#septon bernard

[stromuprisahat]

... whereupon the king commanded the bridge [of Maegor’s Holdfast] to be raised, the portcullis lowered, and the gates barred. The castle-within-the-castle stood secure. And so it would remain for eighteen days. ... In the days that followed, Munkun made several further appeals, assuring Aegon and Viserys that all that had been done was lawful, Ser Marston went from pleas to threats to bargaining, and Septon Bernard was brought forth to pray loudly for the Crone to light the king’s way back to wisdom, all to no avail. These efforts drew little or no response from the boy king beyond a sullen stubborn silence. His Grace was roused to anger only once, when his master-at-arms, Ser Gareth Long, took his turn attempting to convince the king to yield. “And if I will not, who will you punish, ser?” King Aegon shouted down at him. “You may beat poor Gaemon’s bones, but you will get no more blood from him.”

Fire and Blood (George R. R. Martin)

The king soon developed a strong antipathy for his new master-at-arms as well. Ser Gareth Long was a skilled swordsman but a stern taskmaster, renowned at Starpike for his harshness toward the boys he instructed. Those who did not meet his standards were made to go for days without sleep, doused in tubs of iced water, had their heads shaved, and were oft beaten. None of these punishments were available to Ser Gareth in his new position. Though Aegon was a sullen student who displayed little interest in swordplay or the arts of war, his royal person was inviolate. Whenever Ser Gareth spoke to him too loudly or too harshly, the king would simply throw down his sword and shield and walk away. Aegon seemed to have only one companion he cared about. Gaemon Palehair, his six-year-old cupbearer and food taster, not only shared all of the king’s meals, but oft accompanied him to the yard, as Ser Gareth did not fail to note. As a bastard born of a whore, Gaemon counted for little in the court, so when Ser Gareth asked Lord Peake to make the lad the king’s whipping boy, the Hand was pleased to do so. Thereafter any misbehavior, laziness, or truculence on King Aegon’s part resulted in punishment for his friend. Gaemon’s blood and Gaemon’s tears reached the king as none of Gareth Long’s words ever had, and His Grace’s improvement was soon marked by every man who watched him in the castle yard, but the king’s mislike of his teacher only deepened.

Gods! Aegon really did have a shitty childhood, didn't he?!

[horizon-verizon]

Seven days after the body of the little queen was consigned to the flames, Lord Unwin paid a call upon the grieving king, accompanied by Grand Maester Munkun, Septon Bernard, and Marston Waters of the Kingsguard. They had come to inform His Grace that he must put aside his mourning blacks and wed again “for the good of the realm.” Moreover, his new queen had been chosen for him. Unwin Peake had married thrice and sired seven children. Only one survived. His firstborn son had died in infancy, as had both of his daughters by his second wife. His eldest daughter had lived long enough to marry, only to die in childbirth at the age of twelve. His second son had been fostered on the Arbor, where he served Lord Redwyne as page and squire, but at the age of twelve he had drowned in a sailing mishap. Ser Titus, heir to Starpike, was the only one of Lord Unwin’s sons to grow to manhood. Knighted for valor after the Battle of the Honeywine by Bold Jon Roxton, he had died only six days later in a meaningless skirmish with a band of broken men he stumbled on whilst scouting. The Hand’s last surviving child was a daughter, Myrielle. Myrielle Peake was to be Aegon III’s new queen. She was the ideal choice, the Hand declared; the same age as the king, “a lovely girl, and courteous,” born of one of the noblest houses in the realm, schooled by septas to read, write, and do sums. Her lady mother had been fertile, so there was no reason to think that Myrielle would not give His Grace strong sons. “What if I do not like her?” King Aegon said. “You do not need to like her,” Lord Peake replied, “you need only wed her, bed her, and father a son on her.” Then, infamously, he added, “Your Grace does not like turnips, but when your cooks prepare them, you eat them, do you not?” King Aegon nodded sullenly...but the tale got out, as such tales always do, and the unfortunate Lady Myrielle was soon known as Lady Turnips throughout the Seven Kingdoms. She would never be Queen Turnips.

Fire and Blood, by George R.R. Martin, pg 638-639

[twoiafart]

The Death of Ser Marston Waters Artwork by Nutchapol Thitinunthakorn

At that, the king commanded Ser Marston to seize Lord George Graceford, the lord confessor, and Ser Marston did as the king commanded. To this day, some assert that Ser Marston Waters was no more than a cat’s-paw, a simple honest knight used and deceived by men more subtle than himself, whilst others argue that Waters was part of the plot from the beginning, but abandoned his fellows when he sensed the tide turning against them.

Regardless of why Ser Marston obeyed, it did not prove necessary to subject the lord confessor to torment; the sight of the instruments was all that was required for him to give up the names of the other conspirators. Amongst those he named were Ser Amaury Peake and Ser Mervyn Flowers of the Kingsguard; Tessario the Tiger; Septon Bernard; Ser Gareth Long; Ser Victor Risley; the Commander of the City Watch, Ser Lucas Leygood, and six of the seven captains of the city gates; and three of the queen’s ladies.

Not all surrendered peacefully. Lucas Leygood and eight others died when men-at-arms came to arrest him. Tessario the Tiger was captured as he tried to buy passage to the Port of Ibben. Ser Marston Waters chose to arrest Ser Mervyn Flowers himself, as they were both bastards and sworn brothers of the Kingsguard. Flowers offered his sword in surrender, only to seize Waters’s arm as he reached for it, driving a dagger into his belly. Ser Mervyn was killed while trying to saddle a horse and escape, while Ser Marston Waters died of his injuries that night.

[goodqueenaly]

Comparing and contrasting the attempted poisoning of Aegon III (or, more specifically, Daenaera Velaryon) in 135 AC and the poisoning attempt at Daznak’s pit in ADWD.  

In each situation, we see how the plotters envisioned the political gains to be made from the respective assassination attempts. In the case of the 135 AC poisoning, Unwin Peake (and to be clear, I absolutely think he was the prime mover behind it) had two clear objectives in mind. The first, more immediately, was to get rid of Daenaera Velaryon - that is, the little girl who had triumphed where his own daughter Myrielle had failed, in being chosen by Aegon III to be his queen. The second, following the first, was to frame the poisoning as an attempt on the life of the king by Unwin’s chief political enemies, the Rogares (and, along with them, Thaddeus Rowan - a man who, as Aegon III’s able minister and personally chosen Hand, represented a major Westerosi rival to Unwin). By contrast, Skahaz (who, likewise, I think is the only reasonable explanation for the Daznak’s pit poisoner) had no exact target. Indeed, Skahaz’s scheme benefitted from the fact that no matter who sickened and/or died, Skahaz had a ready advantage to make and a ready person to frame: if Daenerys and/or any of her entourage ate the locusts, Skahaz could point the finger at Hizdahr and encourage his removal (thus reinvigorating the anti-slavery revolution); if Hizdahr himself died, Skahaz would have removed his chief political enemy (and, in such a case, may have blamed the friendless, seemingly jilted Quentyn Martell).

However, both plotters ensured that the method or vehicle of poisoning in each case fit with their political ambitions. In the case of the 135 AC poisoning, Septon Bernard asserted (verified by Grand Maester Munkun) that the poison used in the alleged attempt on Aegon III’s life was the tears of Lys. By its very name and origins, as well as the general assumption that “[a]mongst the Lyseni, it is truly said, wars are fought with plots and poisons rather than with armies”, Unwin Peake indirectly made the argument that of course it was the Lyseni Rogares who had used this most Lysene poison to kill the king and install the Lyseni Larra as queen via Prince Viserys. For his part, Skahaz used the honeyed locusts to deliver the poison during the Daznak’s pit entertainments.  These locusts were part of the delicacies with which “Hizdahr had stocked their box” for consumption during the blood sports, thereby linking Hizdahr with the outcome of attempted poisoning; too, because these locusts seem to be an eastern delicacy, rather than a global one, Skahaz may have bet on convincing Daenerys and/or Barristan that the locusts must have come from someone who would be familiar with such a “foreign” treat - like, say, Hizdahr. 

Yet where Skahaz succeeded in his aims with his poisoning plot, Unwin ultimately failed in his own. Unwin’s plan not only involved tampering with a food Aegon III would be extremely unlikely to taste (that is, a sweet tart), and at a time when he had a food taster at hand, but relied on convincing the young king that the plotters were his relations by marriage, who had brought great prosperity to King’s Landing (and who had given him back his beloved younger brother, thought dead after the Dance), as well as Thaddeus Rowan, the king’s honest, dutiful, respected councilor. Indeed, so weak was Unwin’s plot in this respect that he had resorted to having Lord Graceford torture Lord Rowan almost to breaking point, so that he could convincingly lie about the supposed poisoners and their alleged scheme - a fact which did not escape the notice of clever Prince Viserys, who thereafter quickly exposed the truth. 

By contrast, Skahaz had no need to torture anyone or plant such a false confession, because he was able to rely on Barristan’s established suspicion of and lack of respect toward Hizdahr. Having already witnessed Hizdahr purge the court of Daenerys loyalists (including himself), observant of Hizdahr’s political blunders and cowardice when it came to Daenerys’ allies and policies, and later seeing evidence in Hizdahr’s rooms of his extramarital affairs and pro-slaver aesthetic inclinations, Barristan had every reason to believe that this man was terrible and anti-Daenerys enough to try to poison her (even if he actually had no proof that such an act would have actually served Hizdahr’s aims). Too, when confronted, Hizdahr was so caught off guard by the true accusations (that he had encouraged Daenerys to eat the locusts urged Drogon to be killed in the pit) and likely true allegations (that he was connected to the Harpy terrorist organization) that he did nothing to refute the false one - that is, that he was in fact the poisoner - allowing Barristan, believing it, to arrest him.

[erenmarbrand]

| @leanderlefford​​ | | setting: while still in the reach, eren marbrand meets with the master of whispers to discuss how he can assist with the reformation. |

Eren didn’t like to conduct many meetings in strange settings, but the Reach was an ideal place for the Master of Whispers to work on finding details about information he had available to him. The Hand preferred to cast his net over specific fish and found wide nets ineffective for a contained concern. And the concern involved Westerland born Septons. Men who returned to the homelands to serve in castles of those they were closely related too. Absent of name though it didn’t take much to pin down who they were. Septons Meribald, Bernard, Garibald, and Torbert. Eren had reason to believe they were quietly hoarding their propaganda and working with lords and ladies who held their loyalty to the glass crown and not the golden lion and that wouldn’t do. It wouldn’t do for them at all.

Bernard and Meribald were frequently visited by brothel owners, no one knew when they arrived and left. The only source came from getting caught once. Supposedly by some crippled boy who was pushed out of the faith and had his tongue removed. And after the man provided him with notes, he rewrote them himself and put the man in the Ashemark cells. He would be dispatched before their return. That was the first bit of information he gave to the Master of Whispers.

Garibald and Torbert proved to be sneakier. He believed them to be stealing. Of course, they were stealing. Their houses, that of landed knights, had so much wealth accumulated. They were building and extending, all while their Septons dressed in garb almost as fine as Lannister fabrics. It felt like treason. He would find a way to make it so.

“They come from House Westford. Brother, Garibald is the eldest and Torbert the youngest. Their house is ruled by Ser…” Eren took a drink from his cup as he moved his finger over the page, stopping at a name. “Alester Westford.” He turned the parchment around for the others to see.

“As you can see, these numbers are … greatly exacerbated by something external. I plan on stopping their wagons on the way to Lannisport. I believe there will be gold for the Starry in those wagons. Gold provided from other others. Houses Drox, Estren, Falwell, and Ferren.”

They were houses with sons who could take their fathers’ places and other sons or daughters to be taken hostage should they make the mistake of their fathers. It wasn’t a plan to wipe out houses. Just a stern lesson for those unimportant enough to be patterned. 

[thesevenkingdomschroniclesrol]

Personajes semicanonicos

•    Gran Maestre Munkun - 50 Años - Regente y Maestre del Trono de Hierro. •    Gaemon Peloclaro - 13 Años - Catador real de Aegon III Targaryen. •    Septon Bernard - 40 Años - Septón de Fortaleza Roja. •    Floris Rowan - 17 Años - Esposa de Thaddeus Rowan y doncella de la Reina, tercera hija de Borros y Elenda. •    Marston Mares - 27 Años - Lord Comandante de la Guardia Real . •    Amaury Peake - 22 Años - Sobrino de Unwin Peake - Hermano juramentado de la Guardia Real. •    Mervyn Flores -  24 Años - Medio hermano de Unwin Peake - Hermano juramentado de la Guardia Real. •    Lucas Leygood - 28 Años - Comandante de la Guardia de la Ciudad de Desembarco del Rey. •    Robert Darklyn - 20 Años - Hermano de la Guardia Real, depuesto por Unwin Peake, pero se mantiene con Aegon. •    Tessario el Tigre - 30 Años - Mercenario al servicio de Unwin Peake. •    Clarice Osgrey - 60 Años - Tía viuda de Lord Unwin Peake - Encargada del servicio de la Reina Jaehaera Targaryen. •    Gareth Long -  30 Años - Maestro de armas de Fortaleza Roja, nombrado por Unwin Peake. • Daenaera Velaryon -  10 Años - Pupila de Alyn Velaryon y Lady Baela. Sobrina de Alyn Velaryon. •    Marilda - 37 Años - Madre de lord Alyn Velaryon - Comerciante de Tierras de la Corona.

•    Cersei Farman - 38 Años - Viuda del anterior Lord Farman, esposa de sal de Dalton Greyjoy - Lady Farmen. •    Tess - 22 Años - Mujer del Pueblo Llano, reclamada por Dalton Greyjoy durante la toma de Islabella - Esposa de sal. •    Lysa Farman - 23 Años - La mayor de las hermanas de Gylbert Farman - Esposa de sal de Dalton Greyjoy. •    Lanna Lannister - 21 Años - Hermana de Lord Lannister de Lannisport - Esposa de sal de Dalton Greyjoy. •    Jeyne Farman - 21 Años - Reclamada por Dalton Greyjoy durante la toma de Islabella y entregada a Veron Greyjoy. Es la hermana de en medio - Esposa de sal de Veron Greyjoy. •     Zara Kenning - 36 Años - Madre de Herrock Kenning - Esposa de sal de Dalton, reclamada tras la primera caída de Kayce. •    Arthur Goodbrother -  25 Años - Señor de Cuernomartillo - Es un hábil guerrero y saqueador. •    Toron Greyjoy  - 7 Años - Hijo de sal de Dalton y Heredero a la Silla de Piedramar. * Las otras hermanas Farman quedan a libre creación así como cualquier otra esposa de sal.

•  Jessamyn Redfort - 25 Años - Pelirroja

Dama de la Casa Redfort, "querida compañera" de Jeyne Arryn. • Loren Lannister - 8 Años Señor de Tierras del Oeste.

• Margaret Stark (Karstark) - 52 Años Tía de Cregan Stark y esposa del encarcelado Bennard Stark.. •  Bennard Stark - 50 Años - PNJ  Tío de Cregan, encarcelado.

• Rickon Stark - 6 Años Heredero de Invernalia • Lyonel Tyrell - 6 Años Señor de El Dominio

•  Garmund Hightower - 12 Años

Hermano de Lyonel • Robert Rowan - 25 Años Heredero de Sotodeoro

 • Donald Tarly - 45 Años Señor de Colina Cuerno

• Bethany Hightower -  14 Años Hermana de Lyonel • Martyn Hightower - 15 Años Hermano de Lyonel •    Drazenko Rogare - 30 Años  Hermano de Lysandro Rogare

•    Lotho Rogare - 20 años  Hijo de Lysandro Rogare

•    Moredo Rogare - 12 Años

Hijo menor de Lysandro Rogare

•    Roggerio Rogare - 16 Años

Hijo de Lysandro Rogare - 

•    Lysaro Rogare  -  18 Años

Hijo de Lysandro Rogare 

•    Lysara Rogare - 16 Años

Hija de Lysandro Rogare 

•   Drako Rogare - 14 Años

Hijo de Lysandro Rogare  y gemelo de Fredo Rogare

•   Fredo Rogare - 14 Años

Hijo de Lysandro Rogare y gemelo de Drako Rogare

•   Marra Rogare - 13 Años Hija de Lysandro Rogare

[horizon-verizon]

On the morning of the twelfth day of the secret siege, Thaddeus Rowan was brought forth in chains to confess to his offenses. Septon Bernard detailed Lord Rowan’s alleged crimes: he had taken bribes in the form of gold and girls (exotic creatures from the Mermaid, says Mushroom, the younger the better), had sent Moredo Rogare to the Vale to dispossess Ser Arnold Arryn of his rightful inheritance, had conspired with Oakenfist to remove Unwin Peake as the King’s Hand, had helped to loot the Rogare Bank of Lys, thereby defrauding and impoverishing many “good and leal men of Westeros of noble birth and high station,” had appointed his own son to a command “for which he was manifestly unworthy,” leading to the death of thousands in the Mountains of the Moon. Most terrible of all, his lordship was accused of having plotted with the three Rogares to poison King Aegon and his queen, so as to place Prince Viserys on the Iron Throne with Larra of Lys as his queen. “The poison used is called the Tears of Lys,” Bernard declared, an assertion that Grand Maester Munkun then confirmed. “Though the Seven spared you, sire,” Bernard concluded, “Lord Rowan’s foul plot took the life of your young friend Gaemon. When the septon had completed his recitation, Ser Marston Waters said, “Lord Rowan has confessed to all these crimes,” and beckoned to the Lord Confessor, George Graceford, to bring the prisoner forward. Manacled at ankle with heavy chains, his face so bruised and swollen as to be unrecognizable, Lord Thaddeus did not move at first, until Lord Graceford pricked him with the point of his dagger, whereupon he said in a thick voice, “Ser Marston speaks truly, Your Grace. I have confessed to all. Lotho promised me fifty thousand dragons when the deed was done, and another fifty when Viserys took the throne. The poison was given to me by Roggerio.” So halting was this speech, so slurred the words, that some upon the battlements thought his lordship must be drunk, until Mushroom pointed out that all his teeth were missing. The confession left King Aegon III bereft of speech. All that the boy could do was stand and stare, with such despair upon his face that Mushroom feared His Grace might be about to leap from the battlements onto the spikes below, to rejoin his first queen.” It fell to Prince Viserys to make answer. “And my wife, Lady Larra,” he shouted down, “was she a part of this plot too, my lord?” Lord Rowan gave a heavy nod. “She was,” he said. “And what of me?” asked the prince. “Aye, you as well,” his lordship answered dully...an answer that seemed to surprise Marston Waters, whilst greatly displeasing Lord George Graceford. “And Gaemon Palehair, ’twas he who put the poison in the tart, I’ll venture,” Viserys went on glibly. “If it please my prince,” mumbled Thaddeus Rowan. Whereupon the prince turned to the king his brother and said, “Gaemon was as guilty as the rest of us... of nothing,” and the dwarf Mushroom called down, “Lord Rowan, was it you who poisoned King Viserys?” To which the old Hand nodded, saying, “It was, my lord. I do confess it.” The king’s face grew hard. “Ser Marston,” he said, “this man is my Hand and innocent of treason. The traitors here are those who tortured him to bring forth this false confession. Seize the Lord Confessor, if you love your king...else I will know that you are as false as he is.” His words rang across the inner ward, and in that moment, the broken boy Aegon III seemed every inch a king.

Fire and Blood, by George R.R. Martin, pg 688-690

[horizon-verizon]

Sandoq tore Viserys’s battleaxe from the wood where the prince had buried it and split Ser Amaury’s head and helm in half from crest to gorget. Leaving the corpse to topple onto the spikes, the Shadow paused long enough to shove the dead and dying from the drawbridge before retreating inside Maegor’s Holdfast, whereupon the king commanded the bridge to be raised, the portcullis lowered, and the gates barred. The castle-within-the-castle stood secure. And so it would remain for eighteen days. The rest of the Red Keep was in the hands of Ser Marston Waters and his Kingsguard, whilst beyond the castle walls Ser Lucas Leygood and his gold cloaks kept a firm grip on King’s Landing. Both of them presented themselves before the holdfast the next morning, to demand that the king leave his sanctuary. “Your Grace does us wrong to think we mean him harm,” Ser Marston said, as the corpses of the men Sandoq had slain were brought up from the moat. “We acted only to protect Your Grace from false friends and traitors. Ser Amaury was sworn to protect you, to give his own life for yours if need be. He was your leal man, as I am. He did not deserve such a death, at the hands of such a beast.” King Aegon was unmoved. “Sandoq is no beast,” he answered from the battlements. “He cannot speak, but he hears and he obeys. I commanded Ser Amaury to be gone, and he refused. My brother warned him what would happen if he stepped beyond the axe. The vows of the Kingsguard include obedience, I thought.” “We are sworn to obey the king, sire, this is so,” replied Ser Marston, “and when you are a man grown, my brothers and I will gladly fall upon our swords should you command that of us. So long as you remain a child, however, we are required by oath to obey the King’s Hand, for the Hand speaks with the king’s voice.” “Lord Thaddeus is my Hand,” Aegon insisted. “Lord Thaddeus sold your realm to Lys and must answer for it. I will serve as your Hand until such time as his guilt or innocence can be proved.” Ser Marston unsheathed his sword and went to one knee, saying, “I swear upon my sword in the sight of gods and men that none shall do you harm whilst I stand beside you.” If the Lord Commander believed those words would sway the king, he could not have been more wrong. “You stood beside me when the dragon ate my mother,” Aegon answered. “All you did was watch. I will not have you watch while they kill my brother’s wife.” Then he left the battlements, and no words of Marston Waters could induce him to return that day, or the next, or the next. On the fourth day Grand Maester Munkun appeared together with Ser Marston. “I beseech you, sire, end this childish folly and come out, that we may serve you.” King Aegon gazed down on him, saying naught, but his brother was less reticent, commanding the Grand Maester to send forth “a thousand ravens” so the realm might know the king was being held a captive in his own castle. To this the Grand Maester made no answer. Nor did the ravens fly. In the days that followed, Munkun made several further appeals, assuring Aegon and Viserys that all that had been done was lawful, Ser Marston went from pleas to threats to bargaining, and Septon Bernard was brought forth to pray loudly for the Crone to light the king’s way back to wisdom, all to no avail. These efforts drew little or no response from the boy king beyond a sullen stubborn silence. His Grace was roused to anger only once, when his master-at-arms, Ser Gareth Long, took his turn attempting to convince the king to yield. “And if I will not, who will you punish, ser?” King Aegon shouted down at him. “You may beat poor Gaemon’s bones, but you will get no more blood from him.”

Fire and Blood, by George R.R. Martin, pg 685-686