AN: This is a story inspired by insomnia, thinking about my GoT story and a modded playthrough of a Pathfinder: Kingmaker which I've been trying to fill my time while I'm too knackered to write something else and not feeling like sleeping. If anyone is interested in this, it's going to be a novelization of the aforementioned game, which will be fleshing up the political aspects of running a Barony, and giving some on the job training for our displaced Targaryien before a potential return to Westeros in the distant future.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Game of Thrones or A Song of Ice and Fire. They belong to their respective creators, and/or copyright owners. I'm not writing this story with commercial purpose, it is not for sale or rent.

Dragon Kin in Golarion

Prologue

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Part 1

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My first night spent in proper civilization in this life began great. A hot bath, a warm meal, and a comfortable bed! Those were luxuries that I didn't get to enjoy much during my second lease of life. Sunfire, my Drake companion, tended to agree. She found the odd stone "cave" very interesting indeed. All the new scents and sights were almost overwhelming for my little scaled friend.

Sunfire liked the soft bed as well, though that was a spot of bother. The little terror flapped her wings and jumped on the bed with a happy thrill, snuggling next to me and making herself comfortable. Tomorrow, I would have to explain to our host's servants that the fine blankets and bed covers weren't exactly dragon-proof.

It didn't matter. For all wonders and terrors of this new world, I found myself reborn in, the majesty of its Dragons more than made up for everything. More importantly, not only Dragons existed here, real living and fire-breathing Dragons! They were much more intelligent than even the legends of my ancestors hinted at them being! I knew for a fact that the Dragons of this land could be more intelligent than most people and wield magic on top of everything else that made them extremely dangerous. Hells, they were often smarter than the most learned Maesters to hail from the Citadel!

That is why I could ignore all the mischief Sunfire gets up to daily. She was a real, living Dragon if little more than a toddler by their standards. And she was mine just as I was hers!

Case of point, I had to stop writing in my journal to give her all the attention she deserved before the little rascal curled like a cat and went to sleep. Well, scaled, spiked cat, but I digress…

Where was I?

Jammandi Aldori, a Swordlord, a ruler, and a warrior woman, like my ancestors. She was the ruler of this region, called Restov, a city nearly as large as King's Landing and much better built. The first thing that struck me when we came close to the city, was its sheer size. Nothing in this life had prepared me for such a beacon of civilization, and my faded memories of Westeros were a distant thing now. The second was the lack of smell. A few innocent questions that made people look at me like the barbarian I kind of was, revealed the trick.

Sewers, aqueducts, and Draconian, pun intended, enforcement on rules of where and when to dispose of trash.

While this was a world where the magic never went away and it was still as strong as ever, there was virtually no need for it to have a properly run and designed city. As far as I could find, there was no magic involved in keeping Restov from stinking. Just good old-fashioned engineering. My first few hours in Restov made that painfully clear and embarrassed me on behalf of my ancestors. While it might have been different in Valyria, or not, Westeros had a lot to learn. If one day I returned, it would be this kind of knowledge that everyone should find most precious… And I'm rambling again, my dear Journal. I've been doing that a lot ever since I managed to get myself these sheets of parchment, quill, and ink at that trading post on the way here, haven't I?

I don't think I'll be writing much of consequence tonight. Perhaps in the days to come, because Sunfire just stirred up and is once again demanding my undivided attention…

from the Journals of Baron Duncan Targaryen

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Sunfire huffed and twisted on the blanket. If she wasn't laying on top of it, she would have entangled herself and made a mess of things. I rubbed her back by the spines, and she relaxed a bit. That was good. If this wasn't a royal-sized bed, the likes of which were a rare thing indeed, there would have been no space for the two of us on it. My Drake friend has been growing quite fast ever since we headed for Restov led by my dreams, and what had to be a siren's song sent by Desna.

Laying in this bed, and enjoying creature comforts was liberating. I hadn't believed I would ever experience such things again since I began remembering my previous life. I could almost see myself as another Aegon, though instead of a Conqueror, I might very well be a liberator. Our destination, a region amply called the Stolen Lands, was under the control of a blackguard calling himself the "Stag Lord". He was a very nasty piece of work. Everyone I asked about him agreed. Riding the locals of that cut-throat would be a good start, I reckoned. And if my dreams were anything to believe, it might be the first step on a long road that might eventually lead me back to Westeros so I could see what my House has prospered.

It was a nice dream that, especially if it was true that Sunfire could come with me. Flying on a Dragon back above the Red Keep would be a childish dream come true… However, that was for the distant future. Now I had a mission. Go see the world and rid it of troublemakers! It would be like all those years ago with Egg… That thought brought a smile to my lips.

Sunfire hissed in agitation and got herself off the bed in a hurry. Her sharp talons did a number on the blankets. I was glad that she was a very intelligent young lady, otherwise, I might have gotten a face full of tail-spikes. Even in a world where healing magic not only existed but was relatively easy to procure, healing something like that wasn't particularly easy.

"What is it, girl?" I asked and got out, casting the shredded blanked away.

"Blood. Fresh blood and clash of steel. Someone's coming!"

I don't know if this was because I retained my looks, and with them, the magic of my Dragon Rider heritage, or the endless days of useless training to become a Shaman that did it. I wasn't sure that I particularly cared about the why, only that it did. I could communicate mentally with Sunfire. This way, I wouldn't have to wait until she properly grew up in a few decades, when she would be able to speak properly so everyone could understand her.

I had just enough time to grab my staff when my door slammed open, and a tiny, scared form burst inside.

"Help! Help!" Linzy, the tiny Halfling bard, screamed in agitation.

Her very existence underscored the fact that this was a very different world. She wasn't a dwarf, not to mention, that what people called Dwarves here, and what we did back in Westeros, were two very different things indeed. Ours were small, scrawly, and deformed things. The Golian ones? They were short and often ill-tempered barrels of muscle, sinew, and heavy bone. Hardy, and deadly when armored and armed.

The Halflings like Linzy could be quite stout, and there was nothing deformed about them. They were just very short people. In this case, a very scared one, whose bubbly personality was nowhere in sight.

"What's happening?" I demanded. We surely couldn't be under attack? This was my first night in a proper city, Goddess damn it all!

"The mansion is under attack! We need to help!" Linzy jumped from one foot to the other. Her unkempt brown hair flew in all directions. "Some villains broke in and started killing everyone! I barely slipped away! Please help!"

"Someone else is coming. Smells of fresh blood!" Sunfire announced.

"Get away from the door!" I beckoned Linzy and took a defensive stance. While my Shaman training included only basic self-defense lessons, I did pick up some pointers from the tribe's warriors. Besides, I could recall some of my old training, and I sneaked out to condition myself when I could get away with it.

Unfortunately, good steel cost a lot, and a nice ironwood staff was good enough to bash the odd head. Besides, one look at Sunfire made any would-be brigands think twice about accosting us. That had the obvious downside of no useful plunder to be had on the way here.

The point of this? When an assassin cloaked in dark clothes ran into the room brandishing a bloody dagger, I had only my robes to keep me safe. While my boiled hide armor stood on a nearby chair, getting into it took more than a few seconds.

The assassin's face twisted into a snarl under his hood.

"You're not going…" He came to a sudden halt seeing Sunfire, "anywhere…."

Get him, I thought, and before the stupefied would-be killer could attack us, Sunfire was on him. She pounced at the unfortunate bastard. Razor-sharp claws caught him, and needle-sharp teeth bit into his head. A sharp twist of the head followed, and I heard a sickening crack of breaking bones.

"Done! Dead!" Sunfire gleefully thought. She let go of the corpse and turned her bloody muzzle my way. She had her scaly lips twisted in a distinctive smile.

"Yes, you're a good girl, the best girl in fact." I nodded with a smile of my own.

Sunfire chirped happily and jumped on the assassin in glee. If he wasn't dead already, he would be now.

"Yes, She's the best girl." Linzy nodded too. However, her smile was stiff, and quite a bit strained. The little Bard was obviously not accustomed to this kind of carnage.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, I was. In both lives, I've lived.

"There's a light crossbow behind the door. Please notch it and stay guard for a minute or two. I need to get into my armor."

"I…" Linzy began and trailed off when Sunfire crawled over the wooden floor to look through the door. "I'll do that, yes!" She nodded frantically.

Meanwhile, I glanced at the assassin. His chain shirt might be bloody now, however, it looked it might fit me. Getting it on might be faster than that damn hide armor. While it offered rather good protection, properly fitting in a hurry, it was a pain. That was especially true if you had to do it by yourself.

Dragging the corpse in a sitting position and getting the chain shirt off wasn't particularly fun either. However, after that, it took me mere moments to get into the armor. Now that I had a modicum of protection, we could go confront whoever else was attacking the mansion.

A scream came from down the corridor.

"Are you two ready?" I asked Sunfire and our new companion.

My scaly friend huffed in amusement. She was always ready to get into trouble.

"Yeah! I'm ready! Though I might just hand back and support you two…" Linzy mumbled.

"That's fine. Let's go!"

Sunfire went out first, keeping above the stone floor outside, and I was on her heels, carefully avoiding her slashing tail. The hall was well lit by a lot of candles, nothing like the torches and lamps that usually lit up the Red Keep. There was much less smoke that way. Just around the corner, we found another two would-be assassins. They had daggers as well, though this time, the weapons weren't bloody. Between them stood Tartuccio – another would-be adventurer I met earlier tonight. He was a bit of a cunt, to tell the truth, a typical courtier with too high an opinion about himself. He was also a Gnome, a different breed of small people inhabiting these lands. Compared to Linzy's more common, and practical clothes, or my simple robe and armor, he was practically a dandy wearing a fine embroiled blue jacket. He had a cape too. He was a real dandy that one.

"Look, they're…" One of the assassins began, then say Sunfire.

I wasted no time and charged to the one to the right, while Sunfire went for the other one. Now, I might not be like some of the freaks of nature I grew up with the tribe. However, I wasn't a small man by any means. When I charged with a war-cry and a heavy staff posed to strike, I was something to reckon with. While Sunfire might be a toddler Drake, she was still a Drake – heavier than a grown man already, armored scales, spikes, claws, the works. When something like that charges you with a joyful roar, you must be made of particularly stern stuff not to freeze.

Neither of these assassins was that valiant. Mine swung wildly with his dagger, which wouldn't have helped him at the best of times. The hall was wide enough, I had the reach advantage, and he wasn't behind me, ready to stab me in the back. A single strike was more than enough to crack his skull, and he fell like a sack of potatoes.

The less said about his buddy, the better. A few seconds later, Sunfire left the savaged corpse and came to my side covered in blood.

The Gnome had a lot of blood soaking his expensive clothes as well. He looked at the corpses, then at Sunfire, who preened at him.

"Do you have any idea how expensive this outfit is, you damn walking sack of potion ingredients?!" Tartuccio snapped.

Sunfire hissed angrily at him.

"He's mean! I just saved him!"

"Obviously, his mother failed to teach him lessons in manners. Either that, or he didn't pay attention." I told my companion. "Or perhaps he's in shock," I added louder.

"Urgh…" The Gnome rolled his eyes at us and looked down at his ruined clothes. "You're just in time. If you've drawled a bit longer, who knows what would have happened!" He exclaimed in a voice that was a bit hysterical. "Do you have any idea what a loss to the world my death would have been?!"

Yep. A typical courtier that one.

Tartuccio took a deep breath and steadied himself.

"It's all right now!" He smiled at us.

While strained, his smile wasn't as fixed as Linzy's. I glanced at the little Bard. She tried to be brave, however, she was doing her best not to look at Sunfire's latest handiwork. She looked a bit green too.

"I'm safe, sound, and unscratched." Tartuccio's forced good cheer cracked for a moment. "And covered in blood." He glared at Sunfire, who gave him a smug look in response. "Now I can lead you to victory!" The Gnome paused. "And stay far away from the bloody dragon to avoid being covered in even more blood." He added quietly, then brightened. "I'm sure that Lady Jammandi's holding the line at the great hall, you know where she received us earlier tonight! We must go and join her! Along the way, we might as well save a few of those dummies who are supposed to accompany us to the Stolen Lands."

"That sounds like a good idea." I raised an eyebrow at Tartuccio. So there was more to him than met the eye.

"Speaking of dummies…" He looked at me critically, then glanced at Sunfire and took a ring off his finger. "I don't want to think what your beast will do to us if someone guts you while you're protecting me. Take this ring! It will protect you." He all but shoved a small golden band at me.

I carefully took it up and looked at it. It was a fancy signet ring with an intricate monogram. That was excellent craftsmanship. Touching it, I could sense faint magic. The band quickly grew just enough to be a comfortable fit – a standard and incredibly useful enchantment that possessed by many magical items in this world. It was something so simple and common, that many people often took it for granted. In contrast, it was something people back in Westeros would kill for.

"Thank you, friend. I won't waste your gift." I put the ring on my left ring finger and could feel the magic taking hold. I was sure that now it would be easier to anticipate and respond to attacks.

A very useful trinket indeed!