章節 8: Chapter 8
Chad had created a Stark direwolf banner for one of the Northmen to hold and made sure it was easily seen. He needed to make sure his identity couldn't be disputed later.
Their group had yet to even see the Bloody Gate before Arryn scouts were scurrying off to alert their superiors of the incoming band of warriors. They were jumpier than Chad had thought, even safe as they were upon the cliff-tops of the valley.
Soon, the valley pass started to narrow down to less than ten metres across, and the Gate just came into view. Chad halted his men, to go any further would only see them slaughtered when they retreated. At least here, where they now stood, it afforded them some distance from the kill zone this pass was renowned for.
Although he wanted to provoke an attack for political gain, Chad didn't want to risk the lives of his new loyal Knights. That would be incredibly wasteful, and a severe dent to his credibility and ability to lead his men to any sort of victory.
Not to mention that Chad always treated his minions well as he considered them 'his'. He was never one to share his toys with others, and woe betide the person that broke or stole them from him...
'Bloody hell, I'm already starting to speak like the locals,' Chad thought to himself, fighting against the ingrained memories of this identity's language lessons. They were starting to bleed through into his thoughts.
'It might be time for an Occlumency session to make sure I'm not being influenced by the background identity ROB made for me.' But that would need to be done later, it was time to start the show.
"You, whats-your-face, take your friends and go tell them who we are and to stop pointing their bows at us lest I take offence," Chad ordered the Stark guard that had earlier been slapped off his horse in punishment for backtalking him.
Gritting his teeth at the disrespect, the man took the Stark guards and trotted forward into the death trap. Although they knew they would be at the mercy of the Vale defenders, the Stark guards had no reason to worry since they were not enemies and were on a peaceful mission from Lord Stark.
What they couldn't have known, was that Chad had just offered up their lives for political gain. They really should have been kinder on the trip here, Rickards Stark's orders to be strict with his son and see him safely to the Vale did not mean that they had to give him the silent treatment for over a month.
Besides, unlike his Knights Templar, they had sworn no oaths to him...
As the ten men loyal to Rickard Stark rode towards the Bloody Gate, Chad cast an illusion on them that made it look like they were clansmen on stolen horses. Horses that still had the fresh blood of their previous owners on them and a torn banner marred by a battle being held high.
It had taken a while for him to come up with this idea and then utilise magic correctly to do what he required. This was because he needed the Stark men to remain unaware of the illusion, yet have everyone else see what Chad wanted them to.
In the end, after the help of some of his new Knights to test the new spell, he anchored the illusion to a single target, extending its range out to as far as needed. It was something like an illusion bubble, inside they remained unaware, while outside they saw what Chad created.
After that, it was as easy as adapting the Muffliato Charm to silence the Stark men's voices while allowing them to hear the words of the Vale men.
With Chad remotely speaking for them, those inside the bubble would only hear the Vale guard's angry responses and be confused why they were angry.
It would have been much easier to just use the Imperius Curse, but that came under law number four, Thou Shalt Not Enthrall Another. When he had tried to cast it, nothing had happened.
This was how ROB enforced the magic rules, if it was forbidden, then Chad was simply unable to cast it. Instead, he had to gamble with illusions and insults to get the job done.
The Vale guards upon the cliff-tops gripped their bows firmly, raging at seeing these savages flaunt their foul deeds by riding their victim's horses and wearing their gear. To even carry a battle-worn Wolf banner and think that they could pass themselves off as Northmen? Idiots.
The gate guards were merely waiting for their commander's order before they unleashed death on these savage mongrels. How dare they think such a weak act would fool them!
"Who would pass the Bloody Gate?!"
"We are on Lord Stark's orders to deliver his son to Lord Arryn for fostering." Said the man Chad had singled out to lead the group.
But while the Stak guardsmen had replied normally, all that the men guarding the Bloody Gate heard was, "I pass your mother's bloody gate every time she begs for a real man's cock!"
"Fire!"
The Vale defenders unloaded a score of arrows into the ten unprepared Stark men. The poor unfortunate bastards being riddled with arrows didn't even know what was happening.
Their chainmail shirts stopped a couple of arrows but not enough to save them. Only one guard at the back managed to turn his horse around and spur it back down the mountain pass to safety, though he soon sprouted a few more arrows from his back.
"Holy Shit! Quick, retreat back down the pass!" Chad called out in shock.
The abrupt attack had surprised him, even though he had known it was coming! Chad didn't expect the commander of the Bloody Gate to be so triggered by a 'Yo Mama' insult.
He thought that he would have to spend a lot more time trying to provoke an attack, and had been worried that the Stark men might then start to suspect something. But he had either severely underestimated the Vale's hatred for the clansmen or the love the commander had for his mum.
Either way, Chad and his merry band of Knights were legging it under sporadic bow-fire since the Valemen were at their range limit. With his magical interference, none of the deadly projectiles managed to find a target as they retreated.
Though he took care to hide the use of magic, he didn't want to leave proof that he had used mystical powers to manipulate this situation. The goal was to put all the blame on Jon Arryn after all.
He was not worried about the Bloody Gate sending out a pursuing force of cavalry as they would be too suspicious of an ambush. But if they did, Chad would have a surprise for them.
Being able to sculpt the landscape in an inclosed mountain pass would make any horsemen pursuing them easy pickings for his men. Having a charging enemy suddenly collapse into a hidden trench would not be considered killing with magic.
He would just have to make sure there were no survivors to report any irregularities.
Surprisingly enough, the Stark guard that managed to point his horse in the right direction to escape managed to catch up to the group fleeing on foot. The lucky man was slumped over unconscious but had a death grip on his mount.
Since Chad was the only one mounted, he rode over to take the reins of the panicked animal. Both the horse and its rider were in serious condition, and Chad hoped that his healing skills were not considered under the second law of 'Thou Shalt Not Change Another'.
Bringing the fleeing horse to a stop, he hit it with a stunner and then held the beast in place. Leaning over and pulling an arrow from its flank, he tried to restore the flesh back to what it was initially.
Thankfully, his magical surgery skills weren't considered breaking the law, but when he tried to enhance the muscles to test his limits, the spell was halted.
It seems that Chad could only restore something back to its original form or condition, not alter it beyond that. He would not be able to beautify anyone by removing unwanted flaws like warts or a lazy eye but could restore scars and injuries.
If you were ugly and injured, then he could only make a person ugly and uninjured.
Sadly, there would be no cosmetically enhanced ladies in Chad's future, he would need to find someone of natural beauty if he wanted a relationship outside of his created CYOA Companions.
Tearing the arrows from the guard, Chad healed the puncture wounds until they were mostly closed. He wanted them to scar as evidence of his mystical healing abilities, and remind the man of his brush with death.
Originally, Chad had wanted all of the men that came with him from the North to die at the Bloody Gate, their deaths would then be used against Jon Arryn in the future.
But now, since one had survived, he would be healed and sent back to Rickard Stark to tell a tale of treachery. A much better resolution. The seven arrow scars would be all the evidence the lone survivor would need to prove his story.
Sadly, since the man needed to have a few wounds, Chad had to do the same for the horse, or it would raise suspicion. But since he felt bad for the horse's pain, he fully closed four wounds and only left two mostly healed.
He didn't bat an eye for the man's plight, considering that saving him was more than enough compensation for sending him to die in the first place. Their treatment of him had really touched a nerve, and Chad held a grudge.
Revitalising the horse, he took its reins and led his men away. Prodding them to keep up a fast pace and only stopping once they were safely ensconced in the forest. Now that they were safe, it was time to make their way out of the Vale of Arryn.
Chad planned to leave the High Road once clear of the mountains, and then head down towards the river that fed into the Bay of Crabs. There were three towns along the river that would hopefully supply him with iron and men that knew how to sail.
Since he had made seven of his Companion's identity Braavosi, they got a discount on choosing a ship in the gear category of the CYOA. Knowing that ships were expensive and at the same time necessary for any sort of decent trade for the North, he had made sure to buy one for each Braavosi Companion.
With seven Swan ships and four hundred fighting men, it would be a modest start to a trading company. The only problem was that his new Knights Templar had no idea how to sail a boat since they had spent all of their lives living in the mountains.
Sailing and building ships had been part of the knowledge Chad had added to his skillset before leaving the Potterverse, but he didn't want to have to teach a bunch of clansmen how to sail. It would take days, possibly even weeks, to teach them how to manage a seafaring vessel.
If they headed out to the Narrow Sea unprepared, there was a genuine possibility the ship would be lost at sea if they ran into bad weather or rough seas.
The only problem with his plan to find sailers in the towns along the river was that he would be lucky to find any that had been out to sea. There was a vast difference between operating riverboats and navigating the wide-open ocean.
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