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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 25, 2018 13:34:21 GMT 1
There is an art to attire. Here, Laena was amongst nature, so fragile materials were inappropriate, but many riding clothes were about as seductive as wearing a potato sack. Not that she wished to appear *too* seductive, but she at least wished to deprive Lord Bryce's brain of *some* blood, to hopefully loosen his tongue. She was quite pleased with the compromise of quite tight riding leathers, which flattered her figure while still being both practical and modest. Well, modest *enough*, anyway. Ignoring their chaperone, Laena was pleased to see that the place was as idyllic as she remembered - a small rise, creating a break in the trees for sun to shine down on them, while water soothingly burbled in a stream in the background. The trees gently rustled in the breeze added to the peace. The perfect place to leave your burdens behind, and unburden your soul to the kind, charming, beautiful, and modest lady you were with. After laying out the blanket to sit on, and having laid out a selection of food to start them off, Laena turns to Bryce with a smile. "Finally! A break from all the .. drama and such of the tourney. An opportunity to sit down, relax, and talk. In the spirit of which, I'd like it, while it's just the two of us, if you were to address me simply as 'Laena' - let's leave the titles and such back there," she waves in the direction they came from. "They'll be waiting for us on our return, but now is a great opportunity for us both to get to know the people behind the titles, if you're willing."
Intrigue objective: Standard Charm Base ID: 13 Composure: 12/12 Start of Intrigue move: NLaL - Start of Intrigue - Deception (Act): 6d6k4+2 22 +1 ID/DoS NLaL - Intrigue Initiative: 6d6k5 21
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Post by Father on Aug 25, 2018 17:51:17 GMT 1
"I actually all but renounced my title, leave it all to my grandnephew so that I might go being a knight errant like in the tales." He seems to like the idea. "Thought I might go see Dorne without having to be part of an army. Figured rather quickly that a sixty year old body accustomed to soft beds and hot food starts to complain of life on the road, so Highgarden was as far as I got, and then I just got stuck on the way to nowhere I guess." Then he remembers a little tidbit from the past. "My wife and I only ever used titles when others were around, or for teasing. She wasn't too pleased when I started to imply that she had to do whatever I pleased because I was her lord and husband."
Objective....hmmm, hmmm, oh what the heck, let's go for seduction (which can be switched to standard charm if that's not something Laena's receptive too, dices are the same, chaperone dampens the possible immediate effects anyhow). 22 is 2 Dos. Intrigue Iniative: 8d6k5 25Free Action Breeding: 7d6k5 24 is +2b to be used somewhere. ID: 15 Composure: 12 Seduce: 8d6k5+3 26 is 4 influence per DoS, so 8?
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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 25, 2018 19:39:07 GMT 1
"So, here you are. Partly renounced from lordship, but not completely. Partly a travelling knight, but not completely. Partly healed, but not completely. You are Ser In-Between. Neither one thing nor the other. Tell me, Bryce," placing a slight emphasis on his name. "Do you know where you *want* to go?" From her tone, the question is genuine, and not condemnatory. She gives a small smile as he talks about his late wife. "She sounds like a strong-willed woman. Was there something in particular she objected to, or was it more the principle involved?" she tries to keep the question light.
[Seriously? 5 Status, 5 Persuasion, 3B in both Charm and Seduction, combined with Lordly Chivalry? What is it with me and the men I go for? They're all social *monsters*! Oh, and if he has Lordly Chivalry (which I'm assuming he does from his Composure), he should be at +4, I believe (assuming he's being honest, as otherwise he'd probably have to have 5 Deception as well), as he should be Amiable from the +3 Disposition from riding with my favour. Anyway, fuck it. I'm lascivious. While obviously nothing's going to happen here and now, I accept the seduction goal, because really, I walked right the fuck into it with my typical overconfidence.] It's clear that I'm completely outgunned here, so I'm offering a yield: 1) Laena increases her disposition towards Bryce by +1 permanently, and +6 temporarily (for a total of +7) (decreasing by 1 per day) (usual seduction results). 2) OOC, Bryce is added to Laena's Lascivious 'Trigger Group' for 6 days (the duration of the temporary disposition increase). 3) Bryce increases his disposition towards Laena by +1.
Just in case the Yield is rejected, making my roll: NLaL - R1 - Influence (Charm): 6d6k4+5 16 1 Dos 4 Influence, so 1 after DR, I believe. Yay. Seriously? A 0.75% chance result for the art event, then a 4.2% chance result here? Orokos, why?
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Post by Father on Aug 26, 2018 11:59:41 GMT 1
"Back to my glory days of being a freshly spurred knight with the world at his feet, ideally." He chuckles at the thought. "I went to Dorne with the young king's army, made the eight in the proper fashion, no forcing, no abusing of title, just good old charm. I think only a handful can make that claim, too many knights are as Lord Eldon in that regard, just better looking and more subtle about it. I took a piss off the top of the wall, too!" He looks dreamily as he relives that particular memory.
"I suppose I wasn't a very good husband at first, gallivanting up and down the realm, though I grew older and we only had that one child, and the difficulties with Eamon turned me responsible again, but we hardly knew our son, Eamon is happy in his own way, but he only ever bonded with his wet nurse, and his milk sister. Though my remarks about my rights and duties was never more than teasing. We could say just about anything to each other the last thirty years."
Some would call it good taste in men. Yeah, forgot about disposition, so it should be +4. Anyhow, yield is fine.
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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 26, 2018 15:07:40 GMT 1
Laena discreetly shifted her seating uncomfortably. His deep voice vibrating through her was having a distinct effect on her body, which, she had to admit, at least to herself, she had not expected. "So, it is being a young knight you miss, not being a Lord? Less powerful, but more free - not having the weight of an entire house on your shoulders, only really being responsible for yourself. With your lord's permission, at least, able to go wherever, do whomever, and see whatever you wish. Without anything dragging you back into listening to endless problems with never enough information to make good decisions." She looks to see how he responds to her assessment of the two positions, her tone wry enough that she could well be teasing about it. She doesn't blink as he describes his conquests, and condemns many of his fellow knights as rapists of one kind or another, like neither claim surprises her. Her face does turn curious as he talks about his exploits on the wall. "I probably shouldn't ask, but could you tell if .. *it* froze before it hit the ground? I've heard stories about how cold it gets up there, but you never know how true stories are." Her face turns sympathetic when he talks about Eamon. "My two children are my greatest joy in this world, and probably the greatest help in my recovery after my late husband's passing. It didn't matter what the situation was, they needed attention, and that helped 'ground' me when it felt like the entire world was spinning around me, and I wasn't connected to any of it. I literally can't even imagine what that must have been like for you and your wife with your son."
She can't help but feel an unclenching in her chest when he reveals he was only teasing. The key advantage with older men: they're typically much more domesticated than their younger brethren.
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Post by Father on Aug 26, 2018 16:40:44 GMT 1
"We agreed that you are no lady!" He protests cheerfully. "It may well have, but it's not exactly like you can see what it is when it hits the ground six hundred feet below.
"Though I was there in summer, no king has ever been fool enough to do a royal progress to Winterfell in any other season, so I was not quite as free as I make it sound, there was a reason for me to be there. But with the Kingsroad being what it is, fast riders can get up to the wall and catch up with the great train following a royal procession somewhere around the Trident, and there's only so much friendship to be struck on the way back." He winks conspiratorially "And I convinced a few to come along for the trip, bonded well and good we did, important people all, half died fighting the Dornish, the other half were older than me, and now I have outlived those." He does light up more and more, and seems to enjoy her company, Laena sees little reason to doubt that he had made the eight with girls willingly coming to his bed, in a time when his hair was still jet black and his face free of wrinkles, he would have them throwing themselves at his feet if he wanted them to, and what emerges of his old self very much suggests that he did. "Though the crows said that in the deepest winter, they could throw the contents of a mug of mulled wine straight from the hot cauldron into the air and it would fall down as snow. I imagine you'd see the piss freeze in the air, but I thought it too chilly up there for my taste in high summer. The winds were biting hard enough up there that I almost regretted it in the moment."
"I think that I never much had such weights upon my shoulders, I decided long ago that I did not wish to spend all my time governing my lands, so I learned how to find good, solid men and ensure that I trust in their ability to make all the little decisions. And to listen to their advice for the big decisions. It is to family where the true duty lies, and truth be told, Alicent ruled House Bridges to a much greater extent than I did, and when she grew ill, I cared mostly for her, with Ser Desmond taking over her role, by the time she finally went into a sleep that she would not wake from, he was already lord in all but name, so I figured that instead of lying down next to her and see if I couldn't do this poetic thing of my heart giving it out when hers did, which she would have found appalling, she told me to live my life, and I am not one to disobey such a final command. So here I went, with no regrets."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 26, 2018 17:51:32 GMT 1
Laena listens, captivated, as he spins his tale. She gives a small, mischievous smile at the end. "Lucky for the ladyfolk of the realm that it was not colder, else more than final drips might have fallen off when you shook." She then seems to realise what she just said and her cheeks coloured, and she looks down, flustered. "Definitely not a lady right now." she mutters to herself.
She can't stop an eyebrow raising when he admits that his wife ran things more than he did, still, she considers his words carefully for a good few seconds before responding quietly. "My pardon, but *are* you living? Or are you simply still alive?" From her tone, it's a genuine question, and one she's somewhat hesitant to ask.
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Post by Father on Aug 26, 2018 18:44:26 GMT 1
Bryce lets out a roaring uncontrollable laughter at the joke. His experience shows by having quickly swallowed his wine before she gets to the punch.
"I am living now, not so sure about last week, or the week before that."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 26, 2018 20:26:29 GMT 1
Laena smiles widely as she tucks her hair behind an ear, looks down and flushes slightly. It seems that the combination of charm, laughing passionately at her jokes, and what she is certainly taking as flattery is having quite the effect on her. The wine probably helped, as well. She raises her glass, still smiling. "To living!" she toasts, and after a moment's pause, she continues. "And the causes thereof." After a moment, she seems to realise the double entendre in her words, and flushes again.
Clearly trying to navigate back to safer waters, she asks "So, given how widely you've travelled in your years, where would you say is your favourite place you've been to?"
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Post by Father on Aug 27, 2018 15:01:24 GMT 1
"To living." He smiles warmly "And the causes, best for all of them at once, for I think not there is enough wine here to drink to each independently!"
"I always liked Highgarden, it has just about everything I would ever want, I enjoyed the Arbor more, but once you get accustomed to the wine and seabreeze there, you learn that there's not much else. King's Landing stinks and Oldtown is..well, I guess I never cared much for stone houses, stone streets and all these people too busy to stop and wonder how on earth they are cramped so tight. One plague and half of those they love are gone, and plagues comes often enough that those who live through one can expect to see another."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 27, 2018 19:12:43 GMT 1
She smiles. "Agreed, and just as well. I doubt my chaperone would be amused if they had to tie us to our horses for us to ride back safely."
"I'm not sure if you know my background," she begins quietly, "but I grew up in King's Landing, up until my father died. I have no good memories of my time there. None. Once I was legitimized, I came here, after a short spell in Starkwood lands. I was a lot happier here. It really was a very different atmosphere. It was .. liberating. I think this place will always have a place in my heart, for that reason alone." She could crush mountains with the weight of what she wasn't saying, but she didn't want to darken the cheerful mood they had together. "What about your lands? I understand your hospitality is rather renowned, surely you must have things to boast of?"
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Post by Father on Aug 28, 2018 19:47:35 GMT 1
"Not much you wouldn't have seen on your way here, surely. Cornfields, pasture, enough of a forest to have a proper hunt every now and then. Pleasant enough, your home is what you make it be, fill it with music and laughter as the Tyrells have done so splendidly and people will want to come to visit, darkened halls and somber moods much less so. People makes places as much as places makes them." He makes the statement as if it is a fact. "The secret is to be an excellent host, one could always throw gold at a problem to make it go away, but I was never so rich to afford that, so my wife and I had to be clever. I also may have taken a page or two out of the Levalle playbook, whatever you have, it can be leveraged, a happy liege lord, friends of wealth and influence, that can be turned into trade and more lenient taxation, which can be turned into being a better host and more friends and happier liege lords." He smiles at the idea, he had once been a war hero and a jouster of renown, but he seems to prefer the image of himself at the center of the web of favors and influence. "Of course, the Levalle's have largely had all this money to throw at their problems and generally been clever about it. I wouldn't have minded wealth, though I find that one lives richer lives if you have to deal with the world through smiling, kind words and actually caring for what another wants. But of course, few lords of the Reach has any idea about what poverty actually feel like."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 29, 2018 0:29:12 GMT 1
Laena herself had no idea what poverty was like, and she was *quite* fine with that, thank you very much. Still, she ponders his words for a few moments before speaking softly. "You lost your home when you lost your wife." she realises. "Leaving The Laughing Stream was just a formality. It simply wasn't home any more." She raises her eyes. "Still, the way you talk about your life there, the way it brings a sparkle to your eyes, I think helps me understand why you never completely renounced your title. You still love it - the politics, the deals, the creative thinking to solve problems. The being a lord. That's still part of you, and likely always will be."
Her voice softens again. "But you feel you can't go back. Because 'home' is made by people, and Alicent is no longer there. So, if you accept a new place as home, it's like..." she trails off as a solitary tear runs down her cheek. She snaps out of her line of thought, and wipes the tear from her cheek. "I'm sorry. That was much too personal for a light-hearted lunch."
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Post by Father on Aug 29, 2018 17:52:03 GMT 1
"I also cannot simply tell the king that I no longer want to carry out my duties in his name, nevermind that it was a Gardener that lifted up the first Lord Bridges." He adds to it. "I suppose I could return, eat well from the lord's platter, and let Ser Desmond keep taking the shit, though hand of the lord does not have the same ring to it." Another comparison he likes. "Though I am doing that from afar all the same, as long as I am alive, nobody questions my edict of Ser Desmond acting with my full authority, once I am not?" He let's his voice trail. "There is a reason that a boy lord is ruinous to his house, far too often there is a struggle for power and control over him and the house, sometimes accidents befalls them. And Eamon may be fully grown, but he will always require a regent, and he will not leave any heirs. So I groomed Ser Desmond, and invested in him the power of an heir. I just need to live a little bit longer and none will question his regency for Eamon, everyone will treat him as the true lord, and eventually the title will pass to him, or his heirs."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 29, 2018 19:30:37 GMT 1
Laena purses her lips, and looks down, fidgeting awkwardly. She clearly wrestles with something mentally for a good few moments before finally sighing slightly. "This picnic was supposed to be a break from this kind of mess, but since we're on the subject, I feel I have to tell you know, else when I find a better time, you may feel I was keeping this from you, and you do deserve to know."
She sighs. "I feel you're being rather optimistic about the situation. During his hunt, Bittersteel spent a good amount of time talking with Ser Farman, specifically about pressing his claim on your house. Given that his grandmother is older than Ser Desmond's, giving his claim legitimacy; and that he is far more personable than Ser Desmond - meaning no insult to the man - means that it is far from surprising that they ended their conversation with both of them walking away very happy." She raises a hand. "I'm afraid I can't tell you my source on this," her voice is firm "but believe me when I say the information is as reliable as if I saw it with my own eyes, and heard it with my own ears." She purses her lips again, and finishes softly "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news."
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