Re: [D7,LA]Friends?

[Yoren longshore]

"
Please, do tell me a single law giving him the right to make arrests on these lands. Do so and I'll speak for you in front of Gorman."

Yorrn makes the offer seemingly genuine.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Any of the investigating Houses have that right, under the auspices of the royal edict charging us to discover the truth of the charges and crimes taking place here,"
Gwyn points out.

"
And there's Gorman again. What exactly is that about?"

[Yoren longshore]

"
We do? Well, hereby you, lady Gwyneth Drakeson, are my prisoner. You are held under suspicion of tampering with evidence. I, Yoren Longshore, hold evidence for this, although I will not share it with anybody."
Yoren tells her sarcasticly before turning to Daveth: "
Have you not informed them about Gorman yet?

OOC:Look at your pms. There was discussion regarding who had been informed by Ironrod. The PM thread is called "
moving the tribunal"

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn shrugs. "
Go ahead and hold me then. You will, of course, have to give all the investigators equal access, and when I'm found to have no information or culpability then I'll be released. You see how easy that was?"

[Yoren longshore]

"
Good, come back to the Warriors Seat with me then. I'll start questioning you tomorrow morning. Of course you wouldn't mind to be shackled in the dungeons while you await me laying forth my evidence against you tomorrow."


Yoren smiles: "
And remember that I have more authority than Baelon to do a kidnapping, as he was not summoned here to investigate anything."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

She wagged a finger. "
Ah ah ah, all investigators, not just you. Daveth, if you'd inform Corrine and Baelon and the others? And...let Baelon know I am in no danger, and that this is being done with my full consent? He can of course visit me as well."


"
But first, I'd like to hear more about Lord Tully. I don't really care from whom."

[Yoren longshore]

[I'll give Daveth a chance to reply, as now he's involved. Then we'll continue]

[Daveth Coldbrook]

[OOC: I was not included in that PM thread. I have no knowledge of the moving of the trial.]

Daveth is looking rather dazedly at Yoren as he replies to Lady Gwyneth. "
I don't know why Lord Tully is relevant, either, I'm afraid. That will have to come from Yoren."


He slowly turns to Gwyneth. "
I will do as you say."
clearly a bit reluctant, but willing to support her. "
However, a Lady should not be alone with a man who is not her husband. People would talk. I will send a couple of my men with you, to ensure you are properly chaperoned."
he turns his head back to Yoren. "
They will not attempt any kind of rescue. They are solely there for propriety's sake, until Lord Bracken can arrange an appropriate alternative. I am oathsworn to protect the members of my banner houses from harm, and that includes, at my discretion, harm that could be caused by scurrilous rumours."

[Benedict Marsten]

[Ooc: I hate to poke my head in your guys thread, but for clarity, Ironrod has informed house Marsten of his suggestion. We will hopefully be anouncing our decision after the treaty.]

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn nods at Daveth gratefully. "
An excellent idea. Thank you for your presence of mind."


Then she looks at Yoren expectantly. The next move was his.

[Yoren longshore]

Yoren thinks for a few moments before telling them.

"
I'm better than your man, I have no need to throw you in a dungeon. Come along if you wish, but I have better things to do than to force a confession out of you."


With that Yoren walks off, clearly annoyed.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn looks at Daveth apologetically, but with an impish twinkle in her eyes and says, "
It seems I've trodden all over you conversation with him. Sorry about that. I didn't really expect this to go this way."


She then follows after Yoren, hands folded demurely. "
The last I heard, I was under arrest. That gives me exactly one choice...to comply with the lawful investigation, or to resist. I choose to comply."

[Yoren longshore]

"
Investigation into the missing chest of gold is finished. Although you took it I did a situation assesment that determined that you in all probability intend to give it to reparation of this land."

Yoren barely breaks stride at her odd question.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Ahh, I see. Then you're releasing me from your custody?"

[Yoren longshore]

"
Yes, however I expect that you give each and every dragon in that case back."

Yoren then mounts his horse and rides off into the sunset.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Thank you then. Of course, it's a bit of a to-do being arrested, even if I'm immediately released,"
Gwyn comments as Yoren makes ready to depart.

"
To make sure there's no lingering suspicions, I'll just check with the other Houses and make sure none of them have questions for me. Fare well, Yoren."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Daveth catches up to Lady Gwyneth at a casual pace, frowning. "
Did you notice?"
he asks, voice casual but quiet. "
The timing? He was very emphatic that he had evidence, that he was arresting you, but then the moment I insisted that you be accompanied at all times, suddenly he's no longer interested. As if having witnesses nearby ruined his plans.

"
There's a dark part of me that suspects that he realises that he'd never win a duel against Baelon, so he wants a war. But he doubts he can muster enough help if he attacks, so he wants you to attack him, so he can claim victim status, and gain allies easier. To do that, he may have intended to ... hurt you in a way that's difficult to prove, and that's difficult to talk about, but that you wouldn't be able to hide from your husband."
he's pointedly not looking at Gwyneth as he says that. "
If so, that's not Yoren we were talking with. That was Grief, who has a dark heart, indeed. I hope his god and friends manage to help him find a way back, as mine did."


There's a pause, then. "
Or, he's just insane. That's also possible. Either way, the good news is that by the leader of the Longshore delegation agreeing that yes, we *do* have the authority to arrest other investigators under suspicion of wrongdoing, pretty much the only leg the prosecution of Baelon had to stand on is gone. I think even the Queen would baulk at finding him guilty now."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn nods at Daveth's words. "
What you're saying isn't impossible, but it's also possible he just realized I was setting a trap for him, and backed out just before it snapped shut."
She 'tched' to herself, then looked at Daveth.

"
No matter. By nightfall word of this will have reached every ear from high to low. As you say, his 'case,' as flimsy as it was, is a ship that will not hold water. He seemed very intent that he'd be arguing this case in front of Lord Tully however. I may need to go find Corrine and see if she knows what he was babbling about."


She looks at Daveth. "
If you want to pursue friendship with the Longshores, I won't hold it against you. Just bear in mind that I won't be waiting for them to strike before acting against them. I came hoping he might be able to move past this. But if he won't, then he's dangerous. Our actions might compromise any good will you try to foster."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Daveth nods at the warning. "
Already handled. One of the things I discussed with him before you came over was delaying outreach matters until things were settled between your two houses."


He looks over to where the Longshore heir had departed, and starts talking in a way that implies that he's thinking out loud as he does so, trying to work out a problem. "
I'm thinking, though. There's not *really* a problem between your houses. It's all caused by his inability to deal with his grief. Had I the power Yoren has a couple of years ago, and were you a part of House Tullison back then, I doubt you'd view me as fondly as you do.

"
He needs someone he can talk to and trust to work through his grief."
he slowly nods as he comes to a conclusion. "
He needs to get married. Naturally to someone we've spoken to beforehand, so she knows what really happened and help him accept it. But who? They'd need be smart and level-headed, and most women like that wouldn't want anything to do with someone with such foreign beliefs..."
he trails off as an old memory resurfaces. "
Actually, I have a candidate in mind."
he turns back to Lady Gwyneth. "
Gwyneth, I understand what you've said, and why, but would you be willing to help me help Yoren if you believed that it would help end his grudge against House Drakeson with no bloodshed?"

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

She considers that, then nods. "
I'd be wary of the chance of backfire...making him stronger, without taking away his desire for revenge. But yes, I have no ill will towards him personally. If he can be dissuaded, then that's more than enough for me."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Daveth nods slowly. "
Now, I'm making this up as I go along, so bear with me.

"
I heard that Lady Maryssa Lucas is an intelligent and well educated woman who spends a lot of time with foreign merchants, rather than Westerosi knights."
he shrugs. "
Maybe she just likes foreign luxuries, but it's quite possible that she likes worldly men, with a taste of the exotic, which Yoren well fits.

"
Neither she nor her father are present, so we can't do anything about that directly here, but their heir and second son are. You could arrange for yourself and your husband to go visit Lucas lands. Baelon speaks with the Lord, charms him, maybe makes some kind of trade deal;
you speak with Lady Maryssa. First thing you do is charm her - I know you, you can do that in your sleep. Then, when she likes you, gently float the idea of Yoren at her, see how she reacts. If she's utterly against it,"
he shrugs. "
Fine. House Drakeson has gained some new friends in House Lucas, and we have to come up with a new plan. Not a disaster. If she's for the idea, then you explain what happened, and what he's going through. If you manage to sell them on the idea, then you let me know, and I start to work on Yoren, trying to get him to buy-in to the idea. At least to meet with House Lucas about it.

"
If we do manage to pull that off, we have someone friendly towards you and yours whispering in Yoren's ear as she helps build him back up from the pieces he's currently lying in. So, we just leave them to it. Yoren's wound's start healing, and he eventually realises what a fucking idiot he's been. Problem solved. And if he tries to use his marriage to get more troops to attack you with? Well, House Lucas isn't exactly going to be enthusiastic about attacking their new friends-cum-trading partners."


He shrugs. "
I admit, it's not a fool-proof plan. Far from it. There's a lot of places where it could fall through. But so long as we're careful, the worst case scenario is pretty much just lost time. Which isn't ideal, but isn't a disaster, either."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Mmm,"
mused Gwyn as she considered it. "
Not really. The worst case scenario is that we help Yoren cement his control over his House, give his House the respect and influence that would be its due for allying with the Lucas', and rather than she whispering in his ear, he whispers in hers. The House of Lucas doesn't have to turn against us for the Longshores to be strengthened through their alliance. And that's assuming that they would put a trade agreement ahead of the wishes of their daughter and son-in-law. Or that Yoren, who has a bit of a silver tongue himself you understand, couldn't turn them against us given time and opportunity...things he would have an abundance of, given his relationship to them."


She shook her head slowly. "
He blames Baelon for his brother's death. That isn't something he'll let go of that easily. I'm open to peaceful solutions, but I'm not fond of the idea of putting weapons into his hands before that solution is found."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

"
First point: solidify Yoren's hold on his house against whom? He is confirmed as the heir. Next in line is probably his uncle Leifnarr, who last I heard wasn't exactly pushing for the position. The only things that could knock him out of that position is utter disgrace or exile, and as embarrassing as his actions today are, they won't be anywhere near enough.

"
Second point: Yoren *will* put himself back together, sooner or later. Either we have *someone* friendly to our interests near him during this time to influence him into realising the truth, or he will, without doubt, be rebuilt into a lifelong enemy of Baelon.

"
We either try *something* along these lines, or we resign ourselves to generations of conflict - fight Yoren, and piss off the Longshores. Fight the Longshores, and piss off ..."
he tails off, looking confused "
that red wine, beer, mead, cider - something like that - house. The one that's marrying Lady Alya."
he shakes his head. "
Haven't paid them any attention, mind on other things. Anyway, fight the Longshores, piss them off. Fight them, piss Lord Frey off. It *never ends*.

"
I'm not pushing for this solution in particular - like I said, I just came up with it, and you're right that it does rely on Lady Maryssa having enough wits to both see the truth of the incident, and see it is in House Longshore's interest to *accept* that truth, and act accordingly. But I do encourage you to accept that we may not be able to come up with an ideal plan, but it still may well be better than the alternative."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Hmm...I disagree with some of your assumptions,"
Gwyn replies. "
First, I think his hold on his House is more precarious than you think. Even without a direct competitor, he's in line for an Ironborn House that is desperately trying to prove itself to its kin...and he himself is ironborn only in bloodline. Can he command their respect, while not uniting the rest of the Riverlands against him? It's a narrow ledge to walk in the best of times. And these are far from those."


"
Second, I don't think that 'fighting' with House Longshore is likely. Is he going to march an ironborn army across the Riverlands, through the territories of Houses, with no allies to attack a mountain hall? Or sail his ships entirely around Westeros to meet a well-protected harbor? Either would require time, money, and assistance if he wishes to proceed...things he's going to be short of, I expect."


"
I think a better plan where we're concerned is to keep the Longshores at arm's length. I'll keep an eye on him, make sure things don't get too comfortable for him and do what I can to make sure he's too busy dealing with his own issues to worry about what's happening on our end of things. Sooner or later I expect things will come to a head regarding his right to rule...and I wouldn't be surprised if he came out on the losing side of that. If so, problem solved. If he does beat the odds and manage to lead his people then we'd need to re-assess our approach."


She looks at Daveth consideringly. "
There's no reason we can't put both ideas into motion though...and see which yields fruit first. All this will play out against the backdrop of months, if not years after all."

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Daveth considers. "
Your analysis is fine, save for one flaw.

"
It's logical.

"
Right now, Yoren is not logical, as his recent acts demonstrate quite ably. You are right that it is not *logical* that House Longshore attack you, yet as you yourself noted, he has his moments of charisma, and were he to phrase events to his father as 'Lord Baelon murdered your son in cold blood, and the greenlanders let him get away with it', would his subordinates dare contradict that version of events? And then, is not the risk conflict greatly increased?

"
Still, I mostly agree with your conclusion. This is not something that needs to be handled right now. We have time to assess the situation. I suggest you keep my idea in mind, refine it if you can, use it if you must. If you need my help with any of it, let me know."

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