Date: 298 AC, 19th day of the 1st month
Location: The Riverlands, Regional Capital: Riverrun, at the residence of the Tully family
Lord Hoster Tully was ill on his bed unable to manage the daily affairs of his nation but able enough to handle some of the paperwork. Hoster carefully analysed of the situation of his family; with his dear daughters, Catelyn and Lysa married into House Stark and House Arryn they have a fundamentally strong alliance with the North and Vale and can be called upon in times of need. He was internally happy about making one good decision in his life and from the childhood days of his dearest daughters they were embedded with the family motto, "Family Duty and Honour". Always being loyal and helpful to your family and the duty to discharge those responsibilities with honour and fairness.
Then there was Edmure Tully his only son and heir; a well-meaning, dutiful, loyal, occasionally-hot headed and impulsive individual but one who is aware of his surroundings when required; and militarily, he is a good battle strategist and politician in addition to being a reasonable close-range fighter. Hoster chuckled at the quirks of his son but nonetheless he loved him equally as his daughters. Currently, his son, is adjudicating the affairs of the Riverlands to hide the illness of his father from prying eyes who wishes ill of House Tully. Nonetheless, the Freys are a major headache; they'll be difficult to handle, indeed. Hoster rubbed his temples full of concern.
Albeit legitimately training Edmure in the art of politics and economics, which is expected of a ruler, Hoster thought this guise was a good-enough in the short-run to cover-up his vulnerabilities. The status of the family is in a precarious position although we have solid foreign relations with the other regions; its the intra-regional affairs that are the most worrisome, Hoster calmly thought.
Then there's my brother, Ser Brynden "Blackfish" Tully; he's tall and lean, has a smoky voice, kind, patient, blunt and stubborn man who cares little of what others think of him. Although he has his own mind he is a stalwart individual when it comes to the wellbeing of his family; the family motto ingrained into him just like all Tully members. Although our relationship is strained right now, I believe he will come around it when we need it.
Lord Hoster was contemplating bringing back his brother while suddenly he heard a knock on his door, "Come in," he said. Tytos Blackwood walked inside then he bowed,
"My liege how are you feeling today." Hoster coughed before heartily responding, "As old as ever, I may be down but I'm not out and drop the formalities we are friends," he continued "How are you and your family, Tytos." Tytos heartily laughed and responds,
"One can never be informal to the Lord of Riverrun, it's good to maintain your manners and my family is great and I'm well, thank you for asking sire, all of it's attributed to your long and prosperous rule," Hoster waves aside the compliment and positively says,
"Aye it's partially due to me but never forget it's also because of you, the people and the countless soldiers that made this peace possible but... I fear our days of peace are numbered." Lord Tytos always appreciated and liked his liege lord is and it was an honour to be his friend. House Blackwood is unswervingly loyal to their rulers since the old days their loyalty remains unquestioned; Tytos is Hoster's long-time friend since their childhood days, confidant and close adviser. He was perplexed,
"My lord, what do you mean?" Hoster responds, "Do you remember the times I had extreme jitters on my back," Lord Blackwood nodded; Hoster continues, " It's not looking good; I got those jitters again." Then it dawned on him about their circumstances, he stood up and glanced out the windows and remembered of what happened in the past and what's about to happen in the future; the Lord of Raventree Hall deeply sighed and a last look through the window before asking,
"What are your preparations and plans for this future threat?" Hoster got up from his bed and slowly walked around before stretching his old bones and walked into his study followed by Tytos. The latter was bewildered by how extensively his liege lord had made, Hoster loudly laughs before responding towards his friend's reaction, "You didn't think I was lying on my bed doing nothing did you; I was making contingencies in-case anything took a turn for the worse." Lord Blackwood replied, " Of course not my lord but I did not expect this magnitude of preparation.
Hoster sat down in his chair and ushered his friend to sit on the opposite chair to which, he complied. The former showed the latter that their first course of action should be without alerting the enemy presence of their actions; is to hold a national emergency council at the war room. Followed by sending of inconspicuous convoy of messengers to our allies, the North and the Vale of this up and coming threat. However, by looking at the leadership of House Stark shows that they must be aware of the situation but this is just to be on the safe side. However, there are some internal problems we face.
"What types of internal problems?" Tytos asks. Hoster calmly responds "Most notably the Freys, then the Mootons, Erenfords and Haighs also concerns between your house and the Brackens; I understand that you have a long feud but I ask as your liege but most importantly as your friend and brother-in arms that your families must have mutual cooperation if we are to survive whats to come and as such I have written a letter that demands his presence, immediately."
Tytos considers the circumstances and the long-standing feud between the two families whilst scratching his head and grudgingly admits, "Although, I don't like the idea of working with the Brackens but the circumstances tell me otherwise besides this feud of ours has become ridiculous as it's been a hundred years and enough blood has been spilt." Hoster smiles and ties the letter to his owl and lets it out the window, "I'm pleased that you have come to an understanding about the situation and the feud, now let's hope that Jonos shares your sentiment."
Hoster and Tytos began discussing other plans for the upcoming threat whilst within an hour of receiving the letter, Lord Jonos Bracken road from Stone Hedge to Riverrun arriving in two hours. Soon he presented himself before his liege, "I apologise for my tardiness and for keeping you waiting for so long, my liege." Hoster responds, "That is no matter thank you for joining us as soon as you can." Jonos notices his nemesis Lord Tytos Blackwood standing near the window,
"Well well well if it isn't my long time nemesis Lord Tytos, are you ready to apologise for your family's crime," Jonos smirked. Tytos clutched his fists but then deeply sighed,
"Jonos, my family didn't commit any crime towards yours but for once I'm not going to argue in this century-long feud because there's something bigger at stake." Lord Bracken was confused and looked to Lord Tully who then explained to him of the upcoming threat that was brewing. Lord Jonos readily accepted the decision because of his utmost trust in his liege due to him is known for being a staunch politician and strongly intuitive.
"So how shall we spearhead the plan," Lord Jonos inquired to which, the Lord of Riverrun commanded, "We have to quietly call an emergency war council and excuses are intolerable," Hoster follows on, "before the council meeting, we must deal with our problems and find solutions." The two gentlemen take a seat on two couches opposite a leisure table while Hoster took the central seat opposite the dazzling fire area.
Hoster says, "The first problem is the Freys, even though they have formidable fighting forces, Walder always looks for personal benefits in any conflict, thoughts?" Tytos and Jonos were recounting their experiences with the Freys and one of the facts was that Walder Frey's sons as in the many he has but a group of them were impressive commanders of their fighting force. The Freys have married into many noble houses of other regions giving them power and influence but there is a fatal flaw despite the numerous heirs of Walder Frey they are a squabbling and horrendous bunch that will do anything to be the next Lord of the Crossing. Jonos was the first to respond,
" I have a plan its slightly ruthless but it will ensure that the Freys fall in line or deal a severe blow to their family. Here it is; because of Walder Frey's numerous trueborns and bastards that makes up the command structure of the Frey forces we start to slowly crush them by silencing their top-brass." Hoster interjects,
"Although, I prefer to avoid bloodshed if possible but the current circumstances require a strong response so do go on," Tytos nods in agreement. "To make sure our plans go unnoticed we need to start small, with his bastard sons that are field commanders. Their silencing needs to look like common accidents so we need to tread carefully," Jonos finishes. Lord Tully applauds the plan,
"I must say Jonos that is ruthless plan quite bloody but necessary if we are going to unite the Riverlands however, we must now focus our attention towards the Frey vassals; they could be a hinderance if unaccounted for." Tytos is the next to speak,
"We have heard that Ser Leslyn Haigh is a well-reasoned individual so if we explain the situation to him, he is most likely willing to be the better man besides it is a survival game and he is one of the few true knights in existence who believes the the original values of the chivalry & honor code so practically he is code-binded to serve and protect. However its a different case with the Erenfords because of the direct relations they have with the Freys - Lord Francis's sister is married to Walder Frey so they are less than likely to be flexible with their decisions so we could 1) use hit-and-run tactics to destroy their weapons and supplies or 2) use small concentrated groups to hit-and-kill their soldiers whilst making it look like the work of bandits." Hoster Tully contemplated the ideas while nodding in approval,
"Good ideas indeed, let us see if we can do the first option; its better to solve conflicts without resorting to killing but keep the second option ready on standby," the trio nodded in agreement and Hoster continued, "Though the Mootons are a wealthy bunch, they tend to negotiate alot but the time for that has passed with the fast-emerging threat of war, I will take immediate actions as insubordination is not an option," looked seriously out the window and back.
"Finally, the solution to the century old feud between the Brackens and Blackwoods must be solved now and forever so this problem does not arise in the future," the Lord of Riverrun said in a deep commanding voice. Tytos and Jonos looked at each other.
"Too much blood between our families have been spilt so let us sign a blood pact, marriage pact and oath of agreement to permanently end the feud," they both say in unison much to their own surprise. Hoster smiles in response, " this matter will be arranged prior to the national emergency council." He tells the gentlemen to stay for the night and depart tomorrow to put their plans into action.
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