MrDidact

Game of Thrones : The Pact of Ice and Fire (Always Open)

@Abefroeman Hmm interesting concept, but I don't know if there really would have been any roads. We know there are some very limited ports and some crude forts, but no roads IIRC. And I think the Boars would work better as battle companions, not mounts. You'd have to come up with a good reason for the Night's Watch not to have sent a force since they raid beyond the wall, and it'd be pretty accessible to attack by a Night's Watch fleet.

Mass Effect: Underworld

@Leos Klien Goddamit man, sometimes there's a thing as too much explosion, how have you not learned that yet xD

Mass Effect: Underworld

Aegon's like 7'1. Tiberius is like a freak of nature by Turian standards.

Mass Effect: Underworld

A hot hand of force, sound, heat, and shrapnel screamed down the tunnel. He may have avoided the blast but Aegon felt half-way seared by the heat of the explosion and his hearing was blurred for several moments, his helmet protecting him from the worst of it as he quickly got over the disorientation. Aegon took a quick peek. The retreating Cerberus squad had been fried and the structural integrity of the base' entryway had suffered greatly, with massive cracks appearing in the ceiling. The old tunnel had fared only somewhat better. Debris had rained down from the ceiling and one block had narrowly missed striking Giles in the head. Not that he wouldn't have deserved it for nearly blowing them all to the afterlife. But a quick inspection showed that most of the team was alright, even Ellis, who managed to escape the worst of the blast. Most of the prisoners had been killed however, perhaps two or three were still breathing. Not a complete disaster but Aegon was far from pleased. He didn't get much chance to speak however when Jake came in on the comm with his report.

Aegon vowed he would set the intel guys straight, if he survived of course. How was it possible that they had no idea of this? He would have given orders but Anderson beat him to the punch. It seemed wrong for his partner, his junior partner, to give the orders unilaterally, but he was being decisive and Aegon couldn't begrudge him that. No point in arguing, even when Rykarn decided to put in his own order. He wasn't the kind of officer who was insecure about his command and needed to measure dicks, Aegon shouted, "You heard them! Get into gear! We've got no time and a whole lot of shit coming down on us!"

Despite his team being almost universally a collection of hotheads with far too much power and not enough brains to go with it, he appreciated their tenacity and their resourcefulness when it came down to the wire. The spirits seemed to favor both the the bold, and they certainly were that. They immediately leaped into action, and Aegon knew with a little work they would be a force to be reckoned with. They just needed to survive. Aegon saw the infiltration team coming in, heard the shrieks of the horde behind him, and he grimaced in remembrance. He had seen Husks for the first time when the Geth attacked the Citadel. He saw them again on Palevan. There had been hundreds of thousands of them during the Miracle. Their shrieks were a constant during the battle, as omnipresent as gunshots or the screams of the wounded. Sometimes at night, he still heard those mechanical wails in his sleep.

Aegon shoved all that away and hit his adrenaline rush, time slowing down again as he got his rifle to bead. He had all the time he needed, but to everyone else he moved with lightning speed. Sixteen shots in a clip, sixteen rounds through husk heads, plus a quick draw of his pistol, three more shots; and nineteen husks fell within a few moments. It was barely a drop in the bucket. They kept coming, surging tightly down the narrow hallway and jostling over their fellows as they reached for the team, barely held back by the firepower of the team. Aegon reloaded, and came to the infiltration team shouting out, "Someone get those pylons online! Give us a boost here!"

He made sure the scientists were squared away, before bending down to police some munitions from the downed Cerberus troopers. One of the trooper prisoners, in a sudden flash of life, reached for a Talon and tried to aim it at Aegon. He just barely brought the barrel to Aegon, his finger curling around the trigger when his hand suddenly flew from his arm. The trooper barely had time to scream before his head fell off of his neck. Aegon flicked the blood off of his sword before pointing it at the scientists, "That's what will happen if you try anything while you're within twenty feet." Taking a second to draw and aim, he pulled his Paladin and shot an old lightbulb several hundred yards down the hallway, shattering the glass with a clean shot, "That's what will happen if you're further than that. Stay put."

Aegon turned up his speakers and said, "We hold this position for as long as we can! The civvies need time to evacuate! We hold them here, and push them back so we can set explosives! Just enough to collapse the entryway! There are homes and businesses above us, too much and those go down! Only detonate on my mark!" The entryway's ceiling was already compromised thanks to Giles, it wouldn't take that much more force to bring the ceiling down on the husks. Aegon cursed as he saw Salissa try to hold off the horde by herself. Fool. She had the weight of the horde pressing down on her, she'd be lucky to last ten more seconds. Already her shield was breaking under the weight of the onslaught. If she didn't disengage now, she'd be mobbed.

He shouted out, "Salissa! Get out of there! You're about to overrun!" He yelled at the rest of the team, "Suppressing fire! As much as you can down there without hitting anyone else! Push them back so we can set charges! Then stand your ground!" He walked forward, hitting the adrenaline rush again and firing, reloading and firing nonstop, putting every round he could down scope, every bullet finding it's mark. All they needed was some breathing room, space and time to plant explosives. Then they could hold out, hold them at bay until the last possible second to give the civilians time. Then they could bury the hallway and clean out the base with some Alliance support.

Game of Thrones : The Pact of Ice and Fire (Always Open)

@Greenie It's always good to get gasps.

@TheShadow You have a decent base, but I feel you really need to go into a lot more detail in the sheet. What does it mean for them to make the Reach great again? Why did Arron fall out with his father? When did he leave? What did he do besides chat up wenches? How long before he came home? As for Thaddeus, his backstory makes little sense. I have a hard time imagining a ten year old could do that, or that he wouldn't have been immediately shipped off to the Night's Watch. And apparently his insanity is so uneven that he could function as a battle commander for a noble family? I need a lot more for all the characters when it comes to history, personality, motivation, and relationships with each other.

@Abefroeman Well you can certainly bring him up as a villainous NPC or even an antagonist PC if you want. But if he's a PC keep in mind that it won't exactly be easy to basically take on the whole south by himself.

@bloonewb If you want, I can allow you to edit William into being in the thick of things.

Game of Thrones : The Pact of Ice and Fire (Always Open)

@Abefroeman Not at all, what do you envision for such a character?

Ok posted. A bit short relative to my other work but it's mostly action and it should give everyone something to react to.

Game of Thrones : The Pact of Ice and Fire (Always Open)

The King's Chambers

After the festivities, Rhaegar received a summons from his father by way of a page. When the newly anointed knight entered his father's chambers he saw the king sitting with a proud expression on his face. He remained seated and motioned for Rhaegar to take his own seat, "You did well on the field Rhaegar, today you became a man." He smiled at his son, remembering when he had knighted Aemon and Viserys. Aemon had earned his spurs after he had defeated a pirate force bearing down on Massey's Hook. Viserys had been knighted when he helped put down a large Vulture raid. Both of them had been young, but Rhaegar was the youngest of the Princes to become a knight and Jon knew he would remember this day to his dying day.

Once the prince was settled, Jon leaned in, clasping his hands in front of his chin, "You've proven yourself a true dragon prince. You'll make our house proud, I know it. Each of you will shepherd our house in a different way, according to your gifts. Aemon will have a crown, for he was born to lead. But you will have a sword, for you were born to fight. After today, I know you deserve this."

He reached under the desk, stood and produced Dark Sister in it's scabbard. He handed the blade reverently to Rhaegar, "Lightbringer chose me to wield it. Blackfyre is Aemon's by birthright. But you earned Dark Sister. She was wielded by some of the greatest warriors in the Targaryen dynasty. Queen Visenya, the Rogue Prince, the Dragonknight, Bloodraven. And now you my son. Whatever may come in the future, now you will always have my love."

The Monsters from the Deep

The Roses held the doors to the Red Keep, their improvised line stopping the wave of beasts cold. The disciplined knights and soldiers mustered their courage and fought off the beasts of the abyss, spilling their blood all over the ground. They were numerous and terrifying to behold in an unlimited variety of strange appearances, but they fought like a mad mob and not an army. The Tyrell defensive line held out long enough for reinforcements. The Winged Knights caught the formation in the rear, cutting through them like butter. They were joined by a large contingent of Storm Knights, Trident Knights, and Ironborn. Gendry and Edric led the Stormlander charge, bashing their way through the squishers with their hammers. The young lord Dondarrion was quick as lightning, cutting his way through the fishmen with his longsword and dagger.

Brienne of Tarth and her children fought as a unit, the Lady of Tarth felling the beasts with Just Maid. Lord Edmure led the Rivermen, Oathkeeper whistling as Blackwood and Bracken men fought side by side behind their lord and the Devil of Harrenhal cackled madly as he chopped off heads and disemboweled foes with his bastard sword. The Lady Reaver roared with Nightfall in her hands, Reavers armed with axe, dagger, and longsword following in her wake, fighting the beasts with their famed ferocity. A tall, broad lad in kraken armor wielded two great-axes and chopped the fish men down like trees. Theon Greyjoy fought by his sister's side, strumming his bow and loosing shafts while his Rangers ran into action. They may have been sword to take no part in politics, but that vow did not include monsters. The young Ranger from the melee smiled all the while as he carved through the enemy ranks with his dual swords like cutting a cake. Taria saw Theon take a wound, a squisher cutting Theon with a dagger before the Lord Commander shoved an arrow into it's eye and kicked it away. A creature covered in seaweed jumped at Theon, pinning him to the floor and trying to bite his face while the Lord Commander fended him off, hand reaching for a dagger.

Lord Dickon fought his way to Ellion, chopping one beast in half before cutting a squisher right down the middle and coming to Ellion's side, "We need to hold them back for a few more minutes. The army is cutting off their reinforcements!" A beast that looked like a cross between a shark and a man stomped towards Ellion. The shark man was at least as big as the Mountain had been with teeth as long as daggers. He was bare and covered in scars. A Tarly man-at-arms stood to face the shark but he grabbed him in one clawed hand sunk his teeth into his neck, the man screaming out as his collarbone broke with a sickening crunch. The beast saw the similarly under-dressed Ellion and made for him, reaching out an arm. Meanwhile a half-dozen squishers jump at Miri, lashing out at her with little daggers of bone and tooth. A beast with crab armor turns towards Artys and Mychel, zeroing in on the young Arryn and charging at him, intent on breaking the boys spin between his claws. The knights and soldiers had surrounded the fish men, but the creatures of the deep fought savagely, intent on killing as many of the men as possible.

On the walls, the garrison received their own relief. The ululating of Dothraki throats heralded a horde of arrows flying down onto the beach, skewering the advancing monsters. The volley had been delivered by a column of Night Riders on horseback, and several centuries of Legionnaires pressed inward, helping the wall guards fight off the monsters and keeping them from climbing the walls while the Night Riders rained arrows on them. More gold cloaks pressed forward to hold the line and the flood of beasts slowed to a trickle as the royal army stemmed the tide. They still tried to climb the walls, but most only found themselves impaled by swords, hit by rocks, boiled by oil, or pierced with arrows.

Passion was too small to be even noticed but the falcon helped disrupt the wyverns, giving the dragons time to regroup and press their attack. Drogon caught two in his massive maw, crushing the beasts and their readers between his teeth. The men on the walls started firing ballistas as the wyverns in the distance and the dragons now contended with the survivors, a much reduced flock. A man tried to stab Lyrax with a spear but the bird of prey gouged his eyes, making him scream as he fell out of the saddle. In the distance the defenders could see ships bear down on the Keep, vessels bearing standards from all the kingdoms as the vessels hurried to the castle's defense. The men on the ships began firing arrows and ballistas at the wyverns. Steffon would turn to see a tentacled creature lash out at him, grabbing him with its limbs and drawing him towards it's beaked mouth.

Despite this, there were still several hundred of the beasts attacking the line in front of the throne room and more marauders kept pouring from the breach. Many of them had dull plate armor and the whole force seemed like a cross section of malcontents from all across the known world. Many had the look of Basilisk Islanders or Ghiscari while others had dyed Tyroshi beards or were hairy and squat Ibbenese. Some were Westerosi. There were even a few brindled men from the south. All were likely cutthroats and sellswords hired for the job. The gold cloaks were buckling as the marauders clashed with them, the lords and ladies who couldn't fight fleeing for the Holdfast. But Jon charged into the breach, the Kingsguard save for Ser Wex and the Dragon's Teeth led by Black Visenya at his side, with Viserys and Robb accompanying him as well, the retinue roaring, "The White Wolf!" as they ran at them. Jon's flaming sword cleaved lesser blades in half and sheared right through armor and bone. They were still outnumbered by the marauders but that changed very quickly.

Driftmark and Claw Isle men led the Crownlanders to the king's aid. Aurane, saber in hand, was side by side with Monterys. Coming at the raiders from both sides were the men of the North and the West. Jaime Lannister himself led the charge of the Gold Knights, he punched beasts with his golden hand while his blade moved gracefully and quickly with his nephew Tom Lannister and the Hound himself right behind them, ripping men in two with his greatsword. The Starks led the Northerners, their direwolves howling before leaping into the fray to bite off limbs and rip out throats. Jeor Mormont hacked through the pirates and sellswords with Longclaw while Giantjon Umber crushed them with his flail and Meera Reed stabbed them with her spear. Children of the Forest rode on the back of their own direwolves, jumping into the pirate ranks and lashing out with steel weapons given to them by the Starks. The Dornishmen attacked them in the rear, Aegon Targaryen, the Sand Snakes, and Ned Dayne leading the Dornish Spears in an assault. Everything Dawn touched, it killed.

Maegor's Holdfast

Malrik, one of the Queen's Sworn Swords now, watched the door with Rhaegar, Ser Wex, Petyr, and Cat by his side. Most of the fighting men and women had already gone to do so leaving the five of them and a squad of Targaryen men-at-arms and other sworn swords in other retinues to watch over the other nobles and the royal family. Queen Daenerys was cloistered with Daenyra and Nymeria with their children along with Jahaerys, Baella, and Rhaenys. Tyrion, Willas, Brandon, Robin, and those in their families who couldn't fight were there as well. Rhaenys and Baella both had a dagger and Jahaerys wore a sword as well, but he wasn't the warrior Rhaegar was. Rhaegar's nephew Corlys had a tight grip on his on blade. The sounds of the fighting drifted into the chamber and many of the occupants were ill at ease, though Tyrion calmly drank wine while Sam told stories to the small children.

Daenerys turned to Sansa, "Where is Julianna? Where is Aemon?"

Sansa frowned, "Perhaps Aemon is fighting with the king."

"But he wouldn't have left without seeing Julianna safe."

"The Holdfast is the safest place in the castle, the drawbridge is up, nobody can get in."

"Perhaps."

The Queen turned to her son, "Rhaegar, go find Julianna and Aemon in their room, make sure they're safe. Hurry."

Meanwhile in the Prince's Chamber, the lead thug charged at Aemon with sword raised. Aemon skillfully dodged his blow and sliced him from navel to collarbone, setting his stance as the man died and waiting for his friends to follow. The remaining four men paused and were caught unaware when Jenn and Mable charged from the secret passage. Aemon stepped forward and sliced a man across his neck as the other three tangled with the Frey women.

When the last one fell to the floor, with his dying breath, he reached into his coat and pulled out a small white pearl. He gripped the pearl hard in his bloody palm before his eyes went blank and his grip slackened. The pearl rolled to the center of the room and began glowing red. Aemon, alarmed stepped back to shelter Julianna when the air seemed to split in two, a blood red rent in the room. In the rent stood a man with blue lips and pale skin and a woman with the same features. They stepped out of the rent to face Aemon while six men stepped in front of the Freys.

The male warlock smiled, "Hello my prince. Drop the sword and cooperate, or this will turn unpleasant."

"For you."

Arya had stepped seemingly from nowhere skewering the warlock with her valyrian dagger. The man roared in pain, an inhuman shriek his formed turned gaseous, oozing across the floor to the wall where he reappeared clutching his heart. Arya had stabbed him right through the chest, but the man was not dead. Instead of red blood, blue bile dripped from the wound as it seemed to sizzle. Arya leaped at him and they battled, trading blows too fast to see as Aemon roared, charging at the remaining witch and the thugs attacked the Freys.

Game of Thrones : The Pact of Ice and Fire (Always Open)

@Abefroeman Most of the wildlings settled in the New Gift, and many of the rest were killed by the Walkers before they crossed the wall, but after the war, some hardliners still remained beyond the wall and many others decided to return to their lands rather than live with the "southerners". So there are some, but most of the prominent chieftains took their people south.

There are whispers that there are ghouls and other beasts prowling BTW now.

@TheShadow Matthis wasn't young in the main series, he is most likely dead by now.

The house sheet doesn't have to be a comprehensive list of every second cousin or what not, just the family members who will be important to the plot.

Game of Thrones : The Pact of Ice and Fire (Always Open)

@AtomicNut Battle will go on for a bit more, still time for that.

Game of Thrones : The Pact of Ice and Fire (Always Open)

@AtomicNut Well all the violence is focused on one area, the update won't necessarily invalidate anything you're writing.

But if you're close to finishing I can hold off for a bit then edit mine before posting.