September 4, 2014
Week 50, 280 AC

Brynden Tully is, for lack of a better word, a badass.

I was right in thinking that he seemed to have a more modern outlook. He is totally the cool uncle of the family, complete with his tales of war and travel, exotic gifts, and kind, understanding nature. I have realized that he is more a father figure to us than Lord Hoster, who went into a shell once Minisa Tully passed away. He encourages Catelyn's art, Edmure's sword training and my 'newfound' interest in books. He told us exploits of his and his squire, Cousin Marq, across the Narrow Sea in the Free City of Braavos. He apparently did a tenure there as a city guard just for the experience - a more free-willing man I have not heard of before in my time in Westeros. Lord Hoster snapped at him more than once at supper, especially while we were celebrating Catelyn's birthday ('nameday'), and asked him to stop encouraging us children into his wild lifestyle. That descended into a bitter fight, with accusations and events from the past flying across the table while Cat, Edmure, Petyr and I slipped out of the Hall with nineteen-year old Marq Whent.

There's so much that has happened in the past month, though. For one, the friendship between myself and my sister is hanging loose on a wire. We were talking in the godswood one day when she spoke about how her precious Brandon had not replied to her past two letters. I happened to suggest that perhaps he did not want to, that perhaps he was not as into her as he showed himself as being. I hinted upon overhearing his friends and even suggested that 'Barbrey the shrew' was his girlfriend up north, and I think it came as a highly rude shock to Catelyn. She had probably not even considered this before. In any case, I was berated about my unkind words - never mind that I was only being a concerned sister - and spoken to by her only when absolutely necessary.

On her birthday I planned surprise dishes from my bookish knowledge of seafood and gifted her with a delicate bracelet I had the goldsmith make. It was an ingenious idea, really, representing the seven gods she is so devoted to with faces of people in Riverrun. I thought it would be a good betrothal present. The goldsmith luckily remembered what Minisa Tully looked like, so he carved her face as the Mother goddess's. Lord Hoster was carved as the Father, Uncle Brynden as the Warrior, myself as the Maiden, Septa Myana as the Crone and Edmure as the Smith. Still, however much Catelyn liked the jewelry, she is still a bit wary of me. When I told Uncle Brynden about this all he said was, "It is not what you said that hurt your sister so much, it is how you said it that did." I even asked if it was possible to break the betrothal, for Cat's own good, but apparently it is a holy contract and Lord Hoster would never consider it. He sees the charm and the standing of Brandon, but not the vices underneath. It is a political match besides. Political matches next to never involve love. I had to back down after understanding the reality of the situation, but it still upsets me how Cat is being traded like a broodmare and actually likes the man. Uncle Brynden reminded me that one day I will likely find myself in her shoes, too. Dear god, I hope not.

Someone who would actually be a good husband to her? Uncle Brynden's former squire, Marq Whent. He is a quiet nineteen-year old, but he has become a great friend to me of late. Marq is my first cousin - Minisa Tully's elder sister, Shella Whent's third son. He tells me I look very much like his mother, while Catelyn looks very much like his younger sister Anisa, both of them in turn sharing the likeness of Minisa Whent-Tully. His family occupies the 'haunted' castle of Harrenhal to the south-east of Riverrun. I found him in the library after supper one night alone, reading a book called Secret City detailing Braavosi history. Ever since then we have taken to reading together and even debating some interesting portions of history. Petyr disapproves of this friendship, complaining that "He is only a third son, what use will he ever be," but sometimes I think he is just jealous. Cat is entirely helping the steward with the household and with me spending time with Marq, he gets bored alone.

The entire 'third son' bit got me thinking of inheritance laws in the Seven Kingdoms, some of which are simple while some, I admit, are quite ridiculous. In most of the territories sons are before daughters, and daughters before uncles, which is fair enough. Dornish have the best laws - eldest child regardless of gender - which makes me very eager to visit the place. Targaryen laws are where it gets highly complicated. I read about the 'Dance of Dragons', a civil war that broke out due to a succession crisis and ended up destroying half the realm (an indirect consequence of inbreeding, I think, and of the arrogance of these dragonlords). The 'Queen that Never Was' Rhaenys Targaryen plays an interesting role in this conflict; a woman passed over not once but twice because of only that: being a woman. Queen Rhaenyra later had been her father's preferred heir, but a damned Lord Commander of the Kingsguard decided to take matters into his own hands crown her half-brother. In the end it was her son who sat the Iron Throne, but the nobles by then hated women being in power so much that no change in succession laws could be made and it was loosely believed that every single male descendant is put before a female, to ensure that there is never a woman wearing a crown. Everything would have worked out better if the king chose his heir himself, regardless of birth order and his nobles' wishes, and made sure that no one else could sit the throne after his death.

Cousin Marq, either way, says that he does not much care for becoming a future Lord Whent. His elder twin brothers, Edwell and Orwell, are unmarried as of now but once they have sons he will be free to do what he wishes. He is thinking about joining the Night's Watch, which is a sworn brotherhood of celibate men that mans a humongous structure on the northern border called only the 'Wall'. It seems utterly impossible for this Wall to be seven hundred feet tall but every book about this subject matter insists that it is the case. It is not explicitly given anywhere what the Night's Watch protects the realm from, but Marq told me that they drive out wildling invaders from beyond the boundaries, who are basically something like Himalayan tribes. That is the only comparison I can think of, truth be told.

The part of me skeptical about the Wall is also highly intrigued by the cycle of seasons in this world. Currently it is the winter, and the year is nearing its end, so that in itself is not so absurd. Yet when you take in consideration that summer can last years and winter even longer, it unsettles me. I had never done geology or anything of the sort in high school. I know that seasons are due to the tilt of the planet and the effect of the moon, so if the planet Westeros is on has irregular seasons, does it mean it has an irregular tilt? Too many moons perhaps, some not visible to the naked eye? There is no proof to my theories, of course. There is only one moon in the sky I see above Riverrun, and no other reasoning I can think of.

Lord Hoster has left Uncle Brynden as castellan of Riverrun while he settles a dispute between the Brackens and the Blackwoods, two very Montague-Capulet-esque Houses. They are currently fighting over a piece of land granted by King Aegon IV to the House Blackwood from House Bracken as a favor to one of his countless mistresses and a snub to another. Which brings me again to my inheritance laws point - the way things currently stand, the most unworthy contender might sit on the throne regardless of how much better his sibling is. Aemon the Dragonknight, Aegon IV's brother, had been a fighter and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard while Aegon had been a man who preferred prostitutes over politics and incessant drinking over the ruling. By all accounts he was the source of numerous Westerosi wars. When I brought this up with Marq, however, the first thing he told me was that knowing the Brackens and Blackwoods, they would have found something else to fight over. Yep, this is definitely reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. Later we discussed bastardy and how Aegon IV literally destroyed the country because he chose to fornicate outside his marital bed. It is not even an uncommon thing, with many Houses all over Westeros having bastard members with last names according to region (Rivers for the riverlands, Storm for the stormlands, Snow for the north, etc) - which is overall a silly custom, because why would you blame a child for their parents' misdeeds?

The technology is so stagnant here that it is not even funny, and a part of me is getting very exhausted about this. I have a feeling that this has something to do with the seasons, as with years of winter and hoarding goods and a constant redundant lifestyle, people may not see the room for innovation. I wish I had paid more attention in physics and chemistry than I did; I might have been able to make a significant difference. Still, I will try working with what I already know.

notes: A huge thanks to the readers whose reviews I received yesterday. jean d'arc is my most faithful reader, I'll give her/him that. I'm so glad the new format is working out better. I hope you liked this chapter, and as always, leave a review if you have the time :)