text | un: stormsend

[bruxisms]

GREETINGS. I AM STANNIS BARATHEON, ONCE RIGHTFUL KING OF WESTEROS, AND LORD OF DRAGONSTONE AND STORM'S END, THOUGH OLD TITLES MATTER LITTLE HERE.

I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS FOR ALL "REFUGEES".

[ is he using capslock because he believes that is the proper way to type? because he accidentally got his phone stuck on it? because he just wants to? the true reason will likely be lost to time, and none will ever know. ]

HAVE ANY OF YOU EXPERIENCED AN ODD OCCURRENCE WHERE YOU MEET SOMEONE THAT YOU ARE ACQUAINTED WITH, AND THEY RECALL EVENTS FAR DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU? NOT MERELY A LAPSE IN THEIR MEMORY, BUT ENTIRELY DIFFERENT EVENTS, SUCH AS A MAN STILL BEING ALIVE WHEN YOU KNOW HIM TO BE DEAD, OR HEARING THAT YOU MARCHED YOUR WIFE AND CHILD INTO BATTLE WHEN YOU KNOW THAT WOULD BE UTTER FOLLY AND RECALL LEAVING THEM SAFELY UNDER GUARD?

[ he still cannot believe that anyone would do that, least of all a man who seems to share his name, personality, and so many of his memories, yet is very much not him. ]

I WOULD KNOW IF THERE ARE OTHERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR THINGS WITH THOSE THEY KNOW. AS THOUGH THERE WERE TWO VERSIONS OF YOUR WORLD. ONE THAT SOME OF YOU RECALL, AND ONE THAT OTHERS DO.

AND EVEN IF YOU DO NOT, I WOULD ALSO HEAR OF WHAT YOU KNOW OF DRAGONS FROM YOUR OWN WORLD. AS A MEMBER OF THE SIMWE INSTITUTE, ONE OF MY TASKS IS TO STUDYING THEM, AND I WOULD HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY.

YOU HAVE MY THANKS, AND DO NOT WASTE MY TIME.

Comments

text; un: lady

[unprays]

It sounds fantastical, doesn't it? Like a child's story, about a place with the same name that exists twice.

But I suppose when a child's story is more believable than any other explanation, we must believe in it, Lord Stannis. I remember the events that you say you do not, and yet I know you to be a man of honor, like my Lord Father was, and do not doubt that you speak the truth. So if I do not lie, and you do not lie, then we are faced with two truths that are different.

[bruxisms]

YET NO CHILDREN'S STORY WOULD HAVE ONE GIRL OR HER SISTER FORCED TO BE WED TO THE BASTARD OF BOLTON.

[ Westeros truly was a miserable place. and Stannis was as blunt as ever. ]

YOU MUST BE LADY SANSA. YOUR BROTHER SPOKE HIGHLY OF YOU, AND IN FACT, IT WAS HE WHO LED ME TO YOUR SAME CONCLUSION AS WELL. KNOW THAT WHILE I WAS NEVER FRIENDS WITH YOUR LORD FATHER, I WILL BE THERE, SHOULD HIS CHILDREN REQUIRE IT.

[ he means against Ramsay. he had seen what the bastard had inflicted on the turncloak, and how timid Arya Stark had been. ]

[unprays]

[ it shocks her — not that Stannis would know of her, but that he would instead speak... no. no. ]

You mean, in the Westeros you remember, it was Arya who...

Your news are such I cannot be happy of, my lord, and would doubt them if it were not you behind them. The Arya I know would have killed Lord Bolton before the wedding.

[ she only wishes she had, too. ]

But I suppose I cannot speak to know the Arya who you know, my lord.

As for your offer, it is a great honour, and I would be grateful for your help. I'm afraid a time may come when we will need it.

[bruxisms]

A PITY THAT THE ARYA I KNEW WAS NOT CAPABLE OF SUCH A THING. NONE WOULD HAVE MOURNED HIS PASSING.

I AM SORRY FOR BOTH YOU AND YOUR SISTER. WHILE I UNDERSTAND THINGS WERE DIFFERENT IN YOUR WESTEROS, I BELIEVE THAT I WAS CLOSE TO GETTING THE BETTER OF HIM, IF NOT ALL THE BOLTONS.

[ he had a carefully laid plan. but he supposes that it mattered not. ]

DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL ON ME. I AM NOT A KING OR A LORD HERE, BUT I CAN HELP STRIKE THE BASTARD DOWN ALL THE SAME.

[unprays]

No, they would not. None did in the Westeros that I left behind, my lord.

[ because while Stannis may have been close to getting the better of him... she had. it was only here that it did not matter. ]

Our home may be gone, but you are no less a lord here than you were there, my lord. Are we still not who we were, even if the lands that were once ours are gone?

But please, be careful. You've already twice called him what he hates the most, and I fear if he sees this, he will want to kill you as well.

[bruxisms]

JON SNOW TOLD ME YOU MANAGED TO DEFEAT HIM. IT SEEMS THAT THE DEAD WALK HERE, JUST AS THEY DO BEYOND THE WALL.

[ by now, he has no doubt that she has heard of the real enemy. and while he will not argue with her on the matter of lordship over nothing (for perhaps the first time in his life)... ]

HE IS WELCOME TO TRY. AND WHEN HIS INFAMY IS REVEALED TO ALL, HE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HIDE FROM THE ARMS OF JUSTICE.

[ of course, this Ramsay was different than the Ramsay he knew of. but he still dubted that he could be that impressive. ]

[unprays]

They do, my lord. But not all of them are a curse on this land.

[ she has been given her brother, and for him she is glad, as disconcerting as this whole thing is, still. ]

I pray you are right, my lord. Just as I will pray that this time, he will not come back to haunt us from whatever dark abyss the Gods cast him into.

[bruxisms]

INDEED THEY ARE NOT. I WAS TOLD THAT LORD DAVOS SEAWORTH YET LIVED IN YOUR WESTEROS. HE WAS KILLED IN MINE FOR HIS LOYALTY. THOUGH HE MAY STILL SLEEP, I AM GRATEFUL THAT HE MAY YET LIVE.

[ and he misses his counsel. ]

IT WAS NOT THE GODS THAT CAST HIM INTO ANY ABYSS SANSA STARK. IT WAS YOU AND YOUR BROTHER. DO NOT FORGET THAT.