driftfleet | Sixth Blight

Entry tags:

Sixth Blight - video

Who: Riona and you!
Broadcast: Yus
Action: On the Blue Fish, if you'd like!
When: Now?

[There's the distinct sound of a canine sniffing nearby when the feed turns on. Anyone with an acute ear may also hear a different kind of sound, something akin to snuffling. The animal causing it is revealed a moment later. To those not from Thedas, it looks like a pink, hairless mole. But any Thedosian would know that it's a nug.

The camera pans over to Riona, who's feeding said nug while Kiter cautiously sniffs at the other animal. She shakes her head.]

A favor for a favor, I suppose. Sister Nightingale has fallen into one of those comas. For the time being, Schmooples here is in my care. If you were expecting to see her in the interfaith center, I'm afraid it'll have to wait. [She looks over at her puppy, smiling conspiratorially.] You and I will be brainstorming what to draw on her face. Tit for tat, too.

[When she looks back at the camera, her smile falters, and pronounced concern sets in its place.]

Also, Dr. Beverly Crusher seems to be missing. Normally I'd suspect she's gone home, but her things are still here and her name still shows up on the communication device. Something is amiss. If anyone has seen her the past few days, please do let me or any of the crew on the Blue Fish know.

[Her disappearance puzzles her, along with her obvious worry. It's not like Beverly to do that, and with them having left the planet, there are only so many places she could be.]

Those matters aside, we've now returned to the dull void of space and to confinement in our ships until we make land again. There's only so much to entertain in the fleet, especially when you've been here awhile. Recently, I returned home for a few months. Here only a handful of days passed, but it felt much longer. I find myself feeling a bit homesick. So, I have a request.

[She pauses, uncertainty flitting across her face. For a moment she glances down, and finds herself fiddling with her wedding ring, which she's recently gone back to wearing on her hand. She clasps her hands together and looks back at the camera.]

But first, I suppose I should introduce myself to those who don't know me. My name is Riona Cousland [And here there's the slightest pause, a moment of hesitation. She swallows the trepidation back.] Theirin. I've been here nearly eight months.

[Whatever caused her hesitation seems to have passed. She relaxes, and continues:]

In my time, I've heard quite a few things about people's worlds. Comparing them to Thedas - where I am from - always interests me. I love hearing stories, and I'm always happy to share ones from my world, in particular the ones of my home country.

So. Let's do an exchange. A tale for a tale. It can be anything you experienced, or perhaps a legend or fable from your world that you're fond of. And I will tell you one in return. Simple enough, and a good way to pass the evening, no?

[She smiles, wiggling her fingers in good-bye before shutting off the feed.]

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Indeed, the first king of their linage, Aegon the Conqueror.

[ it's a nice story to tell. her house has been faithful to the dragons until the very last day and if the need arise, Margaery will know to step back and allow the dragon queen her own dominion. Being a Tyrell, she knows the tales, it is never wise to try a dragon's wrath ]

I do not know if it is a matter of control as it is of companionship. I know little of it but I have always thought the Targareyns had a manner to speak to the beasts and understand them. Mayhaps it is their Valyrian blood.

[So perhaps it is similar to the bond a mabari and their master share. Riona nods in understanding.]

I like your theory much better. But forgive me for interrupting! Please do go on. How did it all start?

Well, it happened many years ago, my Lady. Most of the noble houses of Westeros have come from the land but house Targaryen came with its dragons from Valyria. Once, they said, it was the grandest of land, rich and beautiful with houses old and noble, far older than those of Westeros. They had ancient knowledge and ancient magic, it is where the dragonlords first came. At its prime, it was the center of the world.

[ a hum ]

Now, you must wonder why they left.

[She listens attentively, appropriately engrossed in the beginning of her tale.]

It does sound like a lovely place, one that I think one would not leave for trivial reasons. So yes, I do wonder why they left. And I suspect you may know.

[She grins.]

Tales say that many years ago, one of the daughters of the Targaryen lords, gifted with magic that showed her the future, saw the destruction of Valyria at a time where it was at the height of its power. Her father listened to her and he and his and their dragons have left Valyria for their house's seat at Dragonstone, an island off the coast of Westeros.

[ a story her brother willas told her not once. ]

Tyrion would be far better than me for details but surely, years later, Valyria was destroyed, they say the entire land went up in flames, land splitting into islands. My brother once told me no man dare sail next to the water of Valyria, even years and years afterwards, they say the water is cursed.

Maker's breath. It is fortunate she saw the upcoming calamity. Though I wonder how many died when that cataclysm struck.

[Could the Targareyns have warned them? Though perhaps the warning would have been unheeded.]

So the Targareyns went to Dragonstone. What happened next?

Many - all the noble houses of Valyria and all those who served them.

[ and their old wisdom and their spells, her brother had told her. ]

Many years later there came a great Targareyn lord and dragon rider who we now call Aegon the Conqueror, the greatest of the dragon kings. He wed both of his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys, both clever and bold warriors and dragon riders, much like him. He looked west towards Westeros, then divided to many smaller kingdoms and decided to bring the seven kingdoms together with himself as their king.

He... married his sisters? That's a strange practice.

[To put it lightly. It wigs her out a little, to be honest.]

A bold undertaking, all the same, even with dragons. It must have taken years and hard-fought battles to win over all seven kingdoms.

All Targaryens traditionally married their siblings, to preserve their Valyrian blood as they believed it is more noble than the blood of those of Westeros.

[ a beat ]

We do not practice such things in Westeros anymore. Most of us think it forbidden.

[ unless you're cersei lannister. ]

Yes but in the end, nearly everyone bent their knee to the dragon king. All save for one noble house.

As I would hope. That does not seem natural, preservation of bloodline or not.

[It sounds like a bad idea. And stupid. Something the Orlesians would do.]

All but one? It wouldn't happen to be the Tyrells, would it?

No, not at all. My house was very loyal to the dragons. We have not shifted our loyalty so long as they held the throne. The rebellion came in my father's years - he only bent a knee to the new king when it was clear all the dragons were dead.

[ she smiles a bit ]

Well, not all of them, it turned out. House Martell of Dorne. When the dragons came telling them their house's words, Fire and Blood, they were not so impressed and reminded them that their words were Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken. Much blood was spilled over the sand dunes of Dorne but they were never conquered and never bent a knee.

I heard a little of this rebellion. Quite a bloody one, from what I managed to gather. But then, what rebellion isn't?

[Civil conflicts tended to be like that.]

Truly? I was under the impression they managed to bring all of Westeros to heel. That must have rankled Aegon quite a bit.

There was an eventual peace between them but also a sense of a work left unfinished. Still, they never once accepted a king and handled their affairs their own way. They have sent one of their daughters to marry prince Rhaegar many years later but -

[ a bit of a sigh ]

They were both killed in the rebellion. Terrible stories, so my brother told me.

Yes, I heard. Our local Targareyn told me a bit about that. She and many children were slaughtered, no?

[Maker, it sounds like the whole affair was just awful.]

Yes. My brother never told me the details of it but the dragons were all put to the sword. From the king and his son the prince, to princess Elia and her young children.

[ a terrible time, Margaery thinks. no less terrible, however, than the havoc the war of the five kings brought upon them all ]

The dragon queen who resides here survived, somehow. She was but a babe, mayhaps she was taken out of Westeros before the rebels came.

I believe she said her mother and brother managed to flee. But I did not press for details.

[For one thing, she couldn't remember any of it. And it was about the death of her family. Not really a topic one pries into, especially with someone who was barely an acquaintance.]

Ah, listen to us. This is so depressing. Shall I tell you a tale in turn? Is there anything in particular you'd be interested in hearing? Or, what kind of tale?

Well, my story turned out to be quite sad, did it not?

[ a bit of a smile. tragic, that most stories in westeros have sadness and grief laced in them. it's a realm that doesn't seem to quiet down or find its peace for very long, as of late. ]

A happy story, then.

A happy story? Ah, dear. Easier said than done in Thedas.

[Thedas, likes Westeros, does seem to love its tragedies.]

I... there is one I can think of. It is not happy in its entirety, but it has a happy end, if that suits you.

A happy ending shall suit me fine.

[ if only there were a few more of those in Westeros recently. ]

What is about? A battle? an adventure?

Of a sort.

[She smiles faintly.]

Not too long ago, there was a man by the name of Nathaniel Howe. His family had once been of nobility, but they fell after his father was killed and the new king stripped them of their titles and land.

He heard of the location of the one responsible for his father's demise. She was the commander of the Grey Wardens in that country, and it was said she would be arriving at Vigil's Keep shortly. He snuck into the fortress to lay in wait. But he was caught. It took four Wardens before he was pinned down and thrown into the dungeon, to await for the sentencing of the commander when she arrived.

Poor Nathaniel Howe - to be caught so trying to avenge his father.

[ she is a dutiful audience, if anything. leaning her chin on her knee as she settles to listen ]

Who was this commander? how was she at fault for his father's death?

Perhaps, but his father was hardly faultless.

[Her lips quirk to the side.]

She killed his father. With her own hands. You see, Rendon Howe had her family killed a little over a year prior to that night. His men had gathered in her home, welcomed by her father. They were to set out with her father's men in the morning, at the behest of the king. But in the middle of the night, they attacked the castle. Killed everyone - the servants, the soldiers, and most of the commander's family. Even her little nephew.

[Her heart aches to remember that night.]

She only escaped thanks to a Grey Warden who'd been there to recruit. But she swore to avenge her family someday, and months later, she got her chance. She ran Rendon through and snapped his neck in half, leaving him dead in the dungeon of the Arl of Denerim's estate.

His father had no honor, then. Did he know? his son? did he know why the lady killed his father?

[ he could have liked to avenge him, still. it is a terrible circle, one she sees time after time in Westeros, too. If more people would mourn deaths instead of avenging those who are gone, mayhaps they could form more alliances, to have more peace. ]

What happened when they met?

They actually argued a bit about that when they met, once she realized who Nathaniel was. When she told him that yes, she killed his father because of what he did to her family, he shot back saying that her family were traitors, that his father did the right thing. None of that was true; it was a fabrication his father invented to justify what he had done.

She damn near killed him right then and there.

[She could still remember that rage. Oghren's hand on her arm stopped her... and something else.]

However, given that the Warden numbers were extremely low and she was in desperate need of men, she had another idea. Nathaniel was a good rogue, and that it took four Wardens to stop him? Impressive. So, she conscripted him, forcing him to join the Wardens and serve under her command. She thought it would be a more fitting punishment, to make him obey her orders and be under her heel.

[At the time, she'd been pleased with her decision. But now? The guilt still flared from time to time.]

And he agreed to it? I'd fear he'd slit my throat open. I do suppose she had other, loyal men with her and still.

[ if there is one thing she learned - ]

Can one truly trust a turncloak in their camp?

video.

bryces_pup - 2016-09-23 02:36 (UTC) - Expand

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