The Story So Far...
Aug 18, 2020 22:54:55 GMT 1
Balon Blackbriar, Mikel of Harroway, and 3 more like this
Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 18, 2020 22:54:55 GMT 1
Introduction
The purpose of this thread is to be a 1-stop shop to get new players up-to-date on what's happened already, and hopefully cover what any returning players may have missed.
Veterans: I'm hoping to keep this thread 'pure', so new arrivals don't need to wade through discussions. When (and it is 'when') I miss stuff, chuck it up on the OOC thread, and I'll edit it in to the relevant point. In this way, we can hopefully keep this thread to a reasonable length (or at least shorter than the wait for Winds of Winter, eh?).
Prelude
Murder!: Ser Daven Bracken (Lord Jon's third son) is murdered close to the Blackwood border. His cousin, Ser Aegor Rivers, aka 'Bittersteel', claims it was Blackwood men, but he is hardly an unbiased source.
Campaign 1 - The Tourney of the Field of Roses (Later popularly renamed to 'The Black Tourney')
Day 1
There's the Bread and Salt ceremony to welcome everyone to the tourney, followed by a lot of mingling of PCs and NPCs. The only really significant thing to happen is an OOC curiosity that Ser Balon Blackbriar crit-failed his introduction, and was saved by me, arguably the starting pistol for a slow-motion train-wreck which is still ongoing to this day.
Bittersteel is allowed to host his own hunt by the tourney host, Lord Leo Tyrell. Beyond this being seen as an indication of favour, I don't think there are any significant ramifications.
Lord Karl Willum hosts a raucous party at an inn. Drinking, wrestling, groping serving girls, and other manly activities occur.
Scandal!: Mostly notable for Ser Balon Blackbriar spreading scandalous, patently false, and highly insulting rumours about Ser Walton Wyl, the King's master at arms and a formidable tactician. Ser Walton challenges him in response to defend his honour the next day.
Day 2
Prince Baelon knights Ser Preston Oakheart.
Two very useful threads: If you wish to know the statuses of a good selection of knights and ladies, they are listed there. I think the only important thing to be aware of is that I was championed by Lord Bryce Bridges. Why do I specifically mention my champion and no-one else's? Narcissism? Well, yes, but other reasons as well, which will be revealed later...
In the evening is a Masquerade Ball, hosted by Lord Gormon Peake. Ohhh, boy.
Murder!: Lord Jon Hightower is murdered by poison during the ball. His murderers have never been publicly revealed.
There are two competitions - a (partnered) dance and an investigation. The three winners all get a fancy ring as a prize. The winners of the dance are The Stranger (male) and the Falcon (female), while the winner of the investigation is the Alicorn (female).
Scandal!: The Falcon (the same one who won the dancing competion) takes the opportunity of the ball to spread an *incendiary* rumour that Ser Daven was not murdered by Blackwood men, but by Bittersteel himself. This sets off a massive (wo)manhunt by both factions, to find out who she is, and subsequently what she knows.
Her identity is never publicly revealed.
Day 3
There is a remembrance ceremony for Lord Jon Hightower. Barring a relatively few exceptions, politics is kept mostly overtly out of it.
A maester's conclave held by the king's maester concludes that the king is the rightful claimaint to the throne.The revolutionaries all immediately give up their activities, and life returns to normal.
(Attempted) Murder!: There is an attack on Lady Alicent Yronwood, (reluctant) betrothed to Lord Eldon Merryweather, by a gang of ruffians. It is foiled by the heroic actions of Ser Roland Cordwayner, although her chaperone Septa Tyane is murdered in the assault.
There is a procession to honour the fallen septa, which Septon Abelar (the Blackbriar septon) nearly turns into a full-blown riot.
There is a Great Hunt. The White Stag is brought down by the Levalle hunting party. After the hunt, there's another raucous party.
Day 4
The first day of the joust.
Death!: The most notable event is that in their joust to defend his honour, Ser Walton Wyl is killed by Ser Balon Blackbriar. Despite the incredibly suspicious circumstances, no-one sees any foul play, so it is seen as an accident, albeit a highly fortuitous one for the revolutionaries.
An event not so much significant in and of itself, but in its eventual consequences is the Round 1 joust between Ser Aemon and Ser Sebaston Rowan for Lady Lysette Starling's favour. The former won her favour, and, eventually, her hand.
Similarly jousting for the favour of the much-desired Lady Shiera Seastar, Bloodraven manages to best his hated half-brother Bittersteel .... before losing her favour to my fullbrother Aerion in the next round.
(Attempted) Murder!: It certainly seems like Ser Otho Bracken (Lord Bracken's second son) tried (and failed) to kill Ser Mikel of Harroway (a common-born Starkwood sworn sword). Lord Alliser Levalle calls him out for this, and a duel of honour is arranged. (In the end, Ser Daemon Blackfyre himself champions the Levalles, to make a stand against the worst of 'his' supporters. This goes as badly for Ser Otho as you would expect.)
I'll just note here that there is a consistent trend with Ser Daeron's jousts for him to be knocked off his horse at the same time he knocks off his opponent, before proceeding to win on foot.
Day 5
Lord Eldon Merryweather crosses a line which should not have been crossed. I believe this is the instigating incident which provoked the feud between the houses which is still ongoing. Anyway, Lord Willem Starling makes a big show of making clear that he's super not cool with the situation, and a lot of knights support him (once sufficient safety in numbers has been established, anyway).
Speaking of feuds, Denyse Cordwayner and Mya Rivers' feud enters the rumour mill. Exactly what provoked their confrontation is unclear, but there's plenty of bad blood there now. Mya claims that Denyse and her brother are illegitimate bastards of her mother's infidelity, but Ser Normyn successfully defends his goodsister's honour against Mya's champion of a member of the Kingsguard.
Still on the subject of fueds ... right. This one's messy. Ashara Starkwood (half-Dornish daughter of Lord Starkwood) is betrothed to Ser Quentin Cordwayner. Ser Balon Blackbriar (notorious Dornish-hater) championed Ser Quentin's sister, Lady Denyse, in the joust. And Lady Ashara and Ser Balon had a very public verbal confrontation, escalating to him (allegedly) pushing her over as he left.
Might as well carry on with the feuds: Lady Amerei Hightower and Lady Tanda Peake are also feuding over the hand of (whistful sigh) Lord Marq Durwell.
Death!: Ser Andros Sunfyre (a mere hedge knight) is killed by Ser Rennifer Waters (Lord Eldon Merryweather's champion) in the joust.
Death!: Ser Vardis of Kingsbridge (meaning: a sworn sword of House Starling) killed Ser Kevan Oakheart (a distant cousin of the main line, fighting on behalf of House Merryweather) during the joust.
Day 6
There's a mock re-enactment of the Battle of the Prince's Pass, which ends up even more of a lopsided Reach victory than it was in history.
Other than that, I think it was a quiet day.
...And that marks the halfway point of the tourney. I'll try and do the second half maybe tomorrow. Again, anything I've missed, chuck on the OOC thread (not here), and I'll edit it in where appropriate.
The purpose of this thread is to be a 1-stop shop to get new players up-to-date on what's happened already, and hopefully cover what any returning players may have missed.
Veterans: I'm hoping to keep this thread 'pure', so new arrivals don't need to wade through discussions. When (and it is 'when') I miss stuff, chuck it up on the OOC thread, and I'll edit it in to the relevant point. In this way, we can hopefully keep this thread to a reasonable length (or at least shorter than the wait for Winds of Winter, eh?).
Prelude
Murder!: Ser Daven Bracken (Lord Jon's third son) is murdered close to the Blackwood border. His cousin, Ser Aegor Rivers, aka 'Bittersteel', claims it was Blackwood men, but he is hardly an unbiased source.
Campaign 1 - The Tourney of the Field of Roses (Later popularly renamed to 'The Black Tourney')
Day 1
There's the Bread and Salt ceremony to welcome everyone to the tourney, followed by a lot of mingling of PCs and NPCs. The only really significant thing to happen is an OOC curiosity that Ser Balon Blackbriar crit-failed his introduction, and was saved by me, arguably the starting pistol for a slow-motion train-wreck which is still ongoing to this day.
Bittersteel is allowed to host his own hunt by the tourney host, Lord Leo Tyrell. Beyond this being seen as an indication of favour, I don't think there are any significant ramifications.
Lord Karl Willum hosts a raucous party at an inn. Drinking, wrestling, groping serving girls, and other manly activities occur.
Scandal!: Mostly notable for Ser Balon Blackbriar spreading scandalous, patently false, and highly insulting rumours about Ser Walton Wyl, the King's master at arms and a formidable tactician. Ser Walton challenges him in response to defend his honour the next day.
Day 2
Prince Baelon knights Ser Preston Oakheart.
Two very useful threads: If you wish to know the statuses of a good selection of knights and ladies, they are listed there. I think the only important thing to be aware of is that I was championed by Lord Bryce Bridges. Why do I specifically mention my champion and no-one else's? Narcissism? Well, yes, but other reasons as well, which will be revealed later...
In the evening is a Masquerade Ball, hosted by Lord Gormon Peake. Ohhh, boy.
Murder!: Lord Jon Hightower is murdered by poison during the ball. His murderers have never been publicly revealed.
There are two competitions - a (partnered) dance and an investigation. The three winners all get a fancy ring as a prize. The winners of the dance are The Stranger (male) and the Falcon (female), while the winner of the investigation is the Alicorn (female).
Scandal!: The Falcon (the same one who won the dancing competion) takes the opportunity of the ball to spread an *incendiary* rumour that Ser Daven was not murdered by Blackwood men, but by Bittersteel himself. This sets off a massive (wo)manhunt by both factions, to find out who she is, and subsequently what she knows.
Her identity is never publicly revealed.
Day 3
There is a remembrance ceremony for Lord Jon Hightower. Barring a relatively few exceptions, politics is kept mostly overtly out of it.
A maester's conclave held by the king's maester concludes that the king is the rightful claimaint to the throne.
(Attempted) Murder!: There is an attack on Lady Alicent Yronwood, (reluctant) betrothed to Lord Eldon Merryweather, by a gang of ruffians. It is foiled by the heroic actions of Ser Roland Cordwayner, although her chaperone Septa Tyane is murdered in the assault.
There is a procession to honour the fallen septa, which Septon Abelar (the Blackbriar septon) nearly turns into a full-blown riot.
There is a Great Hunt. The White Stag is brought down by the Levalle hunting party. After the hunt, there's another raucous party.
Day 4
The first day of the joust.
Death!: The most notable event is that in their joust to defend his honour, Ser Walton Wyl is killed by Ser Balon Blackbriar. Despite the incredibly suspicious circumstances, no-one sees any foul play, so it is seen as an accident, albeit a highly fortuitous one for the revolutionaries.
An event not so much significant in and of itself, but in its eventual consequences is the Round 1 joust between Ser Aemon and Ser Sebaston Rowan for Lady Lysette Starling's favour. The former won her favour, and, eventually, her hand.
Similarly jousting for the favour of the much-desired Lady Shiera Seastar, Bloodraven manages to best his hated half-brother Bittersteel .... before losing her favour to my fullbrother Aerion in the next round.
(Attempted) Murder!: It certainly seems like Ser Otho Bracken (Lord Bracken's second son) tried (and failed) to kill Ser Mikel of Harroway (a common-born Starkwood sworn sword). Lord Alliser Levalle calls him out for this, and a duel of honour is arranged. (In the end, Ser Daemon Blackfyre himself champions the Levalles, to make a stand against the worst of 'his' supporters. This goes as badly for Ser Otho as you would expect.)
I'll just note here that there is a consistent trend with Ser Daeron's jousts for him to be knocked off his horse at the same time he knocks off his opponent, before proceeding to win on foot.
Day 5
Lord Eldon Merryweather crosses a line which should not have been crossed. I believe this is the instigating incident which provoked the feud between the houses which is still ongoing. Anyway, Lord Willem Starling makes a big show of making clear that he's super not cool with the situation, and a lot of knights support him (once sufficient safety in numbers has been established, anyway).
Speaking of feuds, Denyse Cordwayner and Mya Rivers' feud enters the rumour mill. Exactly what provoked their confrontation is unclear, but there's plenty of bad blood there now. Mya claims that Denyse and her brother are illegitimate bastards of her mother's infidelity, but Ser Normyn successfully defends his goodsister's honour against Mya's champion of a member of the Kingsguard.
Still on the subject of fueds ... right. This one's messy. Ashara Starkwood (half-Dornish daughter of Lord Starkwood) is betrothed to Ser Quentin Cordwayner. Ser Balon Blackbriar (notorious Dornish-hater) championed Ser Quentin's sister, Lady Denyse, in the joust. And Lady Ashara and Ser Balon had a very public verbal confrontation, escalating to him (allegedly) pushing her over as he left.
Might as well carry on with the feuds: Lady Amerei Hightower and Lady Tanda Peake are also feuding over the hand of (whistful sigh) Lord Marq Durwell.
Death!: Ser Andros Sunfyre (a mere hedge knight) is killed by Ser Rennifer Waters (Lord Eldon Merryweather's champion) in the joust.
Death!: Ser Vardis of Kingsbridge (meaning: a sworn sword of House Starling) killed Ser Kevan Oakheart (a distant cousin of the main line, fighting on behalf of House Merryweather) during the joust.
Day 6
There's a mock re-enactment of the Battle of the Prince's Pass, which ends up even more of a lopsided Reach victory than it was in history.
Other than that, I think it was a quiet day.
...And that marks the halfway point of the tourney. I'll try and do the second half maybe tomorrow. Again, anything I've missed, chuck on the OOC thread (not here), and I'll edit it in where appropriate.