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ASOIAF Gaemon REDUX (SI)

Thread starterStrangerOrders

Start dateMar 2, 2018

Tags1: dance of dragons house hightower house targaryen i cannot be clear enough about magic less magic but still magic magic is a thing and it will come up. planetos is high fantasy sort of warning: magic z: and to be clear: magic. z: did i mention magic? there is magic

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Mar 23, 2018

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#441

TarMiniatur

Stillbirths and infant mortality were not the best, even among nobility. For the lower classes it was probably worse. That might explain her attachment to Gaemon and his wellbeing.

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Mar 23, 2018

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#442

Tirion

sxeron10 said:

Medieval health standards aren't really... suited for childbirth.

TarMiniatur said:

Stillbirths and infant mortality were not the best, even among nobility. For the lower classes it was probably worse. That might explain her attachment to Gaemon and his wellbeing.

That's just half my point. She's nobility, however minor. Did she have a husband, or a scandal?

Or was it immaculate conception followed by a stillbirth in a smokehouse ("born amidst salt and smoke") so that Westeros has no hope against Winter? /s

Last edited: Mar 23, 2018

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Mar 23, 2018

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#443

IslandHopper

TarMiniatur said:

Stillbirths and infant mortality were not the best, even among nobility. For the lower classes it was probably worse. That might explain her attachment to Gaemon and his wellbeing.

That makes a lot of sad and heartwarming sense. It would also explain how Nessa's got the gumption to intimidate a dragon.

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Mar 23, 2018

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#444

TarMiniatur

Tirion said:

That's just half my point. She's nobility, however minor. Did she have a husband, or a scandal?

I am thinking a scandal, and her service in the royal family is a way to rehabilitate her in a way. But we won't know until the author provides us with more details.

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Mar 23, 2018

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#445

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'

The Gaemon EU is great.

The Smallfolk children who petted Clearsky ... that will live in their village's lore for generations. Good PR. Maybe five generations down the line some man-at-arms will not kill some Targ child because - "Grandma told me how once her Pa petted a dragon. A real dragon. And the Targ Prince was a good sort. Not all are shits."

Like Gaemon himself says - every positively impressed Smallfolk is a potential pitchfork less ...

Taking the land route - that is a mini Royal Progress, I suppose. By ship - even going around Dorne - would IMO be faster. But here again having Ser Nobodyreally, of Rumbledown Castle of County Backwoods being able to say - " ... and here sat and feasted the cutsy Prince Gaemon and his dragon ..." again is grassroots support that money couldn't buy ...

Full plate is no more than 20kg/45lbs. A Good Housewife carries more than that home from grocery shopping ...

"Miniature black dread" - LOL!

Neesa the Reader - she might simply love Gaemon as a sort of half-child/half-younger brother.

Last edited: Mar 23, 2018

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#446

RichardWhereat

And said plate is spread over the entire body. But Gaemon might not know that yet.

General Snippets - D&D Snippets - Mechanic of Ottery HP SI

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Mar 23, 2018

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#447

TheRealDeal

I need more! Glad to see this getting a reboot, I loved the original however it started to drop after the time skip :/ just too much lost in that time skip to keep the character grounded and the emotional links going

Yup, I am indeed, The Real Deal!

Deal or No Deal! I am still, The Real Deal!

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Mar 23, 2018

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#448

Valin Arcadius

StrangerOrders said:

I smiled with a bit too much pride at seeing my own seal, a white dragon's head with its teeth bared. It had seemed appropriate to make use of the pendants as the basis for my seal, a quiet reaffirmation of the identity I was constructing for myself.

And thus we see the beginnings of the Whites, Gaemons third faction.

Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip. - Winston Churchill

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Mar 23, 2018

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#449

master4617

TruthfulPanda said:

Click to expand...

Dorne is not part of the Targ kingdom at this point. Also the Stepstones are a warzone at the moment.

Just picture some dibloc#*!t going to Kings Landing to pay his respect for the poor unlucky prince that went down with his ship, tragic really

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#450

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'

master4617 said:

Dorne is not part of the Targ kingdom at this point. Also the Stepstones are a warzone at the moment.

Good points. I forgot about both issues. Albeit I'd not expect Dorne to attack neutral shipping.

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Mar 23, 2018

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#451

Tirion

TruthfulPanda said:

Good points. I forgot about both issues. Albeit I'd not expect Dorne to attack neutral shipping.

They have very little to attack any shipping with.

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Mar 23, 2018

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#452

RichardWhereat

Valin Arcadius said:

And thus we see the beginnings of the Whites, Gaemons third faction.

Don't you start that bullshit. The best faction is the Blues. Because Clearsky is the true Queen and Ruler of Westeros.

General Snippets - D&D Snippets - Mechanic of Ottery HP SI

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#453

Tirion

RichardWhereat said:

Don't you start that bullshit. The best faction is the Blues. Because Clearsky is the true Queen and Ruler of Westeros.

I for one welcome our new giant flamethrower lizard cat overlords. Long live the dracocracy!

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Mar 23, 2018

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#454

LuxEterna

Valin Arcadius said:

And thus we see the beginnings of the Whites, Gaemons third faction.

and lets not forget the start for a 'secret order'

Tirion said:

They have very little to attack any shipping with.

they dont need much to attack shipping with, they just need patience since with sky they would have need of so many provisions that they have to make stops along the dornish coast to reprovision

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#455

abraxasLD1

StrangerOrders said:

Viserys was after all the genius that had broken one of the better ideas that Aegon and his successors had by stopping the regular processions across the Kingdoms.

In Viserys' defense, due to the continental size of Westeros that isn't all that easy without a dragon.

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Mar 23, 2018

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#456

RichardWhereat

Possible though, with ships sail up to Gulltown, and then make the trek to the Gates of the Moon, and then back down, up to white harbour, sail up the white knife to winterfell, trek to Torrhens Square, sail from there to the coast, then down to Casterly Rock, from there down to the Reach and up the Mander to High Garden, and then down, around to Storms End, and up to Kings Landing. From Kings Landing, up the Trident to Riverrun.

Almost all of the capitals are possible by ship. Just need a bunch of Swan Ships, and an Eastern and a Western Royal Navy.

But yes, Dragons would make the trek far easier.

General Snippets - D&D Snippets - Mechanic of Ottery HP SI

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#457

Tirion

He could have just tamed another one after Balerion died.

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#458

abraxasLD1

Tirion said:

He could have just tamed another one after Balerion died.

I imagine he had a reason why he didn't. I mean, why wouldn't you? I might be giving Viserys too much credit though...

Can dragonlords even bond with another dragon after their first one dies? Are there any examples of that?

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Mar 23, 2018

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#459

Doragon

Valin Arcadius said:

And thus we see the beginnings of the Whites, Gaemons third faction.

By the Gods I hope so, but it might not happen. The Blacks and Greens (or as Gaemon called it, Chocolate and Mint) have been waging their turf war for too long to allow interference from a third faction (which keeping with the theme, I shall dub Macadamia nuts - MacaGAEMia even).

But, assuming that actually works, that would be amazing to watch the two factions fighting for support from the Whites who could end up tipping the balance.

CtP: Critique this Person

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#460

Threadmarks Fourteen Names of the Freehold: On the Unborn Lords, Introduction.

Index

StrangerOrders

Fourteen Names of the Freehold: On the Unborn Lords, Introduction.

by Archmaester Dandillion of Oldtown

Written in the Reign of Gwayne VI Hightower(2230 B.C.)

Although much and more has been written of that queer folk who lord over the eastern lands known to us as Essos, little has been said of their faith.

It has begun to be said that the people of the Freehold worship a thousand gods and fear none. Bolder men go as far as to say that the dragonlords themselves worship no gods at all. That they hold none mightier than men astride great beasts who by wing and fire have slain thousands of peoples and laid waste to cities, principalities and empires alike.

After many years among the people of the Freehold, I have come to view this as a mistaken belief. The peoples of the Freehold are a god fearing folk in their way, viewing no gods as intolerable nor false. That a man pray to the Warrior at the dawn of battle, the Drowned God before fishing and Red God come evening is not only seen common, it is indeed seen as right and proper. At no point is his faith called to question nor would he face any reprimand for such an action.

The people of the Freehold are wont to say 'Jiōragon irudy naejot se āeksio hen lentor' or 'Offer gifts to the lord of the house'. This neatly encapsulates the Valyrian belief that it is only proper to offer a god its due when one must trespass on its purview, lest they face misfortune for stoking the ire of a neglected deity.

I have seen many a freeman of the Freehold visit as many as four altars in a single day, each devoted to a different god. These often being tied to the needs and beliefs of a given individual. Even a husband and a wife might indeed share no gods between them not unlike those lords who take maidens of the First Men to wife.

While I do not contest that the Dragonlords do not fear nine thousand, nine hundred and eighty-six gods. The remainder are indeed feared by the people of the Freehold from the highest Lord to the lowest slave. It must be understood that although many gods are worshipped, only these find their origin in ancient shepherds from which the modern dragonlords descend.

These are Fourteen Gods for which the Fourteen Flames are named. These are the dragon-gods whose dread servants are spoken of in quiet whisper and whose natures little and less is known even within the Freehold itself. And it is from them that the Lords-Freeholders claim that their steeds descend.

These Fourteen are not worshipped as one would most gods, they have few prayers and rarely have temples commemorated to their names. No holy books exist in their faith and their feast days are largely solemn things. Their priests are appointed from among the higher classes at the pleasure of the Chamber of Wings and confirmed by popular acclaim. These gods seem to neither be jealous nor commonly beseeched by great or small.

This does in some part explain the contractual conception of faith in the Freehold, their gods are better understood as patrons than as proper deity. Their rituals, sacrifices and demands are enshrined within the Fourteen Tables which form the basis of Valyrian Law and obedience to these precepts is the extent of the worship to these elder gods.

This work is therefore rooted in a discussion of these queer gods as it is my belief after five years as a guest of Lord-Freeholder Valois of the Jaekar Household within the House Qohiris that the people of the Land of Endless Summer cannot be truly understood without first understanding their gods.

Any further discussion of the individual gods and their customs first require an understanding of three principle qualities which mark the Fourteen. Much like the law which keeps dragons from warring over the skies of their empire, the nature of the gods is specific and complex to the point of being maddening. These are the concepts of Faces, Aspects and Divine Visage.

Every one of the Fourteen is seen as baring seven aspects not unlike our own god but this is sadly where the similarities end.

Each of the Fourteen is seen as embodying six Faces in service of their Divine Visage, these subordinate faces are understood as being divided between two antithetical Aspects.

We begin with the notion of Aspects and the duality which is essential to the gods, in the oldest principles of the Freehold hold that two conflicting forces are defined and bound by that conflict. Light without darkness is nothing, as is darkness is nothing without light, so too is one Face of a god rendered meaningless without its opposing face. I have heard many names be used for the opposing aspects, the most simplistic of which the 'bright' aspect and the 'dark' aspect, while others favor 'burning' and 'quenched' but all of them encapsulate the same essence of seeming conflict. Valyrians do not often make reference to the darker aspects of their gods with their bright aspects being dominant in society, this is not born out of distaste so much as the natural propriety that the dark is obscured by its very nature.

Where Aspects define conflict, Faces define purview. Each of the Fourteen has three Faces in each aspect which in turn oppose one of the Faces in the opposing Aspect, such as how Syrax is seen to be representative of both Day and Night or Sun and Moon. This number is far from arbitrary however.

Each god is seen to boast what I can best approximate as an 'Unshaped', 'Shaped' and 'Transcendent' Face. More simply they could be called the 'Nature', 'Human' and 'Conceptual' faces of the god. The natural face being representative of what part of the world is composed of the god's remains as will be discussed later, these are often the first faces taught to children. Next is the 'human' face, alleging to represent the virtue and sin which were supposedly gifted by the god to man. While the final face is the concept which is seen as representing the intangible facet of the god which exists beyond men and nature. All six are said to be needed to truly grasp the nature of a god and perceive even a glimpse of their final Face, the Divine Visage.

Tradition has it that the true Face or 'Divine Visage' is no more comprehensible to man than the nature of the stars to an ant, it is therefore necessary for man to use these six faces to form some simile of comprehension as to the nature of their gods. Fixation with any single face or duality is seen as a sign of an especially inflexible or unbalanced individual, which is in my own theory what gave rise to the free worship of gods in the Freehold.

While this is merely a horrid simplification of millennia of tradition, I believe that they lend us a suitable groundwork to discuss the individual natures of the Fourteen of Valyria and by extension providing us with key insights as to faith of our queer Eastern Neighbor.

Have a nice day!

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ASOIAF Gaemon REDUX (SI)

Thread starterStrangerOrders

Start dateMar 2, 2018

First Prev29 of 186 Next Last

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Mar 24, 2018

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#561

FuZzvKiNgZz

StrangerOrders said:

That is probably because you all seem to think that the court is reading the same story you are, that Gaemon is somehow distant from his mother and does not spend considerable time with her and lastly that a Six year old has a say in politics, dreams or no dreams.

I never said Gaemon didn't spent time with her and as was being too broud about Gaemon being a Black.

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Mar 24, 2018

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#562

Garm88

StrangerOrders said:

Gaemon is a 'Black' in as far as he is attached to his sister. By that logic then Helaena is a Black and Aemond is a dirty Neutral.

Click to expand...

Gaemon is mint chocolate, coincidentally the best kind of chocolate. People just assume he's pure mint because of his blood, when in fact he's a filthy fence sitter who wants to be able to eat his chocolate and not lose his minty freshness.

Edit: by "eat his chocolate" I obviously mean boff his sister.

Edit 2: his super hot half sister.

Last edited: May 24, 2018

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Mar 24, 2018

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#563

abraxasLD1

StrangerOrders said:

Not a spoiler, I thought it was pretty obviously implied but Viserys more or less blackmailed Corlys since he figured it would balance things out and get Gaemon a pretty wealthy fortune when he came of age and Viserys granted him some land.

That's what I figured. Like I said, I just couldn't understand why Corlys would do it while I could see why Viserys would jump at it. Thanks.

Edit: Safe travel on the plane.

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Mar 24, 2018

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#564

Threadmarks Chapter Eighteen: Magic both Cruel and Weird

Index

StrangerOrders

Thank the gods for old ladies!

Chapter Eighteen: Magic both Cruel and Weird

It was named 'Wing-Eater'.

It was ancient, older than most of the Freehold.

Its proud dragonbone grip had once been held in the hand of Aen, the Harpybane.

Its pommel was encrusted with the looted pendent of the high priestess of the harpy who he himself strangled after he had claimed his right. The proud leaf-shaped blade harkened back to the proud legions and lords that saw Ghis fall to ruin in the birthing roars of the Freehold.

She struggled to keep herself from losing the contents of her stomach from the horror of what she was witnessing.

"Do not look away," Her master commanded quietly. "It is a difficult thing but it is owed to our predecessors to not shy away."

She forced herself to look keep her eyes on the ritual. Their place in the open gallery allowed her a clear view of the site.

Beside her Qelos grunted as an extension of her own disdain.

It gave her some comfort that her master's own dragon was uncharacteristically tense, the muscles taut beneath the silver-yellow scales of the great beast.

The arena was a forge after a fashion, even if perverse in its way.

Galleries like their own ringed the arena. Notables from across the Freehold gathered atop each, no one, not even the judge who had decided upon this punishment nor the senators who pushed for it, wished to be here and even from afar she could all but hear their muttered hymns while casting glances at her master.

She imagined that they were not hard to notice, where the nobles wore garish robes ornamented with all manners of metals, gems, furs and textiles, Gaema and her Master wore no more than the austere symbols of their order. Simple white sheaths beneath grey robes so severe that they seemed in contrast with their surroundings.

Where Gaema might have worn the teeth of great beasts, supple skins or a gown framed in metal latticework, she wore only an undyed torc of iron steel around her neck as her sole ornament.

Her master wore a torc much like her own beneath his hood, matched to the bands of smokey metal which hugged his arms and the hammer which hung from his torc.

They looked at her master with the same fear that made their mounts shy away from the great bulk of her master's dragon.

But they had no choice, they were required.

It was required from all involved to make attendance lest the gods punish their cowardice, the Lesser Crime might well become one of the Greater if they failed to appear.

More cynically she knew the censure, visible pleasure would warrant from the rivals of the guilty. The fear would help dull their arrogance.

Gaema frowned and looked away from them, it was cowardice in its own way to focus on them rather than the Lesser Crime.

Wing-Eater lay upon the central anvil as slaves prepared the site, they worked without a single word or sound. They sweated from the lava flows the ringed the titanic stone arena and separated it from the galleries.

Chained to the pillars before the arena was the perpetrator, the patriarch of a branch of Great House Gelion. He starred ahead of him with an expression that better suited to a corpse.

She could understand, he might well have thought that it would be better to be a corpse.

And he would have been right.

At least he was not fool enough to speak.

The silence and slowness of the ritual was part of the punishment after all, both for the punished and for all involved for the necessary heresy of what they did.

The ritual began in silence as well. With the slaves making their way out of the arena to cleanse themselves, even a slave was allowed the mercy of cleansing themselves of a Lesser Crime.

Next came the master-smith, the smith chosen from amongst the finest workers of common metals. He walked confidently onto the stage, every step taken with purpose and with an expression of determination.

It took restraint on her part not to whisper the order for Qelos to bathe the man in fire for having accepted the task, even if she knew full well that he was merely a part of the task.

Behind him trailed slaves bred precisely for the task. A man and a woman bred to embody the beauty of lost Ghiscar. Their nakedness ornamented with nothing save for the ivory paint scrolled across their dusky skin, artisans had likely labored over the entire night to prepare the elaborate tapestries which the were inscrolled across the slave-flesh.

They did not hesitate but rather walked towards the site with the eager pace of those who had known their purpose since the day they had been born. She found their excitement unsightly in the extreme, a servility which might have better suited another of the Fourteen. Her god favored the loyal and the devout slave but the broken and mindless were poor iron better suited to beds than sacred ritual.

As the smith took up his tools she found her stomach quivering in deeper revulsion.

From his stand the judge repeated the crime of the guilty and the punishment that would befall his family.

Only treason was worthy of such a fate. Only words traded in shadow to the foul children of the rivers, only the blood of freemen given unwillingly.

Only that could warrant the Lesser Sin.

The destruction of Valyrian Steel.

She sucked in a breath as the hilt was separated from the blade. Trying to force down the vitriol as she realized that it had already begun, in no other way could it have been separated.

She wanted to scream as everything she had been taught stirred in her. She wanted to bare her teeth and take the heads of those filthy heretics.

Ignorance was the Dark Shaped Face of the Sun God. But her master was a firm believer in its opposite face.

He had told her so that she might see.

The charge was false, the 'treason' was playing the game of politics foolishly.

This was no Lesser Sin in truth, it was a Greater Sin.

Yet it was not the place of the Orders to command, they served through the priests by the same laws that bound them to gods.

So, she gritted her teeth and watched as one slave was given the grip while the pommel and guard were handed to the other. With careful stride they walked to the accused and presented him with the pieces for a moment before continuing past him and throwing them into the fiery furnace of the streams.

Buried bone to beg for mercy for what is 'needed'.

She could only imagine the shame of seeing the descendants of your foes participate in the desecration of the defining treasure of one's family.

They waited patiently as the blade was lowered into the arena's furnace to heat it sufficiently for the breaking to begin.

The slaves embraced as lovers above the blade, rutting amidst the fire and smoke before slitting their own throats at the moment of climax and feeding the blade their lifeblood.

"Curious is it not child?" Her master said stiffly as the hammer began to come down, Gaema risked a glance at him, to see that ancient mouth pressed into a thin line. His crimson eyes burning with rage beneath the safety of his hood. "That our steel dies the same way it is born?"

She moistened her lips before answering, "It is not the same."

"True," Her master commented, the muscles of his cheeks straining and the knuckles of his crossed arms white. "Sacrifice of another and perversion rather than love, a rite to the inverted Face. The wards have to be undone before it may break. However temporarily."

Her eyes shot towards her master, "Did you-"

"Do not look away child," His words were like a whip, a flash of teeth more like fangs.

She obeyed, and he continued not long after.

"One of our order did it yes but such is decided by lot and done in secrecy," he seemed sad. "The shame of destroying the work one of our own is a burden to be shared by the Order as a whole. The shadowed Face of Crafting is Breaking."

She nodded and did not ask further.

Metal and Sand.

Crafting and Breaking.

Refinement and Pollution.

The Six Faces which surrounded the core of her god.

The six Faces of Meraxes.

So she remained silent.

Not out of fear, she simply did not want to know more. Some things she would rather not know more of until it was needed.

She wondered what her name had been. How would she have felt to see the work she sacrificed for be destroyed by rashness and idiocy?

The broken fragments that remained of Wing-Eater were lain before the now weeping man.

In a century his family would be allowed to hire some petty smith to rework it as was the custom.

Some had the steel worked into petty trinkets and circlets to better dismiss the shames of the past, others tried to forge them into new blades to sell to foreigners.

She wondered if foreign gold was worth the shame.

…

Second Day of the Fourth Month, 113 AC.

I was not big on nightmares as a general rule of thumb.

Less so on human sacrifice.

Even less so of weird rituals which involved even more disturbing spins on an already horrific idea.

I wiped the sweat off my brow as I hauled myself out of my bed and headed to my desk, I needed to write all of it down, revolted or not.

The process of sharpening my quill and preparing the ink was useful in its own way to shake off the last of the sleep and get my thoughts in order.

Human sacrifice was needed to rework Valyrian Steel, which was not too surprising in retrospect.

I would wager that the whole 'specially bred slaves' thing was just Valyria being Valyria since I doubted Tobho Mott had those on hand.

More interesting were the wards of some sort which protected the steel from conventional damage and which needed to be weakened for the steel to be reworked.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the roof.

"Magic, huh?" I sighed. "Well that's neat."

It did not exactly take a mental giant to figure out that magic was involved in making the weapons, but I had not expected something as overt as flat out wards. I had expected some incredibly contrived ritual with questionable results, not overt maguc… not that those things were mutually exclusive mind you.

Well on the bright side that still does not necessarily mean that human sacrifice is needed to make the steel… ya right, as if reality is suddenly going to let go of its hateboner for me.

Most troubling of all was the mention of gods, I glanced at the book I had been reading last night.

"Theology, huh?" I sighed again. "That's neat too, I guess."

I looked over my notes one last time before letting out a breath and pulling myself up from my seat and stretching.

I needed to start my day, I could think of magical crap later.

Which was my conclusion until I walked to my door.

I pulled open the door prepared to go ask someone to prepare my morning bath but instead ran into a robed man sleeping next to the wall outside my chamber.

The man was short, spindly and frankly looked like he was short a few weeks of sleep given how peacefully he was snoring.

"Excuse me?" I asked with confusion.

Snore.

Clearing my throat, I tried again, "Excuse me?"

That did not seem to garner any greater response.

I tapped my foot for a moment before giving up and fetching my wooden sword.

Poke, poke.

"Huh?" the old man stirred and looked around before sleepily looking up at me with half-lidded eyes, after a moment they shot wide open.

He scrambled to feet with the dozens clanking chain links, a maester then.

"My prince!" He said eagerly as he tried to straighten his robe to make himself seem presentable before doing a hasty bow. "It is a pleasure to make you acquaintance!"

"…huh?" I was not expecting that. "Umm… hi?"

"Oh, my manners!" The man had entirely too much energy for a man clearly in his late sixties at the very least from his wrinkles and grey-white hair. "Archmaester Arrel at your service!"

…why was an Archmaester sleeping outside my door?

"Greetings Archmaester," I rested my face in my hand, it is far too early for this. "May I ask what you are doing outside of my chambers?"

"Oh?" The old man scratched his chin momentarily, "Ah yes! I was hoping to speak with you!"

I blinked once, then twice.

"And that resulted in you sleeping outside my door how?" Am I still asleep?

"Well you see, I was unable to make it through the feasting yesterday!" This guy needs a mute button. "So, I followed with the next reasonable course of action and decided to be your first visitor today!"

I worked my jaw for a moment and then pinched myself. Huh, I am still awake it would seem.

"And how exactly did you secure permission to do this?" I was rather shocked that Lymon would allow the old man to sleep unattended outside my door.

"Permission?" The old man tilted his head in confusion before bringing up a hand the stroke his enormous white goatee, which hung down like a goat's beard. "Permission."

I was seriously concerned by the way in which he was sounding the word out. It took a good minute before he snapped his fingers in realization.

"Ah yes! Permission!" He smiled in triumph before blinking rapidly, "I knew I had forgotten something!"

Is my jaw hanging? It felt like it is hanging.

"Then how on earth did you make it past the guards?!" If an old man can make it through the guards, I was seriously concerned about my safety.

"Is the yelling necessary?" The old man groaned as he covered his ears. "I am quite old I will have you know! If you are referring to the young men at the bottom of the hall, I did not sneak by them! They were busy conversing about some maiden or other, I did not wish to distract them! Young love is best left to its own devices! Why I once-"

"That. is. not. the. point!" One does not simply sneak past the guards.

Oh great, now I am quoting Boromir! As if I did not have enough death flags!

"Well that is hardly my fault!" The old man said indignantly. "Now, I wanted to ask you about your book!"

"I'm sorry, I am still getting past the INTRUDER WHO WAS SLEEPING OUTSIDE MY DOOR!!!" Pinch, twitch, pinch. I take it all back, give me some more of that Valyria.

"WHY ARE WE YELLING?" the old Archmaester yelled back (and I was beginning to doubt both his credentials and his existence).

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself, it was too early in the morning for a meltdown.

The old man smiled triumphantly, "Ah good! You are calm, now if could dicu-"

At that moment I heard a distant 'HALT!!!' before the old man vanished from in front of me after he was tackled by a giant white mass which reminded me suspiciously of Ebermen.

I stepped back into my room and closed the door.

What a strange dream.

I pinched myself again and still did not wake up.

"That's concerning."

…

"I should have predicted this," Lord Lymon Hightower said dryly as we sat in the only one of his solars large enough to accommodate all of us. Aside from looking like he would much rather still be in bed, the Lord of the Cthulutower still looked more collected than most of the room as he calmly sipped from the tea that one of his servants had brought him.

Well aside from Clearsky.

Said giant lizard had finally roused herself after sleeping from the mayham of the morning and was still on the verge of napping right next to me. To be perfectly fair, I myself was still skeptical as if to those events had actually happened.

I could hear Ebermen's disgruntled breathing behind me which probably matched his 'it is too early for this shit' expression.

I could not fault the man, not that many people tackled seniors first thing in the morning. My other guards were worse for wear since my governess had worked them half-to-death preparing my apartments (I had obviously ordered that Nessa be left sleeping in her chamber lest she murder a senior citizen).

Said senior was seated across from me along with the two maesters who served as his (probably beleaguered) assistants.

"I would not say that such a turn of events could be predicted Lord Lymon," I felt pretty annoyed. I would probably look more intimidating if Sky had not decided that resting her head on my own gave her the best view of the tableau while she faded in and out of sleep.

"Actually, my prince it was, to a degree," the Lord of the Tower sipped his tea again. "The Archmaester has been petitioning to be the first to speak with you since word of your impending arrival spread. I did not expect him to be so impatient I will admit."

"I asked! Twice!" The old and presumably senile man stated indignantly. "I rarely do that!"

"He is not wrong," Lymon admitted sedately while sipping his tea.

"I am never wrong! Just in the process of being correct!" The Archmaester shot back at the lord of the Hightower. "You were sharper when I taught you! Ruling is too unhealthy!

How on earth is this guy alive? He was speaking to the lord who could literally has his organization by the balls.

"As you may have noticed, Archmaester Arrel is a bit," The Lord sipped again. "Eccentric."

Was he this deliberate yesterday? Well I guess he was not holding the medieval equivalent of a press conference right now, that might make a difference. In private Lord Lymon seemed mellow to the point of seeming utterly unfazed in his highbacked chair.

"Eccentric?" The old man said in outrage. Which fizzled out near instantly as his brows knit in thought. "Yes, Eccentric! That is the right word."

Man, if I am hallucinating then these must have been some potent mushrooms. I must remember to send some to Rhaenyra and claim that they are aphrodisiac for men, they will inevitably wind up in Cole's soup. Have to remember to recommend a far greater dosage.

"Quite," Lymon commented with a half-hearted shrug. "I assure you that he is quite not-harmless, brilliant as well if one cares for his field."

"His field?" I did not realize that insanity had its own link at the Citadel.

His assistants let out a deep sigh at the exact same moment as one pulled a rod and another a mask from their robes.

Both were a very familiar smoky grey metal.

I stared at the symbols of office blankly for a long moment.

Huh… that actually makes a lot of sense. Explains how he got past the guards potentially.

"He is the Archmaester of the Occult then?" I asked Lymon as I sank my face into my hand.

"I could have claimed the post for the Silver, Steel or the Bronze! I know more about healing and history than either of those fools! And am a better smith by fourteen halves! I could even go for iron and bloodstone!" He proclaimed proudly while disrespecting those of us that had no idea what half of those links represented.

And clearly you can be politically outmaneuvered by a toddler. I eyed the apparent master of the occult skeptically.

Lymon coughed and shot the older man a fond smile, "He is not in the wrong, my prince. What the gods spared in sense and tact they more than repaid with genius, not a single lady of our house has failed a delivery under his care."

I nodded, alright I am dealing with a crazy old man with entirely too much energy, potentially sorcerous knowledge and a truly random assortment of cross-disciplinary skills.

In short, a mad scientist.

When did this become my life?

On the bright side, I was fairly sure he did not want to kill me. Potentially. Maybe. I was not sure. Hopefully?

"As you say," I sighed and took a page from Ebermen's book. The amused sound I heard from beside me made it clear that it had not gone unnoticed. "That does not explain why he was so eager to see me as to sleep outside of my door."

"Ah yes!" Arral said as if remembering what this conversation was about. "I was hoping to discuss you book!"

Huh, I had sent the completed result of my little collaboration with Runciter, (regrettably) Daemon and (posthumously) Barth completed and sent off to the Citadel months ago. I honestly had not expected to hear that the manuscript to gain any traction.

"You read Runciter & Barth's Guide?" I asked brightly.

As annoyed and confused (and actually sort of hungry) as I was, I was more than a little flattered that someone had read my work.

"It was quite a fine work!" Arral said with equal enthusiasm. "The grammar was poor, the citations even worse and the writing was a calamity, but the content was exceptional! More importantly I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you wrote it!"

I was somewhere between embarrassed at the sheer reaming he gave my writing and sheepish at the credit.

I awkwardly went to scratch my head only to realize that Sky was perched atop it. She snorted a command for me to start scratching beneath her jaw.

I obeyed, obviously.

"You give me too much credit," I smiled.

"Well I would damned well know Barth's writing! Runciter's as well! I corresponded with both! I can also smell their ideas from Asshai! They were present but it was clear where your contributions began!" The man looked about to launch into an even deeper dive before Lymon coughed.

"As interesting as this all is," sip. "I would ask that you carry this conversation on some other time."

"Oh?" Arral asked. "But Lymon! I told you that this was a book worth reading! It only needs a few hundred corrections!"

Sip, "You know how I feel about poor grammar."

…You know I am starting to get why your son did not think of you as a very physical guy.

After we left his room I made an effort despite my best instincts to engage with the probably at least a little crazy Archmaester. I apparently needed magic of some description if I was going to get those juicy swords of plus +10,000 reputation (provided I did not need to do something cartoonishly evil to get them).

Besides the old lunatic was a pleasant change from the endless shitstorm that was my life.

"I should apologize," Ebermen noted as we walked along.

Well you did tackle a senior, a shady senior but still.

"Think nothing of it lad!" The old probably-a-sorcerer said with a shrug and a smile. "I have not felt such a rush in years! For a breath moment, I thought that I saw the Stranger himself! He was shorter than I imagined!"

Ebermen understandably did not know how to respond to that. "As you say."

"In any case," I interjected. "You said the Guide was to your interest. I take it that you are fond of Valyria then?"

Arral nodded enthusiastically. I was really not fazing him in the slightest, both of his assistents seemed pretty neutral as well, although I suspected being employed as they were, it would take Cthulu asking them to prom to faze them.

"They fascinates me greatly! Mostly because they were such a stubbornly secretive people! Practically all we know of them can be summarized in 'spikes and dragons and incest'!"

He was not wrong.

"And I take it that you would like to know more?" I hope you like nightmares then.

"Why of course! Secrets exist to be revealed!" From the way he looked up, smiled and nodded to himself I could tell that he planned to write that particular line down later.

"So, you truly believe that you can dredge up the forgotten secrets of Valyria," points for ambition.

The old man smiled even more brightly. "Why of course prince! As they say in my homeland, what is dead may never die!"

Wot.

Have a nice day!

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Mar 24, 2018

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#565

FuZzvKiNgZz

abraxasLD1 said:

That's what I figured. Like I said, I just couldn't understand why Corlys would do it while I could see why Viserys would jump at it. Thanks.

Edit: Safe travel on the plane.

Yeah but when you think about it in Westerosi standards Viserys is giving Gaemon...I can't think of appropriate term but realistically Laena comes with two children, for me that's fine I get a smokin hot wife and two beautiful daughters and they will call me daddy forever to others it must look like a ball and chain and two blood sucking Chupacabras

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Mar 24, 2018

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#566

abraxasLD1

ARREL! Welcome back you crazy bastard!

Edit: I like how all the other comments are just ignoring the new chapter. Like did you guys not notice it?

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Mar 24, 2018

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#567

lordernest26

My opinion is thus, Gaemon, for most people, is a Green, whose faction is determined because of his mother. The contention between Blacks and Greens nonetheless is primarily about Rhaenyra and Aegon. So, unless something happens to Aegon he doesn't really matter in the political landscape for most people beyond his... quirkiness.

Now, for Rhaenyra, even though she didn't want him and in retrospective he isn't good for her, Laenor is one of the best matches: Dragonrider, heir to Driftmark, the House is one of the richest at the moment and is about to get (or already got) the charter for Spicetown and is family. Viserys probably thought he was doing Rhaenyra a huge favor and obviously Corlys wanted the match because is his heir (who he doesn't acknowledge nor accept as gay, he is a Lord in a Medieval setting, generally in regards to his family what he says is law) marrying the future Queen and cementing his ties to the Royal Family and the position of his House as the First among equals between the direct vassals of the Royal Family.

Why Gaemon and Laena? Obviously Corlys wants the match with Rhaenyra, so Viserys believing himself crafty after hearing Rhaenyra proposing that Gaemon be used instead as the match to tie the new generation of Velaryons, and Alicent wanting to undermine the new support base that Rhaenyra would be gaining with marrying Laenor, decided to push the second match. The Velaryons, to Viserys at least, then become the link between Blacks and Greens (naively thought).

Obviously all of this doesn't translate to the actions and thought of the people living through it, but at least that's how I caught it through reading and thinking about it.

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#568

The Reader

abraxasLD1 Yeah Aegon I is pretty badass he and Maegor are some of the few examples of Valyrian men that are handsome rather than pretty. Additionally when an older Gaemon was described in V1 he was said to have short hair and features that were harder than normal for valyrians but still handsome. That is pretty much Aegon I no questions asked. Due to the pinkish hue of his eyes and his hair being described as having more gold to in in comparison to his brother I picture a young Aegon I with the coloration of Daemon Blackfyre wiki picture (the one you used on a previous post).

Yes Tessarion was pure awesome she a young dragon flew riderless and fought against Seasmoke and Vermithor (both with their riders) and she was the only survivor. Heck she wasn't even half the size of Vermithor and yet still ended up the winner of that battle royale despite not having her very talented rider with her. Had Daeron being there the chances of her winning and not suffering the heavy injuries she took in canon are actually pretty good.

Doragon said:

on the last update, I have to agree with Gaemon....how the hell did anyone BUILD the hightower?

Supposedly they used great wooden beams on it's construction and lots of stone. That said they must have used valyrian wood and valyrian stone or something because come on what else could it be. Seriously aside from weirdwood I don't recall any other special material native to Westeros they could have used. And that is not counting the black fortress because that along with the other cases of black stone is a mystery to pretty much everybody. The only thing is that if I remember correctly the stone there is not oily like the Seachair instead being dry like the dragonstone used by the Valyrians

lordernest26 said:

I don't have anything against Laena either, nor against the three-way relationship that developed in V1 between them (again, we shouldn't speak about stuff from V1 that is further ahead than this one).

But I always prefer the First Girl Wins scenarios and that's Gaemon x Rhaenyra. For the moment, in this version, Rhaenyra is "My Rhae" to Gaemon, even though he doesn't acknowledge/notice it, and Laena is the one he doesn't wanna marry nor does he think too fondly of, so...

Click to expand...

Yeah, Rhaenyra has been with Gaemon since literally day 1 and while our little dragonlord began his journey trying to get his sister to like him in order to preserve his health with time and without his knowledge he ended up falling for her hard. Laena is not a bad person is just that due to events both those that happen in this TL and others that took place in the stories that Gaemon remembers from his other life she kind of falls into the "yeah, I'm perfectly happy staying away from that" category. In my opinion the fact that the Velaryons are been so freaking stubborn with the match despite of the insults to Gaemon and to house Targaryen (Laena not being there in the feast celebrating the betrothal for example) and thinking they can fix it all with their boldface lies is infuriating. Corlys and Rhaenys just talking bs and pretending noting is wrong always makes me want to feed them to Clearsky. Honestly I understand Gaemon is a pretty chill dude specially for a child of royalty but heck my blood boils with rage each time they start with their clumsy and shameless attempts at pretending to the court that their daughter is still the perfect little maiden despite Gaemon and his family having perfect first hand knowledge of Laena's mishaps. It angers me and I wish it angered Gaemon too. They are insulting him publicly and loudly. Chances are that at least more than half of the court mock him behind doors. He is an awesome dude. He deserves better .

Spoiler

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Mar 24, 2018

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#569

abraxasLD1

The Reader said:

snip

Mhm. Basically just Aegon, Maekar, and Maegor from what I've seen. The rest are all just pretty. Aegon is definitely the best-looking Targaryen. Did you see his bone structure? That jawline? Those cheekbones? That chin?

Tessarion is the shit. Plain and simple.

Basically my thoughts on that situation as well. I get why they did it of course, but it still pisses me off and basically forever ruined them all for me. If I were Gaemon I would have just told them to all burn in Hell and left them to rot. That's actually one of the reasons I don't care too much for Laena, even though she wasn't a part of it and came clean when pushed. It just blackened all the Velaryons for me. Their sheer arrogance and selfishness just pissed me off.

-------------

Does anyone want to try to argue that Tessarion wasn't the coolest dragon? She soloed Seamsoke (the same size as her) and Vermithor (three times larger than her) at the same time. Caraxes killing Vhagar is cool and all, but that fight has to take the cake. The Blue Queen > the rest.

I do think Caraxes is the perfect size for a dragon though. Huge but not to the point that it affects its agility or speed too much.

Daeron the Daring is also the best Targaryen of that time period. Aegon and Rhaenyra both should have fucked off and let him be king. Don't @ me.

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#570

Garm88

abraxasLD1 said:

Mhm. Basically just Aegon, Maekar, and Maegor from what I seen. The rest are all just pretty. Aegon is definitely the best-looking Targaryen. Did you see his bone structure? That jawline? Those cheekbones? That chin?

Tessarion is the shit. Plain and simple.

-------------

I do think Caraxes is the perfect size for a dragon though. Huge but not to the point that it affects its agility or speed too much.

Daeron the Daring is also the best Targaryn of that time period. Aegon and Rhaenyra both should have fucked off and let him be king. Don't @ me.

Click to expand...

Re: the Velaryons, their daughter was "sullied" by a prince of the blood, though Corlys isn't aware of the man, thus the royal family ruined her marriage prospects. Remember, she was drunk at the time with an older, married man who was completely unrepentant.

Viserys really helped them out, and everyone involved is hugely aware of that fact. Without the betrothal to Gaem she was literally used goods that wouldn't get a good marriage, harsh but true.

Also, Moondancer for looks, Tessarion for grit.

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Mar 24, 2018

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#571

abraxasLD1

Garm88 said:

snip

I know. It just sucks Gaemon has to pay for other people's actions. I just wish Daemon would have accepted her offer and then they could get married when Rhae Royce dies from her hawking accident so Gaemon wouldn't have to deal with Laena or the rest of the Velaryons. I really just don't like them. Daemon gets to have all the fun and gets away scot-free while Gaemon is the one that gets screwed. And that supposed banishment wasn't much of a punishment since it didn't seem to even last. And he was allowed to keep Dark Sister and go around calling himself a Targaryen. He got a slap on the wrist and was sent away so Viserys could simply run damage control and then bring him back when everything was fine.

You're crazy man. Sunfyre is the one for looks. All gold baby. Tessarion > all those little wryms

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#572

Garm88

abraxasLD1 said:

You're crazy man. Sunfyre is the one for looks. All gold baby. Tessarion > all those little wryms

Click to expand...

Dude, Daemon was exiled on pain of death. And Viserys was actually serious about it. Also, when the King proposes a betrothal you don't say no, the Velaryons really don't have much of a say in what's happening.

Whatever you filthy Lannister partisan, Moondancer killed your gaudy lizard.

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#573

abraxasLD1

Garm88 said:

Whatever you filthy Lannister partisan, Moondancer killed your gaudy lizard.

Click to expand...

Didn't seem to matter when Daemon ended up right back in Westeros and with Viserys' son as his squire. It was a bluff and complete bullshit. Sucks to be them, but that's why I'm mainly mad at Viserys. I get why he might want it, but nobody else does. The perks of being king I guess.

Stop it. Sunfyre was the most beautiful dragon to ever fly and you know it. There's no need to be in denial.

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#574

Garm88

abraxasLD1 said:

Stop it. Sunfyre was the most beautiful dragon to ever fly and you know it. There's no need to be in denial.

Click to expand...

After, like, eight years. That's a pretty long exile for a single dalliance, especially for a royal.

Do I look like the God Emperor of Mankind? Gold is overrated.

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Mar 24, 2018

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#575

abraxasLD1

Garm88 said:

After, like, eight years. That's a pretty long exile for a single dalliance, especially for a royal.

Do I look like the God Emperor of Mankind? Gold is overrated.

You would think for such a supposed exile to the point of death if he returned it would be permanent. We might just have to agree to disagree on this.

Gold is awesome. The best color there is. And red and gold go together amazingly well. And add in black and it's perfect. If I were ever SI-ed into a child of a Lannister and Baratheon I would instantly combine their colors and use them for my own symbol and such. The German flag is definitely my favorite lol.

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Mar 24, 2018

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#576

The Reader

Oh but Gaemon is paying for their actions. It is a you said like it or not Laena is used goods. And despite whatever reputation Gaemon might get he is still a prince, a dragon rider prince that has the love of his sister (the current heir to the throne) and also happens to be related to the Hightowers. The family that as of this moment all but rules the Reach (the Tyrells are too young as a ruling house and too new to the role while the Hightowers have a lot of pre-established power. They were second only to the Gardeners after all).

All that means that devil boy reputation or not Gaemon is a a match that 80% to 99% of the Lords of the realm would kill to have marrying their daughters. And instead of having a nice beautiful maiden that would help him gain connections outside of his family, he has to marry the beautiful girl that is "used goods" after having fun with his uncle, the girl that is pregnant with another man's child and that choose and I repeat choose to flee her home, her family, her luxury, practically her life, just to be with that older lover who happens to be Gaemon's uncle. Honestly if I were Gaemon I would say no, I would have Eberman challenge Corlys to a duel just to kill that annoyance and if Viserys doesn't like it he can choose to have his son without Velaryons or no son at all. Dramatic I know but I am a very uncompromising dude and as it happens Gaemon has a dragon so he doesn't has to compromise. Sure Sky is small know but she will grow with time.

It sound great doesn't it? The Sellsword Prince

My idea for a dragon would be one with a pearl coloration and Tessarion's awesomeness

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Mar 24, 2018

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#577

abraxasLD1

The Reader said:

snip

My dragon would be red, gold, and black with Tessarion's personality and Caraxes size. The perfect dragon. Especially if it had four legs, unlike Westeros dragons.

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Mar 24, 2018

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#578

Garm88

abraxasLD1 said:

You would think for such a supposed exile to the point of death if he returned it would be permanent. We might just have to agree to disagree on this.

Gold is awesome. The best color there is. And red and gold go together amazingly well. And add in black and it's perfect.

Click to expand...

Well if he's recalled then the exile is over, isn't it? I get where you're coming from, really, but this needs to be examined from Viserys' perspective, he's not naive to what is going on. This way, both sides are tied to the richest family in the kingdom.

Look, clearly you were damaged as a child so I'm going to just forgive you for your heresy and move on. Green dragons are best dragons.

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Mar 24, 2018

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#579

abraxasLD1

Garm88 said:

Look, clearly you were damaged as a child so I'm going to just forgive you for your heresy and move on. Green dragons are best dragons.

Click to expand...

I just don't think the exile was ever a serious thing. That's what we seem to disagree about. I get why Viserys wants Gaemon to marry her, it's a win-win for him.

You're crazy. Red dragons > green dragons. Green dragons are actually probably the lamest dragons there are. And a red, black, and gold dragon is the ultimate dragon, no argument.

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Mar 24, 2018

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#580

Sergio2592

Kinda off topic I know but it's me or Gaemon tale is basically Arrested Development Westerosi Version?

Because we have a powerful family (the Targaryens) who are about to lose everything in a civil war and the son who is trying to stop the morons from killing each other (Gaemon

Besides I think the intro works well here:

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