(CHECK BOTTOM FOR UPDATED AUTHORS NOTE ON CHANGES TO CHAPTER,FOR SECOND TIME READERS)
Alright new chapter, not to much happens just Osric reflecting on things on his way to White Harbor, and an introduction to his Kingsguard, known as the Redguard.
Also a few announcements.
1 I'll be fixing the grammar on the first three chapters soon but after the events of Winterfell.
2 This chapter will briefly cover the main religion of the Stepstones, which is based on the character of the same name from pirates of the Caribbean and other sources as well, a more in-depth look will be featured at the start of the next chapter, and on the steps history chapter later.
3 I'm open to suggestions for who people would like to see Osric paired with, if you have a suggestion send me a message about who you think he'll fit with.
There were many things that gave Osric stark pleasure. Women were one, and one of his favorite at that. Rum being a close second but there was only one thing that made him feel truly alive. The feeling of the wheel in his hand, the sea bobbing on the horizon, and the sound of shanties in his ears.
When he had gone sailing with his brothers and Theon in the past, the heir of Pyke told him he must have been born an Iron Islander in a past life, a theory that hung true with the black wolf. For none but one man has ever matched, much less defeat him on the high seas. Many had fallen to the Winds Of Winter, though his proudest victories had been against two men specifically, the first being Stannis Baratheon and the royal fleet. After setting up the Stepstones he began to rectify the problems such as sickness, poverty, and crime. Naturally as a pirate he knew the easiest way to get this things was too steal them. At first things had gone well, he stuck to raiding the free cities trade ships, and kept away from the mainland of Westeros. However his boldness got the best of him and he robbed a large cargo vessel full of medical supplies heading to Oldtown from Braavos, along the coast of the Stormlands. The haul had raised the overall health of the Steps but had the Reachmen yelling for justice. As he expected the king didn't give a care, his brother however assembled a fleet and sailed for Bloodstone.
He chuckled at the thought 'fucker thought he could beat me, that his seasoned captains who've fought nothing but petty, and weak pirates, and i'll admit the Iron Islanders are fierce raiders but nothing compared to my fleet.' Stannis like so many others underestimated him. They saw a young man, no not even a man they saw a boy, a boy whose only survived through luck' Ser Davos learned of my skills when i clasped him in chains and racked my hand axe across his son's fingers, Like father like son', he thought with smile. In the end the crown made peace talks he would stop raiding Iron Throne shipments, as well as release the Seaforths. In return the Throne will let him keep the supplies he had already acquired.
His second great victory had been a long time coming. For years before and after the formation of his kingdom there was never a greater thorn in his side, than Euron Greyjoy. The Crow's Eye was, out of the all the people he's ever fought the only one worthy of being his nemesis. He has fought the one eyed man many times but their most current bout was most certainly his favorite thus far, for it had been the battle where he had outsmarted his nemesis and beaten him. All battle before that one had ended in draws or retreats. However despite the hatred between them, and the desire to see one another as a lifeless corpse, the pirates had a mutual respect for each other' hell after one of our draws we ended up docking at port and getting drunk with our crews' Osric thought back on without a doubt was the strangest fight he had been in. But on their latest encounter Osric had managed to trick the Greyjoy, by spreading a rumor that he was sailing alone raiding, when in fact he had Asher, Sallador, And Aurane with him.
Together they shattered his galley, and managed to drive him ashore. After killing, and freeing his crew of mutes, they hosted the Silence up with hooks to hold her above water and boarded. Inside he found many treasures and let his crew have their pick but there were two treasures that he claimed as his own. The first is a six foot black horn, which if the tales of him sailing to valyrian are true must have come from a dragon as no other creature he knew of had a horn that big, it's banded with red gold, valyrian steel, and has unnatural runes and glyphs on it, that seem to glow red and have warm feel to them. the second is a an egg, a scaled egg colored a light almost pale blue, that was unnerving cold to the touch, almost as if it radiating frost.
He didn't know why he was thinking back on his victories of the past. To get together a group of stories for his siblings perhaps. Or maybe to tell his parents of all he had accomplished. Either way he needed a break, which really meant he needed to get piss drunk to keep his emotions in check and wouldn't risk his crew or his ship on it. He turned his head to the left and nodded to Aurane, who was serving as quartermaster of the Winds while his own ship was repaired. Aurane nodded back and took the helm. Before stepping away from the wheel Osric announced "quartermaster at the helm maintain course and we should arrive within the next hour, give or take a half."
As he stepped away he felt a gust of cold wind, and pulled his coat tight tell it passed. They were still in warm waters, but the winds started to gain a chill to them. Osric did not stick close to the Westerosi shore, but the Essos shore. It would take a few more days to arrive but it will help his crew transition from warm to cold. Of course his choice of attire didn't help. For his pirate gear Osric wore a black trench coat that reached his knees, the buttons going down it were made of black steel, it had a diamond patterned made up of webbed grey net-like design, and the inside of the coat was crimson red. He wore a bandanna of his house's sigil tied around his head, as well as on a thin cloth attached to his right shoulder. He wore simple leather breeches, and worn boots, however the most interesting part of his attire was the lack of chest covering under his trench coat, as he had no shirt proudly showing his scars for all to see including the blue Nautical Star tattooed on his neck. This was also the time, not only his Nautical Star tattoo could be seen but his necklace as well, the main difference being this one was black and red. It was no secret to his men that he was a follower of Calypso, especially with a nickname like Calypso's favorite sailor but he worried how his family would react to it. It wasn't like he lost faith with the Old God, far from it but he suspected that wouldn't matter to them, why couldn't he believe in two, one on land, and one on sea. Back to reality he gestured for his Redguard, and Asher to follow him.
Including Beshka, his Kingsguard equivalent was made of the best pit fighters in the Steps they were, Qazzo the butcher A Dothraki man, wearing heavy brown leathers as armor, covered head to toe in scares, and wielding a giant cleaver the size of a longsword, as a weapon. Next was Black Mouse, a man from a highly regarded family in the Astapor he was rather weak growing up to strengthen his dynasty he father arranged for him to be trained like an unsullied, minus the castrating and turning him into a eunuch, he uses twin Dothraki arakhs, and a rope dart as his weapons, he wears red unsullied armor without the shoulder pauldrons for his armor. Finally the last member and captain of his Redguard was a woman known as Brodice the Giantess. A seven foot tall woman of unknown background, with pale skin, and long auburn hair tied into a dreadlocked ponytail, for her weapon she uses a two handed war-hammer with one hand, as well as a shield, and for her armor she uses a chainmail chestplate, and green and teal leather for the rest.
His cabin was made up of many treasures gained from his many travels. In the center of his cabin was his desk, which like his treasure case was made of ironwood and polished a dark brown. On the left of the door was various shelves of books, and maps, as well as stands for his armor and weapons. The right side was taken up by his treasure case which was a long iron wood case with a glass top. It was filled with his most valuable possessions, Dragonbind, his egg, and a tome of the long night, to name a few. He also noticed the slight ice frosting around the egg, making a note to build a metal case for it separate. In the center of the case was his crown, the valyrian circle filled with large square cut rubies, that had once belonged to aegon, lost by the young dragon in sunspear, and in turn stolen by him when he sacked the city during the storm war. The back contained his bed which was made of silk and had his sigil sown into the covers. After entering he was greeted warmly by Lyanna. As he, his daughter, and his friends relaxed he could not help but stress over his return, but knew there was nothing he could do about it right now, simply let himself unwind and relax and await his homecoming.
So this edit was to clear a few things.
1The next chapter will be called homecoming and I didn't want to be repetitive.
2 I've also changed the description and style of his dragon egg since I've planned out the storyline differently than originally planned.
3 I'm still open to suggestions for pairings for Osric, but currently i'm leaning towards Asha/(Yara if you've just watched the show)
