[VIDEO] backdated, shortly after NPC post

[dorzalta]

» WHO: All
» WHEN: The morning following Tyr and Laufey's announcement on 7/17
» TYPE: Live broadcast

[ It takes some tinkering and awkwardness at first, along with a series of huffs and grumbles you thankfully miss... but when the feed does appear, enjoy a perplexed Daenerys looking at the screen (as well as a reflection of herself, Jon, and Robb). They are wearing modern clothes: button-down shirts for the men, a blazer for Robb, and a royal blue halter-like dress for Dany. ]

Well met, Wanderers. [ … she is speaking to you all, she hopes. ] My name is Daenerys Targaryen. This is Jon Snow and Robb Stark.

[ The feed will jerk as she attempts to angle the screen to both men, respectively. It's not at all elegant, and is, in fact, an eyesore to watch. Which is why seconds later she gives up on it and leaves the strange screen in place in front of her. (Robb gets up as if to try and help her, but his attempts are just as bad as hers. Eventually, he gives it up as a bad job too. Jon, who had inclined his head when Daenerys attempted to introduce him, merely watches now with a skeptical expression: it's going to take a while for them all to get the hang of this.) ]

In our world, war is commonplace. We have armies and generals, as well as a means to communicate when there is an attack on a city or castle. Here, that doesn't seem to be the case. [ Which is strange to her. For all her wariness of these self-proclaimed gods, the smallfolk of Asgard appear to be happy. ] It's why we've approached the gods about a means of gathering. The chaos which followed the dragon's appearance makes us believe that a type of war council is necessary for this realm.

[As Jon begins to speak, he seems a little bit uneasy, slightly awkward, but as his words spin out and gather momentum, he becomes visibly more comfortable with the idea of addressing everyone. It doesn't come as naturally to him as it seems to come to Daenerys.]

When the people of a realm don't work together to face a threat, the end is calamity -- death and hunger and suffering, for those who fought and for those who could not fight. When we know what our strengths are, we know how best to defend against what may come. And when we know what to do, we can be ready to do it, even when we face something that seems impossible to overcome. This is our realm now, all of us. Today, we can put our strengths together. We can begin to make those plans. Maybe we won't ever need them, it's true, but if we do, we won't be caught unawares again.

I know that you may not know us. Each of us has been a king or a queen; not one of us was born with that title. None of us means to try to rule anyone else here, none of us expects to be the loudest voice on any council, but we all have experience with planning for war, and with several kinds of threat.

Daenerys rides a dragon at home, and has taken cities in the East and freed thousands upon thousands of slaves there. I have been Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and King in the North: I've spent long years scouting and defending and preparing for great attacks on my homeland, fighting Wildlings first, and then making an alliance with them to fight the Army of the Dead. My brother Robb was King in the North before me; he was a successful general several times over in campaigns in the southron lands. He knows tactics, battle strategy, better than almost anyone you'll ever meet.

We have all fought for the lives and safety and freedom of our fellow men. We want to continue to do that here and now. We want you to join us, if you will.

[ Jon looks over at Robb, and Robb picks the thread up: ] Understand, we are not asking to go to war. This council is only meant to make certain that we are not caught so off our guard as we were when the dragon attacked. In order to do that, we’re going to organize the council into different groups: preparations, battle and response. We Wanderers come from different worlds, and in times of crisis our different strengths come out. We need to combine our strengths and work together if we are to effectively respond to whatever threats may come next.



( OOC #1: if you want to address a specific cast member, please indicate that in the subject of your comment--otherwise we’ll read it as fair game for any of us to attack C:

OOC #2: We made a spiffy ooc post detailing the war council, as well as sign ups for it. Check it out HERE. )

Comments

[dorzalta]

[ Is that why you're so angry? She doesn't outright ask him that, but the thought comes unbidden as she considers the screen for a moment. ]

What do you attribute your survival to with both men dead?

[ She'd already told him his father was dead. That Euron took over the Iron Islands, forcing both he and Yara to flee. ]

Some luck in the beginning, perhaps. [ No use in trying to imagine what his beginnings were. That's his story to tell, and it's clear he's no interest in telling her. ] But skill comes later. Or do you mean to imply you're an unskilled oaf?

[reek]

[ That’s part of it. Who wouldn’t become angry with the knowledge that your death could come on any day? ]

My father still lives.

[ The man was old and frail and already looked half a corpse when Theon left to take Winterfell. It isn’t particularly hard to believe that Dany speaks the truth on that matter, but he refuses to budge even an inch for her.

I mean to imply you’re a nosy bitch, he seethes, but he doesn’t say as much. He’s the one who opened the doors for questions. It’s his own fault. ]

I mean to imply that it’s unlikely I survived the burning of Winterfell at all. I keep trying to tell you that whoever it was you met, it wasn’t me.

[dorzalta]

[ Welcome to her childhood, Theon. ]

In your time. In my time, Euron leads the Ironborn.

[ It wasn't me. She just nearly rolls her eyes. The huff of a sigh, quiet as it may be, is unmistakeable. ]

Willfully turning a deaf ear to the truth won't aid in one's longevity.

[ Stubborn. She can't blame him for it, however annoying it is. No matter what she says, he'll twist her words and call her a liar... even when she's not referencing her time of knowing him. So defensive. ]

What would you do if you did survive its burning?

[reek]

There is no “my time” and “your time”. There is, however, my truth and your lies.

[ I’m sorry, Dany, did you think you could slip one by him? Absolutely not. Theon is sharper than he lets on, but he’s more stubborn than any mule.

As for what he would do given his survival, he hasn’t given any thought to it. Truth be told, he hadn’t even given much thought to what he might do if he couldn’t hold Winterfell to begin with. He simply continued to make bigger threats, hoping that fear might make the others back off or fall beneath his rule. The Boltons were unexpected, to say the least.

Luckily, he doesn’t have to think too hard. The fact that Ned Stark’s son is sitting right there beside Dany gives him ssome idea as to what might have happened to him. Theon is, after all, a traitor. ]

I would lose my head not long afterward.

[dorzalta]

Or, there's my truth, your truth, and your denials to anything you fail to reconcile in your memory.

[ Suffice it to say had they not been allies in her memory, she'd take no interest in him at all. He would either be with her, or against her and supporting Cersei's claim to the throne. And if that was the case .... ]

What if you didn't lose your head?

[reek]

Or there is only my truth and your desperate attempts to cling to your lies.

[ Theon's memory has failed him before. After all, he’d failed to recognize his sister, and failed to remember the customs of the Iron Islands. But he had been gone for ten years. He could chalk those faults up to the passing of time. He would surely remember something as blatant as a visit to Meereen.

Truth be told, he's largely removed from the politics of Westeros. He'd supported Robb simply because Robb was his friend. When he swapped allegiance and turned to his father's side, there was no real political motive to it; it was all based on emotion. Squabbling queens and kings mean little to him. In the end, all that really matters to Theon is a sense of belonging. He wants to feel accepted and loved. So far, he doesn't. ]

That was never an option, but I'd more than likely be sent to the Wall.

[dorzalta]

There's hardly anything desperate about me. [ Which... wasn't always the case. He doesn't need to know that. ] I find it strange that you would so readily ostracize someone who wishes to be allied with you.

[ It isn't so strange when she's met those she has. People are so happy to spit upon things that don't fully suit them or their whims. That's where betrayals enter, which makes her think whatever might've happened in Theon's life, he had a reason to betray Robb.

Not that it excuses his actions. They're all stupid when they're younger, and the man she met in Meereen clearly paid for that stupidity.

They all do. The thought leaves her feeling tired. ]

The Lannisters seem to enjoy the chaos they've stirred. Banishment to the Wall seems unlikely with them sitting on the throne.

[reek]

[ Theon snorts; a clear attempt to hold back a laugh. He may not really know Daenerys, but he can only assume there’s a certain sort of desperation there. She wants him to badly to be someone he assures her that he isn’t. Why isn’t that enough to prove to her that she never met Theon Greyjoy? ]

I don’t recall wishing to be allied with you.

[ And it’s true: he didn’t. He would rather go it alone than ally himself with Daenerys. It has nothing to do with her family or background either. Who is Theon to judge someone for that? He simply doesn’t like her. They got off on the wrong foot, and now all he can do is seethe when he speaks to her. ]

The Lannisters can do what they like. They have nothing to do with me or my potential beheading.

[dorzalta]

[ Because, she hella met you, Alfie!Theon. ]

You don't know me. [ Easy to fling the words back at him, knowing full well he may say that he has no desire to know her. That's fine. She doesn't know him from her time with two wars to fight. Doesn't mean she couldn't make an attempt to change that. ] Just as I don't know you. But I think we both know what it means to survive in exile.

[ That's spoken softer, more a private note meant only for his ears and not the men nearby. There would be no claims of knowing his history, but she knows of some details from conversations with Jon and Tyrion. With the way Jon describes Theon, with the way she's seen him behave thus far, she expects he'll react poorly to that.

But it's true, isn't it? Not live, but survive. Which, in a way, is an indirect compliment. ]

I've never met someone so determined he'll be beheaded.

[reek]

[ He’s satisfied hearing the words “I don’t know you” from her, but he doesn’t suspect she truly believes them. It matters little, though. She can continue to believe her mad delusions. So long as she no longer attempts to argue that she’s met him, he’s content.

But he hates that he can’t even argue with her. He only knows what he’s been told, but he can confirm that she’s right; they’ve both lived in exile. Daenerys and her brother were driven to Essos, and Theon was taken to Winterfell. Both had to learn to survive far from home with no allies, and neither had any choice in the matter. ]

You say you don’t know me. Don’t speak as if you do.

[ It’s the only response he has. He can’t deny it, but he’s too proud to admit that they share something in common. ]

I’ve lived half my life believing I was going to be beheaded. I may as well show some determination.

[dorzalta]

[ She can't help rolling her eyes. One commonality he still refuses to admit to. He's one of the most stubborn men she's met. ]

Exile is exile, isn't it? I don't have to know you to understand that — especially if you lived with the belief you were going to be beheaded as a boy.

[ She doesn't pity him for that sort of life, and her tone is far from suggestive of it. Her tone isn't dismissive, either, for she can understand part of it. There's no kindness in growing up with the fear of death... no matter the gestures proffered along the way.

It's more than she understood of him for the months that they were allies in her time. ]

I lived half my life believing the Usurper's dogs were coming to finish the task Stannis failed.

[reek]

[ He knows he’s stubborn. His stubbornness is a huge part of the reason he was able to hold Winterfell for as long as he did—and also part of the reason he ultimately lost it. He would keep his prize by any means necessary, even if it meant placing his trust in a man he had no trust in to begin with.

But he won’t be moved, and he won’t admit out loud that they’ve lived similar childhoods. ]

It wasn't a belief. It was the agreement made before I even left Pyke.

[ YOU CAN'T COMPARE THEM, DANY!!! ]

[dorzalta]

Who told you of that agreement?

[ Wow, don't tell her what to do punk. DEATH THREATS ARE LEGIT. ]

How old were you when you left Pyke?

[reek]

My father, Lord Stark, King Robert.

[ It wasn’t exactly a secret. Theon had been a sensitive child, but sensitivity isn’t welcome on the Iron Islands. With two brothers dead, he had been made into Balon’s heir overnight. It was his duty to be there as his father bent the knee and re-swore his fealty to the Baratheons. He heard of his fate with his own two ears, and he was reminded of it every day that he saw Lord Stark’s grim face. Eddard never even had to say a word. He merely had to exist. ]

I was ten.

[dorzalta]

He's no king — he's a usurper. Better off he's dead and gone.

[ It's not as if he bettered the kingdom, after all. And with his death, war ensued, the instability of the Seven Kingdoms all but guaranteed with no Targaryen heir. It's enough to have her glancing away, briefly, lips thinning. ]

I don't recall my brother telling me of the Ironborn siding with our House during the Rebellion. Nor did he tell me of your people siding with the Usurper while my family was destroyed. What did your father do, to displease the two?

[reek]

You don’t recall it because we took neither side.

[ The truth of the matter is that the ironborn seldom ever side with anyone. The ironborn do what’s convenient until they can break away and do what they prefer. So they had bent the knee to whoever wore the crown, but remained rather neutral and unsupportive during Robert’s rebellion, allowing the mainlanders to squabble among themselves over their iron chair.

He’s surprised that Dany doesn’t know what his father did to displease Robert, however. He thought everyone knew about Lord Balon’s failed rebellion. It’s something the ironborn are so often mocked for; or at least, it’s something Theon has been mocked for as Balon’s son. ]

You don’t know? The Iron Islands were independent once, long before your father and mine, with their own king and their own crown. My father wished to reinstate that and take his place on the Seastone Chair. He rebelled against the crown. Needless to say, Robert didn’t like that.

[ He smirks; he could not care less what Robert liked. ]

But he and Lord Stark were good friends. You displease one, you displease the other.

[ That's how Theon always saw it, at least. ]

[dorzalta]

You mean before Aegon the Conqueror and his sisterwives united the Seven Kingdoms?

[ She shakes her head. It's the first time when speaking with him she's a look of regret to her. ]

That rebellion occurred while I was still a girl, perhaps while my brother and I lived in Braavos, and I too young to recall it. Or, it was while we — traveled. [ He didn't need to know they fled from household to household, fearing assassins on their heels. ] Westeros was nothing more than a story to me, and my brother was busy enough with teaching me the histories of my family.

[ The rest of it... perhaps she ought to have asked Tyrion about that. It seems silly in hindsight to not question more insistently why a Greyjoy was in the North. ]

Sounds like they might've been better off married to one another.

[ Sorry not sorry Starkies, there's no love lost for either man. ]