Writer's Games Entries

Task 0: Audition-task

Aerio saw a single man standing in the opening. As the doors were open all the way through, he walked towards Aerio. As he kept a watchful eye on the scenery he found himself in, Aerio spotted several archers ready to fire at him if he proved to be just the slightest bit threatening. He even noticed the knights' tight grips on the hilts of their swords. "Aerio of The Shadowlands, what sort of gift is it that you have to offer?"

"Are you Lord Stark?" Aerio asked, buying himself more time to look at his surroundings. The knights where holding tightly onto the hilts of their swords and the archers pulled their arrow back even more as he looked at them. "I am, Aerio of The Shadowlands. Now, what is that you have come all this way to bring me?" The Lord asked. Aerio kept looking around himself before he slowly removed his cape away from his front to reveal a boy no more than seven years old. The boy had barely been alive when Aerio found him. Most people would take him for a dead one, but Aerio spotted various signs of life and tried to keep them present the further north he went.

"Your son, My Lord." Aerio answered after a while.

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"Lord Stark, House Karstark has served your house fatefully, undoubtedly for many generations. I have had your trust on similar missions in the past, Me Lord. Let me prove my worth to you once more." One of them said. Aerio snapped out of his thoughts. A sudden smile appeared on his face. "'Similar missions'..." Aerio said to himself. Some of the ones next to him turned their heads around, but didn't pay him any more mind until he suddenly raised his voice. "So, you have been on a mission in the realms of the Gods before?"

Everybody's heads turned around towards Aerio. He didn't flinch for one second despite of the amount of eyes he had on himself. He wanted the attention. He had claimed it. He removed the hood that was halfway covering his face as he slowly made his way to the center, right in front of Lord Stark. Usually Aerio preferred to be in the background listening to the meetings between Lord Stark and the Lords of the other northern houses. On this occasion, the matter at hand was of a specific importance.

"Similar missions..." Aerio looked over at the man who had just spoken. "There has never been a similar mission to the one you are volunteering for." Aerio looked around at the drunken northerners looking at him intently. "Never in the history, have the Gods approached man directly like they have now, and yet here you stand, in front of Lord Stark talking about this mission as if it's just like any other. It is not." Aerio pointed out.

The knight he had interrupted grew frustrated at him. "Me Lord, you know me and my family as people of their word. You have trusted us all with sensitive missions in the past and neither one of us have failed you. This is another mission where we can prove our worth your house." The man took back the attention in the room before Aerio shook his head. "It is a mission in the realm of the Gods!" Aerio almost grew annoyed at having to point that out.

"If you send an ignorant man to their realm, it will be a waste of your time and of a representative. Such a man will only lose you the Iron Throne, My Lord." Aerio turned his head back towards Lord Stark as he spoke. "Whoever travels to that realm, must be a man who respects every footstep he takes in a realm that isn't his own. He must be aware of where he is in order to survive. I have been to many places in my short life, My Lord. What I just said is the way I've been living for as long as I can remember, My Lord..."

"You have not lived in the North for long, assassin. You do not know what it means to be a Northerner!" An older man called out as he stepped out to the center. The men around the different tables in the room where whispering among themselves as they were curious of Aerio's response to the challenge. "We are not savage men raping and killing families. We Northerners live and die by our honor and our word. You have not lived her long enough. You have no right to come here and claim that we cannot be trusted with a mission as the one in question..." He said, walking up close to Aerio's face.

"I am not 'claiming' it, My Lord. I am calling it as it is. I know how proud you all are of standing by your word and honor, but truth be told, I can only see one man in this room who can wholeheartedly claim that he does – him." Aerio mentioned as he tilted his head in the direction of Lord Stark. "I have a habit of observing men's habits and behaviors and there is not one single man in this room who can with a clear conscience say that Lord Stark should trust them with this mission." "Filthy Southerner..." The man said as he was about reach for Aerio's throat, but Aerio grabbed his fist, twisted around the man's back and started pushing it upwards. "That's enough..." Lord Stark finally interrupted.

Aerio let the man go. He gave Aerio a look with a promise of revenge before Aerio turned his attention back on Lord Stark who was sitting his chair, calmly. Aerio noticed that the Lord was shifting his looks back and forth between Aerio and the other candidates. "Many of the men who have volunteered for this mission, that you are now up against, come from families who have served this house for generations. You have only been here for four years, without being able to state your own House of origin. Aerio of The Shadowlands, why should I send you?"

"You're a Northerner, My Lord. You're a man of your word."

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Aerio was out in the stables, working on maintaining his horse who had been his travel companion ever since he crossed the Narrow Sea. "Aerio..." He heard behind him. He turned around to see Lord Stark himself walk towards him. He noticed that relief crossed his face. "My Lord, how is your son?" Aerio asked, bowing his head. "Still freezing quite extensively, but he is very much alive. Aerio of The Shadowlands, I am now in your debt. Name your price. I will make sure that there is enough food for your long travel back to your family." He went on.

"I...do not have any family, Lord Stark. I'm a lonesome wolf...in many ways." Aerio answered. "Well, you have travelled a very long way. The least I can do is offer you private quarters for the night with a nice bath and some new clothes. You might need something more protective against the cold and the wind. The North is not a land for soft people." Lord Stark offered. Aerio nodded his head. He took a deep breath, looking away before returning his eyes on Lord Stark.

"My Lord, your Castle was my intended destination when I started the journey north. I happened to come a across a company of knights who held your son captive." Aerio answered. "What is it that I can offer you, Aerio of The Shadowlands?" Lord Stark asked as Aerio put forward his bow and sword, placed them on the ground and sat down on one knee. "An honest man whom I can give my sword and bow to without hesitation."

"Why would you offer these services to a man you do not really know?" Stark finally asked. "I have been involved with many different people, with or without an identity. I was once a Faceless Man serving the Many-Faced God. After a while however, being no one was a skill I struggled to maintain. Now, I dream of pain, blood and screams. I have no recollection of what happened to my family, My Lord. I don't remember the name of my parents, if I had siblings. I do not even know my family name. I know only that my name is Aerio and that I am from The Shadowlands." Aerio started. "My only wish and reward, is that if a chance to get the answers I seek presents itself, you let me go and find them."

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"You don't even have a House that can verify who you are! You are nothing more than an assassin who couldn't keep up with your order!" The older man spoke out again as his arm had recovered slightly. Aerio felt the blood through his veins boil with anger. He even looked to his right, directly at the man. "If you want me to confirm my skillset, just say the word..." Aerio answered as he slowly placed his hand on the hilt of his knife, fastened around his waist.

Lord Stark raising up from his chair was what stopped Aerio. "Whether or not he has been a Faceless Man, whether or not his House was of great importance to the north or not, he is a sworn fighter of the Castle of Winterfell. And I, Lord Stark, appoint this man, Aerio of The Shadowlands, to my representative of House Stark in the realms of the Gods." Protests were arising in the room. "...because I am of House Stark!" Lord Stark said loud enough to shut people up. "...because I am a man of my word."