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Winter is Coming
Chapter 3:
The Oath of the Stormcloaks
Ulfric Stormcloak leaned against a wall as he watched Tyrion, Cersei, and other members of house Lannister meet in the Small Council. He was listening as much as he could. He paid the most attention to the current condition of the Starks. He pitied them more and more as the state of the war was discussed further. He hoped that Galmar and the Stormcloak soldiers reached the Starks soon. Once they did, he would find a way out of King's Landing and meet with them before meeting with Robb and Catelyn Stark. Both seemed, to him, to be honorable people. Robb would have made a good Stormcloak.
As he was thinking, he saw a dark shape fly past the window. Curious, Ulfric walked over to the window and gazed out to find nothing out of the ordinary. After a few moments, he saw the shape again, going from one tower to the next. He could make out the basic shape of it, and he paled upon recognizing the shape of a dragon. But it seemed too small to be a dragon, and he couldn't tell if it was flying between the two towers or leaping between them. Either way, Ulfric knew there was something there...
"High King Ulfric?"
Ulfric turned to see that Tyrion Lannister was speaking to him. "Yes?"
Tyrion replied, "As our guest, I was wondering if you yourself have any opinion about this?"
"About what?"
"The war with the Starks."
Ulfric looked around at the Small Council members, all who had their eyes trained on him. After a bit he said, "Well, tell me exactly why the war happened in the first place."
"Well," began another member, Master of Coin Petyr Baelish, "Most believe that the war truly began with the execution of Eddard Stark. Before that, there was Tyrion's abduction, the death of the previous king, Robert Baratheon, as well as several other events that piled up."
Ulfric nodded a bit at this, then addressed the Small Council as a whole. "May I quote myself when asked about why I fought to liberate Skyrim, back during the civil war?"
"Of course." said Tyrion, nodding.
When Ulfric spoke, while addressing them all, he seemed to direct his words mainly towards Cersei and Joffrey, "I fight for the men I've held in my arms, dying on foreign soil. I fight for their wives and children, whose names I heard whispered in their last breath. I fight for we few who did come home, only to find our country full of strangers wearing familiar faces. I fight for my people impoverished to pay the debts of an Empire too weak to rule them, yet brands them criminals for wanting to rule themselves. I fight so that all the fighting I've already done hasn't been for nothing. I fight... because I must." When Ulfric finished his statement, he leaned against the wall as everybody looked on.
Cersei was the first to respond. "So you are saying that you wish to aid the Starks?"
"No." replied Ulfric. "All I am saying is that, often, one's actions rain hell upon them." He glared at Joffrey as he said this.
"I am the king." said Joffrey. "I can do what I wish."
"Maybe." said Ulfric. "But maybe what you wish is not what you need." With that, Ulfric left the room.
The Small Council continued for an hour or so after that, but the conversation was more strained from the foreign High King's statement. When it was finished, Cersei spoke privately with Varys. "I knew it. He is a Stark sympathizer, maybe even a spy. He is more dangerous than I thought."
"Not to worry." said Varys. "My little birds will keep a close eye on him. Nothing he does will go unseen."
"Good." said Cersei. "Because, as the Starks say, winter is coming."
"That was a bold thing you did during the Small Council." said Tyrion as he walked with Ulfric later that night. "A bold statement."
Ulfric nodded, staying silent.
"I admire your attitude towards the Starks. You pity them as well."
Ulfric looked down at the dwarf when he said this. "As well?"
"One of the Starks, a bastard by the name of Jon Snow, was a... friend of mine. He was sent to the Wall, though it was of his own free will, but nevermind."
Ulfric nodded. "And you felt pity for him?"
"Because he was a bastard. Like me. Well, not like me. To everyone else, dwarfs are bastards. I've been met with segregation and the like for my whole life. But I did not try and forget. The world never will. So instead, I use it as armor. I don't let it hurt me."
Ulfric nodded along with him. He didn't have the heart to tell him that Stormcloak beliefs often led to racism against those who weren't Nords, namely Argonians and Dunmer. He also said nothing about it so as to not reveal how Skyrim had many different races besides humans, as Westeros had nothing other than men and beasts.
"So as you see," continued Tyrion, "I pity the Starks because, like me, they are abused for how they are harmed when helpless. Unlike the rest of my family, I have a layer of true honor and dignity. People like my sister wouldn't care for the things they do. I do."
"You are a good man." said Ulfric. "You would have made a good Stormcloak."
Tyrion laughed. "You would just hand that out to a dwarf like me?"
"Well no. You just have to go to a dangerous island to kill a deadly beast and bring me one of it's teeth to prove you are worthy of being a Stormcloak. It's no problem at all." he and Tyrion laughed.
"You know," said Tyrion, "your Stormcloaks... intrigue me. Maybe I WOULD make a good Stormcloak."
Ulfric looked down at him as they reached Ulfric's room. "You wish to become a Stormcloak?"
Tyrion shrugged. "Well, not entirely. A Lannister is a Lannister. But I admit the thought of being a Stormcloak as well is very interesting."
At this, Ulfric decided to tell him his plan, "Perhaps not. I have come to King's Landing to see if I could sway the king, your nephew, into making peace with the Starks. I now know this is not possible. Before I left Skyrim, I had my second in command, Galmar Stone-Fist, gather Stormcloak troops and head to Riverrun to aid the Starks against the Lannisters. The "see what happens" ploy is a lie to keep the queen regent as far away from me as possible. To join as a part Lannister, part Stormcloak, would probably be seen as treason."
Tyrion though about this new revelation for a bit. After a while, he said, "While I am always loyal to my family, I often wish my name was not Lannister. I do not care if I am seen as a traitor once it is known that the Stormcloaks are aiding the Starks. I say, let them think what they think."
Ulfric smiled down at him, then said, "Alright. You shall now be part Stormcloak. While you are an honorary member, you do not have to follow us once we march against the enemies of the Starks. Your position as a Stormcloak will only be known to me and my allies, nobody else. You may help us as much as you see fit, and a request from me is not an order, but a friendly request you do not absolutely have to do. Though the Oath of the Stormcloaks speaks of loyalty until death to the Stormcloak cause, when you speak it, it does not entirely apply."
"Understood." said Tyrion.
"Good." said Ulfric. "Now, repeat this oath after me:"
"I do swear my blood and
honor to the service of Ulfric Stormcloak
Jarl of Windhelm and true High King of Skyrim.
As Talos is my witness, may this oath bind me
to death and beyond...
...even to my lord as to my fellow brothers
and sisters in arms.
All hail the Stormcloaks, the true sons
and daughters of Skyrim!"
After Tyrion repeated the oath, Ulfric smiled and said, "I may need to change the oath. It's been like that since the Skyrim Civil War."
Tyrion laughed. "I could give you a few pointers."
"That would be helpful." said Ulfric, heading into his room for sleep. "Goodnight... Stormcloak."
Tyrion Lannister is now a Stormcloak! Bet you guys didn't see that coming! I wonder how this will play out later on...
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