[Epilogue]The First Cut is the Deepest (Closed)

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Daveth was in his tent, packing his things for the journey back. He'd sent a message to Ser Jorah asking for him to come by at his convenience.

Be careful. You can't afford to lose him yet.

It's Ser Jorah. He had faith in me before anyone else. We'll be able to fix this. Won't we?

You had him as a surrogate father-figure while Lord Coldbrook rejected you. Now he's accepting of you. The old saying about a dog chasing two hares catching neither springs to mind.

When the knight enters, Daveth turns to him. "
Ser Jorah. Thank you for coming. Please, have a seat."
gesturing towards one of the available options. "
I've noticed that you seem to have something bothering you. I feel that in these kind of circumstances, it's usually better to get it off your chest than to sit silently and let it fester."
Not like I don't have a pretty good idea what it is, but it's best if you say it in your own words.

[Ser Jorah Holt]

Ser Jorah entered the tent and bowed. He had been arranging for the troops to be ready to leave and so far that had gone smoothly. When the messenger arrived, he had expected to be summoned at some point. He hadn't exactly been supportive and his demeanour

"
Lord Daveth, as you are now confirmed as heir to House Coldbrook, I believe I should now use that appellation now."
He addressed Daveth quite formally, "
do I have permission to speak freely?"

[Daveth Coldbrook]

It sounds strange to my ears, though I suppose I'll get used to it.

Remember: if you say 'yes', you are obligated to control your temper. You don't want a repeat of the Loreia incident.

Daveth formally nods in response. "
Permission granted, Ser Jorah."

[Ser Jorah Holt]

Ser Jorah fixed him with a look, his face stern.

"
Are you planning to start a war with House Tullison? Because if you go after Ser Theomore, that's what you will cause."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

"
No, that is not my intent."
Daveth replies, simply. "
And on what grounds will it start a war? Being caught spying is embarrassing, certainly, but everyone does it, and due to our mistrust of the man, I can easily justify why we would do so. The only reason why the stakes are so big is because Ser Theomore is committing such big crimes, and he can hardly use that as his defence.

"
The only way a war will start will be if he successfully kills me. And so long as I'm careful, and none of you drop him any veiled hints as to what's going on, that shouldn't happen. I'd bet my life on it."
he adds, dryly.

[Ser Jorah Holt]

"
His nephew is Lord Tullison who reacted badly even to the suggestion that his uncle killed somebody. How do you think he will react if you are caught spying, especially after having sworn an oath never to accuse his uncle of murder?"


"
I heard both you and Lord Coldbrook yesterday. You have both become obsessed with the man. Do you even have any proof or it solely just your grief and hatred of the man talking? Joren died and that will always be a tragedy, but do not let your grief consume you."


Ser Jorah's voice manages to remain calm throughout, though inwardly he wanted to scream.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Daveth's reply is soft, melancholic. "
I must admit to being slightly surprised at hearing those words from you, Ser Jorah. You were ever my mother's protector. You saw her at her best - vibrant, charming, full of life. Now look at her. Every time I see her, it looks like she's just going to fade away into nothing. And the mere mention of his name is enough to twist the knife in her heart.

"
The pain I live with is terrible, Ser Jorah. Every day, still. But it is *nothing* to the pain my mother feels."


His voice continues in barely a whisper. "
I think she blames herself. Not in the way the rest of us do, for failing to prevent it, but because of her curse. She thinks it's her curse that killed him. And every claim of Joren's death being 'bad luck' confirms that in her heart."
he clenches his fists. "
If I can just show the world his true character. If they start to question, to wonder. To think that maybe it wasn't purely bad luck, maybe the dice were loaded from the start. Then maybe she can stop blaming herself. And we can all begin to heal. Else I fear the Black Anchor dragging us down will pull my mother into the next world far too soon."

[Ser Jorah Holt]

"
What has happened to your mother tears at me also. Her grief consumes her, making her forget that there is still good in life. It is up to us to remind her that life still has much to offer her. How would she feel if she lost you also;
dead or consumed in hatred. That would not be the life she would choose for you and this curse she feels she is under;
losing you would utterly destroy her. You now have your father's respect. Now it is time to remind your mother that she has more than one child and that she is missing the man he is becoming."
Jorah smiled, "
and don't think I have not noticed the yound lady I've seen you with a few times. It would gladden your mother's heart if there were somebody in your life and maybe even something to look forward to."


Ser Jorah straightened himself;


I have a proposal to bring matters to a head. Ser Theomore visited me last night in the Sept before all the hells broke loose. Loreia must have said something about there being tensions in our House still regarding him, which is true. I told him that he still needed to make effort himself to alleviate that tension and he asked that I arrange a meeting between Lord Coldbrook and himself. I said I would try, though considering Lord Coldbrook's comments yesterday, I would fear that he would attempt to remove his head with a warhammer."

ooc
Is this taking place before or after your meeting with Dyana?

[Daveth Coldbrook]

(OOC: Given that the important part of my meeting with Dyana is over, it makes sense that that happened first, I think. Probably earlier that day. That's my assumption here, anyway. I can edit it if you'd really prefer otherwise.)

"
Well, your suggestion would bring *something* to a head, at least. With great force."
he responds dryly. "
I believe my father views the matter the same as me - everything that man says is lies and poison."
a momentary pause, before he corrects himself. "
Well, okay, except for his nephew. I think his affection there is genuine. Probably.

"
Regardless, I don't think a meeting is wise. Mother would die, Father would kill him, Garret would *try*, and I just wouldn't go. And until we have *some* sense of closure, I can't see that changing."


There's a fairly long pause before he continues, quietly. "
If you can come up with a way to achieve closure that doesn't involve me risking my life, I would listen. But what I said to my father wasn't a lie. I can neither forgive nor forget. Not by choice, but simply through being."
he carries on, almost to himself. "
For the first time, I have a serious motive to part from this course, yet the Black Anchor still inexorably drags me down."
he looks up, and for just a moment, his mask of a lord slips, and Ser Jorah can see a flash of fear and pleading in his look before the mask is back firmly in place.

"
But anyway,"
in a more normal tone. "
If you want to suggest the meeting to my father, go ahead, though I recommend against it."

[Ser Jorah Holt]

You fool Daveth Jorah thought, he wanted to take the young man and shake some sense into him, but a sense of decorum stayed his limbs.

"
Never forget your brother, but letting one event determine the rest of your life when you have a choice not to is tantamount. Choose life, not destruction."

ooc
I think a full on intrigue is needed here. Jorah wants to try and save you from yourself. Probably will lose horribly though

[Daveth Coldbrook]

(OOC: A full intrigue makes sense, as that would be a pretty major change. It's only really possible due to Dyana's demand earlier, but because she's made him waver, you could certainly ram a wedge in the crack. Plus, it would be nice to actually *win* an intrigue. :;
): )

Defence: 10
Initiative: Eloquent.
Objective: Accept that some form of closure is required for the family to move on.
Disposition: Friendly
[url=Round 1 Convince Ser Jorah (Persuade)][/url]: 4d6 13 +3 from disposition, so 16
DR: 2
Composure: 9/9
3 Damage per DoS
I think your defence is 9 and your disposition indifferent, so that's 2DoS, 6-4 = 2 composure damage, 7 remain?

"
Again, Ser Jorah, you talk of 'choice'. I do not choose to feel the pain that I do, I just do. And the only way I have of reducing that pain to a level I hope I can live with is to attempt to reach a form of closure. And the only way I can see how to do that is for the man who struck the blow to be exposed to the world as the blackguard he is. None of that is a choice, simply a statement of what is."

[Ser Jorah Holt]

ooc - Jorah isn't likely to win, but he has to try

ID 9
Initiative N/A due to eloquent
DR 4
Composure 7/9
[url=persuade Daveth round 1][/url]: 3d6k3 16 - so 2 DOS
3 damage per DOS - 6 damage. DR 2 so 4 damage

"
You say you have no choice, but at least one has been presented to you and there are others if you choose to look. At the moment, you are choosing to remain blinkered to the possibilities around you."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

(OOC: Ouch! 5/9 Composure)

[url=Convince Ser Jorah - Round 2][/url]: 4d6+3 14 2 DoS - 2 damage

"
What alternative? *Speaking* with him? What use words from a man made of lies? Even if he were to give the most beautiful and elegant speech of remorse known to man, we'd all know it to be beautiful and elegant bullshit. We'll find no closure that way. And if you can find another alternative that doesn't descend into the kind of methods he habitually uses, well, you're doing better than me."

[Ser Jorah Holt]

ooc composure 5/9
[url=convince daveth r2][/url]: 3d6k3 12 1 DOS so 1 damage after DR

"
You are a smart person. If being here at this tournament has taught you nothing else, then you should have learnt that there is more than one way to achieve something and that includes dealing with this situation. You are fixated on the man, but look at what you have achieved when dealing with the challenges facing us."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

(4/9 composure
[url=Convince Ser Jorah - Round 3][/url]: 4d6+3 16 2 DoS - 2 damage

Daveth spreads his arms. "
'Obsession', Ser Jorah? There were precisely two people involved in my brother's death, and only one lived through it. It's not an obsession to seek closure from the only source available, any more than it is an obsession for someone to insist on purchasing shoes from the only cobbler they can reach. Now, if you can do what I cannot, and find traces of some kind of paymaster behind the knight, someone else whose comeuppance can heal this wound, then I will gladly transfer my interest to one more worthy. But I've found no such thing."

[Ser Jorah Holt]

Composure 3/9
[url=convince daveth r3][/url]: 3d6k3 12 1 DoS - so 1 damage

"
Have you ever considered that the reason you have found no sign of a paymaster is that it was everything it appeared to be. I'm not saying you have to like the man and I am sure you will find things that mean you never will. All men have their dark secrets, but hunting a man because of an accident is not the way forward. Not if you want to become your own person and not end up like him."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

3/9 composure
[url=Convince Ser Jorah - Round 4][/url]: 4d6+3 19 3 DoS - 5 damage.

Daveth looks slightly surprised. "
Oh, of course. I view the chances of there being a paymaster as being rather small, and consider it far more likely that he was his own man in his actions, regardless of what his intent was. But there being a paymaster was simply the only way I could see of gaining closure from a man other than Ser Theomore."


He leans forwards. "
Now, if Ser Theomore were otherwise a man who kept to his oaths, if my investigations had turned up nothing more serious than, say, the odd dalliance with a woman he shouldn't be with, I'd accept your point. My heart could accept that, yes, while tragic, it was definitely an accident. And maybe, maybe, it could begin to heal.

"
But the more I learn about the man, the less out-of-character it would seem for him to have done it deliberately. Not to say that he did. I don't know. I never will. But here's the thing, Ser Jorah,"
and he pierces the knight with a firm glare. "
nor do you! You just accept him at his word, and make an assumption of common decency. But with such a discrepancy in skill levels, he could do whatever he wanted to Joren. It would be trivial to strike to kill and claim it was an accident. But you dismiss that possibility out of hand. Not out of facts, which are missing or ambiguous, but out of a simple *wish* that it be true.

"
Well, I wish my brother were still alive today, and see how far that gets me.

"
I deal in *facts*, Ser Jorah, and the facts are that the *only* person who will ever truly know the truth behind my brother's death is Ser Theomore himself;
regardless of what his intentions were then, he's a habitual criminal whose exposure will do good for the realm;
and said exposure to justice is the only way I can currently see of my family reaching any sense of closure without descending into criminality myself. Now, you can hate and curse those facts as much as you like, but that won't make them any less true."

[Ser Jorah Holt]

Composure 1/9
Frustration 1
offer yield - Jorah will not stop Daveth, but will not help or protect him.
[url=convince daveth r4][/url]: 3d6k2 9

"
Then go hunt the man and see what it costs. Maybe you will find some way to expose him, but I guarantee you that it will cost you far more."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

(OOC: Yield offer rejected. Counter-offer. Ser Jorah will accept that Daveth views his current path as simply the *least bad* option open to him at the moment, even if he doesn't agree with it. Ser Jorah won't help or interfere with that choice, and Daveth will keep his eyes open to alternative options to achieve closure.)

Daveth looks at the knight with haunted eyes. "
You have no idea what it's already costing me, and I am fully aware of how bad things can get. But my family has no future until we can somehow reconcile with our past. If you won't help me grasp the single flicker of hope I'm aware of, if you are blind to how doing nothing is simply a slow slide into oblivion, then just stay out of my way in this, and serve out your other duties until I can get you into the Kingsguard, and you no longer have to watch."

[Ser Jorah Holt]

ooc agreed, but Jorah's disposition remains indifferent

[Daveth Coldbrook]

(/scene, then? As far as I'm concerned, Ser Jorah can say a line indicating his changed position, leave, then call it there.)

[Ser Jorah Holt]

"
If I cannot change your mind and make you see the other choices, then go and damn yourself boy. I will not watch."

Jorah turned on his heel without waiting to be dismissed and walked out of the tent, pausing at the entrance for a quick glance at Daveth before leaving.

/scene

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