GOT - Part 26
Winterfell. The North.Warehouse. Wintertown.
After spending much of my day learning the basics of fighting like a knight in the sparring yard (something I planned to do a lot with Jon Snow and anyone else who had some free time when I wasn't working with Maester Luwin on ways to improve the standing of House Stark and prosperity of Winterfell) I found myself checking out how my business was doing.
I'd decided to spend an hour or so in the warehouse that I was renting out.
I wasn't just selling I was trading for northern furs, ales, wools, leather, hides and while I didn't exactly need any of this stuff it was important to trade with the natives and to directly purchase locally made goods since my cover was that of a trader, and I was still a businessman.
Cover or not I was making a decent profit while here in the North. The Manderly's had a silver mine so they'd been willing to sell me raw ore from that mine in exchange for stuff that was pretty much junk to me. The only downside to that was that in Buffy's world silver was selling for only five dollars for an ounce and in my time it was like four or five times that.
If I hadn't been trading ounces of it for stuff that cost be about a dollar on average I'd be upset. Not that it really mattered as I could always store the silver and sell it later when I found a better market.
Cameron had even set up a way of purifying any metals we got in one of the warehouses. I was considering trying to pass on those methods to the Manderlys in exchange for more silver and trying to set up my own mint in one of the warehouses.
Being able to mint my coins seemed like a good idea as I wouldn't need a lot of them and currency exchange wasn't always easy. The value of the coins would be based on the metals the coins were made from so I wouldn't need anyone backing me even if the coins gave people the impression that I had a government behind me.
What really amused me about all of this was that no one outside of my growing group had any kind of inventory and only Lord Stark had toured all of my ship which meant no one knew that I was selling more than my ship could hold.
"Gothic?" Jon said as he approached me, seeming a little unsure.
I figured this wasn't good news he looked even more broody than normal and I wondered what had him so grumpy. The King still hadn't arrived and the preparations were going well so I didn't know what else could be bothering him. I couldn't recall anything bad happening around here between the news of Jon Arryn's death and the royal family's arrival.
"Yeah?" I answered.
"Ah... Well." Jon started, before taking a quick breath. "My father has requested that I invite you, your wife and your ward to dine with us for the evening meal".
This was what had him so worried? There had to be more going on here. I gave it some quick thought.
"Have you told your father about my offer?" I asked.
Lord Stark hadn't mentioned it during our meeting yesterday afternoon. I had wondered if he'd wanted to go over the details of my plans as a way of getting a measure of the man who wished to hire his son.
"Just after your meeting with him," Snow said.
Made sense if Eddard Stark wanted to get to know then inviting me to dinner made sense. It would be easier for the Lord-Paramount to get to know me over a meal and a few drinks than in a formal meeting.
"What about Lady Catelyn?" I asked carefully "She's been avoiding my group ever since we arrived and she can't have been happy to find out that I've given you the chance to join my group".
I was a little surprised that Arya hadn't tried to sign up as crew given her desire for exploration and adventure. Maybe she was planning to stow away?
As for Lady Stark, she was a worshipper of the Seven perhaps she saw my group as heathens or she thought we had magic. She was right about that, but the Manderly family were Seven worshippers and they'd been very welcoming once the shock wore off.
"No, she did not approve," Jon said. "Only my father insisted on it. You wouldn't be the first guest who's joined us for dinner that Lady Catelyn didn't wish to be there".
The whole situation seemed innocent enough. Eddard Stark was simply a father who wanted to make sure his son wasn't going to go off with the wrong kind of people. It was good to know that Eddard Stark was looking out for Jon like that. I did wonder why, if he cared that much, did he'd let Jon go to The Wall?
He had to know what that place was really like. His brother would have mentioned it during one of his visits. Eddard Stark would have his reasons for allowing it, something to do with his promise to his sister on her deathbed no doubt, he might just think that Jon was safer from Robert and people like Tywin Lannister if he was at The Wall.
As for Lady Stark, I needed to bind her at some point and offering her a choker as a gift in front of her whole family would make it very hard for her to refuse.
"Well I won't disappoint your Lord Father," I told Jon "Tell him that I would be delighted to attend and that I thank him for the invite. I'll let Dany and Dawn know".
Jon tensed up again.
"It is rather short notice," said the Bastard of Winterfell.
Oh, now it made sense. He'd meant dinner as in tonight's meal, he should have mentioned this sooner, he'd left it to the last possible moment and this was a bit annoying. Bloody teenagers.
"All right, you go on ahead, I'll catch up once I've tracked down the wife and my girl," I told Jon "Dinner is in the Great Hall, right?".
He just nodded.
"We'll change and pick out a few gifts" I informed him.
Jon nodded again and left. Leaving me free to open a portal to Grand Manor. Hopefully, Dany and Dawn could get dressed in a reasonable amount of time while I picked out some gifts.
Since I had a chance I should try to bind Arya as well. I'd already figured that it might be better to give her a plain-looking bracelet and then exchange it later as I liked my women to have their sexy collars.
If I had enough bracelets I should make an attempt to bind Robb Stark. I might even try my luck with Theon Greyjoy and then sell him because people should think he'd run off to go back to Iron Islands. I might hold back on that so as to make it look as if he vanished during the royal visit when people would be distracted.
While I would have liked more notice about the dinner it was a good sign as it meant that the Starks were opening up to me. I would bind as many of them I could, since they were important players in the Game of Thrones, but I wouldn't sell or control any of them too much.
GOT - Part 27
Winterfell. The North.
Amazingly it hadn't taken an hour to get Dany and Dawn into something suitable to wear for dinner, and with portals, there's no travel time so we made it into the castle grounds before too long.
I did not require much time to change and I didn't need to get cleaned up thanks to the Time-Savers perk. So my biggest delay was picking out some suitable gifts for the Starks.
The guards knew to expect us so they waved us through the gate and into the courtyard.
"Good, you're here," Jon said when we arrived.
He looked a little worried. That made sense as even once the bracelet took full effect he'd still need his father's permission to leave Winterfell and come with me. To get that we needed to make a good impression on the local lord.
"Are they all here?" I asked.
There would not only be Lord Stark at dinner but there would also be the Stark children and their mother in attendance, along with important members of the household such as Luwin. Thankfully, I wouldn't be expected to bring them any gifts.
I wasn't a fan of Lady Stark everything she does in the books and the show simply makes things worse aside from her one moment of glory when she fights off an assassin to protect her son long enough for one of the direwolves to save the day. I respected that Momma Bear moment, or Momma Wolf in this case.
Sansa was simply annoying, but I could deal with her as a familiar and I would have to handle her mother if only to stop Lady Stark from screwing up my plans. She didn't deserve to die she just needed to be made to stay here in Winterfell and not get involved in anything important.
"Yes," Jon confirmed, as he led us through a few doors and into the great hall "The whole family is here".
The room had eight long rows of what I thought were called trestle tables, four to each side of the central aisle; they could easily fit a hundred people inside this place, maybe even more, yet right now it was mostly empty.
There were more tables up on a raised platform, where everyone eating was currently seated. I had assumed that I would be made to sit on one of the lower tables I was not a proper noble, but then, Jon would also have to be down there as well, since he was a bastard. Which wouldn't make it much of a family dinner.
I took note of who was attending this dinner as I approached the table. The ages of the Stark children were a little screwy in this timeline due to Universal Calibration. Bran and Rickon Stark were both children, yet Sansa and Arya were clearly in their later teens, so there was a bit of an age gap between Arya and Bran.
Robb and Theon, who ate their meals while chatting away about one thing or the other, looked to be the right ages, but Robb must be able about 21 years old and wasn't married. Very odd for this world considering that his marriage would be an important political match since he was the heir. Were they waiting for some noblemen's daughter to grow up?
At the end of one table, Maester Luwin sat alone, he was enjoying his meal in relative silence, as was Lord Eddard and his wife, Lady Catelyn, who noticed our presence long before everyone else did.
When they did the large hall quieted, and I started to feel as if I had been put on display. Along with my wife and ward, who were both very attractive young women so they were somewhat used to being stared at.
I tried to bow in the proper way, but some part of me just refused to do it correctly. In my home nation unless you met the Queen herself you just don't bow to anyone ever.
Dany and Dawn did know how to curtsy, I assumed that my wife had taken my adopted daughter and explained why it was important as well as how to do it correctly.
"Lord Stark," Jon said formally "Lady Stark. May I present Captain Gothic, his wife Dany and his ward Dawn".
Oddly formal from Jon considering that this was his family, but I'd expected him to make a proper introduction. Also, I figure that Lady Stark would likely take offence if he called Eddard 'father' in front of guests.
"Jon," Eddard said warmly as Catelyn gave a stiff nod.
Mr Snow then got on with things.
"A pleasure to meet you again, Lord Stark," I said "Thank you for inviting us to dine with your family, it's quite the honour, and please forgive our lateness it took some of us a while to get ready".
This was more due to the fact they'd had no warning, but I felt no need to embarrass Jon by pointing out that it was actually his fault. Besides, people expected women to make men later for social engagements.
"And please accept these gifts" I went on to say.
I handed over the trinkets and Lord Stark was very impressed with the dagger I presented him with.
"This is Valyrian steel," he said, "With a dragonbone handle if I'm not
mistaken. A weapon worthy of a king".
Compared to Ice, House Stark's family blade, the dagger wasn't worth much and giving it away meant little to me since I knew how to make Valyrian steel. As expected it involved fire and blood as did all of their magic. I could make whole new swords assuming that I could find a skilled enough blacksmith. My group had more than enough magic.
"During our travels, we came across a stash of Valyrian trinkets in some old ruins," I said to the future Hand of the King.
That was all I wanted to say on the matter and Lord Stark didn't pressure me for more information. Instead, he occupied his time by fitting the choker I brought for his wife around Lady Stark's neck, unknowingly aiding me in bringing his partner under my control.
I gave Robb Stark and Arya Stark their own bracelets. Both were simple metal bands that I'd gotten from the company that still looked better than anything that could be made local. They put them on without delay and didn't think it at all odd that they would be able to remove them.
For Sansa, I'd put together a gift basket. I took it out of the box and presented her with a basket full of scented soaps, scented candles, and other extremely girly stuff. Which she gushed over.
Bran and Rickon, who I guessed were about ten and five years old, or close enough for it not to matter, were easily distracted by simple wooden and metal toys. They didn't know what a car was, but toy ones have wheels so it wasn't hard to figure out.
Theon Greyjoy got some machine-made arrows that were clearly of higher quality than anything locally made. I'd didn't have enough bracelets to bind him as well, but that was something I could handle later as planned.
"Please, sit down" the Warden of the North invited.
"Thank you," I said
I took the seat adjacent to that of Jon as Dany and Dawn filled out the rest of that table. I was close enough to speak to everyone and that was good as I had a feeling they would ask me many questions. Also, I greeted the Maester as I sat down, he was near enough to me that I didn't need to raise my voice to speak with him.
"Maester Luwin," I greeted.
The scholar had more questions about the Bessemer converter that I wanted to be built here in Winterfell once the Blast Furnace was finished. As we talked I helped myself to some venison, having taken a liking to the meat during my time in this world. I tried not to think of poor Bambi, because of that movie I'd always avoided eating venison in the past.
"I'm curious." Eddard Stark said, interrupting my talk with Luwin "And since you intend to take Jon with you I think I have a right to know. What will you do once you have seen the Seven Kingdoms? Will you be returning to your homelands?".
Well, I intended to leave this world one day and I doubted I'd look back, but I couldn't tell them that. In the short term, I was planning to go north of the Wall and pretended that during the time away that I was actually going across the sunset sea to pick up more goods.
"I intended to make a quick trip across the Sunset Sea and restock, then when we return we'll come to Kingslanding" I explained to Lord Stark.
Jon would have no place at court but as a sworn shield of an ally of House Stark, he'd be able to visit the Tower of the Hand when I had business there and Arya would at least be glad to see him.
"Your son will get a share of the profits for his work," I told the Lord-Paramount "More than enough to set himself up in a small keep somewhere when he's ready to settle down".
Which might happen one day as Jon would share in my basic immortality and perhaps find someone he wished to take as a wife. If that happened I could free him from my service if he wished.
I changed the subject and asked about the possibility of buying land here in the North. Given all I'd offered to the North, I didn't foresee much trouble in becoming a lord given how much I was helping House Stark.
GOT - Part 28
Grand Manor. Extradimensional Space.
"There's a lot of books here" I commented
Ever since Cameron had gotten back from killing most of the Boltons she'd started working on translating every book that we could borrow from Maester Luwin, we offered gold as collateral against damage or theft, along with a few she'd stolen from the Boltons.
She could type up the contents at a speed no human would ever be able to match and once she was done doing that, she'd create an English version of the book. She'd even set up a little printing press in one of the warehouses so we could have physical copies in limited numbers.
This would also add to our profits as books were expensive to produce for the people of Plantos, but rather cheap for us if we brought the paper in bulk and the printer hadn't been too expensive to put together.
I preferred being able to access the electronic versions as I could run searches using my Smartphone to find what I needed within the vast amounts of information I'd stored on my phone, but most of my waifu preferred books and there was no harm in having backups.
As planned, I'd extended the size of the library in Grand Manor and started stacking books along with some trinkets that went up on the shelves to make it look less like a book depository.
Tara and I were in the process of creating a research area, hence the need for tables and comfortable chairs as well as a small area devoted to the making of coffee and the storage of snacks.
Not all of the stuff on the shelves were copies of Winterfell books or even from Westeros. We had some texts that we'd purchased from Pentos or Braavos, recovered from Valyria or purchased from the world of BTVS on subjects ranging from the sciences to the strangest of magic.
"So how is Jon settling in?" Tara asked me.
Getting him to accept his new status in life hadn't been easy, the bindings only do so much and with familiars, there's no romantic and sexual interest, which is something that tends to alter people's judgement. Jon was also more introspective and less trusting than Sansa, so I had to try hard to bring him around. Thankfully he'd heard me out and didn't go running to his father.
"It took some time but I was able to explain most of it to him" I answered "It helps that I'm working to aid House Stark".
Jon dearly loved his family even the members of it he didn't get along with so well.
"He's spending time with Auntie Dany and Cameron has translated most of the first Game of Thrones book so he'll soon have a better understanding of what will happen to his family if we don't take action".
Bonds of family matter to waifu and so having his aunt guide him would help. He'd care more about me not selling off his sisters than we having his aunt as my waifu because she was married and pregnant. I'd told him about why it was important to keep her hidden.
I'd have to discuss Arya at some point as I did want her to come with us. Perhaps if I let Arya choose to be a familiar or more, then it wouldn't upset him. I didn't really need Arya as a companion rather than a familiar. I was hardly lacking for pussy and there were other women in this world I wouldn't mind fucking.
"I'm mostly worried about what will happen when he finds out about Theon or what the Lannisters do" I mentioned to Tara "Hopefully he'll obey me and let me handle them".
I was putting out some knick-knacks on a shelf when Tara asked if I would hold the ladder steady for her while she climbed up on the top rung. She looked down at me and smiled when I told her she was in good hands and not to worry that I'd catch her if she fell.
As she lifted her leg up to the top rung I looked up at Tara's skirt, which was much shorter than normal. I could see her bare shaved pussy. It took Tara a couple of minutes to sort out the books, and when I wasn't handing more of them up to her I stared at the cunt I didn't get to see often enough. She spent a lot of her time with Amy, doing research, or working on projects like this.
"You're quiet" Tara commented.
I quickly thought of something to say.
"Are you missing Amy?" I enquired.
My other witch had gone to visit her father, who lived in Sunnydale, and due to the way portals worked she had to travel to that town, re-enter my little universe and then leave it so that her exit portal would always appear somewhere in her home town. That way she could visit her remaining family and shop at the Magic Box when disguised.
I wondered if her mother's cheerleader trophy which contained Amy's mother was buried somewhere in the remains of the High School. I should go and check some time. Amy was tier 3 and so her mother should equal to that given her skills in magic. I could collar the statue, wait for a while, and then see if that counted as a capture. After that, I'd sell her for a few points.
"More than I thought I would," said Tara "I'm really glad I'm with her and that you introduced us".
Since I'd gotten distracted again I didn't pay proper attention to what she was saying, and she noticed this.
"I guess I can't blame you for peeking up my skirt," she said as she came down the ladder "For some reason, it's nice when you do look at me like that. I never feel like that with any other guy".
Rather than reply to that, I put the ladder back into the storeroom, and then I came back into the library.
"Go sit down at the table" my witch instructed.
I did as she asked and I was surprised by how confident she suddenly sounded. I was more surprised when she came over to me and got down to her knees. While down there she gave me a look that made me think she was a bit scared or at least concerned.
"Sir, I've never done this before," Tara said in a voice that was timid, but she didn't stutter "I just want to show you how much you mean to me".
Tara fumbled with my belt and zipper until my jeans were wide open. She then caressed the lump my cock formed in my boxers and she looked up at me with her eyes that were full of at least a little worry.
"Why does it have to be so big" she muttered.
She then slid my boxers off along with my jeans. By now my dick was so hard that it could be used to knock things off the shelves. Tara stared at my cock like it was could hurt her, not that it could on her own.
"I've done this for anyone," she told me "I mean for a guy. So don't be upset if I'm not any good at it. I've watched Amy do this for you and I know it makes you happy".
She then leaned in and licked my prick from my balls all the way to the tip. Soon her tongue had travelled over every inch of my dick until it was slick and wet.
Before doing anything else the witch decided to undress, I assumed she was worried about making her clothes messy, she pulled her blouse off and threw it on the table. Tara backed up a little and soon shed her skirt so that was now standing completely nude in front of me aside from her socks and shoes. She made no attempt to cover her nudity I was pleased to see.
Next, she got back down to her knees and did her best to suck my cock, but she gagged and went back to licking it. This was nice, but it wasn't going to get me off.
"Straddle me" I ordered, "I want you to ride my cock".
She nodded while looking up at me and then stood up. She took a few deep breathes and eased the head of my dick into her hot cunt as her legs wrapped around me as well as the chair. Tara grunted as my dick stretched her tight little fuckhole.
It took her a while to start moving as she wasn't used to this, but before long Tara's hips moved up and then slammed down all the way and she screamed out in a mixture of pleasure and a little discomfort as her body hadn't gotten used to having sex with me.
This was my fault I'd focused too much on other waifu and I'd simply assumed that my two witches would take care of each other. It seemed as if it wasn't that simple.
Soon she began to relax and enjoy herself.
"You belong to me" I reminded Tara.
My shy witch nodded.
"I do belong to you" she replied "So does Amy".
Nice to hear.
"Be a good girl and make me cum" I commanded.
Tara focused her efforts on doing just that, she moved her hips in different ways, trying to get me to cum inside her and she was having much more fun with it. With my strong hands, I grabbed hold of her sides, so that I could help her with her task and keep her from falling off.
She wouldn't be going anywhere. Not until I'd filled up her wet cunt with my seed. It took time for her to manage this as she was used to me fucking her, and I hadn't done that much, but I did cum inside her, and she didn't mind that at all even calling out my name as I pasted the inside of her pussy with my sticky mess.
GOT - Part 29
Dragonstone. The Narrow Sea.
Melisandre, who was often referred to as the Red Woman or the Red Witch by the people of this land, was in her other parts of the world simply a priestess, serving in the religion of R'hllor. She had recently come to the home of Lord Stannis in the hopes of spreading the one true faith, and to prepare the people of the Sunset Kingdoms for the next battle against the Great Other and its minions.
Her efforts so far hadn't been wasted. Stannis's wife had eagerly converted and her husband was coming around to the idea of embracing the truth. Once her visions came to pass, and the fat king died as she had predicted, Stannis would be won over. There was time to prepare him for the wars ahead. He would need to be king in order to rally the living against the dead, he would need to be the Prince-Who-Was-Promised.
As Melisandre sat in her private quarters and looked into the flames she began to grow more concerned. It was becoming harder and harder to see what would happen. As time passed her visions became less clear and they came to her less often. Her lord could not be at fault so the problem must somehow be her.
At first, she'd wondered if she had done something to offend the Lord of Light, but what could that be? She had been converting the heathens, more and more of them came to her sermons, so she wondered if it was the Great Other who was behind this trouble. Could the ancient enemy be trying to blind the servents of her lord?
For certain something was clouding her vision. Perhaps attempting to hide someone from her, it was coming from the north, the lands of winter, and it was spreading. Yet when her lord showed her the enemy they were in peril, she foresaw a great fire washing away the armies of the dead.
The fire was her god's element, would smite the enemy? Or was this something else? Something new?
She simply didn't know and her efforts to discover more through the visions in the flames were not helping. She would have to wait and learn through other means. The Red Woman was well placed to hear important news and in time she would learn what changed about the world.
Airship. Outside Winterfell.
"There's no need to bow," I said to the two children of Howland Reed.
The whole bowing thing made me a little uncomfortable. I was only the captain of a ship. Granted my flying vessel, that I was currently sitting within the bridge of, was much more impressive than anything locally made, but I was at the end of the day a businessman, not a king or warlord. As such, I was glad that I'd cleared the bridge for this somewhat important meeting.
It wasn't unexpected that some nobles, even minor ones, would turn up to come to see the airship, but it was a little surprising that it was Meera and Jojen Reed of all people as Greywater Watch, their home, was about as far as you could get from Winterfell and still be in The North.
Given the distances involved and their lack of horses that meant they must have set off before I arrived, and that meant Jojen at least had known we'd be here. Trace Defence might have stopped me and my group from appearing in any visions, but this didn't prevent anyone from seeing the changes we made and figuring that someone had come to alter events, or possibly would do.
It is also might be possible for the Three-Eyed Raven to see me through the eyes of animals or to see the results of my actions as well as others disappearing from his visions as more people joined me. If he knew about this in advance he might have directed one of his pawns here.
"We've come a long way to find you," said Jojen "Captain Gothic".
Even if they hadn't known what to look for they would have known to seek out something that didn't belong, something that could have altered the flow of events, and a big flying ship fit that bill rather nicely.
As for knowing my name, by now everyone in Winterfell, Wintertown and those living in this area would have been able to tell them something about me. The airship was very hard to miss and painting it totally white, so as it make it less garish, was taking a lot of time.
"So you were sent to me?" I asked.
I noticed that Jojen wasn't looking so hot. The visions must be weighing on him.
"We came to find who was changing everything," he said.
That would be us.
"I can't see all that I used to see" Jojen was now saying.
He explained to me that during his childhood he nearly died of something called greywater fever. While he was near death, he was visited by a three-eyed crow that gave him the gift of greensight, and since then he'd been able to see events both past, present and future.
These visions are something I knew to be called greendreams. Targaryens could have something similar called dragondreams. I'd not had any yet, despite me being a dragonrider. Perhaps as Shenron grew my magical abilities would also grow.
I knew that even though he experiences greendreams, Jojen is not a true greenseer, he lacks the abilities of a warg, and he didn't seem to be holding up very well under the strain of being a seer. He wasn't a Stark, he lacked whatever it was that let them be wargs.
Still, he might be useful to me, as could his sister, even if it was just as local guides, and they seemed to understand that they were in the presence of someone far more powerful than they could understand.
"So I assume you want something from me," I said.
Most likely he wanted help reaching the Three-Eyed Raven.
"He's not well" stated Meera "And he's getting worse".
My presence here might have something to do with that.
"I can help" I offered "But my help isn't free".
Using my Smartphone I got my hands on a chocker and a bracelet. Not enough time had passed for more of the Starks to be bound to me but I had gotten new Tempest Jewellery.
"If you both join my group then certain talents will be gifted to you" I did my best to explain "This will help you, Jojen, but I can't promise you'll keep your gift".
Since he wasn't a natural seer I couldn't be sure if the ability would be lost to him or not. That might not be a big deal even my own future knowledge, but it would be good to have my own seer. If I got him to Bloodraven he might be able to sort it out.
"I'm going to seek out the Three-Eyed-Raven and the Children of the Forest," I told them "If you join my group I'll take you with me".
As Jojen's magical abilities, if they even were magical, weren't inherent to him he wouldn't be able to teach me how to use them even with my perks, but he could still have useful information.
Would a stronger Jojen be able to take Bran's place? I'd like to find out.
"Put these on and in a few days we can talk about what happens next," I told the two Reeds who both soon did as I wished "I have somewhere you can both stay and get some rest. My people can start to explain more about us once you've settled in".
I'd leave that to my companions since they had more free time than I did. Besides, both of the Reeds would have been travelling for quite a while. They could both do with some rest, and to spend some time on a nice beach.