IC: House Kurgan (ASoIaF - What is Dead May Never Die)

[Xealot7]

Mammoth's Hold, House Kurgan - Great Wyk, Iron Islands - 298AC
Nearly thirty people are seated at the large banquet table in the great hall of Mammoth's Hold. Though just saying people would do a disservice to everyone involved. Everyone who is anyway to House Kurgan is present, and can feel tension in the air, almost as static before a major storm. All of Ragnus Kurgan's children are present, as are his advisers, captains, and others whose opinion he values. Magnus is seated to the right of the head of the table, where his father will soon be seated. Maya is seated adjacent to Magnus. Geir is on the left side of the table, four chairs from the head. Jana is seated one seat away from Geir. Their is small talk around the table, mostly pleasantries and smalltalk. No one dares to speak on the many rumors floating about King's Landing, Winterfell, Dragonstone, Storm's End, and Casterly Rock. For the most part, no words of politics are spoken at all. Certainly not at least, of Pyke and the brutish Greyjoy's.

Large double doors of the hall are pushed open by The Seahorse, Lord Ragnus Kurgan and he walks with a sense of purpose to the head of the table. The entire room stands, giving the lord the respect one of his status deserves. As he takes his seat, his powerful voice rings throughout the hall, "Be seated". Lord Ragnus pauses until the room is silent. "Before House Kurgan, stands two paths. One is a narrow and treacherous path, winding back and forth upon itself as it moves ever upward, with perilous enemies that wish to devour us, and certain doom if we step off of the path. But this path, leads to greatness for our house. The other is flat and wide with a slight decline, leading us ever so to being nothing more than a minor foot note in the annals of history." Ragnus stops for a moment and looks around at those in the room.

"Westeros is in the process of tearing itself apart. The Lannister's claim that Jeoffrey Baratheon is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. House Stark claims Jeoffrey and Tommen are both Lannister's, sired by his Jaime Lannister, and have no claim to the throne. All of House Baratheon seems to agree with Lord Stark, though they appear divided on whether Stannis, or Renly should be king. The Stark's complicate things by not proclaiming who they support as king. Alliances are being forged and we have a decision to make." Ragnus pauses briefly and takes a sip from his goblet. "House Tully and the Riverlands are supporting the Stark's as are House Arryn and the Vale. The Stark's also have Jaime Lannister as a prisoner, and Theon Greyjoy as a ward. House Tyrell is forging a an alliance through marriage with Renly Baratheon with brings with it all the power of the Reach. Today I recieved a raven from the Pyke, with Balon Greyjoy declaring himself the rightful king of the Iron Throne. That leaves us with one question. What do we do? I open it up to you, everyone here now has equal right to speak. Tell me, my most trusted adviser's, who do we support, what do we do, and why?"

[Shadowflick]

Geir gives Ragnus his full attention as he speaks, laying out the situation that Westros faces. He rests his head on one hand momentarily in thought before sitting straight "The last time the Greyjoy's rebelled, what did they achieve? They lost there Heirs. Euron was exiled. Gave the Iron Islands another reason to be laughed at and mocked by the mainlands? Balon is a fool to think this time will be any diffrent. If anything, it will put him at a weakened state if he sends his navy out to fight...who knows this time"

Geir thinks over the facts again "The Lanisters and the Riverlands are closest to our borders.I wouldn't think the Riverlands one to be able to reach us with what they have, but the Lannisters command a powerful Navy. Siding with anyone else could incur that wrath if we side with anyone else. The Starks, have a Greyjoy in there custody. If we ask that they give him to us so that we can keep him as a hostage, we would have an advantage on Balon. Then, theirs the Baratheon Brothers Fighting among themselves. Renly has A Powerful Navy, the support of the Reach, as well as the Baratheon name. Stannis is the one rightfully in line as the next king if the what they say about the children is true, but lacks any support from what I've heard. They also hap[pen to be across all of Westros, which would make them unable to ever support us in a timely fashion."

[Ionbound]

Jana crosses her legs, thinking as she listens, then says, "I see no reason to spurn our traditional alliances...For now. Though certainly, the business will continue as usual, one way or another. And perhaps in time the people that will be standing atop the pile of ashes that will come out of a succession war will be more clear, and we can take their side."

[packersfan]

As a foreigner to House Kurgan, Axel was surprised when he received an invention to the meeting. Rough seas had delayed his arrival a few days and Axel had only arrived this very morning. He had hope to speak in great lengths with Lord Ragnus upon his arrival, but recent developments kept their meeting brief. Now here he sat at the Lord's table with the children and trusted advisers of House Kurgan. He rose when the Lord entered and listen intently to the grievous news. The realm is fractured, and a man can become lost deciding on where his loyalty lies, but Axel knew to whom he was loyal to.

Your Courtier is right My Lord. Balon Greyjoy has lead your people to ruin once before, and he will do so again. I mean no disrespect, but the Iron Islands cannot stand against the might of the rest of the Kingdoms. Once this war for the Iron Throne over, the winner will turn his attention to Iron Islands. That leaves us with one option, declare for one of the contenders. But whom? Renly Baratheon has the backing of the Reach and most of the Storm Lords. With these to kingdom he will command the largest host and fleet and have some of the best generals in the realm. He won't lose and declaring for him early will put your house in his favor.

Awareness empathy 16
You notice that Axel says Renly's name with a hint of disdain.

[BananaPhone]

Even when seated next to his father, Magnus looked as if he were standing as his bright blue eyes moved back and forth slowly, scanning the room from the centre of the Heir's sun-kissed features.

He'd heard a lot of wildy, crazy stories while abroad in the Summer Isles and Essos, but what the Ravens message's declared was hard to believe. Jamie Lannister, the twice Kingslayer? And upon Robert Baratheon? Magnus was familiar with the Kings martial prowess: a giant of a man with a warhammer in one hand who defeated the lethally skilled Rhaegar in single combat. The King had been no slouch in his youth, but it appeared that his ability to fight had decreased as his corpulence had expanded.

"What is dead may never die," Magnus whispered under his breath in a small, minor tribute to a once greater warrior.

Listening to his fathers words, and then those of kin and ally, Magnus reached up to stroke his beard.

"Why declare for anyone?" he asked, his deep voice rolling over the gathering.

"Balon is a traitor to whoever comes to squat at Kings Landing. We send that pig-****-walking to the deep, bring the Islands in line, then keep'em neutral. Then we declare for whoever emerges at the top of the greenlanders pile. Whoever that is will be too exhausted to fight a naval campaign against the Iron Fleet and will welcome peace."

[Xealot7]

Mammoth's Hold, House Kurgan -Great Wyk, Iron Islands - 298AC
Lord Ragnus looks around at the group. "We have one suggestion towards the Lannisters, one towards the Greyjoys, one for neutrality, and one for Renly Baratheon." He eyes those who have yet to speak. "Surely other's have an opinion, or at least wish to argue the point that another has made?"

[Shadowflick]

Geir gives Axel a strange look, noticing something off about how he spoke. He listens to the lord's daughter's opinions. She crosses his arms and sighs.

"Keeping to the traditional alliance would have been easy...if Balon Greyjoy did not decide to declare himself the true King. The mainlander makes sense. Renly seems to be the strongest choice at the moment. But, as I said, he is across Westros. The Lanisters and the Riverlands are still near us. If we declare for him, we would be left on our own to face them. Unless there distracted and there forces are split. In that case...well, we would put them at the disadvantage..." he puts a hand to his chin "The Rock...it..is near us...and very important...if they send there troops north.." he shakes his head, relizing that the Rock has never been successfully attacked unless your name started with a Euro- and ended with -Ejoy "The most anyone's done was torch there fleet. Attacking there is nothing more than a fantasy at the moment. It would require far more planning and much more time"

Looks to Magnus, the Next in line and already proven his worth in Essos and the islands "I mean no offense,
but if we begin acting too late, what do we gain? Yes, The Iron Islands will be ours, but in the story of the World it just means we rule over a pile of rocks in the Ocean. If we act Early we can insure ourselves more than that. I do not ask we declare ourselves the true kings of Westros, but simply waiting it out is what The Iron Islands did during Roberts Rebellion...and, as shown, we gained little from that. I believe if we wish to earn our place in history, we wait...not till the end, but til Balon sends his ships. Then, we take Pyke.
After that, we declare ourselves for whomever we want. If that plan would not work then we take advantage of the chaos. While the Lannisters send there armies off to war, we plan with there enemies to assault the rock. Our fleet is to near for them to send there force back. Of course, none of these are set in stone. It seems that nothing really is at the moment"

[Artemis97]

After listening and with some consideration, Maya Kurgan, the eldest daughter, speaks. "The westerlanders could be our closest allies, but are traditional prey of the ironborn raiders. The Reach is another hopeful ally." She nods to Axel. "And if they've declared for Renly, that is a powerful block. The Starks, Arryns, and Tullys are neutral for now, but could be frighteningly powerful if threatened. If Balon Greyjoy thinks he can try to take the Iron Throne from anyone in this chaos, he is mad. Renly Baratheon and the Reach seem the strongest allies for us. But our concerns should be more localized, can we allow the Greyjoys to attack the mainland at will? It will be death for poor Theon for certain, if they try." Maya decides. "We should be gathering our allies, here, to face the Greyjoys at a weakpoint. Call attention to their folly."

[packersfan]

Noticing Geir's stare, Axel gives the warrior a simple nod before returning his attention the talks at hand.

Taking a Kingdom is one thing, keeping it is another, Lets say Balon Greyjoy does leave Pike undefend and we take it. What happens next? What happens when the Iron Fleet and the reavers return home?You need Allies. While I'm here to forge one, you need support from some of the other Ironborn houses. Without them you will be fighting rebellion after rebellion.

[BananaPhone]

Magnus listened as the older warrior offered a counter to his proposal, The Mammoth's face rather expressionless for someone who was being disagreed with.

"I mean no offense, but if we begin acting too late, what do we gain? Yes, The Iron Islands will be ours, but in the story of the World it just means we rule over a pile of rocks in the Ocean. If we act Early we can insure ourselves more than that. I do not ask we declare ourselves the true kings of Westros, but simply waiting it out is what The Iron Islands did during Roberts Rebellion...and, as shown, we gained little from that. I believe if we wish to earn our place in history, we wait...not till the end, but til Balon sends his ships. Then, we take Pyke."

Magnus laughed to himself, a small grin across his features, "that a young man," he gestured to himself, "be counseling an older man in caution," he motioned to Geir, clearly amused by the situation.

"Say we back Renly and he loses, what then? Or we back the Lannisters and they lose - what then? If this breaks out into a war we'd only be betting against the odds. Renly, Joffery, a Stark...I don't care which one sits on the throne. The Iron Throne considers our isles a curiosity at best, we're down near Dorne on their priority list. We choose right we gain nothing. We choose wrong, we lose everything. I don't get to have a ship enter port each month with my cut of profits by making bets like that."

Magnus leaned back in his chair and folded his thick overs over his deep chest, "whichever one of the Greenlanders wins, we bring'em the head of Balon Greyjoy and we become the Great House of the Iron Islands; that's our reward. Then we can whip these rocks into shape and give it some real leadership."

[Ionbound]

Jana grins to herself as she listens to Magnus's speech and says, "There we go! At the end of the day, whoever wins isn't really our problem. We can keep with our way of life, trade with everyone, and stay out of this damn war until it's over. Then hand over Balon's head as a sign of good will to the winner."

[Shadowflick]

Geir sits back on his chair and Let's out a sigh "Passively waiting...this is the same as Robert's rebellion" he shakes his head "Fine, for now we can stay neutral and turn our Attention to The Greyjoys. There our most immediate Concern anyway. He puts a hand to his chin again, thinking over various subjects "House Thorin is on our side...but the Greyjoy's are still considered the big fish in our waters at the moment. Do we know of any houses that may assists us? Or better you, the Houses that wont dethrone you after we defeat the Greyjoys?""

[Artemis97]

"Mother's family may assist us if they haven't already thrown their lot in with the Lannisters," Maya suggests. "It's possible we could get aid from the Starks and Tullys, and by extension the Arryns. I am certain they do not want to see another Greyjoy rebellion."

[Shadowflick]

Jeir looks to Maya "Perhaps, any allies we could gain would help...but It seems that many of use here want to stay Neutral, Allying with the Starks or the Tully's would be the opposite of that. I still support choosing a side personally, but I'll do what the lord wishes"

[BananaPhone]

Leaning back in his chair, thick arms folded over his flat chest, Magnus observed the gathering as a quiet set in after the conversation moved in the direction of his proposal: neutrality to the greenlanders and focusing on the Greyjoys.

At the centre of his angular, sun-kissed features, Magnus' blue eyes swept slowly across the congregation to see if there was anyone else thathad something to say...

[packersfan]

Axel remained silent. The mood of the table had swung from supporting the Tyrells to remaining out of the conflict until the Iron Islands were secured. All he could do was push them to the right faction when that time comes.

Axel looked to the Lord to make his decision.

[Shadowflick]

Geir does much the same. Having said his piece already, he leans back and waits for the lord's decision