[Day 3: Early Night] A Shroud and a Gelding (Open)

[Dyana Marsten]

With a hooded cloak concealing most of her figure and a sword sheathed by her hip, Dyana walks through the calm camps of the pavilions in search of a stable. A stable with some spare horses to sell. She'd put up an entry for the damned joust, and regardless of it being a good decision or not, she wasn't about to actually risk losing a good horse. Thus she went, keeping an eye ou to catch whiff of a stable boy or someone she could inconspicuously purchase a mount from.

[Reader]

Horse flesh was common here, with a smattering of decent mounts among the draft animals and farmyard nags that had been brought to the market by the desperate or the unscrupulous, keen to take advantage of the tourney.

[OOC: moving to Day 4 soon, so won't have time to play this out , but main thing here to say is Deception (Disguise) TN (9) to avoid anyone remembering you and the horse you buy, in the totally unlikely event that it's relevant later :;
): ]

[Dyana Marsten]

[url=Deception][/url]: 2d6k2 8

[OOC: No problem, just wanted to leave this scene here for recording purposes. Seems like someone will remember me, so that should be relevant. Dyana would search for a stout and healthy rounsey, war-trained and capable of jousting, but nothing more expensive than 60 or so stags.]

[Reader]

Sometimes the very act of avoiding attention only draws more attention, particularly for those untutored in such dark arts. Some would remember the striking tall woman with a sword at her hip, seeking a war mount of all things....

[OOC: Sold American! Please mark this on your character sheet. So close on the roll, but probably a better story this way. 60ss it is, tourney inflation drives the price up a little.]

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Dyana was leaving the stables, already thinking on the day to come when a young woman with dark hair and dusky skin brushed past, hood on her threadbare cloak up. She was in a hurry...but abruptly paused a few steps past Dyana and looked back, an incredulous expression on her face.

"
Dy? Is that you"
?"


She didn't look the part, but the voice was unmistakably that of Dyana's sister, Gwyneth.

[url=Awareness - Shroud and Gelding][/url]: 4d6 10
Disguise! [url=Deception - Shroud and Gelding][/url]: 4d6k3 15

[Dyana Marsten]

Carefully leading her gelding away and towards the Marsten's stables, Dyana instinctually rests a hand upon the pommel of her sheathed blade when a hooded woman brushes past her, and tightens her grip ever so slightly as the same woman stops and turns to face her.

At her words, however, Dyana is at a loss. It surely sounds... but she isn't... who else would call her 'Dy'?

"
I am... well..."
Dyana blinks, not really having made a plan for this situation. In hindsight, a well thought-out cover story would have been a good idea. "
Who are you?"
She answers the question with another question, sinking her face deeper beneath the hood.

[url=Awareness][/url]: 3d6k3 7

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Oh for pity's..."


The woman stepped closer and eased her hood back. Her hair was too dark and her face smudged and dirtied, but without the concealing shadow Dyana could recognize the face of Gwyneth, her sister. She quickly tugged her hood forward again.

"
Buying a horse?"
she asked smugly. Oh yes, she'd always loved catching Dyana with her hand in the cookie jar.

[Dyana Marsten]

Dyana's eyes widen for a moment at the sight of a disguised Gwyneth, and she almost feels like the younger of the two before regaining her composure. She'd always hated being caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"
Gwyn!"
She lets out a hushed whisper. "
Yes, yes, I am buying a horse. What are you..."
she glances to both sides warily. "
... what are you doing here, and dressed like that? I don't even..."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Shhh,"
Gwyn interrupted, glancing around. "
Not near the stables. Over this way."


She led her older sister off to the side, an open area near the pasture, where it would be very hard for someone to approach closely enough to listen without revealing themselves.

"
I'm going to see if Maester Leopold is still trying to wiggle his way back into Isobel's good graces. It's been some time since I heard anything about him though...I'm not entirely sure he hasn't given up. But if he hasn't, he'll be somewhere in Riverton, watching and waiting. I'm going to find him."

[Dyana Marsten]

As Dyana follows her sister into the pasture, or near to it, her nervousness gradually fades, and, by the time they arrive, she's her usual self again.

A skeptical self, right there.

"
Maester Leopold?"
She's still glancing for eavesdroppers, despite their advantageous position. "
You believe he's... here? In Riverrun? Ready to humiliate himself in front of aunt Isobel?"
An inquisitive eyebrow rises. "
Gwyn, I... it's good to see you, it's been some months, but I'm not sure I quite follow you there. The head of our house has problems with the man. Wouldn't it be best to simply try and find a new Maester who's interested in our family? There's even a conclave taking place, I believe, tomorrow."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Exactly!"
Gwyn replied, her eyes bright and intense. Uh oh...looked like she was obsessed with one of her little schemes again.

"
Maester Leopold is someone I know;
we have trust between us. And he needs me a great deal more than I need him, which is why I need him so much. The trial tomorrow may see Baelon hurt, and I don't trust the Tully's maester. Lord Tully chose Baelon from a crowded field, and I feel like he wouldn't feel too terrible if he were to be seriously hurt, or killed. But Leopold could be there, and save the man Lady Marsten singled out to woo Corrine. What better way to restore her faith in him?"


"
And in return, I'll ask him to keep me abreast on the goings-on at the Conclave!"


She bounced on her toes a little, clearly very pleased with herself over it all.

[Dyana Marsten]

Dyana blinks. "
Gosh, Gwyn, where did that come from?"
And shakes her head. "
I'm not sure if I underestimate you sometimes, or if we're both crazy."
And presses fingers to the bridge of her nose.

"
I know Maester Leopold as well, though I haven't grown quite as attached to him as you seem to have. I, ahm, I do understand your plans, little sister. But do be carefuly not to get aunt Isobel angry at you on Maester Leopold's behalf, that'd be... far too many problems for our sake."
Dyana nods at Gwyn, then looks to one side, then the other, then the horse who stared back at her with content eyes. "
So you were... looking for the Maester? Like that?"
She gestures towards, well, all of Gwyneth.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

She smirked again. "
Going like this is one way I'll keep Isobel from getting upset with me,"
she said primly. "
It wouldn't do if Gwyneth Marsten were snooping around at all hours of the night, asking questions about some rogue maester. But who would care about some ragged smallfolk woman? Probably looking for herbs or something."


"
And I'm not promising him anything, just a chance. There'll be lots of people at the jousts after all. I doubt Isobel cares enough about his wherabouts to have him watched. He'll simply...appear from the crowd, as if sent by the Seven in our hour of need."


Gwyn laced her hands together under her chin, mocking a pose of devout worship.

[Dyana Marsten]

Dyana laughs, then looks longingly at her sister's obvious piety. "
You're a piece, Gwyn. Alright, then, I hope you'll get what you want. I wouldn't be averse to having the Maester come back to Hartshorn with us. And your plan has a chance of working, if you can locate the man at all."
She takes another glance at the horse, glad that Gwyneth still hadn't asked any more questions about what she was doing here, armed and guiding a mount.

"
It's late, Gwyn. I have to get back to camp, get some sleep... I am weary from the trip, and from the feast where I was for most of the day. Are you leaving, or arriving?"

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Oh, leaving,"
Gwyn assured her sister. Then with a wicked grin asked the question Dyana might have preferred she hadn't.

"
Which mystery knight should I be cheering on, if I may ask?"

[Dyana Marsten]

The stare Gwyneth received then could have meant several things, from fuck you, Gwyn to goddamnit Gwyn. Maybe not that many things after all.

"
The Knight of Stones, Gwyn."
Dyana shook her head. "
Knight of Stones."
With a sigh, she turned and left, not before smirking broadly.

[/scene after whatever Gwyn has to say?]

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn giggles and bounces on her toes again, overjoyed to have figured her sister out. For all her attempts to mimic the poise and demeanor of a lady, it seemed there was still a bratty little girl not so far from the surface.

"
Be careful!"
she called, then turned to go back to the stables and fetch her horse for the trip to town.

(/Scene!)

[Sponsored content]