Sorry I was gone for so long, I took a break from writing because I started DMing a D&D campaign and was world building during the time when I would normally be writing. I haven't finished with my world yet but I am ahead enough not to worry too much.
I own nothing in the "Song of Ice and Fire" universe or the Game of Thrones Universe.
Chapter 6: Honor's price
"And what is this Idea that would give you cause to travel all the way to the Tower of Joy? And remember Jon I do not take this as lightly as you clearly have."
His eyes traveled back to his uncle's, "Many men died outside that tower, some to save my mother and some to protect me. I feel I need to deliver their bones back to their families."
Save vs. Int
Convinced Lady Stark
Save vs. Wisdom
Convinced Lord Stark
Jon took a moment after his announcement just to take stock of both is Uncle's reaction as well as Lady Stark's reaction. Taking a deep breath as his pendant vibrated, knowing that grabbing it right now would not go over well with his Uncle, he ignored it hoping that it was not a quest of some kind.
His Uncle had definitely been put off balance by what he had said, clearly having expected something else entirely.
Lady Stark was surprised as well, she however seemed thoughtful as well. It was Lady Stark that spoke first, "Your idea has merit, but people will still talk and wonder why this is being done now."
His lips thinned having not actually thought of that. Taking a moment to compose his thought on the matter he noted his Uncle was now giving him a more judging look.
Slowly working through coming up with an idea on the spot all he could manage was, "The King is coming North to bring Lord Stark South as his Hand. Maybe it could be done to receive some goodwill from the Reach by returning Ser Gerold Hightower to his family. He was the Uncle of the current Lord Hightower, and that would make him Lady Tyrell's Grand uncle, and because he would be sending someone it would be best to make sure everyone returns home for proper burials."
His Uncle's lips pursed at the response, though he could not tell if he disliked the response or it was just because of the topic of discussion.
Lady Stark however tutted at him, "That would be insulting to the Houses of the rest of those that fell there."
He didn't really have a response to that so he stayed silent until his Uncle spoke, "My wife is right. The excuse you gave was a poor one. However your idea has merit."
His heart beat a little faster at that, as his pendant started vibrating so fast he had to wonder how it was not being heard by the others in the room.
He nodded, "Then what would be a sufficient reason to appease the House's of all those that died at the Tower of Joy?"
His Uncle frowned at him, but Lady Stark seemed to be relieved at his response for some reason, "It would not be for you to decide."
He pushed down the frown that started to form on his face at his Uncle's fast response, though he noticed Lady Stark place her hand on his Uncle's arm as she attempted to calm the rising tension, "Perhaps it is something that is best given time to be thought about. Your idea Jon was a good reason to travel, but the reason for you to take those actions must be thought of by Lord Stark or else others might see thru this ruse. Do you understand why that is?"
As he slowly shook his head Lady Stark shot a glance at his Uncle and ignoring his sour look turned back to him, "Well then let me explain."
Robb barely managed to restrain himself from shooting a long suffering look at Theon as he made his way towards Maester Luwin's Tower, and more importantly the Library.
He had planned to bring Jon up here after dinner to start doing something he had thought might be important when they had asked their questions during Maester Luwin's lessons but Jon had gone off with his parents to his father's solar again so he would have to start without Jon. He however had not really thought that Theon would start bugging him about going into Winter Town because he hadn't gone the other day and instead had gone hunting with Jon.
He did not know how to explain things to Theon, why he was spending so much time now with Jon rather then him, he could never tell Theon about Jon's true parentage. He also knew that Jon was planning on leaving, Jon might not have come out and said it but he could tell from little things. Just today when they had been in Maester Luwin's study he had caught Jon staring south out the window, rather then towards the Wall in the north. Though his sibling were still talking about Jon becoming a Knight he knew Jon would never do that, not really, Jon was to firm in his belief in the Old Gods rather then the New.
That had lead to his plan during Maester Luwin's lessons today, there were houses in the south that had supported the Targaryens during the rebellion and while he did not want anything bad to happen in might be good to know who they were so that if something did happen or if Jon's parentage was discovered he could possible find shelter with one of those houses.
"Come on Stark, whatever books it is you want to look at they will still be just as old and dusty whenever you go to them, so it's best not to keep the women waiting as their age will show on them more then those dusty leather tome in the tower."
He shot a withering glare at Theon as the last thing he wanted right now was some guard to hear Theon and report comments like that to his parents. Theon never seemed to understand that he could not allow comments like that in his company or his parents would be disappointed and angry with him, so he always took offense when he scolded the older boy for them. "Enough, I have something I wish to l know more about from my lessons today as I told you. If you wish to follow me and watch me look through books in the library you are free to but right now you are whining more than Arya when she is sent off for lessons with her Septa."
He turned away to ignore Theon's glare at that, as the older boy stalked off. He would try to find a way to make it up to Theon later.
Jon slumped onto his bed trying to not think about how his meeting with his Uncle and Lady Stark had gone, trying not to think about how his conversation with Rob had gone when he had finally return to his room long after sunset to find Robb waiting up for him. He tried not to think about how he had ignored his pendants constant vibrating all evening.
Finally almost fighting the urge to do so since dinner he grabbed the pendant around his neck and watched as the world slowly swirled away and he stood in the codex tower. His first thought was that he was glad the Thing was not here to say anything the second was that the table of notices was overflowing with scrolls.
Reaching out he tentatively grabbed at the pile and stepped back as the first scroll appeared in front of him.
Speech Skill raised
24 → 25
Tier I Speech Perk Unlocked
[Silver Tongue]
You find you have an easier time convincing people to your point of view as your understanding of people's motives has improved.
Make active Speech Perk {Yes/No}
Well that explained what the purpose of the [Other] skills was at least. He wasn't really sure what that meant from its description but if it helped him convince his Uncle to let him go south and to keep their family safe he didn't care. Quickly hitting yes he watched as that scroll disappeared to be replaced again by another scroll with the same upgrade.
Speech Skill raised
25 → 26
It did make him curious about if all the [Other] skills would get perks at the same time or if there would be more perks for the speech skill but that was for another time.
Completed Daily Bonus
Get Lady Stark's opinion on your Idea
Reward: +50 exp, +10 rep Lady Stark
It was nothing he did not expect, the only difference between it and asking Maester Luwin the question was this had given twice as much reputation. It was nothing big really and so very far from the most important thing that had happened at his meeting in his Uncle's solar.
Completed Daily Quest
Winterfell
Reward: +10 Rep House Stark, +4 Rep Eddard Stark, +100 exp (+25 exp Trainer bonus), [+3 riding/+3 Speech]
That gave him pause. He got a choice as to what skills he would want to raise? His first thought was to raise speech to get a better bonus to try and convince people… But it had only been today that he had gotten that perk and it did not seem like he would get another any time soon.
He wished he knew what his riding skill level was at this point… looking back around the codex tower he focused on the bookcase that was about him. He had never tried to open another one of these scrolls when one was already open, what would happen if he did, would it even open to begin with.
Steeling his nerves he walked over to the proper bookcase and touched one of the books. As the Status scroll with his picture appeared he looked behind him to see that the scroll with the quest reward option was still open.
Relieved he went back to searching through the status scroll till he brought up his [Other] skills. He jolted when he noted that his riding skill was at 22, with the +3 that would make it 25 which was the same as when his speech skill had added a perk. Did that mean he would get a perk in his riding if he picked riding over speech.
Determinedly making up his mind he walked back to the quest scroll and tapped [+3 riding]. For a moment he thought he might have chosen poorly when the scroll changed because it had nothing to do with riding, however then he noticed that it almost looked like more scrolls had appeared on the table.
Quest Objective Complete
Starting your adventure
+ Create a reason for your traveling
It was at least relieving that that part of his deadly quest was completed, and with Robb promising to help him plan his route he only needed to find two companions. He had no idea how he was going to do that but he had decided during his meeting that tonight before he left the codex tower he would go through everything he could find on people he knew high born and low, all the guards and even some of the more competent members of Wintertown to see if he could find any that could work as companions.
However he knew as he went to swipe this scroll away that this was probably when the meeting started to go downhill…
New Mission
Laying the Guard to Rest
-Return Ser Oswell Whent' Body to his Family
-Return Lord Commander Gerold Hightower's Body to his Family
Reward: +25 rep House Whent, +25 rep House Hightower, +250 exp, ?
Accept Yes/No
Well that had not been what he had expected to show up. Still he hoped this meant that his idea would be used. Despite his Uncle not wanting him to go south at all.
It did worry him a little that this only showed the Kingsguard that had been outside the tower. He assumed though that it would mean that the Northamn that were slain would get their own mission. Quickly hitting yes he was not surprised with what the next scroll showed.
New Mission
Saviors Returning Home
-Return Lord William Dustin's Body to his Family
-Return Ser Ethan Glover's Body to his Family
-Return Ser Martyn Cassel's Body to his Family
-Return Fierce Theo Wull's Body to his Family
-Return Ser Mark Ryswell Body to his Family
Reward: +20 Rep with all Northern Houses, +400 exp, ?
Accept Yes/No
This was another mission that was definitely a good sign. Without much thought he accepted this one as well, they were his plan after all, and he couldn't help but think that even if his Uncle did not let him go south now he himself would do so eventually to set this right.
Though his joy was short lived with what showed up next.
New Quest
Family First
- Explain to Lord Stark that what was said was said out of concern for Arya
- Persuade Lady Stark that at present you are right and this is something that they can come back to in a few years
-Accomplish the above before leaving the North
Reward: Speech +5, Exp +200, +20 rep Lord Stark, +15 rep Lord Stark
Failure: -40 rep Lord Stark, -30 rep Lady Stark, -30 rep Arya
Accept Yes/No
Well he thought glumly that was a high order with almost no way he could possible accomplish. The last moments in his Uncle's solar going through his mind…
Lady Stark had started a brief explanation of the meaning behind certain actions which had transitioned into he putting forth the idea that the King might do something like put forward a betrothal for either Sansa or Arya.
His Uncle had not been particularly pleased with the idea, but had agreed that it was likely. He had made a little bit of protest that maybe that would be a good idea as the King might might see his mother in Arya and choose her and that wouldn't go over well.
There had been an argument as to if Arya would submit and do her 'duty' to House Stark, he personally though she would grab her own horse and try and run away. Something that only seemed to make the parallels between her and his mother even more pronounced to him. He didn't remember everything that had been said but he knew the last thing his Uncle had said on the topic had been, "If Prince Joffrey is half the man Robert was Arya would be happy."
They say his family had the 'wolves' blood as sometimes their tempers ran hot and the acted impulsively and he regretted that so soon after promising himself he would not act as such he broke his promise when meeting with his uncle.
"I wonder if Grandfather said something similar to my mother before she left."
His uncle hadn't yelled neither had Lady Stark in fact. Lady Stark had gone pale and he couldn't help but think that as bad as what he had said was, she might have understood his intentions. I for no other reason that up until he had been told the truth she had always despaired at how close they were. His Uncle though, for the first time in his life he knew what people meant when they said they feared his Uncle's anger as his Uncle had growled at him hom to get out…
Shaking his head to clear it of such thoughts for now. He would have time to deal with this, almost a whole month by Lady Stark's recognizing till the King got here.
Placing his finger on the [yes] he was glad when it transitioned over to his talk with Robb.
New Quest
Sea Ward's Eyes
-Prove you trust Theon by asking him to look over and advise you on how to bring the bodies of the fallen back by sea
Reward: +25 rep Theon Greyjoy, -15 rep House Greyjoy, ?
Failure: -15 rep Robb Stark
Accept Yes/No
That had been one of the three things that Robb and him had talked about after returning from his Uncle's Solar. Though to him it was the least important of the three.
The first thing that they had discussed had been why Robb had waited up to talk to him. He had been deeply touched to hear what Robb had done and how his cousin had hoped that the two of them could continue the project over the next few evening. Granted he hoped that that he would never need to know any of what Robb had been researching, but if the worst was to happen it would be useful to know what houses in the south supported the Targaryens. He really did not want to think that he would need to know any of it but if he did well Robb would probably have saved his life by thinking of it.
That had transitioned into him explaining to Robb what he had been talked about in his Uncle's solar. Robb had been rather middling in expressing an opinion of his words with his Uncle about Arya and Prince Joffrey. He had agreed that Arya would likely take it poorly, however he had pointed out that what he said was in a way cruel though well meaning.
They had mutually decided to drop it after that, though Robb had pointed out that while his plan for going South his plan on how to return the remains was almost non existent. This had lead to some thinking and various ideas before had commented on bringing them back by ship. He had shot that down saying he didn't know enough about ships and would have to just rely on others to make sure everything was done and that wasn't what he was suppose to do. Robb had looked annoyed for a moment before saying they could talk to Theon about it.
It had led to a short disagreement where he had pointed out he didn't really like Theon, and Robb pointing out that Theon had learned more about ships and running ports from Maester Luwin then they did, and while he might not like Theon, Theon was trustable. He had begrudgingly agreed but had explicitly said that all they would tell Theon was about him going south not anything about his true heritage.
Accepting the quest he noted that when the scroll changed this last time the table was clear again.
Riding Skill raised
22 → 25
Tier I Riding Perk Unlocked
[Apprentice Rider]
You have learned how to push your mount to greater speeds without going overboard and causing them to tire out quickly.
Make active Riding Perk {Yes/No}
Well that was interesting, not nearly as helpful as the speech perk but still. Accepting the new perk he turned towards the bookshelf which would let him look through all the information on people he knew.
Slowly setting down the report he had received from The Golden Tooth Tywin had to admit that while he had been annoyed when he realized that Lord Lefford had sent it by messenger rather then raven he now understood why.
While Baratheon had not said why he was going North, he along with everyone else knew it was to bring Stark south to be his Hand. While it was a slight against him, it was not one that was unexpected, nor one he thought the fool would even think of. No to Baratheon he was not slighting House Lannister he was merely doing whatever he wished. A bad habit for a King as Aerys had shown all of Westeros.
This letter from Lefford thought this was much more in depth then he expected, and carefully coached in the letter were warnings. That the King was going to be asking for more gold to fund some massive tourney that he knew Stark would not be able to talk him out of, especially not if Lord Arryn never could. More importantly was the carefully worded warning that his foolish daughter was letting her emotions get the better of her and Lord Lefford feared she might do something stupid because of this minor slight.
It was a pity that it had been his daughter that rose to such a high rank rather than his sons, they would have been better at keeping their emotions in check. Even the drunken wretch that his younger son was would be better with his constant drinking and whoring then Cersei was with her womanly emotions.
She knew she was not going to make it. She had tried but the warm place was still too far away and she would be birthing her pups any time now. It was time she found a place in this warm woods where she could safely birth her young.
She could hear the steady sound of slow flowing water not far off and was determined to make it there to birth her pups. All creatures needed water and flowing water was the best, so it would make it easier to find food creatures for her pups when they were young.
Rolling over as he wiped the traces of sleep from his eyes Jon shot a glare at the sunlight starting to peak over the horizon. With staying up late to talk to Robb he had gotten to sleep far later then was normal for him and he could feel he would be tired today because of that. It didn't help that he stayed in the codex tower for hours last night, as while he didn't get tired or hungry there as the world sat still… It left him feeling drained was the best way of explaining it. Not that the Thing was ever around to explain things when he wanted it to be.
Worst yet all the time he had spent in the tower last night had brought him no closer to figuring out who he could use as a companion. There was no one in Winterfell that he could use and he didn't think he could find anyone in Wintertown to bring with him in time, at least not one he could trust…
Now was not the time to dwell on that he would find companions somehow. He had to. If the Pendant would not make it easy he would find a way to do it himself.
As thoughts of the pendant came to him he grabbed at it from were it hung around his neck and let the world fade away and the tower form around him. Again like last night the Thing was nowhere to be seen, an annoyance as he still wanted to ask a few more questions about companions.
Walked over to the table with the new notifications on it and grabbed the only set of scrolls on it. As the daily quest scroll unravelled in front of him he noted that this time there was something that made him curse the fact that the Thing was not present… Again.
[Daily Quests]
Winterfell
Winterfell
- Train under Sir Rodrick alongside Robb, Theon and Bran
- Attend Lessons with Maester Luwin
- Access the Language section of your Skills
Rewards: +10 Rep House Stark, +100 exp, ?, ?
Bonus Rewards
Find five houses along your expected route south that supported the Targaryens
Gain five rep with Theon Greyjoy
He stared hard at the scroll in front of him his mind thinking as fast as he could to try and decide what he would be doing…
The training with Sir Rodrick as well as lessons with Maester Luwin seemed to be a everyday addition while he is in Winterfell. Not something he would complain about as they were easy to accomplish and he got bonus exp due to having Sir Rodrick as a trainer.
That Third part though that was new… He scanned the tower one more time for the Thing. After he had called for it a few time last night he had come to figure that if it didn't present itself it was not going to come out and talk to him even if he wanted it to. That didn't change the fact that it had explained his Skills and Languages was not one of the categories. He would go over and look through the skills section in a moment to try and figure it out, but for some reason he really did not have much hope that it would be that easy.
As for the bonus parts of the daily well he figured he would get those easily. Robb wanted to go over more houses after the evening mean. As for the rep with Theon maybe he could try and get Theon's help. Having him and Robb asking for help would boost Theon's ego, and knowing Theon that would make the ironborn more agreeable.
Swiping the scroll aside he turned to make his way over to the [status] bookcase to see if there was a language section under skills.
Will stumbled passed a tree and his eyes darted around behind him. If he had been able to crest the wall, and every one of his brothers knew the wildings had been raiding over the wall for generation, then those things could and…
He jumped as a strong gust brought a cold chill down his spine as it howled through the trees. He frantically wiping himself around expecting to see Waymar yelling as those things tore him apart piece by piece but seeing nothing he turned back to running south. Away from the cold. Away from the wall. Away from those soulless blue eyes.
