Party, it's a party

[halfbloodhatchling]

Who: Party on the Caprine. Open to all.
Broadcast: Video
Action: SS Caprine
When: Night 4/01

It’s time for the 'thank Morrígan no one expects us to be fish anymore' party, as promised.

Feel free to come on over to the Caprine if you want in on this. No RSVP necessary.

[ Hopefully they’ll all fit. ]

[ ooc: It’s a party mingle! ]

Comments

A.

[onlyvengeance]

[ Catelyn is no stranger to socializing, having been brought up to do her fair share, and being Lady of an important House, well, it just came with the territory. It is and is not familiar ground, but she is making her best effort. She toys with the drink she has barely tasted, turning it in her hands before she speaks. ]

Do we ever...return to places we've been? Might we...might any of us return home?

Re: A.

[halfbloodhatchling]

[ Kai is trying harder with his crewmates than the rest, because some people need other people and because they have to put up with each other regardless. ]

I went back home, recently. Or I thought I did, although to all reports my body stayed here.

[ Kai lifts his hand to touch his neck, where might be visible, now that he's drawn attention to it, a mark. ]

It's confusing, but I think we can, yes.

[onlyvengeance]

[ Such a thought is strange indeed to her, yet she feels that it is possible for the gods, or this Atroma...whatever it or they may be. If they could return her life to her, and to Robb, why should they have what may be considered to be normal limits placed on them?

By rights, I should not be alive. And if returning home meant dying again...I am not so eager. Yet I have five children. Two are here with me. But of the ones who remain behind...only one lives. If my son and daughter were to return from here, he would die, and she would live, though a prisoner. If I could change that fate, gladly would I return.

[halfbloodhatchling]

It sounds like being here is probably safer than wherever it is you come from.

[ He's just saying... ]

[onlyvengeance]

[ Just think if he got more than the Cliff's Notes version. ]

So far it is. I've only had to fight for my life once.

[ She could be joking...is she? ]

[halfbloodhatchling]

[ He would guess no. ]

The fewer times that's necessary, the better.

[onlyvengeance]

I think I am a little better prepared for such things here, though it is hard to understand how that can be so.

[ The augment is so puzzling to someone used to candlelight and superstitions. ]

[halfbloodhatchling]

It’s probably all the more important to train then, so you don’t second-guess your own reactions. That’s my working theory, at least.

[onlyvengeance]

I saw my brother and my father's ward practice every day as a child. I have watched my sons draw the bow until their arms shake, and yet one more.

[also Arya, to be fair. but most women are not taught to hold a weapon, though they may die just as easily when faced with one. It has never occured to her to question such things. Until now. ]

Such was not seemly for a girl to learn, and yet...I know.

[ Her dogged determination to make use of this knowledge has made her stronger, quicker. The wolf has fangs, now. ]

[halfbloodhatchling]

Not seemly for a girl to learn?

[ Kai asks the question like he has no idea what she's referring to, mostly because he doesn't. ]

I'd like to see anyone tell Alexa that.

[onlyvengeance]

[ She doesn't know who Alexa is, but the mental image she has is Arya, Brienne... ]

That is the general opinion, yes.

[ Her tone is careful, diplomatic. ]

My younger daughter is better with a bow than any of her brothers, or my brother, for that matter. Edmure is dismal with a bow. I know a knight who is the equal of any man, and she swore her loyalty to me. But they are quite the exception, and if all had gone to plan, Arya would likely be soon wed, with her own children to care for.

[halfbloodhatchling]

And she's supposed to give up on what she's good at and presumably enjoys just for being wed?

[ That's appalling. Kai isn't good with commitment, but at least he doesn't have to fear that coming out of it. ]

Children are -- generally -- precious to the elfin, but they're raised by the community and no one has to give up themselves to care for them.

[onlyvengeance]

[ She isn't trying to horrify him, but that is the world and the social structure she is used to and has done her best to adhere to. ]

Each child is the responsibility of his or her parents, and what they will become is generally set in motion at birth. I am my father's eldest child, but as a girl, I would not inherit Riverrun unless there happened to be no male heir. As I do have a brother, my duty was to wed where my father chose, for the betterment of our House and to strengthen our ties with other Houses. I was fortunate. He chose well for me. And my husband tried to do the same for our children.

[halfbloodhatchling]

That's barbaric.

[ Well and truly. ]

Did you have no say at all in the matter of who you wed and if?

[onlyvengeance]

[It is not something she gave much thought to changing. It is just The Way Things Are (tm). Yet she had been well aware that she was one of the fortunate few. She and Ned had truly been a good match, no matter how rocky the start of their relationship had been. ]

To be fair, neither did my husband. I was promised to his older brother, but when Brandon died....

[ strange how much that still hurts. It's a sharp pang rather than the missing-limb ache of Ned's loss, and the two pains barely compare. Yet she had loved Brandon as well as any girl her age might (12, she was 12). A small shake of her head and she continues. ]

Ned was raised to do his duty as well, and part of that meant becoming Lord of Winterfell and making me his lady wife. Another man might have tried to reject an ill-luck bride. But Ned is not like other men.

[ Still present tense, though she has wept over his bones. Still proud of her beloved. ]

[halfbloodhatchling]

So as far as I can see the fact that you were both forced into it makes it...well, at least there was that starting equality, but it doesn't really count for much.

And you want the same for your children?

[onlyvengeance]

My son chose a girl he fell in love with to marry, despite the fact that he had promised to marry another. And for that, we all died at his wedding.

I was considered a traitor for freeing a valuable hostage in exchange for my daughters' safe return, but it is often easy to justify one's own actions, correct?

It is not black and white, an obvious choice. I want my children to be happy yes, but I want to them to be alive more.

[halfbloodhatchling]

[ The part of them all dying at the wedding is probably metaphorical, or only partly literal, since she's here in front of him.. ]

I'm sorry, that's all terrible.

I can't say that it's a level of cruelty past what I'm familiar with, but it is past what anyone should have to deal with.

[onlyvengeance]

It is far from ideal, yet it is the world we lived in. Like all lives ours had ups and downs. Pray remember that we were fortunate enough to be born nobles. Peasants fared far worse, generally speaking.

[halfbloodhatchling]

Sounds like a shit deal for everyone if you'll pardon the language. I think I'll stick with my brand of humans if I leave this place.