Author/OC Notes
Update: 06/29/18
(1) Alright I really need to thank everyone who is still following this series. I haven't been the best at updating; writers block, working on my college degree, outline revisions with my beta. But you guys have still given me the benefit of the doubt, and that means the world to me. You are all amazing people. Whose support has helped keep me motivated and slowly become a better writer.
(2) Ok so I just wanted to let you all know I'm sorry for the delays. I thought my schedule would clear up right away after graduating community college with my AS, but then I got stuck in a LOT of red tape with transferring to a business university; leading me to spend this past month getting ready to finally move out...which has been even more time consuming. And most recently my mind hasn't been in a right enough place to finish the chapters; my 60+ year old father is going into open heart surgery next week. And I've just been on a constant panic attack. Sorry if that seemed like way too much personal information, I just felt that you all needed an explanation for why I haven't finished yet.
(3) I can't promise anything, but I am working on ch.3 right now as I'm typing this; the anxiety is killing me so I need some kind of escape right now. I might have it done by this weekend. If not then 100% after my father's surgery next week. Either way, next month I will try and just clear time out specifically so I can write and hammer these chapters out without being blindside by the chaos in my real life.
(4) Here is the chapter previews to let you know, that time to write has been the only issue. The story is mapped out in my head and outlines. Also trying to fit more canon characters into the AU as I know that's what a lot of you want to see.
Ch.1: Ashes [Dany/Nera centered]
Ch.2: The lies we tell ourselves [Eldon/Dany centered; Gregor Forrestor moment with Aldric]
[Original Ch.1 will be split into two chapters to fix issues I feel are there with the pacing/character development]
Ch.3: The Night Gathers [Ekkor/east watch centered; Commander Pyke will appear as well]
Ch.4: The Summit [Intro too sothoryos houses, and their place in the AU's landscape.]
Ch.5: [Still being planned out with my beta, but so far this is where we'll have the Starks join the AU.]
(Ch. Schedule)
I've tried, but I just can't seem to handle a rapid release schedule for these chapters. So my goal now is to return to my old one chapter a month process; occasionally trying to fit two ch's in as well. My plan is to kick this series back into gear during summer.
Story Breakdown
Book 1: Legacy of House Scalebreaker
[S0-S3 AU]
Book 2: Fire from Ice
[Telltale/ S4-S6 AU]
Book 3: The Breaker of Dragons
[S7-S8/Preface AU]
Appendix:
The Family Crypt:
The Gods Silence:- A top the highest hill on the mountain, lush plateau, above the horizon with Winterfell just barely visible if you looked hard enough. As the hill is too small for tombs; to many for 1000 years worth that is-instead a Scalebreakers ashes are mixed into marble rubble, harden into a memory statue. Which is then carved into the perfect likeness of the person; marking their tombs. A massive dead weirdwood husk serving as the tomb for the founder and Doom Wing the dragon's statues.
Family Blade:
Scale breaker- Dragonsbane Blade [dragon bone not valyerian steel]
Steel Scale- Steel-heart [Valyerian Steel Greatsword]
Flat scale- God's Eye and Talon [weirdwood bow, and dragon glass dagger]
Dracarys- Doom Bringer [Valyerian steel blade, scorched black in the dragon fire it was forged in]
[Euron "might" have taken Seascale blade as trophy]
The family founder: Ser Gilbert the breaker of dragons
Head Family:
Eldon Scalebreaker (Older Brother/Third Oldest Cousin)- 22 [Tall, trim dark brown hair, bloody red eyes; pale Irises, dual welder]
Nera Scalebreaker (Younger Sister)-17 [Eldon's babe sister, same red eyes as her brother]
Ned Scalebreaker (Younger Half/Brother)-17; three months younger then Nera [Different mother, named after Eddard Stark]
Eldon's dragon [Silver and blacks scaled dragon; about the size of a lizard lion]
Branch Families:
Some ages need to be tweaked now that parts of story have changed]
-Elden Scalebreaker (Eldon's grandfather)Was fostered at Winterfell and became Rickard Stark childhood friend. Killed during the clash of scales; except for his eyes Eldon is the spiting image of his grandfather in his youth]
Aldric Scalebreaker (Eldon's father)
-Jason Steel Scale (Uncle) Aiden's father
-Aiden Steel Scale (Third Oldest Cousin)-20 [White/silver hair, violet eyes, shallow but prominent facial gash across the bridge of his nose; result of duel with Eldon]
-Oliver Flatscale (Uncle) Lexia's father, and captain of steel gate guard. [Long brown hair, trimmed beard, yellow eyes
-Lexia Flatscale (Second Oldest Cousin)- 24 [Long red hair, blue eyes, master archer]
-Hakkon Seascale (34) [think of him as the Lyanna Stark of the series- family adored him and his death broke them apart]
-Ekkor Seascale- 23 (Removed from the family) [Hakkon's little brother, believed to be the last surviving Seascale blood; member of Eastwatch]
-Hakkon/Ekkor's mother (Aunt)-name still being considered, but I'm open to suggestions [Killed by the "Drakes" during the battle of the Trident]
Sothoryos OC's
- Malaedar Dracarys [Fought against Aldric at the Trident
- Dreagon Dracarys (Younger brother) [Current head of the house]
- Vysessa Sable [Engaged to Malaedar, followed him with her forces to the Trident]
- Jerid Azazel [Deep hatred for the other houses]
Seats:
Castle Steel Gate: Steel mining castle nestled in the heart of the northern mountains of westros; almost as high as the vale. With a massive gate constructed in the only strategic entrance to the keep; bigger then 20 men, and a honor guard of knights guarding it.
Domed Keep of Flatscale: Top of mountain; steps built into back leading into gift lands.
Castle Steel Heart: Bottom of the mountain; within a cave leading into the heart of the steel mine-tunnels connecting into the kin lands.
Scale barge keep(s): Along the entire coasts of the Bay of Ice; east of bear island [Mini town built on barges and a few fisher towns on the coast]
Red Harbor: [Description coming soon]
Wyvern's Keep: [Description coming soon]
Razor Den: [Description coming soon]
The Sigils and Words:
The lone Knight, blocking dragon fire with his shield, of House Scalebreaker; "We do NOT run from the fire
The Steel Gated Keep of the honor guard, Steel Gate; "We Hold the Gate; Never Shall We Yield, Never Shall It Fall...Step Forward"
The Knight pounding dents out of his armor, of House Steel Scale; "We are Steel Forged"
The Mermaid Knight slaying a sea dragon/Kraken, of House Seascale; "Our steel is as sharp as our hearts"
The lone knight sleeping under the tree above a mountain, of House Flatscale; "Why venture when you can climb and sow?"
The knight drenched in flames, riding atop a black Wyvern, of House Dracarys "We are the fire!" [but they say it in High Valyrian, because Wyverns canonically can't breath fire despite being the same size as dragons]
The orange saber tooth with red fangs, of House Sable "We never ask for mercy"
The blue sea dragon smashing a fleet to pieces, of House Azazel "Fear our wrath not the sea's"
Relationships to other Houses:
House Stark: High Lord, and the house who gave them a home in westeros
House Forrester: Eldon is best friends with Asher and was fostered by Gregor Forrester/post rebellion.
House Whitehill: "Neighbors" who never liked Steel Scales keep being so close to their lands
House Mandely: Good ties thanks to similar history of House Stark saving them for loyalty; Hakkon was engaged to Mandely granddaughter
House Lannister: Almost wiped out Scalebreakers, long history of arranging "Accidents" for scalebreakers; held off shortly before Robert's Rebellion
House Greyjoys: Bitter enemies of the merchant guild Seascale...until Euron Greyjoy slaughtered all of them.
House Targaryen: Eldon was fostered/hostage at kingslanding all the way up to Robert's rebellion.
House Velaryon: Long time friends who share blood with steel scale thanks to Aegon the Conqueror.
House Dracarys: An ancient house of Wyvern lords from the freehold, who carved out a Kingdom in sothoryos.
House Sable: One of the three ruling houses of Sothoryos, long time friends of House Dracarys; blood feud with house Azazel for centuries
House Azazel: The final ruling house of Sothoryos, controls the nations largest harbor; has waged off and on war with Sables since the Doom
Vassal Houses:
House Steel Scale (Cadet)
House Flat Scale (Cadet)
House Seascale (Cadet)
Military Might
[Still crunching the numbers on this, but open to suggestions ]
Seascale Fleet:
Flat Scale Archers/Riders:
Steel Scale Infantry:
Steel Gate Honor Guard: 40 Black Armored Knights
Scalebreaker:
Origin(s)
(I figured a just do a paragraph each, give them a history without going crazy with it. I wanted branches instead of like 5 brothers and sister OC's, try to challenge myself with this series)
House Scalebreaker:
[Going to get REALLY in depth in the lore chapters]
Came from a small chain of islands; about twice the size as the iron islands-past the reaches of the sunset sea. Their people lived mostly on one island. Which was burnt to ash and left too devastated to rebuild on by Doom Wing. They arrived in westeros a 1000 years ago. Becoming lords after bending the knee to house stark. They chose the mountains, and found a horde of steel. Swearing another vow to house Stark this would be the norths steel gifted to them in times of need; and they would defend it.
House Steel Scale
There's a saying passed down in the iron islands that the Ironborn love to boast, "We are Ironborn". Well the Scalebreaker kin of House Steel Scale, had a their own saying "We are Steel Forged" Its founder Tristin Steelscale, Lord of Steel Hill, second born son of Echor Scalebreaker; had proven that when he looked to down from their mountain. Hundreds, thousands of feet high towering over the North; some say even higher than the citadel of the measters. He carved into the heart of their mountain miles above its base, just west of Steel Gates steps. Creating a great keep, and several tunnels connecting their kin-lands together. Lord Tristin had always wanted to be the Lord of Steel Gate, but honored his brother's right to be, so instead made his legacy the honor of mining the steel of Scalebreaker. Many times the mouth of his mine keeps gates were challenged, and many times they had been defended. The greatest warriors chosen to guard steel gate always came from House Steel Scale, because they'd found the most conflict of their kin; it was they who were forged in the battles of war...Unfortunately Tristian Steelscale, first of his name would meet his end facing Aegon the conqueror after refusing to bow to a man hiding behind a dragon.
House Sea Scale
The third oldest Scalebreaker born, Nera Seascale, much like her brother Tristin, had looked down…but her gazed kept moving until, she saw the sea. The Seascale would sing about that day being when their lady, who almost all trace some ancestor to her (she was a "very" enthusiastic explorer of the sea) fell in love with those waters. Carving out a section at the base facing the bay of Ice, just east of bear island, created the merchant guild of House Seascale. While technically not a "True" keep and more like a collection of small fisher's cities built along the Bay of Ice's coast lines. It was theirs and the Seascales were damned proud of that fact. They held an army of banners like any house…but they preferred to use their small fleet of ships too trade with the kingdoms; but gods help whoever thought they could raid them easily or without repercussions. A hard lesson the Ironborn learned when Nera Seascale herself, burned down hundreds of their ships after they nearly raided house Seascale to extinction (but it didn't come without the cost of making House Seascale the smallest, least present cadet house. Yet another reason lineage never in question in that house). Choosing the words of her house that day; "Our Steel is as sharp as our hearts". For only one thing matched a Seascales love of the ocean and that was house Scalebreaker.
House of Flat Scale
Then finally the last sibling the babe of the litter; both in age and size only 4'9" barely the size of a woman, was Owen Flat Scale. Little Owen never wanted to leave their home; so he'd elected to climb higher to the frozen greater plains at the top of their mountains. Cracking open the flat stone as their kin had centuries' ago to farm thermo heat from the lands greatly added to by the heat of their houses forges. This allowed them to create a sizable domed keep which housed a magnificent field and plain; taking up the duty of farming for their kin…They loved isolation even more then their main house, and would only ever come down to marry or when House Stark and Scalebreaker asked. Most of the realm hardly even knew it existed anymore. A just behind their keep lies several hundred-thousand great, sloping, and step stairs leading down into the gift lands...Gods, the Brothers of the Nights Watch had never liked that, but allowed it as a trade agreement. Their words becoming; "Why venture when you can climb and sow?"