S02E04

## A Gilded Cage

A month. They had spent a month in captivity. All the while having to endure the watching eyes and false smiles of the Dyres. At first it was Maedalyn herself, but two weeks before she had left the castle without explanation. Now everything was being run by her oily son Mykaal. And hundreds of Lannister Elites lead by Captain Donnal.

The entire East Wing of the castle had been converted into a luxurious prison. The hallways were walled up, the windows replaced with smoked glass eight inches thick. Entrance and exit was limited to two guard's barracks, which were always manned by at least six guards. Clyde, Rook and Wilfred ate well and had plenty of fine wine to drink. They were given books to read and musicians were brought in to entertain them. But it was still a prison.

Alon Redwyne, on the other hand, had been given free run of the castle, but was still arrested with the castle walls - a slightly larger prison. He often exercised this freedom, moving elsewhere through the castle during the day and only meeting with the others for meals and sleep. Alon explained to the others that he had a benefactor from his past who was paying to keep him in a good position. An old acquaintance who call himself Alon's "Uncle". And, to avoid conflict, Alon had continued his duties as Master of Ships.

Clyde, Rook and Wilfred were enjoying a fine luncheon of mutton and eel pie when Mykaal Dyre approached them, escorted by six Dyre guards.

"I've been watching you all for the past month and I'm very pleased with what I see," he said. "You're very skilled. Soon, I will ask you to apply those skills for the good of this land. I'm afraid that you must stay here for the duration of the war, but with good service will come great reward. In a war like this, many Houses will be destroyed and stripped of their lands. That means that when the conflict is over, there is the possibility of lower-born folk to earn new titles."

After his brief speech he brought in Fiyona Riser. Fiyona, a beautiful woman of about thirty with auburn hair and striking violet eyes, had been summoned from Casterly Rock by the Lannisters to establish a world-class, Lyseni-style brothel in Aldford. Seeing her exceptional business skills, the Dyre's wanted her service and Mykaal thought it appropriate to bring her to speak with the people she'd be working with.

To get the group acquainted and measure their abilities, Mykaal left them with a serious of skill-testing questions. They pondered over them, discussing. In the end, they got three out of five correct. Mykaal was satisfied, but unimpressed.

Just then Captain Donnel and a dozen of his Lannister Elites entered the room.

"Dyre! We're out of decent fire wood," he barked, "You're mother has taken all of it up into the north with her. My men have been burning fresh spruce they had to chop themselves, and it fills every damn room with smoke."

"You shouldn't even be here!" Mykaal yelled back.

Using their cunning and guile, the group manipulated Captain Donnel into admitting that his mission was over in Aldford and that he should move on. There was a war on and Tywin Lannister would need his best troops soon.

As the Elites left, Fiyona walked to one of the guard's barracks to be let out. The guards did not let her past.

Mykaal explained, "Mistress Riser, there is much to be done here. So, I believe it would be best for you to stay in the East Wing until dinner. After that you are, of course, free to go."

Fiyona said, "I am not a prisoner, am I? I was sent here by Tyrion of House Lannister himself. You would not want to displease him."

"My word, no!" Mykaal said, smiling, "You are a guest here for the afternoon. Of course, we will be requiring more service than just the administration of the brothel, but we have a great deal of respect and admiration for you."

Mykaal Dyre left and, after a few hours, the group were greeted by a visitor. Harbourmaster Lorch arrived with a gift of honey tarts. Lorch brought the treats expecting the courtiers were being kept in the dungeons.

Lorch explained that the Dyres had been unexpectedly kind and gentle to the populace. There had been no seizure of food or lands, no public cruelty nor executions. It was said that Septa Fransheshina, Tornita Quet, Xu Maru and Hacks were paid to leave. There had been a search for Ser Maurice, but he hadn't been found, let alone punished. There was news that little Lord Dalin Glenbain had been seen taken into Raptor's Rest, the Dyre's castle, but the boy hasn't been seen since.

The only incident occurred when Sambert the baker refused to give up his ovens. Everyone thought he'd be executed for his insolence. Instead, his daughter Wenny was put on a carriage and sent south. The Dyres explained that the girl would be returned when Sambert had proven his loyalty with a few months of service. There are many smallfolk who are very impressed with House Dyre, seeing no reason to oppose them. Others remember their duty to House Glenbain, but don't know how to proceed. Lorch finally mentioned that there are fires in the north woods of the Greyrocks. Day and night, streams of smoke. Folk didn't know what it meant.

Lorch also explained that the Dyres had publicly accused Fiyona Riser of treason. They had told the smallfolk that she was a traitor to King Robert and had been using her prostitutes to poison Loyalist soldiers. The Dyre's, being kind and merciful, were taking Fiyona into their custody in the castle. This seems to be a story that the people believe.

The group asked Lorch to assemble people still loyal to House Glenbain to begin a resistance. Lorch agreed and left.

Unfortunately, Harbourmaster Lorch was a plant. Mykaal Dyre soon explained that he was impressed by the loyalty of House Glenbain's subjects. He had had to break every one of Lorch's wife's fingers in order to get the harbourmaster to go through his little ruse.

The group were then escorted by Dyre soldiers into the family sept. There, the walls were lined with more Dyre soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder with their backs against the wall. In the middle of the room stood four peasants, looking confused.

"To further test your abilities," Mykaal said, "Kill these peasants. Or let them kill you. Either way, no one's leaving until one group is dead."

The group were upset. They vaguely knew these peasants from the area - Big Tom and three of his friends. But they could tell that Big Tom was desperate and willing to fight, so Clyde and Wilfred took up whatever they could find around the sept to use as a weapon. Rook began to bob and weave.

Fiyona shouted, "I am a personal friend of Tyrion Lannister! I will not fight! You are murdering an innocent women."

Mykaal Dyre shouted back, "I'm sorry, mistress. I have my orders from an authority greater to me than Tyrion Lannister."

The fighting was brutal. Big Tom stabbed Clyde with an eating knife. Rook managed to dance around one of the peasants, confusing him into bashing his head into the wall. While that peasant was down, Wilfred finished him off. Fiyona stood to one side, avoiding the conflict. Clyde gave Big Tom a few stabs in the abdomen with a butter knife, but the large man was tough. Rook jumped on top of another peasant, strangling him with his legs. Again, Wilfred took the opportunity to beat a weakened opponent. Before long, the peasants were defeated. The group left them alive, but they could no longer fight back.

The Dyre soldiers used their pikes to kill the peasants while they were helpless. Mykaal laughed and congratulated the group, remarking, "Good. Time to start work. I'll have a stack of papers sent. You should begin right away." And he left.

Later that day, Gravven Martyns, the herald of House Dyre, came to visit. He was looking for Alon Redwyne in order to negotiate an information exchange. Gravven, known to his friends as "Gravy" knew what was going on in House Dyre's lands to the south, but was being kept in the dark about House Dyre's operations here in Aldford. He figured that an "exceptional specimen" like Alon could be of great use. But since Alon wasn't currently in the East Wing, Gravy would simply leave.

The group convinced Gravy that they might be of use. They had knowledge of the castle and had contacts throughout Aldford and the Greyrocks, but Gravy would have to provide adequate trade.

Through long negotiation, they decided:
- Gravy gave news of Brenwyn Glenbain and Maxir Glenbain.

- Gravy would send messages to Tyrion Lannister and Maxir Glenbain.

- Gravy would see to it that the entire group were given free movement throughout the entire castle, no just the East Wing.

- Clyde remembered Alon telling him about the Dyres increasing pine tar production. They guessed that the fire in the forest of the Greyrocks and the taking of Sambert the baker's ovens all related to that. They Loyalists needed a new fleet of ships to fight the Iron Islands and Glenbain pine tar was neccessary to build good warships.

- The group promised to give Gravy any new information they gathered about Maedalyn or Mykaal Dyre.

## Experience

Clyde, Fiyona, Rook and Wilfred each received 16 XP, 2 Glory and 300 Silver Stags

## House Attributes

Defense: 43 (3 Free)

Influence: 62 (21 Free)

Lands: 27 (2 Free)

Law: 40 (40 Free)

Population: 37 (7 Free)

Power: 52 (45 Free)

Wealth: 53 (7 Free)

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