Barristan III: 282 AC
Omae wa mou shindeiru
-King Aerys' reply to pirate king Kasporio Rocallis' letter to him before sending out his fleet on campaign to the Stepstones
The screams and battle horn had echoed through Storms End as the sun set. Barristan, along with Alik and his men had stationed themselves on the castle walls, waiting for any attack. But none had come.
Alik had been on the edge of the walls, peering down at the enemy camp with his Myrish spyglass when the horn sounded, not caring for any arrows that might hit him. He looked for a few seconds, until he started laughing and stepped off the edge.
"Well Seven hells Barristan, take a bloody look at this."
He handed the spyglass to Barristan. Barristan took at and looked at the camp.
Dragon's dogs. He thought as he saw a squadron of 10 men with Alik's banner, along with the banners of house Targaryen launching flaming arrows into the camps, as well as riding in and cutting down any man they saw, then proceed to flee immediately.
He looked around the edges of the camps, finding the same scene being repeated over and over again. He looked up at a hill about a mile from their camp, a camp with the banners of the dragon had been set up, with palisades and a perimeter of guards.
So, things are almost over. Barristan thought as he took off the spyglass and handed it to Alik.
"Alik, are there any men in your dogs who can use bows?"
"Aye." Alik nodded. "Cantu and some of the lads are good shots with 'em. You wanna put 'em to use don't ya?"
Barristan nodded. "Set them up along the walls and rain fire on the camps. In the meantime, have half of your men ready up the horses, I'll sally out with them as soon as the attack starts. We'll end this immediately."
Barristan and Alik descended the walls, leaving a man by the name of Jaxon in charge of the defenses of the wall. Storms End was a formidable castle, with walls over 100 feet high. They had easily repelled most attempts to storm the walls, sending dozens to their deaths as they rained arrows and boiling oil.
However, all that would have been useless without Davos' supplies. Though they had enough food for a month of siege, had it not been for those supplied, their food-stores would have run dry a few days before Lewin's host arrived. And being a war veteran, he knew the deadliest weapon in a siege was hunger.
And so they descended the walls, back into the fortress. Barristan gathered around 100 men, all of them handpicked by Alik because of their riding skills. He told them to ready and rest for the night, saying a major battle would happen tomorrow. They gathered in the drum hall and slept there, waiting for the assault to occur.
Barristan dreamt of his youth, of being back in the Stepstones. He dreamt he was on a white horse, cutting his way through dozens of the Golden Company knights. He cut through them, like a knife through butter, until he stumbled onto Maelys Blackfyre. He rode a massive black-warhorse, almost as big as his own. He wielded a massive morning star, almost as big as his head, with a small grotesque head on his side.
He charged at Maelys, his morning star bouncing off Barristan's sword, bouncing off with a clanging sound. Barristan circled around, deflected another hit from Maelys' morning star.
Clang! Clang! Clang! The morning star sounded at it bounced off Barristan's sword, its still bending slightly as the morning star bounced off of it. The morning star bounced off his sword again, but it hit his horse, dismounting him. Maelys rode towards him, about to finish the job, Barristan rolled to the side, Maelys' horse running over him and tripping, forcing Maelys on the ground. Barristan struggled to stand up, his body sore form having been run over. He saw Maelys standing up as well, his Morning stand covered in the blood of his own horse.
He took a deep breath, charging at Maelys, Maelys swing his morning star at Barristan, Barristan raised his sword, deflecting it back to Maelys. He took a step back and was about to dodge, but he tripped, the morning star hitting his shoulder. As he let out a cry in pain, Barristan yelled out and charged at him. Hacking at him with his sword repeatedly until all was left was his cold corpse. He looked at him, the disfigured head trying to say something. He heard noise on the battlefield, his name being called.
"Barristan!" They yelled. "Barristan!" "Lord Barristan!" They kept yelling. He felt himself being shaken, he opened his eyes. Alik was shaking him.
"Ahh!" Barristan yelled. "Ahh, Alik, he said as he woke up."
"What is it Alik? Did something happen?" He asked.
"Assault just started. I saw some riders emerge from our camp, ran down here as fast as possible."
"Gather the men." Barristan said.
They spent around 20 minutes gathering them in front of the stables near the entrance. He was looking at all of them, sizing them up.
Cutthroats, sell-swords, murderers, thieves, yet Alik says they're all good riders. Barristan thought in skepticism as he looked at them.
They were of all shapes and sizes. Some tall, some short, a few of pudgy and fleshy build, a few lanky and skinny, some muscular, others not, some with ugly faces, some with faces you swear belonged in a pillow house.
Barristan sighed. "Men, as you can see. The siege is about to be broken; battle has been engaged. Should we survive this, we shall return home as heroes, and his grace will shower us all with glory. I know this isn't the first battle for some of you, but for a few of you it might. However, that same feeling surrounds us all, you feel as if you're going to empty your bladder, to move your bowels, your mouths dry as sand. You all feel the same thing I do, both veterans and green boys, that gnawing fear before every battle."
The men grumbled amongst themselves, speaking in hushed voices. Barristan cleared his throat and continued. "But there is no shame in fear, so long as you do not let it take over you, and make you forget your place. But know this, the other man who you will charge into and kill is also feeling the same thing, even worse, no thanks to your fellow dogs harrying and killing them in their camps. There are too few of us to win the battle on our own indeed, but our goal is not to win, but to spread Chaos, to charge into their camps just now as Lewin and his host is charging in, to cause so much panic and disarray that they will break before the sun fully rises in the sky."
He unsheathed his sword, showing it to the men as he continued speaking. "We ride for our king, for glory, and should you survive I swear it on my name, you shall all be knights by the time the new sun sets, for the dragon! Targaryen!"
"Targaryen!" The men yelled as they raised their weapons.
"Targaryen! Targaryen! Targaryen! Targaryen!" They shouted, their screams echoing through the castle.
"Gather up your horses, we ride!" He yelled.
They rode towards the entrance, unsheathing their swords. He looked up to the walls, Alik and his bowmen on top. He gave a thumbs up, and the gate in front of them opened.
"Charge!" Barristan yelled.
They sallied forth from the castle. 150 men with Barristan the bold at the front.
The battlefield was already in anarchy, with screams and fires coming from the camp.
"Ride them down!" Barristan yelled. "For the king!" He yelled with a renewed passion in his heart.
They rode into the Stormlanders camp, there were hundreds of men, wielding spears, swords, bucklers, wearing the banner of the stag and the many Stormlander houses. Barristan and his men cut a bloody swath through them. They cut deeper into the camp, seeing more riders with the banner of the dragon. He noticed Jon Connington at the vanguard, cutting down a man from house Kellington
"Targaryen!" Barristan yelled.
"Targaryen!" Connigton and his men yelled.
"I'll take the commander's tent!" Barristan yelled. "We're ending it now!"
He looked back to Alik's men. "Dogs! With me! To the command tent, now!"
He charged towards the center, a tent with the banner of house Wylde in it. He rode through the camp, cutting through several bannermen of houses Wylde, Tudbury, Rodgers and Swann. They saw it now, the command tent. They charged towards the tent, he was only around 10 yards away when he felt his horse collapse from under him, hitting his face flat on the ground, like Maelys all those years ago did. He looked up and saw his dogs riding past him, towards the tent, arrows cutting down more of them.
"Dogs! Form up!" He yelled. "Defensive formation!"
He drew his sword and ran towards the tent. He spotted a group of bowmen shooting arrows towards his and Connington's horses. He charged at them on foot, with Alik's dogs following them behind. The archers let off a few shots, killing several of the horses and a few of the men, but scattered in fear and were cut down as the horses reached them. Being cut down to the man as more of Connington's knights entered the camp.
He turned towards the tent, with several of Alik's dogs behind him. They entered the tent finding men wearing the banner of house Wylde. He drew his sword at them. "Yield?" He asked them.
They raised their hands up and knelt on the floor. "Yield." The man seeming to be in charge said.
Barristan looked at his men, "Secure them." Alik's dogs went to them and put them down on the floor. Barristan grabbed the man in charge. "And your name ser?" He asked.
"Rogar Wylde of the Rain House." He said in a gruff tone.
"A shame we had to meet like this." Barristan said as he stood him up and walked him outside of the tent, Some of Alik's dogs had formed a perimeter around the tent, cutting down anyone trying to charge into the tent. "Tell your men to stand down." Barristan said.
Lord Wylde sighed. "Very well. Stand down!" he yelled to his men. "Stand down! The enemy has won, yield now!" He yelled.
A few of the men around him raised their arms, lowering their weapons. Connington's men stopped as well. Jon yelled as loudly as possible. "Men of the Stormlands, listen to your commander. Yield! He is in our hands now! Yield if you want to see your families again, yield!" He yelled.
Lord Wylde continued to scream. "Yield!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "Yield now, we have lost! Yield now, yield!"
More and more of the men dropped their weapons, raising their hands up in surrender. In the span of only a few minutes, thousands of men dropped their weapons, and lowered their arms and banners.
Prince Lewin walked up to Barristan. "Brother Selmy." He said in a relieved tone. "I'm glad you're still alive."
"As am I." Barristan said when he walked up to Lewin, embracing him and giving him a hug.
"What shall we do with the men?" Barristan asked Lewin as he saw the men crowding around the remains of the camp, all strewn with corpses and small fires through it.
"His grace asked of me to send the levies and small-folk home. The nobles are to be taken back with Robert to the capital and face judgement." He said.
"A rather lenient stance." Barristan commented.
"Indeed, you've seen it as well, the king is no longer his old self, he's finally returned to normal, this just confirms it." He said in a relived tone.
"Thank the crone for that." Barristan said in relief. "I'll dismiss them." He said to Lewin. "You gather Robert and the remaining nobles here." He said as he walked around the camp escorted by Alik's men, in no specific direction.
Barristan and his men gathered up all the men who yielded. Gathering them all next to storms end. They divided them up, the small-folk and levies who fought with them remaining outside the camp and dropping their weapons in a massive pile next to Storms End and remaining in their camp. The nobility and their squires in the meantime, were dragged inside Storms End, being tied up by Alik and his remaining dogs who left the castle with ropes.
Barristan walked around the camp, some of the bodies had been piled up and buried, the fires extinguished. Looking back towards Storms End he could see the pile of weapons on the way to the camp, their swords, spears, shields and weapons were thrown into a massive pile, almost as tall as he was and spread out in an area the size of a the stable in Storms end.
He walked up to the center of the makeshift prison camp, escorted by some of Alik's dogs. He cleared his throat and looked at the prisoners around him.
"In the name of King Aerys, second of his name, you are all dismissed, and are to return to your homes. There shall be no trials for you all, no charges of treason, as its not treason to answer the call of your liege lords. Your lords however, shall be sent back to the capital to face trial." He said in a calm tone.
With that, the prisoners started standing up, slowly leaving the camp, both on horse and on foot, they all made their way out of Storms End. The trickle slowly became a wave, and within a few hours, the camp was finally emptied.
Barristan made his way inside Storms End again. He gathered with the survivors of his charge in the round hall, they were 90 in total, out of the 150 that initially sallied out with him. For the next 2 hours, he hand each one of them kneel and knighted them with his sword.
Once the knighting was finished, the celebrations began. The round hall was filled with many camp followers and footmen. All of them started drinking and carousing. He looked for Alik, finding him seated on the throne in the center of the hall, a pretty maid on each side.
"Well fuck me Ser Harristan. No, wait, Barristan. Glad to see you're still alive ya whoreson. Saw the bloody charge from the wall, I can see how they call you Barristan the bold." He said in a cheerful tone.
He looked at each of the girls in each of his arms. "Ladies, Ser Barritstan the Bold, greatest damn warrior in Westeros."
The girls waved and blew him kisses. Barristan simply stood there, stern and solemn.
"Why the long face m'lord?" Alik asked. "We won the battle, have a pretty wench, some drinks, feast a little." He said as he tried to engage him a little in conversation.
"This isn't over until Lord Baratheon is back in the capital." He said. "And the Kingsguard are forbidden to marry and have children." He said. "Apologies but my bed is for mine to warm alone."
Alik laughed when he said that. "Who in the bloody hells says you're marrying them, you're just wetting your prick a little. And the ladies drink their moon tea, so you wont be fathering kids."
"Come on." One of the ladies on Alik's shoulders, a red headed maiden with big lips and grey eyes said as she stroked his armor with her hand. "I've never been with a hero before."
"Alik." Barristan said. "I've had my doubts about you, but you're a decent commander, and a capable warrior. Should you want, I am more than willing to knight you." He said in a firm tone.
"No thanks." Alik said. "King himself said he was going to knight me at the end of it, along with more rewards. It may be an insult to turn down a Kings-guard. But its more dangerous to deny a kings boon." He said in a semi serious tone.
"Very well then." Barristan said. "I'm going to see Robert."
He turned away from them and walked away from them ignoring pleas from Alik and his wenches to join them. He made his way to the dungeons to find Robert Baratheon. Upon opening the cells he found him in a pitiful state. His once straight and neat black hair had given way to a messy fuss of hair, making him look like some sort of cave man. His muscles had started to atrophy from lack of movement, making him look much skinnier. And his left leg, was cut off slightly below the knee, though maester Cressen tried to save his leg, Alik's cut was too deep, and the infection too widespread, so he had to make the cut, the same excuse he gave them upon finding Rhaegar.
"What do you want?" He said in a sullen and defeated tone.
"Your banners have been repelled, the smallfolk levies sent home, and your lords have been taken prisoner. You will all be taken to Kings Landing and face trial there." He said in a firm tone.
"A trial." Rober said as he slightly chuckled and spit on the ground. "More like a farce, a mummers show more like. And a mummers execution, I've heard the tales Ser Barristan, the wildfire, the mad king laughing maniacally as they burn. There will be no trial, just an execution."
"I wouldn't say that." Barristan said. "The king has changed, his sanity returned."
"Excuses." Robert said in a bitter tune. "His sanity has returned, do you even hear yourself Ser? Tell me, when you saw all those men burned alive by Aerys, men who you were unsure whether they were guilty or not, did you ever think to yourself, does this man deserve to be king?"
"We swore vows, to protect the king." He said.
"Aye, you swore you vows, but you're also a knight, and a knight protect the innocent, tell me Ser Selmy, what about those vows?" He asked rather curiously.
Selmy stopped for a second, he tried to think, he recalled back to all those moments, Aerys burning people simply out of suspicion, with no true evidence, the abuse he imposed on his wife.
Stop it! You're hurting me! He recalled Rhaella yelling from his chambers as Aerys claimed his rights over and over with her.
"I....I..." Robert cut him off.
"Nothing to say eh! Ha! I knew it, you know it in your heart, that man is unworthy" He started chuckling heartily.
"And his son, his son who stole the woman I loved, who tricked her and seduced her, who betrayed his own wife and put his seed into her, having her carry his dragon-spawn." He said in an angry tone. "If she doesn't love me and truly fell for it then so be it." He said in a resigned tone.
He looked at Barristan straight in the eyes. "But tell me, with all that he's caused because of this, do you really think he deserves the crown as well?"
Barristan sighed and looked at Robert. "We shall be leaving Storms End tomorrow." He said as he turned away and closed the door.
He could hear Robert screaming at him as he walked away. "Ha! You craven! You really don't think he deserves it?! Does he!? Coward! Answer me!"
Last edited: Today at 2:10 AM
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Alenco
Today at 2:09 AM
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AlencoToday at 2:29 AM
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#360
It was the day after Lewin and his host left King's landing, Aerys was walking through the hidden passages of the red keep, a little bird and Qyburn guiding him. They stopped at a certain point, the little bird pressing a hidden button in the wall and revealing a door. Aerys and Qyburn walked into the room, inside was Pycelle, sleeping soundly.
Aerys looked at Qyburn. "Hold him down as soon as I start, I'll handle the rest." He whispered in a determined tone.
They walked up to the bed. Aerys took one of the pillows unoccupied by Pycelle, then proceeded to start smothering him with him.
"Now!" he hissed quietly to Qyburn.
As Pycelle thrashed and struggled to move. Qyburn got on top of him, holding his arms down as Aerys pushed the pillow onto his face.
21.....22....23.... Aerys counted in his head, as the thrashing slowly decreased until it came to a stop. 59....60..... He counted as Pycelle stopped moving. He looked at Qyburn.
"You can stop now." He whispered. Qyburn got off the bed and looked at Aerys, who was still pressing down on Pycelles face.
"Your grace, he's already gone." He whispered. "There's no need to continue."
"Just in case." Aerys said. He stayed in this position for another minute and finally got the pillow off of him.
He put his hand on his neck, and then on his chest, feeling no heartbeat. Its done. He thought as he set the pillow back in place and moved Pycelle's head, to make him look as if he was still sleeping soundly. They left through the tunnel and closed it, finding themselves back in the hidden passages. Aerys looked at Qyburn. "Say nothing of this, or you wont get any more 'subjects'." He whispered.
"Your secret is safe with me your grace. I never did like Pycelle." He whispered. "A question though, who do you intent to replace Pycelle with?" He asked.
"With Archmaester Marwyn. He just arrived today." Aerys whispered.
"A most excellent choice." Qyburn said as he nodded in approval.
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Alenco
Today at 2:29 AM
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ThanatosP3
Today at 2:30 AM
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#361
Magic Man Marwyn... nice
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Perneseblue
Today at 2:34 AM
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#362
So far so good.
Now what punishment should Robert get?
What would be fair?
Perhaps each action should be punished or compensated appropriately.
House Baratheon is compensate for having a betrothal broken by House Targaryen.
House Baratheon is punished for maiming a prince of the realm.
House Baratheon is punished for rising up against the king.
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ThanatosP3
Today at 2:36 AM
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#363
Stannis the Stormlord has a nice ring to it... maybe Robert takes the Black and kills Rhaegar after the prince finds Dark Sister if the Gods believe in any justice
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Alenco
Today at 2:39 AM
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#364
Alenco said:
Next Chapter is a Kevan chapter. It'll be up on Thursday or the weekend.
Interlude coming shortly.
BTW The current arc is I'd say around 60-70 percent done,
Then it'll be a short Hiatus, 1-2 months to plan the story going forwards. Maybe write a few chapters for mass release.
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ibero
Today at 3:11 AM
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#365
The Baratheons must be extinct as LP Robert is not spared from death as he will hate the Targaryens and you cannot keep that danger alive. Stannis the guard will not blame the king but his older brother for destroying his house and renly the faith of the seven since he is still a child. That is if he doesn't want to execute the three brothers to be sure. that case must disappear since it is not the only time they face the throne
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Alenco