🌹 ００１ ｜ ｖｉｄｅｏ

[partialities]

Who: margaery tyrell.
Broadcast: fleet wide.
Action: Marsiva ; hospitality deck
When: current

[ the girl who sits in front of the camera seems as if she is quite well-versed in this manner of communication. if she had spent precious time watching others from afar before trying her hand at it as to not look foolish, it does not show. the only hint of how foreign she is to this setting is her manner of dress but give it a few seconds and you might start thinking this is somehow natural, too.

after all, she does seem very comfortable. Margaery's smile is sweet and bright, her hair is flowing down her shoulders and a few roses are placed neatly in her lap, almost a portrait-worthy moment before she speaks. ]

If I am not entirely mistaken, these are our best chance of speaking to one another. I did not wish to appear ill-mannered in failing to introduce myself.

[ to her fellow hostages and to the audience watching. she made certain to appear especially lovely for this. if they love you from the first moment, they shall be yours forever if you mind your step. ]

I am Margaery of House Tyrell; some of you I had the pleasure of meeting already and as for the rest, I am eager to speak to you as soon as it pleases you. I understand we are to spend quite some time together and it would please me to know each and every one of you. I am certain you have fascinating tales to tell of your time here or where you come from; if you ever wish to share, I shall be honored to provide company. I know little of such vessels and adventures but I am keen to learn all that I may.

[ and win whatever game this is. she dips her chin, a humble gesture. ]

For now, I hope I am welcome among you and dearly hope this finds you well.

Comments

you're good!

[partialities]

[ she's a good audience, margaery is, gasping and smiling and bringing a hand to her lips at the appropriate moments, taking in the places and the names as much as she can. ]

How brave you have been! Braver than many knights I have met, to have fought so many battles so gallantly.

[ but then, she gives her a little look, full of curiosity ]

and what happened after that? with the high dragon? had she rose from her slumber?

thank you ;;

[bryces_pup]

Brave? [Funny, she never really considered herself such.] I suppose. Feels hard to call it bravery when I was driven by sheer necessity. But I thank you for the compliment.

[Now onto the good part of the story.]

Well, if things had gone well she would never have woken. She was rather high up, you see, and the wind could be strong at times. High elevation and all. The ten of us agreed to keep as quiet as possible while we trekked into the temple containing the ashes. After going through the village and the caverns, none of us particularly wanted to fight the creature. With that in mind, we began to walk towards the temple. Our pace was slower than normal, as we didn't want to risk moving too quickly and making noise with our armor and whatnot. The path sloped downwards before inclining upwards again, towards the temple entrance. At the bottom of the slope was a gong. I... assume the villagers would ring it to summon the dragon or somesuch.

[And here her tone goes from friendly narrative to mildly annoyed and, well, long-suffering. A scowl sets into her expression as she continues.] Now, to this day I am not exactly sure what happened next. The accounts varied after it was all said and done. I was in front, leading the group. Some say he was pushed, others that he stumbled of his own accord. All I know is that as we went down the slope, I suddenly heard a slight shout before my dwarven companion goes rolling past me down the hillside. Stumbling and tumbling straight. Into. The gong. I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd have said he was aiming for the damned thing.

As you can imagine, with him wearing plated armor, he made quite a ruckus when he collided with it. Certainly enough that the high dragon heard it and woke up, very cranky from being roused from her nap. I'll admit that we all sort of just... stood in shock for a moment, unbelieving as to what happened. Then things were said that I won't repeat in polite company [Most of which came from her mouth] before we were all forced to dive out of the way as the dragon swooped down in a flourish of fire. She landed and it felt like the whole earth shook. As she did she let out this... piercing roar. I'll never forget it. It felt like someone was screaming directly against my ear, it was so loud. And terrifying. Let me tell you, I wasn't feeling too brave in that moment. It was the most terrified I ever felt in my life.

[partialities]

I find that the truly brave so very rarely admit themselves to be that. Most men who boast at their titles may yet prove to be disappointing in one manner or another.

[ her beloved joffrey comes to mind. ]

I can imagine! I am quite alarmed just hearing it. How frightened you must have been for your companions, faced with such terror.

[ and then she gestures with her hands ]

Please, continue. I do not have the nerve in me to wait, I am so eager to hear the rest of it.

[bryces_pup]

You are absolutely right. I've heard similar boasts myself, though there is usually someone willing to knock said boaster down a few pegs.

[She smiles at Margaery's enthusiasm and at her behest, continues in earnest.]

So, yes. One very miffed dragon. Ten fighters who had never gone up against one before. We'd never even got up against something that large before. Everyone's instinct - rightly so - was to spread out and form two lines around her. The warriors with the heavy armor in the front line, and the mages and lightly armored in the back row. Now, to our great fortune, and to the dragon's considerable consternation, we had a stone golem named Shale with us. A dear friend of mine. She's... well, an over seven foot tall being composed entirely of very durable stone. The dragon was not used to such creatures, you see. She likely had grown used to stomping on and eating "squishy meatbags", as Shale liked to call us non-golems. Shale... perplexed her. She tried to take a bite out of her and got an enormous stone fist to the muzzle for her efforts. Her fire also had little effect on Shale, so she was quite enraged. Dragons are intelligent but they're also temperamental creatures, so in her rage, she kept going after Shale. Shale drew most of her ire, and the rest of us could wail away at the dragon without too much trouble, for the most part.

Now this dragon also likely wasn't used to having to put up such a fight, so her moves became predictable after awhile. There was only so much she could do: swipe, bite, or breathe fire. All of which were dangerous and required very careful movements and footing. For the most part, the fight consisted of most of us just hacking, shooting, or casting spells at her for over an hour, and diving out of the way when necessary. Which... was a lot. The one mage tried every spell she knew on the thing, trying to see what would stick, while the other kept us alive with her healing magics. Because, despite our best efforts, we all did get hit. We were already tired after the trek through the caverns and not fighting at our absolute best. Not... recommended when taking on a dragon.

Most of the injuries received weren't terribly serious, nothing our healing mage couldn't handle quickly on the field. And there were enough of us to keep the dragon distracted if someone did go down. [Here her expression darkens, and she looks away from the camera.] Ah, honestly, it was... pretty fortunate there was only one major mishap.

[...care to guess, Margaery, who made that mistake?]

[partialities]

A woman of stone? No bard could sing a song of a more exciting battle. Was she beautiful, despite of it?

[ it's not a shallow question as much as her wishing to try and imagine the person in question ]

Only one? tell.

[bryces_pup]

In her own way. Shale does not look human - or dwarven, as she once was. [She describes Shale to Margaery, smiling fondly as she does so.] In battle she wore these crystals that made her stronger. Some kind of magic, I never quite understood it. But she was always very particular about them. They needed to match and, Maker help us if they made her look round.

[The interlude about Shale helps to ease Riona as she moves onto the final part of her tale. While it's a good one, it's not the most... flattering bit about her.]

Towards the end of the battle, we were all exhausted, me included. I came up from behind the beast to try and strike at one of its front claws. I hoped to disable it and hasten the battle. But the dragon was desperate and knew it was in danger of dying. I miscalculated. Shale had drawn its attention and I went in for the strike. Or, I thought she had. The dragon moved in a way I didn't expect, and she caught me running right up at her. And she did what could only be expected then: she struck me. [She motions with her arm, mimicking the movement of the dragon.] And it was not a light batting, either. Struck me square in the chest and sent me flying. Landed at the bottom of the slope, not far from the gong.

[She rubs at her chest where the claw had dug in.]

I had on heavy armor, thank the Maker. Saved me from certain death. Nonetheless, I was bleeding quite badly and the dragon seemed determined to make sure I didn't get back up. She went to move towards me. My war hound rushed forward and cuts her off. He knew I was in trouble and it didn't matter what was coming, he was determined to protect me. The dragon lunged forward to snap at him, he dodged and then... [She laughs a little.] I always told him to go for the throat, and that's what he did. A dragon's scales are near impenetrable but the skin under its belly and neck are soft. Kiter, my dog, managed to get a good grip and hung on for dear life. The dragon protested very loudly, as you can imagine.

Meanwhile, I... well, I was losing a bit of blood at that point so things get a little fuzzy here in my memory, but somehow my dwarven friend - the one who started this whole mess - managed to leap high enough, or was tossed as I figure, to imbed his axe pretty well into the thing's head. To make matters worse for the dragon, one of my other companions also managed to get up on her back and proceeded to drive both his daggers into the back of her neck. So she's got a dog biting into her throat, an axe in her head and two daggers digging into her neck. Desperate to get her attacks off her, she rears back onto her hind legs to throw them off.

[It was a hell of a sight.] One of the mages took advantage of the opportunity and sent an impressive bolt of lightning straight through the dragon's chest. Must have hit the heart or... something. It finally did the beast in. The dragon let out a final death knell before it came crashing down to the ground. Kiter and the men on her managed to leap out of the way in time and landed in a snow bank. I think. I... passed out shortly afterwards.

[partialities]

I never heard such a tale before.

[ there are stories of princesses and dragons to be certain but featuring dwarves and women made of stone, this one is unique in that and it makes its teller unique as well. margaery gives her excited applause ]

how brave you've been, how selfless! truly, that is what they speak of when they describe the gallantry of a knight. it is refreshing to hear such a tale of courage of boldness from a woman, not surprising at all - simply refreshing.

[bryces_pup]

[Riona actually blushes a bit at the applause. She's never been known for her storytelling skills, and she's quite pleased Margaery liked it. Of course, it could be a case of her just being polite and kind, but it's a sweet gesture all the same.]

Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed it. I only wish my companions were here. None of us felt too brave in that fight, I think, and to hear such praise would have lifted their spirits a bit.

[And in a few cases, gone straight to their heads.]

Are women not allowed to be knights where you are from?