Ser Bonifer Hasty

Pisswater Bend, Flea Bottom Kings' Landing

A few days after Black Betha made port

Ser Davos' 'intelligence' was confirmed by Leemon Bogg and his cousins shortly after their arrival. The crannog men, Leyton and Harlen Bogg looked close enough alike to brothers if not twins. Though to be fair, with how isolated and insular they were as a people such was to be expected. Further, if he were being honest they shared a lot fewer grandparents than the bloodline of his first and only love.

He narrowed his eyes, adjusting for the shade and reduced light in the more cramped alleyway. Thoughts of his lost love and the horrors she endured with her beast of a brother were stomped down. There was no point in wasting wroth, not when a perfectly valid target was nearby.

"See, they are held up in the next house. Eight men including the beast, two dozen customers, three 'contestants', eight dogs and four women upstairs." The way Harlen pronounced 'women' and 'contestants' let him know at least one of them wasn't past the age of flowering and none were being treated properly; even by Flea Bottom standards. Swallowing rage he reached into his pocket and blew on the whistle, alerting his men to lock the street down.

Strutting boldly, with his best Davos taught 'Flea bottom swag', he closed in on the 'Ragged Ear'. Such establishment was where the 'man' Rorge carried out his dog and bear fighting, with the occasional bit of prostitution upstairs. While such businesses along the corner of the city were not new or out of place; the fact that Rorge treated his 'employees' with less concern than his dogs earned today's royal visit.

As Ser Bonifer neared the door he only saw two of his men at arms, both good seven fearing storm landers like himself and numbers seventy three and eighty one of his proposed holy hundred (though he only had eighty four so far). The crannog men had vanished, he knew they would where they needed to be when it mattered. Those so called 'bog devils' did not fight as knights, but Bonnifer knew them to have their own kind of honor. The counter whistle sounded and the large dog near him made its non verbal signal in response. He blew one more note, pulled on the helmet behind the loose hood and things got loud.

The door flew in behind his boot, as its heavy bars had not been engaged.

"In the name of King Robert everyone here shall surrender!" The unwashed lout with a club and scar splitting his face either contemplated too long or was addled with drink. Ser Bonnifer's padded mace bounced off his skull and the man hit the chairs to his right. He was out cold before he flipped over and landed on an overturned table.

"Shyte! It's a raid. Head out the back!" Bonifer shook his head. They had men on the nearby roofs, and the 'secret' entrances were just as covered. The fools just couldn't understand it was Stannis, not the incompetents in the gold cloaks carrying out this operation. While Ser Bonnifer didn't agree with all that his lord did, his making lewd music and spending time with such licentious foreigners being one, stopping such evil practices more than made up for it.

A group of betters or johns tried to push their way through the side entrance only to find a particularly irritating powder dumped on them from a shadow over their heads. Yes, not very knightly, these crannog men, but people who would place bets on children fighting pit bulls and bears would never receive pity from Ser Bonifer. He should rather give them an exhibition of hempen rope!

He then sidestepped a brute who attempted to slash him with a short sword. Even in the poorly lit hell pit, the fool should have seen he was wearing full plate. But his desperate bid to avoid harsh judgment was cut short as the knight stepped into a feeble stab and drove his mace up between the varlet's legs. By the time he was done subduing the next three fleeing customers the 'fight' was over.

Of course no raid was perfect and Rorge walked out of a side room with his knife held to the throat of one "contestant". The small child mad no sound and his eyes betrayed no fear or any emotion at all.

"Look here you bastards! I don't know who da fuuck you thinks you is. But if'n you don't get outta my place right now I'll gut this git right now." When he met Ser, Bonnifer's eyes the bastard spoke again.

"Try me."

Having planned for this kind of situation Ser Bonifer Hasty put his bloody mace down. He motioned for the others to do the same and everyone near the brute took a step back.

"Rorge I presume?" The nose less man was slightly bellow average height but built like a brick oven. Muscles rippled up and down his body and he was currently shirtless. It was said those fists had killed men in and out of rings all over Kings landing.

"Ya, who fuck'r you lot? Whyda bust in my place. 'el id Rondel send you to lean on me?" His knife momentarly left the child's throat as Bonifer was told it would.

"That cunt! Well you tell the bastard it'll be a cold da.." He didn't get to finish as a small arrow planted itself in his hand. As soon as the knife fell from his fingers Ser Bonnifer was on him. To his credit the first five blows from the knight did not put the man on the floor. Rorge even got in two punches himself. Of course only one of them was wearing plate armor so it was obvious who that hurt.

"Move Bonny, we want him alive." Reluctantly, he moved to his left as Leeman Bogg and his men brought out the strange pole arms with the large U's at the front. It took another few minutes to get Rorge and the rest bound and ready for transport. The child, if that poor living thing could still be a child continued staring at him without making any sound. Bonifer reached down into his pouch and offered him a piece of jerky. The bald boy, who might have been two and ten tore into it like dog in the fighting pit. To the horror of him and his men the child's teeth had been filed into points. His rough, scarred body and face were not the worst of his mutilations either. For as he looked at the next offering of good he made shrill hiss, everyone realized the child had no tongue.

Ser Bonifer had to stop his men from setting the building on fire with the occupants inside. He even had to restrain himself from opening Rorge's throat with the dagger he dropped. Hasty thought he knew what evil was, then he learned of Aerys. Now yet again Prince Stannis proved to him his understanding was non existent. Yes sexually risqué entertainment and premarital sex were sinful, but truly religious men of arms should take the battle to real evils like this. Defending holy septs and travelers to shrines was good work, holy work but showing people that even those who are imperfect must still be treated as men was no less a higher calling.

The graying knight saluted his men as they guided the women and children to a covered wagon bound for a the Sept of Baelor. The rest would spend some time in the 'black cells'. Sir Hasty was sorry that they had been ordered revamped to prevent the spread of disease and filth. Some people would not be missed if they should succumb to the filth of their own excrement. No not one of them be missed.

Last edited: Yesterday at 6:11 PM

dylanredefined said:

"These Americans jumped me and force fed me hash brownies and then tied me up!" Is not going to help their credibility I grant you that.

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#151

Davos

Grey Cells, Red Keep

Kings Landing

A few days after the dinner celebrating the heroes of the Wildfire exposure

The powdered man to his left spoke. He was glad that Varys wasn't one of the more extreme traditionalists and opted to have a private shower made for him. In close quarters the smell could choke him. He wondered how he never had the idea of using salt water showers an toilets before. They really made the journey to king's land much more bearable.

"Yes quite a tragedy. The man had a new wife and five children. Not to mention his wife will soon be in need of both swaddling and mourning clothes." The fact his concerned attitude and pensive look did not match the coldness of his purple eyes made the regrowing hair on Davos' scalp itch. The Eunuch's hands remained folded in his robes as the stoic stance considered the corpse before them. There was no one else that he could see nearby and Davos prudently placed a hand near, but not grasping at, the short sword he wore indoors.

"From what I hear Norman Oats was a fairly good tanner when he wasn't drunk. It seems he just couldn't stand captivity. Course, I wouldn't worry too much about his family. Seems some generous soul covered his outstanding debts. Even left a tidy sum with the widow. The older boys can keep up the family business, seeing as how they each lack their father's vices." He eyed the other man, who made no indication he intended to move any closer to him.

Yes he could yell for help or blow his whistle, but honestly Davos would rather simply run his sword through the man. Even if he was a mummer in somewhat better shape; at this distance Davos was fairly confident he could impale him without getting a scratch from a poisoned dagger. But he would follow Stannis' orders and not kill the fucker unless he poses a clear a present danger. 'You are of little use to me on the wall at this time and he isn't worth it'.

Said corpse was still hanging in his cell by the neck. The bed sheets were tied around the bars in Norman's overhead window. He had the Boggs go over the room and it was clearly a suicide. However, why would a man whose crime was merely a few coppers of dice fraud go to this extent?

Stannis' warrant said the man was possible witness to an event of import and should be taken into 'comfortable protective custody'. After the wildfire and Rorge's shop of horrors no one bothered to question the warrant. After all Stannis didn't kill innocent people and if he was proven innocent with logical evidence Stannis was the type to pay him for the trouble. Of course going, back quite a few things didn't add up and he remembered the 'warrant'.

Said individual is at least twenty years old, but is likely over thirty five and has lived in Flea bottom for at least two years. For a certainty he lived in Pisswater Bend during the siege and had at least two children each of whom is older than two years of age. His wife must have died giving birth to a living boy, who lived yet vanished sometimes toward the middle of the year. It is believed he is a tanner with a predisposition to drink and or gambling. The only other thing that is known for sure is that the dead wife or him have blue eyes that were almost purple and pale hair.

The Eunuch's eyes narrowed at him again and Davos resisted the urge to reach for one of his blades. Vary undoubtedly had at least a few on himself and wanted to see his wife and children again. Fat men had natural armor and Davis cursed himself for not wearing his coat of plates today.

"It would seem my dear onion knight we are at an impasse."

"I don't see why. Aint we on the same side? We both serve the realm." Those were the words Stannis had told him to say in such a situation. A few scant months were not enough time to prepare for a job like this and Davos realized how much weight was involved. Varys tittered again.

"I wonder if you know who and what you truly serve." The was a silent shudder in his spine as he digested the words. There could be no way that the spider had penetrated that deeply in to Storms End. But he rallied none the less, whatever secrets Stannis held to himself he was transparent enough for him.

"I serve a man who cares about justice Lord Varys. Whatever you may think gambling fraud doesn't justify murder. Especially for a debt less than thirty coppers."

"So he did not trust you with the 'whole truth' then. Norman here did something worthy of worse than death almost a year ago and many more things prior and after. That is more truth than I warrant Stannis believed you needed to complete your task. I'll leave finding the details up to you and your 'investigators'. Furthermore he met his end by his own hands, so this is in fact a suicide not a homicide. I trust your tutors will help you understand the difference before too long." He tittered before moving and sitting in one of he guard's chairs.

"Heh, I think you practice operational security in a much more thorough and final way if you take my meanin. The prince is loyal to his brother, the crown and Westeros. Can we say the same of you?"

"Hahaha. Ask the prince if they are the same thing at all times. Shall I tell you a riddle? A king, a wealthy man and septon stand before a sell sword with weapon drawn.' Davos raised his hand in the method Stannis often did when people wasted his time and he was short of patience. Stannis had in fact warned him of this ploy and the riddle.

"And the sell sword has to decide which flavor o social control matters most to 'im." The Eunuch paused with a look of genuine surprise on his chubby face.

"Prince Stannis has some very interesting philosophy doesn't he? It is almost like he doesn't actually believe in any of our fine cultural institutions." Davos laughed.

"You aren't even from Westeros my lord." He almost sneered but was proud of himself for controlling his accent.

"Just so Ser Davos Seaworth. What do you know of my history, if you don't mind me asking?" Davos paused. Stannis had told him what he suspected and what limited scraps of information he collected second hand. It was up to him to use each as he saw fit. The prince of Storms end had implied he would rather tame the Eunuch but Davos of the mind that some men don't need second chances. Further, by his reckoning this mans life was just such a chance, even if Davos couldn' see what the play was.

The wife's name was Yennifer Longwaters from what the Boggs told him and her family had been in Kings Landing for generations. Sometime about two generations ago they fell on hard times and things didn't improve. Which would explain why they had sold her off to the oaf he would soon have cut down and buried. Said drunken lout was born to a scullery maid who was hastily released from her service in the Red Keep with a sizeable bag of silver and a marriage to a merchant. There was no among the staff still alive who could elaborate on the obvious story thanks to Tywin's sack but Norman's silvery gold hair filled in the details.

Their investigations ended with some obvious details. The couple had a total of five children together, not including the one which supposedly killed her. Of said three boys and two girls three had either silver blonde hair or eyes so blue they could pass for purple. The other thing they got from small talk was the fact Yennifer's death was in part due to the lasting affects caused by her husband's drunken fist while he claimed his marital rights. Then there were the rumors of mood swings from the eldest daughter and orders of moon tea. Something told Davos more than a bit of the remorse he would hear when he presented the Oates family with the news and financial recompense would be acting. Still the man should have faced trial, not be found dead in his cell.

"Reports have you being born in Lys as a slave who was trained in the arts of mummery and musical instruments. In Myr a cult, likely that of R'hllor, purchased you and had your bits off for some fertility ritual. I'm not a doctor but even I know that unless you get help that will kill most folk. You would have been helpless for days if not weeks in a land where you had no friend so they must have nursed you back to health. You were literate, able to sing, so a church could find you useful. So it stands to reason they made you join the cult. At some point you either were sold or escaped. From there the reports grow hazy.

All we do know is you became an intelligencer in Pentos. That's where Aerys heard about you and was impressed. That and you have an understandable if extreme dislike for magic rituals and religion." The man's eyes widened and then narrowed once again.

"Prince Stannis is well informed and his sense of logic has not been hampered by his head wound. I had no idea he had someone speak to Maester Pycelle before this tragic war." In his time at court Davos had been trying to get a handle of Varys. Just now he had rattled the man enough to confess to monitoring his movements along the capital and even his conversations. Not that Davos and his 'frogs' weren't doing the same to him.

"The prince is always concerned about the goings on in the capital, even if he doesn't show it." The look of surprise on the bald man's face was something he learned to relish. Let the eunuch know that Stannis was able to have conversations that he couldn't monitor even before he was looking in the princes direction. Vary's seemed the type to not cope well with knowing that his network of spies, both mundane and impressed babes, wasn't fool proof.

"Your prince left out a few details. The 'priest' was in fact a warlock of some renown and he didn't simply carry out a neat operation the likes of which your 'doctors' proscribed. He gave me some foul tasting concoction, it didn't dull the pain of the knives as they did their work, it only made me unable to cry out or move. And it wasn't just some quaint prayer for a good harvest like they do when they slaughter noble boys in Pentos. The man tossed my parts in the fires of his brazier while his 'acolytes' chanted in their infernal language and the flames turned blue while he asked a question in a language lost to most men. Then the fire spoke back. From that day I swore to oppose the dark arts and the fanatics seeking to build their 'brighter future' with them."

Davos gave him a look which mixed pity concern and disgust. He could see why the man could view anything supernatural with loathing. If he should see Stannis as his enemy his intelligence and ruthlessness would make him a deadly threat. But what could he do to the man without proof?

"And what does that have to do with me or Lord Stannis. You have been against every plan he has brought up. I admit the prince can be naïve sometimes and there are consequences to change, but you see more 'dangers' than lord Arryn. I would say its personal but Stannis has done you no wrong. It's not whatcha call very professional." The Eunich looked at him the way his wife did when she caught him doing something foolish.

"Come now Ser Davos. We are both men of sound reason. Stannis knows things no one, one matter how well informed or gifted with genius could possibly piece together. He makes enough excuses and provides enough evidence to make plausible explanations but no one is that lucky."

"Or perhaps you are just going on a witch hunt to cover your failure to notice the tons of wildfire underneath you? Or did you know and were simply fanatically loyal to a man who mutilated his own wife nearly as bad as that innocent boy was so many years ago?" Davos was no stranger to hypocrisy by now.

"Bravo Ser Davos. You learned your rhetoric well. But Aerys was just a normal madman an even his slightly less mad son were limited to the five senses. Stannis deals with powers beyond the mortal realm."

Davos cut him off because was getting annoying.

"If you are telling the truth I feel pity for that boy and I don't judge what he had to do to survive to manhood in a world of slavers and zealots. Seven know I am no saint. But to the best of my knowledge Prince Stannis has never harmed an innocent person, he doesn't believe in unnecessary brutality and he does his best to avoid bloodshed. He also never abused children in the name of Victory!

I don't see how a man as 'wise' as you can't see the truth in front of him. Magic isn't responsible for what happened to you. Slavery is the reason you were in that position. Slavery practiced by your previous clients and by the associates you don't mind working with. While I'm not as smart as them lords I can guarantee you that many more men women and children get raped, mutilated and murdered for ordinary greed and sick pleasures than to power up some fortune telling fire."

"My my, our dear onion knight has the soul of a poet. Or I should say Prince Stannis' words are poetic coming from your mouth. While I agree slavery is evil, is the way your mighty Westerosi lord and noble knight treats the 'small folk' any better? I think you know the answer to that Ser Davos. Your trips across the Narrow Sea carrying luxury goods grown and made by those same impoverished farmers to those same lords have shown you that abuse or respect depends more on the person in charge than the law.

But yes I am without balls not my eyes and even if they are not quite as large as the onions on your flag they work just fine. By and large things are better on this side of the waters. Even the meanest small folk can risk starvation, bandits and illness to go somewhere else without dogs chasing after them. And Prince Stannis wants to make a better kingdom for everyone! There is nothing not to love about his proposals; more food and less abuse for the small folk, more wealth for the merchant and more effective power for the noble. Only a heartless idiot, with no sense of shame or self preservation would want things to stay the way they are.

Only does your Golden Stag forget where he is? There are lords here who I know for certain still practice 'Prima nocta' and wonder why some of their taxes are lost and minor accidents befall their field animals. Frankly there are a great many idiots who will get themselves booted rather than use common sense. And lets not forget what the Essosi will do once they get a whiff of this. Unlike Robert and his court the slave magisters count coppers very, very well. Stannis is wise enough not to directly challenge them but if he can do what he promises they will loose a great deal of wealth if they wish to keep their slave economy the way it is. And believe me many of them believe in the right to abuse those beneath them in a way Stannis would call fanatical. The fact his ways would make every one of them better off while securing their power means nothing to them." Davos paused.

"Call me a dunce and be done with it, but I don't understand where it is you're going. Are you saying Stannis is setting them up for another war? One they will loose because they are petty evil men too stupid to see they can't win"

"Hehe Sir Davos you are far more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. I'm sure Stannis pointed it out to you that some of the lords are just 'asses whose assets could be better used doing something productive'. Only those dunces have lots of swords and some people will follow them for tradition's sake. I don't know what tools or weapons Stannis has up his sleeve to convince you it will be a cost effective victory, but the realm will bleed if he attempts a third of his reforms."

"So you're opposing doing something to keep folks from being pushed into rebellion by cruel and stupid men? Cus you honestly think that not letting one outta every four children die before they reach five in Flea Bottom and half a hundred cities like em is wrong?" He found himself getting angry enough to ignore Stannis' orders. Vary's sighed before removing his hands from their sleeves in mock surrender.

"Careful, I believe Stannis' lessons in rhetoric included attacking the argument and not the person. I serve the realm and while I as someone who was born as common as can be, lower even, appreciates prince Stannis' ideology; bloodshed based on ideology is not what the realm needs. He might be able to deliver on what he promises, or he might not but once swords are drawn people stay dead. In my opinion as someone who has seen many types of governments and rulers collapse you should consider my opinions and reconsider both your approach and intensity. Win or lose some might even see Stannis as being just as fanatical as those he opposes

My personal oath wasn't just about the loss of my manhood. The warlock who cut me had some visions and plans for the future of his order, the city of Myr and I believe the world. He was willing to cut me and hundred others like me to reach those ends because he thought it was worth the 'small evil' to reach those lofty goals. He wasn't a heartless monster. They could have thrown me out into the street without stitching me up and feeding me for the three weeks it took to heal. No one forced them to offer me a place to live and work. But all the same the grand visions of great men don't take account of the fact a lot more small boys 'get the boot' than the great asses." Davos considered his words and on the surface there was wisdom in them, in fact he had shared some of those concerns with the man himself the Eunuch was not one he would trust to tell him water was wet.

"Those areya concerns? You never said so in the council chamber. Hmm It seems I owe you an apology." His hands moved slightly away from the hilt of his dagger. They also were just that much closer to the throwing dagger he kept accessible via a slit in his tunic, though the Eunuch didn't need to know that.

"Stannis and I feared you might be.."

"A bitter Eunuch angry at everyone and everything because I was maimed and out to make the world suffer?" he tittered "Unlike lord Arryn I don't like to give ideas to enemies who might be too stupid to figure them out by themselves. I will take it as a compliment Stannis wrote his ideas in a way that he knew would be shared with myself for review."

"Yet and still. Stannis' plans are not based on his emotions. We need to change to stop not only another rebellion, but to strengthen the Baratheon dynasty. Yes it has risks but we went over them with smart men and women. It needs to happen and the king agrees.

And you should consider why that warlock chose you. A great sum of money could buy fancy catamites aplenty. Such men and women hunt those with a certain bloodline for those types of rituals, kingsblood they call it. The blood of ancient kings who could see through trees, share bodies with wolves and even ride dragons. For someone who hates magic and those how practice it, isn't it odd you seem to find yourself supporting branches of the family that rode dragons? Or do you think that blood is no longer magical" He stared at Varys just as he said the last line. Of course the man was back in control of himself. He didn't say another word and instead removed a letter from his sleeve with a flourish. When Davos removed his dagger the Eunich laughed, the mirth reached his purple eyes. Feeling somewhat silly, he replaced it within its sheath..slowly.

"You are learning my dear. Another few months and you'll be ready to play at the level Stannis expects of you. The men hidden nearby are another good touch, but be mindful that a deterrent is only effective when the other person knows in advance.

I will tender my official resignation in three months. It would seem I am somewhat redundant and my methods are too distasteful for this court. I have already told the lord hand that my departure has nothing to do with our row. Despite the scare tactics prince Stannis used to convince King Robert to follow his path, I doubt this war will last another four months." He placed the letter on the table near the guard's chair.

"This is for our dear Prince, merely some words of wisdom I hope will help him. I truly admire his goals and character even if I disagree with his methods." Then he slowly turned to walk away, but before he cut the corner he just as slowly turned and looked at him in the eye.

"May Prince Stannis' better kingdom manifest. This old bald hypocrite will go back to the pit of evil flesh peddlers and leave the land of heroes forevermore." Davos did not touch the envelope which was sealed with black wax and the image of the spider. Instead, he blew the whistle in his hand and five minutes later three armed crannog men were looking it over after securing the rest of the building.