[Day 9] A Wolf Wounded [Titus and Ashara]

The problems of privilege - 'I have choices, how horrible!'. Just like Lysette - 'Woe is me, I don't have to worry about being sold off to some stranger, but choosing is so hard!' Pathetic.

"Being a good man - no, being a competent adult - means navigating such. First and foremost, glory is a lie. Take what comes to you but do not seek it - that is the road to a quick death on some castle's battlements. Leave that for the fools, don't be one. Honor is not quite as bad, but cling too tightly to it and sooner or later you will find yourself in a situation where doing what is honorable is not what is right - and may even end in your dishonor. Honor is good, but must be tempered with pragmatism. The opposite is also true - pragmatism untempered by honor is the road to evil. For the rest, if there is a conflict, someone is wrong - try to figure out who. Know who you are, and hold true to that. The Seven made you, your parents and teachers shaped you, but ultimately you are you. In the end, you are what you do, so you either hold true to yourself or you betray yourself."

I hope you decide properly. For both our sake.

"Your family is divided; you must choose a side. That does not mean abandoning the others, but hope they see the error of their ways - and if you can, help them to realize and correct those errors. The same is true for allegiances, oaths, duty, even love. If you swear an allegiance and then discover that your liege is corrupt - say for instance a knight swears to Lord Eldon without knowing his ways, when he does learn of them, should he be bound to aid in the rape of women? No, of course not. How much suffering would have been averted if one of the Unworthy's kingsguard had broken their oaths and started the reign of Good King Daeron a few years earlier? The breaking of oaths and allegiances, or the betrayal of love - these are not to be taken lightly, but to say they are never the right thing to do is naive, allowing the powerful to do ill without repercussion."

She pauses briefly.

"Faith... is complicated. Septons - even the High Septon - are mere men, and like all men susceptible to error and failings. Cling to the principles of the Seven, not to the words of men regarding them. Fair judgement, mercy, good counsel, bravery, productivity, love, and one must not forget the Stranger - acceptance that not all will fit neatly into the ways of the other six; that which is merely different is not to be feared, or attacked, or derided - that which is different should be granted the same treatment as that which is familiar - the fair judgement of the Father, and so on. That which is different reminds us that what we do is not necessarily perfect, and can be improved upon... and to deny such is to deny the Stranger, and to deny any aspect of the Seven-that-are-one is to deny them all. I am sure many septons would find that heretical, but that would no doubt be out of fear of having their authority challenged."

She shakes her head.

"But I digress. The point is that if you are true to yourself and cling to the principles of the Seven, you should be able to separate the fallible words of man from the words of the Seven when both are coming from a Septon's mouth."

Hand once again reaches out to his arm. It felt good being there.

Not as good as when we were dancing and his hand was on my bare skin..."

She pushes aside that thought before it leads to deep into dangerous territory.

"You are a good man. Hold to that, and do not do what anyone else asks of you just because they ask - judge for yourself what is right, and you are more likely to stay a good man than if you let someone else decide for you. Be the master of your own destiny, not someone else's puppet... no matter who that someone else is."

---

Yeouch. Well, I'm not too afraid of losing this intrigue. It makes for good story either way.

Take 2 frustration to reduce that by 4 each to 0 composure loss.

D9 WW R5 Persuasion(convince) +1D RT: 5d6 17 vs ID 11, 2 DoS
2*4 = 8-3 is 5 composure


ID 7 (11 reduced by 4 from frustration)
DR 4
Composure 3/12
Frustration 2/4
Bonus dice remaining from Free Action: 0

Without a trace of hesitation she answers his question.

"Yes. If I could do so without weakening my family, I would do anything to end this betrothal. It is of no benefit to anyone. However, without going so far as to dishonor myself and thus give Lady Maegelle the satisfaction of running my family's name through the muck - and by extension harming my brother and my cousin's chances at a good marriage - I have no way to do so. Tradition affords me the power to refuse to say the words, but not to end the betrothal itself."

She smiles, not in a cheerful way, but rather in a way that seemed almost pained.

"If oaths were easy we wouldn't need to swear them. They aren't meant to make things easier, they are meant to constrain us. We swear oaths about our highest ideals, so that we strive to live up to those ideals lest we be branded an oathbreaker. If keeping oaths was easy, we wouldn't need to swear them."

She shakes her head.

"When I was young - I couldn't have had more than five or six namedays - I learned of the Warrior Queen Nymeria, who led the Rhoynish to Westeros and joined forces with Morgan Martell to conquer all of Dorne. I was excited to learn that I had the blood of such an amazing person flowing through my veins, if only distantly. Bran the Builder was so boring in comparison. I told my brother that I wanted to be a great warrior like Nymeria when I grew up. He laughed and said that I couldn't be a warrior, because I was a girl. Only boys get to be warriors. I burst into tears and ran to my mother. She gently explained that in the Reach my brother was right; and that even in many Dornish houses such as her own House Dayne the noble girls were not typically trained in arms."

She pauses. This wasn't a story she told very often - both because it was the first time she had the gentle naivete of childhood ripped from her by the cruel realities of the world and thus uncomfortable to think about, but also because people sometimes misinterpreted it as her wanting to don armor and sword and play at being a knight.

"I felt betrayed. I felt like my hopes and dreams had been crushed, and that I was being forced into a tight box in order to shape me into the perfect artist's rendition of the Maiden. However, in time I figured out that neither my brother nor my mother were being cruel. To my brother it was simple fact, and what I had said was as ridiculous as winged pigs and talking horses - warrior women just didn't - couldn't - exist. To my mother it was preparing me for the world; an unpleasant kindness - a horrid thing at the time, but better than growing up clinging to the notion of being a warrior woman and be devastated when I learned that the entirety of society viewed me as some sort of monster."

She sighs.

"Your brother, your mother - they advocate treason. They are advocating breaking the oaths of fealty. If you were to attack them, or drag them before Lord Jon insisting that they be punished for treasonous words... that would be a betrayal. To hold firm to your oaths, and to try and get them to see the error of their ways - that is not betrayal, that is an unpleasant kindness. You would be saving them from a tragic end on the battlefield or a traitor's execution. I would say that the best thing you could do for your mother and brother would be to try and persuade them not to take up arms - or words - against the king. In the same way that you would counsel them against any crime - not betraying them, but trying to prevent them from suffering as a result if unwise actions. I would go so far as to say it is your duty to do so - your duty to your king and your lord, and your duty to protect your family - even if in this case it is protecting them by persuading them not to bring harm upon themselves."

She pauses. She was frustrated. She was so convinced of the rightness of her arguments that Titus' resistance was incomprehensible to her. Perhaps reason alone wasn't enough. Perhaps reason tinged with emotion would do it. She had not missed that he had been addressing her by name, without title. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about it - much like she wasn't sure how she felt about him. He, however, clearly had a more then neighborly interest in her...

"I have to warn you - I fear that whomever ordered this attack on House Bridges might target your own house. Like your Lord Jon, Lord Bryce was quietly a supporter of the King. Like Lord Bryce, Lord Jon's heir is incapable of rule, and would need a regent. Like Lord Bryce, Lord Jon's regent would likely support the King. However, now that there is this ridiculous rumor of that heir being illegitimate, an argument could be pushed that your father is the true heir... and if your mother, your brother, and yourself all side against the King, what would he do? Even if he did hold true to his oaths, it would simply be an invitation for the killers to strike again, making your brother lord of Gyldenhall."

She lowers her gaze. She can't meet his eyes for this last part.

"Titus, I cannot choose to not have Rhoynish blood. Nor can I choose to join a faction that advocates for the killing of Dornish for no reason other than ancestry. That would be a betrayal of my family - and of myself. I would not have us be enemies - but if we are not joined together in support of the king, there cannot be any true alliances between our houses... and if House Blackbriar... if you join the traitors, that would make us enemies."

Would it? Could I ever really think of him as an enemy?

Truth or not, her words are delivered as cold, hard, fact - not a threat, just an unpleasant reality - much like the unpleasant reality that her brother and mother had told her about so may years ago. She wanted to take his arm, to reassure him that it would never be so, that she would never think of him as an enemy... but that might be an even bigger lie.

---

Take my last two frustration to reduce that by 4 each to 0 composure loss.

No risk, no reward...? I win it here or I am all but guaranteed to lose on Titus' next action - but I think either one would make for a better story than a yield.

D9 WW R6 Persuasion(act) +1D RT +2 Courteous: 7d6k5+2 28 vs ID 8 (Romantic/Naive applies) is 4 DoS
4*4 = 16-3 is 13 composure; even if Titus takes all 3 of his frustration that would only reduce it by 12 (I'm assuming Will 3) so 1 point would remain, just enough to put him at 0 composure. Any result less than 4 DoS would have been insufficient.

ID 3 (11 reduced by 8 from frustration)
DR 4
Composure 3/12
Frustration 4/4
Bonus dice remaining from Free Action: 0

Ashara feels her body flush with heat when he compliments her. As he turns to leave she reaches out and grabs his arm once more, stopping him.

"I am not by his side - and never will be. He has followed his family into treason, and is my enemy."

She stops speaking, but does not let go immediately.

Should I say 'and the enemy of my enemy is my friend?' No. That's too much. I don't want him to endanger himself picking a meaningless fight with the Cordwayners.

That thought befuddles her. If Titus was not a tool to be used, nor an ally in her struggles, what was he to her? She releases her hold on his arm, saying nothing more.

---

Messed up the the math a little in my last post, it doesn't change the outcome, but for the sake of accuracy - at Will 3, Titus' frustration would reduce the composure done by 3 each, so 9, not 12. I still needed 4 DoS though, because 3 DoS would have been 12-3DR = 9, so his 3 frustration would have reduced it to 0, keeping him in the intrigue at 1 composure.

[/scene if you want, happy to keep the conversation going, though we are on the cusp of a day change so wrapping up might be a good idea.]