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]

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. ]

[learned_to_die]

Winterfell -- ? [He cannot stir his tongue to say the words, to give voice to its fate. He cannot begin to imagine it aflame, burning to the ground, reduced to rubble and ashes. How could it be? How could such a thing have happened? It had been the seat of the Starks for thousands upon thousands of years. Who could so brazenly take a torch to it without any consideration for its meaning, its history, its importance?

The sorrow and pain is only eased by the fact that Theon had not ended Bran and Rickon's lives. What a light in such darkness.

He tenses his jaw as he takes in a breath, trying to steady himself. Betraying Frey was a grave mistake for Robb to make; Ned knows that even now, but he cannot begin to fathom what Frey might've done in retaliation. He thinks that perhaps he'd have not come to Robb's aid during the campaign against the Lannisters; he'd have grounds to break their alliance.

Apprehensively, Ned nods again.]

Please.