AN: Alright, first actual duel and chapter, don't expect much, as no one has had much chance to really change up their decks.
Also, while the Prologue was Ned 3rd person limited, chapters are going to be 3rd person omniscient, so we can hear what other people are thinking during duels.
Let us see how the duel goes.
(Also, since we never see Davos and Stannis interact before Robert died, I'm going to assume Davos calls Stannis My Lord-Stannis is the kind of guy who likes proper grammar).
Dragonstone
Davos
Davos Seaworth stood at the harbor on Dragonstone, watching Stannis return on the Fury from King's Landing. The moment Stannis was on the island stronghold Davos approached him.
"My Lord." Davos greeted.
Stannis nodded in acknowledgement, before beginning to walk to the castle, "I take it the strange cards have made it here as well?"
Davos nodded, "Aye, the Maester said they were everywhere; once the citadel explained the power they possess, we had that information sent to every village and holdfast under Dragonstone." Davos took a breath. "Lady Shireen seems to like it, she keeps asking if I want to duel her." Shireen was more lonely than normal, as before the cards appeared, her mother, the lady Selyse had gone across the narrow sea to see some of the free cities with her Florent relatives. She was not expected to be back for another moon.
Stannis stopped walking and turned to look at him. "I thought you could not read." He points out.
"I could not, and I told the little lady as much, but when I looked at my cards, I could understand the letters. I tried to look at a book but could not make heads nor tails of it. Lady Shireen copied the writing of a card onto some parchment, but while I could read it off of the card, I could not understand the parchment." Davos explained.
Stannis grunted, "That explains how the smallfolk manage to duel." Stannis continued walking while explaining the situation in King's Landing. "Robert loves this new form of combat, it reminds him of war, but without having to have an enemy. After a few days, he actually cut back on wine after he lost a match to the Kingslayer, Ser Jaime. It gives him a chance to use his mind on something he likes. People often forget about my brother's strategic mind, only remembering his great strength."
Davos listened to what was happening in the capital. "And what of the others?"
Stannis let out a sigh, "Cersei refuses to partake in it, saying it is beneath her, and has kept Joffrey from it. Tommen and Myrcella play against each other; when Robert found them he said he would play the winner. He actually spent the rest of the day with them. Pity he can't put such attention on the realm. Jon Arryn is too busy holding the realm together to try it out. The Kingsguard were affected greatly, They can still spar and use their blades, but now they have to master this new combat. Ser Barristan is probably the most affected, he dedicated his life to knighthood and now it is practically useless. Varys refuses to play, saying he is no good, while Littlefinger always loses. Pycelle studies it, but does not take part in it himself. Renly is busy, actually being put to work buying cards for the guards and Gold Cloaks. You hear about the thief?"
"Aye, he won and escaped only to lose the next day."
"I was there. After the duel started the Gold Cloaks came to the Red Keep, I headed back down with them and witnesses both his victory and his immunity, we tried to follow him but lost him in the crowd."
By now they had reached the castle. Stannis brought Davos to the solar and began reviewing any reports that needed his attention as Lord of Dragonstone while continuing to explain the situation of King's Landing.
"There have been some attempted assassinations with dueling, but to our knowledge they have been unsuccessful. Hobber Redwyne got his brother Horas drunk and then challenged him to a friendly duel in the dead of night in a part of the castle far away from curious eyes and ears. Probably saw it as his chance to become the heir, but he was found from the noise of the monsters and while he defeated his brother, no lasting damage occurred. It appears the other person must be aware of their opponent's malice in order for the duel to turn deadly. Now Hobber sits in the dungeon. Other similar stories reached the council, and unfortunately poison still seems to work, Pycelle theorized that it is the individual who drinks the poison, and not the person who put the poison in that is held responsible for the act."
Davos took this information in. "Just like the drunkard in Oldtown, he chose to throw himself in the harbor, just like these victims choose to drink or eat without checking that it is safe."
"It seems so." Stannis agreed. "The problem is that until someone tries to kill in a unique way we won't know if it works or not. Do traps work? What about a crossbow fired into a crowd at random? We simply do not know what will happen." Stannis explained. "On the other hand, criminals who were already sentenced to death, but that Ser Ilyn had not executed yet were not under the protection of dueling, so they have been taken care of."
After signing a few documents and summoning the steward to see them delivered, Stannis turned to Davos. "For the time being, we must be prepared for everything. Soldiers and sailors are adding dueling practice to their routine while still training with traditional weaponry. It appears I should do the same."
Davos stood up straight. "My Lord, you wish to practice now?"
"Aye" Stannis replied. "Do you accept?"
Davos brought forth his Duel Disk with his deck in the holder. "Very well."
Stannis summoned his own and put his deck in it. They walked into the training ground, which was currently empty. "Let us begin." he said.
DUEL BEGIN
"You may have the first move, Ser Davos." Stannis said as they drew their hands.
"My thanks, My Lord." Davos replied as he looked at his hand.
"First I summon Masaki the legendary Swordsman." A warrior wearing strange green armor appeared between Stannis and Davos. Its hands ready to pull out a blade thinner than a traditional Westerosi blade, but thicker than the blade of a water dancer. It had 1100 ATK. "Next I play 2 cards face down, and end my turn." Davos finished.
"My move then." Stannis said as he drew. "First I will summon Cyber Falcon to the field in attack mode." A strange falcon suddenly appeared and flew in place by Stannis, It seemed to be made entirely of metal. It had 1400 ATK. "Next I play this spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon. And I use it to remove the face down card on the left." Davos' facedown came up to reveal Waboku and was shattered by the winds. "Now Cyber Falcon attacks Masaki." Masaki drew his sword and struck at Cyber Falcon, only for his sword to break against the metal bird and Masaki got his throat cut from Cyber Falcon's claws. Davos' life points fell to 3700.
"I end my turn." Stannis declared.
"Very well My Lord." Davos drew a card. "I activate Cup of Ace, now we flip a coin, if its heads, I draw two cards, tails, you draw two." A coin appeared on the field and flew into the air, when it landed it was tails, and Stannis grabbed the two cards on the top of his deck.
"In that case, I summon Uraby." A giant black beast emerged on the field. It looked somewhat dragon like with black scales, but it lacked wings and had arms instead of front legsl. "Uraby, attack Cyber Falcon." Uraby charged forward, Cyber Falcon attempted to fly upwards to escape only to be caught in Uraby's mouth. Stannis' life points fell to 3900. "With that, I end my turn." Davos said.
"My turn then." Stannis said as he drew a card. Due to the coin toss he held seven in his hand now. 'Unfortunately, none of the monsters here can take down such a beast, at least not by attacking.' Stannis grabbed two cards. "First I play one card face down and then set this monster in defence and end my turn" Two cards materialized on the field.
"My move." Davos drew, he was in a bit of a tough spot, as he only had two cards in his hand at the moment, and neither were monsters. "I attack your monster with Uraby." Uraby ate the card whole, only for his throat to be pierced from the inside and a man size brown bug with large claws crawls out. Both monsters succumb to their injuries.
"That was my Man-Eater Bug, which can destroy any monster when it is flipped face up." Stannis explained.
"I end my turn." Davos declares.
"My move." Stannis drew, now having six cards. "It's not much but I summon M-warrior #1" A man with blue skin and a yellow helmet with broken off pieces on one side came to the field holding a green lance. "Now I attack" Stannis declared.
"I activate my spell card, Scapegoat" Davos declared, revealing the card Stannis did not destroy. "Now I get these four Scapegoats to protect my life points." the four Scapegoats appeared on the field only for the blue one to immediately take the hit and be destroyed.
"In that case I end my turn." Stannis said.
"I draw," Davos declared and then looked at the card. It was just what he needed. "I activate Card of Sanctity!" he played the spell card. "Now we both draw until we have six cards in our hand." Stannis drew one card and Davos drew four. (AN: As you can guess, I am using the anime version of this card because the Real life one is ridiculous in comparison). Davos looked at his hand and saw two of his best cards. He looked at the field and worried about Stannis' face down. Luckily he had a way to deal with it, but he would have hopes it would be more effective than it would be. "I play Giant Trunade to return your Face Down to your hand." Stannis removed his Trap Hole from the field and put it in his hand. "Next I summon Archfiend Soldier." A purple skinned man with curved horns, bone like armor with spikes, and a cape appeared on the field with a sword drawn. While not the strongest card in Davos' deck-that would be Zoa, it was the strongest that he could summon without making a tribute. "And now, I equip him with United We Stand which increases his ATK and DEF by 800 for every monster I have, and I have four including himself." Archfiend Soldier's sword grew sharper as his ATK went from 1900 to 5100. "Now he attacks your M-Warrior!" M-Warrior tried to block the attack with his lance, only to have Archfiend's blade cut of his arm before he could life it and then gut him with a second swing.
Stannis was pushed back by the blow but remained standing. Unfortunately his life points could not say the same as the mighty strike brought him down to 0. Archfiend and the Scapegoats disappearing as the duel ended.
"You did well My Lord." Davos told Stannis. "Had I placed my two cards in the opposite order, you would have defeated me before I could draw those cards."
"Do not dismiss your own power so readily Ser Davos. The fact of the matter is that you won." Stannis pointed out. Suddenly both heard clapping. They turn to see Shireen and Maester Cressen.
"Father, you were wonderful!" Shireen said as she ran up and hugged him. "And Ser Onion Knight, that was amazing."
"Yes, I must say that was an interesting duel." Cressen said as he walked over.
"Yes, well we must get used to this new order if we are to live in such a world." Stannis told them. "For better or worse, the world has changed, and we must learn to adapt if we wish to live. Who knows what fate or the gods have in store.
Pyke
"We take what we want, this just makes it easier." A former king spoke to his captains and family.
The Reach
"Mace you fool, just admit that Willas has you beat. You still have work to do." An old woman who could have been a queen, but had still earned the title told her son. "On second thought, never mind, you'll just mess it up. Margaery dear, finish off your idiot brother so you can help me."
Dorne
A prince stared at the duels his daughters were having between each other and their cousins, while his brother helped him forge the best deck they could. "Soon Ellia, you will be avenged."
Westerlands
A dutiful brother escorted the merchants to meet the head of the Pride. "Brother, these are the ones with the most expensive cards in Lannisport." The old lion stared them down. "Show me what you have." Meanwhile a smaller lion was beating the guards and his cousins for fun.
Pentos
"Soon sister" A false king who thought himself true spoke to his last known kin. "I will burn the Usurper in dragon fire, just as he deserves." He then laughed as he imagined the screams of the man who stole everything from him.
"Patience your Grace." A fat man said to calm him down. "You may become a skilled duelist, but we still need allies, else all it would take is one bad hand and you could fail before you have your vengeance."
King's Landing
"I never thought I'd be coming to one of these places again." A man said while holding a seven year old with his right hand, and an eight year old in his left, while surrounded by four knights as they walk down the Street of Steel. "But with these new cards, its best to buy them yourself instead of commanding a servant to get some." They found a place with cards on display, but the sound of a blacksmith working in the back.
"Welcome…." A boy with black hair and blue eyes says before seeing the crown and fine clothes. The king looks just as shocked, but the kids nudge him out of it.
Riverlands
"Alright" A trout said as he stood witness between two lords. "This duel is meant to settle all past conflicts between your houses. Despite this, no killing each other is this clear?" The two lords both yelled "Aye."
"Then the duel begins. Lord Blackwood won the coin toss so he goes first."
Stormlands
A woman surrounded by Sapphire blue water made her deck. When she was done, she went to the yard to practice with the sword, she still was not giving up on her dream, even if she needed to do more to achieve it.
Vale
"Right then, you can pay me in silver or cards, which will it be?" A woman with black hair and blue eyes said as she prepared to lead merchants through a mountain path. Meanwhile the nobles were showing off who got the rarest or most expensive card, as a matter of pride.
North of Wall
A freefolk was thrown back as his Life Points hit 0. "I ain't gonna sleep with ya." the Red haired girl yelled at him.
Elsewhere a wolf who left his pack was checking on a village that was trying to trade with the Watch. They showed him some cards they would give to show they were serious.
Far away a bird stuck in a tree watched duels across the world. "I did not see this coming" he complained to the children who cared for him.
Winterfell
"Huh" A fake bastard said as he looked through his deck. 'Why is this card so different from the rest?' Putting it aside for now he picked some cards from his deck and handed them over to Bran, as had Robb and Theon. Now Arya had enough cards to hide a secret deck now that Lady Catelyn took her real one away so she would focus on her lessons. She could not use her disk, but if she were quiet she could sneak off to Bran or someone's room and dueled without the disk.
AN: And there is the first duel of the series. Ended it quickly mainly because I tried to write this going only off of my memory. Think I will do more to remember cards for future duels. May make some Original cards later on as well.
We also got to look at some of the events of each area. While some are major characters, others are just because at this point few characters are currently there.
With this, the game has officially begun.
Please feel free to review, any honest feedback can always be helpful.
Good luck to you all in all your endeavors. Hope to see you all next chapter.
Jaehaerys Joestar.