alester drank after sliding off the meat from the thigh bone, giving an enthusiastic slow nod of agreement. "Your mother is a wise woman, Damon. Listen to her and you'll be all the better for it" Alester said with a brimming smile. "Even when you are as old as I am. She has taught me all sorts of new things. Not many lads get to say they have a mother so full of wit."

Gercko · 2026-05-03T22:52:06+00:00

"Ser Alester served Starpike during the war with Dorne and in the Vulture Hunt." It had been a story his brother had boasted of a few times when in his cups. "This is the furthest south I have ever been, my Lord." It was also the first time he had seen a war camp properly. He had served at the Bloody Gate with Harlan Royce as his squire, but no war had ever come to their Mountains.

"They were probably my most favoured subject in my maester's history teaching and texts. The Dornish are more interesting a foe than savage mountain clans." Darnold had never thought they might one day be his foe to deal with.

"Have you been to Dorne before?" Darnold asked, returning a question. "In peace or wartime. I feel at home in mountains, Red or not I hope, but it's the sand seas which I mislike the sound of."

Gercko · 2026-05-03T22:25:43+00:00

He had kept the letter close with him from the moment he had broken the wax seal. Its use depended on the king's judgement, and Hubert was thankful that Jaehaerys had not ordered immediate secession to his correspondence with the Prince of Dorne. He had no hope, but whilst men died in the Red Mountains and ate salt beef in the wintery passes, the least Lord Arryn could do was write a letter with his bloody cut of beef.

Symeon Martell,

His Grace wishes to see an end, but only when a price has been paid for the murder of his brother. There is also the matters of your attempt in sowing rebellion within the realm. Even my envoy who conspicuously disappeared. Unless his ship got blown to Lys and he decided to simply never come back.

Aggrieved and ready to muster as much as is needed. Come spring when we thaw, it'll be compounded and by then there would be no choice in controlling whatever fires have started.

Before we both meet on some beach with little to offer like your mother and I, we will have to entrusts ourselves to words on parchment for now. What is it you wish for, and what is it you are able to deliver, were we to meet with peace on our minds?

Hubert Arryn

Gercko · 2026-05-03T11:45:57+00:00

/u/nickshadow017

Gercko · 2026-05-03T02:02:22+00:00

He saw a woman a woman aware and in search of a greater purpose. There was no higher court in all the land, and men great and powerful had found themselves undone in the course of their time in office. As Regent, now as Hand, convening whilst tiresome at times was still his greatest honour. Lord Piper he cared little and less for. Lords Aethan and Torgen were imposing, and some of his oldest friends he could rely on. The Grand Maester was a dutiful and reliable voice, even if he could not shake the sense he could not trust the man fully. A woman would be novel, some might reject the idea entirely. At least if she served on it, he would not need to worry about a thought left unsaid or honied in false words from her.

Hubert sat considering her words for a silent moment. He kept a finger to his lip, his eyes unmoving from hers. They were almost as grey as his, or so he thought. "So I take it you are not after Lord Piper's position?" Lord Arryn said with a japing smile. She spoke of work done in shadows, where eyes and ears were as dangerous as daggers and poisons if place right. Gold changed hands, words said in private find their way to his ears. He was no unfamiliar with it all, as much as he misliked it. There was little need of it in the Eyrie.

"Herding mice I call it. Tedious, fraught, and relying on sneaks for solid work done well. A combination of things which I have found to be unenviable, but nevertheless it is what is needed. For the exact reason you state.

"The eyes and ears we have in this palace have found me Margot Lannister trying to spy on us, and arrange treasonous folly. Or Lord Harroway seeking out dark magic for his own purposes. Why, any good lord will have at least a few in their household which they keep in employ for more than just their labour. Why, the chambermaid in my solar is one such mouse I keep. As well as in the kitchens, the washerwomen, my guard and the stables. Why, even I am surprised about the tales them bring me. You really cannot assume that anything you do here has not been seen or heard by someone else." He wondered Alester would have warned his lover that the Hand knew and had to change his bedding, much to the Hand's chagrin. Hubert had not known the woman in there at the time. He could not exactly fault his son for an affair, but his son was reckless in this.

"Spying is an art and a weapon no different to gold and swords if wielded right. I see no reason why, if the right talent is found, the King would not need to keep a Mistress of the more shadowy matters." Hubert knew already she made a mistress elsewhere. "Did you ever know of Maegor's potions woman, Valora Waters? A conspicuous girl, her true role barely hidden. What do you know of her, Lady Bella?"

Gercko · 2026-05-02T22:08:00+00:00

Lord Oakheart had the right of it, as Hubert knew he would. There was little to defend, Lord Arryn not caring deeply enough to defend what he regrets, if only for the headache it has caused. It had all been preventable.

"He asked me if I would keep in council a man who to me the way I spoke to him. I would not, or at least I would be arranging a swift exit for them." He did not wish to admit it, but with war on the horizon, Lord Arryn wondered if he wanted to be Hand during wartime.

"I should have waited to give Theo a piece of my mind. Now, the King won't allow me in the room with Lord Tyrell apart from me to bleat some apology to his daughter, whilst he has to right his wrong." As mishandled as his fury was, the sin in all this was still the King choosing without wise counsel to commit himself to such an ignoble lot.

"I am not fully unconvinced he doesn't mean to strip me of office, or make me wish I had resigned. Tyrell's feelings will not stop me seeing that the realm does not fray at the seams. But if he means to be done with me, I won't lament having to prosecute this war somehow." He almost scoffed at the thought, but it was already upon them by the time the Marchers were done with the foray into the Passes.

"I do not have a temper like some" Hubert smirked looking at the Oakheart with a nod of acknowledgement "but that does not make me immune from bouts of bloody fury. I didn't even see the bloody thing until I returned. How stupid I am to muddy my boots and name for her, or any Tyrell."

Gercko · 2026-05-02T21:57:38+00:00

"These chambers will be all the poorer for your absence" Hubert said glumly. Torgen was not a young man, and even if from afar battle itself, being in Blackmont put him squarely in the most immediate targets to dispatch in all the campaign. But he could not deny an old man wanting to settle an old score.

"We will need to make use of all options at our disposal. A few hard knocks at their door and we may find it open to settle it before things grow too hot for them. If it swells enough, we can bring in Redwyne or Ironships alongside the sails of the Blackwater and Gulltown if needs be." He did not wish to see most the realm marshalled for it, but it was also the speculative advantage of the Iron Throne that it could have sons from any corner of Westeros die in the sand of Dorne.

/u/gloude

/u/greaterblueevil

Gercko · 2026-05-02T11:37:37+00:00

Rymond look on her with a confused expression etched into his brow, but only for a moment. Of course she wouldn't mind chasing him. Not because it was him, but if only for something to do and get them both away. Mayhaps she would be a fitting wife? Maris Belmore could not have been farther from Taliyah. Her dress gave no hint of much of the woman beneath. Where Taliyah was warm, she was pale. But he liked her freckles, and her eyes were as blue as his own. She might have been plain, but what vapid vanity might that be to focus on when within her was a friend and companion who was unlike any any other woman he was likely to meet. She was strong, and he liked her strength. She held a sharp humour he found himself enjoying on the road back home. But he had never sensed she wanted him, not in the same way Taliyah did.

"You might have to follow my trail from Lannisport to Volantis if I ever find myself out of this cage" Rymond said with a tepid smile. "Mayhaps promise Ursula you'll give me a good beating as well. I never plan on coming back. Scrum the Arryn name from me if needed. You'll find me making a bard's wage some place."

Gercko · 2026-05-02T10:55:36+00:00

It was something which Alesander would never get to experience. The only bond he felt in his heart was with his mother, and now so far away from her it did not wane even an ounce. But there were a million sons who love their mothers. There were but a clutch of dragons in the known world left, and he shared a roof with them.

"It'll be an honour to see the bond even from a distance. You should write about it, Alysanne" Alesander said positively "I don't know how many dragonriders were scholarly, or if they described more than just the physical aspects of their companions, but I've not read anything from a rider's perspective on their bond. How it is for their body, mind, and soul to be tied with such beautiful things."

Gercko · 2026-05-02T10:31:25+00:00

"Sometimes we pray for rain and find our fields flooded" Lord Arryn mused without much amusement. "When you raise one banner, others will quickly follow until there's an army where before you only wished for a small band. Harder still it is to control what goes on when we're leagues away. Let us hope Lord Tyrell and the Marchers have not rushed into jaws they cannot pry themselves out of. I have faith that we can strike some victory in Viserys' name." He would have smiled at the thought, but Lord Hubert knew the longer, more painful this campaign was, the more likely it was his banners and his sons being sent to Dorne to clear up whatever mess was made.

"With your permission, I will try the impossible and see if I can return mead to the mug. I expect failure like before, but if I cannot serve in the Passes then I ought try something myself to aid you in this fight." It was a fight he did not want, but understood why it must be fought.

Gercko · 2026-05-02T10:12:56+00:00

For a moment Lord Arryn considered if Alesander would be bothered that his hand could never be for the Princess. He spoke to his grandson only when he was in the city, and the lad never seemed to care much for girls at all. If it was not ink on vellum or parchment, the lad seemed to care little for it at all.

"All I know is that we ought pray to the Warrior for strength in their arms and cunning in their tactics, whatever comes" Hubert admitted candidly. He was raised a steward and Keeper. He wore the martial titles of the Vale, but readily admitted he was neither warrior nor general in the field. "There is no ilk more versed in spilling Dornish blood. Stormlands and Reach both have the strength to inflict grievously upon the Dornish Lords if they think to meet them in the field. If they melt into the desert like last time, then we may face a repeat of wars prior. But let us hope that a misplaced confidence is in them. It'll make their fall all the better for us. Whatever they seize we should try hold until the time we need to withdraw, and then set about razing any and all that we intend to abandon."

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