Find-A-Way05

Story Five: A Bastard Reclaimed

House Action: Fifth Month, 294 AL

• Though the House was victorious against the bandits, their troops were hit hard, with the Bulls reduced much in overall training and the Blackhorn archers destroyed entirely.
• Despite this, those men who do come back with tales of a hard-fought victory against bandits for the safety of Wisenwood do much to inflame the dreams of glory that all young men seem to have. Many of the young men in the Wisent domains sign up for training in the Bulls.
  • Glory: +3 Power
  • Random Event: +1 House Fortune roll if used to increase Power.
  • Fortunes: Curse: -1 Influence, -1 Population.
  • House Action: Train Troops: +2 Power to Bulls.

Scene One: Up the Kingsroad

• Lord Josian makes it clear that if there is a time in which Ayrant should make a trip to the Wall to see his newly-discovered bastard, it is now. In a month's time, the Wisents will be sending Kaila and part of the household to Torrhen's Square, and he wants Ayrant to go along on that.
  • Ayrant gathers up a group consisting of Ser Garwyn, one of the Wisent Wise named Bory, and six Bulls, as well as his manservant Carenzo. They leave fairly quickly.
  • Maester Tolbric sends ravens ahead to Winterfell, the Lake House and Last Hearth, asking for their hospitality when the heir of Wisenwood comes through.
• The trip to the Shadow Tower will take about two weeks, weather permitting, traveling on horseback for about eight hours a day.
• Winterfell: In Winterfell, the steward Vayon Poole arranges guest quarters for them. They are brought dinner, and a message: Lord Stark would like to meet Ayrant in his study, once he has dined.
  • Lord Stark is taciturn, telling Ayrant that Lady Catelyn - who met him at the Tourney in Torrhen's Square - found him to be a bit of a poppinjay, but a harmless one. He says that when Lady Stark saw him and Serise Dustin together, it dispelled any questions she might have had: they did not interact as raper and victim. She doesn't think he is guilty, and Lord Stark trusts his Lady wife's instincts.
  • Despite Lord Stark's pardon, though, people are not likely to forget all of that history, so he suggests that Ayrant become very intent on doing right by his brother, Lord Josian, who risked much to get him a pardon. He owes it to Lord Josian to settle down into a respectable marriage and turn his attention to learning the skills necessary of an heir and future lord. Only by such measures will he truly prove his brother's faith in him, and set all of that nastiness into his past. House Wisent has had nothing but one scandal after another these past few generations, and he owes it to both his brother and Lord Stark to at least contribute no further tarnish to the Red Aurochs of his House.
  • The group sets out early the next day, accepting a small parcel of food for travel from the Winterfell kitchens.
• The Winter's Wind: A few days later, a half-day into the Wolfwood, they come across a small roadside inn called the Winter's Wind.
  • As they approach it, however, they are met by a knight who bars their way, insisting that they identify themselves.
  • Ser Garwyn recognizes the man's armor and shield: it is the "Knight of the Wolfswood," the mystery knight from the tourney at Torrhen's Square who nearly won the jousts. The dark-haired and dark-eyed young man greets them amiably enough, but insists that they show coin. There have been bandits through here lately, and he has taken defense of the inn personally.
  • They show coin, and identify themselves, and he happily leads them to the inn. Along the way, he introduces himself as Ser Raun Snow, a hedge knight. He'd hoped to win the jousts at the tourney and make his name, finding a way into some lord's retinue, but that didn't work quite as well as he'd hoped. So, for now, he helps the owners of the inn, Samrue and his wife Clea, by defending the inn from bandits and other unsavory sorts, in exchange for meals and a bed.
  • Ser Raun settles them in, introducing them to the innkeep (called "Ice Eye" for his cataract'd left eye), his suspicious wife Clea, the serving girl Yranna (a buxom girl with chestnut brown hair) and the old ostler Lanky Lem.
  • Ayrant pays for beds for himself, Ser Garwyn and Bory, and the Bulls sleep beside the hearth in the common room. The meal is a simple but hearty stew in hollowed out nut-bread trenchers, the stew thick with carrots, onions and slivers of hare.
  • Discussion with Ser Raun gets a little of his background: he was a squire to a hedge knight named Poxy Tom, and was knighted by a Manderly knight in the battle where his master died. He's been a knight for only a year or two. As the evening progresses, Ayrant asks him if he'd like to come into service with House Wisent, and the young knight eagerly agrees. Ayrant decides to take him with them north to the Wall, and back again, and if by the time they return to the inn, he is content with the man's service, he'll make it permanent. Ser Raun readily agrees.
  • During the evening, Yranna clearly keeps an eye out for the one doing the paying, and flirts outrageously with him, making sure to keep his cups filled. Ayrant gives in to her decidedly rustic charms (but charms nonetheless), and as the evening wears on, she "shows him his bed," and offers to help him warm it before sleep.
  • Afterwards, she asks if he has a "coin or two to spare". When he gives her a full silver stag, she begs him on the edge of tears to take her away. He's clearly a mighty lord, and mighty lords always need servants; she'd serve him well, for whatever he might need! Charmed and somewhat taken aback, he promises to stop by on their way back from the Wall, and if she still wants to go then, he'll find a place for her at his House's seat.
  • The group sets out the next day, with Ser Raun added to their group.
• The Lake House: Three days later, the group arrives at the Lake House, a small lake-side seat of House Lake in the middle of the highlands. They are offered basic accommodations and meager food, and brusquely told that Lady Wenda Lake is "indisposed" - making it clear that in this case, that means "being protected from a bunch of strange men while Lord Brandon Lake is away fighting highlander raiders." The group does not tarry, and moves on quickly.

Scene Two: Into the Snows

• As the group continues to journey north, they finally go far enough to encounter snows at night, and chilly temperatures most of the day long.
• Last Hearth: At the Last Hearth, while the Greatjon and his son are away, the Greatjon's uncles are on hand, and anxious to provide them the hospitality of the Last Hearth.
  • They are treated to a dinner of a boar and squash stew, served in black bread trenchers, with large platters of honey-roasted boar ribs. They serve nearly endless cups of thick, bitter black malt beer.
  • Their hosts are boisterous, and though several of the guests are aware of both of their nicknames and the origins thereof, no one brings them up (though the cosmopolitan Ayrant does note with interest that the whore "Whoresbane" is notorious for having killed was a man).
  • The Umber lords' hall is tended by a handful of beautiful, flirtatious women who seem far more interested in inflaming the desires of the Umber lords and their guests than to keeping cups full.
  • At the end of the night, the guests all retire to their beds accompanied by at least one of the young ladies (two of them on the arms of the somewhat-bewildered, handsome Ser Garwyn).
• The Flown Crow: Continuing on (all with heads thick from too much drink), the travelers finally reach the Gift.
  • As they travel, they meet a rider coming down the Kingsroad towards them. He dozes astride a horse that is clearly a farm nag, and the man is dressed in faded blacks.
  • As they near the man, he wakes suddenly, sees them, and takes off riding!
  • With a moment of hesitation, they realize the man is a deserter, and pursue him. The man is exhausted, and they ride him down fairly quickly, disarming him.
  • After a discussion about what to do with him, they decide to take him with them to the Shadow Tower. The man's name is Tolver "the Tall" Hedry, and he begs them to let him go, insisting that they don't know what it's like up there. Ser Garwyn in particular takes the man's desertion of his oaths to be extremely noxious, and shows no sympathy. The man's story about the hardships of the Wall merely drives Ayrant to get there, to get his son away as soon as possible.

Scene Three: The Shadow Tower

• They continue to travel, eventually spotting the Wall like shining silver razor blade on the horizon.
• Late one evening, a voice hails them from out of the darkness. They warn him that they are armed, and he assures them that he comes in peace.
  • The man who emerges into the firelight is another black brother, this one armed and armored, with a fine horse. He introduces himself as Qorhin Halfhand, showing a hand with only two fingers left, "just enough to pull a bowstring," he assures them.
  • He tells them that he was tracking a deserter, with a nod to the tied-up fugitive, but he sees that they already caught them. He offers to lead them back to the Shadow Tower when he hears of their mission. He knows the boy Cormont Snow - a good boy, if a bit quiet.
  • He camps with them for the evening, and they depart the next morning.
• The group finally arrives at the Shadow Tower, tall beside the Gorge. Qorhin puts them into the care of a steward before going off to find the Commander of the Tower, Ser Denys Mallister. He takes the defector with him, to imprison.
  • The steward is named Old Tal, the master of stables, and he admires their horses. He is amiable, with a gallows humor, and quite likeable.
  • Afterwards, they are shown rooms in the Tower proper.
• Ser Denys receives and greets them cordially; he is an extremely formal and courteous man, and clearly expects the same out of other nobles. His blacks are of fine quality, sable furs and black velvet, and not faded in the least.
  • He is interested in why they are here. He does know the boy - some bastard from the Dustin household. Ruthlyn watches over the boy and keeps him in hand, and though he was a bit of a nuisance originally, he's a strong and dedicated young man who will be a great advantage to the Wall when he's a man grown enough to take his oaths.
• He agrees to have someone fetch and bathe the boy; in the meantime, he gives them a tour of the Shadow Tower.
  • In the Rookery, they meet Maester Mullin, a powerfully built maester who wears his grey robes open in the front and fighter's garb underneath that, his chain hanging against the front of his leather breastplate, and a sword at his side.
• Afterwards, they retire to the top level of the tower. He tells his steward, Tam, to go and fetch some mulled wine, bread and cheese for them to discuss.
  • He inquires what their plans are. Ser Denys is loathe to see the boy go, quite frankly, at least not without something in return. Ser Denys wants them to supply ten men to the Wall in exchange, as "it is said that a man of noble blood is worth ten baseborn." He doesn't care where they get them, though he suggests the dungeons of their seat if they have a large enough seat, or perhaps they might call on some of their allies to supply men.
• After this conversation, there is a knock on the door, and in walks a young man with dark black hair and gray eyes. He is clearly on the verge of adulthood, and already strong. It is Cormont Snow.
  • He comes in, fearful and suspicious, especially when he sees the strangers.
  • Ser Denys sits him down, and introduces him to Ayrant Wisent, of House Wisent, and asks him to be silent while he explains his reason for coming.
• Cormont's reaction is angry, accusing the man of being a rapist, but Ayrant asks everyone to leave them. The two discuss what Cormont's life has been like, and in return, Ayrant describes the circumstances surrounding his shared past with the boy's mother, Serise Dustin.
  • When the boy breaks down crying, asking Ayrant where he's been, and why hasn't he come to get him sooner, Ayrant is nearly moved to tears himself. He explains that he didn't know about his birth, that everyone tried to keep him a secret.
  • Ayrant emphasizes that he's not here to force the boy to do anything. He simply wants to offer him a choice: he need not take the Black, nor does he have to find his own way in the world. He's almost an adult, but Ayrant would like to get to know him before he becomes a man full-grown, and offers him the chance to come and live with him at Wisenwood.
  • Cormont seems fearful, but accepts.
• Ser Denys asks that they stay another day or so, just to prepare the boy and to tell his uncle.

Scene Five: Imprisonment

• Ruthlyn Dustin returns the next day, and is immediately furious.
  • He accuses Ayrant of being an unpunished raper, and refuses to let the boy go with him.
  • Ser Denys comes to the Wisent quarters with Qorhin Halfhand and a few other brothers, along with Ruthlyn Dustin, and confronts Ayrant about this. Though they protest their innocence, he indicates that as a knight, he takes such accusations very seriously, and places all of House Wisent under house arrest.
  • If Lord Stark has pardoned him as he claims, they will send a bird to Winterfell to determine this. If he is lying, they will find out, and hang him off the Wall.
• That night, however, Old Tal comes and knocks on their door, convincing the guards to let him in because there is something wrong with their horses, and he needs to make sure it isn't contagious and at risk of infecting the Tower's horses.
  • Once inside, the old man is very worried, warning them that the Commander and Ruthlyn Dustin are fast friends, and never sent the raven. Ser Denys has a great hatred of rapers, and intends to simply hang them all.
  • When others ask questions, they will simply say that they tried to steal away the boy by deceit, and were executed for it.
  • He is there to help them escape, before they can be killed.
  • As they discuss methods for escaping, Carenzo mentions that he has a substance of great use for putting men to sleep quickly, and Old Tal suggests that they drug their remaining wine, and he'll take the tray out, and offer it to the door guards; "No sense letting it go to waste."
  • Once they've done so, they must go to the stables and flee immediately. Carenzo will take one of the black uniforms and quickly find their soldiers and Ser Raun, who are in unguarded quarters and get them out immediately as well.
  • In the meantime, Old Tal will go up and blow on the horn to warn of wildlings; as the Tower leaps to attention to deal with the possible invasion, the Wisents will flee in the other direction, and not stop until they reach Last Hearth.
• Ayrant, Ser Garwyn and Bory flee to the stables, to prepare their horses.
  • Once inside, however, Ayrant's water-dancer honed senses spot the ambush as it happens!
  • They are attacked by Ruthlyn Dustin and double-handful of black brothers, who are clearly fighting to kill.
  • Most of the Night's Watchmen are killed, and Ruthlyn is nearly killed as well, when Ser Denys, Qorhin Halfhand and even more black brothers arrive.
  • Ser Denys demands to know the meaning of this, ordering them to throw down their weapons and surrender. They are already somewhat injured and doubt they could make it out of that fight alive.
  • They do so, and Ser Denys refuses to hear their stories about how he supposedly intends to kill them, assuming that they are guilty. Instead of a "friendly" house arrest, they are stripped of arms and armor, and taken to holding cells.

Scene Six: Lies Brought Out

• The next morning, Maester Mullin and Ser Denys arrive at the cell and release them, informing them that Lord Stark has verified the pardon.
  • As they discuss exactly what happened over breakfast, the story comes back to Old Tal. On a suspicion, Ser Denys has his steward go look for the master of horse.
  • Meanwhile, Maester Mullin goes to look up some information on Old Tal, and Ser Denys has Ruthlyn Dustin brought to him.
• Ruthlyn Dustin is fearful, admitting his part in it. Old Tal came to him with a story of how he hated rapers, and the two of them planned it (although, thinking back, Ruthlyn sees that the whole plan was really Old Tal's - he just helped set it up).
• Maester Mullin returns with some information: Old Tal, it seems, is one Talfyr Balinger, of House Balinger.
  • Ayrant tells them the story of House Balinger, who were neighbors with the Wisents during the reign of one of the mad Wisent lords. The mad lord accused one of his knights - a Balinger son - of something falsely, and killed him.
  • House Balinger went to war with House Wisent, a feud that neither would give up, until House Balinger was destroyed utterly. When their tower was taken, Lady Balinger and the newborn Balinger heir were gone, and Lord Talfyr Balinger was given the option of taking the black, which he did.
  • The Balinger lands were claimed by House Wisent, and indeed, given to House Blackhorn, their banner knight household.
• The steward, Tam, returns, indicating that not only can he not find Old Tal, but Cormont is missing as well, and one of the stablehands was found dead beneath the hay.
  • Qorhin immediately volunteers to fetch the old man back, and of course House Wisent insists on accompanying him. Ser Denys agrees, apologizing for the treachery in his house, asking them to bring Old Tal back to face justice.

Scene Seven: Pursuit

• The tracks leading away from the Shadow Tower are relatively fresh and easy to follow, especially with a tracker like Qorhin Halfhand with them.
• It takes several hours, but they finally track him to a small seaside village called Erumar.
  • Upon arriving, they see two fair-sized ships among the smaller fishing vessels: a trading ship from Bear Island, and - extremely far from home - an ironborn longship.
  • With a little investigation, they find the horse Old Tal took, and discover that he fled aboard the longship, which is clearly preparing to leave port, taking on supplies in a hurry.
• There are a trio of ironmen at the head of the dock, cutting off any access to the longship.
  • Bory scrambles atop the inn with his bow, while the others approach the Iron Islanders.
  • Unsurprisingly, the ironmen deny the presence of any boy or old man, and threaten the Northerners.
• Finally, growing wearing of verbally sparring with the ironmen, Ser Garwyn challenges the ironmen to a one-on-one duel with their best champion. If he wins, they hand over the boy and old man; if not, they will go away.
  • The captain is a cruel, axe-wielding berserker named Rognar, and he accepts.
• The captain and Ser Garwyn square off, and begin their battle, spear against battleaxe.
  • They seem evenly matched and circle one another for a while.
  • In the meantime, Bory slips beneath the other dock and gets aboard the Bear Island ship, just to make sure there's no surprises there waiting for them. Quite the opposite, in fact - the Bear Islanders obviously hate the Iron Islanders, and cheer on Ser Garwyn.
  • When Rognar does strike, his axe bites deep, but Ser Garwyn strikes true more often, and in the end he skewers the ironman captain.
  • Rather than face down the prospect of dealing with the knight and his companions themselves, the new captain happily hands over the boy and old man, clearly indicating that he thought his old master's mission here was the height of folly, and the longship departs almost immediately.
• The group leaves after resting to bind wounds for a few. The villagers and Bear Islanders cheer the heroes on, buying them drinks and meals.
  • Qorhin takes Old Tal back to the Shadow Tower himself, while the Wisents go ahead and undertake their journey home, meeting up on the Kingsroad with Ser Raun and the Bulls.
  • On the way back, they stop off at the Winter's Wind. Ayrant officially accepts Ser Raun's service, and they collect Yranna to take her home to Wisenwood Tower, as promised.