[A few years ago]
'Whu-whut? When did my bed feel so soft? Hmm…' the boy wondered as he slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling. The cold of the morning sent shivers in his skin as he slowly got up from bed and looked around.
'Wait…' *gasp!* the boy suddenly recalled years of memory as he stood up making him contort in pain as he kneeled by the floor.
"What? Ormund Baratheon? Westeros? No…no way! But who's Ormund?" the boy feeling disoriented from the experience sat down on the floor as he processed what just happened to him.
*Knock3x*
"Prince Ormund, is everything alright your highness?" a rather flustered voice sounded outside the door making the young boy clear his head for a moment but his mouth already answered before he could make heads of what is happening.
"I'm alright, I just stubbed my toe on the bed…" Ormund said as he looked up and saw the bronze mirror on the desk nearby.
"Holy shit I'm young! And quite handsome too…" he looked impressed by his face and even made a few poses until his door was opened followed by an excited voice of a young girl.
"Brother! Brother! Father caught a few fawns for us! He said we could raise it as our mounts if we take care of it ourselves!!" the voice almost squealing ran past the flustered servants and hit Ormund straight in the stomach as wind was taken from him.
"Don't bother Ormund for this Myrcella! But it is high time we get to raise our own mounts, isn't that right brother?" then a rather snobby voice echoed in the hall as a blonde boy with a rather arrogant smug in his face arrive in Ormund's room.
"Y-yeah, it is time." He was totally lost for a moment but a memory picked in as he remembered that their father was able to buy a book about taming wild beast and that he and his siblings were found to have a knack for that talent.
"But I'd rather like a lion as my mount, it would look rather good one me with my golden hair." The smug looking boy said as he seemed to be imagining himself riding a lion.
"But we are Stags brother, so we need to ride them to represent our family." Myrcelle the young princess came out of her big hug to her older brother and spoke demurely to her second brother.
As they were bickering the boy now named Ormund was starting to get things pieced together but as he thought about it more and more things were not as what he had thought or remembered it to be.
'Shit, I got reborn in a world like Game of Thrones… wait, what about my browser history?' his eyes widened at the realization of the regrets he left in his past life.
'More importantly, how did I die?' just as this thought came to his mind he felt another searing pain but he did not make a sound as he instantly blacked out.
Though this little incident worried many, the Maester of the Lannisters just said that the Prince was just a little bit ill and he would be alright. But the Queen was rather fearful that she even called her brother that she loathed to check on the young Prince.
And the uncle stated that the Prince is experiencing some sort of awakening and it means that he is rather talented when it comes to learning magic.
Soon months passed and Ormund finally was able to figure things out as he spent more and more time trying to explore and learn in this new world he is living in.
And there were two things that were drastically not in place as to what he had remembered. One, there is magic in this world and people are rather aware of them now and two is that there is a legendary figure that had been present for a long time which parked many of these changes, the Blood Lord.
Something he does not know about, even the little bits he had gathered from eavesdropping on the Master of Whispers and even word on the street was when these differences ever came to be but it all boils down to this Blood Lord bringing in these changes himself.
'Fuck me, how am I going to enjoy a reincarnated person's knowledge privilege when things I'm supposed to use as advantage is already not useful?' Ormund wondered as he paced around until he got the idea that he should convince his father to invite this rare character in this world, he might unlock some cool things just by meeting him.
So in the months to come, he tried his best to place some restraints on his sadistic brother turning him into some productive member of the Royal family where his dangerous tendencies were turned towards the enemies of their family.
His other 'half' siblings were rather talented too that it made him want to hide most of his talents but scared of seeing the nature of the Royal Court, he had to show some progress enough to deter the judgmental eyes of some court nobles.
So to cover himself up from being too talented, he expressed to his mother that he needed people to work for him and what better to use the fact that his father sired so many bastards.
Though it took him a long time trying to convince his mother that they should take an oath in front of many court nobles that they shall seek no part in the throne and that they shall commit their talents to the protection of the Royal House of Baratheon.
Though it sickened him for a bit knowing that his legal siblings were not really his father's but that of his uncle, he cannot bear to place the innocent and lovable Tommen and Myrcella to the eye of a dangerous storm.
As much as his father in this version of this universe is different, he was still a battle junkie through and through as he sometimes come home bloodstained since he liked using his favorite Warhammer made by his other uncle.
And this uncle of his is also different and had spent his younger days as a page to this elusive Blood Lord, just the thought made him think that the guy was some sort of vampire from the rumors they say about him.
Though trying to lay low for a time did not work out since his insightful mind had been discovered by his uncle and the gossiping eunuch Varys.
Yet as time passes by he also realize one thing, he has a sort of a sixth sense when it comes to discovering talent. It was the day when his father took him to settle some bandits near the Vale since the Lord Hand, Lord Jon Arryn was busy handling the affairs of the crown.
Though he was also different oddly enough that his wife who was supposed to be a shrew in his memories was star struck to the old man, which he discovered why in an unfortunate way when he accidently peeked at the two going at it in the tower of the hand while playing hide and seek from his siblings.
And one thought came into Ormund's mind when he saw that scene.
'Goddamn this old man is ripped! He got backzits on his backzits!' his mind cannot comprehend how much muscle the old Lord of the vale was hiding within under his rather loose robe as he seemed rather skinny during small council meetings.
Besides the fact that the old guy could make it stand even in his age, he also has two more children after his first born Robyn Arryn.
Still a wimp though but not as much like in the show where he was still being breastfed by his mother who looked so hot that Ormund had a hard-on when he saw them doing it.
Anyways, his talents came in when he saw the person his father had saved in the Vale, the slimy looking Little finger who oddly does not have that scheming air on him but more like the drunken gruff look Aiden Gillen has in the King Arthur movie as Goosefat Bill.
Oddly he was rather gifted water mage as Ormund calls it, as well as uses a bow which made him far too different than who he was supposed to be.
His intellect in scheming became of use to his father as well when he pointed out that he was talented in magic, Robert then knew that Ormund was able to identify people with magic.
Thus had him scour the whole of Kingslanding from some people they could use, that includes the drunken Dontos the Red who was given the tome that made him the drunken berserker that he is right now.
Good thing his uncles and mother were rich and were able to gather hundreds of the books that Lord Paul had scattered all over the world.
He also identified which magic his other 'half' siblings were great at an only his brother Edric and older sister Mya Stone were the best of the bastard siblings, yet there were not as gifted as Tommen is.
So far he was the only one that was almost as fast as he was in learning magic but he could not do all elements but rather specializes in taming magic, so far he already is raising four animals for himself.
Two large alley dogs, a goose and a pig, though he got some ridicule from Joffrey of his choice of pets but Tommen was happy enough so Ormund came in his defense, because had he not then the sadistic mind of Joffrey might have targeted Tommen's pets.
Also, the Hound became his own bodyguard and not his brother's which was a good thing, because he knew other than the fierce looks and mood this guy was a very big softie.
He had made sure some things in this life will not be what it might be in the TV show so he had asked for his favorite uncle for help, being the Master of Coins his uncle Tyrion had hands in many pockets in the city so he had asked for some people to hire in secret that the Master of Whisperers would not be able to know about.
Being 11 years old already yet was as tall as a teen back in his past life made some things easy for Ormund to do, he can now wander around the Capital without being in danger since his guard was rather fearsome.
Still he spent a long time trying to win over the Clegane which was hard, this Sandor did not have the burn he was supposed to have received from his brother on his face, but he still has the fear of fire yet not to the extent of what he had shown in the TV show.
Doing things like these made him distracted for a while but when things were going well he heard his uncle and Varys talk about the Long Night and that the Blood Lord had been preparing the whole world to face the horror of the North.
This sobered him up from his initial plans and thought that maybe due to the changes, the threat beyond the wall might be also different.
It was then he also thought about meeting this Blood Lord personally to measure things up, so the Prince went to the King to propose something.
"Father, I need to speak with you." Ormund stated as he saw his father polishing his armor and warhammer.
"Ormund, state your concerns. Is this about the small force you've been raising? Varys told be you gathered lots of commoners and are training them for something." Robert was rather nonchalant as he spoke about this but Ormund was a bit annoyed how Varys still knew of his actions.
"No father, this is different. You know I can see things others can't and feel if someone is gifted but there are still more people all over the Seven Kingdoms and I cannot go around seeking them one by one." Ormund looked rather nervous since he felt his father had this pressure on him that makes his heart tense in his presence.
"What do you suggest then? Because other than you your uncle Tyrion can somehow sense too but not as good as you and I need him here since we are almost out of debt to you grandfather." Robert indulged him since he had been rather proud of his legal first born after hearing of his actions all over the city.
"A tourney father, a tourney that invites all of the Lord Paramounts of the Seven Kingdoms and to ensure they are interested we must invite someone special, someone we also have a lot of question about." The prince did not go straight to the point as he knew as boorish his father may be, he is rather smart in regards to understanding people.
"Hmm, you say we invite the Blood Lord then? I've already sent many letters to him, from your nameday to the birth of little Tommen. He's never answered so far and I think he would still not answer right now."
"But it's different this time father, a friend of Uncle Tyrion has become a rather high ranking subject to the Blood Lord. I've overheard him say it when he was drinking with Uncle Jaime, somehow Uncle Tyrion still communicates with his friend who was also a page to Lord Paul. So maybe he can pass on the message, if we can get the Blood Lord to agree then we can maybe invite all nobles to this Tourney." Ormund was not sure of this plan of his but this was all he could think up for the moment as he was not sure as to what kind of person this Paul Esteban is.
But he was sure that name is not of this world, not even in Essos did a name that sounded Spanish exist in his knowledge.
Maybe he can learn something from this guy, in his mind he was just another reincarnator that was as talented as him.
[During the Tourney]
Ormund's POV
'FUCK!!! AGHH! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!! HE HAS A FUCKING KAIJU!! WHAT THE FUCK!!' I screamed in my mind as I started questioning all my conjectures, why does my expectations seem to be far off?
'God damn in he is indeed a reincarnator but what the hell is with the floating Island?! A turtle Kaiju and Wyverns? Where does someone get a giant turtle?!' my skinned crawled as I thought about the gaze that seemed to have stripped me of every secret I have in me.
'Shit my father is still talking to him so I have time to think things through.'
'Goddamn it he's also fucking handsome, and here I thought I was quite good looking but this guy is even a bit more handsome that my prince charming looking uncle.'
'And why does he look like a cultivator? He shouldn't be able to ride a sword in the air isn't he?'
'Well I can kid, but I only do that to show off. I find it practical to just send the sword stabbing the enemy in mach speed than ride it.'
'Really? That's pretty convenient…huh?' I froze, that was not my voice.
'Of course it's not, your balls haven't dropped yet so you still sound like a sissy teen. I really thought you'd sound like your past life, you were quite a fighter were you? To think you have five different black belts and studied dozens of martial arts, you even have a master's degree in chemistry. Damn kid you really are the MC are you?'
'Wait! Wait! Wait!! What the fuck is this?!' I turned my head slowly and saw a smirk in the lips of this Lord Paul.
'Now don't be too obvious kid, you don't need to fear me. This story is not mine to write but yours, just had to pass by for some sightseeing. I knew you were the one who planned all of this to seek me out but you have no need to worry, I'll be gone soon.' I frowned a bit when I heard this.
'So you really are a reincarnator?' I asked as my heart felt tense for the answer.
'Nope.'
'Huh?' I couldn't stop my face from scrunching up but no one saw it but my mother who might be thinking I do not like the current melee that is occurring at the moment, it seems Uncle Jaime is currently fighting a knight of the Vale.
"Don't worry dear, your uncle is not Kingsguard for nothing. He'll beat his foe in a few moves." Mother patted my hand trying to comfort me.
"I know mother, I just don't like seeing family get hurt." I sighed inside since even when they did things wrong, I can see they love each other.
'Don't mind it kid, good work on stopping their secret trysts for good though.' The voice of Lord Paul sounded in my mind again.
'Well, my mother was quite manipulative towards my uncle which was totally different that who they should have been. You did something did you? Heard that you helped in getting my uncle get born and gave my grandmother time for closure with grandpa.' I answered, I still don't know how he do this though.
'Telepathy kid and to clear your mind a little, I never died so I did not reincarnate, though I did go here against my will. Do you miss your past life kid?'
'Really jealous right now, wish I could telepathically communicate too. But for my past I have no regrets, died saving people from a fire so at least my life was worth something. At least I can find some adventure here, like you said I was a fighter. I was looking for a challenge in my past life. And stop calling me kid, I might be older than you in the past life anyways.'
'I lived a few centuries already kid, also my Earth is different from your earth. The Omniverse is too vast for you to understand it yet so for now live this life of yours as you see fit. I've been trying to bring the quality of life of this world and laid down the foundation for future development. At least it's comforting that there is someone here who might be able to understand the risks of things that are to come.'
'Shit your old, your golden finger must be quite good huh? I did not get much in this life of mine…' I sighed in defeat silently as I watched the tourney go on.
'You have much more than you think kid, that is why I am talking to you right now. I have something that would help you in your life here but it's quite hard to just give it to you outright so in what I'm going to announce, you better take part and win.'
*CHEERS!!*
The deafening sound of the crowd shouting as the winner of the melee, Ser Barristan Selmy stood triumphant after having a neck to neck battle against Uncle Jaime.
After my father congratulated the old knight, Lord Paul stood up about to announce something which somehow made my father look at me expectantly, but my mind is still in his words that I have something more than I thought.
"Lords and Ladies! The Lord of Titanus and the Merchant King has something to announce!" Father's booming voice echoed throughout the crowd, strong and firm. But right now the figure of the fellow otherworlder eclipses that of my father as his presence is a mountain that everybody cannot look over.
"Each and every one present here might have been wondering why I had done what I did for the past few years. Questions that stayed unanswered for all, soon you will understand as to why I did it as well as why my next words are important…" just the tone of his voice made the whole venue tense and attentive, even I had to focus on his voice.
"…Winter is coming as the Starks say and it is indeed close, but this time it will be a Long Night and the darkness that hid in the shadows come with it. You might treat things like these as tales and stories made to scare children to bed…" it was them Lord Paul started floating as his eyes glowed golden which elicited gasp and murmurs all around the venue.
'Show off…' I thought as he floated with his cultivator like clothes making me feel envious, though some BGM would make things better though.
*Ominous music*
'Now that's just cheating old man!' I looked at him floating and could see the small smirk and slight look towards me.
"..but do I look like a tale to you all? Do I look like some charlatan conjuring up some trick to your eyes?! The Night King exists due to your forefather's actions and it is your problem to deal with, but I will be helping you have a chance of survival because the Wall will not be able to hold that thing beyond the wall for long…" just as he spoke this, the resounding sound of horns and trumpets sounded from the distance, from Blackwater Bay
"…in a month, I'll be hosting a different kind of tourney. It is for those gifted and I'll be choosing 7 people to teach and impart my knowledge in magic that is not in any of the tomes I have spread all over the world. I will not be choosing according to birthright, I will be choosing through talent and hard work. They may be commoner or noble born it matters not for as long as you have what it takes then I will teach you once you are chosen…"
"…From Westeros to Essos and beyond anyone is encouraged to join, as I announce right now my people have already spread word to every major city and every port towards the far east to Ulthos and even to the isolated Lands of Ib! You are not the only ones that experience this darkness and it will not be the last of this danger to come to the world…" the fuck man? You invited the whole world? That's giving me a lot of pressure man.
"…the battle will be held on my Floating Island, to register you only need to go to any stall showcasing my sigil and someone will see if you are eligible to join. Once you are registered you will be protected so you have nothing to fear from others. This is a once in a lifetime chance to jump from the bottom to the top of the skies…" whoa whoa, that's Godzilla dude and you say we come from different Earths.
"…your life is on the brink of extinction, it is your decision to fight the darkness your world shall face. Because one day you shall need to become more than you are right now, hear me! For one day a darkness shall envelop the world from beyond the stars and you will need the strength to face this together…" fuck dude you talking about aliens? Aren't I dead once that arrives though?
'Magic slows down your aging kid, it's possible for you to live thousands of years once you restore Westeros' leylines and master the magic here.'
'Whoa that's sounds like serious shit, but I guess you mean the Wall huh?'
"…To the one that will stand out from these seven chosen, I shall gift him or her with a power that is beyond any mortal means could achieve. I shall wish fortune befalls the souls brave enough to face the trials I have prepared." Lord Paul gave a noticeable smile this time as his glowing eyes intensified while a large glowing circle appeared behind him with runic inscriptions that looked weirdly familiar to me.
But what came next was really a surprise as a portal rendered behind him and a few beings came out of the said portal.
'Well shit of course he has dragons with him!' I complained internally as I saw the dark scaled creature appear from the portal and caught the floating glowing man that fucking looks cool right now.
'Damn this guy is making me envious that I feel a little green…' I wondered as I saw the dragon with lustrous black scales shimmering even in the morning sun.
'This is not a dragon kid, just a mutated Wyvern. But it won't lose to one when it comes to a fight though. You'll be surprised how many more magical beings exist in this world that was not in what you have watched.' His voice sounded out again in my mind.
'Still how could you say our Earths are different when you know that this world is a TV show too? Does Game of Thrones exist in every universe?' I wondered as scrolls appeared in every person's hand with details of the special Tourney hosted by him.
'Well first things first, Obama somehow did not become president in yours while in ours Trump ran as president and won twice. Your Trump stayed as a businessman and even became a Chinese citizen somehow.' My brows rose as I realized he even read my memories from my past life.
'Well shit, can you at least help me remember some of the memories in the past? It's kind of hard when over time I somehow forget how my life was, I even forgot the face of my past father. All I can see is this bulky father of mine at the present…'
'Kid, I've been doing that shit the second I appeared in style atop my Elephant. And everybody is being read right now, though I did find something interesting which would have you on your toes kid.' His tone somehow just now made me tense as I wondered what he is going to reveal.
'That there is someone with greater gifts than me here? I expected much since the whole world is wide and having the quality to make it in top is enough for me.' I felt defeated, because my senses did tell me someone with greater potential than I in magic.
'That's just young Brandon Stark, no one here is as gifted as he is. But what I found out is worse though, you're not the only one kid. There are two people with memories of their past life, but that is for you to discover hehehe…'
'Huh? W-whut?...w-wait a minute… WHAT?!' that was all I could think of for the rest of the tourney my father hosted as everybody started to leave in a hurry as some wanted to call their descendants to apply for this special tourney.
I only got to my senses when Sandor tapped my shoulder that my family is now going out the Tourney grounds.
'So I am not alone huh? Who could they be?'
[3rd person's POV]
Sadly the question of the young prince would not be answered soon as Paul had left after the banquet with his people back to the floating Island, Tyrion Lannister was able to get permission to get on board first since his time as a squire to Paul gave him enough status no once could ignore.
Though only a fortnight had passed, there were already thousands from all over the world who had signed in this special Tourney.
Even Red Priests from Volantis had appeared seemingly wanting to join the festivities, Tyrion did get busy since he was the master of coins and many coins were now showering the Royal vaults as taxes and revenue was in an all-time high.
Talks were also abuzz since people had heard the first prince had also signed up to these stalls, it was the talk everywhere since to qualify was to place their hands on a orb that would glow if there was magic within a person.
And the Prince's results were blinding that people started calling him the Spear of the Morning since it was oddly known the prince was quite talented in using the spear, though Paul that it was the only black belt he has on armed martial arts, Wushu.
Even Prince Oberyn Martell was intrigued that he wanted to see the young prince as a fellow spear connoisseur, interested enough to forgo the fact that the prince was part Lannister.
Many nobles had wanted to show off their talents but only a few were gifted, yet when it was the Starks' turns everybody was shocked since all of the Stark Children were talented and Brandon Stark was dubbed as a the Wolf of the Sun.
Some red priest went on and preached that the Lord of Light was the one that gifted these kids their talents which irked some believers of the Seven and the Old Gods, specially the latter since the North worshipped the Old Gods more than the Seven.
Yet even when many bright talents appeared being called stars, comets or suns, Prince Ormund still cannot figure out who were the ones that had the memories of their past lives.
Paul on the other hand was having a great time since the progress bar which was quite slow was starting to pick up speed. Trouble really stopped all over the known world when there is something that is enough to gather them all in one place.
This time he also brought out all the stops as he spent large amounts of soul energy to create certain magical devices that would help in spreading the events that were going to happen all over the world.
Magical TV, well more like projector but it uses a connection hub which Paul based on how he connects to each of his puppets.
It was one of the projects he was working on in Bear Island since he needed to make a way to know things faster.
One thing that urged this was when he periodically sent some expandable puppet warriors to scout out the Lands beyond the wall and since he does not place any marks on them so the Night King would not be aware of these groups of puppets.
He realized this when the puppets were no longer able to find the army of the dead, so his only way of contacting them was through the Golden Eagle messengers which would take a few hours to receive.
Which was good since it did lead to him being able to hear where the army of the dead was and even captured some more whites for experimentation and that alone brought great discoveries to the nature of necromancy for Paul.
But it did have its downsides since he was too late to save a few giants and some hundred wildlings from turning into more manpower for the Night King.
Mance Rayder was also active now trying to unite the Wildling Tribes beyond the wall against five others who claim to be a wildling King.
This lead to Paul hearing about the Horn of Winter which made him wonder what was the fascination of the creators of magical items with horns, like Dragonbinder which was a Dragon Horn, The Celtigar Horn and this one which were all things said to be able to call upon magical creatures.
Yet he still sent some scouts to find this item, maybe it would work like it said it would. He did have a Dragon Horn in his hands found in the ruins of Old Valyria which he did place in storage for a bit. Maybe it is time he researches these magical items and it might just help him discover something.
Many had tried to visit him in the Floating Island as well but he entertained only a few, who were mostly the characters he had thought were rather important.
Even Stannis who came with an inquiry, since the stoic Baratheon was rather worrying about his subjects in Dragonstone, so he inquired how he could help his people since his measters were unable to come up with anything useful.
This made Paul see that Stannis as strict as he can be, he does his duties as a noble. So he gave him a book on how to capitulate the fact that he sits on an active volcano which is good in making very fertile farms.
Though this Stannis is not as dour as he was in the show since his wife rarely experienced any stillbirths due to the medicine he had been gifted by Tyrion, thus made him rather thankful to Paul as well who taught the small Lannister his knowledge.
Though some sought him for something else for self-gain by introducing their daughters for marriage since they saw Paul still looking young and handsome.
Some even made a few connections here in there that a few people around Paul also aged very slowly since White Lizard had a rather distinct face and Ser Barristan Selmy said he met the warrior before and he also did not age since then making people believe that Paul grants immortality to people close to him.
Well it was not that far off but Paul was not going to admit that, he was rather interested on how this various reincarnators affect this world now that they have started to unlock their past memories.
[Day of the Tourney]
People from all over the world that heard of the event had done what they could to sign up, even some slaves from Slaver's Bay found a way to bypass their master's eyes as they revealed their talents in many aspects.
Though some knew too late of their gifts after trying out the test out of curiosity, the many that qualified found ways to be able to afford and obtain the needs to learn magic by using wealth or finding sponsors from rich merchants or noble houses.
Now around 500+ participants were gathered from all over, but the ones that have the attention of many were the four that showed the brightest result in their first test.
Many cities watch in bated breaths the images that now appear in the sky, a live show that is being projected through devices protected by at least a 100 heavily armored soldiers in secure places.
They were amazed at the magic that they were shown as they now understood what Paul meant when he promised that they would be able to know the latest events as soon as possible.
Other than the 500+ participants, there were around 3500+ visitors on the Floating Island. Many marveled at the whole mega structure that they felt it was larger than some castles and housed even Giants wearing metal armor making them look like metal sculptures.
Now one dared to complain as they were taken for a trip by Paul as he had the floating Island sail through the Narrow Sea to go through a destination that would be the part of this unique Tourney which would last for 60 days, it bothered some lords being gone for far too long from their lands.
Especially the Lord Hand who would still be doing the duties of his' and the king's but Paul gave him a way to handle it by letting him use his Golden Eagle letter express which made the Hand of the King want to acquire the eagles and even the small puppets that ride them.
But Paul said he could have them if he could train a few loyal beast tamers to bond with these Golden Eagles.
He did give him a place where some of these wild Golden Eagles nest which was mostly in the Axe peninsula, a rather rocky mountainous place with lots of high cliffs.
But other than that, some nobles or Lords left a family member to handle matters for their land or to a subject they trust personally.
Many famous people were present in the Island now as it sailed on the wide sea, people marveled as they found many places which piqued their interest as they were assigned rooms according to which part of the world they were.
Most that came from Essos were merchant princes and Slave traders who placed in their own slaves to earn this reward Paul had promised.
Those that stayed with Paul in the Castle in the middle were the ones with the highest position from Lord Paramounts to High Priest of faiths all over the world, even a few representatives came from the former cities of the Patrimony of Hyrkoon.
A promising youth who lead a dozen warrior women with nipples pierced bare chested and a ruby in their cheeks. He has a rather predatory eyes when he looked at some noble women of Westeros but his glare was focused on a Jhattar of the Jhogos Nhai who came with a few riders to compete as well.
The few scattered Dothraki who mustered the courage to join now gather and looked at the many Masters from Slaver's Bay who seemed fearful of the famed riders of the Dothraki Sea.
Even a few warlocks from the rich lands of Qarth came with a rather famous merchant prince called Xaro Xhoan Daxos who was a rather close business partner with Tywin Lannister who was also present in the boat.
Almost all of the Lannisters in the main family were present, Kevan was left to handle Casterly Rock while Gemma Lannister with her skinny husband Emmon Frey and Gerion Lannister with his bastard daughter Joy Hill who was playing with Princess Myrcella since they were quite close in age.
Ned Stark left the North to his wife Catelyn with their son young Rickon as he was with Robb, Brandon, Arya, Sansa, Jon and even Theon Greyjoy as two of his sons decided they wanted to join this tourney that did not have an age limit.
Even Walder Frey joined the lord of Riverrun since their liege Lord's heir Edmure was judge to be able to use magic, he even let some of his descendants as squires for the future lord of Riverrun.
Though they did have a descendant with magic, being Red Walder the youngest son of Gemma Lannister with Emmon Frey, which did gladden Twyin a bit saying this was attributed to his line where all his children were able to use magic.
Cersei did learn though unlike Jaime being talented in the element of Wind, she had a talent of being able to manipulate a small amount of metal which made her have a few hair pins made of steel and a few leaf –like daggers hidden in her arms.
Jaime already showed great talent in making his swordplay faster and deadlier while Tyrion had the fame of being taught by their host of this magnificent Vessel.
But the Baratheons were not to be outdone as even Stannis has all of his children showing talent in magic, but out of his three sons Petyr, Tommard, Edric and daughter Shireen. It was the eldest and the youngest with magic brighter than most though not as bright the Great Four.
They already got nicknames from many already, from the Royal family having Prince Ormund and Joffrey joining.
From Dorne they were represented by Prince Oberyn, Prince Quentyn and their captain of the guards Areo Hotah.
The Stormlands have a few as well but none much noteworthy as Ser Barristan Selmy who is a one-man army by himself with his newly learned magic yet it did not bother them since a lot of Baratheons were already in the list. Though a few caught Paul's eyes, the Tarth children who were somewhat alive since the life expectancy of infants increased since his appearance.
Now Tarth has a male heir and three daughters, but the eldest child was a wimp due to his near death experience from drowning and the two sisters were rather frail and only the youngest was healthy and strong as she was in a knight's armor.
She showed affinity in body enhancement magic which gave her greater strength and caused her to be placed as a guard besides Renly Baratheon.
The Vale did not send much but Robyn Arryn did join since he begged his father to as he grew bored in the Vale, he was better gifted than most but he could only practice one type of magic which is oddly taming Bird type of beasts.
Paul smiled seeing the rather different boy bonding with his pets, it was one reason Lord Arryn wanted a few Golden Eagles for his son.
The Reach oddly did not join much of their descendants with only Loras and Garlan Tyrell and a few other children from noble houses under the house Tyrell.
A rather chubby man from house Tarly was out of place though as he only has his brother accompany him amongst the nobles of the Reach, yet he did show a balanced talent for all forms of magic like Tyrion.
Oddly the Greyjoys also sent a representative, the princess Asha Greyjoy with two pretty looking young men and her uncle Aeron who oddly was a priest of the Drowned God. He was quite active praising that only with the blessing of the Drowned God did this boat even float.
He was met with opposition from the Orphans of the Greenblood who still worship the Mother Rhoyne and that the Old Men of the River that pulls the Vessel are her consorts thus means it was the Mother Rhoyne that blessed this Vessel.
A few faiths of different cultures were clashing but no one dared to make a move as they fear the watchful eyes of the guards, with each squad partnered with a giant fully decked with armor and even a gigantic weapon makes many behave.
Even a few Ibbenese were present as they were gifted in Earth magic, though Paul found it obvious since they were like the Dwarves of this world.
He even let a few magical beings join in like the Rock Goblins, though most were rather savage like there are still larger tribes with a bit of civility within them and a few of their best warriors and shamans joined in.
Even the thought to be myth Greenmen were present but they were in disguise using Glamor magic and did not want to reveal their faces yet but Paul knew what they were the moment they registered and along with them was a Children of the Forest that came from far North, Leaf.
Even some talented young beastmen joined in which Paul let to finally introduce the world to the existing magical beings and what better way to show them in a safe environment.
The tourney was divided into taming, fighting, mock war, magic battle, hunting and finally subjugation. The last one confuse many but they did not mind for the moment as the first Taming competition gathered the ones with talent for calming down wild beast.
And Paul got hundreds of different beast with different difficulty, though this part was more of a bonus since he will give the tamed beast to the person who chose them.
Now in the reformed town area which was now a large wooden coliseum where many dignitaries watched while those who cannot take some seats were in gathering halls watching through the projection of the live event.
"Good morning everybody, my lord and my ladies I, Tyrion Lannister son of Tywin Lannister lord of the Westerlands will be the announcer for the rest of the Tournament by the request of Lord of Titanus and Conqueror of the Green Hell Paul Egon Esteban, the Blood Lord and Merchant Prince. That's a lot of money in one introduction, much more than the rest of us combined…" Tyrion stood in a podium looking around hearing chuckles from all over.
"… as my partner a person was chosen randomly by raffle from gathering names all over the world, let me present Bronn son of…" Tyrion looked at the rather confused sellsword besides him who seemed unused to the rather expensive clothes he is wearing.
"Oh… you wouldn't know him. Just call me Bronn." Bronn seemed rather interested in the tool in his hand that made his voice sound louder.
"Well, today we would be hosting the Taming section of the competition…" Tyrion then looked oddly at his fellow host.
"Oh, I can't read." Bronn's words made many chuckle a bit as Tyrion's dumbfounded face was shown in screen with the 'are you kidding me' expression as he looked in the Tallest Tower where Paul was watching.
But soon a boy came in carrying a small box which he opened to Tyrion who understood that the device inside were and gave it to Bronn after whispering something in his ear, then Bronn placed something in his ear in front of all audience.
"…oh? Ooh! That's nifty, well the competition will be score depending how big of a bugger ya pick and if ya can make the shite lick ya palms like a good little doggy." Bronn said as someone was telling him what the words meant but he puts his own flair that somehow was oddly entertaining to many.
"Each crate in front of us is covered by a cloth but you can see how dangerous the beast is inside depending on the colored mark on the cloth." Tyrion was relieved his fellow host can help him share the burdens of the stares they are getting from all over.
"If its green it's easy, yellow bit of a challenge, orange will kill ya and red will eat ya while you still breathing. Choose wisely kids, you only got three chances." Bronn looked rather serious for a moment as he said this part.
"Your total points would be on how many successful tames you get and if you fail there are still stage guards that will rescue you in time before you get hurt." Tyrion turned to the screen which showed how much points depending on the color.
"To those that can't read like me, green is one gold coin, yellow is ten gold coins, orange is twenty gold coins and a red one will be your death hahaha… just kidding it'll be a hundred." Bronn chuckled at his joke which made some give out some little small laughter around the audience.
"Now let us welcome our first contestant out of forty that were listed as Tamer, Meera Reed daughter of Howland Reed of Greywaters Watch." Tyrion said as he read the book that was given to him.
"Oh, this girl's bit smart not taking in anything dangerous in her first pick as she chose a green one and oh it's a piglet. Seems like she'll be having some emergency food later on if she feels a little peckish hehehe…" Bronn's words made many chuckle, there was not much pressure as Meera was able to tame the piglet easily as she ordered it to roll over and play dead for a while.
"So far so good, now lady Meera is going for yellow marked cloth and she got a Raven. Though smaller than a pig, Ravens are rather smart creatures thus are quite hard to tame if it does not like you one bit." Tyrion sounded a bit displeased as he looked at the Raven.
"Seems ya got something in ya milord, did a Raven reject you before?" Bronn somehow as astute enough to pick this up from the few cues given by Tyrion.
"Ravens are smart enough to pick up on hostility, besides I don't like their noise anyways so I opted for a songbird instead which were lovely creatures." Tyrion somehow liked talking to this rather coarse fellow besides him.
"Well seems the bird likes the girl, it seems they are smart enough to see if your ugly or not hehehe." Bronn said which had some laughter in the crowd with the loudest from a woman, it was Cersei who started to like the japes Bronn is giving to Tyrion as she did not even hide her laughter which stopped seeing the glare from her father.
"Well onto the next one and this time Lady Meera is taking a risk by going to a rather large crate with an orange mark." Tyrion watched in bated breath along with Bronn as Meera slowly pulled the cloth and revealed what beast was inside.
"Hoohoo, this one's a tough bugger. Saw one of these Lizard-lions before biting a man's foot right of in one bite, fast fuckers too." Bronn looked at the large creature flailing inside the crate once the light shone on it.
"It's quite poetic you see, House Reed's sigil is a Lizard-Lion. Marsh Kings from before were said to ride these things to battle and giving a crannogmen or crannogwoman one to ride would make one fearsome force." Tyrion looked eagerly at Meera who was a bit unnerved as she looked to the stands somewhere, only she knew that her choices were already given to her by her brother seated in the Stands with their father who is mingling with Lord Eddard Stark.
"But still she's in a pickle, ya still need to open the crate so you can start taming the beast and let me tell ya you won't have the time to get cheeky with it when its teeth are sinkin on ya neck." Bronn said smiling with a rather pessimistic tune but now he is starting to enjoy this job he somehow got.
Soon people got the see the experience spanning generations of crannogmen as Meera was able to out maneuver the Lizard-Lion and soon was able to calm it down enough for her to use her magic to communicate with the feisty beast.
Soon people were applauding as Meera walked out with a piglet, a Raven and a Lizard Lion behind her.
Many tamers present were excited being able to make beasts that strike fear to many do their bidding, they felt glad that even those that just discovered their talents were given a tome to study before the tourney began.
Though most did not go over the Yellow Mark when the second one uncovered a wolf, which meant that not all were safe as a Raven, thus many speculated what other types of animals were inside the Yellow marked crates.
In the Green marked ones on the other hand were rather ignored but most did not know that Paul left in a few surprises inside which might be fated for a few only.
Still even after the tenth participant, no one has tried to open a red marked crate. There are only ten present and seeing that one drew a large brown bear on an orange marked one meant something much dangerous exist inside those crates.
"Ya know, I've been curious as to what is inside those red marked ones but its more that I want to see a guy piss himself in front of many people watching." Bronn looked at the current tamer running around the stage being chased by a brown belly wyvern from an orange crate.
"The whole world Bronn, Lord Paul created a magical device where people from all over the world are seeing and hearing us right now thousands of leagues away. This is an even unprecedented even by the greatest of Empires in History, not even Old Valyria had this such advanced magic." Tyrion excitedly explained while the current participant forfeited his chance with the brown belly since he got a few scratches from the small devilish beast.
"That's amazing, but for this bloke here it won't be seeing that he is showing the world his package which is not much. Who woulda thunk he'd rip his pants while running from a small flying lizard? Shoulda smacked the bugger off the air then tied it down first if it was me." Bronn laughed with Tyrion chuckling on the side as well as the participant had not realized his privates were not so private anymore to the world.
Soon more passed by but it wasn't until it was the turn of an unlikely contestant did the excitement flare up.
"Everybody, the next contestant is no simple man. He was key to the rise of King Robert Baratheon on the Throne, he is Lord of Winterfel and Warden of the North, Lord Eddard Stark." Tyrion spoke in a serious tone of voice since he knew that jests and witty remarks might just be disrespectful to the Lord of the North.
"WHOOO!! GO ED! OPEN A RED ONE!!" the booming voice of Robert echoed suddenly as he stood supportive of his best friend while Lord Jan Arryn stood beside him watching Eddard eagerly.
"Hail Lord Stark!!" Northerners present cheered their liege Lord as Eddard looked at where Robert stood and nodded, taking a deep breath he looked at the red marked crates.
"What do we have here? Seems Lord Stark is going to follow the request of the King isn't he?" Bronn sat straight up as he looked seriously at the Warden of the North look at the red crates until his eyes locked unto a rather smaller sized one enough to fit a large bull in.
"By the Gods! A direwolf!" Tyrion exclaimed as soon as he saw what was inside the crate.
"Fuck me sideways, not even me would accept any price to face a direwolf alone. Even savage wildlings fear these fuckers, it's even bigger than a gelded horse." Bronn used a telescope provided and was standing up to get a better angle to see the Direwolf.
"It seems to be fate, the Stark's Sigil being chosen as soon as the Head of House Stark comes in stage. Maybe there is a Lion in one of these crates as well but no Lannister registered to the tamer's category unfortunately." Tyrion seemed a bit interested thinking of riding a Lion or having it as a pet.
"That's odd, this beast ain't attacking Lord Stark…" Bronn's words made Tyrion look closely at the stage.
"Ohoo, this Direwolf is a female and she is expecting." Said Tyrion as the Direwolf just growled towards Eddard Stark who was a bit surprised at what he got.
Ned Stark looked into the audience where his children and friends were but he was eye to eye with a young boy besides his dear friend Howland Reed.
He did not want to pick a red one at first but this young boy cryptically said something about following his instincts and what is fated would be in your hands.
"You're a mother, I'm a parent too. If you follow me I will have room for you at my house, your children shall be mine as well I will protect them like my own. I am from the north and you belong to the North, so what say you?" Eddard saw that the Direwolf still looked warily at him so he unfastened his sword and dagger then placed them away from him slowly.
Somehow something inside him tells him not to use any taming magic yet as he also took off his cape, gorget and gloves.
"The hell is Ned doing? Somebody ready to call it in in case the beast try to take a bite of him." Robert said worriedly to those besides him, Lord Arryn nodded as well but they kept watch as they saw Eddard slowly kneel down as he laid his gloves to the ground.
Not taking his eyes of the Direwolf, Eddard raised his hands to show he was unarmed and not a threat to the Wolf which calmed down for a bit. Reaching out an open palm Ned Stark could feel his chest tighten as his heart beat like there was no tomorrow.
But following his gut feeling he closed his eyes while his hand was outstretched towards the Direwolf, then a sound of many people in awe reached Eddard's ear as a warm fluffy feeling now exist in his hands.
He looked up and saw the female direwolf nudging it's forehead to the outstretched arm, Eddard let out a deep exhale as he slowly ran his fingers through the large head of the Direwolf which soon circled around Eddard then lied down after finding a comfortable position.
People cheered seeing this as many spoke that the Stark family are lucky to be able to get a Direwolf and a pregnant one at that.
The two next choices of Lord Stark was rather unique since it was the Direwolf that chose two yellow marked crates which held two adult grey wolves that submitted instantly after seeing the large direwolf to Eddard.
"Thank you for having me, I'm going to call you Lyarra after my own mother." Eddard said towards the Direwolf that now stuck by his side.
"You were magnificent out there my lord, seems the world is going to get envious of the Starks due to you." A rather stocky old man greeted the Lord of the North in the waiting area as he left the stage.
"I owe to Howland's boy Rodrik, told me to follow my guts and I did. Seems there is this connection when I was looking over the various crates there." Lord Stark still reveled at the bizarre feeling he had when he was looking at the many crates.
"I guess that's why they call it magic my lord, the books were indeed right. We Northerners still have the favor of the Old Gods in us." Rodrik seemed awed at the majestic Direwolf besides his liege Lord.
After Lord Stark many bold contestants now dared to get the red marked crates which revealed what was inside at least three crates before it stopped, it was due to these people almost dying to these three creatures.
An adult Snow Bear, a Hrakkar(White haired Lion) and a large Basilisk twice bigger than the Hrakkar.
The appearance of these beasts made people realize that the red marked ones were not to be trifled with.
So the few one slater settled to only take risks in the orange marked ones.
Some were lucky getting great animals inside the crates like large Dogs or exotic herbivores from far places. But some were quite a sight as a few opened some crates with a donkey or a mouse.
Still the excitement is high as more and more came on the stage to get recognized and become renown throughout the world.
It wasn't until the turn of young Brandon Stark did the audience's expectation rise as the young boy was escorted in stage with his older brother Robb Stark to overcome his shyness in going on stage in front of so many people.
The place was quiet and waited for the boy to calm down until his eyes looked towards a rather large orange marked box, he slowly walked towards it and pulled the cloth over it to reveal a Silverpelt Ape(A/N: a Silverback Gorilla but the books call it this way so I'll try to follow as much as I could).
"Bran stand back, that things looks too dangerous for you so just forfeit this chance and let us pick on the yellow or green crates. We can get one for you if you want when you're older." Robb looked alert as he saw the large Ape inside the crate.
"Before you make a decision there young fried, I have a friendly reminder here to the Audience and participants from Lord Paul. Please do not copy what the participants are doing in stage because while some are ferocious there is a magic placed upon the platform which helps in making the animals susceptible to magic." Tyrion's voice sounded out from the speakers which made the Stark boys and the audience pay attention for a minute.
"That's right, this is why his excellency Lord Paul said this segment is a gift in sense. You'll never meet a wild hound that would let ya mumble him into serving so willingly like these ones 'ere. If ya try to have a pet like this after reading your dusty books for a bit in the real world, you will find a hard time not trying to get into its stomach." Bronn's cheery voice followed after.
"See Robb, besides Jojen said I should follow my feelings and this is where my feelings are leading me." Bran looked at his older brother who still seemed a bit worried. Robb then looked at the seats where his father was watching fearful too but nodded nonetheless since he trusted the guards by the side would protect Bran from danger.
(A/N: Ughh, the holiday season really is annoying when my mother won't let me have time at all by going around attending Christmas parties left and right. Still I try to write and reread my work to make them make a bit of sense, but my mind is whack anyways so if things seem to sound dumb that means my blood sugar levels were low when I wrote those parts.
And as promised last chapter I did touch grass but went back to a deeper Rut realizing I should touch a forest instead. Welp my brain is rotten down to the core so writing this does stave off some of my stress, so Rant over and Peace out.)