AN: Just a quick thing, cards that involve Life Points more suited for 8000 LP games will be cut in half in order to fit better. Alright then, time to jump right into the story.
WESTERLAND'S-CASTERLY ROCK-TYWIN'S BEDCHAMBER
TYWIN
Tywin stared at the man standing over him. His guard appeared to be either unconscious or dead at the door. He was alone with the one man with the most reason in the world to hate him.
Tywin's combat training-largely unused since the days of his youth-suddenly jumped back to his mind, taking control of his body. He rolled out of his bed to the opposite end and jumped to his feet. He had slept on top of the bed instead of actually in it due to the heat, so there was nothing to obstruct his movements.
Once he had his feet on the ground he turned to the intruder and kept him right in his sights.
"Prince Martell, I take it you of all people know how serious a crime it is to sneak into a Lord's chambers. Despite your rank, I can have you arrested for such an act."
'Though from what I hear you are no stranger to doing so.'
The Dornish Prince seemed to chuckle. His face had the look of a hunter who had caught the prey they had spent days stalking.
"We agree that a punishment is required Lord Tywin. But it is you who shall face the consequences of far more serious crimes. I will relish watching you die."
Tywin surveyed the room. He was closer to the door, but he would in no way be able to outrun the younger man. He doubted the guard at the door was the only one Oberyn had dealt with to get here.
"What of my man at the door. I believe he would have been about ten when the alleged crimes took place. Do you claim he deserved to die with me?"
"Ha, don't try to act like we are the same. He is not even dead. He and other guards ate and drank several herbs and potions of mine. They are all asleep. I could not risk one guard being too large for poison to finish off quickly. But by putting them to sleep, the guards can get blamed for sleeping on duty instead of someone finding their dead bodies and causing a scene before I could kill you."
'So, the night guards are likely all in a similar state.' Tywin thought to himself.
"And did you manage all of this by yourself? I take it you were on the Qorgyle ship?"
"Enough of this stalling Tywin! I came here to avenge Elia and her children, not to explain how I planned everything out." Oberyn exploded as he raised his Disk.
"I see then. Not here though, there is another place where we can have less risk of interruption. If you can kill me without being seen, then Dorne is simply a suspect. If you are caught, then it means war." Tywin pointed out to his foe.
"Ah, you mean the mines that make up Casterly Rock's underground? Very well then. I remember the way, so no trying to trick me into going into a more populated area." Oberyn said with a smirk.
And so, Tywin found himself leading his own assassin deep into the depths of Casterly Rock. They almost ran into some patrols-likely those who had managed to avoid Oberyn's tampering with the food, such as those who were covering for other guards or who had eaten with family before their shift. Oberyn had covered his mouth and pulled him into a corner at those points. Eventually they made it all the way down to the First Mine. Oberyn made him go even deeper than the entrance to ensure privacy. They ended up in a large cavern easily big enough for a small keep to fit in, even if just barely.
Tywin continued to walk into the cavern, while Oberyn stayed by the sole exit.
"Well then Tywin, are you ready to face justice?" Oberyn yelled out as his Disk activated.
Tywin pulled out his own Disk and deck as well. "The only justice here will be me paying my debt to you for this foolish attempt on my life."
DUEL BEGIN
T:4000 O:4000
"Since I had less time to prepare, I shall go first." Tywin declared as he drew. He looked at the six cards in his hand.
"I play a monster face down, and set two cards. That is all for now." Tywin said as the cards materialized on the field.
"Very well then, my turn!" Oberyn said as he drew a card.
"I summon Achacha Archer!" An Archer appeared on the field, he wore a knight's helm and armor underneath a yellow tunic. The armor was accentuated with red.
"Now then, since he was normal summoned, he can deal 500 damage to you right away!"
Achacha Archer loosed an arrow that Tywin managed to largely avoid, instead having it nick his arm, only for the wound to start burning.
"Now then, since I dealt effect damage to you, I can special summon Achacha Chanbara!"
Another warrior of fire appeared on the field. This one had black hair and also hid behind a mask, it drew two swords Tywin thought looked similar to some foreign blades he had once saw, and a red robe covered the monster.
"Since he was special summoned, he deals another 400 damage to you!" Oberyn revealed.
Achacha Chanbara ran up to Tywin and struck him in the other arm. His Duel Disk prevented actual physical injury, but the heat was still present.
T: 3100 O:4000
"Now then Achacha Archer, attack his face down!"
The Archer let loose another arrow, only for it to shatter on impact and the arrowhead goes back and pierces Oberyn himself.
Oberyn looked at the monster that had been flipped up. It was made entirely of stones, mostly green but solid blue lines of stones as well. It had orange eyes and hands open.
"That would be my Stone Statue of the Aztecs. Any damage you recieve from attacking it ends up being doubled." Tywin explained.
T:3100 O:2400
Oberyn growled at his turn being turned against him. But his vengeance was not lost yet.
"I may have to end the battle phase, but I use the spell card Fissure! This destroys the monster you control with the lowest Attack!"
A hole opened up under Stone Statue, and it fell in before the hole closed up.
"I end my turn." Oberyn said.
"My move then." Tywin declared as he drew. 'Judging by that turn, it appears that his deck focuses on inflicting minor but consistent damage over time, rather than just trying to overpower my monsters. On the one hand that means he is unlikely to destroy my defenses, but if I can not win quickly, his chance for victory gets closer.'
He looked at the cards in his hand. 'I have two, I may be able to pull this off.
"First I activate my trap card, Jar of Greed. It allows me to draw once more." A red and gold jar with a smirking face appeared on the field, only to fade away. Tywin drew his card. 'Another. Good, I just need to stall for a bit longer.'
"Now then, I set another monster face down, and end my turn."
"My move then!" Oberyn said as he drew. "I summon Archfiend Interceptor!" A man in a strange outfit appeared. He seemed to be wearing some sort of armor underneath his top layer of clothing, and his helmet was not made of metal. But his main characteristic was his six arms.
Next, I shall equip it with Axe of Fools!" A misshapen axe made of dark wood that glowed red appeared in front of Interceptor. He grabbed it with two of his arms.
"Now then, his axe now raises his attack by 1000! Now Interceptor, attack his set monster."
Interceptor threw the axe, only for a shield to appear and deflect it back, Oberyn ended up getting hit by a splinter on the axe.
T: 3100 O: 2200
Oberyn looked at the monster that had defended Tywin. It was a warrior with long black hair, but his most eye catching trait was the giant shield he was hiding behind.
"So, you use Big Shield Gardna? I see, unfortunately for you, I have faced it in the past, now that it has been attacked, it must go into attack mode, leaving you almost defenseless."
Big Shield Gardna started to move, only to have chains wrap around it, keeping it in defense mode.
"Not if my other trap card, Fiendish Chain can help it. This card negates the effects of one monster on the field, and I chose BIg Shield Gardna, leaving him in defense mode." Tywin explained.
Oberyn growled again at the field before him. 'I already used Fissure, and I only have two or three monsters that could actually destroy it now. I have to focus on effect damage in order to win. You will know the pain Elia and her children felt in their last moments Tywin.'
"My move then." Tywin said as he drew. "I play Pot of Greed, this card allows me to draw two more times." Tywin looked at the two new cards as he added them to his hand.
"I play one card face down and play another Pot of Greed that the first one let me draw!" again he drew two cards.
'Four, I am so close. And I just drew the perfect card to end this.'
He grabbed two cards-one he had in his hand and had held back for a way to stall, and one he just drew.
"First I summon this monster in defense mode, now I play Swords of Revealing Light!"
Stalagmites fell from the top of the mine, turning into beams of light before falling and pinning Oberyn's monsters as their shape solidified into swords.
"This spell card prevents you from attacking for three turns. That is it for now."
'Good, now I just need to wait and victory is assured.'
"My move then" Oberyn declared as he drew and looked at his hand and field.
"Unfortunately, Due to Axe of Fools, I lose 500 life points." Oberyn explained.
Archfiend Interceptor started acting bored and swung the axe around to entertain itself, only to accidently toss it at Oberyn, who moved out of the way, only to fall backwards and hit his head.
T:3100 O:1700
"I activate Card of Sanctity, so now we draw until we have six cards in our hands."
Oberyn drew four cards while Tywin drew two.
Neither were what Tywin was hoping for.
Oberyn on the other hand, began to laugh.
"How fitting. I sacrifice my Achacha monsters, in order to summon Cataclysmic Scorching Sunburner!"
The two Achachas burst into flame. A giant creature with red skin and four arms arose from their ashes. It wore a blue coat tied around its waist, and had yellow markings evoking flames on its arms. In one of its right hands, it held a sword made of flame.
"This is the strongest monster I have in my deck. But even so, it is not enough. At least, not by itself. Good thing I have this! Big Bang Shot!"
Suddenly, Sunburner was EVEN MORE ON FIRE! Its attack was raised all the way up to 3000.
"I end my turn for now." Oberyn declared.
"Very well then." Tywin said as he drew.
'That sunburner is going to be a problem for now. I have nothing I can use to destroy or even stop it after the swords disappear in two turns.'
The cards in his hand he could afford to play were: Counter Gate, Charcoal Inpachi, and Megalosmasher X. None of the monsters he had could destroy Interceptor, let alone Sunburner.
'At the very least, my Life Points are safe for now, and I can still build up my defenses.'
"I play another monster in defense mode, and place this card face down as well." Tywin said for a second time.
"My move then." Oberyn once again declared as he drew.
"Ha! Two can play at your game Tywin. I play my own Pot of Greed to draw more cards." Oberyn did so and his face lit up.
"Hahaha! The Gods truly due favor me today! Now then. First, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" Oberyn revealed and played the card, causing the Swords that had kept him at bay to dissipate into nothingness.
"Next, I play Dark Snake Syndrome!" Oberyn showed the card as he played it. Suddenly, two snakes crawled out of the card. One slithered onto Tywin, poised to inject its venom into his throat. The other went onto Oberyn, who let it crawl and rest on his neck like an entertainer.
"It is quite simple. When it is my next move, we shall both be bit and take 200 damage. My turn after that, 400. And on and on until the poison kills one of us. But it will not get that far. I did not show you what other cards I had drawn last turn. I activate Cursed Bill! And it shall be equipped to your Gardna."
A piece of parchment attached itself to Gardna's shield.
"It has a special ability. When the monster it is equipped to falls, it deals damage to the owner equal to it's defense. In addition, Big Bang Shot deals battle damage equal to the difference between Sunburner's attack and your defense. Now then, Sunburner, Destroy his Gardna once and for all!"
Sunburner used its flaming sword to melt straight through Garna's shield, and melting Garda along with it. Suddenly, the Parchment flew up to Tywin, and he was compelled to touch and read it. Only for a burning sensation to travel throughout his body. He was barely able to keep from screaming.
...For all of five seconds.
After that, he involuntarily let out a scream that nigh on twenty years ago, he had heard semi-regularly.
The sound of a man burning to death.
When his senses returned to him, Tywin was on the floor. Looking at his skin, he saw that his entire body was completely covered in burns.
T:100 O:1700
"I see you are still clinging on. Good. I would hate for you to die so quickly. In a way, this could be seen as poetic. House Targaeryean's word: Fire and Blood. You betrayed them, and now you burn. But death by dragonfire...For as much as I understand the terror, It would at least be quick I think. Too quick for you. Dragonfire may burn you quick, but the sun likes to take its time. It watches as you slowly succumb to the heat, until you embrace the despair. This is not justice for the dragons. Honestly, good riddance to them! Aerys was a mad dog who should have died before the crown ever past to him. And Rheagar..." Oberyn halted his speech to put as much contempt as he could into the name of his good brother. It was almost equal to the hatred he put in Tywin's own name. "Rhaegar was unworthy. He had Elia. He had two beautiful children. But he threw it all away. And what did he get out of it? A frozen whore. A bitch like her sigil, who seduced a foolish man away from his dutiful wife, and killed thousands of men, women and children, all because she wanted a crown that could never be hers." Oberyn took another breath, his anger subsiding for the moment.
"Draw your last pathetic card Tywin. Once you end your turn, the poison will kill you nice and slow. I don't want to miss even a second of watching your death throes. In the end, It was the Viper's poison and the fire of the son that was the end of the Lion of Casterly Rock."
Tywin coughed, and managed to stand-but he was in great pain. Despite this, he was still able to duel.
"My turn." Tywin said, maintaining the same tone he had for every turn this duel. Even if he did die, He would do it with as much dignity as he could muster.
He drew his card. After feeling despair for the briefest of moments...he realized he had won.
"Prince Oberyn. I doubt it will be much comfort, but I truly did not plan Elia's death."
"WHAT?!" Oberyn yelled. "EVEN NOW YOU FEIGN IGNORANCE?!"
"No. I did order the killing of her children, but I had assumed that Lorch and Clegane would have the sense to do it cleanly. Lorch is usually good at following orders. But he let his rage guide him when he killed Rhaenys. As for Clegane, I had yet to realize just what kind of person he was. I gained nothing from the cruelty of the act, only the act itself. For that, I admit I made a mistake, and I do regret that.
"However, IT WAS NECESSARY. I remember Varys saying you yourself were planning on declaring for Viserys until Prince Doran talked you out of it. If that was Aegon instead? Or if you tried to apply Dornish inheritance to the crown and name Rhaenys Queen? The war would have just continued. You may feign peace for a decade or so, but the war would resume. And that is assuming Robert could be talked into sparring them himself.
"In the end, your sister and her children's lives were forfeit the moment Rhaegar abducted Lyanna and died. Don't worry. You can have your vengeance on him if you end up in the same hell.
"Now to end this. I sacrifice my face down monster, and by doing so, secure my victory. I summon Leogun!"
A lion-like creature appeared on the field.
"...That's it?" Oberyn asked. "The burns must have affected your mind. That monster is too weak to do anything to me."
"True. But that is not why you lose. This is." Tywin held up the card he had just sacrificed. "Witch of the Black Forest!"
"How does that monster defeat me from the graveyard." Oberyn said with a smug smile. Truly, Tywin was grasping, perhaps trying to bluff.
"You see, this Witch has a special ability. When it leaves the field to the Graveyard, I can add any monster in my deck with less than 1500 Defense to my hand. And I pick this one."
Tywin showed the card to Oberyn.
It was a head. It had brown skin, and a strange shaped head, but its face was apparent. And it's face was snarling.
"You have no idea how hard it was to procure the necessary cards. I could afford it of course, but actually finding them took Kevan and myself several moons. The only reason I even knew about it was because this card was in my original deck. I doubt many other people know of it."
"What are you talking about? You already summoned this turn, so you can not play it. And I can see it only has 1000 attack and Defense. Its too weak to do anything. What are you doing?" Oberyn asked as Tywin began to remove his monster cards from his Duel Disk.
"I am talking about it's effect." Tywin said as he placed a different card on the field. It looked like a leg. The skin was the same shade as the head's. It was also shackled.
He then placed the opposite leg on the opposite side of the duel disk. And then he placed two arms, also shackled. Suddenly a circle of light appeared behind the chained limbs. It reached all the way to the ceiling of the abandoned mine.
Tywin placed the head in the center place of his Disk.
Out of the circle, the head emerged. The Torso materialized along with it.
"You see Oberyn, When I have Exodia The Forbidden One in my hand, along with the four limbs, I instantly win the duel."
"W-WHAT?" Oberyn said in shock. The fear he was feeling was palpable. He stared upwards at Exodia.
This...This was what it meant to be before a god.
And that god obeyed TYWIN LANNISTER.
"Enough delaying. Exodia-OBLITERATE."
Exodia put its hands together, and a ball of light formed. Sunburner and Interceptor tried to attack while it was preparing to strike, but they were too late-and that's assuming they had a chance.
Exodia released the ball of light, instantly vaporizing both monsters.
And then the light struck Oberyn.
The entire mine shook. As did the above Casterly Rock.
'Elia...I failed to avenge you. Doran...We can not beat this.'
That was the last conscious thought of Prince Oberyn Martell, Prince of Dorne, and the Red Viper. Then the pain set in.
T:Victory O: Defeat
Tywin felt his body heal from all the injuries and burns he accumulated over the course of the duel. As Exodia faded from existence, he turned to look at his would be killer.
It was unrecognizable. It was human shaped, but any resemblance ended there.
Tywin walked over to the corpse, and plucked the deck and Disk right off of what remained of its arm.
He heard a commotion from the entrance, and was greeted by the sight of the captain of his household guard.
"My Lord! What has happened. We felt the castle shake, but when we went to check your room, you were not there. That's not all though. Several guards were found all asleep. But for some reason, we can not wake them."
"You have him to blame." Tywin said as he gestured to the corpse.
"Have the castle searched floor by floor. If you find any of Dornish blood, or even any foreigner who is not known by the servants, then arrest them immediately. Tell them their Prince is dead. I will be in my chambers, and then my solar."
Tywin made his way back to his chambers, the Captain of the guard escorting him before informing anyone they passed of Tywin's orders. Before reaching the chambers, The captain left and Tywin took three other guards as an escort.
When they reached his chambers, Kevan and Tyrion were both waiting by the door.
"Brother, what was that shaking?" Kevan asked, relieved to see his elder brother was okay.
"That shaking was the result of a decade's long revenge plot failing." Tywin said as he walked into his chambers. He had been forced to duel for his life in his night clothes, It was impossible for him to sleep now, so he might as well get ready.
As he changed, he explained the duel in detail to Kevan and Tyrion.
"Prince Oberyn came all the way here...just to challenge you to a duel?" Tyrion asked. He of course knew better than to think Tywin was lying, but to hear such an absurd plan...It was like if the High Septon had declared the faith to have been wrong and started worshipping the Drowned God.
"He must have been overconfident in his deck. He did almost beat me after all." Tywin said. He saw the goblet he had filled with cool water. Parched, he went to go grab it.
"It seems strange for the Red Viper of Dorne to take such a straightforward approach." Kevan said.
"Aye, if I were him, with the skills he is said to have, I would have poisoned me and made my way as far from the keep as I could get." Tywin said as he raised the goblet to his lips.
He stopped less than an eighth of an inch from his mouth.
Kevan and Tyrion's faces went pale when Tywin's words and actions reached their minds.
Tywin put the goblet down and opened the chamber door to address a guard.
"Find the Maester, then have all the kitchens and storerooms looked at. Assume everything in the castle you can eat has been poisoned. NOW!" The Guard ran off to fulfill his lord's orders.
LANNISPORT-LION'S DEN
The Lion's Den was a moderately popular inn. Far below being seen as fitting for anyone of the nobility.
Which was precisely why one of it's tables was now occupied by Tywin, with some papers from his Solar on the table, and a plate of breakfast in front of him, surrounded by several guards, with another few dozen outside, inspecting any who entered.
Kevan stood in front of his brother's table.
"At least ten different kitchens or storerooms have been found to have been poisoned. At this rate, we may have to just get rid of it all. It is still summer."
Tywin nodded at his brother.
"We shall send men out once the issue has been dealt with. It does no good if Oberyn's accomplices poison new food as well."
"About that. We have captured ten people, most of them snuck in as part of the merchant's who helped resupply the rooms in the first place. Amongst them, I recognized Oberyn's squire. I believe he is a Sand."
Tywin took a bite of bacon. "Have them put in the cells. Only give them food from the rooms that were confirmed to be poisoned. If they eat or avoid something in particular, we may know if anything is salvageable."
As Kevan left, Tywin went back to writing a message to send to King's Landing. Oberyn's attack was a declaration of war. He omitted Exodia from the message. The less people who knew about it the better.
Still, in all likelihood, Doran would have to make serious concessions or go to war. The Dornish houses had only a few ships, having taken Nymeria's burning of their ships to heart.
Dorne was once basically self reliant before being integrated into the other kingdoms. However, after Daeron II brought them into the fold, they enjoyed an easier time to get food and being able to export their resources.
It was unlikely that Dorne would be able to return to being independent from the Reach and the other kingdoms so quickly. All Robert had to do was lay siege to the seas around Dorne, and what food and supplies they managed to grow in the desert would soon shrivel up.
Tywin noticed his guards move in front of him and he looked up.
A smallfolk- relatively young, Tywin would guess less than twenty- had gotten up from the table he was eating at and attempted to walk up to Tywin. Fear was evident on his face, but he still stood there.
"What do you want." Tywin said in a gruff voice. He had no time for mingling with the smallfolk.
M'lord...my name is Dennis. I work in the mine about a league and a half east of the city. I don't know how its done among rich peoples like yerself, but the man who orders us around-a guy named Aron, I've seen him and some of the other non-diggers pocket some of the large chunks of gold at the end of shifts." Dennis said slowly at first. His face still showed fear, but also a sense of relief.
Tywin looked at the boy. He was obviously a simple miner. No doubt this Aron and his accomplices were managers-more learned smallfolk who were tasked with overseeing the miners and reporting how much gold they had excavated. Such managers were employed all throughout the Westerland's mines, This allowed the nobility to not have to waste time overseeing the mines, and allowing them to focus on ruling. Since they reported the numbers, they could easily lie about it.
"I see." Tywin said and let it hang in the air.
The inn was silent. It was by no means full, but there were enough tables occupied one would expect to hear some noise.
Tywin looked and saw the wife of the inn-keeper, having just placed a meal on a table when Dennis made his declaration. One nod and she came running over.
Tywin reached into his purse and pulled out a small pouch of dragons. He passed it to the wife.
"That should cover the meals for everyone here and then some. Why don't you fetch Dennis here some drink. It looks like we may be here for awhile."
As she grabbed the pouch and ran to get a drink, Tywin turned back to Dennis. He then pulled out Oberyn's deck and began to shuffle. 'An audience could be useful. Let them think my deck is something else.'
"Sit, good man. No need to take out your Duel Disk, we can just do it on the table. Tell me everything you know about your manager." Tywin had the guards clear the table as Dennis sat in front of him. He had spent years as both Hand and Lord having to deal with nervous lordlings unsure of how to live up to their predecessors. Tywin found offering a distraction to ease them into it worked best.
Later that week, Dennis was awarded a third of the gold Aron had still had on him at the time of his arrest. Other managers from other mines had been called in to take over, and they were instructed to teach Dennis how to do the job as well.
AN: CHAPTER 10 : THE LION THAT DEVOURED THE SUN.
First major death this chapter.
Tywin literally has the best deck that money could buy, so of course he would have Exodia. And as he stated, the only reason he even knew about the instant win condition was because he had Exodia The Forbidden One in his original deck.
Oberyn's action may be explored more in Dornish POVs, but the gist is he either kills Tywin himself, or he dies but poisons him. Kind of like his duel in canon with Clegane.
Tywin is a PR Master, it's the reason why some smallfolk think Aerys' rule was good. He not only survived a double attempt on his life, but also found some corruption in HIS mines that he gets to stomp out. All in all it was a good day for him.
Next chapter is something different. It will be the only time I plan on using First Person in this story.