War

PJO World

The Realm of Winter

There is something to be said of the unchecked arrogance and ambition of self-assured idiots, Aemon thinks to himself. Whether mundane or supernatural, their actions always negatively impact those around them and even long after their deaths the repercussions of said actions still echo out. 

Queen Mab's over ambitious children understood well the requirements to ascend her throne and despite not meeting the required standards still waged war for said. They plunged the Unseelie Court into a civil war that shattered their civilisation leaving Aemon with nought but the Winter Court's personal forces and a hundred or so noble houses who abstained from the war itself. 

A hundred self-righteous noble houses with an inflated sense of importance who refuse to come to the Winter Fort to pay their respects and pledge their loyalty to their new king despite having been commanded to do so.

Clearly they mean to test his mettle as a King in order to gauge how much he would be willing to overlook before outright accusing them of treason and exterminating them from the face of the Feywild. 

Unfortunately for them, Aemon has neither the patience nor the graciousness to overlook such treason. As Robb's general he had put noble houses to the sword for less. 

House Ryswell, Dustin, and Bolton had thought themselves clever by sending less than half of their forces south with Robb while claiming to do so in preparation for the Greyjoy's possible invasion, unfortunately for them that had not stopped Aemon from putting them to the sword for treason. 

At that time he had needed proof of more nefarious reasons behind their decisions, and considering House Bolton's extensive history of treason, and House Ryswell and Dustin's relationship with House Bolton at the time, it had been easy to prove Roose's possible treachery with House Ryswell and House Dustin as conspirators.

At the time he had answered to a king of his own, but now he is The King and unlike in mundane society The King's word is law within the Unseelie Court. Tradition does not matter here, precedent does not matter here, and if Aemon wishes so then the laws set by the previous ruler does not matter here. Here, in the Unseelie Court, his word is law and deviation from said word is treason. 

"Give the command, my king, and I will lead my pack to raze these traitors to the ground. We shall burn their castles, salt their fields, and flay the skin from their flesh as demonstration for any other fools with thoughts of treason in their mind." says Eredin with a grin that practically oozes bloodlust.

Eredin Bréacc Glas, commander of the Wraith Riders and the Unseelie Court's very own Gregor Clegane; though unlike The Mountain he holds a disdain for rape that Aemon finds himself appreciating along with a cunning that The Mountain could never fathom. Had it been otherwise Aemon would have long killed him, for he would not have a rapist among his ilk. 

"Yes, burn their castles, salt their fields and in the process bring about a famine that we would likely never recover from." says Finlay with a sneer. 

Finlay, vice-commander of the Knights of Decay and Malenia's closest confidant. She is a competent and cunning military leader yet somewhat lacking in the political sense. She and Eredin have never, and most likely never will, see eye to eye for she finds him to be a mad dog in need of being put down and he finds her weak in character despite her martial prowess.

It is an interesting dynamic these two possess, Aemon thinks. Should the day ever come where these two agree on a matter Aemon would pity the one responsible. 

Contrary to Aemon's expectations, Eredin does not retort but merely glares at Finlay while licking the blade of his dagger, a tame response to Finlay's provocation all things considered.

Then again Eredin is bloodthirsty, not stupid.

"And you, Alflyse, as commander of the Black Knives, what is your suggestion?" Aemon asks as he turns to the masked woman to his left. 

They sit within the war room of the Winter Fort. Before them is a rectangular table which they sit around. Similar to the Painted Table on Dragonstone, this table also serves as a map of the entire Winter Realm. 

Sitting to Aemon's right is Miquela while his sister sits opposite of Aemon himself. To his left is Alflyse, commander of the Black Knives, and in between them is Eredin, Finlay, Algrim, commander of the Winter Knights, Grendell, commander of the Royal Guard, and Caleb, commander of the Castle Guards and twin brother of Finlay.

Of all these commanders Alflyse's opinion is the one which interests Aemon the most, for the Black Knives are to the Winter Court what the ANBU is to Konoha. They specialize in assassination, espionage, and any other work that is best done in the shadows.

Hearing Aemon's question Alflyse turns her masked face towards her king. For a moment she remains silent, only staring into Aemon's eye with her own emotionless and featureless eyes before looking at the map before them. 

"House Cumhail leads this movement." says Alflyse as she unsheathes a dagger, her voice distorted and made unrecognizable by the mask, "Make an example of them." she says while stabbing the White Fort, House Cumhail's castle, with her dagger.

Around the table all the commanders sport feral and bloodthirsty grins at the thought of House Cumhail's destruction. They have never liked House Cumhail, finding them too proud and arrogant even amongst the strong personalities of the Unseelie Court. 

If the Autumn Court is what House Bolton could potentially have been to House Stark, then House Cumhail is to the Winter Court what House Bolton truly was to House Stark, self-serving, opportunistic, and backstabbing while putting on a facade of loyalty. 

While the majority of the Unseelie Court is self-serving and opportunistic, none can consider them backstabbing for they would always rally in the face of external threats. House Cumhail however is not above allying with enemies of the Unseelie Court in order to further their ambitions, and as far as these commanders are concerned House Cumhail's extinction has long been overdue.

"Very well." says Aemon before turning to the rest of the room. "We go to war."

…

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…

During the War of Five Kings, Westeros saw the ascension and fall of many a commander. Legends were made while others were torn down and in those three grueling years it became plain to see which commander deserved their reputation and which commander's reputation were nothing more than words upon winds. 

Tywin Lannister and his Lannister ilk were quickly proven worthless without their gold and numbers, Mace Tyrell could no longer hide behind Randyll Tarly's victories, and even Randyll Tarly and Mathis Rowan were proven to simply be competent and nothing more. 

Only Stannis proved his mettle as a commander and even he is a touch overrated in Aemon's eyes; for Stannis was simply the same sort of commander as his father by choice, Eddard Stark. Both were simply commanders who had mastered the fundamentals beyond what most believed possible, and yet none touted Eddard Stark as anything beyond competent.

Still, let it not be said that those fundamentals which Eddard imparted into Robb did not play a vital role in making Robb the feared Young Wolf that he became, for they did. Robb's victories at their very basics can be broken down into two lessons Eddard had imparted into Robb and Aemon at the beginning of the theoretical martial lessons: "In battle, discipline would win nine out of ten." "Logistics is half the war." 

Even now Aemon finds these lessons to be applicable. 

That is to say, despite the supernatural nature of the coming war much remains the same as if it were a mundane war. 

Supply lines must be planned or established, food stores must be counted, arms and armor must be inspected, soldiers must be drilled, terrains must be scouted, etc…

The only difference between mundane wars and magical ones is that magic does the work of machines now. Though depending on the magic it is possible to outperform machines. For example, making use of the Wild Magic it is possible to teleport from one place to another simply by traversing a forest. Skin-changing is also more accurate for information gathering as opposed to radars.

Which is why Aemon finds himself standing within the forest just beyond the Winter Fort waiting for Simon, Percy, Anakin, and Shepard. Standing a step behind him to his left and right respectively are Alflyse and Malenia. 

"You have questions." states Aemon as he looks at Malenia. 

"What do we wait for, my king?" asks Malenia. 

"There are theories that the Feywild spans all dimensions, and there may be some truth to that I believe." Aemon begins, "For you see, this is not my dimension of birth and in recent times I have become acquainted with others from different dimensions. We await their arrival." he explains, causing Malenia and Alflyse to regard him more seriously. 

"Will they be aiding in the war?" Alflyse asks, causing Aemon to chuckle. 

"No, they are merely here to learn the basics of war." he replies, shocking the duo. 

Before they can voice their concerns however the group appears before them in a flash of light. Unexpected however, is Reyna and her direwolves along with Ghost and Huginn who have once more grown bigger. Ghost is larger than any horse Aemon has ever seen and Huginn is near big enough to carry a child.

With a caw Huginn flies towards Aemon, shrinking back to a normal raven's size before perching himself on Aemon's left shoulder, causing him to raise an eyebrow as he caresses the bird's plumage. Ghost meanwhile regards Aemon and his new surroundings before racing deeper into the forest.

As they regain their bearing, the group cannot help but look upon the forest and the castle behind them in awe. As instructed by Aemon, Percy, Anakin are clearly dressed for winter, though Shepard herself simply wears her standard armor and Aemon wonders how much protection it provides from the cold. 

"Wow." says Simon as he takes it all in. 

"Welcome to the Winter Realm, home to the Unseelie Court." says Aemon with a smirk

"So, do we call you "your grace" now or something?" snarks Percy. 

"Naturally." replies Aemon with a raised eyebrow. 

For a moment Percy thinks him serious before Aemon's mocking amusement and Anakin's laughter tells him otherwise. With a chuckle Jennifer walks past Percy and approaches Aemon.

"Well, you called for us." says Jennifer. 

"I have no need of your aid to be honest, rather I promised to teach Anakin the basics of war and I thought what better way to do so then with an actual war." explains Aemon, draining the levity from the mood. 

"You're going to war?" asks Percy with a frown.

"The Winter Realm is home to the Unseelie Court, and due to various circumstances I have become the new king. Unfortunately, not all nobles of the court agree with my ascension. I mean to make an example of one such noble." Aemon says. 

"What do you mean?" asks Anakin.

"I mean exactly as I have said." Aemon replies. 

"You're going to war just because some people just don't want you as their king?" Anakin questions. 

"I am, for I will not foster rebellion in my realm. Especially not since it still needs to heal. Better to stamp out all thoughts of rebellion now then let it fester and grow until it explodes at a more critical time." says Aemon.

"But that's not what you're doing, is it?" Anakin says through gritted. "You said it yourself, you're making an example of them for thinking about rebelling, that's tyranny." Anakin adds as he places his hand on his lightsaber. 

Before anyone can react, Aemon's shadow stretches and converges on Anakin before materializing into three members of the Black Knives with their daggers drawn, all aimed at Anakin's vitals.

"Stand down!" commands Aemon mere moments before the daggers can pierce Anakin's skin. 

"He is a threat, my liege." says Alflyse, her own dagger having long been unsheathed beyond everyone's notice. 

"He is not." Aemon says. "Anakin is merely hot headed, he means no harm. Now stand the fuck down before I make you." he commands as his Conqueror's Haki briefly manifests itself before disappearing just as quickly as it appeared. 

Despite not receiving the command from Alflyse, the three Knives retreat and melt into Aemon's shadow once more.

"Aemon." Jennifer calls out by the side, her voice stern and perhaps disappointed also. "We need to talk. Alone." she says as her eyes look over Malenia, Alflyse, and his shadow. 

"Leave us." commands Aemon.

With their eyes carefully regarding the group before Aemon as if memorizing their features, Malenia, Alflyse and the three Knives return to the castle. 

With them gone much of the tension leaves the group as only those they are familiar with remain.

"What are you doing?" asks Jennifer.

"Fulfilling my promise." replies Aemon with narrowed eyes. 

"By starting a war you don't need to? Do you even know their demands? Why don't you hold a peace summit and ask them why they don't want to swear allegiance to you, maybe they can be reasoned with." suggests Jennifer.

"Reasoned with?" echoes Aemon with a mocking laugh. "Do you think this to be the mundane world, where diplomacy is the first option?" he asks. 

"This is the supernatural world where might makes right. Moreover this is the Unseelie Court where power means all. Ask Simon, ask Reyna, hell ask Percy, the supernatural does not operate by the same rules as the mundane." Aemon says, causing Jennifer and Anakin to turn towards Simon and Percy. 

"He's right." says Simon as he awkwardly rubs the back of his head. "The only reason there isn't war between the Downworld and the Shadowhunters is because both sides are afraid of mutual destruction. If it wasn't because of that the two sides would probably still be going at it." 

"Yea, I mean what are you going to do; reason with the evil lord of the Titans." adds Percy with a forced chuckle.

"There you have it. Now whether you choose to follow me and learn or return home is none of my concern. I have a war to prepare for." Aemon says before storming off, Reyna and her direwolves following in tow. 

After an awkward glance at Shepard and Anakin, Simon and Percy follow him.

"It is a different culture." remarks Shepard with a sigh as she and Anakin jog to catch up.

…

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Westeros, Beyond The Wall

106 AC

"This is not England." says Sigurd as he regards the frozen land before him. 

"The storm must have knocked us farther off course than anticipated for we seem to have found ourselves in Jotunheim." replies Eivor as he falls in step next to his brother. 

They had left Norway for England with whatever members of the Raven Clan did not agree to Jarl Styrbjorn's swearing fealty to King Harald with the hopes of making themselves a new kingdom. Unfortunately a storm unlike the which they have never seen made navigation all but impossible. Such is how they found themselves in this unknown land far from their destination and far from their place of departure. 

"It matters not." says Sigurd as he slaps Eivor's shoulder. "Whatever land we have found ourselves in will be no match for our mettle."

Unbeknownst to the brothers, they are no longer in their dimension, much less the realm they call Midgard. 

Author's Note: Here's the latest chapter. As usual, tell me what you guys think.

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