Dark Wings, Dark Words

**Dark Wings, Dark Words** is the first chapter of Book 1 and therefore the first chapter of Forum of Thrones. With only 8 parts, it is also by far the shortest part to date, featuring only six different PoV's. It serves as an important introduction to the story, setting up half a dozen major plotlines and introducing several major characters.

## Summary

### In Raylansfair

Eaton, the elderly Maester of Raylansfair, is approached by Raylansfair's castellan, Harris Flowers and called to the bed of Lord Robert Raylan, who is dying from an unknown disease. The Maester and his acolyte, Dairon, stay with him and Eaton writes a mysterious letter, his last will, on his behalf. After finishing dictating this letter, Lord Raylan dies and Maester Eaton gives the letter to his young apprentice Dairon. He sends Dairon to the large city of Oldtown, where new Maesters study, to meet with an old associate of Eaton, Archmaester Quent. After Dairon left, Maester Eaton notices that he is watched by an unknown man, later revealed to be Clayton Teryl. The man politely informs Eaton that he had poisoned Robert, before revealing that he plans to kill Eaton as well. Knowing that he has little chance to resist, the Maester accepts his fate and is pushed down the tower, to fall to his death.

The next day, the knight Lucas Flowers is called to a meeting between Harris, the castle's housekeeper Halla Peddle and the town's septon, Corbin. During this talk, Lucas is tasked with finding Dairon, who was last seen on his way to Oldtown. To get a clue on why Dairon fled, Lucas decides to search through Lord Robert's chambrs. There, he forms an uneasy alliance with the fellow knight Leonard Constantine and searches through Lord Raylans chambers, before Leonard informs him that Harris has taken some documents from the chambers.

With the help of the knight, Lucas entere Harris' chambers. He finds out that the man indeed hid a copy of Lord Raylans last will and apparently has plans to seize control over Raylansfair for himself. Before Lucas and Leonard can confront him with the help of Raylansfairs master-at-arms, Ser Ilhan Lagoon, they are forced to travel south, trying to track Dairon down. Lucas storyline ends with the reveal, that Lord Raylans last will was to destroy House Raylan and to give Raylansfair to his biggest rival, Lord Hightower of Oldtown.

Meanwhile, the blacksmith Lyria Mettel in Raylansfair, gets a suspicious assignment from a mysterious stranger who goes by the name of Wolfius Woodbark. Wolfius seems to be creepy, but harmless and asks her to forge him a special dagger with a strange sigil on it. His behaviour gets increasingly unnerving, especially when he apparently takes an obsession with Lyrias teenage daughter Rosalie. Yet he offers a large sum of gold for her services and Lyria accepts his assignment.

### In Oldtown

In Oldtown, the story shifts to the viewpoint of Jaron, a young hedge knight, who recently lost his mentor, Ser Matthos the Kind. He arrives at a small inn, with the intentions to spend the night there and to look for work in the morning. However, it shouldn't come to that. Shortly after sitting down, he is approached by a street urchin, the young Himani Sand. Himani reveales to him that the Burned Man, one of Oldtown's local crimelords, has taken an interest in him and wishes to meet him. He also warns him that ignoring the Burned Man's wishes would not be advisable.

Not feeling much of a choice, Jaron accompanies Himani to one of the Burned Man's hideouts in the poorer parts of the city. At the door, Jaron first meets Harpy, the Burned Man's assistant and adopted daughter. Initially distant, she quickly warms up to Jaron, as she escorts him to a waiting room. There, Jaron encounters the Ghiscari slaver Bakr al-Astapori, a business partner of the Burned Man, with whom he has a short talk.

Shortly afterwards, Harpy returns and brings him to the Burned Man. On the way, Jaron also has a short talk with Abbas al-Yunkari, Bakr's colleague and fellow business partner of the Burned Man, before he meets the crimelord himself. The Burned Man acts polite, calm and reasonable towards Jaron, informing him of a debt Ser Matthos had with him, a debt he hopes Jaron could repay, by working with him against a couple of people whom the Burned Man sees as a threat to the stability of Oldtown.

### In Blackhaven

In the small town of Blackhaven, in the Kingdom of the Stormlands, the sellsword Marak enjoys his life. He drinks and gets into fights just as he likes. However, his easy life should change when he encounters the enigmatic, yet alluring Noelle Mield, priestess of R'hllor, in search for a bodyguard. To impress her, Marak gets into a fight that ends with him losing, though he manages to impress Noelle enough for her to make him an offer. In exchange for his service as a bodyguard, he is offered either a substantial sum of gold, or a glimpse of the future. Out of curiosity, Marak choses the latter, which gives him a terrifying vision of the future, during which he sees a great war coming.

### In Harrenhal

In the castle of Harrenhal, greatest and largest castle in the known world, seat of the dreaded King Harren Hoare and capital of his kingdom, the Ironborn captain Torvin Breaker and his brother Garthon are present in the Great Hall of Harrenhal, where they see Harren judging over a starving worker, who stole a loaf of bread. Harren deals with utmost cruelty, which appalls the more reasonable Torvin and causes a conflict between the king and one of his lords, Edmyn Tully, the Lord of Riverrun. This conflict escalated to the point where Edmyn had to leave the room in disgust.

Impressed by Edmyn's brave behaviour, Torvin follows him subtly, much to Garthon's displeasure, as his brother fears the king's wrath. Torvin catches up to Edmyn and the two men get into a discussion, where they realize that they share similar values despite their different origins. Ultimately, Torvin and Edmyn form an alliance, in the hopes to take down the king and to end his unpredictable tyranny.

## Appearances

### First

* Maester Eaton
* Harris Flowers
* Dairon
* Lord Robert Raylan
* Clayton Teryl (not named)
* Ser Lucas Flowers
* Halla Peddle
* Septon Corbin
* Jenna Harking
* Ser Leonard Constantine
* Ser Ilhan Lagoon
* King Harren Hoare
* Captain Torvin Breaker
* Garthon Breaker
* Lord Edmyn Tully
* Lyria Mettel
* Rosalie Mettel
* Wolfius Woodbark
* Richard Harking
* Marak
* Noelle Mield
* Ser Jaron
* Himani Sand
* Harpy
* Bakr al-Astapori
* Abbas al-Yunkari
* The Burned Man

### Deaths

* Maester Eaton
* Lord Robert Raylan

## Choices

### Lucas

* Lucas inspected Lord Raylan's chambers
* Lucas accepted Leonard's offer and entered Harris' chambers
* Lucas allowed Leonard to accompany him on his journey

### Torvin

* Torvin went after Lord Tully
* Torvin decided to work with Lord Tully

### Lyria

* Lyria accepted Wolfius' offer
* Lyria decided not to tell Richard about Wolfius

### Marak

* Marak decided to see the truth as his payment

### Jaron

* Jaron decided to meet the Burned Man
* Jaron decided to work with the Burned Man