Kapitel 96: Chapter 96
Despite how much life had it out for you this year you were at long last pleasantly surprised by it once more, as things simply worked out, no ambushes, no shocking revelations, and no last minute issues that changed your plans, it was kind of suspicious. But as you already walked among the rebels and former guards of Nora, you supposed that whatever happened in the background just wasn't worth the effort required to deal with it, since the shock tactic you had used to come this far had a limited amount of uses.
Especially since the potential involvement of the Faith could have already drawn the eyes of the less savory individuals towards the sept in hopes that the Faith finally lost the support of Nora's populace. Though whatever life planned to throw at you, your goals remained the same, so the assessment of Lord Palno was still required, or in other words, you wouldn't let yourself be stopped that easily. Though as you thought about your unprecedented misfortune you couldn't help but wonder who was truly responsible, since your master had mentioned that the gods apparently bickered between themselves for some reason.
So perhaps you were actually seen as another agent in their games after your master had taken you as his vassal without any of the protection the gods had seemingly put onto House Lannister so that the old gods now screwed you over whenever they got the chance to do so without too much effort. You did kill a lot of what your lord had claimed to be religious fanatics, and you even now ultimately worked towards House Lannister's dominion over the Vale, so your current misfortune actually made a decent amount of sense, at least as far as gods go.
The old gods had as far as you could see already given up on claiming the Vale for themselves quite some time ago, but gods weren't known for their wrath for nothing, so the ground of the Vale was probably about to be salted, hopefully not literally. Though as you considered more standard conflicts that at the very least still meant that the remaining resources at their disposal would be used to make the victory taste as bitter as they could make it, which didn't mix well with your little quest for redemption.
In the end, you swiftly pushed these thoughts away again and simply supposed once more that your mind had more immediate matters to attend to, as there was still a chance that a few of the armed lads around you would test their luck with you two and try something funny. The states of the houses you walked between had been getting better the closer you got to Watermoon, but there was only so much the captain of the guard could do to keep things in order. Especially since he at the same time continued to expand his ranks, it stood to reason that some rotten apples had still managed to make it past him.
And besides, it would have been kind of pointless if you were to let down your guard just because the immediate surroundings seemed a bit safer than the districts of Nora that were ruled by the raider gangs. Though that being said it seemed like this as of yet unnamed captain of the guard has done quite the fine job, excluding of course the rebellion, but that was from everything you have heard so far still somewhat understandable. Not to the extent that you understood why most of the town was given over to literal criminals, but you guessed that you weren't really in a position to judge.
So you simply swallowed the thoughts that had again occupied your mind and instead observed the people around you, while the good old Barden smoothly talked the both of you through the camp till you stood a few meters before Watermoon's gates. Though despite your best efforts to fortify your mind against it beforehand, the smell created by the coating on Watermoon's lower walls and the gatehouse was still ten times worse than you had expected. Which meant that your good companion after you gave him some additional silver for his trouble had the pleasure to introduce you by his lonesome to the guard that was more than displeased to have opened the gate's window as you heard him curse.
You had seen and so naturally smelled quite a few places as you had journeyed between continents, but even with your background, it was the first time in your life that you encountered something so vile that the simple act of breathing actually burned. In a weird way you found the complaints they made every now and again quite funny after you got a bit more distance between yourself and Watermoon, but as you suppressed another fit of coughs yourself, you simply wished that these old men would halve their profanities and get things moving.
Well, you supposed that you at least found out why no further divine punishment was needed if this was what you would be breathing the next few hours, gods damn it, even your eyes had begun to water. The people of Nora had done quite the good job if even just a tenth of that smell made it into House Palno's keep within Watermoon, but despite knowing their motivations, you still found yourself cursing them internally. Though by the time you had taken a decent look at the walls of Watermoon and the first gate opened to reveal the portcullis behind it, you could only ask yourself how a single harbour town could eat that much fish.
But you soon refocused on your temporary companion as he said his goodbyes for the time being before he turned around and was gone, you felt like he actually wanted to enter the castle himself as he and the guard seemed to be acquainted. Yet you could nevertheless understand why he ultimately decided against it, as the good Lord Palno wasn't in a situation where a former knight could just remain unused. And while you personally had no interest in ever joining the priesthood or something similar, that didn't mean that you failed to understand his commitment to it, and taking up the sword wasn't what people joined the Faith for in this day and age.
So you simply entered and patiently waited for the two guards to close the gate so that the portcullis could be raised, and took your time to take in the castle House Palno had created over the ages. And for what it was worth you supposed the people hadn't overreacted if the inside of Watermoon reflected what it had looked like on the outside not that long ago as several beautifully whitewashed buildings and towers encircled the yard. If the outside of House Palno's decently sized seat of power wasn't literally covered in feces and whatnot you would even say that not even high nobles would have scoffed at being invited, there truly was no discernible reason to worry over appearances even if they decided to serve nothing but fish.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein