tdm 05

[thestewards]

Though all the scars are healing
you’re always biting back
You know the struggle's real
I lie down then you attack

► 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.

THE WAREHOUSE JOB
Master Tinker Mari is in a tizzy. Last night, supplies from her personal warehouse in Wall Town went missing. And not just any supplies. These supplies were prototype items fashioned for a project she’s working on for Grand Master Niall.

Having left multiple messages on Draega’s far-caster network, she’s finally gotten you to help her. She asks you to investigate the warehouse and track down her missing supplies. By the way, don’t try to crack the boxes. They’re lined with lead to protect you from some of the dangerous, uh, stuff (as she says) inside.

At the warehouse, you find the lock on the back door has been picked. From the door, you can see that no windows look into the alley, so no one could have seen the culprit. Inside the warehouse, you discover a floor covered in a white powder, but none of it has been disturbed except where the door swung inward. On the floor, an area clean of powder reveals where the boxes once stood. They could not have been dragged out of the warehouse. If they had, the powder would have been disturbed. Near the back wall, hidden by shadow, you discover a little glob of silt. Someone tracked this in from the docks.

Landens and Blood worked together to steal these items, and you suspect mercenaries are responsible. Do you go to the docks to investigate, or do you turn this information over to the Guilds and let them deal with this problem on their own? No one would blame you for the latter: if landens and Blood are working together, there are certainly muters on the mercenary ship where Mari’s supplies have been taken. Dare you take matters of the law into your own hands?


WILD WILD MEN
It’s nearly dusk. Pink and blue rays from the sun pierce a haze of sand on the horizon, obscuring the sunset and painting the sky with pastels. The world seems blurry and depth becomes an illusion. You know to be wary: this is the time when the wildmen come out of the hills to the south and west of Draega.

You’re standing guard at a farm where the spring planting is just mature enough that it could be pulled in. This is a dangerous time for the farmers. They can’t defend themselves against the wildmen that raid their fields, and there aren’t enough guards from the Queen’s First Circle to protect everyone.

A scream comes from the hills. It echoes through the still, night air. Wildmen dressed in rags and furs appear on the plains before you, their sight shields dropping. None of them wear a Jewel darker than Summer-sky, but they are all wild-eyed with rage and hunger. Subdue them however you can, but be sure to protect the fields at your back.


SPRING CLEANING
After the madness of the Black Widow coven invading Draega, Lady Fayura has asked Strangers to help weave cleansing webs. Just as there are webs that ensnare and damage the mind, there are webs that heal them, too.

She invites Strangers who have left the Residence to come spend the morning in her private garden, where she teaches them how to weave cleansing webs. These are simpler webs, built like spirals that trap oppressive psychic energy and purifies the air, removing those dark feelings. As she teaches you, she explains that the landens and slums were hit the hardest by the coven’s attack and that the most psychic damage was done in the slums and the area around the Guilds.

You could, she suggests, leave your cleansing webs there, but if you do, you can expect resistance. Strangers wear Jewels, and they will be viewed with distrust and wariness in the slums especially. The Guilds, she says, insist they can take care of their own, but this kind of psychic damage requires a web to help repair it.

The Blood in River East clamor for cleansing webs. Once, there were many more Black Widows, but that caste was nearly wiped out in the Cataclysm. There are few Black Widows among the Blood in River East who can do what Fayura teaches the Strangers, and the Blood are particularly susceptible to lingering psychic malevolence. If the effects of the webs aren’t removed, the Blood will twist and become even more dangerous than they already are. At least they won’t try to chase the Strangers out of River East.

But who you help is up to you. The choice is yours, Stranger.


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.] I admit: I'm a bit confused. Can anyone learn how to be a Black Widow?

[Aren's boyish voice is cheerful and amused.] Anyone can learn how to weave a tangled web. Indeed, Healers weave webs to make their healing more effective. Even though you can learn the Craft, that will never make you a Black Widow. You won't spontaneously manifest a snake tooth, for example!

[Evandra:] Well, that's a relief! We certainly don't need more chance encounters that leave us poisoned!

[Aren:] Quite so, Evandra! And recovering from a Black Widow's venom is a grueling process. There are few things more deadly.

[Evandra:] Let's take a minute to discuss antivenin and how our listeners can brew their own at home.

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.] …plenty of sun over the next few days. It's the perfect time for taking in the spring harvest. With all this sun, consider purchasing Sun Shield, a new cream produced by the Medico and Crafter Guilds to protect your skin from…

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.] News from the Queen's Court suggests that we'll soon know who attacked the city two weeks ago.

[Another man, nasally in tone. He doesn’t sound rushed so much as put upon.] That’s right, Garret. The Strangers have been investigating the Black Widow coven responsible for breaking a young witch and placing malicious tangled webs throughout the city.

[Garret:] A handful of suspects are being held in the Queen's Residence as deliberations take place. The Strangers…

Comments

[goldfinger]

You realise I don't understand almost all of that. [ His eyes open, and though he's uncertain of it, he's made... something of a web. It's more stable than the last one and the spiral is certainly neater, nicer.

So he tries to make it bigger. ]

What sort of trouble are you talking about?

[theladyofwinterfell]

The faction with magic is fighting the faction without magic. Apparently, for a long time, the magic faction oppressed the non magic faction. They have just now started getting an even playing field.

( Sansa squints at him a bit. )

Does that make more sense, Ser Jaime?

[goldfinger]

Yes, [ his tone is dripping with just as much sarcasm as hers ] it does, actually.

So the land is dying because the oppressed are rising.

Not much of a queen, then, this Fayura.

[theladyofwinterfell]

( Sansa narrows her eyes at him a bit and sighs, deciding she's just going to have to explain everything to him. She's used to this, having been here longer, but surely the politics can't be that different. )

Your brother clearly got all the cunning and subtlety. She's a fine queen, in and of herself, but as a member of the Blood, the landen inherently distrust her. This is as if the smallfolk suddenly rose up against the noblemen of Westeros. We tend not to think of them at all but what if we did? What do the smallfolk think of me or Cersei?

[goldfinger]

Smallfolk are never truly happy with their place, not a hundred percent. But good rulers never allow them the power to destroy their kingdom.

[ A lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the sheep. Jaime doesn't care much for power, and he doesn't care much for rulers, and frankly if these people are rising against her-- good for them.

But Sansa has mentioned Cersei. And despite it all, Jaime loves her more than nearly anything in the world. ]

I see you've chosen to be loyal to this queen. Good for you, truly-- it's nice to have something to fight for. [ He finishes this web off with a small swoop, but his hand and wrist still tremble after. Jaime takes a breather. ] I don't know anything about her, meanwhile. And having to trust strangers from foreign worlds with the fate of her kingdom doesn't inspire the best impression. Especially when this trust hinges on deals she might not be able to carry out.

I'm not as clever as Tyrion is, [ that's just fact, at this point ] but I don't trust as easily as he does in the greater good, either.

[theladyofwinterfell]

I'm trusting her because she claims she has the magic to protect Winterfell. I only care for Winterfell, Ser Jaime, and I will kill anyone I need to kill to keep it safe. I will slice through armies, through lords - I will order executions to keep my castle and my family safe.

( Sansa stiffens her spine, looking him in the eyes. She thinks Lannisters are the same way, deep down. They're very proud of their house in her experience. )

I let a bastard rape and torture me for Winterfell. What else do you think I'll do for it?

[goldfinger]

Oh, [ he likes this. And there's this very small glint in his tired eyes, a brief flash of interest-- because he recognises her, and he understands, because he's much the same way ] everything.

Family is all that lives on in the end. Not personal glory or honour, but family.

I understand that fully. [ With the feeling back in his fingers, Jaime works at another web, his gaze drifting from where Sansa's seated by him. ] Perhaps I'll grow to trust Queen Fayura, too.

[theladyofwinterfell]

She seems to want to do the best by everyone. She wouldn't have reached out if she didn't have to, I don't think. That said, she keeps herself...removed from everyone else. She's very private.

( Sansa is too, even if she lets herself be seen in Winterfell, and she understands and respects the reserve Fayura has at times. )

I trust her to an extent.

[goldfinger]

An extent is better than not at all, I imagine.

[ "Very private". Curiouser and curiouser, especially if your kingdom is under civil war.

On the other hand, Jaime thinks he's starting to get the hang of this whole web nonsense, but maybe he's just so used to not caring about politics that it creates a false sense of calm. And calm helps considerably. ]

Do you like her?

[theladyofwinterfell]

What I know of her? Yes. I've not had a private audience with her, though, and you know as well as I do that people can be different behind closed doors.

( Is it dangerous to reveal this much of her mind to Jaime Lannister? Possibly, but Tyrion trusts him and so therefore Sansa has decided to trust him for the time being. )

[goldfinger]

[ Liking someone is an entirely different thing from trusting them, which is to say Sansa's answer is definitely surprising. Not in a bad way, no, but not in a good one, either. ]

Still impressive, though. [ He flicks his fingers, making a swoop of a curve. ] I imagine you couldn't simply like anyone easily.

[theladyofwinterfell]

No. Your son cured me of that quite efficiently.

( Sansa watches his work with the web and tries to discern if he's correcting his earlier mistakes. The lines of the web look good and she nods her approval at him. )

It's better this time. You're not straying from the pattern as much, you're keeping your power contained.

[goldfinger]

[ The mention of Joffrey makes the web pulse, but of course it does. Jaime hadn't loved him as much as Cersei did, but the boy was still family. And Jaime had still failed him.

The web pulses with dark energy-- one beat of emotional weakness-- but Jaime pushes through, forcing another curve, another swirl. ]

I don't know what I'm doing, truthfully.

[theladyofwinterfell]

No, but I think you have a good instinct. It's coming out well even though you aren't familiar with the process.

( Sansa can tell the mention of Joffrey has knocked him off-kilter, though, and she gives him an apologetic smile. No matter Joffrey's sins, he'd been Jaime's son. )

I shouldn't have been so flippant. He was terrible to me, yes, but he was still your family. Family is family, whether they're perfect or not.

[goldfinger]

You don't need to be kind about Joffrey's memory on my account. [ Unlike Cersei, Jaime wouldn't lash out at anyone for that. He knows the sort of person his eldest was, but it's not something he has the right to regret. It's not like he raised him. ]

He hurt you. [ He closes his left hand into a fist and ceases the flow of energy from himself, sending his third web into the air before it turns dark with remorse. ] You deserve every right to hate him.

I just hate remembering how he died.

[theladyofwinterfell]

It wasn't a kind death. I had nothing to do with it, though, even though I was blamed for it. Tyrion and I had nothing to do with killing him. I might have thought about my life being better if he died in battle but I'd never harm him.

( Sansa doesn't know why she's apologizing for Joffrey now but she feels the need to, especially when Jaime is fighting for her. )

[goldfinger]

I know it wasn't your fault. [ He says this with sureness; he isn't bluffing, and he isn't saying it to comfort her, he's saying it because he knows who did it in the first place. There's a finality to his tone, though, that indicates he's more or less done with the topic. ]

I'm not here to kill you, Sansa Stark. I'm here to "help save the world".

[ And I swore an oath to your mother that I'd protect you. ]

It's likely I've hit my limit of webs, though. [ He cocks his head to the side, thoughtful, before looking down at his flesh fingers. ] My hand is still shaking.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Rest it, then, before I have to go and heal it.

( His words about not being there to kill her intrigue her, though, and she tips her head a bit as she examines him. He's well capable of killing her, if he wanted to. This is a man who killed a king, after all, and so many other men besides. Ser Jaime Lannister is formidable, even without his right hand. )

You would kill me, though, should I get in the way of something you needed. Someone you needed to protect. If I came after Cersei, you'd kill me. If you came after Jon or Arya or Bran, I'd kill you. Wolves and lions are not so very different, Ser Jaime, except that wolves fight together.

[goldfinger]

[ He chuckles, amused. Chuckles and turns his head and tilts it back for good measure, one brow raised in the faintest question. ]

Do you think it wise to discuss the reasons we might kill each other when we're meant to work together?

[theladyofwinterfell]

Perhaps it's best we're simply honest with one another. I respect honesty more these days than pretty courtesies. If I told you that I was so glad you were here, that I was so happy you were going to protect me - you'd know that was a lie, wouldn't you?

( Sansa shrugs one shoulder elegantly and draws closer, reaching out and touching his left hand. )

Be honest with me and I'll be honest with you. We have the same goals, I think, and as long as those goals don't hurt my family, I will help you achieve them.

[goldfinger]

[ Her fingers brush over his skin and Jaime almost pulls away-- almost, except he has the self-control not to, and it's not like Sansa Stark is going to murder him before they go to save Winterfell. ] I just don't want the dead to march south and end the world.

[ Blue eyes flick upward, meeting Sansa's, and he turns his hand over to offer his palm. It's shaking, still, in the smallest tremors. The tips of his fingers crackle with small bits of green. ]

I'm not going to kill you. [ You and your sister are the only ones I've ever sworn not to harm. ] We're going to save this blasted kingdom and then go home.

[theladyofwinterfell]

We are. I have faith in us. Now, about this hand...I think you've overdone it on webs for just now. Let me try and stabilize it a bit, all right?

( Sansa only wears Purple Dusk but she's been learning how to heal and this is something she's better at than weaving webs. )

[goldfinger]

[ 'Stabilise'. Jaime almost asks when it was Sansa decided to become a maester, but keeps his mouth shut from any of that nonsense.

Instead, like a normal person, he says, ] All right. [ And ignores the fact there's another crackle of green at his fingertips. ]

[theladyofwinterfell]

( Sansa imagines a bandage, of sorts, stabilizing his wrist and helping to take the pressure off it. It's only supported by her Purple Dusk, yes, but if he doesn't try doing anything spectacular with it, she thinks it'll hold. )

There you are. If it starts hurting again, you can come find me. I'll help you or have one of my friends do it - Zita wears the Green, she'll have more power.

[goldfinger]

I'm not entirely sure who Zita is. [ But he does give his steady hand a curious look. Turning it over, he feels some slight stiffness-- something firm and proper in his forearm. It's a curious feeling. (It's a magic feeling, if he has to be specific about it.) ]

Hm. [ Jaime doesn't know how to feel about magic, but it seems to be useful enough. ] I suppose I should be done here then, shouldn't I?

[ A very small part of him considers saying 'thank you'. Another part of him says probably not. ]