tdm 03

[thestewards]

Oh we were comin' around You threw me back down
You had my trust in your hands You gave it up again

► All TDM threads may be considered canon provided both parties agree and are accepted into the game.

► Canon threads may be redeemed for influence and reputation depending on how you solve the issue at hand or how you engage with the prompt. They also count toward AC.

► Feel free to switch up your character's Jewel from thread to thread. Get a feel for how a Birthright Jewel may limit or enhance your character's abilities.

VIGILANDEN JUSTICE
Newcomers may have heard: just two weeks ago, the Blood attempted to sabotage the power plant just outside the city. For a brief time, the city plunged into darkness and during that time, Councilwoman Vera was shot and killed in the Old Town Bazaar by a young landen man. A small flower now grows where she died. No matter how many times it’s torn up, it grows back.

Following these events, the Strangers overwhelmingly chose to aid the power plant that keeps the lights on. With the perception that the Strangers are on their side, young landen men and women have grown bold. In the night, they creep into River East, where the Blood live.

Some of these gangs of landens do little more than paint Guild symbols on the walls of Blood homes: a hexagon with circles at each joint for the Guilds as a whole, the Tinker's hammer, the needle and jewel of the Crafters, the double-arrow of the Hunter Guild. They cover walls with incendiary words—words like bleeder and bastard.

Others are not so kind. They bring portable muters with them and break into homes. They steal both precious and mundane possessions, frighten children, and terrify parents. They go to the single altar in Draega and smash the treasures of the Blood’s faith, knocking over candles and lighting tapestries that honor the Darkness on fire.

Have you friends in Draega already? Perhaps you met someone at breakfast at the Queen’s Residence, and now as you walk the streets together, you come across one of these landen gangs. The news is full of reports about what they’re doing. Now, it seems, the choice is yours. Do you stop them or join them? The Queen has asked you to help broker peace between the landens and the Blood, but she’s also given you the worst freedom of all: that of choice. Perhaps you think it best to support these gangs in their desire to even the odds against the Blood.


WARM FRONT
The explosion at the power plant caused a surge of power that damaged elektriline heaters in homes across Draega, leaving many in the cold. The Queen, seeing her people in need, immediately dispatched her court to provide heating spells for these homes. She also asked the Strangers, both those still living at her residence and those living throughout the city, to lend their aid, too.

Members of the First Circle provide a quick lesson on how to cast warming spells. These can be wrapped around people or attached to items, such as small stones or large ovens. Depending on how much power is infused into the spell, it can last for an hour or two or upwards of a few days (especially when cast by a darker Jewel).

Many in the First Circle insist on going to the homes in River East—the Blood homes, places where they are more likely to be welcomed. Some certainly choose this because being around the landens makes them nervous and uneasy, but some outright refuse to help the landens, especially those who live in River North where the Guilds do their business. Prince Barret and Lords Jared and Yarl in particular won’t go to the landen parts of town, leaving you and your partner to canvas Old Town, River North, and perhaps even the slums to see if anyone would like your help.

Certainly, this will not be easy, and the Queen has promised a silver mark for each household you and your partner help.


POISONED GNATURE
Warmer weather claws its way across the land, lifting the temperatures above freezing for the first time in months. While much of the city reacts with relief, and the air in the Bazaar improves in spite of the violence and tension that hovers over the city like a black cloud, the farmers outside the city walls are dealing with their own troubles: cold-resistant mosquitoes carrying disease from the frigid mountains of Askavi.

Stagnant water fills troughs and furrows in the earth, becoming a toxic breeding ground for more of these awful pests. The mosquitoes have little interest in humans, but they’re hungry for animal blood. Most animals bitten by the mosquitoes die within a day, their meat rendered inedible.

Food is already scarce and stores run thin. If more animals die, people won’t just be a little hungry or disappointed in the tasteless porridge many are serving as a hold over until summer, they will starve.

The landen Guilds provide a thick, smelly paste that can be spread over the animals, and the Queen requests the Strangers aide the farmers. She, too, can be found working among the stables with Prince Verim or Prince Allairavar at her side, doing her part to ensure the city remains fed.


AIR TIME
Whether you catch the news on a Far-caster in the city or you're spinning the dial on your own device, you'll hear…

etiquette with evandra and aren
[Evandra's voice is a little bit rough and a little bit husky, the kind of voice that gives bad ideas to young men and headaches to fathers.] …understanding that some people— [She’s being polite about it, but she definitely means the Strangers.] —don’t know how to address a Queen!

[Aren’s voice is chipper and bright. He sounds more like an eager boy than the full-grown man he is.] Quite right, Evandra. For Blood females, remembering titles is easy. Every witch you meet should be addressed as Lady.

[Evandra sounds a little surprised.] Even though male castes have different titles of address, a witch is always called Lady?

[Aren:] That she is! A working Healer or Priestess should be addressed by their caste, but if you’re just being polite in casual conversation, calling her “Lady” is enough!

[Evandra:] As they say: whether warm or rainy, when you meet on the street, you address her as Lady.

the weather
[A soft-spoken man’s voice rumbles out of the Far-caster. He’s pleasant to listen to, with a soothing cadence to his voice.] …rains coming out of Askavi over the next week. Farmers are advised to cover their plants. When outside in the rain, Blood should shield and landens should wear heavy cloaks to protect their skin. Worried about lesions from the rains? The Medicos have a new salve that…

the news
[The man speaks at a brisk pace, hurried and harried as though he has too much to say and not enough time to say it.] …appointing someone new to the Ebon Council?

[Another man, nasally in tone. He doesn’t sound rushed so much as put upon.] It’s hard to say, Garret. With the Strangers in the city, it’s likely that Lord Grejor is waiting to see if any are willing to bring the young assassin to justice.

[Garret:] The landen who killed Councilwoman Vera is a member of the Crafter Guild and is currently being held by the Queen. There have been reports that the Queen means to implement some new process for judging offenses by the end of the week…

Comments

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa grabs it and holds it tight, waiting for his next instruction. She isn't sure what he needs for her to do, precisely, but she's certainly able and willing to aid him in any way she can.

"I've got it for as long as you need. Just let me know when I can let it go, all right?"

[garmr]

“Yeah.”

Guts would like to think he was mostly doing this to get her working if she was going to stick around, but her willingness to help still left its good impression.

“Just hold her head still. If you loop the rope around your wrist, you’ll have a better grip.”

He turns to the horse, using the other end of the rope to start making a halter around its long head. This part, at least, didn’t seem seem to bother it at all.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa makes a loop around her wrist, as instructed, and holds the rope tightly without making it taut. She imagines pulling on the horse's head will only stress it and defeat the purpose of what they're doing.

"Horses are finicky things, aren't they? Much too much trouble to deal with on a regular basis. Still, we're beholden to them all the same."

[garmr]

“Haven’t traveled with one in a while,” he admits. It’s been nearly two years, for that very reason.

“They don’t react well to the undead.”

Once the knots are tightened in place, he gets a handful of the paste, and the horse gives the rope a few hard tugs in response. It was less fear and more out of a disgruntled stubbornness. Despite not liking the business of having something that foul hear it’s nose, it didn’t look like they would be dealing with any full-on panic.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa arches a brow at that. She’s heard the stories from Jon about the army of the dead but this man doesn’t look like one of the White Walkers. He looks normal to her, all told, and she wonders what she missed.

“From what I know of the undead, you don’t look to be among them. Forgive my bluntness, of course.”

[garmr]

"Guess the sleep's makin' me look like part of the living again."

The misunderstanding actually does get full-on grin out of him, good-natured if still quite tired. The horse, inversely, manages to look equally unhappy as paste is slathered onto its head. A hoof paws the ground.

"I was bein' chased by spirits, hungry for warm flesh and blood. Didn't follow me here, though. Not yet."

[theladyofwinterfell]

"I see. Well, it's quite fortunate you've made it here to Hayll and not trapped by whatever was after you. It sounds as if it would be an unpleasant way to go."

Sansa knows quite a bit about unpleasant ways to die, as it is, and it isn't something she'd wish on someone she likes. Guts is an acquaintance, yes, but she likes him well enough. She likes to think her judgment's gotten better over the years.

[garmr]

As a person who also enjoys being alive, he’d appreciate the sentiment. He wonders if Sansa was escaping anything herself. Her family life didn’t seem particularly unpleasant by what she was telling him, but there was something about the way she handled herself that hinted at a quiet resilience. It was unlike most noblewomen he’s met - even if it was merely in handling the physical labor without complaint, or shrugging off his less courtly mannerisms.

His thoughts are interrupted, however, once he ties the halter off the horse’s head. With a snort from the big animal, he gets shoved backwards hard enough to nearly knock him off his feet, though he manages to keep both feet balanced on the ground. The pungent mud was smeared across his clothes, but he seems to take the show of frustration with good enough humor.

“Heh. Think she’s done.”

[theladyofwinterfell]

"You'll need a bath but these horses will be better for your efforts. I'm sorry I wasn't more help - I'm not used to stable work, I'm afraid."

Sansa's talents are in managing a household. She knows how much grain one needs to feed a horse but she doesn't exactly know how to feed one herself.

"You were kind to be patient with me."

[garmr]

"Got this crap smeared on its head," he says bluntly,"S'all that matters, doesn't it?"

Everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. He just happened to know horses and had a high tolerance for getting covered in gross sludge. When they were all down there in the dirt, there was nothing more to it than that.

He makes his way over to retrieve the rest of the rope from her.