Quest The Mountain Men (AsoIaF/???)

01: Kallag

StormEagle

Well-known member
????

Screams and cries resound across the valley, the clash of arms and shields echoing off the hillsides.

He sits on a large rock, observing the battle from a nearby hilltop. Long, dark hair shifts with the breeze, as black eyes take in the battle below. He was a powerfully built man, tall, and swarthy skinned, though not so dark as to be confused with the men of the kingdoms in the far distant south. A simple crown of iron, with a single jewel in its center sits upon his head.

Around him were men of a different breed. Swarthy and dark haired, yes, but also squat and malformed, while others were taller than him and fairer skinned with hair the color of straw or fire. All watched the battle in grim silence.

His troops clashed with men garbed in steel armor and crimson cloth, a proud eagle topped banner being carried behind their lines. The men sworn to him were far more simply garbed, with leather and sometimes crude chain to guard them. Some ran against the shield line naked, blue paint streamed down their faces as they yelled their last battle cry.

"So the time comes at last." An old man says, as he steps beside the dark haired man. His hair was white, and wrinkles ran through his face like rivers and creeks through the earth.

"Aye. No victory to be had here, now they've cornered us. Only death." The larger man states bitterly, as he rises from the seat and walks away. The horses, for he needed multiple to pull the chariot, snorted at his approach.

"There is still yet time, king. You need not die here, charging into a hopeless battle. Retreat from this place, and we can fight again another day." The older man says, his tone soft and low so the surrounding men could not hear.

The man laughs, a deep sound that startles the men around him and diverts their attention from the battlefield. They stare at their king in wonder, thinking 'how can he make such a sound when our doom is at hand?'

"Who would follow me if I fled from this place, wizard? What man would follow a leader that, in the face of battle, fled and abandoned his own countrymen and allies to death? No. There is no escape here. Only the red song of battle, and death on foreign blades. This day we die, and our war comes to an end at last." The king says, a bitter smile upon his lips as the men around him look to their companions in doubt.

The king laughs again, the men jumped again in surprise, and mounted his chariot, drew his sword and lifted it high into the air so it gleams in the noonday sun.

"Today is to be our end! Aye, that is true! The final end, the final death of our people as well, as we fade into the mists of time and new men take these lands. This is not in doubt." his voice going from towering yell to morose near whisper at the end. Tears gather in his eyes, as well as the eyes of the swarthy men around him. The men with yellow and red hair shift, pity moving their hearts. This would likely mean the end of their tribes, their people would continue either independent or under imperial heel. Their allies were not so lucky.

"Yes. An end to our people. A people that have been here since ancient times. Before, Atlantis sunk into the sea. But..." He trailed off as he glared off across the heather covered fields, the purple plant swayed with the wind as this ancient land was soaked in blood.

"I would have it be such an end, that in our death, we will not be forgotten. We will meet a red end, soaked in the blood of our enemies as we throw them back beyond the wall one final time! Let them not say we went away whimpering, but that we howled like wolves and madmen as we died! Let us extract such a toll from them, they will curse this day for generations to come!" The king yelled, and his black eyes shined with a fierce wrath and hatred.

The squat men around him roared and howled their approval, while the tall men looked on in grim silence.

He did not wait. He had no more words to say this day, and there was no point in hesitating. The men would follow behind. He lifted his sword once more, and pointed forward. His charioteers snapped the reigns, and the horses whinnied as they entered into a trot. As the chariot sped down the hillside at last to join the battle, he shouted one more word.

"Charge!"

====

245 AC, The Mountains of the Moon.

He snaps awake, his head pounding like a drum. He groans, trying to keep himself quiet enough so that he doesn't disturb his mother and brothers, as he rolls out of bed.

He is a young man, no facial hair yet appearing on his smooth face, with black hair and eyes. His skin was dark, which he thought an oddity considering the fact that both his parents were rather pale, but he thought little on it.

Grasping through the little tent, which he shared with his mother and three elder brothers, in the darkness of predawn the young man eventually found what he was looking for. Clothes, made of deer hide and other such furs, along with a bow, quiver, and skinning knife.

He stepped out of the tent, his skin prickling in the cool morning air. It was dark out, but he could see the first touches of sunlight poking over the mountaintops as he got dressed.

"What are you doing Kallag?" A voice asks behind him.

Kallag jumps slightly, and turns back to see one of his brothers sitting on a stump outside the tent.

'Dammit. Thought he'd be asleep as usual.' Kallag thought, silently cursing his brother for breaking his habit of sleeping while on watch.

"'bout to go on a hunt." Kallag says, lying through his teeth. He had been planning on making his way down to the nearby village that his family sometimes traded with. While many villagers didn't like his family, them being wildlings and all, they were content enough with their presence at this point to trade with them.

There was a girl there that he met up with by the name of Ava. Not that her father knew that, or Kallag would have likely been dead by now.

"By yourself?" Trodar, the youngest after him, asks an eyebrow going up in obvious disbelief.

"Aye. What of it? I'm old enough to hunt on my own." Kallag says defensively. He had planned on doing some hunting on the way back up the mountain. A few hares or pigeons would help feed them for a night at least.

"You know its not safe to do that now. Not with the clans in back in the area." Trodar says, obvious concern for Kallag's safety in his tone.

Kallag spat on the ground at the thought of the tribes. The Howlers and the Burned Men were in the are, alongside their old tribe, the Bone Splitters.

"Fuck 'em. I run across one, I'll shoot em in the eye."

"And if there's more than one?" Trodar asks, to which Kallag has no answer.

"Better if you wait till the others get up. One of us can stay with mother, and we can go on a hunt for the rest of the day." Trodar says, obviously trying to be placating.

Kallag:

[] Agrees. He can meet with Ava another day, maybe when the clans had moved on.

[] Disagrees. Trodar, while older, couldn't tell him what and what not to do. Only Urilf, the oldest and head of the family, had that right since their father had been killed.

[] Write-in

===

I will be amazed if anyone can guess this crossover before I have to spell it out. Hopefully the updates will get a little longer and detailed as I shake the rust off.

Hold any votes, I'm going to reserve some posts.
 
Friends, Family, Foes

StormEagle

Well-known member
Friends, Family, Foes:

Trodar (Older Brother/Alive): The youngest of Kallag's older brothers and the most soft spoken and agreeable of the lot. Black of hair like Kallag.

Hragah (Older Brother/Alive): The middle of the four brothers. An often times bitter envious man, though fiercely protective of his family. He inherited his mother's red hair.

Urilf (Eldest Brother/Head of the Family): Urilf is the leader of the family, and his word is law. He views it as his mission to keep everyone alive and healthy till he figures out a path forward. Whether that involves joining another clan, or maybe something else. Black haired like his father.

Shammar (Father/Dead): Shammar, son of Jaralf, was the chieftain of the Bone Splitters clan of wildlings. He eventually met his death on the spear of Andal knight, though it was his right hand man Krittag that had abandoned him during the battle.

Tari (Mother/Alive): A woman that Shammar took during a raid into the Riverlands. While she initially hated her wildling captor, she eventually grew to accept her situation. There could never be said to be any love between her and her husband. but she loves all of her sons dearly. Though she hopes none of them turn out like their father.

Krittag (Enemy/Cousin/Alive): Leader of the Bone Splitters, former right hand of Shammar, and traitor to Kallag's father. After the death of the former chief, Krittag and his followers drove Shammar's sons and wife into the hills and threatened death should they ever try to return.

Ava (Friend): A village girl that Kallag has gotten to know. They often meet while his brothers are haggling over payment when they trade with the villagers. She is a sweet girl, and strong given she's the blacksmiths daughter.
 

Grav

A confused leftist
[X] Agrees. He can meet with Ava another day, maybe when the clans had moved on.
 
02: Kallag

StormEagle

Well-known member
Kallag bows to the sense of his older brother, puts down the bow and quiver of arrows, and goes sits down on a stump near Trodar while they wait for the rest of their small camp to wake up.

"Try not to look so sullen. I'm sure Urilf and Hragah will be more than happy to join you on a hunt. Gods know that both of them are getting restless from their time here." Trodar says, mumbling the last part to himself though Kallag hears it clearly.

"They just want to go raiding again." Kallag says, derisively. While he respected his elder brothers, he took a dim view of their former pursuits. Kallag was of the free people, yes, but he took after their Andal mother more than any of them. He had been young when their father was killed, and barely remembered the man beyond the smell of alcohol. So he grew up less on tales of glorious raids, and more on the stories of knights and

"What else is there to do? Settle down and farm? Bow our heads to the men that have been hunting our people since before any of us were born? Yes, Urilf and Hragah want to go raiding again. But they want something far more important than that as well." Trodar says, reproach obvious in his voice and his eyes as he looks at his brother.

"What's that? To steal a wife? Rape a few girls and put babes in their belly like dear old da'. Or maybe they just want to burn down a few homesteads and call that justice." Kallag asks, his voice containing its own hint of steel.

Trodar glares at Kallag for that slight, but maintains his silence. This was becoming an old argument. Trodar, and the rest of Kallag's brothers, were free folk through and through. They despised the soft folk of the lowland hills, and viewed them as the descendants of thieves and murderers. The Vale was theirs by right, and only strength of arms prevented them from taking it back. The death of Shammar only reinforced this ancestral hatred.

There was little for it though. There was barely enough clans left to form a significant fighting force anymore, and they were more concerned about fighting each other than taking the fight to the Andals most times.

Kallag viewed it all as incredibly foolish. What was wrong with wanting to live a peaceful life? Yes, the Andals took lands that should rightly be theirs, but that happened so far back in history that only constant oral retelling even kept it in the minds of the free folk. If most decided to throw down arms and beat their swords into plows and start farming, the lords of the Vale would probably gladly take their fealty and money.

Trodar huffed, and rose from his seat. Walking off and throwing open the tent flap. Kallag can hear yells, likely Hragah telling him to close the damned flap, and then a loud slapping sound. That was likely Urilf hitting his brother for being to loud.

Seconds, then minutes, drag by as Kallag watches the sun slowly rise. It shines off the snow capped mountain peaks, casting a warm glow over the thick forests below. They had set up their camp far up the mountain on a hard to access cliff side. It gave them a commanding look over the valley below, though it was hard for their aged mother to make the climb.

The tent flap opens, and Kallag looks to see who was coming out. His eldest brother steps out, nearly naked except for a loincloth preserving his dignity. Urilf is a tall man, over six foot, and broad as an ox. His muscles visibly bulge and ripple as he walks to the cliff edge, putting a hand to his forehead, also brushing aside his deep black hair, to shield his eyes as he looks over the valley.

Then Kallag has to look away, rolling his eyes at the same time, as Urilf moves his loincloth to the side and begins pissing off the edge. Only when he hears the trickle, which sounded more like a rushing stream for a minute, does he turn back.

"Trodar says you want to go for a hunt?" Urilf asks, as the tent flap opens again.

This time its Hragah that steps out, though he doesn't even have a loincloth as he walks to the cliff edge with everything flapping in the wind. Kallag rolls his eyes again, but watches his red haired brother to make sure he doesn't fall off the edge. He was about as tall as Urilf, and even broader, but he also had a deep love of drink. It wasn't rare for him to be inebriated the morning after a late night of indulgence, and it wouldn't be the first time he went rolling down the mountain while naked.

"Yes. Our meat stock is getting low, and we need more fur to trade before we head down to trade." Kallag says shortly.

"Horseshite! He was gonna go play with that little Andal girl in the village! Ya know, the blacksmiths daughter!" Hragah calls out over his shoulder, shaking himself slightly as he turns around.

"Gods sake Hragah! What have I said about going out naked! No one wants to see that, much less this early in the morning!" A more feminine voice calls out, and everyone turns to see their mother running out of the tent with a loincloth in her arms. Kallag smirks slightly at that, as his elderly mother continues to berate her second oldest son.

"Ah, shut up you old cow and hand me the loincloth. Wouldn't want to scar Kallag's delicate wittle eyes." Hragah says, fondness in his voice. Tari was getting on in years, but she was still beautiful to her four sons. Laugh lines and wrinkles had long taken root on her face, but her red hair was still long and vibrant, though grey was starting to outnumber the red, and sat in a braid that reached mid back. She wore a blue dress that Shammar took in a raid shortly before his death.

Tari snarls something under her breath, her face and slaps her son upside the head, before turning around and storming back to the tent. Hragah laughed and chased after her, apologizing all the while though his amusement and lack of sincerity was clear.

"That true. What Hragah said bout the girl?" Urilf asks, turning his attention back to Kallag.

"What if it was?" Kallag asks, challenge in his voice.

Urilf breathes out through his nose, and black eyes bore into Kallag.

"Shouldn't get to attached. Especially with the clans in the area. Likely to be a raid soon, and we'll be moving on if we can't find a clan to take us." He says, simple and short. His brother never did mince words.

"We should warn the village then!" Kallag says, panic in his voice. He had known the possibility, feared it even, but he hadn't thought through the implications of three clans being in the same area. Most clans, unless they were intentionally looking for a fight, new to steer clear of one another. Three being in the same are either meant a fight or a collaborative raid.

"Wouldn't do any good at this point. Nearest lord is a weeks ride away, and the village doesn't have enough men to seriously challenge the clans. Your little friend is likely to be dead soon, sorry to say, and we'll have moved on. Don't think the Howlers would take us, and don't really want to join the Burned Men." Urilf says, unsympathetic to Kallag's obvious plight.

"We'll get one more hunt and trade for supplies in. Then we move north. That's what Hragah and me decided last night, while you and Trodar were out hunting dinner." Urilf says, turning back towards the tent.

"We're just going to abandon them! They've been kinder to us than our own kin, and you're just going to leave them to die?!" Kallag asks, anger running hot at the thought of Ava dying. He hadn't known her long, but she was his first true friend.

"That's true. But they ain't our people, and I'm not dying for their sake or for some blacksmiths girl. I bet the raid will happen within the week. Maybe week and a half if the clans are still working out the terms of the raid. Gives us just enough time to hunt and get out before the fighting starts." Urilf says, voice cold and hard.

"Now get ready for the hunt. It'll be me, you, and Trodar. Hragah's still to drunk to be trusted with a bow, so he can stay in camp and keep mother company." Urilf says, entering the tent.

Kallag:

[] Immediately runs down to the village to warn everybody. They may be soft andals, but they had been kind dammit! They didn't deserve to die just because they weren't free folk. (Pisses off all his brothers. Makes mom proud. Advances traits: Reckless, Loyal, and Chivalrous.)

[] Gets ready for the hunt. He could sneak off while his brothers were distracted and warn the village. (Pisses off all his brothers. Makes mom proud. Advances the traits: Sneaky and Loyal.)

[] Gets ready for the hunt and forgets about Ava. While she was his friend, he wouldn't put his family at risk by warning the village. If the clans were hurt by the information, and they found out who prepared the village...It would cause a lot of problems. (Advances the traits: Pragmatic, Cold, Loyal.)

[] Write-in
===

Basically an info dump and a vote to more concretely form Kallag's personality.
 

Grav

A confused leftist
[X] Gets ready for the hunt. He could sneak off while his brothers were distracted and warn the village. (Pisses off all his brothers. Makes mom proud. Advances the traits: Sneaky and Loyal.)

I’m so sneaky.
 

Blasterbot

Well-known member
[X] Gets ready for the hunt. He could sneak off while his brothers were distracted and warn the village. (Pisses off all his brothers. Makes mom proud. Advances the traits: Sneaky and Loyal.)
we be sneaky like snek.
 

Fezzes

Prince And Emperor
[X] Gets ready for the hunt and forgets about Ava. While she was his friend, he wouldn't put his family at risk by warning the village. If the clans were hurt by the information, and they found out who prepared the village...It would cause a lot of problems. (Advances the traits: Pragmatic, Cold, Loyal.)
 

remulian

Member
[X] Gets ready for the hunt and forgets about Ava. While she was his friend, he wouldn't put his family at risk by warning the village. If the clans were hurt by the information, and they found out who prepared the village...It would cause a lot of problems. (Advances the traits: Pragmatic, Cold, Loyal.)
 
[X] Gets ready for the hunt. He could sneak off while his brothers were distracted and warn the village. (Pisses off all his brothers. Makes mom proud. Advances the traits: Sneaky and Loyal.)
 

Omnimercurial

Active member
[X] Gets ready for the hunt. He could sneak off while his brothers were distracted and warn the village. (Pisses off all his brothers. Makes mom proud. Advances the traits: Sneaky and Loyal.)
 

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