[AN]
A bit of a backlash for last chapter.
let me try to explain. MC at some point will have to reveal his powers. be it either magic or Tuum.
he decided to rip the band-aid sooner rather than later. right now. he is just a nobody with a fancy armor. he needs reputation.
him breathing out fire only helps him down the line. like i explained. it will help him with Rhegar, or bobby B and even with staying out of Aeris wild fire crosshairs. remember that Aeris was obsessed with trying to revive the dragons.
it was needed to be done.
~~~~~~~~~
Harrenhall was... well to say it was an atrocity to the eyes would be an understatement. it was horrendous to look at. the bent, half melted towers, crooked walls in disrepair. where is bob the builder or rather Fix-it Felix when you need him?
After Darry he has already taken the role of a High born lord. perhaps he did not know everything about court and proper etiquette. but he was from the other side of the sunset sea. where customs are different, him bowing strangely or using strange words. could already be explained by that.
I bet my ass that Crows are already flying to inform every house of the Lord from a different continent that can spit fire. now it's only time until I become a legend. with this and the gossip around the tourney, I will become quite famous. and i will be able to meet the Prince and other Lord Paramaunts. get a read on them.
Seeing the camp of Tents already erected outside of the monstrosity that was the castle i approached the stables after asking around servants for directions.
Leaving Shadow with them I walked around, still having at least 6 hours of light i wanted to see what houses have arrived.
There were a few he recognized. all of them had their sigil in a banner-like flag swaying in front of their tents. I found that even though it was still close to 2 fortnights for the tourney, many lords have already made it here.
"yellow balls. hose lemonwood." i just chuckled. not getting involved with random Dornishman. easy way to end up waking up with your bed full of vipers.
I needed a proper tent. not that small shit i had that could only house two people so after walking around I found the merchant caravans selling all their wares. it was probably over-prized as the demand was high and the stock low. but appearances are important. or how the Asians call it "face".
After finding a Cock merchant... *cough* I mean a tent merchant... i approached him and asked for a tent. a big ass tent worthy of a lord. he rubbed his hands like a maniac with a grin while looking at my armor.
"200 gold dragons" he said with a small chuckle.
"Do you take me for a fool?" where the only words I spoke.
"fine 150 and it's yours" the coc... tent merchant said as he just reached out with his hand.
"i can get one of those tents made of the finest tarps and still only have to pay around 50" he was a bit of bluffing but if he remembered correctly a gold dragon translation in value was around like 2k USD.
"then go buy it there. do you know how many people come here asking me for my wares?" the merchant no was more agressive. time to hit back.
"and you dont know who I am?" I say from between my teeth while taking a step forward "give me a fair price. and you shall live" while putting my hand on my sword.
"70, i can not go lower." he just said while looking at the ground. seems intimidation was a nat 20.
"you shall have my Tent set up by sundown. also what colors do you have and do you have a sewmisstress in your employ?" he nodded. "good, bring me parchment or paper and quill." the cock merchant ran away towards his cart and brought back a sheet of paper, quill and a bottle of ink.
After drafting the sigil of my "house" Crownguard i gave it back to him and told him to make it as a banner flag. also to do the same on the sides of the Tent.
"you have 2 days to deliver the house banner, that would be 10 extra gold dragons. all payed when it is delivered." i leave the merchant.
Could i have used bend will and made him sign a deal much worst? yea. but that would be me going full Charles Xavier on his ass.
After some time just wandering around and finally set up camp in a nice high ground so i dont get swamped if it rains... well it would not matter either way, i got Clear Sky shout. but i still wanted to have a decent spot, the advantage of arriving early.
the next day I woke up and left my tent. not leaving anything inside I just wandered until i found a sand arena with some people sparring. let's see how good I am with a mace. after going behind a shack I store the ebony blade and retrieve a regular steel mace. no point in using an ebony mace. I did not want to kill anyone. at least not yet.
putting on my helmet and entering the sparing circle I see a few people drinking and chatting on the edges. all of them got ger and blunt weapons. I approach the biggest guy there is, he has a blunt two-handed war Ax. I just stand in front of him and point my mace at him then wave at him to come at me with my fingers.
The big man just laughs, gives his water or wineskin to the person he was talking with, and charges. no words were needed to be exchanged.
After blocking a few of his hits with my shield, not even feeling the impacts that much, I shield bashed, timing it with the hit that I was going to block, this made the battle Ax bounce back with extreme force, making the big man almost lose his grip on the wooden handle. stepping forward I kicked him behind the knees before shield punching him in the chest. he lost balance and went down on his back. placing a foot on the Ax's shaft to immobilize it and then pointing the mace at his face he finally yields. and starts to belly laugh.
"What is your name Sir?" I ask as I offer him a hand to help him out of the sand.
"Nestor Royce" he says as he takes the offered hand. "yours?"
"Lord Garen James Crownguard," I say as I remove my helmet
"House Crownguard? i know my houses and never heard of it" he says as we walk to where his friend was.
i just chuckle "of course you never heard of it. it's from the sunset lands also known as Nirn." this makes him and his companion look at me questioning what I just said, "what is West of Westeros?" I ask them and then their eyes go wide
"you jest. there is nothing west of Westeros." it was the friend of Nestor that spoke this time.
"you sure about that? a few mad Northman and their King Brandon decided to cross the sunset sea. they succeded." they got so pale they looked ready to vomit blood like in a xianxia novel. " I was the one sent back after all those years by the order of the current king. but we got attacked by pirates when reaching the coast. I was the only one to survive the journey, everyone else drowned. well except for my horse. Shadow"
This made Nestor and his friend finally chuckle. "sounds like a mummer's play." I just looked at him as if he was a moron.
"you question the truth of my words Sir?" I pretended to be offended.
"do you have a way to prove it?" his companion crossed his hands in a defensive posture.
"look at the sky" there were a few clouds here and there, they both did. "Lok Vah Koor!" after shouting at the sky and clearing it of all the clouds in seconds i turned around and looked at the two nobles in front of me. both of them looked in shock with their jaws as if they had been dislocated, eyes so wide that they would pop out of their eye sockets.
"still don't believe that I come from a land with magic from across the sunset sea Sirs?" They looked at me as if I was a monster
"you can alter the skies?" I just smile and shrug.
fuck now that I think about it instead of going with the Dovakin thing I could have said that I was the Warrior incarnated or something. but knowing that gods like Rhooll and the old gods are real I bet the seven are too. and offending a god. well, I don't think even Dovakin can deal with that.
Now that Nestor Royce who is a cousin? brother? to Yohn Royce lord of Rune stone. well, I'm not sure who he is. perhaps a cadet branch.
As far as I remember from the book the melee it was Yohn Royce and Robbert Baratheon as the last two standing. and Yohn won because of his experience. Bobby B was like 16 and Yohn was a veteran of at least 1 war. perhaps even 2.
if he is any like his kinsman I would be able to win against him. instead of claiming his armor as ransom I could just refuse the gold and ask to spend some time in runestone learning runes. hell with maxed-out enchanting I might even find a way to make runic weapons.
"have a good day Sirs" I turn around. the spectacle and later in the day known as " the shout that even scared the clouds" only was known by those two. the shout probably was heard in the entire camp of tents. so to know who did it would be hard unless you are looking at me.
it was a good day. time to get some chow.