A Snake’s Warning
They awake in their rooms on Day 917. After getting a quick bite to eat at the tavern, they teleport to the Ioun cavern. Upon arriving, a voice echoes throughout the space. “I’ve told you…. Leave thissss placcccce”.
They glance around for the culprit, but a moment later, a Naga just like the last one they’d killed last time – or was it the same one? – slithers into view from behind an Ioun pillar.
Only Qarzdaq’s and Qhortho’s artifacts light this time. Good thing since they were separated by 15 feet at the time they lit.
The Unlikely Assembly attacks the creature at once, dealing significant damage.
Farron learns the hard way that this Naga is quite wise when he tries to incapacitate it, but thankfully his Crown of Stars doesn’t care about that.
The Naga shoots out a bunch of hatchlings from its skin, most of which get the opportunity to burrow into the ground. A few moments later, they jump from the ground with a combination of airborne spores and their barbed proboscises, debilitating the party by preventing them from taking actions so quickly.
Ultimately the party prevails and think about how this Naga was still alive. Qarzdaq decides to burn the Naga to ashes and sprinkle them into the water around the rock they’d placed in the opening to prevent entry to what has become their cave.
Though they’d only just rested, they are in need of another before attempting the Ioun battle ahead of them. They just sit around waiting…
And waiting …
And waiting …
And waiting …
And waiting …
And waiting …
And waiting …
Until finally it is nightfall and they can finally get the benefits of their rest.
They sleep and awake the next morning, ready for battle.
They position themselves in a way that will prevent their artifacts from interacting, and everyone prepares themselves for the battle. Qhortho waits until everyone is ready then drops the Ioun Stone of Absorption into the cavity on its pillar.
The pillar crumbles revealing an Iron Golem!
They soon realize this creature has Fire Absorption when Qarzdaq’s attacks are actually healing him!
Nevertheless, the team prevails against the construct and decide it’s time to go to the Inventorship to see what they think of the lightning bottle.
The Inventorship
They teleport to just outside the Inventorship and someone immediately calls out, “who’s there?!”
After just a moment, he says, “Oh! It’s you guys, the Unlikely Solutionists or something like that?!”
ARAN: Something like that. We come bearing gifts.
Hyrold turns towards the center of town.
HYROLD: WELCOMED VISITORS ENTERING TOWN!
GYROLD: Hey, so you know the drill. We’ll collect your weapons and return them when you leave.
The Assembly agrees. They walk into the gates and spend a few minutes offloading all their weapons.
Their friend Rolf comes jogging up. He looks at you, surprised.
ROLF: Wow! If it isn’t the Unlikely Assembly! What brings you all the way back here? How’s the road been treating you?
As Qarzdaq is answering, Rolf interrupts.
ROLF: OH, BEFORE I FORGET! WE HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU!
He turns and whistles loudly.
Several people come out of their buildings and most return inside after peeking out. A few of them jump with delight though. It’s the other members of the Committee.
One of the people on the Committee runs inside while the others walk briskly towards the group. The one that ran back into their house comes running up behind the rest carrying some sort of wiring. This is Floyd.
Floyd walks up to Qarzdaq.
FLOYD: Hey Qarzdaq, this is the device you asked for to keep you warm! I just need your cloak so I can sew it into the fabric. It won’t do anything against magic effects, but it’ll keep you warmer than your regular clothes.
QARZ: This is great! Thank you.
Qarzdaq provides his cloak to Floyd, who takes a few steps back, thinking about how he’s going to put it all together.
Aran passes the lightning bottle to Qarzdaq.
QARZ: We found this and thought you guys could use it more than we could.
Qarzdaq hands over the bottle to Rolf
ROLF: What? Whoa! Hey Floyd, come take a look at this!
Floyd looks up, distracted. He steps towards Rolf with his eyes wide. He drapes the wiring and robe over one arm and takes the bottle with his free hand. He then switches hands and uses his now free hand to try opening the bottle and gets an electric shock.
FLOYD: Whoa!
The shock definitely hurt, but he is more excited than anything else.
Rolf turns to the Assembly.
ROLF: Let’s go discuss this… thing…
They walk towards the Committee building, a single-room building with a large table and many chairs all around. They are once again invited to sit on one long side of the table while the Committee sits in the chairs on the other long side.
An older boy asks if anyone wants anything and Qhortho decides now’s the time for a drink. The boy runs off and shuts the door.
ROLF: We are intrigued by this item you’ve found. Where did you get this thing anyway?
QARZ: To the far north. We killed an ancient frost dragon to get it too.
ROLF: Interesting. You guys never cease to amaze. We would like to study it in more detail, if you could leave it with…
FLOYD: Absolutely! One of the things we’re struggled with is getting more lightning to flow more quickly when needed. The GAS device we showed you with the automatic rower we gave… hey wait a second… where is that rower anyway?
QARZ: Oh yeah… about that…
ARAN: Oh, that thing…
QHOR: We had to leave it on the shore near Dragon Stone Point… I think…
QARZ: We were in a hurry and didn’t have the need for the automatic rower, so consider this as part of our apology.
Floyd looks a little bummed out by that, but quickly recovers to his overzealous self.
FLOYD: In any case, the GAS devices can store a lot of power, but they can only relinquish that power up to a certain point before they become unstable and explode. This thing though… this may provide a path to discovering how a large amount of power can be released all at once. Like a controlled explosion. I have to say that since you guys arrived, you’ve really had me thinking about defenses and, well, proactive… defense…?
Rolf looks at him with mild annoyance at the thought of weaponry being produced.
FLOYD: Sorry Rolf. You know what they’re up against though. And even if we’re not actively involved, we have a lot at stake.
FARR: It’s not just what we’re up against personally, it’s what we’re all up against.
FLOYD: Yeah! See!?
Rolf nodes reluctantly.
ARAN: We’d like to get a bunch of those up at The Wall.
FLOYD: I don’t think we’d ever be able to build such devices at scale.
QHOR: If you could teach them how to make these…
FLOYD: We’ve been studying all our lives to do this stuff. We have the water wheel, and we don’t even know if it’s just the wheel itself or if this water has some unknown properties. But even if we could… I’m not sure we should…
Rolf seems comforted by this.
ARAN: Armies of the undead are coming from the north. The Wall is the only thing keeping them from your doorstep.
FARR: If we don’t hold The Wall, nothing else is going to stop them.
ROLF: If our knowledge is out in the world, and we do prevail over the undead as a result of sharing it or not, that information will not disappear, and I’m not sure that world will be worth living in, to be quite honest with you.
QARZ: You could be stationed at The Wall and do all of this yourselves so you don’t have to give away anything.
FLOYD: Whoa! Really?!
It looks as if Floyd would jump on that opportunity in a moment.
FARR: Don’t get too excited. It’s fucking cold.
ROLF: We want to provide as much help as we can with a clear conscience.
FLOYD: So… I have some ideas banging around in my head about how this could help you guys. Can we have this to study it? Can you get more? Where did you get this? Who made it?
ARAN: We actually had to kill a white dragon to get this. When we explored its lair, this was among the items we found. We though it would be most interesting to you so we brought it here as soon as we could.
FLOYD: Well, I can’t thank you enough… WE can’t thank you enough. I’ll get started on understanding this thing more to try and help however I can.
ROLF: Yes, I second that notion. We will help however we can. Thank you for this. It will undoubtedly help even beyond the problem with the undead. Is there anything else we need to speak about?
The Assembly looks at each other and agrees that there’s nothing else.
Aran tells Rolf that they’d like to stay here for the night, and Rolf immediately says that will not be a problem and it will be at no charge.
They all get up to leave and as they open the door, the older boy almost runs into it. The boy tells Qhortho that he’s got his drink for him. Qhortho accepts it and slams it quickly, handing the cup back to the boy afterwards. They head for the tavern, and then rest for the night.
The next morning, the Assembly decides it is time to bring the Trident of Fish Command to King Harmund of the Iron Isles. They jump straight to rolling the dice to teleport to Peake in the Iron Islands. It’s a bit risky, since they hadn’t been there in a very long time and may end up in the middle of the ocean. Still, they were familiar with the area, so they give it a shot.
The Iron Isles
Qarzdaq focuses on the environment of the docks and manages to bring the party there on the first try!
However, once they arrive, they are quickly surrounded by a group of unsavory Ironborn.
After dropping a few names and successfully navigating the social aspects of the culture, they begin their search for Gryffil, the King’s trusted aide. They find him before too long and ask him to take them to see King Harmund. He tells them he is not willing to take them just on their word that they’ve got something interesting, so they find a secluded area to showcase the gift they have for the king. After a few more minutes of convincing, he finally agrees to escort them to the castle.
They arrive at the castle after a rather steep climb. The guards out front of the main gate prevent their entry until Gryffil vouches for the visitors he is taking to the king. They open the gate, let the group pass and close the gate behind. Paranoid perhaps, but this is in line with what the party knows of the unabashed meritocracy that is the Ironborn culture.
When they enter the main hall, they find King Harmund sitting on his throne gazing through a window into the gray skies. Several guards are standing in a group.
Gryffil clears his throat loudly to make sure the king knows of their presence. The guards form a loose line to get a view of the visitors.
GRYFFIL: King Harmund. I bring to you the Unlikely Assembly. They come bearing a gift.
Harmund looks at Gryffil.
HARMUND: What kind of gift?
QARZ: King Harmund. We have slain a white dragon far beyond The Wall. We found an item we think would be of interest to you. The Trident of Fish Command.
He holds the trident out in both hands on display.
Harmund stands from his throne with effort, and it seems he may be growing feeble with age. Once standing though, he approaches the Assembly with a forceful stride, careful not to show any further signs of weakness.
He snatches the trident from Qarzdaq’s hands.
HARMUND: What are you doing with this?! Where did you really find this?!
QARZ: We’ve told you the truth. Far beyond The Wall. Much farther than shown on any maps.
QHOR: In the horde of an ancient white dragon that we killed.
He tells them that this has only been described in ancient texts and stories. The item has not been recorded as being seen in, perhaps, a thousand years.
Harmund looks over the item carefully and clearly believes their intent to leave the item with the him.
He dismisses everyone in the room, including Gryffil.
HARMUND: It is rare to have allies in this world… especially from those on the mainland. What are you asking in return?
QARZ: My lord, we recognize this item as yours and we ask nothing in return for the item. However, we are dealing with a major threat from beyond The Wall. We ask as allies, not as a trade for the trident, that should the need arise for the aid of the Ironborn, that you will join our side against this threat.
He lets out a half laugh.
HARMUND: What, you cannot deal with a couple of wildlings?
QARZ: My lord, the threat is not from the wildlings. The threat is armies of undead, marching south as we speak.
Harmund looks at the trident in his hands as he turns it over and over, almost mesmerized by the way it appears coated in water while being entirely dry.
He looks back to Qarzdaq then at each of the Assembly in turn.
Harmund goes to speak and seems to interrupt himself. He gives himself another couple of moments looking over the trident then looks back to Qarzdaq.
HARMUND: We will be there to aid you in any way we can. What is dead may never die.
On cue, the Assembly all state in unison, “what is dead may never die.”
Harmund nods as if he is agreeing with himself that this is the right move.
HARMUND: If there is nothing else, I wish you well on your journey.
As they are about to leave, Aran clears his throat.
HARMUND: Yes?
ARAN: Have you seen Rolan? It would be good to catch up with him.
HARMUND: Last I saw him was when you were here last. Was he supposed to come back this way?
ARAN: That’s what he told us when we last saw him in Winterfell about seven months ago.
The words hang in the air.
HARMUND: If you see him, you can let him know that he is welcome, even if he has been away for a long time.
They say their goodbyes to Harmund and Gryffil, then depart the castle.
They discuss going to the Sandship next and realize they will have an even greater risk teleporting there than they had coming here. Farron grabs a stone from the ground to make their next visit here a little easier.
Dorne
Qarzdaq focuses on the Sandship and attempts the teleport. They all feel a powerful wave of force hit them as they arrive in the desert.
QHOR: Fuck. Haven’t felt that before.
Qhortho feels saliva fill his mouth and spits it into the sand.
QARZ: Shit. Sorry guys.
They are outside a town, but Qarzdaq and Qhortho are the only ones that had ever been in Dorne before. However, Farron knows this is not the Sandship.
FARR: Where the hell did you take us?!
QHOR: Is this Hellholt?
QARZ: Yeah, I think you’re right…
Given that they don’t know where Martel’s campaign stands, they’ll need to be careful in how they approach any of the towns in Dorne.
QARZ: Well at least we’re close… We’ll have to try again tomorrow.
FARR: In the meantime, let’s get out of visual range of this place and we can just use Tiny Huts to keep us hidden until you’re ready to try again.
They travel to the east for a few hours and set up a Tiny Hut.
They just sit around waiting…
And waiting …
And waiting …
And waiting …
And waiting …
And waiting …
And waiting …
Until finally it is nightfall and they can finally get the benefits of their rest.
They awake in the morning, peek around to make sure there are no threats, then prepare for the day.
QARZ: Ok, let me try that one more time.
At least if they have another bout of bad luck, they’re closer than their first attempt, so they may end up within walking distance. Qarzdaq focuses on the Sandship again and they show up between the water gardens and the Sandship. Success!
Both Aran and Farron are amazed to see the water gardens. In such an arid environment, they’ve managed to build a little oasis of small waterfalls, streams and trees. Farron had read about them, but seeing them with his own eyes are something else entirely.
They start walking towards the Sandship, but hear the familiar sounds of battle… has the Sandship been overrun?
They start running towards the sound, passing some people running away from the structure. Farron notices they wear the symbol of the sun, which is the mark of House Martel, but this mark is strange. This has the added depiction of a spear piercing the sun. He is not quite sure whether House Martel has been destroyed by some other house with a Spear sigil, or perhaps this is an offshoot of House Martel, as combinations of symbols were often the result of splintered houses.
Aran also notices the sigil and exchanges quizzical glances with Farron.
Qhortho grabs one of the young men running past.
QHOR: What’s going on here?
YOUNG MAN: What?! We’re training! Get off me! Who are you?!
LOUD VOICE: Qhortho! Qarzdaq!
Qhortho drops the young man who looks over at Mors Martel and runs off without missing a beat.
QHOR: My lord! It’s been too long!
MORS: What in seven hells brings you here?! It’s great to see you!
QARZ: Same here, my lord!
MORS: Last I heard from you, you were traveling north, how have your travels been?
QARZ: We’ve been so far north, you wouldn’t even believe.
QHOR: To cut to the chase, we destroyed an ancient white dragon far north of The Wall and found something that might interest you.
MORS: I’m all ears.
Qarzdaq retrieves the Sand Cloak from his bag and hands it to him.
MORS: What’s this? Seems like just a scrap of burlap or something fashioned into a cloak?
QARZ: Yeah. You should put it on.
Mors shakes it out and calls over his maester.
MORS: Wasn’t there some sort of cloak mentioned in the old stories of Dorne?
MAESTER: Yes, my lord. We covered this in the children’s lessons a month or so ago. It was a story passed down from House Yronwood. The stories go that a magical cloak was used by a great Dornish assassin to turn back an invasion by The Reach. Why do you ask?
Mors hands him the cloak. The maester takes the item and looks at Mors as if he must be joking. As the maester looks at it more closely, he starts to become agitated, as if he knows this is a fake but every attempt to find that evidence is a failure.
MORS: The item was never found, was it?
MAESTER: Well, no, my lord. But. The item. It’s not a verified story. It was a one-off tale and it was never mentioned again.
MORS: If this is real… and it’s a big “if”, I know… But if it is, then this will give us a huge tactical advantage, albeit for a very small force. It’s too bad we haven’t been able to reach out to Jonah Bick. He’d be the clear choice in this case.
Qhortho laughs.
QHOR: Hadn’t heard that name in a while, but I don’t think you’ll be finding him…. Uh… cuz I killed him.
MORS: You killed the great Jonah Bick?
QHOR: Well yeah… it turns out he wasn’t such a great guy.
QARZ: He kind of killed himself, to be honest.
MORS: How did he kill himself?
QHOR: It’s a long story… He was given a choice and that was his choice.
MORS: Ummm… ok… so…. What brings this here? What are you…
ARAN: We were far north of The Wall and were attacked by an ancient white dragon and we managed to kill it and found this in its lair.
MORS: Dragons in Westeros?
FARR: More than one.
They go over the few dragons they’d encountered, including the first small gold dragon in the Labyrinth of Ghost Hill. Mors remembers that, tying it back to Andrea Redmess and how they’d had to track her down.
QARZ: Tyrone’s dead also by the way.
MORS: Wait, what?? No.
QHOR: Yeah. Turns out he was just wanting more power for himself.
MORS: So, let me get this straight. You killed Andrea. You killed Tyrone. You killed Jonah Bick. Who else have you killed?
QARZ: Well, Jonah Bick killed himself really. But we wanted to bring you this cloak in recognition of our friendship and our long-term commitment of support to each other. We feel that we have a special relationship with you, and we knew this belongs with you. We have other news too, though. There is a force coming from north of The Wall that threatens the entire south. All of Westeros. The entire world will become a wasteland.
MORS: The wildlings?
FARR: We wish it were just the wildlings.
QARZ: The undead, my lord. The white walkers.
The maester, still standing by, is now becoming even more agitated.
ARAN: We’re in need of good soldiers to be sent north of The Wall. We’re going around to our allies to raise support, and we’d like to count you among them.
MORS: Well, you know, I actually did send some people to The Wall.
ARAN: Oh yeah?
MORS: Do you want an update on our status?
QARZ: Absolutely!
MORS: Last you were here, you successfully completed a mission for me: poisoning the iron and weapon shipments of our enemies.
Qarzdaq and Qhortho both nod in agreement.
MORS: When you returned here, just after you set off to Oldtown by ship, Nymeria and I began our campaign for the future of Dorne. We started off by going right after the Tor, but we saw that after some time, that wasn’t going anywhere fruitful. We left a few tactical scout groups to keep them on their toes, but admittedly, it was not a great start to the campaign. We regrouped and immediately went after Hellgate and defeated them. We took Lucifer Dryland as prisoner and sent him to The Wall. Not sure what came of him after that.
QARZ: Great! We haven’t met him yet, but we have our own port that we oversee on The Wall: Greyguard. We’ve not heard him mentioned.
MORS: This win boosted morale as you might expect, but thanks to you, after Hellgate fell, House Uller in Hellholt joined our cause as well. Then after that, we took Sandstone from House Qorgyle, and then marched onward toward Starfall. What was interesting there, was that upon showing some force to them, they unexpectedly yielded. I always wondered if you somehow played a role there.
QARZ: We did. And we were told by Lord Vorian that he would do that if we helped him retrieve his great sword from a wraith in his dungeons.
Mors nods.
MORS: Amazing. Well, we took Vorian Dayne prisoner and shipped him up to the Wall too. Once Starfall was on our side, the Daynes in High Hermitage followed in kind.
QHOR: We had a hand in that too. We solved a series of murders happening in High Hermitage.
MORS: Interesting. After that, we were at mostly a standstill, but just a couple of months ago, we finally defeated Blackmont. We took Benedict Blackmont prisoner and sent him to the Wall too. We are focusing on the Tor again, and the writing is in the sand as it is said. They will fall. Right now, we’re using the small tactical teams we’d had stationed there for the past few years for routing potential ambushes, so it’s just a matter of time… Nymeria and I simply cannot thank you enough.
QARZ: You guys are killing it down here. I think the best aid you could provide us is sending the most capable of your enemies up to The Wall. They get out of your hair and help bolster the defenses to the north.
MORS: We can certainly do that. I’m not sure we can take this on in addition to the campaign we are waging.
As Mors is speaking, Nymeria comes walking up, dressed in light armor. She’s heard what he just said and lightly shrugs her shoulders and nods from side to side. Mors looks slightly confused by this.
MORS: Ah, Nymeria! You remember our friends Qhortho and Qarzdaq?
NYMERIA: Yes. I hope you are faring well on your journey. What Mors says is true. However, our ranks continue to grow and morale is at an all-time high. Granted, Yronwood will require our full efforts, but we are not ready to confront them yet, with The Tor, Skyreach, Kingsgrave, and Wyl still needing heavy convincing that House Nymeria-Martell is the Dornish future.
She pauses.
NYMERIA: But if the consequences of failing our friends in their time of need means the eventual overrunning of Westeros, what are we even fighting these battles for?
ARAN: That is for certain. If we fail at the Wall, you can kiss all of this goodbye.
Mors nods in agreement, seeing the point. Nymeria steps forward past Mors.
NYMERIA: We shall provide you aid by way of our advancements in acid and venom mastery in addition to women and men that wield these tools effectively. Obviously, we do not have the means to travel with the swiftness you possess, and so we shall require that be provided to us, should you need our aid.
QARZ: Perhaps we can bring some of your prisoners up to The Wall right now?
MORS: The Wall requires any prisoners only those with leadership ability and volunteers. They only have need for those who see a post at The Wall as a way to serve the realm. Random prisoners, however well trained, have not ever been the folk deemed fit for service at The Wall.
He pauses, thinking about their conversation.
MORS: But maybe that needs to change… If you have your own station at The Wall, then you must know the Lord Commander well enough. Perhaps you can change their stance on this.
The party agrees this would be a good course to follow.
The Assembly decides the next place they need to visit is the Eyrie… One of the places that is itching to take them prisoner.
They know Qhortho and Aran should probably stay behind, though leaving them at the Sandship isn’t the best use of their time, especially since they need to be up at The Wall as soon as possible.
Qarzdaq only has one teleport remaining, but between him and Farron, Qarzdaq is the one with the rock from there, so he should be the one to teleport them to the Eyrie.
Farron can teleport them away from the Eyrie, which means Farron will still have one teleport remaining before needing a rest.
They decide it would be best for Farron to teleport the entire group up to the Nightfort, Qarzdaq to teleport himself and Farron to the Eyrie, then Farron to teleport the two of them back to the Nightfort. Then they can rest at the Nightfort that night to recover.
They say their goodbyes to Mors and Nymeria and teleport to the Nightfort.
The Nightfort
Aran and Qhortho seek out the Lord Commander to let him know about the alliances they’ve been forging while Qarzdaq teleports Farron and himself to just outside The Eyrie.
ARAN: The Inventorship says they’re working on advanced weaponry that they will send as soon as it’s ready.
BYRON: The Inventorship? Well, not sure what that is, but we’ll take all the help you can get.
ARAN: The Iron Islands is willing to help also.
BYRON: Interesting…
ARAN: Are you going to send ravens to them, or…
BYRON: We can dispatch a caravan of ravens at once to have notice. We can probably have everything set up within a couple of months.
ARAN: The Sandship said the same thing. They have proficiency in acid and poison…
BRYON: The Sandship? Wait… Dorne??
ARAN: Yeah Dorne. We just came from there.
Byron shakes off the sheer craziness of the idea, as he has learned to no longer question it.
BYRON: I’m not sure they’ll get enough people up here fast enough to be honest.
QHOR: Well, they’ve been sending people. Have you not received them?
BYRON: Lucifer Dryland and Vorian Dayne have arrived, and it seems I should be expecting more. Ser Lucifer was the first to arrive and now leads Sable Hall, but he arrived well over a year ago. Ser Vorian arrived just four months ago or so, and took command of Castle Black about three months ago.
ARAN: Excellent. Qarzdaq and Farron left for the Eyrie, but we held back because we have some bad blood there. They are trying to secure some more aide from the Eyrie, but they should be back here today hopefully, if all goes well. We plan to spend the night then be on our way back to the far, far north.
BYRON: Well, you’re free to come and go as you please and are welcome to anything we have at our disposal.
ARAN: I’m not sure if we’d mentioned this, but we’ve ranged farther north than the Thenns territory. We most recently killed an ancient white dragon.
QHOR: We crossed over the Frostfangs and found ourselves at an immense ice bridge that a giant white dragon was defending. And once defeated, we found some interesting treasures in the horde that were obviously long lost items of value belonging to Houses of the realm. We’ve been distributing them to the Houses we believed they belonged to.
BYRON: And this is how you are garnering support from across Westeros… I see. I appreciate you continuing to keep me updated. This is all great news, all things considering. You’ve done well.
The Eyrie
Although Farron was not part of the group when the Assembly became wanted fugitives in the Vale of Arryn, he was present at the Eyrie with them when Qhortho was put on trial and had to fight Brutus Maximus. Just in case, Farron uses his disguise kit to change his appearance before Qarzdaq teleports them just outside the castle gates.
Given all the locations they’ve been over the past few days, they are reminded of the Eyrie’s comparatively small footprint upon arriving at the white marble castle. Regardless of its size, there really is no other quite like it in Westeros.
The guards outside the gate startle as soon as they pop into existence. They quickly regain their composure.
FARR: We need to speak with Lord Reysin.
The guard looks over him and his friend and realizes that he is with a famed wanted criminal! The guard raises his weapon. The other guards do the same.
GUARD: You are in the company of a known criminal. You will turn him over at once!
FARR: I understand that. He will deal with what he has to deal with, but right now there are more urgent matters at hand and he is absolutely necessary for the conversations we need to have with Lord Reysin.
GUARD: And where are his friends?
FARR: I do not know exactly. I only know that this person has urgent information for the lord.
The guard believes this stranger enough to lower his guard. He eyes this stranger and the criminal curiously and motions for the others to lowers theirs.
GUARD: We’ll let you through, but if you try anything funny, we’re all going to gut you both.
FARR: Understood. We mean no harm.
The guard takes a few steps back to ensure the criminal cannot make any moves towards him.
The castle gates open and they step inside to the Crescent Hall. The gate closes and a barricade is put in place. Both Farron and Qarzdaq feel as if magic will be useless here.
Full-plate armored guards surround the two visitors forming a half-circle about forty feet in diameter.
Farron notices Lord Reysin on his throne.
FARR: My lord, we don’t have time for this. There are urgent matters at hand. I come with both a gift and a request.
Farron notices the spot where Brutus Maximus fell. The cracked white marble edoes not look to have been given any care, almost as if they are awaiting their chance to make the offender pay for this clear damage.
Farron pulls the Buckler of Frost from the back of his pack. Even through his gloves, the shield is freezing his hand. He grits his teeth through the pain and continues.
FARR: My lord, we have this for you.
Lord Reysin rises from his Weirwood throne and strides towards Farron and Qarzdaq. The guards part the way to let him pass, but he is joined by Brutus Maximus. Brutus holds up his arm to prevent the lord from getting any closer and Reysin attempts to knock it away. Brutus’ arm does not move, but he voluntarily lowers it anyway.
Lord Reysin gets within ten feet of Farron.
REYSIN: What’s this?
FARR: A shield. I think this is yours.
REYSIN: Why?
FARR: Is this not one your House Arryn’s heirlooms?
REYSIN: Heirlooms?
He calls over a maester.
The guards seem to be itching for a false move from the visitors.
The maester approaches at what seems to be a snail’s pace. He looks curiously at the item then reaches out for it.
FARR: Don’t touch it.
One of the closest guards readies his weapon. Farron makes no movement.
FARR: Careful, ser.
The maester whispers to Farron.
MAESTER: Don’t tell me what to do. Drop it.
FARR: Gladly.
The metal shield falls to the ground with a thud as if it were a block of ice.
Farron’s hand is in searing pain. He removes his glove to see it has turned black with frostbite.
The maester crouches down and looks closely at the item without touching it, then looks up to Farron.
Farron and Qarzdaq hear the guards becoming shifty with their footing and they feel the guards wanting to strike them down.
The maester takes his time inspecting the item, tapping at it and remarking on how fascinatingly cold it is.
Though the guards are focused on Qarzdaq, Farron feels like his every move is being watched for signs of threat.
Both Farron and Qarzdaq are careful not to move a muscle.
REYSIN: Why are you here with him? This… criminal.
FARRON: This item would not be here without him.
REYSIN: Go on.
Farron looks Reysin in the eyes, then shifts his eyes to the side towards a guard, then back to Reysin.
FARRON: This item came from north of The Wall. Qarzdaq is here, but he belongs to Night’s Watch. The other two are also with the Watch.
REYSIN: So you consider yourself a companion of these thieves.
FARRON: For now. For this.
REYSIN: Why for this…
FARRON: There is a great terror that is threatening Westeros. Even now, this great terror is moving towards The Wall from far north, beyond where any map can show. I would not bring him here…
REYSIN: What of this… terror…
FARRON: The dead. The frozen dead.
Reysin looks over at his maester then to a guard.
Qarzdaq is poked in the ribs by a spear. Qarzdaq recoils ever so slightly. Not of fear. Not of pain. More of anticipation of what he might have to do next.
Reysin and his maester exchange whispers. The maester says something that causes Reysin’s eyebrows to raise in shock.
Reysin motions to a man dressed in a blue robe with white trim who had, to this point, gone unnoticed as he stood against the wall far from anyone else in the room. It was almost as he just appeared but he had been there all along.
The man strides over.
Qarzdaq feels another poke in the ribs from a different guard.
Reysin leans over to the robed man and whispers something to him. The man stands up straight, takes a few steps towards Farron, getting closer than he’d like.
He crouches and picks up the Buckler without even a flinch. He turns to Reysin and the maester and nods. He looks at Farron, then at Qarzdaq, and nods once more. He walks past the border of guards and inspects the shield. He clearly feels some sort of power from the item.
MAESTER: You said you got this north of The Wall?
FARR: Yes. We were venturing north of The Wall…
REYSIN: Just wandering along and find an ice cave somewhere??
FARR: Kind of… A giant white dragon’s horde.
REYSIN: Go on.
FARR: Once we felled the beast, we discovered treasures that seemed to fit the motif of several Houses across Westeros. We are returning each to where it seems they belong. We are hoping that our good faith is a step in gaining allies to fight against this great terror. Me bringing Qarzdaq should be a good indication of the urgency that this situation holds. There’s no way he would show his face here unless there was a good reason.
QARZ: I come here in supplicancy and to show that we mean no ill will towards the Eyrie or House Arryn. We brought this treasure for you as a sign of good will and apology for anything that may have occurred between us.
REYSIN: Well, you know it’s not me you need to apologize to; House Waxley is due that respect. You still are in possession of their stolen goods. At least your friend is. He may have gotten out of here for that crime, but Hope’s End still belongs to House Waxley.
QARZ: That may be true, but…
REYSIN: Not “may be true,” it is quite clearly House Waxley’s Valyrian great sword.
QARZ: We are offering this as a means to clear the table.
REYSIN: The only way to clear the table is by returning the sword.
QARZ: We believe this shield is much more valuable than that sword.
REYSIN: More valuable to us, there is no doubt. I represent all those in my realm, not just those within Houe Arryn.
QARZ: That’s fair. Can you leave that between us and House Waxley?
REYSIN: That depends. Do you intend to rectify the situation with House Waxley? Or leave it be with the hope everyone forgets?
FARR: We will have to find a way.
QARZ: We will gladly find a way to rectify things with House Waxley.
REYSIN: So you are going to return the sword. Got it. I will notify them at once.
QARZ: I did not say we’d return the sword, only that we’d find a way to rectify the situation. We request the option to negotiate this directly with House Waxley and to have our status with the Eyrie as a whole restored in return for this extremely ancient treasure that we recovered by killing an ancient white dragon several hundred miles beyond The Wall. We didn’t have to return here, but we felt it belonged here and felt it would clear the air.
REYSIN: Because you need something from us.
QARZ: We don’t need anything in return. We are trying to bring everything back to the status quo.
REYSIN: Well, you know we’ve taken quite the hit from not having Travers available anymore. He was a great source of trusted information, like we said last time. What have you to rectify that?
QARZ: And. All sins forgiven except for those that we will negotiate directly with House Waxley. I would also offer up that we have a relationship with a number of the great Houses and we would gladly act as intermediaries as necessary.
REYSIN: We need the type of information you don’t get directly from people. The kind that takes… some digging… without needing to answer for its source.
QARZ: I can’t help you there. I just ask that in return for this great and ancient and legendary treasure, we are no longer held responsible for your deficit in that situation. We will negotiate the issue with the sword with House Waxley separately, but outside of that…
Reysin recognizes, as Qarzdaq does, that they are speaking in circles. Reysin diverts their conversation towards something that might provide more context if he were to change his mind.
REYSIN: Tell me more about this great terror you speak of.
QARZ: I won’t candy-coat it. It’s the dead rising from their graves. Twenty years of darkness. Dogs and cats living together. Shit that’ll turn you white.
Reysin looks around the room then back to Qarzdaq.
REYSIN: I’m already plenty white.
FARR: We’ve seen whiter.
QARZ: We’ve slain the dead, we’ve slain those risen again as the dead, and we’ve slain those that have caused them to rise. They seek to slay us all.
REYSIN: Who have you convinced to provide you aid?
FARR: The Iron Islands, the Inventorship, the Sandship…
QARZ: … Oldtown, Winterfell, and the Night’s Watch of course.
REYSIN: So you have plenty without us. That’s good.
The maester leans over to Lord Reysin and whispers something in his ear. Reysin nods.
REYSIN: Yes. There is something to be said about joining the forces of those across Westeros. We’ll do this in the aid of Winterfell. We’ll do this in the aid of the Nightfort. But you need to know that we will not do this in the aid of you. And we continue to see you as criminals. Your friend may have proven himself innocent of killing Travers in cold blood by defeating our champion, …
Farron and Qarzdaq both instinctively look towards Brutus Maximus and notice his face looks purple and swollen.
REYSIN: … but he is still in possession of stolen property, and he destroyed a key part of the Vale’s security interests, whether or not it was in self-defense. And all of those on that wanted sign are accomplices.
Reysin begins to back away from the two visitors. As he does, the maester shuffles quickly outside the circle of guards.
The guards poke at Qarzdaq and Farron, guiding them towards the moon door. Qarzdaq notices what they are doing and he walks slowly, yet confidently, towards the moon door. Farron, now behind him, follows in kind. The guards are now also moving to keep up with the visitors.
QARZ: What of our request?
Reysin smirks…
Two guards walk into an alcove and begin twisting a large wooden wheel. Sudden gusts of wind and snow erupt from the well-like structure in the center of the Crescent Chamber.
REYSIN: Which part of your request?
QARZ: The part where in return for this ancient treasure, we are no viewed as criminals in this town and we can negotiate with House Waxley directly about the sword.
The entire hall is frigid cold. The moon door is fully open.
REYSIN: If you survive the fall… then sure…
Qarzdaq nods.
Before the guards could get one more poke on either of them, Qarzdaq grabs Farron and runs towards the moon door, jumping directly into it, falling down into the clouds. Once they enter the clouds, Qarzdaq moves Farron to be in front of him, then sprouts his wings. Careful to keep them below the tops of the clouds, he glides them away from the Eyrie.
Once stabilized, Farron teleports them back to the Nightfort.
Back to the Nightfort
When they arrive in the Nightfort, they immediately seek out Qhortho and Aran. Once they are found, Qarzdaq and Farron describe what happened at the Eyrie.
Qarzdaq turns to Qhortho.
QARZ: Buddy. My man. We’re going to have to talk to House Waxley and do something for them to get you to keep this sword. You gotta clear the air here. Perhaps there is a way to get them to believe that you having the sword is in service to them. So that you having the sword is helping them.
FARR: Become a guardian of House Waxley?
QHOR: Perhaps in retirement after we’re through with our mission.
ARAN: Fuck House Waxley and fuck House Arryn. They’re not acting in good faith by the laws of the land. Qhortho is innocent by all rights.
FARR: What they care about is their loss of information. Everything else is just an excuse.
QARZ: Well if all their chickens were in one basket, they shouldn’t cry over their spilled milk.
The Unlikely Assembly spends that night at the Nightfort, bringing an end to a very busy session. When they awake the next morning, it will be Day 921. This session they managed to (re)fight the naga and an iron golem in the Ioun Cavern, and return artifacts to the Inventorship, the Iron Isles, the Sandship, and the Eyrie, gaining their support for the looming battle ahead. For these feats, each member of the party gained 6 kXP, bringing their total to 223,350 – just 1650 XP shy of level 17.
The party should realize that strategy will be important. They expect to enter a great battle, and they have squads of allies ready to provide their support, each with their own special abilities, yet they have no way to transport these allies to where the battle will be. There are a number of other moving pieces in the world as well. Identifying, understanding how to utilize, and then positioning these pieces will be key to them succeeding on their mission.