S02E08

## A Garden of Snakes

### Summary:

The Glenbain courtiers begin their service with Barrish Cherrane in The Reach. They find Randyll Tarly a difficult man to please.

## A Garden of Snakes

The long nightmare of being imprisoned in Castle Highhome was finally over. Even Wilfred and Ser Clyde had been liberated by their elite Whisper unit. Only Branton Hill had been lost, drowned saving Alon.

They were now in The Reach, in the service of Barrish Cherrane. Barrish, always impressed with himself, assured the group that he was a linchpin in the south. If he could gain control of his House from his sister Caryss, he could call his neighbouring lords to join the Rebel cause. The resulting domino effect would win The Reach and its 140,000 soldiers for the Rebels.

## Barrish in Ashford

Barrish had set up a lavish but temporary office in the village of Ashford, the first step in his conquest of The Reach. He gathered Ser Clyde, Fiyona Riser and Rook into his chamber.

"First, let me introduce you to my associate, Hamza Sand," Barrish said, gesturing to a weathered Dornishman standing in the corner. "He will protect you. And more importantly, he will protect my interests while you are about."

They greeted Hamza carefully, sizing up the mercenary.

"As I see it," Barrish continued, "There are three plans of action. The first is to convince likely Rebels to publicly declare for the cause. Someone like Randyll Tarly. The man has openly hated the crown since Robert's Rebellion and he fought alongside Lord Darby Glenbain in the Battle of the Bells.

The second strategy involves influencing those who are undeclared in the conflict. The best target would naturally be Mace Tyrell. The Warden of the South is the most powerful man in The Reach, his influence would be invaluable. Right now, he sees his court divided evenly between Rebels and Loyalists, but he still might be convinced to declare for one side. The one slight problem is that he may believe that he is entitled to be king of The Reach. He is the warden, after all. But this is unacceptable. The Reach needs my leadership."

And the third would be to manipulate Loyalists into changing sides. If you were ambitious, you could disguise yourself, sneak into Caryss Cherrane's castle and reason with her. She could stop disputing my title and I would be king in a snap."

The group weighed their options and decided that Randyll Tarly would make a good first target.

## Randyll Tarly

They traveled by carriage to Horn Hill, the castle home of House Tarly. It was a beautiful summer day and Randyll was conducting business at court.

As the group entered the room, Randyll spotted them and spoke a gruff, "I have no time for you today."

Hamza produced official papers identifying him as a servant of Barrish Cherrane, king of The Reach. Randyll responded. "Then I definitely don't have time for you."

The courtiers entered a heated debate with Randyll and his servants. It took some effort, but eventually they convinced Randyll to consider publicly declaring for the Rebels.

"I know you," he said to Rook. "I saw you at the Tourney at Alford. You serve the Glenbains."

"Aye, sir," said Rook.

"The Glenbains have been great friends to me. When Tywin Lannister was ordered to fight for King Aegon in Robert's Rebellion, that snake sat and waited until one side came out on top. But Darby Glenbain wouldn't have it. He took a group of his best fighters and joined me. Stood where you stand now, ready to make war. His bastard, Wilfred Hill was with us. I'd much like to see him again. Is he with you?"

They said Wilfred was away and Randyll told them that he would declare immediately if they could sort out a logistics problem in his lands.

## The Gristmill

Horn Hill had a currency problem. The bakers' guild was demanding to be paid in silver coins, saying they couldn't spend gold coins. Randyll Tarly was using all of his silver to pay mercenaries - to protect his gristmill. A gristmill that wasn't even working properly.

The group went negotiated a money transfer whereby Randyll would exchange gold for silver with Barrish Cherrane and Randyll and Barrish would split the money-changers fees. They hired skilled labourers to fix the gristmill and in going through Tarly's books, discovered a corrupt accountant.

Randyll Tarly sent papers that day, formally declaring his sympathy with the Rebels.

## The Arrest Warrant

The courtiers were ready to leave when they spotted a group of five soldiers holding their carriage. Clyde and Rook slipped into the crowd, approaching the carriage from the sides in a wide arch. Fiyona and Hamza approached the carriage amiably.

The captain of the guards said, "I have a warrant here for the arrest of one Wilfred Hill."

He handed a scroll to Fiyona. Taking it, she read that Randyll Tarly had signed it personally. The charge was patricide.

"We don't know where Wilfred is," she said, but the guards were unhappy.

"I'm taking you in and I'll do whatever I have to find out where he is," the captain said, attacking Fiyona.

Clyde leapt into action, firing a pair of arrows into the guards. Rook slipped under the carriage and cracked at the soldiers with a whip. The noise spooked the carriage horses and they sprinted away. It was only by his acrobatic skill that Rook missed being run over by the wheels. Hamza was unimpressed with the guards' aggression. His ball & chain swung out from his sleeve, knocking away a guard's sword, and then another. Before long, the would-be captors were defeated and begging for forgiveness.

At just that moment, Wilfred Hill came traveling from Ashford to help his friends. He noticed the commotion in the village and froze. He was not a fighter and let the others take care of themselves.

Randyll Tarly was notified of the situation and came down from his castle to address the situation. He apologized for his guards' actions. His problem was with Wilfred Hill and only Wilfred.

## To Trial

The group, now united with Wilfred sat in a carriage, heading back to Ashford and Barrish Cherrane. They asked Wilfred about the charge of patricide and he pleaded his innocence. The others said that if he was innocent, he should travel back to Horn Hill to stand trial. Then Wilfred admitted that he had killed his father, Darby Glenbain, at the Battle of the Bells. He had served his father for years and yet Darby had not legitimized him. Wilfred had become resentful and took the chaos of battle to take revenge on his father.

Wilfred argued with the group, but soon found himself drugged to sleep. The carriage turned around, heading for Horn Hill and an interesting trial...

## Experience

- Ser Clyde Flay, Fiyona Riser, Hamza Sand, Rook and Wilfred Hill each earned 13 XP, 2 Glory and 350 Silver Stags

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