text || un: IAMNEDSTARK

[learned_to_die]

IT APPEARS THAT THIS IS SOME VERSION OF COMMUNICATION, AKIN TO MESSAGES RECEIVED VIA RAVEN. I CANNOT YET UNDERSTAND HOW SUCH THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, NOR CAN I UNDERSTAND HOW I AM EXPECTED TO SO ACCURATELY PRESS MY FINGERS TO SUCH PAINFULLY SMALL LETTERS ON THIS THING CALLED A "KEY BOARD."

[Ned is part of the Old Dads club; he has accidentally turned on his caps lock and has absolutely no idea how to turn it off, nor does he have any social precedent for understanding how hostile this makes him look.]

I AM TOLD THAT I AM IN A CITY CALLED WYVER, A NAME AS FOREIGN TO ME AS THE REST OF THIS IS. THE LOCALS HERE ARE NOT INCREDIBLY FORTHCOMING WITH ASSISTANCE OR INFORMATION, AND AS SUCH, ANYTHING THAT YOU MIGHT OFFER WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

THANK YOU FOR WHATEVER YOU MIGHT PROVIDE.

-- EDDARD STARK, LORD OF WINTERFELL, WARDEN OF THE NORTH, HAND OF THE KING

Comments

[bruxisms]

[ as much as he loathes to admit it, there is truth in what he says. still, he cannot help but feeling old resentments pooling to the surface. ]

THERE ARE WORDS AND WORDS, LORD STARK. BE THAT AS IT MAY, I TOOK NO JOY IN YOUR DEATH, AND EVEN LESS IN THE DEATH OF MY BROTHER. BUT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ROBERT'S HAND.

BE THAT AS IT MAY, IT MATTERS LITTLE NOW. WESTEROS IS GONE, THOUGH THANKFULLY ITS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SPARED.

BUT THERE ARE OTHER THINGS YOU MUST KNOW AS WELL.

[ this whole situation is... disconcerting. ]

[learned_to_die]

YOU'D HAVE NEVER HAD AN ARGUMENT FROM ME ABOUT YOUR WANTING TO BE HAND. I'D TOLD ROBERT AS MUCH, BUT YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I THAT THERE WAS NO REASONING WITH HIM ONCE HE'D SET HIS MIND ON SOMETHING.

SUCH AS?

-- LORD EDDARD STARK, LORD OF WINTERFELL, WARDEN OF THE NORTH, HAND OF THE KING

[bruxisms]

[ that's... surprising. ]

YOU COULD NOT CONVINCE ROBERT OF SOMETHING? THE WAY HE OFTTIMES SPOKE OF YOU, IT WAS AS THOUGH YOU COULD DO NO WRONG.

[ how many times had he heard his elder brother sing Lord Eddard Stark's praises? ]

FIRST OF ALL, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THERE MAY VERY WELL BE TWO SEPARATE WESTEROSES.

[ westerosi? ]

[learned_to_die]

YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I THAT ONCE ROBERT HAD SET HIS MIND ON SOMETHING, THERE WAS NO SPEAKING AGAINST OR ATTEMPTING TO SWAY HIM. HE PUT ME ON FAR TOO HIGH A PEDESTAL. IT IS A PLACE FOR STATUES AND THE REVERED, NOT FOR MORTAL MEN.

PARDON?

-- LORD EDDARD STARK, LORD OF WINTERFELL, WARDEN OF THE NORTH, HAND OF THE KING

[bruxisms]

THERE ARE TWO VERSIONS OF WESTEROS, IT WOULD SEEM, WHERE EVENTS PLAYED OUT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. TELL ME, LORD STARK,
DO YOU RECALL VICTARION GREYJOY?

[ that seemed to be one of the largest deviations between the Westeros Jon Snow recalled and the one that he did. ]

[learned_to_die]

I'D HEARD OF HIM, HIS GARGANTUAN SIZE. I'D NOT RECOGNIZED HIM WHEN I MET HIM IN THE CHAMBER, HOWEVER, SHORTLY AFTER I AWOKE.

-- LORD EDDARD STARK, LORD OF WINTERFELL, WARDEN OF THE NORTH, HAND OF THE KING

[bruxisms]

THERE IS A A WESTEROS WHERE HE DOES NOT EXIST. THERE ARE OTHER CHANGES, ONES THAT ARE MORE UNSETTLING. IN THAT WESTEROS, IT WOULD SEEM THAT I AM BOTH A KINSLAYER, AND THE SORT OF MAN WHO WOULD MARCH MY LADY WIFE AND DAUGHTER INTO BATTLE. YOUR SON, JON SNOW,
REMEMBERS THAT WESTEROS. I HOPE YOU WOULD KNOW ME NOT TO BE SUCH A FOOL.

[ the latter being a particular sticking point. ]

[learned_to_die]

I'D NOT HAVE DREAMT YOU AS SUCH, STANNIS. YOU ARE THE MAN I'D SUPPORTED AND FOR WHOM I'D CLAIMED THE IRON THRONE FOLLOWING ROBERT'S DEATH, UNLESS YOU'VE FORGOTTEN.

-- LORD EDDARD STARK, LORD OF WINTERFELL, WARDEN OF THE NORTH, HAND OF THE KING

[bruxisms]

AND FOR THAT I THANK YOU.

THERE ARE MANY OTHER STRANGE THINGS AFOOT HERE, LORD STARK,
AND THIS WAS JUST ONE OF THEM. AFTER YOUR DEATH, THINGS DID NOT GO PARTICULARLY WELL. THOUGH YOU MAY WISH TO HEAR SOME OF THE DETAILS FROM YOUR OWN CHILDREN.

[learned_to_die]

SUCH THINGS HAVE BEEN ALLUDED TO, THOUGH NONE ARE ALL THAT FORTHCOMING WITH INFORMATION; IT HAS ALLOWED MY MIND TO RUN TO THE WILDEST EXPANSES OF WHAT IT CAN CONJURE.

MIGHT YOU SHARE SOME OF IT TO QUELL THAT STORM?

-- LORD EDDARD STARK, LORD OF WINTERFELL, WARDEN OF THE NORTH, HAND OF THE KING

[bruxisms]

I MAY. ASK, AND YOU SHALL HAVE ONLY THE TRUTH FROM ME.

[learned_to_die]

WHAT FATE BEFELL MY FAMILY?

-- LORD EDDARD STARK, LORD OF WINTERFELL, WARDEN OF THE NORTH, HAND OF THE KING

[You got this, Stannis, right?]

[bruxisms]

[ well. Stannis is not one to soften his words. ever. ]

I WILL TELL YOU, THOUGH IT MAY BE SOMETHING YOU WISH TO HEAR IN PERSON.

JON SNOW WILL HAVE ANOTHER VERSION. I CAN TELL YOU WHAT HE TOLD ME, AND HE CAN SAY THE REST OF IT.

[learned_to_die]

YOUR WORDS HAVE DONE LITTLE TO BRING PEACE OF MIND, STANNIS. YOU MAKE ME FEAR THE WORST.

-- LORD EDDARD STARK, LORD OF WINTERFELL, WARDEN OF THE NORTH, HAND OF THE KING

[bruxisms]

THERE IS NO PEACE OF MIND TO BE HAD LORD STARK.

BUT KNOW THIS. THE STORM SEEMS TO HAVE WASHED AWAY ALL THAT WAS DONE. YOU ARE PROOF THAT THE DEAD LIVE YET AGAIN HERE.

WOULD YOU RATHER I TYPE IT NOW, OR WOULD YOU RATHER MEET FACE-TO-FACE?

[learned_to_die]

IT SOUNDS AS THOUGH AN IN-PERSON MEETING MIGHT BE BEST, GIVEN THE GRAVITY OF WHAT YOU IMPLY.

IF SUCH A THING SUITS YOU.

-- LORD EDDARD STARK, LORD OF WINTERFELL, WARDEN OF THE NORTH, HAND OF THE KING

[bruxisms]

IT SUITS ME JUST FINE.

MEET ME ABOARD THE THESA STATION, NEAR THE STASIS PODS.

[ though others might be disturbed by them, a part of Stannis found it comforting. a reminder that not all was lost. ]

[text -> action]

[learned_to_die]

[It takes Ned a bit longer than he'd like to manage to locate it, still memorizing the geography of this new land, but he does eventually find his way back to the pods, as Stannis has requested. Like a moth to a flame, he cannot help but linger near his beloved Cat, watching her in as peaceful a sleep as he could have ever hoped for her through the glass. There is a certain reverence here, a certain weight that lingers in the air itself, and it isn't lost on Ned.

He supposes he can find the comfort - and yet, at the comatose visage of his loved ones, and with Stannis' most recent messages lingering in his mind, Ned finds it difficult to hope. With a quiet exhale, he forces himself to wander about and away from his wife, however difficult it might be to do so.]

[bruxisms]

[ it is easy enough to find Lord Stark, though he takes no pleasure in what he is about to say. for all the disagreements between the two of them and resentment from Stannis's end, Ned Stark was still a man of honour. ]

I am glad to find you well, Lord Stark. Though, you will not thank me for what I tell you.

[ he supposes this was how Jon Snow had felt. be that as it may, the truth needed to be heard, no matter the cost. ]

[learned_to_die]

Out with it, then. There's no point in attempting to soothe my already harried mind.

[Ned turns to face him directly, hands limp at his sides. Whatever it is that Stannis needs to reveal, Ned would much rather have the truth, no matter its brutality.]

[bruxisms]

Very well.

[ where to begin... right. the beginning. ]

As I said earlier, Jon Snow recalls things differently. But this is what I know. Your son took up arms against Joffrey after your death. He sent Theon Grejoy to serve as an envoy to his father. That was a grave error.

[learned_to_die]

[It is no surprise, what Robb had done. Ned had felt the same after the murder of his brother and father.]

I've .. come to understand Theon is not the boy I remember when I'd last seen him.

[bruxisms]

I would not know, as I never knew him prior to the lad stumbling into my camp with your youngest daughter.

[ but more on that later. ]

Your son was foolish to trust him. When his father crowned himself king yet again, he chose his own blood [ as I once had with Robert remains mercifully unsaid. ] over his so-called king. He returned to Winterfell, and murdered your two youngest sons, though he has since insisted that he let them go.

[learned_to_die]

[Ned's eyes go cold, living up to the legends that preceded him back in Westeros. A man with eyes as cold as his heart.

Theon? Taking the lives of Bran and Rickon? They were boys, Rickon only a child when Ned had last seen him. Bran was far from being a man grown himself, only having had eleven name days. Would Theon truly have been so merciless, so ruthless to the children he'd spent years of his life around?

He takes a moment to try and collect himself. There is no hint of joy or humanity left in his face. Still, he nods for Stannis to continue.]

[bruxisms]

[ he can comprehend Lord Stark's rage. he had felt much the same when he had been told what happened to Shireen in Jon Snow's Westeros. though in that case, it was he who was the culprit. ]

I spoke to the turncloak, and he told me they were common born, and your sons managed to escape. Be that as it may, he was later captured by the Bastard and his men, after burning Winterfell, or so they say.

[ yet there is far more to tell him. ]

Your eldest son, Robb, continued his campaign, though he broke his vow to wed one of Walder Frey's get for Lady Jeyne Westerling. I can only imagine what drove him to do such. That... did not end well for him either.

[ another pause. things would likely only get worse for Lord Stark from here. ]