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

[panzersoldat]

Me? I was from a planet that was called Earth. From a country on Earth called Germany. It was a very lovely country with forests and mountains and huge wide rivers as well as farmlands, and in the North we had the sea. My country had over 2 millennia of history. It survived losing two world wars and 30 years ago, a near human-life ending apocalypse.

and then the Storm came and now it's gone, but he's still very proud of his homeland.

If I may ask, Your Grace, is your former home similar?

[bruxisms]

MY REALM IS CALLED WESTEROS, THOUGH I ORIGINALLY CAME FROM A REGION KNOWN AS THE STORMLANDS. IT WAS NAMED AS SUCH FOR A REASON. UNTIL SOME THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, IT WAS RULED BY THE STORM KINGS, UNTIL AEGON THE CONQUEROR, ONE OF MY ANCESTORS, UNITED ALL OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS. WE HAVE ALSO SURVIVED MUCH.

[ don't get him talking. he'll give you a whole history lesson. ]

[panzersoldat]

The Stormlands. It sounds like a strong place. I would have like it, I think. And you were King then, Your Grace? Because your father's father's father was a king? With fortresses and knights and songs and feasts? These are things I often dreamed of as a young boy.

[bruxisms]

HARDLY. THAT IS A CHILD'S DREAM, NOTHING MORE.

IT WAS MY BROTHER WHO WAS KING, AND BY LAW I BECAME KING AFTER HIM. I WAS THE SECOND SON. OUR LORD FATHER WAS A LORD, BUT HIS MOTHER WAS THE DAUGHTER OF A KING, AND IT WAS THROUGH HER THAT WE WERE GIVEN OUR CLAIM.

MY BROTHER REBELLED BECAUSE THE MAD KING DEMANDED HIS HEAD. I FOLLOWED MY BROTHER. THERE WERE FEW SONGS AND FEASTS FOR ME, AS I AND MY YOUNGER BROTHER, A BOY OF NO MORE THAN SIX OR SEVEN, STARVED WHILE I HELD OUR ANCESTRAL HOME. IN THE END, IT WAS NOT A KNIGHT THAT SAVED US, BUT A SMUGGLER.

[ stannis baratheon: professional killjoy ]

[panzersoldat]

[ come on Stannis, let the old man have his dumb fantasies. he knows it's not how it really was. he's read his histories, but he likes the romantic knight better than the real one ]

The mad king? If people were suffering under his rule, if children were starving and cruelty was rampant, than your brother was right to take up arms against such a tyrant. While I am sorry for the struggle that you endured, I am glad that you were saved. Nobility can be found in many places. A good man is good though his actions and not his title.

[bruxisms]

[ stories only obscure the cold and bitter truth. ]

PERHAPS HE WAS, AND PERHAPS HE WASN'T. IT IS EVERY MAN'S DUTY TO SERVE THEIR KING, BUT THE YOUNGER BROTHER MUST ALWAYS FOLLOW THE ELDER.

[ a point that had always been a sticking point for him. ]

THAT IS TRUE. BUT A GOOD ACT CANNOT WASH OUT THE BAD, JUST AS A BAD ACT CANNOT WASH OUT THE GOOD. BE THAT AS IT MAY, HE IS THE NOBLEST MAN THAT I HAVE EVER KNOWN.

[panzersoldat]

[ stories also give hope ]

And when your king is wrong? A king exists to serve his people. It is HIS duty to his people to do what is right and just for them. He should rule with fairness and compassion. If his people suffer while he sits fat and rich, then he is no king; he is merely a tyrant and unworthy to be followed. A man's duty is to remove that king for the sake of those who have suffered because of him.

One good act can change the world just as one bad act can. It is for us to decide which we do. Still, your brother does indeed sound noble and I morn for your loss.

[bruxisms]

I ASK YOU, IF YOU DO SUCH A THING, WHERE DOES IT STOP? IF YOU REMOVE EVERY KING WHO YOU DISLIKE, HOW LONG IS IT BEFORE ANOTHER RISES TO TAKE YOUR PLACE? THE LAW MUST BE FOLLOWED.

[ the difference between lawful good and lawful neutral. ]

MY BROTHER WAS NOT AS NOBLE AS STORIES MIGHT LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE. HE CARED LITTLE FOR THE DAILY TASKS OF RUNNING THE KINGDOM, SIRED MANY BASTARDS, AND SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH THOSE WHO DID NOT HAVE HIS BEST INTEREST, OR THE REALM'S BEST INTEREST AT HEART. BE THAT AS IT MAY, HIS LADY WIFE DID MANY THINGS WRONG BY HIM, INCLUDING ORCHESTRATING HIS DEATH, I BELIEVE.

[panzersoldat]

It's not about personal dislike. A knight should not carry personal grudges in his heart. What he does, he does without selfishness and without deceit. And when the law refuses to help, when it turns a blind eye to those in need, it is up to the just to do what is right. Any law that exists to make the innocent suffer is a law that should not stand.

[ pretty much ]

I see. It sounds like many did him wrong. But at least he knew he had a loyal and true ally in you.

[bruxisms]

YOU OUGHT TO TELL THAT TO MOST OF THE KNIGHTS IN WESTEROS. MOST ONLY CARE ABOUT CAUSES THAT WILL ADVANCE THEM IN THE EYES OF THEIR LORDS.

[ is this man speaking truly? he was quite certain that such men only existed in tales or times long past.

or their names were Barristan Selmy. ]

HE DID NOT SEEM TO NOTICE. IF ANYTHING, HE WOULD FAVOUR OTHERS. WHEN I WOULD OFFER SUGGESTIONS TO HIM, HE WOULD DISMISS THEM, WHEN I TOLD HIM OF MEN WHO COMMITTED CRIMES UNDER HIS NOSE, HE WOULD LAUGH, AND TELL ME THAT WAS JUST THE WAY OF THINGS. I WAS HIS BROTHER, YET HE WOULD SCARCELY TREAT ME AS SUCH.

[ is he bitter? he is certainly not bitter. ]

[panzersoldat]

I would if I could.

[ he totally is. then again, even in his world he's considered an idealistic old fool ]

I think in the end, he must have realized. Sometimes, we do not appreciate what we have in front of us until it is gone. And while I know it's not my place, I'm glad for him. That he did have a brother who cared.

[bruxisms]

I KNOW NOT THAT HE DID.

[ that was something that he could perhaps relate to. while he had been infuriated by both Robert and Renly while they lived, he still felt some degree of affection for the both of them. and regret, in Renly's case, perhaps. ]

BE THAT AS IT MAY, HE WAS MY BROTHER, AND SO, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED, I WOULD ALWAYS FOLLOW HIM.

[panzersoldat]

I think that he must have. So have faith and hope and know that he did.

And know that I think he was lucky to have a brother such as you. I never had siblings, but if I had, I would hope they would have been like you.

[bruxisms]

YOU FLATTER ME SER.

[ this is perhaps the kindest thing anyone has ever said to him. ]

[panzersoldat]

It's not flattery, it's truth. Remember, I am a knight. My word speaks only truth.

[bruxisms]

THE ONLY KNIGHT OF WHOM I KNOW THAT TO BE TRUE WAS A LOWBORN FORMER SMUGGLER. AND HE WOULD NEVER SOFTEN HIS WORDS TO TELL ME WHEN HE BELIEVED SOMETHING WAS MADNESS.

[ the suspicion is great, though of no fault of poor Reinhardt. ]

[panzersoldat]

Perhaps he's more like me than you realize. Some day, should we ever meet in person, I will tell you the situation that led to my knighting.

[bruxisms]

YOU WERE COMMON BORN?

[ ...ok. trust level potentially going up. ]

[panzersoldat]

As common as they come. My mother was a cook and my father worked as a janitor. Though I must tell you the truth. In my world, knights had been nothing but ancient history, at least in the way that myself and the Crusaders were. By the time I was born, the only knights were discretionary titles given for this and that from kings and queens of their lands. Artists and actors have been knighted for their contributions, for instance. But my knighting was directly because of a war that threatened the entirety of humanity.

[ It's hard to admit that in truth, his not really a knight in the ways of the past. It had been a PR stunt, performed by his commander to give his country hope and give all of them something to be proud of before they all rushed towards certain death. ]

It's...complicated.

[bruxisms]

IT SEEMS SIMPLE ENOUGH, TO ME.

[ so the man was perhaps less than a "true knight". which might explain much. ]

IF ANYTHING, IT MAKES ME MORE WILLING TO BELIEVE YOUR WORDS. TO BE LORDLY IS TO BE FALSE. IF YOU WERE KNIGHTED FOR A BATTLE FOR HUMANITY, SOMEONE MUST HAVE SEEN VALOR IN YOU.

[panzersoldat]

I see.

And I was. All of us were. We were going to our deaths, but to the people who looked to us for hope, we became the immortal and unbeatable Crusaders. The knights of Germany. The shield wall that protected the people. We stood strong and we won. It cost us everything, but we won. And I am proud every day that I could be counted among them.

And I am grateful to you that you would think my bothers and sisters in combat as knights. Thank you. I means more than you know.